Decision-Making in Translating English Slang into Arabic: A Study of Style-Shifting | ||
| Anbar University Journal of Languages & Literature | ||
| Article 23, Volume 14, Issue 1, Winter 2022, Page 532-563 PDF (701 K) | ||
| Document Type: Research Paper | ||
| DOI: 10.37654/aujll.2022.176327 | ||
| Author | ||
Ziyad Anwar Mahmood  | ||
| University of Mosul | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Transposing English slang, a highly informal and unconventional variety associated with a social group or to some specific subject, into Arabic gives rise to various problems in cultural transition and faithful translation alike. It is hard to deal with non-standard varieties such as slang because one can rarely find similar culture-specific situations in the target language in which these varieties are commonly used. Furthermore, these non-standard varieties are often intended to create a very rich range of effects on language users. Faced with such problems, a translator has to make decisions as regards the kind of style s/he will opt for before getting involved in rendering slag texts. Style is a set of choices of expression, inspired or induced by a particular context; different choices will produce different styles and thereby different effects. Choices of expression which create a particular style are motivated and inspired by contextual circumstances in which both writers and readers are involved. Writers normally make their style conform to the social function and formal conventions of a particular text type. Decision-making means the process of selecting among a set of alternatives. The question which poses itself here is to what extent the translator's particular choice affects the meaning and function of the whole text. The study aims to (1) give a sufficient account of slang and decision-making and (2) point out some style-related problems when translating slang from English into Arabic. The study hypothesizes that stylistic features have a function that contributes in one way or another to the whole meaning of the text, and any shift in style in general and in formality, in particular, will definitely distort the tone of the original text. The study comes out with the conclusion that any apparent change from a seriously informal style to a highly formal one, when translated from a source language into a target language, will inevitably alter the original register and, in turn, will not precisely reflect the real nature of its parameters. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Decision-making; choice; non-standard varieties; style-related problems | ||
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