THINKING ARABIC: APPROACHES FOR UNDERSTANDING AND TRANSLATING FIGURATIVE

EXPRESSIONS DR MOHAMED ABDELRAHIM

UMB-DEPT C

OBJECTIVESREMIND EACH OTHER ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS AND IDIOMS AS A MIRROR FOR THE CULTURE IN THE TL AND EXPLORE SOME APPROACHES FOR UNDERSTANDING AND TRANSLATING THEM AND HENCE MOTIVATE OUR STUDENTS THINK IN THE TL

PROBLEM AREA

Modern Arabic suffers from westernization and alienation of language and thought patterns. Arabs today speak a foreign language with Arabic sounds. The daily language of the educated Arabs is foreign and imported from dominant languages , primarily English which has stamped its authority as the unrivalled language of international communication, technology, culture, politics and contemporary thought( Almanac 2004).

DEFINITION

• Figurative expressions can be found in literature and poetry where the writing appeals to the senses. It can do this by giving a word or phrase a specific meaning that may be different than the literal definition. Sometimes figurative language compares two things in such a way that you find the comparison interesting and  descriptive

• An idiom or idiomatic expression refers to a construction or expression in one language that cannot be matched or directly translated word-for-word in another language

PROBLEM AREA

• Modern Arabic suffers from westernization and alienation of language and thought patterns. Arabs today speak a foreign language with Arabic sounds. The daily language of the educated Arabs is foreign and imported from dominant languages , primarily English which has stamped its authority as the unrivalled language of international communication, technology, culture, politics and contemporary thought( Almanac 2004).

PROBLEM AREALearners ’inattention to the fact that there are multiple layers of meaning, and

connotative meanings is a common pitfall in translation.

غرام

حسم

تثمين

لرجا

موقف

اعتماد

PROBLEM AREA….CONT.There is a general tendency to use interlingua transfer of meaning when dealing with

figurative expressions. Examples“Flog a dead horse", “go back to square one”, “the devil lies in the details”, “throw

the baby with the bath water”, “bridge the gap”, “full spectrum”.; “ From a frying pan into the fire”

Non-native speakers tend to guess the meaning of an idiom from its words. This leads to incorrect translation because the meaning

This reveals the need for appropriate approaches to bring our learners to higher realms of language through these expressions by relating them as much as possible to the TL.

IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS

• . The expressions serve as mirrors of culture , so studying and understanding them will bring about new social, cultural , economical etc insights that support foreign language learners in their efforts to learn the language as a cultural and knowledge tool. Understanding these expressions as cultural dimensions will allow attuning the learners’ ’ mindset to the TL domain so that they keep thinking the target language and avoid awkward translations.

• الخزانة وزارة

EXAMPLES OF FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS: A BILINGUAL OUTLOOK.COLLOCATIONS

Strings of words which appear in a fixed order forming semantic association”Cats and dogs, day and night, nuts and bolts… bread and butter issue ,etc. In

Arabic, collocations could be related to :( ): جناس وشجون شئون

( ) طباق والترحال الحل فيواستغني بخل من وأما لليسرى فسنيسره بالحسني وصدق واتقي أعطي من فأما

مقابلة ( ) للعسرى فسنيسره بالحسنى وكذبlayers of contrasting meanings

EXAMPLES OF FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS: A BILINGUAL OUTLOOK2.EUPHEMISM التورية

Comforting or evasive expressions that take the place of one that is socially unacceptable , in that it is a taboo, offense or too direct.

• Examples: To terminate/liquidate (to kill) Ethnic cleansing :(Extermination of a minority group)He kicked the bucket( He died)Euphemism could be related in Arabic to Altwaria or Alibham as in :

- ( الأعلى الرفيق الى )توفي انتقل

- ( ) كريم النجاد طويل انه- ( ) غبي القفا عريض

Arabic Euphemism has two meanings: one is immediate ,not intended , the other is remote (intended)

EXAMPLES OF FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS: A BILINGUAL OUTLOOK

3. HYPERBOLESالمبالغة صيغ

Deliberate expressions or overstatements not meant to be taken literally:• Examples: “She sure talks one mile a minute”, “she cried buckets of tears”, “he

has tons of money”…etc

أنهارا دموعه -فاضتالمعرفة من بحر - انهالمشاكل من تال يواجه

EXAMPLES OF FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS: A BILINGUAL OUTLOOK4.Metaphor

االستعارة- المجاز

A metaphor is a figure of speech comparing two unlike things that have something in common. The comparison is made without the use of like or as. :

“Life is no bed of roses”“Computers have a memory”“Ali was a lion in the fight”

قلبي في نارا شعل فأ السوق في قمرا أبصرت

انما رفقا الحب كهرباء ياعظام الضعاف األنابيب هذي

APPROACHES FOR STUDYING IDIOMS

• These expressions sometimes correspond with each other across languages , sometimes they differ due to the nature of the specific cultural situation in which the expression is born

1. Common idioms My experience in working with novice translators on idioms shows that they could be classified as follows:

A. Idioms that are common to both languages either by cultural similarities or because of their continual use in writing and oral communications for decades. Translators usually reflect them in Arabic with less trouble. The following are examples:

Talk of the town المدينة حديث

On the tip of the tongue طرف على اللسان

A friend in need is s a friend indeed وقت الصديقالضيق

2.(A)IDIOMS WHERE THE MEANING CAN BE READILY GUESSED.

While translating this type of idioms might not be difficult, lack of either cultural sensitivity or the necessary figurative skills will likely give rise to the problem of literal translation; a word for word translation

Idiom Literal transfer better translation

On pins and needless والدبابيس االبر على الجمر احرمن علىFrom hands to mouth الفم الى اليد من الكفاف على يعيشLooking for a needle in haystack

كومة في ابرة عن يبحثالقش من

تحته طائل ال جهد

3.(A) Culture specific idioms requiring study

IMPORTED TRANSLATION SOUNDS RIDICULOUSLY FOREIGN , PRODUCE CULTURAL MISFITS, OUT OF PLACE METAPHORS AND SKEWED EXPRESSIONS(ALRAFID MAGAZINE , MARCH 2004)

Idiom Imported translation(Awkward) Better

Tossing wrenches into the gears

الدواليب في العصي وضع األمر عرقل

The devil lies in the details

في يكمن الشيطانالتفاصيل

المفيد المختصر

To throw out the baby with the bath water

ماء مع بالطفل يلقيالغسيل

الصالح بين يفرق الوالطالح

Even Homer sometimes nods

أحيانا يخطيء هومر حتى كبوة جواد لكل

CONCLUDING REMARKS• We need to seek means and ways to bring to the attention

of our students the beauty of Arabic through figurative expressions as avenues which mirror culture. In my view the idioms have stories to tell and these could have possibly roots in history, culture and traditions . Understanding and using figurative expressions can help learners of Arabic think in terms of the TL and avoid imported translation.