LACUNAE IN THE “BABURNAMA”: BASED ON THE LEMMA–VARIANT–STRATEGY MODEL
Keywords:
“Baburnama”, lacunar unit, Uzbek–English translation, realia, transliteration, gloss, linguoculturology.Abstract
This article uses a fragment of the “Baburnama” related to events in Fergana (Babur, 2018: pp. 6–8) as research material, identifying lacunar units based on the absence of ready equivalents and the need to explain cultural-semantic components. The study analyzes lacunae within cultural-toponymic names, historical measurement units, gastronomic realia, local nominations, and flora/material culture domains. Comparative and contextual-semantic analysis reveals that units such as “yig‘och,” “shar’iy,” “Masjidi Javzo,” “donakalon,” “subhoniy,” and “tobulg‘u” lack direct English equivalents and are best rendered through transliteration with glosses and descriptive translation. The translation by Beveridge (1922) is noted for its effectiveness in using explanatory strategies, although variation in transliteration may lead to terminological duplication. The article offers practical recommendations for standardizing lacunar units and systematizing them using the “lemma–variant–strategy” model with a context-based translation approach.
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