THE ROLE OF CULTURE
IN ENGLISH – HAUSA TRANSLATION
BY
HAFIZU MIKO
YAKASAI AND YAKUBU MAGAJI AZARE
BAYERO
UNIVERSITY KANO
1. Introduction
The concept of culture has been becoming an important aspect in linguistic and pragmatic studies. Culture plays an important in shaping our linguistic meaning and our understanding of language and linguistics in general. Culture is defined as a system of knowledge, beliefs, values, customs, behaviors and artifacts that are acquired, shared and used by members during daily living (Gamble and Gamble 2002: 35). While Newmark (1988: 94) sees it as “the way of life and its manifestations that are peculiar to a community that uses a particular as its means of expression”. He identifies cultural categories as follows: ecology, material culture, social culture, social organization and gesture and habits. It is clear that language is part and parcel of culture, and one of the capabilities acquired by man as a member of the society. Culture determines the words to be used and usages vary from culture to culture. As exemplified in (Gamble and Gamble 2002: 118), “If a concept is important to a particular culture, there will be a large number of terms to describe it. For example in our culture, the word money is very important and we have many different words to describe it: wealth, capital, assets, backing, resources and finance are just a few. Similarly, the Eskimos have a number of different words for snow, because they need to be able to make a fine distinctions when speaking of it. Thus, for the Eskimos, gana refers to falling snow, and akilukab to fluffy fallen snow. In contrast to the Eskimos, Arabs have only one word for snow – talg – and it refers to either ice or snow. The Arabs are simply not very interested in snow, since it rarely affects them”………..
Cultural differences can lead to confused, misled translations. Translating ideas from one culture into another sometimes leads to problems. Nords (1992: 46) maintains that “cultural translation problems are a result of the differences in culture – specific habits, expectations, norms and convention concerning verbal and other behavior, such as text – type conventions, general norms of style, norms of measuring, formal conventions of marking certain elements in a text”. Newmark (1991: 74) exemplifies that, “ ‘red’ is ceremonial and happy in Chinese but ‘cruel’ or ‘frightening’ in English; ‘mourning’ is black in English but white in Chinese; the sun is as oppressive in Arabic countries as it is lovely in England; thus demonstrating the impossibility of translation”.
It has been pointed out that culture plays a significant role in every translation activity, and a translator ought to be constantly aware of the contrast in the entire range of culture represented by the languages concerned and they may have to be dealt differently. The focal point of this paper is on the role of culture in English – Hausa translation. And of course, we know that western cultures differ from African cultures (Hausa belongs to Africa and English to the West). This indicates that there must be cultural differences between the two languages. Thus, there is need to present the role of culture in the direction of English – Hausa translation. In view of this, the paper is divided into three main sections. Section one is an introduction, section two focuses on cultural issues in translation and the final section deals with the role of culture in English Hausa translation.
2. Cultural Issues in Translation
The arising question is the method of dealing with such features whose self explanatory nature in one culture is not necessarily reflected in another. The role of culture in translation is adequately captured in Piotrowska (1997: 91) that, “Translation does involve cultural transfer. It is not only a linguistic process; it is transformation of a world into a world, not just a word into a word”. Therefore, it is clear that various aspects of both source and target texts reflect respective cultures. A translator must bear in mind and acknowledge the importance of cultural components which are most prominently culture-specific. Newmark (1988) observes that most cultural words are easy to detect, since they are associated with a particular language and cannot be literally translated, but many cultural customs are described in ordinary language, where literal translation would distort the meaning and a translation may include an appropriate descriptive functional equivalent.
On translating culture-specific components, Piotrowska (1997: 91) states that “the translator chooses between preserving this element in his/her target text (henceforth TT), omitting it, or reducing its value by bracketing it, for example if the concept is an alien one in the target culture”. Here, translator is given an open choice on doing the right things depending on the nature of his/her audience. Thus, choosing between preserving the cultural component in the TT and or reducing it, is determined by the audience. Whatever choice a translator may choose or adopt must convey the information correctly and no confusion. Newmark (1988) has mentioned that cultural equivalent, functional equivalent, descriptive equivalent, adaptation, naturalization as translation procedures for culture-specific texts.
