Applied Translation - 2022

Applied Translation 1 Prof.
Muhammad Jalal
Applied Translation
(324)
Prepared By
Prof. Muhammad Jalal Khalifa
Applied Translation 2 Prof. Muhammad Jalal
Course Card: Applied Translation
Name of the
Office Hours course's Prof. Muhammad Jalal
Instructor
Faculty of Science and Arts –
Sun. Mon. Tue. Wed. Thurs. Location
Group Al-Ola
OEN6 01:00- 08:00- G20
drmuhammadjalal@yahoo.com
02:40 08:50 (Girls)
EU6 08:00- 10:00- 301
09:40 10:50 (Boys)
Course Credit hrs

Number
Name Level Total Prerequisite
and lecture Prac.
symbol
Introduction
ENGL Applied to
6 3 0 3
324 Translation Translation
ENGL 221
Location Language of teaching Program
Languages and
Main Campus English
Translation
OEN6
Groups
EU-6
What is the main purpose for this course?

1- Develop translation skills from English into Arabic.
2- Apply different translation approaches relevant to different English texts.
3- Discuss the linguistic and cultural differences between English and Arabic.
4- Use the dictionary effectively for the selection of accurate meaning.
Course Description:
This course provides practical translation training from English into Arabic in order to
develop the students’ translation skills. It presents several theoretical translation
notions that would enhance the students’ practical translation skills. It deals with
English texts taken from various text types. Different approaches for solving translation
problems are also practiced. The course also focuses on in-class dictionary practice to
choose the correct meaning in context.
Distribution of marks
Schedule of Assessment Tasks for Week Due Proportion of
Students During the Semester Total
Assessment
1 1st Mid-term Exam (27/02/2022) 6th week 25%
1 Participation, attendance, homework All along 10%
2 2nd Mid-term Exam (03/04/2022) 11th week 25%
Final Exam As scheduled 40%
5 Total 100%
Attendance
Attendance is mandatory. If you feel that you have to be absent then you must ask
for an early excuse, or provide me with a written one. However, if your absences
exceed the permitted limits, then you may fail the course.
Learning Resources
1. Required Textbooks
Dickins, J. Hervey, S. & Higgins, I. (2002). Thinking Arabic Translation. London
and New York: Routledge.
2. Main References
1- Munday, J. (2012). Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Applications ( 3rd
ed). Abingdon and New York: Routledge.
2- Newmark, P. (1988). A Textbook of Translation. London and New York: Prentice Hall.
3- -------------------- (1991). About Translation. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
3. Recommended References
Nida, E. A. (1982). The Theory and Practice of Translation. Leiden: Brill.
4. Online resources
1- http://translation2.paralink.com/
2- http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/76518/linguistics/books/translation%20studies.pdf
3- http://translationindustry.ir/Uploads/Pdf/translation%20studies-2009.pdf
4- http://www.linguistik-online.de/37_09/gorgisAlkharabsheh.pdf
5- http://www.dur.ac.uk/daniel.newman/translation.html
Lecture 1
Introduction
Translation generally refers to all the processes and methods used
to render and/or transfer the meaning of the source language text into the
target language as closely, completely, and accurately as possible.
When we translate, we translate neither grammar, words, style nor

sounds. We always translate one thing only: meaning. Meaning is a
complicated network of language components comprised of: syntax
(grammar), vocabulary (words), style, and phonology (sounds).
Grammar includes: sentences, clauses, word order, tenses, modals,

questions, negation, imperatives, adjectives, adverbs, articles, sentences,
connectors, etc.
Vocabulary: synonymy, antonymy, connotations, collocations, idioms,

Proverbs, metaphors, proper names, etc.
Style: formality vs. informality, parallelism, ambiguity, repetition,

redundancy, short/long sentencing, irony, punctuation, etc.
Phonology: rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, consonance, assonance, meter,

foot, stress, pitch, tone, etc.
Although we do not translate, say, English grammar into Arabic, we

account for its role in shaping meaning. Meaning is not the product of
words only but also of grammar, style and sounds.
Methods of translation
A method of translation can be defined as "the way we translate,"

whether we translate literally or freely, the words or the meaning, the form
or the content, the letter or the spirit, the form or the message, the direct
meaning or the implied meaning. The central problem of translating has
always been whether to translate literally or freely.
Methods of translation
(a) Literal translation
(b) Free translation
Literal translation method is understood and implied in two different

ways:
1. Word-for-word translation: literal translation of words
2. Literal translation of meaning: direct translation
1. Word-for-word translation: literal translation of

words:
Each English word is translated into an equivalent word in Arabic
which is kept the same as that of English
• I was respectful, I was a straight-A student. ‫أنا كنت طالبا مستقيما أ‬

• They listened in respectful silence. ‫هم استمعوا في صمت محترم‬
• Alula is a great place to buy big houses at bargain prices.
.‫العال تكون مكانا عظيما لكي تشتري منازل كبيرة بأسعار مساومة‬
• You have to write out a living will.
‫انت تملك أن تكتب إرادة حية‬
• You keep procrastinating. ‫أنت تحتفظ بالتأجيل‬
• I’m sorry again and again for all the promises I fell short.
‫أنا أكون آسف مرة ثانية ومرة أخرى لكل الوعود فأنا سقطت قصيرا‬
This method is risky for the following reasons:
• It ignores the target language completely

• It disregards the grammatical differences between the two
languages
• It transfers the source language grammar and word order. It does
not acknowledge the different word order of the two languages.
• It has no respect for the context of words in language and allows
for words to be understood in isolation.
• It transfers the primary or common meanings of words. By this, it
dismisses the possibility of any polysemous, special, indirect or
metaphorical use of words.
• It cannot deal with the SL words that have no equivalents in the
TL.
• It views meaning as the product of words only, which is not
acceptable.
Accordingly, the Arabic version above is unacceptable, and has to be
corrected.
2. Literal translation of meaning: direct translation

This type of translation is keen on translating meaning as closely,
accurately and completely as possible. It can also be called close or direct
translation. IT is the translation of meaning and context; it takes into
account the TL grammar and word order. Metaphorical and special uses of
language are also accounted for in the TL. In this sense, it can be
described as the "full translation of meaning."
Indeed, it can be described as the best method of literal translation. It

has a different view to literal meaning. Literal meaning is not one single,
unchanged direct meaning for a word, but it's different meanings in different
texts, contexts and combinations with other words. For example, "heavy"
does not always mean "‫ "ثقيل‬in all texts and contexts. Therefore, we cannot
say that this is the literal meaning of "heavy". Rather, it is more precisely
described as its common or primary meaning. "Heavy" is a polysemous
word with different meanings in different contexts:
Heavy fighting "‫"قتال عنيف‬
Heavy losses ‫خسائر فادحة‬
Heavy taxes ‫ضرائب باهظة‬
Heavy skies ‫سماء ملبدة بالغيوم‬
A heavy book ‫كتاب عويص أو صعب الفهم‬
Heavy rains ‫أمطار غزيرة‬
Heavy duty machine ‫آلة قوية أو متينة‬
Heavy responsibilities ‫مسؤوليات جسيمة‬
Similarly, the verb “stand” can be looked at in the same way.
• Hi, sir, could you stand up, please? Just right where you are.
.‫مرحبا سيدي هل يمكنك الوقوف رجاء؟ فقط قف حيث أنت‬ •
• It's important for us to stand up for those values.
‫• من مهم بالنسبة لنا أن ندافع عن تلك القيم‬

• I decided to stand up and call for change.
.‫ النهوض والدعوة إلى التغيير‬/‫• قررت الوقوف على قدمي‬
• The United States and Europe will not stand idly by.
‫التصرف‬
ّ ‫ لن تقف الواليات المتحدة عاجزة عن‬/ ‫• لن تقف الواليات المتحدة مكتوفة اليدين‬
• Saudis have stood together.
)‫ اتّفقوا‬،‫• وقَف السعوديون صفًّا واحدًا (اتّحدوا‬
• Let nothing stand in your way.
‫• ال تدع شيئا يقف في طريقك‬
‫• ال تدع شيئا يعترض طريقك‬
‫• ال تدع شيئا يعوق تقدُّ َمك‬
• She has never stood in my way.
‫• لم تقف في طريقي أبدا‬
• Most Republicans stood in opposition to the president.
‫• وقف الجمهوريون للرئيس بالمرصاد‬
• We need to stand with the oppressed, and not the oppressor.
)‫ سانده‬،‫قواه‬ َ ‫ (سا‬.‫• نحن بحاجة للوقوف إلى جانب المظلوم ال الظالم‬
َّ ،‫عده‬
b) Free Translation (communicative, dynamic, pragmatic,

creative, and idiomatic translation)
1. Bound Free Translation

2. Loose Free Translation.
Like literal translation, free translation has been a well-established
method of translation since antiquity .Usually, it is associated with
translating the spirit, or the message ,not the letter or the form of the text .It
used to earn wide reputation as the better method at the expense of literal
translation, the worst method of translation .It is the method that is not
committed to translate every single word in a text .It means to translate

freely without constraints .The translator goes outside texts and out of
contexts, behind and beyond words and phrases, looking perhaps for the
spirit, or the message .He can translate something the way he understands
it .His way of understanding is confined by text and context. It is perhaps
the only restriction on him .
Free translation has two types: bound free translation and loose free
translation.
• Bound Free Translation:

This type of free translation is derived from the context in a direct
way, though it may go out of it in some way or another, in the form of
exaggeration, expressivity, and effective, rhetorical or formal language. It is
the time we usually understand why the term "free translation." Here are
some examples:
• He returned home to his people empty handed.

.‫عاد إلى أهله خالي الوفاض‬
• The bonds between family members are very, very strong.
‫اصر ْال َم َحبَّ ِة َو ْال َم َو َّدةِ بَيْنَ أفراد األسرة قوية جدا جدا‬
ِ ‫أَ َو‬
• The star has a high profile in Britain.
.‫• النجم رج ٌل عالي ال َك ْعب في بريطانيا‬
Common among these translations is their expressive, effective,

rhetorical and a very formal Arabic.
Although these translations have gone far from the context, they have
not gone too far from it, or outside it. This means that this type of free
translation is not loose, or without limitations, but is bound to context in

some way. However, when the translation is far away from the context and
type of the text and, it is not advisable. Having said that, accurate,
straightforward, literal translation of meaning is probably a more preferable
version for these statements, as suggested below:
.‫ وليس معه شيء‬/‫عاد إلى أهله ال يَ ْملك شيئًا‬ •

.‫الروابط بين أفراد األسرة قوية جدا جدا‬ •
.‫النجم لديه مكانة عالية في بريطانيا‬ •
• Loose Free Translation:
This free translation method goes far away from the direct linguistic
context to inferences. It is based on the translator's conclusions about what
the speaker/writer wants to say. In other words, it is the translation of
intentions. In this sense, it is a version of pragmatic translation. Therefore,
it does not relate directly to the origin of context, but is concluded from it.
Here are some illustrative examples:
• Thank you, Mr. Wilson. Next please.

