The Translation of Game/Sport Metaphors in English Business Texts into Arabic: A Cognitive Approach

Metaphor has usually been presented as a literary device which has some rhetorical and aesthetic purposes. However, in economic discourse, metaphor has a communicative function exhibited in English business texts. This study is directed towards a comprehensive analysis of metaphor translation in English business texts into Arabic. By selecting a sample of metaphors from business articles on BBC, CNN and Project Syndicate online websites, the study analyzes the data in terms of function, significance and role each metaphor plays in its context. The study also applies the cognitive approach to metaphor in the analysis of data and shows the important role this approach has on translation studies. The cognitive theory of metaphor provides significant insights into translation studies and now metaphor translatability is no longer a question of the individual metaphorical expression, as identified in the ST, but it has become linked to the level of conceptual systems in source and target cultures. Four main strategies of translating game/sport business metaphors are detected and used in the illustrative examples throughout the article. The study reveals that translators may opt for either preserving the metaphorical image of the source language metaphor or explicating its informative value; literal translation of some business metaphorical concepts presents itself as a workable solution in many cases because of the shared mood of cognition between English and Arabic language readers.