Sound symbolism, schemes & literary translation

Abstract

The paper examines sound schemes in Arabic original poetic prose and English translation. These are reverse rhyme, rhyme, pararhyme and consonance. Looked at from the vantage point of sound symbolism, an attempt is made to verify their expressive and thematic functions in ST. In some cases, the concept has apparently been proven applicable and the claims made in this regard are plausible. As to the interlingual patterns of sound symbolism, the study has come to the conclusion that ST and TT diverge when it comes to how onomatopoeic elements evoke meaning. The strategic decisions taken by translators in addressing translation problems depend largely on how sensitive they are towards the ST phonic aspect and affiliations. They employ compensation in kind and in place whenever and wherever that is felt to be required, hence, replacing ST phonological recurrence with morphological and lexical ones. These higher-level devices are but one means of achieving parallel effects in the TT. However, consonance is regularly used as a prime solution for the problem of equivalence. It is axiomatic that in any attempt of translation a certain degree of loss is expected in terms of failure to relay the ST message content intact. Another kind of damage consists in the impossibility of rendering ST scripts into TT. The significance of Arabic letters to the readers of Arabic will definitely be mismatched in the TT as they imply culturally broader connotations and allusions to the Islamic heritage. The graphological input to the message in the Arabic text will hardly be imparted by the TT Roman script.