m


m
m        

   

Emtinan AlQurashi
M

05/12/2008
M    

mmM

mranslation is frequently used to transfer the meaning from Source Language (SL) to
marget Language (mL) and it is a way of establishing contacts between cultures. In
other words, Ơtranslation is a kind of activity which inevitably involves at least two
languages and two cultural traditionsơ. (moury 1978: 200). It is important to understand
the relation between language and culture in order to train translators to conceive the
concept of cultural references. mherefore, cultural references and their strategies will be
discussed in this essay.

mo begin with, Culture can be defined as sets a group of people, or a community, apart
from another group of people or from the rest of the world. Moreover, Newmark
defined the culture Ơas the way of life and its manifestations that are peculiar to a
community that uses a particular language as its means of expression" (1988: 94).
Every culture has unique terms that cannot be found in another culture which is called
Cultural reference.

According to Nostrand, Ơlanguage cannot be understood without reference to the

culture of which it is a part and the social relation which it mediatesơ. Undoubtedly,
both culture and language are as inseparable as the two sides of a sheet of a paper.

mhe translating of unmatched elements of culture causes problems for translation

theory. mherefore, several strategies have been introduced and they are the best suited
for a particular act of communication. mhese strategies can be listed as follow:

1.M Borrowing
2.M Definition
3.M Literal mranslation
4.M Substitution
5.M Lexical Creation
6.M Addition
7.M Omission








 M
M    

amma m!ma
m 
m

"M # 

Borrowing is transferring an Sm expression into the mm in another word, taking

words straight into another language. In addition, it introduces a foreign element
into the mm and reproduces or transliterates the original term.

Borrowing or Ơmranscriptionơ stands at the far end of SL-oriented strategies.

Despite that the term is formally transparent or already explained in the context,
it can be used alone. In other cases, particularly where no knowledge of the SL
by the reader is presumed, borrowing is accompanied by an explanation or a
translator's note.

Example of Religious Cultural borrowing:

mext A

å
 
          "
! #$ &
% % 
'&
%  ( )! * +%,-#

å&/ .

 16 4
5 3 1!2 &

%   0
.

(As-Samman 1994: 78)

mext B

ƠAnd did it not occur to you that you could marry Salah al-Din on condition you
return your Ɲisma?ơ

ƠWhat does that mean?ơ

ƠIt means that you retain the right to divorce him whenever you wish, just as he
does exactly.ơ

(Boullata 1998: 69; italics added)

In this example, it can be observed that the function of Ɲismaƞ in Arabic may be
inconceivable and difficult for the mL readers to understand. In terms of Arab
traditions, Ɲismaƞ has much to do with ƝWho is entitled to break up marriage?ƞ.


M
M    

S"Ma$ 

It is a strategy that is available to the translator when two cultures display a

partial overlap rather than a clear-cut presence vs. Absence of particular element
of culture.

Cultural substitution refers to the case where the translator uses equivalent
words that are ready-made in the mL, and serve the same goal as those of the
SL. In other words, the translator substitutes cultural words of the SL by cultural
words of the mL.

Examples of cultural substitution in translation of proverbs:

mext 1A

mel père, tel fils (French language)

mext 1B

: /  95 78

mext 2A

She is innocent as an egg

mext 2B

Elle est innocente comme un agneau (French language)

(Marouane 2008)

In these two examples, it is observed that the translators substitute the Sms by
expressions which are culturally specific in the mL. For instance, the last example
uses the term Ɲagneauƞ as a cultural equivalent for the word Ɲeggƞ. Yet, if the
translator cannot find a cultural specific expression that substitutes the cultural
expression of the SL, he should resort to paraphrase.

"M
%  

 M
M    

Lexical creation can be defined as a term that created in the mL, and this newly
created lexical item is culturally Ɲemptyƞ and ready to receive and convey the
intended content of the source culture element.

Example of lexical cultural creation:

mext A

Bezalkoholna pića ƠCroatian languageơ

mext B

Soft drinks

(Gideon 1987)

In the text A, the Croatian sentence literally means Ơwithout alcohol drinksơ.
However, the combinations of these words refer to a new element of culture and
that led to a new meaning which is Ơsoft drinksơ.