Newmark 1988 indicates that culture – specific text could be translated using the following methods:
a. Cultural equivalent: this is an approximate translation where a source language (SL) cultural word is translated by a target language (TL) cultural word; thus baccalaureat is translated as ‘(the French )’ “A” level’, or Abitar (Matura) as (the German / Austrian) “A” level’. These are examples of approximate cultural equivalent (see Newmark 1988: 82 – 83 for more examples).
b. Functional equivalent: this is a method or procedure applied to cultural words, requires the use of a culture free word, sometimes with a new specific term. It therefore, neutralizes or generalizes the SL word. This is seen as an accurate way of deculturalising a cultural word.
c. Descriptive equivalent: description has to be weighed against function. Here a translator is required to translate SL cultural word descriptively into TL text and conveying the accurate information to the readership.
In doing cultural translation, a number of contextual factors need to be considered (Newmark 1988:103):
a. Purpose of text
b. Motivation and control, technical and linguistic level of readership
c. Importance of referent in SL text
d. Setting (does recognize translation exist)
e. Recency of word/referent
f. Future of referent
Bearing in mind the above contextual factors the problem of cultural translation may be reduced and translator may find it very easy to handle any culture-specific text.
Newmark (1991: 74) has pointed that “if the translator’s task is to contribute to understanding (and peace) between individual groups and nations, and the second is to transmit knowledge (technology transfer), then the third is to mediate cultural features…… “. This has further shows the importance of culture in translation. The next section presents the role of culture in English – Hausa translation.
3. Role of Culture in English – Hausa Translation
As mentioned by Piotrowska (1997: 91) that, “Translation does involve cultural transfer. It is not only a linguistic process; it is transformation of a world into a world, not just a word into a word”. Thus, any translation that involves two languages, does involve cultural transfer. Since no two cultures are absolutely equal. Then, culture plays a vital role in the reproduction of the closest natural equivalent of the SL message into the TL text. English and Hausa are natural languages of different language family and having different cultures. Thus, what is culturally said in English may not be exactly translated into Hausa, and the vice – versa. Below are some examples showing the role of culture in the English – Hausa translation:
1a. English: “Professor Gana stated that the programme would seek to inculcate n the public service the ethics of hardwork, discipline, productivity, dedication, humility, patriotism and selfless service to the nation”.
b. Hausa: “Sheehùn Maalàmii1 Gana ya kuma bayyana cewa shirin zai nemi cusa xabi’ar yin aiki tuquru a zukatan ma’aikata da xa’a da samun nagartar aiki da kishi da nuna rashin son zuciya wajen yi wa qasa aiki”.
(Commercial Television Kano 19/2/90 in Yakasai 1994: 15)
As far as English culture is concerned the Professor refers to a university teacher of the highest rank and its equivalent in Hausa culture is “Sheehùn Maalàmii” which refers to an Islamic Scholar (the highest rank in the Islamic teaching). The word Sheehùu is derived from the Arabic word Shiek. Due to cultural differences the example given in (1) is misleading, the Hausa readers or receptors will be thinking of an ‘Islamic scholar’ not a western scholar or a university professor. Therefore, based on Hausa culture the words ‘Islamic scholar’ is translated as ‘Sheehùn Maalàmii’ and the word ‘professor is being adapted to avoid misleading the audience. Thus, the correct translation is given as follows:
1c. Hausa: …. Fàrfeesàa Gana ya kuma bayyana cewa shirin zai nemi cusa xabi’ar yin aiki ….”.
More similar examples could be seen in relation to lexical items like ‘doctor’ and theatre. Some people used to translate a holder of doctor of philiosophy as ‘likitàa’. The confusion here is that the audience will be thinking of a medical doctor. As far as the Hausa culture is concerned ‘likitàa’ refers to a medical doctor not a doctor of philosophy. So also the translation of the word ‘theatre’ (an outdoor area where plays are performed or lectur ) as ‘tìyaatàa’ is wrong and misleading. The Hausa culture recognizes ‘theatre’ as a place in hospital where a medical operation is performed. However, in a situation where a translator is translating for group of students within the academic environment could translate ‘theatre’ as ‘tìyaatà’ (as an adaptation) to refer to lecture venue or an outdoor theatre since the audience could easily understand.