‫ التالي يتفضل‬,‫تفضل باالنصراف يا سيد ويلسون‬ •
• Thank you, thank you ladies and gentlemen.
‫هدوء أيها السادة والسيدات‬ •
All these translations are conclusions, based on the original.
They are indirect, pragmatic translations, rendering the meaning
intended by the speakers beyond what they say. In other words, this
method of free translation allows such loose freedom for the
translator to go far and translate the intentions and implications
beyond the direct context of texts. It does not matter whether these
translations are convincing and justified or not; rather, what matters is
the fact that they do not translate the language and the context on the
page. They reflect indirect inferences and far interpretations of
translators.
In my view, broadly speaking, it is not expected from the translator to

translate his own conclusions about the text. Rather, he is expected to
transmit the text on the page as directly and contextually as possible into
an equivalent TL text.
Thus, the students of translation are advised to be careful with this

type of free translation. The first time, bound free translation, however, is
more possible and acceptable than this. This does not mean that free
translation of both types cannot be recommended as good methods of
translation. On the contrary, they are perhaps more appropriate than literal
methods for the translation of specific types of language and text like
literary texts of all genres.
Lecture 2
Word-Level Translation Problems
• Lexical Gaps
• False Equivalents
• Borrowings
• Word Frequency
• Ambiguity
• Semantic Complexity
1. Lexical Gaps:
Lexical Gaps are words that exist in the source language but
have no equivalents in the target language.
2. The reasons behind lexical gaps:

a) Culture is the main reason for lexical gaps. For instance,
‫ السبوع‬refers to a traditional ceremony that many Arab families
hold seven days after the birth of a baby. There is no such
celebration in English-speaking cultures; therefore, ‫ السبوع‬is
considered a lexical gap that is difficult to translate. Culture
is also the reason for lexical gaps in words such as ‫حاج‬, ‫شيخ‬
،‫ كبسة‬،‫فالفل‬. Such words have developed equivalents through
transliteration.
b) Word-formation is the second reason for lexical gaps. In fact,

most of Lexical gaps are the result of word-formation
processes that work differently in Arabic and English.
Example 1:The adjective ‫ علمي‬scientific, which is derived/
taken from the noun ‫ علم‬science, leads to the noun ‫علمية‬.
There is no word for scientificness or scientificity in English;
hence the lexical gap.
(2008 ‫ فبراير‬11 ،( ‫)مجلة الفوانيس) المغرب‬
.‫لم تكن هذه األيديولوجيات الدينية تنسب نفسها إلى العلم أو تدعي العلمية‬
These religious ideologies did not associate themselves

with science or claim to be scientific.
Problem: Word-level problem (lexical gap: Lexical Gaps are

words that exist in the source language but have no
equivalents in the target language)
Reason: Word formation process
Strategy: Morphological unpacking//transliteration
Example 2: Another example of word formation is denominal

verbs, (verbs which are derived from nouns), such as to house
(someone), to hand (something over), and to chair (a committee).
Arabic allows deriving these verbs in a more productive way than
English. For instance, there is no English verb that means to carry

something under one’s armpit as the Arabic verb ‫يتأبط‬.
(2005 ‫ مارس‬9 ،( ‫)جريدة الحياة ) السعودية‬
‫ثم ترجل بعد ذلك حمود وكان يرتدي الزي العربي وهو يتأبط مسدسا من نوع‬
«‫كولت سمث‬.»
Then, Hammoud got out of the car dressed in Arab garb

clothing, with a Colt Smith gun.
(and holding a Colt Smith gun) (with a Colt Smith gun tucked
under his arm.) (and he was putting a Colt Smith gun under
his arm)

Reason: Word formation process (denominal verbs)
Strategy: Morphological Unpacking
Example 3: Another example of word formation is the different

category or part of speech. When we say that a word in the
source language has an equivalent in the target language, we
tend to assume that these words are of the same category or part
of speech. But we can find an Arabic word with an English
equivalent that belongs to a different part of speech. The

preposition ‫ عند‬can express possession, but no English
preposition has the same meaning. This is why the verb to have is
considered a functional equivalent of the preposition ‫ عند‬in
contexts such as ‫ عندي سؤال‬I have a question.
Cases of part-of-speech mismatches are plentiful in the
verbal category. Words such as ‫ يستحيل‬to be impossible and ‫ يبعد‬be
far do not have verbal equivalents in English.
(16343 ‫ العدد‬، 2013 ‫ مارس‬23 ،(‫)جريدة الرياض )السعودية‬
.‫يستحيل معرفة ما إذا كانوا في مكان قريب أو على بعد مئات الكيلومترات‬
It is impossible to tell whether they are nearby or hundreds

of kilometers away.
Problem: Word-level translation problem (lexical gap:

Lexical Gaps are words that exist in the source language but
have no equivalents in the target language)
Reason: Word formation process (the different category or

part of speech--- part-of-speech mismatches)
Strategy: Morphological Unpacking
(12402 ‫ العدد‬، 2013 ‫ نوفمبر‬9 ،( ‫(جريدة السفير ) لبنان‬

‫ كلم عن العاصمة‬350 ‫ وخاصة في منجم » تازيازت « الذي يبعد‬،‫هناك في موريتانيا ذهب‬

.‫شماال‬
There is gold in Mauritania, especially in the Tazyazit Mine

350 kilometers north of the capital.

Reason: Word formation process (the different category or

part of speech--- part-of-speech mismatches)
Example 4: Word formation: Arabic adverbs that are derived

from nouns:
Arabic adverbs can be derived from nouns and adjectives by

adding the tanween suffix, such as ‫ سريعا‬quickly from ‫ سريع‬quick,
and ‫ صباحا‬in the morning from ‫ صباح‬morning. Many Arabic adverbs
that are derived from nouns constitute lexical gaps in English,
especially if they are derived from nouns that refer to events, such
as ‫تفاديا‬. This adverb is derived by adding the tanween suffix to the
noun ‫ تفادي‬avoiding/avoidance, but there is no such adverb as
avoidingly in English.
(2014 ‫ ديسمبر‬17 ،( ‫)جريدة السوداني ) السودان‬

‫أمر الشيخ زايد المهندس المشرف على تنفيذ أحد المشاريع الرئيسية في مدينة أبو ظبي‬
.‫بأن يغير مسار الشارع تفاديا لقطع الشجرة‬
Sheikh Zayed ordered the engineer in charge of a major project

in Abu Dhabi to reroute the street to avoid cutting down the tree.

words that exist in the source language but have no equivalents in
the target language)
Reason: Word formation process (Arabic adverbs that are

derived from nouns).
Lecture 3
2.False Equivalents:
False Equivalence occurs/ happens when the source word
has a counterpart/ an equivalent/ a synonym in the target
language that does not share all the social and political attitudes.
False Equivalence is due to:
• social meaning
• Connotations
Social Meaning
Example 1: social meaning:
Some words are associated with cultural attitudes that
range from taboo or inappropriate to politically correct or positive.
For instance, the Arabic nouns ‫ السود‬Blacks and ‫ الهنود الحمر‬Red
Indians are unacceptable English counterparts because they are
racially charged terms.
We should avoid the English literal counterparts and instead
use neutral terms that are culturally appropriate, such as African
Americans and Native Americans.
3064 (‫ العدد‬، 2009 ‫ فبراير‬18 ،(‫جريدة الوطن) السعودية‬.
‫قام العقيد القذافي بتذكير األمريكان كيف أنهم كانوا يحملون صورا نمطية سلبية عن فئات من‬
.‫داخل المجتمع األمريكي نفسه مثل السود أو الهنود الحمر‬
Colonel Qaddafi reminded the American people how they used to

have negative stereotypes of certain ethnic groups within
American society itself, such as African Americans and Native
Americans.
Problem: Word-level problem (False Equivalents: False
Equivalence occurs when the source word has a counterpart in
the target language that does not share all the social and political
attitudes.)
Reason: social meaning
Example 2: social meaning:

Social meaning also involves religion-based attitudes and
perspectives. Arab writers quite often use terms that have roots in
religious discourse. The noun ‫ بدعة‬is synonymous with ‫ اختراع‬and
‫ ابتكار‬, all of which mean innovation/invention. The only difference
is that ‫ بدعة‬has a negative social meaning, whereas the other two
are associated with positive attitudes. The challenge is to make
sure that the negative attitude of the word does not get lost in the
translation.
2012 (‫ سبتمبر‬1 ،(‫جريدة الوفد) مصر‬
‫ إن زيارة الرئيس‬،‫ أستاذة العلوم السياسية بجامعة القاهرة‬،‫قالت الدكتورة نورهان الشيخ‬
.‫إلسرائيل ليست بدعة سياسية‬
Dr. Norhan Al-Shaykh, professor of political science at Cairo

University, said that President’s visit to Israel is no political
heresy.

attitudes.)
Reason: social meaning
Connotations
The difference between connotations and social meanings is

that social meanings are consistent, whereas connotations are
context-specific. In other words, a word with either a negative or
positive social meaning maintains this association across
discourse types, but a word can have either positive or negative
connotations, depending on the context. In the context of example
1 the adjective ‫المتحررة‬ lit. liberated/freed has negative
connotations, namely, that these television programs are liberal;
that is, they present content that some would consider
inappropriate, but in the context of example 2, there are no such
connotations. The sentence positively describes a woman who
has freed herself from illiteracy.
Example 1: Connotations:
16515 (‫ العدد‬، 2013 ‫ يوليو‬2 ،(‫جريدة الدستور) األردن‬

‫ويقول حسين جبر إن المشكلة هي انتشار الفضائيات والقنوات المتحررة التي تبث البرامج‬
”.‫“الالأخالقية‬
According to Hussein Jabr, the problem is the widespread
availability of permissive/ liberal satellite television channels that
air “immoral” programs.
attitudes.)
Reason: connotations
Example 2: Connotations:
43393 (‫ العدد‬، 2005 ‫ سبتمبر‬26 ،(‫جريدة األهرام) مصر‬

‫هذه هي قصة نجاح متحررة من األمية روت تفاصيلها في االحتفال باليوم العالمي لمحو‬
.‫األمية‬
This is the success story of a woman freed/ liberated from
illiteracy as she told it at the celebration of International Literacy
Day.
attitudes.)
Reason: connotations

