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Difficulties and Challenges in Translating English Collocations into Arabic:

The Case of Undergraduate Students

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 2023‫عــدد خـاص‬ ‫مجلة كلية المأمون‬

Difficulties and Challenges in Translating English

Collocations into Arabic:
The Case of Undergraduate Students
Hadeel N. Mohammed Saeed
Department of Translation, Al-Ma‟moun University College
Baghdad, Iraq
[email protected]

Abstract
Collocations are “semantically arbitrary restrictions which do not follow logically from
the propositional meaning of a word." (Baker,1992:52).In translation ,collocations are
considered one of the main cohesive devices in any text. Nonetheless, translating collocation
is a real challenge for most students of translation. In an effort to better understand the
challenges and difficulties Iraqi EFL undergraduate students face when translating English
collocations into their Arabic equivalents, the current paper looks into these issues, as well
as the main reasons behind these challenges .To this point fourth year students, Dep. of
translation at Al- Ma’moun University College, who have been studying translation for four
years, were asked to translate ten English collocations into their Arabic equivalence through
a test conducted at the Dep. of translation, and the use of dictionaries were not allowed.
The results showed that Iraqi undergraduate students encounter difficulties and problems
due to their reliance on literal translation techniques and ignorance of the language and
cultural distinctions between English and Arabic in the collocation translation process.
Key words: collocation, New mark Approach , undergraduate students, Translation

1.1 Introduction
The other aspect of communication is translation, which is a significant
human endeavor. It is the means by which many misconceptions and
miscommunications between languages and communities are cleared up. People
from various societies use it as a necessary tool for communication.
It is clear that major errors with grammar, lexis and meaning are frequently
encountered by translators at all levels.

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One of the most problematic areas posed to the students of translation are
lexical ones in which vocabulary is the main component. During the process of
translation, words are typically given the highest emphasis. Moreover, most of the
students commit mistakes in using the literal translation of words an especially in
finding the proper equivalent in Arabic .The primary goal of this paper is to examine
student’s knowledge of how to translate various collocations.. It is an effort to
gauge their level of awareness by looking at their capacity to translate collocation
into Arabic relying on their background knowledge as four-year students of
translation , and difficulties encountered due to differences in the lexical patterning
and the target language.
A collocation is the way in which words are combined in a language to create
natural-sounding speech and writing. Collocations are one of the main cohesive
devices in any text .In a literary text for instance,"collocations are crucial to the text’s
coherence , in addition to the fact that collocations reflect apart of culture”.
(Obeidat and Mahadi, 2019:130).
Since the translation of literature helps in bridging the gap among cultures
,so the translator should be a well- skilled, bilingual as well as bicultural .Usually
,authors and writers of literature express their ideas in a figurative language under
presupposed meaning, using “lexical patterning that include two main
headings.”(Baker , 1992:51).
Collocations are combinations that only sounds natural to native speakers but
not to EFL students, they "Collocations are generally considered to be problematic
to learners of foreign languages" ( Devenyi, 2009: 7). In this regard, Ghazala
(1995:108) refers to collocation by saying that:
A collocation is a grouping of two or more words that consistently appear
together in a variety of linguistic settings .In another words, a specific noun appears
with a specific adjective as in blind confidence ‫ ثقة عمياء‬.A verb and a noun are used
together e.g. “pass a law”‫ ;يسن قانونا‬adjective +adjective e.g. “alive and kicking” ‫حي‬
‫ ;يرزق‬adverb+ adverb e.g." willy nilly” ‫ ;شاء أم ابى‬noun+ noun ‫قلبا وقالبا‬

