Abstract
Arabic language is a rich language; it is full of different expressions and idioms. Some parts of speech like nouns could be used for many other purposes (e.g. adjectives). Many descriptive words in Arabic are derived from the names of animals to give adjectives for human beings or to describe their behaviors. This study aims to translate these words by transforming the correct meaning in the Arabic culture. A case study is made with students of translation class at The University of Jordan/Amman. They were asked to translate ten sentences; each of which contains a name of an animal that is used to give an adjective for humans or describe their behaviors. Some of these words (expressions or idioms) have equivalences in English so that, they are easy to be translated. Others have no equivalences in English, so the students need to look for the correct meanings these words indicate in the Arabic culture. Literal translations for these words are not accepted at all because no message could be delivered in this case.
Highlights
AND LITERATURE REVIEWTranslation has been defined as the activity in which a meaning of a given linguistic item is rendered from one language to another, Longman Dictionary (2006)
This study aims to translate these words by transforming the correct meaning in the Arabic culture
The language to be translated is called the source language (SL), whereas the language to be translated into or arrived at is called the target language (TL). This activity happens by transforming the entities from (SL) into their equivalence in (TL) depending on either the literal meaning of the words; this way guarantees no perfect results for translators specially if the statement includes cultural-based expressions or idioms, or the general meaning based on the cultural or social background that the translator has about the SL; this way is always accepted
Summary
AND LITERATURE REVIEWTranslation has been defined as the activity in which a meaning of a given linguistic item is rendered from one language to another, Longman Dictionary (2006). A translator needs to have a number of skills He needs to have a good knowledge regarding the social and cultural environment of the words in both the SL and the TL to cover all justifications regarding the reason the words are translated in and because translation cannot achieve its goals in isolation of culture and society; translation involves at least two languages and two cultures (Toury 1978). Culture in this context includes the knowledge of community, religion, traditions, habits, family and social structure, educational system, political and governmental hierarchies, and use of advanced technology (Geertz, 1975, Lado, 1968). In later sections in this study, there will be discussed how culture can change the meaning
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