Pan Arab Linguistic and Translation Errors and Strategies in Bilingual Linguistic Landscapes

Abstract

This study sought to identify the types of linguistic and translation errors in bilingual linguistic landscapes (LLs) collected from seven Arab countries. Analysis of 96 Arabic-English and 229 English-Arabic LLs showed that top-down LLs constituted 54% of the Arabic-English and 46% of the English-Arabic LLs, whereas bottom-up constituted 41% of the Arabic-English and 59% of the English-Arabic LLs. About half of the LLs are commercial/promotional, followed by directional and safety/regulatory LLs. 32% of the LLs were translated correctly (Keep a safe distance, Road ahead closed, Use safety harness, Vital signs, Departures) as they are top-down LLs issued by government bodies, hospitals, airports, or municipalities that typically employ professional translators, use standardized terminology, context-aware phrasing, cultural and idiomatic sensitivity, ensuring accuracy, clarity, and functional equivalence. 15% have syntactic errors (Danger Forklift Traffic Area  خطر...رافعة البضائع منطقة المرور, and 20% contain grammatical errors with faulty agreement, singular/plural, definite/indefinite, derived forms, and faulty interpretation of prepositional phrases and idioms prevalent in bottom-up signs (Care for Life> نهتم بالحياة; Slow Down> (تحت تمهل. Semantic errors as meaning misidentification, contextual misfit, idiom misinterpretation, inappropriate collocation, and incorrect word choice constitute 26% )Vertical Steamersغالية عمودية ; Custard Apple (كسترد. Orthographic errors accounted for 3% (*Ciub street for Club street, Par King for Parking, نعتزر instead of (نعتذر and 13% contained multiple errors with overlapping semantic, grammatical, syntactic, lexical, and/or contextual inaccuracies. Some Arabic equivalents sound awkward and meaningless (Biohazard/Medical Waste النفايات الطبية واقية ; Clearance Price تصفية السعر; Prepared Meatsاللحوم    استعداد; Tetra Pack Juice عصير بتغلق تترا ; Hair Straighteners سيراميك الشعر; Keep Site Cleanالحفاظ على الموقع كلين  (حافظ على نظافة الموقع); Live Station  (منطقة طازج. In most LL translation, literal word-for-word translation was the dominant strategy, followed by transliteration instead of using a native Arabic equivalent. Linguistic and translation errors in bilingual LLs are attributed to DIY (Do It Yourself), complex, long, or technical source phrases, cultural and linguistic mismatch, lack of standardized glossaries, lack of standardization of equivalents and transliterated forms, and low translator training. Recommendations for improving the linguistic and translation accuracy of bilingual LLs in Arabi countries are given.