An-Najah National University 

Faculty of Graduate Studies 

 

 

 

 
 

Cultural and Linguistic Challenges in  

Translating Folk Songs 
 

 

 

 

 

By 

Rima‟a Nidal „Mohammed Fuad‟ Salama 
 

 

 

 

 

Supervisor 

Dr. Ruqayyeh Herzallah 

 
Co-Supervisor 

Dr. Ahmad Qabaha 

 

 

 
 

This Thesis is Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the 

Requirements for the Degree of Master of Applied Linguistics 

and Translation, Faculty of Graduate Studies, An-Najah 

National University, Nablus, Palestine. 

2019 





iii 
 

Dedication 

To my great nation, Palestine, which stands deep in the innermost of my 

heart,  

To the Nakba wounds, the voice of freedom, and the refugees‘ memory, 

To my Parents, who taught me that success needs persistence  and 

insistence, 

To my wonderful husband, the candle that lightens up my life, 

I dedicate this work. 

 

  



iv 
 

Acknowledgements 

        In the name of Allah, the most merciful, the most compassionate, 

and peace be upon our Prophet Mohammed, his kin and kith. 

First and foremost, I wish to express my gratitude to Almighty Allah 

for giving me the strength, health, and patience to do this humble 

dissertation. My sincere appreciation and heartfelt gratitude are also due to 

both Dr. Ruqayyeh Herzallah & Dr. Ahmad Qabaha for their valuable 

guidance and continuous support throughout the process of writing my 

thesis. Thanks for both of them for granting me the honor to be one of their 

students. 

Special gratitude goes to Dr. Bilal Hamamra for his encouragement, 

since he was a real motivation for me to reach this point, and Dr. Mahmoud 

Shretih, my external examiner, for his comments which contributed to the 

improvement of this work.  

 I shall never forget my amazing family the most precious people in 

the world, my mom and dad, my sisters, my brother, my beloved husband, 

Amjad, for their endless love; and my parents in law for their 

encouragement and enthusiasm.  

Once more, I thank my colleagues and friends for being good 

listeners.  Last but not least, thanks to every single person who annoyed me 

with a single word that broken me and made me stronger to continue 

towards my aim. 

To each one of the above, I could not make it without you, so that 

thank you from the innermost of my heart, I LOVE YOU ALL. 





vi 
 

Table of Contents 

No. Subject Page 

 Defense Committee Members ii 

 Dedication iii 

 Acknowledgements iv 

 Declaration v 

 Table of Contents vi 

 List of Tables viii 

 Abbreviations ix 

 Key to Transliteration of Arabic Letters and sounds x 

 Abstract xi 

Chapter One: Introduction 

1.1 Introduction (Folklore and Nationalism) 2 

1.2 Statement of the Problem 5 

1.3 Purpose of the Study 8 

1.4 Significance of the Study 9 

1.5 Research Questions 9 

1.6 Limitation of the Study 10 

1.7 Theoretical Framework 11 

1.8 Chapter Division 11 

Chapter Two: Literature Review 

2.1 Introduction 13 

2.2 Linguistics and Translation 13 

2.2.1 Equivalence in Translation 14 

2.2.2 Cultural Equivalence in Translation 19 

2.3 Cultural Translation 21 

2.4 Translatability of Arabic Folklore into English 24 

2.5 Translating Poetry 25 

2.6 Genre Shift in Translation 28 

2.7 An Overview of Related Studies 31 

Chapter Three: Theoretical background 

3.1 Introduction 36 



vii 
 

No. Subject Page 

3.2 Culture-Specific Items in Translation 36 

3.3 Newmark‘s Procedures of Translation 39 

3.4 Venuti‘s Domestication and Foreignization 47 

Chapter Four: Methodology 

4.1 Introduction 50 

4.2 Data Collection 51 

4.3 Methods of Collecting and Categorizing Data 52 

Chapter Five: Data Analysis and Findings 

5.1 Introduction 54 

5.2 Analysis and Results 55 

5.2.1 ―From ʕakka Prison‖ 55 

5.2.2 ―Ẓariif Aṭ-ṭuul‖ 64 

5.2.3 ―Layya w Layya‖ 72 

5.3 Linguistic Aspects in Translating ―From ʕakka Prison,‖ 

―Ẓariif Aṭ-ṭuul,‖ and ―Layya w Layya‖ 

80 

5.3.1  Poetic Features 81 

5.3.2 Sound Devices 84 

5.3.3 Figurative Language 85 

5.3.4 Linguistic Aspects in Translating ―From ʕakka Prison‖ 85 

5.3.5 Linguistic Aspects in Translating ―Ẓariif Aṭ-ṭuul‖ 87 

5.3.6 Linguistic Aspects in Translating ―Layya w Layya‖ 87 

5.4 Summary 92 

Chapter Six: Conclusions and Recommendations 

6.1 Introduction 93 

6.2 Conclusions 94 

6.3 Recommendations 96 

 References 98 

 ب اٌٍّخض 

 

  



viii 
 

List of Tables 

Page Title Table No. 

57 The lyrics of ―From ʕakka Prison‖ and its 

Translation 

Table 5.1 

58 Examples of Cultural Terms Extracted from ―From 

ʕakka Prison‖ 

Table 5.2 

62 Frequency and Percentage of the Strategies of 

Foreignization , Applied to the Translation of ―From 

ʕakka Prison‖ 

Table 5.3 

63 Frequency and Percentage of Strategies of 

Domestication Applied to the Translation of ―From 

ʕakka Prison‖ 

Table 5.4 

65 The Lyrics of ―Ẓariif Aṭ-ṭuul‖ and its Translation Table 5.5 

66 Examples of Cultural Terms Extracted from ―Ẓariif 

Aṭ-ṭuul‖  

Table 5.6 

71 Frequency and Percentage of Strategies of 

Domestication and Foreignization Applied to the 

Translation of ―Ẓariif aṭ-ṭuul‖ 

Table 5.7 

74 The lyrics of ―Layya w Layya‖ and its Translation Table 5.8 

75 Examples of Cultural Items Extracted from ―Layya 

w Layya‖ 

Table 5.9 

79 Frequency and Percentage of the strategies of 

Domestication and Foreignization Applied to the 

Translation of ―Layya w Layya‖ 

Table 5.10 

 

  



ix 
 

List of Abbreviations 

ST: Source Text 

TT: Target Text 

SL: Source Language 

TL: Target Language 

SR: Source Reader 

TR: Target Reader 

SC: Source Culture 

TC: Target Culture 

 

  



x 
 

Key to transliteration of Arabic letters and sounds 

Arabic Letters Name English transliteration 

 Hamza ʔ ء

 alif a أ

 bāʼ b ب

 tāʼ t ت

 thāʼ θ ث

 Jīm j ج

 ḥāʼ ḥ ح

 khāʼ x خ

 dāl d د

 dhal ð ذ

 rāʼ r ر

 zayn/zāy z ز

 sīn s س

 shin š ش

 ṣād ṣ ص

 ḍād ḍ ض

 ṭāʼ ṭ ط

 ẓāʼ ẓ ظ

 ʻayn ʕ ع

 ghayn ġ/Ɣ غ

 fāʼ f ف

 qāf q ق

 kāf k ك

 lām l ل

 mīm m م

 nūn n ن

 hāʼ h هـ

 wāw u, w و

 yāʼ i, y ي

 alif maqsura ā ى

 tāʼ marbūṭah a, ah, at َ  ،ة، ـة

 alif madda ʔā ا  

   

   

Retrieved from: https://fc.lc/BtIGtrj. 

  



xi 
 

Cultural Challenges in Translating Folk Songs 

By 

Rima‟a Nidal “Muhammed Fuad” Salama 

Supervisor 

Dr. Ruqayyeh Herzallah 

Co-Supervisor 

Dr. Ahmad Qabaha 

Abstract 

This thesis investigates the translators‘ tendency towards 

domesticating or foreignizing folk songs, and it discusses the problem of 

the translation of culture-specific terms through analyzing the translated 

folk songs: ―From ʕakka Prison,‖ ―Ẓariif Aṭ-ṭuul,‖ and ―Layya w Layya.‖ 

Moreover, the linguistic aspects of the folkloric genre in general, and folk 

songs, in particular, are analyzed. The study also sheds light on the 

translation of the poetic features, sound devices, and figurative language in 

the selected folk songs. 

First of all, all culture-specific terms are identified and classified 

based on Baker‘s (1992) classification of cultural categories. Secondly, 

cultural terms are examined to identify which one of Newmark‘s (1988) 

strategies is applied in the translation of each term. Thirdly, the number of 

occurrences for each strategy is calculated and grouped under Venuti‘s 

(1995) model of domestication and foreignization. Finally, the percentage 

of domestication strategies, compared to those of foreignization, is 

calculated. 

The results of this study revealed that translators tend to foreignize 

more than to domesticate culture-specific items in the translation of the 



xii 
 

three folk songs under study. Furthermore, translators translate culturally 

more than linguistically, so they sacrifice the form for the benefit of the 

content, and this causes a second genre shift. The translation of the three 

folk songs transmit a cultural idea, not a folklore of a nation. 



Chapter One 

1.1 Introduction: 

Folklore and Nationalism: 

According to Meyer Abrams (2013: 138), folklore is ―the collective 

name applied to sayings, verbal compositions, and social rituals that have 

been handed down solely‖ primarily by words of mouth rather than written 

words. Folklore includes proverbs, tales, riddles, legends, spells, songs, and 

nursery rhymes. 

Every nation has its own folklore, and its people feel proud of it 

because it is not merely a heritage. The Palestinian folklore, for example, 

inspires Palestinians to struggle for self-determination. Majdi Shomali 

(2012: n.p) asserts that folklore is ―playing a role in raising morale, 

expressing the harsh realities of the present, and maintaining hope‖ by 

showing that oppression will go away and justice will prevail. For instance, 

Palestinians sing for their land, in their weddings, to the captives in the 

Israeli jails, to their martyrs, against oppression, for their victory, for their 

struggle for national independence and freedom. As soon as they hear folk 

songs, they practice their habits. Within minutes, they form dabke lines, the 

Palestinian line dance. Both the folkloric words alongside Palestinian 

music create a great desire.  In fact, it is a type of dancing but it is also a 

way to demonstrate. By stomping hard on the ground, Palestinians refuse 

and put everything under their angry feet. Stomping hard on the ground in 

the dabke means that this land is ours; we stomp loud again that even 



2 
 

though you materially destroyed us; our heritage cannot be reached because 

it is in our hearts. You stole our land, but you will never be able to get us 

rid of our culture. 

David McDonald (2013: 20) says that when Palestinian stomp their 

feet, they say that no matter how far they have been scattered, Palestine 

will always remain in their hearts. In other words, folklore is an important 

concept of nationalism which is defined as ―a state of mind, in which the 

supreme loyalty of the individual is felt to be due to the nation state‖ 

(Kohn, 1965:9). Indeed, folklore is not an invention of a moment since the 

situation and environment of the Palestinians themselves influence them to 

decide the type and subject of folklore they use. Farah Alkhammash (2014: 

13) mentions that folklore ―has the power to keep the Palestinian connected 

to his/her past, land, dreams, aspirations, and roots, boosting his/her sense 

of belonging‖ or memory following the trauma of the 1948 Nakba after 

which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians became refugees. Folklore 

retrieves the memory of the past of those people who ―create Palestine in 

the music when they sing loud enough and strong enough‖ (McDonald, 

2013: 17). Although Palestinians live far away from their homeland, they 

still have the power to retain the collective memory and gather themselves 

by singing folk songs that call for actions such as demonstrating, 

denouncing, or denying. These integrated actions are signs of belonging 

and recognition. 