3. Borrowing:
Borrowing is a natural sociolinguistic phenomenon that
comes as a result of language contact. When we interact, we
adopt words from each other’s languages to fill lexical gaps in our
native language.
Modern Standard Arabic has adopted many words from
different languages, especially English and French. For example,
‫ استراتيجية‬strategy, ‫ ديموقراطية‬democracy, and ‫ تكنولوجيا‬technology are
all borrowings that have been Arabized.
Lecture 4
4. Word Frequency:
Sometimes we encounter Arabic words with perfect English
equivalents, but these words are common in one language,
whereas their counterparts are low-frequency words that are
rarely used. For example, the noun ‫ شبر‬is equivalent to span,
which is an obsolete measurement unit.
1621 (‫ العدد‬، 2008 ‫ نوفمبر‬20 ،(‫جريدة المصري اليوم) مصر‬
.‫ فإن الحوار معه لم يكن سهال‬،‫ أشبار‬5 ‫رغم أن طوله ال يتعدى ال‬
Although he is only a child, he was not easy to interview.
The literal translation: although he was not even five spans tall, it
was not easy to interview him is not a valid option.
5. Lexical Ambiguity:
When we look up words in a dictionary, we rarely find a word
that has only one meaning; some entries are even a page or more
long. An ambiguous word can have many meanings. For
example, ‫ األرض‬could mean land, ground, floor, or Earth.
The Arabic definite article ‫ ال‬is attached to nouns to indicate
definiteness. However, ‫ ال‬also has another function, namely, to
mark generic nouns, which are nouns that do not refer to any
particular individuals, but to types. For example, the definite noun

‫ الشاب‬lit. the young man in the following example does not refer to
a specific young man but to the generic type of young people,
regardless of gender.
‫ ص‬،‫ الكويت‬،‫ سلسلة عالم المعرفة‬،”‫“ الشباب العربي ومشكالته‬، 1985 ،‫عزت حجازي‬
69
..‫المجتمع‬ ‫ يحس الشاب بأنه وحده ال يجد عونا من‬،‫في مثل هذه الظروف‬
In such circumstances, young people feel all alone, with no help
from the community.
6. Semantic Complexity:
In addition to lexical gaps, semantic complexity involves fine
semantic differences between words that express unclear layers
of meaning. One language might make a fine distinction between
two similar meanings but the other might not. We find many such
cases in the Arabic verb system. For instance, the verbs ‫ راسل‬and
‫ تراسل‬both mean to send letters, but they differ in how they
describe this type of situation. The verb ‫ راسل‬provides a
unidirectional description— that is, one person is sending a letter
to someone else—but the verb ‫ تراسل‬describes a situation in which
two or more people write letters to one another.
The verbs ‫ ضمن‬and ‫ دجن‬represent a case of morphological
complexity that results in a lexical gap. They are causative verbs.
‫ تدجين‬is an event nominal ( ‫ ) مصدر‬derived from the causative verb

‫ دجن‬to cause someone to act like a chicken. In English, acting like
a chicken indicates being cowardly; but in Arabic, it means being
harmless. What we need here is a noun or a gerund derived from
a causative verb that means making someone act peacefully,
such as taming, domesticating, or, in this particular context,
pacifying.
Translation Strategies
1. Translation by Deletion:
Omission (leaving some words out) is sometimes necessary
and helpful to readers in the translation. To understand why
omission is sometimes necessary, let us take a look at the
feminine suffix when it is attached to adjectives (e.g., ‫ كبيرة‬big-
feminine), and at nouns with the feminine suffix that refer to
inanimate objects (e.g., ‫ طاولة‬table-feminine). In such cases, the
feminine suffix gives information about the word rather than its
referent—that is, the word has a “feminine” gender, but its gender
does not apply to its referent (i.e., the property of being big and a
table, in these examples).
Grammatical gender is not a semantic feature but a
structural one that helps establish grammatical relations between
words, such as subjects and verbs or nouns and their modifying
adjectives. Therefore, it should be ignored when translating. In

fact, any morpheme that encodes a linguistic feature of a word
rather than its referent should be left out.
When it comes to natural gender, however, there is no rule
that tells us whether we should delete or maintain the feminine
marking. We need to analyze the context to decide whether
specifying the referent’s gender is relevant.
• In the following example, for instance, the feminine
gender marking needs to be incorporated in our
translation because Madeleine Albright is not the first
person to ever hold the position of secretary of state;
she is only the first woman to do so. Because we
cannot add feminine marking suffixes, such as –ette
and -ess, to the noun phrase secretary of state, our
best option is to add the adjective female and to
translate the phrase ‫ للخارجية وزيرة أول‬as the first female
secretary of state.
345 (‫ العدد‬، 2008 ‫ أكتوبر‬30 ،(‫جريدة أوان) الكويت‬
.‫ أول وزيرة للخارجية‬1997 ‫مادلين أولبرايت أصبحت في العام‬
In 1997, Madeleine Albright became the first female secretary of
state.
• In the following example, gender marking needs to be
left out/ ignored/ deleted, even though it refers to
natural gender. This is because if we include it, the

translation would suggest that at least one man who
held the position of secretary of state visited Libya
during the past fifty years, which is not what the source
sentence means. In other words, we need to choose
between describing the referent of ‫ للخارجية وزيرة أول‬as
the first secretary of state, or as the first among the
women who have held this position.
10495 (‫ العدد‬، 2007 ‫ أغسطس‬23 ،(‫جريدة الشرق األوسط) السعودية‬
‫تعتزم كوندوليزا رايس وزيرة الخارجية األميركية زيارة العاصمة الليبية طرابلس في أكتوبر‬
‫)تشرين األول (المقبل لتكون بذلك أول وزيرة خارجية لدى واشنطن تزور ليبيا منذ أزيد من‬
.‫نصف قرن‬
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plans to visit the Libyan
capital, Tripoli, in October, thus becoming the first American
secretary of state to visit Libya in more than half a century.
• In the following example, we have the adjective ‫ أعزب‬single,

which is modified by the reduced relative clause ‫ يتزوج لم‬did
not get married, both of which mean the same thing.
Translating this phrase as a single man who did not get
married is superfluous; therefore, we need to delete either
the adjective or the modifying clause.
223 (‫ العدد‬، 2007 ‫ نوفمبر‬19 ،(‫جريدة الجزيرة) السعودية‬
.‫وهو أعزب لم يتزوج وكانت والدته رحمها هللا هي التي ترعى شؤونه‬
He never got married, and it was his late mother who used to take
care of him.
• Repetition is another phenomenon of Arabic discourse that
calls for omission when translating
Example 1:
- 194‫ ص‬،‫ القاهرة‬،‫ دار الشروق‬،”‫“ هذا العصر وثقافته‬، 1987 ،‫زكي نجيب محمود‬
1926
‫– بدأ في ربط الصلة بين‬1926 "‫بدأ هيكل – بمناسبة صدور كتاب عن " قصص البردي‬
.‫مصر الحديثة ومصر القديمة‬
Following the publication of a book about the Papyrus Tales in

1926, Haykal started making connections between modern Egypt
and ancient Egypt.
Example 2:
41137 (‫ العدد‬، 1999 ‫ يوليو‬24 ،(‫جريدة األهرام) مصر‬
‫لماذا اختار هللا لمبعث اإلسالم هذه القرية البعيدة النائية في شبه الجزيرة العربية؟‬
• The adjectives ‫ البعيدة‬far and ‫ النائية‬remote mean the same
thing, more or less; therefore, it is safe to ignore one of them
when translating, because a literal translation, such as the
distant and remote village, would be considered redundant in
English.
Translation:
Why did God choose such a remote village in Arabia to be the

birthplace of Islam?
Example 2:
13415‫ العدد‬، 2005 ‫ مارس‬17 ،(‫جريدة الرياض) السعودية‬
‫ سجينا توفوا‬26‫ذكرت صحيفة نيويورك تايمز األمريكية نقال عن مسؤولين عسكريين أن‬
2004‫أثناء احتجازهم من جانب القوات األمريكية في العراق وأفغانستان منذ عام‬
• The noun ‫ صحيفة‬newspaper and the adjective ‫األمريكية‬
American describe the New York Times, which is obviously
an American newspaper. However, this assumption is valid
only if readers are themselves American or are at least quite
familiar with American media outlets. Therefore, these words
‫ صحيفة‬newspaper and ‫ األمريكية‬American are included in the
source text to define the New York Times for Arab readers,
some of whom might not be familiar with the newspaper.
Translation:
The New York Times quoted military officials as saying that
twenty-six detainees have died in American custody in Iraq and
Afghanistan since 2004.
Lecture 5
2. Translation by Substitution
When an Arabic word and its English counterpart have the

same referent, but they either have different connotations or are
used differently, one can simply look for another English word that
can be used in similar contexts, even if it does not have the same
referent.
Example 1:
11874 (‫ العدد‬، 1997 ‫ مارس‬21 ،(‫جريدة الحياة) السعودية‬
.‫استمرت الحفلة من التاسعة والثلث ليال إلى الثانية عشرة والنصف فجرا‬
The party went on from 9:20 p.m. until 12:30 a.m.
The Arabic way of telling time involves using the third as a fraction
of the hour as well as adverbs such as ‫ ليال‬at night and ‫ فجرا‬at
dawn, none of which are standard use in English. These words
have perfect English referential equivalents, but we cannot use
them in the translation. The solution is quite simple: We use the
English way of expressing time, and thus translate ‫عشرة والنصف فجرا‬
‫ من التاسعة والثلث ليال إلى الثانية‬as from 9:20 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., instead
of the literal translation from the ninth hour and a third at night to
the twelfth hour and a half at dawn.
Example 2:
Translation by substitution is especially helpful when dealing with
words that have specific functions but no suitable equivalents in
the target language. Consider the nouns ‫ فدان‬,‫قيراط‬, and ‫سهم‬. The
noun ‫ فدان‬refers to a unit of area (1.038 acres), and thus we can
use acre as an equivalent. But ‫ قيراط‬and ‫ سهم‬constitute lexical gaps
that have no equivalents in English. A ‫ قيراط‬is 1/24 of a ‫ فدان‬,
whereas a ‫ سهم‬is 1/24 of a ‫ قيراط‬. In a case like this, we are better
off doing the math and converting the Arabic measurement units
into common English ones.
• ‫ قيراط‬has been adopted into English as karat, but it cannnot
be considered a functional equivalent.
• Also, ‫ فدان‬has been borrowed into English as feddan, but it is
used only in very restrictive contexts.
175‫ ص‬،‫ القاهرة‬3 (‫"فتاوى دار اإلفتاء المصرية"(ج‬، 1998 ،‫جاد الحق علي جاد الحق‬
.‫ سهما من قيراط يقسم بين ابنيه االثنين وبناته الخمس‬18 ‫ قراريط و‬9 ‫والباقي وهو فدانان و‬
The remaining land, which is 2.498 acres, is to be divided among
his two sons and five daughters.
Example 3:
Translation by substitution is also used with the colloquial word,

