The Problems of Translating Medical Terms from English into Arabic By Gharsa M. Argeg

267 Pages·2015·1.78 MB·English

Durham E-Theses
The Problems of Translating Medical Terms from
English into Arabic
ARGEG, GARSA,MOUSBAH
How to cite:
ARGEG, GARSA,MOUSBAH (2015) The Problems of Translating Medical Terms from English into
Arabic , Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online:
http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11166/
Use policy
Thefull-textmaybeusedand/orreproduced,andgiventothirdpartiesinanyformatormedium,withoutpriorpermissionor
charge,forpersonalresearchorstudy,educational,ornot-for-pro(cid:28)tpurposesprovidedthat:
• afullbibliographicreferenceismadetotheoriginalsource
• alinkismadetothemetadatarecordinDurhamE-Theses
• thefull-textisnotchangedinanyway
Thefull-textmustnotbesoldinanyformatormediumwithouttheformalpermissionofthecopyrightholders.
PleaseconsultthefullDurhamE-Thesespolicyforfurtherdetails.
AcademicSupportO(cid:30)ce,DurhamUniversity,UniversityO(cid:30)ce,OldElvet,DurhamDH13HP
e-mail: [email protected]: [phone]
http://etheses.dur.ac.uk
2
The Problems of Translating Medical Terms from
English into Arabic

By

Gharsa M. Argeg

A thesis submitted to the University of Durham for the Degree of Doctor of
Philosophy in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures
2015
Abstract
This study tackles the problems of translating medical terms from English into Arabic a. It
uses an evaluative approach to investigate and discuss the problems and intricacies of
translating medical terms from English into Arabic. The purpose of the study is to display the
difficulties of translating medical terms and how they were tackled by postgraduate students
who are competent in medical translation and professional Arabic translators who work in the
medical field. The study adopts a qualitative-quantitative approach. It focuses on different
types of medical terms, excluding pharmacy-related terms. In order to find out and identify
the real difficulties behind translating medical terms and how they could be approached by
experienced translators, the researcher utilized a questionnaire test that included a set of
English medical terms to be translated into Arabic by students who were doing a PhD in
translation. The same questionnaire was also given to a group of professional Arabic
translators. As medical terms are the key components of medical texts, the questionnaire
included forty-five diversified English medical terms taken from different medical reports,
namely National Health Service (NHS) leaflets and flyers and World Health Organization
(WHO) reports for 2007 and 2008. The official Arabic translations of these documents were
used to assess the translations given by the subjects in comparison to and contrast with some
medical dictionaries and reliable medical websites. The population of the study included 54
postgraduate students (doing PhDs in Arabic translation) in Libyan (the researcher’s origin
country) and UK universities and 12 Arabic translators working in UK hospitals and clinics.
The results from the data analysis showed that the translation of the medical terms posed real
difficulties and challenges for the students and inexperienced professional translators
although the experienced professional translators found them comparatively straightforward.
Hence, the result highlights the problems of translating medical terms from English into
Arabic and the importance of training to work in the medical field as a translator. Also, the
study concluded that literal translation, the heavy use of transliteration, inconsistency, the
students’ lack of sufficient experience and practice in medical translation, and lack of up-to-
date English-Arabic medical dictionaries are factors that have given rise to problems in
medical translation. Also, the study showed that almost no professional translators use CAT
tools or MT to help them translate the medical terms.
2
Table of Contents
Abstract ………………………………………………………………………...............................................ii
Table of Content............................................................................................................iii
Declaration....................................................................................................................iv
Statement of copyright ……………………………………………………………….............................viii
Dedication ………………………………………….…………………………………...................................ix
Acknowledgements .......................................................................…............................x
List of Tables …………………………………………………………......................……………...............xi
List of Abbreviations ……………………………………………………………......................…...........xiii
Transliteration System ………………………………………………………………...............................xi
Chapter One: Introduction
1.1. Introduction and Background ………………………………………….…...............................17
1.2. Motives Behind Studying Medical Terms …………………….….………..........................19
1.3. Statement of the Problem ……………………………………………………..............................20
1.4. The Objectives and Hypotheses of the Study ……………………………….......................22
1.5. Structure of the Study ………………………………………………………..................................23

