This paper aims to analyse the process of creating a frame that reflects the semantics
of Russian and Italian verbs. During the creation of the frame, a number of questions
arose about the role and position of concepts in the cognitive representations of Russian
and Italian verbs. As a consequence, compromises have to be sought, thus showing the
advantages and limitations of frame analysis. As an example, two slots, Aspect and
Mood, are illustrated.
Keywords: frame semantics, translation studies, translation quality assessment,
verbs of motion, Italian, Russian
1 Introduction
As far as classic literature is concerned, there usually exists a significant number of translations
into Italian. ˇCechov and Russian classic literature in general are no exception. I was able to
retrieve five different translations into Italian of A. ˇCechov’s short story The Duel which were
published by different publishing houses over a 50-year span: from 1963 (Bietti publishing
house) to 2014 (Bur publishing house). The wide range of existing translations creates the
urge to find a tool for comparing the source text and the translations in addition to assessing
objectively the quality of the translations and the degree of equivalence between the source
text and their translations. The importance and the need for such a tool is predicated by the
following blatant problem: the translations were published by different publishing houses in
different periods of time and, clearly, they differ from each other. Let’s consider the following
excerpt from the short story: V gorode nevynosymaja ˇzara, skuka, bezljude, a vyjdeˇs’ v pole,