A Metaphoric Translation as Cultural Sovereignty

An Acoustic-Pragmatic Analysis of UDHR in Pintupi-Luritja**

Abstract

This study reveals how the Pintupi people of Australia transform Western human rights concepts through culturally resonant metaphors. When translating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), they replace untranslatable terms like "freedom" with kinship-based concepts like *waltjangku* (family belonging). Using Praat acoustic analysis (Boersma & Weenink, 2023), we demonstrate these metaphors exhibit distinctive sound patterns—expanded pitch range on kinship terms (+40 Hz), vowel stability in land references, and rhythmic pauses reflecting communal cognition. This challenges the UDHR’s individualist foundations (United Nations, 1948) and advances relational human rights frameworks. Findings reframe translation as cultural sovereignty through acoustic-textual resistance.