Arabic Collocations Implications For Tra

ARABIC COLLOCATIONS:
IMPLICATIONS FOR TRANSLATION
By
A S Brashi
A thesis presented to the
University of Western Sydney

in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
2005
© A S Brashi 2005
STATEMENT OF AUTHENTICATION
The work presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original
except as acknowledged in the text. I hereby declare that I have not submitted this
material, either in whole or in part, for a degree at this or any other institution.
A S Brashi
Date:
ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study would probably not be what it is now without the help, encouragement, and
advise of so many people. I would like to thank all those whose contribution made this
piece of research possible. I am greatly indebted to my principal supervisor, Professor
Stuart Campbell, who has always encouraged me and inspired me during the years of
my candidature. His valuable suggestions and constructive criticism led to improve
earlier versions of this thesis.
I am also deeply indebted to my co-supervisors, Associate Professor Sandra Hale and
Associate Professor Paulin Djité, for their support and advice. I am also grateful to the
examiners of my thesis, especially Professor Ian Mason and Professor Basil Hatim, for
their valuable suggestions and comments.
I am grateful to all the participants of this study, who have voluntarily and passionately
agreed to participate. Special thanks to Saud Al-Inizi and Aqeel Al-Shihri, Arabic
teachers in Al-Faisal College, Sydney, Australia, and Dr Zeid Al-Dakkan of the
Australian Islamic Cultural Centre, for their participation in the pilot study. Their
expertise has greatly helped me in reshaping the instruments used in this study.
I also thank my colleague and friend Dr Kelvin McQueen for commenting on and
editing some chapters of this thesis. Thanks are also due to my friend and colleague Dr
Michael Kennedy. I benefited immensely from discussions I had with him.
Finally, I cannot forget to thank my dear wife, my daughter, and my son for their
constant love, support and patience throughout the duration of the project. They have
been looking forward to seeing this mission accomplished.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
LIST OF TABLES ix
LIST OF FIGURES xii
CHAPTER
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Justification of the study 3
1.2 Aims of the study 6
1.3 Arabic used in this study 7
1.4 Presentation of Arabic examples in the study 8
1.5 Scope of collocations 9
1.6 Layout of the study 11
CHAPTER TWO: COLLOCATIONS IN ENGLISH 13

2.1 Introduction 13
2.2 Collocation as a phenomenon 13
2.3 The notion of collocation 14
2.4 Boundaries of collocations: differences between linguists over 19
collocation
2.5 English collocations in lexicography 25
2.6 English collocations in computational linguistics 26
2.7 Conclusion 32
CHAPTER THREE: COLLOCATIONS IN ARABIC 33

3.1 Introduction 33
3.2 Collocations in the Arabic language 33
3.3 Arabic collocations in lexicography 46
3.4 Arabic collocations in computational linguistics 50
3.5 Some sources for Arabic collocations 52
3.5.1 Collocations in the Quran 53
3.5.2 Borrowed collocations 54
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3.6 Conclusion 57
CHAPTER FOUR: COLLOCATIONS AND TRANSLATION 59

4.1 Introduction 59
4.2 Collocations: a translation problem 60
4.3 Translating English collocations into Arabic 66
4.3.1 Translating English verb plus object collocations into 67
Arabic
4.3.2 Translating English adjective plus noun collocations into 71
Arabic
4.4 Empirical research into the translation of collocations 74
4.5 Conclusion 83
CHAPTER FIVE: AN OVERVIEW OF THE PROFESSIONAL 84

TRANSLATION ENVIRONMENT IN AUSTRALIA
5.1 Introduction 84
5.2 Historical background of immigration to Australia 84
5.3 Australia’s multicultural policy 86
5.4 The Need for English-Arabic translation in Australia 87
5.5 Translator accreditation in Australia 89
5.5.1 NAATI accreditation 90
5.5.2 Obtaining NAATI accreditation 90
5.5.3 NAATI levels 91
5.5.4 NAATI tests 93
5.5.5 Translator training 94
5.6 Conclusion 97
CHAPTER SIX: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 98

6.1 Introduction 98
6.2 Research design 98
6.2.1 Research questions 98
6.3 Setting of and participants in the study 101
6.3.1 Part one: The Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations 101
(Arabic Control Group)
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6.3.2 Part two: The Translation Test of English Collocations 104
into Arabic (Professional Translators’ Group)
6.3.3 Part three: The Translation Test of English Collocations 105
into Arabic (Student Translators’ Group)
6.3.4 Part four: The Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations 106
(Professional Translators’ Group) and (Student Translators’
Group)
6.4 Data collection 107
6.4.1 Instruments 107
6.4.2 Pilot studies 112
6.4.3 Administrative procedures 113
CHAPTER SEVEN: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: 118

QUESTIONNAIRE OF ARABIC COLLOCATIONS,
CHARACTERISTICS AND SEMANTIC PATTERNING OF ARABIC
COLLOCATIONS
7.1 Introduction 118
7.2 Section one: Results of the questionnaire of Arabic collocations 120
7.2.1 Arabic control Group (21 respondents) 122
7.2.2 Professional translators’ Group (16 respondents) 129
7.2.3 Student translators’ Group (8 respondents) 136
7.2.4 Decisiveness versus indecisiveness 143
7.3 Section two: Characteristics of Arabic collocations 156
7.3.1 Collocations consist of two or more words 157
7.3.2 Semantic transparency 157
7.3.3 Arbitrariness 158
7.3.4 Unpredictability 158
7.3.5 Language-specificity 159
7.3.6 Flexibility of word order 160
7.3.7 Cannot be replaced by a synonym 161
7.3.8 Formality 161
7.3.9 Possibility of addition 162
7.3.10 Possibility of a change in tense 162
7.3.11 Possibility of passivization 163
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7.3.12 Possibility of pluralization 163
7.3.13 Possibility of collocational range expansion 164
7.4 Section three: Semantic patterning of Arabic collocations 166
7.4.1 Strong collocations 167
7.4.2 Unique collocations 173
7.4.3 Metaphorical collocations 179
7.4.4 Idiomatic extensions of collocations 182
7.4.5 Unacceptable collocations 184
7.5 Conclusion 188
CHAPTER EIGHT: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: TRANSLATION 190

TEST OF ENGLISH COLLOCATIONS INTO ARABIC
8.2 Section one: Results of the translation test of English collocations 193
into Arabic
8.2.1 The outcomes of translating the English verb + object 194
collocations
8.2.2 The outcomes of translating the English adjective + 199
noun collocations into Arabic
8.2.3 Acceptable versus unacceptable translation outcomes 204
8.3 Section two: Translation outcomes 207
8.3.1 Translating English verb + object collocations into 208
Arabic
8.3.2 Translating English adjective + noun collocations into 221
Arabic
8.4 Conclusion 231
CHAPTER NINE: CONCLUSION 235

9.2 Summary 236
9.3 Implications for translation 241
9.4 Contributions made by this study 243
9.5 Final remarks and directions for further research 245
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BIBLIOGRAPHY LIST 249
APPENDICES 270
APPENDIX A: Information sheet and demographic questionnaire: 271
Arabic Control Group
APPENDIX B: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations 273
APPENDIX C: Information sheet and demographic questionnaire: 295
Professional Translators’ Group
APPENDIX D: Demographic questionnaire: Student Translators’ 298
Group
APPENDIX E: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic 299
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LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1.1 Arabic consonants ....................................................................................... 8
1.2 Arabic vowels and diphthongs .................................................................... 9
4.1 Examples of translating English collocations
into Arabic (Baker, 1992) ......................................................................... 63
4.2 Examples of translating English collocations
into Arabic (Heliel, 1990) ......................................................................... 64
4.3 Examples of translating Arabic collocations
into English (Heliel, 1990)........................................................................ 65
4. 1 Examples of English collocations that have identical equivalents in
Arabic (Ghazala, 1993b) ................................................................................. 67
4.5 Examples of English collocations that do not have identical equivalents in
Arabic (Ghazala, 1993b) ................................................................................ 68
4.6 Examples of English verb + object collocations translated into Arabic
(Ghazala, 1995) ......................................................................................... 70
4.7 Examples of English verb + object collocations translated into
a verb in Arabic......................................................................................... 70
4.8 Examples of English collocations and their identical equivalents
in Arabic (Ghazala, 1995) ......................................................................... 72
4.9 Examples of English collocations and their non-identical equivalents
in Arabic (Ghazala, 1995) ......................................................................... 73
4.10 Responses provided via reduction strategies in simultaneous
interpreting (Shakir & Farghal’s study, 1992) ........................................ 78
4.11 Responses provided via reduction strategies in translation
(Shakir & Farghal’s study, 1992)............................................................ 78
6.1 Item example of questionnaire of Arabic collocations ........................... 109
7.1 Verb + object Arabic collocations’ results:
Arabic Control Group (n=21) ................................................................. 123
7.2 Noun + adjective Arabic collocations’ results:
Arabic Control Group (n=21) ................................................................. 126
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Professional Translators’ Group (n=16) ................................................. 130
Professional Translators’ Group (n=16) ................................................. 133
Student Translators’ Group (n=8) ........................................................... 137
Student Translators’ Group (n=8) ........................................................... 140
7.7 Results of the questionnaire of Arabic collocations
(part one: verb + object collocations) ..................................................... 143
7.8 Results of the questionnaire of Arabic collocations
(part two: noun+ adjective collocations)................................................. 147
7.9 Part one: verb + object collocations. Summary table of numbers and
percentages of preferences among the three groups ............................... 150
710 Part two: noun + adjective collocations. Summary table of numbers and
percentages of preferences among the three groups ............................... 150
7.11 Verb + object strong collocations in Arabic ......................................... 168
7.12 Noun + adjective strong collocations in Arabic.................................... 170
7.13 Verb + object unique collocations in Arabic ........................................ 175
7.14 Noun + adjective unique collocations in Arabic................................... 176
7.15 Verb + object metaphorical collocations in Arabic .............................. 180
7.16 Noun + adjective metaphorical collocations in Arabic ......................... 181
7.17 Examples of idiomatic extensions of collocations ................................ 183
7.18 Unacceptable verb + object collocations in Arabic .............................. 185
7.19 Unacceptable noun + adjective collocations in Arabic ......................... 187
8.1 Translation outcomes of verb + object collocations:
Student Translators’ Group (n=8) .......................................................... 195
8.2 Translation outcomes of verb + object collocations:
Professional Translators’ Group (n=16) ................................................ 197
8.3 Translation outcomes of adjective + noun collocations:
Student Translators’ Group (n=8) .......................................................... 200
8.4 Translation outcomes of adjective + noun collocations:
Professional Translators’ Group (n=16) ................................................ 202
8.5 Outcomes of translating English verb + object collocations
into Arabic.............................................................................................. 205
8.6 Outcomes of translating English adjective + noun collocations
into Arabic.............................................................................................. 205
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8.7 Examples of the strong collocation translation outcome
(Translating English verb + object collocations into Arabic) ................. 210
8.8 Examples of encapsulation
(Translating English verb + object collocations into Arabic) ....................... 212
8.9 Examples of neutralizing verb + object collocations .............................. 213
8.10 Examples of paraphrasing verb + object collocations .......................... 215
8.11 Examples of malapropism
(Translating English verb + object collocations into Arabic) ............... 216
8.12 Examples of the translation outcome of calquing
(Translating English verb + object collocations into Arabic) .............. 217
8.13 Examples of mistranslation
8.14 Examples of unacceptable collocations in Arabic
8.15 Examples of strong collocations
(Translating English adjective + noun collocations into Arabic).......... 222
8.16 Examples of neutral collocations
(Translating English adjective + noun collocations into Arabic) ........ 224
8.17 Examples of the translation outcome of paraphrasing
8.18 Examples of calques
(Translating English adjective + noun collocations into Arabic).......... 228
8.19 Examples of mistranslations
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
2. 1 A sample page from Collins COBUILD
English Collocations on CD-Rom............................................................ 28
2. 1 Results from Collins COBUILD English Collocations on CD-Rom
showing the collocates of the word "pact"............................................... 29
2. 2 A list of short examples from Collins COBUILD English Collocations
on CD-Rom of the word "pact" collocating with the word "made" ......... 30
2. 3 A window from Collins COBUILD English Collocations on CD-Rom
showing an expanded example and an indication of the genre of the text 31
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ABSTRACT
The topic of collocability has been a common concern among linguists, lexicographers
and language pedagogues recently. They find the linguistic aspect of collocation
interesting, because words do not exist in isolation from other words in a language.
They exist with other words. In every language, the vocabulary consists of single words
and multi-word expressions. Collocations are among those multi-word expressions.
The aim of this thesis is to characterize collocations in the Arabic language, to devise a
classification of the semantic and distributional patterns of collocations in the Arabic
language and to examine the problems encountered in translating English collocations
into Arabic. This will require an analysis of the collocational patterns in both English
and Arabic, a classification of the translation outcomes and, therefore, types of errors
adopted by translators, an indication of how frequent and significant each error is, and
an analysis of the causes of each error.
xiii
Chapter one: Introduction
1 INTRODUCTION
This thesis defines a collocation as the tendency for certain words in a language to
combine with one another, as against others that do not have this tendency of
combining together, and the meaning of which can be deduced from at least one of
the components of the collocation. Benson, Benson, and Ilson (1986), in their BBI
Combinatory Dictionary of English, categorize collocations into two major groups:
lexical collocations and grammatical collocations.
Both categories are further divided by Benson et al. (1986) into subcategories.
Lexical collocations consist of nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs. They normally
do not contain prepositions, infinitives or clauses. In English, for example, the
collocation rich imagination is translated into Arabic by the equivalent collocation
‫ عساو لايخ‬xayaalun waasi3un (wide imagination) or the collocation ‫بصخ لايخ‬
xayaalun xiSbun (fertile imagination). The meaning association between the
components of a collocation is apparently arbitrary and non-predictable.
For example, the adjectives rich and wealthy are synonymous, however, most native
speakers of English are unlikely to produce a collocation such as wealthy
1
imagination. The noun imagination, in English, collocates with the adjective rich,
which means ‫يرث‬/ ‫ينغ‬/ ‫ رفاو‬tary / gany / waafir (rich) in Arabic. However, in
Arabic, the noun ‫لايخ‬ xayaal (imagination) collocates with the adjective ‫عساو‬
waasi3 (wide), which means wide in English, or the adjective ‫ بصخ‬xiSb (fertile),
which means fertile.
A grammatical collocation, in contrast to a lexical collocation, is a phrase that
consists of a noun, an adjective, or a verb plus a preposition or grammatical structure
such as an infinitive or clause (Benson et al., 1986). Chomsky (1965:191) gives the
following example of a grammatical collocation (a close construction in Chomsky’s
terminology): decide on a boat, meaning ‘choose (to buy) a boat’, but on the other
hand, decide on a boat, meaning ‘make a decision while on a boat’ is a free
combination (a loose association in Chomsky’s terminology). Native speakers of
English feel that the components of decide on collocate with each other, and they will
most likely reject violations of collocability such as decide at a boat.
The interest for this research in the translation of collocations arises from their great
importance in language. They play an important role in the coherence and cohesion of
language. In addition, they are present in all text types. The translation of collocations
is a constant problem—to match the appropriate nouns with the appropriate verbs, the
2
appropriate verbs with the appropriate nouns, the appropriate nouns with the
appropriate nouns, and so on and so forth.
The approach to translation taken in this research is essentially phrase and sentence-
based rather than text-based. The justification for this approach is twofold. First, we
locate the phenomenon of collocation between syntax and lexis (see Chapter Four),
although we concede that a text- or discourse- approach could throw further light on
the topic. Secondly, the research comes down on the side of an experimental rather
than a naturalistic methodology because of the problem of gathering sufficient data
(see Chapter Four).
1.1 Justification of the Study
The importance of collocations and the problems they cause to English-Arabic
translators has been underscored by many researchers in the fields of linguistics and
translation. The translators’ knowledge of collocations (collocational competence) is
an essential requirement for the overall mastery of the target language.
Below is an example from the introduction of Charlotte Bronte’s (1847) novel Jane
Eyre of translating an English adjective + noun collocation into Arabic:
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a- ..., there was a large public eager to read good novels.
The adjective + noun collocation in English was translated into Arabic by
Abdulkhaliq (1994) as follows:
‫ عساو روهمج‬jamhuwrun waasi3un (a wide public)
In this example, the translator rendered the English adjective + noun collocation a
large public into the Arabic noun + adjective collocation ‫ ﺟﻤﮭﻮر واﺳﻊ‬jamhuwrun
waasi3un (a wide public), which sounds unnatural to a native speaker of Arabic. In
Arabic, the noun ‫ روهمج‬jamhuwr (public) usually collocates with the adjective ‫ﻋﺮﯾﺾ‬
(wide).
Another example is taken from Charles Dickens’ (1839) novel Oliver Twist:
b- … to call tears into his eyes.
4
The verb + noun collocation to call tears is translated literally into Arabic by Dar Al-
Bihar Publishing House (1997)1 as follows:
‫ عومدلا ةوعد‬da3watu ad-dumuw3 (to call tears)
A native speaker of Arabic would, most likely, expect the verb ‫ فرذ‬darafa (to shed)
to collocate with the noun ‫ عومد‬dumuw3 (tears).
From the above two examples a and b, it is obvious that translators with different
levels of proficiency face many difficulties in combining words together, resulting in
target texts that do not sound native-like nor natural. This phenomenon is mainly due
in part to a deficiency in their knowledge of collocations and also to differences in the
collocational patterns of the source and target languages. It may be also due to source
text interference. Another reason for this difficulty in translation could be the lack of
studies into Arabic collocations, resulting in an absence of resources for
understanding Arabic collocations. The need for such resources inspired the
questionnaire of Arabic collocations used for this study.
1
The name of the translator is not mentioned. 5
Despite their important role in translation, collocations have not received much
attention to date. There has been little research on how collocations are used by
translators and no study has investigated the knowledge of collocations by English-
Arabic translators. For this reason this study attempts to investigate the problems of
translating English verb + noun and adjective + noun collocations among English-
Arabic translators.
1.2 Aims of the Study
The principal questions addressed in the present investigation are concerned with
how student and professional English-Arabic translators use Arabic collocations in
translation and how their usage of Arabic collocations relates to their overall
knowledge of Arabic collocations. Answers to certain interesting questions were
sought by using elicited collocational competence and collocational performance data
among English-Arabic student and professional translators. The main purpose was
thus to make a general contribution to the understanding of the mechanisms
underlying translating English collocations into Arabic. More explicitly, the
following general aims were set up for the study:
1- To characterize collocations in the Arabic language.
6
2- To devise a classification of the semantic patterns of collocations in the
Arabic language.
3- To examine the problems encountered in translating English verb + object and
adjective + noun collocations into Arabic.
The empirical data of the study were collected from among postgraduate students of
English-Arabic translation and professional English-Arabic translators in Australia, in
addition to a control group of monolingual, native speakers of Arabic in Saudi
Arabia.
1.3 Arabic used in this study
The type of Arabic that will be under investigation in this study is referred to as
Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). Sa’id (1967) refers to MSA as that variety of Arabic
found in contemporary books, newspapers, and magazines, and used orally in formal
speeches, public lectures, learned debates, religious ceremonies, and news broadcasts
over radio and television. Al-Johani (1982:7) adds to what Sa’id said by stating that
MSA “conforms to the norms of Classical Arabic grammar”. From here onwards, the
terms ‘Modern Standard Arabic’ and ‘Arabic’ will be used interchangeably.
7
1.4 Presentation of Arabic examples in the study
Arabic examples in this thesis are first presented in Arabic script and then
transcribed. Following the transcription, and between parentheses, the examples are
translated into English.
In order to avoid orthographic difficulties in reading these examples, the phonemic
inventories of Arabic consonants and vowels are illustrated in Table 1.1 and Table
1.2 respectively, using the transliteration guide suggested by Campbell (1998).
Arabic consonant Transcription

‫أ‬ ?
‫ب‬ b
‫ت‬ t
‫ث‬ t
‫ج‬ j
‫ح‬ H
‫خ‬ x
‫د‬ d
‫ذ‬ d
‫ر‬ r
‫ز‬ z
‫س‬ s
‫ش‬ s
‫ص‬ S
‫ض‬ D
‫ط‬ T
‫ظ‬ Z
‫ع‬ 3
‫غ‬ g
8
‫ف‬ f
‫ق‬ q
‫ك‬ k
‫ل‬ l
‫م‬ m
‫ن‬ n
‫ه‬ h
‫و‬ w
‫ي‬ y
Table 1. 1 Arabic consonants
Arabic vowels and diphthongs Transcription

