Culture, Metaphor and Translatability

The current paper arose from the following thought: “What are the methods and techniques used in the translation of Culture-based metaphors?” The data used in this article is the result of a comparative study on the translation of Mathnawi by Reynold Nicholson. We used Harvey 2000 model to advance the research. In accordance with the needs of the study, metaphoric significance is presented. Six different types of significations are recognized here; than a sextet significance pattern, is presented, which might be used for any two languages being source and target for translation. As the final outcome of the research, different suggestions for these different signification types have been presented, which are based on the nature of the metaphors. Having these suggestions in hand, translators have a model to follow, so that they can overcome the translatability problems they may face in translation of metaphorical expressions. In the other words, applying this newly-born significance into translation practice and, finally, presenting a model for the translation of culture-based items are two main achievements of the research.