Translation of Arabic Ecological Terms: An Eco-Cultural Approach

Ahmad Mustafa Halimah

doi:10.7575/aiac.ijclts.v.6n.2p.55

Abstract

Unlike most translations which are carried out within the Indo-European language-family and culture, the translation of Arabic language and culture into English language and culture tends to cause serious problems for translators. This paper is an attempt to examine the problems and difficulties in translating Arabic ecological terms of literary and religious texts using Peter Newmark’s (1988) ecological categorizations of ‘Fauna’, Flora’, and other ‘Geographical features’ in conceptualised and contextualised examples as parameters for discussion and analysis. Results of the discussion and analysis of the samples used in this paper have highlighted the importance of attending to ecological issues in translation and the need for an eco-cultural approach to be used for solving such problems. Some suggestions and recommendations have been made to help translators adjust their translation methods to fit the Arabic eco-cultural context as well as those who are interested in carrying out further research in this field.

Highlights

When it comes to translating ecological terms in literary and religious contexts, the translation of Arabic language and culture into English language and culture has a difficulty and heap of problems that most translations carried out within the Indo-European language-family and culture are scarce of
To see how and why translators tend to find Arabic ecological terms problematic and difficult to translate into En-Translation of Arabic Ecological Terms: An Eco-Cultural Approach glish and fail to use appropriate translation procedures, Newmark’s (1988) ecological categorizations of ‘Fauna’, ‘Flora’, and ‘Geographical features’ were used in conceptualised and contextualised examples as parameters
Based on the brief discussion and analysis of the examples mentioned above, we can conclude that translating literary and religious Arabic Ecological terms into English in general tends to give rise to problems and difficulties in three ecological areas: Fauna, Flora and eco-geography specified by Newmark (1988)

Summary

Introduction

When it comes to translating ecological terms in literary and religious contexts, the translation of Arabic language and culture into English language and culture has a difficulty and heap of problems that most translations carried out within the Indo-European language-family and culture are scarce of. The main objective of this study is two fold: to examine the problems and difficulties in translating Arabic ecological terms that are facing the translators of literary and religious texts by using Peter Newmark’s (1988) ecological categorizations of ‘Fauna’, ‘Flora’ and other ‘environmental features’ and to argue for an eco-cultural translation method that would fit the Arabic eco-cultural contexts and the natives’ perceptions. Achieving such objectives would bring forth the introduction of a fresh new approach to the cultivated art of eco-cultural translation that would contribute to helping translators overcome the translation difficulties and problems in this field as well as those in other text-types with little adaptation

Objectives

Methods

Conclusion