0202 ‫ ساڵى‬4 ‫ ژمارە‬02 ‫پاشكۆی بەرگى‬
‫گۆڤارى زانکۆ بۆ زانستە مرۆڤایەتییەکان‬
Translating Idioms from Kurdish to English According to Mona Baker's
strategies
pp. (246-251)
Rawand Sabah
Ishik University Lecturer
[email protected]
Abstract
The paper focuses on difficulties translators face when translating idioms from Kurdish to English. Firstly,
idioms are defined and then idioms are translated from Kurdish to English in the light of Mona Baker's
strategies. The data has been gathered from written resources. The idioms are randomly collected from them and
then translated based on the strategies. It concludes that these strategies are suitable for translating Kurdish
idioms though the translators face difficulties when applying these strategies.
Keywords: Idioms, Culture, Difficulties, Definitions, Strategies, Translations.
1. INTRODUCTION
Idioms are regarded part of daily language. When translators face idioms in the
translation process they are the most problematic and challenging ones since not all idioms
have direct equivalents and they are particular to a single culture. It is not possible to define
any unique approach in the translating process since so many idioms are culturally specific
and thus the pragmatic meaning must be much more complicated than the literal meaning.
Larson (1984, p.20) defines idiom as "a string of words whose meaning is different from the
meaning conveyed by the individual words". According to Larson, (1984, p.142) an idiom
"carries certain emotive connotations not expressed on other lexical items." In the Longman
dictionary of English idioms (Longman Group Ltd: 1979) idioms are described as "a fixed
group of words with a special different meaning from the meaning of the separate words". In
the light of the above definitions, it can be clarified that idioms cannot be translated literally
since their meaning cannot be obtained from its individual elements. For example the idiom
(‫ووی‌ووشتر‌ديبیىێت‬
‌
‌ ) which can literally be translated as (He has a camel's dream) has nothing
ً‫خ‬
to do with a camel's dream. Rather it refers to a dream or wish that will probably never come
true. In English it can be best translated as (He is just building castle in the air). According to
Marif (as cited in Ali, 2012, pp. 19-18) the idioms in Kurdish can be classified into three
categories ; 1- idioms whose meanings are different from the elements composing the whole
idioms such as phrases like (‫ )گێژو‌وێژ‬which can be translated as (stupid or foolish); 2- there
are idioms whose meanings can be predicted through the elements building the idioms such as
(‫دي ست‌كورت‬
‌ ) which can be translated as (poor or pitiable); 3- One part or element of which
renders the meaning of the idiom such as (‫ ) ڕووگرژ‬as can be translated into (gloomy). In her
book, "In Other Words", Mona Baker (1992) thinks that the forms of idioms cannot be
changed and have no variations. Their meanings cannot be construed from their individual
constituents. She explains the difficulties of idioms by mentioning some features of idioms as
follow:
1)-The word orders of idioms cannot be changed, that is words are connected, fixed and
their place cannot be altered. For example,. “go to rack and ruin” not “go to ruin and rack”.
2)- No words of an idiom can be omitted. Speakers of languages are not allowed to omit
any constituent. For example, “shed crocodile tears” not “shed tears”.
3)- No additional words can be added to idioms, for example, “have a narrow escape” not
“have a narrow quick
4)- No elements of an idiom can be substituted by another element. E.g. “out of sight, out
of mind” not “out of sight, out of heart”.
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5)- The grammatical structures of an idiom cannot also be modified. We have the idiom of
“ring the bell” but we don’t have “the bell was ringed”(Baker, 1992: pp26-42).
1.2. DATA COLLECTION
The corpus is mainly collected from written resources of books , dictionaries and daily
conversations of both languages, such as (Rhetoric in Kurdish Literature) by Aziz
Gardi, and (Idiom in Kurdish Language) by Jala Muhamad Subhani. On the other
hand most of the data in English taken from (Longman Dictionary of Idioms).
