CC BY
43
DOI: 10.24411/2470-1262-2019-10048
УДК (UDC) - 37.034:821.512.164-13
Nana Mazmishvili, Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University, Georgia
Dali Doborjginidze, Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University, Georgia
For citation: Mazmishvili Nana, Doborjginidze Dali, (2019).
Functioning of National Ethnical English Idioms in Cross-Cultural Communication Cross-Cultural Studies: Education and Science Vol.4, Issue 2 (2019), pp. 56-65 (in USA)
Manuscript received 05/19/2019 Accepted for publication: 06/17/2019 The authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
CC BY 4.0
FUNCTIONING OF NATIONAL ETHNICAL ENGLISH IDIOMS IN CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
ФУНКЦИОНИРОВАНИЕ НАЦИОНАЛЬНЫХ ЭТНИЧЕСКИХ АНГЛИЙСКИХ ИДИОМ В МЕЖКУЛЬТУРНОЙ КОММУНИКАЦИИ
Abstract
The 21st century research deals with the idiomatic expressions and the meaning they convey in terms of telling a lot of interesting stories about the nations, however a comparative analysis of the somatic idiomatic expressions that contain the names of clothing has not been carried out so far. When talking about the comparative analysis, we would like to underline that the target languages in the context of the above mentioned are Georgian, English and Russian languages.
The authors of the presented article analyze the concrete somatic idiomatic expressions with the main focus on the identification of the cultural value they bear as well as the meanings on the level of the linguistics and the potential of the equivalency in translation with the aim to identify the full, partial adequacy among the languages as well as attempt to find the most effective way to translate the concrete idiomatic expression that tends to be unique for one specific language only due to its very much culture bound nature. 56
Keywords: somatic idiomatic expressions, linguistic aspect, translation, adequacy, Georgian, English, Russian languages
Introduction
Clothing is one of the most essential aspects of the cultural heritage of the nation. Among folk music, dancing, food, monuments.... clothing appears to have the huge value in terms of revealing the history and the culture of the nation they are worn by. Clothes tell us a lot about the climate, geographical area, landscape specifics the concrete people have to live. Clothing is one of the most reflective stuff that makes the person and relevantly nation different from others contributing to making it recognizable and identifiable.
Even though many historian and researches dedicated their time and put hard work in the investigation of the specifics of the national clothes, the conditions that played a big role in forming the national clothes, hardly ever it is possible to have access to the sources that would provide us with the comprehensive study of the phraseological units that include the names of traditional clothing and the way they can be conveyed in different language.
When talking about the way the somatic phraseological units can be understood in two or more different languages we focus on the specifics of translation of the components of the phraseological unit and the potential of finding the adequate phraseological units in Georgian, English and Russian languages.
Even though every nation has its own cultural heritage the important part of which is formed by the national clothing and every nation shows its inner world, its history and taste through national clothing, there is always some room for common traits among some nations that can be explained either through geographical closeness of the nations or the historical links so that strong nations over dominated smaller countries trying to establish their culture in the countries they took the control over resulting in enriching the culture, therefore clothing, of these small countries with the elements of the national clothing of the conqueror nations.
Besides wars that contributed to building the historical ties among the nations, thus having impact on the culture, the way of life of the each other, one of the ways to transfer the national-traditional possessions in the other culture was the trade and economic relations among the countries. The culture of Porto Franco contributed to the development of the close relations between the people. In this context it is important to say that Georgia had a very big potential with Batumi [the town located along the Black Sea coastline in Georgia in the southwest of the country] as the Porto Pranco that opened many opportunities for the town to witness the European culture the results of what can be found even now in the form of the buildings designed and constructed by Spanish, British or Italian architects.
In addition to what is mentioned above, one of the aspects that contributed to the big variety of the Georgian national clothing is the unique landscape of the country, geographical features and climate together with the local flora and fauna that appear to be so diverse and interesting in accordance with the regions of the country. Strict winters with heavy snow and hot summers with
some shortage in water supply due to droughts in the high mountainous regions on the one hand, and mild temperature, much rain and high level of precipitation on the other hand, play a big role in forming the person's character when being made to get prepared to withstand the harsh environmental conditions or given opportunity to enjoy the mild temperature and spectacular views of the sea and ravines.
