Translation of Wordplays and Figures of Speech with a Special View to Translation of Puns

Abstract

This paper deals with wordplays and figures of speech as well as how to translate them. After introducing the problem, some general issues, such as untranslatability, will be raised concerning translation of figures of speech. Then seven major techniques that have been extracted and generalized from works done by Persian and English translators regarding translation of figures of speech will be discussed, and some examples will be given for each technique. Since pun is the most significant and most frequently used form of wordplay, special attention is paid to this figure of speech and it is elaborated in particular. Several examples, taken from the works of Persian and English translators, will illustrate this form of wordplay.