CULTURAL TRANSLATION OF PROVERBS FROM NEPALI INTO ENGLISH

Nabaraj Neupane(1*),

(1) Tribhuvan University, Prithvi Narayan Campus, Pokhara, Nepal
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract


Proverbs are witty, pithy, and epigrammatic expressions. They are idiosyncratic, being based on a specific culture. As cultural translation is difficult, translation of proverbs is not easy. Yet, translation practices on such genre have been appearing. In such a scenario, some such practices are found in the domain of Nepali into English translations. In this background, the present study aims at reviewing the available models for translating proverbs and recommending one, which can be used for translating Nepali proverbs into English. To achieve the objectives, I collected twenty proverbs purposively from Lall (1991) and Sharma (2000), primarily because I could deal only with twenty in a short period and limited space. By way of qualitative analysis and interpretation and by testing Wilson's (2009) model, I have concluded that the model is applicable for the purpose.


Keywords


proverb, translation, model, connotation, context

Full Text:

PDF

References


Akbarian, I. (2012). A grey area in translating proverbial expressions: The case of English and Persian. Procedia: Social and Behavioural Sciences, 47, 704-710. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.06.721

Al-khreshen, M. H., & Almaaytah, S. A. (2018). English proverbs into Arabic through machine translation. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 7 (5), 158-166. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.7n.5p.158.

Al Shehab, M. (2016). The ability of translation students in translating English proverbs into Arabic and vice-versa at Jadara University in Jordan. Journal of Literature, Language and Linguistics, 29, pp. 10-19.

Azizah, Lulu Atun (2018). Translating English into Indonesian proverb analysis. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 297, 205.

Bassnett, S, (2005). Translation studies (3rd ed.). London & New York: Routledge.

Bastin, Georges L. (2020). Adaptation. In Mona Baker & Gabriela Saldanha (Eds.), Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies (3rd ed.) (pp. 10-14). London & New York: Routledge.

Dam, Helle V.; Brogger, Matilde Nisbeth; & Zethsen, Karen Korning (Eds.) (2019). Moving boundaries in translation studies. London & New York: Routledge.

Dicerto, Sara (2018). Multimodal pragmatics and translation: A new model for source text analysis. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Duff, A. (1989). Translation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Durmaz, M. (2017). Tracing the local culture in a reading book. Journal of Languages and Culture, 8(9), 141-146. Retrieved from https://academicjournals.org/journal/JLC/article-full-text-pdf/4309E1B66009.

Faiq, Said. (Ed.). (2019). Discourse in translation. London & New York: Routledge.

Gorjian, B. (2008). Translating English proverbs into Persian: A case of comparative linguistics. Retrived from www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/projects/cropus/UCCTS2008proceedings/papers/Gorjian.pdf.

Hatim, B., & Masson, I. (1990). Discourse and the translator. London: Longman.

Hernadi, P., & Steen, F. (1999). The tropical landscapes of proverbia: A crossdisciplinary tranvelogue. Retrived from http://cobweb.ucla.edu./culture/Hernadi_Steen_99.html

Krishnamurthy, R. (2011). Indian tradition. In Baker, M., & Saldanha, G. (Ed.), Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies. (2nd ed.). London & New York: Routledge.

Lall, K. (1991). Nepalese book of proverbs. Kathmandu: Tiwari's Pilgrims Book House.

Mollanazar, H. (2001). Naturalness in the translation of novels from English to Persian (Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Warwick, UK). Retrieved from http://ga.warwick.ac.uk/wrap/1138.

Neupane, N. (2017). Strategies used in translation of culture specific concepts: Exploration into Nepali novels (Unpublished PhD Dissertation). Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Pluger, C. (2015). Translating New Testament proverb-like sayings in the style of local proverbs. The Bible Translator, 66(3), 324-345. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2051677015610110

Qassem, M. A., & Vijayasarathi, G. (2015). Problematicity of translating cultural idiomatic expressions from English into Arabic. Asia Pacific Translation and Intercultural Studies, 2(1), 57-73. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/23306343.2015.1016259.

Sharma, J. P. (2000). Nepali-English proverbial dictionary. Sankhuwasabha, Koshi: Ms Indira Sharma.

Sharma, M, R., & Shrestha, D. (1999). Nepali sāhityako sankshipta itihās (5th ed.). Lalitpur: Sajha Prakashan.

Shehav, Ekrewa, & Daragmeh, Abdelkarim. (2014). A context-based approach to proverb translation: The case of Arabic into English translation. Translation Review, 90(1), pp. 51-68. https://doi.org/10.1080/07374836.2014.9867799.

Thalji, M. B. (2015). The translation of proverbs: Obstacles and strategies (Master’s Thesis). Middle East University, Amman, Jordan. Retrieved from https://meu.edu.jo/libraryTheses/5871fd344b5b6_1.pdf.

Turner, R. L., & Turner, D. R. (2009). A comparative and etymological dictionary of Nepali language. New Delhi: Adarsh Books.

Wang, J. (2019). Translating and rewriting Chinese proverbs: A case study of Howard Goldblatt’s English translation of Mo Yan’s “Shengsi Pilao”. English Language and Literature Studies, 9(2), 12-24. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.5539/ells.v9n2p12.

Wilson, F. C. (2009). A model for translating metaphors in proverbs (French to English): A cognitive descriptive approach. An unpublished M. A. thesis. The University of British, Columbia, Okanagan, Kelowna. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2429/12923




DOI: https://doi.org/10.24071/llt.v24i2.3045

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2021 Nabaraj Neupane

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Indexed and abstracted in:

     

 

 

LLT Journal Sinta 2 Certificate (S2 = Level 2)

We would like to inform you that LLT Journal: A Journal on Language and Language Teaching has been nationally accredited Sinta 2 by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia based on the decree  No. Surat Keputusan 158/E/KPT/2021. Validity for 5 years: Vol 23 No 1, 2020 till Vol 27 No 2, 2024

  

 

This work is licensed under CC BY-SA.

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

 

Free counters!


 LLT Journal: A Journal on Language and Language Teaching, DOI: https://doi.org/10.24071/llt, e-ISSN 2579-9533 and p-ISSN 1410-7201is published twice a year, namely in April and October by the English Language Education Study Programme of Teacher Training and Education Faculty of Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.