è"M& 

Something occurs in the Sm and simply omitted from the mm. It reflects the
different ways in which Arabic and English link bits of text together. (James
2002:23)

Under some circumstances, omission can be a valid and useful solution to a

translation problem. For instance, omission may be a justifiable way of dealing
with certain elements which are found to be untranslatable, such as
metalinguistic references, context-specific or culture-specific content.
Additionally, translators may be justified in omitting what would be perceived as
unnecessary or redundant by the target audience.

mext A

...<  A# ?
@ ; > =.; 9 ( : <4( 
;#

mext B

 M
M    

mwo days ago, the American President, Bill Clinton, confirmedƦ

(Ives 1999:3)

English language does not afford a particularly elegant or stylistically in normal

way in this context of expressing the concept Ơtwo days ago in the eveningơ.

%"M'' 

Addition defined as something added to the mm which is not present in the Sm. It
is common feature in Arabic/ English translation. (James 2002:24)

Examples of cultural addition translation:

mext A

;(=
.B 7.

mext B

Ever since the days of murkish hegemony

(James 2002:24)

In text B, additional words are added to the mm in order to make the meaning
understandable which are ƠeverƠ and Ơthe days ofơ. We cannot translate the
sentence by saying Ơsince the time of murkish hegemonyơ because it does not
lead to the actual meaning.

-"M  

mhis type of translation is required in scientific and literature translation. It used

in order to transfer the culture from the SL to the mL and to explain terms that
not exist in the mL.

Example of cultural definition:

 M
M    

mext A

#:
B 9C , ( /D#

(As-Samman 1994: 14)

mext B

If she is widowed, she enters her first Ɲidda. Ơthe legally prescribed period of
months during which she may not see a man or remarryơ.

(Boullata 1998: 7; italics in the original)

mhe word
B is Arabic and Islamic term and it might be not exist in mm. It
should be explained to the mm reader the meaning of this word by a footnote or
between brackets in order to get the meaning of it.

u"M
    

In which the SL grammatical constructions are converted to their nearest mL

equivalents, but the lexical words are again translated singly, out of context.

It is a word for word translation which described as being most common

between languages of the same family and culture. (Jeremy 2008:57).

An example for literal poem translation:

mext A

make, O take these lips away

mhat so sweetly were foresworn

mext B

0
5 & . # 

#7  EFG =

(Ezzeldin 2005:18)
mhe translator here translated text B carefully without changing the words in
order to get just one meaning for the translation.

 M
M    

mhe translator may judge the literal translation to be unacceptable because:

1.M It gives different meaning.

2.M It has no meaning.
3.M It is impossible for structural reasons.
4.M It does not have corresponding expression within the metalinguistic
experience of the mL.
5.M It corresponds to something at a different level of language.

(Jeremy 2008:57)


a

mo sum up, both language and culture are inseparable elements of translation.
However, passing culture references is one of the main difficulties in translation. It is
important to the translator to use the culture translation strategies in order to avoid
such problem and to establish contact between two cultures.

$ 


 

 M
M    


Mundy, Jeremy (2008). Introducing translation studies. Routledge: London and New York

Dickins, James and Hervey, Sandor and Higgins, Ian (2002). mhinking Arabic mranslation,
Routledge: London and New York

As-Samman, Ghada (1994). Al-Qamar Al-Murabba: Qisas Garaƞibia. Manšurat Ghada As-
Samman: Beirut, mranslated by Issa J. Boullata (1998) As mhe Square Moon: Supernatural
males. mhe University of Arkansas: Fayetteville

Newmark, Peter (1988). A mextbook of mranslation. Princes Hall International (UK) Ltd: London,
New York, moronto, Sydney, mokyo, Singapore

Naguib, Ezzeldin M. (2005). mranslation

H(= <. Ibn Sina: Cairo

moury, Gideon. (1978). Revised (1995). mhe Nature and Role of Norms in mranslation. In Venuti,
L. mhe mranslation Studies Reader. Routledge: London

moury, Gideon. (1987). mranslation Across Cultures. Bahri: New Delhi


a '

http://www.hum.aau.dk/~kim/Om08/OmL3.pdf. (2/12/2008 at 15:38)

http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/french/as-sa/ASSA-No21/Article1en.html (2/12/2008 at 15:38)

http://accurapid.com/journal/41culture.htm (2/12/2008 at 15:38)

http://isg.urv.es/publicity/masters/sample/techniques.html (2/12/2008 at 15:39)

http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=16210402 (2/12/2008 at 15:39)

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/jbp/bab/2007/00000053/00000001/art00005;jsessioni
d=4gt6419sql2a.alexandra?format=print (2/12/2008 at 15:39)

http://www.translationdirectory.com/articles/article1704.php (3/12/2008 at 10:57)

 M