3 
 

The expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland to which they still 

cannot return was an attempt to obliterate Palestinians and their culture. 

Therefore, the best reaction to such settler-colonial aspiration is to revive 

the Palestinian folklore and to make the Palestinian voice louder and heard 

by the whole world. Because translation is a means of transferring culture, 

folklore should be translated and transmitted to the whole world. 

Alkhammash (2014: 5) asserts that ―to fight forgetfulness and denial, some 

folklorists have sought to collect, document, analyze and translate pre-1948 

Palestinian folklore‖. 

The folkloric song mostly narrates an immortal story or event of 

love, sacrifice, oppression, suffering, occupation, and patriotism. ―From 

ʕakka Prison,‖ ―Ẓariif aṭ-ṭuul,‖ and ―Layya w Layya‖ are three of the 

famous Palestinian folk songs that were stories before becoming songs. For 

example, singers sing ―Ẓariif aṭ-ṭuul,‖ which is literally translated into ―Oh 

tall and slender one‖ (McDonald 2013: 65) to praise the physical 

characteristics of the beloved who is tall and elegant who has a pretty smile 

and wide eyes and so on; however, to ―avoid transgressing the boundaries 

of socially acceptable behavior and decorum, poets routinely craft elaborate 

metaphors and double entendre to best communicate their message.‖ Other 

topics may include courtship, flirtation, family disagreements. Later on, the 

texts of the song become more politicized, discussing the difficulties of 

exile, occupation, and life of the refugees so that ―Ẓariif aṭ-ṭuul,‖ becomes 

a symbol of a Palestinian guy who embodies the masculine traits of 

heroism who performs several tasks simultaneously. 



4 
 

Turning back to the definition of folklore, one notices that proverbs 

become tales, and tales become legends, and legends become riddles and so 

on. Relating this to translation, it is found that there is a series of 

translations as well as a variety of translations from orality to literacy 

because these forms of folklore move orally, but now they are moved by 

reading them. Hence, as a part of art translation, translating folklore is a 

complex activity, and the complexity comes from its function as a way to 

communicate across cultures. Translation is sometimes defined as a 

linguistic process without paying attention to the fact that language is an 

expression of culture. Eugene Nida (2000: 130) believes that culture causes 

―many more severe complications for the translator than do differences in 

language structure.‖ The distance between two different cultures poses 

many problems for the translator. One of the problems, as Mona Baker 

(1992: 21) suggests, is ―The Culture-Specific Concepts.‖ This follows the 

fact that some words, phrases, and items are so deeply rooted in their SC 

that they have no equivalent in the TC. When it comes to discussing the 

problems of equivalence in translation, Nida (1964: 130) asserts that 

―differences between cultures may cause more severe complications for the 

translator than do differences‖ in language structure. The translator who 

expresses a great amount of creativity during the process of translation is 

considered the key factor in this activity (Lambert, 1998: 130); hence, it is 

the translator‘s mission to deal with the cultural items by finding almost the 

identical equivalents which transfer these cultural concepts successfully to 

the target language. 



5 
 

Many texts when translated demand entire transfer into the target 

language culture if they convey a certain message such as preserving the 

cultural identity of the text itself. For example, the ―improvised-sung 

folklore poetry of the Palestinians‖ (Sabit 1982) has its own features which 

must be preserved in translation to transmit the cultural identity to the 

target culture; nonetheless, it would be like any other text without having 

any aesthetic features or cultural purpose. This is another challenge in 

translation. 

The folk songs are also full of proper names such as the names of the 

martyrs, places, and events that the translator cannot marginalize. Actually, 

the matter depends on what we regard as proper names, how we understand 

the meaning and reference in the proper names and their importance in 

translation; therefore, how the translator will deal with such names during 

the process of translation is another area of debate in the research. 

1.2 Statement of the problem: 

Since translating folklore is a way of translating culture, the problem 

mostly appears in translating culture-specific concepts such as the concepts 

in the following phrases which appeared in the translation of the three folk 

songs: 

- (I drink your heartbreaks)  دغشحىُ اششب   

- (The delightfulness of my heart)   ِٞٙجت فؤاد  



6 
 

- (My hair turned white)  شؼش ساعٟ شاب    

- (My back became hunched)  أذٕٝ اٌظٙش   

- (Slim and tall)  اٌطٛي ظش٠ف    

- (Our Kaʕba)   – وؼبخٕا 

- (Smiling tooth)  ٓاٌضذٛن ع   

When these items are translated, the connotations of the source 

words may not be transferred into the TL because they are culturally-

specified. It is really challenging to translate such items, yet they are 

important in the text. Therefore, it is the translator‘s mission to find a way 

to translate them within their connotations in order to reflect the SC for the 

target audience. 

Another problem appears with the proper names when used in the 

folklore as an allusion. Such an allusion is known for the Palestinians and 

has its own importance. These names sometimes relate to honorable 

people, and many other times relate to normal people without any reference 

other than the aesthetic feature of the song itself.  How should the translator 

deal with the proper names in the following examples? (ػىاʕakka, َٛدمحم جّج 

Mohammed Jamjuum, ٞفؤاد دجاص Fuʔad Hijazi, ػطا اٌض٠ش ʕaṭa Az-ziir.) 

Should the translator omit such names, or transfer them to the target 

culture? The cultural identity of folklore has its own characteristics.  



7 
 

When translating a folk song that has the rhyme scheme which is 

determined by words of jinaas, and which is defined by Sabit as ―having 

the last three words of the first three lines of each stanza similar in 

pronunciation but different in meaning‖(1982: 74), the translation causes 

the loss of this characteristic of folk songs. The following example 

extracted from (―From ʕakka Prison,‖ the fourth stanza). 

 ػطا ِٓ ٚسا اٌباب بخٕذٖ ع

 ٚلفج حغخٕظش ِٕٛ اٌجٛاب

 ػطا ٠ـــا ػطا ص٠ٕت شباب

 اٌؼغىش ٚال ٠ٙابٛٔاب١ٙجُ ػ

The translation of the stanza is provided in McDonald (2013: 53): 

She called out from behind the door 

And awaits his response 

ʕa ṭa Oh ʕa ṭa the greatest of the youth 

who attacks the army without fear 

As is seen, in the Arabic stanza, the jinaas is applied but after 

translation, this jinaas is missed, so rhythm, rhyme, and the musical flow of 

the words are missed. As a result, the main features of the folk song, which 

are lost above, affect the aesthetic features of folklore. It is a great 

challenge to deal with a language that has different implications embodied 

more in culture than in literal meaning.  



8 
 

These problems are factors that affect the translation quality. 

Thinking through these problems depends completely on the translation 

strategies used. According to Paul Bandia (1993: 57), ―a competent 

translator must undertake the difficult task of uncovering all of the cultural 

content hidden within the text in order to preserve the full socio-cultural 

meaning of the source text in translation.‖ These problems embrace a 

contrast between the different translation strategies, particularly between 

literal and free translation, or foreignization and domestication. 

1.3 The purpose of the study: 

This research aims to study, analyze and discuss the problems of 

culture-specific items while translating Palestinian folk songs. 

It also tackles the main translation procedures and strategies that can 

be employed to solve the problems involved in translation. 

Moreover, this study works on creating a representative study of the 

three folkloric songs ―From ʕakka Prison,‖ ―Ẓariif aṭ-ṭuul,‖ and ‗―Layya w 

Layya‖;’ and investigates the extent to which the translator can preserve the 

aesthetic features and the requirements of folk songs such as the short 

sentences, simple language, poetic features, sound devices, and figurative 

language which the translator failed to fulfill in the translations of folk 

songs.  

  



9 
 

1.4 The Significance of the Study: 

The significance of this study is derived from the lack of studies in 

the translation of folk songs. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first 

study in translating folk songs, and the ways of dealing with the language 

of folklore, in general.  

Furthermore, it helps to clarify the tendencies of Arab translators to 

overcome the cultural challenges and bridging the distance between two 

different cultures during the process of translation. 

Above all, it contributes to preserving the Palestinian culture, and it 

voices out the national aspirations of Palestinians by transmitting one 

important aspect of the Palestinian folklore that expresses the feelings of 

anger, longing, and the Palestinians‘ rights. 

1.5 Research Questions: 

This study attempts to answer the following questions: 

1. What are the translation strategies which the translators employ to 

translate the culture-specific items in ―From ʕakka Prison,‖ ―Ẓariif 

aṭ-ṭuul,‖ and ―Layya w Layya‖? Are they foreignized or 

domesticated? 

2.  In what ways does genre shift influence the process of translating 

folklore? 



01 
 

3. To what extent does the translator remain faithful in his/her 

translation of the source text when attending to cultural translation? 

4. In what ways do the requirements of folkloric songs steer the process 

of translating folklore? 

1.6 The Limitations of the Study: 

         This is a case study which is limited to three folk songs ―From ʕakka 

Prison,‖ ―Ẓariif aṭ-ṭuul,‖ and ―Layya w Layya.‖ There are several reasons 

for choosing these three songs in particular. First, these three songs are 

well-known in the SC, and they are sung in Palestinian festivals and several 

occasions. Second, these three songs have witnessed a case of genre-shift 

since all of them had been tales before becoming songs. Third, the narrated 

lyrics of the three songs have been changed according to the changing 

situations and events and the psychological status of the people of 

Palestine. 

Moreover, this study addresses issues of culture-specific concepts 

where it is suitable to study how these songs use culture-specific concepts; 

and how translators deal with them during the process of translation, 

especially these concepts may refer to important aspects in the SC such as a 

religious belief, a social custom, or even a type of food. 

 

  



00 
 

1.7 Theoretical Framework: 

There are two theoretical frameworks underpinning this study, the 

first one will be the classification made by Peter Newmark (1988) that 

suggests eight possible methods used in the translation of cultural items: 

word-for-word, literal translation, faithful translation, semantic translation, 

adaptation, free translation, idiomatic translation, and communicative 

translation in addition to transference, cultural equivalent, modulation, and 

paraphrase. The translation strategy is determined by the translator 

according to his/her understanding of the communicative function of the 

cultural element that should be translated in that particular context. 

The other theoretical framework that underpins this study is 

Lawrence Venuti's (1995) domestication and foreignization. 

1.8 The structure of the Study: 

This dissertation has six chapters. The first chapter consists of an 

introduction, statement of the problem, the purpose of the study, the 

significance of the study and its limitations, the research questions of the 

study, the theoretical framework that is adopted in this study, and the 

structure of the study. 

The second chapter is a review of related literature where the 

researcher presents previous studies to highlight some salient points in this 

study and to address strengths, weaknesses, gaps, and silences in the 

previous studies. This chapter consists of an introduction, linguistic 



02 
 

theories of translation, problems of equivalence, cultural equivalence in 

translation, cultural translation, translatability of Arabic folklore into 

English, translating poetry, and genre shift in translation. 