A translator should also note that the concept of eating and drinking differs from one culture to another. For instance, what is referred to as eating in the Western culture means drinking in the Hausa culture. Consider the following example:
2a. English: John is eating a mango
b. Hausa: John yana shân mangwaro
In western culture somebody could not drink a mango(and similar fruits) but eating it (as in 2a), while in Hausa culture, somebody is supposed to drink a mango (and or an orange) but not eating it (as in 2b). However, guava is eating in both cultures.
Honorific as an aspect of grammatical category is seen as a form used to express respect in addressing certain kinds of people. Hausa culture (like other cultures) accepts giving respect to senior people in the society, particularly the emirs, people holding political offices and traditional title holders.. English culture recognizes the following honorific titles (Yakasai 1990: 37):
3a Majesty: for the queen
b. Highness: for the royal family, the Duke
c. My lord: for judge
d. Honourable: for members of parliament
e. Excellency: for ambassadors
f. Mayor: for district head in Europe
On translating English honorifics into Hausa a translator should note that Hausa has recognized three kinds of honorifics, namely: mài girmaa, and mài martabàa. mài martabàa ‘highness’ is used to address the first class emirs and mài girmaa ‘excellency’ / honourable’ for governors and other people holding an important position in the society. Therefore, for translating English honorific titles into Hausa a translator should use mài martabàa (for royal family) and mài girmaa for all others. Creating an honorific not recognized in the Hausa culture could lead to confusion.
Another point of cultural difference between Hausa and English is euphemism. Hausa culture is full of euphemism or polite expressions. A translator should note that a simple expression of English when exactly translated into Hausa could become an abuse. Thus, euphemism is one aspect that brings cultural difference between Hausa and English. Consider the following example:
4a. English: Your father is calling you
b. Hausa: Ùbankà yana kiran ka
The use of ‘Ùbankà’ as translation of ‘Your father’ is an abuse and unpleasant in Hausa. Thus, there is need for a polite expression, which is ‘mahàifinkàa’.
Translator ought to be constantly aware of the contrast in the entire range of culture represented by the languages concerned. Bearing in mind the aforementioned points could help a translator and an interpreter working on English – Hausa translation. It is therefore, mandatory for a translator and an interpreter to have at least the basic knowledge of cultural peculiarities of the languages concerned.
4. Conclusion
Culture influences communication. It is through cultural peculiarities that a society is fully identified and understood. Translation is just a reflection of culture and culture as complete way of life. This shows that culture and translation are inseparable. This paper upholds the argument in Piotrowska (1997), Abioye (1999), Newmark (1991), among others have indicated that translation does involve cultural transfer. It is not only a linguistic process; it is transformation of a world into a world, not just a word into a word”. Culture specific text could be translated by using one of these techniques: cultural equivalent, functional equivalent and descriptive equivalent. Translator must handle cultural text with care. In any translation activity audience has priority over the form s of a language. Translator must comply with the general norms when translating for a general audience, like in the electronic or print media. Indeed, some culture specific texts are pragmatically motivated. A translator should bear in mind the contextual factors behind the cultural words. The examples given have shown the role of culture in translation and also in shaping our understanding of language.
Note
Abioye, John Olaoye. 1999. Bridge Across Cultures. Lagos: University of Lagos Press
Gamble, Teri Kwal and Gamble, Michael. 2002. Communication Works Seventh Edition. New
York: McGraw Hill.
Newmark, Peter. 1988. A Textbook of Translation. Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall International.
Newmark, Peter. 1991. About Translation. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Limited
Nord, C. 1992. “Text Analysis in Translator Training” In Dollerup and Loddegaard (Eds).
Teaching Translation and Interpreting: Training, Talent and Experience. Amsterdam: John Benjamin Publishing Company.
Piotrowska, Maria. 1997. Learning vTranslation- Learning the Impossible?A Course of
Translation from English into Polish. Kraków: Wydawcow Prac Naukowych Universitat
Kraków.
Yakasai, Hafizu Miko. 1990. Mechanisms of Adjustment in English – Hausa Translation: A Case
Study of Semantic and Structural Adjustments. B.A. Dissertation, Bayero University Kano
Yakasai, Hafizu Miko. 1994. Figurativ Language in English – Hausa Translation: A
Communicative Approach. M.A. Dissertation, Bayero University Kano.
