Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Arabic Collocations PDF
Arabic Collocations PDF
By
A S Brashi
Doctor of Philosophy
2005
© A S Brashi 2005
STATEMENT OF AUTHENTICATION
The work presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original
except as acknowledged in the text. I hereby declare that I have not submitted this
material, either in whole or in part, for a degree at this or any other institution.
A S Brashi
Date:
ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study would probably not be what it is now without the help, encouragement, and
advise of so many people. I would like to thank all those whose contribution made this
Stuart Campbell, who has always encouraged me and inspired me during the years of
Associate Professor Paulin Djité, for their support and advice. I am also grateful to the
examiners of my thesis, especially Professor Ian Mason and Professor Basil Hatim, for
I am grateful to all the participants of this study, who have voluntarily and passionately
agreed to participate. Special thanks to Saud Al-Inizi and Aqeel Al-Shihri, Arabic
Australian Islamic Cultural Centre, for their participation in the pilot study. Their
expertise has greatly helped me in reshaping the instruments used in this study.
I also thank my colleague and friend Dr Kelvin McQueen for commenting on and
editing some chapters of this thesis. Thanks are also due to my friend and colleague Dr
Finally, I cannot forget to thank my dear wife, my daughter, and my son for their
constant love, support and patience throughout the duration of the project. They have
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
LIST OF TABLES ix
LIST OF FIGURES xii
CHAPTER
iv
3.6 Conclusion 57
v
6.3.2 Part two: The Translation Test of English Collocations 104
into Arabic (Professional Translators’ Group)
6.3.3 Part three: The Translation Test of English Collocations 105
into Arabic (Student Translators’ Group)
6.3.4 Part four: The Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations 106
(Professional Translators’ Group) and (Student Translators’
Group)
6.4 Data collection 107
6.4.1 Instruments 107
6.4.2 Pilot studies 112
6.4.3 Administrative procedures 113
vi
7.3.12 Possibility of pluralization 163
7.3.13 Possibility of collocational range expansion 164
7.4 Section three: Semantic patterning of Arabic collocations 166
7.4.1 Strong collocations 167
7.4.2 Unique collocations 173
7.4.3 Metaphorical collocations 179
7.4.4 Idiomatic extensions of collocations 182
7.4.5 Unacceptable collocations 184
7.5 Conclusion 188
vii
BIBLIOGRAPHY LIST 249
APPENDICES 270
APPENDIX A: Information sheet and demographic questionnaire: 271
Arabic Control Group
APPENDIX B: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations 273
APPENDIX C: Information sheet and demographic questionnaire: 295
Professional Translators’ Group
APPENDIX D: Demographic questionnaire: Student Translators’ 298
Group
APPENDIX E: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic 299
viii
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1.1 Arabic consonants ....................................................................................... 8
1.2 Arabic vowels and diphthongs .................................................................... 9
4.1 Examples of translating English collocations
into Arabic (Baker, 1992) ......................................................................... 63
4.2 Examples of translating English collocations
into Arabic (Heliel, 1990) ......................................................................... 64
4.3 Examples of translating Arabic collocations
into English (Heliel, 1990)........................................................................ 65
4. 1 Examples of English collocations that have identical equivalents in
Arabic (Ghazala, 1993b) ................................................................................. 67
4.5 Examples of English collocations that do not have identical equivalents in
Arabic (Ghazala, 1993b) ................................................................................ 68
4.6 Examples of English verb + object collocations translated into Arabic
(Ghazala, 1995) ......................................................................................... 70
4.7 Examples of English verb + object collocations translated into
a verb in Arabic......................................................................................... 70
4.8 Examples of English collocations and their identical equivalents
in Arabic (Ghazala, 1995) ......................................................................... 72
4.9 Examples of English collocations and their non-identical equivalents
in Arabic (Ghazala, 1995) ......................................................................... 73
4.10 Responses provided via reduction strategies in simultaneous
interpreting (Shakir & Farghal’s study, 1992) ........................................ 78
4.11 Responses provided via reduction strategies in translation
(Shakir & Farghal’s study, 1992)............................................................ 78
6.1 Item example of questionnaire of Arabic collocations ........................... 109
7.1 Verb + object Arabic collocations’ results:
Arabic Control Group (n=21) ................................................................. 123
7.2 Noun + adjective Arabic collocations’ results:
Arabic Control Group (n=21) ................................................................. 126
7.3 Verb + object Arabic collocations’ results:
ix
Professional Translators’ Group (n=16) ................................................. 130
7.4 Noun + adjective Arabic collocations’ results:
Professional Translators’ Group (n=16) ................................................. 133
7.5 Verb + object Arabic collocations’ results:
Student Translators’ Group (n=8) ........................................................... 137
7.6 Noun + adjective Arabic collocations’ results:
Student Translators’ Group (n=8) ........................................................... 140
7.7 Results of the questionnaire of Arabic collocations
(part one: verb + object collocations) ..................................................... 143
7.8 Results of the questionnaire of Arabic collocations
(part two: noun+ adjective collocations)................................................. 147
7.9 Part one: verb + object collocations. Summary table of numbers and
percentages of preferences among the three groups ............................... 150
710 Part two: noun + adjective collocations. Summary table of numbers and
percentages of preferences among the three groups ............................... 150
7.11 Verb + object strong collocations in Arabic ......................................... 168
7.12 Noun + adjective strong collocations in Arabic.................................... 170
7.13 Verb + object unique collocations in Arabic ........................................ 175
7.14 Noun + adjective unique collocations in Arabic................................... 176
7.15 Verb + object metaphorical collocations in Arabic .............................. 180
7.16 Noun + adjective metaphorical collocations in Arabic ......................... 181
7.17 Examples of idiomatic extensions of collocations ................................ 183
7.18 Unacceptable verb + object collocations in Arabic .............................. 185
7.19 Unacceptable noun + adjective collocations in Arabic ......................... 187
8.1 Translation outcomes of verb + object collocations:
Student Translators’ Group (n=8) .......................................................... 195
8.2 Translation outcomes of verb + object collocations:
Professional Translators’ Group (n=16) ................................................ 197
8.3 Translation outcomes of adjective + noun collocations:
Student Translators’ Group (n=8) .......................................................... 200
8.4 Translation outcomes of adjective + noun collocations:
Professional Translators’ Group (n=16) ................................................ 202
8.5 Outcomes of translating English verb + object collocations
into Arabic.............................................................................................. 205
8.6 Outcomes of translating English adjective + noun collocations
into Arabic.............................................................................................. 205
x
8.7 Examples of the strong collocation translation outcome
(Translating English verb + object collocations into Arabic) ................. 210
8.8 Examples of encapsulation
(Translating English verb + object collocations into Arabic) ....................... 212
8.9 Examples of neutralizing verb + object collocations .............................. 213
8.10 Examples of paraphrasing verb + object collocations .......................... 215
8.11 Examples of malapropism
(Translating English verb + object collocations into Arabic) ............... 216
8.12 Examples of the translation outcome of calquing
(Translating English verb + object collocations into Arabic) .............. 217
8.13 Examples of mistranslation
(Translating English verb + object collocations into Arabic) ............... 218
8.14 Examples of unacceptable collocations in Arabic
(Translating English verb + object collocations into Arabic) ............... 221
8.15 Examples of strong collocations
(Translating English adjective + noun collocations into Arabic).......... 222
8.16 Examples of neutral collocations
(Translating English adjective + noun collocations into Arabic) ........ 224
8.17 Examples of the translation outcome of paraphrasing
(Translating English adjective + noun collocations into Arabic) ........ 227
8.18 Examples of calques
(Translating English adjective + noun collocations into Arabic).......... 228
8.19 Examples of mistranslations
(Translating English adjective + noun collocations into Arabic) ........ 230
xi
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
on CD-Rom of the word "pact" collocating with the word "made" ......... 30
xii
ABSTRACT
The topic of collocability has been a common concern among linguists, lexicographers
and language pedagogues recently. They find the linguistic aspect of collocation
interesting, because words do not exist in isolation from other words in a language.
They exist with other words. In every language, the vocabulary consists of single words
The aim of this thesis is to characterize collocations in the Arabic language, to devise a
into Arabic. This will require an analysis of the collocational patterns in both English
and Arabic, a classification of the translation outcomes and, therefore, types of errors
adopted by translators, an indication of how frequent and significant each error is, and
xiii
Chapter one: Introduction
1 INTRODUCTION
This thesis defines a collocation as the tendency for certain words in a language to
combine with one another, as against others that do not have this tendency of
combining together, and the meaning of which can be deduced from at least one of
the components of the collocation. Benson, Benson, and Ilson (1986), in their BBI
Both categories are further divided by Benson et al. (1986) into subcategories.
Lexical collocations consist of nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs. They normally
For example, the adjectives rich and wealthy are synonymous, however, most native
1
Chapter one: Introduction
imagination. The noun imagination, in English, collocates with the adjective rich,
which means يرث/ ينغ/ رفاوtary / gany / waafir (rich) in Arabic. However, in
Arabic, the noun لايخ xayaal (imagination) collocates with the adjective عساو
waasi3 (wide), which means wide in English, or the adjective بصخxiSb (fertile),
such as an infinitive or clause (Benson et al., 1986). Chomsky (1965:191) gives the
terminology): decide on a boat, meaning ‘choose (to buy) a boat’, but on the other
English feel that the components of decide on collocate with each other, and they will
The interest for this research in the translation of collocations arises from their great
importance in language. They play an important role in the coherence and cohesion of
language. In addition, they are present in all text types. The translation of collocations
is a constant problem—to match the appropriate nouns with the appropriate verbs, the
2
Chapter one: Introduction
appropriate verbs with the appropriate nouns, the appropriate nouns with the
The approach to translation taken in this research is essentially phrase and sentence-
based rather than text-based. The justification for this approach is twofold. First, we
locate the phenomenon of collocation between syntax and lexis (see Chapter Four),
although we concede that a text- or discourse- approach could throw further light on
the topic. Secondly, the research comes down on the side of an experimental rather
translators has been underscored by many researchers in the fields of linguistics and
Below is an example from the introduction of Charlotte Bronte’s (1847) novel Jane
3
Chapter one: Introduction
In this example, the translator rendered the English adjective + noun collocation a
large public into the Arabic noun + adjective collocation ﺟﻤﮭﻮر واﺳﻊjamhuwrun
Arabic, the noun روهمجjamhuwr (public) usually collocates with the adjective ﻋﺮﯾﺾ
(wide).
Another example is taken from Charles Dickens’ (1839) novel Oliver Twist:
4
Chapter one: Introduction
The verb + noun collocation to call tears is translated literally into Arabic by Dar Al-
A native speaker of Arabic would, most likely, expect the verb فرذdarafa (to shed)
From the above two examples a and b, it is obvious that translators with different
target texts that do not sound native-like nor natural. This phenomenon is mainly due
collocational patterns of the source and target languages. It may be also due to source
text interference. Another reason for this difficulty in translation could be the lack of
understanding Arabic collocations. The need for such resources inspired the
1
The name of the translator is not mentioned. 5
Chapter one: Introduction
Despite their important role in translation, collocations have not received much
attention to date. There has been little research on how collocations are used by
Arabic translators. For this reason this study attempts to investigate the problems of
translating English verb + noun and adjective + noun collocations among English-
Arabic translators.
The principal questions addressed in the present investigation are concerned with
translation and how their usage of Arabic collocations relates to their overall
among English-Arabic student and professional translators. The main purpose was
6
Chapter one: Introduction
Arabic language.
The empirical data of the study were collected from among postgraduate students of
Arabia.
The type of Arabic that will be under investigation in this study is referred to as
Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). Sa’id (1967) refers to MSA as that variety of Arabic
found in contemporary books, newspapers, and magazines, and used orally in formal
speeches, public lectures, learned debates, religious ceremonies, and news broadcasts
over radio and television. Al-Johani (1982:7) adds to what Sa’id said by stating that
MSA “conforms to the norms of Classical Arabic grammar”. From here onwards, the
7
Chapter one: Introduction
Arabic examples in this thesis are first presented in Arabic script and then
transcribed. Following the transcription, and between parentheses, the examples are
inventories of Arabic consonants and vowels are illustrated in Table 1.1 and Table
8
Chapter one: Introduction
ف f
ق q
ك k
ل l
م m
ن n
ه h
و w
ي y
يأ ay
وا aw
Table 1. 2 Arabic vowels and diphthongs
The present study uses verb + object and adjective + noun English collocations to
9
Chapter one: Introduction
Collocations were chosen as special objects for scrutiny in this study, because it was
believed that data derived from student and professional translators’ performance
would be ideal in many respects. Some of the reasons for choosing collocations are
collocations are very frequent in the English language. Secondly, they are probably
Thirdly, collocations fall between lexis and syntax, which seems to be in line with the
between lexis and syntax. Fourthly, collocations occur in languages with varying
degrees of restrictedness. Fifthly, they are evident in all text types. Sixthly,
collocations occur in both of the languages involved in this study, English and
Arabic. Seventhly, and most importantly, the study of collocations has largely been
This study will focus on lexical collocations only. Abu-Ssaydeh (1991:66) suggests
“grammatical collocation has received its fair share of emphasis in the work of
chief difficulties in translating are lexical, not grammatical – i.e. words, collocations
and fixed phrases or idioms”. Therefore, this study is concerned with lexical rather
10
Chapter one: Introduction
Since this thesis is concerned with lexical collocations, there will be only limited
reference to grammatical collocations. Following from this, the two terms lexical
A brief presentation of how this study is structured will be given in this section. As
was shown earlier in this introductory chapter, this study arises from the fact that
there has not been much previous research that has investigated the translation of
English collocations into Arabic. By using an empirical study, it is hoped that new
From a review of the literature, research questions were derived. Answers to the
instruments. First, a translation test of English collocations into Arabic was given to
11
Chapter one: Introduction
that was given to the same two groups in addition to an Arabic Control Group. The
main empirical results are presented in the thesis in tabular form. Finally, the results
are discussed with reference to the definition of collocation proposed in this study
The study begins with a chapter discussing the literature on collocations in the
English language (Chapter Two) followed by another chapter discussing the literature
on collocations in the Arabic language (Chapter Three). Chapter Four discusses the
translation practice in the Australian context. Chapter Six presents the research
methodology proposed by this study. Chapter Seven presents three issues: (1) the
results and discussion of the Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic.
12
Chapter Two: Collocations in English
2 COLLOCATIONS IN ENGLISH
2.1 Introduction
This chapter investigates the study of collocations from a linguistic point of view.
It reviews the main theoretical studies on collocations that have taken place since
1938. It was then that the term collocation was first introduced by Harold E.
Palmer. The chapter also includes recent research on collocations. All these
studies are reviewed from the viewpoint of their contribution to the study of the
notion of collocation.
association with lexical semantics as early as 2,300 years ago (Robins, 1967:21;
Gitsaki, 1999:10). Robins (1967) states that Greek Stoic philosophers rejected the
equation of “one word, one meaning” and suggested an important aspect of the
semantic structure of language. They believed that “word meanings do not exist in
isolation, and they may differ according to the collocation in which they are used”
(Robins, 1967:21).
13
Chapter Two: Collocations in English
many linguists have surmised that there are fixed forms of expression in every
language that are stored in the minds or memories of native speakers of each
language as whole chunks of language forms and not as single words. These fixed
expressions are used in speech and writing as such. Among these fixed
than from rules. The notion of ‘collocation’ has been familiar since the pioneering
English Words, as “successions of two or more words the meaning of which can
gave examples such as: at last, give up, let alone, go without, carry on, as a
matter of fact, all at once, to say the least of it, give somebody up for lost, throw
away, how do you do, and let us make it do. He emphasized that each must be
‘collocation’” (Firth, 1957:194). The term ‘collocation’ only became well known
14
Chapter Two: Collocations in English
relationship of lexical items, on the one hand, consists of sets of words that belong
to the same class and can be substituted for one another in a specific grammatical
and lexical context. On the other hand, the syntagmatic relationship of lexical
items relates to the ability of a word to combine with other words. Therefore, the
attempt made by Firth to explain the meaning of a word on the collocational level
was unique, because it was concerned with the meaning relationships between
lexical items from the level of syntagmatic relationships, not from the traditional
collocation and asserts that one of the meanings of night is its collocability with
dark, and one of the meanings of dark is its collocability with night. In other
words, any complete description of the meaning of a word would have to include
the other word or words that collocate with it. He later (1968:182) defines
Lyons (1966) seemed critical of Firth’s argument that a ‘word’s collocations are
15
Chapter Two: Collocations in English
occur in texts in collocation with one another that their potentiality for collocation
expanded on it. Halliday (1966) considered lexis as complementary to, but not
whereas the set is “the grouping of members with like privilege of occurrence in
collocation” (1966:153). For example, bright, hot, shine, light, and come out
belong to the same lexical set, since they all collocate with the word sun
(1966:158).
Sinclair (1966:411) also regards grammar and lexis from “two different,
key issue is the tendencies of lexical items to collocate with one another. These
tendencies, argues Sinclair (1966:411), “ought to tell us facts about language that
cannot be got by grammatical analysis”. He, then, gives the illustration that the
contrast between lexical items is more flexible than that of grammatical classes,
for “there are virtually no impossible collocations, but some are much more likely
16
Chapter Two: Collocations in English
are studying, and we may then define a span as the number of lexical
(1966:415).
For example, if we want to study the collocational patterns of the word accident,
then accident is the ‘node’. If we decide to have a ‘span’ of four, it means that we
study the four lexical items that occur before and the four lexical items that occur
after the word accident. All the lexical items that are within the ‘span’ of the word
occurs more frequently than would be expected on the basis of the individual
items.
a cover term for the cohesion that results from the co-occurrence of
lexical items that are in some way or other typically associated with
17
Chapter Two: Collocations in English
Such patterns, they say, “occur freely both within the same sentence and across
(Halliday & Hasan, 1976:287). This again points to them oscillating around a
considers lexis and grammar as one entity and argues for the “oneness of
adverb: to drink heavily; and adjective + gerund: heavy drinking. The importance
occur. This returns to the earlier notion of language existing in ‘chunks’, but with
18
Chapter Two: Collocations in English
nuance.
2- Noun plus noun (i.e. double noun compound), e.g., nerve cell.
3- Verb plus object (which is normally a noun that denotes an action), e.g.,
pay a visit.
He mentions that these are the most common collocation types, because all three
types are centred on the noun, being the second component of these three types of
between collocations and words in a semantic field (e.g., colours, ranks, etc.) and
suggests that collocations are always linked with the concepts of usage and
collocation
definition of collocations among different linguists. What makes the issue unclear
is the fact that sometimes collocations are categorized as idioms, since it is often
thought that no clear distinction can be made between a collocation and an idiom
19
Chapter Two: Collocations in English
are habitually combined together for the sake of emphasis. For example, far and
away (emphatic), over and over (emphatic repetition), part and parcel (emphasis
the contrast of two words), now and then (emphasis by inclusive phrases).
proverbs (e.g., don’t count your chickens before they are hatched) as
subcategories of idioms.
collocation is the occurrence of two or more words within a short space of each
of four words intervening together. Certainly, this definition suggests that all
collocation to the point where almost any fixed forms of expression can act as
such.
However, there are other linguists who draw a clear line between collocations and
idioms (e.g., Mitchell, 1971; Bolinger, 1976; Shakir & Farghal, 1992; Bahns,
20
Chapter Two: Collocations in English
idiom can be derived from its components. For example, in the idiom spill the
beans, the meaning cannot be derived from its components. On the other hand, in
the collocation indelible ink, the meaning can be derived from its components.
expressions’ on the one hand and ‘non-free combinations’ on the other. This gives
a more precise and useful definition of collocation. For example, sour + milk,
adjectives sour, bad, addled, rotten, and rancid can all be combined with nouns
English, except that they could be used in slightly poetic forms to add emotive
the fact that they constitute a single semantic entity, and the fact that their
meaning cannot be derived from the sum of the meanings of the words of which
they are made up. Thus, in the above example, there is no actual licking taking
place and the expression is not about boots either. Idioms sit at a greater distance
Following Benson et al. (1986), Bahns (1993) also argues that in order to obtain a
idioms on the one hand and from free combinations on the other. Free
combinations are the least cohesive type of word combination. The noun murder,
for example, may be used freely with many verbs (analyze, boast of, condemn,
21
Chapter Two: Collocations in English
discuss, investigate, etc.), and, of course, these verbs can combine freely with
other nouns as well. Moreover, idioms are relatively frozen expressions whose
meanings do not reflect the meanings of their component parts. To scream blue
somewhere between idioms and free combinations. They have a tendency to more
directly approximate the signified, i.e., they add explication rather than reduce it
commit murder. What makes collocations different from idioms is that their
meanings reflect the meaning of their constituent parts, and what makes them
different from free combinations is that they are used frequently, springing to
examples: white coffee, green with jealousy and maiden speech, and makes a
distinction between collocations like bright day and dark night and word groups
like bright night and dark day. This shows that Robins does not use the term
Idioms: An idiom is ‘one semantic unit and its meaning is not composed
from the sum of the meanings of its constituents’ (e.g., face the music,
22
Chapter Two: Collocations in English
commutability’ (e.g., the verb face can collocate with four different nouns:
Free word combinations: They are different from restricted collocations ‘by
verb carry in its basic meaning of ‘supporting the weight of something’ can
collocate freely with almost any noun denoting the thing to be supported or
moved: carry a book/ bag/ chair/ torch/ table/ etc.) (Aisenstadt, 1979:71-2).
According to van der Wouden (1997:8-9), collocations are not the only fixed
lexical items. For instance, the noun murder can be freely used with many
verbs, such as to analyze and to describe. These verbs combine with a large
reflect the meaning of their component parts. For example, to kick the
bucket.
Proverbs/ sayings: These expressions are usually more frozen than idioms
and they are complete sentences (e.g., A friend in need is a friend indeed).
