The Translation Errors between Arabic Language & Literature Students and their Solutions (Relying on the Error Tree Analysis (ETA) method)

Translation is, in many ways, the communicative act of transferring a message between two languages. This activity requires a certain degree of communicative competence in two languages. In all of the models from translation studies previously reviewed, competence in two languages is an undisputed aspect of translation competence. Clear grammatical competence plays a vital role in the act of translation. This sub component is defined as control of vocabulary (the words of a language), morphology (the way that smaller parts combine to form words), syntax (the way that words combine to form phrases and sentences), and graphemic (writing system) knowledge.

Each of these aspects contribute both to the interpretation of the source text and the production of the target text. A breakdown in any one of these areas can affect the act of translation. Insufficient knowledge of vocabulary can lead to miscomprehension of the source text or failure to successfully communicate meaning in the target text. This competence can be aided through proper and skillful use of dictionaries and other professional resources, but only to a degree. A translator’s knowledge of morphology and syntax helps both interpretation and production in the act of translation. A failure to understand the effects that syntax and morphology have on meaning can also lead to incomplete or mistaken understanding of the source text and the production of a difficult or misleading rendition in the target text. Graphemic knowledge, likewise, plays a part in both the interpretation and production aspects of translation. Failure to understand differences in meaning carries by punctuation and diacritical marking can lead to misapprehension of the source text. Lack of knowledge of writing mechanics or misapplication of graphemic knowledge can lead to interference with communication of meaning and difficulty in the comprehension of a target text. Therefore, each of the aspects of grammatical competences is vital to the act of translation and is being assessed either directly or indirectly in any authentic translation task.

This research was done with the aim to study the possibility of adapting the Error Tree Analysis (ETA) Method to the area of translation from Arabic to Persian (Persian), and vice versa.

To do this, after gathering information regarding the mentioned method, in each case a relevant sample error in both languages of Arabic and Persian has been given and the possibility of adjusting ETA to translation between the two languages and for Persian-speaking Language learners has been proven relying on a descriptive-analytical method.

The results of the studies indicate that, however, in the section of linguistic competence, some options the ETA method offers are related to phonology and they cannot be used in the area of written translation, but if we consider the area of translation as a vaster area including both written and oral interpretation, all the mentioned error cases could be seen that happen when using ETA in translation between Arabic and Persian.

In errors related to words phonetics in Arabic, pronouncing alphabets and letters from various parts of the vocal tract, long or shortness of the vowels, impact of vowels on meaning of the words and their differences, main or secondary role of the consisting letters of article “ال” and the role of “-ّ” (the sign of germination/doubling of a consonant) in the meaning of a word all have impacts on occurring an error.

In lexical interlingual errors, sharing alphabets in both Arabic and Persian Languages, numerous Arabic words borrowed and used in Persian – some in the same meaning some in other, some in the same meaning but with different application – play a key role in the occurrence of such errors.

In intralingual lexical errors, the incomplete familiarity of the Persian-speaking language learner with the Arabic Language, its grammar, expressions, and proverbs is the main factor for an error to occur.

In the area of intralingual-developmental errors, lack of familiarity and command of the Arabic language and its conjugation and other grammatical rules leads to occurrence of an error. Among the Persian-speaking learners of Arabic, the omission error while using subject and object pronouns, articles and “navasekh” (auxiliary verbs), addition errors while using prepositions with transitive verbs in nature, substitution error in incorrect application of prepositions in transitive verbs with a letter and words diacritic, and the change/convert error in incorrect connection of a declarative sentence starting with a noun to a declarative sentence starting with a verb. This method could be used in understanding the frequency of Arabic students’ errors in universities and solving such errors in order to increase the efficiency quotient of teaching this language.