People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria Mentouri University-Constantine Faculty of Letters and Languages Department of English Problems of Translating Negation from English into Arabic: A Case Study of Third Year Students at Mentouri University- Constantine Dissertation Submitted in partial Fulfillment For The Requirements of Master Degree in Applied Language Studies Presented by: Supervised by: Bouderbane Farah Dr. Belouahem Riad Examined by : Dr. Beghoul Youcef 2009/2010 Dedication I would like to dedicate this humble work to my MOTHER and my FATHER. My friends: Amina Benzitouni, Afaf Boulkerara, Esma Benzitouni, Habiba Gessoum,Djamila Guerras, Hasna Benmessioud, Hannan Belbaz, Esma Labreche, Meriem Maoui, Meriem Kebbout, Meriem Benaissa, Soumia Laterache and Karima Boukhadoua. My cousins: Abderrahim Bouderbane, Salah Eddine Bouderbane and Rima Hammoudi who helped me a lot.. My sisters: Hafida and Souhila My Brothers: Abdelmalek, Nabil, Cherif, Hassen, and Bourhane. My relatives and all those who made this research possible. III Acknowledgment I would like to express my thanks to my honorable supervisor: Dr Belouahem Riad who was very helpful and kind, and also for his patience, expert guidance and unlimited help. I am grateful to Prof. Harouni Zahri, Dr. Laraba Samir, and Prof. Saadi Hassen. I am also grateful to my friends: Benzitouni Asma and Benzitouni Amina for their undeniable help and support. II Abstract In our present time, translation becomes an essential activity because of the need to deal with other people who use different languages. Translation can be practiced when the translator has a basic knowledge of the various aspects of both languages the source and the target one. Grammar is one aspect of language that should be mastered by translators. Since it is very wide area of investigation, our concern will be restricted to negation. This research work attempts to shed light on some encountered difficulties in translating negation. VII List of Tables Table 1: Translating the 1st Sentence..................................................................................30 Table 2: Translating the 2nd Sentence…………………………………….……………….31 Table 3: Translating the 3rd Sentence …………………………...…………….…………..32 Table 4: Translating the 4th Sentence………………………………………….…………..33 Table 5; Translating the 5th Sentence………………………………………………………34 Table 6: Translating the 6ThSentence………………………………………………………35 Table 7: Translating the 7th Sentence………………………………………………………36 Table 8: Translating the 8th sentence …………………………...…………………………37 Table 9: Translating the 9th Sentence…... ……………………………..………………….38 Table10: Translating the 10th Sentence……………………………….…………………..39 Table 11: Translating the 11th Sentence……………………………………….………….40 Table 12: Translating the 12th Sentence……………………………..…………………….41 Table 13: Translating the 13th Sentence …………………………………..………………41 Table 14: Translating the 14th Sentence………………………….…….………………….42 Table 15: Translating the 15th Sentence……………………………...…………………….43 Table 16: Translating the 16th Sentence…………………………………………...……….44 Table 17: Translating the 17th Sentence……………………………………………..……..46 Table 18: Translating the 18th Sentence………………………………………..…………..47 Table 19: Translating the 19th Sentence……………………………………..……………..48 Table 20: Translating the 20th Sentence………………………………..…………………..49 Table 21: Translating the 21st Sentence…………………………………………….……..50 Table 22: Translating the 22nd Sentence………………………………………….………..51 Table 23: Translating the 23rd Sentence...............................................................................52 Table 24: Translating the 24th Sentence…………………………………………………...53 Table 25: Translating the 25th Sentence……………………………………..……………54 IV List of Figures Figure 1: Correct Vs. Wrong Translation of the 1ST Sentence…………………………..30 Figure 2: Correct Vs. Wrong Translation of the 2nd Sentence…………………...………31 Figure 3: Correct Vs. Wrong Translation of the 3rd Sentence………………..…………..32 Figure 4: Correct Vs. Wrong Translation of the 4th Sentence………………….………..33 Figure 5: Correct Vs. Wrong Translating of the 5th Sentence……………………………34 Figure 6: Correct Vs. Wrong translation of the 6th Sentence…………………………….35 Figure 7: Correct Vs. Wrong Translation of the 7th Sentence……………………………36 Figure 8: Correct Vs. Wrong Translation of the 8th Sentence…………………………....37 Figure 9: Correct Vs. Wrong Translation of the 9th Sentence……………………………38 Figure 10 : Correct Vs. Wrong translation of the 10th Sentence…………………………39 Figure 11: Correct Vs. Wrong translation of the 11th Sentence……………..…….……..40 Figure 12: Correct Vs. Wrong Translation of the 12th Sentence…………………...….…41 Figure 13: Correct Vs. Wrong Translation of the 13th Sentence…………….….………..42 Figure 14: Correct Vs. Wrong Translation of the 14th Sentence…………….…………...43 Figure 15: Correct Vs. Wrong Translation of the 15th Sentence…………………………44 Figure 16: Correct Vs. Wrong Translation of the 16th Sentence…………………………45 Figure 17: Correct Vs. Wrong Translation of the 17th Sentence…………………………46 Figure 18: Correct Vs. Wrong Translation of the 18th Sentence…………………………47 Figure 19: Correct Vs. Wrong Translation of the 19th Sentence…………………………48 Figure 20: Correct Vs. Wrong Translation of the 20th Sentence…………………..