23
Chapter Two: Collocations in English
idioms and collocations. They are more frozen than ordinary collocations
and, unlike idioms, these combinations seem to have a meaning close to that
suggested by their component parts. For example, to catch one’s breath, all
variations are possible at all. They can consist of an adjective + noun (e.g.,
definite article), noun + noun (e.g., aptitude test) or verb + one or two
adverbs or prepositions (e.g., add up, put up with) (van der Wouden,
1997:8-9)
collocations are “sequences of lexical items which habitually co-occur, but which
are nonetheless fully transparent in the sense that each lexical constituent is also a
semantic constituent”, and suggests that the lexical items have semantic cohesion,
as the items are mutually selective to a varying degree. On the other hand, an
idiom is “an expression whose meaning cannot be inferred from the meaning of
research undertaken in this thesis, because it mainly concerns the adjective + noun
and verb + object constructions. All examples of collocations used in this research
24
Chapter Two: Collocations in English
In the last three decades, the interest in collocations and other fixed expressions
English. This dictionary was followed by that of Cowie, Mackin and McCaig
The BBI Combinatory Dictionary of English (more commonly known as the BBI
Dictionary - the initials are those of its compilers: Benson, Benson and Ilson) was
released in 1986. A later revised edition was released in 1997. The BBI Dictionary
total of 18,000 entries. The introduction to the dictionary explains how these
to look up the ‘dominant word’ in each case, or the second noun if the collocation
is noun + noun. For instance, the ‘dominant word’ in the BBI’s terminology is the
25
Chapter Two: Collocations in English
by accident, eager for. In lexical collocations such as, to put up resistance, a herd
of cattle, deeply absorbed, users are directed to find the word combination in the
dictionary by looking up, in the following order, the noun, the second noun (if
section, which lists verbs, adjectives, and their adverb collocates, and a substantial
section on nouns, where the headwords are all nouns. In the latter section, verb
collocates are listed according to whether they come before or after the noun. For
example:
Adjective collocates and phrasal collocates are also listed, for example:
26
Chapter Two: Collocations in English
of collocations.
world. The collocations used in the database are extracted from the Bank of
English, a corpus of more than two hundred million words (and continually
expanding). The Bank of English is a unique computer database that monitors and
records the way in which the English language actually is used. This CD-Rom
gives the user access to 140,000 English collocations and 2,600,000 sentences
with these word combinations. A sample page from Collins COBUILD English
27
Chapter Two: Collocations in English
Using this programme is easy. The user types a word in the Node text box, or
selects a word from the list box by clicking once on the word. After that, the user
clicks on the <Show Collocates> button to view the list of collocates for the word
they selected. See below the collocates of the noun pact, for example:
28
Chapter Two: Collocations in English
Figure 2. 2 Results from Collins COBUILD English Collocations on CD-Rom showing the
The user can select one of the collocates from the list by clicking on it and, then,
clicking on the button <Show Examples>. This will show a list of short examples,
showing the selected word and collocate in use from the Bank of English:
29
Chapter Two: Collocations in English
Figure 2. 3 A list of short examples from Collins COBUILD English Collocations on CD-Rom
By double-clicking on any one of the example lines, the user can view the same
example window also includes an indication of the genre of the text in which this
example occurs:
30
Chapter Two: Collocations in English
translators into English. The user of WordPilot 2000 can select a word or phrase
from word lists or can simply type a word or phrase, and the programme searches
collocates of the word or phrase is generated using the <Collocation> button. This
programme can also be used as a writer’s helper when drafting a document, using
new button <Examples> appears in the Microsoft Word menu bar. By selecting
31
Chapter Two: Collocations in English
a word or phrase from the opened Word document, and clicking on <Examples>,
a search for the selected items is launched. The programme is based on a corpus
2.7 Conclusion
Chapter two summarised the main theoretical studies on collocations that have
taken place since 1930’s. It also showed that there is a significant disagreement
while others do. The interest in collocations by lexicographers was also discussed.
collocational research, and how it made the study of English collocations easier.
can tell the meaning of the whole collocation from at least one of the constituent
This chapter has examined the ways collocations have been treated by linguists in
the English language. The next chapter will discuss collocations in the Arabic
language.
32
Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
3 COLLOCATIONS IN ARABIC
3.1 Introduction
or more words together in a language, the meaning of which can be deduced from
at least one component of the combination. This lexical relationship is more the
rules. Arabic is one of the languages that are rich in collocations. However, not
collocations as:
33
Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
1985:257).
Husamaddin (1985) argues that words do not appear together in a language just by
This means that there has to be an agreement between words that collocate
is constrained by the nature of the signified. For example, one could say
saahiq (a high man). Rather, one would say رﺟﻞ ﻃﻮﯾﻞrajulun Tawiyl (a
tall man) because the word ﺷﺎھﻖsaahiq (high) collocates with the word
words ﺷﺎھﻖsaahiq and ﻃﻮﯾﻞ Tawiyl have almost the same meaning.
produce acceptable collocations. The verb ﻣﺎتmaat (to die), for example,
34
Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
has a wide collocational range. It can collocate with many different words.
It can be used with the noun إﻧﺴﺎن ?insaan (a human being), ﺣﯿﻮان
(Husamaddin, 1985:258-9).
lion زﺋﯿﺮ اﻷﺳﺪza?iyr al-?asad (the roaring of a lion), the sound made by a horse
ﻧﮭﯿﻖ اﻟﺤﻤﺎرnahiiq al-Himaar (the braying of a donkey), that of a cow ﺧﻮار اﻟﺒﻘﺮة
xuwaar al-baqarah (the mooing of a cow), that of a sheep ﺛﻐﺎء اﻟﻐﻨﻢtugaa? al-
ganam (the bleating of a sheep), that of a wolf ﻋﻮاء اﻟﺬﺋﺐ3uwaa? al-di?b (the
howling of a wolf), that of a dog ﻧﺒﺎح اﻟﻜﻠﺐnubaaH al-kalb (the barking of a dog),
that of a cat ﻣﻮاء اﻟﻘﻂmuwaa? al-qiT (the meowing of a cat), that of a pigeon ھﺪﯾﻞ
na3iyq al-guraab (the cawing of a crow), and that of an owl ﻧﻌﯿﺐ اﻟﺒﻮمna3iyb al-
different objects are: ھﺰﯾﻢ اﻟﺮﻋﺪhaziym al-ra3d (the rumbling of thunder), and ﺣﻔﯿﻒ
35
Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
Another category of examples is that of different verbs related to the act of cutting
various objects, depending on the nouns with which they collocate: ﺟﺰ اﻟﺼﻮف
jazza al-Suwf (to cut wool), ﻗﺺ اﻟﺸﻌﺮqaSSa al-sa3ar (to cut hair), ﺑﺮى اﻟﻘﻠﻢbaraa
al-qalam (to sharpen a pencil), ﻗﻄﻒ اﻟﺰھﺮةqaTafa al-zahrah (to pick a flower),
and ﺣﺼﺪ اﻟﻨﺒﺎتHaSada al-nabaat (to harvest plants). The following are examples
of collocations associated with cutting parts of the body: ﺟﺪع أﻧﻔﮫjada3a ?anfuh
(to cut one’s nose), ﺣﻠﻢ أذﻧﮫHaluma ?udunah (to cut one’s ear), ﺷﺮم ﺷﻔﺘﮫsarama
suffatah (to cut one’s lip), ﺷﺘﺮ ﺟﻔﻨﮫsatara jifnah (to cut one’s eyelid), and ﺟﺬم ﯾﺪه
Husamaddin also gives examples of the names of places where animals or insects
are found: اﺻﻄﺒﻞ ﺧﯿﻞiSTabl xayl (a horse stable), ﺣﻈﯿﺮة ﻣﺎﺷﯿﺔHaZiyrat maasiyah
(a cattle pen), ﻋﺮﯾﻦ أﺳﺪ3ariyn ?asad (a lion’s den), ﻋﺶ ﻃﯿﺮ3us Tayr (a bird’s
nest), ﺟﺤﺮ ﺿﺐjuHr Dab (a lizard’s hole), and ﺧﻠﯿﺔ ﻧﺤﻞxaliyyat naHl (a beehive).
stones).
meat), ﻛﺘﻠﺔ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺘﻤﺮkutlah min al-tamur (a piece of a date), and ﻧﺴﻔﺔ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺪﻗﯿﻖnasfah
the body: ﺣﺴﺮ ﻋﻦ رأﺳﮫHasara 3an ra?sih (to uncover one’s head), ﺳﻔﺮ ﻣﻦ وﺟﮭﮫ
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Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
safara min wajhih (to uncover one’s face), ﻛﺸﻒ ﻋﻦ ﺳﺎﻗﮫkasafa 3an saaqih (to
uncover one’s leg), ? أﺑﺪى ﻋﻦ ذراﻋﮫabdaa 3an diraa3ih (to uncover one’s arm),
body: ﺧﻔﻘﺎن اﻟﻘﻠﺐxafaqaan al-qalb (the beating of the heart), ? إﺧﺘﻼج اﻟﻌﯿﻦixtilaaj
al-3ayn (the ticking of the eye), and ارﺗﻌﺎش اﻟﯿﺪirti3aas al-yad (the trembling of
the hand).
combination), and, finally, the third according to اﻟﺘﺮﻛﯿﺐ اﻷﺳﻠﻮﺑﻲ ﻟﻠﻤﺘﻼزﻣﺎت اﻟﻠﻔﻈﯿﺔal-
grammatical patterns:
37
Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
oppressive);
7- verb + verb root (verb echoing) , for example, ﻋﻠﻰ ﻋﻠﻮا3alaa 3uluwan (to
rise high);
8- verb + adverb, for example, ﺑﺎت ﺷﺒﻌﺎﻧﺎbaata sab3aanan (to sleep with a full
stomach);
10- verb + relative pronoun + verb, for example, ? أﻋﺬر ﻣﻦ أﻧﺬرa3dara man
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Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
14- negative particle + noun + noun + negative particle + noun, for example,
15- noun + verb, for example, ﺣﻲ ﯾﺮزقHayyun yurzaq (alive and kicking);
16- noun + preposition + noun, for example, اﻟﻜﻤﺎل ﷲal-kamaal li-llah (only
God is perfect);
17- particle (functioning as a verb) + noun, for example, ﻟﯿﺖ ﺷﻌﺮيlayta si3riy
(would God);
18- arbitrary grammatical patterns (oath), for example, واﻟﺬي ﻧﻔﺴﻲ ﺑﯿﺪهwa
language, the last three grammatical patterns (18, 19, and 20), which he suggests
39
Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
(an idea occurred to him), and ﺑﻌﺪ ﺟﮭﺪ ﺟﮭﯿﺪba3da juhdin jahiyd (after a lot
of trouble);
warm reception);
strongly);
footed);
one’s senses);
(sweet-tongued);
(straying sheep);
death);
40
Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
(a lengthy talk);
10- ironical collocations, for example, ﺑﻄﻞ اﻷﺑﻄﺎلbaTal al-?abTaal (the hero
of heroes).
Ghazala does not give a detailed explanation for his different patterns of
collocations in Arabic. For instance, ﺑﻌﺪ ﺟﮭﺪ ﺟﮭﯿﺪba3da juhdin jahiyd (after a lot of
patterns. Ghazala classifies Arabic collocations into five stylistic patterns. These
patterns are:
defeat);
41
Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
5- standard versus colloquial, for example, ﯾﻌﺮف ﻣﻦ أﯾﻦ ﺗﺆﻛﻞ اﻟﻜﺘﻒya3rifu min
three different categories, some of his patterns are unclear. For example, the
pattern that he calls neutral collocations cannot be understood easily within the
combination that he gives. Ghazala does not explain the patterns in further detail.
transparent and some are opaque, for example, ﯾﻌﺮف ﻣﻦ أﯾﻦ ﺗﺆﻛﻞ اﻟﻜﺘﻒya3rifu min
?ayna tu?kalu al-katif (to know how to seize opportunities). In the present
the meaning of the whole expression cannot be deduced from the meaning of the
began/ended).
42
Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
nasabat + al-Harb (the war + broke out). b- verb + object, for example,
damaging + battle).
(vicious + war), and the verb collocates uniquely with a particular noun,
for example, رأﺳﮫ+ اﻃﺮقaTraqa + ra?sah (he bowed + his head), and ﺷﻤﺮ
idioms are opaque, that is, they are used in ‘specialized’ senses, together
forming one single semantic unit. Illustrative examples are calques like:
اﻟﺤﺮب اﻟﺒﺎردةal-Harb albaaridah (the Cold War), and ﺣﺮب اﻟﻨﺠﻮمHarb al-
43
Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
defined as “two (or sometimes more) words appear in each other’s company
because the usage of a particular word (for example, a noun) limits the choice of
an adjective to a small number of adjectives that can combine with this particular
noun”. He gives an example of the English noun crime and states that the first
verb that would come to mind when mentioning it would be either commit or
perpetrate. He then argues that this applies to Arabic as well. With the noun ﺟﺮﯾﻤﺔ
jariymah (crime), the first two verbs that would come to mind are اﻗﺘﺮفiqtarafa
1- Verb + noun, where the noun can act as a subject, for example, ھﺪأ اﻟﻤﻮج
hada?a al-mawju (the waves subsided); an object, for example, ﺿﺮب اﻟﺨﯿﻤﺔ
Daraba al-xaymata (he pitched the tent); or a state ()ﺣﺎل, for example,
اﺳﺘﺸﺎط ﻏﻀﺒﺎistasaaTa gaDaban (he was inflamed with rage). This type of
every single verb in the Arabic language has its own numerous noun
collocates.
44
Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
2- Verb + prepositional noun phrase, where the noun is the indirect object,
work).
3- Verb + prepositional noun phrase, where the phrase acts as an adverb, for
telephone call).
power).
9- Noun + prepositional noun phrase, for example, ﻏﺎﯾﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻷدبgaayah fiy al-
10- Noun + preposition, for example, ﻣﻘﺎرﻧﺔ ﺑـmuqaaranah bi- (in comparison
with).
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Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
condemns).
Hafiz (2002) would benefit foreign language learners of Arabic and translators by
making the structure and word combinations of that language more apparent.
in abundance. Emery (1988a, 1991) states that classical lexicographers, such as,
Al-Thaalibi1 (1986) and Ibn Sidah2 (1996) were keenly aware of the phenomenon.
Another two early lexicographers were Ibn Qutaybah3 (1963) and Al-Iskafi4
dictionaries still cover the same ground as current ordinary dictionaries. These
1
Died in 1008.
2
Died in 1066.
3
Died in 889.
4
Died in 1030.
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Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
(1996). However, there were other earlier, but smaller-scale, efforts of this type,
such as, ?adab al-kaatib (the writer’s literature) by Ibn Qutaybah (1963), fiqh al-
lexicographers as follows:
It is a remarkable fact that, almost from the start, the compilers of Arabic
chief aim was to explain rare and difficult words (Haywood, 1965a:2).
language. They were proud of its many features, for which they revealed a clear
fondness. It may be supposed that this led them to produce such dictionaries of
meaning.
guide for the secretary (Haywood, 1965a). The arrangement of Ibn Qutaybah’s
dictionary of meaning is not in a clearly logical order. However, its logic appears
47
Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
alternative short vowelling, for example, ﺷﻖsaqq (a crack) and ﺷﻖsiqq (half of
something).
words that are roughly synonymous. The dictionary is classified into thirty
constellation, time, night and day. It moves on to clothes, implements, food, drink
and weapons. Then it contains a large section on horses, shorter ones on camels,
lions, and other animals, then birds, agricultural implements, trees, plants, trade
and illnesses. Finally, it includes a few rare words from poetry and their
explanations.
specialized) dictionary by Ibn Sidah (Haywood, 1965a). Ibn Sidah gave precisely
the prior authority for nearly every word and meaning in his dictionary of
meaning. Though Ibn Sidah was blind, he was a very talented poet, lexicographer,
al-muHkam wa al- muHiyT al-?a3Zam (the perfect and the greatest ocean). After
dictionary of meaning (seventeen volumes) for the use of writers and orators. This
48
Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
according to subject headings and was arranged according to the author’s own
logical system. He started with human beings and the things that concerned them,
animals and plants; then man in social life: travel, work and play. The last section
?adab al-kaatib (the writer’s literature) by Ibn Qutaybah (1963), fiqh al-lugah
At the present time, translators and students of Arabic are in need of a dictionary
that provides lexical combinations in the Arabic language; a dictionary that is easy
collocations, according to Hafiz, would help learners and users avoid making
mawqifan (take a stand), and using * ﻣﻮﻗﻒ ﺷﺪﯾﺪmawqifun sadiyd instead of ﻣﻮﻗﻒ
49
Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
The interest in studying and analyzing the Arabic language is growing. This is due
to the recent availability of Arabic corpora (Van Mol, 2000). However, Ditters &
corpora have been compiled, these corpora are raw, which means that the
Van Mol (2000) states that analyzing Arabic corpora is more complex than that of
the corpora of some other languages. He gives three main reasons for this. First,
the Arabic language is very polysemic. New meanings for words are often given
by expanding the old meaning of an existing word to a new meaning. This means
that the external morphology of a word does not change. For example, the word
ﻣﻀﺨﺔmiDaxxah (pump) does not only mean pump but also bicycle pump.
A second reason for Arabic being more difficult to analyze than other languages is
that it is usually not vowelized when written, i.e. written without the short vowel
higher degree of ambiguity in Arabic words than found in other languages such as
English. Words in their raw form in Arabic can belong to different grammatical
categories. For example, the word ﻛﺘﺐhas three meanings in Arabic based on the
vowelization; kataba (he wrote) as a verb in the past tense, kutiba (has been
written) as a verb in the passive voice, and kutub (book) as a plural noun. Another
example that illustrates the same point is given by Hasnah & Evens (2001:5). The
making a noun; 3alam (flag) again making a noun; 3alima (he knew) making a
50
Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
verb in the past tense; and 3allama (he taught) also making a verb in the past
tense. This complicates the search for particular words and word types in an
Arabic corpus. Searching for the word ﻛﺘﺐkataba (he wrote), will not only give
the other words mentioned above but also a lot of other words that have nothing to
do with the appropriate verb sought for. For example, the search for the verb ﻛﺘﺐ
kataba (he wrote) will end up with results including words like ﻣﻜﺘﺐmaktab
A third reason for the difficulty in analyzing Arabic text corpora, and therefore
making the search for words simpler, is that in Arabic a number of prefixes and
suffixes are directly linked to the words. This makes searching by computer even
more difficult. For example, the word ﻓﮭﻢcan have four different meanings:
fahima (he understood): a verb in the past tense; fahhama (he made someone
understand): also a verb in the past tense; fa-hum (and they): a prefix and a
Khoja (2001) designed and trialed a corpus of 50,000 words (based on extracts
from the Saudi Arabian Al-Jazirah daily newspaper archives). She found that
because of the frequent occurrence of prefixes and suffixes in the Arabic language
it was difficult to look up words in the corpus. For example, اﻟـal (the), the
Similarly, the conjunction وwa (and) appears in Arabic attached to a word. This
mistakes that may occur in Arabic text. She gives an example of the placement of
51
Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
the ھﻤﺰةhamzah (glottal stop) on the alif (first letter in the Arabic alphabet).
Sometimes the letter alif requires a hamzah and at other times it does not. Another
example of the same type given by Khoja is the placement of the two dots under
the letter يya (the last letter in the Arabic alphabet), which is regular when that
letter appears at the end of words. Another example that could be added to
Khoja’s is the common mistake of using the letter ھـha (letter 26 in the Arabic
alphabet) instead of ةta marbuwTah at the end of a word and vice versa.
For the reasons above, a conclusion that can be reached is that Arabic text is
difficult to search and analyse in the form of a corpus. When searching for a word
in an Arabic text corpus, in our results we would find many words that are not
related to the word sought for. It would be a waste of time reading sentences in
which the wrong word was found. The development of more accurate software
Arabic today uses collocations that have come from different sources. One of the
source of collocations in the Arabic language used today. This will be followed by
52
Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
Many expressions and phrases that are still used in Modern Standard Arabic today
come from the Quran. Collocations are one of those types of expressions. The
Quran has always been known for its richness of expression, including
collocations. This has continued to influence the use of language until nowadays.
