EQUIVALENCE AND TRANSLATABILITY OF ENGLISH ‘AND ARABIC IDIOMS ‘Morisaian AWWAD Yarmouk Universi, Ibid L INTRODUCTION Despite recent developments in the field of translation theory and application, idiomatic expressions still pose a serious challenge for translators and foregin teachers. The present paper proposes a general theoretical framework or model for dealing. with the various problematic aspects of idioms in translation. It provides an opera- tional definition of idioms, investigates their types and context of occurrence, and discusses constraints they impose on the translation process with special reference to Arabic and English, It then proposes a model of how different types of idioms ‘may be transferred from source language into target language. 1. DEFINITION AND TYPES OF IDIOMS In A First Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetic, Crystal defines idiom as: “A term used in GRAMMAR and LEXICOLOGY to refer toa SEQUENCE of WORDS which {& SEMANTICALLY and often SYNTACTICALLY restricted, 20 that they function as 2 singe LUNTT. From a semantic viewpoat the MEANING of the individual words cannot be sumed 0 reduce the meaning ofthe ima expresion sa whole, From a sjtact viewpoint, the words ‘fen donot permit the usual varabity they diplay in ober CONTEXT, ei raining cats and ogs does not permit "i's raining a cat and dogidogs and eats, ec. (Coal (980-79, also see Bolinger (1759-107; Dull (196189-92), Paser (I9M103}, Lyons (19GR177-78, and Kane (1983366). Notice, for example, thatthe idiom “to run oneself out” means to be completely ‘exhausted, which is not the sum of the meaning ofthe verb to “run” and the adverbial particle “out”. Nor is the meaning of the idiom “with one’s back to the wall” the same as the total meaning of the six words comprising it. Furthemore, observe that ‘one can “go against the grain", but cannot ge against the seed or the grains, nor ‘an the grain be gone against by somebody. Also observe that we can say “the child8 Mohammad Awwad is running a temperature” but cannot say *a temperature is being run by the child We can certainly ask somebody to “cough up” higher savings but under no circum- stances can we atk people to sneeze their savings. What has been said about English idioms also applies to Arabic idioms. The Arabic idiom “yadaka awkata wa-faka nafax”, means “you are to blame” although the total meaning of the individual words git adds up to “your two hands tied and your mouth blew”. fada bixuffay ia" isanothe Arabic idiom which means “he returned empty-handed” although the total meaning of its three words is “he returned with the slippers of Hunain”. ‘Also obscrve that we cannot substitute wasal (he artived) or sara (he walked) for ‘dda and sill have an idiom. English idioms can be lexemic, phrascological, and proverbial as in “hammer and tongs”, “to fly off the handle”, and “don’t wash your dirty linen in public” respectively (Boatner and Gates 1975:V-VI). Furthermore, leremic idioms can be verbal (verb + particle combination), nominal, adjectival, and adverbial asin “break in’, “hot dog”, “pepper and salt” (i “his hair is pepper and salt), and “hammer and tongs” (in “she ran after him hammer and tongs") respectively (Boatner and Gates 1975:V-V0), ‘Arabic idioms can also be lexemic, phrascological and proverbial asin “Sahm wanar” (fat and fire (complete opposites), “fala féni/rasi” (on my cye/head (with pleasure), and “man sira fala al-darbi wagal” (he who walks no the road will ot there, (he who takes the first step will eventually achieve his aims)). Arabic lexemic idioms can also be verbal, nominal, adjectival, and adverbial. However, Arabic verbal lexemic idioms do not occur with particles. The Arabic equivalent for “he broke into the house” is “gtahama al-bayta” of “daxalaalbayta funwatan”, which means he entered the house by force. It is to be observed here that “itqlaham” means “daxala Sunwatan”, Thus Arabic verbal lexemic idioms are made up of either the verb alone oF the verb followed by an adverbial nominal. I, DIFFICULTIES WITH TRANSLATING IDIOMS One major area of difficulty with regard to translating idioms is misinterpreting the intention ofthe original writer or speaker. In Arabic, “fataha al-baba” may have both a fitral and an idiomati/metaphorical sense, Literally it translates into “he ranslaes into “he established a precedent”. Thie also applies to “sakkaraal-baba’, which