ELIA 3, 2002, pp. 203-218
TRANSLATORS’ ENGLISH-SPANISH METAPHORICAL
COMPETENCE: IMPACT ON THE TARGET SYSTEM
E a Samaniego Fe nández
Uni e sidad Nacional de Educación a Dis ancia (UNED)
In spi e o he la ge numbe o in e linguis ic compe ences and skills
gene ally men ioned in ansla ion s udies as being essen ial o ansla o s,
me apho ical compe ence does no igu e as one o he ele an ones. And
ye , i has a deep impac on he concep ual de elopmen o he a ge sys em,
as we will y o demons a e on he basis o a s udy and subsequen epo
ca ied ou on a educed co pus o a ge no el me apho s in newspape
ex s published in Spanish and hei co esponding sou ce me apho s in
English. Many o he ansla ions o hese me apho ical exp essions a e
cohe en wi h he p inciple o ‘ anspa ency’; hus, hei meanings in
Spanish can be guessed a because hey appeal o ou ecogni ion o
unde lying symbolism, e en i he ansla ions do no exis as common
exp essions in Spanish.
Key wo ds: no el me apho , ansla ion, me apho ical compe ence,
cogni i e linguis ics, newspape ex s
1. Me apho and ansla ion
1.1. Me apho
Following he ecen indings o cogni i e linguis ics, we de ine me apho as
an essen ial concep ual ool which consis s in a s uc u al mapping om a
Es udios de
lingüís ica inglesa aplicada
204 E. Samaniego Fe nández
ELIA 3, 2002, pp. 203-218
sou ce concep ual domain on o a a ge concep ual domain. A concep ual
me apho consis s o a a ge , a sou ce, and a mapping (‘g ound’) be ween
hem. The a ge concep ual domain (‘ eno ’ in adi ional app oaches) is he
domain o be unde s ood me apho ically, whe eas he sou ce concep ual
domain (‘ ehicle’) is he domain in e ms o which he a ge is o be
unde s ood me apho ically1 (Tu ne 1990: 465).
Basic o his no ion is he impo ance o he dis inc ion be ween
‘me apho ’ and ‘linguis ic me apho ’. Al hough his is now commonplace in
linguis ics, he e m ‘me apho ’ is gene ally used as an equi alen o
‘concep ual me apho ’ ( he majo basis o ou concep ual sys em), whe eas
he exp essions ‘linguis ic me apho ’ o ‘me apho ical exp ession’ mean he
linguis ic i ems chosen o ealise a pa icula concep ual me apho .
Consequen ly, i is ou concep ual sys em ha is me apho ical in na u e, no
language pe se, and language becomes one o he ways o exp ession o ou
cogni i e models. Thus, we expe ience hings in e ms o me apho s and
speak abou hings using me apho s because ou concep s a e me apho ically
s uc u ed (Lako & Johnson 1980: 6; Hi aga 1994: 17).
We belie e ha he app oach adop ed by cogni i e linguis ics and
he p oposals pu o wa d by he semio ic heo y o iconici y can be
in eg a ed in a single model (see Radwanska-Williams 1994: 23). In
acco dance wi h his in eg a i e p ocess, we ollow Hi aga (1994),
Radwanska-Williams (1994), Waugh (1994) and o he s, who ea me apho s
as one subca ego y o icons ( he o he wo being images2 and diag ams3).
These au ho s a gue ha linguis ic mo i a ion is iconic in na u e; hus, jus
1 Fo example, in he me apho “his lips such osebuds”, “lips” would be he eno o
a ge concep ual domain, whe eas “ osebuds” would be he ehicle o sou ce
concep ual domain (in cogni i e linguis ics, he speci ic concep ual me apho would
be BEAUTY IS A FLOWER). The me apho is om Ku eishi (1990: 9).
2 “An image (…) eplica es o ep oduces a quali y o he ep esen ed objec ”
(Radwanska-Williams 1994: 28).
3 “A diag am ep esen s ela ional quali ies” (Radwanska-Williams 1994: 28).
T ansla o s’ English-Spanish … 205
ELIA 3, 2002, pp. 203-218
like an icon4 bea s a s uc u ally analogical ela ionship wi h i s objec , he
cogni i e s uc u e o he sou ce domain co esponds o ha o he a ge
domain in a me apho . This means ha he e exis s an inne ela ionship o
simila i y be ween he meanings o me apho s and he icons om which hey
de i e inso a as he meanings o hese exp essions can be guessed a on he
basis o ha simila i y.
