General introduction

1. Statement of the problem

The expend of the human race through the course of time came

along with a verities of languages which created a deep hole

of disconnection between the users of languages, due to their

incapacity in interpreting the source language message to

their own language. Gradually, this need of being able to

understand other languages set the way to the emergence of a

new discipline, concerned with expressing a language in other

words of another language which is mostly known by

Translation. This domain covers every aspects and styles of

language, translation is not an easy task because the

translator or trainees students my encounter some difficulties

while translating, especially concerning the case of idioms

which are used in our daily life , but when it comes to

translating them, it gets really hard to understand what is

the meaning of a specific idiom which results in incomplete

wrong translation.

2. Aims of the study

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The main aims of this dissertation is to highlight the main

problems faced by translators or trainees students while

translating, the obstacles that hold the students back from

understanding the meaning of idioms and main issues in

translating them from one language to another.

3. Research questions

- How can the understanding of an idiomatic expression meaning

be related to its correct translation into the TL ?

- what are the main problems that translators and students

trainees face while translating idioms ?

4. Structure of the study

This study is divided into two theoretical chapters; the first

chapter shed the light on the background of the definition of

translation, the problems that may take place while

translating and equivalence in translation. The second

chapter, talks about the definition of idioms and their

characteristics, then we move to the fixed aspects of idioms

in addition to their types and classification. Finally, we try

to mention how an idiom can be possibly interpreted and

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translated in order to focus on the problems faced when

translating idioms.

I. Chapter One: Translation:

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Introduction :

Taking in consideration the importance of the idiomatic

expressions’ role in language and the issues encountered by

students while translating them, the first part of this

dissertation aims to shed the light on the theoretical

perspective of both translation and idioms. It includes brief

definitions of translation and the problems which may occur

while translating. In addition to that, an explication of the

equivalence levels in translation is given. Then, we move to

define the nature of idioms and their characteristics, types,

classification and how they could possibly be translated.

1.1. Definition of translation:

Among prime translators, scholars and specialists, the

concept of translation may differ in some small details which

can not harm, by a way or another, the main basis of

translation definition, which is basically known as changing a

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linguistic message from the SL to the TL, according to the

Oxford advanced learners dictionary, translation is “the

process of changing something written or spoken into another

language.”

To bring the translation definition into the light we are

going to highlight the definition of translation by Ghazala in

his book “Translation as Problems and Solutions” where he

defines it as follows:

As a subject, translation generally refers to all the

processes and methods used to render and/or to transfer the

meaning of the source language text into the target

language as closely, completely and accurately as possible,

using (1) words/ phrases which already have direct

equivalent in Arabic language; (2) new words or terms for

which no ready-made equivalents are available in Arabic;

(3) foreign words or terms written in Arabic letters as

pronounced in their native origins; (4) foreign words or

terms made to fit Arabic pronunciation, spelling and

grammar. (Ghazala 01)

Ghazala goes on to illustrate briefly what has been said in

the examples below:5

1- ‘Speak’ (كلم ت� (ي��

2- ‘Satellite’ ( اع�ي� مر ص�ن� (ق��

3- ‘Aspirin’ ( ن� ي�� ر سب� (أ�

4- ‘Democracy’ ( ة� مق�رأط�ي� ( دي��

Therefore, and after crossing by the definitions mentioned

above, translation can be expressed as an interlingual process

of interpreting the meaning contained in the SL by means, say,

words of another language. This means that what we do

translate is the meaning we obtain from the source language.

1.2. Translation problems:

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A translation problem is any obstacle found in the source

language which may result in an interruption of the

translation process, so the translator stops translating to

recollect his/her ideas again, or to use dictionaries for

looking up meaning of words…etc.

These problems are categorized into grammatical, stylistic

and lexical problems.

1.2.1. Grammatical problems:

According to Ghazala, this kind of problems takes place during

the process of translation due to the following causes.

