“Arab tili globallashuv davrida: innova
tsion yondoshuvlar
va
o‘qitish metodikasi”
mavzusidagi xalqaro ilmiy-amaliy anjuman
419
ADVANCING CONTEMPORARY ARABIC-ENGLISH-ARABIC
TRANSLATION: ADDRESSING COMMON ERRORS IN PRACTICE
Dr. Shifaa Mohammed Abdullah
Abstract.
In contemporary language translation, frequent errors negatively
affect the overall accuracy and quality of the process. This article identifies and
examines these issues in Arabic-English-Arabic translation, enhancing proficiency.
Thus, it analyzes translation challenges employing advanced methods, via
integrating theory with practice. The outcomes contribute to refining methods,
presenting ideas and insights for translators, educators, and learners. Finally, it
aims to contribute to improve translation criteria in Arabic-English in both
directions.
Key words:
Translation, contemporary, advancing, Arabic-English-Arabic,
common errors.
Introduction:
In contemporary era, the role of language translation is evidently influential
representing various aspects of life in our societies as culture, education, health,
politics, business, etc. It has aided armies of researchers, scholars, and learners in
various fields of knowledge to stay upgraded across their scientific or academic
domains. However, many errors are committed by both translators and learners.
As contemporary translation in both directions (Arabic-English-Arabic)
encounters constant challenges and problems that hinder and distort the
accuracy and overall quality of the process, this article aims to investigate and
examine these challenges represented in their different patterns, particularly
tackling common translation faults. Thus, selected samples of most common
errors in translation from Arabic to English or versa are intended to be reviewed
considering ongoing technological advancement in this domine. Moreover, the
discussions and analyses employed to identify and understand these errors, are
also intended to enhance proficiency in translation via suggesting and offering
practical solutions. In the process, the interesting translation technological
facilities employing automated approaches in
this domine will be considered examining their advantages as well as
potential disadvantages.
Ronak Husni and Daniel L. Newman (2015) supported the fact that in the
last two decades, there has been a considerable rise in the field of Translation
Studies (TS), with a substantial surge in academic research and studies focusing on
Arabic/English translation issues. The significance of this study arises from the
significant value of translation as it has grown with the rise of globalization, and
the resulting demands of a workforce that require multilingual proficiency
succeed in the competitive global market.
“Arab tili globallashuv
davrida: innovatsion yondoshuvlar
va
o‘qitish metodikasi”
mavzusidagi xalqaro ilmiy-amaliy anjuman
420
Translation is a crucial and fundamental factor in the evolution of all
sciences. It has played a vital role in transmitting cultural heritage throughout the
ages. The importance of translation has been evident since ancient times; for
instance, evidence of translation practice dates to 4,500 years BC. in Sumerian
civilization (currently Iraq) where the clay tablets containing Sumerian-Eblatie
word lists were found. the Romans translated Greek civilization, and the Greeks
translated the Pharaonic civilization.
(Valdeón,
2022). Additionally, numerous
scientific and literary research studies have been translated from Arabic.
Translation has evolved in our modern era, becoming one of the essential pillars
for conveying the latest sciences to different languages. For Montgomery (2004,
p.4) translation “is the process of transforming a specific p
iece of one language
(commonly a text of some sort) into another language.”
However, the cruciality of
cultural aspect remains the core point in any translation practice.
Review of Literature
The field of Translation Studies (TS) is witnessing an exceptional growth,
that according to Husni and Newman (2015) supported expansion in academic
studies on issues relating to Arabic/ English translation over the past two
decades. Köksal & Yürük (2020) emphasize the cruciality of translation clarity in
the process of intercultural communication. Akan, Karim, & Chowdhury (2019)
assert that deep understanding of linguistic subtleties is inevitable feature of a
translator to understand the denotative and connotative language relation of
translation from Arabic to English as it is a complex and nuanced task and as it
also implies conveying and converting divers
’
linguistic items between the two
languages and not to ignore the crucial fact that they belong to different language
families. Akan, Karim, & Chowdhury (2019) say that “translation from Arabic into
English needs the processes and techniques which are used to transfer the
meaning of the source language (i.e. Arabic) into the target language (i.e.
English)”.
However, they (2019) explain that translation of a specific piece of language (a
source language (SL) into a target one (TL) Arabic- English- Arabic are this study
concern) may involve different types of problems or errors that may be
represented as a shortage in one or more of linguistic elements like lexis,
phonology, syntax, stylistics, and usage of the source language. Consequently,
translators and language users in general, tend to solve such problems employing
variant tradition and contemporary advanced translation tools or procedures
such as automated translation using software applications to enhance and update
their work. Newmark (1988) indicated certain methods of translation such as:
word-for-word, literal, faithful, communicative, semantic, adaptation, and free
translation. These methods represent almost a tradition considered by most
translators. faithful translation, communicative translation.