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1.2 Collocations
Simply defined, a collocation is a lexical item that inclined to co-occur
regularly in a certain given language (Kharma and Hajjaj, 1997). (Crystal, 1981
printed in Newmark, 1988:212) defines a collocation as a habitual co-occurrence of
individual lexical elements .
Collocations are described by Oxford Collocation Dictionary as the words
mix in a language to make natural –sounding speech and writing. (2007:7).
Recent studies have shown that words play a crucial role in translation since
they are regularly utilized in both spoken and written language and serve a variety
of different functions. These various functions appear to be impeding the
translation process as these word pairings in a language can range from being
straightforward to being fixed and idiomatic. Such collocations are one of the regular
combinations of words that run through the whole of the English language. For
example, ‘strong’ and ‘heavy’ come with ‘wind’ and ‘rain’ respectively to form
group of words that give totally different meanings than their own isolated forms
.Other examples like “brain drain” , “blind confidence”.
According to Newmark ,he defines a collocation as the element of systems
in the lexis of language .It might be syntagmatic or horizontal ,with a shared
structure, or paradigmatic or vertical, with words from the same semantic area that
could function as synonyms or as semantic opposites (1988:114).
1.3 Types of Collocations:
In English , there are many different types of collocation. The researcher in
this work pays particular attention to those that students and translators are most
interested in ,as well as the most crucial ones that are exceedingly common in
language use
The classification of collocation is simply grammatical, according to Benson
etal (1986)and it is based on the grammatical groups of word classes according to
how frequently they occur together in language use. .Ghazala (1995:106-117) state
that there are seven types of collocations where he states the most recurrent in

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language use. Some examples of the different types of collocations are manifested
as follows:

1.3.1 Adjective + Noun collocation:

In this type of collocation, adjectives and noun collocations are used to convey
a whole new meaning. We can find many examples for this common type of
collocations which are translated into equivalent Arabic ones (i.e. .noun +adjective)
(Ghazala 1995:107). raging, black and idle are all adjectives whereas storm, market
and talk are nouns:
Raging storm‫عاصفة هوجاء‬
Black market ‫سوق سوداء‬
Idle talk ‫كالم فارغ‬
1.3.2 Verb + Noun collocation:
In this type of collocation, the meaning of the collocation depends on the
correct meaning of the verb in context .The followings are some examples of this
type where pass ,run and pay are verbs whereas law, company and attention are
nouns :
Pass a law ‫يسن قانونا‬
Run a company‫يدير شركة‬
Pay attention‫يسترعي اإلنتباه‬
1.3.3 Noun+ Noun collocation:
This type of collocation includes two types of words both of which are nouns,
typically, these collocations have Arabic analogues with different grammatical
structure (ibid: 111).The followings are some examples of this type where state,
death and status are nouns and university, sentence and quo are also nouns:
State university‫جامعة حكومية‬
Death sentence ‫حكم اإلعدام‬
Status quo ‫الوضع الراهن‬

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1.3.4 Verb +Adverb collocation:

This type of collocation has the combination of verb in its past form and an
adverb as in the following examples where examined, whispered and smiled are
verbs in the past tense and thoroughly ,softly and proudly are adverbs as in the
following examples:
Examined thoroughly ‫فحص بدقة‬
Whispered softly ‫همس بلطف‬
Smiled proudly ‫همس بفخر‬

1.3.5 Adverb +Adverb collocations:

In this type of collocation , the combination is between two words which
both of them are adverbs .Grammatically; their translation in Arabic is different from
the English collocations. The followings are some examples of this type of
collocation:
Wholly and heartedly ‫من اعماق القلب‬/‫بالتمام والكمال‬
Secretly and publicly ‫سرا وعالنية‬
Willy nilly ‫شاء ام ابى‬
1.3.6 Adjective + Adjective collocations:
This type of collocation has a different and unpredictable Arabic translation
as in the following examples where healthy, well and good are adjectives whereas
‫على خير مايرام بصحة وعافية‬are preposition+ noun+ noun, .alive and kicking are
adjectives translated into Arabic as noun +verb ‫حي يرزق‬
Healthy and well ‫بصحة وعافية‬
Well and good ‫على خير مايرام‬
Alive and kicking ‫حي يرزق‬
1.3.7 Noun +Verb collocation:
These collocations nouns+ verbs, the main point here is “to recognize in
Arabic the sound of the animal, insect or thing required” (ibid:115).The following

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are some examples of this type ,bees ,cats and dogs are animals and their sounds are
buzz, mew and bark respectively.:
Beez buzz‫دوي النحل‬
Cats mew ‫مواء القطط‬
Dogs bark ‫نباح الكالب‬
2.1 Collocations as Cohesive Devices
One of the primary cohesive devices in any work is the use of collocations.
Collocations, for example have a significant function in the text cohesiveness.in
addition to that, collocation represent part of culture in literary texts (Obeidat and
Mahadi,2009:130).