The following examples of collocations are from the Quran and are still used in
53
Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
Borrowed words have always enriched languages and borrowed collocations have
enriched languages even more, especially with concepts that do not exist
originally in those languages or are new to them. An example that illustrates this
point is: اﻟﺤﺮب اﻟﺒﺎردةal-Harb al-baaridah (the Cold War) (Emery, 1991). Arabic
had no equivalent collocation before the outbreak of the Cold War after World
Modern Standard Arabic. Some collocations transferred into the Arabic language
now form a standard part of the native speakers’ language repertoire. Aziz (cited
in Emery, 1988a:54) gives the following two examples: ﻟﻌﺐ دوراla3iba dawran
(to play a role) and ﻏﻄﻰ اﻷﺧﺒﺎرgaTTaa al-?axbaar (to cover the news). He
suggests that these examples are now commonly found in journalistic style and
In the same way, Blau (1981b:60) states that widespread loan translations from
European languages have not only become part of the Modern Standard Arabic
into Arabic. This journalistic style in return has influenced users of the language,
Blau (1981b) then gives a great number of examples of words and phrases that
54
Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
examples can be found collocations in different genres, such as: ﺗﯿﺎر اﻟﻮﻋﻲtayyaaru
al-SamT (silence obtained), ﻗﺘﻞ اﻟﻮﻗﺖqatala al-waqt (to kill time), ﺣﺮب أﻋﺼﺎب
Harbu ?a3Saab (war of nerves), ﯾﻮم ﺳﺎﺧﻦyawmun saaxin (a hurtful day), ﺗﺤﯿﺔ ﺣﺎرة
(general level), رﻓﻊ اﻟﻤﺴﺘﻮىrafa3a al-mustawaa (to raise the level), دان ﻟﮫ ﺑﺸﻜﺮ
daana lahu bi-sukrin (he owed him thanks), اﻟﻨﻘﺎط اﻟﮭﺎﻣﺔal-niqaaTu al-haammah
saa3atu al-Sifr (zero hour), وﺟﮭﺔ ﻧﻈﺮwujhatu naZar (point of view), ﻋﺎﻟﻢ اﻟﻤﺎل
55
Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
(middle class layers), ﺣﺮب ﻃﺒﻘﺎتHarbu Tabaqaat (social class war), ﺻﺮاع ﻃﺒﻘﺎت
market), ﺳﻮق ﺳﻮداء suwqun sawdaa? (a black market), ﺣﺠﺮة اﺳﺘﻘﺒﺎل Hujratu
bi-nafsih (to sacrifice one’s self), ﻛﺮّس وﻗﺘﺎkarrasa waqtan (to devote time), اﻟﺘﻔﺮﻗﺔ
(to measure the temperature), اﻟﺠﻨﺲ اﻟﻠﻄﯿﻒal-jinsu al-laTiyf (the fair sex), ﺷﺎﻋﺮ ﻻﻣﻊ
saa3irun laami3 (a brilliant poet), ﺷﻜﺮ ﻗﻠﺒﻲsukrun qalbiyun (hearty thanks), اﻟﺤﯿﺎد
56
Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
take measures), اﺗﺨﺬ ﻗﺮارا ittaxada qaraaran (to make a resolution), أﺧﺬ ﺟﺪﯾﺎ
?axada jiddiyyan (to take seriously), ﺗﺒﻨﻰ ﻣﺸﺮوﻋﺎtabanna masru3an (to adopt a
plan), ﺗﺄﻣﯿﻦ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺤﯿﺎة ta?miyn 3ala al-Hayaat (life insurance), ﺗﺼﺮﯾﺢ رﺳﻤﻲ
taSriyhun rasmiy (an official declaration), ﻣﺼﺪر رﺳﻤﻲ maSdarun rasmiy (an
flourished), ﺟﺮح ﺷﻌﻮرjaraHa su3uwr (to hurt someone’s feelings), ﻛﺮة اﻟﻘﺪمkuratu
3.6 Conclusion
This study reveals that there has not been much research into the area of Arabic
in the Arabic language. This study suggests that freely combined collocations in
Arabic do not deserve much attention because they do not pose much difficulty
57
Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
meaning.
The inspiration for the efforts made by Arabic linguists came from the need to
produce reference material that language learners and translators would find of
produce Arabic collocations that would sound natural and native-like when read
by a native speaker.
The last section in this chapter discusses some of the sources of collocations in
Modern Standard Arabic. It states that the Arabic language used today includes
collocations that are derived from different sources, including the Quran and
borrowed collocations.
The next chapter, Chapter Four, will discuss the translation of collocations.
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Chapter Four: Collocations and Translation
4.1 Introduction
words. Collocation is one type of relationship between words that tells us the
words that are likely to co-occur with certain other words in a language. The
language. Collocations play a vital role in the coherence and cohesion of texts
(Hatim & Mason, 1997; Al-Zahrani, 1998). They are present in all text types. On
find it difficult to match the appropriate verbs with the appropriate nouns, the
appropriate adjectives with the appropriate nouns, the appropriate nouns with the
appropriate nouns, and so on and so forth. What creates this problem is that
59
Chapter Four: Collocations and Translation
area in translation are those by Newmark (1988), Emery (1988a; 1988b), Baker
(1992), Smadja (1993), Dollerup (1994), Beekman and Callow (1974), Hatim and
verbs and verbs with nouns, and, in the second instance, collocating
“nerves” of a text: “If grammar is the bones of a text, collocations are the
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Chapter Four: Collocations and Translation
nerves, more subtle and multiple and specific in denoting meaning, and lexis is
Hatim and Mason (1990) also argue that one of the major problems that a
language. They note that “there is always a danger that, even for experienced
an unnatural collocation will flaw the target text” (Hatim & Mason, 1990:204).
There is evidence that even native speakers have difficulty with collocations in
formal written contexts (Benson, 1985; Baltova, 1994; Aghbar, 1990; Hussein,
1990; Chukwu, 1997), because they are not predictable on the basis of syntactic or
semantic rules.
Some linguists feel that it is advisable to see that ‘collocation rules are faithfully
collocation should not be automatically transferred from the source language into
the target language. Barnwell (1980) suggests that transferring the source
be necessary when there is no other way to transfer the original collocation into
the target language, especially with concepts that do not exist or are new to the
target language. An example given by Izwaini (2000:28) that illustrates this point
is: the Cold War translated into Arabic by the calque اﻟﺤﺮب اﻟﺒﺎردةal-Harb al-
baaridah (the Cold War). Before the outbreak of the Cold War after World War
Baker (1992:49) argues that the patterns of collocation are largely arbitrary and
English collocations into Arabic. In English, the verb deliver collocates with a
number of nouns, each of which is translated into a different verb in Arabic. The
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Chapter Four: Collocations and Translation
Baker (1992) notes that Arabic focuses on the woman in the process of childbirth,
whereas English prefers to focus on the baby. She then explains that it would be
are not just a matter of using a different verb that collocates with a given noun.
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Chapter Four: Collocations and Translation
The differences are rather involved in the different ways of describing an event.
differently into Arabic depending on the noun with which it collocates. See Table
4.2 below.
Heliel (1990:35) then gives an example of the adjective ﺟﺎفjaaf (dry) in Arabic
and the way it is translated into English using different adjectives depending on
64
Chapter Four: Collocations and Translation
Giving the examples above, Heliel argues that collocations are problematic in
when they translate from English into Arabic and vice versa. Free combinations
The detailed examples given above show that words that collocate with several
other words are quite problematic for translators. The biggest problem for
translators would be to know the proper equivalent in the target language, which
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Chapter Four: Collocations and Translation
Adjective plus noun, 2- Noun plus noun, and 3- Verb plus object. These are the
This study investigates the translation, from English into Arabic, of two of the
types of collocations suggested by Newmark, verb plus object and adjective plus
noun.
As for noun plus noun collocations, Ghazala (1995) argues that this type of
grammatical structures. He notes that noun plus noun collocations in English can
1- noun plus adjective, e.g., state university is translated into Arabic by ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺔ
ﺣﻜﻮﻣﯿﺔjaami3ah Hukuumiyyah.
2- noun plus noun (genitive constructions), e.g., gas cylinder is translated into
This type of collocation is less problematic than the other two types suggested by
translation (Ghazala, 1995). It is other words such as verbs and adjectives that
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Ghazala (1993b) suggests that English verb plus object collocations are usually
collocations are usually easily translated into Arabic and others less so. The ones
that are usually easy to translate are the ones that have identical equivalents in the
target language of Arabic. For instance, the following examples in Table 4.4:
(Ghazala, 1993b)
The examples presented in Table 4.4 illustrate how easy it could be to translate
English verb plus object collocations into Arabic on a one-to-one basis. In the first
example, the verb attend is translated into Arabic by the equivalent verb ﺣﻀﺮ
HaDara, which literally means attend. The verb exert, in the second example,
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Chapter Four: Collocations and Translation
is translated into the equivalent verb ﺑﺬلbadala in Arabic, which literally means
exert. In the third example, the verb win is translated into Arabic by the equivalent
However, it is not always that easy to translate English verb plus object
collocations into Arabic. English verb plus object collocations may be translated
translation of the verb into English. The examples in Table 4.5 below illustrate
this point:
Table 4. 5 Examples of English collocations that do not have identical equivalents in Arabic
(Ghazala, 1993b)
In the examples above, the three English verb plus object collocations are
in all three examples in English were not translated literally into Arabic. In the
first example, the verb pass is transferred or literally translated into Arabic by the
verb ﻣﺮر marrara (to pass), nevertheless, this verb in Arabic does
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Chapter Four: Collocations and Translation
not collocate with the noun ﻗﺎﻧﻮنqaanuwn (a law). Therefore, the verb ّ ﺳﻦsanna
to pass a law. Similarly, the verb run in the second example is literally translated
into Arabic by the verb ﺟﺮىjaraa (to run), but it does not collocate with the
the verb ? أدارadaara (literally: to rotate). The same applies to the third example.
The verb teach, in the collocation to teach a lesson, is literally translated into
Arabic by the verb ﻋﻠّﻢ3allama, however, it does not collocate with the noun درس
dars (a lesson) in this sense. Therefore, the verb ﻟﻘّﻦlaqqana (literally: to dictate)
It is not always the case that English verb plus object collocations are translated
plus object collocations can be translated into two other grammatical structures.
An English verb plus object can be translated into Arabic by verb plus preposition
plus noun or just by a verb. These cases, according to Ghazala, (1993b; 1995), are
only exceptions. He gives the following example of the collocation to pay a visit
in English:
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Chapter Four: Collocations and Translation
Table 4. 6 Examples of English verb + object collocations translated into Arabic (Ghazala,
1993b; 1995)
The collocation to pay a visit in English can either be translated into Arabic by the
using the verb زارzaara (to visit) in place of the collocation. This is very similar
one can think of many other examples of verb plus object collocations in English
that can be translated into Arabic by the use of a single verb. For example:
oneself)
oneself)
intiative)
Table 4. 7 Examples of English verb + object collocations translated into a verb in Arabic
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Chapter Four: Collocations and Translation
The above examples show very clearly that it is not necessarily a rule that a
target language. In all four examples, the collocations in English can be expressed
English verb plus object collocations can be easy to translate into Arabic in some
the translator does not know the appropriate verb that collocates with the noun in
Arabic.
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Chapter Four: Collocations and Translation
adjective)
(Ghazala, 1995)
adjective that has the same meaning. Thus, the adjective smashing in English is
translated into ﻗﺎﺻﯿﺔqaaSiyah (straying), and the adjective black is translated into
ﺳﻮداءsawdaa? (black). These examples suggest that some English adjective plus
noun collocations are not problematic in translation because they have identical
equivalents in Arabic.
However, there are other English adjective plus noun collocations that cannot be
the adjective in English adjective plus noun collocations is not translated literally
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Chapter Four: Collocations and Translation
(noun + adjective)
happy day)
hot reception)
(Ghazala, 1995)
The adjectives, in the above three examples of English adjective plus noun
collocations, are not translated literally into Arabic. The adjective good is
translated into Arabic by the adjective ﺳﻌﯿﺪsa3iyd (happy) which literally means
happy in English; the adjective warm is translated into ﺣﺎرHaar (hot) which
literally means hot in English; and the adjective great is translated into ﻏﺎﻣﺮة
Another way to translate English adjective plus noun collocations into Arabic, not
Arabic, adjectives usually follow nouns they modify, however, they could also
precede nouns they modify. According to Al-Rajihi (1988:382), the adjective that
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Chapter Four: Collocations and Translation
noun) in English could be translated into Arabic by either the collocation ﺧﯿﺎل واﺳﻊ
English adjective plus noun collocations that have identical equivalents in Arabic
Collocation plays an important role in translation. Yet, there has been little
empirical research into the way collocations are dealt with in translation. Not
of this study, the key piece of research examining the competence of student
component in the lexicon of natural language. They note that translators and/or
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Chapter Four: Collocations and Translation
Jordan. The purpose of the study was to answer the following three research
questions:
overcome the influence of the time factor and fill in semantic gaps
The study was based on the interpreting and translation of an Arabic newspaper
newspaper article from Arabic into English. After four months, the same
participants were provided with the same text, but this time, to translate it into
English instead of simultaneously interpreting it. Shakir and Farghal argue that
because of the long period intervening between the interpreting session and the
translation session, most of the respondents did not realize that they had
interpreted the same text previously. The respondents were not allowed to
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use dictionaries in the translation session. The authors’ rationale for this research
procedure was to compel the respondents to rely on their memories in the process
native language was Arabic and the target language was English.
Shakir and Farghal selected twenty-four collocations in the editorial and noted the
collocations into English when interpreting and translating the same text, as well
The results of the study showed that the performance of the respondents differed
translation tests, according to the authors, was due to the following two reasons:
is usually short and the student interpreter has to perform more than
inevitably provide lexical items that may not do the intended job
noted that the experiment was conducted during the first half of the
Shakir and Farghal argue that the respondents resorted to the same cognitive
were used by the respondents in both the simultaneous interpreting and translation
Reduction
This strategy applies to cases where the respondents provide either an incomplete
deletion, and message abandonment. Table 4.10 and Table 4.11 below give the
details for the frequency with which each of these sub-strategies were used in the
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Chapter Four: Collocations and Translation
Generalization 8.7%
Deletion 11.6%
Generalization 9.2%
Deletion 4.3%
Table 4. 11 Responses provided via reduction strategies in translation (Shakir and Farghal’s
study, 1992)
Shakir and Farghal, the strategy of generalization was a persistent strategy in the
play a decisive role in the process of searching for target equivalents. This
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Chapter Four: Collocations and Translation
The strategy of deletion, on the other hand, refers to cases where one or more
elements of the target collocation were deleted. This was due to the failure of the
Message abandonment was resorted to in only a few cases. The respondents used
this strategy when they either failed to grasp the semantic unit in question or when
they failed to provide any of its constituent elements. This strategy was not
Synonymy
One major strategy respondents resorted to in the interpreting and translation tests
was the use of synonymy. This is the use of lexical items that are synonymous
with others in the target language. It scored a frequency of 18% in the interpreting
test and 18.2% in the translating test. Shakir and Farghal note that the deviant
collocates were the modifying elements in almost all cases in interpreting and
translation. Nouns, on the other hand, were rendered appropriately into the target
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Chapter Four: Collocations and Translation
Compensation
and the translation tests. These examples illustrate the way the meaning was
did not meet the anticipation of the L2 recipients of the discourse: military
Paraphrasing
The respondents seemed to have tried to avoid the strategy of paraphrasing in both
the interpreting and translation tests. Only 4.3% of the collocations were rendered
using this strategy in the translation test and 10.32% in the interpreting test. The
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Chapter Four: Collocations and Translation
settling all disputes in the Middle East/solving all problems and issues in the area
to ban trading with Iraq/to use force to stop economic relations with Iraq
to hinder by force the implementation of such plans/to stop Iraq from carrying out
Transferring/calquing
The reliance of the respondents on the strategy of calquing was minimal. The
Shakir and Farghal’s conclusion has one major implication, which is that student
language (in their case, English) for a translation to sound smooth and natural. In
order to achieve this, the authors suggest, the relevant translation study program
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Chapter Four: Collocations and Translation
student interpreters;
type of text with which they are dealing. Opaque collocations can
The trainer can take the role of the interviewee, while the second
trainee acts the role of the press reporter. The rest of the trainees
will be the audience and their job includes noting the weaknesses
1992:242).
postgraduate students of interpreting and translation only and did not test
translation test from Arabic into English in one particular text type, which is
journalistic.
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4.5 Conclusion
As was shown in this and in previous chapters, this study arises from the fact that
there has not been much previous research that has investigated the translation of
English collocations into Arabic. By using an empirical study, it is hoped that new
insights into the strategies of translating English collocations into Arabic will be
achieved.
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Chapter five: An Overview of the Professional Translation Environment in Australia
5.1 Introduction
This is followed by an overview of Australia’s multicultural policy and the need for
English-Arabic translation. The chapter will also look into translator accreditation
and translator training in Australia, as this study arises from an Australian setting and
onward helped to shape a new Australia (Softic, 1998:9), making Australia a country
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Chapter five: An Overview of the Professional Translation Environment in Australia
and Indigenous and Multicultural Affairs is responsible for the funding of migrant
More than 5.3 million migrants have settled in Australia since 1945 (Softic, 1998:30).
The number ranges from 50,000 to 180,000 a year. This large scale of immigration
from non-English-speaking countries started soon after the end World War II (Di
Biase, 1988:27; Collins, 1988). There was a need for workers and an increased
population to develop the country. Australia’s immigration policy has three main
The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated in June 2001 that twenty-three percent
Both State and Federal Governments in Australia are committed to ensuring that
government services are available to all Australians. One barrier that might exist
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Chapter five: An Overview of the Professional Translation Environment in Australia
is the language barrier. This barrier can possibly be overcome with a policy that
Australia’s multicultural policy took shape in the 1970s (Campbell, 1998:23), after
clear effects on society by the early 1980s (Trinh, 2001: 32). The policy encourages
migrants to maintain their cultures and languages, as distinct from the earlier
The National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia (Department of the Prime Minister
and Cabinet, Office of Multicultural Affairs, 1989) established the right of all
Australians, within carefully defined limits, to express and share their cultural
heritage, including their language and religion (Kipp et al, 1995:2; Campbell,
1998:23).
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Chapter five: An Overview of the Professional Translation Environment in Australia
number of languages taught in primary and secondary schools, and a large number of
languages examined at Year 12 of high school (as many as 38 in some States) (Kipp
et al, 1995:1).
Statistics, 2001 Census Count). In addition, more than one hundred languages other
than English are spoken in Australia today, apart from the one hundred and fifty
Aboriginal languages that are still in use (Kipp et al, 1995:1). Therefore, a significant
Kipp et al (1995:40) note that Arabic is one of the languages used extensively at
residents (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2001 Census). Six percent of this number
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Chapter five: An Overview of the Professional Translation Environment in Australia
Ginori (1982) notes that, according to a report entitled Participation by the Australian
Ethnic Affairs Commission of New South Wales (1978), Australia had a need for
qualified interpreters and translators (see also Hale, 2004:20-25). Ginori (1982:1)
Ginori (1982) lists some of the needs that make the role of translation important in
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Chapter five: An Overview of the Professional Translation Environment in Australia
etc.
different areas, such as settlement issues, health, law, housing, transport, welfare and
friends, relatives and other untrained people to bridge the English language barrier
had language services agencies by the end of the 1970s (Campbell, 1998; Hale,
2004:16).
The National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters Ltd. (NAATI)
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Chapter five: An Overview of the Professional Translation Environment in Australia
established in 1977.
In Australia, NAATI is considered the only authority with the power to provide
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Chapter five: An Overview of the Professional Translation Environment in Australia
accreditation may be obtained either through sitting for and passing a NAATI test
system includes four levels at which interpreters and translators may be accredited.
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Chapter five: An Overview of the Professional Translation Environment in Australia
interpreting and translating across a wide range of subjects involving dialogue and
translation in special areas. Translators are qualified to translate into one language
only or into both languages, depending on their accreditation to translate from or into
English.
translating. Advanced translators are qualified to translate into one language only or
for them to translate from their second or third language into their first language.
as ‘level five’):
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Chapter five: An Overview of the Professional Translation Environment in Australia
This accreditation represents the senior level of conference interpreters and advanced
Since its commencement, NAATI has tested translators and interpreters in a number
taking into consideration the comments made by NAATI examiners on tests held
since the beginning of NAATI testing accreditation in 1979. These reviews have
resulted in substantial changes to the format of the tests. This is to achieve the fairest
and most accurate means of assessment of the standards of competence and skills
appropriate to each translation or interpreting level and category being tested. The
pass mark for all NAATI tests is 70%, except for the Advanced Translator test and
the Conference Interpreter test for which the pass mark is 80% (NAATI, 2002:20).
The translation tests for the Para-professional Translator Level consist of two
passages of 120-140 words each, one of which is selected and translated from English
(45 marks); then another two passages of the same length are provided and one is
selected to be translated into English (45 marks); and, finally, three questions are
provided on ethical issues, two of which are to be answered by the candidate (10
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Chapter five: An Overview of the Professional Translation Environment in Australia
marks). The duration for both directions, from and into English, is 120 minutes plus
ten minutes reading time. As for the Professional Translator Level, candidates choose
two of three passages of approximately 250 words to translate either from or into
English (45 + 45= 90 marks), depending on the direction for which they seek
accreditation, and three questions on ethical issues, two of which are to be answered
by the candidate (10 marks). The allocated time for this test is two-and-a-half hours
plus twenty minutes reading time. As for the Advanced Translator Level, the
candidate will be required to translate three texts of 400 words each. The time
allocated for this level is eight hours in order to produce their three translations.
permitted.
1- Diploma of Interpreting
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and/or translation:
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Chapter five: An Overview of the Professional Translation Environment in Australia
and Translation.
Of the above courses at the University of Western Sydney, only the Bachelor of Arts
degree in Interpreting and Translation and the Graduate Diploma in Interpreting and
Translation are approved by NAATI. That makes the University of Western Sydney
and translation (Hale, 2004:26). These are not the only institutions that provide
information has only been provided on those courses offered for Arabic translation
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Chapter five: An Overview of the Professional Translation Environment in Australia
5.6 Conclusion
policy. The third section discusses the need for English-Arabic translation. The last
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Chapter Six: Research Methodology
6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
6.1 Introduction
The three main purposes of this study are to point out the characteristics of
translating English verb + object and adjective + noun collocations into Arabic.
This Chapter discusses the research design, the setting of the study, the
The general questions addressed in this study are concerned with the knowledge
group of monolingual native speakers in Saudi Arabia was used to elicit such a
data set by way of a specially designed questionnaire. The questionnaire was also
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Chapter Six: Research Methodology
English collocations into Arabic was also constructed and administered to the
The main issues of the study could be summarized in nine research questions.
the three groups involved in the study. Questions 4 and 5 focus on the
Questions 6-9 focus on the translation of English collocations into Arabic. The
1- What is the difference between the control group’s knowledge and the
2- What is the difference between the control group’s knowledge and the
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Chapter Six: Research Methodology
4- What are the semantic characteristics of Arabic verb + object and noun +
5- What are the semantic and distributional patterns into which Arabic verb +
8- What are the most common outcomes in the translations of the English
verb + object and adjective + noun collocations into Arabic?, and how
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Chapter Six: Research Methodology
The research undertaken for this thesis consisted of four parts. Part one: a
translators’ group. Part three: the same translation test of English collocations into
Arabic given to a student translators’ group. Part four: the same questionnaire of
Arabic collocations given to the same professional translators’ group and the same
Group)
This part of the study was conducted at the College of Arabic Language and
University has a reputation as one of the best and larger universities in Saudi
Arabia. It attracts students from all over the country and from other Arab
College of Islamic Law and Education in 1949 with only three departments: the
Department of Judiciary. This was the first College in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia.