The Problem statement:
Common errors in translation, both in general and specifically in
contemporary Arabic-English-Arabic translation, cause a considerable problem
as they hinder effective communication or knowledge gaining in learning process.
“Arab tili globallashuv davrida: innova
tsion yondoshuvlar
va
o‘qitish metodikasi”
mavzusidagi xalqaro ilmiy-amaliy anjuman
421
These errors range from the loss of linguistic consistency to cultural differences,
impacting the accurate conveyance of intended meanings and potentially
distorting the content.
The Aims:
The current study aims to contribute new insights into enhancing
proficiency in contemporary Arabic to English translation in both directions. This
is achieved by addressing and correcting common errors observed in a selected
set of practical applications, representing instances of prevalent translation
mistakes. The article identifies, addresses, and analyzes areas of weakness to
propose actionable improvements that can enhance the overall quality of
translation. Possible reasons behind inaccurate translations will also be covered.
Data review and analysis
Previous studies have shown great efforts identifying many translation
errors in different contexts and analyzing them from different perspectives. For
instance, Akan, Karim, & Chowdhury (2019) searched to define the causes behind
different problems in Arabic- English translations. Whereas Alanzi (2023) depend
on English
–
Arabic for types of errors in the translation of number of MA abstracts
defining them and presenting possible solutions. This article selected varied
examples, some of which are cited from the previous studies, to be briefly
reviewed and distributed them into two groups as follow:
Group 1: Arabic (SL)
–
English (TL),
1. Syntax; example errors in
translating the verb in
“
لا
د
جاج
ت
قلس
”
is translated
“
Climb the chicken.
”
as Arabic
contained the verb
’ق ُُلس
or
َُت
’
(tasluqq) original Arabic contained the verb
“
قلست
”
or
‘
ق ُُلس
َُت
’
(tasluqq) which the automatic translation misread as
‘
ق ُُ ُّلس
َُت
’
(tasalluq) or
‘
to climb
’
.
2.
lexis; example errors in translating the term
لماح
(
Haamel
) it is true that
it may
mean “pregnant” but not when it is written on a hotel reception desk.
However,
it should be translated as “carrier,” or in this case, a “porter” (bag
carrier).
3.
phonology; an example of this error is "
ياشلا
لصف
" is translated as
“
Chapter
tea
”
the pronunciation of the word
“
لصف
”; “
chapter
”
have similar pronunciation of
the word “season” also the word for both has the same structure.
However, it
should be translated as “teatime”
or “tea
season.”
Group 2: English (SL)- Arabic (TL),
1. Syntax; example errors in Grammer
“
The study explains how
”
is translated wrongly in an active mode
“.
كلﺍذ
ﺪعﺑ
ثحﺎبلﺍ
حﺮﺸﻳو
”
while it should be translated keeping its passive mode into
“.
كلﺍذ
ﺪعﺑ
ﺔﺳﺍرﺪلﺍ
حضﻮﺗو
”
2.
Semantics; example errors in translating the verb meaning in “This
research examines...
”
is mismatched and translated
“
...
ع
ىل
لا
حب
ث
ي
ر
زك
ه
ذا
”
while its
appropriate matching is
“.
..
لا
حب
ث
ه
ذا
ي
خ
ت
ب
ر
”
3.
stylistic; example of distorted translation or deformed message in
translating a statement such as:
“
I like reading historical novels
” "
لا
رات
خي
ی
ة
ا
صقل
ص
ق
ر
ا
ء
ة
أ
ح
ب
" or "
ال
رات
خي
ی
ة
ا
كل
ت
ب
ق
را
ةء
”
…
both translations are literary true, yet they failed to
reflect the required sense. Thus, an improved stylistic version as: "
لا
رات
خي
ی
ة
اورلا
يا
ت
ق
ر
ا
ء
ة
حأ
ب
would solve this error.
“Arab tili globallashuv
davrida: innovatsion yondoshuvlar
va
o‘qitish metodikasi”
mavzusidagi xalqaro ilmiy-amaliy anjuman
422
Findings
Out of the above reviewed examples of common errors encountered in real-
world translation scenarios, it is noticed that errors causes and forms may occur
due to different reasons that corresponding to Alanazi
’
s (2023) as mentioned
previously such as: grammatical mistakes and problematic lexes, the way a
translator transfers a text from (SL) to (TL), incorrect character, improper
punctuation marks or inconsistency in term translation. Other problematic errors
such as unnecessary omission was also defined, language-related problem and
stylistic problems as Benzoukh (2020) expressed it as “thorny problems in
rendering style” lead to isolated
words denotatively rendered regardless of
meaning of functional details that connote each word in certain context.
