Author(s): Sahar AHMADI and Saeed KETABI
In this study, efforts have been made to meet three objectives. Firstly, the researcher attempted to examine the extent of translatability of color idiomatic expressions in English- Persian and Persian- English texts. The next- was to explore the applied translation strategies in translation of color idiomatic expressions. The third aim was to find cultural similarities and differences between color idiomatic expressions in English and Persian. A number of 190English and 90 Persian color idiomatic expressions along with their equivalents were gathered from monolingual dictionaries and as the next step their equivalents were detected from bilingual dictionaries. The analysis of data revealed that the following strategies were used in translating color idiomatic expressions: 1) using a non- idiomatic expression; 2) using an idiom of similar meaning and form; 3) using an idiom of similar meaning but dissimilar form; 4) literal translation; 5) paraphrasing and finally 6) loan translation. Moreover, the results of the study led us to conclude that an ideal translation strategy of translating an idiom by using another idiom in target language is not always possible. On the other hand, literal translation without considering its restrictions may lead to an awkward and unnatural translation. Then, the strategy of translating an idiom with a normal, non- idiomatic expression can be appropriate when there is no corresponding target language. Further results also revealed that there are many interesting cultural similarities and differences between color idiomatic expressions in English and Persian.
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