The third chapter of this study offers a theoretical background for 

this research where the researcher presents three main theories that will be 

used in the chapter of data analysis and findings. This chapter is divided 

into an introduction, Baker‘s classification of culture-specific concepts, 

Newmark‘s procedures of translation, and Venuti‘s domestication and 

foreignization. 

The fourth chapter exhibits the methodology of this thesis. This 

chapter is divided into an introduction, data collection, and methods of 

collecting and categorizing the data of the study. 

In the fifth chapter, the researcher presents the research data analysis 

and findings. In this chapter, the researcher gives answers to the four main 

research questions based on text analysis.  

     Finally, chapter six consists of conclusions and recommendations for 

future studies. 

  



03 
 

Chapter Two 

Literature Review 

2.1 Introduction: 

This chapter reviews different models of translation Studies that will 

be necessary for building the later discussion of the translation of the three 

folk songs in this research. In this chapter, the researcher examines the 

emergence of translation studies and presents previous studies that discuss 

the obstacles beyond translating folk songs. 

2.2 Linguistics and Translation: 

Linguistics is the study of language, and the translation is a language 

activity; then, it is common sense to conclude that the former has 

something to say about the latter. Thus, ―any theory of translation must 

draw upon a theory of language — a general linguistic theory‖ (Catford, 

1965: 1). Because of dealing with two languages, translation is an activity 

that has its methods, procedures, purposes, and problems. According to 

Catford, ―translation is an operation performed on languages: a process of 

substituting a text in one language for a text in another‖ (cited in Classe, 

2000: 352). Since it is a process of substituting words between two 

languages, any comparison between these two texts involves a theory of 

equivalence. 

  



04 
 

2.2.1 Equivalence in Translation: 

According to Catford (1995: 20), translation is the ―replacement of 

textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in 

another language (TL).‖ Regarding this definition of translation, many 

studies have discussed the term equivalence in relation to the translation 

process. The theorists of these studies are divided into three main groups. 

In the first group, scholars are in favor of the linguistic approach to 

translation who forget that translation is not only a matter of linguistics. 

The second group believes that during the process of translation, a 

translator deals with two different cultures at the same time so it is essential 

to transfer the message from the SC into the TC. There are some other 

translation scholars who stand in the middle between the mentioned two 

groups. Baker, for instance, claims that equivalence is used ―for the sake of 

convenience—because most translators are used to it rather than because it 

has any theoretical status‖ (cited in Kenny, 1998:77). 

Jakobson (1959), Nida (1964), and Newmark (1981) have written on 

the definition, nature, and types of equivalence. On the other 

hand, Mehrach (1997) thinks that it is an impossible point for the translator 

to reach in the development of the translation theory.   

Roman Jakobson gave new impetus to the theoretical analysis of 

translation by introducing the notion of ‗equivalence in difference' 

suggesting three kinds of translation: Intralingual (within the language, i.e., 



05 
 

to paraphrase), Interlingual (between two languages), and Intersemiotic 

(between sign systems). 

According to Jakobson, in the case of interlingual translation, the 

translator makes use of synonyms to get the ST message across. Jakobson 

claims that ―there is ordinarily no full equivalence between code units‖ 

(cited in Munday, 2001:36). He, then, goes on to say that from a 

grammatical point of view, languages may differ from one to another to a 

greater or lesser degree. This does not mean that translation cannot be 

possible, but it means that the translator may face the problem of not 

finding a translation equivalence. He acknowledges that in such a case of 

no equivalency, the concept is either qualified or amplified through loan 

translation, neologisms, or circumlocutions (cited in Hatem and Munday, 

2004:125). 

Nida (1964: 159) distinguishes between two dissimilar translation 

types of equivalence: formal and dynamic. These two types achieve 

different levels of literalness between the original and target languages of 

text. Nida asserts that formal equivalent ―focuses attention on the message 

itself, in both form and content.‖ It is to translate the meaning of every 

word in a phrase or a sentence in a more literal method. Nida and Taber 

(1964) states that we do not always have formal equivalents between 

language pairs. Also, they suggest that formal equivalent can be used 

wherever possible if the purpose of translation is to achieve the literal 

meaning rather than the implied one. Formal equivalence sometimes has 



06 
 

certain implications in the target text which makes the translation not 

understood by the target audience (Fawcett, 1997). Nida and Taber (1964: 

201) assert that formal correspondence distorts the grammatical and 

Linguistic patterns of the TL; hence, distorts the message, and causes the 

TR to misunderstand the content. 

Dynamic equivalent, on the other hand, as Nida (1964: 159) 

mentions is based on the principle of equivalent effect. It is defined as a 

translation principle according to which a translator translates the 

functional meaning of a source text in a way the wording triggers the same 

impact on the target audience as the original wording affects the original 

audience.  

Comparing form and content in the text, Nida (1964:191) focuses on 

the content. He mentions that a formal translator who concentrates more on 

the form of poetry, for instance, is more likely to misinterpret the intention 

of ST writer and may distort the meaning. 

Nida favors using the dynamic equivalent as a more effective 

translation procedure, especially when putting the context of the situation 

into account during the process of translation. 

Peter Newmark (1981) does not promote any monolithic translation 

theory. He just attempts to describe a basis to deal with the problems that 

encounter the translator during the process of translation. He replaces 

Nida‘s terms of formal and dynamic equivalence with semantic and 



07 
 

communicative translation respectively. The major difference between the 

two types proposed by Newmark is that semantic translation concentrates 

on the meaning whereas communicative translation concentrates on the 

effect. Newmark points out that semantic translation should not be applied 

exclusively over communicative translation or vice-versa. The translator 

may use a semantic translation for one sentence and a communicative 

translation for another within the same text.  

Newmark (1991: 39) strongly believes that literal translation is better 

to be used than semantic and communicative translation. He also notes that 

when there is a conflict between the two forms of translation approaches, 

communicative translation is the best to be used in order to avoid 

semantically incorrect results. 

Catford defines the formal correspondent as any TL category that 

may have to occupy, as nearly as possible, the same place in the economy 

of the TL exactly as the given SL category does in the SL (Catford, 1965: 

31). On the other hand, textual equivalence occurs when a target language 

item is identified with a certain source language item in a certain context. 

Catford continues to state that textual equivalence is achieved when 

the source and target items are interchangeable in a given situation. This 

happens, according to Catford, when a SL and a TL ―text or item are 

relatable to (at least some of) the same features of substance‖ (ibid: 50). 

For this purpose, Catford uses a communication process, whereby a 

competent bilingual translator is consulted on the translation of various 



08 
 

sentences whose ST items are changed to observe what changes in case of 

―any occur in the TL text as a consequence‖ (ibid: 28). 

Mona Baker (1992) explores the notion of equivalence at different 

levels: the first equivalence appears at the word and above the word level 

when translating from one language into another. Baker argues that the 

equivalence at the word level is the first to be taken into consideration by 

the translator. When a translator starts analyzing a source text, s/he looks at 

the words as single units to find their direct equivalent in the target 

language (1992: 11).  

Catford's approach to translation differs from that of Nida who has a 

preference for a more linguistic-based approach to translation that focuses 

primarily on the issues of meaning and equivalence. Catford (1965: 85-

113) distinguishes between ‗formal correspondence‘ and what he calls 

‗textual equivalence.‘ The second is the grammatical equivalence which 

appears when referring to the diversity of grammatical categories across 

languages. Baker notes that grammatical rules may vary across languages 

and this may pose some problems in terms of finding a direct 

correspondence in the TL. In fact, Baker claims that different grammatical 

structures in the SL and TL may cause remarkable changes in the way the 

information or message is carried across. These changes may induce the 

translator to add or omit some information in the TT because of the lack of 

grammatical devices in the TL itself. 



09 
 

The third is the textual equivalence when referring to the 

equivalence between a SL text, and a TL text in terms of information and 

cohesion. The texture, which means that the whole text has words that 

―hang together and make it a phraseme,‖ (Lamidi: 2008: 88), is an 

important feature in translation since it provides useful guidelines for the 

comprehension and analysis of the source text. It can help the translator in 

his or her attempt to produce a cohesive and coherent text for the target 

culture audience. It is the translator‘s decision to decide whether to use the 

cohesive and coherent devices of the source text or not since this depends 

on three factors: text type, the purpose of translation, and the target 

audience (ibid: 119-206).  

The final type is the pragmatic equivalence when referring to 

implicatures and strategies of avoidance during the translation process. The 

translator, as the first reader of the text, must not read what is explicitly 

said, but what is implied or meant, especially in the works of art. Therefore, 

the translator needs to work out the implied meanings to get the source text 

message across by recreating the author's intention in the other culture in 

such a way that enables the target audience to understand it (ibid.: 217-

254). 

2.2.2 Cultural equivalence in translation: 

According to Siyu Zou (2016), one of the main purposes of 

translation is to find a cultural equivalence between the SL and the TL. In 

the same regard, Peter Newmark (1988: 48) states the main purpose of any 



21 
 

translation should achieve the ‗equivalent effect.‘ In other words, a 

translated text should achieve a similar effect on the TR‘s as a source text 

has on the SR‘s. One of the strategies that enables translators to achieve 

what is called ‗equivalent effect‘ is cultural substitution. This is called 

‗cultural equivalent‘ (Newmark, 1988: 82). This strategy involves the 

replacement of a ―culture-specific item or expression with a target language 

item which does not have the same propositional meaning‖ (Baker, 1992: 

30). 

Baker (1992: 31) states that the advantage of cultural equivalence 

―gives the reader a concept with which s/he can identify, something 

familiar and appealing‖ in the text. Metevelis (1994: 183) also declares that 

translating by using cultural equivalence is the only acceptable option in 

translating culture. 

On the other hand, Newmark (1988: 83) indicates that cultural 

equivalence may not be useful when a term or concept is important in the 

ST. Moreover, cultural equivalence may eliminate cultural distinctions 

between the SL and TL. Another concern with cultural equivalence is who 

judges the translation and its impact on the TR and whether it is similar to 

that on the ST reader or not. Hatem and Mason (1990:7) recognize that the 

actual effect on SL readers is difficult to be measured. Cha, Kim, and Erlen 

(2007, n.p) agree with this idea ―because statements can be interpreted 

differently based on one's level of cultural knowledge.‖ The impact of the 

ST on the SR‘s is not necessarily objective, absolute, and universal. A word 



20 
 

in the SL may evoke many meanings for readers based on their own 

cultural experiences. Thus, a violation of experiential equivalence 

sometimes occurs if translators have insufficient knowledge about the text, 

source culture, and target culture. Cha, Kim, and Erlen (2007, n.p) continue 

that ―‗cultural transition‘ is key for solving this problem.‖ 

However, ‗cultural transition‘ may not be achieved within languages 

of great cultural differences such as English and Arabic, for example. 

Literal translation may work better in such cases since it may provide the 

reader with greater cultural awareness and some sense of foreignness. What 

is required in any translation is an attempt by the translator to achieve a 

similar effect to which s/he received as a source-language reader on the 

target-language receiver since s/he is the first TL reader. In other words, 

the translator must be able to play both roles adequately. 

