Research in Language, 2022, vol. 20:4 (305-326) DOI: 10.18778/1731-7533.20.4.01 305 FROM CRYSTAL-CLEAR TO LIMPIDE: TRANSLATING ENGLISH [NOUN+ADJ] COMPOUND ADJECTIVES WITH A FIGURATIVE-INTENSIFYING NOUN INTO FRENCH THOMAS PRINZIE Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium thomas.prinzie@uclouvain.be FERRAN SUÑER Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium ferran.sunermunoz@uclouvain.be KRISTEL VAN GOETHEM Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium kristel.vangoethem@uclouvain.be Abstract English [Noun+Adj] compound adjectives containing an intensifying metaphor (e.g. crystal- clear) pose particular challenges for French translation, due in part to the absence of a direct equivalent construction. Our study examines morphosyntactic and conceptual-semantic translation procedures that capture how these challenges are resolved. We also explore the little-investigated aspect of translation variation (the number of different solutions for each item). We analyze the potential effects of two factors: the presence or absence of figurative intensification and the items’ frequency of use in English. Our results indicate that translators prefer different morphosyntactic procedures for different compound subtypes. Overall, an adjective constituent is most frequently retained, although complete reformulations with a noun or verb also occur. Semantically, the intensifying meaning is often rendered non-figuratively, depending on what is available in idiomatic French usage. Intensification is also frequently dropped. Translation variation is remarkably high, due in part to extensive use of near-synonyms. High-frequency items do not appear to converge on a smaller number of translations, but instead provide more opportunities for diversification. Keywords: Compound adjectives; intensification; translation procedures; translation variation; English - French. 1. Introduction This study examines the French translation of English [Noun+Adj] compound adjectives where the noun metaphorically intensifies the adjective (e.g., crystal- clear, razor-sharp). These study objects combine three features that are of