Page 18 - Translation Journal July 2015
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. Onye nwe àkwá nke a? Who has this egg?
iv. Onye nwe àkwà nke a? Who has this bed?
4.6 Idiomatic Expressions
In the words Robins (1976:65), an idiom refers to habitual collocations of more than one word, that tend to be used together, with
a semantic function not readily deducible from the other uses of the component words apart from each other. Therefore, it is practically
impossible to translate an idiom word for word without distorting the meaning. Below are some examples:
Example 1:
Source Language (French) Target Language (English)
L’homme tourne autour du pot. The man is going round the pot. (wrong)
The man is beating about the bush. (correct)
Example 2: Target Language (English)
Source Language (Igbo) i. Ada is killing Oge.(wrong)
Ada na-egbu oge. ii. Ada is killing time.(wrong)
iii. Ada is wasting time (correct).
Ada nwere anya-ukwu. i. Ada has bulky eyes. (wrong)
ii. Ada is greedy. (correct)
Comments:
One of the greatest difficulties encountered by translators is the inherent idiomatic nature of the language. For example, the Igbo
language is inherently heavily idiomatic and this phenomenon presents great difficulties to non-native speakers translating texts into or
from the language.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, one can state without fear of contradiction that no translation is absolute or perfect. All translations are subject
to perfection. However, to minimize the levels of fidelity erosion in translations, the translator is encouraged to consult relevant sources
of information, whenever in doubt of the exact meaning or equivalent of a word or expression. Good monolingual, bilingual and/or
multilingual dictionaries as well as encyclopaedia should be consulted for the purpose of accurate decoding of source language words
and expressions. A translator, who is in difficulty, should not hesitate to consult linguistic experts or cultural informants in case of linguistic
and cultural difficulties respectively. Equally, the translator is not expected to improve upon the quality of the source language text in
terms of its content and form. Otherwise, he will alter the message and style of the original text. And this will amount to the fidelity erosion
in translation.
WORKS CITED
Ajunwa, E. (2014). Translation: Theory and Practice. Awka: ENOVIC Publishing Co Ltd.
Bloomfield, Leonard. (1973). Language, London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd.
Bassnet-McGuire, Susan. (1980). Translation Studies. London: Metheun.
Bussman, Hadumod. (2006). Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics. Trans. Gregory P. Trauth and Kerstin Kazzazi. New
York: Routledge.
Flamand, Jacques. (1983). Écrire et traduire sur la voie de la création. Ottawa: Vermillon.
Hatim, Basil and Jeremy Munday (2006). Translation: An Advanced Resource Book. New York: Routledge.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globalization]
Mounin, George. (1973). Les Problèmes Théoriques de la Traduction. Paris : Gallimond, 1963.
Moskowitz, D. «Le traducteur : recepteur et destinataire du message» dans Etudes de Linguistique Appliquée ... Paris : Didier, xii, Oct-
Dec.
18 | Translation Journal - July 2015
iv. Onye nwe àkwà nke a? Who has this bed?
4.6 Idiomatic Expressions
In the words Robins (1976:65), an idiom refers to habitual collocations of more than one word, that tend to be used together, with
a semantic function not readily deducible from the other uses of the component words apart from each other. Therefore, it is practically
impossible to translate an idiom word for word without distorting the meaning. Below are some examples:
Example 1:
Source Language (French) Target Language (English)
L’homme tourne autour du pot. The man is going round the pot. (wrong)
The man is beating about the bush. (correct)
Example 2: Target Language (English)
Source Language (Igbo) i. Ada is killing Oge.(wrong)
Ada na-egbu oge. ii. Ada is killing time.(wrong)
iii. Ada is wasting time (correct).
Ada nwere anya-ukwu. i. Ada has bulky eyes. (wrong)
ii. Ada is greedy. (correct)
Comments:
One of the greatest difficulties encountered by translators is the inherent idiomatic nature of the language. For example, the Igbo
language is inherently heavily idiomatic and this phenomenon presents great difficulties to non-native speakers translating texts into or
from the language.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, one can state without fear of contradiction that no translation is absolute or perfect. All translations are subject
to perfection. However, to minimize the levels of fidelity erosion in translations, the translator is encouraged to consult relevant sources
of information, whenever in doubt of the exact meaning or equivalent of a word or expression. Good monolingual, bilingual and/or
multilingual dictionaries as well as encyclopaedia should be consulted for the purpose of accurate decoding of source language words
and expressions. A translator, who is in difficulty, should not hesitate to consult linguistic experts or cultural informants in case of linguistic
and cultural difficulties respectively. Equally, the translator is not expected to improve upon the quality of the source language text in
terms of its content and form. Otherwise, he will alter the message and style of the original text. And this will amount to the fidelity erosion
in translation.
WORKS CITED
Ajunwa, E. (2014). Translation: Theory and Practice. Awka: ENOVIC Publishing Co Ltd.
Bloomfield, Leonard. (1973). Language, London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd.
Bassnet-McGuire, Susan. (1980). Translation Studies. London: Metheun.
Bussman, Hadumod. (2006). Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics. Trans. Gregory P. Trauth and Kerstin Kazzazi. New
York: Routledge.
Flamand, Jacques. (1983). Écrire et traduire sur la voie de la création. Ottawa: Vermillon.
Hatim, Basil and Jeremy Munday (2006). Translation: An Advanced Resource Book. New York: Routledge.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globalization]
Mounin, George. (1973). Les Problèmes Théoriques de la Traduction. Paris : Gallimond, 1963.
Moskowitz, D. «Le traducteur : recepteur et destinataire du message» dans Etudes de Linguistique Appliquée ... Paris : Didier, xii, Oct-
Dec.
18 | Translation Journal - July 2015