1.2.1.1. complicated SL grammar:

The fact that each language has its own grammar system,

results in difficulties the translator encounters while

translating. For instance, ‘of the three books you have

recommended to me I have chosen only one’ when translated into

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Arabic, it becomes ‘ب�رت� وأح�دأ ها، أخ� ي� ب�� ن� صحت� ي� ن�� ة� أل�ن� لاث34 the ambiguity ’م�ن� أل�كت�ب� أل�ن3here for the translator is caused by the delay of the main

clause in the SL sentence (I have chosen only one). Though,

translating the same sentence written in its normal word form

(i.e. the main clause is in the beginning of the sentence) is

much clearer and easier. ‘I have chosen only one of the three

books you have recommended to me’ which is translated into

Arabic as ‘ها ي� ب�� ن� صحت� ي� ن�� ة� أل�ن� لاث34 ط م�ن� أل�كت�ب� أل�ن3 ق� ب�رت� وأح�دأ ف�� (Ghazala 18) ’أخ�

1.2.1.2. Different TL grammar:

The translator often faces problems concerning the TL grammar

system, which can hold him/her back from rendering the message

being translated. For instance, “most English tenses […] do

not exist in Arabic grammar. Also, all English sentences are 8

verbal, whereas in Arabic they are verbal or nominal.”

(Ghazala 19)

1.2.1.3. Different word order:

The rules concerning the positions of sentence components from

subjects, verbs to nouns and adjectives…etc can be very

different from those of the TL. Taking an example fro English

and Arabic translation, it appears that “all English sentences

usually start with the subject followed by the verb, whereas

in Arabic, verbal sentences start with the verb followed by

the subject.” (Ghazala 19)

Also, during translating, the following difficulties

concerning grammar may take place.

1. The translation of the verb “Be”, “Do” and “Have”.

2. The translation of modal verbs, adjectives, tenses and

articles.

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3. The translation of the first participle and conditional

sentences.

4. The change of word class. (Ghazala 19)

1.2.2. Lexical problems:

Another kind of translation problems is the one classified as

lexical. The translator is exposed to lexical problems when

he/she deals with an ambiguous “word or […] expression [in the

SL which] is not understood clearly […], or not know at all”.

(Ghazala 20)

Lexical problems can be distinguished into the followings:

1.2.2.1. Literal translation:

Translating a text directly, word for word from one language

to another is not always easy , because there are some words

of the SL which do not exist in the TL.

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1.2.3.2. Synonyms:

Words which have the same meaning are synonymous

words(synonyms).the problem with synonymy is the closeness or

the complete identification of words in comparison with in

each other in the same language or for different languages,

the TL and SL and the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of

similarity on the meaning . (Ghazala 20)

1.2.3.3. Polysemy and monosemy:

A polysemous word is a word which has multiple meanings.eg

spring has four meanings ( ض� ان�� ع٠ن�� ب� ع٠ي�� ب� GHي ق�ر�٠ر ق� ي�� ).a monosymous is a word

which has only one word like: telephone ( ف� Mixing between .(أل�هات��polysemous and monosymous words poses problems of translation.

(Ghazala 20)

1.2.3.4. Collocations:

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Collocation is when two or more words occur in

language .sometimes translation requires a great deal of

attention to overcome translation problems. (Ghazala 20)

1.2.3.5. Idioms:

Idioms are words which are not identified from the obvious

meaning but with special meaning (e.g. to walk on water : ع صب� ن��

أت� including phrasal verbs like get on ,get off , get out(أل�معج�ر�get up …ect., are often making problems for translators.

(Ghazala 21)

1.2.3.6. Proverbs:

Proverbs are understood according to one’s culture generally

fixed quotes which translators find tough to translate.

(Ghazala 21)

1.2.3.7. Metaphors:

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Metaphors are said to mean another thing accept what was said,

they are not direct and also seem difficult to translators.

(Ghazala 21)

1.2.3.8. Technical translation: arabization:

Translating scientific words into Arabic has many problems.

The translation of some words is yet to be solved. Techniques

and methods are proposed to solve these problems. (Ghazala 20)

- In addition to proper names, titles, political

establishments, geographical terms and us acronyms which “pose

some problems of translation that [translators] must take care

of.”(Ghazala 20)

1.3.3. Stylistic problems:

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The style in which a particular SL is written depends on the

SL author’s choice of words or his/her aim of writing and how

he/she wants the reader to be affected. The understanding of a

specific style and transferring its image to the TL text is

also concerned as a serious obstacle to translators, the main

features of stylistics problems are listed below.

1.3.3.1. Formal vs. informal style:

The language of the SL message being translated can be either

formal or informal, this includes both grammar and words.