2.3 Cultural Translation: 

Language is a way of expressing feelings and ideas that people try to 

convey. It is the link between different cultures. Newmark (1988:94) 

defines culture as the style ―of life and its manifestations that are peculiar 

to a community that uses a particular language as its means of expression.‖ 

To understand two different cultures of two different languages, people use 

translation as a means of communication. The purpose of translation, then, 

is to allow people from different cultures and who speak different 

languages to communicate with each other and be able to know more about 

the literary works of the people in other cultures. The variety of languages 



22 
 

with different cultures and the necessity of communication made 

translation an effective factor in exchanging cultures. Therefore, translation 

is one of the fundamental and adequate ways of transferring culture; 

consequently, translation between two different cultures is a very 

challenging activity because languages are deeply rooted in their cultures. 

Moreover, the greater the differences are, the greater the challenges will be. 

During translation, the translator must be able to figure out the 

importance of every cultural word in the ST and find out its connotations 

and contextual meaning. Then, s/he should try to convey it in the TL within 

the context of the TC. For this sake, many translation scholars and theorists 

tried to move translation theories beyond the linguistic theory towards the 

way culture affects translation. For example, André Lefevere (1992) 

examines factors that determine the acceptance or rejection of texts moving 

from universal to culturally dependent norms. This is why some texts are 

accepted more than others. Therefore, the rejected texts are rewritten over 

and over again until they meet the norms of cultural acceptance. Hence, 

translation is a way of rewriting the text. 

Furthermore, Gideon Toury (1978:200) defines translation as ―a kind 

of activity which inevitably involves at least two languages and two 

cultural traditions.‖ This definition shows that culture is a necessary part in 

the language since it clarifies the meaning, so the translator must digest the 

cultural implications in the source text to be able to transfer it in the target 

culture in a way that suits the TR.  



23 
 

According to Newmark (1988: 94), where there is a cultural focus, 

there is a translation problem due to the cultural distance between the SL 

and the TL.  Newmark does not consider language as a feature of culture 

because if it is so, a translation will be impossible. He adds that most of the 

cultural words ―are easy to detect since they are associated with a particular 

language and cannot be literally translated‖ (ibid: 95). In fact, literal 

translation does not work with translating culture because it will distort the 

meaning, so he proposes a few general considerations that govern the 

translation of cultural words since there are two main translation 

procedures. The first one is transference which is used in literary texts. It 

emphasizes culture and excludes the message. Newmark asserts that ―some 

would say it is not a translation procedure at all‖ (ibid: 96). On the other 

end, there is componential analysis. It is considered the most accurate 

translation procedure. It excludes culture and highlights the message.  

Newmark summarizes that ―the translator of a cultural word ... has to bear 

in mind both the motivation and the cultural specialist (in relation to a text's 

topic) and linguistic level of readership‖ (ibid.).   

When talking about the interaction between language and culture, the 

content of the message in translation is changed to reflect the host culture 

in some way. In this regard, Ivir (1987: 35) believes that translation does 

not mean translating languages, but rather translating cultures. This is why 

a literary translator should not only focus on the linguistic differences, but 

also maintain the same cultural elements in any literary text.  Because the 

cultural elements of different languages are varied, it is the translator's 



24 
 

responsibility to convey the same meaning as well as the dissimilarities 

between two different cultures. 

2.4 Translatability of Arabic Folklore into English: 

Translating Folklore does not only help in bridging cultural gaps but 

also in preserving one's culture from loss. Ishaq Al-hroub (2015: 8) asserts 

that he ―has not been satisfied with merely collecting‖ folklore. Al-hroub 

understands that he and others ―are witnessing the demise of a culture 

whose dimensions few realize.‖ So, it is important to transfer the cultural 

meaning and original style as much as possible. Moving away from the 

folkloric message is moving away from its culture, meaning, and style. If a 

translator decides to produce a target text which is oriented in content and 

context, s/he is moving from the intention of folkloric text, which is 

primarily a cultural representation. 

Walter Benjamin (1968) argues that translatability is an important 

aspect of some texts. What is implied here is that the spirit of the source 

text should be demonstrated in the target text to ensure its translatability. 

Although no translation which can fully render the spirit of the source text 

due to the linguistic and cultural obstacles, the more translators know about 

the source culture and the target culture, the more they can transfer the 

source text context and content faithfully. The target audience, who do not 

know the source language, should, as much as possible, be able to read the 

translation as the original in both content and context. 



25 
 

According to Benjamin (1968), a real translation is transparent; it 

neither covers the original nor blocks its light. It allows the pure language 

to shine upon the original more fully. To achieve ‗pure language‘ 

translation, the TT should be dominated by ‗foreign tongue.‘ This can lead 

us to the strategy of ‗foreignization‘ as proposed by Schleiermacher, which 

refers to rendering the ST in a way that allows the TT reader to feel the 

source text language in the target text (Venuti, 2004: 49). Notably, the 

strategy of foreignization can be helpful, but it may need additional 

strategies. Therefore, a combination of both Benjamin‘s and 

Schleiermacher‘s views can help in producing a more effective translation, 

which reflects the SC, but it should also be clear and understandable to the 

TT receivers. 

2.5 Translating Poetry: 

Literature as a whole is usually divided into poetry, prose, and drama 

with fairly clear boundaries between them (Solar, 2006: 154). When it 

comes to the definition of a specific type of literature, the boundaries 

become unclear and questions about the difference start to arise. One 

important and difficult question to be answered is what poetry is and which 

criteria must be met in a literary work to be classified as poetry.  Bernie 

Ollila and Joe Jantas (2006: 1) define poetry as ―any kind of verbal or 

written language that is structured rhythmically and is meant to tell a story, 

or express any kind of emotion, idea, or state of being.‖ Based on this 

definition, a lyric can be seen as a subgenre of poetry since the word lyric 



26 
 

comes from the ancient Greek term lyre which means a musical instrument. 

This type of poetry designated a short poem chanted or sung by a single 

speaker. It is used today to denote the words of any song and they are 

associated with feelings related to the celebration, praise, and mourning. In 

fact, songs fall under the category of lyric poetry. Therefore, folk songs 

which are narrated lyrics are a subgenre of poetry. When we compare a 

poem with a folk song, we find that: first, both the poem and the folk song 

employ the same technique like rhyme, repetition and they play with 

sounds to produce rhythm. Second, folk songs like poems have figures of 

speech like simile, metaphor, personification, and imaginary. Third, the 

words and sounds are combined to create the mood of the song, just like 

poetry. The mood may be happiness, cheerfulness, excitements, sadness, 

and hopefulness. Finally, like poems, folk songs always have a theme or a 

message for the audience.  

Translating poetry is a difficult task ―because of the high cultural 

prestige of poetry which requires time, effort and ingenuity to translate 

traditional rhyme, rhythm structures, and the figurative language involved‖ 

(Dastjerdi, Hakimshafaai, and Jannesaari 2008: 7). Newmark (1988:70) 

believes that in translating poetry, the emphasis is normally put on creating 

a new independent poem since the literal translation is usually condemned. 

The translatability of poetry has always been a hot dispute among 

scholars. Some scholars think that poetry is untranslatable because 

anything missed during the process of translation is considered poetry; the 



27 
 

process of translating is incomplete. Other scholars believe that poetry is 

translatable in case that the meaning and style of the ST are kept intact in 

the TL (ibid. 11).  

Robert Frost, the American poet (1969) thinks that the translation of 

poetry is difficult and distinguished from any other kind of translation 

because form and content cannot be separated in poetry, and the content is 

highly language-bound. According to Roman Jakobson (1960), translating 

poetry by definition is untranslatable. 

On the other hand, there are several scholars who take a positive side 

regarding this matter. Holmes (1970), for example, believes that every 

poem has many translations as the number of translators. Also, Andr  

Lefevere (1992) introduces a number of methods for translating poetry 

namely, ―phonological translation, literal translation, rhythmic translation, 

translation into prose, translation into rhymed poetry, translation into 

poetry‖ without rhyming and interpretation (cited in Dastjerdi, 

Hakimshafaai, and Jannesaari 2008: 11). Lefevere states that in the past, 

translators used to translate poetry into rhymed poetry, unlike the 

translators of these days who translate poetry into prose; they only translate 

the content at the price of the form. 

Nida (1964: 157) introduces the idea that in poetry, ―there is 

obviously a greater focus of attention upon formal elements than one 

normally finds in prose.‖ This is not absolutely true because when 

translating poetry into prose, the translator sacrifices the form, not the 

http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=au%3ALefevere%2C+Andre%CC%81&qt=hot_author
http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=au%3ALefevere%2C+Andre%CC%81&qt=hot_author


28 
 

content. In this regard, Venuti (2004: 154) states that it is very rare for a 

translator to reproduce both content and form in translation; the form is 

usually sacrificed for the sake of the content.  

In fact, there is no absolute agreement whether poetry is translatable 

or not because not all aspects of poetry can be translated. Each language 

has its linguistic signs and structural features that resist imitation in another 

language. At the same time, translators may arrive at a close translation of 

the original poem. This per se is an achievement in poetic translation. 

Translating folk songs may face the same problems because what makes 

the translation controversial or what causes the text to be different in 

translation is the poetic features of the text itself. 

2.6 Genre Shift in Translation: 

The term ‗shift‘ refers to the changes that occur in the process of 

translation. Since translation is one type of language use, the notion of the 

shift also belongs to the domain of language performance. Therefore, shifts 

are the results of systematic differences between SL and TT. 

Hatem and Munday (2004:86) assert that ―alongside the context of 

situation, texts are seen as vehicles for the expression of a range of socio-

cultural meanings.‖ This has to do with the text, genre, and ideology. A 

genre is ―a conventionalized form of speaking or writing which we 

associate with particular ‗communicative events‘,‖ (ibid: 88).  Participants 

in these events tend to have set goals with strict conventions to regulate 



29 
 

what can or cannot be said within particular confines of given genre 

settings.  These shifts are deviations between actual equivalence of 

adequate translation. ‗However, since the term ―adequacy‖ escapes 

objective evaluation, it is more accurate to consider style shift in terms of 

dissimilarity or divergence between the ST and the TT‘ (Al-Qinai, 2009: 

24). 

Shifts are more likely to occur between languages that have different 

stylistic and rhetorical conventions that are reflected in divergent formal 

carriers, for instance, semantic or syntactic realizations such as sentences, 

clauses, phrases, words, phonemes or syntactic-stylistic elements in the 

form of repetition, deletion, rhythm, word order etc. (Pekkanen, 2007:3). 

The genre of the ST is what determines the degree of style shift. For 

example, short stories, children literature and advertising are prone to style 

shift because the emphasis here is on preserving the function and character 

of the ST. However, in other genres such as folk songs, nursery rhymes, 

religious texts, and poetry, where style conveys an aesthetic function, any 

shift may alter the aesthetic characteristics of the original. 

Baker (2000:245-246) states that the problem is in distinguishing the 

translator‘s stylistic characteristics from other source text features. If there 

is a recurrence of the same type of shift in the presence of other 

alternatives, that can be considered a style feature of that particular 

translator. A case in point is Fitzgerald's translation of Omar Khayyam's 

Ruba'yyat wherein the hermeneutic approach resulted in a recasting the 



31 
 

original in a better light that gained momentum for its own merit. On the 

other hand, constraints that include contexts, rules of grammar, writing 

conventions, the form of writing, and the rank of the language used 

whether it is simple, difficult, or complicated are important and must be 

rendered from the SL to the TL so that the translator could achieve the 

experiential equivalence in translation.  