1.2. Me apho in ansla ion s udies
Un o una ely, ansla ion s udies ha e inhe i ed he e minological
con usion p e alen in disciplines de o ed o me apho esea ch. In gene al
e ms, “(...) mos ansla ion heo is s e ade he ques ion o he de ini ion o
me apho ” (Pisa ska 1989: 28). Some au ho s lis he di e en o ms o
me apho bu do no de ine i (see Vázquez Ayo a 1977; Snell-Ho nby1988;
Newma k 1988a), whe eas o he s a oid he ask by a guing ha “ o de ine
me apho does no belong o he p ope ask o ansla ion heo y” (Van den
B oeck 1981: 74). A hi d g oup s udy he ansla ion p oblems posed by
me apho s wi hou gi ing a hin o wha hey unde s and by me apho s (see
Mason 1982; Van Besien & Pelsmaecke s 1988). Finally, some o he s ge
away wi h b oad de ini ions, escaping commi men . The e a e excep ions,
howe e ; Rabadán Ál a ez (1991), Menace e (1992) o Pisa ska (1989)
ad ance hei own de ini ions.
The e a e basically wo majo ields o me apho esea ch in
ansla ion s udies: me apho comp ehension o non-na i e speake s and he
na u e o he in e linguis ic inequi alence sys ema ically posed by me apho s
(and he solu ions o i ). I is no ewo hy ha , in spi e o i s ele ance, he
i s aspec has no been s udied in dep h, igno ing he ac ha second
language speake s consis en ly ind me apho s e y di icul o in e p e o
ou igh opaque. This appa en disin e es in igu a i e language
4 “A sign which ep esen s an objec mainly by i s simila i y o ha objec ” (Hi aga
1994: 6).
206 E. Samaniego Fe nández
ELIA 3, 2002, pp. 203-218
in e p e a ion as applied o ansla ion is p obably a di ec consequence o
he adi ional app oach o me apho s, whe e hey we e seen as o namen al
de ices; seen in his ligh , me apho s would be a ‘nice addi ion’ o
ansla o s’ compe ences, bu no an essen ial one.
As o he second aspec , he na u e o he in e linguis ic
inequi alence posed by me apho s, ansla ion s udies in gene al ha e
ga he ed heo ies om linguis ics o philosophy and applied hem o
ansla ion in a e y asys ema ic way; as a esul , adi ional (li e alis ) and
cogni i e ( igu alis ) app oaches coexis a he momen .
1.3. The ansla ion o me apho
Many e o s ha e been de o ed in ansla ion s udies o he analysis o he
a iables ha migh ha e a bea ing on he ansla ion o me apho . Among
hose mos o en quo ed we ind cul u al e e ences, communica i e pu pose,
unc ional ele ance, in o ma ion bu den, me apho ypology, co ex and
con ex es ic ions, deg ee o compa ibili y o he concep ual and o mal
s uc u es o he wo languages in ol ed, p e alen synch onic no ms,
deg ee o lexicaliza ion o he me apho , ansla o ’s compe ence,
conno a ions, deg ee o anisomo phism be ween he sou ce and a ge
domains in bo h cul u es, comp ehensibili y o he me apho , cogni i e ole,
e c. Howe e , he e a e many o he a iables which ce ainly ha e a say in
he ansla ion p ocess bu whose na u e is much mo e elusi e, such as he
e e ence ma e ial used by ansla o s, he ime p essu e, he al e a ions
in oduced in pos - ansla ion e isions, he idiolec , he ansla o ’s mood
(Newma k 1993), clien -imposed e ms, e c.
The e a e basically ou posi ions in ansla ion s udies as ega ds
me apho ansla ion: i) me apho s a e un ansla able (see Nida 1964 o
Dagu 1976 and 1987); ii) me apho s a e ully ansla able (Kloep e 1981
and Mason 1982); iii) me apho s a e ansla able bu pose a conside able
deg ee o inequi alence (Van Den B oeck 1981, Rabadán Ál a ez 1991,
Tou y 1985 and 1995, Newma k 1988a and 1988b) and i ) concilia o y
T ansla o s’ English-Spanish … 207
ELIA 3, 2002, pp. 203-218
app oach, ep esen ed by Snell-Ho nby (1988); o he , he ange o
ende ings depends on he ex ype and ad hoc ac o s.