Halliday and Hassan (1976) claim that because collocations are viewed in
paradigmatic terms ,they can cross sentence boundaries .In this sense, collocations
offer semantic linkages that are already apparent which can be noticed clearly in the
following example where the words smoking and pipe provide a cohesive device to
the text:
A little fat man of Bombay
Was smoking one very hot day
But a bird called a snipe
Flew away with his pipe
Which vexed the fat man of Bombay
(Halliday.2004:577)
Usually authors and writers of literature express their ideas in a figurative
language, under presupposed meaning, using “lexical patterning that include two
main headings: collocation and idioms and fixed expressions”. (Baker, 1992:51).
Collocations are combinations that only sounds natural to native speakers but
not to EFL students , they “often have to make a special effort to master them
because they are often difficult to guess” (Abdelhamid, 2021:1).

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Ghazalla (1995:20) assures that the translation of collocation “require a good

deal of attention from the students”.
The basic idea of text cohesion relies on the concept that a text is usually ‘held
together’ by a diversity of internal forces .Undergraduate and EFL students “may
have trouble comprehending a text that looks to have uncomplicated words and
notions because they are failed to recognize cohesive ties”. (Khodareza and
Shabman Ashouri, 2016:18).
Since cohesion plays a significant role in discourse analysis, so readers and
writers in addition to EFL students have to be aware of such relations that could
embrace chunks of text collectively and that can assist to the way as how does the
text formed as a unit of meaning.
Undergraduate students have “not yet become skilled at how to bind English
sentences together clearly and logically with the suitable cohesive devices”. (ibid).In
fact, cohesion is realized by the linguistic ties that provide links noticed between
or among different parts of a text. , and this cohesion is presented partially through
the syntax and to a certain degree through the lexis in which collocations are part of
it. Collocations play a prominent role in the cohesion and coherence of a text,
collocations are the “nerves of the text….and lexis is the flesh”.
(Newmark1988:213).
Moreover , collocations are crucial factor in interpreting a specific text,
“collocation s are crucial to the interpretation of a text”.(Halliday and Hasan
,1976:28).
To conclude what is mentioned earlier in this section, cohesion refers to the
linguistic ties that make a text semantically coherent whereas cohesion is what
makes a text semantically significant “Lexical cohesion consists of two categories
,namely reiteration and collocation”.(Amper and Basari ,2019:3).
2.2 Significance of collocation:
In the English language , collocations are extremely important. It is thought to be
a significant linguistic phenomenon. They are a crucial part of the language’s lexicon

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.Language becomes more natural, vibrant and accurate when collocations are used.
A collocationally rich language “is also more exact” (Oxford Collocation
Dictionary.2009:2).In this regard Sarikas states that collocations are a significant co-
occurrence of words that give the language natural feel in both speech and writing
(2006:36).
The precise meaning of a word in any context is defined by that context: by the
words that surround and join with the core word by collocation. Collocations can
assist in establishing this precise meaning.
Collocations make it easier to identify the lexical item that best suits a given context.
For instance, if the term handsome is used, we can assume that the next word will
be a man.
To summarize the aforementioned points, it can be said that collocations refer to
language proficiency.
2.3. Collocations vs. idioms and fixed expressions
Collocations , idioms and fixed expressions are distinguished by Baker as
being at opposite ends of the spectrum from one another in terms of their flexibility
of patterning and transparency of meaning. Collocations are described as “fairly
flexible patterns of language which allow several variations in
form”(Baker,1992:63).
Moreover, the sense of idioms “cannot be deduced from their individual
components” (ibid).For instance, the idiom kicked the bucket has nothing to do with
the verb kick in its literal meaning, nor with bucket as a rough cylindrical open
container but rather it refers to someone died (Collins Dictionary).
Palmer (1976:96) adds that “collocation is sometimes highly distinctive and
cannot be easily predicted in terms of the meaning of the related words,” despite the
fact that collocation is very heavily driven by meaning”.
According to Baker , “idioms do not make sense when taken literally, therefore
the harder an expression is to grasp and the less sense it makes in a given context,
the more likely a translator will recognize it as an idiom”.(1992:63-64).

