1. Introduction
According to Cuenca (2000) Interjections are “Communicative units ( i.e. utterances or words) which can be autonomous syntactically, and complete semantically” (P. 332). Hence, as the definitions vary, it seems that interjections are both theoretically and descriptively challenging to language and translation. There are similar word forms or word-formation processes regarding interjections, but conditions of use are not the same. Because of this grammaticalized nature, “Interjections are taken as idiomatic units or routines, syntactically equivalent to a sentence.” (Cuenca, 2002, P. 21). Interjections is challenging in translation because the translator has to consider the effect as same as the meaning of the sound used in the source text. A distinction is often made between transferring the meaning and transferring the sound in translation. Hence, this is exactly the reason behind making
interjections follow different strategies in translation and these strategies are related to phonological translation and transcription because interjections are sounds that have meanings and both of them (phonological translation and transcription) are based essentially on translating sounds.
According to Catford (1995) phonological translation is replacing the sound from the source language to the closest sound or in an equivalent sound in the target language. (P. 23) This issue would be interesting to be discussed because a lot of interjections are not translated based on a particular fixed interpretations. To transfer the sound from the source language to the target language, this issue requires either phonological translation or transcription. In phonological translation, the translator simply changes some consonants or vowels into the closest sound or an equivalent sound in the target language. While in transcription, the translator simply transfers the same sound from the source language to the target language. According to Harvey (2000), transcription is a some kind of transliterating or borrowing.
According to Fernandes (2006), phonological replacement is a procedure in which a TT name or interjection attempts to mimic phonological features of a ST name or interjection by replacing the ST name or interjection with an existing name or interjection in the target language which somehow invokes the sound image of the SL interjection being replaced. Phonological replacement must not be confused with transcription. The latter involves adaptation of a SL interjection to the phonology/morphology of a target language while the former involves the replacement of a SL interjection with a TL interjection which is ponemically/graphologically analogous (i.e. equivalent) to it. In transcription, an attempt is done to transcribe an interjection from a particular target alphabet or language in the nearest equivalent letters or alphabet. In other words, this procedure occurs when an interjection is transliterated to the target language system (Hermans, 1988, p. 13). The usage of the term “transcription” therefore varies, in that Newmark uses the latter as synonym for “adoption”, “transfer” or “loan-words” from that created by Newmark in 1988 (Fernandes, 2004, p.44-57).
Children enjoy the sound amusing effects of the interjections that are translated using phonological translation because it helps them to understand the foreign interjections in their own language and to preserve the exact contextual meaning and effect of the original text. Hence, the translator has to put in mind the aim of securing an equivalent effect on readers (Newmark, 1982). Hence, the present study will focus on using phonological translation in translating the interjections of Disney's book “ 365 stories for girls” a story a day.
1.1 Research objectives
This study aims at analysing the phonological translation at translating the interjections in Disney's book "365 stories for girls" from English into Arabic which address the Arab children. Also, it aims at distinguishing between transcription and phonological translation through identifying the different strategies used in translating interjections. Additionally, this study aims at determining which strategy is more preferable in translating the English interjections into Arabic to influence children.
1.2. Research questions
1) what are the strategies used in translating interjections?
2) which strategy is more preferable in translating the interjections?
3) How far does phonological translation affect the Arab children?
2. Review of literature
This section will tackle eight main points related to what will be analysed beginning with short story, children literature, interjections, strategies of translating interjections, phonological translation, transcription, problems of translating interjections, and ended up with phonological translation vs. transcription.
2.1. short story
According to Jones (1968) the story is an ingenious statement of feeling. That feeling is made or imagined. In addition, Jones (1968) says it is a short fictional tale that seeks to combine features, theme and effect. The modern English story, not decided to make lifestyle more entertaining by inventing exotic plots. Instead, modern story writers have attended base their narratives on their own experience; here the most target is way more on the less spectacular aspect of life, on the importance underlying what is trivial. He emphasises that the results of such perceptive writing are that the perfection of form, the harmony at theme and structure, and precision of favour to reveal the subtleties of the human mind and human behaviour (Jones, 1968).
