Abstract
Phraseological units such as proverbs and somatic idioms built on “heart” function as intertexts that encode cultural wisdom and embodied metaphor, yet their translation across languages risks loss of connotative depth and pragmatic force. This study investigates translation strategies and intertextual retention in English-to-Russian, Uzbek, Spanish, and Arabic transfers, aiming to model equivalence patterns in culturally dense expressions. A mixed-methods approach combined parallel corpus compilation (50 proverbs, 120 heart units), multi-tier annotation in ELAN, cognitive metaphor mapping via correspondence analysis, and a novel Intertextual Density Index (IDI). Results revealed proverbs favor equivalence (42%) to preserve canonical allusions, while heart idioms rely on paraphrase (61%) due to metaphorical divergence (e.g., EMOTION vs. CHARACTER in Arabic/Uzbek). Native-speaker ratings confirmed functional success of adaptive strategies. The findings propose a predictive hierarchy of translation methods and validate IDI as a replicable metric. This work advances cognitive and contrastive phraseology, offering translators and educators a unified framework for managing intertextual complexity in cross-cultural mediation.
Keywords
- cognitive metaphor
- corpus-based translation
- cross-linguistic variation
- equivalence
- heart idioms
- Intertextual Density Index (IDI)
- phraseological intertexts
- proverbs
- somatic units
- translation strategies
Citation
Normurodova, O. (2026). PHRASEOLOGICAL INTERTEXTS IN TRANSLATION: APPROACHES TO PROVERBS AND TO SOMATIC UNITS BUILT ON “HEART”. Language Bridge Academic Journal, 1(3), 5-13.