The concept of culture has been becoming an important aspect in linguistic and pragmatic studies. Culture plays an important in shaping our linguistic meaning and our understanding of language and linguistics in general. Culture is defined as a system of knowledge, beliefs, values, customs, behaviors and artifacts that are acquired, shared and used by members during daily living (Gamble and Gamble 2002: 35). While Newmark (1988: 94) sees it as “the way of life and its manifestations that are peculiar to a community that uses a particular as its means of expression”. He identifies cultural categories as follows: ecology, material culture, social culture, social organization and gesture and habits. It is clear that language is part and parcel of culture, and one of the capabilities acquired by man as a member of the society. Culture determines the words to be used and usages vary from culture to culture. As exemplified in (Gamble and Gamble 2002: 118), “If a concept is important to a particular culture, there will be a large number of terms to describe it. For example in our culture, the word money is very important and we have many different words to describe it: wealth, capital, assets, backing, resources and finance are just a few. Similarly, the Eskimos have a number of different words for snow, because they need to be able to make a fine distinctions when speaking of it. Thus, for the Eskimos, gana refers to falling snow, and akilukab to fluffy fallen snow. In contrast to the Eskimos, Arabs have only one word for snow – talg – and it refers to either ice or snow. The Arabs are simply not very interested in snow, since it rarely affects them”………..
Cultural differences can lead to confused, misled translations. Translating ideas from one culture into another sometimes leads to problems. Nords (1992: 46) maintains that “cultural translation problems are a result of the differences in culture – specific habits, expectations, norms and convention concerning verbal and other behavior, such as text – type conventions, general norms of style, norms of measuring, formal conventions of marking certain elements in a text”. Newmark (1991: 74) exemplifies that, “ ‘red’ is ceremonial and happy in Chinese but ‘cruel’ or ‘frightening’ in English; ‘mourning’ is black in English but white in Chinese; the sun is as oppressive in Arabic countries as it is lovely in England; thus demonstrating the impossibility of translation”.
It has been pointed out that culture plays a significant role in every translation activity, and a translator ought to be constantly aware of the contrast in the entire range of culture represented by the languages concerned and they may have to be dealt differently. The focal point of this paper is on the role of culture in English – Hausa translation. And of course, we know that western cultures differ from African cultures (Hausa belongs to Africa and English to the West). This indicates that there must be cultural differences between the two languages. Thus, there is need to present the role of culture in the direction of English – Hausa translation. In view of this, the paper is divided into three main sections. Section one is an introduction, section two focuses on cultural issues in translation and the final section deals with the role of culture in English Hausa translation.
2. Cultural Issues in Translation
The arising question is the method of dealing with such features whose self explanatory nature in one culture is not necessarily reflected in another. The role of culture in translation is adequately captured in Piotrowska (1997: 91) that, “Translation does involve cultural transfer. It is not only a linguistic process; it is transformation of a world into a world, not just a word into a word”. Therefore, it is clear that various aspects of both source and target texts reflect respective cultures. A translator must bear in mind and acknowledge the importance of cultural components which are most prominently culture-specific. Newmark (1988) observes that most cultural words are easy to detect, since they are associated with a particular language and cannot be literally translated, but many cultural customs are described in ordinary language, where literal translation would distort the meaning and a translation may include an appropriate descriptive functional equivalent.
On translating culture-specific components, Piotrowska (1997: 91) states that “the translator chooses between preserving this element in his/her target text (henceforth TT), omitting it, or reducing its value by bracketing it, for example if the concept is an alien one in the target culture”. Here, translator is given an open choice on doing the right things depending on the nature of his/her audience. Thus, choosing between preserving the cultural component in the TT and or reducing it, is determined by the audience. Whatever choice a translator may choose or adopt must convey the information correctly and no confusion. Newmark (1988) has mentioned that cultural equivalent, functional equivalent, descriptive equivalent, adaptation, naturalization as translation procedures for culture-specific texts.
