Basics of Translation: A Textbook for Arab University Students [1 ed.] 1527537544, 9781527537545

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Basics of Translation

Basics of Translation: A Textbook for Arab University Students By

Mahmoud Altarabin

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Basics of Translation: A Textbook for Arab University Students By Mahmoud Altarabin This book first published 2019 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NEB 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2019 by Mahmoud Altarabin All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-5275-3754-4 ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-3754-5

Dedication In loving memory of Dr Sadek Firwana

v

Contents Dedication ........................................................................................ v Contents ......................................................................................... vii List of Tables .................................................................................. xi Book Endorsement ....................................................................... xii Preface

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xiii

Acknowledgments ......................................................................... xv Chapter I: Introduction ................................................................. 1 l . 1 What is translation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 l .2 Translation methods & procedures: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 l .2. 1 Roman Jakobson categories: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1 .2.2 Literal translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 l .2.3 Semantic and Communicative Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 1 .2.4 Adaptation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 1 .2.5 Free translation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 l .2.6 Idiomatic translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3 l .2.7 Metaphorical Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 l .2.8 Translation by addition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5 l .2.9 Translation b y deletion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6 l .2. 10 Translating using a general word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 7 l .2. 1 1 Paraphrase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 8 l .2. 12 Two techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 l .3. Other translation methods by Newmark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 1 .4 Which strategy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1 1 . 5 Equivalence: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 l . 5 . 1 Scholarly views: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 l.5.2 Equivalent effect: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 l . 5 . 3 Equivalence typology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 1.5.4 Non-equivalence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 l.6 Translation Shifts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Vll

1 . 7 Language variation l . 8 Criteria for a good translation:

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35 37

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Chapter II Translation Problems at Word Level 2. 1 Introduction: 2. l . 1 What is a word? 2. 1 .2 Classification o f meaning 2. l . 3 Meaning and context: 2.2 Dictionaries 2.3 Lexical gaps 2.3 . 1 Cultural Domain: 2.3.2 Economic domain 2.3.3 Technological domain 2.4 Synonymy . . 2.5 Polysemy 2.6 Semantically complex words

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Chapter III Translating Collocations and Phrases

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40 41 41 45 45 47 47 52 53 55 61 69 71

3 . 1 Introduction 3.2 What is collocation?

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72 72

3 .3 Types of collocation

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3 .4 Collocational meaning

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78

3 .5 Collocations in Arabic

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78

3 .6 Problems of translating collocations 3.7 Translation strategies

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3 .8 Translation of Idioms 3.9 Translating noun phrases 3.9. 1 Number: 3.9.2 Gender. 3.9.3 Titles, modes of address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.9.4 Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . lO Translating adj ective phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. 1 0 . l Classification of adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

94 98 100 104 l O6 1 10 1 13 1 14

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Chapter IV Translation at Grammatical Level

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4. 1 Introduction 4.2 Translating 'Be' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3 Translating the 'Tenses' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4 Negation: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5 Aspect: 4.5 . 1 Simple aspect: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5.2 Complex aspect: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6 Non-finite into finite: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.7 Translating the 'Articles' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8 Translating It 4.9 Existential There . . . . .................

1 18 1 18 120 132 134 134 136 136 139 146 148

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149

5 . 1 Translating English sentences: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 Translating passive sentences: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3 Translating conditional sentences: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4 Translation problems at sentence leveL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 50 155 157 159

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Chapter V Translation of Sentences

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5.5 Repetition: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 62

5.6 Ambiguity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 67 5.7 Sentence connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 70 Chapter VI: Text Cohesion

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175

6. 1 Cohesion and Coherence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2 Cohesive devices in English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2. 1 Reference: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.2 Substitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.3 Ellipsis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.4 Conjunction: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . 3 Cohesive devices in Arabic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3 . 1 Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3.2 Substitution: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3.3 Ellipsis: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 76 1 77 1 77 1 79 1 80 181 183 183 185 185

IX

6.3.4 Conjunctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 6.4 Avoid such mistakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 90 6.5 Bad translations: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 9 1 References

