This article examines the English occasionalisms found in J.K. Rowling’s book “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” and compares them with their equivalents in Kazakh and Russian translations. The article also deals with some theories that attempt to define occasionalisms and categorizes them into occasional words, phrases and expressions. The aim of the article is to compare and contrast approaches applied to translate occasionalisms from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books into Russian and Kazakh languages. This research applied qualitative and quantitative methods to study the most effective translation strategies for occasionalisms such as transliteration, transcription, calque, and descriptive translation. The qualitative analysis involves a comprehensive analysis of original and translated texts, focusing on contextual nuances and cultural implications. Meanwhile, the quantitative research methods systematically categorize and count instances of different translation techniques to reveal recurring patterns. Data were collected from the original English books as well as their Russian translation by M. Litvinova, published by “ROSMAN”and Kazakh translation by D. Mazhen, published by “Steppe & World”. The study used various analytical tools, such as comparative text analysis, classification of translation approaches and frequency analysis in Microsoft Excel. It presents valuable insights into the complexities of translating occasionalism, evaluates the effectiveness of several translation methods, and emphasizes their impact on preserving the original text’s meaning and style. This dual approach offers a comprehensive understanding of translation practices across languages. The theoretical significance lies in advancing knowledge of occasionalisms and how they provide challenges for translators, which in turn advances translation studies. Improving translation quality and integrity of the source material is clearly of practical value, as it is essential for literary and intercultural communication.
Kussaiynova et al. (Mon,) studied this question.