means ke closed the door, or he pot an end to something. The Arabic idiom “ibn harm” can be used in the literal sense to mean an illegitimate son or in the metaphorical sense to mean “son of a gun", which is a compliment. Cultural differences among languages comprise another arca of great difficulty for translators and interpreters with regard to both traditional and innovating idioms. ‘The English idiom “a fox is not taken in the same snare twice” is equivalent to the ‘Arabic idiom “la yuldayu al-muteiau min jubrio wahidin marataye”, the English translation of which is “A good believer will not be stung from within the same hole twice”. In English, people “look a gift horse in the mouth”; in Arabie a person can be “Sahhid umitSari”, which is also the equivalent of English “beggars and Euvotece and tasty of Engl and Arabic idioms 9 choosers”. When an Englishman dies we say “he kicked the bucket”, but if an Arab dies we say “sallama al-amanata” ic. he handed over/delivered what he was en- trusted with, which is a reference to the soul leaving the body. The Arabic ii “@ullén al-walad laxala”, which can be translated into English as “two thirds of the bodys traits can be ascribed to his mother's brother”, does not have a corresponding idiom in English. The best we can do is to say that he takes after his uncle. What this means is that for a translator or an interpreter to produce a translation that is true to the original he must be at home with both cultures and both languages. out a thorough knowledge of both cultures the translator or interpreter will bbe at a complete loss to translate idioms which carry a heavy semantic load that is culture specific. The Arabic idiom “yujidu alhazza wayusibu almifsal” can be literally translated into English as “he is good at cuting, and hitting the joint", which is ‘nonsensical to a native speaker of English. An interpreter/translator from Arabic into English can give the equivalent English idiom “he hit the only if he knows both the 2xact meaning and contest in which the idiom is used. Sometimes, when the translator/interpreter is faced with innovating or traditional idioms which are completely alien to the target language, he can only resort (0 explaining the cultural concept as stow in (IV.d) with regard to the concept of jdha, which is explained in the footnotes. IV. CORRESPONDENCE OF IDIOMS IN SL. AND TL Idioms in SL and TL may fall within the following categories: a. Expressions and functions correspond ir both languages (Newmark 1982:123); b. Functions correspond in both languages but expressions are completely dif= ferent; . Functions correspond but expressions differ slightly; 4. Both expressions and functions differ and are language specific. ‘The above four correspondence categories allow us to make the following pre dictions a. When expressions and functions correspond, the resulting transtation will be correct and idiomatic in both languages. Assuming that the translator is a native speaker of one language and has native-like competence in the other, he should encounter no serious difficulties in rendering any such SL idioms into the corre- sponding TL ones as shown in the following examples? ‘Most English Idioms given inthis paper are taken from Boatner and Gates’ A Dicuonary of American Idioms, Bruce Frases The Veb-Partcle Combination, Homnby's Orford Advanced Learners ‘Dicsonary of Carer Englih, ad Jue Howar's dime in American Life. With regard o Arabic idioms, the authors consulted Hani l-Tamad’safAmuhalyal-Shatbipans al-Urduasya (lorszsan Fok Pro vette). Abu Solas Al-Amhalu al-farabiyane Ward 1 al Turath (Ara Prove and Tit ‘Souris inthe (Arab) Heritage, Abu al-Hasan a-WaFidi's Kidb al-Wase fal Amal (The Right “Anthology of Proverbs), Rudolph Sellbein's Al-amihal al Saabs al-adeemah (Arabic Ol Pro- ‘etbe), and Hans Wehr A Dictionary of Modem Standard Arabi ‘A lege numberof Arbic idioms were also provided by a ls of ens {i tanslation pogramise athe Language Centre of Yarmouk University. ts entlled inthe MA.0 Mokammad Awad ~ Pull the rug out from under (a person) = Pot word into one's mosth Tum over 2 new laf = Wash one's hands of To shed crocodile teas Lam at ears = When the cat is any the mice wil play Bury one's head in the sand = Carlet her pe = Go to bed with the chickens = Four at the mouth = Between lie and death = Beat one’s head aginst the wall = At death's door = At the tip of