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195

Name & subject index: ............................................................... 201

List of Tables Table 1 : Examples of technical vocabulary 31 Table 2 : Examples of English & Arabic cultural terms 31 Table 3 : Examples ofIslamic economic domain: 32 Table 4: Language variation in Arabic 36 Table 5: Language variation in English 36 Table 6: Collocational meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Table 7: Transparent idioms 95 Table 8: Opaque idioms: 95 Table 9: Gender in Arabic nouns 104 Table 10: English titles 106 Table 1 1 : Arabic titles 106 Table 12: Forms of address 107 Table 1 3 : Academic titles 109 Table 14: Names of organizations 1 10 Table 1 5 : Adjectives functioning as nouns 1 16 ....................................

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Xl

Book Endorsement Basics a/Translation, by Dr Mahmoud Altarabin, a promising writer on translation, is a well-organized textbook in terms of the translation students' level and requirements (Arabic-English). After the general introduction on translation, chapters are arranged from the smaller to the larger units of language, starting with translating words, phrases, grammar, sentences and finally, texts. Indeed, this bottom-up methodology makes follow-up and comprehension easier to readers in general and Arab University students of translation in particular. A mine of illustrative examples and exercises are provided throughout. I do believe that the book is a good textbook that responds to Arab students' translational needs satisfactorily, though not perfectly for Perfection is God's. So I recommend it to students of translation of Arab Universities, Colleges and Institutes in the Arabic-English direction at the first two levels of their study. Hasan Ghazala

xu

Preface This book is an introductory textbook for students of translation at Arab universities seeking to develop their understanding of translation issues between Arabic and English. The importance of the manuscript lies in adopting a bottom-up approach to translation issues which does not primarily address translation topics as problems and solutions but rather as critical issues to translation students. The book features practical exercises following each topic to test students' understanding of the topic presented earlier. This enables students to apply their understanding of the topics discussed earlier to translate lexical units between Arabic and English. Furthermore, this textbook presents six chapters each discusses translation issues at a different language level. Chapter I introduces the concept of translation in English and Arabic and highlights the main translation methods and procedures. These include literal translation, free translation, adaptation, idiomatic translation, paraphrase and use of two techniques. The chapter presents the concept of equivalence and provides some examples of non-equivalence in different domains, a unique feature of this book. Additionally, Chapter I familiarizes students with translation shifts, language variation and criteria for quality translation. Chapter II discusses certain issues of translating words between Arabic and English. It begins with defining the concept of word, meaning, and meaning in context. The chapter later reviews translation problems related to dictionaries and lexical gaps within the cultural, economic, and technical domains. Synonymy and polysemy are two major translation issues dealt with at this level. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion on semantically complex words and the possible procedures followed to address such a thorny phenomenon.

X111

Chapter III reviews translation topics at the phrase and collocation levels. It begins with an introduction on collocations in English and Arabic and then discusses some problems of translating collocations. It then presents the strategies adopted to address such problems. Afterwards, the chapter discusses the translation of idioms. Translating noun phrases with a particular focus on translation issues like number and gender is dealt with in another section of Chapter III. The last section of the chapter discusses the translation of adjective phrases and highlights significant issues related to the structure and order of adjectives in Arabic and English. Chapter IV highlights translation issues at the grammatical level which are of immense significance to beginner translation students. The topics included in this chapter are: translating 'be,' tenses, negation, aspect, non-finite into finite, articles, as well as it and existential there. Chapter V moves to a higher level, the sentence. It discusses the translation of different types of English sentences such as passive sentences and conditional sentences into Arabic. The chapter also highlights some translation problems which students of translation face at this language level. Chapter V concludes with a discussion on repetition and sentence connectors. Chapter VI discusses textual cohesion at the sentence level. It highlights the difference between cohesion and coherence and gives background information on cohesion in English depending on Halliday and Hasan's book Cohesion in English. Framed within a translational point of view, this chapter introduces Arabic and English cohesive devices such as reference, substitution, and conjunctions.