On top of what is said above, religious background of the country also contributes to the diverse nature of the way the people are dressed in Georgia. This particularly vivid in Ajara [Autonomous Republic located on the Black Sea coastline area] due to the history of the region that made the region occupied by Turks form more than 300 years, thus resulting becoming of many Georgia Muslims. In other words, since religious background has some specific demands on the way of clothing, existence of two religions within the region [Ajara] results in differences in the clothes to some extent.
The mentioned facts and aspects can serve as the explanation to the big variety of clothing items in Georgia as well as make the reader exposed to the uniqueness of the Georgian national clothes and the complexity of the translation of the concrete clothing items in other languages.
More concretely, our focus was made on exploration of the names of national clothing in the intercultural as well as the translation study contexts. The object of our study are the somatic phraseological units as they appear to be the linguistic phenomenon that bear a mysterious and interesting stories about the culture, the lifestyle of the people bearing the language the concrete phraseological unit exists in; moreover, these phraseological units speak about the history and the past of different countries in the intercultural context.
Method of the Research
In order to make a clear and understandable analysis of the somatic phraseological units and the possibility of their translation from the source into the target language we applied for the method of comparative analysis of the phraseological units including the names of traditional clothes in Georgian, English and Russian languages. Comparative analysis was mainly targeted at identification of the similar or unique for the concrete nation items and the way they can be transcoded in different languages.
Moreover, even though, as mentioned above, hardy ever one can find the literature that could give the comprehensive analysis of the names of the traditional clothes in the somatic phraseological units in the context of translation and cultural studies, in order to have the clear basis for the comparative analysis of the empirical materials, we made a review of the literature on formation of the traditional clothes and the tendencies of the development of them in Georgia. Therefore, the review of the research materials as well as the dictionary work was one of the methodological tools we applied to process the practical materials.
The names of the traditional clothes, the study of the types of the national clothes and the background of their formation is far deeply advanced analyzed and discussed in the studies of many scholars who dedicated many valuable papers on the topic.
In order to be able to create the comparative picture of the names of the national clothes in the phraseological units and the possibility of their translation while talking about the translation among three languages, first we need to have an idea of the amount of occurrences of the names of the national clothes in the phraseological units and its historical background to be able to elaborate the most appropriate approaches while translation so important language unit.
Our attempts to find out useful and authentic information on the names of the Georgian national clothes and the history they bear were faced with the challenge of the lack of trustful and reliable information around the topic. I. Sekhniashvili also states that the facts or sources that could provide evidence on the development of the Georgian national clothes are hardly available. The idea on the possible nature of the national Georgian clothing could be restored mainly from the stelas and the facades of the churches. These materials are added with the samples of the fresco paintings, blacksmith's art, cemetery tones, numismatics, miniatures, historical sources, archaeological materials, and the data from the literary monuments and the notes of the foreign travelers [ 4. pp 2].
The Production of the clothes in Georgia takes roots from the ancient times. The first findings on the clothing of the slave-state society were provided by the Greek travelers Ksenoponte and Strabo. Academician Simon Janashia underlines that even "In the beginning of the 60s of the fifth century the King of Lazika Gubaz came to Constantinople dressed in the Iranian clothing and surrounded by the guardians". This statement provides the reader with the clear indication on the fact that the representatives of the upper layer of the society used to share and get used to the way of dressing of their strong neighbors and on special occasions used to way non-Georgian clothes [4, pp. 2].
Georgian as well as foreign researchers and travelers highlight the variety of Georgian clothes and explain its change with the historical situations. "Conquerors used to bring together with them their own customs, their clothes, the colors of their clothes, textile, hairstyle, etc." [4, pp. 2].
One of the famous Georgian researchers Iv. Javakhishvili left particularly remarkable works to discuss the issue of the Georgian national clothes. In his unfinished work "Materials for the History of Culture" the researcher explores the Georgian National clothes from the fifth century until the end of the 18th century. From the mid of XVI century the political influence in Transcaucasia was divided between Turkey and Iran. This changed a lot the way of life of Georgian people as well as the clothes they wore. However, specific Georgian clothes stayed alive even in the conditions of the strong influence of Kizilbash traditional clothes [4, pp. 3].
