Highlighting Difficulties in Idiomatic Translation

John Mervyn Evjen

doi:10.29173/spectrum30

Abstract

Idioms are fixed phrases with little to no possible syntactic reconfiguration, whose lexemes are not representative of the meaning they convey in any given language. Their complexity is rooted in deep semantic structures from ages of cultural history. In translation, idioms pose great difficulty due to their innate dichotomous nature and deep cultural roots. For an idiom to be translated from the source language into the target language, an equivalent idiom must be found in the target language in order for the translated idiom to have the same effect on the audience. This paper examines three English and German idioms in comparison to determine what allows for equivalency between translated idioms. Between the three levels of equivalence, strong, weak, and zero equivalence, there are different factors that add to the complexity of translation and their counterparts in translation. In this paper, I explore three levels of idiomatic equivalence and discuss how these three levels are different from each other.

Highlights

Idioms pose some of the most difficult translation problems to the practice and theory of translation
In Other Words, Baker states that even native speakers are severely restricted while using idioms (Baker 67)
All idioms have specific source-cultural meaning that translators must transfer or substitute with target-culturally relevant information of the same nature (Matthew 152)

Summary

Introduction

Idioms pose some of the most difficult translation problems to the practice and theory of translation. I will explore different idioms translated between German and English and show how equivalence may be used to compare and further contrast the cultural meanings for the intended audience. All idioms have specific source-cultural meaning that translators must transfer or substitute with target-culturally relevant information of the same nature (Matthew 152).

Results

Conclusion