The Translation of Circumlocution in Arabic Short Stories into English

Abstract

This study aims at identifying and analyzing circumlocution categories and subcategories in the (SL) and their renditions into the (TL) .It  is based on  criteria proposed for inclusion and exclusion of circumlocution  .This study is concerned with the translation of literary texts, specifically  short stories , from Arabic into English . It draws on four short stories selected from Arabic famous writers and their parallel translations into English. It hypothesizes that Arabic categories of circumlocution are applicable to English categories of metadiscourse, which include textual and interpersonal items. Nida’s (1964) model is adopted in this study to judge the appropriateness in translation the study shows that the translators made serious decisions while opting for various techniques such as addition, subtraction and alteration. In this sense, it investigates whether the translators have successfully and appropriately managed to render the concept of Arabic circumlocution into English or not. The main problems that led to the inappropriate translations were also identified. This study concludes that there are lots of similarities between the categories of circumlocution in Arabic and the categories of metadiscourse in English. These similarities are clear when appropriate renditions are achieved.