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Article published In:
Babel
Vol. 68:6 (2022) ► pp.860–889

Arabic-English metaphor translation from a cognitive linguistic perspective

Evidence from Naguib Mahfuz Midaq Alley and its translated version

| University of Jordan
| University of Jordan

This article aims to analyze the translation of Arabic metaphors into English in Naguib Mahfuz’s novel Zuqaq Al-Midaq (1966), which Trevor Le Gassick translated as Midaq Alley. With conceptual metaphor theory based on the notion of main meaning focus (Kövecses 2017) and the cogno-cultural approach (Al-Zoubi, Al-Ali, and Al-Hasnawi’s 2007) as its theoretical framework, it uses metaphor identification procedure (MIP) proposed by Pragglejaz Group (2007) to identify the metaphorical expressions and Steen’s steps (2007) to extract the conceptual metaphors from linguistic expressions. This study explores how metaphors reflect cultural aspects and how the same conceptual mappings can be realized differently according to the cultural context. The results reveal that metaphors of similar mapping conditions realized similarly constitute the most frequent category, followed by metaphors of similar mapping conditions realized differently, and then by metaphors of different mapping conditions. The study concludes with remarks on the strategies used in translating each category.

Keywords: conceptual metaphor theory, cognitive translation hypothesis, conceptual mappings, translation, culture
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
    • 2.1Overview of the novel
    • 2.2Strategies of metaphor translation
    • 2.3Previous studies
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Data collection
    • 3.2Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP)
    • 3.3Steen’s steps
    • 3.4The cogno-cultural approach
  • 4.Data analysis
    • 4.1Quantitative data analysis
    • 4.2Qualitative data analysis
      • 4.2.1Metaphors of similar mapping conditions realized similarly
      • 4.2.2Metaphors of similar mapping conditions realized differently
      • 4.2.3Metaphors of different mapping conditions
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 25 November 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00296.kha
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