Abstract
This paper examines a number of proverbs in English and Persian to shed light on certain pragmatic issues involved in translation. By analyzing three sets of data within the pragmatic framework, we found that the translatability of proverbs should be characterized as a continuum, rather a clear-cut dichotomy. Depending on the universality or culture-specificity of background cultural information associated with proverbs, three main categories, namely translatables, semi-translatables, and untranslatables are proposed. These categories fall along different points on a postulated continuum of translatability. Our study also shows that implicatures and presuppositions, when applicable to translatability, influence it in an incontrovertible manner. On top of this, the indubitable role of metaphor in the conceptualization of proverbs, and as a result, on the translatability of them is acknowledged.
About the authors
Manoochehr Tavangar is an Emeritus Professor of Applied Linguistics and Translation at the University of Isfahan. His expertise falls mainly in area of translation, stylistics and pragmatics. He has published many articles in leading journals such as Babel, Journal of Pragmatics, Languages Sciences, and Studia Linguistica.
Masoumeh Diyanati is working in the department of Linguistics at the University of Isfahan as a post-doctoral researcher. She has published a number of articles in area of Persian linguistics both in Persian and English. Her English articles appeared in Language Sciences, Acta Linguistica Hafniensia, Cognitive Linguistic Studies, and SKASE Journal of Theoretical Linguistics.
Mohammad Amouzadeh is now working as a Professor of linguistics at Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU). His default affiliation is, however, University of Isfahan. He has been teaching and doing research in area of pragmatics and discourse analysis since 2000. His scholarly writings have appeared as articles and book chapters both in Persian and English. He published articles in journals such as Languages in Contrast, Pragmatics and Society, Meta, Language Sciences, and Journal of Language and Politics, Pragmatics, Review of Cognitive Linguistics, and International Review of Pragmatics.
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