‫قفشة‬, which literally means a catch. The problem is that literal
translations, such as good catch and funny catch, are not used in
English. It is more natural to use good one.
5‫ ص‬،‫ القاهرة‬،‫ دار الشروق‬،"‫ "اندهش يا صديقي‬2001 ،‫عبد الوهاب مطاوع‬
!‫ومتى كان فيه شيء مفيد؟ قفشة ظريفة‬: ‫تقول‬. ‫ال تتوقع مني شيئا مفيدا هذا الشهر‬
Do not expect anything useful from me this month. You might
wonder, “Since when do you have anything useful to say?” Good
one!
Example 4:
Translation by substitution provides a perfect solution to the
problem of the cultural background.
206 (‫ ص‬،‫ القاهرة‬،‫ دار الشروق‬،”‫“ ألوان من الحب‬، 1983 ،‫أنيس منصور‬
‫قالوا لها إنه وحيد أبويه وعنده‬. ‫ فرفضت الطبيب‬،‫عرضوا عليها طبيبا في الثالثين من عمره‬
.‫ ولكن الفتاة رفضت الطبيب‬،‫عشرون فدانا وله سيارة فخمة‬
They suggested a thirty-year-old doctor as a suitor for her, but
she rejected him. They told her that he is an only child who owns
twenty acres and a luxury car. Still, she rejected him.
The problem in this example is that the verb used to describe this
situation in the source sentence—namely, ‫— عرض‬is referentially
equivalent to offer, show, demonstrate, and display, all of which
would have negative or derogatory connotations if used with a

human direct object—namely, the doctor.
3. Translation by Morphological Unpacking
We saw in the discussion of lexical gaps that Arabic
morphological derivation chains sometimes generate words that
have no equivalents in English. Some of these gaps are the result
of differences in the productivity of morphological rules across
languages.
Example 1:
The verb ‫ اخضر‬has no equivalent in English because the adjective
green does not undergo the morphological processes that derive
verbs from adjectives. One way of dealing with lexical gaps of this
nature is to unpack the structure of the Arabic word and spell out
its semantic content in English. Thus, the verb ‫ اخضر‬can be
unpacked as to turn green.
Produce = productive= production =reproduce= reproduction
Example 2:
The relevant English morphological processes are productive, but
the outcome does not mean the same thing or cannot be used in
the same way as the Arabic source word, as in the case of
‫المنتظرين‬. The Arabic active participle is equivalent to many English

agent nouns that end with the suffixes –er and -ant, such as ‫معلم‬
teacher and ‫ مساعد‬assistant. The participle ‫ منتظر‬describes
someone who is waiting, but the English counterparts waiter,
anticipant, and expectant have very different meanings; therefore,
they can be ruled out as successful translation candidates.
Instead, we can unpack the morphological structure of ‫ المنتظرين‬as
those who are waiting.
10931 (‫ العدد‬، 2008 ‫ نوفمبر‬1 ،(‫جريدة الشرق األوسط) السعودية‬
.‫وبعض هؤالء المنتظرين لفرصة الشراء لديهم االستعداد لدفع أي مبلغ‬
Some of those waiting for an opportunity to buy are willing to pay
any price.
Example 3:
Most Arabic locative nouns have lexicalized or derived English
equivalents, but that does not mean we can always use them. For
instance, when translating the locative noun ‫مستقر‬, we need to
analyze the context to choose between the derived counterpart
settlement and the unpacked equivalent settling place. Because
the sentence under consideration is about refugees and
immigrants rather than settlers, we opt for settling place, which fits
better in the following example:
7729 (‫ العدد‬، 2007 ‫ يوليو‬3 ،(‫جريدة العرب) المملكة المتحدة‬
.‫ وحده وصل أوروبا تسعة آالف عراقي وتوجهوا نحو السويد كمستقر نهائي‬2006 ‫وفي عام‬
In 2006 alone, 9,000 Iraqis arrived in Europe and headed for

Sweden as a final settling place.
Example 3:
In the following example, we cannot use settling place or
settlement to describe the location where its voyage ends. Instead
of a literal translation or morphological unpacking, we need
substitution to translate ‫ مستقر‬as destination.
14095 (‫ العدد‬، 2008 ‫ نوفمبر‬11 ،(‫جريدة القدس) فلسطين‬
‫ اليوم من ميناء ساوثهامبتون في طريقها إلى مستقرها‬2 ‫تبحر السفينة الشهيرة كوين إليزابيث‬
.‫األخير في دبي‬
The famous cruise ship Queen Elizabeth II sails today from the
Port of Southampton on its way to its final destination, Dubai.
Lecture 6
4. Translation by Paraphrasing
Translation by paraphrasing provides additional information to
help readers recognize the referents of the source words in the
absence of direct equivalents.
Example 1:
‫ الخماسين‬refers to the sandstorms that blow over Cairo during a fifty-
day season in the spring. Because other translation strategies—
such as morphological unpacking, substitution, and deletion—
would not give acceptable solutions, we can translate ‫ الخماسين‬by
providing a definition, as in the spring sandstorms.
2007 (‫ مايو‬5 ،(‫جريدة الجمهورية) مصر‬
‫أجل عودته لمصر حاليا بسبب سوء األحوال الجوية التي تشهدها حاليا وموجة الخماسين التي‬
.‫من الممكن أن تؤثر على حالته الصحية‬
He postponed his return to Egypt for the time being because of
the bad weather there and the wave of spring sandstorms that
might affect his health.
Example 2:
The noun ‫ الرؤية‬sighting, but sighting by itself is not a successful
translation. In the following sentence, ‫ الرؤية‬describes seeing the
new moon that marks the beginnings of the lunar months of the
Islamic calendar. Most English-speaking readers are not likely to
have this kind of background information. Therefore, our

translation needs to explain the term.
8773 (‫ العدد‬، 2002 ‫ ديسمبر‬5 ،(‫جريدة الشرق األوسط) السعودية‬
‫أعلن المركز الثقافي اإلسالمي في لندن اعتبار اليوم هو األول من شهر شوال بعد ثبوت‬
.‫الرؤية‬
Following confirmation of the sighting of the new moon, the
Islamic Cultural Center in London announced that today marks
the beginning of the lunar month of Shawwal.
5. Translation by Transliteration
Transliteration is writing the source Arabic word in English letters,
just as we do with most foreign names. Jihad and hijab are
examples. Translators have license to borrow from the source
language when dealing with some lexical gaps
16829 (‫ العدد‬، 2006 ‫ مارس‬30 ،(‫جريدة األهرام) مصر‬
.‫قدموا من أنحاء العالم لمشاهدة الكسوف الكلي للشمس في السلوم‬
They came from all over the world to watch the total solar eclipse
in Al-Sallum, a small Egyptian town on the eastern border with
Libya.
The word ‫( األمة‬the world community of Muslims) can be

transliterated into the Ummah.
‫‪Applied Translation‬‬ ‫‪39‬‬ ‫‪Prof. Muhammad Jalal‬‬
‫‪Exercises‬‬
‫‪Identifying Translation Problems‬‬
‫‪• Identify the difficulties that might arise when translating the‬‬
‫?‪underlined words. What translation strategies can you use‬‬
‫‪ .1‬مجلة الفوانيس) المغرب (‪ 11 ،‬فبراير ‪(2008‬‬

‫لم تكن هذه األيديولوجيات الدينية تنسب نفسها إلى العلم أو تدعي العلمية‪.‬‬
‫‪ . 2‬جريدة الرياض) السعودية(‪ 23 ،‬نوفمبر ‪ ، 2002‬العدد( ‪12573‬‬

‫يرى المراقبون أن هذه الخطوة من الواليات المتحدة األمريكية مؤشر قوي على فشلها وشركائها في منظمة تنمية الطاقة في‬
‫شبه القارة الكورية) كيدو (على تدجين كوريا الشمالية‪.‬‬
‫‪ .3‬جريدة المستقبل) لبنان(‪ 13 ،‬مارس ‪ ، 2007‬العدد( ‪2612‬‬

‫كان الصراع الدموي بين اليسار التركي ويمينه القومي منذ أواسط الستينات يبطن بعدا مذهبيا دينيا وكذلك بعدا قوميا‪.‬‬
‫‪ .4‬مجلة الفرات) العراق(‪ 17 ،‬مايو( ‪2008‬‬

‫حينما اتخذت عشائر الديوانية والناصرية وكربالء قرارها على سبيل المثال بأن تغرم العشيرة التي يقتل أحد من أبنائها أو‬
‫يفتك بالناس مئة مليون دينار فضال عن دية القتيل نفسه‪.‬‬
‫‪ .5‬جريدة األهرام) مصر(‪ 26 ،‬مارس ‪ ، 2011‬العدد( ‪45400‬‬

‫الدعم ذلك الغول المفترس الذي يلتهم ميزانية مصر إلى أين يذهب ولمن يذهب وهل يصرف ماديا أم يصرف عينيا؟ تلك هي‬
‫المشكلة التي تؤرق كل رؤساء الوزارات السابقة والحالية والقادمة‪.‬‬
‫‪.‬‬
‫‪ .6‬جريدة المصري اليوم) مصر(‪ 29 ،‬أكتوبر ‪ ، 2009‬العدد( ‪1964‬‬
‫يعود األستاذ هيكل عبر فكرته ليضع وصايته ويفرض أسماء ويتركنا نتحدث عنه بينما أنا أقول ذلك وأنا رجل عمري ‪٦٨‬‬
‫سنة‪ ،‬وال « يقول بكل ثقة العارف بما ستؤول إليه األمور‬
‫‪ .7‬جريدة الحياة ) السعودية (‪ 9 ،‬مارس ‪(2005‬‬

‫ثم ترجل بعد ذلك حمود وكان يرتدي الزي العربي وهو يتأبط مسدسا من نوع كولت سمث‬
‫‪Identify the difficulties that might arise when translating the‬‬

‫?‪underlined words. What translation strategies can you use‬‬
‫• جريدة العرب) قطر(‪ 7 ،‬فبراير ‪ ، 2007‬العدد( ‪7545‬‬

‫وأصر والدي حينها على شرط إكمال تعليمي في عقد الزواج ليكون كل شيء واضحا وجليا أمام الطرفين‬
‫قبل الزواج‪.‬‬
‫• عباس محمود العقاد‪ “، 1963 ،‬يوميات العقاد”‪ ،‬نهضة مصر للطباعة والنشر والتوزيع‪،‬‬
‫ص‪34‬‬
‫لقد تركت الساعة على مكتبي خطابا أعددته إلرساله إليك وضمنته بعض المعلومات عن شرشل بك‪.‬‬
‫• جريدة الشرق األوسط) السعودية(‪ 30 ،‬أبريل ‪ ، 2004‬العدد( ‪9285‬‬
‫تناول من جهة أخرى الوضع السائد في األراضي الفلسطينية والقضية العراقية‪ ،‬مؤكدا في هذا اإلطار أنه‬
‫جدد التأكيد على موقف المغرب في ضرورة أن يحتفظ العراق بوحدته الترابية‪.‬‬
‫• جريدة األهرام) مصر(‪ 10 ،‬أكتوبر ‪ ، 2002‬العدد( ‪42311‬‬