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Chapter Six: Research Methodology
institutes and even new campuses have been opened. It now consists of five
campuses: three in Makkah and two in Taif, with a total of ten Colleges. One of
1989.
The aim of this part of the study was to recruit a control group of postgraduate
other language mediation activities, and who do not speak English fluently. This
general background such as, age, sex, degree, occupation, and translation
experience.
The students from Umm Al-Qura University were expected to be from different
regions of the country, in addition to international students from other Arab states,
The questionnaire of Arabic collocations given to the control group was used to
judge the frequency of usage and restrictedness of some verb + object and noun +
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postgraduate students (PhD and MA) at the College of Arabic Language and
these respondents were male students (90.5%) and two were female students
(9.5%). The low number of female respondents was due to the researcher being
granted access to the men’s campus only (being a male himself), while he only
(71.4%). Eight were school teachers (38%) and seven were university lecturers
(33.3%). One of the respondents was a journalist (4.7%), another respondent was
a librarian (4.7%), and the remaining four respondents were full-time continuing
students in Arabic language studies (19%). Ten of the respondents were Ph.D.
students (47.6%) and eleven were M.A. students (52.4%). Eight of them were
All respondents were native speakers of Arabic and their knowledge of English
was either fair (19%), poor (38.1%) or very poor (42.9%). None of them was
fluent or proficient in English. None of the respondents had ever translated from
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6.3.2 Part two: The Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic
(Professional Translators’ Group)
Before the translation test, the professional translators were asked to fill out a one-
page demographic questionnaire (see Appendix C). The test comprised one
hundred relatively short English sentences to be translated into Arabic. The test
was used to find out how frequent and, therefore, how serious were some of the
into Arabic. The test results were also used to observe the translation outcomes
and ten were males (62.5%). Their ages ranged from thirty to seventy-three years.
Arts (50%) and five a diploma (31.25%). Twelve (75%) of the professional
translators held their degrees in translation and four (25%) in other fields of study.
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NAATI (93.75%) and one had a level two accreditation (6.25%). Most of the
respondents’ native language was Arabic (87.5%), one spoke Chaldean as his
native language (6.25%), and another spoke Greek as her native language
(6.25%). Six respondents spoke Arabic at home (37.5%), two respondents spoke
English at home (12.5%), six spoke Arabic and English (37.5%), one spoke
Chaldean (6.25%), and one spoke Arabic, English and French at home (6.25%).
6.3.3 Part three: The Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic
(Student Translators’ Group)
The same Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic that was given to
the Professional Translators’ Group also was given to the postgraduate English-
Collocations into Arabic. The aims of the test were: to pinpoint problems in
translating English verb+ object and adjective + noun collocations into Arabic and
compare the strategies used in translating English collocations into Arabic by the
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Chapter Six: Research Methodology
(Student Translators’ Group) were eight postgraduate students from the Graduate
females (50%) and four were males (50%). Their ages ranged from twenty four to
fifty seven years. Four of the respondents were enrolled in the Graduate Diploma
in interpreting and translation (50%), while the rest were enrolled in the Masters
of Arts in translation and linguistics (50%). Most students spoke Arabic as their
first language (87.5%), except one student who mentioned that she spoke both
English and Arabic equally as her first languages (12.5%). Seven of the
respondents spoke Arabic at home (87.5%). One spoke both Arabic and English at
home (12.5%).
Group (Part one) was also given to the Professional Translators’ Group (Part two)
and the Student Translators’ Group (Part three) after the Translation Test of
English Collocations into Arabic was administered to them. The aim of this part
was to confirm the Arabic Control Group’s knowledge of some Arabic verb +
object and noun + adjective collocations. That is, the aim was to see to what
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Chapter Six: Research Methodology
questions and hypotheses that have been set up for this research project. Because
competence and performance data. This section discusses the two instruments
used for the collection of the data, as well as the pilot studies used to evaluate the
instruments.
6.4.1 Instruments
The data collection instruments were designed with the research questions and
hypotheses presented earlier in mind. The instruments used to collect the data of
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Chapter Six: Research Methodology
The questionnaire presented here was designed partly along the lines followed by
Shei (2000; 2002). The questionnaire designed for this study differed from Shei’s
speakers’ group.
The aim of this Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations was to judge the frequency
The questionnaire consisted of one hundred items. Each item consisted of a noun
in a stem sentence with four verb or adjective alternatives (four verbs for the first
fifty items and four adjectives for the second fifty items). There was a total of four
hundred Arabic collocations in the questionnaire (see Appendix B). Part one of
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Chapter Six: Research Methodology
alternative verbs in a table for each noun in a stem sentence), and part two
In the first part of the questionnaire, the respondents were given sentences with
the verbs missing, while the adjectives were missing in the second part. For each
item, the respondents were provided with four alternatives (four verbs in part one
and four adjectives in part two). They were asked to rank all four alternatives
according to the frequency of their collocability with the noun in the stem (see
Table 6.1). That is, they were asked to determine how often, in their opinion, did
each verb or adjective in the tables collocate with the noun in each sentence. The
Item example: stem sentence with noun, missing verb (1st fifty items) or
adjective (2nd fifty items).
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Chapter Six: Research Methodology
The respondents were asked to choose how often they thought each alternative
collocated with the noun in the sentence. They were asked to indicate the
frequency level. They were also given a blank space (e) to suggest a verb (1st fifty
items) or an adjective (2nd fifty items), if they thought that there was one that
would also possibly collocate with the noun in each stem and give the same
meaning as the four alternatives when collocated with the noun in the sentence.
They were also asked to rank the alternative they suggested on the scale of
frequency (see Table 6.1). It was believed that this test would avoid some of the
four alternatives, as well as the chance to suggest a fifth alternative whenever they
The main objective of the test was to establish the expert usage of some Arabic
collocations obtained from the control group, therefore, the researcher had to go
through two steps in designing it. The first step was to gather the collocations. The
major source for this step was Arabic monolingual dictionaries, including, but not
limited to, ﻟﺴﺎن اﻟﻌﺮب ﻻﺑﻦ ﻣﻨﻈﻮرlisaan al-3arab by Ibn Mazuur, ﻣﺨﺘﺎر اﻟﺼﺤﺎح
The second step was selecting the alternatives for each item. This was the most
challenging part in constructing the questionnaire. In this step, synonymy was the
main criterion for selecting the alternatives, therefore, synonyms were most used.
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Chapter Six: Research Methodology
Another major source was Arabic dictionaries of meaning, such as, ﻓﻘﮫ اﻟﻠﻐﺔ ﻟﻠﺜﻌﺎﻟﺒﻲ
fiqhu al-lugah by Al-Thaalibi (1981), ? أدب اﻟﻜﺎﺗﺐ ﻻﺑﻦ ﻗﺘﯿﺒﺔadab al-kaatib by Ibn
Thesauri of Arabic synonyms, such as, ﻛﺘﺎب ﻧﺠﻌﺔ اﻟﺮاﺋﺪ وﺷﺮﻋﺔ اﻟﻮارد ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﺘﺮادف
by Al-Munjid (1997), and اﻟﻤﻌﺠﻢ اﻟﻤﻔﮭﺮس ﻷﻟﻔﺎظ اﻟﻘﺮآن اﻟﻜﺮﯾﻢ ﻟﻌﺒﺪاﻟﺒﺎﻗﻲal-mu3jam al-
were also very helpful in giving suggestions for alternatives (see Pilot Studies
section below).
In designing the Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic for the
present study, the researcher used the Collins COBUILD English Collocations on
CD-ROM. This was the first test to be designed and Arabic equivalents of these
mentioned in the previous section. The test consisted of one hundred relatively
short English sentences. The first fifty sentences contained verb + object
collocations and the other fifty contained adjective + noun collocations. Each
sentence contained one collocation (see Appendix E). This test was given to two
The respondents were asked to translate the one hundred English sentences into
Arabic. The aims of this test were to locate the problems that professional
translators and student translators face when translating English verb + object and
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Chapter Six: Research Methodology
adjective + noun collocations into Arabic and to determine the strategies adopted
by both in translating those two types of English lexical collocations into Arabic.
Before collecting the data, the Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations was piloted
twice: to ensure reliability, to assess the familiarity level of the test items, and to
determine the approximate time it would take the respondents to answer the
complete the pilot study questionnaire. The first version was given to an Arabic
Arts in Arabic Linguistics and taught Arabic for ten years. He was a native
After revising the pilot questionnaire with this respondent, the researcher
conducted another pilot. The second version of the questionnaire was given to
another Arabic teacher also working in the same school. He held a Bachelor of
Arts in Arabic Linguistics and was a native speaker of Arabic. He taught Arabic
The responses obtained from the two pilot studies were carefully reviewed. It was
noted, from the responses given, that some collocations were unfamiliar to Arabic
native speakers. For example, both participants suggested the removal of the verb
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The questionnaire was also discussed with one of the Arabic lecturers at the
The Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic was piloted twice to
determine the approximate time it would take the respondents to translate the one
hundred English sentences into Arabic. The test was given to a professional
Both suggested that some sentences were a bit long and should be changed. Those
sentences that were long were replaced by other shorter sentences from the same
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Makkah, Saudi Arabia in September 2002. The researcher contacted the Dean of
the College of Arabic Language and Literature and obtained approval to conduct
the study. The researcher travelled to Saudi Arabia and met with Head of the
Graduate Studies in the College, as well as meeting some of the faculty members
and discussing the study with them in detail, and the necessary steps to be taken to
conduct the research. The researcher visited all postgraduate classes in the College
at the men’s campus for approximately fifteen minutes each and introduced
translation and linguistics. In each classroom, the researcher wrote on the board
the title of the study with some examples of Arabic collocations to ensure that the
students understood the task. After explaining the intended study to all the
students, the researcher asked for their voluntary participation, assuring them that
confidentiality would be maintained. However, the researcher could not visit the
and signed. For the sake of confidentiality, the students were given code numbers
in lieu of their names. Furthermore, they were told that the information collected
would be safely stored at the University of Western Sydney and only the
researcher would be permitted to use it. When they decided to participate in the
study, students were asked to bring the questionnaires to the Graduate Studies
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Chapter Six: Research Methodology
Translators’ Group):
The Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic was given first to
NAATI directory. He then sent them a written invitation asking them whether
they would be prepared to participate in the study. The Information Sheet (see
Appendix C) explained the intended research and what they were to do. Along
with the invitation, they were sent the actual test so that they could see the kind of
participation in which they would be involved. They were also sent a Consent
Form to fill out and sign. For the sake of confidentiality, the respondents were
given code numbers. Furthermore, the respondents were told that the information
collected would be safely stored at the University of Western Sydney and used
only by the researcher. A postage-paid return envelope was included with the test.
The researcher asked the translators to return the blank form to him if they had
decided not to participate. That is, it would indicate the approximate number of
translators who actually received the invitation. After two months, the researcher
sent a reminder to those who had not replied to the initial invitation.
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Chapter Six: Research Methodology
Translators’ Group):
The same Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic given to the
Arts (Translation and Linguistics) programs. The researcher contacted the Head of
the School and obtained permission to conduct this study. The researcher then met
with one of the English-Arabic translation lecturers to fix a date to visit one of
their classes. Later, the researcher visited the class for approximately fifteen
minutes and explained to the students the intended study. After explaining to the
students the tasks they would be required to perform, the researcher asked them
whether they wanted to participate in the study, assuring them that confidentiality
would be maintained. Each student was then given an Information Sheet (see
Appendix C) and a Consent Form to sign and bring back to the researcher along
Group):
After receiving the Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic from the
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Chapter Six: Research Methodology
Collocations, the second part of this study. The second part was sent to them
separately after they completed the Translation Test of English Collocations into
Arabic, because they were not supposed to see the Arabic equivalents of the
English collocations in the translation test. They were also sent postage-paid
return envelopes.
Before giving the student translators the Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations, the
researcher waited for them to return the Translation Test of English Collocations
into Arabic. After they returned the tests to the researcher, they were visited again
in their classroom and had the second part explained to them. They were then
given the Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations and were asked to return them to
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
7.1 Introduction
This chapter has three major sections. The first section presents the results of the
questionnaire of Arabic collocations given to all three groups involved in the study:
the Arabic Control Group, the Professional Translators’ Group, and the Student
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
among the three groups involved in the study. It will also determine the range of
The second section of this chapter attempts to answer the fourth research question of
What are the characteristics of Arabic verb + object and noun + adjective
collocations?
The aim of this section is to point out what characteristics a collocation has according
chapter.
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
Finally, the third section of this chapter discusses the semantic and distributional
What are the semantic and distributional patterns into which Arabic verb +
The aim here is to classify collocations into different semantic and distributional
patterns according to the results of the study. The collocations are categorized into
five semantic and distributional patterns. The classification is made according to the
study. The semantic and distributional patterns that Arabic verb + object and noun +
adjective collocations fall into are: strong collocations, acceptable collocations, weak
This section presents the results of the questionnaire of Arabic collocations given to
the three groups involved in the study. The results of the Arabic examples of verb +
object and noun + adjective collocations have been classified into three categories
depending on the number of clear preferences among the four alternatives. A clear
preference of a strong collocation was when the respondents gave the alternative of
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
‘always’ collocating with the head noun in the sentence a frequency of 80 percent or
more. The analysis was made by running the data through a frequency test using the
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. This method of classification
was carried out in order to observe the different categories that the examples of
collocations fell into according to the three different groups in the study. The three
1- No strong collocation: Where there was no clear preference of a verb (1st fifty
examples) or an adjective (2nd fifty examples) collocating with the head noun
in the sentence.
2- One strong collocation: Where there was one clear preference of a verb (1st
fifty examples) or an adjective (2nd fifty examples) collocating with the head
3- Two strong collocations: Where there were two clear preferences of verbs (1st
fifty examples) or adjectives (2nd fifty examples) collocating with the head
range of decisiveness across the three groups involved in the study, as the main
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
concern of this section, and probably most research in this linguistic area, is
According to the Arabic Control Group, seven (14%) of the fifty examples of verb +
object collocations in the first part of the questionnaire appeared to have no clear
preference, thirty nine (78%) had one clear preference and four (8%) had two clear
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
123
Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
c) ?ansa?a d) ?aDrama
19-….. Tariyqan c) 3abbada (95.2%)
a) banaa b) ?ansa?a
c) 3abbada d) sayyada
20-….. hadafan b) Haqqaqa (95.2%)
a) ?aHraza b) Haqqaqa
c) ?anjaza d) balaga
21-….. natiyjatan X
a) naala b) ?aHraza
c) iktasaba d) ?anjaza
22-….. gayZan b) kaZama (100%)
a) kabata b) kaZama
c) katama d) qama3a
23-….. qiSSatan a) qaSSa (81%)
a) qaSSa b) ?ansada
c) rawaa d) Hakaa
24-…..liHyatan c) ?aTlaqa (90.5%)
a) waffara b) ?asdala
c) ?aTlaqa d) Tawwala
25-…..waqtan a) ?aDaa3a (81%)
a) ?aDaa3a b) ?ahdara b) ?ahdara (85.7%)
c) Sarafa d) xasira
26-…..Taaqatan b) ?ahdara (95.2%)
a) xasira b) ?ahdara
c) Sarafa d) ?aDaa3a
27-..... ijtimaa3an c) 3aqada (100%)
a) rattaba b) sakkala
c) 3aqada d) ?ajraa
28-….. muw?tamaran c) 3aqada (90.5%)
a) rattaba b) sakkala
c) 3aqada d) ?ajraa
29-...... xidmatan c) ?asdaa (81%)
a) 3amila b) ?a3Taa
c) ?asdaa d) qaddama
30-….. Harban a) sanna (100%)
a) sanna b) ?as3ala
c) sa33ara d) ?aHdata
31-….. xilaafan X
a) ?aSlaHa b) fakka
c) sawwaa d) faDDa
32-…..Hadaran c) tawaxxaa (90.5%)
a) ?axada b) maarasa
c) tawaxxaa d) raafaqa
33-….. qaraaran X
a) ?axada b) ittaxada
c) 3amila d) ?anjaza
34-…..mas?uwliyatan d) taHammala (100%)
a) ?axada b) ra3aa
c) HafiZa d) taHammala
35-…..furSatan a) igtanama (85.7%)
a) igtanama b) intahaza b) intahaza (100%)
c) istagalla d) ihtaballa
36-…..Daw?an c) sallaTa (100%)
a) ?anzala b) rakkaza
c) sallaTa d) ?alqaa
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
In the second part of the questionnaire, eight (16%) of the fifty examples of noun +
adjective collocations appeared to have no clear preference for the Arabic Control
Group, forty-one (82%) had one clear preference and one (2%) had two clear
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
126
Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
c) muTgiy d) 3aZiym
19- Harbun...... a) Daruws (95.2%)
a) Daruws b) 3aniyfah
c) TaHinah d) sarisah
20- naSrun….. b) mu?azzar (85.7%)
a) 3aZiym b) mu?azzar
c) saaHiq d) mubiyn
21-3awaaqibun….. a) waxiymah (95.2%)
a) waxiymah b) xaTiyrah
c) sayyi?ah d) muqiytah
22-3uTlatun….. c) rasmiyyah (85.7%)
a) 3aammah b) Hukuwmiyyah
c) rasmiyyah d)3umuwmiyyah
23- riyaaHun...... X
a) 3aaSifah b) 3aatiyah
c) SarSar d) hawjaa?
24- jaysun….. d) jiraar (90.5%)
a) 3aramram b) kabiyr
c) Daxm d) jarraar
25- saylun….. c) 3arim (85.7%)
a) haa?ij b) gaziyr
c) 3arim d) haddaar
26- Haajatun..... a) maassah (100%)
a) maassah b) muliHHah
c) Harijah d) sadiydah
27- najaaHun….. d) baahir (90.5%)
a) marmuwq b) saaHiq
c) baliyg d) baahir
28- fasalun….. a) dariy3 (100%)
a) dariy3 b) kabiyr
c) muHadiq d) 3aZiym
29- ragbatun……
a) muliHHah b) jaamiHah X
c) 3aarimah d) sadiydah
30- jabalun…… b) saahiq (90.5%)
a) ?asam b) saahiq
c) 3aaliy d) saamix
31- hawaa?un….. c) Talq (95.2%)
a) xaarijiy b) Hur
c) Talq d) maksuwf
32- daliylun….. d) qaaTi3 (95.2%)
a) bayyin b) saaTi3
c) qawiy d) qaaTi3
33- diqqatun..... b) mutanaahiyah (90.5%)
a) kabiyrah b) mutanaahiyah
c) quSwaa d) baaligah
34- nismatun….. a) 3aliylah (100%)
a) 3aliylah b) laTiyfah
c) xafiyfah d) raxaa?
35- xabarun….. c) saar (90.5%)
a) maymuun b) sa3iid
c) saar d) mufriH
36- saayun….. d) taqiyl (100%)
a) mu3attaq b) murakkaz
c) mukattaf d) taqiyl
37-?awaamirun….. b) Saarimah (90.5%)
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
a) sadiydah b) Saarimah
c) SariyHah d) baaligah
38- taklufatun..... a) baahiZah (100%)
a) baahiZah b) 3aaliyah
c) gaaliyah d) faaHisah
39- xidmatun..... X
a) sadiydah b) saamiyah
c) nabiylah d) jaliylah
40-3uquwbatun…... b) raadi3ah (100%)
a) zaajirah b) raadi3ah
c) munakkilah d) maani3ah
41-3aduwun….. c) laduwd (95.2%)
a) mubiyn b) sadiyd
c) laduwd d) ?atiym
42-?a3daarun….. a) waahiyah (100%)
a) waahiyah b) muxtalaqah
c) 3ankabuwtiyah d)3urquwbiyyah
43-Dararun….. d) jasiym (95.2%)
a) faadiH b)baalig
c) xaTiyr d) jasiym
44-3aaSifatun….. X
a) 3aatiyah b) qawiyyah
c) hawjaa? d) sadiydah
45- fikratun…..
a) nayyirah b) sadiydah X
c) jayyidah d) 3aZiymah
46-3ilaajun..... b) naaji3 (90.5%)
a) saafiy b) naaji3
c) mufiyd d) mutmir
47- ma3rakatun….. b) TaaHinah (90.5%)
a) 3aniyfah b) TaaHinah
c) Daruws d) jabbaarah
48- HaZZun….. a) sa3iyd (95.2%)
a) sa3iyd b) waafir
c) jayyid d) 3aZiym
49- Hiqdun….. c) dafiyn (100%)
a) qadiym b) 3atiyq
c) dafiyn d) mutagalgil
50- biHaarun….. X
a) sadiydah b) 3aniyfah
c) haa?ijah d) taa?irah
Table 7. 2 Noun + adjective Arabic collocations’ results: Arabic Control Group (n=21)
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
The results of the Professional Translators’ Group showed that twelve (24%) of the
fifty examples of verb + object collocations in the first part of the questionnaire
appeared to have no clear preference, thirty eight (76%) had one clear preference and
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
c) ?ansa?a d) ?aDrama
19-….. Tariyqan X
a) banaa b) ?ansa?a
c) 3abbada d) sayyada
20-….. hadafan X
a) ?aHraza b) Haqqaqa
c) ?anjaza d) balaga
21-….. natiyjatan X
a) naala b) ?aHraza
c) iktasaba d) ?anjaza
22-….. gayZan b) kaZama (81.3%)
a) kabata b) kaZama
c) katama d) qama3a
23-….. qiSSatan X
a) qaSSa b) ?ansada
c) rawaa d) Hakaa
24-…..liHyatan c) ?aTlaqa (93.8%)
a) waffara b) ?asdala
c) ?aTlaqa d) Tawwala
25-…..waqtan X
a) ?aDaa3a b) ?ahdara
c) Sarafa d) xasira
26-…..Taaqatan b) ?ahdara (93.8%)
a) xasira b) ?ahdara
c) Sarafa d) ?aDaa3a
27-..... ijtimaa3an c) 3aqada (93.8%)
a) rattaba b) sakkala
c) 3aqada d) ?ajraa
28-….. muw?tamaran c) 3aqada (87.5%)
a) rattaba b) sakkala
c) 3aqada d) ?ajraa
29-...... xidmatan c) ?asdaa (81.3%)
a) 3amila b) ?a3Taa
c) ?asdaa d) qaddama
30-….. Harban a) sanna (81.3%)
a) sanna b) ?as3ala
c) sa33ara d) ?aHdata
31-….. xilaafan X
a) ?aSlaHa b) fakka
c) sawwaa d) faDDa
32-…..Hadaran c) tawaxxaa (100%)
a) ?axada b) maarasa
c) tawaxxaa d) raafaqa
33-….. qaraaran b) ittaxada (100%)
a) ?axada b) ittaxada
c) 3amila d) ?anjaza
34-…..mas?uwliyatan d) taHammala (100%)
a) ?axada b) ra3aa
c) HafiZa d) taHammala
35-…..furSatan b) intahaza (81.3%)
a) igtanama b) intahaza
c) istagalla d) ihtaballa
36-…..Daw?an c) sallaTa (100%)
a) ?anzala b) rakkaza
c) sallaTa d) ?alqaa
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
As for the second part of the questionnaire, thirteen (26%) of the fifty examples of
noun + adjective collocations appeared to have no clear preference, thirty six (72%)
had one clear preference and one (2%) had two clear preferences (see Table 7.4).