fatHah a
‫ا‬ aa
kasrah i
‫ي‬ iy
Dammah u
‫و‬ uw
‫يأ‬ ay
‫وا‬ aw
Table 1. 2 Arabic vowels and diphthongs
1.5 Scope of collocations
The present study uses verb + object and adjective + noun English collocations to
examine student and professional translators’ performance with regard to translating
these types of collocations.
9
Collocations were chosen as special objects for scrutiny in this study, because it was
believed that data derived from student and professional translators’ performance
would be ideal in many respects. Some of the reasons for choosing collocations are
listed below. Firstly, as is commonly known by linguists (e.g., Hill, 2000),
collocations are very frequent in the English language. Secondly, they are probably
the most common and most representative of English multi-word expressions.
Thirdly, collocations fall between lexis and syntax, which seems to be in line with the
current view that language competence is to be described as an interactional process
between lexis and syntax. Fourthly, collocations occur in languages with varying
degrees of restrictedness. Fifthly, they are evident in all text types. Sixthly,
collocations occur in both of the languages involved in this study, English and
Arabic. Seventhly, and most importantly, the study of collocations has largely been
neglected in translation in general and in English-Arabic translation in particular.
This study will focus on lexical collocations only. Abu-Ssaydeh (1991:66) suggests
that more attention in research should be given to lexical collocation because
“grammatical collocation has received its fair share of emphasis in the work of
grammarians and lexicographers”. Moreover, Newmark (1988:32) states that “the
chief difficulties in translating are lexical, not grammatical – i.e. words, collocations
and fixed phrases or idioms”. Therefore, this study is concerned with lexical rather
10
than grammatical collocations.
Since this thesis is concerned with lexical collocations, there will be only limited
reference to grammatical collocations. Following from this, the two terms lexical
collocations and collocations will be used interchangeably.
1.6 Layout of the study
A brief presentation of how this study is structured will be given in this section. As
was shown earlier in this introductory chapter, this study arises from the fact that
there has not been much previous research that has investigated the translation of
English collocations into Arabic. By using an empirical study, it is hoped that new
insights into the strategies of translating collocations in general, and English
collocations into Arabic in particular, will be achieved.
From a review of the literature, research questions were derived. Answers to the
questions were sought by collecting data by means of specifically designed test
instruments. First, a translation test of English collocations into Arabic was given to
two different groups: a Student Translators’ Group and a Professional Translators’
group. The translation test was followed by a questionnaire of Arabic collocations
11
that was given to the same two groups in addition to an Arabic Control Group. The
main empirical results are presented in the thesis in tabular form. Finally, the results
are discussed with reference to the definition of collocation proposed in this study
and some conclusions and implications for translation are suggested.
The study begins with a chapter discussing the literature on collocations in the
English language (Chapter Two) followed by another chapter discussing the literature
on collocations in the Arabic language (Chapter Three). Chapter Four discusses the
translation of collocations. Chapter Five presents a brief overview of the professional
translation practice in the Australian context. Chapter Six presents the research
methodology proposed by this study. Chapter Seven presents three issues: (1) the
results and discussion of the Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations; (2) the
characteristics of collocations in the Arabic language; and (3) a semantic
classification of collocations in the Arabic language. Chapter Eight introduces the
results and discussion of the Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic.
Finally, Chapter Nine concludes the thesis.
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Chapter Two: Collocations in English
2 COLLOCATIONS IN ENGLISH
2.1 Introduction
This chapter investigates the study of collocations from a linguistic point of view.
It reviews the main theoretical studies on collocations that have taken place since
1938. It was then that the term collocation was first introduced by Harold E.
Palmer. The chapter also includes recent research on collocations. All these
studies are reviewed from the viewpoint of their contribution to the study of the
notion of collocation.
2.2 Collocation as a phenomenon
Greek Stoic philosophers studied collocation as a linguistic phenomenon in
association with lexical semantics as early as 2,300 years ago (Robins, 1967:21;
Gitsaki, 1999:10). Robins (1967) states that Greek Stoic philosophers rejected the
equation of “one word, one meaning” and suggested an important aspect of the
semantic structure of language. They believed that “word meanings do not exist in
isolation, and they may differ according to the collocation in which they are used”
(Robins, 1967:21).
The study of word collocability has remained an important field of
13
language research. The notion of collocation has achieved importance because
many linguists have surmised that there are fixed forms of expression in every
language that are stored in the minds or memories of native speakers of each
language as whole chunks of language forms and not as single words. These fixed
expressions are used in speech and writing as such. Among these fixed
expressions are collocations.
2.3 The Notion of collocation
A collocation is mainly a lexical relationship between words. This lexical
relationship is said to be subject more to arbitrariness arising from common usage
than from rules. The notion of ‘collocation’ has been familiar since the pioneering
work of Palmer (1938) who defined collocations in his dictionary, A Grammar of
English Words, as “successions of two or more words the meaning of which can
hardly be deduced from a knowledge of their component words” (1938:iv). He
gave examples such as: at last, give up, let alone, go without, carry on, as a
matter of fact, all at once, to say the least of it, give somebody up for lost, throw
away, how do you do, and let us make it do. He emphasized that each must be
learnt in the same way as one learns single words.
Later, Firth (1957:194) advanced the word ‘collocation’ as a technical term, so
that ‘meaning by collocation’ became established as one of his ‘modes of
meaning’. He wrote: “I propose to bring forward, as a technical term, meaning by
‘collocation’” (Firth, 1957:194). The term ‘collocation’ only became well known
as part of the technical terminology of linguistics after the work of Firth. He
14
suggested that ‘meaning by collocation’ is a lexical meaning “at the syntagmatic
level” not at the paradigmatic level (Firth, 1957:196). The paradigmatic
relationship of lexical items, on the one hand, consists of sets of words that belong
to the same class and can be substituted for one another in a specific grammatical
and lexical context. On the other hand, the syntagmatic relationship of lexical
items relates to the ability of a word to combine with other words. Therefore, the
attempt made by Firth to explain the meaning of a word on the collocational level
was unique, because it was concerned with the meaning relationships between
lexical items from the level of syntagmatic relationships, not from the traditional
view of paradigmatic relationships such as synonymy and antonymy. The
syntagmatic relationships between words in a sentence have been extensively
discussed in structural linguistics.
Firth (1968:182) gives the example of dark night as an adjective + noun
collocation and asserts that one of the meanings of night is its collocability with
dark, and one of the meanings of dark is its collocability with night. In other
words, any complete description of the meaning of a word would have to include
the other word or words that collocate with it. He later (1968:182) defines
collocation as “the company that words keep”. Firth considers a collocate of a
word as an order of mutual expectancy. He states that it is important to recognize
the company that a word keeps.
Lyons (1966) seemed critical of Firth’s argument that a ‘word’s collocations are
part of its meaning’ by introducing ‘meaning by collocation’ through the
distributional theory of meaning. However, he later explained that “there is
15
frequently so high a degree of interdependence between lexemes which tend to
occur in texts in collocation with one another that their potentiality for collocation
is reasonably described as being part of their meaning” (1977:613).
A number of linguists, known as Neo-Firthians, adapted Firth’s theory and
expanded on it. Halliday (1966) considered lexis as complementary to, but not
part of, grammatical theory. He introduced the notion of ‘set’ as an extra
dimension of the collocability of words. A collocation, in his definition, is “a
linear co-occurrence relationship among lexical items which co-occur together”,
whereas the set is “the grouping of members with like privilege of occurrence in
collocation” (1966:153). For example, bright, hot, shine, light, and come out
belong to the same lexical set, since they all collocate with the word sun
(1966:158).
Sinclair (1966:411) also regards grammar and lexis from “two different,
interpenetrating aspects”. He states that language patterns are treated, in grammar,
as if they could be described by a system of choices. However, for Sinclair, the
key issue is the tendencies of lexical items to collocate with one another. These
tendencies, argues Sinclair (1966:411), “ought to tell us facts about language that
cannot be got by grammatical analysis”. He, then, gives the illustration that the
contrast between lexical items is more flexible than that of grammatical classes,
for “there are virtually no impossible collocations, but some are much more likely
than others” (1966:411). Sinclair even describes the structure of a collocation:
We may use the term node to refer to an item whose collocations we
16
are studying, and we may then define a span as the number of lexical
items on each side of a node that we consider relevant to that node.
Items in the environment set by the span we will call collocates
(1966:415).
For example, if we want to study the collocational patterns of the word accident,
then accident is the ‘node’. If we decide to have a ‘span’ of four, it means that we
study the four lexical items that occur before and the four lexical items that occur
after the word accident. All the lexical items that are within the ‘span’ of the word
accident are considered to be its ‘collocates’.
An important issue in Sinclair’s theory is that he distinguishes between casual and
significant collocations. A significant collocation, he explains, is a collocation that
occurs more frequently than would be expected on the basis of the individual
items.
In 1976, Halliday and Hasan talk about ‘collocation’ or ‘collocational cohesion’,
in their book Cohesion in English, describing it as:
a cover term for the cohesion that results from the co-occurrence of
lexical items that are in some way or other typically associated with
one another, because they tend to occur in similar environments
(Halliday & Hasan, 1976:287).
They give examples like:
17
- candle- flame- flicker
- hair- comb- curl- wave
- poetry- literature- reader- writer- style
- and sky- sunshine- cloud- rain (Halliday & Hasan, 1976:287).
Such patterns, they say, “occur freely both within the same sentence and across
sentence boundaries; they are largely independent of the grammatical structure”
(Halliday & Hasan, 1976:287). This again points to them oscillating around a
more fixed meaning.
Nevertheless, their interpretation could be expressed in other terms in semantics.
For example, it may be expressed in lexical fields or relations like synonymy,
antonymy or hyponymy. Hasan (1984) subsequently rejects this use of collocation
as too broad and uses the term ‘lexical chain’.
Mitchell’s (1971) approach is different from that of the Neo-Firthians. He
considers lexis and grammar as one entity and argues for the “oneness of
grammar, lexis and meaning” (1971:43). He suggests that collocations have to be
described as ‘lexico-grammatical’. He notes that they are to be studied within
grammatical matrices, for example, adjective + noun: heavy drinker; verb +
adverb: to drink heavily; and adjective + gerund: heavy drinking. The importance
of this is that it adds a further dimension to understanding the way collocations
occur. This returns to the earlier notion of language existing in ‘chunks’, but with
a considerable amount of variability. It presupposes that collocations exist as
18
variant forms of meaning forming structures used in expressed language to create
nuance.
Newmark (1988:212) classifies collocations in English as follows:
1- Adjective plus noun, e.g., heavy labour.
2- Noun plus noun (i.e. double noun compound), e.g., nerve cell.
3- Verb plus object (which is normally a noun that denotes an action), e.g.,
pay a visit.
He mentions that these are the most common collocation types, because all three
types are centred on the noun, being the second component of these three types of
collocations in English. He then stresses that a distinction should be made
between collocations and words in a semantic field (e.g., colours, ranks, etc.) and
suggests that collocations are always linked with the concepts of usage and
naturalness (Newmark, 1988:214).
2.4 Boundaries of collocations: differences between linguists over
collocation
It is obvious that there is significant disagreement and a lack of clarity in the
definition of collocations among different linguists. What makes the issue unclear
is the fact that sometimes collocations are categorized as idioms, since it is often
thought that no clear distinction can be made between a collocation and an idiom
19
(e.g., Smith, 1947; Wallace, 1979; Sinclair, 1991; Pederson, 1986).
Smith (1947) considers collocations as idiomatic expressions, in which two words
are habitually combined together for the sake of emphasis. For example, far and
away (emphatic), over and over (emphatic repetition), part and parcel (emphasis
by alliteration), fair and square (emphasis by rhyme), heads or tails (emphasis by
the contrast of two words), now and then (emphasis by inclusive phrases).
Similarly, Wallace (1979) does not seem to differentiate between collocations,
proverbs and idioms. He perceives collocations (e.g., to be honest with) and
proverbs (e.g., don’t count your chickens before they are hatched) as
subcategories of idioms.
Sinclair (1991) also gives a very general definition of a collocation: “A
collocation is the occurrence of two or more words within a short space of each
other in a text” (1991:170). He suggests, as a measure of proximity, a maximum
of four words intervening together. Certainly, this definition suggests that all
occurrences of two or more words, including idioms, are considered to be
collocations. Again, this dissipates the technical usefulness of the notion of
collocation to the point where almost any fixed forms of expression can act as
such.
However, there are other linguists who draw a clear line between collocations and
idioms (e.g., Mitchell, 1971; Bolinger, 1976; Shakir & Farghal, 1992; Bahns,
1993; Fontenelle, 1994b). Bolinger’s (1976) criterion in distinguishing
collocations from idioms is based on whether the meaning of the whole
20
idiom can be derived from its components. For example, in the idiom spill the
beans, the meaning cannot be derived from its components. On the other hand, in
the collocation indelible ink, the meaning can be derived from its components.
Likewise, Fontenelle (1994b) states that collocations are ‘non-idiomatic
expressions’ on the one hand and ‘non-free combinations’ on the other. This gives
a more precise and useful definition of collocation. For example, sour + milk,
bad/addled/rotten + egg, and rancid + butter. Fontenelle argues that the
adjectives sour, bad, addled, rotten, and rancid can all be combined with nouns
denoting food items, but are by no means interchangeable. Therefore, the
collocations *rancid egg, *sour butter or *addled milk are unacceptable in
English, except that they could be used in slightly poetic forms to add emotive
meaning. Fontenelle also gives an example of the idiomatic expression to lick
somebody’s boots and suggests that what characterizes idiomatic expressions is
the fact that they constitute a single semantic entity, and the fact that their
meaning cannot be derived from the sum of the meanings of the words of which
they are made up. Thus, in the above example, there is no actual licking taking
place and the expression is not about boots either. Idioms sit at a greater distance
from the signified than collocations.
Following Benson et al. (1986), Bahns (1993) also argues that in order to obtain a
clearer understanding of collocations, it is helpful to try to distinguish them from
idioms on the one hand and from free combinations on the other. Free
combinations are the least cohesive type of word combination. The noun murder,
for example, may be used freely with many verbs (analyze, boast of, condemn,
21
discuss, investigate, etc.), and, of course, these verbs can combine freely with
other nouns as well. Moreover, idioms are relatively frozen expressions whose
meanings do not reflect the meanings of their component parts. To scream blue
murder (to complain very loudly) is an example of an idiom. Collocations come
somewhere between idioms and free combinations. They have a tendency to more
directly approximate the signified, i.e., they add explication rather than reduce it
to a less explicit stock phrase. They are loosely fixed combinations, as in to
commit murder. What makes collocations different from idioms is that their
meanings reflect the meaning of their constituent parts, and what makes them
different from free combinations is that they are used frequently, springing to
mind in such a way as to be said to be psychologically salient.
Collocation, according to Robins (1967:63), is the “habitual association of a word
in a language with other particular words in sentences”. He gives the following
examples: white coffee, green with jealousy and maiden speech, and makes a
distinction between collocations like bright day and dark night and word groups
like bright night and dark day. This shows that Robins does not use the term
‘collocation’ for all kinds of word combinations.
Aisenstadt (1979:71-2) distinguishes between idioms, restricted collocations and
free word combinations in the following manner:
Idioms: An idiom is ‘one semantic unit and its meaning is not composed
from the sum of the meanings of its constituents’ (e.g., face the music,
which means ‘display courage’ or ‘show no fear’).
22
Restricted collocations: They are ‘combinations of two or more words used
in one of their regular, non-idiomatic meanings, … and restricted in their
commutability’ (e.g., the verb face can collocate with four different nouns:
the fact, the truth, the problem, and the circumstances).
Free word combinations: They are different from restricted collocations ‘by
their commutability restrictions which are conditioned by usage’ (e.g., the
verb carry in its basic meaning of ‘supporting the weight of something’ can
collocate freely with almost any noun denoting the thing to be supported or
moved: carry a book/ bag/ chair/ torch/ table/ etc.) (Aisenstadt, 1979:71-2).
According to van der Wouden (1997:8-9), collocations are not the only fixed
expressions in languages. He suggests the following six categories:
Free combinations: Their components combine most freely with other
lexical items. For instance, the noun murder can be freely used with many
verbs, such as to analyze and to describe. These verbs combine with a large
number of other nouns.
Idioms: They are relatively frozen expressions. Their meanings do not
reflect the meaning of their component parts. For example, to kick the
bucket.
Proverbs/ sayings: These expressions are usually more frozen than idioms
and they are complete sentences (e.g., A friend in need is a friend indeed).
Collocations: They are loosely fixed combinations. Collocations fall
23
between idioms and free combinations. For example, to commit a murder.
Transitional combinations: These combinations appear to fall between
idioms and collocations. They are more frozen than ordinary collocations
and, unlike idioms, these combinations seem to have a meaning close to that
suggested by their component parts. For example, to catch one’s breath, all
dressed up, and to foot the bill.
Compounds: Compounds are totally frozen. With these combinations, no
variations are possible at all. They can consist of an adjective + noun (e.g.,
definite article), noun + noun (e.g., aptitude test) or verb + one or two
adverbs or prepositions (e.g., add up, put up with) (van der Wouden,
1997:8-9)
Another definition of collocation is given by Cruse (1986:40). He argues that
collocations are “sequences of lexical items which habitually co-occur, but which
are nonetheless fully transparent in the sense that each lexical constituent is also a
semantic constituent”, and suggests that the lexical items have semantic cohesion,
as the items are mutually selective to a varying degree. On the other hand, an
idiom is “an expression whose meaning cannot be inferred from the meaning of
its parts” (Cruse, 1986:37).
Cruse’s notion of mutual expectancy between the collocates is relevant to the
research undertaken in this thesis, because it mainly concerns the adjective + noun
and verb + object constructions. All examples of collocations used in this research
meet Cruse’s basic criterion of a collocation, that is, there must be a
24
syntagmatic association between the words.
2.5 English collocations in lexicography
In the last three decades, the interest in collocations and other fixed expressions
led lexicographers to compile specialized dictionaries. Among those
lexicographers was Hornby (1974), who includes a large number of collocations
in his dictionary entitled Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current
English. This dictionary was followed by that of Cowie, Mackin and McCaig
(1975), The Oxford Dictionary of Idiomatic English.
The BBI Combinatory Dictionary of English (more commonly known as the BBI
Dictionary - the initials are those of its compilers: Benson, Benson and Ilson) was
released in 1986. A later revised edition was released in 1997. The BBI Dictionary
is completely devoted to English collocations. The compilers believe that even in
language learners’ dictionaries, the treatment of collocations is insufficient and
inconsistent. The dictionary contains 90,000 combinations and phrases under a
total of 18,000 entries. The introduction to the dictionary explains how these
entries have been organized and demonstrates the breakdown of word
combinations into lexical and grammatical collocations. The former comprise
verb + noun, or adjective + noun collocations, while the latter consist of a
‘dominant word’ + a preposition or grammatical construction. Users are advised
to look up the ‘dominant word’ in each case, or the second noun if the collocation
is noun + noun. For instance, the ‘dominant word’ in the BBI’s terminology is the
noun, verb, or adjective in the following grammatical collocations: acceptable to,
25
by accident, eager for. In lexical collocations such as, to put up resistance, a herd
of cattle, deeply absorbed, users are directed to find the word combination in the
dictionary by looking up, in the following order, the noun, the second noun (if
there are two), the adjective, and the verb.
Another dictionary that is fully dedicated to English collocations is Hill and
Lewis’ (1997) Dictionary of Selected Collocations. It is divided into an adverb
section, which lists verbs, adjectives, and their adverb collocates, and a substantial
section on nouns, where the headwords are all nouns. In the latter section, verb
collocates are listed according to whether they come before or after the noun. For
example:
CRISIS: cause__, __ escalated
Adjective collocates and phrasal collocates are also listed, for example:
CRISIS: dangerous __, in the wake of __
The shorter section on adverbs similarly is clear in layout. It suggests which
adverb goes with a particular verb or adjective; for example:
ABANDON: __completely, completely __.
2.6 English collocations in computational linguistics
The growing interest in the study of collocations as an important component of
language has made computational linguists think of using large corpora to
26
study collocations. It has also made lexicographers think of compiling dictionaries
of collocations.
In 1995, Sinclair led a project entitled Collins COBUILD English Collocations on
CD-Rom. It is regarded as the largest lexicographic analysis of a language in the
world. The collocations used in the database are extracted from the Bank of
English, a corpus of more than two hundred million words (and continually
expanding). The Bank of English is a unique computer database that monitors and
records the way in which the English language actually is used. This CD-Rom
gives the user access to 140,000 English collocations and 2,600,000 sentences
with these word combinations. A sample page from Collins COBUILD English
Collocations on CD-Rom is shown below:
27
Figure 2. 1 A sample page from Collins COBUILD English Collocations on CD-Rom
Using this programme is easy. The user types a word in the Node text box, or
selects a word from the list box by clicking once on the word. After that, the user
clicks on the <Show Collocates> button to view the list of collocates for the word
they selected. See below the collocates of the noun pact, for example:
28
Figure 2. 2 Results from Collins COBUILD English Collocations on CD-Rom showing the
collocates of the word "pact"
The user can select one of the collocates from the list by clicking on it and, then,
clicking on the button <Show Examples>. This will show a list of short examples,
showing the selected word and collocate in use from the Bank of English:
29
Figure 2. 3 A list of short examples from Collins COBUILD English Collocations on CD-Rom
of the word "pact" collocating with the word "made"
By double-clicking on any one of the example lines, the user can view the same
example with a more extensive context in a separate window. The expanded
example window also includes an indication of the genre of the text in which this
example occurs:
30
Figure 2. 4 A window from Collins COBUILD English Collocations on CD-Rom showing an
expanded example and an indication of the genre of the text
Another computer programme is WordPilot 2000 by Milton (2000). Milton
suggests that this programme is designed for English-as-a-Foreign/Second-
Language (EFL/ESL) students, English language teachers, researchers and
translators into English. The user of WordPilot 2000 can select a word or phrase
from word lists or can simply type a word or phrase, and the programme searches
for examples of these in nominated types of texts. A summary of common
collocates of the word or phrase is generated using the <Collocation> button. This
programme can also be used as a writer’s helper when drafting a document, using
Microsoft Word 7 or Microsoft Word 2000. When the programme is installed, a
new button <Examples> appears in the Microsoft Word menu bar. By selecting
31
a word or phrase from the opened Word document, and clicking on <Examples>,
a search for the selected items is launched. The programme is based on a corpus
that can be increased to 50,000,000 words.
2.7 Conclusion
Chapter two summarised the main theoretical studies on collocations that have
taken place since 1930’s. It also showed that there is a significant disagreement
and a lack of clarity in the definition of collocations among different linguists, as
some linguists make no clear distinction between a collocation and an idiom,
while others do. The interest in collocations by lexicographers was also discussed.
The chapter has also shown the importance of computational linguistics in
collocational research, and how it made the study of English collocations easier.
This chapter suggested that although a collocation is a combination of at least two
lexical items that demonstrate a level of frozenness/restrictedness and, like
idiomatic expressions, show a resistance to substitution of the constituents of the
combination. Nevertheless, collocations are semantically transparent, that is, one
can tell the meaning of the whole collocation from at least one of the constituent
parts of the combination. Therefore, collocations are not idiomatic expressions.
This chapter has examined the ways collocations have been treated by linguists in
the English language. The next chapter will discuss collocations in the Arabic
language.
32
Chapter Three: Collocations in Arabic
3 COLLOCATIONS IN ARABIC
3.1 Introduction
As was shown in the previous chapters, collocation is a lexical relationship
between words in a language. A collocation is the habitual co-occurrence of two
or more words together in a language, the meaning of which can be deduced from
at least one component of the combination. This lexical relationship is more the
co-occurrence of a word with other words than a series of extensive formalisable
rules. Arabic is one of the languages that are rich in collocations. However, not
many researchers discuss word combinations in the Arabic language in general,
nor collocations in particular. Some of the available literature is derived from
linguistic research, such as that by Emery (1988a, 1988b; 1991), Husamaddin
(1985), Ghazala (1993a), Hoogland (1993), and Hafiz (2002).
3.2 Collocations in the Arabic language
In a unique book totally devoted to fixed expressions and multi-word units in
Arabic, Husamaddin (1985) considers collocations (‫ اﻟﻤﺼﺎﺣﺒﺔ اﻟﻠﻐﻮﯾﺔ‬al-muSaaHabah
al-lugawiyyah) to be one simple form of idiomatic expression. He defines
collocations as:
.‫اﻟﻤﺼﺎﺣﺒﺔ اﻻﻋﺘﯿﺎدﯾﺔ ﻟﻜﻠﻤﺔ ﻣﺎ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻠﻐﺔ ﺑﻜﻠﻤﺎت أﺧﺮى ﻣﻌﯿﻨﺔ‬
33
al-muSaaHabatu al-i3tiyaadiyyatu li-kalimatin maa fiy al-lugati bi-
kalimaatin ?uxraa mu3ayyanah. (The normal occurrence of a word with
certain other words in a language) [Author’s translation] (Husamaddin,
1985:257).
Husamaddin (1985) argues that words do not appear together in a language just by
chance and that there are ‫ﺼﺎﺣﺒﺔ‬ ‫ﻮاﺑﻂاﻟﻤ‬ ‫ ﺿ‬DawaabiT al-muSaaHabah
(collocational restrictions) that govern their usage. These collocational
restrictions, according to Husamaddin (1985), are:
1- ‫ ﺗﻮاﻓﻘﯿﺔ اﻟﻤﺼﺎﺣﺒﺔ‬tawaafuqiyyat al-muSaaHabah (Association agreement):
This means that there has to be an agreement between words that collocate
with each other. This agreement depends on one’s linguistic knowledge or
is constrained by the nature of the signified. For example, one could say
‫ ﺟﺒﻞ ﺷﺎھﻖ‬jabalun saahiq (a high mountain), but not ‫ * رﺟﻞ ﺷﺎھﻖ‬rajulun
saahiq (a high man). Rather, one would say ‫ رﺟﻞ ﻃﻮﯾﻞ‬rajulun Tawiyl (a
tall man) because the word ‫ ﺷﺎھﻖ‬saahiq (high) collocates with the word
‫ ﺟﺒﻞ‬jabal (a mountain), but not with ‫ رﺟﻞ‬rajul (a man), although the
words ‫ ﺷﺎھﻖ‬saahiq and ‫ﻃﻮﯾﻞ‬ Tawiyl have almost the same meaning.
Another example illustrating this point is ‫ رﺟﻞ وﺳﯿﻢ‬rajulun wasiym (a
handsome man) and ‫ اﻣﺮأة ﺟﻤﯿﻠﺔ‬imra?atun jamiylah (a beautiful woman),
but not vice versa.
2- ‫اﻟﻤﺼﺎﺣﺒﺔ‬ ‫ﻣﺪى‬ madaa al-muSaaHabah (Collocational range): A
collocational range is the number of collocates a word can have in order to
produce acceptable collocations. The verb ‫ ﻣﺎت‬maat (to die), for example,
34
has a wide collocational range. It can collocate with many different words.
It can be used with the noun ‫إﻧﺴﺎن‬ ?insaan (a human being), ‫ﺣﯿﻮان‬
Hayawaan (an animal), and ‫ ﻧﺒﺎت‬nabaat (a plant).
3- ‫ ﺗﻮاﺗﺮﯾﺔ اﻟﻤﺼﺎﺣﺒﺔ‬tawaaturiyyat al-muSaaHabah (Co-occurrence): By co-
occurrence we mean words that appear together regularly in a language.
This co-occurrence is not governed by grammatical rules. However, it
depends on convention and what speakers feel should be said
(Husamaddin, 1985:258-9).
Husamaddin (1985) later classifies examples of collocations in Arabic into a
number of categories, one of which is words representing different sounds made
by different animals or different objects. In Arabic, we call the sound made by a
lion ‫ زﺋﯿﺮ اﻷﺳﺪ‬za?iyr al-?asad (the roaring of a lion), the sound made by a horse
‫ ﺻﮭﯿﻞ اﻟﺨﯿﻞ‬Sahiyl al-xayl (the neighing/whinnying of a horse), that of a donkey
‫ ﻧﮭﯿﻖ اﻟﺤﻤﺎر‬nahiiq al-Himaar (the braying of a donkey), that of a cow ‫ﺧﻮار اﻟﺒﻘﺮة‬
xuwaar al-baqarah (the mooing of a cow), that of a sheep ‫ ﺛﻐﺎء اﻟﻐﻨﻢ‬tugaa? al-
ganam (the bleating of a sheep), that of a wolf ‫ ﻋﻮاء اﻟﺬﺋﺐ‬3uwaa? al-di?b (the
howling of a wolf), that of a dog ‫ ﻧﺒﺎح اﻟﻜﻠﺐ‬nubaaH al-kalb (the barking of a dog),
that of a cat ‫ ﻣﻮاء اﻟﻘﻂ‬muwaa? al-qiT (the meowing of a cat), that of a pigeon ‫ھﺪﯾﻞ‬
‫ اﻟﺤﻤﺎﻣﺔ‬hadiyl al-Hamaamah (the cooing of a pigeon), that of a crow ‫ﻧﻌﯿﻖ اﻟﻐﺮاب‬
na3iyq al-guraab (the cawing of a crow), and that of an owl ‫ ﻧﻌﯿﺐ اﻟﺒﻮم‬na3iyb al-
buwm (the hooting of an owl). Examples of different sounds produced by
different objects are: ‫ ھﺰﯾﻢ اﻟﺮﻋﺪ‬haziym al-ra3d (the rumbling of thunder), and ‫ﺣﻔﯿﻒ‬
‫ اﻟﺸﺠﺮ‬Hafiyf al-sajar (the rustling of trees).
35
Another category of examples is that of different verbs related to the act of cutting
various objects, depending on the nouns with which they collocate: ‫ﺟﺰ اﻟﺼﻮف‬
jazza al-Suwf (to cut wool), ‫ ﻗﺺ اﻟﺸﻌﺮ‬qaSSa al-sa3ar (to cut hair), ‫ ﺑﺮى اﻟﻘﻠﻢ‬baraa
al-qalam (to sharpen a pencil), ‫ ﻗﻄﻒ اﻟﺰھﺮة‬qaTafa al-zahrah (to pick a flower),
and ‫ ﺣﺼﺪ اﻟﻨﺒﺎت‬HaSada al-nabaat (to harvest plants). The following are examples
of collocations associated with cutting parts of the body: ‫ ﺟﺪع أﻧﻔﮫ‬jada3a ?anfuh
(to cut one’s nose), ‫ ﺣﻠﻢ أذﻧﮫ‬Haluma ?udunah (to cut one’s ear), ‫ ﺷﺮم ﺷﻔﺘﮫ‬sarama
suffatah (to cut one’s lip), ‫ ﺷﺘﺮ ﺟﻔﻨﮫ‬satara jifnah (to cut one’s eyelid), and ‫ﺟﺬم ﯾﺪه‬
jadama yadah (to cut one’s hand).
Husamaddin also gives examples of the names of places where animals or insects
are found: ‫ اﺻﻄﺒﻞ ﺧﯿﻞ‬iSTabl xayl (a horse stable), ‫ ﺣﻈﯿﺮة ﻣﺎﺷﯿﺔ‬HaZiyrat maasiyah
(a cattle pen), ‫ ﻋﺮﯾﻦ أﺳﺪ‬3ariyn ?asad (a lion’s den), ‫ ﻋﺶ ﻃﯿﺮ‬3us Tayr (a bird’s
nest), ‫ ﺟﺤﺮ ﺿﺐ‬juHr Dab (a lizard’s hole), and ‫ ﺧﻠﯿﺔ ﻧﺤﻞ‬xaliyyat naHl (a beehive).
Another group of examples is related to a group of objects: ‫ ﺑﺎﻗﺔ ورد‬baaqat ward
(a bouquet of flowers), ‫ ﻋﻨﻘﻮد ﻋﻨﺐ‬3unquwd 3inab (a bunch of grapes), ‫ﺣﺰﻣﺔ ﺣﻄﺐ‬
Hizmat HaTab (a bundle of wood), and ‫ ﻛﻮﻣﺔ ﺣﺠﺎرة‬kawmat Hijarah (a pile of
stones).
Another group of examples is related to parts of objects: ‫ ﻛﺴﺮة ﻣﻦ اﻟﺨﺒﺰ‬kisrah min
al-xubz (a piece/slice of bread), ‫ ﻓﺪرة ﻣﻦ اﻟﻠﺤﻢ‬fidrah min al-laHam (a piece of
meat), ‫ ﻛﺘﻠﺔ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺘﻤﺮ‬kutlah min al-tamur (a piece of a date), and ‫ ﻧﺴﻔﺔ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺪﻗﯿﻖ‬nasfah
min al-daqiyq (a measure of flour).
Another group of examples is related to uncovering or exposing different parts of
the body: ‫ ﺣﺴﺮ ﻋﻦ رأﺳﮫ‬Hasara 3an ra?sih (to uncover one’s head), ‫ﺳﻔﺮ ﻣﻦ وﺟﮭﮫ‬
36
safara min wajhih (to uncover one’s face), ‫ ﻛﺸﻒ ﻋﻦ ﺳﺎﻗﮫ‬kasafa 3an saaqih (to
uncover one’s leg), ‫? أﺑﺪى ﻋﻦ ذراﻋﮫ‬abdaa 3an diraa3ih (to uncover one’s arm),
and ‫ ﺣﺎف ﻣﻦ اﻟﻨﻌﻞ‬Haafin min al-na3l (to be bare-footed).
Another group of examples is related to the movements of different parts of the
body: ‫ ﺧﻔﻘﺎن اﻟﻘﻠﺐ‬xafaqaan al-qalb (the beating of the heart), ‫? إﺧﺘﻼج اﻟﻌﯿﻦ‬ixtilaaj
al-3ayn (the ticking of the eye), and ‫ ارﺗﻌﺎش اﻟﯿﺪ‬irti3aas al-yad (the trembling of
the hand).
While Husamaddin (1985) classifies collocations in the Arabic language
according to meaning only, Ghazala (1993a) classifies ‫ اﻟﻤﺘﻼزﻣﺎت اﻟﻠﻔﻈﯿﺔ‬al-
mutalaazimaat al-lafZiyyah (collocations) according to three different categories.
The first classification is made according to ‫ اﻟﺘﺮﻛﯿﺐ اﻟﻘﻮاﻋﺪي ﻟﻠﻤﺘﻼزﻣﺎت اﻟﻠﻔﻈﯿﺔ‬al-
tarkiyb al-qawaa3idiy lil-mutalaazimaat al-lafZiyyah (grammatical patterns), the
second according to ‫ اﻟﺘﺮﻛﯿﺐ اﻟﻠﻔﻈﻲ ﻟﻠﻤﺘﻼزﻣﺎت اﻟﻠﻔﻈﯿﺔ‬al-tarkiyb al-lafZiy lil-
mutalaazimaat al-lafZiyyah (the relationship between the constituents of the
combination), and, finally, the third according to ‫ اﻟﺘﺮﻛﯿﺐ اﻷﺳﻠﻮﺑﻲ ﻟﻠﻤﺘﻼزﻣﺎت اﻟﻠﻔﻈﯿﺔ‬al-
tarkiyb al-?usluwbiy lil-mutalaazimaat al-lafZiyyah (stylistic patterns).
According to Ghazala (1993a), collocations in Arabic fall into twenty different
grammatical patterns:
1- noun + adjective, for example, ‫ ﻗﻮل ﺳﺪﯾﺪ‬qawlun sadiyd (a right saying);
2- noun + noun (‫ إﺿﺎﻓﺔ‬iDaafah or annexation), for example, ‫ﺷﺮوق اﻟﺸﻤﺲ‬
suruwq al-sams (sun rise);
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3- noun + conjunction + noun, for example, ‫ اﻟﺨﯿﺮ واﻟﺸﺮ‬al-xayr wa al-sar
(good and evil);
4- adjective + adjective, for example, ‫ ﺟﺎﺋﺮ ﻇﺎﻟﻢ‬jaa?ir Zaalim (despotic and
oppressive);
5- verb + noun (non-figurative meaning), for example,‫ ﺳﻤﻊ ﺻﻮﺗﺎ‬sami3a
Sawtan (to hear a sound);
6- verb + noun (figurative meaning) , for example, ‫ ﻟﻘﻦ درﺳﺎ‬laqqana darsan
(to teach someone a lesson);
7- verb + verb root (verb echoing) , for example, ‫ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻋﻠﻮا‬3alaa 3uluwan (to
rise high);
8- verb + adverb, for example, ‫ ﺑﺎت ﺷﺒﻌﺎﻧﺎ‬baata sab3aanan (to sleep with a full
stomach);
9- verb + preposition + noun, for example, ‫ ﺟﮭﺶ ﺑﺎﻟﺒﻜﺎء‬jahasa bi al-bukaa? (to
burst into tears);
10- verb + relative pronoun + verb, for example, ‫? أﻋﺬر ﻣﻦ أﻧﺬر‬a3dara man
?andar (he who warns is excused);
11- verb + conjunction + verb (antonym) , for example, ‫? أﻋﻄﻰ وﻣﻨﻊ‬a3Taa wa
mana3a (to give and prevent);
12- time/place adverbial + conjunction + time/place adverbial, for example,
‫? أوﻻ وأﺧﯿﺮا‬awwalan wa ?axiyran (first and last);
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13- preposition + noun + noun, for example, ‫ ﺑﻤﺤﺾ اﻟﺼﺪﻓﺔ‬bi-maHD al-Sudfah
(by sheer coincidence);
14- negative particle + noun + noun + negative particle + noun, for example,
‫ ﻻ إﻓﺮاط وﻻ ﺗﻔﺮﯾﻂ‬laa ?ifraT wa-laa tafriyT (neither excess nor neglect);
15- noun + verb, for example, ‫ ﺣﻲ ﯾﺮزق‬Hayyun yurzaq (alive and kicking);
16- noun + preposition + noun, for example, ‫ اﻟﻜﻤﺎل ﷲ‬al-kamaal li-llah (only
God is perfect);
17- particle (functioning as a verb) + noun, for example, ‫ ﻟﯿﺖ ﺷﻌﺮي‬layta si3riy
(would God);
18- arbitrary grammatical patterns (oath), for example, ‫ واﻟﺬي ﻧﻔﺴﻲ ﺑﯿﺪه‬wa
alladiy nafsiy bi-yadihi (I swear);
19- arbitrary grammatical (swearing/cursing), for example, ‫ ﻋﻠﯿﻚ اﻟﻠﻌﻨﺔ‬3alayk
al-la3nah (curse on you); and
20- arbitrary grammatical patterns (compliment) , for example, ‫ﺳﻠﻤﺖ ﯾﺪاك‬
salimat yadaaka (thank you/ well done).
In Ghazala’s (1993a) grammatical classification of collocations in the Arabic
language, the last three grammatical patterns (18, 19, and 20), which he suggests
are arbitrary grammatical patterns, seem to elide meaning with grammar.
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The second classification made by Ghazala (1993a) is according to the
relationship between the constituents of the combination. He classifies Arabic
collocations into ten different patterns:
1- homogeneous collocations, for example, ‫ ﺧﻄﺮ ﻟﮫ ﺧﺎﻃﺮ‬xaTara lahu xaaTir
(an idea occurred to him), and ‫ ﺑﻌﺪ ﺟﮭﺪ ﺟﮭﯿﺪ‬ba3da juhdin jahiyd (after a lot
of trouble);
2- non- homogeneous collocations, for example, ‫ اﺳﺘﻘﺒﺎل ﺣﺎر‬istiqbaal Haar (a
warm reception);
3- emphatic collocations, for example, ‫ ھﺰ ھﺰا‬hazza hazzan (to shake
strongly);
4- direct collocations, for example, ‫ ﺣﺎﻓﻲ اﻟﻘﺪﻣﯿﻦ‬Haafiy al-qadamayn (bare-
footed);
5- figurative collocations, for example, ‫ ﻃﺎر ﺻﻮاﺑﮫ‬Taara Sawaabuh (to lose
one’s senses);
6- complimentary collocations, for example, ‫ ﻃﺮي اﻟﻠﺴﺎن‬Tariy al-lisaan
(sweet-tongued);
7- uncomplimentary collocations, for example, ‫ ﻏﻨﻢ ﻗﺎﺻﯿﺔ‬ganamun qaaSiyah
(straying sheep);
8- neutral collocations, for example, ‫ ﺳﻜﺮة اﻟﻤﻮت‬sakratu al-mawt (agony of
death);
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9- uncertain or indecisive collocations, for example, ‫ ﺣﺪﯾﺚ ﻃﻮﯾﻞ‬Hadiyt Tawiyl
(a lengthy talk);
10- ironical collocations, for example, ‫ ﺑﻄﻞ اﻷﺑﻄﺎل‬baTal al-?abTaal (the hero
of heroes).
Ghazala (1993a) considers his second classification of collocations in the Arabic
language as categorized according to the relationship between the constituents of
the combination. However, it is difficult to differentiate between some of the
apparently dissimilar patterns. That is, some of his apparently differentiated
examples overlap even though classified as different patterns. Furthermore,
Ghazala does not give a detailed explanation for his different patterns of
collocations in Arabic. For instance, ‫ ﺑﻌﺪ ﺟﮭﺪ ﺟﮭﯿﺪ‬ba3da juhdin jahiyd (after a lot of
trouble) is classified as a homogeneous collocation, while he later considers ‫ھﺰ ھﺰا‬
hazza hazzan (to shake strongly) to be an emphatic collocation.
Finally, the third classification by Ghazala (1993a) is made according to stylistic
patterns. Ghazala classifies Arabic collocations into five stylistic patterns. These
patterns are:
1- emphasis, for example, ‫ ﻗﻠﺔ ﻗﻠﯿﻠﺔ‬qillah qaliylah (very few);
2- exaggeration, for example, ‫ ﻟﺬ وﻃﺎب‬lada wa Taab (delicious and delicate);
3- aestheticism, for example, ‫ ﻓﻲ ﺧﻀﻢ‬fiy xiDam (in the course of);
4- euphemism, for example, ‫ ھﺰﯾﻤﺔ ﻣﺸﺮﻓﺔ‬haziymah musarrifah (an honorable
defeat);
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5- standard versus colloquial, for example, ‫ ﯾﻌﺮف ﻣﻦ أﯾﻦ ﺗﺆﻛﻞ اﻟﻜﺘﻒ‬ya3rifu min
?ayna tu?kalu al-katif (to know how to seize opportunities).
Although Ghazala (1993a) makes an effort to classify Arabic collocations into
three different categories, some of his patterns are unclear. For example, the
pattern that he calls neutral collocations cannot be understood easily within the
classification based on the relationship between the constituents of the
combination that he gives. Ghazala does not explain the patterns in further detail.
Moreover, some of the examples provided by Ghazala are semantically
transparent and some are opaque, for example, ‫ ﯾﻌﺮف ﻣﻦ أﯾﻦ ﺗﺆﻛﻞ اﻟﻜﺘﻒ‬ya3rifu min
?ayna tu?kalu al-katif (to know how to seize opportunities). In the present
study’s understanding of the definition of collocation, this example could not be
described as a collocation. Rather, it is an example of an idiom in Arabic. That is,
the meaning of the whole expression cannot be deduced from the meaning of the
constituent parts. It becomes apparent that Ghazala’s definition of collocation
does not differentiate between collocations and idioms.
Emery (1988a; 1991) makes a distinction between four types of word
combinations. The distinction is made according to the restrictedness between the
constituents of the combination. The four types of word combinations are:
1- Open collocations: These are characterized as being combinations of two
words that are freely re-combinable. In open collocations, each element is
used in a common literal sense (Cowie, 1983:xiii). For example, ‫ اﻧﺘﮭﺖ‬/‫ﺑﺪأت‬
‫اﻟﻤﻌﺮﻛﺔ‬/‫ اﻟﺤﺮب‬+ bada?at/intahat + al-Harb/al-ma3rakah (the war/battle +
began/ended).
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2- Restricted collocations: These are “combinations of two or more words
used in one of their regular, non-idiomatic meanings, following certain
structural patterns, and restricted in their commutability not only by
grammatical and semantic valency (like the components of so-called free
word combinations), but also by usage” (Aisenstadt, 1979:71). These types
of word combinations occur in Arabic, as in English, in various types of
syntactic configurations: a- verb + subject, for example, ‫ اﻟﺤﺮب‬+ ‫ﻧﺸﺒﺖ‬
nasabat + al-Harb (the war + broke out). b- verb + object, for example,
‫ اﻟﻤﻌﺮﻛﺔ‬+ ‫ ﺧﺎض‬xaaDa + al-ma3rakah (he engaged in + the battle). c-
adjective + noun, for example, ‫ ﻃﺎﺣﻨﺔ‬+ ‫ ﻣﻌﺮﻛﺔ‬ma3rakah + TaaHinah (a
damaging + battle).
3- Bound collocations: These are “a bridge category between collocations
and idioms” (Cowie, 1981:228). In this category, one of the components is
uniquely selective of the other. In such cases the adjective collocates
uniquely with a specific noun, for example, ‫ ﺿﺮوس‬+ ‫ ﺣﺮب‬Harb + Daruws
(vicious + war), and the verb collocates uniquely with a particular noun,
for example, ‫ رأﺳﮫ‬+ ‫ اﻃﺮق‬aTraqa + ra?sah (he bowed + his head), and ‫ﺷﻤﺮ‬
‫ ﺳﺎﻋﺪه‬+ ‫ ﻋﻦ‬+ sammara 3an saa3idih (he bared + his forearm).
4- Idioms: In contrast to the previous three types, the constituent elements of
idioms are opaque, that is, they are used in ‘specialized’ senses, together
forming one single semantic unit. Illustrative examples are calques like:
‫ اﻟﺤﺮب اﻟﺒﺎردة‬al-Harb albaaridah (the Cold War), and ‫ ﺣﺮب اﻟﻨﺠﻮم‬Harb al-
nujuum (Star Wars) (Emery, 1991:60-62).
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Hoogland (1993:75) suggests that collocation is a lexical relationship that can be
defined as “two (or sometimes more) words appear in each other’s company
because the usage of a particular word (for example, a noun) limits the choice of
an adjective to a small number of adjectives that can combine with this particular
noun”. He gives an example of the English noun crime and states that the first
verb that would come to mind when mentioning it would be either commit or
perpetrate. He then argues that this applies to Arabic as well. With the noun ‫ﺟﺮﯾﻤﺔ‬
jariymah (crime), the first two verbs that would come to mind are ‫ اﻗﺘﺮف‬iqtarafa
(commit) or ‫ ارﺗﻜﺐ‬irtakaba (commit). He then uses the same classification of
word combinations made by Emery (1988a; 1991).
On the other hand, Hafiz (2002), in an attempt to compile a dictionary of Arabic
collocations, explains that collocations play a very important role in language. He
distinguishes between twelve different types of collocations in the Arabic
language. The distinction by Hafiz (2002) is made according to grammatical
patterns. The twelve types of collocations are as follows:
1- Verb + noun, where the noun can act as a subject, for example, ‫ھﺪأ اﻟﻤﻮج‬
hada?a al-mawju (the waves subsided); an object, for example, ‫ﺿﺮب اﻟﺨﯿﻤﺔ‬
Daraba al-xaymata (he pitched the tent); or a state (‫)ﺣﺎل‬, for example,
‫ اﺳﺘﺸﺎط ﻏﻀﺒﺎ‬istasaaTa gaDaban (he was inflamed with rage). This type of
collocation accounts for a large part of Arabic collocations, as almost
every single verb in the Arabic language has its own numerous noun
collocates.
44
2- Verb + prepositional noun phrase, where the noun is the indirect object,
for example, ‫ اﺳﺘﻘﺎل ﻣﻦ اﻟﻌﻤﻞ‬istaqaala min al-3amal (he resigned from
work).
3- Verb + prepositional noun phrase, where the phrase acts as an adverb, for
example, ‫ ﻧ ّﻔّﺬ ﺑﺸﺪة‬naffada bi-siddah (he precisely implemented).
4- Verb + noun phrase, where the noun is in the form of an adverbial
condition, for example, ‫ اﺗﺼﻞ ھﺎﺗﻔﯿﺎ‬ittaSala haatifiyyan (he made a
telephone call).
5- Verb + conjunction + verb, usually with synonymous verbs, for example,
‫ ﻃﺎر وﺣﻠﻖ‬Taara wa Hallaqa (he flew and soared).
6- Noun + noun in a construct state (‫إﺿﺎﻓﺔ‬ iDaafah or annexation), for
example, ‫ ﻣﺴﺮح اﻷﺣﺪاث‬masraH al-a?Hdaat (the theatre of events).
7- Noun + conjunction + noun, for example, ‫ ﻋﺰم وإﺻﺮار‬3azm wa ?iSraar
(intention and insistence).
8- Noun + adjective, for example, ‫ ﻗﻮة ﻋﻈﻤﻰ‬quwwah 3uZmaa (a supreme
power).
9- Noun + prepositional noun phrase, for example, ‫ ﻏﺎﯾﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻷدب‬gaayah fiy al-
?adab (extremely polite).
10- Noun + preposition, for example, ‫ ﻣﻘﺎرﻧﺔ ﺑـ‬muqaaranah bi- (in comparison
with).
45
11- Adjective + noun, ‫ ﺣﺴﻦ اﻷﺧﻼق‬Hasan al-?aaxlaaq (having high morals).
12- Adjective + adverbial phrase, where the adverbial phrase consists of a
preposition + noun, for example, ‫ ﻣﺴﺘﻨﻜﺮ ﺑﺸﺪة‬mustankir bi-siddah (strongly
condemns).
The wide variety of Arabic lexical and grammatical combinations categorized by
Hafiz (2002) would benefit foreign language learners of Arabic and translators by
making the structure and word combinations of that language more apparent.
Apparently, all these collocational forms will be included in the dictionary of
Arabic collocations that Hafiz is compiling.
3.3 Arabic collocations in lexicography
Arabic is a language rich in lexical and derivational resources. It has collocations
in abundance. Emery (1988a, 1991) states that classical lexicographers, such as,
Al-Thaalibi1 (1986) and Ibn Sidah2 (1996) were keenly aware of the phenomenon.
Another two early lexicographers were Ibn Qutaybah3 (1963) and Al-Iskafi4
(1906). These lexicographers included a wealth of collocational information in
their “dictionaries of meaning”, or as described by Haywood (1965a) “general
classified vocabularies”. The arrangement of these dictionaries of meaning was
not in alphabetical order but according to meaning. Although the compilers of
such dictionaries of meanings arranged words under subject headings, those
dictionaries still cover the same ground as current ordinary dictionaries. These
1
Died in 1008.
2
Died in 1066.
3
Died in 889.
4
Died in 1030.
46
dictionaries of meaning, in their time, reached a peak of completeness and skill
with the al-muxaSSaS (the categorized or specialized) dictionary by Ibn Sidah
(1996). However, there were other earlier, but smaller-scale, efforts of this type,
such as, ?adab al-kaatib (the writer’s literature) by Ibn Qutaybah (1963), fiqh al-
lugah (philology) by Al-Thaalibi (1986), and mabaadi? al-lugah (principles of
language) by Al-Iskafi (1906). Haywood describes the aim of these Arabic
lexicographers as follows:
It is a remarkable fact that, almost from the start, the compilers of Arabic
dictionaries aimed at registering the complete vocabulary material of the
language. Indeed, they were obsessed by the copiousness of the language….
In this, they differed from earlier lexicographers of other nations, whose
chief aim was to explain rare and difficult words (Haywood, 1965a:2).
Arabic lexicographers, according to Haywood, were proud of the richness of their
language. They were proud of its many features, for which they revealed a clear
fondness. It may be supposed that this led them to produce such dictionaries of
meaning.
Ibn Qutaybah wrote books on different subjects: history, literary criticism,
grammar and philology. He compiled ?adab al-kaatib (the writer’s literature) as a
guide for the secretary (Haywood, 1965a). The arrangement of Ibn Qutaybah’s
dictionary of meaning is not in a clearly logical order. However, its logic appears
to be based on a mixture of word-measure and meaning (Haywood, 1965a).
Considerable sections are devoted to words that could be pronounced with
47
alternative short vowelling, for example, ‫ ﺷﻖ‬saqq (a crack) and ‫ ﺷﻖ‬siqq (half of
something).
Al-Thaalibi’s fiqh al-lugah (philology) is an important store of Arabic words and
expressions. It gives synonyms and differentiates between dissimilar meanings for
words that are roughly synonymous. The dictionary is classified into thirty
chapters. Each chapter contains a large number of related sections.
Haywood (1965a) suggests that mabaadi? al-lugah (principles of language) by
Al-Iskafi is arranged fairly logically. It begins with natural phenomena: stars,
constellation, time, night and day. It moves on to clothes, implements, food, drink
and weapons. Then it contains a large section on horses, shorter ones on camels,
lions, and other animals, then birds, agricultural implements, trees, plants, trade
and illnesses. Finally, it includes a few rare words from poetry and their
explanations.
Dictionaries of meaning, at that time, reached their peak in completeness, skill,
exactitude and authoritativeness with the al-muxaSSaS (the categorized or
specialized) dictionary by Ibn Sidah (Haywood, 1965a). Ibn Sidah gave precisely
the prior authority for nearly every word and meaning in his dictionary of
meaning. Though Ibn Sidah was blind, he was a very talented poet, lexicographer,
and grammarian. He compiled an exhaustive reference dictionary, which he called
al-muHkam wa al- muHiyT al-?a3Zam (the perfect and the greatest ocean). After
completing this dictionary, he rearranged its contents to form a large-scale
dictionary of meaning (seventeen volumes) for the use of writers and orators. This
was al-muxaSSaS (the categorized or specialized) dictionary. It was categorized
48
according to subject headings and was arranged according to the author’s own
logical system. He started with human beings and the things that concerned them,
including: clothes, food, sleep, weapons and fighting. Then he moved on to
animals and plants; then man in social life: travel, work and play. The last section
presented morphology and syntax, and several other linguistic matters.
Unfortunately, the arrangement of the material in all these dictionaries of meaning
– al-muxaSSaS (the categorized or specialized) dictionary by Ibn Sidah (1996),
?adab al-kaatib (the writer’s literature) by Ibn Qutaybah (1963), fiqh al-lugah
(philology) by Al-Thaalibi (1986), and mabaadi? al-lugah (principles of
language) by Al-Iskafi (1906) – is often idiosyncratic and, from a modern
linguistic point of view, unsystematic (Emery, 1991).
At the present time, translators and students of Arabic are in need of a dictionary
that provides lexical combinations in the Arabic language; a dictionary that is easy
to consult and is arranged in alphabetical order. Hafiz (2002) notes that he is in
the process of compiling a monolingual dictionary of Arabic collocations. He
argues that a dictionary of Arabic collocations would be of great benefit to foreign
learners of Arabic and even native speakers of Arabic. A dictionary of Arabic
collocations, according to Hafiz, would help learners and users avoid making
mistakes such as using ‫ * ﻋﻤﻞ ﻣﻮﻗﻔﺎ‬3amila mawqifan instead of ‫ ﺣﺪد ﻣﻮﻗﻔﺎ‬Haddada
mawqifan (take a stand), and using ‫ * ﻣﻮﻗﻒ ﺷﺪﯾﺪ‬mawqifun sadiyd instead of ‫ﻣﻮﻗﻒ‬
‫ ﺣﺎزم‬mawqifun Haazim (a strong stand). However, translators are still in need of a
bilingual dictionary of collocations.
49
3.4 Arabic collocations in computational linguistics
The interest in studying and analyzing the Arabic language is growing. This is due
to the recent availability of Arabic corpora (Van Mol, 2000). However, Ditters &
Moussa (1995:123) argue that although a number of electronic Arabic text
corpora have been compiled, these corpora are raw, which means that the
exploration of these corpora is still problematic.
Van Mol (2000) states that analyzing Arabic corpora is more complex than that of
the corpora of some other languages. He gives three main reasons for this. First,
the Arabic language is very polysemic. New meanings for words are often given
by expanding the old meaning of an existing word to a new meaning. This means
that the external morphology of a word does not change. For example, the word
‫ ﻣﻀﺨﺔ‬miDaxxah (pump) does not only mean pump but also bicycle pump.
A second reason for Arabic being more difficult to analyze than other languages is
that it is usually not vowelized when written, i.e. written without the short vowel
strokes (‫ ﻓﺘﺤﺔ‬fatHa, ‫ ﺿﻤﺔ‬Dammah, and ‫ ﻛﺴﺮة‬kasrah). This means that there is a
higher degree of ambiguity in Arabic words than found in other languages such as
English. Words in their raw form in Arabic can belong to different grammatical
categories. For example, the word ‫ ﻛﺘﺐ‬has three meanings in Arabic based on the
vowelization; kataba (he wrote) as a verb in the past tense, kutiba (has been
written) as a verb in the passive voice, and kutub (book) as a plural noun. Another
example that illustrates the same point is given by Hasnah & Evens (2001:5). The
word ‫ ﻋﻠﻢ‬could be pronounced in several ways: 3ilm (science or knowledge)
making a noun; 3alam (flag) again making a noun; 3alima (he knew) making a
50
verb in the past tense; and 3allama (he taught) also making a verb in the past
tense. This complicates the search for particular words and word types in an
Arabic corpus. Searching for the word ‫ ﻛﺘﺐ‬kataba (he wrote), will not only give
the other words mentioned above but also a lot of other words that have nothing to
do with the appropriate verb sought for. For example, the search for the verb ‫ﻛﺘﺐ‬
kataba (he wrote) will end up with results including words like ‫ ﻣﻜﺘﺐ‬maktab
(office), and ‫ ﻣﻜﺘﺒﺔ‬maktabah (library or bookstore).
A third reason for the difficulty in analyzing Arabic text corpora, and therefore
making the search for words simpler, is that in Arabic a number of prefixes and
suffixes are directly linked to the words. This makes searching by computer even
more difficult. For example, the word ‫ ﻓﮭﻢ‬can have four different meanings:
fahima (he understood): a verb in the past tense; fahhama (he made someone
understand): also a verb in the past tense; fa-hum (and they): a prefix and a
pronoun; or fa-hamma (and he began): a prefix and a verb.
Khoja (2001) designed and trialed a corpus of 50,000 words (based on extracts
from the Saudi Arabian Al-Jazirah daily newspaper archives). She found that
because of the frequent occurrence of prefixes and suffixes in the Arabic language
it was difficult to look up words in the corpus. For example, ‫ اﻟـ‬al (the), the
definite article in Arabic, is a two-letter prefix at the beginning of the noun.
Similarly, the conjunction ‫ و‬wa (and) appears in Arabic attached to a word. This
word could be a definite or indefinite noun, a verb, a particle, or a number.
Another problematic component discussed by Khoja is the common orthographic
mistakes that may occur in Arabic text. She gives an example of the placement of
51
the ‫ ھﻤﺰة‬hamzah (glottal stop) on the alif (first letter in the Arabic alphabet).
Sometimes the letter alif requires a hamzah and at other times it does not. Another
example of the same type given by Khoja is the placement of the two dots under
the letter ‫ ي‬ya (the last letter in the Arabic alphabet), which is regular when that
letter appears at the end of words. Another example that could be added to
Khoja’s is the common mistake of using the letter ‫ ھـ‬ha (letter 26 in the Arabic
alphabet) instead of ‫ ة‬ta marbuwTah at the end of a word and vice versa.
For the reasons above, a conclusion that can be reached is that Arabic text is
difficult to search and analyse in the form of a corpus. When searching for a word
in an Arabic text corpus, in our results we would find many words that are not
related to the word sought for. It would be a waste of time reading sentences in
which the wrong word was found. The development of more accurate software
that avoids the difficulties stated above would be essential.
3.5 Some Sources for Arabic Collocations
Arabic today uses collocations that have come from different sources. One of the
sources of collocations in Modern Standard Arabic is the Quran. Another way in
which collocations have become established in Arabic is through borrowed
collocations. The following subsection discusses collocations in the Quran as one
source of collocations in the Arabic language used today. This will be followed by
another subsection that discusses how borrowed collocations have become
established in the Arabic language.
52
3.5.1 Collocations in the Quran
Many expressions and phrases that are still used in Modern Standard Arabic today
come from the Quran. Collocations are one of those types of expressions. The
Quran has always been known for its richness of expression, including
collocations. This has continued to influence the use of language until nowadays.
The following examples of collocations are from the Quran and are still used in
Modern Standard Arabic today:
1- Verb + object collocations
a- ‫ ﻋﺎھﺪ ﻋﮭﺪا‬3aahada 3ahdan (to make a pact)
b- ‫ ﻧﻘﺾ ﻋﮭﺪا‬naqaDa 3ahdan (to break a promise)
c- ‫ ﺿﺮب ﻣﺜﻼ‬Daraba matalan (to give an example)
d- ‫ ﻛﻈﻢ ﻏﯿﻈﺎ‬kaZama gayZan (to suppress rage)
e- ‫ ﻗﺺ ﻗﺼﺔ‬qaSSa qiSSatan (to tell a story)
f- ‫? أﺧﺬ ﺣﺬرا‬axada Hadaran (to exercise caution)
2- Noun + adjective collocation
a- ‫ ﺳﯿﻞ ﻋﺮم‬saylun 3arim (a raging flood)
b- ‫ ﺧﻄﺄ ﻛﺒﯿﺮ‬xaTa?un kabiyr (a serious mistake)
c- ‫ ﺻﺪﯾﻖ ﺣﻤﯿﻢ‬Sadiyqun Hamiym (a close friend)
d- ‫ ﻧﺼﺮ ﻋﺰﯾﺰ‬naSrun 3aziyz (a great victory)
e- ‫ ﻋﺪو ﻣﺒﯿﻦ‬3aduwwun mubiyn (a bitter enemy)
f- ‫ ﺣﻆ ﻋﻈﯿﻢ‬HaZZun 3aZiym (good luck)
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3.5.2 Borrowed Collocations
Borrowed words have always enriched languages and borrowed collocations have
enriched languages even more, especially with concepts that do not exist
originally in those languages or are new to them. An example that illustrates this
point is: ‫ اﻟﺤﺮب اﻟﺒﺎردة‬al-Harb al-baaridah (the Cold War) (Emery, 1991). Arabic
had no equivalent collocation before the outbreak of the Cold War after World
War II. Therefore, borrowed collocations are a major source of Arabic
collocations that cannot be ignored.
Translation has played an important role in bringing new collocations into
Modern Standard Arabic. Some collocations transferred into the Arabic language
now form a standard part of the native speakers’ language repertoire. Aziz (cited
in Emery, 1988a:54) gives the following two examples: ‫ ﻟﻌﺐ دورا‬la3iba dawran
(to play a role) and ‫ ﻏﻄﻰ اﻷﺧﺒﺎر‬gaTTaa al-?axbaar (to cover the news). He
suggests that these examples are now commonly found in journalistic style and
have become established in Arabic.
In the same way, Blau (1981b:60) states that widespread loan translations from
European languages have not only become part of the Modern Standard Arabic
vocabulary, but also phraseology. He suggests that European influence is strong in
journalistic style, especially when journalists translate from European languages
into Arabic. This journalistic style in return has influenced users of the language,
including authors (Blau, 1981b:61).
Blau (1981b) then gives a great number of examples of words and phrases that
represent this influence on Modern Standard Arabic. Among these unclassified
54
examples can be found collocations in different genres, such as: ‫ ﺗﯿﺎر اﻟﻮﻋﻲ‬tayyaaru
al-wa3iyi /‫ ﺗﯿﺎر اﻟﺸﻌﻮر‬tayyaaru al-su3uwri (spiritual current), ‫ ﺣﺮﻛﺔ ﺳﯿﺎﺳﯿﺔ‬Harakatun
siyaasiyyah (political movement), ‫ ﺟﻮ ھﺎدئ‬jawwun haadi? (quiet atmosphere), ‫ﻣﻨﺎخ‬
‫ ﻋﺎﻃﻔﻲ‬munaaxun 3aaTifiy (emotional climate), ‫? أﻧﻘﺬ ﻣﻮﻗﻔﺎ‬anqada mawqifan (to save
a situation), ‫ ﺳﺎدت اﻟﻔﻮﺿﻰ‬saadat al-fawDaa (anarchy prevailed), ‫ ﺳﺎد اﻟﺼﻤﺖ‬saada
al-SamT (silence obtained), ‫ ﻗﺘﻞ اﻟﻮﻗﺖ‬qatala al-waqt (to kill time), ‫ﺣﺮب أﻋﺼﺎب‬
Harbu ?a3Saab (war of nerves), ‫ ﯾﻮم ﺳﺎﺧﻦ‬yawmun saaxin (a hurtful day), ‫ﺗﺤﯿﺔ ﺣﺎرة‬
taHiyyatun Haarrah (warm greetings), ‫ ﺳﻼح أﺑﯿﺾ‬silaaHun ?abyaD (naked steel),
‫ دم ﺑﺎرد‬damun baarid (cold-blooded), ‫ ﻗﻮة ﺿﺎرﺑﺔ‬quwwatun Daaribah (striking
force), ‫روﺿﺔ أﻃﻔﺎل‬ rawDatu ?aTfaal (kindergarten), ‫ﺣﺪﯾﻘﺔ ﺣﯿﻮاﻧﺎت‬ Hadiyqatu
Hayawaanaat (a zoo), ‫ ﺣﻠﻘﺔ وﺻﻞ‬Halaqatu waSl / ‫ ﺣﻠﻘﺔ اﺗﺼﺎل‬Halaqatu ittiSaal
(connecting link), ‫ ھﺠﻤﺔ ﻣﻌﺎﻛﺴﺔ‬hajmatun mu3aakisah (a counter-attack), ‫ﺧﻄﻮط اﻟﻨﺎر‬
xuTuwT al-naar (fire lines), ‫ ﺧﻄﻮط اﻟﺴﯿﺎﺳﺔ‬xuTuwT al-siyaasah (lines of policy),
‫ ﺳﯿﺎﺳﺔ اﻟﺘﻘﺮﯾﺐ‬siyaasatu al-taqriyb (policy of rapprochement), ‫ ﺣﻘﻞ ﻛﮭﺮﺑﺎﺋﻲ‬Haqlun
kahrubaa?iy (electric field), ‫أﯾﻘﺾ اﻟﻀﻤﯿﺮ‬ ?ayqaDa al-Damiyr (to arouse
conscience), ‫ وﺧﺰ اﻟﻀﻤﯿﺮ‬waxzu al-Damiyr (pricking of conscience), ‫أﺑﺪى اھﺘﻤﺎم‬
?abdaa ihtimaam (to show interest), ‫اﻟﻤﻮﺿﻮﻋﺎت اﻟﺠﺎذﺑﺔ‬ al-mawDuw3aatu al-
jaadibah (attractive themes), ‫ اﻟﻌﺼﺮ اﻟﺬھﺒﻲ‬al-3aSru al-dahabiy (golden age), ‫اﻟﻌﺼﺮ‬
‫اﻟﺤﺠﺮي‬ al-3aSru al-Hajariy (stone age), ‫اﻟﻤﺴﺘﻮى اﻟﻌﺎم‬ al-mustawaa al-3aam
(general level), ‫ رﻓﻊ اﻟﻤﺴﺘﻮى‬rafa3a al-mustawaa (to raise the level), ‫دان ﻟﮫ ﺑﺸﻜﺮ‬
daana lahu bi-sukrin (he owed him thanks), ‫ اﻟﻨﻘﺎط اﻟﮭﺎﻣﺔ‬al-niqaaTu al-haammah
(important points), ‫ ﻧﻘﻄﺔ ﺗﺤﻮﯾﻞ‬nuqTatu taHwiyl (a turning point), ‫ﺳﺎﻋﺔ اﻟﺼﻔﺮ‬
saa3atu al-Sifr (zero hour), ‫ وﺟﮭﺔ ﻧﻈﺮ‬wujhatu naZar (point of view), ‫ﻋﺎﻟﻢ اﻟﻤﺎل‬
3aalamu al-maal (the financial world), ‫ ﻏﺮﻓﺔ ﺗﺠﺎرﯾﺔ‬gurfatun tujaariyyah (chamber
of commerce), ‫ ﻣﻜﺘﺐ ﺳﻔﺮ‬maktabu safar (a travel agency), ‫ وﺟﮫ أﺳﺌﻠﺔ‬wajjaha
55
?as?ilah (to address questions), ‫ زﯾﺎرة رﺳﻤﯿﺔ‬ziyaaratun rasmiyyah (an official
visit), ‫اﻟﻈﻠﻢ اﻻﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﻲ‬ al-Zulmu al-ijtimaa3iy (social injustice), ‫ﻃﺒﻘﺎت اﻟﻤﺠﺘﻤﻊ‬
Tabaqaatu al-mujtama3 (social levels), ‫ﻃﺒﻘﺎت ﻣﺘﻮﺳﻄﺔ‬ Tabaqaat mutawasiTah
(middle class layers), ‫ ﺣﺮب ﻃﺒﻘﺎت‬Harbu Tabaqaat (social class war), ‫ﺻﺮاع ﻃﺒﻘﺎت‬
Siraa3u Tabaqaat (social class conflict), ‫ﻣﺒﺎﺣﺜﺎت ﺗﻤﮭﯿﺪﯾﺔ‬ mubaaHataat
tamhiydiyyah (preliminary talks), ‫ ﺳﻮق ﻣﺸﺘﺮﻛﺔ‬suwqun mustarakah (a common
market), ‫ﺳﻮق ﺳﻮداء‬ suwqun sawdaa? (a black market), ‫ﺣﺠﺮة اﺳﺘﻘﺒﺎل‬ Hujratu
istiqbaal (a reception room), ‫دﻛﺘﻮراة ﻓﺨﺮﯾﺔ‬ duktuwratun faxriyyah (honorary
doctorate), ‫ اﺑﺘﺴﺎﻣﺔ ھﺎدﺋﺔ‬ibtisaamatun haadi?ah (a calm smile), ‫ ﺿﺤّﻰ ﺑﻨﻔﺴﮫ‬DaHHaa
bi-nafsih (to sacrifice one’s self), ‫ ﻛﺮّس وﻗﺘﺎ‬karrasa waqtan (to devote time), ‫اﻟﺘﻔﺮﻗﺔ‬
‫ اﻟﻌﻨﺼﺮﯾﺔ‬al-tafriqatu al-3unSuriyyah (racial discrimination), ‫ ﺗﻘﻠﯿﺪ أﻋﻤﻰ‬taqliydun
?a3maa (blind imitation), ‫ اﻷﯾﺪي اﻟﻌﺎﻣﻠﺔ‬al-?aydiy al-3aamilah (manpower), ‫وﺣﺪة‬
‫ اﻗﺘﺼﺎدﯾﺔ‬wiHdatun iqtiSaadiyyah (economic unity), ‫ رﺟﻞ ﻧﺎﺿﺞ‬rajulun naaDij (a
mature man), ‫ ﻣﺮاﻗﺐ ﺣﺴﺎﺑﺎت‬muraaqibu Hisaabaat (a controller of accounts), ‫ﺗﻌﺰﯾﺰ‬
‫ اﻟﻨﻘﺪ‬ta3ziyzu al-naqd (strengthening of currency), ‫ رﺳﻢ ﺳﯿﺎﺳﺔ‬rasama siyaasatan (to
draw up a policy), ‫ ﻛﻠﻞ ﺑﺎﻟﻨﺠﺎح‬kullila bi-l-najaaH (crowned with success), ‫ﺗﺤﺴﯿﻦ‬
‫ اﻟﻮﺿﻊ‬taHsiynu al-waD3 (to improve the situation), ‫ واﺑﻞ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺸﺘﺎﺋﻢ‬waabilun min
al-sataa?im (a torrent of abuses), ‫ ﻧﻈﺮة ﻣﺘﺤﺠﺮة‬naZratun mutaHajjirah (a petrified
look), ‫ ﺻﻨﺪوق رﺳﺎﺋﻞ‬Sanduwqu rasaa?il (a letter box), ‫ ﺧﻄﺎب ﺗﮭﺪﯾﺪ‬xiTaabu tahdiyd
(a letter of intimidation), ‫ ﻓﺘﺢ آﻓﺎق ﺟﺪﯾﺪة‬fataHu aafaaqin jadiydah (opening fresh
horizons), ‫واﺳﻊ اﻵﻓﺎق‬ waasi3u al-aafaaq (broadminded), ‫ﺳﻔﯿﻨﺔ ﻓﻀﺎء‬ safiynatu
faDaa? (a spaceship), ‫ رواﯾﺔ ﺑﻮﻟﯿﺴﯿﺔ‬riwaayatun buliysiyyah (a detective story), ‫اﻟﺤﯿﺎة‬
‫ اﻟﻔﻜﺮﯾﺔ‬al-Hayaatu al-fikriyyah (intellectual life), ‫ ﻗﺎس اﻟﺤﺮارة‬qaasa al-Haraarah
(to measure the temperature), ‫ اﻟﺠﻨﺲ اﻟﻠﻄﯿﻒ‬al-jinsu al-laTiyf (the fair sex), ‫ﺷﺎﻋﺮ ﻻﻣﻊ‬
saa3irun laami3 (a brilliant poet), ‫ ﺷﻜﺮ ﻗﻠﺒﻲ‬sukrun qalbiyun (hearty thanks), ‫اﻟﺤﯿﺎد‬
56
‫ اﻹﯾﺠﺎﺑﻲ‬al-Hiyaadu al-?ijaabiy (positive neutrality), ‫? أﺧﺬ ﺗﺪاﺑﯿﺮ‬axada tadaabiyr (to
take measures), ‫اﺗﺨﺬ ﻗﺮارا‬ ittaxada qaraaran (to make a resolution), ‫أﺧﺬ ﺟﺪﯾﺎ‬
?axada jiddiyyan (to take seriously), ‫ ﺗﺒﻨﻰ ﻣﺸﺮوﻋﺎ‬tabanna masru3an (to adopt a
plan), ‫ﺗﺄﻣﯿﻦ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺤﯿﺎة‬ ta?miyn 3ala al-Hayaat (life insurance), ‫ﺗﺼﺮﯾﺢ رﺳﻤﻲ‬
taSriyhun rasmiy (an official declaration), ‫ﻣﺼﺪر رﺳﻤﻲ‬ maSdarun rasmiy (an
official source), ‫ وزارة اﻟﻤﺎﻟﯿﺔ‬wizaaratu al-maaliyyah (Ministry of Finance), ‫وزارة‬
‫ ﻇﻞ‬wizaaratu Zil (shadow ministry), ‫ ازدھﺮت اﻟﺘﺠﺎرة‬izdaharati al-tijaarah (trade
flourished), ‫ ﺟﺮح ﺷﻌﻮر‬jaraHa su3uwr (to hurt someone’s feelings), ‫ ﻛﺮة اﻟﻘﺪم‬kuratu
al-qadam (football), ‫ ﺟﻤﻌﯿﺔ ﻋﻤﻮﻣﯿﺔ‬jam3iyyatun 3umuwmiyyah (general assembly),
‫ ﺟﻤﻌﯿﺔ ﺗﺸﺮﯾﻌﯿﺔ‬jam3iyyatun tasriy3iyyah (legislative assembly), ‫ﻣﺆﺗﻤﺮ اﻟﻤﺎﺋﺪة اﻟﻤﺴﺘﺪﯾﺮة‬
muw?tamaru al-maa?idati al-mustadiyrah (round-table conference), ‫ﻋﺎﺻﻔﺔ ﻣﻦ‬
‫ اﻟﺘﺼﻔﯿﻖ‬3aaSifah min al-taSfiyq (an outburst of applause), ‫ ﺗﻮﺗﺮ ﺳﯿﺎﺳﻲ‬tawaturun
siyaasiy (political tension), ‫ آﻟﺔ ﻛﺎﺗﺒﺔ‬aalatun kaatibah (a typewriter), ‫ﺻﻤﺎم اﻷﻣﺎن‬
Sammaamu al-?amaan (safety valve), and ‫ ﻗﺪم اﺳﺘﻘﺎﻟﺘﮫ‬qaddama istiqaalatahu (he
presented his resignation).
3.6 Conclusion
This study reveals that there has not been much research into the area of Arabic
collocations. It also shows how various researchers have categorized collocations
in the Arabic language. This study suggests that freely combined collocations in
Arabic do not deserve much attention because they do not pose much difficulty
for translation. However, semantically restricted collocations are the word
combinations that are most problematic in translation and, therefore, deserve
special attention. Idiomatic expressions should be studied separately, and are
beyond the scope of this research.
57
The section on Arabic collocations in lexicography emphasizes that Arabic is rich
in collocations. It displays that Classical Arabic lexicographers were aware of the
phenomenon of collocations and included collocations in their dictionaries of
meaning.
The inspiration for the efforts made by Arabic linguists came from the need to
produce reference material that language learners and translators would find of
practical use. However, English-Arabic translators are still in need of a reliable
bilingual dictionary of collocations; a dictionary that would enable them to
produce Arabic collocations that would sound natural and native-like when read
by a native speaker.
The section on Arabic collocations in computational linguistics notes the
difficulty of processing Arabic on computers, which in turn led to a dearth of
searchable corpora. The development of more accurate software would be
essential to avoid the difficulties of searching for a word, resulting in
inappropriate lists of words.
The last section in this chapter discusses some of the sources of collocations in
Modern Standard Arabic. It states that the Arabic language used today includes
collocations that are derived from different sources, including the Quran and
borrowed collocations.
The next chapter, Chapter Four, will discuss the translation of collocations.
58
Chapter Four: Collocations and Translation
4 COLLOCATIONS AND TRANSLATION
4.1 Introduction
Different languages distribute meaning across different semantic fields, have
different usages of words, and have different types of relationships between
words. Collocation is one type of relationship between words that tells us the
words that are likely to co-occur with certain other words in a language. The
interest in the translation of collocations emerges from their great importance in
language. Collocations play a vital role in the coherence and cohesion of texts
(Hatim & Mason, 1997; Al-Zahrani, 1998). They are present in all text types. On
the other hand, the translation of collocations is a constant problem — translators
find it difficult to match the appropriate verbs with the appropriate nouns, the
appropriate adjectives with the appropriate nouns, the appropriate nouns with the
appropriate nouns, and so on and so forth. What creates this problem is that
different languages configure collocations differently. Moreover, the equivalents
of words that collocate in one language do not necessarily collocate in another
(Zughoul, 1991). Therefore, some collocations may sound strange and be
misapplied when translated (Zughoul & Abdul-Fattah, 2003).
59
4.2 Collocations: a translation problem
A translation problem is defined as “an objective problem, which every
translator… has to solve during a particular translation task” (Nord, 1991:151).
Several linguists have considered collocation to be a problematic area in
translation. They suggest that it is difficult to translate collocations from one
language into another and have emphasized the importance of collocations in
translation. Some of the most significant works on collocations as a problematic
area in translation are those by Newmark (1988), Emery (1988a; 1988b), Baker
(1992), Smadja (1993), Dollerup (1994), Beekman and Callow (1974), Hatim and
Mason (1990), Smadja et al (1996), Heliel (1990), and Chukwu (1997).
According to Newmark (1988:213), recognizing a collocation is one of the most
important problems in the process of translating. He states that:
Translation is sometimes a continual struggle to find appropriate
collocations, a process of connecting up appropriate nouns with
verbs and verbs with nouns, and, in the second instance, collocating
appropriate adjectives to the nouns, and adverbs or adverbial groups
to the verbs; in the third instance, collocating appropriate
connectives or conjunctions (the prepositions are already in the
adverbial groups) (Newmark, 1988:213).
He further emphasizes the importance of collocations by describing them as the
“nerves” of a text: “If grammar is the bones of a text, collocations are the
60
nerves, more subtle and multiple and specific in denoting meaning, and lexis is
the flesh” (Newmark, 1988:213).
Beekman and Callow (1974) consider translating collocations to be a fascinating
aspect in the work of translators and a measure of their overall competence in
translation. Translating collocations takes a high degree of expertise because there
is often little or no equivalence between collocational ranges across languages,
just as there is a discrepancy in the collocational range of the equivalent words
within languages (1974:163).
Hatim and Mason (1990) also argue that one of the major problems that a
translator encounters is coming up with appropriate collocations in the target
language. They note that “there is always a danger that, even for experienced
translators, source language interference will occasionally escape unnoticed and
an unnatural collocation will flaw the target text” (Hatim & Mason, 1990:204).
There is evidence that even native speakers have difficulty with collocations in
formal written contexts (Benson, 1985; Baltova, 1994; Aghbar, 1990; Hussein,
1990; Chukwu, 1997), because they are not predictable on the basis of syntactic or
semantic rules.
Some linguists feel that it is advisable to see that ‘collocation rules are faithfully
applied’ in translation (Snell-Hornby, 1995:122). What they mean is that a
collocation should not be automatically transferred from the source language into
the target language. Barnwell (1980) suggests that transferring the source
language collocation into the target collocation will result in a collocation

