An Investigation of the Translation of English Culture-Bound Expressions into Arabic

Abstract

The present study investigates the effective strategies that can be employed in translating English culture-bound expressions into Arabic. The study mainly explores the translation and idiomacity of some colour-related expressions of comparison (i.e. similes), collocations and binomials. The paper examines whether it is possible to observe any consistency in the strategies used for the translation of these colour-related idiomatic expressions. This is attempted under the notions of foreignization and domestication proposed by Venuti (1995), the framework of Berlin/Key studies on colours (1969), and the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which are all concerned with the interrelationships between language, culture, and translation. The researcher is the instrument of this study. In translating the culturally-bound expressions, the researcher uses two techniques to solve the cultural gap between the source and target languages. The paper reaches the conclusion that no translation strategy should be discarded. Venuti claims that the translator's invisibility is a direct fallout of domesticating translation. However, domestication is very successful in translating many of the idioms incorporated in the corpus data by providing an equivalent idiom in the target language (TL). Foreignising translation, on the other hand, is not always favoured as a form of cultural innovation if it is taken to extremes, as is the case with colour-related idioms deeply bound to culture as it negatively affects the semantic content of the source language.

Investigating Saudi Student Translators’ Difficulties and Strategies in Translating English Culture-bound and Idiomatic Expressions: A Quantitative Study

“…Furthermore, our results are consistent with those reported by Al-Assaf's (2019) which revealed how paraphrasing was seen a strategic process most frequently used by student translators. Similarly, paraphrasing was found the most significant strategy used when translating English color-related idioms into Arabic in Metwally's (2022) recent study (see Section 2).…”

“…Several studies have investigated the difficulties students often encounter when translating idioms and culture-bound expressions from English into Arabic and vice versa (e.g., Alharbi, 2013;Al-Shawi and Mahadi, 2012;Al-Shorman & Kamal, 2022;Balfaqeeh, 2009;Metwally, 2022). For instance, Al-Shawi and Mahadi (2012) demonstrated how language differences (English versus Arabic) might have been the cause behind students' translation difficulties in translation tasks, especially in relation to social, religious, and cultural differences.…”

“…Recently, two other studies have explored the most effective strategies used in translating English culture-bound expressions into Arabic. The first was carried out by Metwally (2022) which investigated translation and idiomacity of some color-related expressions of comparison (i.e., similes), collocations and binomials. The researcher concluded that paraphrasing was the most significant strategy used when translating English color-related idioms into Arabic.…”