XIV

Acknowledgments This book has benefited from the works of many well-known scholars in the field of translation. I would like to thauk Professor Hasan Ghazala, a professor of translation at Umm AI-Qura University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for his support and encouragement. My thauks are also extended to Mouad Hussein for designing the book cover.

xv

Chapter I

Introduction

Chapter I

1.1 What is translation? Translation comes from Latin transliitus meaning 'to transfer' (Simpson and Weiner 1 989, p. 4 1 0). They define translation as: 1 . the . . . process o f turning from one langnage into another; 2. the rendering of something in another medinm or form. Hornby (20 10, p. 1 646) defmes the verb translate as: 1. 2.

to express the meaning o f speech or writing in a different langnage. to be changed from one language into another.

Translation is further defmed as: 1.

2.

3. 4.

5. 6.

"reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style" (Nida and Taber 1 969, p. 12); "the replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another langnage (TL)" (Catford 1 965, p. 20); "the interpretation ofverbal signs in one langnage by means of verbal signs in another" (Steiner, 1 975, p. 4 1 4); "to produce a text in the target setting for a target purpose and a target addressee in the target circumstances" (Vermeer, 1 987, p. 29); "rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that the author intended the text" (Newmark, 1 988, p. 5); "a process by which the chain of signifiers that constitutes the source-language text is replaced by a chain of signifiers in the target language which the translator provides on the strength of an interpretation" (Venuti, 1 995, p. 17);

2

Introduction

7.

8.

"the process of transferring a written text from SL to TL, conducted by a translator, or translators, in a specific socio­ cultural context" (Hatim and Munday, 2004, p. 6); and "a kind of activity which inevitably involves at least two languages and two cultural traditions" (Toury, 1 995, p. 56).

In Arabic, the word r---y means (1) "to explain speech into another language"! (AI Bustani, 1 998, p. 69) and (2) "transfer speech into another language" (AI-Basha, 1 992, p. 253). Rida (1 958, p. 3 9 1 ) says that ......)lS r---Y means "explained it" and that 04yll refers to "the person who transfers speech from one language into another." The word Jjl means "explain" (Rida, 1 958, p. 224). Generally speaking, translation can be defined as the process of transferring, reproducing, replacing, or interpreting source text (ST) message, material, text, or meaning into another language focusing on meaning and style respectively. The key word in the above definitions is 'reproduce ' which means that translators analyse the components of ST units in terms of meaning and structure and then render such units into target texts (TTs). The differences between English and Arabic, be they linguistic or cultural, must be taken into consideration when translating. To exemplify grammatical and cultural differences between English and Arabic, consider the following: 1.

She was saddened by his departure. .�J 4-lj:>.1

Was saddened in the English sentence IS part of a passive structure rendered into Arabic as an active verb. This is an example of structural shift: was + past participle turns into a past simple, 0j....:..l. Note that this may not apply to other passive constructions. !

The translations in this paragraph are by the author.

3

Chapter I

Zakat is a pillar of Islam. English does not provide a cultural equivalent for Islamic terms such as ;;\...j.5. which is often borrowed into English. A description of the word accounts for the meaning. Exercise 1 : A. Translate the following into Arabic. 1.

I study English at the Islamic University of Gaza.

2.

Translation is an important subject for students.

3.

My mother searched for the car key but did not find it.

4.

I waited for my friend at the train station for one hour.

5.

AI-Aqsa Mosque is located in Palestine. B. Translate into English:

1.2 Translation methods & procedures: Newmark (1 988, p. 8 1 ) says "While translation methods relate to whole texts, translation procedures are used for sentences and the

4

Introduction

smaller units of language." The following translation types, methods and strategies.

IS

an analysis of the

1.2.1 Roman Jakobson categories: Jakobson (1 959, as quoted in Venuti 2000, p. 1 1 4) proposed the following translation categories: Intralingual translation or 'rewording ': "an interpretation of verbal signs by means of other signs of the same language." Intralingual translation refers to rephrasing, summanzmg or rewriting a text in the same language. An example from English: Facepalm: means pressing the hand against the head to show frustration or embarrassment. An example from Arabic: .ytAjj\ � :�ti,J\ � ytAjj\ 1.5\.:;) Exercise 2: Translate the following using intralingual method. l. Do not stick your nose into my business. (Give the ordinary English meaning). l.