According to Marilyn Singer (2000) “short story is, in some ways, like a photograph a captured moment of time that is crystalline, although sometimes mysterious, arresting, though perhaps delicate” (Singer, 2000). Also, she argues that while a photo may or may not suggest consequences or gives a moral lesson, a short story always does. the story's moment of time something significant, something unchangeable has occurred. The change may be understated or noticeable, but it is definite and definitive. Singer (2000) specified that "In addition, while it's the audience that supplies the rear story for a photograph, it's the author who must give the audience a beginning, middle, and end of a short story. Without that structure, the piece is not a brief story in the least but a scene, a vignette, a fragment-evocative, yes, but not emotionally or psychologically satisfying". According to Hansen (2019) short story is abbreviated fictional prose narrative and in fact, the novel is longer than it and usually contains only a few characters. The short story has a single effect conveyed in only one or a few momentous episodes or scenes. Before the 19th century, the short story was a uniquely modern genre, the fact is that short prose fiction is nearly as old as language itself. Humanity has enjoyed across history different forms of short stories: jests, jokes, learned digressions, simple allegorical romanticisms, moralizing fairy tales, quick myths and a brief overview of folklore. None of these creates a short story as it has been defined since the 19th century, but they do create a large part of the setting from which the modern short story arose.
According to Hansen (2019) as a genre, in the middle of the 20th century the short story gained comparatively little critical attention and the most useful method work was mostly constrained by area or age. Irish writer Frank O'Connor tried in his The Lonely Voice' (1963) to explain the genre by suggesting that stories are the simplest way to "submerged populations" to handle a dominating community. Most other theoretical discussions, however, were predicted in a method or another on Edgar Allan Poe's thesis that stories must have a compact unified effect. Edgar Alan Poe was the generator of the short story and he argued that "short story is a short narrative text in prose designed to produce a single dominant effect" (Poe, 1842). Poe argued that a literary composition (short story) should be short enough for a reader to end in one sitting.
The mantel was taken over by authors such as Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne, helping establish two distinct lines of the brief past, which continued well into the sixties and seventies. Although they all stroked in the unreal or ridiculous, a divergent aesthetic between Poe and Hawthorne contributed to a distinction between short stories perceived to be "Poe" literature and short stories seen as "Hawthorne" entertainment (Ostdick, 2016). So, this type of short story in this research is entertainment or Hawthorne" type because it is a kind of children literature.
2.2. Children's literature
The body of written works and associated with illustrations added so as to entertain or instruct children. The genre includes a variety of works, including world literary classics, picture books and readable stories written solely for young people, and fairy tales, slugs, fables, folk songs and other primarily orally transmitted materials (Fadiman,2017).
A general definition of children literature can be summarized as the literature that seeks for children in their growing years and is suitable for their age and stage of mental and psychological development. This includes written material for children that are not yet interested in adult literature or do not yet possess adult reading skills (Bika’ee, 2003).
According to Grenby (2014), in the 18th and 19th centuries, he examines the connections between fiction and morality. He describes that children's book historians have often seen two forces – realism and didactics of the first and fantasy and fun of the second - as being constant in children's literature competition. In fact, it was always a blurred line between fantasy and didacticism. In their supposedly rationalist and educational books, even the pioneers in "new" children's literature in the middle of the 18th century would often include fantastic elements. The literature of children which first began to emerge in the 18th century was far from fantastic. The fairy tales of Charles Perrault, first Published in France in 1690s and in English in 1729 became one of the most popular classics of middle-class and upper-class communities. In addition to the supernatural features, they had morals. Also, although Lockean educators also rejected fairy tales, new adaptations have been printed particularly for children over century. Likewise, Arabian Nights' Entertainments were rabidly picked up by a young crowd following their first appearance in English at the beginning of the 18th century. At the end of the century, they were published with added didacticism in editions designed especially for children. Richard Johnson, the author of The Oriental Moralist or The Beauties Of The Arabian Nights Entertainment (1791), acknowledged that he had inserted other ideal reflections everywhere their story accepted and altered their tales considerably... to reinforce the young heart against the experiences of sin.
The children’s literature became a thriving, detached and protected part of the British Publication sector by the end of the 18th century. About 50 children’s books is released last year, mostly in London, as well as in the Edinburgh, York and Newcastle regional centres. Such books may look pretty bland compared to today’s expectations, and also very moralizing and pious. But the books clearly intended to entertain its readers, with fun stories and attractive characters, lovely writing tone, or magnificent illustrations and eye-catching page layouts. (Grenby,2014).
