Assessing the Translation of English Janus Words into Arabic

Authors

  • Asst. Prof. Essam Taher Muhammed University of Mosul / College of Arts Dept. of Translation Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.69513/jnfh.v1.i.2.en5

Keywords:

Accuracy, Culture, Janus-words, Homonymy, Linguistic Context.

Abstract

The aim of this study is to highlight the challenges that might arise while translating English Janus words into Arabic. It is hypothesized that the clues provided by the linguistic context, which inexperienced translators often fail to account for, have a major impact on how the English Janus words are rendered. In addition, the study assumes that freshman translators tend to automatically give a single meaning to each lexical item, without taking into consideration the several additional or secondary meanings that a lexical item might have. To accomplish the aims of the present study, the researcher selects five examples of English Janus words taken from Mittendorff, A. (2018). To collect data for this study, the chosen samples are presented to six MA students at Mosul University's Department of Translation to translate into Arabic during the academic year 2023–2024. © THIS IS AN OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE UNDER THE CC BY LICENSE. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The study concludes that the respondents, in several cases, fail to take into account the clues provided by the linguistic context, ultimately resulting in several inaccurate renditions. Following that, the researcher strongly suggests that the influence of the linguistic context should be taken into consideration while translating such challenging terms.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

References

Booty, O. (2008). The Funny Side of English: A Read-n-Laugh Manual to the English Language. Delhi: Pustak Mahal Publishing Co.

Brdar, M., Raffaelli, I., &Fuchs, M. (2012). Cognitive Linguistics Between University and Variation. UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Butterfield, J. (2008). Damp Squid: The English Language Laid Bare. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Cann, R. (1993). Formal Semantics: An Introduction.UK: Cambridge University Press

Gorrell, R.M. (1994). Watch Your Language!: Mother Language and Her Wayward Children. USA: University of Nevada Press.

Jackson, H. (1989). Words and Their Meanings.London: Tayler &Francis Ltd.

Kreidler, C.W. (1998). Introducing English Semantics. NY: Routledge.

Mittendorff, A.J. (2018). Autoantonymy 204. 2nd edition. Canada: ITD Press.

Nababan, M.R. (2012). Pengembangan Model Penelitian Kualitas Terjemahan. Kajian Linguistik dan Sastra. Vol. 24(1): 44-53.

Panther, K.U. &Thomburg, L.L. (2012). Metonymy and Pragmatic Inferencing. Cited in in Ruizde et al. Cognitive Linguistics: A Linguistic Perspective. P.182. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: Benjamins Publishing Co.

Ravin, Y. & Leacock, C. (2002). Plysemy: Theoretical and Computational Approaches. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Royce, W. (2011). Eureka! Discover and Enjoy the Hidden Power of the English Language. NY: Morgan James Publishing.

Ruizde, F.J., Ibaᾑez, M. & Masegosa, A.G. (2014). Cognitive Linguistics: A Linguistic Perspective. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: Benjamins Publishing Co.

Thakur, D. (2017). Linguistics Simplified: Semantics. 1st edition. India: Baharati Bhawan Publishers & Distributors.

Downloads

Published

2024-06-28

How to Cite

Assessing the Translation of English Janus Words into Arabic. (2024). Al-Noor Journal for Humanities, 2(2). https://doi.org/10.69513/jnfh.v1.i.2.en5

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 3 4 5 6 > >>