1.3. METHODOLOGY
The paper attempts to translate idioms from Kurdish to English according to Mona Baker's
strategies. It also tries to find out the problems translators confront during the process of
translation, and how translators choose the best and the most appropriate strategy to translate
idioms from the source text into the target text idioms. This can be done when translators
have knowledge about Mona Baker's strategies and then understand the meaning of idioms so
that he/she can translate the idioms accordingly.
1.4. DIFFICULTIES OF TRANSLATING IDIOMS
Culture is one of the difficulties facing translators since meaning mainly depends on the
culture of the target language. Translators are required to have a good cross-cultural
awareness; this is because words that have different connotations in one language might not
have the same emotive associations in another language. The differences between Kurdish
and English cultures make the process of translation an arduous task. Therefore, the qualified
translators must have a good knowledge about the ways of transferring the meaning of idioms
between the source and target language.
1.5. OBJECTIVES
The object is to clarify if Mona Baker's strategies are applicable or understandable when
translators use them in translating idioms. The paper is seeking to answer the question
whether these strategies are suitable or not when used in translating idioms from Kurdish to
English or vice versa.
2. TRANSLATION STRATEGIES FOR TRANSLATING IDIOMS
Translation of idioms relies on the context in which they occur. For translating idioms,
there are various strategies for translators. A translator's task here is to choose an appropriate
strategy to clarify the meaning of idioms for target language readers. Below are some
strategies which translators can use. A translator may use a strategy which involves finding
equivalent idioms for the target and source languages. There may be a case where translators
cannot find equivalent idioms. In this case, translators may resort to paraphrase and add
resource idioms to clarify the meanings of idioms for readers. Fernando and Flavell express
that there is “strong unconscious urge in most translators to search hard for an idiom in the
receptor language, however inappropriate it may be” (1981, p.82). The strategies which are
used in this article are those suggested by Mona Baker (1992). They are going to be illustrated
more by using some examples of idiomatic expressions in both English and Kurdish as the
source and target languages.
A-Using an Idiom of Similar Meaning and Form
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The translator uses this strategy when he/she can find equivalent idioms in the target
language. The idioms are alike in both languages in terms of meaning and lexical items. This
approach can hardly be achieved since languages are usually different in the way they identify
a single concept. But it is still considered as an ideal strategy for translating idioms. Here are
some examples for this strategy:
‌ ً‫دیوار‌بً‌گوێ‌ی‬
1‌
Walls have ears
‌ ‫دوریًوي‬
2‌
‌ ً‫چ‌بچیىی‌ئ‬
‫و‌دي‬
‌
As you sow , so shall you reap‌
‌ 3‌ ً‫چاوكراويی‬
‌
Open-eyed
‌ 4-‫پێديوگی‌شكاود‬
‌
Broke silence
According to the translation of the above examples we see that both meaning and form of the
source language idioms are identical with target language idioms. In the above examples, the
lexical items and the sense are not lost.
B- Using an Idiom of Similar Meaning but Dissimilar Form
In this strategy the meaning of the target idiom is like the original idiom but the lexical items
are different. Below are examples for this strategy:
5-‌‫زماوی‌قوت‌داوي‬
Has the cat got your tongue?
‌ 6-ً‫بًر‌داڵو‬
‌ ً‫‌ل‬،
‌ ً‫ر‌چاواو‬
‌
‌ ً‫ی‌ل‬
ً‫ب‬
‌ ‫وي‬
‌ ً‫ئ‬
‌
Out of sight, out of mind
‌ 7-‫رواكًم‬
‌ ‫كاوی‌دي‬
‌
‌ ‌ً‫ر‌ل‬
ً‫قس‬
‌ ً‫س‬
‌
I couldn’t make head or tail of his talk
8-‫پشتی‌سًری‬
‌
‌ً‫ڕیی‬
‌ ً‫چاوی‌پ‬
‌
His eyes burned in his head
9-‫بًكورت‌و‌كورماوجی‬
‌
This is short and sweet.
In the light of the above examples so as to represent the same meaning, we make use of
different lexical items.
C- Translation by Paraphrase
This is one of the most common strategies in the process of translating idioms; it is used when
it is difficult to use the first and second strategies. Because of the lexical or stylistic
differences between the source and target languages, we will not always have correspondence.