‫ال يوجد مكتب لقطع التذاكر أو لحضرة الناظر‪ ،‬وبالرغم من ذلك فطبقا ألحكام قراقوش فمن يركب منها بال‬
‫تذكرة يدفع غرامة‬
Lecture 7
Phrase-Level Translation Problems
• Structural Mismatches
• Functional Mismatches
• Structural Ambiguity
• Non-compositional Meaning
1. Structural Mismatches ‫عدم التطابق من ناحية البناء‬

a) Nouns with (in) definite articles and demonstratives
Some phrase-structure rules are identical in Arabic and
English, such as having nouns following prepositions, but many
are different, such as the (in)definiteness requirement on nouns
with demonstratives. In English, only a bare noun with no article
can follow a demonstrative (e.g., I read this book vs. the
ungrammatical I read this the/a book). Arabic noun phrases with
demonstratives, however, require definite nouns (e.g., ‫هذا الكتاب‬
‫ قرأت‬vs. the ungrammatical ‫)قرأت هذا كتاب‬. This kind of structural
mismatch does not pose any serious problems, for we can easily
posit a rule that deletes the Arabic definite article when translating
this phrasal construction.
b) Structural gaps
Problems come up when we encounter structural gaps.
These are source language phrasal constructions that have no
structural equivalents in the target language. For instance, Arabic
allows adjectives and participles in possessive constructions, as
in ‫ بعيد النظر‬and ‫محدود السلطة‬, but there is no parallel construction in
English. We can translate ‫ بعيد النظر‬as farsighted, which is a
complex adjectival phrase—in this case, which actually forms a
single word—made up of an adjective followed by an adjectival
passive. This pattern works with other similar phrases/words,
such as ‫ متفتح العقل‬open-minded and ‫ طيب القلب‬kindhearted. We
cannot, however, posit a rule that applies this pattern to all Arabic
adjectival possessive constructions.
We can reconstruct ‫ محدود السلطة‬as a verb phrase to get has
limited authority. Alternatively, we can further reconstruct the
whole sentence as his authority is limited.
7508 (‫ العدد‬، 2009 ‫ يناير‬5 ،(‫جريدة الشرق) قطر‬
.‫السادات لم يكن مجنونا بل كان محلال سياسيا بعيد النظر‬
Assadat was not a madman, but a farsighted political analyst.
2013 (‫ العدد‬، 2013 ‫ يونيو‬30 ،(‫جريدة الجريدة) الكويت‬

.‫لن تكون مهمة الرئيس الجديد سهلة ألنه محدود السلطة‬
The new president will not have an easy job because his authority
is limited.
• Some such structural mismatches need to be dealt with on a

case-by- case basis. We cannot translate ‫ أخشى ما أخشاه‬word
for word because we would end up with the most fearful of
what I fear, which is not a valid translation; but we can
rephrase it as what I fear most.
4718 (‫ العدد‬، 2014 ‫ مايو‬18 ،(‫جريدة عكاظ) السعودية‬

‫ والسيارات ذات األرقام‬،‫تسير السيارات التي تنتهي لوحاتها برقم فردي يوما وتتوقف يوما‬
‫لكن أخشى ما أخشاه أن يدفعنا مثل هذا اإلجراء إلى‬.. ‫الزوجية تسير في يوم وتتوقف في يوم‬
.‫شراء سيارتين لكل واحد منا بدال من سيارة واحدة‬
Cars with license plates ending with an odd number would
alternate on the road with those with even numbers every other
day, but what I fear most is that such a decision would make each
of us buy two cars instead of just one.
• This works for ‫ أحب ما أحبه‬what I love most and ‫أسعد ما أسعدني‬
what pleased me most.
Even number ‫رقم زوجي‬

2. Functional Mismatches ‫عدم التطابق من الناحية الوظيفية‬
a) Arabic phrasal constructions with English equivalents that
are used differently:
Whereas structural mismatches concern Arabic phrasal
structures that are not permissible in English, functional
mismatches have to do with Arabic phrasal constructions with
English equivalents that are used differently. For example, some
English prepositional phrases are used as adverbial modifiers,
such as with care, with love, and by hand. Arabic, conversely,
allows more prepositional phrases to be used as adverbial
modifiers, such as ‫ ببطء‬lit. with slowness and ‫ بسرعة‬lit. with speed,
but such morpheme-by-morpheme translation is not acceptable in
English. The Arabic source phrases are used as manner
modifiers; therefore, we can use the manner adverbs fast and
slowly as English functional equivalents.
Adverb of time in 1990/ adverb of place at school/
Adverb of manner
He reads slowly.‫ببطء‬
41176 (‫ العدد‬، 1999 ‫ سبتمبر‬1 ،(‫جريدة األهرام) مصر‬
‫ فراحت تتكلم‬.‫عندما استمعت إلى تسجيالت ألحاديثها وخطبها الحظت أنها تتكلم بسرعة‬
.‫ببطء ووضوح‬
When she listened to recordings of her own interviews and

speeches, she realized that she speaks fast, and as a result, she
started speaking slowly and clearly.
b) the cognate object constructions: ‫التراكيب الخاصة بالمفعول‬

‫المطلق‬
• modified cognate objects
Another pattern of functional mismatches involves the
cognate object constructions, in which a verb takes an event
nominal derived from the same root as an object, often with an
adjective, such as ‫فشل فشال ذريعا‬. The function of this construction is
to provide a grammatical context in which an adjective can
indirectly modify the verb by modifying its cognate object. English
cognate objects, as in to die a horrible death and to laugh a bitter
laugh, are relatively few and nonproductive. In other words, we
cannot generate new cognate objects, as in failed a miserable
failure, to translate ‫فشل فشال ذريعا‬.
1939 (‫ العدد‬، 2006 ‫ أكتوبر‬8 ،(‫جريدة عكاظ) السعودية‬

.‫لم نكن بحاجة أصال لنظام المشاركة بالوقت وقد فشل فشال ذريعا في بعض البلدان المجاورة‬
We had no need for the time-share system to start with, and it
failed miserably in some neighboring countries.
• Unmodified cognate objects:

Arabic also allows unmodified cognate objects, as in ‫تدميرا‬
‫ دمرها‬lit. destroyed it a destruction in (9), where we do not have an
adjective that would qualify the destruction. These unmodified
cognate objects have a different function: They add emphasis.
The cognate object in ‫ دمرها تدميرا‬stresses that the destruction
would have been complete. To make sure that the emphasis is
not lost, we can add the adverb completely, as in would have
destroyed it completely. We can also substitute the whole phrase
with a verb that lexically encodes the emphasis, such as
devastate or ruin.
2008 (‫ أبريل‬7 ،(‫جريدة األخبار) العراق‬
‫ لو بقيت في‬.‫من حسن حظ العراق أن األثريين األلمان قاموا بنقل هذه اآلثار وحفظها هنا‬
.‫العراق لكان اإلهمال قد دمرها تدميرا‬
Fortunately for Iraq, the German archeologists brought those
artifacts over for preservation. If they had stayed in Iraq, they
would have been ruined by negligence.
Lecture 8
3. Structural Ambiguity
a) A phrasal structure allowing more than one interpretation:

Another source of translation problems is structural
ambiguity, which we see when a phrasal structure in the source or
the target language allows more than one interpretation. For
example, there are two ways to read the noun phrase ‫الرئيس الجديد‬
‫قرار‬: the decision of the new president, and the new decision of
the president.
12337 (‫ العدد‬، 2007 ‫ أكتوبر‬4 ،(‫جريدة القبس) الكويت‬

‫إن الوزير الذي يبقى أمامه يومان أو ثالثة على رأس وزارته يتحاشى الحديث عن قرار‬
‫ففي أوساط الرئيس الجديد يجري الحديث عن تشكيل‬. ‫الرئيس الجديد بإلغاء وزارة الثقافة‬
.‫التربية‬ ‫ وستلحق وزارة الثقافة بوزارة‬،‫ وزيرا بينهم رئيسها‬15 ‫حكومة مصغرة مؤلفة من‬
The ministers who have only two or three days left in office are
avoiding talking about the decision by the new president to
eliminate the Ministry of Culture. Within the circles of the new
president, there is talk about forming a small government of
fifteen cabinet positions, including the prime minister, with the
Ministry of Culture merged with the Ministry of Education.
When translating the phrase ‫ قرار الرئيس الجديد‬, one must first
identify the intended reading by using structural and contextual
clues. Otherwise, the translation could provide inaccurate and
misleading information.
In fact, whenever a possessive construction composed of
two nouns with the same gender is followed by an adjective, we
have ambiguity, because the adjective can modify either noun, as
in ‫كلب الولد الصغير‬, which could mean either the little boy’s dog or the
boy’s little dog.
4. Non-compositional Meaning
‫المعنى الذي ال يمكن الوصول إلية من خالل البناء‬
These are phrases whose meanings cannot always be
understood by looking at their constituents; therefore, we cannot
translate them simply by using their referential counterparts.
a) Collocations ‫متالزمات لفظية‬
Collocations are phrasal combinations of words that tend to

occur together, such as a flock of birds, commit a crime, and a
heavy accent. They are so fixed that we cannot use close
synonyms to replace their lexical constituents; thus we can say
strike a balance but not hit a balance, even though hit and strike
are very similar in meaning.
Arabic collocations vary considerably. For example, the

collocation ‫ منتهى السرعة‬lit. the end of speed has the word ‫ منتهى‬end
fully fixed; but ‫ السرعة‬speed can be substituted by any singular
definite attributive noun, as in ‫منتهى السعادة‬,‫منتهى الحب‬, and ‫ منتهى الجمال‬.
The noun ‫ منتهى‬literally means terminal point. When it
collocates with ‫ األهمية‬importance, the phrase metaphorically
describes extreme importance; therefore, it is considered
equivalent to the English collocation of the utmost importance. We
can use this equivalence pattern to translate other collocations
with ‫ منتهى‬, such as ‫ السرية منتهى‬utmost secrecy and ‫االحترام منتهى‬
utmost respect. However, like other translation patterns, it does
not work all the time, because we cannot translate ‫ الغرابة منتهى‬as
utmost strangeness. The arbitrary nature of collocations makes it
difficult to establish translation rules.
44392 (‫ العدد‬، 2008 ‫ يونيو‬21 ،(‫جريدة األهرام) مصر‬
.‫إن التواصل بين المواطن المصري في الخارج وسفارته أصبح أمرا في منتهى األهمية‬
Communication between Egyptian citizens abroad and the
Egyptian embassies has become a matter of the utmost
importance.
Most Arabic collocations, however, have fully specified

lexical content, and we cannot change any of their constituent
words, as in‫ ألقى القبض على‬arrest and ‫ ألقى خطبة‬give/deliver a speech,
where we cannot substitute ‫ ألقى‬throw with ‫ رمى‬throw or ‫ قذف‬throw,

even though they are all synonyms.
We need to identify the meaning of the collocation as a
whole and use its English functional equivalent, if there is one. In
‫جلس على طاولة المفاوضات‬, and ‫ اتخذ القرار‬are better translated as sit at
the negotiation table and make a decision. (They cannot be
translated word for word like sit on the negotiation table or take a
decision.
932 (‫ العدد‬، 2008 ‫ سبتمبر‬9 ،(‫جريدة الوقت) البحرين‬
.‫ إنها الطريق الوحيد إلى سالم شامل‬،‫أتمنى أن نجلس على طاولة المفاوضات فورا‬
I wish we would sit at the negotiation table immediately. It is the

only way to reach a comprehensive peace.
21267 (‫ العدد‬، 2009 ‫ فبراير‬1 ،(‫جريدة العلم) المغرب‬