Considering the English-Arabic translation, it is hard

sometimes for translators, especially those who have little

knowledge about formality and informality, to achieve complete

correct translation. (Ghazala 22)

1.3.3.2. Fronting:14

A word, a phrase or a clause which is put in the beginning of

the sentence in order to concentrate and emphasize its

meaning due to it’s importance in the effectiveness of the

whole sentence meaning. E.g. ‘suicide he committed’ instead of

‘he committed suicide’. This implies difficulties in

transferring the same style into the TL. (Ghazala 22-3)

1.3.3.3. Ambiguity:

When the writer of the SL text adepts ambiguity in his style,

it may pose some difficulties for the translator to understand

what the SL is really about which may result in a

misunderstanding of the SL text meaning, therefore , the

translated text/message into the TL may not be equivalent to

the SL. (Ghazala 23)

1.3.3.4. Passive vs. active voice:

The translation of passive and active styles from English into

Arabic for instance, is very hard sometimes, because they are

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two contrastive styles having different functions which make

it confusing for translators to retain a full correct meaning

from SL into TL.

- Other stylistic problems are those of the ones listed

below.

1. The style of short vs. long sentences.

2. Repetition and variation.

3. Redundancy.

4. The style of the show of muscles.

5. Nominalization vs. verbalization

1.4. Equivalence in Translation:

Since translation is mainly about rendering the message of SL

into another one carrying equivalent meaning in the TL, the

translator always seeks equivalence in his/her translation,

therefore, equivalence can be defined as when “a specific

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linguistic unit in one language carries the same intended

meaning/ message in a specific linguistic medium in another,

then these two unites are considered to be

equivalent.”(Karimi) Equivalence is found on the word and

above the word level.

1.4.1. Equivalence on the word level:

This is the case concerning when the translator easily finds

one-to-one categorically or structurally equivalent units in

both SL and TL, hence for example, the translation of the

English verb ‘to spray’ into Arabic, it is rendered to the

Arabic verb ‘ two words having equivalent meaning in both ) ’ي��رش3English and Arabic)

1.4.2. Equivalence above the word level:

It is not always easy for the translator to find one-to-one

equivalence, especially when it comes to translating metaphors

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and idioms which are culture bound unites, for instance, an

idiom in the SL cannot be translated word for word translation

into another language, because this will ruin the meaning and

the function of the idiom, however, to retain the retain such

expression’s meaning in the TL, the translator must take in

consideration their function where the phrase of the SL is

substituted with another one of the TL which serves the same

function. (Bussnett 32)

To illustrate this, a translation of an English idiom into

Arabic is given:

(English) ‘A fox is not taken twice by the same snare’

(Arabic) ‘ ن� ي� ت�4 جر مر س أل�ج� ف� ن� ي�� لدغ� م� ن� لا ن�� م� ’أل�مؤ�

Conclusion

To render a satisfactory translation, the translator must

acquire a large knowledge about the grammatical, lexical and

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stylistic systems of both the SL and TL in order to achieve

equivalence or an appropriate interpretation.

II. Chapter Two: Translation and Idioms:

Introduction

This chapter starts with brief definitions of idioms,

followed by mentioning the main characteristics and fixed

aspects of idioms, in addition to that, types and

classification of idioms are presented and finally we close

this discussion by exposing the interpretation and translation

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of idioms and the difficulties that my encounter translators

or trainees students while translating them.

2.1. Definition of Idioms:

Idioms are parts of our daily language, used in our daily

street talk conversation, with our families inside homes and

also in business formal meetings. According to Ghazala

“phrases which have special meanings and cannot be known from

the direct meaning of their words are called idioms.” (21)

Ghazala after that goes on to give more details about the

nature idioms, stating that “an idiom is a fixed phrase whose

form is unchangeable, and whose meaning is always the same,

inflexible, metaphorical and indirect” (131)

“A group of words whose meaning is different from the

meaning of the individual words” (Oxford advanced learners

dictionary)

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Mona Backer states that “idioms are frozen patterns of

language which allow little or no variation in form and

[which] often carry meanings which cannot be deduced from

their individual components.”

2.2. Characteristics of Idioms:

Considering the definitions mentioned above, an idiom can

have the following characteristics:

- Consists of more than one word, and is usually an

expression or a phrasal verb.

- The meaning of an idiom is not deducible from the meaning

of individual words.

- The word order and the grammatical structure of an idiom

cannot be changed .

- Any of the words forming an idiom can never neither be

omitted nor replaced by other words.

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2.3. fixed variation of idioms:

If any of these characteristics is misbalanced, the idiom

meaning and function will be ruined, however, there are some

special cases when the meaning and the function of an idiom is

retained even if its vocabulary and grammatical structure is

slightly changed. McCarthy and O’ dell give an explanation to

this in the table below.

