Paraphrase and Definition: Two Translation Techniques in Conveying Islamic Economic and Financial Terminology in Arabic-English Dictionaries

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the frequency of two prevailing translation techniques in the bilingual lexicographic context, which analyzes the Arabic and English writings with a specific focus on Islamic financial and economic terms (IFETs). Furthermore, it attempts to report the preferences of dictionary users who are either translators or translation students. For this purpose, a monolingual dictionary specialized in IFETs was carried out to conduct the analysis, out of which, one hundred terms were randomly selected. These terms were analyzed referentially and technically. Additionally, a search of translational equivalents in two Arabic-English specialized dictionaries was carried out. The IFETs with no entries in the said bilingual dictionaries were rendered into English by using two translation techniques, namely paraphrasing and definition techniques. The results revealed that paraphrasing using a related word was the most frequently used technique than the definition technique. The meanings of 31 terms were adequately conveyed via paraphrasing technique, while only one term was translated with a definition technique. Thus, this study pointed out the pertinent role of the paraphrasing technique in solving the untranslatability of many deeply cultural-bound terms. However, a preliminary survey was conducted to fulfill this study's second aim, which showed that most of the respondents preferred to utilize definitional technique, instead of paraphrasing.