(Explain the meaning in Arabic) 2.

3.

. 0.!h

� �� E-".J .2

Interlingual translation or 'translation proper ': 'an interpretation of verbal signs by means of some other language' ; Interlinguial translation is the translation between two different languages. An example of this type can be trauslating the English word night into Arabic as J.!l, or translating the Arabic word ;;ly \ into woman. Intersemiotic translation, or 'transmutation ': 'an interpretation of verbal signs by means of signs of non-verbal sign systems. ' Intersemiotic translation occurs when a written text, for example, is tumed into a film. Acting one of Shakespeare plays can be one example of this type of 5

Chapter I

translation. An example from Arabic is turning One Thousand and One Night �J � '-...All into a TV show. Exercise 3 : Translate the following sentences interlingually (from English into Arabic). 1 . This is the doctor who treated my mother in the hospital. 2.

I did not know that Maryam wanted to come to dinner.

3.

Egypt's main exports consist o f natural gas, ready-made clothes and medical products.

4.

A large number of tourists visit the pyramids in Egypt every year.

5.

The Arab countries provide continuous support for the Palestinians to help relieve their human suffering.

Translate the following into English: .� ,I I U" " t\..b3 '" .J .,ljW I tl...J ' (,j' .Ju. � .;" \I I � '.< ., .. . .y:r1 .. . J""'"

.1

' L, uY.)L;.. o�� .5 Am. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . I"..ull oJ> ol.)L;.. �J.J.lIJ �I :i.,;JJ:lpl d�1 � . 6 Br.

1.8 Criteria for a good translation:

Do translators continnally seek an answer to what is a good translation? The answer is multifaceted and requires careful consideration on the part of beginner translators as the process of translation is influenced by a number of factors. The significant issue beginner translators must take into account is the understanding of the source text language, culture and intent. The proper understanding of a source text enables translators to analyse the text, apply suitable translation methods and produce an accurate translation which accounts primarily for the meaning of the source text and takes into consideration the target language norms. Another important point lies in that beginner translators should avoid word-for-word translation which mostly distorts the meaning of the original and produces awkward texts in the target language. Avoidance here does not mean an absolute disregard of this translation method for some textual units call for literallword-for­ word translation and are only possible and accurate through this method. A phrase like major gifts officer caunot be literally translated as I.Spl yl�1 .h;1......;,. because this translation neither reflects the meaning of the original nor makes any sense in Arabic. The phrase refers to the person who coordinates relations with major donors and a possible Arabic translation of this expression reads � d,g)l.JI � I.Spl :i...:.JWI u�l. An example which calls for word-for-word translation is heavy industries translated into Arabic as �I ubu.......ll . A good translation takes into account the grammatical rules of the target language (English or Arabic in our context). In this regard, 37

Chapter I

aspects like tense, number and gender are of great importance. Translation into Arabic requires a good understanding of the Arabic language grammar. English is mostly a genderless language unlike Arabic which marks nouns, verbs, and adjectives to gender. Note, for example, deep well is translated as � .fo. rather than � .fo. for the word .fo. is marked for feminine gender in Arabic. Well is used as ... fiemmme gender m ' Quran, 22 : 45 " . . . � }'7J � .

.

•

�

"

Finding a suitable meaning for a certain word in a certain context is of immense significance. Issue generally means � but it can mean �.JJ in legal documents. The word t'" can mean against in English as in �y..ll JJ.l.lI � yy.. war against the Arab countries. Students and translators can examine this issue in depth in section 2.4 synonymy and section 2.5 polysemy. Familiarity with different text domains is crucial to the understanding of the text linguistic and vocabulary features. For example, the grammatical and lexical features of a media text are different from those of a scientific text, a literary text or a legal text. Solution in general means J". but in the medical domain, it means J.,h... Serve generally means �.b. ('.:W)('� but it means ;;.fill .JY:l in sports as in Jack serves to John uP.' �! ;;.fill .JY:l ��. It is also important to apply suitable translation strategies when there are lexical gaps between English and Arabic texts. Translators need to be familiar with the cultural aspects of different Arabic and English text types in order to convey the actual meaning of the source language lexical units. The word ;;tsj zakat, for example, cannot be translated as compulsory charity for zakat is compulsory when certain conditions are met. Finally, a good translation is that translation which reads as original.