Variations Examples

Occasionally an

idiom in the

active voice can

be used in the

passive.

Government Ministers always pass the

buck if they are challenged about

poverty. [blame somebody else /

refuse to accept the responsibility]

The buck has been passed from

Minister to Minister. No one seems

prepared to accept the

responsibility.

Some verb-based

idioms also have

noun-compound

There is too much buck-passing in the

government nowadays. No one accepts

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forms. the blame for anything.

One or more words

in the idiom can

be varied.

Stop acting the fool/goat! [stop

acting stupidly]

Table 01: fixed variations of idioms (McCarthy and O’ dell

6)

2.4. Types of Idioms:

Referring to (Mekkai qtd. in Tommassello), idioms differ due

to their position on the scale of idiomaticity which is the

quality of how an expression can be idiomatic, or in other

words, idiomaticity is the “characteristics of natural

languages to use set [of] words combinations” (Routledge

dictionary of language and linguistics). Idioms are two types,

encoding and decoding idioms.

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2.4.1. Encoding idioms:

An encoding idiom is “an expression which language users

might or might not understand without prior experience”

(Mekkai qtd. in Tommassello 247). This means that this kind of

idioms is recognizable and interpretable. For instance ‘answer

the door’ is an idiomatic expression which is carrying the

meaning of ‘open the door’.

2.4.2. Decoding idioms:

“a decoding idiom is an expression which the language users

couldn’t interpret with complete confidence if they hadn’t

learned it separately”. (Mekkai qtd. in Tommassello 247)

decoding idioms are hardly figured and understood, also, they

get misleading sometimes. E.g. ‘beat around the bush’ which

means to avoid an issue

Gairns and Redman explain how idioms can differ from their

word structure in the following table.

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Type of idiom Example Meaning 1 verb-based idioms

Take advantage of STHChange your mindGet nowhereBe supposed to do sth.

Make good use of sth.

Change your decision or opinion about sth.Make no progress, or have no successIf you are supposed to do sth., you should do it, because somebody told you to do it, or because it is your responsibility to do it.SYN bemeant to do sth.

2 prepositional phrases

In that case

In charge (of sb/ sth)

Used to say what will happen, or what you will do, as a result of a particular situationHaving control or command (of sb/sth)

3 noun phrases A piece of cakeA stone’ s throw

INF a thing that is very easy to do.A short distance

4sayings and proverbs

Famous last words

Used when you think somebody is speaking with too much confidence about sth that they

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Better late than never

think will happen= it is better to arrive late than not at all.

5 fixed phrases with two key words,usually joinedby and or or.

Bright and earlyMore or less

Early in the morning.Almost or approximately

6 idiomatic phrasal verbs

Get through (tosb)Laugh sth off

Make contact with sb by phone.Joke about something to show it is not serious or important.

7 exclamationsor short spoken phrases

Don’t ask meThank heavens

INF used to say that you don’thave the answer to sth. SYN search me INF.Used to say you are pleased and relieved about sth

Table 02: Types of idioms. (Gairns and Redman 10)

2.5. Classification of Idioms:

The quality to how an expression can be idiomatic, or say,

the degree of idiomaticity is the basic feature on which

idioms are classified. Thus, they can be categorized as

follows:

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2.5.1. Transparent Idioms

Fernando claims this type of idiomatic expression has a very

close meaning to that of the literal one. Therefore, they can

be easily inferred. For more illustration, two examples are

given below.

2.5.2. Semi Transparent Idioms:

The idioms can carry both idiomatic and literal meaning, or

have one literal and one figurative meaning.

E.g.: “A true friend does not stab in the back” “ ي� لا ق� ب� ف� ق� أل�ح �iي د أل�ص

هر oي� أل�ظ طعن� ف� (Ghazala 131) ”ن��

2.5.3. Semi Opaque Idioms:

This kind is the one mostly used as idioms, because the

literal meaning is usually odd or irrational. For instance,

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the idiom ‘to know the ropes’ means ‘to know how a particular

job is should be carried out’

E.g.: “they apply the law of might is right” “ ؤي� ون� أل�ق� اي�� ؤن� ق�� ق� ب� ط هم ن�� ب�� أ|

ف� عب� ل أل�ض� ك� ا� (Ghazala 133) ”ن��

2.5.4. Opaque Idioms:

This kind of idioms is the hardest to be understood, for its

literal meaning is unintelligible, quite obscure and

incomprehensible.

