Cane tasso procione : tradurre i nomi di animali: il caso del tanuki giapponese

The Japanese animal name tanuki represents an interesting case study for discussing the problems of translating zoonyms. Using an adapted version of the “mental files” framework, developed within the philosophy of language in order to deal with the problem of reference, four translating strategies for ‘tanuki’ will be discussed: (a) the use of the Linnean binomial Nyctereutes procyonoides’, which requires the receiver to create an empty mental file with an opaque label, to be later filled with new information; (b) the use of the descriptive binomial ‘raccoon dog’ (It. cane procione), thereby asking the receiver to create a new mental file whose title corresponds to the tiny segment of encyclopedic knowledge already contained in it; and, (c) and (d), the frugal use of ‘raccoon’ and ‘badger’ (It. tasso) respectively, which requires the receiver to add new information to a supposedly already existing file but also originates a zoological error. These four translation strategies will be analyzed and assessed in relation to the four principles of commensuration proposed by Hanks (2010, 2014), namely interpretance, transparence, economy and indexical grounding.