TITLE:TRANSLATION OF RUSSIAN AND ENGLISH IDIOMS: A COMPARATIVE SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS
Keywords:
Key words: idioms, translation strategies, equivalence, modulation, calque, compensation, Russian-English translation, cultural specificity, non-compositional meaning, functionalist approach.Abstract
Idioms pose a significant challenge for translators due to their cultural
specificity, non-compositional meanings, and syntactic variability. This paper
examines the principal strategies employed in translating idiomatic expressions
between Russian and English. Drawing on foundational theories of equivalence and
functionalist approaches, it provides a typology of translation procedures—namely,
substitution, calque, modulation, and compensation—and illustrates each with
representative examples. The analysis demonstrates that successful idiom translation
hinges on a translator’s ability to balance semantic fidelity with pragmatic and stylistic
appropriateness. The paper concludes by advocating for a flexible, target-oriented
methodology that integrates both descriptive and prescriptive insights from translation
studies.
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