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
c) muTgiy d) 3aZiym
19- Harbun...... a) Daruws (81.3%)
a) Daruws b) 3aniyfah c) TaHinah (81.3%)
c) TaHinah d) sarisah
20- naSrun….. c) saaHiq (87.5%)
a) 3aZiym b) mu?azzar
c) saaHiq d) mubiyn
21-3awaaqibun….. a) waxiimah (100%)
a) waxiymah b) xaTiyrah
c) sayyi?ah d) muqiytah
22-3uTlatun….. c) rasmiyyah (93.8%)
a) 3aammah b) Hukuwmiyyah
c) rasmiyyah d)3umuwmiyyah
23- riyaaHun...... X
a) 3aaSifah b) 3aatiyah
c) SarSar d) hawjaa?
24- jaysun….. X
a) 3aramram b) kabiyr
c) Daxm d) jarraar
25- saylun….. X
a) haa?ij b) gaziyr
c) 3arim d) haddaar
26- Haajatun..... a) maassah (87.5%)
a) maassah b) muliHHah
c) Harijah d) sadiydah
27- najaaHun….. d) baahir (81.3%)
a) marmuwq b) saaHiq
c) baliyg d) baahir
28- fasalun….. a) dariy3 (100%)
a) dariy3 b) kabiyr
c) muHadiq d) 3aZiym
29- ragbatun……
a) muliHHah b) jaamiHah X
c) 3aarimah d) sadiydah
30- jabalun…… b) saahiq (87.5%)
a) ?asam b) saahiq
c) 3aaliy d) saamix
31- hawaa?un….. c) Talq (100%)
a) xaarijiy b) Hur
c) Talq d) maksuwf
32- daliylun….. d) qaaTi3 (100%)
a) bayyin b) saaTi3
c) qawiy d) qaaTi3
33- diqqatun..... b) mutanaahiyah (100%)
a) kabiyrah b) mutanaahiyah
c) quSwaa d) baaligah
34- nismatun….. a) 3aliylah (93.8%)
a) 3aliylah b) laTiyfah
c) xafiyfah d) raxaa?
35- xabarun….. c) saar (87.5%)
a) maymuwn b) sa3iyd
c) saar d) mufriH
36- saayun….. X
a) mu3attaq b) murakkaz
c) mukattaf d) taqiyl
37-?awaamirun….. b) Saarimah (100%)
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
a) sadiydah b) Saarimah
c) SariyHah d) baaligah
38- taklufatun..... a) baahiZah (100%)
a) baahiZah b) 3aaliyah
c) gaaliyah d) faaHisah
39- xidmatun..... X
a) sadiydah b) saamiyah
c) nabiylah d) jaliylah
40-3uquwbatun…... b) raadi3ah (93.8%)
a) zaajyrah b) raadi3ah
c) munakkilah d) maani3ah
41-3aduwun….. c) laduwd (100%)
a) mubiyn b) sadiyd
c) laduwd d) ?atiym
42-?a3daarun….. a) waahiyah (100%)
a) waahiyah b) muxtalaqah
c) 3ankabuutiyah d)3urquubiyyah
43-Dararun….. d) jasiym (87.5%)
a) faadiH b)baalig
c) xaTiyr d) jasiym
44-3aaSifatun….. X
a) 3aatiyah b) qawiyyah
c) hawjaa? d) sadiidah
45- fikratun…..
a) nayyirah b) sadiydah X
c) jayyidah d) 3aZiymah
46-3ilaajun..... X
a) saafiy b) naaji3
c) mufiyd d) mutmir
47- ma3rakatun….. b) TaaHinah (81.3%)
a) 3aniyfah b) TaaHinah
c) Daruws d) jabbaarah
48- HaZZun….. a) sa3iyd (100%)
a) sa3iyd b) waafir
c) jayyid d) 3aZiym
49- Hiqdun….. c) dafiyn (100%)
a) qadiym b) 3atiyq
c) dafiyn d) mutagalgil
50- biHaarun….. c) haa?ijah (87.5%)
a) sadiydah b) 3aniyfah
c) haa?ijah d) taa?irah
Table 7. 4 Noun + adjective Arabic collocations’ results: Professional Translators’ Group (n=16)
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
According to the Student Translators’ Group, twenty seven (54%) of the fifty
examples of verb + object collocations in the first part of the questionnaire appeared
to have no clear preference, twenty three (46%) had one clear preference and none
136
Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
137
Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
c) ?ansa?a d) ?aDrama
19-….. Tariyqan X
a) banaa b) ?ansa?a
c) 3abbada d) sayyada
20-….. hadafan X
a) ?aHraza b) Haqqaqa
c) ?anjaza d) balaga
21-….. natiyjatan X
a) naala b) ?aHraza
c) iktasaba d) ?anjaza
22-….. gayZan X
a) kabata b) kaZama
c) katama d) qama3a
23-….. qiSSatan X
a) qaSSa b) ?ansada
c) rawaa d) Hakaa
24-…..liHyah c) ?aTlaqa (87.5%)
a) waffara b) ?asdala
c) ?aTlaqa d) Tawwala
25-…..waqtan X
a) ?aDaa3a b) ?ahdara
c) Sarafa d) xasira
26-…..Taaqatan b) ?ahdara (87.5%)
a) xasira b) ?ahdara
c) Sarafa d) ?aDaa3a
27-..... ijtimaa3an c) 3aqada (87.5%)
a) rattaba b) sakkala
c) 3aqada d) ?ajraa
28-….. muw?tamaran X
a) rattaba b) sakkala
c) 3aqada d) ?ajraa
29-...... xidmatan X
a) 3amila b) ?a3Taa
c) ?asdaa d) qaddama
30-….. Harban a) sanna (87.5%)
a) sanna b) ?as3ala
c) sa33ara d) ?aHdata
31-….. xilaafan X
a) ?aSlaHa b) fakka
c) sawwaa d) faDDa
32-…..Hadaran X
a) ?axada b) maarasa
c) tawaxxaa d) raafaqa
33-….. qaraaran b) ittaxada (100%)
a) ?axada b) ittaxada
c) 3amila d) ?anjaza
34-…..mas?uwliyatan d) taHammala (100%)
a) ?axada b) ra3aa
c) HafiZa d) taHammala
35-…..furSatan X
a) igtanama b) intahaza
c) istagalla d) ihtaballa
36-…..Daw?an X
a) ?anzala b) rakkaza
c) sallaTa d) ?alqaa
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
37-….. ?ijraa?an X
a) Saaga b) 3amila
c) ittaxada d) qaddama
38-….. manSiban X
a) sagila b) iHtalla
c) tabawwa?a d) balaga
39-….. Dararan X
a) sabbaba b) kawwana
c) sakkala d) ?alHaqa
40-….. xitaaban c) ?alqaa (87.5%)
a) ?a3Taa b) naqala
c) ?alqaa d) qaddama
41-…… ittiSaalan d) ?ajraa (87.5%)
a) 3amila b) ?addaa
c) qaddama d) ?ajraa
42-….. tajribatan a) ?ajraa (87.5%)
a) ?ajraa b) qaddama
c) ?addaa d) 3amila
43-….. qaanuwnan X
a) sanna b) waDa3a
c) sara3a d) ?aqaama
44-….. sarikatan d) ?adaara (87.5%)
a) qaada b) tara?asa
c) Hakama d) ?adaara
45-..... darsan X
a) 3allama b) fahhama
c) laqqana d) ?a3Taa
46-….. tiqatan X
a) naala b) kasiba
c) Haaza d) rabiHa
47-….. intiSaaran X
a) Haqqaqa b) ?anjaza
c) 3amila d) ?aHraza
48-….. intibaahan X
a) ?a3Taa b) qaddama
c) ?a3ara d) ?abdaa
49-….. hadafan d) Haddada (87.5%)
a) waDDaHa b) bayyana
c) qarrara d) Haddada
50-….. wa3yan a) faqada (87.5%)
a) faqada b) gaaba
c) zaala d) ixtafaa
Table 7. 5 Verb + object Arabic collocations’ results: Student Translators’ Group (n=8)
Twenty-nine (58%) of the fifty examples in the second part of the questionnaire of
had one clear preference and none (0%) had two clear preferences (see Table 7.6).
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
c) muTgiy d) 3aZiym
19- Harbun...... X
a) Daruws b) 3aniyfah
c) TaHinah d) sarisah
20- naSrun….. X
a) 3aZiym b) mu?azzar
c) saaHiq d) mubiyn
21-3awaaqibun….. a) waxiymah (87.5%)
a) waxiymah b) xaTiyrah
c) sayyi?ah d) muqiytah
22-3uTlatun….. c) rasmiyyah (87.5%)
a) 3aammah b) Hukuwmiyyah
c) rasmiyyah d)3umuwmiyyah
23- riyaaHun...... X
a) 3aaSifah b) 3aatiyah
c) SarSar d) hawjaa?
24- jaysun….. X
a) 3aramram b) kabiyr
c) Daxm d) jarraar
25- saylun….. X
a) haa?ij b) gaziyr
c) 3arim d) haddaar
26- Haajatun..... a) maassah (100%)
a) maassah b) muliHHah
c) Harijah d) sadiydah
27- najaaHun….. d) baahir (100%)
a) marmuwq b) saaHiq
c) baliyg d) baahir
28- fasalun….. a) dariy3 (87.5%)
a) dariy3 b) kabiyr
c) muHadiq d) 3aZiym
29- ragbatun…… X
a) muliHHah b) jaamiHah
c) 3aarimah d) sadiydah
30- jabalun…… X
a) ?asam b) saahiq
c) 3aaliy d) saamix
31- hawaa?un….. c) Talq (100%)
a) xaarijiy b) Hur
c) Talq d) maksuwf
32- daliylun….. X
a) bayyin b) saaTi3
c) qawiy d) qaaTi3
33- diqqatun..... b) mutanaahiyah (87.5%)
a) kabiyrah b) mutanaahiyah
c) quSwaa d) baaligah
34- nismatun….. a) 3aliylah (87.5%)
a) 3aliylah b) laTiyfah
c) xafiyfah d) raxaa?
35- xabarun….. X
a) maymuwn b) sa3iyd
c) saar d) mufriH
36- saayun….. X
a) mu3attaq b) murakkaz
c) mukattaf d) taqiyl
37-?awaamirun….. b) Saarimah (100%)
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a) sadiydah b) Saarimah
c) SariyHah d) baaligah
38- taklufatun..... a) baahiZah (87.5%)
a) baahiZah b) 3aaliyah
c) gaaliyah d) faaHisah
39- xidmatun..... X
a) sadiydah b) saamiyah
c) nabiylah d) jaliylah
40-3uquwbatun…... X
a) zaajirah b) raadi3ah
c) munakkilah d) maani3ah
41-3aduwun….. c) laduwd (100%)
a) mubiyn b) sadiyd
c) laduwd d) ?atiym
42-?a3daarun….. a) waahiyah (87.5%)
a) waahiyah b) muxtalaqah
c) 3ankabuwtiyah d)3urquwbiyyah
43-Dararun….. X
a) faadiH b)baalig
c) xaTiyr d) jasiym
44-3aaSifatun….. X
a) 3aatiyah b) qawiyyah
c) hawjaa? d) sadiydah
45- fikratun….. X
a) nayyirah b) sadiydah
c) jayyidah d) 3aZiymah
46-3ilaajun..... X
a) saafiy b) naajy3
c) mufiyd d) mutmir
47- ma3rakatun….. X
a) 3aniyfah b) TaaHinah
c) Daruws d) jabbaarah
48- HaZZun….. a) sa3iyd (87.5%)
a) sa3iyd b) waafir
c) jayyid d) 3aZiym
49- Hiqdun….. X
a) qadiym b) 3atiyq
c) dafiin d) mutagalgil
50- biHaarun….. c) haa?ijah (100%)
a) sadiydah b) 3aniyfah
c) haa?ijah d) taa?irah
Table 7. 6 Noun + adjective Arabic collocations’ results: Student Translators’ Group (n=8)
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This section distinguishes between the three groups involved in the study in terms of
what they strongly accepted as a collocation in the Arabic language. The main
concern of this study, and probably most research conducted in this area, is
collocations of high frequency, strong collocations. That is, those collocations that
are chosen by each of the three different groups in this study as ‘always’ collocating.
This section concentrates on strong collocations by looking at the results of the three
this study, that is, one that the respondents chose as ‘always’ collocating, has a
collocation frequency of 80 per cent or more. The two tables below summarize the
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c) kasafa d) ?afsaa
9-..... ittifaaqiyyah b) ?abrama (90.5%) b) ?abrama (87.5%) a) 3aqada (87.5%)
a) 3aqada b) ?abrama
c) ?ajraa d) 3amila
10-….. dumuw3an a) darafa (95.2%) a) darafa (100%) a) darafa (87.5%)
a) darafa b) sakaba
c) ?awqa3a d) ?anzala
11-….. xaTa?an b) iqtarafa (85.7%) X X
a) qaddama b) iqtarafa d) Irtakaba (85.7%)
c) 3amila d) Irtakaba
12-….. jariymatan a) Irtakaba (85.7%) a) Irtakaba (87.5%) a) Irtakaba (87.5%)
a) Irtakaba b) 3amila
c) iqtarafa d) qaddama
13-….. juhdan b) badala (100%) b) badala (100%) X
a) 3amila b) badala
c) qaddama d) ?addaa
14-….qaanuwnan d) xaalafa (100%) d) xaalafa (100%) d) xaalafa (100%)
a) kasara b) naaqaDa
c) tajaawaza d) xaalafa
15-…..?ataran c) iqtafaa (95.2%) c) iqtafaa (93.8%) X
a) ta3aqqaba b) tabi3a
c) iqtafaa d) Taarada
16-….. matalan b) Daraba (100%) b) Daraba (93.8%) X
a) ?a3Taa b) Daraba
c) qaddama d) ?alqaa
17-..... ma3rakatan a) xaaDa (100%) a) xaaDa (93.8%) a) xaaDa (87.5%)
a) xaaDa b) Haaraba
c) qaatala d) gazaa
18-….. Hariyqan b) ?as3ala (85.7%) X X
a) ?awqada b) ?as3ala
c) ?ansa?a d) ?aDrama
19-….. Tariyqan c) 3abbada (95.2%) X X
a) banaa b) ?ansa?a
c) 3abbada d) sayyada
20-….. hadafan b) Haqqaqa (95.2%) X X
a) ?aHraza b) Haqqaqa
c) ?anjaza d) balaga
21-….. natiyjatan X X X
a) naala b) ?aHraza
c) iktasaba d) ?anjaza
22-….. gayZan b) kaZama (100%) b) kaZama (81.3%)
a) kabata b) kaZama
c) katama d) qama3a
23-….. qiSSatan a) qaSSa (81%) X X
a) qaSSa b) ?ansada
c) rawaa d) Hakaa
24-…..liHyatan c) ?aTlaqa (90.5%) c) ?aTlaqa (93.8%) c) ?aTlaqa (87.5%)
a) waffara b) ?asdala
c) ?aTlaqa d) Tawwala
25-…..waqtan a) ?aDaa3a (81%) X X
a) ?aDaa3a b) ?ahdara b) ?ahdara (85.7%)
c) Sarafa d) xasira
26-…..Taaqatan b) ?ahdara (95.2%) b) ?ahdara (93.8%) b) ?ahdara (87.5%)
a) xasira b) ?ahdara
c) Sarafa d) ?aDaa3a
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
a) 3allama b) fahhama
c) laqqana d) ?a3Taa
46-….. tiqatan X X X
a) naala b) kasiba
c) Haaza d) rabiHa
47-….. intiSaaran d) ?aHraza (81%) d) ?aHraza (81.3%) X
a) Haqqaqa b) ?anjaza
c) 3amila d) ?aHraza
48-….. intibaahan X X X
a) ?a3Taa b) qaddama
c) ?a3ara d) ?abdaa
49-….. hadafan d) Haddada (100%) d) Haddada (100%) d) Haddada (87.5%)
a) waDDaHa b) bayyana
c) qarrara d) Haddada
50-….. wa3yan X a) faqada (100%) a) faqada (87.5%)
a) faqada b) gaaba
c) zaala d) ixtafaa
Table 7. 7 Results of the questionnaire of Arabic collocations (part one: verb + object
collocations)
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a) kabiyr b) faaHis
c) muTgiy d) 3aZiym
19- Harbun...... a) Daruws (95.2%) a) Daruws (81.3%) X
a) Daruws b) 3aniyfah c) TaHinah (81.3%)
c) TaHinah d) sarisah
20- naSrun….. b) mu?azzar (85.7%) c) saaHiq (87.5%) X
a) 3aZiym b) mu?azzar
c) saaHiq d) mubiyn
21-3awaaqibun….. a) waxiymah (95.2%) a) waxiimah (100%) a) waxiymah (87.5%)
a) waxiymah b) xaTiyrah
c) sayyi?ah d) muqiytah
22-3uTlatun….. c) rasmiyyah (85.7%) c) rasmiyyah (93.8%) c) rasmiyyah (87.5%)
a) 3aammah b) Hukuwmiyyah
c) rasmiyyah d)3umuwmiyyah
23- riyaaHun...... X X X
a) 3aaSifah b) 3aatiyah
c) SarSar d) hawjaa?
24- jaysun….. d) jiraar (90.5%) X X
a) 3aramram b) kabiyr
c) Daxm d) jarraar
25- saylun….. c) 3arim (85.7%) X X
a) haa?ij b) gaziyr
c) 3arim d) haddaar
26- Haajatun..... a) maassah (100%) a) maassah (87.5%) a) maassah (100%)
a) maassah b) muliHHah
c) Harijah d) sadiydah
27- najaaHun….. d) baahir (90.5%) d) baahir (81.3%) d) baahir (100%)
a) marmuwq b) saaHiq
c) baliyg d) baahir
28- fasalun….. a) dariy3 (100%) a) dariy3 (100%) a) dariy3 (87.5%)
a) dariy3 b) kabiyr
c) muHadiq d) 3aZiym
29- ragbatun…… X X
a) muliHHah b) jaamiHah X
c) 3aarimah d) sadiydah
30- jabalun…… b) saahiq (90.5%) b) saahiq (87.5%) X
a) ?asam b) saahiq
c) 3aaliy d) saamix
31- hawaa?un….. c) Talq (95.2%) c) Talq (100%) c) Talq (100%)
a) xaarijiy b) Hur
c) Talq d) maksuwf
32- daliylun….. d) qaaTi3 (95.2%) d) qaaTi3 (100%) X
a) bayyin b) saaTi3
c) qawiy d) qaaTi3
33- diqqatun..... b) mutanaahiyah(90.5%) b) mutanaahiyah (100%) b) mutanaahiyah (87.5%)
a) kabiyrah b) mutanaahiyah
c) quSwaa d) baaligah
34- nismatun….. a) 3aliylah (100%) a) 3aliylah (93.8%) a) 3aliylah (87.5%)
a) 3aliylah b) laTiyfah
c) xafiyfah d) raxaa?
35- xabarun….. c) saar (90.5%) c) saar (87.5%) X
a) maymuun b) sa3iid
c) saar d) mufriH
36- saayun….. d) taqiyl (100%) X X
a) mu3attaq b) murakkaz
c) mukattaf d) taqiyl
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
The results of the questionnaiare of Arabic collocations, as shown in the two previous
tables, obviously show that there was a significant difference in the level of
decisiveness and, therefore, knowledge of Arabic verb + object and noun + adjective
collocations between the three groups involved in the study. The greatest significant
difference was found between the Arabic Control Group and the Student Translators’
Group, followed by the difference between the Professional Translators’ Group and
the Student Translators’ Group, and, finally, the difference between the Arabic
Control Group and the Professional Translators’ Group. The following two tables
summarize the results of the three different groups in terms of their decisiveness.
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The Arabic Control Group was more decisive than the Professional Translators’
Group and much more decisive than the Student Translators’ Group. In the first part
of the questionnaire, the verb + object collocations, they were decisive in forty-three
examples of fifty (86%), and only indecisive in the remaining seven examples (14%).
As for the second part of the questionnaire, the noun + adjective collocations, the
Arabic Control Group were decisive in forty-two examples of fifty (84%), and only
The Professional Translators’ Group was less decisive than the Arabic Control
Group, but much more decisive than the Student Translators’ Group. In the first part
of the questionnaire, the verb + object collocations, they were decisive in thirty-eight
examples of fifty (76%) and indecisive in the other twelve examples (24%).