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Unlike idioms, fixed expressions’ meaning are straightforward to infer from

the meanings of the words that make them up. Although being clear fixed
expressions have deeper meanings than the sum of their individual words; hence
“the expression has to be evaluated as one unit to establish meaning” (ibid”63).
2.4 Problems and difficulties in translating collocations:
Because of the relative differences caused by the linguistic and cultural
collocability between the source language (ST) and the target language
(TL),translators face significant challenges and hurdles when translating
collocations (ibid:52).The verb drink in English usually collocates with juice and
milk but not with soup as it does in Arabic, for example .Lexemes typically differ in
their collocability from one language to another, meaning that what collocates in one
language might not collocate with another.
Translating collocation can be difficult because word collocation differ from one
language to another .This is especially true if the translator is unable to identify and
recognize the various collocational patterns because of their “figurative and unique
meaning, which differs from the sum of meaning of individual words and as a result
this could pose a great challenge to the translator.
Idioms , fixed expressions ,and various other word combinations are treated as
specific forms of combinations called collocations, according to
Ghazalla1993.According to( Harhash ,2019 :1006) “collocation cannot be clearly
distinguished from other word combination.”.
One of the important problems that refer to the translation of collocation is the
arbitrariness of collocations which is governed by linguistic conventions , for
example the adjective addled can be only collocate with the word egg but not with
brain or milk .Another example is the word blond which can only collocate with the
word hair to become blond hair.
It is not easy to predict collocations .English speakers use the noun visit with the
verb pay to say pay a visit not perform a visit. Thus, translation difficulty arise
again with incompatible synonyms to collocate in a language.

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To summarize, translating collocations is a challenging task not only for students

but also for experienced translators and finding the exact equivalence for a certain
collocation in the TLone of the major problems translators face (Hatim and Mason
1990). This study is an attempt to investigate the difficulties and problems
encountering undergraduate students in translating English collocations into Arabic.
The study adopts Newmark’s semantic vs communicative approach as a model
which will be discussed in the following section.

3.1 Newmark’s Semantic vs Communicative Translation

Peter Newmark (1916-2011) an English translation scholar developed translation
theory in striking and controversial ways in its own right, in which he describes how
a text could be conversed from one language to another as both a science and an art.
He addressed the idea of equivalence whether a translation should be as true to the
original as feasible or whether it should stay loose and colloquial.
According to Newmark’s (1981:39), the exact contextual meaning of the originals
are attempted to be rendered as accurately as the semantic and syntactic structures
of the second language permit. Given the cognitive and pragmatic loss that results
from pursuing the author’s thinking, semantic translation is regarded as a source
language bias, meaning that it is author-centered in a way that is inferior to the
original .Semantic translation is more exact than the original in conveying subtleties
of meaning, but it is also more difficult, unpleasant, and literal .It relates to the word
or word gap (ibid: 61).

Conversely, a communicative translation seeks to achieve for its readers an effect

that is as similar as feasible to that which was achieved for the readers of the original
.Communicative translation is a biased toward the target language and reader
centered. It makes an effort to simplify reading for the target language reader by
assuming that they do not anticipate obstacles or obscurities, and would expect the
transference of foreign aspects into his own culture and also his language if

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necessary(ibid:39).Translating for communication aims to highlight the impact of

the text rather than its content.
Moreover, communicative translation, which differs from semantic translation in
that it uses more generic phrases in challenging areas, is simpler , clearer ,more direct
,and more traditional. It also tends to under translate.
3.2 Methodology:
3.2.1 Participants
In this qualitative kind of research, the researcher in this study follows the
analytical descriptive method. Iraqi undergraduate fourth year students at Al-
Ma’moon University College /Department of Translation, five students were
selected , aged 22-23 who have been studying translation for four years. It would be
assumed that a high level of English awareness and full understanding may not be
fully obtained and that they might not comprehend the implied meaning of the
collocation. All participants are fully Arabic native speakers.