38

Chapter II Translation Problems at Word Level

Chapter II

2.1 Introduction: Translation problems can take place at various language levels. This book adopts a bottom-up approach to translation problems. It analyses problems at the word level and higher levels such as sentences and texts. The analysis is designed to enable translation students and trainees overcome translation problems at the basic linguistic level, the word. The translation problems to be discussed at the word level in this chapter include lexical gaps at different language domains, problems of dictionaries, synonymy, polysemy and semantically complex words.

Words in any language can reflect exclusive linguistic and cultural features which characterize that language as being different from other languages. Moreover, words can symbolize cultural and religious references which are specific to a particular speech community. In this context, achieving perfect equivalence between words of one language and those of another may be a challenging or even an impossible task. Arabic and English belong to two dissimilar cultural and linguistic backgrounds and translators are therefore expected to encounter translation problems calling for practical solutions. One English word may not have an equivalent Arabic word but can still be rendered into Arabic using different strategies. Rewrite as one word is translated into Arabic as ",-!\..:is �. One English word may have many meanings depending on other words occurring it. 1 3 Deliver in deliver a speech and deliver a blow is translated into Arabic as � and .l� respectively. What follows is a detailed analysis of translation problems that can occur at the word level. The analysis begins with defining word and types of meaning then moves to the practical section of the chapter.

13

This is referred to as collocational meaning.

40

Translation Problems at Word Level

2.1.1 What is a word? A word is generally defined as a single meaningful element of speech or writing. However, there is no one defmition of what a word is. Todd (1 987, pp. 49-50) discussed the concept ofa word and said that there are four implied meanings of a word as follows.

1.

2.

3.

4.

The orthographic word is a word which has a space on either side of it. Thus, in a sentence like He is a good student, we have five orthographic words. A phrase like a boy, containing two words, equals one word in Arabic, .l.lJ. The morphological word is unique and considers form rather than meaning. 'Bank' is one morphological word whether it refers to a financial institution or river side. Given this, the Arabic word 0;!C is one morphological word regardless of its meanmgs. A lexical word comprehends various forms o f items which are related by meaning. 'Chair' and 'chairs' are two morphological words but one lexical word. 0;!C and UJ:iC are two morphological words but one lexical word. The semantic word distinguishes between items which can be morphologically identical but differ in meaning. 'Bank' can have two distinct meanings: (1) financial institution and (2) side of river. 0;!C can mean J�J �, tJ!-i:l, IY'Y"�, and I"�\ yfi.

The Arabic dictionary �\ �\ defines the word as:

2.1.2

Classification of meaning

Baker (201 8) classifies meaning into four different types: (1) propositional meaning (the meaning which results from a word and its referent relation. This meaning has a truth value under which we 41

Chapter II

can judge meaning as right or wrong), (2) expressive meaning (the meaning which expresses feelings or attitudes with no truth value), (3) presupposed meaning (the meaning which depends on co­ occurrence between words) and (4) evoked meaning (the meaning which arises from dialect and register). Leech ( 198 1 , pp. 9- 1 9) distinguishes between seven types of meaning which students can refer to in Leech's bookl 4 . What is important for us in this manuscript is the definition of the two major types of meaning as follows:

1.

2.

Conceptual meaning: or what is referred to as "denotative" or "cognitive" meaning is the central factor in communication and is important to the functioning of language. The conceptual meaning can be studied in terms of contrastive features as when we compare woman having features such as (+human, -male, +adult) to boy (+human, +male, -adult). Connotative meaning: This type of meaning represents "the communicative value an expression has by virtue of what it refers to, over and above its purely conceptual content." In other words, connotation is a type of indirect meaning whereas denotation is a direct meaning.

Meaning in Arabic is generally classified into two types:

1.