As for part two of the questionnaire, the noun + adjective collocations, the
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The Student Translators’ Group was considered indecisive. They were much less
decisive than both the Arabic Control Group and the Professional Translators’ Group.
In addition, they were indecisive in the majority of examples in both parts of the
questionnaire. In the first part of the questionnaire, the verb + object collocations,
they were decisive in only twenty-three examples of fifty (46%) and indecisive in the
As for the second part of the questionnaire, the noun + adjective collocations, the
Student Translators’ Group were decisive in only twenty-one examples of fifty (42%)
7.2.4.4 Discussion
The results of the questionnaire of Arabic collocations show the range of decisiveness
among the three different groups involved in this study. The Arabic Control Group,
as expected, was the most decisive group; the Professional Translators’ Group was
less decisive; and, finally, the Student Translators’ Group was indecisive.
A question that follows from this finding is, “why should there be such differences
between the three groups involved in this study?” All professional and student
equally fluent in both languages, English and Arabic, not to mention that (87.5%) of
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the professional translators and (100%) of the student translators were native speakers
of Arabic. Yet their abilities in making collocation judgments still fell behind those of
the Arabic Control Group. The professional translators were more decisive than the
student translators, however, there was still a difference between their collocational
knowledge and those of the Arabic Control Group. Even when disregarding their
Group and the Student Translators’ Group were still not on the same scale as the
There are many possible reasons to explain the differences between the Arabic
Control Group and the two other groups. The following reasons may, at least, partly
account for these differences. For example, the Arabic Control Group respondents
may have been quite confident in selecting their preferences. One definite reason
would be that all the respondents were native speakers of Arabic and were
necessarily the case with the other two groups. Besides this, all the respondents in the
Arabic Control Group did not speak English fluently nor did they speak any other
language. They also knew, from the information sheet, that the researcher was using
them as a control group for the study and that the results from the two other groups
would be compared against theirs, which may have given them more confidence in
filling out the questionnaire. The respondents of the Professional Translators’ Group
were less decisive, probably because of the influence of the English collocations that
were given to them in the translation test prior to the questionnaire of Arabic
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collocations. The same could apply to the respondents of the Student Translators’
Group, only that the student translators were indecisive. The differences between the
Arabic Control Group and the two other groups could be the result of the latter
learning words in isolation. Another possible reason might be that some professional
and student translators were not aware of the phenomenon of collocation at all.
As for the difference between professional and student translators, there may be many
other possible reasons to account for this. The Professional Translators’ Group may
have studied Arabic longer than the Student Translators’ Group (which was a factor
the questionnaire did not consider). It might be that the professional translators, as
full-time practitioners, were more exposed to Arabic texts than the student translators.
Arabic (or in any other language), the more likely they are to know it and, therefore,
produce it appropriately.
Finally, it may be assumed that the professional and student translators’ knowledge of
Arabic verb + object and noun + adjective collocations may not have been reflected
between those two groups and the Arabic Control Group could have been due to
factors such as the questionnaire’s complexity and the test conditions. The impact of
educational and language exposure variation between the groups, as well as the
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
investigation beyond the scope of this thesis to ascertain their relative weight and
would appear to have relatively little effect on the respondents’ specific knowledge-
The conclusion that can be drawn, therefore, is that the Arabic Control Group’s
knowledge of Arabic verb + object and noun + adjective collocations is better than
the Professional Translators’ Group and much better than the Student Translators’
Group. This conclusion becomes even more significant when we consider that
collocations are not taught explicitly in translation schools, which probably suggests
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
Collocation was defined in the introductory chapter as the tendency of certain words
in a language to combine with one another, as against others that do not have this
tendency, and the meaning of which can be deduced from at least one of the
Arabic verb + object and noun + adjective collocations. In this section, this author
distinguishes collocations from other multi-word expressions that may have a similar
grammatical structure but that are of dissimilar semantic types such as idiomatic
expressions.
The following are the most significant thirteen characteristics identified by this author
These characteristics are now presented and explained in more detail below.
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one word only, otherwise it would not be considered a collocation. This applies even
collocation is restrictedly used with only one other word. For example, عقدم رقف
uniquely collocates with the noun رقفfaqr (poverty), the adjective cannot just be
used separately and called a collocation. Both the noun and adjective have to be used.
collocation can clearly be deduced from at least one of its constituent parts. At least
one of the words in a collocation should be used in its literal, non-figurative sense. If
collocation. Thus, the meaning of the whole collocation can be clearly understood
For example, ادهع عطقqaTa3a 3ahdan (He made a pact.) (literally: He cut a pact.).
Although the word عطقqaTa3a (to cut) is used figuratively, the meaning of the
expression can still be predicted from the other component of the collocation, دهع
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
7.3.3 Arbitrariness
A collocation is said to be arbitrary (Benson et al., 1986). That is, the words are
reason why word X would collocate with word Y. Take for example the noun +
adjective collocation ديعس ظحHaZZun sa3iyd (good luck). The noun ظحHaZZ
(luck) in Arabic arbitrarily collocates with the adjective ديعسsa3iyd (happy), which
literally means happy. There is no reason why it should collocate with this particular
word and not with another. It could be asked why it would not collocate with the
adjective ديجjayyid (good), which means good, as in English. This question cannot
7.3.4 Unpredictability
al, 1986). Collocations are not predictable on the basis of syntactic or semantic rules.
because written Arabic differs from spoken in terms of collocation. In spoken Arabic,
speakers tend to use generic or neutral verbs such as, لعف fa3ala (to do), لمع
3amila (to make), or ـب ماقqaama bi (to perform), and generic or neutral adjectives
such as, ريبك kabiyr (big), or ريثكkatiyr (plenty). These generic or neutral
words are interesting, because these verbs or adjectives could be used with almost
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
any noun in Arabic. These generic or neutral verbs and adjectives are characterised
generally by their high frequency and universality of meaning. The more educated the
speaker is the more they would be able to predict collocations and the less educated
the less able to predict. Thus, the more the speaker is exposed to Modern Standard
Arabic through reading and listening the more they would be able to predict and,
Another factor in unpredictability arises from the speaker being multilingual or even
bilingual. If a person speaks another language(s) they may not be able easily to
predict collocations. There could be the possibility of language interference from the
other language(s).
7.3.5 Language-specificity
What collocates with a word in one language does not necessarily collocate with the
same word in another language. In other words, a collocation in one language may be
totally different in another. For example, in English the noun news collocates with the
adjective good, however, the same noun in Arabic, ? رابخأaxbaar (news), collocates
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
order. One can possibly change the order of words in a collocation. The following
examples 2.a and 2.b. In Arabic, one could say ةيكز ةحئارraa?iHatun zakiyyah (a
good smell), a noun + adjective collocation. One could also say زﻛﻲ اﻟﺮاﺋﺤﺔzakiyyi al-
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
been generally argued in semantics that true or real synonymy does not exist in
language and that no two words have exactly the same meaning (Zughoul, 1991:48;
Nilsen & Nilsen, 1975:154-5). Palmer (1981) states that it is unlikely that two
different words with exactly the same meaning would both survive in a language. In
some respects, there is a difference in meaning between synonyms. Nilsen and Nilsen
(1975) state that this difference in meaning between synonyms may be a difference in
collocation.
unacceptable collocation. Take for instance the collocation افيس لتسا istalla
sayfan (he drew a sword). Although the verbs لتساistalla (to draw) and رجjarra
(to draw) are synonyms, the latter cannot substitute for the former.
7.3.8 Formality
Most, but not all, collocations are formal in usage. In idiomatically extended
where all the components of a collocation are not used in their literal sense, the
collocation can be substituted by formal words to express the same meaning. That is
substituted by other better words in order to express the same meaning. The
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
idiomatically extended collocation ذرف دﻣﻮﻋﺎdarafa dumuw3an (he shed tears), for
example, can be used in its literal non-idiomatic sense and be called a collocation,
and can also be used in a non-literal idiomatic sense meaning to show sadness.
One can possibly change the tense of a verb in a collocation. For example, أطخ فرتقا
iqtarafa xaTa?an (he made a mistake) in the past tense is a collocation, and فرتقي
أطخyaqtarifu xaTa?an (he makes a mistake) in the present tense is also definitely a
collocation. Changing the tense of a verb in a collocation will not change other
features of collocability.
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The formation of the passive voice in a collocation is possible in most cases. The
choice between using the active or passive voice in Arabic is a matter of style, not
correctness. However, the active voice is described as more natural, direct, lively and
succinct. Furthermore, Arabic passives rarely include an agent clause (Carroll, 1993).
For example, ﻋﻘﺪ اﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﺎ3aqada ijtimaa3an (he held a meeting) is active, and ﻋﻘﺪ اﺟﺘﻤﺎع
3uqida ijtimaa3un (a meeting was held) is passive. Thus, a verb in a collocation could
be active or passive. Another example is ﺑﺬل ﺟﮭﺪاbadala juhdan (he exerted an effort)
where the verb is in the active voice, and ﺑﺬل ﺟﮭﺪbudila juhdun (an effort was
exerted).
using the plural form of a noun in a collocation. Consequently, if the plural form is
possible in some collocations in Arabic, then the singular form is possible in others.
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In example 1.a, the singular noun رطمmaTar (rain) collocates with the adjective
ريزغ gaziyr (literally: abundant). At the same time, the plural form of the same
noun is also possible. In example 1.b, the plural noun ? راطمأamTaar (rains) also
The same applies to verb + object collocations. In example 2.a, the verb ردصأ
?aSdara (literally: to issue) collocates with the singular noun ? رمأamr (an order). The
same verb can also collocate with the plural form of the same noun. Therefore, in
example 2.b, the verb ? ردصأaSdara (literally: to issue) can also collocate with the
A collocational range of a word is, according to Lyons (1995:62), “the set of contexts
in which it can occur”. Gully (1993) states that certain words in modern Arabic may
feature of modern Arabic). That is, a word over time may gain new collocates. The
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
Gully (1993) points out that although the verb اﻧﺪﻟﻊindala3a (to break out) usually
collocates with ﺣﺮبHarb (war), its collocational range has expanded. Examples 2
and 3 above show that the verb اﻧﺪﻟﻊindala3a (to break out) may possibly collocate
with other nouns in modern Arabic. Gully (1993:51) further explains that the
similarity of meaning”. Therefore, all of the examples above reflect some kind of
intensification of hostility, probably with the idea of some force involved, and
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collocations
This section discusses the semantic and distributional patterning of collocations in the
their tendency to collocate with one another, and, if they do differ, into what semantic
(2000). This classificatory system is based on the strength of the attraction between
The semantic and distributional classification in this section accords with the
collocations given to the Arabic Control Group. The questionnaire used in this study
collocations). Since the respondents of the Arabic Control Group did not achieve
what this author set as the threshold level of frequency (80% or more) for denoting
acceptable or weak collocations, then these two patterns will not be examined below.
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The lexical relationship of collocations can be ascertained by their frequency, but also
by the semantic relationship between the components. In addition to the four patterns
proposed above, there are three further specifically semantic patterns of collocations
proposed by this author for this study. These semantic patterns are: unique
These three categories represent patterns of meaning, whereas the previous four
unacceptable collocations) represent the range of frequency with which they were
Arabic Control Group. Meaning and frequency are simply two sides, qualitative and
A strong collocation was when the respondents in the Arabic Control group gave a
head noun in the sentence. This pattern will, hopefully, help to clearly establish in the
Below are examples of strong collocations and their frequencies drawn from of the
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
?aTlaqa liHyah
أﺿﺎع وﻗﺘﺎ To waste time 81%
?aDaa3a waqtan
أھﺪر وﻗﺘﺎ To waste time 85.7%
?ahdara waqtan
ﻋﻘﺪ اﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﺎ To hold a meeting 100%
3aqada ijtimaa3an
ﻋﻘﺪ ﻣﺆﺗﻤﺮا To hold a conference 90.5
3aqada muw?tamaran
أﺳﺪى ﺧﺪﻣﺔ To do a favour 81%
?asdaa xidmatan
ﺷﻦ ﺣﺮﺑﺎ To wage a war 100%
sanna Harban
ﺗﻮﺧﻰ ﺣﺬرا To exercise caution 90.5%
tawaxxaa Hadaran
ﺗﺤﻤﻞ ﻣﺴﺆوﻟﯿﺔ To take responsibility 100%
taHammala mas?uwliyyah
اﻏﺘﻨﻢ ﻓﺮﺻﺔ To seize an opportunity 85.7%
igtanama furSatan
اﻧﺘﮭﺰ ﻓﺮﺻﺔ To seize an opportunity 100%
intahaza furSatan
ﺳﻠﻂ ﺿﻮءا To shed light 100%
sallaTa Daw?an
اﺗﺨﺬ إﺟﺮاءا To adopt a measure 90.5%
ittaxada ?ijraa?an
ﺷﻐﻞ ﻣﻨﺼﺒﺎ To hold a position 85.7%
sagila maSiban
أﻟﺤﻖ ﺿﺮرا To cause damage 100%
?alHaqa Dararan
أﻟﻘﻰ ﺧﻄﺎﺑﺎ To make a speech 100%
?alqaa xiTaaban
أﺟﺮى اﺗﺼﺎﻻ To make a call 100%
?ajraa ittiSaalan
أﺟﺮى ﺗﺠﺮﺑﺔ To conduct an experiment 95.2%
?ajraa tajribatan
ﺳﻦ ﻗﺎﻧﻮﻧﺎ To pass a law 81%
sanna qaanuwnan
ﺗﺮأس ﺷﺮﻛﺔ To run a company 81%
Tara?asa sarikatan
أدار ﺷﺮﻛﺔ To run a company 85.7%
?adaara sarikatan
ﻟﻘﻦ درﺳﺎ To teach a lesson 100%
laqqana darsan
أﺣﺮز اﻧﺘﺼﺎرا To score a victory 81%
?aHraza intiSaaran
ﺣﺪد ھﺪﻓﺎ To set a goal 100%
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Haddada hadafan
Table 7. 11 Verb + object strong collocations in Arabic
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In the first part of the questionnaire (the verb + object collocations), the Arabic
Control Group managed to confirm that forty-three examples of fifty (86%) were
strong collocations. However, they failed to identify the remaining seven examples
(14%).
As for the second part of the questionnaire (the noun + adjective collocations), the
Arabic Control Group managed to confirm that forty-two examples of fifty (84%)
were strong collocations, while they failed to identify the remaining eight examples
(16%).
There are two reasons that could possibly account for the Arabic Control Group’s
failure in identifying strong collocations in seven of fifty (14%) of the items in the
first part of the questionnaire (the verb + object collocations), and eight of fifty (16%)
of the items in the second part (the noun + adjective collocations). The first reason
could be that there might be more than one alternative of the four that, in the
respondents’ opinion, could make a strong collocation if combined with the head
noun in the sentence. Therefore, the distribution of the results shows that there was
not even one single strong collocation identified by the respondents. Another possible
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reason could be that there are actually no strong collocations for those particular
items. That is, there is no strong association between any of the four alternatives
provided for each of those items and the head noun. For example, in item 31 in the
first part of the questionnaire, the noun ﺧﻼفxilaaf (a dispute) did not prove to have
a strong association with any of the four verbs provided in the questionnaire (to
resolve: ? أﺻﻠﺢaSlaHa, ﻓﻚfakka, ﺳﻮىsawwaa, and ﻓﺾfaDDa), nor did any of the
respondents suggest a verb that could possibly collocate with the head noun and carry
When one of the constituents of a collocation is uniquely used with another, one can
call this lexical relationship collocational uniqueness. However, Emery (1988a) uses
(1981:228) describes this type of word combination as a ‘bridge’ form between other
types of collocations and idioms. The tendency for a word to be used with only one
would be to foot the bill and to curry favour. However, the derivational richness of
the Arabic language frequently allows a particular word (in this study a verb or an
adjective) to be reserved for a specific collocate (in this study the noun). This applies
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to both types of collocations involved in this study, that is, verb + object and noun +
adjective.
meaning were consulted to check the collocability of the verbs and adjectives with
other nouns. Internet search-engines were also used as sources for the examples used
with other nouns, and to determine how frequently they co-occurred. The author,
being a native speaker, also used his knowledge of Arabic to identify unique
collocations in the examples for this study. Two monolingual teachers of Arabic, very
recent arrivals in Australia, were consulted too. They both confirmed that the
In this semantic pattern, according to the Arabic Control Group, the components of
collocating with each other. It was found that all the examples of unique collocations
as determined by this author were selected by the Arabic Control Group to be strong
collocational uniqueness.
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In each of the cases above of verb + object unique collocations, the verb collocates
uniquely with a certain noun and is not likely to be used with any other noun in
Arabic. For example, the verb اﻣﺘﻄﻰimtaTaa (to ride) in Arabic is restricted in
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If any of the examples of the verbs above were given to native speakers of Arabic, the
listener or reader very likely would know what the following noun should be. In other
words, the verb in each of the above examples is restricted to that sense and
invariably cannot be used in any other sense or with any other noun in Arabic. Nine
collocational uniqueness.
The other group of examples that illustrates collocational uniqueness containing noun
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Harbun Daruws
h- رزؤم رصن A great victory 85.7%
naSrun muw?azar
i- ةميخو بقاوع serious consequences 95.2%
3awaaqibun waxiymah
j- رارج شيج A large army 90.5%
jaysun jarraar
k- مرع ليس A raging flood 85.7%
saylun 3arim
l- ةسام ةجاح An urgent need 100%
Haajatun maassah
m- رهاب حاجن great success 90.5%
najaaHun baahir
n- عيرذ لشف complete failure 100%
fasalun dariy3
o- قهاش لبج A high mountain 90.5%
jabalun saahiq
p- ةليلع ةمسن A gentle breeze 100%
nismatun 3aliylah
q- ةظهاب ةفلكت A high cost 100%
taklufatun baahiZah
r- ةعدار ةبوقع A severe punishment 100%
3uquwbatun raadi3ah
s- دودل ودع A bitter enemy 95.2%
3aduwun laduwd
t- ةيهاو راذعأ lame excuses 100%
?a3daarun waahiyah
u- ميسج ررض serious damage 95.2%
Dararun jasiym
v- عجان جالع An effective treatment 90.5%
3ilaajun naaji3
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uniquely collocates with a particular noun and is not likely to collocate with any other
noun in Arabic. For example, the adjective زﻛﻲzakiy (nice) in Arabic is restricted in
denotation or applicability to smells. Therefore, it can only collocate with the noun
راﺋﺤﺔraa?iHah (a smell).
The adjective in each of the above examples is restricted to that sense and invariably
cannot be used in any other sense or with any other noun in Arabic. Twenty-three
collocational uniqueness.
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“an implicit use of figurative language which is used for emotive and expressive
purposes”. A metaphor has, in addition to its literal sense or meaning, another sense
percent or more as ‘always’ collocating according to the Arabic Control Group were
considered in this study. That is, all the examples of metaphorical collocations are
Below are examples of metaphorical collocations drawn from the data of this study.
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The first example above, the collocation ﻗﻄﻊ ﻋﮭﺪاqaTa3a 3ahdan (to make a pact), is
cut) is used metaphorically. The same applies to the other three examples of verb +
object metaphorical collocations in the table above. The verb ﺿﺮب Daraba
collocation ﺿﺮب ﻣﺜﻼDaraba matalan (to give an example). In the third example,
example (c), the verb ﻋﻘﺪ3aqada (literally: to tie) is also used metaphorically in the
Similarly, in example (d) the verb أﻟﻘﻰ ?alqaa (literally: to throw) is used
speech).
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The first example above, the collocation ﺧﯿﺎل ﺧﺼﺐ xayaalun xiSb (great
xiSb (literally: fertile) is used metaphorically. The same applies to the other three
third example, example (c), the adjective ﻗﺎﻃﻊqaaTi3 (literally: cutting) is also used
evidence). Similarly, in example (d) the adjective ﺛﻘﯿﻞtaqiyl (literally: heavy) is used
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As can be seen from the results, some of the examples in this study fall into the
“cannot be predicted from the normal meaning of its component words” (Healey et
al., 1998:75). The meaning of a collocation, on the other hand, can be predicted from
at least one of its constituent words. However, some collocations can be used in an
collocations, so that the meaning of the whole can no longer be derived from the
sense or meaning (making them appropriate for inclusion in this study), have another
or more as ‘always’ collocating according to the Arabic Control Group. That is, all
same time.
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In the first example above, اعومد فرذ darafa dumuw3an (literally: to shed tears) can
be used in its literal non-idiomatic sense and called a collocation. It can also be used
shed light), can also be used in its literal non-idiomatic sense, meaning to shed light.
Another meaning can be added to it, which is non-literal and idiomatic (forming an
idiom), meaning to focus. Again the third example, ? أﺷﻌﻞ ﺣﺮﯾﻘﺎas3ala Hariyqan
(literally: to start a fire) can be used in its literal non-idiomatic sense, meaning to start
a fire (and thus be a true collocation), and can also be used, in another context, in a
This brings us to the conclusion that Arabic collocations may gain an idiomatic
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clash, is simply to “put words together which sound unnatural to a native speaker”
break the law). She states that the common collocation in Arabic would be فلاخ
unacceptable collocation would be where the Arabic Control Group gave a frequency
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
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All of the examples above, according to the Arabic Control Group in this study,
The Arabic Control Group in this study confirmed that twenty-four verb + object
collocations in the first part of the questionnaire (the verb + object collocations) were
unacceptable. However, they only confirmed that four noun + adjective collocations
in the second part of the questionnaire (the noun + adjective collocations) were
unacceptable. That is, there were much more unacceptable verb + object collocations
than noun + adjective collocations. Importantly for the findings of this thesis, this
may suggest that verb + object collocations are more restricted in the Arabic language
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7.5 Conclusion
The first section of this chapter presented the results of the questionnaire of Arabic
collocations. The most important finding was the degree of relative decisiveness
shown by the three different respondent groups in selecting the range of acceptable
collocations. The section showed that the Arabic Control Group was the most
decisive group; the Professional Translators’ Group was less decisive; and, finally,
In the second section, by drawing on the Arabic equivalents of the random sample of
became apparent that there were thirteen significant characteristics relating to the
semantics of Arabic collocations, especially when focusing on verb + object and noun
the characterising of collocations as separate from other semantic types that have
similar grammatical structures but which are of a dissimilar semantic type (such as
idioms).