The e a e a ew esea che s who ha e posi ed gene aliza ions abou
wha Dagu called ‘g adien o ansla abili y’ (1987); mos o hese
p oposals use he deg ee o lexicaliza ion o he me apho as classi ying
ea u e. Fo Dagu (1976: 32 and 1987: 81-82), he ansla abili y o any
gi en sou ce language me apho depends on bo h he pa icula cul u al
expe iences and he seman ic associa ions exploi ed. Van Besien &
Pelsmaecke s use he e m ‘specula i e’ o desc ibe hese b oad p inciples o
ansla abili y. Snell-Ho nby (1988: 59) inclines o he iew ha ansla ion
schola s should esea ch on me apho singula i y, and addi ionally deal wi h
he speci ic con ex ual ea u es in ol ed in he p ocess o ans e . Newma k
(1988a: 48-49) seems o be con inced ha dead me apho s5 a e he mos
‘ ansla able’ ones, whe eas s ock6 and o iginal7 me apho s would show a
5 Dead me apho s (also called ‘lexicalized me apho s’) a e “ hose ha a e aken up
and used by an e e -inc easing numbe o o he speake s, so ha hey g adually lose
hei uniqueness and peculia i y, becoming pa o he es ablished seman ic s ock o
he language and being eco ded as such in he dic iona y” (Dagu 1976: 23). Fo
Snell-Ho nby (1988: 57), “ he ‘dead’ me apho is gene ally accep ed as being one
no longe ecognizable as such”. Acco ding o Rabadán Ál a ez (1991: 142),
lexicalized me apho s a e “aquellas que el hablan e ha dejado de pe cibi como ales
y que han pasado a o ma pa e del sis ema lingüís ico y cul u al”. The ollowing
a e examples o dead me apho s: “I was eeling a home “(Ku eishi 1990: 146); “i
hey a e a pain” (Ku eishi 1990: 148); “ he doo o he u u e had opened” (Ku eishi
1990: 15); “e e yone was p ac ically in hea en” (Ku eishi 1990: 17).
6 A s ock me apho is “an es ablished me apho which in an in o mal con ex is an
e icien and concise me hod o co e ing a physical and/o men al si ua ion bo h
e e en ially and p agma ically” (Newma k 1988b: 109). Rabadán Ál a ez calls
hem “me á o as adicionales” (1991); Newma k ini ially e med hem “s anda d
me apho s”, while Van Den B oeck (1981) calls hem “con en ional”. These a e
mainly me apho s coming om li e a u e and assimila ed h ough usage. Examples:
“he is a good shephe d, who is id now o he black sheep o his lock” (Swi 1992:

208 E. Samaniego Fe nández
ELIA 3, 2002, pp. 203-218
deg ee o ansla abili y p opo ional o he p oximi y o he wo polysys ems
in ol ed (1988a: 109, 1988b: 49 and 106-113). Fo his pa , Van Den
B oeck (1981: 73) gainsays Dagu ’s opinion: i is possible o make
gene aliza ions on me apho ansla ion, since o he wise he applicabili y o
ansla ion heo y would be in alida ed. Fo he au ho , “ ansla abili y keeps
an in e se p opo ion wi h he quan i y o in o ma ion mani es ed by he
me apho and he deg ee o which his in o ma ion is s uc u ed in a ex ”
(1981: 84).
Rabadán Ál a ez (1991: 137) poin s ou ha no el me apho s a e
e y di icul o ansla e, whe eas s ock me apho s a e ansla able i he
sys ems in ol ed a e cul u ally close; lexicalized me apho s a e he mos
ansla able ones. The e a e a ew excep ions: unc ionally ele an
( o eg ounded) me apho s, cul u ally-bound i ems no sha ed be ween bo h
cul u es, ‘bu den’ o in o ma ion suppo ed by me apho s and ansla ional
no ms. The mo e ma ked hese ea u es a e, he mo e di icul i will be o
ende a me apho (1991: 146).
E en ually, we ha e he ollowing p inciples o ansla abili y: no el
me apho s a e no he mos di icul o ansla e acco ding o Dagu ; he mos
ansla able ones would be dead me apho s acco ding o Newma k; Van Den
B oeck and Rabadán Ál a ez i mly belie e ha lexicalized me apho s a e
53); “ he nigh mis swi ls ound he ba lemen s o Elsino e” (Swi 1992: 194);
“ o ge you Klondikes” (Swi 1992: 129).