Some optional shifts in translation may occur in response to the 

commissioner‘s requirements to cater to the target audience needs. Many 

cases of explications, implications, omissions, and substitutions are driven 

by priorities of purposes whereby the commissioner or the translator 

introduces linguistic modifications to suit the recipients‘ age, education, 

and cultural background (Al-Qinai 2009: 25). However, causing a style 

shift does not always ensure the translator‘s ability to produce a suitable 

translation. Translators need to be acquainted with both of the engaged 

languages and cultures to create an acceptable cultural translation. 

In other words, a translator may choose to change the form of the 

text to keep the meaning constant so that the message can be 

communicative and natural. This is per se a genre shift. In such a case, the 

translator is obliged to break the rules of a specific genre to rescue the 

intended message of the SL where s/he causes a style shift. This can be 

ignored in specific types of texts but when the form is important as much as 

the content, the translator has a great challeng. House (2015: 14) states that 



30 
 

the function and the text type of the ST determine the quality of the 

translation. 

It is worth mentioning that the translation procedure, which is used 

in translating a particular text, plays a crucial role in the process of 

translation shift. For instance, using borrowing as a foreignization 

translation procedure is not like using adaptation which is a domestication 

translation procedure since borrowing preserves the features of the SC 

whereas adaptation excludes these features completely. The former does 

not cause a translation shift but the latter does. In other words, remaining 

faithful to the SC prevents the occurrences of shifts during translation.  

After all, it is often argued that a successful translation sounds like 

an original piece of work, which would seem to imply that the translator is 

expected to intervene actively to ensure whether that this ideal is achieved 

(Schaffner 1998:8) regardless whether the translator causes a shift in 

translation or not. 

2.7 An Overview of Related Studies:  

Although folklore has emerged as an area of study lately and has got 

many interested scholars to work in this enormous gold-mine, there is not 

much research that considers the linguistic and translational part of the 

folkloric works. Moreover, the consideration of the linguistic and all the 

translational sides of the folk work constitutes the base for other studies. In 

other words, a researcher would refer to the linguistic side in order to study 



32 
 

the folklore from different points of view, like identity and cultural studies. 

Yet, most of the previous studies discuss identity and culture with their 

relations to folklore, holding the idea that identity is attained by depending 

on folklore without regarding any linguistic effect. 

Melhem (2014), Alkhamash (2014), and Alshomali (2019) discuss 

the subject from the language and cultural identity points of view. They all 

explain the importance of folklore in the formation of the Palestinian 

identity, in Palestine and exile. This is a sensitive subject of study. 

According to Melhem (2014), a person‘s dialect in communication means 

that this person belongs to the culture of that dialect, and that s/he is not 

compromising any association of that culture, particularly his/her identity. 

In fact, the study of Melhem (2014) limits the relationship between 

Palestinian dialect and identity since getting far from the Palestinian dialect 

may compromise the true national identity. Moreover, McDonald (2004: 7) 

tackles subjects such as folk music and its relation with the resistance. He 

states that ―music and musical performance have represented a central 

modality for Palestinian collective identity formation and resistance to 

colonial occupation.‖ 

Other scholars such as Chandra (2015) discuss the criteria that must 

be available in the translator to create a successful translation of folklore. 

One of the important aspects is to face the dilemma of whether to use the 

archaic form of language or to use the contemporary language. However, 

the study of translating folklore has much more challenge than Chandra 



33 
 

(2015) has discussed. The complicated relations between language, 

identity, ideology, and nationality create a great hindrance for translators to 

reflect the language and the content of the folk works in an acceptable way. 

At first glance, it seems that these studies are detached in their 

concerns from this study, but in fact, this study continues what other 

scholars have said about folklore trying as much as possible to treat the 

deficiency that has appeared in most of the previous studies.  

Folklore importance lies in the fact that it carries the cultural and 

national identity of a certain nation. Because of that, it has to be studied 

and then translated to other languages in order to maintain the SC and 

identity and to be familiar to others who have different cultures. Every 

nation feels that their culture is great, so they tend to share it with the rest 

of the world. What has been noticed is that in the great festivals, the 

Palestinian folk songs are presented in Arabic. The question is how non-

Arabic speakers would appreciate the meanings that are carried by folk 

songs? 

According to the present researcher, the deficiency is that very few 

people try to consider translating folk works from a new angle. All of the 

previous studies repeat the same idea to the degree that while searching 

about folklore, nothing new is found. No previous studies consider the 

ways for preserving folklore. Few studies call for the importance of 

translating folklore, but there are no translations to be provided. 



34 
 

Another field to be discussed here is that although folklore has 

several types, only the type of folk tales is tackled. Alkhamash (2014) 

describes folktale as a site of framing Palestinian memory and identity in 

an attempt to contextualize the Palestinian folktale. Her study has 

underlined the necessity of carrying out organized, responsible and 

intellectually rigorous documentation of the Palestinian folktale. What 

Alkhamash provides here tackles the theoretical part of treating folk works. 

That is, the consideration of folk tales entails part of the problem. 

Alkhamash has not considered other types of folklore and the other types of 

difficulties that will accompany it. 

What differentiates this thesis from the other studies of folklore is 

that, first of all, it is a comprehensive study that agrees with all the previous 

studies in the importance of folklore of a specific culture in preserving 

nationalism and identity. From this point of view, it has to be preserved. 

One way of preserving folklore is to translate it into other languages. By 

translation, folklore becomes universal.  Also, this research deals with a 

new type of folklore which has never been a core of any study before. 

Moreover, the translation of very famous folk songs is hardly found and 

studied in details, culturally and linguistically, spotting the light on the 

most significant challenges that encounter the translator while translating 

folk songs. Shaikha Al Khamiri (2015, 50), who talks about translating 

Emirati folklore, states that ―translators face many cultural and linguistic 

problems in the translation of oral literature, in general, and in the 

translation of specific oral cultures,‖ in particular, the idea that is supposed 



35 
 

to be achieved. What Al khamiri (2015) has added here is the consideration 

of the linguistic part of translating folk works in addition to the cultural 

part. 

In conclusion, this current dissertation does not only talk about the 

prosaic idea of folklore alongside the Palestinian identity and nationality 

but also calls for exporting the Palestinian heritage to the whole world 

highlighting the significant role of the cultural translators who must be 

knowledgeable in the field. Folk translators have a linguistic and patriotic 

responsibility in delivering their own historical heritage to the world. 

 

  



36 
 

Chapter Three 

Theoretical Background 

3.1 Introduction: 

This chapter is concerned with theories that directly explain the basis 

of data analysis. It contains three basic theories that are used in this 

research: Baker‘s (1992) culture-specific items, Newmark‘s (1988) 

translation procedures, and Venuti‘s (1995) domestication and 

foreignization.  

3.2 Culture-Specific Items in Translation: 

Because the connotation of culture is essential for understanding the 

inclusion of the culture-specific items in translation, many translation 

theorists have dealt with the definition of culture. As an example, Larson 

(1984: 431) defines culture as ―a complex of beliefs, attitudes, values, and 

rules which a group of people share.‖ He notes that the translator needs to 

understand all the cultural aspects of the SL audience such as their beliefs, 

attitudes, and values in order to adequately understand the ST and 

adequately translate it for people who have a different set of beliefs, values, 

and rules. 

Baker (1992: 21-26) states that the SL words may express a concept 

which is totally unknown in the TC and points out that the concept in 

question may be ―abstract or concrete, it may relate to a religious belief, a 



37 
 

social custom, or even a type of food.‖ Baker then calls such concepts 

‗culture-specific items‘ (1992: 21). Baker draws attention to familiar non-

equivalents which frequently face translators in the translation process. 

Baker arranges these non-equivalents in the following order: 

a) Culture-specific concepts 

b) The SL item is not lexicalized in the target language 

c) The SL word is semantically complex 

d) Both the source and target languages make different distinctions in 

meaning 

e) The target language lacks a superordinate 

f) The TL lacks a specific term (hyponym) 

g) Differences in physical or interpersonal perspective 

h) Differences in expressive meaning  

i) The differences in form 

j) The frequency and purpose of using specific forms are different 

k) The use of loan words in the ST 

Therefore, the reader faces terms and lexicons deeply rooted in the 

SL culture. The translation as a process ―not only involves translator‘s or 

interpreter‘s linguistic competence but also calls for the acquaintance with 



38 
 

the respective cultures‖ (Guo, 2012: n.p). In this regard, translation is not 

merely rendering words, phrases, and sentences. ―It means also to transfer 

between cultures‖ (ibid.). Therefore, the translator is the link between the 

source and the target cultures. S/he must have a good command of both 

languages and cultures. 

Newmark (1988:94) remarks that culture is ―the way of life and its 

manifestations that are peculiar to a community that uses a particular 

language as its means of expression.‖ Kate James (2002) asserts that 

acknowledging Newmark‘s definition means that ―each language group has 

its own culturally specific features.‖ Thus, a translator who uses a cultural 

approach simply recognizes that each language has elements that are 

derived from its culture. In other words, every text is anchored in a specific 

culture, and that conventions of text production and reception vary from 

culture to culture. Awareness of such issues makes it more appropriate to 

think of translation as a process that occurs between cultures rather than 

between languages.  

Newmark refers to this idea as ‗cultural words.‘  He notes that 

‗cultural words‘ are easy to detect since they are associated with a 

particular language and cannot be literally translated. However, a lot of 

cultural customs are described in ordinary language, where a literal 

translation would distort the meaning and thus the translation ―may include 

an appropriate descriptive-functional equivalent‖ (1988: 95). These 

‗cultural words‘ are usually associated with translation problems of the 



39 
 

cultural gap between the source and target languages. There are many ways 

to categorize culture-specific items. For instance, Newmark (1988: 95) 

names five areas that cultural items may come from: 

1. Ecology: flora, fauna, winds, plains, hills. 

2. Material culture such as food, clothes, houses and towns, transport. 

3.   Social culture: work and leisure such as ―words that denote leisure 

activities: cricket, bull-fighting.‖ 

4. Organizations, customs, activities, procedures, concepts (i.e. political 

and administrative, religious, artistic, etc.). 

5. Gestures and habits.  

Newmark (1988: 78) asserts that most of the translation problems 

caused by culture-specific words arise due to the fact that they are 

intrinsically and uniquely bound to the culture concerned and, therefore, 

they are related to the ―context of a cultural tradition.‖ 

3.3 Newmark‟s Procedures: 

A translation crisis happens when a reference to the SC is made, but 

there is no obvious formal equivalent of the source culture-specific item. 

Therefore, different theorists have suggested different procedures in the 

translation of cultural items. Newmark (1988) differentiates between 

translation methods and translation procedures. He points out that ―while 

translation methods relate to whole texts, translation procedures are used 



41 
 

for sentences and the smaller units of language‖ (Newmark, 1988: 81). He 

proposes eight procedures which are a word-for-word translation, literal 

translation, faithful translation, semantic translation, adaptation, free 

translation, idiomatic translation, and communicative translation. 

1-  Word-for-Word Translation: 

In this method, the source language-order ―is preserved and the 

words are translated singly by their most common meanings‖ (Newmark, 

1988: 46). Word-for-word is out of context procedure, which is used as a 

pre-translation exercise to decode or construe the mechanics of a source 

language complicated text. 

The following example is from ‗From ʕakka Prison,‘ folk song 

which shows the translator has used the word-for-word translation 

procedure without understanding the context. 

