A contrastive study of the connotative
meanings of "dog-related" expressions in English and Jordanian
proverbs: Implications for translators and language teachers
DOI:10.30842/alp2306573719166101
Kayed Murad Al, Alkayid Majd, Essa Lama
Bani. A contrastive study of the connotative meanings of
"dog-related" expressions in English and Jordanian proverbs:
Implications for translators and language teachers. Acta
Linguistica Petropolitana. 2023. 19(1): 66–101.
The study aims to investigate the connotative meaning of
dog-related expressions found in English and Jordanian proverbs.
The data for the current study consisted of 33 English and 46
Jordanian proverbs, gleaned from reliable dictionaries or books on
English and Jordanian proverbs. The study revealed similarities and
differences between Arabic and English with respect to the
connotative meaning of dog-related expressions. In both languages,
these expressions mostly have negative connotations such as
‘inferiority’ or ‘ingratitude’. The study also found differences in
the connotative meaning of dog-related expressions between the two
languages. For example, in Arabic only, a dog has the connotative
meanings of ‘laziness’, ‘cowardice’, ‘failure’, ‘self-destruction’,
and ‘cleverness’. On the other hand, the connotative meanings of
‘persistence’ and ‘misery’ were found only in English proverbs. The
study also investigated the importance of being aware of the
connotative meaning for correct translation of English and Arabic
proverbs. The researchers selected four Arabic and four English
proverbs containing dog-related expressions and asked 40 students
to translate them. The students were fourth-year undergraduates
enrolled in a translation course at the Al-Balqa Applied University
in the first semester of 2021/2022. The analysis of the results
showed that 49.5% of the students failed to translate the proverbs
appropriately, as they translated them literally and missed the
connotative meanings of the dog-related expressions. Another reason
for students’ failure with some proverbs is that these proverbs are
culturally bound. It is very important to know the source and
target culture in order to translate the proverbs into the target
language correctly. The findings of the study also revealed that
the most commonly used strategy in translating the proverbs was
paraphrasing. The study recommends that teachers and translators
pay attention to differences in connotative meaning between
languages, since their understanding is crucial for translating
proverbs accurately.
Keywords
connotation, contrastive analysis, dog-related
expressions, proverbs, translation
References
Al Amad 1978
H. Al Amad. Popular Jordanian
proverbs. Amman: Ministry of Culture and Youth, 1978.
Al-Azzam 2018
B. H. S. Al-Azzam. Culture as a
Problem in the Translation of Jordanian Proverbs into English.
International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English
Literature. 2018. Vol. 7. Iss. 1. P. 56–63. DOI:
10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.7n.1p.56.
Al-Khaza’leh 2019
B. A. Al-Khaza’leh. Jordanian
Translation Students’ Difficulties in Translating English Proverbs
into Arabic. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research.
2019. Vol. 6. Iss. 5. P. 63–78.
Al. Shehab 2016
M. Al. Shehab. The Ability of
Translation Students in Translating English Proverbs into Arabic
and Vice Versa at Jadara University in Jordan. Journal of
Literature, Languages and Linguistics. 2016. Vol. 29. P.
10–19.
Anjomshoa, Sadighi 2015
L. Anjomshoa, F. Sadighi. The
Comparison of Connotative Meaning in Animal Words between English
and Persian Expressions and their Translation. International
Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature. 2015. Vol.
3. Iss. 2. P. 65–77.
Baker 1992
M. Baker. Other words: a course book
on translation. London: Routledge, 1992.
Cambridge Dictionary
Cambridge Dictionary. Available at:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org (accessed on 30.09.2021).
Crystal 1987
D. Crystal. The Cambridge
Encyclopedia of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1987.
Dweik, Thalji 2016
B. S. Dweik, M. B. Thalji. Strategies
for Translating Proverbs from English into Arabic. Academic
Research International. 2016. Vol. 7. Iss. 2. P. 120–127.
Emery 1997
P. Emery. Omani proverbs: problems in
translation. R. Smith, R. Smart, R. Pridham. New Arabian Studies.
Vol. 4. P. 39–70. Exeter: Short Run Press Limited, 1997.
Estaji, Nakhavali 2011
A. Estaji, F. Nakhavali. Contrastive
Analysis of Dog Expressions in English and Persian. Us-China
Foreign Language. 2011. Vol. 9. Iss. 4. P. 213–219.
Elyas, Ghafoori 2022
T. Elyas, M. Ghafoori. Exploring
Connotative Meanings and Metaphors of Saudi Animal Proverbs:
ASemantic and Pragmatic Analysis. Global Journal of Human-Social
Science. 2022. Vol. 22. Iss. 1. P. 1–13. DOI:
10.34257/GJHSSCVOL22IS1PG55.
Hou 2013
R. Hou. Proverbs Reveal Culture
Diversity. Cross-Cultural Communication. 2013. Vol. 9. Iss. 2. P.
31–35.
Khawajah 1999
S. Khawajah. Selected Popular
Jordanian Proverbs. Dar Al: Ynabih Press, 1999.
Lasić 2021
J. Lasić. Bird-related Component of
Croatian Surnames. Poznańskie Studia Slawistyczne. 2021. Vol. 20.
P. 123–139. DOI: 10.14746/pss.2021.20.7.
Leech 1974
G. Leech. Semantics. Harmondsworth:
Penguin Press, 1974.
Li, Liu 2012
N. Li, Y. Liu. A Comparison of
Cultural Connotations between Chinese and English Animal Words.
Theory and Practice in Language Studies. 2012. Vol. 2. Iss. 10. P.
2178–2182. DOI: 10.4304/tpls.2.10.2178-2182.
Mieder 2004
W. Mieder. Proverbs: A Handbook.
London: Greenwood Press, 2004.
Naciscione 2010
A. Naciscione. Stylistic use of
phraseological units in discourse. Amsterdam: John Benjamins,
2010.
Patricia 1986
C. Patricia. The Acquisition of
Communicative Style in Japanese. B. Schieffelin, E. Ochs (eds.).
Language Socialization across Cultures. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1986.
Phuong, Dung 2016
V. Phuong, V. Dung. The Similarities
and Differences in the connotation of animal words in English and
Vietnamese proverbs. European journal of English language teaching.
2016. Vol. 1. Iss. 2. P. 18–30. DOI: 10.46827/ejel.v0i0.207.
Shi
T. Shi. A Comparison of Animal Words
in English and Chinese Culture. Su Yingying, Luo Zhen and Chang
Guiran (eds.). 5th International Conference on Education,
Management, Information and Medicine, EMIM 2015, Shenyang, China.
Paris: Atlantis Press, 2015. P. 49–53.
Speake 2008
J. Speake. The Oxford Dictionary of
Proverbs. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
Stephen 1983
P. L. Stephen. 1001 Famous Proverbs
and Sayings. Mumbai: D. B. Taraporevala Sons & Co. Private LTD,
1983.
Štrbac 2021
G. Štrbac. Phraseologisms with the
Name of the Bird in Serbian Language. Poznańskie Studia
Slawistyczne. 2021. Vol. 20. Iss. 71–89. DOI:
10.14746/pss.2021.20.4.
Zykova 2015
I. Zykova. Kontseptosfera kultury i
frazeologiya. Teoriya i metody lingvokulturologicheskogo izucheniya
[The concept of culture and phraseology: Theory and methods of
linguocultural studies]. Moscow: Lenand, 2015.
Keywords
connotation, contrastive analysis, dog-related
expressions, proverbs, translation
