SOME LEXICAL AND SYNTACTIC PROBLEMS IN ENGLISH-ARABIC TRANSLATION

Mohammad Saraireh

Ph.D. Dissertation, 1990

Abstract

Quality English-Arabic translation requires a theoretical framework, and a specific knowledge and awareness of the problems that could be encountered in that process. Potential problems in the process of English-Arabic translation can be related to linguistic (i.e., syntactic, semantic, lexical, etc.), and cultural aspects of both languages. Some of these problems are investigated, and techniques to deal with them are suggested. Many overlooked problematic features are also captured in this thesis. The consideration of the theoretical approach to translation that best serves English-Arabic translation is based on: the transfer of meaning rather than form, and on techniques that cope with the linguistic and cultural elements that bear on the meaning of the original message and its restructuring in the target language. Therefore, the Sociosemiotic Approach to translation is adopted as the theoretical framework for this thesis.