Strategies of Translating Idioms from Arabic into English: The Case of Mahfouz’s "Trilogy, Miramar and the Thief and the Dogs"

Abstract

The present study explores the strategies applied in translating idioms from Arabic into English through examining Maḥfūẓ’s works: Al-Thulāthīyah, Al-Liṣṣ wa-al-kilāb, and Mīrāmār. The study also examines how effectively the idioms are translated from Arabic into English, and identifies the most suitable strategies for conveying the idioms that the researcher views as inappropriately translated from Arabic into English. To achieve these aims, the current research will examine some idioms extracted randomly from selected novels by the Noble Laureate Naguib Mahfouz (1911-2006), and their English translation. The idioms are analyzed in terms of Fernando’s (1969) types of idioms, Baker’s (2011) strategies for translating idioms, and Nida’s (1964) model of equivalence in translation. Statement of the Problem: The act of translating idioms is seen as one of the key challenges a translator has to face because, on the one hand, they are language-specific by nature. and since the meanings of idioms cannot be understood from the meanings of their components on the other. In Baker’s point of view, idioms are frozen patterns of language which allow little or no variation in form and often carry meanings which cannot be deduced from their individual components. Idioms cannot easily be translated by someone who knows the regular meaning of their constituents only. Language-specific and culture-specific linguistic terms including idioms do exist in nearly all languages. Translators always face some difficulties in translating such terms or expressions. Arabic and English are both rich in idioms. Naturally, there are lexical gaps between the two languages, a case which makes treating such terms as problematic.