Models for Translation of Idioms: Aspects of Deficit

Abstract

This article aims to conceptualize the models of phraseological translation based on the theory of linguistic deficit. These models were constructed in the framework of research on the phraseological unit deficit in fiction translated from French into Latvian. The models are based on the properties of idioms and therefore are universal rather than language-specific. The research was conducted on a parallel corpus of 927 phraseological units and their corresponding translations. The models of phraseological translation reflect properties of idioms that were lost or preserved in translation. There are four such properties – polylexicality, stability, figurative meaning, and imagery. Mathematical combinatorics furnishes 16 possible models, but when linguistic limitations are considered, only 11 models are productive. Using the methods of semantic analysis and statistics, the comparative frequencies of translation models and types of translatory decisions were generalized. Despite the fact that, according to the results of the study, the highest-deficit equivalents are the most frequent (46.4%), the data show that even in a pair of remotely related languages, the potential for having full or almost deficit-free phraseological equivalents is significant (34.7%). The conclusion also highlights ways to minimize the translation deficit through more extensive use of borrowings, collocations, metaphors, and co-creation methods. The proposed models present an exhaustive classification that describes the possible translatory solutions and deficit combinations and helps to better understand the deficit patterns in translated fiction.