2.

i.:fy.lll �I which refers to the denotative meaning o f a word. �)I.h...,.'j l �I is the technical meaning of a word when used in a certain domain.

14 Leech's book title is Semantics: The Study ofMeaning (2nd edition). 42

Translation Problems at Word Level

Exercise 1: A. Look up the Arabic meaning of the following words in a dictionary. Note: write the common dictionary meaning. Meaning Meaning Word Word Argue Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. financial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. Become generation Target . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. Deliver investment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. campaIgn .. . .. . .. . ... .. . .. .. mournIng . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. B. Look up the English meaning of the following Arabic words: Arabic word English word Arabic word English word .

.

JLO:;..\

Exercise 2: Translate the following into Arabic. 1 . Do not argue with your parents while they are talking to you. 2.

Tamer became rich after selling his land.

3.

Students can achieve their targets by studying hard.

4.

The products should be delivered on time.

5.

The campaigu for reform should start.

6.

She went to the court yesterday but found that it was a holiday.

7.

We offer financial assistance to students.

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Chapter II

8.

People today use four times as much energy as their grandparents' generation did.

9. New investments can improve the economic situations in the area.

10. They were in mourning for their brother. Exercise 3: Translate the following into English. . � '-'� � u� lY"�'J.I l.JA :6� � :W;WI .ll,loj � l.JA �JC :i...l;.lA pl � .J �y..l l � ....J� �b � ;;.JA\..il1 . u\S..uJ1

.1 .2

.4

LSy..1 ul .ll;.J � � 0U� ;;.J....l 4L L.c.l �W'i l ;;.hW1 r--'J. I �\..ly. ('.l! · rlWI JY"-

44

.5

Translation Problems at Word Level

2.1.3 Meaning and context: The linguistic differences between a pair of distinct languages can lead to changes in word selections. Context plays a significant role in the selection of a target language equivalent word. An Arabic word can in some cases have a similar meaning in English while in other cases the corresponding lexical item can be presented through the use of interlingual antonyms. Light can become shadow in Arabic as in the phrase in the light of which is translated into Arabic as J1:. �. Some English words can collocate with more than a word, one of which is the antonym of its Arabic equivalent. Soup collocates with eat. Eat the soup is translated into Arabic as �L."J\ yy.. A third example is hear which is translated into Arabic as .J;.l in the legal context. The high courtjudge heard the case is translated into Arabic as I.SJC.l.l\ � 4J..-l\ :i..&..J\ �'J .J;.l.

The meaning of a word is usually determined by its context. Meaning also relates to lexical relations among words such as polysemy which simply refers to having more than one meaning for one lexical item. Examples of such occurrences are �\ � and J,.')\ � translated into Arabic as crossed the river and lost hope respectively. For more details on this topic, see section 2.5 (Polysemy) . 2.2 Dictionaries Dictionaries are the main translation resource translators rely on when translating between two languages like English and Arabic. There are monolingual dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries and specialized dictionaries. Students and translators can look up the meaning of an English word in an English to Arabic dictionary and vice versa. For example, when looking up the word man, we expect to see that it

45

Chapter II

means �.J or 0LJ] , Dictionaries, regardless of their type, may not always provide us with the appropriate meaning we are looking for as we shall see below. Problems with bilingual dictionaries One-to-one correspondence in bilingual dictionaries may not be acceptable in many cases especially when (1) the meaning changes due to the company a word keeps in a sentence (collocations) or (2) a word is used in a certain context. For example, deliver is generally translated into Arabic as �. In many cases, bilingual dictionaries may not adequately list the meaning of deliver in an idiom such as deliver someone of something �. In addition, many dictionaries do not list all the occurrences of deliver with other words (collocations) such as deliver speech, deliver a letter, and deliver news where deliver in deliver speech is translated as �, as � in deliver a letter and as Jii; in deliver news. Issue generally means :uL... or � but can mean O;.JJ in legal texts. Consider the Arabic word ('\...l;,; and how its English translation differs according to the context in which it is used. i.,?�I J,......ilI ('\...l;,; y-"",wl ('\...l;,; (o�iJ) ('\...l;,; .�.I\ \..l;,,;jl .l..l..b..ll .1 (Arabic nominal sentence) . .Ul\ �j J5.1 (Arabic verbal sentence) b. :i...:.\. Sentences a. and b. above are translated into English as follows: a. Ahmed is a student. b. Zayd ate the apple. The previous Arabic verbal and nominal sentences are translated as verbal sentences in English. The structural differences between English and Arabic can result in some challenges which translators need to overcome. In this context, difficulties relating to problems of translation between English and Arabic on the sentence level include sentence length, use of connectors, and punctuation. 1 . Sentence length and splitting: Arabic sentences are typically longer than English sentences. Dickins et al. (201 7, p. 1 83) say 159

