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AWEJ for Translation & Literary Studies, Volume3, Number2.May 2019 Pp.122-138
Throughout history, the use of translation methods has constituted a source of lots of debates; some scholars advocate literal translation, others advocate free translation. In legal translation which is a special and specialized area of translational activity (Cao, 2007), and where documents are characterized by brevity, economy, and neatness to prevent fraud, additions, omissions or alterations in the text (Crystal & Davy, 1969), mistakes or mistranslations can lead to disastrous repercussions. The present study deals primarily with the methods that translators of legal texts follow and adopt when rendering a legal document. A concise account of translation theories that have been adopted and are still being applied to legal translation is offered to attempt to show the main views towards the application of such translation theories to legal translation. Major methods often used in the translation of legal documents are then presented, discussing their validity to legal translation. This presentation includes literal translation, free translation, the functional approach to translation, transliteration & transcription, loan translation, adaptation, description by definitions, lexical expansion, and descriptive substitution. The empirical part of this study is concerned with the analysis of a marriage contract translated from Arabic into English in an attempt to shed some light on the major methods adopted by the translator of this document and the reason behind using such methods.
EL GHAZI, O., & BNINI, C. (2019). Major Translation Methods Used in Legal Documents: Translation of a Marriage Contract from Arabic into English. Arab World English Journal for Translation & Literary Studies, 3 (2). 122-138.
Omar EL GHAZI, PhD student at the Department of English Studies, Faculty of Arts and
Humanities of Ben M’sik, Hassan II University of Casablanca. He graduated from King Fahd
School of Translation in Tangiers. His research interests are in legal translation between Arabic,
French & English and the translation of minority languages (Tamazight as a case). He is Head of
the Department of Cooperation and Partnerships at Hassan II University of Casablanca.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6447-9351
Dr. Chakib BNINI received his Master’s degree in Descriptive and Applied Linguistics from
Essex University, UK, in 1985, before obtaining his PhD degree in Translation Studies from
Heriot-Watt University, UK. He is currently a Professor of Translation Studies and Linguistics at
the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of Hassan II University, Morocco, where he is also an active member within the Centre of Doctoral Studies. His areas of academic interest include translation
studies, cultural studies and linguistics. ID ORCid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0955-4419
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