Color Similes and the Choice of Translation Strategy from English into Indonesian

Year 2025, Volume: 8 Issue: 2, 117 - 150, 31.12.2025

Wieka Barathayomi , Haru Deliana Dewi Doni Jaya

Abstract

Color similes are widely used in English to describe the actual meaning of color or to depict it figuratively. This study investigates how native Indonesian speakers perceive color similes when they are translated from English into Indonesian. It also aims to identify the most effective or the most acceptable translation strategies for translating color similes. The study was conducted by administering a questionnaire to 50 native Indonesian speakers regarding the translation of color similes. For each simile, the questionnaire presented three translation versions: retention of the same image, replacement of the image with a different image, and reduction of the simile, if idiomatic, to its sense. The participants were asked to choose the translated version based on three levels of acceptability: acceptable, fairly acceptable, and unacceptable. The questionnaire consisted of 25 similes containing the basic colors of black, white, brown, green, and red. The results of the study show that most of the basic colors in English and Indonesian share the same metaphorical meaning. However, the images used in the English similes are not all acceptable in Indonesian. The translation strategy that is considered most effective is the reduction of the simile, if idiomatic, to its sense. The factors that affect the acceptability of color simile translations are exposure to English in daily activities, media exposure about popular culture, religious beliefs, general knowledge of ecology, culture-specific phenomena, educational backgrounds, and the uniqueness of languages.

Keywords

color simile , figurative language , simile translation , translation acceptability , translation strategy

References

• Al-Hamzi, Ali Mohammed Saleh, Mangatur Nababan, Riyadi Santosa, and Muhammed Yunus Anis. 2023. “The Simile and Metaphor in Translation of Yemeni Spoken Arabic Common Names of Animals and Supernatural Creatures into English: A Socio-Pragmatic Approach.” Cogent Arts & Humanities 10 (1). doi:10.1080/23311983.2023.2223816.
• Al Salem, Mohd Nour, Imran Alrashdan, and Essa Salem. 2022. “Similes in Translating Animal Names from Jordanian Spoken Arabic into English.” Jordan Journal of Modern Languages and Literatures 14 (1): 27–51. doi:10.47012/jjmll.14.1.2.
• Berlin, Brent, and Paul Kay. 1969. Basic Color Terms: Their Universality and Evolution. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Bieszk, Marta. 2021. “Coding Colours: Differences across Languages and Their Consequences for Translation and Language Teaching.” Beyond Philology: An International Journal of Linguistics, Literary Studies and English Language Teaching, no. 18/2, 9–25. doi:10.26881/bp.2021.2.01.
• Jonauskaitė, Domicelė. 2024. “Lithuanian Conceptual Colour–Emotion Associations in the Global Context of 37 Nations.” Psichologija 70:8–23. doi:10.15388/Psichol.2024.70.1.
• Larson, Mildred L. 1984. Meaning-Based Translation: A Guide to Cross-Language Equivalence. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
• Li, Tinghua. 2020. “The Metaphorical Expressions of Basic Color Words in English and Chinese.” English Language Teaching 13 (3): 84–91. doi:10.5539/elt.v13n3p84.
• Martynyuk, Alla, and Elvira Akhmedova. 2022. “(Sub)cultural Specificity of Fiction Simile and the Choice of Translation Strategy.” Topics in Linguistics 23 (2): 50–62. doi:10.2478/topling-2022-0011.
• Newmark, Peter. 1988. A Textbook of Translation. New York: Prentice Hall.
• Pierini, Patrizia. 2007. “Simile in English: From Description to Translation.” Círculo de Lingüística Aplicada a la Comunicación 29:21–43. https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/CLAC/article/view/88263.
• Umam, Khaerul, and Deli Nirmala. 2020. “Color Metaphor in English and Indonesian Song Lyrics.” Retorika: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, dan Pengajarannya 13 (1): 66–72. doi:10.26858/retorika.v13i1.11504.
• Yang, Huilan, Beibei Huang, Lingling Li, and Sumin Zhang. 2025. “Color Metaphor Mappings for Love Concepts: Empirical Evidence from Chinese Speakers.” Metaphor and Symbol 40 (1): 1–16. doi:10.1080/10926488.2024.2379988.
• Zhao, Qian, and Amalia Qistina Castaneda Abdullah. 2024. “Metaphorical Meanings of Color Symbols in Literature.” Chinese Semiotic Studies 20 (4): 625–646. doi:10.1515/css-2024-2030.