2.3. Interjections
According to Thawabteh (2010), there are two different points of views as far as interjections are concerned. Interjections known as they are “semantically rich and have a definite conceptual structure which can be explicated” (wilkins 1992, p. 120). By contrast, Goffiman (1998, p. 100) claims that an interjection is “a ritualized act.” It follows then that interjections are not part of the language, and are analysed in terms of the socio-communicative roles they play, rather than any linguistic content they may have” (Wharton, 2003, as cited in Thawabteh, 2010). Regardless of being (not) part of the language, interjections are notable ways by which we communicate every subtle nuance of our emotions. As a point of departure, it is necessary to propose a conceptual framework regarding interjections both in English and Arabic (Thawabteh, 2010). “There are free-standing interjections which are common as back-channels or attention signals, especially forms like wow, gee or jeez and whoa” (Norrick cited in Thawabteh 2007, p. 6, italics in original).
According to Aijmer (2002), it is true that translation may be a cognate of the interjection in the source language (Aijmer, 2002) and hence potential translation with minimal difficulties. For example, the English ‘wow’ corresponds to Arabic ‘wăw’ in phonological terms. However, only morphophonological, and not semántic or pragmatic cognate terms can be linked (Thawabteh, 2010). While it is used in English to "express surprise at something or to assert agreement or disagreement with what has just been saying" (Collins 1995, P. 1140), This is used in Arabic for guttural sounds, for example, to yell at a baby not to grab the hair of its mothers (Farghal 1998, P. 157). There are various interjections between different languages. (Wierzbicka, 1992, P. 160). For translators, the cultural features of interjections may cause serious problems. (Farghal and Borini, 1996, p.14). Since there are interjections which reveal the state or behavior of the speaker (Wierzbicka,1992, P. 62), they need to be carefully translated. The translator should try his utmost to find a suitable equivalent to preserve its original significance and effect.
2.4. Strategies for translating interjections
Cuenca (2006) gives six strategies for translating interjections: -1- Literal translation -2-Translation by using an interjection with dissimilar form but the same meaning -3-Translation by using a non-interjective structure with similar meaning -4-Translation by using an interjection with a different meaning -5-Omission -6- Addition of elements (Cuenca 2006:27).
2.5. Phonological translation
Catford (1995:23) defined phonological translation and he stated that in phonological translation, "The Source Language (SL) phonology is replaced by equivalent target language (TL) phonology. The replacements are done only in grammatical or lexical changes as the result from phonological translation". That means is the phonology source language changes by equivalent Target Language phonology, only done in grammatical or lexical (Catford,1995). In the same book, according to Catford (1995), phonological translation is "Restricted translation in which the source language (SL) phonology of a text is replaced by equivalent target language (TL) phonology" (Catford, 1995, P. 56). According to Baiatunnisa (2010) "The restriction of translation in source language (SL) phonology text restored by equivalent target language (TL) phonology. From the statement above, the meaning of phonological translation divided into five main types, as following:
2.5.1 Basis for translation equivalence in phonological translation is source language (SL) and Target Language (TL) phonological units to the same phonic substance.
2.5.2. In phonological translation, as in translation at other levels, one must distinguish between formal correspondence and translation equivalence.
2.5.3. Thus, phonological translation is considered to be analogous "total translation”, with more than one phonological translation equivalent to any source language (SL).
2.5.4. Phonological translation, including total translation, may require a rank change or the regrouping and re-organization of material characteristics in the target language formal units (TL).
2.5.5. Phonological translation is practiced intentionally by actors and mimics when they assume a foreign, or dialectal, pronunciation (Baiatuunnisa, 2010). This may be called only phonological translation, since it substitutes the target language phonology with an analogous source language phonology from the previous point of view (lexis and grammar remain unchanged). The phonological translation is the way the sound can be written in translated words without changing. The phonological translation, as mentioned earlier, is substituted only by grammatical or lexical phonology as an approximation of a translation process from the source language (SL) phonology. And phonological translation happens when the translator cannot locate the correct target term.