The chapter also discussed the semantic and distributional patterning of collocations
in the Arabic language. In this study, a major contribution would be that the Arabic
collocations, and denoted unacceptable collocations in the Arabic language. This was
used, along with several other sources, to test other findings relating to semantic
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Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
propositions regarding collocations. It was also found that all the examples of unique
collocations as determined by this author were proven, at the same time, to be strong
collocations by the Arabic Control Group. From the results, it can be seen that some
of the examples in this study fall into the metaphorical collocation pattern. This may
suggest that metaphor plays an important role in forming collocations in the Arabic
language and has significant implications for translation. This study also suggests that
Arabic collocations may gain an idiomatic meaning depending on their usage, which
could lead to the conclusion that collocation may be one of the routes towards
idiomaticity. From the results, this study also indicates importantly that verb + object
collocations are more restricted in usage than noun + adjective collocations in the
Arabic language.
The next chapter will discuss the results of the other data collection tool used, the
translation test of English collocations into Arabic, and relate these to the results of
the questionnaire of Arabic collocations in the current chapter. This will be done in
terms of the respondents’ competence with Arabic collocations and their performance
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ARABIC
8.1 Introduction
As defined earlier in this thesis, a collocation is the tendency for certain words in a
language to combine with one another, as against others that do not have this
tendency of combining together, and the meaning of which can be deduced from at
least one of the components of the collocation. Collocations are a source of difficulty
for translators. The reason for this difficulty is that collocations, in most cases,
translator should know the meaning of the collocation as a whole in the source
language and then render it into an acceptable equivalent collocation typically used in
sentence, “it is necessary to know the specific translation for each of the source
a consequence, some collocations may sound odd and be misapplied when translated
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
This chapter has two main sections. The first section in this chapter presents the
results of the Translation Test of English Verb + Object and Adjective + Noun
Collocations into Arabic given to the two translation groups involved in this study,
the Student Translators’ Group and the Professional Translators’ Group. This section
presents the findings of the translation test in relation to the following research
What are the translation outcomes observed in the Student Translators’ Group
when rendering English verb + object and adjective + noun collocations into
Arabic?
The aim of the first section is to point out all the acceptable and unacceptable
translation outcomes from the student and professional translators’ attempts to render
the one hundred examples of English verb + object and adjective + noun
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
collocations into Arabic. Another aim of section one is to try to account for the errors
apparent in the translation of the English collocations into Arabic. It also aims to
point out the differences and similarities between the translation outcomes of the
The second section of this chapter discusses the translation outcomes established by
the Student Translators’ Group and the Professional Translators’ Group for rendering
English verb + object and adjective + noun collocations into Arabic. The outcomes
will be discussed in detail using examples from the data. The second section of this
What are the most common outcomes in the translations of the English verb +
object and adjective + noun collocations into Arabic?, how frequently did the
Student Translators’ Group and Professional Group resort to each one of the
translation outcomes?
One objective of this section is to define and discuss the outcomes of translating
English verb + object and adjective + noun collocations into Arabic. Another
objective is to state how frequently the Student Translators’ Group and the
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
The Translation Test of English Collocation into Arabic was given to two different
groups: the Student Translators’ Group and the Professional Translators’ Group. The
test consisted of one hundred relatively short English sentences each of which was to
be translated into Arabic. Each one of the one hundred sentences contained an
example of an English collocation. The first fifty examples contained verb + object
collocations, while the second fifty contained adjective + noun collocations. This
section presents the results of the translation test of English collocations into Arabic.
The results of the Translation Test of English collocations into Arabic given to the
Student Translators’ Group and the Professional Translators’ Group are presented
below.
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into Arabic
Tables 8.1 and 8.2 below demonstrate the differing results of the student and
differing renditions of the source language collocations. Such attempts are referred to
The two tables below, Tables 8.1 and 8.2, present the examples of English verb +
object collocations, the translation outcomes of each example, and the frequency of
each outcome. Table 8.1 presents the results of the Student Translators’ Group, while
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Translation Outcomes
Strong Unacceptable
Verb + object collocation collocation Encapsulating Neutralizing Paraphrasing Malapropism Calquing Mistranslating Omitting collocation
1- to make a pact 8/8
2- to break a promise 1/8 5/8 2/8
3- to ride a horse 3/8 5/8
4- to draw a sword 3/8 4/8 1/8
5- to open a debate 5/8 3/8
6- to give orders 1/8 1/8 6/8
7- to follow instructions 8/8
8- to reveal a secret 3/8 5/8
9- to make a deal 1/8 6/8 1/8
10- to shed tears 7/8 1/8
11- to make a mistake 5/8 2/8 1/8
12- to commit a crime 6/8 2/8
13- to make an effort 5/8 1/8 2/8
14- to violate law 2/8 5/8 1/8
15- to keep track 2/8 2/8 3/8 1/8
16- to give an example 3/8 5/8
17- to fight a battle 5/8 1/8 2/8
18- to start a fire 7/8 1/8
19- to build a road 8/8
20- to achieve a goal 7/8 1/8
21- to get a score 4/8 4/8
22- to suppress rage 1/8 6/8 1/8
23- to tell a story 2/8 5/8 1/8
24- to grow a beard 4/8 2/8 2/8
25- to waste time 8/8
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
Translation Outcomes
Strong Unacceptable
Verb + object collocation collocation Encapsulating Neutralizing Paraphrasing Malapropism Calquing Mistranslating Omitting collocation
1- to make a pact 1/16 10/16 3/16 1/16 1/16
2- to break a promise 1/16 13/16 2/16
3- to ride a horse 8/16 8/16
4- to draw a sword 9/16 6/16 1/16
5- to open a debate 14/16 2/16
6- to give orders 6/16 1/16 9/16
7- to follow instructions 16/16
8- to reveal a secret 1/16 15/16
9- to make a deal 3/16 13/16
10- to shed tears 15/16 1/16
11- to make a mistake 14/16 2/16
12- to commit a crime 12/16 4/16
13- to make an effort 8/16 2/16 5/16 1/16
14- to violate law 3/16 4/16 8/16 1/16
15- to keep track 6/16 5/16 4/16 1/16
16- to give an example 3/16 13/16
17- to fight a battle 11/16 1/16 1/16 3/16
18- to start a fire 12/16 3/16 1/16
19- to build a road 15/16 1/16
20- to achieve a goal 13/16 1/16 2/16
21- to get a score 13/16 3/16
22- to suppress rage 5/16 11/16
23- to tell a story 2/16 11/16 3/16
24- to grow a beard 6/16 9/16 1/16
25- to waste time 16/16
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
Tables 8.3 and 8.4 below demonstrate the different types of student and
The two tables below, Tables 8.3 and 8.4, present the examples of English
adjective + noun collocations, the translation outcomes of each example, and the
frequency of each outcome. Table 8.3 presents the results of the Student
Translators’ Group, while Table 8.4 presents the results of the Professional
Translators’ Group.
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
Translation Outcomes
Adjective + Noun Collocation
Strong collocation Neutralising Paraphrasing Missing adjective Calquing Mistranslating Omitting
1- a full recovery 1/8 2/8 3/8 2/8
2- heavy rain 5/8 2/8 1/8
3- a sweet smell 5/8 1/8 1/8 1/8
4- a bad smell 5/8 2/8 1/8
5- strong muscles 8/8
6- a good memory 4/8 4/8
7- tender feelings 7/8 1/8
8- a deadly weapon 1/8 1/8 6/8
9- a serious mistake 4/8 2/8 2/8
10- great poverty 5/8 2/8 1/8
11- great imagination 5/8 2/8 1/8
12- a satisfactory answer 4/8 4/8
13- a good reason 2/8 3/8 3/8
14- a close friend 6/8 2/8
15- a good life 1/8 3/8 1/8 3/8
16- a large crowd 1/8 1/8 5/8 1/8
17- a good question 3/8 5/8
18- great wealth 3/8 1/8 2/8 2/8
19- a vicious war 1/8 7/8
20- a great victory 1/8 1/8 6/8
21- serious consequences 2/8 4/8 1/8 1/8
22- a public holiday 6/8 1/8 1/8
23- heavy winds 7/8 1/8
24- a large army 2/8 2/8 3/8 1/8
25- a raging flood 2/8 3/8 1/8 2/8
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
Translation Outcomes
Adjective + Noun Collocation
Strong collocation Neutralising Paraphrasing Missing adjective Calquing Mistranslating Omitting
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
In this analysis, the concern is with what translation outcomes there are and the
frequencies of each outcome. Thus, the first step was to inspect the unacceptable
preferences of unacceptable collocations (see Chapter Seven). The next step was
to point out the strong collocations, those conforming to the Arabic Control
choices made by the Arabic Control Group judge the legitimacy of the Arabic
researcher. Finally, all translation outcomes were further classified into two
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
Table 8.5 above presents a summary of the results of the first part of the
translation test of English collocation into Arabic. That is, the part that contained
As for Table 8.6 above, it presents a summary of the results of the second part of
the translation test of English collocations into Arabic. That is, the part that
The following analysis will discuss both acceptable and unacceptable translation
A question that has to be asked here is, “what are the sources of errors that
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
translation outcomes when translating the English verb + object collocations, and
34.75% when translating the English adjective + noun collocations into Arabic.
There are several possible reasons to account for the production of these errors.
Firstly, the influence from the source language, which is English. This resulted
English verb + object and adjective + noun collocations into Arabic is time
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
translators were paid to participate in this study. This probably led the student and
them when completed. Moreover, there were one hundred relatively short
dictionaries. The use of such dictionaries with their lists of context-free words
student and professional translators when translating the English verb + object
examples of collocations into Arabic and seven outcomes when translating the
the literature proposed by Shakir and Farghal (1992) (for details of Shakir and
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
The nine different translation outcomes of translating the English verb + object
The translation of the English verb + object collocations into Arabic resulted in
translation outcomes, while the rest of the five were considered to be unacceptable
Student Translators’ Group and the Professional Translators’ Group were: strong
detail below.
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
“Strong collocation” indicates that the example was translated into Arabic by a
previous chapter, Chapter Seven. Needless to say, this is the most accurate
In translating the examples of English verb + object collocations into Arabic, this
outcome scored a frequency of 38% with the student translators’ group and
Producing a strong collocation in the target language indicated that the student or
professional translator knew the best equivalent target collocation for the source
Examples of strong collocation outcomes from the two groups are presented
below.
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
The above table presents the equivalent strong collocations in Arabic for those in
the source language. The table illustrates the examples of English verb + object
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
8.3.1.2 Encapsulating
English verb + object collocations into Arabic. By resorting to this outcome, the
English into a single verb in Arabic, which gave almost the same meaning. While
adjective + noun collocation into just a single word in Arabic. By doing so, the
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
Encapsulation was possible with only a few number of examples. It is not possible
to render all English verb + object collocations into only a verb in Arabic. This
outcome shows that translators do not have to follow the English verb + object
8.3.1.3 Neutralising
This is when the student or professional translator could not recall a specific verb
generic verb such as, لعف fa3ala (to do), لمع 3amila (to make), or ـب ماق
These generic or neutral verbs used when neutralising in translation could be used
with almost any noun in Arabic. They are characterised generally by their
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
Group. This was the second highest percentage in both groups involved in the
study.
The above table presents examples of English verb + object collocations and
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
the way they were neutralised by the use of a generic or neutral verb in Arabic.
For example, the verb لمع3amila (to do) is very popular in Arabic. It was used
8.3.1.4 Paraphrasing
student or professional translators employ when they are short of exact target
collocation in translation does not make comprehension easy, nor does it facilitate
to a point where the student or professional translator may have to use more words
than in the source language to express the same concept in the target language.
Paraphrasing scored a low frequency with both groups in the study. It accounted
for 4% of the instances with the Student Translators’ Group, and only 1% with the
Below are examples from the data of this study representing this translation
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
outcome.
In each of the examples in Table 8.10 above, the student or professional translator
8.3.1.5 Malapropism
similar sound, especially when creating a ridiculous effect.” That is, the student or
professional translator uses a word similar to the one that collocates with the noun
This translation outcome accounted for 0.5% with Student Translators’ Group,
and 0.75% with Professional Translators’ Group. Examples of this type of error
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
In the first example in Table 8.11, the verb دقع3aqada (to tie) was mistaken for
the verb عطقqata3a (to cut), which does not collocate with the noun دهع3ahd (a
pact) in Arabic. Similarly, the verb ثنحHanita (to perjure) was mistaken for the
verb ثكنnakata (to cancel), which does not collocate with the noun دهع3ahd (a
promise) in Arabic. The same applies to the rest of the three examples in Table
8.11, where a verb was mistaken for another one that does not collocate with the
8.3.1.6 Calquing
collocations into the target language no matter how much the temptation may be
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
between English and Arabic will most likely produce an unacceptable collocation
in the target language. This will result in a negative transfer, which will in turn
accounted for 7.75% with Student Translators’ Group, and 9.75% with
attributed to more than one factor. One would be the lack of extensive reading of
texts in the target language. Another factor would be the literal or word-for-word
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
meanings of words out of context and, while providing many cases, do so without
illustrating examples.
8.3.1.7 Mistranslating
The following examples illustrate the way meanings were distorted as a result of
the respondents’ mistranslation into Arabic of some of the English verb + object
collocations.
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
In each of the examples above, the meaning of the source collocation was
distorted in one way or another. In some cases, the meaning of the verb was
distorted. For example, the mistranslating of the verb in the English collocation to
seize an opportunity into Arabic by the verb + preposition اﺳﺘﻔﺎد ﻣﻦistafaada min
(to benefit from). In some other cases, the meaning of the noun was distorted. The
cases, the meaning of both the verb and noun was distorted. For instance, the
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
8.3.1.8 Omitting
Another translation outcome observed by the researcher was that of omitting. This
Student Translators’ Group, and 0.625% with the Professional Translators’ Group.
for about an hour and a half could possibly account for this particular outcome in
translating English verb + object and adjective + noun collocations into Arabic.
“Unacceptable collocation” indicates that the example was translated into Arabic
Fortunately, this unacceptable translation outcome did not account for any of the
instances from the Student Translators’ Group, and accounted for only 0.5% of
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
In Arabic, we cannot say ﺷﯿﺪ ﻃﺮﯾﻘﺎsayyada Tariyqan (to build a road), nor can we
say ﻣﺎرس ﺣﺬراmarasa Hadaran (to exercise caution). Instead, we could possibly
say ﻋﺒﺪ ﻃﺮﯾﻘﺎ 3abbada Tariyqan (to build a road) and ﺗﻮﺧﻰ ﺣﺬرا tawaxxaa
The translation of the English adjective + noun collocations into Arabic resulted
by the Student Translators’ Group and the Professional Translators’ Group were:
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
collocation by the Arabic Control Group, as set out in the previous chapter,
Chapter Seven.
this outcome scored a frequency of 27% with the student translators’ group and
Examples of strong collocation translations from the two groups are presented
below.
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
The above table presents the equivalent strong collocation in Arabic as indicated
by the Student and Professional Translators’ Groups for those in the source
Arabic.
8.3.2.2 Neutralising
could not recall a specific adjective used to modify a noun and resorted to using a
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
(plenty).
These generic or neutral adjectives could be used to modify almost any noun in
Arabic. They are characterised generally by their frequent usage and universality
of meaning.
Group. For both groups involved in the study, this percentage was the highest
among all the translation outcomes for rendering the examples of English
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
The table above presents examples of English adjective + noun collocations and
the way they were neutralized by using a generic or neutral adjective in Arabic.
Adjectives such as, ﻛﺒﯿﺮkabiyr (big), and ﺷﺪﯾﺪsadiyd (strong) were used many
8.3.2.3 Paraphrasing
This translation outcome accounts for a low percentage of instances for both
groups in the study. It accounted for 2.25% of the instances with the Student
Below are examples from the data representing the translation outcome of
paraphrasing.
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
As can be seen in Table 8.17 above, the student or professional translator tried to
adjective + noun collocation into only a noun in Arabic. By doing so, the student
message.
This translation outcome accounts for 4.5% with the Student Translators’ Group,
outcome when they failed to grasp the semantic unit in question. Therefore, they
8.3.2.5 Calquing
noun collocations into Arabic, accounted for a high percentage of the instances. It
accounted for 25.25% with Student Translators’ Group, and 24.625% with
Professional Translators’ Group. This would result in translations not meeting the
anticipation of the target language reader. That is, this negative transfer from the
collocations in Arabic.
Below are examples from the data of this unacceptable translation outcome.
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
As explained earlier under subheading 8.3.1.6, there is more than one reason to
account for the choice to calque or to transfer directly an English collocation into
Arabic. The first could be the lack of extensive reading of texts in the target
language, which is in our case Arabic. The second reason possibly for resorting to
8.3.2.6 Mistranslating
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
The following examples illustrate the way the meaning was distorted as a result of
In each of the examples above, the meaning of the source collocation was
distorted in one way or another. In some cases, the meaning of the adjective was
In some other cases, the meaning of the noun was distorted. The noun in the
English collocation a great success, for example, was mistranslated into Arabic
by the noun ﻓﻮزfawz (victory). In only a few cases, the meaning of both the
adjective and noun was distorted. For instance, the English collocation lame
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
8.3.2.7 Omitting
cases where the respondents did not translate the whole sentence containing the
collocation or just omitted the collocation. Omitting was resorted to in only a few
cases. The translation outcome of omitting scored a frequency of 0.25% for the
instances in the Student Translators’ Group, and 0.5% for the Professional
Translators’ Group.
for about an hour and a half could possibly account for this particular outcome. In
addition, it may have resulted from a failure to comprehend the source language
collocation.
8.4 Conclusion
translating English adjective + noun collocations into Arabic. This tendency can
translation outcomes. The errors may be attributed to the influence from the
bilingual dictionaries that do not provide the translators with detailed explanations
source language and the way they are rendered into the target language.
significance of collocation.
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
Unless translators completely separate the source language collocations from the
target language, they may not be able to retrieve equivalent target language
It is hoped that this study raises an interest in collocations in general for those
translation course. Such translation outcomes may help give student translators,
who in turn will become professional translators, insights into how to possibly
collocations. This possibly could be a useful teaching strategy for dealing with
translation in general.
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Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
Thus, the more the translator is exposed to Modern Standard Arabic through
reading and listening the more they should be able to demonstrate acceptable
from the translator being multilingual or even bilingual, because there could be
the possibility of language interference from the other language(s). However, this
language. In fact, they have been discussed in Chapter Three and have been
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Chapter nine: Conclusion
9 CONCLUSION
9.1 Introduction
The main questions addressed in the present study were concerned with the
student and professional translators. The general purpose of the thesis was thus to
More explicitly, the following general aims were established for the study. This study
of the semantic and distributional patterns of collocations in the Arabic language, and
The study required an analysis of the collocational patterns in both English and
Arabic, a classification of the translation outcomes, and, therefore, the types of errors
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Chapter nine: Conclusion
9.2 Summary
1. What is the difference between the Arabic Control Group’s knowledge and
2. What is the difference between the Arabic Control Group’s knowledge and
the Student Translators Group’s knowledge of Arabic verb + object and noun
+ adjective collocations?
4. What are the semantic characteristics of Arabic verb + object and noun +
adjective collocations?
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Chapter nine: Conclusion
5. What are the semantic and distributional patterns into which Arabic verb +
6. What are the translation outcomes observed in the Student Translators’ Group
when rendering English verb + object and adjective + noun collocations into
Arabic?
8. What are the most common outcomes in the translations of the English verb +
object and adjective + noun collocations into Arabic?, and how frequently did
the Student Translators’ Group and Professional Group resort to each one of
Chapter One was an introductory chapter that gave a definition of collocations. Then
it discussed the rationale behind the study. It also presented the aims of the thesis.
This was followed by an explanation of the type of Arabic language used in the study,
being Modern Standard Arabic. The chapter also illustrated the method of
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Chapter nine: Conclusion
presenting Arabic examples in the thesis and a transliteration guide to Arabic vowels
and consonants. The reasons for choosing particular types of collocations for this
study were discussed as well. Finally, the chapter included a brief presentation of the
Chapter Two presented the scholarly work on collocations since the 1930’s. It
showed the significant disagreement and the lack of clarity in defining collocations
among different linguists. The chapter also discussed the interest shown in
Chapter Three showed that collocations in the Arabic language have not been
offered by different studies. The chapter also proved that Classical Arabic
computers was also noted in this chapter, and it was suggested that more accurate
software could be developed to cope with such difficulties. Finally, the chapter
presented some of the sources for collocations in Modern Standard Arabic. It showed
Chapter Four showed that there was little previous research that investigated the
translation problem. The chapter explained the different ways of translating English
Chapter Five gave a brief overview of the translation profession in Australia with the
understanding that this had been shaped in the context of the history of immigration
subjects of the study. Both the history and policy were presented. Following from
this, the chapter discussed the imperative for English-Arabic translation in Australia.
Chapter Six presented the research methodology. It discussed the research design, the
setting of the study, the participants, the instruments, and the data collection
procedures.