‘Beat around the bush’ means ‘to avoid an issue’

2.5. The interpretation of idioms:

One of the main translation problems for translators is the

translation of fixed phrases such as idiomatic expression

(baker65).since idioms differ on the scale of idiomacity ,some

of them can be easily recognizable and some of them are not,

as mentioned before in the classification of idioms .

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During the translation of idiom, it is difficult for the

translator to recognize the meaning of an idiom due to the

fact that most idioms belong to a specific culture, and each

one may has a special culture background.

2.6. The Translation of Idioms:

According to Baker “most idioms resist variation in

form some are more flexible than others’’ (64).

E.g.: “there was too much buck passing’’ (McCarthy and O’Dell

6) which means refusing to take responsibility for something.

Baker pointed out that “a person competence in actively using

the idioms and fixed expressions of a language hardly ever

matches that of a native speaker ’’ (64).The common problems

that idiomatic and fixed expressions pose in translation

relate to two important areas:

- The ability to recognize and interpret idioms correctly.

- The difficulties involved in rendering the various aspects

of meaning that an idiom conveys into the TL.

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These two difficulties are much more present in the case of

idioms than they are in the case of fixed expressions (Baker

65).

2.6. Difficulties in Translating Idioms:

According to (baker 68-70), the problems in translating an

idiom is not about on which class an idiom is located on the

scale of idiomacity .The main difficulties in translating

idioms are summarized as follows:

1. An idiom or fixed expression may have no equivalent in the

target language:

“the way a language chooses to express or not express various

meaning cannot be predicted and only occasionally matches the

way another language chooses to express the same meaning

(68)’’.This means that in one language we may express a given

meaning by means of a single word In another language,

however, we may express it by means of a transparent fixed

expression .Still another one may express it by means of an

idiom and so on. Fixed expression and idioms are like single

words; they can be culture specific. Basnet Mcguire (qtd in 30

Baker) explain that the expressions “which, say, when’’ are

directly linked to English social behavioral patterns and the

translator putting the phrase into French or German has to

contend with the problem of the non-existence of a similar

convention in either TL culture.

2. An idiom may have a similar counterpart in the TL, but its

context of use may be different. Backer claims that “the two

expressions may have different connotations for instance, or

they may not be pragmatically transferable’’.

3. An idiom may be used in the source text in both its literal

and idiomatic sense at the same time:

“unless the target language idiom corresponds to the source

language idiom in the form and meaning .The play on idiom

cannot be successfully reproduced in the target text’’(69).

Conclusion

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the way how idioms are structured and how their meaning is

implied, make them a very special aspect of language which is

crucial to the users of language. Furthermore, understanding

how idioms works and how they can be used make their

translation much easier and clearer.

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General Conclusion

Translation comes along with obstacles that the translators or

students trainees may encounter, such as grammatical,

stylistic and lexical problems. The translator attempt to

overcome these obstacles in order to find equivalence, so that

the TL text is as close as possible to the SL text concerning

its structure, meaning and style.

idioms which are part of the figurative language, pose a big

challenge to translators and trainees students. firstly,

because of their ambiguous nature which depends on the whole

meaning of the words combination taken together, and secondly,

because they are culture bound units and they cannot be

changed , moreover , their translation from one languge to

another , which oblige the translators to have a large

knowledge about the SL idiom’s background culture so that it

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can be correctly interpreted an translated, which is

considered as a hard task . !!

Work Cited

Becker, Mona. In Other Words: A Course Book In Translation .

London: Routledge,1992.

Bussmann, Hadumod. Routledge Dictionary Of Language And

Linguistics. London:

Routledge, 1998.

Busnett, Susan. Translation Studies. London: Routledge, 2002.

Fernando, C. Idioms and idiomaticity. London: penguin books,

1996.34

Gairns and Redman. Idioms and Phrasal verbs: intermediate .

China: Oxford UP, 2011.

Ghazala, Hassan. Translation as Problems and Solution: a

Coursebook for university students

and trainee translators. ELGA Publication, 1995.

Karimi, Lotfollah. Equivalence in Translation.

<<http:www.translationdirectory.org>>

McCarthy and O’dell. English Idioms in Use. Cambridge:

Cambridge UP, 2002.

“idiom.” Oxford Advanced Learners’s Dictionary. 7th ed. Oxford

UP.

Tomassello, Michael. The New Psychology of Language: Cognitive

and Functional

Approaches. V2. New jersy: Lawerance Erlbaum Associates,

2009.

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