2.6. Transcription
According to Fernandes (2004) transcription is a procedure in which an attempt is made to transcribe an interjection in the closest corresponding letters of a different target alphabet or language. In other words, this procedure occurs when an interjection is transliterated to the target language system (Hermans, 1988, P. 13). Nevertheless, the usage of the word "transcription" varies from what Newmark used (1988, P. 75) in so far as "transcription is seen as a synonym for "adoption", "transfer" or "loan-words" (Fernandes, 2004 p.44-57))
2.7. Problems of translating interjections using transcription
The problems of translating interjections may arise from consonant and vowel sounds differentiation between Arabic and English languages. There are 5 vowels in English (or 6 if the letter y is included) (Sánchez et al., 2019). Six more recurrent vowels and two rare vowels are in the language of Arabic. This is one of the reasons why it is difficult to translate Arabic interjections into English. Worth to mention that the various forms in which Arabic sounds are created are challenging for English-speakers to vocalize. Chohan and Talib 2020 explain that Arabic speakers are used to make epiglottis, something English speakers are not used to when they communicate. The English alphabet includes 20 consonants, 24 consonants and 6 vowels which can generate 22 vowel phonemes/sounds. Arabic has just 8 vowel phonemes and 28 consonants. While consonants are widely employed in Arabic, English uses more consonant clusters (phoneme groupings) in word formation. Chohan and Talib 2020 further discuss the consonant clusters in Arabic. Some Arabic words at the beginning of the phrase use two consonant clusters, rarely a three-consonant. Arabic does not always have clusters at the end of the phrase. On the contrary, English might have three or four consonant clusters at the end.
Hence, the problems of transliterating the interjections may arise from lack of sounds whether it was in the target language or the source language. Therefore, the source language may have some sounds that do not exist in the target language or the target language may have no equivalent to the source languages letter (Chohan and Talib, 2020).
2.8. Phonological Translation vs Transcription
According to Fernandes (2006), Phonological replacement is a procedure in which a TT interjection attempts to mimic phonological features of an ST interjection by replacing the ST interjection with an existing name in the target language which somehow invokes the sound image of the SL interjection being replaced. Totally unnecessary to confuse phonological replacement with transcription. The latter involves the adaptation of a SL interjection to the phonology/morphology of a target language while the former involves the replacement of a SL interjection with a TL interjection which is phonemically/graphologically analogous (i.e. equivalent) to it. While transcription is a procedure in which an attempt is made to transcribe an interjection in the closest corresponding letters of a different target alphabet or language. In other words, this procedure occurs when an interjection is transliterated to the target language system (Hermans,1988, P. 13). Nevertheless, the usage of the word “transcription” varies from what Newmark (1988) used in so far as “transcription” is seen as a synonym for “adoption’”, transfer” or loan-words” (Fernandes, 2004, p.44-57).
3. Description of the corpus
The corpus consists of 7 short stories taken from "365 stories for girls, a story a day" book, this book was published by Disney on January 1, 2000. The book was written in English and translated into Arabic. The Arabic version was supervised by Dalia Mohamed Ibrahim. The Arabic Version was Published by Nahdet Misr Publishing House in January, 2015 upon agreement with Disney Enterprises, INC., 114 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011 - 5690, USA.
The aim of this collection of stories is to introduce young girls to a wide collection of stories, gathered from many sources. This book takes girls on adventures such as searching with Cinderella for a lost ring, meeting Tinker Bill's sister, playing croquet with Alice and the Queen of Hearts, discovering Paris with Marie, and more. The stories incorporate moral values and cover many cultures and heritages.
The 7 short stories in this book are based on characters from Walt Disney movies. The first story "Countdown to Midnight was taken from Lilo & Stitch movie that was released in 2002 by Walt Disney (Disney Wiki), the story is about the New Year's Eve. The events are all about Lilo and stitch’s decision to sleep/not sleep in the New Year's Eve.
The second story is “A Mouse in The House" which was taken from Alice in Wonderland movie released by Disney in July 26, 1951. The story goes around Alice telling her sister about her dream. while she was narrating, she found a mouse in the teapot and this is what she dreamed about. After that she hoped to dream again so, the mouse could fellow back where he belongs.
The third story is "Flower's power", it was taken from Bambi movie that was released by Disney in 1942 (Disney Wiki). The tale of a youthful deer experiencing childhood in the woods. It is spring, and all the creatures of the woodland are energized by the backwoods' most recent birth, a buck grovel his mom has named Bambi. The creatures are more energized than expected as Bambi's ancestry implies he will acquire the title of sovereign of the backwoods.
The fourth story is "Death-Defying Dale", it was taken from Mickey & Friends movie that was released by Disney. This story is about Dale (The Chipmunk) who visits the circus outside his tree. And when they got there, Dale saw a bag of peanuts, then he harried over to the peanuts. Suddenly, he got disrupted by an elephant, lion, and the trapeze artists, and faced all of them bravely, in that moment, he was defying the death, and finally he fell right into a bucket of popcorn.
