Translation of Arabic Ecological Terms: An Eco-Cultural Approach

Ahmad Mustafa Halimah

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.

Keywords


Translation, Culture, Ecology, Fauna, Flora, Arabic Terms, Problem, Solution

Full Text:

PDF

References


Ali, A.Y. (1990). The Holy Quran: English Translation of the Meanings and Commentary, AL-Madinah Al-Munawarah, King Fahd Holy Quran Printing Complex.

Abdul-Raof, H. (2005). “Cultural Aspects in Quran Translation”, in Long, Lynne (ed.) Translation and Religion, Topics in Translation, Multilingual Matters LTD.

Aljahiz, Amro bin Bahr (2006) Kitaab Alhaywan (the Book of Merits and Demerits), AlMaktabah Alassrya, Beirut, Lebanon.

Aljahiz, Amro bin Bahr (2008) Kitaab Alhaywan(the Book of the Animal), Alkitaab AlArabi Publishing House, Beirut, Lebanon.

Almadani, Ali Sader Addeen (1969) Anwar Arrabee' fee anwa' arrabee' (the Lights of Spring in the Kinds of Spring), Anamaan Publishing House, Iraq.

Al-Shabab, O.S. (2008). Linguistic and Cultural Translation in the Translations of the Holy Quran into European Languages. In Scientific Journal of King Faisal University, Vol.9, Issue No. 2

Ghazala, Hasan, (2014) Translation as Problems and Solution: A Textbook for University Students and Trainee Translators, Konooz Al-Marifa for Printing & Publishing, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Halimah, A.M. (2014) “Translation of the Holy Quran: A Call for Standardization”, Journal of Advances in Language & Literary Studies, Australian International Academic Centre PTY.Ltd. Austalia. Vol. 5 No.1, pp.122-133.

Halimah, A.M. (2017) “Translation of Prophetic Hadeeths: Divine Challenges”, European Journal of English Language & Literature Studies, European Centre for Research, Training and Development (ECRTD), United Kingdom. Vol.5, No.10, pp.1-18.

Hodges, Karen E. (2008). Defining the Problem: Terminology and Progress in Ecology, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment Journal, Volume 6, Issue 1.

(Pages 35-42) http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/060108/full (Accessed on 1.12.17)

Nida, Eugene (1945) Linguistics and Ethnology in Translation-Problems, WORD, 1:2, 194-208, DOI: 10.1080/00437956.1945.11659254, by Routledge (Accessed on 1.12.17)

Nida, Eugene A. (1975/2001) Language, Culture, and Translating, Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.

Newmark, Peter (1988) A Textbook of Translation, Prentice Hall International.

Saheeh al-Bukhari (1998) International Idea Home, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Saheeh Muslim (1998) International Idea Home, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Vinokurov, Andrey, Geller, Daniel & Martin, Tamara (2007). Translation as an Ecological Tool for Instrumental Development, International Journal of Quantitative Methods.

Wormhoudt, Arthur (1978) Translation of Diwan al-Mutanabbi, published by William Penn College, Oskaloosa, Iowa, USA.

Zakumilina, M.N & Lutfullina, G.F (2013). Structural approach in translating ecological terms of engineering protection, Interactive Collaborative Learning, International Conference on 25-27 Sept. 2013. http://ieexplore.ieee.org/xpls/icp.jsp?arnumber=644545 (Retrieved 1.12.17)




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

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Bookmark and Share


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

2013-2023 (CC-BY) Australian International Academic Centre PTY.LTD.

International Journal of Comparative Literature and Translation Studies

You may require to add the 'aiac.org.au' domain to your e-mail 'safe list’ If you do not receive e-mail in your 'inbox'. Otherwise, you may check your 'Spam mail' or 'junk mail' folders.