Spanish untranslatables

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[edit] Metaphors, Idioms and Proverbs

These "untranslatables" are deeply rooted in individual cultures, and require that the translator totally abandon any attempt to translate literally word-for-word. Instead, s/he should adhere completely to the concept of dynamic equivalence, seeking the TL (target language) expression which has the same impact on the prime reader as the SL (source language) original would have on a native speaker of the SL.

Metaphors. Larson ^[1] has several useful techniques for dealing with metaphors. The first is a three-step process by which metaphor is changed to simile using the words "as" or "like". Following this the comparison is made explicit so as to avoid any possible misunderstanding. To use the ox metaphor as an example: English metaphor: John is an ox. Simile: John is like an ox. Explicit simile: John is as strong as an ox. The explicit equivalent simile: John es tan fuerte como un caballo. (Note that the ox, at least in Argentine gaucho Spanish, has an image of being emasculated, slow and dumb; this is not the appropriate image, so "horse" is chosen instead as being the dynamic equivalent). Spanish simile: John es como un caballo. Spanish metaphor: John es un caballo.

A second Larson approach is a five-step hierarchy: 1. Keep the metaphor if the TL permits it (i.e., if the equivalent metaphor has the same dynamic effect). 2. If not, change it to a simile and translate. 3. As an alternate, a different metaphor in the TL may be selected if it has the same dynamic impact. 4. Or, the metaphor may be kept and the meaning explained. 5. Finally, the meaning of the metaphor may be translated without keeping the image of a metaphor or simile.

Using our ox metaphor as an example: 1. Juan es un buey (this is not good because of the different image attached to "buey"). 2. Juan es tan fuerte como un buey (better but still not good because although we have made explicit the strength of the "buey," there are other less desirable features of the "buey" in Spanish). 3. Juan es un caballo (good solution using a different metaphor). 4. Juan es un buey porque el buey es un animal muy fuerte (possible but awkward and we still have the problems of the "buey's" other characteristics). 5. Juan es fuerte (we have kept the meaning but lost the imagery).

One final piece of advice for the translator dealing with a metaphor is to see if the solution "works" (i.e., does it really achieve the same dynamic equivalent effect). If it does not, then s/he should proceed down Larson's scale of choices until a solution is found that does indeed "work." The higher up the scale the solution stays, the more elegant and effective the translation will be. But the ultimate criteria remains: if it doesn't "work," don't use it.

Idiomatic expressions have special meanings derived from the cultures they come from. When translated word-for-word they can be either meaningless, seem foreign, or create other problems. For example, the English idiomatic expression "give me a light" for a cigarette cannot be translated word for word as "déme luz" because there is a very close idiomatic expression, "dar a luz," which means to give birth. The more appropriate expression is "déme fuego." English tends to use a lot of compound words, which are a form of idiom; Spanish resists this trend and instead requires prepositions to tie various noun strings together, or else coins a new word. Idiomatic expressions are hard to deal with because they must be memorized or looked up as idioms (and not separate words) in special dictionaries.

Proverbs. Proverbs tend to be strongly linked to folk-culture, especially rural. It is common to find rough dynamic equivalent proverbs across cultures when describing common features of the human experience (birth, love, marriage, occupation, personality features, physical characteristics, good and bad luck, etc). Duff, in his Third Language book,^[2] makes the interesting point that the euphony (the sound and rhythm of a proverb) gives it much of its "punch," and that this is what is lost when making a literal translation. He notes for example the difference between a proverb, such as "an apple a day keeps the doctor away," and a re-written version in prose which is bland and uninspiring: "if you eat an apple every day you will be healthy and will not need a doctor so often." This version would be an example of his "third language," which may contain the meaning, but is not an effective translation.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Mildred Larson, Meaning-Based Translation. Lanham: University Press of America, 1984, pp. 252-254
2. ^ Alan Duff, The Third Language: Recurrent Problems of Translation into English. NY: Pergammon Institute of English, 1981, pp. 95-96

[edit] References

Child, Jack. Introduction to Spanish Translation. Lanham: University Press of America, 1992.

de la Cuesta, Leonel. Lecciones Preliminares de Traductología. Miami: Ediciones Guayacán, 1987.

Larson, Mildred. Meaning-Based Translation. Lanham: University Press of America, 1984.

Nida, Eugene A. Language, Structure and Translation. Stanford: Stanford University Press,1975.

Vázquez-Ayora, Gerardo. Introducción a la Traductología. Washington: Georgetown University Press, 1977.