The fifth story is "The shadow game", it was taken from Toy story movie that was released by Disney/Pixar on November 1995 (Disney Wiki). The story is about Jessie who suggested to her friends playing the shadow game, and the one who makes the more horrible shadow than the other is the winner, and at the end Jessie wins.
The sixth story is "I Choose Archery", it was taken from Brave movie that was released by Disney in 2012 (Disney Wiki). This story is about Merida who was a young adventurous princess. She refuses her mother's desires because Merida did not want to get married so, she decided to choose archery challenge and the winner will engage her. Although no one can succeed except her, what happened was unexpected, Dingwall hit the bull's-eye. But Merida did not give up and she declared that she will shooting for her own hands, and at the end she hits all three bull's-eyes.
The seventh story is "Pink or Blue?", this story was taken from The Sleeping Beauty movie which was released on January 29, 1959 by Disney. This story is about the wedding of prince Philip and princes Aurora and the three fairies Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather.
The rationale for choosing the 7 stories is that they have a lot of interjections that reflect the choice of the translator to use phonological and/or transcription strategies.
4. Methodology
This analysis of the study will adopt Cuenca (2006) who differentiates between six strategies for translating interjections: 1- Literal translation which is a source of transcription 2- Translation by using an interjection with dissimilar form but the same meaning which involves phonological translation. 3-Translation by using a non- interjective structure with similar meaning which is a source of phonological translation 4- Translation by using an interjection with a different meaning which involves phonological translation. And the last two techniques are 5- Omission, and 6- addition.
5. Analysis
5.1. Translation of interjections by transcritpion:
Example I:
ST: “Aroooooo!” the elephant trumpeted. With a flick of her trunk, she flung Dale away.
TT: "أرووووو!" أصدرت الفيلة صيحة قوية. و قذمت تاك بسرعة بخرطومها في قوة.
The translator chooses to translate “Aroooooo!" interjection literally because it is a sound of an animal and there is no equivalent to this sound in Arabic language. Hence, the translator resorted to imitate the sound in the target language which is a source of transcription. Such translation might not be appropriate for the Arab children because Arabic language does not have written animal sounds and even if it has this written sounds, animals do not sound the same in every language because each language has two letters or more that do not exist in the other language (Geikhman, fluentu, 2019 ). However, the Arab children can catch the meaning from the context.
Example II:
ST: “Eeeek!” Dale squeaked as he sailed through the air.
TT: "ايييك!" صرخ تاك وهو يطير في الهواء.
Same as above the transcription of the sound might not indicate the same effect on the Arab children. The Arabic language has an equivalent for this interjection "ااااااه"which refers to fear and surprise. But the Arab children do not know what "ايييك" means or it refers to what.
Example III:
ST: “Whoosh!” Suddenly something scooped Dale out of the air.
TT: "وششش!" وفجأة امسك شيء ما بتاك وهو في الهواء.
“Whoosh!” interjection in English language used to represent the sound created by a rush, and this interjection already exists in the Arabic language as "زِوووو". The translator chooses to use transcription of the sound which does not entail the same meaning to the Arab reader,
Example IV:
ST: “GRRRRR", went something beneath the bed.
TT: .سمعا صوتا أسفل السرير..."جررررر"
The translator here adheres to transcribe every letter from the ST to the TT, because this interjection does not have an exact meaning in the dictionary because it is just a meaningless sound. So, the translator conveyed the exact same sound which is also related to literal translation and it is a source of transcription.
Example V:
ST: When suddenly the Dwarfs heard a sound that made their blood go cold “Ah ...ah...ah..”. “Hang on, men!” Doc shouted. “CHOOO!”, Sneezy sneezed.
TT: سمع الأقزام صوتا جعل الدماء تهرب من عروقهم: "ااا...ااا...ااا". صاح دوق "تماسكوا يا رجال". "تشووو!". عطس عطسان.
This literal translation is close to the original interjection in the Arabic language for Sneezing “ "أتشيwhich also conveyed the meaning and the required effect. The translator intended here to transfer the sound, hence it is considered as a source of transcription.
Example VI:
ST: “Mmm!" said Timon. Breakfast time!
TT: قال تيمون: "مممم!" حان وقت الإفطار.
In this example, the literal translation that the translator chooses to use in translating this interjection already exist in the Arabic language which is used to express the action or process of thinking (Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary).
Example VII:
ST: “AAAHHH” Pumbaa swooped out of the trees, swinging wildly on a vine.