his tongue = To ett a wate te = Save one's hide = To holdout the olive branch = Walle have cae = Got the on’ share = Love is bind [ARABIC HOME (HITE A WORD-FOR:WORD ENGLISH ‘Teans.anon) yalfabo inna “fe pigs with the fre” yashabu ar-sjadata min tht ‘he pula the mg. from under dein mk 2 person speci? yagafu Mealingti fami ‘he pute the words ia the mouth tats ofthe person’ abate gataten jada ‘he ans page new yrrile—yadayti min ‘he wathes it hands from’ yapifu dumata. tama ‘herthede tear of the crocodiles! ol EBgaun—(eyah) of me ears iting’ 8 guy tab ys ‘a abent the cat play mouse’ yadfing ratsahu fi rim he buries his head in the sand” ammat—fafaayha ‘she eared her two lip yansme mata. in ‘he sleeps with The chickens yun wayuabid ‘he foams "and lets out froth bya Maya wamant ‘between the hfe "and the death? yagribu rath IMT ‘he ite hie headin inthe wall? {ll abet iimant ‘on the doors ofthe death? alk rai tin ‘on the ip of his tongue ymatbe Aabbaas alga? eles ale white yanjo i "he euvives with his skin" yartatu yuna yon ‘he ries "he Branch ofthe oie (tes) akjedriow taht aan ‘the walle for them care gala Salt nagabi asad ‘he got onthe share of the loa? ‘abubbu afms ‘the love “bin! Euvalence and ranaatbiliyof English ond Arable idioms a ~ He pokes his nse in eventing = He is ght-handes = She's up to her eas yedusu anfabu bull ty? “he poker hi noce in every thing? yadshe mata “hie hand ight fhe yarigatun att Buna ‘eke Ts drowing upto her to ear’ . When the functions correspond but the expressions are completely different, the translator's task becomes more demanding due to interference between SL and ‘TL at the level of expression. In this case, the translator must either find the right idiom in TL, or render a translation of the meaning of the idiom as best as he can. ‘Translating the meaning of the idiom is to be resorted to only if the translator fails to locate the corresponding idiom. The following are examples of such idioms. = Between the devil and the deep blue sea = At ses and sevens Trade in = Waste one's breath = We behind the ears = Dry behind the ears = Armed tothe teeth = Like bear with a sore head = Shee white "= He has bats in his belfry = A for not taken in the same snare twice = Once in blue moon = Lock the barn door after the hors is stolen To tvs one's tongue = Make a pass at ‘ARABIC IHOMS (HT A WORD-FOR-HORD ‘Beousit TRANSLATION) Dayna fakkay ——_karmSah "eetween the two jaws of «par of pincers’ mitean Salt Sago ‘head on back? poate “to exchange something (or someting ee" yudayitu wogahe ‘Ne wastes Mis time’ ver Troi’ mitansat “eperenced sudsjnon isan "heay armed with weapons! altTE—almagtot Sanabubs “ike the snake the cut sai? maxtfon_lavauht ‘taken away her color Bla abi ta (ction) ‘Teatngthe floor the second We yeldaye tmataien in Snot be tng the faith Crom jitin waidin marten Bole one twice” marian fi tfumr “once inthe he span? adage safe teat Stpreededt be pword_ the blame’ gorse Salah 0 be clsed_on im (to Be unable 1 speak! yentilyetais Re makes «ps aa Mohammad Awwad = Make hay white the sn abines Tita habbat rythoka —fytanimbt Sti blew” your winds then seize them’ = Eventing comes to hi who waits Aceabre mith tar "the patience () the key of the reel ir you want thing done, da it yourself ma Naka jildska mila due ‘hep. seratched your akin tke your fingernail” When in Rome do a¢ Romans do dinim——mdumia—— dh “wea them nicely a long as you are in their hows” One is never t0 old t learn xo Hfma mina ahd ckask the knowledge from the eral he to the pve’ 4 Foren fut ic aectest atta mamaotia mango ‘venting, forbidden () desired” 4 Diamonds cut diamonds 42 yafullu Madiga ila thasid ‘neg. edits the irom But the ion 4 you are Marcon 1am Eastin fn kunta—sthan fogad—lagayta “it you were wind them tly you faced ‘sete tornado" 4 om the horn of dilemma fala kath ite ‘on the palm of dev” ¢. Idioms in which functions correspond but expressions differ slightly do require the translator to pay special attention to the areas of difference in expression be- {ween SL and TL. However, they are not as problematic as the idioms in (b) above where functions correspond but expressions do not. Needless to say, they are more jproblematic than idioms in (a) above where both functions and expressions corre- spond. The following are a number of examples of such idioms: ‘pxcust oN | same Bos A & WORD FOR: WORD To hold the reins yumike bimini umar "the