I usually avoid reading translations into Azerbaijani language. The main problem is that the books are often translated not directly from their original tongue, but from their Russian language translations. Below is one specific example (out of possible many) excerpted from my earlier essay, demonstrating one issue (out of possible many) with such "second-hand" translations.
There is no easy translation of the word честолюбие even to english. It is translated as ambition as far as I know, when the synonym/analogue амбиция has a subtle shade in Russian languge. Yet let’s try to translate the word честолюбие into Azerbaijani. Isn’t it şöhrətpərəstlik, as noted in online vocabularies? But then тщеславие (vanity) is also şöhrətpərəstlik.
I opened up Stendhal’s The Red and Black in three different languages – in Azerbaijani, Russian, and English. Following is the translation of two important nouns to describe the commonly encountered traits of human character.
vanity, тщеславие, şöhrətpərəstlik
ambition, честолюбие, izzəti-nəfs
I searched it in vocabulary: the arabic word izzəti-nəfs has a closer meaning to the word dignity than to ambition. Perhaps, the translator was in a rush, and translated the word честолюбие literally – as love of honor (izzəti-nəfs) by considering the combination of both words: честь (honor) and любовь (love).
From here, I also arrive at another ridiculous conclusion: the word ambition in French is… ambition. Hence the translation wasn’t even directly from the original language of the book. Would the translation happen from the French language, there would be no confusion about the tricky word of честолюбие. That is the work of a popular and well-respected publication house in Azerbaijan.
I still don’t know if there is a translation of the word ambition into Azerbaijani or not. For now, we will borrow it from its latin origin: ambisiya.