7 Fo MacCo mack (1985: 136), ‘new’ me apho s (equi alen o wha we ha e called
‘o iginal’ me apho s) occu “(...) when an indi idual jux aposes concep ual e e en s
ne e be o e combined, p oducing bo h a seman ic anomaly and a new concep ual
insigh ”. Rabadán Ál a ez de ines ‘no el me apho s’ as “aquellas me á o as que
p esen an el g ado máximo de iolación de las eglas lingüís icas y li e a ias del
polisis ema sinc ónico” (1991: 136). Examples: “he s a ed o su e he malnu i ion
o unalloyed se iousness” (Ku eishi 1990: 208); “one o hose o e sized sa dine cans
(Lodge 1991: 5; i e e s o a plane); “na u e’s ceiling an” (Lodge 1991: 93; i e e s
o he wind); “s apped in o a pai o c amped den is 's chai ” (Lodge 1991: 6; i
e e s o he plane sea s).
T ansla o s’ English-Spanish … 209
ELIA 3, 2002, pp. 203-218
he mos ansla able ones ollowed by no el and s ock me apho s, whe eas
deco a i e me apho s would be mo e eadily ansla able.
1.4. No el me apho
We ha e in en ionally chosen he designa ion ‘no el me apho ’ (see oo no e
no. 7) as agains o he e minological al e na i es due o i s anspa ency.
The e a e a numbe o op ions, howe e : ‘o iginal me apho ’ (Newma k
1988b, Pisa ska 1989, e c.), ‘simila i y-c ea ing me apho ’ (Indu khya
1992), ‘poe ic me apho ’ (Swee se 1990), ‘p i a e me apho ’ (Van Den
B oeck 1981: 75), ‘c ea i e me apho ’ (Spe be & Wilson 1986), ‘inno a i e
me apho ’ (Pisa ska 1989), ‘li e me apho ’ (La son 1989: 331-332) o , mo e
simply, ‘new me apho ’ (MacCo mack 1985: 136).
The e we e se e al easons o choosing no el me apho s in ou
s udy: i s , while s ock and lexicalized me apho s ha e been s udied
p o usely, no el me apho s s ill lack an adequa e cogni i e and ansla ional
amewo k (Indu khya 1992: 3). Second, one o ou aims was o check
whe he no el me apho s we e ac ually so equen in newspape ex s as
some au ho s belie e hem o be (see Newma k 1988b, Snell-Ho nby 1988,
S een 1994: 73, e c.). Thi d, we we e no in e es ed in a s udy on equency
o occu ence, bu a he in he kind o equi alence sough by ansla o s.
In ou opinion, no el linguis ic me apho s p esen he ollowing
ea u es cumula i ely: i) hey in eg a e a igu a i e componen ; ii) hey may
mani es hemsel es in di e en linguis ic o ms and do no ha e leng h
es ic ions; iii) hey a e no ‘ins i u ionalized’, ha is, s anda dised, and
ha e he e o e no been inco po a ed in o common usage, ha ing no en ies
in dic iona ies o e e ence wo ks; i ) he ecei e pe cei es hem as
me apho ical language and inds ‘no el y’ o ‘communica i e su p ise’ in
hem ( hey lou add essee expec a ions); ) hey may be di ided in o h ee
majo g oups acco ding o he a iable o ‘use’ (see S een 1994 and
Indu khya 1992): ‘pu e’ no el me apho s c ea ing he simila i y; no el
me apho s based on a p e-exis en simila i y bu showing a new mapping o
being a new combina ion o cogni i e domains and no el me apho s ha a e
210 E. Samaniego Fe nández
ELIA 3, 2002, pp. 203-218
a simul aneous exploi a ion o he li e al and he me apho ical meanings (see
Le Gue n 1976: 123).
2. The sample
2.1. Compila ion p ocess and sample cha ac e is ics
We ha e selec ed a o al o 122 newspape ex s, which cons i u e he whole
o ex s o iginally published by The Gua dian (U.K. edi ion) and
subsequen ly ansla ed and published in El Mundo om he 1s o Janua y o
he 31s o Decembe 1995. This means ha he sample includes only hose
ex s whose o iginal and ansla ion we e published wi hin he selec ed
pe iod. These ex s a e pa o a much mo e de ailed s udy on he ansla ion
o me apho s de eloped in a doc o al hesis (Samaniego Fe nández 2000).