‫ وأعتقد أنه اتخذ قرارا‬،‫ال تعليق لدي على قرار الحكم لكن من المؤسف أن نتهمه بالتحيز‬
.‫شجاعا‬
I have no comments on the referee’s decision, but it is unfortunate
that he was accused of bias. I believe he made a brave decision.
The collocation ‫ رقيق الحال‬lit. of a tender state, in the context

of, can easily mislead us into translating it as a sensitive person,
whereas it actually means poor. Because the phrase ‫ رقيق الحال‬is a
polite way of describing someone who is of a lower

socioeconomic status, we can translate it as from a humble
background, which has the same social meaning.
8314 (‫ العدد‬، 2001 ‫ سبتمبر‬2 ،(‫جريدة الشرق األوسط) السعودية‬
.‫ أعجبت بموظف شاب متدين رقيق الحال‬.. ‫بعد تخرجي التحقت بالعمل بشركة عمي‬
After graduation, I got a job at my uncle’s firm. I fell in love with a

colleague who was a religious young man from a humble
background.
b) Idioms
Idioms constitute a separate category of semantically non-
compositional expressions. What distinguishes idioms from other
such expressions is their figurative nature. In fact, idioms start out
as new metaphors. Common English idioms include bark up the
wrong tree, break the ice, bury the hatchet, and let the cat out of
the bag.
The main challenge in translating idiomatic expressions is
identifying their intended meanings. Some idioms can be
understood by relying on common knowledge, such as ‫في مهب الريح‬
‫ ريشة‬lit. a feather in the path of wind. On the basis of our
knowledge of feathers and wind, we can guess that this idiomatic
expression means being helpless. With ‫ لبن العصفور‬lit. bird milk, we
know that there is no such a thing as bird milk. However, we can

guess that it describes things that do not exist. This idiom
describes a hypothetical situation in which someone attempts to
please another by performing impossible tasks, which is similar to
the contexts in which the English idiomatic expression bend over
backwards is used.
9260 (‫ العدد‬، 2004 ‫ أبريل‬5 ،(‫جريدة الشرق األوسط) السعودية‬
.‫ فلن ترضى عنها علنا‬،‫لو أن دمشق أعطت لبن العصفور لإلدارة األميركية الحالية‬
Even if Damascus bent over backward to please the current
American administration, the administration would not express its
pleasure publicly.
• ‫ صفراء ابتسامة‬lit. a yellow smile, means a fake smile.
2008 (‫ نوفمبر‬12 ،(‫جريدة الخليج) اإلمارات‬
‫ فأنا ال أعرف رسم ابتسامة صفراء‬،‫ال أتواجد في مكان إال إذا كنت أرتاح إلى الموجودين فيه‬
.‫على وجهي‬
I do not go anywhere unless I feel comfortable with those around
me, because I do not know how to wear a fake smile.
• If ‫ عشم إبليس في الجنة‬was to be translated literally as Satan’s
wish is to be in heavens, it would lose its idiomatic function,
and many readers might not even recognize what it is
supposed to mean. Instead, we can use an equivalent
English idiom that describes an impossible situation, such as
when pigs fly or when hell freezes over.
2013 (‫ أبريل‬13 ،(‫مجلة روز اليوسف) مصر‬

!‫عشم إبليس في الجنة‬: ‫وقال لمن يحلمون بدخول الناتو مصر‬
He told those who dream of NATO intervening in Egypt, “When
pigs fly!”
• The colloquial Egyptian idiom ‫ اشترى دماغه‬lit. he bought his
head is used to describe a person who does not care. The
challenge is to find an English idiom that can be used in the
same context. The idiom he did not give a damn might be
inappropriate for a newspaper article. A better option is he
could not care less, which is better suited for this genre.
2006 (‫ أكتوبر‬31 ،(‫جريدة الوفد) مصر‬
‫رغم العواصف داخل مجلس الشعب إلقرار قانون حبس الصحفيين إال أن النائب عصام عبد‬
‫الغفار اشترى دماغه وراح يغط في نوم عميق داخل المجلس أثناء إقرار مشروع قانون حبس‬
!!‫الصحفيين‬
Despite the turmoil in the People’s Assembly over the legislation
that would sanction detaining journalists, Representative Issam
Abdelghaffar could not care less; he was fast asleep during the
vote.
• Some Arabic idioms are borrowed from English, which

makes them easier to translate. One such idiom is ‫نصيب‬
‫األسد‬,which literally and metaphorically means the lion’s
share.
2007 (‫ نوفمبر‬26 ،(‫جريدة االقتصادي) السعودية‬

.‫في ألعاب القوى حصل المنتخب السعودي على نصيب األسد من الميداليات‬
In track and field, the Saudi national team won the lion’s share of
medals.
• ‫ العودة إلى المربع األول‬lit. returning to the first square is actually a

translation of back to square one.
• ‫دموع التماسيح‬, which is equivalent to crocodile tears,
• ‫ ضرب عصفورين بحجر واحد‬/‫ أصاب‬lit. he hit two birds with one
stone, where the verb to kill is used in the English idiom
instead of ‫ أصاب‬or ‫ ضرب‬hit.
c) Frozen Expressions:
Frozen expressions are fixed phrases. For instance, English
fairy tales typically start with once upon a time, whereas Arabic
fairy tales start with ‫ ; كان يا ما كان‬therefore, we can consider these
two frozen expressions as functionally equivalent.
• The frozen expression ‫ وهلم جرا‬can be translated as and so
on and so forth, and so on, or etcetera.
• With the expression ‫ بادىء ذي بدء‬, we need to recognize that it
is used at the beginning of a discourse to describe
something as being of primary importance in comparison
with other, similar items; therefore, we can translate it as first

and foremost.
• ‫ وهللا أعلم‬is literally translated into God knows best.
(593 ‫ العدد‬، 2008 ‫ أغسطس‬2(‫( جريدة األهرام العربي ) مصر‬
‫ وقد جاءت‬، ‫ وال في األحاديث الصحاح‬، ‫وأما ملك الموت فليس بمصرح باسمه في القرآن‬
.‫ وهللا أعلم‬، ‫تسميته في بعض اآلثار بعزرائيل‬
As for the Angel of Death, his name is not mentioned anywhere in
the Qur’an or the verified sayings of Prophet Muhammad, but the
name Ezrael occurs in some classical texts.
Note: Because the communicative function of ‫ وهللا أعلم‬is language

specific, we can leave it out. After all, it is part of the discourse’s
form rather than its content.
(2174 ‫ العدد‬، 2007 ‫ مايو‬31( ‫( جريدة عكاظ )السعودية‬
‫ قد تكون مجرد‬..‫وهللا أعلم فقد تكون ذبابة ديكارت كالتفاحة التي سقطت على رأس نيوتن‬
.‫قصص‬
Who knows? Perhaps Descartes’s fly is just like the apple that
fell on Newton’s head, only a story.
Note that ‫ وهللا أعلم‬is used to express the author’s doubts about the
statement that follows; hence, it is translated as who knows.
Lecture 10
Phrase-Level Translation Strategies
1. Morphological Packaging
In our discussion of word-level translation strategies, we saw
that some morphologically complex words can be translated by
unpacking them into phrases—and the reverse is also possible.
We often encounter Arabic phrases that are best translated as
morphologically complex English words. For example, translating
the phrase ‫ على غير المتوقع‬word for word gives us on that which is
not expected, but this phrase cannot function as a manner
modifier in English. In English we use the adverbial suffix -ly,
resulting in unexpectedly.
14027 (‫ العدد‬، 2006 ‫ أغسطس‬5 ،(‫جريدة الدستور) األردن‬

4.8 ‫أظهرت بيانات وزارة العمل األمريكية أن معدل البطالة قفز على غير المتوقع ليصل إلى‬
.‫في المائة‬
The US Department of Labor data show that unemployment has
jumped unexpectedly to 4.8 percent.
• In the case of ‫ال يمكن االستغناء عنه‬, morphological packaging

gives us indispensable rather than which is not possible to
do away with.
15 (‫ العدد‬، 2003 ‫ أبريل‬6 ،(‫مجلة العالم الرقمي) السعودية‬

.‫لقد أصبحت اإلنترنت بالفعل ال يمكن االستغناء عنها القتصادنا‬

The internet has indeed become indispensable for our economy.
What makes morphological packaging such a powerful
translation strategy is that it is based on patterns rather than
isolated random instances. For example, translating ‫ال يمكن االستغناء‬
‫ عنها‬as indispensable is part of a larger pattern. Arabic-embedded
clauses with ‫ يمكن‬be possible followed by an event nominal
subject—such as ‫ يمكن قبوله‬lit. it is possible accepting, ‫يمكن تصديقه‬
lit. it is possible believing, and ‫ يمكن كسره‬lit. it is possible breaking
—can all be translated as adjectives ending with -able, as in
acceptable, believable /credible, and breakable. We can use the
same suffix to translate open collocations with ‫ قابل ل‬lit. susceptible
to, such as ‫ قابل لالشتعال‬flammable, ‫ قابل للذوبان‬soluble, and ‫قابل للعالج‬
curable.
We can translate ‫بال هدف‬, ‫ بال معنى‬, and ‫بال قيمة‬, respectively, as
aimless, meaningless, and worthless. However, we cannot
translate ‫ بال مساعدة‬as helpless because helpless does not mean
the same thing as without help.
12638 (‫ العدد‬، 2003 ‫ يناير‬27 ،(‫جريدة الرياض) السعودية‬
‫نجح مهندسون في جامعة غالسكو في‬: ‫تقنية جديدة تمكن المشلولين من الوقوف بال مساعدة‬
.‫تمكين ضحايا الشلل من الوقوف والمحافظة على توازنهم لفترات طويلة‬
A new technology allows/ enables the paralyzed to stand up
unaided: Engineers at the University of Glasgow have succeeded
in enabling victims of paralysis to stand up and maintain their