TT: "اااااااااه" ظهر بومبا فجأه من بين الأشجار وهو يتأرجح بحماس شديد على الكرمة.
Since the two languages Arabic and English have the same interjection which connotes surprise, the literal translation is appropriate in this context.
5.2. Translating interjection with dissimilar form and the same meaning:
Example I:
ST: “Eek!” Alice yelled, slaming down the lid.
TT: صرخت اليس "اااااااااه!" وهي ترمي الغطاء.
“Eek!” interjection in the English language is used to express fear or dismay. (Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary) and this interjection has its equivalent in the Arabic language but with different form. The translator adheres to use phonological translation for interjections according to Fermandes (2006) Phonological replacement is a procedure in which a TT interjection attempts to mimic phonological features of a ST interjection by replacing the ST interjection with an existing interjection in the target language. hence, the strategy of translating interjection with dissimilar form and the same meaning is a source of phonological translation. By using this strategy, the meaning becomes clear and obvious and also have the same effect on the Arab children.
Example II:
ST: Er, I mean, like a baby.
TT: أأأأ....أعني، مثل الطفل.
"Er," interjection in the English language is used to express the hesitation (Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary). In Arabic language the interjection that express the state of hesitation is "أأأأ" which express tension in speaking, The translator resort to replace the source language interjection by an existing interjection in the target language to clarify the meaning and to make it easier for children to catch the meaning and have the same effect on them. The translator attempts to mimic phonological features of a ST interjection by replacing the ST interjection with an existing interjection in the target language as Fernandes (2006) has mentioned about the phonological translation.
Example III:
ST: CLANG! Suddenly, everything went black.
TT: طراخ! وفجأه أظلمت الدنيا.
CLANG! is an interjection in English language used to make a loud metallic ringing sound (Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary). This interjection has its equivalent in the Arabic language so the translator resort to use to add clarity to the meaning of the text and to make it appropriate and familiar to the Arab children.
Example IV:
ST: “WHAM!” She accidently hit her own head!
TT: "طراخ" ضربت رأسها بدون قصد.
“WHAM!” interjection is used to express the loud sound of a solid blow (Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary). It is translated to "طراخ" which is familiar to the Arab children.
Example V:
ST: “Ouch!” Rapunzel cried.
TT: "أي!" صاحت رابونزيل.
“Ouch!” interjection is used to express sudden pain (Meriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary). In Arabic language, the interjection أي"" is continuously used to express the pain. So, the translator uses the strategy of translating interjection with dissimilar form but the same meaning makes the meaning clear and have the same effect on the Arab children.
Example VI:
ST: "Hooray!" the monkeys cheered.
TT: هللت القرود "مرحي!".
“Hooray!” interjection is used to express joy, approval, or encouragement (Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary), but in this context it expresses joy. The equivalent interjection that exist in Arabic language and refers to happiness and joy is "مرحي!". Therefore, the translator used it to make it easier for Arab children to understand the meaning and to transfer the same effect on them.
Example VII:
ST: "Ugh!" Thumper wrinkled his nose. "what's that smell?"
TT: قلص أرنوبة أنفه وقال: "يع!" ما هذه الرائحة.
"Ugh!" interjection in English is used to indicate the sound of a cough or grunt or to express disgust or horror (Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary), but in this context it refers to disgust. The translator opted for "يع" which is an existing interjection in the Arabic language that refers to expressing disgust.
Example VIII:
ST: "Sorry," Bambi told Flower. “I, Uh, think my mother's calling me”. “Me, Uh, too,” Faline gasped.
TT: قال بامبي لزهرة: " أسف. أنا، احم، اعتقد ان أمي تناديني". وقالت ريم وهي تلهث "وأنا، احم، أيضًا.
“Uh” interjection in English is used to express hesitation and the translator adheres to
translate it as احم"", it is a sound in Arabic language to clear the throat and it indicates hesitation. The translator resorts to use it instead of "أأأأأ" to add more clarity to the meaning and because it is stronger in expressing hesitation. Therefore s/he also uses an interjection with dissimilar form but the same meaning.
Example X:
ST: “Rrrrrrrr,” she roared.
TT: وصاحت بصوت يشبه الزئير: "عاااااا".
The translator here tries to translate it phonologically, the English letter R" is not the
same "ر" in Arabic letters. Hence, it does not convey the same sound. As it said before in this paper that animals do not sound the same in every language because each language has two letters or more that do not exist in the other language. Therefore, the translator tries to mimic the phonological features of the English written animal sound and to make it as close as possible to this sound as a source of phonological translation.
