The Translation of English Food Idioms into Arabic Through ChatGPT: Problems and Solutions

Abstract

The present study sought to investigate the translation of English FIs (EFIs) into Arabic through ChatGPT (CGPT). The main objectives of the study are to examine the extent to which the EFIs are preserved in the Arabic translation Through CGPT and to determine whether the translation of EFIs into Arabic was applied to Newmark’s theory of semantic or communicative translation. A qualitative, descriptive research approach was employed in both data collection and analysis. The data comprised 10 EFIs and their Arabic translations Through CGPT. The bilingual corpus was compiled according to certain criteria, in line with the objectives of the study. The data were analysed according to Newmark’s theory of semantic and communicative translation. The novelty of this study was to focus on the translation of EFIs into Arabic. The findings of the study revealed that in general, EFIs display different meanings and loss of the intended meaning of the selected texts, due to the nature of the EFIs as well as Arabic. However, the study concluded that such difficulties could be overcome, in that a CGPT must determine the FIs of the target text. In this manner, the CGPT would be able to find an accurate equivalent in Arabic without adding or deleting unnecessary elements. Finally, knowing the bilingual corpus may assist CGPT in finding out any change in or loss of meaning of the EFIs or their equivalence during the process of translation.