balance for long periods of time.
2. Phrasal Reconstruction
Phrasal reconstruction is a strategy that involves using syntactic
structures in the translation that are different from those in the
source text. We have already seen a few examples of how this
strategy works in our discussion of structural gaps. For instance, I
translated the adjectival possessive phrase ‫ محدود السلطة‬as a full
clause, namely, his authority is limited. The phrase‫برغبة في استراحة‬
‫ يشعر‬literally means he feels with a desire in, which obviously does
not collocate in English. We can modify the structure to “feels a
desire to,” but the problem in this sentence is that feels a desire to
does not work with a break or take a break. To express the idea
of not wanting to take a break in this context, we can apply
reconstruction to translate ‫ يشعر برغبة في استراحة‬as feel like, which
collocates with taking a break.
9962 (‫ العدد‬، 2006 ‫ مارس‬8 ،(‫جريدة الشرق األوسط) السعودية‬
‫ الصادرة عن » دار الساقي » بعنوان «مالمح « يتجرعها‬،‫رواية زينب حفني الجديدة‬
.‫ دون أن يشعر برغبة في استراحة‬،‫القارىء دفعة واحدة‬
When reading Zainab Hufny’s new novel Features, published
by Dar Al-Saqi, one goes from cover to cover without feeling
like taking a break.
Lecture 11
3. Translation by Deletion
Deletion is quite an effective translation strategy, but we need
to use our discretion when applying it. A phrase whose lexical
content is already encoded somewhere else in the sentence is
redundant. Therefore, it should be deleted in translation. For
example, in ‫ يمتهن الزراعة‬we have a reduced relative clause “who
works in agriculture” and ‫“ ال يقرأ وال يكتب‬who does not read or
write,” both of which are lexically entailed by the nouns they
modify. By definition, a farmer is someone who works in
agriculture, and an illiterate person is someone who does not read
or write. Because these definitions are functionally redundant, we
do not lose anything by deleting them.
Example 1:
518 (‫ العدد‬، 2009 ‫ فبراير‬10 ،(‫جريدة النهار) لبنان‬
‫ وسعيد‬،‫بطل القصة هو سعيد بن سليم اليطاشي وهو مزارع يمتهن الزراعة وصيد األسماك‬
.‫رجل أمي ال يقرأ وال يكتب وهو إنسان عادي فقير ولم يسبق له أن عمل عمال خارقا‬
The hero in this story is Saeed Bin-Salim Al-Yatashi, an illiterate
farmer and fisherman. He is an ordinary, poor man who never did
anything extraordinary.
Example 2:
We have the collocation ‫األعين‬ ‫ يختفي عن‬lit. disappear from the
eyes, but this literal translation does not collocate in English.
Because the English equivalent of the semantic focus of this
collocation—namely, the verb disappear—does not need to be
further qualified, we can safely delete the rest of the phrase.
11000 (‫ العدد‬، 2003 ‫ يوليو‬28 ،(‫جريدة اليوم) السعودية‬
‫أما القصة األخيرة فهي قصة الحاج محمد عزام الذي بدأ حياته في المنطقة كماسح أحذية ثم‬
.‫اختفى عن األعين‬
The last story is about Hajj Mohammad Azzam, who started his
life in the neighborhood as a shoeshine boy but later disappeared.
Example 3:
The Arabic collocation ‫ قرن من الزمان‬a century of time can be
translated word for word. Because a century is by definition a unit
of time, we do not need to include the redundant prepositional
phrase of time.
10936 ( ‫ العدد‬، 2008 ‫ نوفمبر‬6 ،(‫جريدة الشرق األوسط) السعودية‬

‫وكانت السيدة ماري بيكر أدي هي التي أسست «كريستيان ساينس مونيتور» قبل قرن من‬
»‫الزمان على أساس أن «ال تجرح أحدا ولكن تبارك جميع البشر‬
It was Mary Baker Eddy who founded the Christian Science

Monitor a century ago, with the mission “to injure no man, but to
bless all mankind.”
8608 (‫ العدد‬، 2002 ‫ يونيو‬23 ،(‫جريدة الشرق األوسط) السعودية‬

.‫ بل مجرد قضية من القضايا السياسية الداخلية‬،‫إنها ليست قضية دولية‬
It is not an international issue; it is just a domestic political issue.
733 (‫ العدد‬، 2007 ‫ يوليو‬28 ،(‫جريدة أخبار األدب) مصر‬

‫ تم االحتفاظ بمخه‬، 1955 ‫ أبريل‬18 ‫بعد أن مات ألبيرت أينشتين بانفجار في األورطى في‬
‫لكن الذي ال يعرفه الكثيرون هو أن طبيب العيون– هنري‬. ‫إلجراء األبحاث الطبية عليه‬
‫ ومن غير المعروف على وجه التحديد‬.‫ قد احتفظ أيضا بعيني عالم الفيزياء العظيم‬-‫أبرامز‬
.‫السبب الذي فعل هذا من أجله‬
When Albert Einstein died of a heart failure on April 18, 1955, his
brain was preserved for medical research. What many do not
know is that Henry Abrams, Einstein’s ophthalmologist, kept his
eyes as well, but nobody knows exactly why.
2008 (‫ يناير‬24 ،(‫جريدة القدس) المملكة المتحدة‬
.‫إن العرب وأهل غزة على رأسهم لم يتوقعوا من اإلدارة األميركية أن تفعل غير ما فعلت‬
The Arabs, and the Gazans in particular, did not expect the
American administration to do otherwise.
Lecture 12
4. Literalization
Culture-specific idioms have no true functional equivalents in
the target language, and obviously we cannot just translate them
word for word. This is where literalization is most useful. The
expression ‫أكمل نصف دينه‬, which literally means completed half his
religion, is an idiom that describes getting married. This idiom is
derived from a hadith, or a saying, of the Prophet Muhammad, in
which he stresses the value of marriage. The problem is that such
a strong association between marriage and religion does not
transfer well to English.
Probably the safest way to deal with ‫ أكمل نصف دينه‬is to avoid
metaphorical language altogether and to translate it as he got
married. This solution makes it easier to eliminate the redundancy
of the prepositional phrase ‫ بزواجه‬by his marrying, which we can
delete.
2366 (‫ العدد‬، 2006 ‫ ديسمبر‬19 ،(‫جريدة عكاظ) السعودية‬

‫في ليلة ربيعية من ليالي جازان أكمل الشاب محمد أحمد حيدري نصف دينه بزواجه من ابنة‬
.‫محمد صغير مغفوري‬
On a fine spring evening in the city of Gazan, Muhammad Ahmad

Haydari got married to the daughter of Muhammad Sagheer
Maghfoury.
Literalization is also helpful with some compounds and other

expressions. The compound ‫ عقد قران‬literally means signing a
marriage contract, but if we use word-for-word translation, we
mistakenly profile the wedding as an unromantic business deal.
One solution is to say exactly what the expression means in
nonfigurative language and to thus translate it as wedding.
2366 (‫ العدد‬، 2007 ‫ ديسمبر‬9 ،(‫جريدة عكاظ) السعودية‬
‫أعلن القصر الملكي األردني مساء السبت أنه تم عقد قران األميرة هيا بنت الحسين على الشيخ‬
.‫ ولي العهد ووزير الدفاع في دولة اإلمارات العربية المتحدة‬،‫محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم‬
The Jordanian Royal Palace announced Saturday evening the
wedding of Her Highness Princess Haya Bint Al-Hussein and
Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum,
defense minister of the United Arab Emirates.
Culture-specific figurative expressions, such as ‫ شعرة معاوية‬lit.

Muawiya’s hair can be rather challenging to translate because
most speakers of English do not have the cultural background
necessary to interpret them. Literalization offers a straightforward
solution, for we can translate the phrase as diplomacy.
‫جريدة الجزيرة) السعودية(‪ 27 ،‬يناير ‪ ، 2007‬العدد( ‪12539‬‬

‫إن إيران تعرف جيدا أن شعرة معاوية بينها وبين الواليات المتحدة قد قطعت بالكامل‪.‬‬
‫‪Iran knows very well that diplomacy with the United States has‬‬
‫‪reached a dead end.‬‬
‫‪ lit.‬قطعت بالكامل ‪• Note that we use another metaphor to translate‬‬
‫‪was severed completely because this phrase is dependent‬‬
‫‪on the hair metaphor.‬‬
‫‪Exercises‬‬
‫‪Exercise 1: Identifying Translation Problems‬‬
‫‪Describe the difficulties that might arise when one translates‬‬
‫‪the underlined phrases. What translation strategies can you‬‬
‫?‪use to resolve them‬‬
‫• جالل أمين‪ “، 2002 ،‬وصف مصر في نهاية القرن العشرين”‪ ،‬دار الشروق‪،‬‬
‫القاهرة‪ ( ،‬ص‪121‬‬
‫وما الخطأ في وجود الغنى الفاحش إلى جانب الفقر المدقع مادام الغني يدفع ما يطلب منه من‬
‫ضرائب؟‬
‫• جريدة الوطن) السعودية(‪ 7 ،‬فبراير ‪ ، 2006‬العدد( ‪13742‬‬
‫وقال إنه عمل مع قبطان العبارة المنكوبة في أكثر من رحلة وإن األمور كانت تسير على ما‬
‫يرام‪ ،‬وإن ما حدث أمر ال يمكن أن يصدقه عقل‪.‬‬
‫• جريدة االتحاد) اإلمارات(‪ 21 ،‬أبريل ‪ ، 2006‬العدد( ‪11978‬‬

‫البد من القول إن شبه االكتفاء التحكيمي والقضائي واالنعزال في القضايا االجتماعية ساهم‬
‫بشكل من األشكال في توسيع الفجوة بين الجالية المسلمة والمجتمع المضيف العريض‪.‬‬
‫• جريدة الوسط) البحرين(‪ 24 ،‬يناير ‪ ، 2009‬العدد( ‪2332‬‬

‫أنا عن نفسي فقد أخذت قرارا من فترة وجيزة‪ ،‬وهو أن أتعامل مع الناس المزاجيين بالضبط‬
‫كما هم يتعاملون معي‪.‬‬
‫‪Exercise 2: Idioms‬‬
‫?‪How would you translate the underlined idioms‬‬
‫‪ 1.‬موقع قناة العربية) السعودية(‪ 12 ،‬يناير( ‪2008‬‬
‫الخطة اإلنكليزية كانت تتضمن تقديم الالعب إلى بليون ونصف البليون مشاهد حول العالم‪،‬‬
‫ولكن األمور لم تسر كما يجب‪ ،‬وجاءت الريح بما ال تشتهي السفن ففقد القحطاني وربما‬
‫فقدت الكرة السعودية واحدة من أجمل الفرص التي كانت متاحة أمامنا‪.‬‬
‫‪.‬‬
‫‪ .2‬جريدة الرياض) السعودية(‪ 16 ،‬نوفمبر ‪ ، 2006‬العدد( ‪14024‬‬

‫جاءت أبرز أسباب تأييد النساء للقرار كالتالي ‪:‬اقتحام المرأة لكافة المجاالت ووقوفها ندا لند‬
‫أمام الرجل‪.‬‬
‫‪.‬‬
‫‪.3‬جريدة األهرام) مصر(‪ 13 ،‬نوفمبر ‪ ، 2009‬العدد( ‪44902‬‬