holds withthe reas ofthe things” + He was the scapegoat aba inast ‘he was the om of the sarietansont | Money beget money eat bij ma (olen) the money. attracts money | She topes to conquer imastan ata “ake feign humility 2 that imakkan (clog) the wil extblsherslfhave contro" LA sheepskin tbua jth hamal “A wold inthe skin of a lamb” | He is il green ima yuals yagdan ‘he eal betes? | To lve one's head yal sreabah ‘he loess mind” | She was the apple of he fathers eye feat gurata Saye abs ‘ane was the joy of eye of her father Eguivalence and tronltaiiy of English and Arabic idioms 6 ~ He was thom in the Neh ana faviatan (aly ‘he was a thorn inthe throat? = Cannot make heads oF tails of something Maile rafshy min ila ‘neg. he knows is Bead fom is fet = At one's back and cll ina eta ‘rubject_10 the egal = By heat San dabei gab “byfon the Back of bean” = Blood is thicker than water iddam ma bist mag (clog) “the blood neg. it becomes water = Cals spade a spade ul lalitwar iter “Say 10 the one-eyed person (be it) one eed” The fat in the ie watlasat “kindle, i cannot be controled? = Dowble talk df mbattan "speech fined (with other implications = Bat one's words yasnaby—kaldmah “he withdraws. hs speech (his words 4d. When expressions and functions differ in both SL and TL, the translator's task becomes extremely difficult. Not only is he required to have almost complete mastery of both SL and TL linguistic system but also a deep understanding and awareness of the SL and TL culture and way of life. Without being fully immersed in both cultures, the translator is likely to find himself helpless and rendering inac- curate literal translations that are extremely difficult if not impossible to understand. ‘The following are examples of this category of idioms: ARAB IOS CHT A WORD-FOR-WoR! EROUSH MEANING ECU TRANSLATION rifil imm arts (ollog) doing nothing “ike the mother ofthe bride" sjamalyyatroje min fafa "the camel limbs’ from it ip to suller forthe wrong reason fab by osat jamal (collog) —_—_tJosvnoboay is stopping you from leaving "the door it accommodates camel” inttania ‘bab seam fort smiled on him ‘pened far hom the or “othe sky? Maras min sts the iderfjocy is more important tha the horse the mare i from the ides ‘eal ath mfallaka bfark0 ha (clog) *EORE Son his Own ‘every she-gost is hung) with rom its tendon! jas ma HOt a fans 4 howe dhided agains tcf cant standicuity “the wolf ‘not it eats but the sheep leads to vunerabilty, sstrdah (collog) sry /untended! 1 lah = tal but hollow (immature) ‘eight eight of a palm tee wilfai fail sa (cllog ) find the mind mind of a aby she goato ‘Mobammad Awad abdema shy ajenkuon “he multiplied Allah "your reward! fam ithe safyiom “he thanked Allah your efforts! ‘james nite "the aha the sueressol its cup sma bubrud (collog) ot get cold aati aya ‘What acrues from wronging. the women bithia——azawaya (colton) Wt destoys the cornerstone min iid ‘who. prased/gave favorable evidence atarce? mba weitha {or the bride her mother and her aunt falarah min ath (collog) fand ten from her seighbourtood’ 14 te) fara wim ‘not take ehe-mowse and is mother Mah Inthe neighbourhood? yiltan sabth aba (cllog) ume the forehead "of his father int ytimlak(coilog) “a monkey it wl ear you! tagabbal ah may Allah revast you gretly for your las (thie {Swat people say when offering thelr condolences to. the family of the deceased) ‘may Allah revard you fo your efforts (this i sald ty the faniy and relatives ofthe deseaed to those ‘who ive offered their condolences and af aking {heir leave) the efor of succesful jatar ays produ. ‘wrongng women engenders havoc onto the wrong- | don't believe what you are saying about hinvher for thee ex epeil relationship between the two ‘of you, Le you are nota disinterested ary. 0 not many agit whose mother is sil around. let hie father be damned ft ot, beat it. may Allah accept (Qour pres / deeds) the one we depend upon can be the equivalent of anyone of the follo- ‘forget about iT dont want to talk about it now, 1 don't fight among eachother; be paint, may the prophet Dixiracesomebodysomehing, When a man wants to get engaged to lady, he usualy arranges fora number of datas to {0 tothe ladys father's howe inorder to formally ack for her band on his behalf. Te delegation wewally ‘Sompries the man's father, important persone from among his relatives, and important people from the local and nearby comm ies, These