The stylistic errors that may occur in literary translations are the outcome of
wrong linguistic transfer. As a result, translation practitioners should be fully
aware of the correct procedures utilizing different meaning research tools and
technologies. This could involve deciding and selecting the appropriate meaning
of terminology, awareness of the differences between connotative and denotative
meanings required rendering the text meaning.
In fact, a translator should have control over a broad knowledge of
expressions and vocabulary in both the source and target languages that also
embrace cultural and social experiences, being familiar with the use of the terms
and expressions that characterize each language. Also, an excellent knowledge in
employing practical strategies for addressing and handling translation of
different texts. Therefore, focusing on actual application of the remedies of most
of the common errors that may face translators or learners increase the
practitioner awareness of such errors and raise the possibility of avoiding them
in their corresponding translation.
Translation and the age of artificial intelligence
The importance of contemporary technology in advancing translation to
meet the demands of the era is clearly an overwhelming one especially in the light
of Machine Translation (MT) Software, the high arouse of the artificial intelligence
programs such as CAT tools in English translation. They save effort and time in
translation process, as well as protect the translated text from terminological
chaos such as: MemoQ program and the Trados and OmegaT software. Moreover,
the experimental artificial intelligence system ChatGPT is capable to produce
translations of varying quality and in all languages, yet a specialized human
translator is necessary to revise the translations especially when practicing
complex texts translation such as legal, medical, and literary texts, this system fall
short, and the resulting translation needs scrutiny and a specialized review.
However, translation technology is advancing, showing a wide opportunity
horizon for promising exciting evolutions in the coming years. Therefore, this
study shows several technological and automated translation programs intents to
offer implementation insights that can be readily applied by practitioners in the
field.
“Arab tili globallashuv davrida: innova
tsion yondoshuvlar
va
o‘qitish metodikasi”
mavzusidagi xalqaro ilmiy-amaliy anjuman
423
Conclusion:
To conclude, Translation is the conversion of spoken or written words and
texts from one source language Arabic/ English (SL) to a targeted language
Arabic/ English (TL) employing any adequate translation tradition that may lead
to an accurate informative translation, considering that these two languages are of
different origine. And so, it
’
s fundamental to capture the principal meaning or
spirit of the original text, considering the cultural and linguistic differences
between the languages involved. It is, therefore, the conveyance of the spirit of the
translated text and is not limited to the literal transfer of words and phrases. It
involves a nuanced linguistic and semantic description that transcends mere
word-for-word replication, acknowledging the cultural nuances inherent in both
languages. Translation is a complex process that seeks to capture the essence and
meaning of the original text in (SL) while adapting it appropriately to the (TL) on
the denotative and on the connotative language level as well.
Finally, improving proficiency in contemporary Arabic-English-Arabic
translation involves integrating and supporting the traditional translation
approaches and techniques with the contemporary opportunities provided by
new translation technologies and artificial intelligence. Utilizing this process may
guide a translator or a learner to a targeted approach to address common errors
in practice. By recognizing the specific challenges faced in real-world scenarios,
the study contributes to the current efforts to improve the standards of
translation, eventually encouraging successful and influential multicultural
communication.
References:
1.
Akan, M. F., Karim, M. R., & Chowdhury, A. M. K. (2019). An analysis of
Arabic- English translation: Problems and prospects.
Advances in Language and
Literary Studies
,
10
(1), 58-65.
2.
Alanazi, M. (2023). Types of Errors Involved in the English-Arabic
Translation of Research Abstracts.
International Journal of Linguistics, Literature
and Translation
,
6
(6), 105-112.
3.
Benzoukh, Halima. (2020). “Stylistic Errors in English
- Arabic
Translation.” In
Cahiers de Linguistique et Didactique,
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Husni, R., & Newman, D. L. (2015).
Arabic-English-Arabic-English
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5.
Husni, R., & Newman, D. L. (2019).
Arabic-English-Arabic translation
,
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,
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(1), 327-
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Newmark, P. (1988).
A textbook of translation
(Vol. 66, pp. 1-312). New
York: Prentice hall.
“Arab tili globallashuv
davrida: innovatsion yondoshuvlar
va
o‘qitish metodikasi”
mavzusidagi xalqaro ilmiy-amaliy anjuman
424
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.
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at
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language- translation/
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Science in Translation: Movements of Knowledge
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Valdeón,
R. (2022). Translation before the Christian Era. In K.
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(Ed.),
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Online Sample source:
https://industryarabic.com/arabic-translation-