5.3. Translation by using a non-interjective structure with similar meaning:
Example I:
ST: “Hey!" the cowboy cried. "Now why would you do that?"
TT: صاح راعي البقر: "ما هذا! لماذا فعلت ذلك؟"
“HEY!" interjection is used specially to call attention or to express interrogation
(Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary) hence, the translator uses the meaning of the interjection and s/he translated it as a question which is non-interjective structure. It gives the same meaning, but did not have the same effect on the children.
Example II:
ST: Oh, no! He spun around and lifted his tail and buried his head in fear.
TT: "يا الهى" و استدار ورفع ذيله ودفن راسه في خوف.
"Oh," interjection is used to express an emotion (such as surprise or desire) or in
response to physical stimuli (Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary). The translator chooses to use non-interjective structure. This translation serves the same meaning of surprising.
Example III:
ST: But before the game could begin, “Crunch!” “Crunch!” sound of leaves made the friends turn.
TT: ولكن قبل أن تبدأ اللعبة، استدار الأصدقاء بسبب صوت الأوراق وهي تتكسر بهدوء.
“Crunch!” “Crunch!” interjection is used to mimic a sound created by cracking or
crushing. The translator has translated the meaning of the interjection with a non-interjective structure, but a complete sentence. This translation gave the same meaning but will not give the same effect to the Arab children which make them imagining the state of crashing by imitating its sound.
Example IV:
ST: "Whew!" Thumper waved his paw in front of his face. "you should warn us before you let out that kind of stink!"
TT: قال أرنوبة وهو يلوح بيده أمام وجهه: "ياللهول!" "يجب ان تحذرنا قبل ان تطلق مثل هذه الرائحة الكريهة!"
"Whew!" as an English interjection is used to express amazement, discomfort. In Arabic language, there is no interjection could serve the same meaning, that being the case that the translator resorted to find a word (non-interjective structure) that serve the same meaning as "ياللهول" which expresses the amazement.
Example V:
ST: "Ta-da!" Liio emerged with a huge plate of something steaming and cheesy.
TT: ظهرت ليلو ومعها طبق هائل من شيء يخرج بخاراً ويحتوي على الجبن "ها هو!".
“Ta-da!” as an English interjection is used to call attention to something remarkable (Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary), thus the translator chooses to use (Demonstrative pronoun + pronoun) to form a sentence that indicates the exact meaning of the source interjection but in fact the effect of the English interjection when it transferred as a non-interjective structure in the target language, it lost the intended effect of calling attention and calling for being surprised because if s/he translated it as "تراااااا!"it would be more appropriate and wield its surprise effect.
5.4. Translation by using an interjection with a different meaning:
Example I:
ST: “Yeeeehah!” jessie exclaimed loudly. She flapped her arms up and down".
TT: صاحت جيسي: "هيييييه!" قامت بتحريك ذراعيها لاسفل واعلى.
This English interjection is used as an imitation of the cowboys (Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary), and it is translated as"هيييييه!" but this interjection exists in the Arabic language with different meaning which refers to happiness but here the meaning in this context is different because the sound in this context refers to imitate the cowgirl voice who calls the horse to move. then, this translation did not transfer the same meaning or the same effect on the Arab children. If s/he uses "هيااااااا" it could be more appropriate because in this context, the cowgirl calls the horse to move and it will have the same effect on the Arab children.
Example I:
ST: “Oh no!” Mushu shouted. Think you're tough, do you?"
TT: صاح موشو: "حسناً!" تعتقد انك شاب قوي، اليس كذلك؟
This English interjection is used to express an emotion (such as surprise or desire) or in response to physical stimuli (Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary), but the translator replaced it with an interjection with different meaning and gives different effect which is not appropriate for this context in Arabic language "حسناً" because it refers to confirmation so it indicates different meaning.
Example II:
ST: "Ooh!".The fairies gasped. "perfect!" declared the father.
TT: قالت الجنيات: "يا الهى!" وقال والدها "رائع!".
The Arabic interjection "يا الهى!" does not fit the original meaning of the source text because its meaning indicates seeking help from god which does not fit the context and it is more standard Arabic.
5.5. Omission:
Example I:
ST: Pumbaa blinked. Thank", he said “Er!” what is it?
TT: نظر بومبا للهدية ثم قال "شكرا" ولكن ما هذا؟
This interjection omitted by the translator which downgrades the effect of a spoken language. .
