Solving Language and Cultural Problems in Proverb Translation from Arabic into English

Abstract

Proverbs, being mostly figurative language, translating them across unrelated languages, causes their translation across unrelated language and cultures like Arabic and English and achieving a comparable translation effect challenging. This study aims to investigate how to solve this problem to make proverb translation more accessible and understandable, stimulating the impact of the target audience (AT). The research methodology applies the multifocal re-conceptualization theory (MRT) as an interdisciplinary approach. Using corpus materials and questionnaires, the data were collected, and two methods; (quantitative/qualitative) were conducted for analysis. Findings, in the first stage indicate the excessive use of the literal strategy of foreignization which negatively affected the target readers' responses, their accessibility, and comprehension of the translated texts. In this study, we hypothesized about a conceptual relationship between the literal and referential meanings of the proverb texts. This relationship is based on the proverb referent prototypical components, through which the proverb meaning could be guessable to a certain extent. The study concludes that image schemas, metaphorical linguistic systems of the target language (TL), and cultural models of the TL recipients have to be considered in transferring the proverb message from the source language (SL) into TL. Furthermore, adopting the concept of referent prototypicality in the target texts helped the recipients to identify the proverb Image Schema and the general message even if they did not reconstruct the exact meaning of the proverb.