61
that is ‘unnatural and obscure’ (1980:56). However, unfortunate collocations may
be necessary when there is no other way to transfer the original collocation into
the target language, especially with concepts that do not exist or are new to the
target language. An example given by Izwaini (2000:28) that illustrates this point
is: the Cold War translated into Arabic by the calque ‫ اﻟﺤﺮب اﻟﺒﺎردة‬al-Harb al-
baaridah (the Cold War). Before the outbreak of the Cold War after World War
II, neither English nor Arabic had a term for it.
Baker (1992:49) argues that the patterns of collocation are largely arbitrary and
independent across languages. She gives the following examples of translating
English collocations into Arabic. In English, the verb deliver collocates with a
number of nouns, each of which is translated into a different verb in Arabic. The
examples are illustrated in Table 4.1 below:
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English collocation Arabic equivalent
To deliver a letter/ telegram ً‫ﺗﯿﻠﯿﻐﺮاﻓﺎ‬ /‫ﺧﻄﺎﺑﺎ‬ ‫ﯾﺴﻠﻢ‬ yusallimu xiTaaban/tiiliigrafan
(literally: to deliver a letter/ telegram)
To deliver a speech/ lecture ‫ ﻣﺤﺎﺿﺮة‬/‫ ﯾﻠﻘﻲ ﺧﻄﺒﺔ‬yulqii xuTbatan/smuHaaDaratan
(literally: to throw a speech/ lecture)
To deliver news ‫ ﯾﻨﻘﻞ أﺧﺒﺎرا‬yanqilu axbaaran
(literally: to transfer news)
To deliver a blow ‫ ﯾﻮﺟﮫ ﺿﺮﺑﺔ‬yuwajjihu Darbatan
(literally: to guide a blow)
To deliver a verdict ‫ ﯾﺼﺪر ﺣﻜﻤﺎ‬yuSdiru Hukman
(literally: to issue a verdict)
To deliver a baby ‫ ﯾﻮﻟّﺪ اﻣﺮأة‬yuwallidu imra?atan
(literally: to deliver a woman)
Table 4. 1 Examples of translating English collocations into Arabic (Baker, 1992)
The Arabic collocation ‫ ﯾﻮﻟّﺪ اﻣﺮأة‬yuwallidu imra?atan (literally: to deliver a
woman), literally means to deliver a woman or to assist a woman in childbirth.
Baker (1992) notes that Arabic focuses on the woman in the process of childbirth,
whereas English prefers to focus on the baby. She then explains that it would be
unacceptable in Modern English to speak of delivering a woman. This suggests,
according to Baker, that differences in collocational patterning among languages
are not just a matter of using a different verb that collocates with a given noun.
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The differences are rather involved in the different ways of describing an event.
Heliel (1990:34) also considers collocations to be problematic in translation. He
gives the following examples of adjective + noun collocations in English
containing the adjective heavy. He then suggests that heavy is translated
differently into Arabic depending on the noun with which it collocates. See Table
4.2 below.
English collocation Arabic equivalent
Heavy rainfall ‫ ﻣﻄﺮ ﻏﺰﯾﺮ‬matarun gaziir (literally: abundant rain)
Heavy fog ‫ ﺿﺒﺎب ﻛﺜﯿﻒ‬Dabaabun katiif (literally: dense fog)
Heavy sleep ‫ ﺳﺒﺎت ﻋﻤﯿﻖ‬subaatun 3amiiq (literally: deep sleep)
Heavy seas ‫ ﺑﺤﺎر ھﺎﺋﺠﺔ‬biHaarun haa?ijah
(literally: agitated seas)
Heavy meal ‫ وﺟﺒﺔ دﺳﻤﺔ‬wajbatun dasimah (literally: fat meal)
Heavy smoker ‫ ﻣﺪﺧﻦ ﻣﻔﺮط‬mudaxinun mufriT
(literally: extravagant smoker)
Heavy industry ‫ ﺻﻨﺎﻋﺔ ﺛﻘﯿﻠﺔ‬Sinaa3ah taqiilah
(literally: heavy industry)
Table 4. 2 Examples of translating English collocations into Arabic (Heliel, 1990)
Heliel (1990:35) then gives an example of the adjective ‫ ﺟﺎف‬jaaf (dry) in Arabic
and the way it is translated into English using different adjectives depending on
the noun with which it collocates. See Table 4.3 below.
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Arabic collocation English equivalent
‫ اﺳﺘﻘﺒﺎل ﺟﺎف‬istiqbalun jaaf cool reception
(literally: dry reception)
‫ ﻣﻨﺎخ ﺟﺎف‬manaaxun jaaf dry weather
(literally: dry weather)
‫ ﻗﻠﻢ ﺣﺒﺮ ﺟﺎف‬qalam Hibr jaaf ball-point pen
(literally: dry ink pen)
‫ ﻧﺒﺮة ﺟﺎﻓﺔ‬nabrah jaafah harsh tone
(literally: dry tone)
‫ ﺟﻠﺪ ﺟﺎف‬jildun jaaf (literally: dry skin) rough skin
Table 4. 3 Examples of translating Arabic collocations into English (Heliel, 1990)
Giving the examples above, Heliel argues that collocations are problematic in
translation. He states that, unlike free combinations such as
(‫ﻃﺮق‬/‫ﺟﺴﻮر‬/‫ﻣﻨﺎزل‬/‫ ﯾﺒﻨﻲ)ﻓﻨﺎدق‬yabnii (fanaadiq/manaazil/jusuur/Turuq) (build
hotels/houses/bridges/roads), collocations are considered a problem for translators
when they translate from English into Arabic and vice versa. Free combinations
could be looked up easily in general-purpose dictionaries, but collocations cannot.
The detailed examples given above show that words that collocate with several
other words are quite problematic for translators. The biggest problem for
translators would be to know the proper equivalent in the target language, which
65
may not always be available in general-purpose bilingual dictionaries.
4.3 Translating English collocations into Arabic
There are several types and classifications of collocations in English. However,
the present study follows Newmark’s (1988:212) classification of collocations: 1-
Adjective plus noun, 2- Noun plus noun, and 3- Verb plus object. These are the
most common types of collocations in English (Newmark. 1988; Ghazala 1993b).
This study investigates the translation, from English into Arabic, of two of the
types of collocations suggested by Newmark, verb plus object and adjective plus
noun.
As for noun plus noun collocations, Ghazala (1995) argues that this type of
collocation in English usually has equivalents in Arabic, but with different
grammatical structures. He notes that noun plus noun collocations in English can
be translated into either one of the following grammatical structures in Arabic:
1- noun plus adjective, e.g., state university is translated into Arabic by ‫ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺔ‬
‫ ﺣﻜﻮﻣﯿﺔ‬jaami3ah Hukuumiyyah.
2- noun plus noun (genitive constructions), e.g., gas cylinder is translated into
Arabic by ‫? أﺳﻄﻮاﻧﺔ ﻏﺎز‬usTuwaanat gaaz.
This type of collocation is less problematic than the other two types suggested by
Newmark. That is because nouns in collocations are usually less problematic in
translation (Ghazala, 1995). It is other words such as verbs and adjectives that
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can cause problems in translating collocations (Ghazala, 1995).
4.3.1 Translating English verb plus object collocations into Arabic
Ghazala (1993b) suggests that English verb plus object collocations are usually
translated into Arabic by equivalent collocations. These collocations have an
equivalent grammatical structure in Arabic, i.e., verb plus object. Some
collocations are usually easily translated into Arabic and others less so. The ones
that are usually easy to translate are the ones that have identical equivalents in the
target language of Arabic. For instance, the following examples in Table 4.4:
English verb + object collocation Arabic equivalent (verb + object)
To attend a lecture ‫ ﺣﻀﺮ ﻣﺤﺎﺿﺮة‬HaDara muHaDaratan
(literally: to attend a lecture)
To exert an effort ‫ ﺑﺬل ﺟﮭﺪا‬badala juhdan
(literally: to exert an effort)
To win confidence ‫ ﻛﺴﺐ ﺛﻘﺔ‬kasaba tigatan
(literally: to win confidence)
Table 4. 4 Examples of English collocations that have identical equivalents in Arabic
(Ghazala, 1993b)
The examples presented in Table 4.4 illustrate how easy it could be to translate
English verb plus object collocations into Arabic on a one-to-one basis. In the first
example, the verb attend is translated into Arabic by the equivalent verb ‫ﺣﻀﺮ‬
HaDara, which literally means attend. The verb exert, in the second example,
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is translated into the equivalent verb ‫ ﺑﺬل‬badala in Arabic, which literally means
exert. In the third example, the verb win is translated into Arabic by the equivalent
verb ‫ ﻛﺴﺐ‬kasaba, which literally means win.
However, it is not always that easy to translate English verb plus object
collocations into Arabic. English verb plus object collocations may be translated
into Arabic by an equivalent collocation, the verb of which is not a literal
translation of the verb into English. The examples in Table 4.5 below illustrate
this point:
English verb + object collocation Arabic equivalent (verb + object)
To pass a law ‫ ﺳﻦ ﻗﺎﻧﻮﻧﺎ‬sanna qaanuunan
(literally: to sharpen a law)
To run a company ‫? أدار ﺷﺮﻛﺔ‬adaara sarikatan
(literally: to rotate a company)
To teach a lesson ‫ ﻟﻘﻦ درﺳﺎ‬laqqana darsan
(literally: to dictate a lesson)
Table 4. 5 Examples of English collocations that do not have identical equivalents in Arabic
(Ghazala, 1993b)
In the examples above, the three English verb plus object collocations are
translated into Arabic by an equivalent grammatical structure. However, the verbs
in all three examples in English were not translated literally into Arabic. In the
first example, the verb pass is transferred or literally translated into Arabic by the
verb ‫ﻣﺮر‬ marrara (to pass), nevertheless, this verb in Arabic does
68
not collocate with the noun ‫ ﻗﺎﻧﻮن‬qaanuwn (a law). Therefore, the verb ّ‫ ﺳﻦ‬sanna
(literally: to sharpen) is used in a collocation equivalent to the English collocation
to pass a law. Similarly, the verb run in the second example is literally translated
into Arabic by the verb ‫ ﺟﺮى‬jaraa (to run), but it does not collocate with the
noun ‫ ﺷﺮﻛﺔ‬sarikah (a company) in Arabic. Thus, it is translated into Arabic by
the verb ‫? أدار‬adaara (literally: to rotate). The same applies to the third example.
The verb teach, in the collocation to teach a lesson, is literally translated into
Arabic by the verb ‫ﻋﻠّﻢ‬3allama, however, it does not collocate with the noun ‫درس‬
dars (a lesson) in this sense. Therefore, the verb ‫ ﻟﻘّﻦ‬laqqana (literally: to dictate)
is used in translating the English collocation to teach a lesson into Arabic.
It is not always the case that English verb plus object collocations are translated
into Arabic by an equivalent grammatical structure. In some cases, English verb
plus object collocations can be translated into two other grammatical structures.
An English verb plus object can be translated into Arabic by verb plus preposition
plus noun or just by a verb. These cases, according to Ghazala, (1993b; 1995), are
only exceptions. He gives the following example of the collocation to pay a visit
in English:
69
English verb + object collocation Arabic equivalent
To pay a visit ‫ ﻗﺎم ﺑﺰﯾﺎرة‬qaama bi-ziyaarat (verb + preposition
+ noun) (literally: to make a visit)
To pay a visit ‫ زار‬zaara (verb) (literally: to visit)
Table 4. 6 Examples of English verb + object collocations translated into Arabic (Ghazala,
1993b; 1995)
The collocation to pay a visit in English can either be translated into Arabic by the
collocation ‫ ﻗﺎم ﺑﺰﯾﺎرة‬qaama bi-ziyaarat (verb + preposition + noun) or just by
using the verb ‫ زار‬zaara (to visit) in place of the collocation. This is very similar
to English, where the meaning sometimes can either be expressed by a collocation
or just by a verb. Although Ghazala considers such examples to be exceptions,
one can think of many other examples of verb plus object collocations in English
that can be translated into Arabic by the use of a single verb. For example:
English verb + object collocation Arabic equivalent (verb)
To commit suicide ‫ اﻧﺘﺤﺮ‬intaHara (literally: to slaughter
oneself)
To wear a perfume ‫ ﺗﻌﻄﺮ‬ta3aTTara (literally: to perfume
oneself)
To tell a lie ‫ ﻛﺬب‬kadaba (literally: to lie)
To take an initiative ‫ ﺑﺎدر‬baadara (literally: to take an
intiative)
Table 4. 7 Examples of English verb + object collocations translated into a verb in Arabic
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The above examples show very clearly that it is not necessarily a rule that a
collocation in the source language must be translated into a collocation in the
target language. In all four examples, the collocations in English can be expressed
in Arabic with a single verb and not only with a collocation.
English verb plus object collocations can be easy to translate into Arabic in some
cases and difficult to translate in others. They can be problematic in translation if
the translator does not know the appropriate verb that collocates with the noun in
Arabic.
4.3.2 Translating English adjective plus noun collocations into Arabic
According to Ghazala (1993b), English adjective plus noun collocations are
translated into Arabic by a noun plus adjective collocation. In Arabic, an adjective
that follows a noun is called, according to Al-Rajihi (1988:381), ‫ ﻧﻌﺖ ﺣﻘﯿﻘﻲ‬na3t
Haqiiqii (a real adjective). This type of English collocation can be translated by
identical Arabic collocations (Ghazala, 1995:109). The following examples
illustrate this structure:
71
English adjective + noun collocation Identical Arabic equivalent (noun +
adjective)
A smashing victory ‫ اﻧﺘﺼﺎر ﺳﺎﺣﻖ‬intiSaarun saaHiq
(literally: a smashing victory)
Straying sheep ‫ ﻏﻨﻢ ﻗﺎﺻﯿﺔ‬ganamun qaaSiyah
(literally: straying sheep)
Black market ‫ ﺳﻮق ﺳﻮداء‬suuqun sawdaa?
(literally: black market)
Table 4. 8 Examples of English collocations and their identical equivalents in Arabic
(Ghazala, 1995)
In the above examples, every adjective is translated into Arabic by an equivalent
adjective that has the same meaning. Thus, the adjective smashing in English is
translated into ‫ ﺳﺎﺣﻖ‬saahiq (smashing) in Arabic, the adjective straying is
translated into ‫ ﻗﺎﺻﯿﺔ‬qaaSiyah (straying), and the adjective black is translated into
‫ ﺳﻮداء‬sawdaa? (black). These examples suggest that some English adjective plus
noun collocations are not problematic in translation because they have identical
equivalents in Arabic.
However, there are other English adjective plus noun collocations that cannot be
translated by identical collocations in Arabic (Ghazala, 1995:109). In many cases,
the adjective in English adjective plus noun collocations is not translated literally
into Arabic. The following examples illustrate this point:
72
English adjective + noun collocation Non-identical Arabic equivalent
(noun + adjective)
A good day ‫ ﯾﻮم ﺳﻌﯿﺪ‬yawmun sa3iyd (literally: a
happy day)
A warm reception ‫ اﺳﺘﻘﺒﺎل ﺣﺎر‬istiqbaalun Haar (literally: a
hot reception)
Great pleasure ‫ﻏﺎﻣﺮة‬ ‫ﺳﻌﺎدة‬ sa3aadah gaamirah
(literally: covering pleasure)
Table 4. 9 Examples of English collocations and their non-identical equivalents in Arabic
(Ghazala, 1995)
The adjectives, in the above three examples of English adjective plus noun
collocations, are not translated literally into Arabic. The adjective good is
translated into Arabic by the adjective ‫ ﺳﻌﯿﺪ‬sa3iyd (happy) which literally means
happy in English; the adjective warm is translated into ‫ ﺣﺎر‬Haar (hot) which
literally means hot in English; and the adjective great is translated into ‫ﻏﺎﻣﺮة‬
gaamirah (covering) which literally means covering.
Another way to translate English adjective plus noun collocations into Arabic, not
mentioned by Ghazala, is by use of an equivalent collocation with a quite similar
grammatical structure. That is, an adjective plus noun structure in Arabic. In
Arabic, adjectives usually follow nouns they modify, however, they could also
precede nouns they modify. According to Al-Rajihi (1988:382), the adjective that
comes before the noun it modifies is called ‫ ﻧﻌﺖ ﺳﺒﺒﻲ‬na3t sababiy (a
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causative adjective). For example, the collocation rich imagination (adjective +
noun) in English could be translated into Arabic by either the collocation ‫ﺧﯿﺎل واﺳﻊ‬
xayaalun waasi3 (wide imagination) (noun + adjective) or by the collocation ‫واﺳﻊ‬
‫ اﻟﺨﯿﺎل‬waasi3 al-xayaal (wide imagination) (adjective + noun).
English adjective plus noun collocations that have identical equivalents in Arabic
are not problematic in translation. However, translating English adjective plus
noun collocations that do not have identical collocations in Arabic is problematic.
4.4 Empirical research into the translation of collocations
Collocation plays an important role in translation. Yet, there has been little
empirical research into the way collocations are dealt with in translation. Not
many studies have investigated the knowledge of collocations or the competence
of English-Arabic translation students or professional translators. For the purposes
of this study, the key piece of research examining the competence of student
translators/interpreters of collocations is that conducted by Shakir and Farghal
(1992), Collocations as an Index of L2 Competence in Arabic-English
Simultaneous Interpreting and Translation.
Shakir and Farghal (1992) suggest that collocations constitute an important
component in the lexicon of natural language. They note that translators and/or
interpreters should possess a high syntagmatic competence alongside their
paradigmatic competence. They conducted an empirical study to investigate the
competence of postgraduate student translators/interpreters in a Jordanian
74
university. The participants in their study were thirteen postgraduate students
enrolled in a Masters program in translation at the University of Yarmouk, Irbid,
Jordan. The purpose of the study was to answer the following three research
questions:
1-Does the time factor, inherent in the process of interpreting,
influence the quality and completeness of the target collocations
provided in the interpreting session?
2-What strategies do student interpreters adopt in their attempt to
overcome the influence of the time factor and fill in semantic gaps
when they come across an opaque collocation?
3-Do student interpreters and translators adopt the same strategies in
their attempts to compensate for a lack of equivalent target
collocations? (Shakir & Farghal 1992:232-3).
The study was based on the interpreting and translation of an Arabic newspaper
editorial. The participants first were asked to interpret simultaneously the
newspaper article from Arabic into English. After four months, the same
participants were provided with the same text, but this time, to translate it into
English instead of simultaneously interpreting it. Shakir and Farghal argue that
because of the long period intervening between the interpreting session and the
translation session, most of the respondents did not realize that they had
interpreted the same text previously. The respondents were not allowed to
75
use dictionaries in the translation session. The authors’ rationale for this research
procedure was to compel the respondents to rely on their memories in the process
of searching for equivalent collocations in the target language. The respondents’
native language was Arabic and the target language was English.
Shakir and Farghal selected twenty-four collocations in the editorial and noted the
renderings of the respondents in the interpreting and translation sessions. The
renderings of the collocations were noted, analyzed, and categorized. Their
analysis focused on the problems the respondents encountered in rendering Arabic
collocations into English when interpreting and translating the same text, as well
as the strategies used in the processes of interpreting and translating.
The results of the study showed that the performance of the respondents differed
significantly as they switched from interpreting to translation. The respondents
rendered only 33.2% of the collocations appropriately in interpreting, whereas
they rendered more than fifty percent (51.8%) of them appropriately in
translation. The difference in the percentage between the interpreting and
translation tests, according to the authors, was due to the following two reasons:
1-The time factor: the time lapse allowed in simultaneous interpreting
is usually short and the student interpreter has to perform more than
one operation during interpreting. S/he has to comprehend the
semantic unit at hand and simultaneously search for equivalents in the
target language. Unless equivalents are readily accessible and
retrievable from the memory bank, the interpreter will