We should elaborate more on the source idiom to transfer its meaning to the target language.
It is noted here that the given meaning would not be an exact equivalent or semantic
equivalent of the source idiom.
‌ 10‌ ‫پێی‌سووك‌كردووي‬
He moves easily
‌ 11‌ ‫پێێ‌قورش‌كردووي‬
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He walks heavily
‌ ً‫ديڵێی‌بسوی‌الڕێی‬
12‌
Someone is unable to take the right path.
The use of this strategy may affect the real meaning of the source idiom if translating source
language idiom is not done accurately So, it will change the cultural importance the idiom
has. Consequently, the readers will not have the chance of being familiar with the culture of
the source language idiom. Mona Baker defines paraphrasing as "translating a source
language idiom by giving its meaning in the target language. By using this strategy the impact
of the idiom and its cultural significance will be lost when there is no equivalence between the
two languages (Baker, 1992, p. 74).
D- Translation by Omission
This strategy is used when there is no clear match between the two language idioms or when
the translator cannot find any sort of equivalents. This strategy can also be used when the
idiom is very difficult for the translator to translate. Here, the translator attempts to omit the
whole or part of the idiom. As in the following examples:
‌ 13-‫ر‌واوێرێت‌بًكورتان‌شێري‬
‌
‌ ً‫ب‬
ً‫ك‬
‌
He cannot get on his enemy, instead, he revenges on someone weak.
‌ ً‫وًی‬
14‌ ً‫ڵێی‌داری‌خ‬
‌
‌
‫دي‬
Curved and ugly
‌ 15-‫ساردوو‌گًرمی‌زۆر‌چێشتوي‬
‌
‌Very experienced person
‌ 16-‫كتر‌ديخۆن‬
‌
‌
ً‫ری‌ی‬
‌ ً‫سوێىد‌ب‬
ً‫س‬
‌
They are friendly and lovely with each other.
17-ً‫سێبًری‌تاڵ‬
‌
Not lovely and attractive
‌ ً‫سیىً‌ساف‬
18‌
Forgivable person
‌ 19-‫شًڕو‌شۆڕ‬
‌
Tension, riot, conflict
20-‫خواتًوي‬
‌
‌
ً‫ر‌خۆی‌ئ‬
‌
ً‫جگ‬
He has lots of sadness and suffering.
‌ 21-‫رگی‌بۆی‌ژاوديكا‬
‌
‌
ً‫ج‬
He pities someone.
‌ 22-‫جمًی‌دێت‬
‌ ‌ً‫ك‬
‌ ً‫ڵێه‌شوێى‬
‌
‌
‫دي‬
23-ً‫لًگوێی‬
‌ ‌ً‫ڵق‬
‌ ً‫ئ‬
‌
Mercenary
‌ 24-‫ئاوی‌زۆر‌ديوێت‬
‌
‌‫ویري‬
‌ ًٌ‌‫م‬
‌ ً‫ئ‬
‌
It carries lots of meanings or it takes a lot of time.
‌ 25-‫گًروو‌واسوتێىی‬
‌ ‌‫م‌دۆشاوي‬
‌
‌
ً‫ئ‬
The task is not dangerous.
It is noticed here that the translator has eliminated some parts of the idioms and he/she has
changed an idiomatic expression into non-idiomatic expression. Here, the translator cannot
transfer the significant meaning of the source idiom into the target text. Baker (1992)
proposes another strategy by providing literal translation of the target idiom. There is no
doubt that target readers should agree with literal translation of the idiom and it should be
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lexically changed. It is not always easy for translator to give literal translation when not
finding appropriate equivalent. If the text is translated literally, it will bring confusion to
readers. Newmark (1988, p.69) states that literal translation is to provide a word-for-word
translation of the source language idiom, as it leads to giving confusion to the idiom. For
example, translating (A rotten apple) literally as ( ‫ )سێوێكی ‌بۆگً‌ن‬is somehow obscure and
cannot convey the sense at all. The best way may be to translate it as (‌ً‫ڵ‌كً ‌كاربكات‬
‌ ‫ودي‬
‌ ً‫سێكی‌گ‬
‌
‌
ً‫ك‬
‫وروبًر‬
‌
‌‫ركًساوی ‌دي‬
‌ ً‫س‬
‌ ‌)‌ so as to avoid unnaturalness. For this reason, the translator should be
careful of the real meanings the writer wants to represent when translating an idiom into the
target language. The translator should be careful not to lose the sense and the meaning for the
target readers, and in the case of giving a literal translation, he/she should select those
equivalents which carry the same cultural effects as that of the original.
