LOSS OF PRAGMATIC IMPACT IN THE TRANSLATION OF SINDHI IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS: A HALLIDAYAN PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

This study investigates the loss of pragmatic impact that occurs in the translation of Sindhi idiomatic expressions into English. Sindhi, one of the oldest languages in South Asia, embodies rich traditions of folk idioms deeply connected to agrarian life, Sufi spirituality, and communal oral culture. When these culturally embedded expressions are translated into English, significant meaning and pragmatic impact is lost across various dimensions. Grounded in Halliday's Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), the study analyzes ten Sindhi idiomatic expressions selected from Sindhi folk literature, examining meaning and impact loss across three metafunctions: ideational, interpersonal, and textual. A qualitative research design was employed, with data drawn from M.G. Shahani's published collection of Sindhi idioms (2012). The findings reveal a consistent and pervasive pattern of pragmatic loss: of the ten idioms analyzed, 40% suffered major loss, 10% minimal loss, 40% partial loss, and 10% total loss. Ideational loss proved most severe, reflecting the deep cultural embeddedness of Sindhi folk idioms in geographically specific references, agricultural imagery, and Sufi cosmology. Textual loss was most consistent, arising from the rhythmic and oral nature of Sindhi idiomatic structure. Interpersonal loss manifested as the neutralization of communal irony, humor, and emotional registers. The study concludes that Sindhi idiomatic expressions are culturally untranslatable in their fullest mode, and that dominant literal translation methods fail to secure their cultural and rhetorical integrity. It recommends that translators prioritize functional equivalence, employ cultural annotations, and that institutions support the development of bilingual annotated dictionaries to preserve linguistic and cultural heritage.

Keywords: Sindhi idioms, pragmatic loss, systemic functional linguistics, translation studies, cultural untranslatability, Halliday's metafunctions.