3.2.2 Procedures
The students were asked to translate five English sentences into Arabic in a thirty
minute time span. The students are asked to translate these sentences into Arabic
paying attention to the words printed in bold type... The use of dictionaries of any
kind is strictly not allowed. The students are asked to write down their translations
under each sentence on a sheet of A4 paper.
Responses are then collected for analysis and assessment. The emphasis of
analysis was on the translation of a collocation within a sentence .The results of
analysis are then examined as well as weaknesses of respondents are analyzed
according to Newmark’s theory ,i.e. whether they are being translated semantically
or communicatively.
3.2.3 Instruments used
The test is made up of five separate sentences each of which contains a certain type
of collocation. The selected sentences below are taken and given to the students:

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1. There is also talk of a brain drain with many academics apply for jobs abroad.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
2. Jackson drew a sword and attacked Caughman as he was searching through trash
bins for recyclables.
From: Vice news (Jan23, 2019)
3. Australia has enjoyed an economic boom, largely untouched by the financial
crisis.
From TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES (2013)

4. When she gets to her house there is a raging storm.

From: Native English, ICHACH.NET .WEB DICTIONARY
https://eng.ichacha.net/zaoju/raging%20storm.html
5. There is no desire to change the current status quo.
https://sentence.yourdictionary.com/status-quo

4.1 Data Analysis:

In the following section ,the translations of each collocation is being analyzed within
a table showing whether the translation is semantic or communicative and which
translation is appropriate and which is not.
SLT: analysis of collocation No.1
“There is also talk of a brain drain with many academics apply for job abroad”.
TLT:
.‫كان هنالك ايضا حديث عن غسيل االدمغة مع العديد من الطلبة الجامعيون للموافقة على توظيفهم‬.1
.‫هنالك أيضا حديث عن أستنزاف األدمغة عندما حاول الكثير من االكاديميين التقديم على الوظائف‬.2
.‫هناك أيضا حديث عن هجرة األدمغة مع تطبيق العديد من االكاديميين على الوظائف في الخارج‬.3
‫هنالك أيضا مناقشات بشأن أستنزاف الطاقات العلمية مع تقديم العديد من االكاديميين على طلبات عمل‬. 4.
‫خارج البالد‬
.‫هنالك الكثير من الكالم حول التالعب الفكري عندما حاول الكثير من االكاديميين التقديم على الوظائف‬. 5

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Discussion
The first translator has rendered “brain drain” into ‫غسيل االدمغة‬which literally
means brain wash .Here as it is observed , the translator applied a literal translation
.The translation is semantic and the syntactic and stylistic characteristics are
respected.
The second translator used the phrase “‫ ”استنزاف االدمغة‬which doesn’t give the
accurate and intended meaning for this collocation which is regarded in this sense
inappropriate. The third translator has been good enough to employ communicative
translation to give the exact meaning for this collocation, “‫ ”هجرة االدمغة‬.Again the
fourth translator like the second translator rendered it into “‫”أستنزاف الطاقات العلمية‬,
with the addition of the phrase ‫الطاقات العلمية‬scientific abilities, in a step to clarify the
meaning .The fifth translator rendered the collocation into “ ‫ ”التالعب الفكري‬which is
completely inappropriate rendering and distorted the original meaning of the
paraphrase .The accepted translation is ‫ “ هجرة األدمغة‬noun +noun genitive
construction” (Ghazala,1995:110).

Table (1) analysis of collocation No.1

SL Text TL Texts Methods of
Translation Appropriateness
ST Seq. Tran. of Collocations Sem Comm. Appr. Inappr

T1 .‫غسيل األدمغة‬ + - - +
brain drain
T2 .‫استنزاف األدمغة‬ - - - +
T3 .‫هجرة األدمغة‬ - + + -
T4 .‫أستنزاف الطاقات العلمية‬ - - - +
T5 .‫التالعب الفكري‬ - - - +

SLT: analysis of collocation No.2

“Jackson drew a sword and attacked Caughman as he was searching through trash
bins for recyclables.” .‫رسم جاكسون سيفا وهاجم رجال ضخما عندما كان يبحث في سلة القمامة‬.3