……..49 Figure 21: Correct Vs. Wrong Translation of the 21st Sentence………………….………50 Figure 22: Correct Vs. Wrong Translation of the 22nd Sentence…………………………51 Figure 23: Correct Vs. Wrong Translation of the 23rd Sentence…………………………52 Figure 24: Correct Vs. Wrong Translation of the 24th Sentence……………...………….53 Figure 25: Correct Vs. Wrong Translation of the 25th Sentence……………………..….54. V List of Abbreviations Adj Adjectives Adv Adverb O Object SL Source Language S T Source Text TL Target Language TT Target Text V Verb Vs Versus VI Table of Contents Chapter One Introduction 1. The Rationale ……………………………………………………….……………………..1 2. Statement of the Problem …………………………………………….…………………..1 3. The Research Hypothesis …………………………………………….…………………..2 4. Methods ………………………………………………………………………….…….…..2 4.1 Materials ...........................................................................................................................2 4.2 Subjects …………………………………………………………………………….……2 Part One: Translation Introduction 1.Definition of Translation ...…………………………………………………..…………..4 2.Types of Translation ...………………………...…………….………………..………….6 2.1. Ghazala’s View ………………………………………...….………………..………….6 2.1.1 Literal Translation ……………………….…………...…...….……………..……….6 2.1.1.1 Literal Translation of Words …………………………..…..………….…………..6 2.1.1.2 One to One Literal Translation ...............................................................................7 2.1.1.3 Direct Translation or Literal Translation of Meaning ..........................................8 2.1.2 Free Translation ……………………….…………….………...….……….…………8 2.2 House’s View…………………………….…………….…….…..……………..……….9 2.2.1 Overt Translation …………………..…………………..….………………………..10 2.2.2 Covert Translation …………………….……………………………...…………….10 3. Translation Problems …………………….……………………..…………...……….10 VIII 3.1 Grammatical Problems ……………………………………….….………....……….10 3.2 Lexical Problems ……………………………………………….….……..…….……11 3.3 Stylistic Problems ……………………………………………….………………...…12 3.4 Phonological Problems ………………………………………………………...……12 4. Translation and its Equivalence ..................................................................................12 Part Two: Negation and its Translation 1. Grammar and Negation ……………………………..………….…………...………..16 2. Negation in English ...................................................................................................... 16 2.1 Negative Words ..........................................................................................................16 2.2 Negative Sentences ……………………..……………………….……….……….... 20 2.3 Negation and its Translation ……………...………………………….…………….22 Conclusion ………………………….………………………………….….…….. 27 Chapter Two: Data Analysis Introduction 1. The Test …………………………………………………………….…………….….. 29 1.1 The Sample ................................................................................................................ 29 1.2 The Description ........................................................................................................ 29 1.3 The Analysis …………………………………………….……………..……………30 1.4 The Results .................................................................................................................55 Conclusion …………………………………………………..…….…….………………55 General Conclusion …………………………………………………….….…..............56 Bibliography ………………………………………………………...…………………..57 Appendix ………………………………………………………………………………59 IX Introduction Translation is a very wide area of study which contains many cases of difficulties that may be encountered that is why we choose to deal with one case as such which is grammar and more specifically negation. So, the main focus is on difficulties in translating negation. The objective behind this research is to investigate the use of rules concerning negations’ translation from English into Arabic. 1-The Rationale We choose to deal with translation and more specifically translation of negation. In spite of the existence of the various areas of confusion that we face as students of English at the university level, this one suits more our objectives. Facing difficulties in this area is unavoidable by most of English students though they master the rules of translation very well. So, our interest is to investigate these problems in order to diagnose the possible difficulties. 2- Statement of the Problem In addition to vocabulary, grammar is of great importance in the translation process. So, students should have a basic knowledge of language including grammar rules. In this research, we will focus on negations rules which may be one of the translation problems. Negation in English can be referred to by the words ‘not’, ‘do not’, ‘does not’, ‘did not’, ‘never’, ‘neither nor’ and ‘no’. These words have several equivalents that is why it is not easy to translate them accurately. Our research then will be based on three points expressed in these questions: -What affects the translation of the words: never, neither, nor, not, and no, etc? Is it the sentence structure, text structure, or some other reasons? - Do students who master the negation translation rules can always apply them appropriately? - What should students do if they face difficulties when translating negation? 1