Chapter Two: Scientific and Technical Translation (STT) into Arabic: Its Features,
Significance, Problems and Solutions
2.1. Introduction ………………………………………………………………...................................................27
2.2. Scientific and Technical Translation (STT) …………………………….........................................27
3
2.3. Technical Text …...............................................................................................................31
2.4. Features of Translating English Scientific and Technical Texts into Arabic......................32
2.5. Problems and Difficulties Confronted in Scientific and Technical Translation.................37
2.5.1. Language Related Problems: Semantic Shift……………….................................37
2.5.2. Terminology Related Problems …………………………….......................................39
2.5.3. The Lack of Co-ordination between Arab Countries with Regard to the Issue
of Standardization of Scientific and Technical Terms....................................43
2.6. Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) and Machine Translation (MT)............................52
2.7. Conclusion …………………………………………………………...........................................................55
Chapter Three: Medical Terminology and How It Works
3.1. Introduction …………………………………………………………........................................................58
3.2. Medical Terminology …………………………………………………...................................................60
3.3. Analysis of English Medical Terms ……………………………………............................................63
3.3.1. The Word Root ……………………………………………...............................................64
3.3.2. Prefixes ……………………………………………………...................................................66
3.3.3. Suffixes …………………………………………………......................................................67
3.3.4. The Combining (linking) Vowels …………………………........................................67
3.4. Derivation of English Medical Terms …………………………………..........................................86
3.5. The History of Medical Arabic …......................................................................................73
3.5.1 Medieval Arabic Translation ….......................................................................................75
3.5.2 Modern Arabic Translation …........................................................................................75
3.6. Derivation of Arabic Medical Terms …………………………………............................................77
3.7. Terminology and Translation …………………………………………...............................................80
3.7.1. Acronyms and Abbreviations.…........................................................................81
4
3.7.2. Loan Words …....................................................................................................83
3.7.3. Collocations …...................................................................................................84
3.7.4. Compounds …...................................................................................................85
3.8. Equivalence Problems in Medical Translation ……………………….......................................86
3.8.1. Grammatical Equivalence …………………………………........................................86
3.8.2. Cultural Equivalence ………………………………….................................................89
3.9. The problems of non-equivalence …...............................................................................90
3.10. The Problem of Neologisms ….......................................................................................97
3.11. Polysemy …....................................................................................................................99
3.12. Terminological Inconsistency in Medical Translation into Arabic …............................101
3.13. Strategies for Solving the Problems of Equivalence ………………….................................101
3.13.1. Addition of Information ………………………………….........................................102
3.13.2. Deletion (Omission) of Information ……………………....................................103
3.13.3. Structural Adjustment ……………………………………........................................103
3.14. The Methods Used in Translating Medical Terms into Arabic ………............................104
3.14.1.Translation ………………………………………………...............................................105
3.14.2. Transliteration ……………………………………………............................................106
3.14.3. Arabization ………………………………………………...............................................109
3.15. Globalization …………………………………………………………..................................................113
3.16. Standardization of Arabic Medical Terms ….................................................................114
3.17. English-Arabic Medical Dictionaries ….........................................................................115
3.18. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………....................................................119
Chapter Four: Methods
4.1. Introduction ……………………………………………………………….................................................122
5
4.2. Research Design ….........................................................................................................122
Districts and Respondents ….................................................................................................123
Population and Sample of the Study ….................................................................................123
The Source of Data Collections ….........................................................................................124
Data Collections ….................................................................................................................126
4.2.4.1. The Questionnaire …...............................................................................................126
4.2.4.2. Validity and Reliability of the Test….........................................................................130
4. 3. The Pilot Study ……………………………………………………………..............................................130
4.3.1. Sample and Data Collection ………………………………………….....................................…131
4.3.2. Data Analysis …………………………………………………………..............................................131
4.3.3. Results of the Pilot Study ……………………………………………........................................134
4.4. Analysis of the Main Data ………………………………………………….........................................136
Chapter five: Data Analysis and Discussion
5.1. Introduction …………………………………………………………………..............................................138
5.2. Part One: Translating Medical Terms ………………………………………...................................140
5.2.1. Analysis of Errors and Difficulties …………………………………….......................................140
Analysis of Postgraduate Students' Answers (Sample One)..................................................140
Comparison Between the Percentage Results of the Postgraduate Students and the
Professional Translators........................................................................................................189
5.3. Part Two: Strategies Employed by the Participants in the Translation of Medical Terms
in this Study. …......................................................................................................................198
5.3.1. The Strategies Employed by Postgraduate Students in the Translation of Medical
Terms. …................................................................................................................................193
6
5.3.2. The Strategies Employed by Professional Translators in the Translation of
Medical Terms.......................................................................................................................193
Chapter Six: Conclusions
6.1. Introduction and Summary of the Study …………………………………...................................204
6.2. Conclusions and Findings of the Study ………………….......................................................206
6.3. Remedial Solutions …………………………………………………....................................................213
6.3.1 General Guidelines for Translating Medical Terms …............................................213
6.3.2 Suggested Solutions to Deal with Ambiguous and Non-equivalence....................214
6.4. Contribution of the Study ………………………………………………............................................216
6.5. Implications and Recommendations…………………………………………..................................217
6.6. Suggestions for Further Research ………………………………................................................219
Bibliography ………………………………………………………………….....................................................221
Appendices ……………………………………………………………………..................................................234

7
Declaration

I, Gharsa Musbah Argeg, hereby confirm that the composition of this Ph.D thesis is entirely
my own work.

Gharsa Musbah Argeg

8