Chapter V

that because Arabic sentences are longer than English sentences, it can be necessary sometimes to divide one Arabic sentence into more than a sentence in English. The authors provide the following example: o� � t�1 I� l.JA uk, ly. U;1.J .l3J '01&. l.JA ys1 � � y1 I¥ �y.ll ) �I �..lll .J�I � �I d.!L..:...lI U;1.J J; ,cill:i ) :UJ..ll1 oU;l.J I.,?jjl UWIJ y:JI l.JA .J.lill I� ",)lb'!1 � � rl \.liS.lJ 'I.,?�I � �I .)Y".fi � �� \..9h.....;.1 1"�1 o�J ,&�IJ :u..�1 � . .J- U� · . ...1 1) i.JA . :UWI ...,· � 1 Y."-"';i ·1L. U· 1 � LlI r" � i.JA . J� J)lll..,� I i.JA � ,J,! � ., -" � I�I \S ,,,,, Ijjl J)lll. � 1 I� .l3J J l.JA l.JA �Iji.. t 0 . "\l:lY.-"I.J d�.lhA � ""Ijjl �I This could be translated (cf. Ives 1 999: 12) as follows: Unfortunately such concerns are not unique to Kosovo though. We have seen strnggles such as this in various countries, and have witnessed similar scenes of madness caused by religious fanaticism or extreme nationalism, but never on the scale which we saw in Bosnia. And yet, now we see it again, with redoubled force in Kosovo, whose population comprises some 90% Muslims, and whose natural right it is to demand some form of self-government. The Bosnians previously raised the issue of independence in the past, but eventually accepted a modest form of self-government at the Rambouillet talks. The above shows that one Arabic sentence can be divided into four English sentences. Exercise 7: Translate the following Arabic passage into English. . (':u�IJ 'U',:u.llli �1y.J 'LSjh..J IJ ,ul .lA>'11 : � �) y.Uc l.JA 0fo. e;:4-WI . . J �.b..ll ....� JAJ ,41-"", .JJ.l,l LAI.lc t... �J ;jj�1 � .PY. I.,? .lfo:il1 ....� 31 . �1 � 'py' •

•

_ ..

1 60

Translation of Sentences

2.

Sentence punctuation: The difference in sentence punctuation marks in Arabic and English can be problematic if translators are not sufficiently aware of their uses. For example,parenthesis can have different functions in Arabic than those in English. Consider the following:

Parentheses in Arabic can be used to highlight main words as in (1")l.)lI) �yl :ubLJI 0:l.l, the English corresponding punctuation mark to which is single or double inverted commas (Dickins et aI., p. 1 63). b. Double parentheses (( )) are used in Arabic to show quoted speech or writing. The English corresponding punctuation mark is the single or double inverted commas. c. Double parentheses in Arabic are used around names of books, journals and magazines. The corresponding English punctuation mark is the use of italics. The uses of the comma in Arabic are similar to those in English. Cousider the following uses of the comma in Arabic: 1 . Between sentences giving together a full meaning. 2. Listing the types and parts of an item. 3 . Between conditional clause and result clause. a.

Exercise 8: Translate the following paragraph into English focusing on the use of the comma. Notice that one Arabic sentence can be divided into more than a sentence in English. �.J < 1 292 I"WI � op..y-> 0Y...?- �! o)y); 'A)l1 �I ,.,u.J-!1 �)