Translation Challenges in Rendering Yoruba Idiomatic Expressions into Standard English

Idiomatic expressions constitute one of the most culturally embedded and linguistically resistant elements of any language, presenting translators with choices that inevitably involve cultural and semantic compromise. This study examines the challenges of translating Yoruba idiomatic expressions into Standard English, using a corpus of idioms drawn from oral literature, Yoruba novels, and contemporary media in South West Nigeria. The study adopts a descriptive translation studies approach, analysing a corpus of 150 Yoruba idioms selected from published Yoruba literary texts and broadcast recordings. The research applies Eugene Nida's dynamic equivalence theory and Vinay and Darbelnet's translation procedures to evaluate the strategies translators employ when dealing with culturally bound Yoruba expressions. Existing translation studies literature on Yoruba has addressed biblical and literary translation but has given limited attention to idioms as a distinct translation challenge category. This research fills that gap with a focused corpus analysis. The study classifies idioms by their degree of cultural specificity and assesses whether formal equivalence, dynamic equivalence, paraphrase, or cultural substitution yields the most communicatively effective translation outcome. Findings are expected to demonstrate that idioms rooted in Yoruba mythology, agriculture, and kinship present the most significant translation challenges, as their cultural referents are largely absent from English-speaking cultural frameworks. Recommendations will address translator training, the development of Yoruba-English idiomatic dictionaries, and the integration of cultural competence into translation curricula. Keywords: translation, Yoruba idioms, dynamic equivalence, Standard English, cultural equivalence.