Translation of

Metaphorical Expressions

Necdet YILMAZ Hayrettin ATASEVER Zana GEÇKİN (Mersin University) (Mersin University) (Mersin University)

neco085@hotmail.com 26.12.2011

METAPHOR

METAPHOR KINDSActive MetaphorsDead Metaphors

TRANSLATABILITYOF

METAPHORS

a central tool of cognitive apparatuscentral to our understanding of how

language, thought or discourse are structured

METAPHOR

Active Metaphors

Passive Metaphors

METAPHOR KINDS

Active Metaphors

Relatively newNot necessarily apparentEasy enough to understandOften used in poetry and eloquent speechesAlso known as live metaaphor

Dead Metaphors

No longer effective or even understoodLost in the aeons of timeNo longer act as metaphorsJust become plain wordsSimple functional meaning

The factors that affect translation of metaphorical expressions:

Novelty of the metaphorical image The relevance of the particular

metaphorical expression to the thing it represents

The style of the authorThe type of the expression

TRANSLATABILITY OF METAPHORS

Three alternatives for translating the metaphorical expressions:

1) reproduction of the same metaphorical image in the target language2) substitution of the source language image with a different target language image having a similar sense3) paraphrasing so as to translate just the sense instead of the metaphorical image

(Newmark, P. 1988)

These alternatives leads to seven procedures for translating the metaphorical expressions:

(1) “reproducing the same image in the target language”(2) “replacing the image in the source language with a standard target language image”(3) “translating the metaphor by simile, retaining the image”(4) “translating a metaphor using a simile together with an explanation of its sense”(5) “converting metaphor to sense (paraphrasing)”

(6) “deletion of the metaphorical expression”

(7) “using the same metaphor together with its sense”(Lakoff & Johnson, 1980)

References:

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Low, G., & Cameron, L. (1999) Researching and applying metaphor. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

Newmark, P. (1988). A textbook of translation. New York: Prentice-Hall International.

Tirkkonen-Condit, S. (2000) Quaderns. Revista de traducció 6, (p.11-15).

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