The o al numbe o wo ds in he binomials s udied is well abo e
250,000 (mo e speci ically 285,859). We a e awa e ha we a e no wo king
wi h a la ge co pus (which is why we call i a ‘sample’ a he han a co pus),
bu ollowing Pea son (1998), we belie e ha aluable esul s can also be
ob ained om educed s udies. The sample, hen , includes 389 no el
me apho s in Spanish, which co espond o 370 me apho s (whiche e hei
na u e, ha is, no necessa ily no el me apho s) in he sou ce ex s. The
di e ence in numbe is due o he ac ha 19 a ge ex me apho s ha e as
sou ce ex equi alen <Ø> and we e consequen ly c ea ed in he TTs om
‘ze o’ linguis ic ma e ial in he STs. Two majo c i e ia ha e been aken in o
accoun in he selec ion o he me apho s s udied: use (non- ecogni ion as
known ma e ial by he speake s) and lexicog aphy (non-appea ance in
dic iona ies).
I mus be no ed ha he co espondences o hese a ge ex
me apho s can ha e a a ied na u e in he sou ce ex s; we ha e come ac oss
ou majo occu ences: 1) he co esponding linguis ic ma e ial in he
sou ce ex is non-me apho ical; 2) he co espondence in he sou ce ex is a
dead me apho ; 3) he linguis ic ma e ial in he sou ce ex is a me apho
T ansla o s’ English-Spanish … 211
ELIA 3, 2002, pp. 203-218
imme sed in a p ocess o lexicaliza ion and 4) he linguis ic ma e ial in he
sou ce ex is ze o (19 cases). In ac , only 364 Spanish me apho s ou o he
389 co espond wi h me apho ical ma e ial in he sou ce ex s.
2.2. Sample s udy and majo esul s ob ained
In e es ing as a mo e de ailed s udy would be, we ha e chosen one pa ame e
o analysis only due o space es ic ions: he use- ela ed classi ica ion o he
me apho s, which gi es us insigh in o he cogni i e and linguis ic impac
caused by ansla ional p ocedu es.
As seen abo e (1.4.), we ha e classi ied he no el me apho s o he
a ge ex s in o ‘pu e’ no el me apho s, no el me apho s wi h an o iginal
ph aseological occu ence, no el me apho s wi h an o iginal meaning and
no el me apho s wi h exploi a ion o he li e al and he igu a i e. No ice
ha he possibili ies a e much wide in he sou ce ex s, whe e no all he
me apho s a e necessa ily no el. The op ions in he STs, besides he ou
men ioned abo e, a e: ∅ (absence o linguis ic ma e ial), semi-no el
me apho s ( amilia bu s ill su p ising), dead me apho s and non-
me apho ical ma e ial.
These a e he esul s ob ained:
Figu e 1: use- ela ed me apho s (STs)
24%
2%
7%
27%
27%
7% 6% dead
non-me
exploi
occu ence
pu e
meaning
semi-no el
218 E. Samaniego Fe nández
ELIA 3, 2002, pp. 203-218
Spe be , D. and Wilson, D. 1986. Rele ance. Communica ion and Cogni ion.
Ox o d: Basil Blackwell.
S een, G. 1994. Unde s anding Me apho in Li e a u e. London: Longman.
Swee se , E.E. 1990. F om E ymology o P agma ics. Me apho ical and
Cul u al Aspec s o Seman ic S uc u e. Camb idge: Camb idge
Uni e si y P ess. Camb idge S udies in Linguis ics 54.
Swi , G. 1992. E e A e . London: Picado .
Tou y, G. 1981. “T ansla ed li e a u e: sys em, no m, pe o mance. Towa d
a -o ien ed app oach o li e a y ansla ion”. Poe ics Today 2(4): 9-
27.
Tou y, G. 1985. “A a ionale o desc ip i e ansla ion s udies” in T.
He mans (ed.) The Manipula ion o Li e a u e. Sydney: C oom &
Helm. 16-41.
Tou y, G. 1995. Desc ip i e T ansla ion S udies and Beyond.
Ams e dam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Tu ne , M. 1990. “Aspec s o he in a iance hypo hesis”. Cogni i e
Linguis ics 1(2): 247-255.
Vázquez Ayo a, G. 1977. In oducción a la aduc ología. Washing on D.C.:
Geo ge own Uni e si y P ess.
Waugh, L. 1994. “Deg ees o iconici y in he lexicon”. Jou nal o
P agma ics 22: 55-70.