Choosing Between Literal and Idiomatic Rendering
In a seen passage, a character is described with an idiom literally meaning 'heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue.' The student translates word-for-word: 'heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue.' A second student renders it 'slow of speech and tongue.' The teacher notes the passage is a call narrative in which the speaker protests inability to speak before an authority. The exam asks for a translation plus a one-sentence justification of register.
1. Which rendering better serves a translation aimed at both accuracy and readability, and why?
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'Slow of speech and tongue' is preferable. The Hebrew idiom uses 'heavy' metaphorically for impediment or reluctance, not physical weight. A literal 'heavy of mouth' is accurate at word level but opaque in English and misleads about the metaphor's force. The idiomatic rendering preserves the sense while keeping the parallel structure ('speech ... tongue'), which mirrors the Hebrew pairing. Accuracy is served because the metaphor's meaning is retained; readability is served because the English is natural. The student should note that literalness is a means, not the goal, and that idioms require sense-for-sense treatment.
2. Write the one-sentence register justification the exam would reward.
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A strong sentence identifies the idiom as metaphorical, states its sense (impediment or reluctance to speak), and notes that the chosen English preserves the paired structure: 'The Hebrew metaphor of heaviness denotes slowness or impediment in speech, so the idiomatic rendering conveys the sense while retaining the parallel pair.' This shows lexical control, awareness of metaphor, and attention to form in a single justified claim.