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Chapter nine: Conclusion
One of the findings was the variation in the degree of relative decisiveness shown by
the three groups in selecting the range of acceptable collocations. The results proved
that the Arabic Control Group was the most decisive group; the Professional
Translators’ Group was less decisive; and, finally, the Student Translators’ Group
semantic types that have similar grammatical structures but which are of a dissimilar
semantic type. Another major finding of the chapter was a semantic and distributional
Finally, Chapter Eight presented and discussed the results of the Translation Test of
English Collocations into Arabic. The chapter proved that both the Student
Translators’ Group and the Professional Translators’ Group tend to have some
collocations into Arabic. These problems appear to be worse for both groups when
they translate English adjective + noun collocations into Arabic. This was observed
outcomes. It was suggested that these errors may be attributed to following reasons:
the influence of the source language, which is English; the misunderstanding of the
meaning of the source language collocation; time constraint; and, finally, the
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Chapter nine: Conclusion
The present study suggests eight implications for translating collocations in general.
These can be applied as a generic framework or model for translating all collocations.
1- Translators should identify collocations in the source text at the same time as
the source language match ones in the target language word-for-word. That is,
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Chapter nine: Conclusion
it is not always the case that there is a word-for-word equivalent in the target
language.
5- They should also understand that when a target language collocation(s) exists,
there might not be much room for creativity. Therefore, creating new
6- They should make their own lists of collocations they encounter in all
languages with which they deal. One way to achieve this is probably through
reading from and listening to the widest variety of sources of the target
collocations and their equivalents in the target language is a basic requirement for,
what this study terms, collocational performance in translation. This includes the
awareness of the differences between the source and target languages in terms of
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Chapter nine: Conclusion
languages is part and parcel of overall translation competence and this may explain
performance in translation.
translator lacks collocational competence, the translated text will be affected in one
performance.
This study provided five main contributions to the research into linguistics and
translation. The first contribution was the thesis’ addition to the very limited studies
into collocations in the Arabic language and was the first to conduct an empirical
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Chapter nine: Conclusion
investigation into Arabic collocation, from which the author provided a semantic
was used to propose a determination of a set of strong verb + object and noun +
firm definitions that should enhance the method for studying collocations.
The third contribution of this study derives from the fact that it was the only study
that tested student and professional translators’ performance with regard to translating
English collocations into Arabic. Therefore, the study provides a practical approach
verb + object and adjective + noun collocations into Arabic, translators can apply the
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Chapter nine: Conclusion
translating from Arabic into English; and translating between any two language pairs.
The fourth contribution of this thesis lies in the large quantity of items and the design
of the Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations with its unique categories for its scale of
frequency. The questionnaire that was designed specifically for this study included
one hundred items: fifty items with four verb + object collocations, and fifty further
items with four noun + adjective collocations, which resulted in a total of four
items used in questionnaires for similar studies. It was also unique in that the
The fifth contribution of the present study was the formulation of seven implications
framework or model for translating all collocations. This is extremely significant for
One conclusion must be a call for more research into the area of Arabic collocation in
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Chapter nine: Conclusion
especially those collocations that show a high frequency of usage. Future studies may
possibly consider using the same design of the Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations
practical than general-purpose dictionaries, which are concerned more with meaning
than with word combinations. Also, general-purpose dictionaries do not include most
collocations as opposed to idioms are still not given appropriate and singular attention
by bilingual dictionary compilers. Cowie (1981:225) states that this may be because
dictionaries”.
both the language learner and the translator. Such specialized dictionaries would have
language and their closest equivalent(s) in the target language. Moreover, these
dictionaries would help their users to identify source language collocations and find
This study suggests that for the best outcomes a translation product should be
native speaker of the target language. Alternatively, translators can do the final post-
translation editing themselves by reading the target language text without referring to
should not create their own collocations when an equivalent target collocation exists,
source language collocations from the target language. That will help translators
retrieve equivalent target language collocations from their memories or other sources.
Translators should produce target language collocations that sound natural and
points out, “ideally, a translation will be lexically judged as a good rendition of the
text in the source language if the vocabulary used by the translator is qualitatively and
247
Chapter nine: Conclusion
context”.
It is hoped that the insights presented in this study may inspire more research into
translation performance.
conduct similar studies in other multicultural and multilingual countries, such as the
United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa
and others.
248
APPENDICIES
270
APPENDIX A
Information sheet and demographic questionnaire: Arabic Control Group
ﻣﻠﺤﻮﻇﺔ :اﻟﺒﯿﺎﻧﺎت اﻟﻮاردة ﻓﻲ ھﺬا اﻻﺧﺘﺒﺎر ﺳﺮﯾﺔ وﻟﻦ ﺗﺴﺘﺨﺪم ﻓﻲ ﻏﯿﺮ أﻏﺮاض اﻟﺒﺤﺚ اﻟﻌﻠﻤﻲ ﻣﻦ
ﻗﺒﻞ اﻟﺒﺎﺣﺚ.
اﻟﺒﺎﺣﺚ
271
أوﻻ :ﻣﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت ﺷﺨﺼﯿﺔ وأﻛﺎدﯾﻤﯿﺔ وﻟﻐﻮﯾﺔ
أﺟﺐ ﻋﻦ اﻷﺳﺌﻠﺔ اﻟﺘﺎﻟﯿﺔ إﻣﺎ ﻛﺘﺎﺑﺔ أو ﺑﻮﺿﻊ ﻋﻼﻣﺔ ) (Xأﻣﺎم اﻻﺧﺘﯿﺎر اﻟﻤﻨﺎﺳﺐ ﻟﻜﻞ
ﻓﻘﺮة:
(1اﻟﺠﻨﺲ:
(2اﻟﻌﻤﺮ.................... :
(3اﻟﻤﺮﺣﻠﺔ اﻟﺪراﺳﯿﺔ:
(4اﻟﺘﺨﺼﺺ:
272
APPENDIX B
Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations
اﻟﻘﺴﻢ اﻷول:
اﻗﺮأ ﻛﻞ ﻋﺒﺎرة ﻣﻦ اﻟﻌﺒﺎرات اﻟﺘﺎﻟﯿﺔ ﻗﺮاءة ﺟﯿﺪة ،ﺛﻢ اﻗﺮأ اﻷﻓﻌﺎل ﻣﻦ )أ( إﻟﻰ )د( وﺣﺪد درﺟﺔ ﺗﻼزم
ﻛﻞ ﻓﻌﻞ ﻣﻦ اﻷﻓﻌﺎل ﻣﻊ اﻻﺳﻢ اﻟﺬي ﺗﺤﺘﮫ ﺧﻂ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺒﺎرة وذﻟﻚ ﺑﻮﺿﻊ ﻋﻼﻣﺔ ) (Xﺗﺤﺖ ﻣﺎ ﯾﻨﺎﺳﺒﮫ
ﻣﻦ درﺟﺔ ﺗﻼزم ﻓﻲ اﻟﺠﺪول .أﻣﺎ ﺑﺎﻟﻨﺴﺒﺔ ﻟﻠﻔﺮاغ )ھـ( ﻓﻲ اﻟﺠﺪول ﻓﻘﺪ وﺿﻊ ﻟﻚ ﻟﺘﻘﺘﺮح ﻓﻌﻼ آﺧﺮ
ﯾﻤﻜﻦ أن ﯾﺴﺘﺨﺪم ﻣﻊ اﻻﺳﻢ اﻟﺬي ﺗﺤﺘﮫ ﺧﻂ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺒﺎرة ﻣﻌﻄﯿﺎ ﻧﻔﺲ اﻟﻤﻌﻨﻰ )إن ﻛﺎن ھﻨﺎك ﻓﻌﻞ آﺧﺮ
ﻓﻲ اﻋﺘﻘﺎدك( ﺛﻢ ﺣﺪد درﺟﺔ ﺗﻼزﻣﮫ ﻣﻊ اﻻﺳﻢ ﺑﻨﻔﺲ اﻟﻄﺮﯾﻘﺔ.
273
________ (5ﺟﺪﻻً ﺣﻮل اﻟﻘﻀﯿﺔ.
274
________ (10اﻟﺪﻣﻮع ﻣﻦ ﻋﯿﻨﯿﮫ.
275
________ (15أﺛﺮ اﻟﻄﺮﯾﺪة.
276
________ (20ھﺪﻓﺎً ﻓﻲ اﻟﺘﺮﺑﯿﺔ.
277
________ (25اﻟﻮﻗﺖ ﺑﺪون ﻓﺎﺋﺪة.
278
________ (30ﺣﺮﺑﺎً ﻣﻊ دوﻟﺔ ﻣﺠﺎورة.
279
________ (35اﻟﻔﺮﺻﺔ ﺑﺪون ﺗﺮدد.
280
________ (40ﺧﻄﺎﺑﺎً ﻓﻲ اﻟﺒﺮﻟﻤﺎن.
281
APPENDIX C
Information sheet and demographic questionnaire: Professional Translators’
Group
This is a research conducted by Abbas Brashi, a PhD student at the School of Languages
& Linguistics, College of Arts, Education & Social Sciences, University of Western
Sydney.
The present study aims to devise a classification of types of collocations in the Arabic
language and examine the strategies adopted by professional and student translators in
translating English collocations into Arabic.
The value and benefits of this study will be to suggest teaching strategies in translating
English collocations into Arabic and to come up with a classification of collocations in
Arabic.
If you agree to participate, you will be given one hundred English sentences to translate
into Arabic. The test will approximately take one hour. After that, you will be given a
test of Arabic collocations and this test will also take approximately one hour. If you
decide not to participate, please return the material in the postage paid envelope.
For the sake of confidentiality, the participants will be given code numbers to replace
their names, so that their real names will not appear in our records. Furthermore,
295
the information collected will be safely stored at the University of Western Sydney.
Only the researcher, Abbas Brashi, will be permitted to use the information. The
information will be destroyed after seven years.
As a participant in this research, you may withdraw from the test at any time without
having to give us any reasons. There will be no penalty or disadvantage to participants
who decide to terminate or not participate in the research.
We will not pay you anything for your participation. However, as a token of
appreciation, you will receive a letter from the School of Languages & Linguistics
acknowledging your participation.
NOTE:
This study has been approved by the University of Western Sydney Human Research Ethics Committee.
If you have any complaints or reservations about the ethical conduct of this research, you may contact the
Ethics Committee through the Research Ethics Officers (tel: 02 4570 1136). Any issues you raise will be
treated in confidence and investigated fully, and you will be informed of the outcome.
Yours sincerely,
A Brashi
Phone: (02) 9772 6214
296
Please answer the following questions:
1- Name: …………………………………………..
3- Age: …………..
5- Major: ………………………
……………………..
11- What language(s) do you speak other than Arabic and English?
…………………………………….
297
________ (45درﺳﺎً ﻟﻠﻤﺴﻲء.
282
________ (50وﻋﯿﮫ ﻟﻤﺪة ﻗﺼﯿﺮة.
283
اﻟﻘﺴﻢ اﻟﺜﺎﻧﻲ :اﻗﺮأ ﻛﻞ ﻋﺒﺎرة ﻣﻦ اﻟﻌﺒﺎرات اﻟﺘﺎﻟﯿﺔ ﻗﺮاءة ﺟﯿﺪة ،ﺛﻢ اﻗﺮأ اﻟﺼﻔﺎت ﻣﻦ )أ( إﻟﻰ )د(
وﺣﺪد درﺟﺔ ﺗﻼزم ﻛﻞ ﺻﻔﺔ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺼﻔﺎت ﻣﻊ اﻻﺳﻢ اﻟﺬي ﺗﺤﺘﮫ ﺧﻂ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺒﺎرة وذﻟﻚ ﺑﻮﺿﻊ ﻋﻼﻣﺔ
( ﺗﺤﺖ ﻣﺎ ﯾﻨﺎﺳﺒﮭﺎ ﻣﻦ درﺟﺔ ﺗﻼزم ﻓﻲ اﻟﺠﺪول .أﻣﺎ ﺑﺎﻟﻨﺴﺒﺔ ﻟﻠﻔﺮاغ )ھـ( ﻓﻘﺪ وﺿﻊ ﻟﻚ ﻟﺘﻘﺘﺮح )X
ﺻﻔﺔ أﺧﺮى ﯾﻤﻜﻦ أن ﺗﺴﺘﺨﺪم ﻣﻊ اﻻﺳﻢ اﻟﺬي ﺗﺤﺘﮫ ﺧﻂ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺒﺎرة وﺗﻌﻄﻲ ﻧﻔﺲ اﻟﻤﻌﻨﻰ )إن ﻛﺎﻧﺖ
ھﻨﺎك ﺻﻔﺔ أﺧﺮى ﻓﻲ اﻋﺘﻘﺎدك( ﺛﻢ ﺣﺪد درﺟﺔ ﺗﻼزﻣﮭﺎ ﻣﻊ اﻻﺳﻢ ﺑﻨﻔﺲ اﻟﻄﺮﯾﻘﺔ.
284
(5ھﺬا اﻟﻤﻼﻛﻢ ﻟﺪﯾﮫ ﻋﻀﻼت ________ .
285
(10ﻋﺎﻧﺖ اﻟﺪوﻟﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻓﻘﺮ ________ .
286
(15اﻟﻘﻨﺎﻋﺔ ﺗﻤﻨﺤﻚ ﺣﯿﺎة ________ .
287
(20ﺣﻘﻖ اﻟﻤﺮﺷﺢ ﻧﺼﺮا ________ .
288
(25اﻛﺘﺴﺢ اﻟﻮادي ﺳﯿﻞ ________ .
289
(30ﯾﻄﻞ ﺟﺒﻞ ________ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻤﺪﯾﻨﺔ.
290
(35ﻓﺮﺣﺖ ﻋﻨﺪ ﺳﻤﺎع اﻟﺨﺒﺮ ________ .
291
(40ﻧﺎل اﻟﻤﺠﺮم ﻋﻘﻮﺑﺔ ________ .
292
(45ﺗﺤﻀﺮﻧﻲ ﻓﻜﺮة ________ ﻟﺤﻞ اﻟﻤﺸﻜﻠﺔ.
293
(50اﻟﻐﻮص ﻓﻲ اﻟﺒﺤﺎر ________ ﺧﻄﯿﺮ.
294
APPENDIX D
Demographic questionnaire: Student Translators’ Group
1- Name: …………………………………………..
3- Age: …………..
……………………..
……………………………………..
298
APPENDIX E
Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic
299
10- On the final day of filming we both shed a few tears.
……………………………………………………………………………
11- Now, looking back on it, I don't know how we could have
made such a mistake.
……………………………………………………………………………
12- In his mind, Robertson had committed a crime which was
unforgivable.
………………………………………………………………………………
13- Make an effort to keep in touch with your friends, even if it’s just a
quick phone call.
……………………………………………………………………………
14- Mr. Bush said the embassy must stay open and stressed that
President Saddam was violating international law by attempting to
force its closure.
……………………………………………………………………………
15- As Andrew approached the coast, forecasters tried to keep
track of the hurricane eye as it constantly changed direction.
……………………………………………………………………………
16- I can give you an example.
……………………………………………………………………………
17- But David Castle, of the council's Tenant's Advice Bureau, has
fought a long battle for thousands of people like Karin and Nigel
Harris.
……………………………………………………………………………
18- I poured petrol on them and started a fire.
……………………………………………………………………………
300
19- It attaches more importance to avoiding building new roads
near protected areas.
……………………………………………………………………………
20- New Zealand’s central bank looks well on track to achieve its
goal of reducing inflation to 0-2% by the end of 1993.
……………………………………………………………………………
21- He got the highest score in the whole state.
……………………………………………………………………………
22- She suppressed her rage and humiliation that night, driving
him home at the end of the evening.
……………………………………………………………………………
23- On the journey, as is the custom, they each tell a story.
……………………………………………………………………………
24- At 49 he will grow a beard.
……………………………………………………………………………
25- Generals, after all, did not waste their time with captains, and
especially in active service conditions.
……………………………………………………………………………
26- Only operate when full so you don't waste energy.
……………………………………………………………………………
27- The UN Security Council held an informal meeting on the
matter.
……………………………………………………………………………
28- The prime minister, who's also Kuwait's crown prince, held his
first news conference since returning to the country.
……………………………………………………………………………
29- She said she thought she was doing everybody a favour.
……………………………………………………………………………
301
30- But the Kurds cannot wage a civil war on the streets of
Baghdad.
……………………………………………………………………………
31- Kuwait has appealed to Iraq to co-operate in efforts to resolve
a dispute between Gulf oil-producers.
……………………………………………………………………………
32- Until then you will have to exercise caution in all your
financial dealings.
……………………………………………………………………………
33- He wanted to think it out himself, and he didn't want to talk
about it until he made his decision.
……………………………………………………………………………
34- He wanted to know what Italy was going to do, she said, and
didn't want to take responsibility for sending her to France until he
knew she’d be safe.
……………………………………………………………………………
35- He said he hoped Greece and Turkey would seize the
opportunity to resolve their disputes.
……………………………………………………………………………
36- The discovery could also shed light on other degenerative
nerve diseases such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases.
……………………………………………………………………………
37- The Russian Parliament issued a warning that it would adopt
measures of its own if Gorbachev took any steps to undermine its
sovereignty.
……………………………………………………………………………
302
38- He started as a factory worker and held various positions on
the work floor.
……………………………………………………………………………
39- This sort of incident can cause permanent damage.
……………………………………………………………………………
40- The Foreign Secretary, Mr Douglas Hurd, has made his first
major speech on Britain's relations with the European Community.
……………………………………………………………………………
41- All those who had apparently made an emergency call denied
it.
……………………………………………………………………………
42- But no one had yet conducted an experiment to demonstrate
the facts.
……………………………………………………………………………
43- The Supreme Soviet passed a new emigration law on May
20th.
……………………………………………………………………………
44- Because if they agree with you, it would be very hard for me
to run the company.
……………………………………………………………………………
45- He felt so angry for her that he wanted to go out and find
Kevin and teach him a lesson.
……………………………………………………………………………
46- If the Commissioner is serious about challenging racism and
winning the confidence of the public and the Black community, then
justice has to prevail.
……………………………………………………………………………
303
47- John Patten scored his first victory as Education Secretary.
……………………………………………………………………………
48- He’s got to get them to listen to others, to pay attention, to
learn how to work.
……………………………………………………………………………
49- What counts is to set a goal, to concentrate one's psychic
energy, to pay attention to the feedback, and to make certain that the
challenge is appropriate to one’s skill.
……………………………………………………………………………
50- Taken completely by surprise, I lost consciousness.
……………………………………………………………………………
51- A United States spokesman said all the injured are expected to
make a full recovery.
……………………………………………………………………………
52- More heavy rain affected South-East China on Friday and
Saturday.
……………………………………………………………………………
53- The candle will heat the water, evaporating the oil, giving off
a sweet smell and, at the same time, provide a friendly glow.
……………………………………………………………………………
54- It wasn't a bad smell; it was just the smell of being closed up.
……………………………………………………………………………
55- Exercise is essential to build strong muscles.
……………………………………………………………………………
56- His good memory helped in remembering all the loose threads
in that tangle.
……………………………………………………………………………
304
57- They bring out tender feelings in warm-hearted people.
……………………………………………………………………………
58- King now faces an assault with a deadly weapon charge.
……………………………………………………………………………
59- I think they have made a serious mistake.
……………………………………………………………………………
60- We cannot honestly say that people living in great poverty are
free, whatever legal rights they may have.
……………………………………………………………………………
61- Maxwell was a man of great imagination, of wide reading and
deep learning, and a scholar as well as a scientist.
……………………………………………………………………………
62- They complained that they hadn't been given satisfactory
answers by the Iraqi authorities.
……………………………………………………………………………
63- Ike and her husband have good reason to be concerned about
their economic future.
……………………………………………………………………………
64- I lived with a close friend when I was at college.
……………………………………………………………………………
65- They want the good life.
……………………………………………………………………………
66- When the results were announced, a large crowd of Walesa
supporters gathered outside his campaign office.
……………………………………………………………………………
67- This is also a good question.
……………………………………………………………………………
305
68- Even those who attain great wealth complain that, instead of
feeling happier, they feel their lives have been a complete waste.
……………………………………………………………………………
69- The vicious war in the former Yugoslavia was by no means
the only ethnic conflict unleashed.
……………………………………………………………………………
70- I'm happy and proud because it was a great victory.
……………………………………………………………………………
71- If I’d let it go on, there could have been serious consequences.
……………………………………………………………………………
72- Banks close at noon on the nearest working day before a
public holiday.
……………………………………………………………………………
73- Heavy winds swept my tent away.
……………………………………………………………………………
74- Both countries have large armies.
……………………………………………………………………………
75- At least 15 people died in raging floods in Americus, Georgia.
……………………………………………………………………………
76- He felt an urgent need to wash his hands, but he wasn't sure
why.
……………………………………………………………………………
77- Luckily the ball was a great success and helped raise over
100,000.
……………………………………………………………………………
78- But should it be described as a complete failure?
……………………………………………………………………………
306
79- She was still living at Tewkesbury and had a great desire to
see the Duke's hounds.
……………………………………………………………………………
80- You jump off a high mountain or bridge or whatever.
……………………………………………………………………………
81- So when you went through the back door you walked out into
open air.
……………………………………………………………………………
82- But there was still no hard evidence.
……………………………………………………………………………
307
88- One reason for the high cost is said to be to deter `those who
are not serious.
……………………………………………………………………………
89- I think I've said enough but I have a very big favour to ask
you.
……………………………………………………………………………
90- And the press received many letters from members of the
public calling for severe punishment.
……………………………………………………………………………
91- And Gamsakhurdia and Shevardnadze have been bitter
enemies in the past.
……………………………………………………………………………
95- It's a great idea, but I'm afraid somebody has already beaten
you to it, Ron.
……………………………………………………………………………
96- This is an effective treatment for nasal congestion.
……………………………………………………………………………
308
97- Nova Kasaba was the scene of a fierce battle two weeks ago.
……………………………………………………………………………
98- He wished Obree good luck.
……………………………………………………………………………
99- Yet there is still an atmosphere of deep hostility.
……………………………………………………………………………
100- The following day found the ship in heavy seas and dense fog.
……………………………………………………………………………
309
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