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‫سحب جاكسون سيفه من غمده وهاجم كوغمان في الوقت الذي كان يبحث فيه عن مواد قابلة للتدوير في سلة‬.1
‫المهمالت‬
.‫رفع جاكسون سيفه بينما كان يبحث في سلة النفايات يمكن إعادة تدويرها‬.2
‫رسم جاكسون سيفا وهاجم رجال ضخما عندما كان يبحث في سلة القمامة‬.3
.‫هاجم جاكسون رعاة البقروأشهر سيفه عندما كان يبحث في القمامة عن مخلفات قالة للتدوير‬.4
‫أخرج جاكسون سيفه وهاجم رجال كان يبحث عن مخلفات قابلة للتدوير‬.5

Discussion
This collocation consists of two parts a verb drew in its past form+ a noun sword.
As it is observed above from the five renderings above , the first translator
rendered the word drew into ‫ سحب‬in Arabic ,the translation is rather effective since
it can be considered as meaningful and can be regarded as communicative .
The second translator rendered the word drew into ‫ رفع‬which is incorrect
because it cannot meet the intended meaning and the style has been distorted and
unaccepted to the Arabic hearer.
The third translator has applied the strategy of literal translation and rendered the
word drew into ‫ ;رسم‬neglecting the connotative meaning of the verb drew. In another
words, the translator replaced the English word drew into its literal meaning ‫رسم‬
which resulted in a distortion of meaning and thus it is semantic translation.
Translator four used the word ‫أشهر‬tried to convey the meaning in a more effective
style, which is also communicative and attempted to produce on its readers an effect
as close as possible to that obtained on the readers of the source, so it is
communicative translation.
The fifth translator used a kind of descriptive equivalent for the word drew and
rendered it into ‫أخرج‬. The translation is semantic rather than communicative. The
accepted translation is ‫ يستل سيفا‬and translated into its identical from in Arabic a verb
in its present tense + ‫ يستل‬a noun ‫سيفا‬.
“The central point here is to match a certain verb with a certain noun in Arabic”.
(ibid: 109).

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Table (2) analysis of collocation No.2

SL Text TL Texts Methods of Appropriateness
Translation
ST S Translation of Sem Com App Inappr
Collocations
T1 ‫سحب جاكسون سيفه من غمده‬ + - - +
drew a sword
T2 .‫رفع جاكسون سيفه‬ - - - +
T3 .‫رسم جاكسون سيفا‬ + - - +
T4 .‫وأشهر سيفه‬ - + + -
T5 .‫اخرج جاكسون سيفه‬ + - - +

SLT: analysis of collocation No.3

“Australia has enjoyed an economic boom, largely untouched by the financial
crisis”.

.‫أنتعشت أستراليا بحدوث قفزة في أقتصادها حيث لم يتأثر أقتصاد أستراليا باألزمة المالية‬.1
.‫لقد تمتعت استراليا بأزدهار أقتصادي ولم تتأثر باألزمة المالية‬.2
.‫تشهد أستراليا قنبلة اقتصادية ولم تتاثر باألزمة المالية‬.3
‫المالية‬ ‫باألزمة‬ ‫تتأثر‬ ‫ولم‬ ‫أقتصادي‬ ‫بأزدهار‬ ‫أستراليا‬ ‫تمتعت‬.4
‫تمتعت استراليا بانفجار اقتصادي هائل ولم تتأثر باالزمة المالية‬.5

Discussion
This collocation consists of adjective economic+ noun boom. “Many examples
can be found in both languages for this most popular type of collocations .Usually
these collocations are translated into identical Arabic ones (i.e. .noun +adjective)”.
(ibid:107).
The first translator rendered the word boom into ‫ قفزة‬in Arabic which means
jump which does not actually convey the exact and intended meaning of the source
text. So the translator fails to deliver the correct acceptable meaning of the word
boom. “The translator tried to make an equivalent effect”. (Newmark, 1981:39).It is
a semantic translation.

