Lexical Problems in English to Arabic Translation: A Critical Analysis of Health Documents in Australia

Abstract

This study empirically examines lexical translation problems encountered by accredited translators in English Arabic Translations. Its main aim is to identify whether lexical errors occur in professionally translated documents and investigate the type of lexical errors occurring as well as identify the possible reasons for them. Five translated health documents in New South Wales were randomly, lexical errors were counted and then analyzed. The functionalist approach has been adopted in this research. Analysis of the errors was mainly focusing on semantics. The lexical errors found were related but not limited to additions, omissions, compounds, synonyms collocations and inconsistencies. More extensive research is required to identify additional types of lexical errors found in professionally translated documents. This research has many limitations due to the paucity of data and its inability to accommodate for all types of errors and their related factors. Therefore, more research is required in this field in order to improve translation outcomes. The findings affirm the hypothesis that lexical errors are made by accredited as well as student translators. It does not reveal conclusively, however, that errors at the lexical level are due to complex and or new lexical items. Introduction As translators, we constantly strive to achieve equivalence at word, sentence and text level. In the process we are often faced with the dilemma of whether to stay loyal to the source text, or sacrifice some features in order to deliver the content accurately. The lexis represents a problem in this process and the lexical items we choose have an impact on the quality of the piece. In an attempt to understand some of the effects of these lexical choices on the target text this study was conducted. 1.1 The Research's Aims English and Arabic are very diverse language systems and operate differently at word, sentence and text level, a feature which makes the translation process between them complicated and challenging. In an effort to assist translators in this process and contribute to a better understanding of the pitfalls involved in handling the two language systems this study have eventuated. It proposes to identify and investigate lexical translation problems between English and Arabic by critically analysing some professionally translated health documents in New South Wales. The research aims to achieve the following: 1. Identify lexical translation errors made by professional translators in translated health documents in New South Wales and discuss their possible causes. 2. Highlight the types of lexical items which posed problems in these documents. The hypothesis is that lexical errors are not merely made by student translators but also by professionals because new and complex lexical items cause translation problems between English and Arabic.