76
inevitably provide lexical items that may not do the intended job
appropriately, but that first come to his/her mind.
2-The insufficient interpreting experience of the students: The study
noted that the experiment was conducted during the first half of the
students’ interpreting course (Shakir & Farghal, 1992:233).
Shakir and Farghal argue that the respondents resorted to the same cognitive
strategies in their attempts to compensate because of a shortage of readily
accessible and, therefore, retrievable L2 collocational patterns. The strategies that
were used by the respondents in both the simultaneous interpreting and translation
tests were reduction, synonymy, compensation, paraphrasing, and
transferring/calquing. Each of these strategies is explored below.
Reduction
This strategy applies to cases where the respondents provide either an incomplete
or non-equivalent rendering of the target collocation. Reduction was used at a
higher frequency (23.8%) in the simultaneous interpreting test than in the
translation test (17.2%). Reduction included three sub-strategies: generalization,
deletion, and message abandonment. Table 4.10 and Table 4.11 below give the
details for the frequency with which each of these sub-strategies were used in the
simultaneous interpreting test and translation test.
77
Strategy Frequency Percentage
Generalization 8.7%
Deletion 11.6%
Message Abandonment 3.5%
Table 4. 10 Responses provided via reduction strategies in simultaneous interpreting (Shakir
and Farghal’s study, 1992)
Strategy Frequency Percentage
Generalization 9.2%
Deletion 4.3%
Message Abandonment 3.7%
Table 4. 11 Responses provided via reduction strategies in translation (Shakir and Farghal’s
study, 1992)
The following examples illustrate this strategy: American forces (collocation
offered by the subject) used instead of military build-up (target collocation),
destructive war (collocation offered by the subject) instead of terrible
consequences (target collocation), and another embargo (collocation offered by
the subject) instead of economic embargo (target collocation). According to
Shakir and Farghal, the strategy of generalization was a persistent strategy in the
interpreting process and was based on semantic and schematic considerations
where the situational context and/or assumptions of shared knowledge tended to
play a decisive role in the process of searching for target equivalents. This
78
strategy scored a frequency of 8.7% in interpreting and 9.2% in translation.
The strategy of deletion, on the other hand, refers to cases where one or more
elements of the target collocation were deleted. This was due to the failure of the
respondents to provide a complete collocation in the target language. Deletion
scored a frequency of 11.6% in interpreting and 4.3% in translation. The
following were examples of this strategy: objective instead of apparent objective
(target collocation), initiative instead of historic initiative (target collocation), and
policy instead of domestic and foreign policy (target collocation).
Message abandonment was resorted to in only a few cases. The respondents used
this strategy when they either failed to grasp the semantic unit in question or when
they failed to provide any of its constituent elements. This strategy was not
persistent in either the interpreting or the translation tests. It scored a frequency of
3.5% in interpreting and 3.7% in translation.
Synonymy
One major strategy respondents resorted to in the interpreting and translation tests
was the use of synonymy. This is the use of lexical items that are synonymous
with others in the target language. It scored a frequency of 18% in the interpreting
test and 18.2% in the translating test. Shakir and Farghal note that the deviant
collocates were the modifying elements in almost all cases in interpreting and
translation. Nouns, on the other hand, were rendered appropriately into the target
language. Examples of this strategy were as follows: popular/common
79
support (received collocations) instead of public support (target collocation),
explicit/surface objective (received collocations) instead of apparent objective
(target collocation), and overwhelming/overall/general peace (received
collocations) instead of comprehensive peace (target collocation).
Compensation
The responses provided using the strategy of compensation represented all or
almost all of the items inappropriately combined to produce the target
collocations. Compensation scored a frequency of 12.2% in both the interpreting
and the translation tests. These examples illustrate the way the meaning was
distorted as a result of the respondents’ choice of lexical items whose occurrence
did not meet the anticipation of the L2 recipients of the discourse: military
gathering (received collocation) instead of military build-up (target collocation),
expected disaster (received collocation) instead of terrible consequences (target
collocation), social entertainment (received collocation) instead of social welfare
(target collocation), economic supply (received collocation) instead of economic
embargo (target collocation), and to destroy trends (received collocation) instead
of to thwart plans (target collocation).
Paraphrasing
The respondents seemed to have tried to avoid the strategy of paraphrasing in both
the interpreting and translation tests. Only 4.3% of the collocations were rendered
using this strategy in the translation test and 10.32% in the interpreting test. The
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following were examples of paraphrasing in Shakir and Farghal’s study:
settling all disputes in the Middle East/solving all problems and issues in the area
(paraphrasing) instead of comprehensive peace (target collocation).
to ban trading with Iraq/to use force to stop economic relations with Iraq
(paraphrasing) instead of to impose economic embargo (target collocation).
to hinder by force the implementation of such plans/to stop Iraq from carrying out
its plans (paraphrasing) instead of to thwart/abort such plans (target collocations).
Transferring/calquing
The reliance of the respondents on the strategy of calquing was minimal. The
scored frequency of calquing was justifiably negligible. This strategy scored a
frequency of 2.2% in simultaneous interpreting and 0.03% in translation. The
following were examples of transferred or calqued collocations: superficial goal
(received collocation) instead of apparent goal (target collocation), and to corrupt
plans (received collocation) instead of to thwart/abort plans (target collocations).
Shakir and Farghal’s conclusion has one major implication, which is that student
interpreters/translators need to enrich their knowledge of collocations in the target
language (in their case, English) for a translation to sound smooth and natural. In
order to achieve this, the authors suggest, the relevant translation study program
and other comparable ones should:
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1- Allot sufficient time for laboratory practice where authentic
recorded texts (lectures, seminars, speeches, etc.) are accessible to
student interpreters;
2- Encourage student interpreters to build up their text-type
dictionaries in which they record the collocations relevant to the
type of text with which they are dealing. Opaque collocations can
be disambiguated through consultation with the interpreting and
translation trainer, or by consulting specialized dictionaries;
3- Incorporate simulation sessions where one trainee is selected to act
in the role of an interpreter, for instance, at a press conference.
The trainer can take the role of the interviewee, while the second
trainee acts the role of the press reporter. The rest of the trainees
will be the audience and their job includes noting the weaknesses
of the interpreting provided. Immediate feedback from the trainer
and the trainees could be very helpful (Shakir & Farghal,
1992:242).
Shakir and Farghal’s (1992) study examined the collocational competence of
postgraduate students of interpreting and translation only and did not test
professional translators or interpreters. Their study involved an interpreting and
translation test from Arabic into English in one particular text type, which is
journalistic.
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4.5 Conclusion
As was shown in this and in previous chapters, this study arises from the fact that
there has not been much previous research that has investigated the translation of
English collocations into Arabic. By using an empirical study, it is hoped that new
insights into the strategies of translating English collocations into Arabic will be
achieved.
The next chapter, Chapter Five, presents an overview of the professional
translation environment in Australia.
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Chapter five: An Overview of the Professional Translation Environment in Australia
5 AN OVERVIEW OF THE PROFESSIONAL
TRANSLATION ENVIRONMENT IN AUSTRALIA
5.1 Introduction
This chapter will provide an overview of the professional translation environment in
Australia. It will start with a brief historical background of immigration to Australia.
This is followed by an overview of Australia’s multicultural policy and the need for
English-Arabic translation. The chapter will also look into translator accreditation
and translator training in Australia, as this study arises from an Australian setting and
one of the groups involved in this study is a group of professional translators
recruited in Australia (see Chapter six: Research Methodology).
5.2 Historical background of immigration to Australia
The Australian Federal Government’s assistance of mass immigration from 1964
onward helped to shape a new Australia (Softic, 1998:9), making Australia a country
characterized by high levels of immigration (Campbell, 1998; Ozolins, 1991, 1998;
Clyne, 1982, 1991a, 1991b).
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In the past, immigration provided Australia with manpower, development and
security. Nowadays, immigrants are accepted in Australia for social, humanitarian
and economic reasons (Softic, 1998:30). The Australian Department of Immigration
and Indigenous and Multicultural Affairs is responsible for the funding of migrant
and ethnic organisations and the planning and control of immigration.
More than 5.3 million migrants have settled in Australia since 1945 (Softic, 1998:30).
The number ranges from 50,000 to 180,000 a year. This large scale of immigration
from non-English-speaking countries started soon after the end World War II (Di
Biase, 1988:27; Collins, 1988). There was a need for workers and an increased
population to develop the country. Australia’s immigration policy has three main
categories: family, humanitarian and skilled.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated in June 2001 that twenty-three percent
of Australia’s resident population was born overseas (The Australian Bureau of
Statistic, 2001 Census Count). Therefore, a significant percentage of the population
speaks a language other than English, which is Australia’s official language.
Both State and Federal Governments in Australia are committed to ensuring that
government services are available to all Australians. One barrier that might exist
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is the language barrier. This barrier can possibly be overcome with a policy that
ensures access to professional interpreting and translation services (Campbell,
1998:23; Softic, 1998: 38).
5.3 Australia’s multicultural policy
Australia’s multicultural policy took shape in the 1970s (Campbell, 1998:23), after
the Galbally Report recommended the provision of government services to migrant
communities (Hale, 2004:20). Multiculturalism as an official policy began to have
clear effects on society by the early 1980s (Trinh, 2001: 32). The policy encourages
migrants to maintain their cultures and languages, as distinct from the earlier
assimilation policy (Campbell, 1998:23; Hale, 2004:15). This makes Australia a
multicultural and multilingual nation (Clyne & Kipp, 1999).
The National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia (Department of the Prime Minister
and Cabinet, Office of Multicultural Affairs, 1989) established the right of all
Australians, within carefully defined limits, to express and share their cultural
heritage, including their language and religion (Kipp et al, 1995:2; Campbell,
1998:23).
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Australia has unique institutional services devoted to multilingualism, such as
translating and interpreting services, television in community languages, ethnic and
multilingual access broadcasting, the multilingual municipal library holdings, a
number of languages taught in primary and secondary schools, and a large number of
languages examined at Year 12 of high school (as many as 38 in some States) (Kipp
et al, 1995:1).
5.4 The Need for English-Arabic translation in Australia
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, an estimated twenty-three per cent
of Australia’s resident population was born overseas (The Australian Bureau of
Statistics, 2001 Census Count). In addition, more than one hundred languages other
than English are spoken in Australia today, apart from the one hundred and fifty
Aboriginal languages that are still in use (Kipp et al, 1995:1). Therefore, a significant
percentage of the population speaks a language other than English.
Kipp et al (1995:40) note that Arabic is one of the languages used extensively at
home among Australian residents. Arabic is used at home by 209372 Australian
residents (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2001 Census). Six percent of this number
do not speak English at all. This is an indication of a demand for English-Arabic
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translation services (Campbell et al, 1993).
Ginori (1982) notes that, according to a report entitled Participation by the Australian
Ethnic Affairs Commission of New South Wales (1978), Australia had a need for
qualified interpreters and translators (see also Hale, 2004:20-25). Ginori (1982:1)
quotes part of the report by the Ethnic Affairs Commission (1978):
…[In] a country which encourages substantial annual immigration, the
need for interpreters and translators to be readily available to help
newcomers remains constant….
Ginori (1982) lists some of the needs that make the role of translation important in
the Australian multicultural context:
1- Translation of personal documents.
2- General information material (both government and private).
3- Subtitling of films and documentaries.
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4- Translation of specialist material: legal, medical, scientific, technical, literary,
etc.
In Australia, interpreting and translation services have developed in the post-war
years in an ad hoc manner in response to the urgent needs of migrants accessing
different areas, such as settlement issues, health, law, housing, transport, welfare and
public administration, and due to the inadequacy and inappropriateness of using
friends, relatives and other untrained people to bridge the English language barrier
(Kipp et al, 1995:13; Hale, 2004:15-16). As a consequence, most Australian states
had language services agencies by the end of the 1970s (Campbell, 1998; Hale,
2004:16).
Interpreting and translation services received a boost in standards with the
establishment of the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters
Ltd. (NAATI) in 1977 (Hale, 2004:20).
5.5 Translator accreditation in Australia
The National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters Ltd. (NAATI)
is a national standards body half-funded by the Commonwealth, State and
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Territory Governments of Australia and half self-funded as a company. NAATI was
established in 1977.
NAATI sets and regulates standards of translation and interpreting in Australia by
accrediting translators and interpreters at a number of levels.
5.5.1 NAATI accreditation
In Australia, NAATI is considered the only authority with the power to provide
accreditation to translators/interpreters and tertiary institutions wishing to offer
formal training in the area of translation and/or interpreting. Therefore, NAATI
accreditation is the only official qualification accepted for the profession of
translation and interpreting in Australia. Moreover, all government translation and
interpreting services require translators and interpreters to be NAATI accredited.
NAATI accreditation has been instrumental in providing quality assurance for
recipients of translation and interpreting services and giving credibility to agencies
that employ accredited practitioners (NAATI, 2003).
5.5.2 Obtaining NAATI accreditation
NAATI accreditation may be obtained in any one of three ways: 1- The
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accreditation may be obtained either through sitting for and passing a NAATI test
(the pass mark is 70%); 2- by successfully completing a NAATI approved course of
study (tertiary based and offered in certain languages as a diploma course,
undergraduate course, graduate course, and postgraduate course); or 3- by providing
evidence of specialised qualification in translating and/or interpreting obtained from a
recognised training institution outside Australia (NAATI, 2003).
5.5.3 NAATI levels
In July 1993, NAATI implemented a modified system of accreditation. The revised
system includes four levels at which interpreters and translators may be accredited.
The four levels are as follows:
1- Para-professional Interpreter (formerly known as ‘level two’)
Para-professional Translator (formerly known as ‘level two’):
This accreditation represents a level of competence in interpreting general
conversation with no level of specialization or complexity. In translating, it represents
the ability to translate uncomplicated and basic information.
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2- Interpreter (formerly known as ‘level three’)
Translator (formerly known as ‘level three’):
This accreditation represents the minimum level of competence for professional
interpreting and translating across a wide range of subjects involving dialogue and
translation in special areas. Translators are qualified to translate into one language
only or into both languages, depending on their accreditation to translate from or into
English.
3- Conference Interpreter and Advanced Translator (formerly known as ‘level four’):
This accreditation represents advanced professional levels where a demonstrated
competence exists to handle complex, technical and sophisticated interpreting and
translating. Advanced translators are qualified to translate into one language only or
into both languages, depending on their accreditation. However, it is most common
for them to translate from their second or third language into their first language.
4- Conference Senior Interpreter and Advanced Senior Translator (formerly known
as ‘level five’):
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This accreditation represents the senior level of conference interpreters and advanced
translators with a level of excellence in their field, recognized through demonstrated
extensive experience and leadership (Softic, 1998:40).
5.5.4 NAATI tests
Since its commencement, NAATI has tested translators and interpreters in a number
of languages at different levels of competency. The tests are reviewed regularly
taking into consideration the comments made by NAATI examiners on tests held
since the beginning of NAATI testing accreditation in 1979. These reviews have
resulted in substantial changes to the format of the tests. This is to achieve the fairest
and most accurate means of assessment of the standards of competence and skills
appropriate to each translation or interpreting level and category being tested. The
pass mark for all NAATI tests is 70%, except for the Advanced Translator test and
the Conference Interpreter test for which the pass mark is 80% (NAATI, 2002:20).
The translation tests for the Para-professional Translator Level consist of two
passages of 120-140 words each, one of which is selected and translated from English
(45 marks); then another two passages of the same length are provided and one is
selected to be translated into English (45 marks); and, finally, three questions are
provided on ethical issues, two of which are to be answered by the candidate (10
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marks). The duration for both directions, from and into English, is 120 minutes plus
ten minutes reading time. As for the Professional Translator Level, candidates choose
two of three passages of approximately 250 words to translate either from or into
English (45 + 45= 90 marks), depending on the direction for which they seek
accreditation, and three questions on ethical issues, two of which are to be answered
by the candidate (10 marks). The allocated time for this test is two-and-a-half hours
plus twenty minutes reading time. As for the Advanced Translator Level, the
candidate will be required to translate three texts of 400 words each. The time
allocated for this level is eight hours in order to produce their three translations.
In all levels of accreditation, the use of dictionaries, glossaries and thesauruses is
permitted.
5.5.5 Translator training
One of the ways of obtaining NAATI accreditation is by successfully completing a
NAATI approved course of study (NAATI, 2003). Various tertiary institutions in
Australia offer the following NAATI approved courses:
1- Diploma of Interpreting
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2- Advanced Diploma of Interpreting and/ or Translation
3- Bachelor of Arts in Translation and Interpreting
4- Graduate Diploma in Translation and Interpreting
5- Masters of Art in Translation and Interpreting
NAATI (2003) has approved the following courses in English-Arabic interpreting
and/or translation:
1- TAFE (Technical and Further Education): Granville TAFE in New South
Wales offers a Diploma in English-Arabic Interpreting and an Advanced
Diploma of English-Arabic Interpreting. Adelaide Institute of TAFE in South
Australia offers a Diploma in English-Arabic Interpreting. Finally, Perth
Central TAFE in Western Australia offers a Diploma in English-Arabic
Interpreting and an Advanced Diploma of English-Arabic Interpreting.
2- The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology: The Royal
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Melbourne Institute of Technology in Victoria offers a Diploma in English-
Arabic Interpreting and an Advanced Diploma of English-Arabic Interpreting
and Translation.
3- The University of Western Sydney: The University of Western Sydney in
New South Wales offers a range of English-Arabic interpreting and
translation courses. It offers a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interpreting and
Translation, a Graduate Certificate in Interpreting and Translation, a Graduate
Diploma in Interpreting and Translation, a Masters of Arts degree in
Linguistics and Interpreting, and a Masters of Arts degree in Linguistics and
Translation (NAATI, 2003).
Of the above courses at the University of Western Sydney, only the Bachelor of Arts
degree in Interpreting and Translation and the Graduate Diploma in Interpreting and
Translation are approved by NAATI. That makes the University of Western Sydney
the only university approved to offer a post-graduate course in Arabic interpreting
and translation (Hale, 2004:26). These are not the only institutions that provide
interpreter/translator training in Australia, however, for the purposes of this thesis
information has only been provided on those courses offered for Arabic translation
and approved by NAATI.
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5.6 Conclusion
This chapter provides an overview of the professional translation environment in
Australia. The first section introduces a brief historical background of immigration to
Australia. The second section presents an overview of Australia’s multicultural
policy. The third section discusses the need for English-Arabic translation. The last
section looks into translator and interpreter accreditation and translator/interpreter
training in Australia, where this study took place.
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Chapter Six: Research Methodology
6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
6.1 Introduction
The three main purposes of this study are to point out the characteristics of
collocations in the Arabic language, to produce a semantic patterning of
collocations in the Arabic language, and to examine the problems encountered in
translating English verb + object and adjective + noun collocations into Arabic.
This Chapter discusses the research design, the setting of the study, the
participants, the instruments, and the data collection procedures.
6.2 Research Design
6.2.1 Research questions
The general questions addressed in this study are concerned with the knowledge
of Arabic collocations among professional and student translators in Australia.
There being no baseline data on collocation performance in Arabic, a control
group of monolingual native speakers in Saudi Arabia was used to elicit such a
data set by way of a specially designed questionnaire. The questionnaire was also
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administered to the professional and student translators. A translation test of
English collocations into Arabic was also constructed and administered to the
professional and student translators.
The main issues of the study could be summarized in nine research questions.
Questions 1-3 basically focus on differences in collocational knowledge between
the three groups involved in the study. Questions 4 and 5 focus on the
characteristics and semantic patterning of collocations in the Arabic language.
Questions 6-9 focus on the translation of English collocations into Arabic. The
research questions are listed below.
1- What is the difference between the control group’s knowledge and the
professional translators group’s knowledge of Arabic verb + object and
noun + adjective collocations? (refer to Chapter Seven)
2- What is the difference between the control group’s knowledge and the
student translators group’s knowledge of Arabic verb + object and noun +
adjective collocations? (refer to Chapter Seven)
3- What is the difference between the professional translators group’s
knowledge and the student translators group’s knowledge of Arabic verb +
object and noun + adjective collocations? (refer to Chapter Seven)
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4- What are the semantic characteristics of Arabic verb + object and noun +
adjective collocations? (refer to Chapter Seven)
5- What are the semantic and distributional patterns into which Arabic verb +
object and noun + adjective collocations fall? (refer to Chapter Seven)
6- What are the translation outcomes observed in the Student Translators’
Group when rendering English verb + object and adjective + noun
collocations into Arabic? (refer to Chapter Eight)
7- What are the translation outcomes observed in the Professional
Translators’ Group when rendering English verb + object and adjective +
noun collocations into Arabic? (refer to Chapter Eight)
8- What are the most common outcomes in the translations of the English
verb + object and adjective + noun collocations into Arabic?, and how
frequently did the Student Translators’ Group and Professional Group
resort to each one of the translation outcomes? (refer to Chapter Eight)
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6.3 Setting of and participants in the study
The research undertaken for this thesis consisted of four parts. Part one: a
questionnaire of Arabic collocations given to an Arabic control group. Part two: a
translation test of English collocations into Arabic given to a professional
translators’ group. Part three: the same translation test of English collocations into
Arabic given to a student translators’ group. Part four: the same questionnaire of
Arabic collocations given to the same professional translators’ group and the same
student translators’ group.
6.3.1 Part one: The Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations (Arabic Control
Group)
This part of the study was conducted at the College of Arabic Language and
Literature at Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Umm Al-Qura
University has a reputation as one of the best and larger universities in Saudi
Arabia. It attracts students from all over the country and from other Arab
countries. Umm Al-Qura University was established in 1981. It started as a
College of Islamic Law and Education in 1949 with only three departments: the
Department of Islamic Law, the Department of Arabic Language and the
Department of Judiciary. This was the first College in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia.
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The university has experienced a constant process of expansion. Several colleges,
institutes and even new campuses have been opened. It now consists of five
campuses: three in Makkah and two in Taif, with a total of ten Colleges. One of
these Colleges is the College of Arabic Language and Literature, established in
1989.
The aim of this part of the study was to recruit a control group of postgraduate
students, majoring in Arabic, who had minimal or no experience in translation or
other language mediation activities, and who do not speak English fluently. This
was to avoid language interference. This information was obtained by means of a
demographic questionnaire (see Appendix A) attached to the main questionnaire
of Arabic collocations. In addition to fluency in a language other than Arabic, the
demographic questionnaire also asked for information about the respondents’
general background such as, age, sex, degree, occupation, and translation
experience.
The students from Umm Al-Qura University were expected to be from different
regions of the country, in addition to international students from other Arab states,
to add more reliability and generalisability to the research.
The questionnaire of Arabic collocations given to the control group was used to
judge the frequency of usage and restrictedness of some verb + object and noun +
adjective collocations in the Arabic language as baseline data that is uninfluenced
by translation practice or second language knowledge (see Appendix B).
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6.3.1.1 Respondents to part one
The respondents to the Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations were twenty-one
postgraduate students (PhD and MA) at the College of Arabic Language and
Literature of Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Nineteen of
these respondents were male students (90.5%) and two were female students
(9.5%). The low number of female respondents was due to the researcher being
granted access to the men’s campus only (being a male himself), while he only
sent the questionnaire to the women’s campus to be administered by the secretary
of Graduate Studies in the College of Arabic Language and Literature. The
majority were either school teachers or university lecturers of Arabic language
(71.4%). Eight were school teachers (38%) and seven were university lecturers
(33.3%). One of the respondents was a journalist (4.7%), another respondent was
a librarian (4.7%), and the remaining four respondents were full-time continuing
students in Arabic language studies (19%). Ten of the respondents were Ph.D.
students (47.6%) and eleven were M.A. students (52.4%). Eight of them were
majoring in Arabic linguistics (38.1%) and thirteen in Arabic literature (61.9%).
All respondents were native speakers of Arabic and their knowledge of English
was either fair (19%), poor (38.1%) or very poor (42.9%). None of them was
fluent or proficient in English. None of the respondents had ever translated from
English into Arabic or vice versa.
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6.3.2 Part two: The Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic
(Professional Translators’ Group)
The Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic was given to
professional English-Arabic translators (Professional Translators’ Group)
accredited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and
Interpreters Ltd. (NAATI) in Australia.
Before the translation test, the professional translators were asked to fill out a one-
page demographic questionnaire (see Appendix C). The test comprised one
hundred relatively short English sentences to be translated into Arabic. The test
was used to find out how frequent and, therefore, how serious were some of the
problems of translating English verb + object and adjective + noun collocations
into Arabic. The test results were also used to observe the translation outcomes
adopted by the professional translators in their attempts to translate English
collocations into Arabic.
6.3.2.1 Respondents to part two
The respondents to the Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic
(Professional Translators’ Group) were sixteen professional English-Arabic
translators accredited by NAATI in Australia. Six of them were females (37.5%)
and ten were males (62.5%). Their ages ranged from thirty to seventy-three years.
Three of the respondents held a Masters of Arts (18.75%), eight a Bachelor of
Arts (50%) and five a diploma (31.25%). Twelve (75%) of the professional
translators held their degrees in translation and four (25%) in other fields of study.
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The majority had a level three accreditation in English-Arabic translation from
NAATI (93.75%) and one had a level two accreditation (6.25%). Most of the
respondents’ native language was Arabic (87.5%), one spoke Chaldean as his
native language (6.25%), and another spoke Greek as her native language
(6.25%). Six respondents spoke Arabic at home (37.5%), two respondents spoke
English at home (12.5%), six spoke Arabic and English (37.5%), one spoke
Chaldean (6.25%), and one spoke Arabic, English and French at home (6.25%).
6.3.3 Part three: The Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic
(Student Translators’ Group)
The same Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic that was given to
the Professional Translators’ Group also was given to the postgraduate English-
Arabic translation students (Student Translators’ Group). These students were
enrolled in the Graduate Diploma (English-Arabic Interpreting and Translation) or
Masters of Arts (Translation and Linguistics) programs at the School of
Languages and Linguistics of the University of Western Sydney, Australia. This
university is one of the leading universities in teaching translation in Australia. In
addition, the Graduate Diploma leads to a NAATI accreditation in translation and/
or interpreting at the professional level. The students were given a demographic
questionnaire (see Appendix D) followed by the Translation Test of English
Collocations into Arabic. The aims of the test were: to pinpoint problems in
translating English verb+ object and adjective + noun collocations into Arabic and
compare the strategies used in translating English collocations into Arabic by the
student translators with the strategies used by the professional translators
(Professional Translators’ Group).
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6.3.3.1 Respondents to part three
The respondents to the Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic
(Student Translators’ Group) were eight postgraduate students from the Graduate
Diploma (English-Arabic Interpreting and Translation) or Masters of Arts
(Translation and Linguistics) programs at the School of Languages and
Linguistics of the University of Western Sydney, Australia. Four of them were
females (50%) and four were males (50%). Their ages ranged from twenty four to
fifty seven years. Four of the respondents were enrolled in the Graduate Diploma
in interpreting and translation (50%), while the rest were enrolled in the Masters
of Arts in translation and linguistics (50%). Most students spoke Arabic as their
first language (87.5%), except one student who mentioned that she spoke both
English and Arabic equally as her first languages (12.5%). Seven of the
respondents spoke Arabic at home (87.5%). One spoke both Arabic and English at
home (12.5%).
6.3.4 Part four: The Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations (Professional

