The paper titled "Translation of Collocations into Arabic: A Descriptive Corpus-Based Study" focuses on the challenges and strategies involved in translating English collocations into Arabic, with an emphasis on measuring the degree of domestication versus foreignization in these translations.
The purpose of the study is to explore how English collocations are rendered in Arabic translations, specifically examining whether translators tend to domesticate or foreignize these collocations. The study applies Baker’s (2018) theoretical framework of equivalence and translation strategies to analyze the translations and assesses how these strategies impact the overall translation process.
Methodologically, the study employs a quantitative corpus-based approach, supplemented with qualitative analysis. It utilizes the OPUS2 parallel corpus and the Sketch Engine web-based tool to analyze English-Arabic collocations, particularly focusing on collocations involving the verb "make." The study examines six common collocations—make sense, make a promise, make a difference, make progress, make a profit, and make a statement—by investigating their frequency and translation strategies used in Arabic texts.
The key findings of the study indicate that domestication is the predominant strategy in translating these collocations into Arabic. For instance, the collocation "make a statement" is frequently translated using the strategy of cultural substitution, which is a common practice in Arabic. Similarly, other collocations like "make progress" and "make a difference" show a strong tendency towards domestication, using strategies such as the application of more general words or cultural substitution. The study also identifies cases of foreignization, although these are less common.
In conclusion, the study finds that the translation of English collocations into Arabic is largely characterized by domestication, which reflects the translators' high competence and expertise. The findings have significant implications for translation studies and pedagogy, suggesting that further research could explore the differences between professional and non-professional translators or between human and machine translations. The study also highlights the value of using parallel corpora as a resource for teaching translation strategies to students and trainees.