‫مشروع تطوير هضبة األهرامات يسير على قدم وساق وذلك تنفيذا للبرنامج الزمني‬
‫المطروح للمشروع والذي من المقرر أن تنتهي جميع األعمال به قبل نهاية العام الحالي‪.‬‬
Lectures 13-14
Inside the Sentence
Functional Categories
The basic subject–predicate relation provides the essential
information necessary to describe a situation, but this information
is usually not enough. We need ways to locate situations in time.
1. Temporal Reference:
Unlike the words and expressions that describe cultural products,
practices, and belief systems, temporal reference is universal
across all languages. All languages have ways of describing past,
present, and future events.
a. The Simple Aspects:
Arabic has two main aspectual verb forms: the perfective (
‫ ) الماضي‬and the imperfective ( ‫) المضارع‬. Perfective verbs denote
complete event descriptions without locating them in time. To
truthfully describe an event as complete, it is usually an event that
ends before speech time. In other words, the Arabic perfective
aspect and the English past tense share the semantic function of
describing past events. This is why Arabic perfective verbs are
typically translated as English past simple verbs, as in ‫وصلت باألمس‬
I arrived yesterday.
There are, however, a few notable exceptions of which we
need to be aware. Some of these exceptions are motivated by the
semantic properties of a particular class of verbs known as

inchoatives, which are verbs that describe entering a state rather
than being in a state. For example, the verb ‫ اتفق‬agree in (1)
describes an instantaneous event of coming to an agreement,
which is necessarily followed by a state of being in agreement.
English focuses on this resultant state and uses the simple
present tense to profile it, whereas Arabic focuses on the
completeness of the event that brings this state about; it is still the
same situation, but the two languages choose to focus on
different aspects of it. When we translate such perfective verbs,
we sometimes need to use the present simple tense instead of
the past simple tense.
13819 (‫ العدد‬، 2006 ‫ فبراير‬25 ،(‫ جريدة الرياض) السعودية‬-1
‫وفي حين اتفق علماء اليوم على توسع الكون) من خالل نظرية االنفجار الكبير (اختلفوا‬
.‫بخصوص مستقبل هذا التوسع‬
Although contemporary scientists agree that the universe is
expanding (within the framework of the Big Bang Theory), they
disagree on the future of this expansion.
Note: Arabic sentences with inchoative perfective verbs are
ambiguous. it is not clear from the verb ‫ اتفق‬in (1) whether or not
these scientists are still in agreement. If we choose the past
simple tense, the translation strongly suggests that these
scientists are no longer in agreement.
The context usually provides clues that help us identify the

intended interpretations of perfective inchoative verbs.
Inchoative perfective verbs are translated as present

simple or present perfect verbs because of their semantic
properties.
a. The subject phrase:
The subject phrase ‫ علماء اليوم‬lit. today’s scientists in the previous
example suggests that the state of agreeing holds true at speech
time, thus supporting the present-tense translation.
b. Time adverbs:
Time adverbs are very helpful when trying to identify the intended
temporal interpretations of sentences with inchoative perfective
verbs. In (2), we have the perfective verb ‫ تصدرت‬, which literally
means became at the forefront. The verb phrase is only telling us
that Hillary Clinton’s transition to the point where she is ahead of
the other Democratic Party presidential candidates is complete.
This transition is in itself an instantaneous event that ends the
moment it starts, but it results in a state of her being ahead of the
other Democratic candidates. What the verb phrase does not tell
us is whether Clinton is still ahead of the other candidates at
speech time, but the sentence is not completely ambiguous. The
adverbial phrase ‫ حتى اآلن‬until now makes it quite clear that the
state of Clinton’s being ahead extends into speech time, thus
suggesting that we should translate the Arabic perfective verb
using the English present tense.
1255 (‫ العدد‬، 2007 ‫ نوفمبر‬20 ،(‫ المصري اليوم) مصر‬-2

‫وتصدرت مرشحي الحزب الديمقراطي حتى اآلن بنسبة كبيرة) هيالري كلينتون( عضوة‬
.‫مجلس الشيوخ األمريكي‬
Thus far, Senator Hillary Clinton is leading all the other
Democratic Party candidates by a large margin.
Adverbials also play a major role in the decisions we make
regarding the aspectual constructions we use in the translation
output. Just as in the previous examples, the sentence in (3) has
an inchoative perfective verb describing a past event that needs
to be translated using the present tense. The difference is that
this particular sentence is best translated using the present
perfect rather than the present simple. The verb ‫ قلقت‬describes an
event of becoming worried that is necessarily followed by a state
of being worried. The adverbial phrase ‫ األمس منذ‬since yesterday
tells us that this state extends into speech time, which requires
the present tense in the translation. The crucial issue here is that
the English adverbial since is not allowed in sentences with
present simple verbs, as in I am worried about you since

yesterday, which is ungrammatical. This adverbial in this
particular context requires the present perfect.
12117 (‫ العدد‬، 2009 ‫ أكتوبر‬9 ،(‫ جريدة الوطن) الكويت‬-3
‫ أين كنت؟‬.. ‫ لقد قلقت عليك منذ األمس‬،‫ أين أنت‬.. ‫ليا حبيبتي‬
Leah, sweetheart! Where are you? I have been worried about you
since yesterday. Where were you?
The Pharaohs (built- have built- were building) the pyramids.
c. Zero temporal adverb:
Sometimes, there are no temporal adverbs in the source
sentence that can help us decide whether the resultant state
associated with a perfective inchoative verb holds true at speech
time or not, which in turn would tell us whether to translate it as a
past simple verb or a present simple or perfect verb. For instance,
the perfective verb ‫ نص‬stated in (4) describes the event of writing
the US Constitution, but it does not tell us whether the quoted
material is still valid at speech time, and there are no adverbial
phrases that can clarify the situation. However, we should still
translate this perfective verb as a present simple verb, for two
reasons. First, our knowledge of American history tells us that the
quoted excerpt from the Constitution is still valid. Second, English
uses the present simple tense to describe static situations.
Therefore, in the absence of time adverbials, we can rely on our
background knowledge and the stylistic patterns of English to

identify the tense that accurately conveys the information
encoded in the source sentence. This would help us rule out
translating ‫ األمريكي الدستور نص‬as The American Constitution stated
because it is factually inaccurate and stylistically unacceptable.
8719 (‫ العدد‬، 2002 ‫ أكتوبر‬12 ،(‫ جريدة الشرق األوسط) السعودية‬-4
‫ومن أجل التحرر من التوترات والمشاحنات والصراعات الدينية نص الدستور األمريكي على‬
‫أنه لن يصدرالكونجرس أي قانون بصدد ترسيخ الدين أو منع ممارسته‬
In order to avoid religious tensions and conflicts, the United
States Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof.
Following the same pattern for syntactic and pragmatic
reasons
The examples we have seen thus far have to do with cases
in which inchoative perfective verbs are translated as present
simple or present perfect verbs because of their semantic
properties.
There are also other cases in which we follow the same
pattern, but for syntactic and pragmatic reasons. For example,
Arabic factual conditionals use the perfective aspect in the
conditional clause because the conditional relations encoded in
these sentences have to do with the completion of the conditional
event rather than its location in time. English, however, uses the
present simple in the conditional clause. The conditional clause in
(5) has the perfective verb ‫ غاب‬lit. became absent, but if we
translate it as a past simple verb, we change the type of
conditionality from a factual conditional to a hypothetical one. This
sentence is a quotation from a legal text in which there are no
hypothetical interpretations. To make sure the factual conditional
is translated as such, we need to translate the perfective verb as
a present simple one.
2993 (‫ العدد‬، 2009 ‫ أغسطس‬27 ،(‫ جريدة عكاظ ) السعودية‬-5
‫ من نظام المرافعات على أنه إذا غاب المدعى عليه عن الجلسة األولى‬55 ‫وقد نصت المادة‬
.‫فيؤجل النظر في القضية إلى جلسة الحقة‬
Article 55 of the Code of Civil Procedures states that “If a
defendant fails to appear in court for the first hearing, the case
shall be postponed to a subsequent hearing.”

Applied Translation - 2022

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Applied Translation - 2022

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Applied Translation 1 Prof.

Course Card: Applied Translation

Course Credit hrs

What is the main purpose for this course?

When we translate, we translate neither grammar, words, style nor

Grammar includes: sentences, clauses, word order, tenses, modals,

Vocabulary: synonymy, antonymy, connotations, collocations, idioms,

Style: formality vs. informality, parallelism, ambiguity, repetition,

Phonology: rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, consonance, assonance, meter,

Although we do not translate, say, English grammar into Arabic, we

A method of translation can be defined as "the way we translate,"

Literal translation method is understood and implied in two different

1. Word-for-word translation: literal translation of

• I was respectful, I was a straight-A student. ‫أنا كنت طالبا مستقيما أ‬

• It ignores the target language completely

2. Literal translation of meaning: direct translation

Indeed, it can be described as the best method of literal translation. It

Heavy fighting "‫"قتال عنيف‬

Heavy losses ‫خسائر فادحة‬

Heavy taxes ‫ضرائب باهظة‬

Heavy skies ‫سماء ملبدة بالغيوم‬

A heavy book ‫كتاب عويص أو صعب الفهم‬

Heavy rains ‫أمطار غزيرة‬

Heavy duty machine ‫آلة قوية أو متينة‬

Heavy responsibilities ‫مسؤوليات جسيمة‬

Similarly, the verb “stand” can be looked at in the same way.

‫• من مهم بالنسبة لنا أن ندافع عن تلك القيم‬

b) Free Translation (communicative, dynamic, pragmatic,

1. Bound Free Translation

committed to translate every single word in a text .It means to translate

• Bound Free Translation:

• He returned home to his people empty handed.

Common among these translations is their expressive, effective,

translation is not loose, or without limitations, but is bound to context in

.‫ وليس معه شيء‬/‫عاد إلى أهله ال يَ ْملك شيئًا‬ •

• Thank you, Mr. Wilson. Next please.

In my view, broadly speaking, it is not expected from the translator to

Thus, the students of translation are advised to be careful with this

2. The reasons behind lexical gaps:

b) Word-formation is the second reason for lexical gaps. In fact,

(2008 ‫ فبراير‬11 ،( ‫)مجلة الفوانيس) المغرب‬

These religious ideologies did not associate themselves

Problem: Word-level problem (lexical gap: Lexical Gaps are

Reason: Word formation process

Strategy: Morphological unpacking//transliteration

Example 2: Another example of word formation is denominal

English. For instance, there is no English verb that means to carry

(2005 ‫ مارس‬9 ،( ‫)جريدة الحياة ) السعودية‬

Then, Hammoud got out of the car dressed in Arab garb

Problem: Word-level problem (lexical gap: Lexical Gaps are

Reason: Word formation process (denominal verbs)

Strategy: Morphological Unpacking

Example 3: Another example of word formation is the different

equivalent that belongs to a different part of speech. The

(16343 ‫ العدد‬، 2013 ‫ مارس‬23 ،(‫)جريدة الرياض )السعودية‬

It is impossible to tell whether they are nearby or hundreds

Problem: Word-level translation problem (lexical gap:

Reason: Word formation process (the different category or

Strategy: Morphological Unpacking

(12402 ‫ العدد‬، 2013 ‫ نوفمبر‬9 ،( ‫(جريدة السفير ) لبنان‬

‫ كلم عن العاصمة‬350 ‫ وخاصة في منجم » تازيازت « الذي يبعد‬،‫هناك في موريتانيا ذهب‬

There is gold in Mauritania, especially in the Tazyazit Mine