Analyzing Syntactic Problems in the Translation of Migrants and Refugees Legal Texts from English into Arabic

Abstract

The purpose of this analysis is to investigate the syntactic problems while translating English legal texts from English into Arabic. Syntactic differences between English and Arabic result in many syntactic problems that hinder the translation process. To analyzed these problems, three models of translation are adopted; Nord's Model of translation (2005), Vinay and Darbelnet (2000), and Catford’s theory of shift (1965). In order to analyze these problems, it is compulsory to investigate the syntactic features of legal texts. The syntactic features discussed in this study include sentence length, nominalization, passive, conditional phrases, prepositional phrases, unique determiners, impersonality, negatives, and the use of shall and may. The descriptive qualitative method is used in this study. 60 examples were analyzed in this study. The study finds that Syntactic features pose a real challenge for legal translators. Therefore, translators should pay more attention while translating legal texts between English and Arabic.