Newmark 1988 indicates that culture – specific text could be translated using the following methods:
a. Cultural equivalent: this is an approximate translation where a source language (SL) cultural word is translated by a target language (TL) cultural word; thus baccalaureat is translated as ‘(the French )’ “A” level’, or Abitar (Matura) as (the German / Austrian) “A” level’. These are examples of approximate cultural equivalent (see Newmark 1988: 82 – 83 for more examples).
b. Functional equivalent: this is a method or procedure applied to cultural words, requires the use of a culture free word, sometimes with a new specific term. It therefore, neutralizes or generalizes the SL word. This is seen as an accurate way of deculturalising a cultural word.
c. Descriptive equivalent: description has to be weighed against function. Here a translator is required to translate SL cultural word descriptively into TL text and conveying the accurate information to the readership.
In doing cultural translation, a number of contextual factors need to be considered (Newmark 1988:103):
a. Purpose of text
b. Motivation and control, technical and linguistic level of readership
c. Importance of referent in SL text
d. Setting (does recognize translation exist)
e. Recency of word/referent
f. Future of referent
Bearing in mind the above contextual factors the problem of cultural translation may be reduced and translator may find it very easy to handle any culture-specific text.
Newmark (1991: 74) has pointed that “if the translator’s task is to contribute to understanding (and peace) between individual groups and nations, and the second is to transmit knowledge (technology transfer), then the third is to mediate cultural features…… “. This has further shows the importance of culture in translation. The next section presents the role of culture in English – Hausa translation.
3. Role of Culture in English – Hausa Translation
As mentioned by Piotrowska (1997: 91) that, “Translation does involve cultural transfer. It is not only a linguistic process; it is transformation of a world into a world, not just a word into a word”. Thus, any translation that involves two languages, does involve cultural transfer. Since no two cultures are absolutely equal. Then, culture plays a vital role in the reproduction of the closest natural equivalent of the SL message into the TL text. English and Hausa are natural languages of different language family and having different cultures. Thus, what is culturally said in English may not be exactly translated into Hausa, and the vice – versa. Below are some examples showing the role of culture in the English – Hausa translation:
1a. English: “Professor Gana stated that the programme would seek to inculcate n the public service the ethics of hardwork, discipline, productivity, dedication, humility, patriotism and selfless service to the nation”.
b. Hausa: “Sheehùn Maalàmii1 Gana ya kuma bayyana cewa shirin zai nemi cusa xabi’ar yin aiki tuquru a zukatan ma’aikata da xa’a da samun nagartar aiki da kishi da nuna rashin son zuciya wajen yi wa qasa aiki”.
(Commercial Television Kano 19/2/90 in Yakasai 1994: 15)
As far as English culture is concerned the Professor refers to a university teacher of the highest rank and its equivalent in Hausa culture is “Sheehùn Maalàmii” which refers to an Islamic Scholar (the highest rank in the Islamic teaching). The word Sheehùu is derived from the Arabic word Shiek. Due to cultural differences the example given in (1) is misleading, the Hausa readers or receptors will be thinking of an ‘Islamic scholar’ not a western scholar or a university professor. Therefore, based on Hausa culture the words ‘Islamic scholar’ is translated as ‘Sheehùn Maalàmii’ and the word ‘professor is being adapted to avoid misleading the audience. Thus, the correct translation is given as follows:
1c. Hausa: …. Fàrfeesàa Gana ya kuma bayyana cewa shirin zai nemi cusa xabi’ar yin aiki ….”.
More similar examples could be seen in relation to lexical items like ‘doctor’ and theatre. Some people used to translate a holder of doctor of philiosophy as ‘likitàa’. The confusion here is that the audience will be thinking of a medical doctor. As far as the Hausa culture is concerned ‘likitàa’ refers to a medical doctor not a doctor of philosophy. So also the translation of the word ‘theatre’ (an outdoor area where plays are performed or lectur ) as ‘tìyaatàa’ is wrong and misleading. The Hausa culture recognizes ‘theatre’ as a place in hospital where a medical operation is performed. However, in a situation where a translator is translating for group of students within the academic environment could translate ‘theatre’ as ‘tìyaatà’ (as an adaptation) to refer to lecture venue or an outdoor theatre since the audience could easily understand.
A translator should also note that the concept of eating and drinking differs from one culture to another. For instance, what is referred to as eating in the Western culture means drinking in the Hausa culture. Consider the following example:
2a. English: John is eating a mango
b. Hausa: John yana shân mangwaro
In western culture somebody could not drink a mango(and similar fruits) but eating it (as in 2a), while in Hausa culture, somebody is supposed to drink a mango (and or an orange) but not eating it (as in 2b). However, guava is eating in both cultures.
