Problematic Areas in Scientific and Technical Translation

Abstract

Like any other kind of translation, technical translation requires from the translator, the scientist and the field expert a good command of at least two languages of the published material. In case the translator is concerned, it is crucial to have sufficient knowledge of the science and technology he/she is supposed to deal with. Translation plays a central role in the process of transferring science and technology from one language community to another. However, translators generally fail to carry the exact message to the target reader due to the complexity of some highly specialized written material. This study sets out to examine some of the difficulties involved in establishing equivalence between the source language (SL) and target language (TL) in the context of technical translation. One of the main objectives of this paper is to investigate the basis on which the translator can build up a text in the target language that carries over a clear message intended by the writer of the source language. Our analysis and discussion will be limited to the translation of scientific and technical information from English into Arabic.