1. Lexical Non- Equivalence in Translation عدم التكافؤ المفرداتي في الترجمة A Presentation given by Eyhab A. Bader Eddin March 30, 2015

2. Theoretical Setting  1. There is no exact equivalence of meaning between the words of different varieties of languages.  National standards of English use the same lexical items to mean completely different concepts.  A few examples are: (Different words to mean exact objects and concepts) British EnglishAmerican English RailwayRailroad TinCan Petrolgasoline AutumnFall

3.  More confusing words :  Same words to mean different concepts British EnglishAmerican English Cider (unless specified as ‘sweet cider’ is ALCOHOLIC Cider (unless specified as ‘hard cider’ is NONALCOHOLIC School excludes colleges and universities School includes colleges and universities A first –floor flat is the one above the ground floor A first-floor flat is the one on the ground floor

4.  This has prompted a linguistic phenomenon to sprout, i.e. The difference among languages in referring to the same object, using the same linguistic form. Lexical Anisomorphism Or Lexical Incongruence

5. Light blue vs Navy blue

6.  Language development does not follow the same lines of semantic thoughts. . In other words, two corresponding words in English and Arabic do not generate the same polysemes.  There is an overlap in the development of certain terms and their equivalents.

7. - A one-to-many lexical equivalence supports the theory that language categorizes areas of meaning differently. - Languages often do not coincide in seeing the same analogous relationships between various objects. أرضدرجة Earth, ground, floor, estate, region Step, degree, grade, rank, class Consciousness figure ضمير، وعي، وجدان، شعوررقم، شكل، جسم، تمثال

8. In contrast to English using a single verb in collocation with many objects and concepts, Arabic DOES amazingly use a distinct verb for each of them Break (v) Glass كسر Law خالف Record حطـّم Spell أبطل Fast أفطر String قطع Engagement فسخ Promise نكث Habit أقلع Silence بدّد

9. The multiplicity of words used in Arabic where English uses one word, reveals how the simple actions of ‘breaking’ are perceived by the English and the Arabs in two strikingly different manners. Cut Wire قطع Bread قسم Finger جرح Price خـفـّض Lecture قاطع

10. The Arabic kinship system, as opposed to its English counterpart, is worth reflecting on. Why? Cousin ابن العمابن العمة ابن الخال ابن الخالة بنت العم بنت العمة بنت الخال بنت الخالة

11. Based on the previous table, we can say ….  The meanings of these terms are defined –in the Arab society- on the basis of three componential features, namely. Sex, generation and lineality.  It is confusing to an Arab to hear or read the repeated reference to ‘cousins’ without being able to differentiate the precise nature of kinship

12. Arabic and English segment another area differently. The day is roughly divided into 9 basic divisions in Arabic, corresponding to ONLY 6 in English. العشاءالمساء (الغسق) المغربالعصرالظهرالغداةالصباحالفجر (الصبح) السحر ------evening-----afternoonnoon-----morningDay- break Dawn

13. It would be interesting to survey the lexical items used in Arabic to express the division of a crowd into smaller units Group قبيلشرذمةلمـّةرهطنفر فوجثلةثبةطائفةعصبة فئام زُجلةزمرةحزبفرقة جـُبـلجـُبلةقـِبصحزيقةحزلة

14. Another area of interest would be the ‘horse gait’  While English uses the following verbs to describe the horse gait (walk, trot, canter, gallop and pace), Arabic uses الخبب، والترقيب والعنق والهملجة والإرتجال والفلج والتقدي والضبر والضبع والخناف والعجيلى والرديان والدحو والابتراك والإمجاج والإحضار والإرخاء والإهداب والإهماج )

15. Translation problems arising from lexical incongruence:  1. Terms that are ONLY partially equivalent.  One instance might be the use of ”uncle“ as a translation of both ”عم“ و ”خال“.  One more instance is ” عوجاء“ أو ”جمالية“  They are rendered instead by …. “generic terms” or “superordinate lexical item”.

16. Whereas English has only one main verb ‘love’, Arabic has much more words signifying varying types and intensity of love. The last example on this type of problems is …. Love الهوى والعلاقة والكلف والعشق والشغف واللوعة واللاعج والشغف والجوى والتيم والتبل والتدليه والوله والهيام

17. Leonard Bloomfield states boldly and clearly that:  ‘If the forms (of words) are phonemically different, we suppose that their meanings are also different’.  An example is ‘quick, fast, swift, rapid and speedy’.

18. 2. Terms with the same referential meaning, but different stylistic value:  Sometimes the only available equivalent to an Arabic word is one which belongs to a different level of usage, and thus with a different stylistic value.  In such cases, a translator is left to dive deep in the sea of language to come up with ‘poetic diction’ or ‘highly literary lexical items’.

19. Here is a table, revealing that: Standard ArabicLiterary قلميراع الشفاهاللمى نحيلأعجف جريحكليم ابتعدازورّ أبغضشنأ لبنةمدماك Do we have the same in English?

20. Interestingly enough, Arabic is characterized by the fact that some plurals are associated with poetic echoes or emotive force. How? NeutralEmotively or poetically Charged أضلاعأضلع الأحشاءالحشى أزهارأزاهير كلماتكلم دموعأدمع أولادولدان

21. 3. Terms with the same referential meaning but different connotation  In every linguistic community, there is tacit agreement about the associations and connotations of words among its speakers.  There are words whose referential meanings have gradually accumulated new emotive components.  An example is ” حرمة“ أو ”وليـّة “ whose English available equivalent is only ‘woman’.

22. Why is ‘woman’ not equivalent to the Arabic ” حرمة“ أو ”ولية “?  Because the following semantic properties and components are absent from the English given equivalent, namely.  Female inferiority  Veiled and taboo  Weakness or helplessness

23. 4. Terms with the same referential meaning but different intensity.  Look at the following Arabic sentence:  ”جرّعني خرافاته“ - One translator gave the equivalent ‘to feed’ for جرّع“. - The Arabic verbal pattern فعّل implies causation or the use of force, which are already incorporated by the Arabic verb جرّع. - The word ‘feed’ is a shift to a different semantic domain, i.e. that of eating, and it lacks the aspect of force.

24. The final example is: ”سحـّت عيناه دمعاً مدراراً“  سحّ represents an action of greater intensity than do the other verbs which could have replaced it (e.g. هطل- جرى- سال- هتن- نزل)  It is made even stronger by the use of a morphological form that implies emphasis and exaggeration (the adjective مدراراً  If the emotive force generated by these two lexical items can be reproduced, they should be through other modes of expression, NOT through exact lexical parallelism.