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The second and fourth translators have rendered the word boom in a
communicative way, trying to “produce on its readers an effect as close as possible
to that obtained on the readers of the original”(ibid).Thus it is communicative
translation.
The third and the fifth translators used applied literal translation, the third
translator rendered the word boom into ‫ قنبلة‬whereas the fifth translator rendered the
word boom into ‫( انفجار‬word-for –word translation, which is unacceptable translation
and distorts the exact meaning of the original. They are regarded as semantic
translations. The accepted translation for this collocation is .‫ إزدهار أقتصادي‬This has
an identical syntactic Arabic equivalent a noun ‫ إزدهار‬+ an adjective ‫إقتصادي‬.
Table (3) analysis of collocation No.3

SL Text TL Texts Methods of Appropriateness

Translation
ST S Translation of Sem Com App Inappr
Collocations
economic boom T1 ‫قفزة في أقتصادها‬ + - - +
T2 ‫بأزدهار اقتصادي‬ - + + -
T3 .‫قتبلة اقتصادية‬ + - - +
T4 .‫بأزدهار اقتصادي‬ - + + +
T5 .‫بانفجار اقتصادي‬ + - - +

SLT: analysis of collocation No.4

“When she gets to her house there is a raging storm”.
.‫تحدث عاصفة ضخمة عندما عادت الى منزلها‬.1
.‫عارمة‬ ‫فوضى‬ ‫هناك‬ ‫كانت‬ ‫منزلها‬ ‫الى‬ ‫دخلت‬ ‫عندما‬.2
.‫عندما وصلت الى منزلها كانت هناك عاصفة مسعرة‬.3
.‫عندما وصلت الى منزلها كانت هناك عاصفة قوية‬.4
.‫هنالك عاصفة من الغضب‬,‫عندما تدخل منزلها‬.5

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Discussion
As with collocation No.3, this collocation also consist of an adjective a raging + a
noun storm.
The first translator rendered the collocation raging storm into ‫ عاصفة ضخمة‬a huge
storm , indicating that storm is big in size rather in its effect. The translator fails to
convey the implied meaning of the SL collocation.
The second translator rendered the collocation into ‫ فوضى عارمة‬a complete chaos
which is unacceptable and inappropriate translation .
The third translator made the effort to reach to a suitable equivalent by giving the
translation as ‫عاصفة مسعرة‬.
The fourth translator translated it into ‫عاصفة قوية‬strong storm which is rather
communicative, trying to convey the meaning as naturally and as accurately as
possible .The fifth translator rendered into ‫ عاصفة من الغضب‬a storm of anger

Table (4) analysis of collocation No.4

SL Text TL Texts Methods of Appropriateness

Translation
ST S Translation of Sem Com App Inappr
Collocations
5 T1 .‫عاصفة ضخمة‬ + - - +
raging storm.
T2 .‫فوضى عارمة‬ - - - +
T3 .‫عاصفة مسعرة‬ + - - +
T4 .‫عاصفة قوية‬ - + + -
T5 .‫عاصفة من الغضب‬ - _ _ +

SLT: analysis of collocation No.5

“There is no desire to change the current status quo”.
.‫التوجد اي نية اورغبة لتغيير األقتباس الحالي‬.1
.‫التوجد رغبة في تغيير الوضع الحالي‬.2
.‫التوجد رغبة في تغيير الوضع الراهن‬.3

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.‫ليس هناك أي داع لتغيير األحصاءات الحالية‬.4

‫ليس هنالك سبب لتغيير الحالة الحالية‬.5

Discussions
Like collocation No.1, this type of collocation consists of a noun status +a noun
quo.
The first translator renders it into TT ‫(األقتباس الحالي‬current quotation) which has no
sense and does not correspond to ST. The pitfall of the first translator is that he could
not cope with the exact meaning of this collocation but rather he considers
quotation as an abbreviation of “quo” which is incorrect and distorted the original
meaning.
The second translator has made his translation into ‫( الوضع الحالي‬current state)
which is acceptable and it is communicative translation and close to the original
meaning.
The third translator has given the exact translation for this collocation which is
,‫الوضع الراهن‬and was successful to achieve a certain communicative purpose.
The fourth translator has completely deviated from the original meaning of the
collocation and rendered it into ‫ االحصاءات الحالية‬the current statistics which has
nothing to do with the original meaning of the collocation, so it is incorrect as well
as inappropriate.
The fifth translator made his translation into ‫الحالة الحالية‬current state ,which
could be considered acceptable and communicative.