As we have mentioned already geographical location of the country, relations with the closest neighboring countries, climate specifics in the east and west, mountains and valleys led to the formation of different styles of clothing in different regions. Besides the common/general national clothes every region has always been distinguished with its unique, original and colorful clothes. In this context one can easily notice the uniqueness of the clothes worn in the mountainous regions of Georgia that appear to be far much different from the clothes in the valleys. This was particularly noticeable for the clothes women wore as the main traditional clothing for Georgian man used to be so called "Chokhaakhalukhi", in its side, used to be of many types in accordance with the
regions of Georgia [4, pp. 3].
Chokha was a symbol of pride and bravery in Georgian man. Wearing chokha meant being worth wearing it as the symbol of strength, respect and pride. Therefore, chokha appears in quite some number of the phraseological units giving the concrete semantic meaning to it. In Khevsureti [one of the mountainous regions of Georgia] the local community responded any immoral conduct of a man with cutting the flap of chokha this man wore. As Tedo Sakhokia states the origin of this custom must be associated with the ancient times when chokha used to be worn directly on the bear body so that cutting the flap of chokha could show genitalia of the man who demonstrated an immoral behavior. This custom was the basis of creation of the phraseological unit "to cut the flap of chokha" that means to put somebody to shame [1, pp. 20].
In order to convey the given image, so unique for the Georgian culture and traditions, in English culture the most effective technique that could be applied by the translator would be to provide the neutral form of so sensitive meaning as mentioning chokha and its flap would not enable the reader to guess implicit meaning this phraseological unit has.
Chocka appears to be the main clothing not only for Georgian men, but Georgian women as well. For example, Sekhniashvili N. gives comprehensive description of the types of clothing of women living in Tusheti [historic region in North-east Georgia] are associated with. In her research she writes: "Tushi people wear the clothes made from the wool produced on their own; the favorite colors for both genders appear to be black and blue". The costume of a Tushi woman was a combination of a short and sleeveless shirt and chokha with cleavage" ... [4, pp.5].
Since chokha is a very essential element in the Georgian clothing it is easy to guess for translator-practitioners to imagine the challenge they have to face to translate this word in English and Russian languages. As chokha is the type of realis we have to accept the fact that the Georgian phraseological units that contain the word chokha cannot maintain their aesthetic-cultural value in translation. Therefore, the only translation technique that can be applied is the interpretation of the meaning of the original phrase so that the adequacy of translation is achieved on the level of the content only.
To illustrate further the challenge of the translation of the phraseological units with the word chohka, we would like to bring another example of Georgian phraseological: дд&пддсо jqo ;odbj^((>o ВпЪосо «оЬп [mshromeli kaci chokhit dadiso]
The given Georgian phraseological unit says that wearing chokha demonstrates a life of a man who leads fair, honest life and even though he is wearing a torn apart chokha he has to be respected because of his right, honest way of life. Even though this Georgian phraseological unit does not have adequate phraseological units in English and Russian languages, the phraseological unit has equivalent units in the mentioned target languages. In Russian language the given Georgian phraseological unit sounds as Честный пост лучше, чем нечестный [букв. грязный] завтрак. This Russian phraseological unit conveys the similar to Georgian message meaning, however uses other components instead of the name of the traditional clothes. To be more precise the components
in the Russian phraseological unit include the words-fasting and breakfast; these components are related to the food and gastronomic issues and do nothing with the semantic field of clothes.
In the context of coincidence, in terms of the meaning and form, of the Georgian, English and Russian phraseological units, one can easily notice the same forms for the same meaning in English and Russian languages as the phraseological units have similar components in English and Russian languages in comparison to the components in the Georgian phraseological unit. In English the given meaning, the Georgian and Russian phraseological units express, is implied in the phraseological unit -A clean fast is better than a dirty breakfast.
The above given example shows how the nation-specific elements can cause a big challenge for a translator/interpreter where he/she has to take a quick decision on the strategy of translation to communicate the message of the original context to the recipient of the target language [English, Russian] bearers when the message is formulated with the culture-bound words.
Even though there was a very big variety of Georgian clothing that was conditioned by numerous historical, geographical, demographic aspects, the names of clothes that appear in the phraseological units mainly include the names of different types of headwear both of men and women. This is basically conditioned by the symbolic value headwear used to have in the historical past of Georgia.
