Добавил:
Upload Опубликованный материал нарушает ваши авторские права? Сообщите нам.
Вуз: Предмет: Файл:
Contents.doc
Скачиваний:
20
Добавлен:
19.12.2018
Размер:
221.7 Кб
Скачать

2.2. The main difficulties in translation of idioms used in the Bible

Idioms are a fixed expression with nonliteral meaning: a fixed distinctive expression whose meaning cannot be deduced from the combined meanings of its actual words [8]. A drop in the bucket is a very small part of something big or whole. All in the same boat is when everyone is facing the same challenges. An axe to grind is to have a dispute with someone. Field day is an enjoyable day or circumstance. Method to my madness is strange or crazy actions that appear meaningless but in the end are done for a good reason. Idioms are by far the most difficult for of literature to interpret and translate.

“Between the Devil and the deep blue sea” is equivalent to our “between a rock and a hard place.” Both mean that someone is in a serious dilemma of two very undesirable choices. Have you ever had to tell someone, ‘look you are beating a dead horse,’ meaning the continuation of the discussion is futile. On the other hand, how about, ‘listen, you are preaching to the choir,’ which means you are trying to convince your listener of something that he probably holds more strongly to than you do. Let us see one option that some dynamic equivalents have tried to use in dealing with an idiom at: 1: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea was written by Ted Koehler and Harold Arlen, and recorded by Cab Calloway in 1931.

Idioms can present unique problems to translators because there is the difficult decision of whether it should be rendered literally or be interpreted for the reader. An example would be the English expression “bite your tongue”. This expression in any other language would be taken literally to mean the act of biting one’s tongue, thus resulting in the infliction of pain to the tongue. Yet most of the American English-speaking community understands that the phrase actually means to ‘refrain from speaking.’ Below is a Biblical example of a Hebrew idiom in a literal translation wherein the idiom was rendered literally, and a dynamic equivalent translation that presents the same verses using more interpretation for the reader:

15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none” [7, Psalm 10:15].

What must be understood is that all societies, past and present, have figures of speech that are commonly used to express meaning, just as did those in Bible times. Moreover, figures of speech convey a meaning that is no different from if it was used literally. This is not to say that we take the figurative speech literally, but when someone says that this is a figure of speech, he does not mean that its meaning is ambiguous (can contain more than one meaning), it is specific and has one intended meaning just as other forms of speech do. Take for example; ‘off the top of your head,’ ‘by the skin of his teeth,’ and ‘the handwriting on the wall’ all are English examples of idioms.

    1. Approaches to the idiomatic translation in the Biblical texts

Figures of speech as well as the subcategory idiom add something to a language that could really be said no other way to get that color and depth. The idiom of “a land flowing with milk and honey” is so descriptive that even the most zealous dynamic equivalent translations dare not alter it:

3"O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. [a fertile land, a land of plenty][14, Deuteronomy 6:3].

The above NASB leaves the Hebrew idiom “teeth are set on edge” (викликати відразу, діяти на нерви); this means an irritating or upsetting experience. In the days just before the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon, this was a common saying, in which the sons were saying the father’s wickedness put them in this predicament, ‘setting their teeth on edge.’ In this, they were trying to shift the blame to the fathers [22, p. 253-55]. The dynamic equivalent translations attempted to modernize the idiom in the receptor language translation, English in this case, and substitute it in place of the Hebrew idiom. This process is one option, but one can see that even with the use of more modern terms, the meaning is still the same, though perhaps easier for some readers to understand. With this in mind, one can see how this option can be helpful, yet still leave opening the possibility of distorting the meaning of the idiom. Another option is to simply interpret the idiom and place that interpretation in place of the idiom as depicted in the following example:

“. . . they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb”(literal) [19, Isaiah 13:18].

“. . . [they] have no pity on little children (interpreted) [15, Isaiah 13:18].

Either of these two options should be used as a last resort, and only if a misunderstanding is the end result. The Bible is meant to be studied by the student. It is best to stay with what was written as the translator may alter the meaning of God’s Word by choosing to replace ancient idioms with modern-day language. One must realize that languages aside from the original can distort the idiom intact. For example, [15, Luke 2:51] “. . . his mother kept all these things in her heart.” In Nigeria’s Kilba language, this would be understood as “to bear a grudge about something” (мати зуб на когось). Thus, for them, it has been rendered: “his mother went on thinking about these things.”[15, p. 19].

As to Bible translation, every effort should be made to maintain the literal wording of idioms, unless it will adversely affect the understanding of the message for the modern-day reader. If so, it can either be rendered by the interpretation (adding any alternative possibilities in a footnote), or it can be rendered by the use of a modern-day idiom that carries a similar meaning such as in the example of equivalents used earlier, “between the Devil and the deep blue sea” між (між двома вогнями) and “between a rock and a hard place”(в безвихідному становищі, між молотом та ковадлом).

Соседние файлы в предмете [НЕСОРТИРОВАННОЕ]