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Table (5) analysis of collocation No.5

SL Text
TL Texts Methods of Appropriateness
Translation

ST S Translation of Sem Com App Inappr

Collocations
T1 .‫االقتباس الحالي‬ - - - +
status quo.
T2 .‫الوضع الحالي‬ - + + -
T3 .‫الوضع الراهن‬ - + + -
T4 .‫االحصاءات الحالية‬ - - - +
T5 .‫الحالة الحالية‬ + - _ +

5. Conclusion
Though translating collocation is a hard process and considered as a language-
specific phenomenon which is subject to a variety of linguistic and cultural
differences, yet their great importance in a language cannot be neglected since they
add a special flavor to the language and makes it more beautiful, more rhetorical as
well as more powerful.
Translating collocation from English into Arabic and vice versa involves a variety
of challenges. It is clear that translators face lots of difficulties in translating this
semantic concept , especially undergraduate students due to their lack of vocabulary
and failure to find the proper Arabic equivalent collocation. From the
aforementioned discussions of the students translations of the English collocations
into Arabic, it can be observed that students are unable to cope with the proper
equivalent collocation in Arabic, they rather and in most cases resort to the strategy
of word-for-word translation which results in distortion the original meaning of the
collocation and does not convey the intended meaning.
Finally, undergraduate students need to be more sensitive to the translating of
collocation , more cautious in spotting the correct and suitable collocation in
Arabic, otherwise their Arabic translation would less effective ,weaker and less
inspired that the English source text.
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6. Bibliography
1. Abu-Saydeh, A. (2007). Synonymy, collocation and the translator.Turjuman, 10(2), 53-71.
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4. Benson etal.. 1986. The BBI combinatory dictionary of English: A guide to word
combinations. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.
5. Devenyi, K. and l Shivtiei,A. (2009) (Eds) " Collocation in Arabic". Available at
www.transaralingo.com
6. Ghazala, H. (1993). The translation of collocations: Arabic- English (in
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7.----------------(1995). Translation as Problems and Solutions .A course book for University
Students and Trainee Translators. 7th.ed. Dar wa Maktabat Al- Hilal.Beirut.
8. Halliday,M.A.K. and Hasan,R.(1976): Cohesion in English .London: Longman Group
Limited.
9. Kharma, N. and Hajjaj, A. (1997). Errors among Arabic Speakers: Analysis and Remedy.
Beirut: Libraire du Liban.
10. Halliday.M. (2004).An Introduction to Functional Grammar.(3rd(Reviewd by
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11. Kodareza and Shabnam Ashouri. (2016): ANALYSIS OF COHESIVE DIVICES AND
COLLOCATIONS IN
ENGLISH TEXT BOOKS AND TEACHERS' ATTENTION TO THEM IN
AZAD UNIVARSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES IN IRAN. Indian Journal of
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An Open Access, Online International Journal Available at

www.cibtech.org/sp.ed/jls/2016/02/jls.htm. 2016 Vol. 6 (S2), pp. 17-22/Khodareza and
Ashouri.
12. Larson, M. (1984).Meaning Based Translation: A Guide to Cross Language
Equivalence.Lanham: University Press of America.
13. Newmark, P. (1988). A textbook of translation. London and NewYork: Prentice Hall.
14. Obeidat, A, M., & Mahadi, T. S. T. (2019). The Translation of Arabic Religious – Cultural
Collocations In Literary Texts Into English: An Application Of Domestication And
Foreignization Translation Strategies. International Journal of Humanities,
Philosophy and Languages, 2 (6), 155-165.
15. Palmer, F (1976). Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
16. Sarikaş, F. (2006).Problems in translating collocations. www.e-sosder.com ISSN:1304-
0278.
Dictionaries consulted
1.O’Dell,F. and Mc Carthy,M. (2017):English collocations in use/Advanced.2nd
ed.Cambbridge University Press.
2.Online Oxford Dictionary of English.free.collocation.com

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