تنكمش

English translation: clams up, draws inward

14:06 Mar 9, 2021
Arabic to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
Arabic term or phrase: تنكمش
I'm working on a Yemeni text, where a mother is recalling how her daughter died in a bomb blast. She is narrating the events of the day.

The person interviewing the mother is describing her actions. She says:

تتأمل نفسها وتبتسم
(تصمت، وتنكمش حول نفسها)

The brackets are in the original text. Does this mean the mother shrunk into herself? Or was gathering her thoughts?
The next sentence is:

رجّة انصفاق باب البلكونة هي ما أوقظني من شرودي
Saliha18
Local time: 02:36
English translation:clams up, draws inward
Explanation:
The narrator is using the journalistic present tense, which is very common in stories written by reporters for news media, both in Arabic and English. I suggest you do the same.

The narrator observes that the woman turns silent and draws inward, meaning that she assumes an introverted stance. She has withdrawn inside her shell, so to speak, like a clam, hence the expression "calms up." Her silence is evidence of that, but there are also visual clues: the eyes, the facial affect, the body posture, etc. A person draws into herself for a variety of reasons, the explanation of which is not necessary and is not being explicitly attempted by the narrator, who is trying to stay neutral and objective, avoiding any kind of explanatory terms. The reporter may know why she is clamming up, but the reporter is trying to be a good reporter by just reporting what they observe, rather than explain what they observe.

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Note added at 11 hrs (2021-03-10 02:03:16 GMT)
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Typo correction: In the second sentence of the second paragraph above, the intended expression in quotes is "clams up," not "calms up." I apologize for mistyping.
Selected response from:

Fuad Yahya
Grading comment
Thank you for this extensive explanation. Extremely helpful! :)
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +2clams up, draws inward
Fuad Yahya
5shrink
ahmed badawy
4 +1Cowered (cowered in fear)
Yassine El Bouknify


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
shrink


Explanation:
-


    Reference: http://https://translate.google.com.eg/?hl=ar&tab=rT&sl=ar&t...
ahmed badawy
Egypt
Local time: 04:36
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic
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21 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Cowered (cowered in fear)


Explanation:
Cowering into herself
تصمت، وتنكمش حول نفسها: she became silent and cowered
Or cowered in fear.
Cowered is enough. You do not have to add 'into herself'
Cowering indicates she was afraid
https://www.google.com/amp/s/dictionary.cambridge.org/amp/en...

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Note added at 23 mins (2021-03-09 14:29:30 GMT)
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Meaning of to cower:
"to bend down or move backward with your head down because you are frightened."

Yassine El Bouknify
Morocco
Local time: 02:36
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic
PRO pts in category: 181

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Linda Al-Bairmani: Beautiful
35 mins
  -> Thanks Linda
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7 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +2
clams up, draws inward


Explanation:
The narrator is using the journalistic present tense, which is very common in stories written by reporters for news media, both in Arabic and English. I suggest you do the same.

The narrator observes that the woman turns silent and draws inward, meaning that she assumes an introverted stance. She has withdrawn inside her shell, so to speak, like a clam, hence the expression "calms up." Her silence is evidence of that, but there are also visual clues: the eyes, the facial affect, the body posture, etc. A person draws into herself for a variety of reasons, the explanation of which is not necessary and is not being explicitly attempted by the narrator, who is trying to stay neutral and objective, avoiding any kind of explanatory terms. The reporter may know why she is clamming up, but the reporter is trying to be a good reporter by just reporting what they observe, rather than explain what they observe.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 hrs (2021-03-10 02:03:16 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Typo correction: In the second sentence of the second paragraph above, the intended expression in quotes is "clams up," not "calms up." I apologize for mistyping.

Fuad Yahya
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 114
Grading comment
Thank you for this extensive explanation. Extremely helpful! :)

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Z-Translations Translator
0 min

agree  Saeed Najmi
57 mins
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



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