The literature dealing with the research of the traditional Georgian clothing and the cultural elements associated with them names many types of headwear worn in Georgia. Researches claim there were at least seven types of headwear worn by Georgian people manly different from each other in accordance with the regions. In other words, people in different parts of Georgia used to wear headwear made from the specific fabric. Moreover, those types of headwear had different decorations and accessories as well as shapes [4, pp. 4].
It has to be mentioned that such a big variety of headwear was conditioned by the traditions, customs and rules, the way of life and other environmental conditions of each region of Georgia.
XVII-XVII cc. literature and the notes made by travelers name various types of woman headwear such as: lechaki, kabalakhi, shustaki...
As stated above headwear was one of the essential elements for Georgian women independently from which region they lived in. Wearing a headwear meant being respected, showing respect towards the saintliness of the family name. In the past women did not even go out without having their head covered as "Appearing among people without a headwear and bear-headed" was considered to be unacceptable for the community. This rule has been known as working from V century until almost the first half of XX century [4, pp. 4].
The big symbolic cultural value of the headwear of Georgian women is proved by the fact that even today Georgian women are addressed as "dd6(po(nbd6o" [mandilosani] where the root "mandil" of the word mandilosani is the name of one of the types of headwear of Georgian women mainly worn in east Georgia.
It is natural that such a rich culture of headwear of Georgian women is reflected in the language via the quite a big number of the somatic phraseological units which contain the names of the headwear of Georgian women.
All somatic phraseological units containing the names of women headwear reflect the old Georgian traditions and rules of the ways of punishment of those who breached the rules of morality. Punishments for any immoral activities were exercised in various ways. Often the group of some respected people used to gather to discuss how severe each case was. The discussions were held in front of the community members. In case the person was considered to be guilty he/she had to pay for that. If the person was a man they community used to take the hat off publicly and in case of the woman she had her "mandili" taken off from her head that was believed to be a big shame [1, pp. 22].
As mainly the above described traditions and historical background tend to be the basis for creation of the phraseological units containing the names of the Georgian women headwear, one can easily feel the negative or positive connotation of each type of headwear as the main component of the concrete phraseological units.
If you go through the dictionary of Georgian phraseological units you will be exposed to the phraseological units mainly having the words of the Georgian women as well as men headwear-mandili, lechaki, chikila, kudi-as the main components.
For example the phraseological unit-бдд^ЬоЬ (jft^fo [namusis lechaki]-if translated word by word sounds as lechaki of grace/honor. Lechaki is the silk veil wearing of what also meant showing grace and saintleness in terms of being committed to the family, traditions and moral conduct. If a Georgian woman mentioned she was wearing lechaki while talking about anything, she meant that her words were pure as water and fully true ever. Therefore, the phraseological unit -6дд^)ЬоЬ (jBdfob Qpdb^yfvgd [namusis lechakis dakhurva] means to be perfect and honored, respected for all the grace and honesty. In English this main component of the given phraseological unit can not be easily conveyed in the target language when translating it in English and Russian languages, however the tradition of forbidding man, expect her brother and husband, to touch the head and hair of a woman used to be exercised in Russia from the ancient times. As a result, the analyzed Georgian phraseological unit can be translated in Russian language, however the main components can not be the same. Therefore, the Georgian phraseological unit can be changed with its Russian equivalent- Опростоволоситься [oprostovolosits] -meaning to expose somebody's hair to public. As for the translation of the analyzed Georgian phraseological unit in English, it can be just interpreted as putting somebody to shame, thus losing its original cultural and impressive value. In other words, the acceptable option to translate the Georgian phraseological unit in English language would be the neutral interpretation of the message.
Besides the positive meaning of the word -lechaki-in the Georgian phraseological units, it can have the negative meaning when it is used to address men. Generally "to put lechaki on" must have positive connotation, however when it concerns men it is interpreted as to put the shame to men. The man who has lechaki put on his head is never respected anymore.
So, one and the same item of national clothing can have different meanings according to who it concerns-man or woman.
The same meaning is expressed by the word "chikila" instead of "lechaki". When somebody has about a man -he has chikila on-he wants to say that this man has put to a big shame as he was made look like a woman with the woman headwear on his head.