Example II:
ST: “Gee”, Timon said. "Nice thought and, all, Simba, but it's a little high for me".
TT: قال تيمون: "فكرة جميلة للغاية يا سيمبا ولكنه عال جدا بالنسبة لي".
The interjection in English language is used as an introductory expletive or to express surprise or enthusiasm (Meriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary). The translator omitted this interjection which affects the effect of surprise.
Example III:
ST: "yoo-hoo!". She called as she dashed from the coach.
TT: وصاحت وهي مندفعة من العربة.
The translator uses the omission strategy here. Such an omission devoids the context from the sense of moving.
Example IV:
ST: When suddenly - Splash! - a raccoon landed in my tub!
TT: عندما سقط فجأة في حوض الاستحمام أحد حيوانات الراكون.
The imitated sound of falling of something in the water was omitted in the Arabic version which made the context loses its effective sound.
5.6. Addition:
Example I:
ST: “Yuck!” Thumper hated to go to bed, even if at bedtime.
TT: "يع!" هذا مقرف. فقد كان يكره خباط البيات الشتوي حتى في أوقات النوم.
“Yuck!” as an interjection is used to express rejection or disgust. The translator was not satisfied with replacing the interjection with the existing interjection in the target language, but s/he also added some words (demonstrative and adjective) to clarify the meaning and making it more appropriate and easier for the Arab children.
Example II:
ST: "Hmm," the prince said, stepping forward.
TT: قال الأمير وهو يتقدم خطوه للأمام: حسنا فهمت.
"Hmm," interjection expresses the action or process of thinking (Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary). Although Arabic language has an equivalent interjection that serves the same meaning and effect which is "اممممم", the translator uses two words to convey the meaning instead of replacing it with an equivalent interjection. However, s/he also failed in transferring the same meaning and the same effect by this strategy.
For an indicative reference to the strategies used in translating interjections, the following table shows a total number of 32 interjections and shows the number of recurrence of each strategy is used:
Literal translation
(Transcription) Dissimilar form but the same meaning (phonological translation) Using a non-interjective structure with similar meaning Using an interactive structure with different meaning Omission Addition of elements
7 9 5 3 5 3
Figure (1) Number of recurrence of each strategy.
The strategy of translating interjections with dissimilar form but the same meaning is a source of phonological translation, because the translator tries to mimic the phonological features of the source interjection by replacing it with an existing interjection in the target language. This strategy is the most appropriate strategy for translating the interjections and the most prominent one, because it serves the same meaning and gives the same effect on the Arab children and the meaning becomes more appropriate and clearer for them. The strategy of transliteration failed to convey the intended effect on the Arab children and failed to influence the Arab children because of their misunderstanding of the English interjection when transliterated.
6. Conclusion
In conclusion, interjections are essential prerequisite of speech that are used in order to convey the meaning and the intended effect, they play a big role in delivering the intended feeling to the reader. Therefore, translating these interjections need an effort to deliver the intended emotive effect to make the target reader (children) interact depending on the intended meaning and effect of the source text. A distinction is frequently made between the transfer of meaning only and transfer of the sound only and transfer the meaning with the same sound effect. This then makes interjections follow different translation techniques and these are related to phonological translation and transcription, as interjections have meaning and both (phonological and transcriptions) are based on translations of sounds. There are techniques of the strategy of phonological translation used by the translator in translating the interjections mentioned by Cuenca (2006). The first one is translating interjections with a dissimilar form but with the same meaning which is a source of phonological translation, the translator tries to mimic the phonological features of the source interjection by replacing it with an existing interjection in the target language was the most appropriate strategy for translating the interjections and the most prominent one, because it serves the same meaning and gives the same effect on the Arab children and the meaning becomes more appropriate and clearer for them. The second strategy that involves phonological translation is translation by using an interjection with a different meaning, and in translating interjection, the main aim is to transfer the sound and to convey the same effect of the source text. Transcription involves Cuenca's first strategy for translating interjections which is Transliteration. The translator in this strategy simply tries to imitate the sound by transcribing it in the Target language. In other words, s/he simply changes some consonants or vowels to the closest alphabet or letters in the target language, whether or not this interjection exists in the target language. However, the strategy of transliteration failed to draw the same effect on the Arab children because they do not know the English interjections. The translator simply changes some consonants or vowels to the closest alphabet or letters in the target language.
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