METAPHORICAL MEANING SHIFT IN ENGLISH–IGBO TRANSLATION
Keywords:
metaphor, metaphor translation, meaning shift, English, Igbo, conceptual metaphor, cultural equivalenceAbstract
Metaphor is an important feature of human language and thought through which abstract experiences are understood in terms of concrete, embodied, and culturally familiar domains. Although metaphors can sometimes be transferred directly between languages, differences in conceptualization, cultural experience, and linguistic expression may result in shifts in metaphorical meaning during translation. This study examines metaphorical meaning shift in English–Igbo translation, focusing on the ways in which metaphorical expressions are retained, modified, replaced, or lost in the target language. The study adopts a qualitative descriptive approach and draws data from a corpus of English metaphorical expressions and their Igbo translations. The metaphors were identified and classified according to structural, ontological, and orientational conceptual types, with conventional and novel metaphors treated as categories of conventionality. The analysis was guided principally by Conceptual Metaphor Theory and informed by approaches to metaphor translation. The findings show that metaphorical meaning does not always transfer intact from English into Igbo. Some expressions retain both their conceptual mapping and imagery, while others preserve the central meaning but modify or replace the source-domain imagery. The findings show that metaphorical meaning shift often occurs when culturally specific imagery is modified through strategies such as explicitation and paraphrase. The study concludes that metaphor translation involves conceptual and cultural negotiation and recommends greater attention to conceptual and cultural equivalence, as well as the development of bilingual English–Igbo metaphor resources for translator training and culturally sensitive language technologies.References
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