Translators’ Group) and (Student Translators’ Group)
The same Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations given to the Arabic Control
Group (Part one) was also given to the Professional Translators’ Group (Part two)
and the Student Translators’ Group (Part three) after the Translation Test of
English Collocations into Arabic was administered to them. The aim of this part
was to confirm the Arabic Control Group’s knowledge of some Arabic verb +
object and noun + adjective collocations. That is, the aim was to see to what
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extent the choice of professional translators and student translators of Arabic
collocations was close to that of the Arabic Control Group.
6.4 Data Collection
This selection of data collection tools is dependent on the kind of research
questions and hypotheses that have been set up for this research project. Because
many of the hypotheses set up in this study were based on a comparison of
specific responses among an Arabic control group, postgraduate students of
translation, and professional translators, it seemed natural to use elicited
competence and performance data. This section discusses the two instruments
used for the collection of the data, as well as the pilot studies used to evaluate the
instruments.
6.4.1 Instruments
The data collection instruments were designed with the research questions and
hypotheses presented earlier in mind. The instruments used to collect the data of
the present study were a Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations and a Translation
Test of English Collocations into Arabic.
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6.4.1.1 Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations
The questionnaire presented here was designed partly along the lines followed by
Shei (2000; 2002). The questionnaire designed for this study differed from Shei’s
in the following ways:
Firstly, the questionnaire in Shei’s study was a questionnaire of English
collocations. Secondly, the respondents in Shei’s study were a control group of
native speakers of English, a Chinese learners’ group, and a European language
speakers’ group.
The aim of this Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations was to judge the frequency
and restrictedness of usage of some verb + object and noun + adjective
collocations in the Arabic language. Carter states:
Collocational acceptability can be analysed using techniques of
informant analysis in which the intersubject intuitions of groups of
native-language speakers are statistically measured and a line drawn
between what can be generally allowed and what cannot. (1987:55)
The questionnaire consisted of one hundred items. Each item consisted of a noun
in a stem sentence with four verb or adjective alternatives (four verbs for the first
fifty items and four adjectives for the second fifty items). There was a total of four
hundred Arabic collocations in the questionnaire (see Appendix B). Part one of
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the questionnaire consisted of two hundred verb + object collocations (four
alternative verbs in a table for each noun in a stem sentence), and part two
consisted of two hundred noun + adjective collocations (four alternative
adjectives in a table for each noun in a stem sentence).
In the first part of the questionnaire, the respondents were given sentences with
the verbs missing, while the adjectives were missing in the second part. For each
item, the respondents were provided with four alternatives (four verbs in part one
and four adjectives in part two). They were asked to rank all four alternatives
according to the frequency of their collocability with the noun in the stem (see
Table 6.1). That is, they were asked to determine how often, in their opinion, did
each verb or adjective in the tables collocate with the noun in each sentence. The
scale used in this questionnaire was as follows:
Item example: stem sentence with noun, missing verb (1st fifty items) or
adjective (2nd fifty items).
Never Seldom Occasionally Always collocates

