TRANSLATION OF PROVERBS Prof: Walid Amer.

OUTLINE -Definition -Classification Types of Proverbs: Colloquialism Slang Allusion Phrasal verbs -Types of difficulties in translating proverbs. - Proverbs Translating Strategies Total Equivalence Partial Equivalence Paraphrasing - Conclusion

What are Proverbs ? Proverbs are words, phrases, or expressions that cannot be taken literally. When used in everyday language, they have a meaning other than the basic one you would find in the dictionary. In other words Proverb is a simple way of speaking. It is used when we want to make our speech more concrete and more understandable. (no pain, no gain) which refers to the situation of suffering in order to gain the thing we have intended to achieve.

What are Proverbs ? Google Translation will never be able to cope with. But their beauty is also their limit: they are expressions of each culture, sometimes specific to a tiny area or a city only. They are “cultural-bound”, that is why it is so hard to export them to another context, because the translator needs to find other cultural references.

Classification of Proverbs A. Colloquialism: Colloquialism or colloquial language is considered to be characteristic of or only appropriate for casual, ordinary, familiar, or informal conversation rather than formal speech or writing. They are used in daily conversations. For example in the case a person laughs a lot we say (he died of laughter). It is an informal way of (saying laughed a lot).

CLASSIFICATION OF IDIOMS B. Slang Slang is the use of highly informal words and expressions that are not considered as the standard use of language. It is often used as a way to say words that are not appropriate or somehow taboo. For instance: using the word (sick)to refer to a powerful man.

CLASSIFICATION OF IDIOMS C. Allusions Allusion is a figure of speech that makes a reference to a place, event, literary work, myth, or work of art, either directly or by implication. e.g. “Poison Tree” By R.Frost

CLASSIFICATION OF IDIOMS E. Phrasal Verbs Phrasal verb is the combination of a verb and a preposition, a verb and an adverb, or a verb with both an adverb and a preposition. A phrasal verb often has a meaning which is different from the original verb. They are usually used informally in everyday speech as opposed to the more formal verbs. For example the informal use of (to go on) instead of the word (to continue) or the use of (to hand) in rather than (to deliver).

Types of difficulties that arise when translating proverbs A. It may sound rather difficult at times to be recognized on the part of the translator that he is facing a proverb in a given text. This is due to the fact that not all proverbs are easily recognized. B. Another problematic issue facing the translator in this regard is when an expression is having two meanings, one of which is literal, and the other is idiomatic. A slap on the face It has two meanings. The first is literal, whereas the second is idiomatic (a sudden and unexpected rejection, defeat, or disappointment) A pain in the neck It could either mean a physical pain or idiomatically: (an irritating or annoying person)

,so how to translate proverbs?

TRANSLATION STRATEGIES FOR TRANSLATING PROVERBS A. Using a proverb of Similar Meaning and Form (Total Equivalence (Form + Meaning) By using this strategy, the translator tries to find a proverb in the target language which is equivalent to the source language both in terms of meaning as well as lexical items. The following examples illustrate the usage of many foreign proverbs in present-day Arabic: يبكي بدموع التماسيح To shed crocodile tears يسلط ضوءا على To Shed light on يعطي الضوء الأخضر To give the green light حجر عثرة A stumbling block

TRANSLATION STRATEGIES FOR TRANSLATING PROVERBS B. Using a proverb of Similar Meaning but Dissimilar Form (Partial Equivalence (Similarity in meaning not in form) In this case the meaning of the target proverb is the same as that of the original but the lexical items(forms) are different. Lets see the illustrative examples: على أحر من الجمر On pins and needles أعط القوس باريها Not to talk over one’s head لكل مقام مقال A word in season اختلط الحابل بالنابل Can’t make head or tail of something

TRANSLATION STRATEGIES FOR TRANSLATING PROVERBS C. Translation by Paraphrase This strategy is most commonly used in the process of translating proverbs in the cases that the translator cannot find any equivalents for the source proverb. The following are some examples of paraphrasing: مسألة مستعصية/قضية شائكة A hard nut to crack يحيي حياة الكفاف To live from hand to mouth يفشي سرا/يذيع أمرا To let the cat out of the bag ضعيف الارادة أو الشخصية Have no backbone

CONCLUSION Translating proverbs is the most arguable, complex, and problematic task for translators. In order to translate a proverb efficiantly, the translator should identify it from those expressions which are not proverbs. Then investigates the classification to which that particular proverb belongs and selects the suitable strategy for his translation.

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