Cover not available

Article published In: Babel
Vol. 69:2 (2023) ► pp.216–241

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB
authorization required

Estonian and Swedish color idioms – shared and unshared

An empirical study of the translation process

 | Tallinn University
 | Tallinn University
Published online: 4 April 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00317.ogu
Abstract
Previous research on color idioms has shown that they are often culture-specific, and translating them requires shifting between cognitive frames of reference. However, little research has been carried out on the translation process of such idioms. We investigated how Swedish color idioms were translated into Estonian by professional translators and novices, tracking the components of the translation process, such as time spent on the tasks, resources used, and the importance of context provided. Finally, we detected eight translation strategies used for idiom translation. The strategies used depended on the idiom’s transparency between the source and target language. The conventionality of the idiom seemed to have little impact on the difficulty experienced. Professionals and novices used different approaches to translation which once again confirms the importance of acquired skills and experience. Color idioms can turn out to be false friends. Focusing first and foremost on the idiomaticity of the target language helps. Professionals searched for the target language idiom and used various monolingual resources in the target language while novices searched mainly for source-language idioms and used no monolingual target language web dictionaries.
Résumé
Des recherches antérieures sur les expressions idiomatiques impliquant des couleurs ont montré qu’elles sont souvent spécifiques à une culture et que leur traduction nécessite de passer d’un cadre de référence cognitif à un autre. Cependant, peu de recherches ont été menées sur le processus de traduction de ces expressions. Nous avons étudié la manière dont des expressions idiomatiques suédoises ont été traduites en estonien par des traducteurs professionnels et novices, en suivant les composantes du processus de traduction, telles que le temps passé sur les tâches, les ressources utilisées et l’importance du contexte fourni. Nous avons identifié 8 stratégies de traduction utilisées pour la traduction d’expressions idiomatiques. Les stratégies utilisées dépendent de la transparence de l’expression entre la LS et la LC. Le caractère conventionnel de l’expression semble avoir peu d’impact sur la difficulté rencontrée. Les professionnels et les novices ont utilisé des procédés de traduction différents, ce qui confirme une fois de plus l’importance des compétences acquises et de l’expérience. Les expressions idiomatiques impliquant des couleurs peuvent s’avérer inclure des faux amis. Il est donc utile de se concentrer avant tout sur l’idiomaticité de la LC. Là où les professionnels ont recherché l’expression de la LC et ont utilisé diverses ressources monolingues en LC, les novices ont principalement recherché l’expression de la LS et n’ont utilisé aucun dictionnaire web monolingue en LC.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Research design and methods
    • 2.1Research design
    • 2.2Procedure
    • 2.3Participants
  • 3.Results and discussion
    • 3.1Shared and unshared color idioms
    • 3.2The results of the translation tasks
      • 3.2.1Resources used
      • 3.2.2Time spent on translation tasks
      • 3.2.3Context
      • 3.2.4Translation problems
      • 3.2.5Translation strategies
  • 4.Conclusion
  • References
References (43)
References
Abu-Ssaydeh, Abdul-Fattah. 2004. “Translation of English Idioms into Arabic.” In Babel 50 (2): 114–131. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Aidla, Mari, Signe Cousins, Maiu Elken, Madis Kanarbik, Kristiina Mullamaa, Tiina Mullamaa, Marina Pertsjonok, Mai Praizner, Virve Raag, and Juhan Tuldava. 2004. Rootsi-eesti sõnaraamat / Svensk-estnisk ordbok: ~ 100 000 märksõna/uppslagsord [Swedish-Estonian Dictionary: ~ 100 000 keywords]. Tallinn: Valgus.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baker, Mona. 2005. In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation. London; New York: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bazzanella, Carla, Irene Ronga, and Erling Strudsholm. 2016. “Color Words in Danish and Italian Idioms.” In Color Language and Color Categorization, edited by Geda Paulsen, Mari Uusküla, and Jonathan Brindle. 356–387. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berlin, Brent, and Paul Kay. 1969. Basic Color Terms: Their Universality and Evolution. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carl, Michael, Srinivas Bangalore, and Moritz Schaeffer. 2016. New Directions in Empirical Translation Process Research. Heidelberg: Springer International Publishing. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chatti, Sami. 2016. “Translating Color Metaphors: A Cognitive Perspective.” In New Insights into Arabic Translation and Interpreting, edited by Mustapha Taibi. 161–175. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cui, Yixiao, and Binghan Zheng. 2021. “Consultation Behaviour with Online Resources in English-Chinese Translation: An Eye-tracking, Screen-recording and Retrospective Study.” In Perspectives 29 (5): 740–760. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dobrovol’skij, Dmitrij, and Elisabeth Piirainen. 2005. “Cognitive Theory of Metaphor and Idiom Analysis.” In Jezikoslovlje 6 (1): 7–35.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Englund Dimitrova, Birgitta. 2005. Expertise and Explicitation in the Translation Process, 641. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gheltofan, Daniela, and Loredana Pungă. 2018. “Color-based Phrases in Romanian, Russian and English.” In Scientific Bulletin of the Politehnica University of Timişoara. Transactions on Modern Languages 17 (1): 19–31.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gibbs, Raymond Jr, Josephine M. Bogdanovich, Jeffrey R. Sykes, and Dale J. Barr. 1997. “Metaphor in Idiom Comprehension.” In Journal of Memory and Language 37 (2): 141–154. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gibbs, Raymond Jr. 2006. Embodiment and Cognitive Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Glucksberg, Sam. 2001. Understanding Figurative Language: From Metaphor to Idioms. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2003. “The Psycholinguistics of Metaphor.” In Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 7 (2): 92–96. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hastürkoğlu, Gökçen. 2017. “A Cognitive Study on the Comparison of Basic Color Terms in Turkish and English Idioms.” Ph.D. diss., Hacettepe University.
