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Article published In:
Cognitive Linguistic Studies
Vol. 9:1 (2022) ► pp.110–127

Metaphoric proverbs in EFL learners’ translation

ORCID logo | Mouloud Mammeri University of Tizi-Ouzou

Metaphoric proverbs represent interesting cultural instances of conventional metaphors (Belkhir 2014, 2012). The ubiquity of metaphoric proverbs in language and the problems this phenomenon causes in translation is an issue that requires close attention. Translation aims at providing semantic equivalence between two languages. According to Vinay and Darbelnet (1995), equivalence constitutes the adequate method that should be used by translators when dealing with proverbs. However, no translator can provide perfect translation of a source text due to cultural specificities. The present paper offers a modest report of an experimental study conducted with a group of EFL students who have been taught translation as a subject in a higher education context (Mouloud Mammeri University). A set of English proverbs has been collected to build up the experiment that was administered to the subjects who were asked to translate them into Arabic, then into their first language, Kabyle. The question raised is whether these students are able to translate the proverbs appropriately. The study aims (1) to investigate translation strategies used by EFL learners; and (2) to show how learners’ L1 (Kabyle) and L2 (Arabic) interfere in the translation of English proverbs. The results showed that the more the students were acquainted with proverbs, the more they used equivalence in their translation. Similarly, the lesser they were acquainted with proverbs, the more they used literal translation or paraphrase. In addition, some translations provided by the participants revealed the presence of language interference.

Keywords: translation, equivalence, metaphoric proverbs, language interference
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Proverbs in conceptual metaphor theory
  • 3.Proverbs in translation studies
  • 4.Methodology
    • 4.1Place of investigation and participants
    • 4.2Proverbs sampling and experiment
    • 4.3Quantitative and qualitative analyses
  • 5.Results and discussion
    • 5.1Frequencies of strategies in learners’ translations
      • 5.1.1Frequencies of strategies in English proverbs translations into Arabic
      • 5.1.2Frequencies of strategies in English proverbs translations into Kabyle
    • 5.2Acquaintance with proverbs and translation strategies
    • 5.3Proverb translation and language influence
      • 5.3.1Influence of Kabyle
      • 5.3.2Influence of Arabic
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 30 May 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/cogls.00073.bel
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