Example: 

 (2، اٌغطش 7)ِٓ عجٓ ػىا، اٌّمطغ  ) جٛد٠ٞا اِت باٌؼطا  جٛدٞ(

The translation as provided by McDonald (2013): ―mother be 

generous in giving more‖ (From ʕakka Prison, the seventh stanza, line 2). 

2-  Literal Translation: 

The grammatical constructions of the source language ―are converted 

to the nearest TL equivalents but the lexical words are again translated 



40 
 

singly, out of context‖ (ibid: 46). Although this method works well with 

legal and technical texts, it may be best to be used in literary works. 

The following example is from ―Ẓariif aṭ-ṭuul,‖ which shows that the 

translator has translated literally. 

Example: 

(.4، اٌغطش 3)ظش٠ف اٌطٛي، اٌّمطغ    (٘زٚال اٌٍٟ ِا ػشفٛا حاس٠خ بالدٔا)

The translation as provided by the translator: ―these who don't know 

the history of our country‖ (―Ẓariif aṭ-ṭuul,‖ the third stanza, line 1). 

3-  Faithful Translation: 

―A Faithful translation attempts to reproduce the precise contextual 

meaning of the original within the constraints of TL grammatical 

structures‖ (ibid.). The translator, in this method, aims to convey the 

author's intention or what s/he intends to communicate into the target 

language as faithfully as possible. Newmark assures that faithful translation 

‗―transfers‖ cultural words and preserves the degree of grammatical and 

lexical 'abnormality' (deviation from SL norms) in translation‘ (ibid.). 

Occasionally, a faithful translation requires an idiomatic translation to 

maintain semantic integrity. 

4-  Semantic Translation: 

The central concern of the translator is to convey the meaning of the 

phrase or sentence. Newmark says that ―semantic translation differs from 



42 
 

‗faithful translation‘ only in as far as it must take more account of the 

aesthetic value‖ (ibid.). In other words, what makes difference between 

semantic and faithful translation is that in the semantic translation, the 

translator tries to make more account of the aesthetic value, such as the 

beautiful and natural sound of the source text ―compromising on ‗meaning‘ 

where appropriate so that no assonance, word-play or repetition jars in the 

finished version‖ (ibid.). 

5-  Adaptation: 

This is the most free type of translation which is used in plays and 

poetry where the translator chooses to preserve the themes, characters, and 

plots so that ―the SL culture converted to the TL culture and the text 

rewritten [sic]‖ (Newmark, 1988: 46).  

6-  Free Translation: 

In a free translation, the translator reproduces the ―matter without the 

manner, or the content without the form of the original‖ (Newmark, 1988: 

46). The target text in free translation is longer than the original because 

this type is a paraphrase.  

The following example is from the folk song ―Layya w Layya‖ 

where McDonald uses the free translation procedure. 

The following example extracted from ―Layya w Layya:‖ 

(.3&2، اٌغطش 6)١ٌا ١ٌٚا،اٌّمطغ  (بخضغشد ٠ا هللا حطٛفٛا بىؼبخٕا اٌغاد١ٍت  ) 



43 
 

The translation as provided in McDonald: ―and she sings zaɣruud, 

Oh God, encircle our Kaʕba of the coast‖ (―Layya w Layya‖, stanza 6, line 

2 & 3). 

7-  Idiomatic Translation: 

     This means that the translation will bring the original source 

language into contemporary language expressions. Peter Newmark 

maintains that idiomatic translation ―reproduces the message of the original 

but tends to distort nuances of meaning by preferring colloquialisms and 

idioms where these do not exist in the original‖ (ibid: 47).  

8-  Communicative Translation: 

It is a translation procedure that ―attempts to render the exact 

contextual meaning of the original in such a way that both content and 

language are readily acceptable and comprehensible to the readership‖ 

(ibid.). 

Newmark (1988) introduces a continuum existing between 

―semantic‖ and ―communicative‖ translation. Any translation can be 

―more, or less semantic—more, or less, communicative—even a particular 

section or sentence can be treated more communicatively or less 

semantically.‖ Both seek an ―equivalent effect.‖ Fan Zhongying (1994: 97), 

prefers using literal translation to free translation, and proposes that ―it is 

agreed by many that one should translate literally, if possible, or appeal to 

free translation.‖ 



44 
 

Other procedures that Newmark proposes: 

9-  Transference: 

An SL word is transferred into a TL. It includes transliteration which 

is the same as what Malcom Harvey (2000:5) names "transcription." All 

proper names are transferred from Arabic into English in the translation of 

the three folk songs. 

Examples of translation as provided in McDonald (2013): 

(0، عطش 5)١ٌا ١ٌٚا، اٌّمطغ  (دٛطٗ)  0-  

Translated into ―ḥūṭa‖ (―Layya w Layya‖, stanza 5, line 1). 

.(4، عطش 6، اٌّمطغ ١ٌٚا )١ٌا (وؼبخٕا ) 2-  

Translated into ―our Ka‘ba‖ (layya w Layya, stanza 6, line 4). 

10-  Cultural equivalence: 

Newmark (1988: 82-83) asserts that ―this is an approximate 

translation where an SL cultural word is translated by a TL cultural word‖ 

which is considered equivalent to it.  

There are no examples of cultural equivalent procedure in the 

translation of the three songs. 

  



45 
 

11-  Functional equivalent: 

This kind of translation, which is 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‖ (ibid: 83). In other 

words, in this procedure, the translator uses a culture-neutral word.  

12-  Modulation  

This procedure occurs when the translator reproduces the message of 

the original text in the TL text in conformity with the current norms of the 

TL, since the SL and the TL may appear dissimilar in terms of perspective 

(ibid. 88). 

The following examples are from ―Layya w Layya‖ folk song. 

McDonald (2013) has used modulation as a translation strategy. 

Examples: 

(.0، اٌغطش 6)١ٌا ١ٌٚا، اٌّمطغ   (٘اٌجشح اٌٛ دشٚفٛ)  0-  

 ―The wound is written in letters‖ (―Layya w Layya,‖ stanza 6, line 1). 

.(0، اٌغطش 5)اٌّمطغ  (٘اٌؼشط ادٕا ِٕٛ) -2  

 ―That the wedding is a part of us‖ (Layya w Layya,‖ stanza 5, line 1). 

  



46 
 

13-   Recognized translation: 

It means that a translator should use the ―official and generally 

accepted translation of any institutional term‖ (ibid. 89). 

14-   Paraphrase: 

It is an explanation of the meaning of a word in the text. The 

following example is from ‗―From ʕakka Prison‖ and its translation as 

provided in McDonald (2013). 

Example:  

(.4، اٌغطش 2)ِٓ عجٓ ػىا، اٌّمطغ     -(بادىاَ اٌظاٌُ حا ٠ؼذِٛٔٗ)

―How the oppressive army announced death upon them‖ (From 

ʕakka Prison, stanza 2, line 4). 

     Considering the above definitions, one notices that these methods 

and procedures are divided into two main categories. The first category 

refers to strategies that are used for the source language text such as word-

for-word, literal, faithful, semantic translation, transference, and 

paraphrase. The other category contains the strategies in which the 

translator deals with the target language text. These strategies are 

adaptation, free translation, idiomatic translation, communicative 

translation, modulation, cultural equivalent, functional equivalent, 

descriptive equivalent, and recognized translation. 



47 
 

Newmark's methods are suitable for the classification of the data 

under study. They will help in answering the research questions as well as 

clarifying the results of the study. 

3.4 Venuti‟s (1995) Domestication and Foreignization: 

Domestication and foreignization are basic translation methods, 

which provide linguistic and cultural guidance for the act of translation. 

The terms are suggested by the American translation theorist L. Venuti 

(1995: 17) who defines translation as a process by which the “chain of 

signifiers that constitute‖ the SL text is replaced by ―a chain of signifiers‖ 

in the TL that the interpreter ―provides on the strength of an interpretation.‖ 

According to this definition, translation is a replacement of the 

source-text cultural signifiers in the target text. Nevertheless, Venuti (1995: 

18) believes that there is a sort of violence that resides in the act of each 

translation, i.e. the re-formation of the foreign text in line with values, 

beliefs, and representations of the target language. He adds that this re-

formation is always configured according to the hierarchies of the target 

language, which in turn governs the production, circulation, and reception 

of texts. 

Venuti mentions that this violence is, to some extent, ineluctable that 

is inherent in the translation process, and partly potential; intimating the 

final aim of translation is to bring back a cultural other as the same (1995: 

18). The question raised here is how to deal with this violence. The answer 



48 
 

of this question is either to leave the author in peace, as much as possible, 

and moves the TR towards him, or s/he moves the ST author towards the 

TR (Lefevere, 1977: 74). Munday (2008: 28) believes that Schleiermacher 

prefers the first strategy, i.e. moving the reader toward the writer.  

Schleiermacher‘s foreignizing translation is available in the selection 

process of the foreign text, ―wherein the translator can resist the dominant 

discourse in Anglo-American culture by restoring excluded texts and 

possibly reforming the canon of foreign literature in English‖ (Venuti, 

1998: 81). He opposes merely sticking to the signified; for him, a 

translation can be foreignized by assimilating the signifiers of the foreign 

text. The more the translation follows the turns of patterns taken by the 

original, the more foreign will seem for the reader (Lefevere, 1977: 78). 

Thus, Schleiermacher writes that a translator by using foreignization tries 

to replace the understanding of the original text which the reader lacks. 

S/he tries to communicate to his readers the same image and the same 

impression, and his/her knowledge of the original language allows him/her 

to acquire the work as it stands. In doing so, s/he tries to move his/her 

readers toward his/her own point of view, which is essentially foreign to 

them (cited in Lefevere, 1997: 149).  

However, Venuti defines domestication as ―an ethnocentric 

reduction of the foreign text to target language cultural values‖ (Venuti, 

1995: 145). He also defines foreignization as ―an ethnodeviant pressure on 

[the TL cultural] values to register the linguistic and cultural difference of 

the foreign text, sending the reader abroad‖ (Venuti, 1995: 145). In other 



49 
 

words, the word domestication designates the type of translation in which a 

transparent, fluent style is adopted to minimize the strangeness of the 

foreign text for TL readers. On the other hand, foreignization means a TT is 

produced which deliberately breaks target conventions by retaining 

something of the foreignness of the original.  

Generally speaking, when focusing on the linguistic level of the text 

in which translation must be transparent, more systematic and has more 

fluent style, domestication is adopted to minimize the percent of the 

strangeness of the foreign text for the TL readers. On the other hand, in the 

social, cultural, and political translations where a target text is produced 

and deliberately breaks target conventions by retaining something of the 

foreignness of the original, foreignization is the best to be adopted. 

According to Venuti (1998: 240), domestication and foreignization 

take place at two levels: at the macro level, in which the actual choice of 

the foreign text to be translated, and at the micro level, which encompasses 

the methods to be used in the translation. Domestication and foreignization 

are general expressions that encompass many strategies and procedures that 

are limited in focus as well as in meaning. Therefore, if Newmark‘s 

definitions are applied to domestication and foreignization, adaptation, free 

translation, idiomatic translation, communicative translation, modulation, 

cultural equivalent, functional equivalent, and recognized translation are 

considered as domesticating translation. On the other hand, word for word 

translation, literal translation, faithful translation, semantic translation, 

transference, and paraphrase are considered foreignizing translation. 