3. Discussion
After a translator identifies an idiom and differentiates it from non-idiomatic expressions,
he/she will select the suitable strategy to translate it. There is no doubt that the translator will
face some difficulties and problems in the beginning of the process. It is translator's task to
find an appropriate strategy in the process of translating the source idiom into the target
language. A source language idiom can have no equivalent in the target language. This can be
a very significant feature a translator should notice. Different languages communicate
different concepts and realities in different ways which are specific to that language.
Therefore, sometimes a same concept or idea is referred to distinctly in two different
languages. Of course it does not mean that because the idiom has no equivalent in the target
language it should not be translated. The translator tries to translate it in a way that the sense
will not be lost. In translating (‫ديكوژێت‬
‌ ‌ ً‫ك‬
‌ ‌ً‫رديكی ‌دوو ‌چۆل‬
‌ ً‫ب‬
‌ ‌ ً‫ب‬
‌ ) the translator has no problem
during his process of translation because it has an equivalent in English as (Kill two birds
with one stone ‌). The meaning and the sense is the same in both Kurdish and English
languages. It means to do or achieve two aims at the same time. For example in the case a
person laughs a lot, the Kurdish say) ‫ی‌پێبكًوێت‬
‌
‌ ‌‫ئًوي‬
‫ودي‬
‌ ‌ ‫)مرد‬, this can be translated as (he died of
laughter). It is an informal way of saying) ‫( )زۆر ‌پێكً‌وی‬laughed a lot). Another example of
idioms which can be translated by using the strategy of different forms and similar meaning is
an example such as ‌)ً‫بً ‌ئیش‬
‌ ‌ ً‫ڕیش‌وی‌ی‬
‌
‌ ً‫(ب‬
‌ that can be translated as (actions speak louder than
words.) or the expression)‫ ) ‌ ‌تاسوار ‌وً‌گلێ ‌وابێت ‌بً‌سوار‬can be translated as (no pain, no gain)
which refers to the situation of suffering in order to gain the thing we have intended to
achieve.
4. Conclusion
We come to the conclusion that translating idioms from Kurdish to English poses
difficulties for translators firstly because the meaning of individual elements of idioms is
mostly different, and secondly the cultures of both languages are different. We come also to
conclude that translating idioms from Kurdish to English according to the aforementioned
strategies, to some extent, works well, especially for strategies number one and two though it
is hard to find exact equivalences. When we come to strategy number three, it is the most
common one because it is applicable to translating most idioms whereas strategy number four
poses confusion for translators since it is not understandable for readers to get the exact
meaning. In order to better translate an idiom, the translator should identify it from those
expressions which are not idioms, then investigate the classification to which that particular
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idiom belongs and select the suitable strategy for his translation. There will often be words in
the source language which are not idioms but are best translated with an idiom.
References
Baker, M. (1992). In Other Words: A Course Book on Translation. London and New York:
Routledge.
Fernando, C., & Flavell, R. (1981). On Idiom: Critical View and Perspectives (Exeter
Linguistic Studies), University of Exeter.
Gardi, A. (1972). Rhetoric in Kurdish Literature [ Rewanbeji le Adebi Kurdida]. Erbil.
Larson, M.L. (1984). Meaning Based Translation: A Guide to Cross Language Equivalence.
London and New York: University Press of America.
Longman Dictionary of Idioms. (1998). UK: Longman.
Newmark, p. (1988). A Textbook of Translation. New York and London: Practice – hall.
Ali, J. M. (2012). Idiom in Kurdish Language [ ediyom le zumani Kurdida].u Sulaimaniah:
Ministry of Youth and Culture
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