collocates
a- (alternative 1)
b- (alternative 2)
c- (alternative 3)
d- (alternative 4)
e- (a blank)
Table 6. 1 Item example of the questionnaire of Arabic collocations
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The respondents were asked to choose how often they thought each alternative
collocated with the noun in the sentence. They were asked to indicate the
frequency level. They were also given a blank space (e) to suggest a verb (1st fifty
items) or an adjective (2nd fifty items), if they thought that there was one that
would also possibly collocate with the noun in each stem and give the same
meaning as the four alternatives when collocated with the noun in the sentence.
They were also asked to rank the alternative they suggested on the scale of
frequency (see Table 6.1). It was believed that this test would avoid some of the
disadvantages of both open- and closed-question tests. It gives the respondents
four alternatives, as well as the chance to suggest a fifth alternative whenever they
thought there was one.
The main objective of the test was to establish the expert usage of some Arabic
collocations obtained from the control group, therefore, the researcher had to go
through two steps in designing it. The first step was to gather the collocations. The
major source for this step was Arabic monolingual dictionaries, including, but not
limited to, ‫ ﻟﺴﺎن اﻟﻌﺮب ﻻﺑﻦ ﻣﻨﻈﻮر‬lisaan al-3arab by Ibn Mazuur, ‫ﻣﺨﺘﺎر اﻟﺼﺤﺎح‬
‫ﻟﻠﺮازي‬ muxtaar al-SiHaaH by Al-Raazii, and ‫ اﻟﻤﻨﺠﺪ ﻟﻠﯿﺴﻮﻋﻲ‬al-munjid by Al-
Yasuu3ii. Bilingual dictionaries were also consulted. Other sources included
newspapers, television and radio broadcasts, and books.
The second step was selecting the alternatives for each item. This was the most
challenging part in constructing the questionnaire. In this step, synonymy was the
main criterion for selecting the alternatives, therefore, synonyms were most used.
Monolingual and bilingual dictionaries were used in the selection of synonyms.
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Another major source was Arabic dictionaries of meaning, such as, ‫ﻓﻘﮫ اﻟﻠﻐﺔ ﻟﻠﺜﻌﺎﻟﺒﻲ‬
fiqhu al-lugah by Al-Thaalibi (1981), ‫? أدب اﻟﻜﺎﺗﺐ ﻻﺑﻦ ﻗﺘﯿﺒﺔ‬adab al-kaatib by Ibn
Qutaybah (1963), and ‫ اﻟﻤﺨﺼﺺ ﻻﺑﻦ ﺳﯿﺪة‬al-muxaSSaS by Ibn Sidah (1996).
Thesauri of Arabic synonyms, such as, ‫ﻛﺘﺎب ﻧﺠﻌﺔ اﻟﺮاﺋﺪ وﺷﺮﻋﺔ اﻟﻮارد ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﺘﺮادف‬
‫ واﻟﻤﺘﻮارد ﻟﻠﯿﺎزﺟﻲ‬kitaab nuj3at al-ra?id wa-sir3atu al-waarid fiy al-mutraadif wa
al-mutawaarid by El-Yaziji (1985) were also utilized. Other less significant
sources included ‫ اﻟﺘﺮادف ﻓﻲ اﻟﻘﺮآن اﻟﻜﺮﯾﻢ ﻟﻠﻤﻨﺠﺪ‬al-taraaduf fiy l-qur’aan al-kariym
by Al-Munjid (1997), and ‫ اﻟﻤﻌﺠﻢ اﻟﻤﻔﮭﺮس ﻷﻟﻔﺎظ اﻟﻘﺮآن اﻟﻜﺮﯾﻢ ﻟﻌﺒﺪاﻟﺒﺎﻗﻲ‬al-mu3jam al-
mufahras li-?alfaZ al-qur’aan al-kariym by Abdulbaqi (1996). The pilot studies
were also very helpful in giving suggestions for alternatives (see Pilot Studies
section below).
6.4.1.2 The Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic
In designing the Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic for the
present study, the researcher used the Collins COBUILD English Collocations on
CD-ROM. This was the first test to be designed and Arabic equivalents of these
English collocations were used for the questionnaire of Arabic collocations
mentioned in the previous section. The test consisted of one hundred relatively
short English sentences. The first fifty sentences contained verb + object
collocations and the other fifty contained adjective + noun collocations. Each
sentence contained one collocation (see Appendix E). This test was given to two
different groups: Professional Translators’ Group and Student Translators’ Group.
The respondents were asked to translate the one hundred English sentences into
Arabic. The aims of this test were to locate the problems that professional
translators and student translators face when translating English verb + object and
111
adjective + noun collocations into Arabic and to determine the strategies adopted
by both in translating those two types of English lexical collocations into Arabic.
6.4.2 Pilot Studies
6.4.2.1 Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations
Before collecting the data, the Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations was piloted
twice: to ensure reliability, to assess the familiarity level of the test items, and to
determine the approximate time it would take the respondents to answer the
questionnaire. It took the respondents approximately forty five minutes to
complete the pilot study questionnaire. The first version was given to an Arabic
teacher working at Al-Faisal College in Sydney, Australia. He held a Bachelor of
Arts in Arabic Linguistics and taught Arabic for ten years. He was a native
speaker of Arabic and had limited knowledge of English.
After revising the pilot questionnaire with this respondent, the researcher
conducted another pilot. The second version of the questionnaire was given to
another Arabic teacher also working in the same school. He held a Bachelor of
Arts in Arabic Linguistics and was a native speaker of Arabic. He taught Arabic
for twelve years and had a limited knowledge of English.
The responses obtained from the two pilot studies were carefully reviewed. It was
noted, from the responses given, that some collocations were unfamiliar to Arabic
native speakers. For example, both participants suggested the removal of the verb
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+ object collocation ‫ ﻛﺸﻒ اﻟﺒﺨﺖ‬kasafa al-baxt (to tell fortunes). Consequently,
such items were either removed or changed.
The questionnaire was also discussed with one of the Arabic lecturers at the
School of Languages and Linguistics at the University of Western Sydney. They
were very helpful in providing alternatives for questionnaire items.
6.4.2.2 The Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic
The Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic was piloted twice to
determine the approximate time it would take the respondents to translate the one
hundred English sentences into Arabic. The test was given to a professional
translator and interpreter in Sydney, Australia. It was also given to a postgraduate
student completing a Graduate Diploma in English-Arabic interpreting and
translation at the School of Languages and Linguistics, University of Western
Sydney. It took both respondents approximately one-and-a-half hours to complete.
Both suggested that some sentences were a bit long and should be changed. Those
sentences that were long were replaced by other shorter sentences from the same
source, the Collins COBUILD English Collocations on CD-Rom.
6.4.3 Administrative Procedures
6.4.3.1 Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations (Arabic Control Group)
The questionnaire was first given to twenty-one postgraduate students at the
College of Arabic Language and Literature of Umm Al-Qura University in
113
Makkah, Saudi Arabia in September 2002. The researcher contacted the Dean of
the College of Arabic Language and Literature and obtained approval to conduct
the study. The researcher travelled to Saudi Arabia and met with Head of the
Graduate Studies in the College, as well as meeting some of the faculty members
and discussing the study with them in detail, and the necessary steps to be taken to
conduct the research. The researcher visited all postgraduate classes in the College
at the men’s campus for approximately fifteen minutes each and introduced
himself as a doctoral student at the University of Western Sydney, Australia, who
was conducting research to fulfil the requirements of a Doctoral degree in
translation and linguistics. In each classroom, the researcher wrote on the board
the title of the study with some examples of Arabic collocations to ensure that the
students understood the task. After explaining the intended study to all the
students, the researcher asked for their voluntary participation, assuring them that
confidentiality would be maintained. However, the researcher could not visit the
women’s campus in person, only send copies of the questionnaire to be
administered by the secretary of Graduate Studies. Each volunteer was given an
Information Sheet (see Appendix A) as well as a Consent Form to be filled out
and signed. For the sake of confidentiality, the students were given code numbers
in lieu of their names. Furthermore, they were told that the information collected
would be safely stored at the University of Western Sydney and only the
researcher would be permitted to use it. When they decided to participate in the
study, students were asked to bring the questionnaires to the Graduate Studies
secretary where the researcher could collect them.
114
6.4.3.2 The Translation Test of English Collocations (Professional
Translators’ Group):
The Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic was given first to
professional translators accredited by NAATI in Australia. The researcher initially
obtained the names of the English-Arabic professional translators from the
NAATI directory. He then sent them a written invitation asking them whether
they would be prepared to participate in the study. The Information Sheet (see
Appendix C) explained the intended research and what they were to do. Along
with the invitation, they were sent the actual test so that they could see the kind of
participation in which they would be involved. They were also sent a Consent
Form to fill out and sign. For the sake of confidentiality, the respondents were
given code numbers. Furthermore, the respondents were told that the information
collected would be safely stored at the University of Western Sydney and used
only by the researcher. A postage-paid return envelope was included with the test.
The researcher asked the translators to return the blank form to him if they had
decided not to participate. That is, it would indicate the approximate number of
translators who actually received the invitation. After two months, the researcher
sent a reminder to those who had not replied to the initial invitation.
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6.4.3.3 The Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic (Student
Translators’ Group):
The same Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic given to the
Professional Translators’ Group was also given to another group of respondents;
postgraduate English-Arabic translation students at the School of Languages and
Linguistics at the University of Western Sydney. The students were enrolled in a
Graduate Diploma (English-Arabic Interpreting and Translation) or Masters of
Arts (Translation and Linguistics) programs. The researcher contacted the Head of
the School and obtained permission to conduct this study. The researcher then met
with one of the English-Arabic translation lecturers to fix a date to visit one of
their classes. Later, the researcher visited the class for approximately fifteen
minutes and explained to the students the intended study. After explaining to the
students the tasks they would be required to perform, the researcher asked them
whether they wanted to participate in the study, assuring them that confidentiality
would be maintained. Each student was then given an Information Sheet (see
Appendix C) and a Consent Form to sign and bring back to the researcher along
with the Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic.
6.4.3.4 Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations (Professional Translators’
Group):
After receiving the Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic from the
professional translators, the researcher sent them the Questionnaire of Arabic
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Collocations, the second part of this study. The second part was sent to them
separately after they completed the Translation Test of English Collocations into
Arabic, because they were not supposed to see the Arabic equivalents of the
English collocations in the translation test. They were also sent postage-paid
return envelopes.
6.4.3.5 Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations (Student Translators’ Group):
Before giving the student translators the Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations, the
researcher waited for them to return the Translation Test of English Collocations
into Arabic. After they returned the tests to the researcher, they were visited again
in their classroom and had the second part explained to them. They were then
given the Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations and were asked to return them to
the researcher or the School secretary after completion.
117
Chapter Seven: Results & discussion: Questionnaire of Arabic collocations
7 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: QUESTIONNAIRE OF
ARABIC COLLOCATIONS, CHARACTERISTICS
AND SEMANTIC & DISTRIBUTIONAL
PATTERNING OF ARABIC COLLOCATIONS
7.1 Introduction
This chapter has three major sections. The first section presents the results of the
questionnaire of Arabic collocations given to all three groups involved in the study:
the Arabic Control Group, the Professional Translators’ Group, and the Student
Translators’ Group. Utilizing descriptive statistics, it discusses the findings of the
questionnaire of Arabic collocations in relation to the first three research questions of
the study. These are:
 What is the difference between the Arabic Control Group’s knowledge
and the Professional Translators Group’s knowledge of Arabic verb +
object and noun + adjective collocations?
118
 What is the difference between the Arabic Control Group’s knowledge
and the Student Translators Group’s knowledge of Arabic verb + object
and noun + adjective collocations?
 What is the difference between the Professional Translators Group’s
knowledge and the Student Translators Group’s knowledge of Arabic verb
+ object and noun + adjective collocations?
The aim of section one is to establish clear collocational knowledge differences
among the three groups involved in the study. It will also determine the range of
decisiveness across the three groups.
The second section of this chapter attempts to answer the fourth research question of
this study, which is:
 What are the characteristics of Arabic verb + object and noun + adjective
collocations?
The aim of this section is to point out what characteristics a collocation has according
to this study in light of the definition of collocation proposed in the introductory
chapter.
119
Finally, the third section of this chapter discusses the semantic and distributional
patterning of collocations in the Arabic language. It attempts to answer the fifth
research question of this study, which is:
 What are the semantic and distributional patterns into which Arabic verb +
object and noun + adjective collocations fall?
The aim here is to classify collocations into different semantic and distributional
patterns according to the results of the study. The collocations are categorized into
five semantic and distributional patterns. The classification is made according to the
restrictedness between the components of the examples of collocations used in this
study. The semantic and distributional patterns that Arabic verb + object and noun +
adjective collocations fall into are: strong collocations, acceptable collocations, weak
collocations, unacceptable collocations, unique collocations, metaphorical
collocations, and idiomatic extensions of collocations.
7.2 Section one: Results of the questionnaire of Arabic collocations
This section presents the results of the questionnaire of Arabic collocations given to
the three groups involved in the study. The results of the Arabic examples of verb +
object and noun + adjective collocations have been classified into three categories
depending on the number of clear preferences among the four alternatives. A clear
preference of a strong collocation was when the respondents gave the alternative of
120
‘always’ collocating with the head noun in the sentence a frequency of 80 percent or
more. The analysis was made by running the data through a frequency test using the
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. This method of classification
was carried out in order to observe the different categories that the examples of
collocations fell into according to the three different groups in the study. The three
categories in the classification were:
1- No strong collocation: Where there was no clear preference of a verb (1st fifty
examples) or an adjective (2nd fifty examples) collocating with the head noun
in the sentence.
2- One strong collocation: Where there was one clear preference of a verb (1st
fifty examples) or an adjective (2nd fifty examples) collocating with the head
noun in the sentence.
3- Two strong collocations: Where there were two clear preferences of verbs (1st
fifty examples) or adjectives (2nd fifty examples) collocating with the head
noun in the sentence.
This classification of the examples of Arabic collocations clearly determined the
range of decisiveness across the three groups involved in the study, as the main
121
concern of this section, and probably most research in this linguistic area, is
collocations of high frequency, strong collocations.
7.2.1 Arabic Control Group (21 respondents)
According to the Arabic Control Group, seven (14%) of the fifty examples of verb +
object collocations in the first part of the questionnaire appeared to have no clear
preference, thirty nine (78%) had one clear preference and four (8%) had two clear
preferences (see Table 7.1).
122
Verb + Object No Clear Preference One Clear Two Clear