House, Juliane. 1997. Translation Quality Assessment: A Model Revisited. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hvelplund, Kristian Tangsgaard. 2017. “Translators’ Use of Digital Resources During Translation.” In HERMES – Journal of Language and Communication in Business 561: 71–87. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jakobson, Roman. (1995) 2000. “On Linguistics Aspects of Translation.” In The Translation Studies Reader, edited by Lawrence Venuti, 113–118. London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kalda, Anu, and Mari Uusküla. 2019. “The Role of Context in Translating Color Metaphors: An Experiment on English into Estonian Translation.” Open Linguistics 5 (1): 690–705. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kiraly, Donald C. 1995. Pathways to Translation: Pedagogy and Process, no. 3. Kent: Kent State University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kövecses, Zoltán, Péter Szabó. 1996. “Idioms: A View from Cognitive Semantics.” Applied Linguistics 17 (3): 326–355. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kövecses, Zoltán. 2010. Metaphor: A Practical Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kolahdouz, Mandala. 2015. “A Cognitive Approach to Translating Color Metaphors in English and Turkish Proverbs.” National Conference on New Horizons in Translation Studies and Discourse. Tabriz. Iran, 5 October 2015.
Kovačević, Sonja Filipović. 2019. “Metonymy-based Color Metaphors Expressing Mind and Body States: Evidence from English and Serbian.” In Godisnjak Filozofskog fakulteta u Novom Sadu [The annual review of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Novi Sad] 44 (1): 75–92.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lakoff, George, and Mark Johnson. 1980. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lindqvist, Yvonne. 2002. “Översättning som social praktik. Toni Morrison och Harlequinserien. Passion på svenska” [Translation as a social practice. Toni Morrison and the Harlequin series Passion in Swedish]. Ph.D. diss., Stockholm Studies in Scandinavian Philology. New Series 26. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Luthman, Hans. 2017. Svenska idiom: 5,900 vardagsuttryck [Swedish Idioms: 5,900 Everyday Expressions]. Lund: Folkuniversitetets förlag.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mandelblit, Nili. 1995. “The Cognitive View of Metaphor and its Implications for Translation Theory.” In Translation and Meaning 31: 483–495.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nord, Christiane. 2010. “Functionalist Approaches.” In Handbook of Translation Studies 1 edited by Yves Gambier and Luc van Doorslaer, 120–128. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Orrego-Carmona, David, Łukasz Dutka, and Agnieszka Szarkowska. 2018. “Using Translation Process Research to Explore the Creation of Subtitles: An Eye-tracking Study Comparing Professional and Trainee Subtitlers.” JoSTrans: The Journal of Specialised Translation 301: 150–180.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Philip, Gill. 2011. Coloring Meaning: Collocation and Connotation in Figurative Language. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rotaru, Marina-Cristiana. 2019. “Translating Economic Color Idioms as a Way of Developing Cross-Cultural Economic Discourse.” In Professional Communication and Translation Studies 121: 95–104.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sandford, Jodi L. 2011. “Warm, Cool, Light, Dark, or Afterimage.” In New Directions in Color Studies, edited by Carole P. Biggam, Carol A. Hough, Christian J. Kay and David R. Simmonds, 205–218. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schäffner, Christina. 2004. “Metaphor and Translation: Some Implications of a Cognitive Approach.” In Journal of Pragmatics 36 (7): 1253–1269. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shuttleworth, Mark. 2014. “Translation Studies and Metaphor Studies: Possible Paths of Interaction Between Two Well-established Disciplines” In Tradurre Figure/ Translating Figurative Language, edited by Donna Rose Miller and Enrico Monti, 53–65. Bologna: AMSActa.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Steinvall, Anders. 2002. English Color Terms in Context. Doctoral thesis. Umeå University.
Toury, Gideon. (1995) 2012. Descriptive Translation Studies – and Beyond. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Trulsson, Anders. 2007. Svartsjuka och Vita Lögner: En Undersökning om Betydelsen av Svart och Vitt [Jealousy and white lies: A study on the meaning of black and white]. BA diss., Uppsala University.
Van Doorslaer, Triin. 2015. “Hoiakud tõlkimise kohta ehk kuidas defineeritakse tõlkimist” [Attitudes towards translation, or how translation is defined]. In Keel ja Kirjandus 41. 238–245. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vermeer, Hans J. (1989) 2000. “Skopos and Commission in Translational Action,” translated by Andrew Chesterman. In The Translation Studies Reader, edited by Lawrence Venuti, 221–232. London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vinay, Jean-Paul, and Jean Darbelnet. 1995. Comparative Stylistics of French and English: A Methodology for Translation, vol. 111. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Jonauskaite, Domicele, Déborah Epicoco, Maliha Bouayed Meziane, Britt Burton, Violeta Corona, Eduardo Fonseca-Pedrero, Consuelo González-Dávila, Jelena Havelka, Eric Laurent, Bigna Lenggenhager, Tobias Loetscher, Stephanie Lopez Castiñeira, Leila Manni, Philip Mefoh, Daniel Oberfeld, Merle Oguz, Rabia Yağmur Özduran, Corinna Perchtold-Stefan, Patricia Quant, Michael Quiblier, Maja Roch, Sude Sarayköylü, Giulia F. M. Spagnulo, Maël Theubet, Cecilia Toscanelli, Mari Uusküla & Christine Mohr
2025. Free Association Database for a 62-Word Dataset Including Emotion and Colour Terms in English, Estonian, French, German, Italian, Lithuanian, and Spanish: Data from 14 Countries. Journal of Open Psychology Data 13:1 ► pp. 4 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 2 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue