Strategies for Translating Idioms from English to Urdu: An Analysis

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the translation strategies employed by undergraduate students in the translation of idioms from English into Urdu. To achieve this, a translation test was administered, incorporating Fernando's (1996) classification of idioms into three distinct categories: literal idioms, semi-idioms, and pure idioms. This test consisted of two parts: de-contextual idioms and context base idioms. Later on, an analysis of data collected from both de-contextual and contextual translations of idioms was analyzed employing translation strategies expounded by Baker and Newmark as the guiding framework. A significant number of students exhibited a lack of familiarity with the accurate use of translation strategies during the de-contextual translation of idioms, leading them to literal translation, resulting in numerous inaccuracies in their renditions of idiomatic expressions. Consequently, literal idioms are easy to translate but when it comes to semi-idioms and pure idioms, they get confused and lead to mistranslation.