Collocations Preference Preferences
1-…..3ahdan d) qaTa3a (85.7%)
a)3aahada b)?axada
c) qaDaa d) qaTa3a
2- …..3ahdan c) naqaDa (85.7%)
a) xaana b) nakata
c) naqaDa d) nabada
3- ….. jawaadan c) imtaTaa (100%)
a) rakiba b) Sa3ida
c) imtaTaa d) I3talaa
4-….. sayfan a) istalla (95.2%)
a) istalla b) sahara
c) jarra d) ?axraja
5- …..jadalan d) ?ataara (100%)
a) 3amila b) fataHa
c) ?as3ala d) ?ataara
6-….. ?amran c) ?aSdara (95.2%)
a) ?amlaa b) ?a3Taa
c) ?aSdara d) manaHa
7-.... ta3liymaat X
a) naffada b) ittaba3a
c) ?aTaa3a d) Tabbaqa
8-….. sirran d) ?afsaa (100%)
a) ?adaa3a b) ?a3lana
c) kasafa d) ?afsaa
9-..... ittifaaqiyyah b) ?abrama (90.5%)
a) 3aqada b) ?abrama
c) ?ajraa d) 3amila
10-….. dumuw3an a) darafa (95.2%)
a) darafa b) sakaba
c) ?awqa3a d) ?anzala
11-….. xaTa?an b) iqtarafa (85.7%)
a) qaddama b) iqtarafa d) Irtakaba (85.7%)
c) 3amila d) Irtakaba
12-….. jariymatan a) Irtakaba (85.7%)
a) Irtakaba b) 3amila
c) iqtarafa d) qaddama
13-….. juhdan b) badala (100%)
a) 3amila b) badala
c) qaddama d) ?addaa
14-….qaanuwnan d) xaalafa (100%)
a) kasara b) naaqaDa
c) tajaawaza d) xaalafa
15-…..?ataran c) iqtafaa (95.2%)
a) ta3aqqaba b) tabi3a
c) iqtafaa d) Taarada
16-….. matalan b) Daraba (100%)
a) ?a3Taa b) Daraba
c) qaddama d) ?alqaa
17-..... ma3rakatan a) xaaDa (100%)
a) xaaDa b) Haaraba
c) qaatala d) gazaa
18-….. Hariyqan b) ?as3ala (85.7%)
a) ?awqada b) ?as3ala
123
c) ?ansa?a d) ?aDrama
19-….. Tariyqan c) 3abbada (95.2%)
a) banaa b) ?ansa?a
c) 3abbada d) sayyada
20-….. hadafan b) Haqqaqa (95.2%)
a) ?aHraza b) Haqqaqa
c) ?anjaza d) balaga
21-….. natiyjatan X
a) naala b) ?aHraza
c) iktasaba d) ?anjaza
22-….. gayZan b) kaZama (100%)
a) kabata b) kaZama
c) katama d) qama3a
23-….. qiSSatan a) qaSSa (81%)
a) qaSSa b) ?ansada
c) rawaa d) Hakaa
24-…..liHyatan c) ?aTlaqa (90.5%)
a) waffara b) ?asdala
c) ?aTlaqa d) Tawwala
25-…..waqtan a) ?aDaa3a (81%)
a) ?aDaa3a b) ?ahdara b) ?ahdara (85.7%)
c) Sarafa d) xasira
26-…..Taaqatan b) ?ahdara (95.2%)
a) xasira b) ?ahdara
c) Sarafa d) ?aDaa3a
27-..... ijtimaa3an c) 3aqada (100%)
a) rattaba b) sakkala
c) 3aqada d) ?ajraa
28-….. muw?tamaran c) 3aqada (90.5%)
c) 3aqada d) ?ajraa
29-...... xidmatan c) ?asdaa (81%)
a) 3amila b) ?a3Taa
c) ?asdaa d) qaddama
30-….. Harban a) sanna (100%)
a) sanna b) ?as3ala
c) sa33ara d) ?aHdata
31-….. xilaafan X
a) ?aSlaHa b) fakka
c) sawwaa d) faDDa
32-…..Hadaran c) tawaxxaa (90.5%)
a) ?axada b) maarasa
c) tawaxxaa d) raafaqa
33-….. qaraaran X
a) ?axada b) ittaxada
c) 3amila d) ?anjaza
34-…..mas?uwliyatan d) taHammala (100%)
a) ?axada b) ra3aa
c) HafiZa d) taHammala
35-…..furSatan a) igtanama (85.7%)
a) igtanama b) intahaza b) intahaza (100%)
c) istagalla d) ihtaballa
36-…..Daw?an c) sallaTa (100%)
a) ?anzala b) rakkaza
c) sallaTa d) ?alqaa
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37-…..?ijraa?an c) ittaxada (90.5%)

a) Saaga b) 3amila
c) ittaxada d) qaddama
38-….. manSiban a) sagila (85.7%)
a) sagila b) iHtalla
c) tabawwa?a d) balaga
39-….. Dararan d) ?alHaqa (100%)
a) sabbaba b) kawwana
c) sakkala d) ?alHaqa
40-….. xitaaban c) ?alqaa (100%)
a) ?a3Taa b) naqala
c) ?alqaa d) qaddama
41-…… ittiSaalan d) ?ajraa (100%)
a) 3amila b) ?addaa
c) qaddama d) ?ajraa
42-….. tajribatan a) ?ajraa (95.2%)
a) ?ajraa b) qaddama
c) ?addaa d) 3amila
43-….. qaanuwnan a) sanna (81%)
a) sanna b) waDa3a
c) sara3a d) ?aqaama
44-….. sarikatan b) tara?asa (81%)
a) qaada b) tara?asa d) ?adaara (85.7%)
c) Hakama d) ?adaara
45-..... darsan c) laqqana (100%)
a) 3allama b) fahhama
c) laqqana d) ?a3Taa
46-….. tiqatan X
a) naala b) kasiba
c) Haaza d) rabiHa
47-….. intiSaaran d) ?aHraza (81%)
a) Haqqaqa b) ?anjaza
c) 3amila d) ?aHraza
48-….. intibaahan X
a) ?a3Taa b) qaddama
c) ?a3ara d) ?abdaa
49-….. hadafan d) Haddada (100%)
a) waDDaHa b) bayyana
c) qarrara d) Haddada
50-….. wa3yan X
a) faqada b) gaaba
c) zaala d) ixtafaa
Table 7. 1 Verb + object Arabic collocations' results: Arabic Control Group (n=21)
In the second part of the questionnaire, eight (16%) of the fifty examples of noun +
adjective collocations appeared to have no clear preference for the Arabic Control
Group, forty-one (82%) had one clear preference and one (2%) had two clear
preferences (see Table 7.2).
125
Noun + Adjective No Clear Preference One Clear Preference Two Clear

Collocations Preferences
1- sifaa? un….. b) taam (100%)
a) naajiz b) taam
c) xaaliS d) kulliy
2- maTarun….. a) gaziyr (100%)
a) gaziyr b) sadiyd
c) waabil d) katiyr
3- raa?iHatun..... c) zakiyyah (100%)
a) jamiylah b) raa?i3ah
c) zakiyyah d) Tayyibah
4- raa?iHatun..... d) kariyhah (95.2%)
a) sayyi?ah b) natinah
c) 3afinah d) kariyhah
5- 3aDalaatun….. a) maftuwlah (90.5%)
a) maftuwlah b) matiynah
c) galiyZah d) Salbah
6- daakiratun….. b) qawiyyah (95.2%)
a) Hayyah b) qawiyyah
c) HaafiZah d) laaqiTah
7- masaa3irun….. X
a) jayyasah b) raqiqah
c) nabiylah d) murhafah
8- silaaHun….. d) fattaak (85.7%)
a) mumiyt b) qaatil
c) mudammir d) fattaak
9- xaTa?un….. c) faadiH (85.7%)
a) faaHis b) jasiym
c) faadiH d) 3aZiym
10- faqrun….. c) mudqi3 (100%)
a) mur b) qaatil
c) mudqi3 d) muDniy
11- xayaalun….. b) waasi3 (85.7%)
a) mubdi3 b) waasi3 d) xiSb (90.5%)
c) xallaaq d) xiSb
12- jawaabun….. a) saafiy (100%)
a) saafiy b) murDiy
c) muqni3 d) qaati3
13- sababun….. b) wajiyh (100%)
a) jayyid b) wajiyh
c) muqni3 d) murDiy
14- Sadiyqun…..
a) Saduwq b) qariyb X
c) Hamiym d) Haq
15- Hayaatun..... c) sa3iydah (85.7%)
a) haniy?ah b) Tayyibah
c) sa3iydah d) ragdah
16- jam3un….. a) gafiyr (100%)
a) gafiyr b) kabiyr
c) waasi3d) waafir
17- su?aalun….. c) wajiyh (95.2%)
a) jayyid b) murDiy
c) wajiyh d) qawiy
18- ginaan….. b) faaHis (90.5%)
a) kabiyr b) faaHis
126
c) muTgiy d) 3aZiym
19- Harbun...... a) Daruws (95.2%)
a) Daruws b) 3aniyfah
c) TaHinah d) sarisah
20- naSrun….. b) mu?azzar (85.7%)
a) 3aZiym b) mu?azzar
c) saaHiq d) mubiyn
21-3awaaqibun….. a) waxiymah (95.2%)
a) waxiymah b) xaTiyrah
c) sayyi?ah d) muqiytah
22-3uTlatun….. c) rasmiyyah (85.7%)
a) 3aammah b) Hukuwmiyyah
c) rasmiyyah d)3umuwmiyyah
23- riyaaHun...... X
a) 3aaSifah b) 3aatiyah
c) SarSar d) hawjaa?
24- jaysun….. d) jiraar (90.5%)
a) 3aramram b) kabiyr
c) Daxm d) jarraar
25- saylun….. c) 3arim (85.7%)
a) haa?ij b) gaziyr
c) 3arim d) haddaar
26- Haajatun..... a) maassah (100%)
a) maassah b) muliHHah
c) Harijah d) sadiydah
27- najaaHun….. d) baahir (90.5%)
a) marmuwq b) saaHiq
c) baliyg d) baahir
28- fasalun….. a) dariy3 (100%)
a) dariy3 b) kabiyr
c) muHadiq d) 3aZiym
29- ragbatun……
a) muliHHah b) jaamiHah X
c) 3aarimah d) sadiydah
30- jabalun…… b) saahiq (90.5%)
a) ?asam b) saahiq
c) 3aaliy d) saamix
31- hawaa?un….. c) Talq (95.2%)
a) xaarijiy b) Hur
c) Talq d) maksuwf
32- daliylun….. d) qaaTi3 (95.2%)
a) bayyin b) saaTi3
c) qawiy d) qaaTi3
33- diqqatun..... b) mutanaahiyah (90.5%)
a) kabiyrah b) mutanaahiyah
c) quSwaa d) baaligah
34- nismatun….. a) 3aliylah (100%)
a) 3aliylah b) laTiyfah
c) xafiyfah d) raxaa?
35- xabarun….. c) saar (90.5%)
a) maymuun b) sa3iid
c) saar d) mufriH
36- saayun….. d) taqiyl (100%)
a) mu3attaq b) murakkaz
c) mukattaf d) taqiyl
37-?awaamirun….. b) Saarimah (90.5%)
127
a) sadiydah b) Saarimah
c) SariyHah d) baaligah
38- taklufatun..... a) baahiZah (100%)
a) baahiZah b) 3aaliyah
c) gaaliyah d) faaHisah
39- xidmatun..... X
a) sadiydah b) saamiyah
c) nabiylah d) jaliylah
40-3uquwbatun…... b) raadi3ah (100%)
a) zaajirah b) raadi3ah
c) munakkilah d) maani3ah
41-3aduwun….. c) laduwd (95.2%)
a) mubiyn b) sadiyd
c) laduwd d) ?atiym
42-?a3daarun….. a) waahiyah (100%)
a) waahiyah b) muxtalaqah
c) 3ankabuwtiyah d)3urquwbiyyah
43-Dararun….. d) jasiym (95.2%)
a) faadiH b)baalig
c) xaTiyr d) jasiym
44-3aaSifatun….. X
a) 3aatiyah b) qawiyyah
c) hawjaa? d) sadiydah
45- fikratun…..
a) nayyirah b) sadiydah X
c) jayyidah d) 3aZiymah
46-3ilaajun..... b) naaji3 (90.5%)
a) saafiy b) naaji3
c) mufiyd d) mutmir
47- ma3rakatun….. b) TaaHinah (90.5%)
a) 3aniyfah b) TaaHinah
c) Daruws d) jabbaarah
48- HaZZun….. a) sa3iyd (95.2%)
a) sa3iyd b) waafir
c) jayyid d) 3aZiym
49- Hiqdun….. c) dafiyn (100%)
a) qadiym b) 3atiyq
c) dafiyn d) mutagalgil
50- biHaarun….. X
a) sadiydah b) 3aniyfah
c) haa?ijah d) taa?irah
Table 7. 2 Noun + adjective Arabic collocations’ results: Arabic Control Group (n=21)
128
7.2.2 Professional Translators’ Group (16 respondents)
The results of the Professional Translators’ Group showed that twelve (24%) of the
fifty examples of verb + object collocations in the first part of the questionnaire
appeared to have no clear preference, thirty eight (76%) had one clear preference and
none (0%) had two clear preferences (see Table 7.3).
129