Honorific as an aspect of grammatical category is seen as a form used to express respect in addressing certain kinds of people. Hausa culture (like other cultures) accepts giving respect to senior people in the society, particularly the emirs, people holding political offices and traditional title holders.. English culture recognizes the following honorific titles (Yakasai 1990: 37):
3a Majesty: for the queen
b. Highness: for the royal family, the Duke
c. My lord: for judge
d. Honourable: for members of parliament
e. Excellency: for ambassadors
f. Mayor: for district head in Europe
On translating English honorifics into Hausa a translator should note that Hausa has recognized three kinds of honorifics, namely: mài girmaa, and mài martabàa. mài martabàa ‘highness’ is used to address the first class emirs and mài girmaa ‘excellency’ / honourable’ for governors and other people holding an important position in the society. Therefore, for translating English honorific titles into Hausa a translator should use mài martabàa (for royal family) and mài girmaa for all others. Creating an honorific not recognized in the Hausa culture could lead to confusion.
Another point of cultural difference between Hausa and English is euphemism. Hausa culture is full of euphemism or polite expressions. A translator should note that a simple expression of English when exactly translated into Hausa could become an abuse. Thus, euphemism is one aspect that brings cultural difference between Hausa and English. Consider the following example:
4a. English: Your father is calling you
b. Hausa: Ùbankà yana kiran ka
The use of ‘Ùbankà’ as translation of ‘Your father’ is an abuse and unpleasant in Hausa. Thus, there is need for a polite expression, which is ‘mahàifinkàa’.
Translator ought to be constantly aware of the contrast in the entire range of culture represented by the languages concerned. Bearing in mind the aforementioned points could help a translator and an interpreter working on English – Hausa translation. It is therefore, mandatory for a translator and an interpreter to have at least the basic knowledge of cultural peculiarities of the languages concerned.
4. Conclusion
Culture influences communication. It is through cultural peculiarities that a society is fully identified and understood. Translation is just a reflection of culture and culture as complete way of life. This shows that culture and translation are inseparable. This paper upholds the argument in Piotrowska (1997), Abioye (1999), Newmark (1991), among others have indicated that translation does involve cultural transfer. It is not only a linguistic process; it is transformation of a world into a world, not just a word into a word”. Culture specific text could be translated by using one of these techniques: cultural equivalent, functional equivalent and descriptive equivalent. Translator must handle cultural text with care. In any translation activity audience has priority over the form s of a language. Translator must comply with the general norms when translating for a general audience, like in the electronic or print media. Indeed, some culture specific texts are pragmatically motivated. A translator should bear in mind the contextual factors behind the cultural words. The examples given have shown the role of culture in translation and also in shaping our understanding of language.
Note
- For all Hausa examples ( that are given in bold) tones are assigned on first vowel. Low tone is indicated by a grave accent, falling tone by a circumflex and high tone is left unmarked. Long vowels are indicated by doubling the affected vowel, hence –aa ‘long’ versus –a ‘short’.
Abioye, John Olaoye. 1999. Bridge Across Cultures. Lagos: University of Lagos Press
Gamble, Teri Kwal and Gamble, Michael. 2002. Communication Works Seventh Edition. New
York: McGraw Hill.
Newmark, Peter. 1988. A Textbook of Translation. Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall International.
Newmark, Peter. 1991. About Translation. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Limited
Nord, C. 1992. “Text Analysis in Translator Training” In Dollerup and Loddegaard (Eds).
Teaching Translation and Interpreting: Training, Talent and Experience. Amsterdam: John Benjamin Publishing Company.
Piotrowska, Maria. 1997. Learning vTranslation- Learning the Impossible?A Course of
Translation from English into Polish. Kraków: Wydawcow Prac Naukowych Universitat
Kraków.
Yakasai, Hafizu Miko. 1990. Mechanisms of Adjustment in English – Hausa Translation: A Case
Study of Semantic and Structural Adjustments. B.A. Dissertation, Bayero University Kano
Yakasai, Hafizu Miko. 1994. Figurativ Language in English – Hausa Translation: A
Communicative Approach. M.A. Dissertation, Bayero University Kano.