people ar called jaa. Once they reach their destination, they ‘are usualy received bythe lady’ father and his relatives. short time after that and once the guests ‘re seated, thes hot offers them coffee to dak. The guests take a cup cach but do not dink the coffe. Tait leader tel the ladys father that he and his colleagues wil nt drink the coffee nes they te granted their request, which s the hots approval that his daughter be engaged fo the man on whose behat they are acing. It the lady father apres to this they become happy and dik tei coffee before it ges coll Ion the other hand, their request i not granted, they don't drink the coffe which thus felt cold, Jabs is ao resorted to in stig all sorts of disputes ranging from minor physica injures {0 murder Equivalence and wansltbliy of English ond Arabic idioms 65 saved ah wha (Colloq) ‘Blackened Allgh your face bak (colog.) (am) your woit alt tabi Haka (ctl) ‘onthe rope of your hand” ‘tam falay (colton ) “dream (imp) on me" wah ad bil 7 ‘one a drum board? = tum down = take it on the chin tak trowgh one's hat ~ work one's finger tothe bone = get in Dutch with somebony ~ be aay killer = ay srnedody ot in vender sang) ip service she looked dagger a hi = not 0 et grass grow under ones fest ose heat ose ones heat = on the rocks ~ pas the buck ~ pour ei on trosbled water smey Allah disgrace you for what you id you can depend on te 11s yours, you may have it (i you really ike it) 1s ad 10 anybody who tls you how bea & tament you are wearing i please be pais ‘gnoramesiemply-headed person ate ical innawm "pe tothe bed / the sep? spartod No refuse" yatagabbal atmra—birohin “accept the mater ith spict Fyidiyah ‘ving 1 do wth spo? yatalalamy bidon tafe fotalk without thinking yalfshe—nafsahu yaya murahhbin bik ‘he makes himself not welcome" yabtulu qustra—_jahdini ‘he eens the utmost of is effort” jagete 1 muhlatin mate fonsin ma ‘he alle in rouble with a person tome’ ha mafbsd assyigat ‘he (8) the one worshipped by the lies’ yonabbou faxgan ‘he rebukes a person some’ mvjarad kali ‘no more than talking! jharatha "he looked at him very angrily? 1a yore wage “he doce oot waste the time! yafgidu Tamat “heloses the hope’ agate inabb “he fall inthe ove ft wagtia —sayit “in a tiation bad? yagafa wma fala hearin “he places the blame onthe other! yeaa min Niddot tumor “lessen from the sharpeess ofthe matesa nad Equivalence and wanltabily of English and Arabic idioms o Newmark, P. 1982. Approaches to wanton. Orton = priate oe motir int ‘Sinem: © 197 AVAr- Amis atari e-Ondcemah (Arabic pov). ited by Abd “informer sere? ‘ai Tewab, R. Beir Al-Rizalah Foundation. = saw wood / gourd atcur Went, HL 1980: A dicdonary of modem sandard Arabic, Edited by Conn, LM. Beirut: Libris du te snore’ ‘bea. sow ones wil oat ital Samayah (olog) "he does hie deed eis pushing up the iis ‘ianabs mayyit “pee dead” \V. CONCLUSION ‘This paper bas provided a working definition for idioms, specified their types, land prescnied evidence to the effect that English and Arabic idioms constitute a ‘major area of difficulty for translators and interpreters. It has also examined a large corpus of English and Arabic idioms and arrived at a theoretical framework for dealing with the translatability of idioms. According to this framework, an idiom can be assigned to one of four categories of correspondence between Arabic and English idioms. The framework also predicts degrees of difficulty of translating an idiom from one language into another. Following arc the four correspondence ca- tegories in a descending order of difficulty Idioms with no correspondence between expression and functions, ic. expr and functions are language specifi bb Idioms with corresponding functions in both languages but with completely dif- ferent expressions. Idioms with corresponding functions in both languages, but with slightly different expressions, <4 Idioms with corresponding functions and expressions in both languages. [REFERENCES ‘AL-famad H. 198. Al-Amataa-Shesbinan a-trdainah oranian fk provers). Amman Mat of Bastion ta Youth. ALWaha Act 1975. Kisdbu al-Weseesi fi al-Amihal. (The right anthology of proverbs). Edited by "Av ahan 4 Rowe Banca obits Fost ‘Av Sos, M.ED Abamtat -Srabpon Wanaadie fei-Turth. (Ab prove ad hei sour in he Hertage). Ammen, Jorn: AAs Bookshop. asin MT and Gate 19S 4 sonar of mec ions. 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