51 
 

Chapter Four 

Methodology 

4.1 Introduction: 

This chapter is devoted to specifying the techniques, practices, and 

procedures that have been used in conducting this research. In order to 

achieve the main purpose which is to investigate the problems of cultural 

differences in the translation of folk songs. It examines the extent to which 

a translated folk song can preserve its own folkloric features; the researcher 

follows the descriptive characteristics of research which aims ―at casting 

light on current issues or problems through the process of collecting data 

[which in its turn] enables them to describe the situation more 

comprehensibly than was possible without employing this method‖ (Fox & 

Bayat, 2007: 45).  

Through choosing the descriptive approach, the present research 

describes the translation as a product, the translators‘ practices at the 

textual level, and their tendencies when translating cultural items. 

Therefore, a definition of the culture-specific concepts will be offered. 

Then a representation of Newmark‘s (1988) methods of translating the 

cultural items and Venuti‘s (1995) domestication and foreignization will be 

checked.  Additionally, the research will describe the translations of the 

folk songs while attaining the linguistic characteristics of folklore. For 

example, it shows the characteristics of the folkloric text and the ways the 



50 
 

translators have dealt with such characteristics through the process of 

translation. 

4.2 Data Collection: 

In any research, there are different methods used in gathering data, 

all of which fall into two categories: primary data, and secondary data. 

Primary data are the ones which are collected directly from the first-hand 

experience, the translated folk songs in this project, while the secondary 

data are the data that are already collected or produced by others.  

The primary data of this research are three folkloric songs: ―Ẓariif aṭ-

ṭuul,‖ ―From ʕakka Prison‖, and ―Layya w Layya.‖ The Arabic lyrics and 

translation of the first song ―Ẓariif aṭ-ṭuul,‖ are taken from the website 

Become Fluent in Any Language. In fact, the translator of this song is 

unknown, but the researcher used this translation because there is no other 

documented translation for this very famous song. The other two songs are 

found translated in David A. McDonald‘s My Voice Is My Weapons (2013).  

These are very well-known songs that people sing and recite since they 

express their collective and national sorrow and aspirations. These songs 

among many others present a rich amount of different and varied cultural 

items which may pose a challenge for translators who seek to translate 

them into other languages. Also, these songs were tales before becoming 

lyrics. They are exemplary of the genre shift which is one of the main 

interests of this thesis.  



52 
 

Secondary data are taken from documentaries such as books, articles, 

and websites as background support for this research.  Using the secondary 

data by a researcher might not seem as exciting as collecting original 

survey data or scraping the internet to understand online behaviors, but 

they form the core of any research. Secondary data let one build on existing 

research, which leads to better results, in addition to saving time. 

4.3 Methods of Collecting and Categorizing Data: 

In order to answer the main questions of the research, it is important 

to classify the main procedure used in translating the folk songs by 

showing how the culture-specific items and the aesthetics of folklore were 

translated.  For this purpose, the data will be analyzed as follows: 

First, all culture-specific terms in the three folk songs, in question, 

are going to be identified and collected. This will be done by studying the 

Arabic folkloric songs alongside their translations and categorizing the 

cultural-specific items according to Newmark‘s (1988: 95), and Baker‘s 

(1992: 21) classifications of cultural categories. The cultural terms will be 

divided into several categories: clothes, food, religious expressions, 

common expressions, activities, and others.   

Second, each culture-specific item will be examined to decide the 

strategy used in its translation since Newmark‘s strategies (1988) will be 

employed in this phase of the research. Then, Newmark‘s strategies will be 

grouped under Venuti‘s model (1995) of domestication and foreignization. 



53 
 

Third, the frequency of the strategies used, whether domestication or 

foreignization, will be categorized. Then, the percentage of both of these 

strategies will be calculated for each folk song. The more widely used 

strategy will be examined to see if it achieves the requirements and 

aesthetics of the folk song or not. 

 

  



54 
 

Chapter Five 

Data Analysis and Findings 

5.1 Introduction: 

This chapter examines the translators‘ tendencies when translating 

folk songs. The three songs under study will be analyzed according to 

Newmark‘s procedures for translating the cultural items, then these 

procedures will be classified into Venuti‘s domestication and 

foreignization. Also, the Linguistic aspects such as sound devices, poetic 

elements, and figurative language are important in translation since they 

differ from one language to another. These aspects give the text its 

aesthetics which differentiates one writer from another. In the translation 

process, some aesthetics cannot be and make the translated text lose its 

value. In this research, the researcher will identify how the translator has 

dealt with these aesthetics, especially as they add to the significance of the 

folk songs since the form and content of these songs are dependent on each 

other. Moreover, this research will discuss how the translator has dealt with 

norms, and beliefs which differ from one culture or language to another; as 

well as it discussing the way the translation contributes to preserving the 

Palestinian memory. Then, the answers to the main research questions of 

the study are presented. Finally, a correlation of the folk songs‘ data 

findings and the possible changes in the cultural and linguistic contexts will 

be offered. 

 



55 
 

5.2 Analysis and results: 

In the third chapter, the researcher has exhibited Newmark‘s (1988) 

and Venuti‘s (1995) strategies for translating culture-specific items. In this 

section, the researcher will meticulously identify the strategies which were 

used in translating the culture-specific items in the three folk songs chosen 

for this study. Also, the way the translator has dealt with the linguistic 

issues will be carefully examined. This investigation will shed light on the 

translators' tendencies to use either domestication or foreignization in 

translating folk songs.  

The researcher will carry out the analysis in two stages. In the first 

stage, the researcher identifies all the culture-specific items in the three 

original texts of the folk songs: ―Ẓariif aṭ-ṭuul,‖ ―From ʕakka Prison,‖ and 

―Layya w Layya‖‘ and then calculates the frequency in which each strategy 

is employed. In the second stage, the researcher identifies the linguistic 

aspects of the song by showing the difference between Arabic and English 

and how the translator has dealt with these differences. 

5.2.1 “From ʕakka Prison” 

―From ʕakka Prison‖ is a popular Palestinian folk song. It is a song 

that narrates a real story that took place in Akka in 1930. It has become 

famous after it was sung by ferqat Aɣani Al-ʕašiqiin (Al-ʕašiqiin Musical 

Band) at the beginning of the1980s. According to Widad Al-barɣuөi 

(2017), some people have attributed this song to the poet Nuuḥ Ibrahim, 



56 
 

but, in fact, it was written by a blind folk poet whose name was Abd-el 

raḥmaan Al-barɣuӨi, known by (Al-xaṭabi). The researcher found two 

different versions of the song which are different in the words and length of 

the poem. The original poem was really written by Al-barɣuөi but the sung 

one was composed by the poet Nuuh Ibrahim. 

The story of the poem is summarized in McDonald (2013: 52) as 

follows:  

―Min Sijn ʕakka‖ is a historical account of the execution of 

three Palestinian militants at the infamous ʕakka Prison on 

June 17, 1930. The public execution of these three men had 

an extraordinary effect among the people, providing an initial 

rallying cry for revolt against British colonial authority. 

―From ʕakka Prison‖ has a special place in the innermost of the 

Palestinians‘ hearts since it reminds them of the cruel deed of execution. It 

gives them the volition to resist without fearing death. These emotions can 

be seen through the words of the song which are the ―catalyst for the 

Palestinian resistance movement,‖ (McDonald, 2013: 52). The lyrics of the 

whole Arabic song and the translation as provided by McDonald 2013 are 

represented in table 5.1. 

  



57 
 

Table 5.1: The lyrics of „From ʕakka Prison‟ and their translation 

The translation found in (McDonald, 

2013: 52-53) 

The source text of “From 

ʕakka prison” 

Stanza 

# 

The funeral procession set out from Akka 

Prison, 

For Mohammad Jumjuum and Fuad Hijazi. 

Oh how they punished them, my people, 

Oh how the high commissioner and his 

people punished them. 

  ِٓ عجٓ ػىا طٍــؼج جٕاصة

 دمحم جّجَٛ ٚفؤاد دجاصٞ

 جاصٞ ػ١ٍُٙ ٠ا شؼبٟ جاصٞ

 إٌّذٚب اٌغاِٟ ٚسبؼـت ػِّٛـــــا

 

 

1 

Mohammad Jumjuum with ʕaṭa Al-Ziir, 

And Fuʔad Ḥijazi became honorable 

weapons. 

See the fate and destiny, 

How the oppressive army pronounced death 

upon them. 

 دمحم جّجَٛ ِٚغ ػطا اٌض٠ش

 فؤاد دجاصٞ ٚػض اٌذخ١شٖ

 أظش اٌّمذس ٚاٌخماد٠ش

 بـأدىاَ اٌظـاٌـــُ حا  ٠ؼذِــــــــــٛٔا

 

 

2 

Said Mohammad, I want to be the first. 

My fear, oh ʕaṭa, is to see you killed before 

me. 

Said Ḥijazi, ―I want to be the first.‖ 

For we do not fear death. 

 ٠ٚمٛي دمحم آٔا أٌٚىُ

  خٛفٟ ٠ا ػطا اششب دغشحىُ

 ٠ٚمٛي دجاصٞ آٔا أٌٚىُ

 ِا ٔٙاب اٌشدٜ  ٚال اٌّأٛٔـــــــا

 

 

3 

My beloved mother calls out, 

The nation has closed around her. 

They called out, Fuʔad the dearest of my 

heart, 

Before we separate we must bid farewell. 

 أِٟ اٌذٕٛٔت باٌظٛث حٕادٞ

 ضالج ػ١ٍٙا وً اٌبالد

 ٔادٚا فؤاد ِٚٙجت فؤادٞ

 لبً ٔفـخشق حا ٠ٛدػٛٔــــــــــــــــا

 

 

4 

She called out from behind the door, 

And awaits his response. 

ʕaṭa oh ʕaṭa the greatest of youth, 

Who attacks the army without fear. 

 بخٕذٖ ع ػطا ِٓ ٚسا اٌباب

 ٚلفج حغخٕظش ِٕٗ اٌجٛاب

 ػطا ٠ا ػطا ص٠ٕت اٌشباب

 ب١ٙجُ ع اٌؼـــغىش ٚال ٠ٙابــٛٔــا

 

 

5 

Oh my brother, Yusef, take care of my 

mother, 

And you, my sister, do not be sad. 

For the sake of the nation I have sacrificed 

my blood, 

For the eyes of Palestine 

 خ١ٟ ٠ا ٠ٛعف ٚطاحه أِٟ

 أٚػٝ ٠ا أخخٟ بؼذٞ حّٕٟٙ

 ألجً ٘اٌٛطٓ ضذ١ج بذِٟ

 ٚوٍــٗ ٌؼ١ٛٔه ٠ــــا فٍغــــــــط١ٕا

 

 

6 

The three died as lions, 

Mother be generous in giving more. 

For the sake of the nation we sacrifice our 

souls, 

And for its freedom they kill us. 

 ثالثت ِاحٛا ِٛث األعٛد

  ٚجٛدٞ ٠ا أِٟ باٌؼطا جٛدٞ

 ػٍٝ شاْ ٘اٌٛطٓ باٌشٚح أجٛد

 ـاٚألجــــــــً دش٠خـــٗ ب١ؼٍمٛٔـــ

 

 

7 

Call out, oh people, there are beatings, 

For on Tuesday they will hang the youth. 