The translation technique applied while translating this phraseological units in English and Russian languages can be the interpretation of the semantic meaning as in the previous examples.
We mentioned above that persons conducting any immoral action were punished by the community. As we have seen, in case of women the main way of punishment was leaving them without their headwear while men were left without their hat. It was a very severe punishment as hat was the main item of clothing for Georgian men and in particular, those who lived in the mountainous regions. That was considered to be the symbol of bravery, courage, honor and respect. Georgian men never took their hat off even when they went to church to attend the service.
In Khevsureti [historical-ethnographic region in eastern Georgia] where the rule of vendetta worked men did not put heir hat on until they revenged for their relative's or friend's death. If the enemies were going to reconcile, one of them had to pass his hat to the other as the symbol of peace and friendship, while in the region of Samegrelo hat was sent to an addressee as the sign of invitation to the party. As Sakhokia T. proves, hat was used as the sign of proposal to a woman in Samegrelo region [1, pp.22].
To underline the honesty and brave nature of a man, people in Svaneti would say -he is wearing a white hat, while wearing a black hat would mean the man disrespected and committed something unacceptable for the local community. In some cases, a man was put his hat upside down to put him to shame for misconduct [1, pp.23].
If a women betrayed her husband, man were referred to as having his hat put off by his wife.
This symbolic meaning of hat for man is clearly shown in some Georgian phraseological units such as: we were put our hats off, having no hat at all, wear somebody's hat upside down, etc.[ 1, pp.23].
Translation of the above listed Georgian phraseological units in English language would be again a challenge as the word hat has different connotations in phraseological units in English. Therefore, the explanation technique would be more appropriate in this case.
Despite many examples that show that taking a hat off has a negative meaning, it can also express some positive feeling in the phraseological unit -jjopo jfo [kudi chersa kra]. If
we apply for word by word translation to give the clear picture of the structural nature of this phraseologcal unit we result in the following-to throw a hat against the ceiling. This gesture was exercised to show the joy and happiness upon getting some pleasant news. With the purpose to convey the meaning of the original phraseological unit in the target language, translator can expand
it some extend by adding some more words to the original set of words like: he took off his hat and threw it up against the ceiling to express his joy.
The results of the research
The overview of the existing literature in the historical and cultural heritage the names of national clothes express and the comparative analysis of the phraseological units including the names of the national Georgian clothes and their equivalents in English and Russian languages gave us the basis to make the following conclusions:
1. Georgian national clothing is unique in its nature as this is strictly bound to specific historical, traditional, geographic and demographic specifics of the nation;
2. Even though foreign travelers as well as the available scientific literature claims the existence of a big variety of national Georgian clothes, the items of clothing that can be found in the phraseological units include mainly the names of headwear;
3. The names of headwear can have both negative and positive connotation depending on the concrete context that are used in;
4. Translations can almost never expect to find the adequate linguistic unit in the target language to translate the Georgian phraseological unit in English or Russian languages;
5. Even though some traditions and rules might be common to some extent, the main component of the original phraseological unit is never preserved in the target language.
References:
1. Amerijibi R. Studies in Anthropological Linguistics.
2. Oniani Al. Georgan Idioms. 1966;
3. Sakhokia T. Georgian Proverbs. Tbilisi, 1967;
4. Sekhniashvili I. The Structure and Semantics of Idioms in Georgian Language; Ilia State University. Tbilisi, 2012;
5. Takaishvili A. The issues of Georgian Phraseological units. 1964;
6. The free dictionary by Farlex https://www.thefreedictionary.com/
7. The Largest Idioms Dictionary https://www.theidioms.com/
Information about the authors:
Nana Mazmishvili - Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University, Department of European Studies, Assistant Professor
Research Interests:
- Translation Studies;
- Translation theory and practice;
- Methods of teaching foreign languages The author of over 30 articles nana.mazmishviliabsu.edu.ge
Dali Doborjginidze - Doctor of Philology, Senior Teacher at the department of Slavic Studies;
Research Interests:
- Translation Studies;
- Translation theory and practice;
- Methods of teaching of Russian language dalidanieli@mal.ru
Acknowledgements:
Author is grateful for the advice of prof. M. V. Aroshidze from Batumi state University for providing consultation on the technical editing of the article.
Contribution of the authors. The authors contributed equally to the present research.