The courageous ones ʕaṭa and Fuʔad, 

For they do not fear death. 

 ٔادٜ إٌّادٞ ٠ا ٔاط إضشاب

 ٠َٛ اٌثالثا شٕك اٌشباب

 أً٘ اٌشجاػت ػطا ٚفؤاد

 إٌّــــأٛٔاِٚا ٠ٙابٛا اٌشدٜ ٚال 

 

 

8 

 

 

  



58 
 

According to Baker‘s (1992) classification, the researcher 

analyzed and identified all types of culture-specific items that 

appeared in the Arabic version of ―From ʕakka Prison‖ alongside 

their translation. The following table provides each type of the 

culture-specific terms which appeared in ―From ʕakka Prison‖ and 

how they were dealt with by McDonald (2013). 

Table 5.2: Examples of cultural terms extracted from the first song 

“From ʕakka Prison” 

No. 
Approach/

Category 

Source Text of „From  

ʕakka Prison‟ 

The Translated 

Text in McDonald 

The Translation 

Procedure Used 

1 Terms of 

address 

 إٌّذٚب اٌغاِٟ

(The first stanza, line 4) 

The high 

commissioner 

Literal 

translation 

 فؤاد دجاصٞ ػض اٌزخ١شة  2

(The second stanza, 

 line 2) 

Fuʔad Ḥijazi 

became honorable 

weapons. 

Modulation 

 أِٟ اٌذٕٛٔت باٌظٛث حٕادٞ   3

(The fourth stanza, 

 line 1) 

My beloved mother 

calls out, 

Modulation 

 ٠ا ِٙجت فؤادٞ  4

(The fourth stanza, 

 line 3) 

The dearest of my 

heart. 

Free translation 

 ػطا ٠ا ػطا   5

(The fifth stanza, line 3) 

ʕaṭa oh  ʕaṭa Literal 

Translation 

 ص٠ٕت شباب  6

(The fifth stanza, line 3) 

The greatest of 

youth. 

Modulation 

 خ١ٟ ٠ا ٠ٛعف ٚطاحه أِٟ  7

(The sixth stanza,  

line 1) 

Oh my brother, 

Yousef, take care 

of my mother. 

Communicative 

translation 

No. 
Approach/C

ategory 

Source Text of ‗From  

ʕakka Prison‘ 

The Translated 

Text in McDonald 

The Translation 

Procedure Used 

 اٚػٟ ٠ا اخخٟ بؼذٞ حّٕٟٙ  8

(The sixth stanza,  

line 2) 

And you, my sister, 

don't be sad. 

Literal 

translation 

 جٛدٞ ٠ا اِت باٌؼطا جٛدٞ  9

(The seventh stanza, 

line 2) 

Mother be 

generous in giving 

more. 

Word-for- word 

translation 

(Mistranslation) 

 ٠ا ٔاط    10

(The eighth stanza,  

line 1) 

 

Oh people, Literal 

translation 

 

 The courageous Free translation أً٘ اٌشجاػت  11



59 
 

(The eighth stanza, 

 line 3) 

ones 

12 Proper 

names 

 ػىا

 (The first stanza, 

 line 1) 

Akka Transference 

 دمحم جّجَٛ  13

(The first stanza, line 2) 

Mohammed 

Jamjum 

Transference 

 فؤاد دجاصٞ  14

(The first stanza, 

 Line 2) 

Fuʔad Ḥijazi Transference 

 ػطا اٌض٠ش  15

(The second stanza, line 

1) 

ʕaṭa  Az-Ziir Transference 

 ٠ٛعف  16

(The sixth stanza,  

line 1) 

Yousef Recognized 

translation 

17 Religious 

Expressions 

 اٌّمذس ٚاٌخماد٠ش

(The second stanza, 

 line 3) 

The fate and 

destiny 

Literal 

translation 

18 Common 

Expressions 

 َسبؼُٗ

(The first stanz 

a, line 4) 

His people Literal 

translation 

 خٛفٟ ٠ا ػطا اششب دغشحىُ  19

(The third stanza,  

line 2) 

My fear, oh Ata to 

see you killed 

before me 

Paraphrase 

 ضالج ػ١ٍٕا وً اٌبالد  20

(The fourth stanza,  

line 2) 

The nation has 

closed  around her  

Literal 

translation 

 ٚطاحه أِٟ  21

(The sixth stanza, 

 line 1) 

Take care of my 

mother 

Paraphrase 

22 Activities, 

habits, and 

others 

 

 

 طٍؼج جٕاصة

(The first stanza, line 1) 

The funeral 

procession set out. 

Literal 

translation 

No. 
Approach/C

ategory 

Source Text of ‗From  

ʕakka Prison‘ 

The Translated 

Text in McDonald 

The Translation 

Procedure Used 

 جاصٞ ػ١ٍُٙ ٠ا شؼبٟ جاصٞ  23

(The first stanza, line 3) 

 Oh how they 

punished them, my 

people, 

Literal 

translation 

(mistranslation) 

 بادىاَ اٌظاٌُ حا ٠ؼذِٛٔا   24

(The second stanza,  

line 4) 

How the oppressive 

army pronounced 

death upon them 

Paraphrase 

 ٠ٚمٛي دمحم  25

(The third stanza, 

 line 1) 

Said Mohammed, 

 

Word- for- word 

(mistranslation) 

 I want to be the Literal  أٔا أٌٚىُ  26



61 
 

(The third stanza, line 

1) 

first. translation 

 ِا ٔٙاب اٌشدٜ ٚال إٌّٛٔا  27

(The third stanza,  

line 4) 

For we do not fear 

death 

Literal 

translation 

 لبً ٔفخشق حا ٠ٛدػٛٔا  28

The fourth stanza,  

line 4)) 

Before we separate, 

we  must bid 

farewell 

Literal 

translation 

(mistranslation) 

حٕذٖ ع ػطا ِٓ ٚسا اٌباب   29

 ٚلفج حغخٕظش ِٕٛ اٌجٛاب

(The fifth stanza, 

lines 1+ 2) 

She called out from 

behind the door, 

and awaits his 

response 

Free translation 

 ٠ٙابٛٔا٠ٙجُ ع اٌؼغىش ٚال   30

(The fifth stanza, line 4) 

Who attacks the 

army without fear 

Literal 

translation 

 ألجً ٘اٌٛطٓ ضذ١ج بذِٟ  31

(The sixth stanza, 

 line 3) 

For the sake of the 

nation, I have 

sacrificed my blood 

Literal 

translation 

 وٍٛ ألجٍه ٠ا فٍغط١ٕا  32

(The sixth stanza, 

 lines 4) 

For the eyes of 

Palestine  

Modulation 

 ٚألجً دش٠خٛ ب١ؼزبٛٔا  33

(The seventh stanza, 

line 4) 

And for its freedom 

they kill us 

Modulation 

 ٔادٜ إٌّادٞ ٠ا ٔاط إضشاب  34

 (The eighth stanza, 

 line 1) 

Call out, Oh 

people, There are 

beatings 

Word-for-word 

(mistranslation) 

 ٠َٛ اٌثالثا شٕك اٌشباب  35

(The eighth stanza, 

lines 2) 

For on Tuesday, 

they will hang the 

youth 

Literal 

translation 

It seems that not all of the selected terms are culture-specific items, 

but what makes them different is the Palestinian colloquial language which 

has its characteristics. In translating ―From ʕakka Prison,‖ the researcher 

found the translator misuses some translation methods. For example, the 

translator used the word-for-word method of translation three times and in 

these three times, the translations were not meaningful. The first one is 

used in the seventh stanza, the second line: 

 جٛدٞ ٠ا اِت باٌؼطا جٛدٞ



60 
 

It is translated as: ―Mother be generous in giving more.‖ The Arabic 

word ―اِت‖ is not the mother. It means a whole nation.  

In the third stanza, as well, the first line, ٠ٚمٛي دمحم أا اٌٚىُ   is translated 

as ―said Mohammed, I want to be the first.‖ This is another mistranslation 

because the Arabic sentence grammar is not the same as the English one. In 

Arabic, it is allowed to form a verbal sentence where the verb is used 

before the subject whereas in English this is not allowed. The English 

sentence should start with a subject than a verb. The translator is perhaps 

not aware of the English grammar Sentence.  

Finally, in the line of the ninth stanza:  ٔادٜ إٌّادٞ ٠ا ٔاط اضشاب is 

translated as ―call out, oh people, there are beatings.‖ Here, the translator 

again used the English sentence structure with Arabic grammar. Moreover, 

the translator translated اضشاب   which means strike as beatings which is a 

wrong choice. 

It is clear that the word-for-word method of translation does not 

work. Instead of rendering a correct meaning, it distorts the whole meaning 

because it is out of context method. It keeps the syntax of the source 

language, which must be adopted into the target language syntax, as it is. 

The researcher calculated the frequency of each strategy in order to 

determine whether culture-specific items are mostly domesticated or 

foreignized. The researcher has identified 35 items and classified them 

according to two approaches as presented in tables 5.3 and 5.4 below:



62 
 

Table 5.3: Frequency and percentage of the strategies of foreignization, applied to the translation of (From 

ʕakka Prison). 

Approach Forignozation 

Category 
Word-for-word 

Translation 

Literal 

translation 

Faithful 

translation 

Semantic 

translation 
Transference Paraphrase 

Terms of address 1 4 0 0 0 0 

Proper names 0 0 0 0 4 0 

Religious 

expressions 

0 1 0 0 0 0 

Common 

expressions 

0 2 0 0 0 2 

Activities, habits, 

and others 

2 8 0 0 0 1 

Strategy‘s 

Average 

3% 15% 0% 0% 4% 3% 

Total 25/35 

Percentage 71.4% 

 

 

  



63 
 

Table 5.4: Frequency and percentage of the strategies of domestication applied to the translation of „From ʕakka 

Prison‟ 

Domestication Approach 

Recognized 

Translation 

Cultural 

Equivalent 
Modulation 

Communicative 

Translation 

Free 

Translation 
Idiomatic Adaptation Category 

0 0 3 1 2 0 0 
Terms of 

address 

1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Proper names 

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
Religious 

Expressions 

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
Common 

Expressions 

0 0 2 0 1 0 0 

Activities, 

habits, and 

others. 

1% 0% 5% 1% 3% 0% 0% 
Strategy‘s 

Average 

10/35 Total 

28.6% Percentage 



64 
 

Tables 4.3 and 4.4 demonstrate that the prevailing tendency 

in ―From ʕakka Prison‘s‖ translation is foreignization, primarily 

through the use of literal translation. The researcher identified 35 

culture-specific terms, 25 of them are translated through 

foreignization. From a percentage point of view, the level of 

foreignization is 71.4% compared to 28.6% for domestication. 

5.2.2 “Ẓariif aṭ-ṭuul”: 

This is the second song to be discussed in this research.  The original 

version of the narrated lyric ―Ẓariif aṭ-ṭuul‖ tells a story of two lovers who 

are expressing the pain of separation. After 1948, many Palestinian songs 

came to express the pain and homesickness of Palestinians in the diaspora 

who were separated from their homeland and families. MacDonald (2013: 

65) asserts that ―Ẓariif aṭ-ṭuul‖ is ―collected in the years following al-

Nakba; it depicts pervasive feelings of separation and exile.‖  Although this 

song is very famous, it