1-…..3ahdan X
a)3aahada b)?axada
c) qaDaa d) qaTa3a
2- …..3ahdan b) nakata (93.8%)
a) xaana b) nakata
c) naqaDa d) nabada
3- ….. jawaadan c) imtaTaa (87.5%)
a) rakiba b) Sa3ida
c) jarra d) ?axraja
5- …..jadalan d) ?ataara (100%)
a) 3amila b) fataHa
6-….. ?amran c) ?aSdara (81.3%)
a) ?amlaa b) ?a3Taa
7-.... ta3liymaat a) naffada (81.3%)
8-….. sirran d) ?afsaa (100%)
c) kasafa d) ?afsaa
9-..... ittifaaqiyyah b) ?abrama (87.5%)
c) ?ajraa d) 3amila
10-….. dumuw3an a) darafa (100%)
a) darafa b) sakaba
11-….. xaTa?an X
a) qaddama b) iqtarafa
13-….. juhdan b) badala (100%)
a) 3amila b) badala
15-…..?ataran c) iqtafaa (93.8%)
16-….. matalan b) Daraba (93.8%)
a) ?a3Taa b) Daraba
17-..... ma3rakatan a) xaaDa (93.8%)
a) xaaDa b) Haaraba
c) qaatala d) gazaa
18-….. Hariyqan X
130
19-….. Tariyqan X
a) banaa b) ?ansa?a
20-….. hadafan X
a) naala b) ?aHraza
22-….. gayZan b) kaZama (81.3%)
a) kabata b) kaZama
c) katama d) qama3a
23-….. qiSSatan X
a) qaSSa b) ?ansada
c) rawaa d) Hakaa
24-…..liHyatan c) ?aTlaqa (93.8%)
25-…..waqtan X
a) ?aDaa3a b) ?ahdara
c) Sarafa d) xasira
27-..... ijtimaa3an c) 3aqada (93.8%)
c) 3aqada d) ?ajraa
28-….. muw?tamaran c) 3aqada (87.5%)
c) 3aqada d) ?ajraa
29-...... xidmatan c) ?asdaa (81.3%)
a) 3amila b) ?a3Taa
30-….. Harban a) sanna (81.3%)
a) sanna b) ?as3ala
31-….. xilaafan X
a) ?aSlaHa b) fakka
c) sawwaa d) faDDa
32-…..Hadaran c) tawaxxaa (100%)
33-….. qaraaran b) ittaxada (100%)
a) ?axada b) ra3aa
35-…..furSatan b) intahaza (81.3%)
a) igtanama b) intahaza
36-…..Daw?an c) sallaTa (100%)
131
37-….. ?ijraa?an c) ittaxada (93.8%)

a) Saaga b) 3amila
38-….. manSiban X
39-….. Dararan d) ?alHaqa (100%)
40-….. xitaaban c) ?alqaa (100%)
a) ?a3Taa b) naqala
41-…… ittiSaalan d) ?ajraa (100%)
a) 3amila b) ?addaa
c) ?addaa d) 3amila
43-….. qaanuwnan a) sanna (81.3%)
a) sanna b) waDa3a
44-….. sarikatan d) ?adaara (81.3%)
a) qaada b) tara?asa
45-..... darsan c) laqqana (100%)
46-….. tiqatan X
a) naala b) kasiba
c) Haaza d) rabiHa
47-….. intiSaaran d) ?aHraza (81.3%)
c) ?a3ara d) ?abdaa
49-….. hadafan d) Haddada (100%)
50-….. wa3yan a) faqada (100%)
a) faqada b) gaaba
c) zaala d) ixtafaa
Table 7. 3 Verb + object Arabic collocations’ results: Professional Translators’ Group (n=16)
As for the second part of the questionnaire, thirteen (26%) of the fifty examples of
noun + adjective collocations appeared to have no clear preference, thirty six (72%)
had one clear preference and one (2%) had two clear preferences (see Table 7.4).
132

a) naajiz b) taam
c) xaaliS d) kulliy
a) gaziyr b) sadiyd
c) waabil d) katiyr
3- raa?iHatun..... c) zakiyyah (93.8%)
5- 3aDalaatun….. a) maftuwlah (100%)
6- daakiratun….. b) qawiyyah (93.8%)
8- silaaHun….. d) fattaak (87.5%)
a) mumiyt b) qaatil
9- xaTa?un….. c) faadiH (81.3%)
a) faaHis b) jasiym
c) faadiH d) 3aZiym
10- faqrun….. c) mudqi3 (93.8%)
a) mur b) qaatil
c) mudqi3 d) muDniy
11- xayaalun….. X
a) mubdi3 b) waasi3
c) xallaaq d) xiSb
12- jawaabun….. c) muqni3 (81.3%)
a) saafiy b) murDiy
c) muqni3 d) qaati3
13- sababun….. b) wajiyh (100%)
a) jayyid b) wajiyh
c) muqni3 d) murDiy
14- Sadiiqun….. X
a) Saduuq b) qariib
c) Hamiim d) Haq
15- Hayaatun..... X
16- jam3un….. a) gafiyr (100%)
a) gafiyr b) kabiyr
c) waasi3d) waafir
17- su?aalun….. c) wajiyh (100%)
a) jayyid b) murDiy
c) wajiyh d) qawiy
18- ginaan….. b) faaHis (93.8%)
a) kabiyr b) faaHis
133
c) muTgiy d) 3aZiym
19- Harbun...... a) Daruws (81.3%)
a) Daruws b) 3aniyfah c) TaHinah (81.3%)
20- naSrun….. c) saaHiq (87.5%)
c) saaHiq d) mubiyn
21-3awaaqibun….. a) waxiimah (100%)
24- jaysun….. X
c) Daxm d) jarraar
25- saylun….. X
a) haa?ij b) gaziyr
c) 3arim d) haddaar
26- Haajatun..... a) maassah (87.5%)
27- najaaHun….. d) baahir (81.3%)
c) baliyg d) baahir
28- fasalun….. a) dariy3 (100%)
a) dariy3 b) kabiyr
29- ragbatun……
30- jabalun…… b) saahiq (87.5%)
a) ?asam b) saahiq
c) 3aaliy d) saamix
31- hawaa?un….. c) Talq (100%)
a) xaarijiy b) Hur
c) Talq d) maksuwf
32- daliylun….. d) qaaTi3 (100%)
a) bayyin b) saaTi3
c) qawiy d) qaaTi3
33- diqqatun..... b) mutanaahiyah (100%)
34- nismatun….. a) 3aliylah (93.8%)
35- xabarun….. c) saar (87.5%)
a) maymuwn b) sa3iyd
c) saar d) mufriH
36- saayun….. X
37-?awaamirun….. b) Saarimah (100%)
134
38- taklufatun..... a) baahiZah (100%)
39- xidmatun..... X
40-3uquwbatun…... b) raadi3ah (93.8%)
a) zaajyrah b) raadi3ah
41-3aduwun….. c) laduwd (100%)
a) mubiyn b) sadiyd
c) laduwd d) ?atiym
42-?a3daarun….. a) waahiyah (100%)
c) 3ankabuutiyah d)3urquubiyyah
43-Dararun….. d) jasiym (87.5%)
a) faadiH b)baalig
c) xaTiyr d) jasiym
c) hawjaa? d) sadiidah
45- fikratun…..
46-3ilaajun..... X
a) saafiy b) naaji3
c) mufiyd d) mutmir
47- ma3rakatun….. b) TaaHinah (81.3%)
48- HaZZun….. a) sa3iyd (100%)
a) sa3iyd b) waafir
c) jayyid d) 3aZiym
49- Hiqdun….. c) dafiyn (100%)
a) qadiym b) 3atiyq
50- biHaarun….. c) haa?ijah (87.5%)
Table 7. 4 Noun + adjective Arabic collocations’ results: Professional Translators’ Group (n=16)
135
7.2.3 Student Translators’ Group (8 respondents)
According to the Student Translators’ Group, twenty seven (54%) of the fifty
examples of verb + object collocations in the first part of the questionnaire appeared
to have no clear preference, twenty three (46%) had one clear preference and none
(0%) had two clear preferences (see Table 7.5).
136

1-…..3ahdan X
a)3aahada b)?axada
c) qaDaa d) qaTa3a
2- …..3ahdan X
a) xaana b) nakata
c) naqaDa d) nabada
3- ….. jawaadan c) imtaTaa (87.5%)
a) rakiba b) Sa3ida
c) jarra d) ?axraja
5- …..jadalan d) ?ataara (87.5%)
a) 3amila b) fataHa
6-….. ?amran b) ?a3Taa (87.5%)
a) ?amlaa b) ?a3Taa
7-.... ta3liymaat a) naffada (100%)
8-….. sirran d) ?afsaa (87.5%)
c) kasafa d) ?afsaa
9-..... ittifaaqiyyah a) 3aqada (87.5%)
c) ?ajraa d) 3amila
10-….. dumuw3an a) darafa (87.5%)
a) darafa b) sakaba
11-….. xaTa?an X
a) qaddama b) iqtarafa
13-….. juhdan X
a) 3amila b) badala
15-…..?ataran X
16-….. matalan X
a) ?a3Taa b) Daraba
17-..... ma3rakatan a) xaaDa (87.5%)
a) xaaDa b) Haaraba
c) qaatala d) gazaa
18-….. Hariyqan X
137
19-….. Tariyqan X
a) banaa b) ?ansa?a
20-….. hadafan X
a) naala b) ?aHraza
22-….. gayZan X
a) kabata b) kaZama
c) katama d) qama3a
23-….. qiSSatan X
a) qaSSa b) ?ansada
c) rawaa d) Hakaa
24-…..liHyah c) ?aTlaqa (87.5%)
25-…..waqtan X
a) ?aDaa3a b) ?ahdara
c) Sarafa d) xasira
27-..... ijtimaa3an c) 3aqada (87.5%)
c) 3aqada d) ?ajraa
28-….. muw?tamaran X
c) 3aqada d) ?ajraa
29-...... xidmatan X
a) 3amila b) ?a3Taa
30-….. Harban a) sanna (87.5%)
a) sanna b) ?as3ala
31-….. xilaafan X
a) ?aSlaHa b) fakka
c) sawwaa d) faDDa
32-…..Hadaran X
33-….. qaraaran b) ittaxada (100%)
a) ?axada b) ra3aa
35-…..furSatan X
a) igtanama b) intahaza
36-…..Daw?an X
138
37-….. ?ijraa?an X
a) Saaga b) 3amila
38-….. manSiban X
39-….. Dararan X
40-….. xitaaban c) ?alqaa (87.5%)
a) ?a3Taa b) naqala
41-…… ittiSaalan d) ?ajraa (87.5%)
a) 3amila b) ?addaa
c) ?addaa d) 3amila
43-….. qaanuwnan X
a) sanna b) waDa3a
44-….. sarikatan d) ?adaara (87.5%)
a) qaada b) tara?asa
45-..... darsan X
46-….. tiqatan X
a) naala b) kasiba
c) Haaza d) rabiHa
47-….. intiSaaran X
c) ?a3ara d) ?abdaa
49-….. hadafan d) Haddada (87.5%)
50-….. wa3yan a) faqada (87.5%)
a) faqada b) gaaba
c) zaala d) ixtafaa
Table 7. 5 Verb + object Arabic collocations’ results: Student Translators’ Group (n=8)
Twenty-nine (58%) of the fifty examples in the second part of the questionnaire of
noun + adjective collocations appeared to have no clear preference, twenty-one (42%)
had one clear preference and none (0%) had two clear preferences (see Table 7.6).
139

a) naajiz b) taam
c) xaaliS d) kulliy
a) gaziyr b) sadiyd
c) waabil d) katiyr
3- raa?iHatun..... c) zakiyyah (87.5%)
5- 3aDalaatun….. a) maftuwlah (87.5%)
6- daakiratun….. b) qawiyyah (100%)
8- silaaHun….. X
a) mumiyt b) qaatil
9- xaTa?un….. X
a) faaHis b) jasiym
c) faadiH d) 3aZiym
10- faqrun….. X
a) mur b) qaatil
c) mudqi3 d) muDniy
11- xayaalun….. X
a) mubdi3 b) waasi3
c) xallaaq d) xiSb
12- jawaabun….. X
a) saafiy b) murDiy
c) muqni3 d) qaati3
13- sababun….. X
a) jayyid b) wajiyh
c) muqni3 d) murDiy
14- Sadiyqun….. X
a) Saduwq b) qariyb
c) Hamiym d) Haq
15- Hayaatun..... a) haniy?ah (87.5%)
16- jam3un….. X
a) gafiyr b) kabiyr
c) waasi3d) waafir
17- su?aalun….. X
a) jayyid b) murDiy
c) wajiyh d) qawiy
18- ginaan….. X
a) kabiyr b) faaHis
140
c) muTgiy d) 3aZiym
19- Harbun...... X
a) Daruws b) 3aniyfah
20- naSrun….. X
c) saaHiq d) mubiyn
21-3awaaqibun….. a) waxiymah (87.5%)
24- jaysun….. X
c) Daxm d) jarraar
25- saylun….. X
a) haa?ij b) gaziyr
c) 3arim d) haddaar
26- Haajatun..... a) maassah (100%)
27- najaaHun….. d) baahir (100%)
c) baliyg d) baahir
28- fasalun….. a) dariy3 (87.5%)
a) dariy3 b) kabiyr
29- ragbatun…… X
a) muliHHah b) jaamiHah
30- jabalun…… X
a) ?asam b) saahiq
c) 3aaliy d) saamix
31- hawaa?un….. c) Talq (100%)
a) xaarijiy b) Hur
c) Talq d) maksuwf
32- daliylun….. X
a) bayyin b) saaTi3
c) qawiy d) qaaTi3
33- diqqatun..... b) mutanaahiyah (87.5%)
34- nismatun….. a) 3aliylah (87.5%)
35- xabarun….. X
a) maymuwn b) sa3iyd
c) saar d) mufriH
36- saayun….. X
37-?awaamirun….. b) Saarimah (100%)
141
38- taklufatun..... a) baahiZah (87.5%)
39- xidmatun..... X
40-3uquwbatun…... X
41-3aduwun….. c) laduwd (100%)
a) mubiyn b) sadiyd
c) laduwd d) ?atiym
42-?a3daarun….. a) waahiyah (87.5%)
43-Dararun….. X
a) faadiH b)baalig
c) xaTiyr d) jasiym
45- fikratun….. X
a) nayyirah b) sadiydah
46-3ilaajun..... X
a) saafiy b) naajy3
c) mufiyd d) mutmir
47- ma3rakatun….. X
48- HaZZun….. a) sa3iyd (87.5%)
a) sa3iyd b) waafir
c) jayyid d) 3aZiym
49- Hiqdun….. X
a) qadiym b) 3atiyq
c) dafiin d) mutagalgil
50- biHaarun….. c) haa?ijah (100%)
Table 7. 6 Noun + adjective Arabic collocations’ results: Student Translators’ Group (n=8)
142
7.2.4 Decisiveness versus Indecisiveness
This section distinguishes between the three groups involved in the study in terms of
what they strongly accepted as a collocation in the Arabic language. The main
concern of this study, and probably most research conducted in this area, is
collocations of high frequency, strong collocations. That is, those collocations that
are chosen by each of the three different groups in this study as ‘always’ collocating.
This section concentrates on strong collocations by looking at the results of the three
groups in relation to their preference for strong collocations. A strong collocation in
this study, that is, one that the respondents chose as ‘always’ collocating, has a
collocation frequency of 80 per cent or more. The two tables below summarize the
results of the three different groups.
Verb + Object Arabic Control Professional Student Translators’

Collocations Group (n=21) Translators’ Group Group (n=8)
(n=16)
1-…..3ahdan d) qaTa3a (85.7%) X X
a)3aahada b)?axada
c) qaDaa d) qaTa3a
2- …..3ahdan c) naqaDa (85.7%) b) nakata (93.8%) X
a) xaana b) nakata
c) naqaDa d) nabada
3- ….. jawaadan c) imtaTaa (100%) c) imtaTaa (87.5%) c) imtaTaa (87.5%)
a) rakiba b) Sa3ida
4-….. sayfan a) istalla (95.2%) a) istalla (93.8%) a) istalla (87.5%)
c) jarra d) ?axraja
5- …..jadalan d) ?ataara (100%) d) ?ataara (100%) d) ?ataara (87.5%)
a) 3amila b) fataHa
6-….. ?amran c) ?aSdara (95.2%) c) ?aSdara (81.3%) b) ?a3Taa (87.5%)
a) ?amlaa b) ?a3Taa
7-.... ta3liymaat X a) naffada (81.3%) a) naffada (100%)
8-….. sirran d) ?afsaa (100%) d) ?afsaa (100%) d) ?afsaa (87.5%)
143
c) kasafa d) ?afsaa
9-..... ittifaaqiyyah b) ?abrama (90.5%) b) ?abrama (87.5%) a) 3aqada (87.5%)
c) ?ajraa d) 3amila
10-….. dumuw3an a) darafa (95.2%) a) darafa (100%) a) darafa (87.5%)
a) darafa b) sakaba
11-….. xaTa?an b) iqtarafa (85.7%) X X
a) qaddama b) iqtarafa d) Irtakaba (85.7%)
12-….. jariymatan a) Irtakaba (85.7%) a) Irtakaba (87.5%) a) Irtakaba (87.5%)
13-….. juhdan b) badala (100%) b) badala (100%) X
a) 3amila b) badala
14-….qaanuwnan d) xaalafa (100%) d) xaalafa (100%) d) xaalafa (100%)
15-…..?ataran c) iqtafaa (95.2%) c) iqtafaa (93.8%) X
16-….. matalan b) Daraba (100%) b) Daraba (93.8%) X
a) ?a3Taa b) Daraba
17-..... ma3rakatan a) xaaDa (100%) a) xaaDa (93.8%) a) xaaDa (87.5%)
a) xaaDa b) Haaraba
c) qaatala d) gazaa
18-….. Hariyqan b) ?as3ala (85.7%) X X
19-….. Tariyqan c) 3abbada (95.2%) X X
a) banaa b) ?ansa?a
20-….. hadafan b) Haqqaqa (95.2%) X X
21-….. natiyjatan X X X
a) naala b) ?aHraza
22-….. gayZan b) kaZama (100%) b) kaZama (81.3%)
a) kabata b) kaZama
c) katama d) qama3a
23-….. qiSSatan a) qaSSa (81%) X X
a) qaSSa b) ?ansada
c) rawaa d) Hakaa
24-…..liHyatan c) ?aTlaqa (90.5%) c) ?aTlaqa (93.8%) c) ?aTlaqa (87.5%)
25-…..waqtan a) ?aDaa3a (81%) X X
a) ?aDaa3a b) ?ahdara b) ?ahdara (85.7%)
c) Sarafa d) xasira
26-…..Taaqatan b) ?ahdara (95.2%) b) ?ahdara (93.8%) b) ?ahdara (87.5%)
144
27-..... ijtimaa3an c) 3aqada (100%) c) 3aqada (93.8%) c) 3aqada (87.5%)

c) 3aqada d) ?ajraa
28-….. muw?tamaran c) 3aqada (90.5%) c) 3aqada (87.5%) X
c) 3aqada d) ?ajraa
29-...... xidmatan c) ?asdaa (81%) c) ?asdaa (81.3%) X
a) 3amila b) ?a3Taa
30-….. Harban a) sanna (100%) a) sanna (81.3%) a) sanna (87.5%)
a) sanna b) ?as3ala
31-….. xilaafan X X X
a) ?aSlaHa b) fakka
c) sawwaa d) faDDa
32-…..Hadaran c) tawaxxaa (90.5%) c) tawaxxaa (100%) X
33-….. qaraaran X b) ittaxada (100%) b) ittaxada (100%)
34-…..mas?uwliyatan d) taHammala (100%) d) taHammala (100%) d) taHammala (100%)
a) ?axada b) ra3aa
35-…..furSatan a) igtanama (85.7%) b) intahaza (81.3%) X
a) igtanama b) intahaza b) intahaza (100%)
36-…..Daw?an c) sallaTa (100%) c) sallaTa (100%) X
37-…..?ijraa?an c) ittaxada (90.5%) c) ittaxada (93.8%) X
a) Saaga b) 3amila
38-….. manSiban a) sagila (85.7%) X X
39-….. Dararan d) ?alHaqa (100%) d) ?alHaqa (100%) X
40-….. xitaaban c) ?alqaa (100%) c) ?alqaa (100%) c) ?alqaa (87.5%)
a) ?a3Taa b) naqala
41-…… ittiSaalan d) ?ajraa (100%) d) ?ajraa (100%) d) ?ajraa (87.5%)
a) 3amila b) ?addaa
42-….. tajribatan a) ?ajraa (95.2%) a) ?ajraa (87.5%) a) ?ajraa (87.5%)
c) ?addaa d) 3amila
43-….. qaanuwnan a) sanna (81%) a) sanna (81.3%) X
a) sanna b) waDa3a
44-….. sarikatan b) tara?asa (81%) d) ?adaara (81.3%) d) ?adaara (87.5%)
a) qaada b) tara?asa d) ?adaara (85.7%)
45-..... darsan c) laqqana (100%) c) laqqana (100%) X
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46-….. tiqatan X X X
a) naala b) kasiba
c) Haaza d) rabiHa
47-….. intiSaaran d) ?aHraza (81%) d) ?aHraza (81.3%) X
48-….. intibaahan X X X
c) ?a3ara d) ?abdaa
49-….. hadafan d) Haddada (100%) d) Haddada (100%) d) Haddada (87.5%)
50-….. wa3yan X a) faqada (100%) a) faqada (87.5%)
a) faqada b) gaaba
c) zaala d) ixtafaa
Table 7. 7 Results of the questionnaire of Arabic collocations (part one: verb + object
collocations)
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Noun + Adjective Arabic Control Professional Student Translators’

Collocations Group (n=21) Translators’ Group Group (n=8)
(n=16)
1- sifaa? un….. b) taam (100%) b) taam (100%) b) taam (100%)
a) naajiz b) taam
c) xaaliS d) kulliy
2- maTarun….. a) gaziyr (100%) a) gaziyr (100%) a) gaziyr (100%)
a) gaziyr b) sadiyd
c) waabil d) katiyr
3- raa?iHatun..... c) zakiyyah (100%) c) zakiyyah (93.8%) c) zakiyyah (87.5%)
4- raa?iHatun..... d) kariyhah (95.2%) d) kariyhah (93.8%) d) kariyhah (87.5%)
5- 3aDalaatun….. a) maftuwlah (90.5%) a) maftuwlah (100%) a) maftuwlah (87.5%)
6- daakiratun….. b) qawiyyah (95.2%) b) qawiyyah (93.8%) b) qawiyyah (100%)
7- masaa3irun….. X X X
8- silaaHun….. d) fattaak (85.7%) d) fattaak (87.5%) X
a) mumiyt b) qaatil
9- xaTa?un….. c) faadiH (85.7%) c) faadiH (81.3%) X
a) faaHis b) jasiym
c) faadiH d) 3aZiym
10- faqrun….. c) mudqi3 (100%) c) mudqi3 (93.8%) X
a) mur b) qaatil
c) mudqi3 d) muDniy
11- xayaalun….. b) waasi3 (85.7%) X X
a) mubdi3 b) waasi3 d) xiSb (90.5%)
c) xallaaq d) xiSb
12- jawaabun….. a) saafiy (100%) c) muqni3 (81.3%) X
a) saafiy b) murDiy
c) muqni3 d) qaati3
13- sababun….. b) wajiyh (100%) b) wajiyh (100%) X
a) jayyid b) wajiyh
c) muqni3 d) murDiy
14- Sadiyqun….. X X
a) Saduwq b) qariyb X
c) Hamiym d) Haq
15- Hayaatun..... c) sa3iydah (85.7%) X a) haniy?ah (87.5%)
16- jam3un….. a) gafiyr (100%) a) gafiyr (100%) X
a) gafiyr b) kabiyr
c) waasi3d) waafir
17- su?aalun….. c) wajiyh (95.2%) c) wajiyh (100%) X
a) jayyid b) murDiy
c) wajiyh d) qawiy
18- ginaan….. b) faaHis (90.5%) b) faaHis (93.8%) X
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a) kabiyr b) faaHis
c) muTgiy d) 3aZiym
19- Harbun...... a) Daruws (95.2%) a) Daruws (81.3%) X
a) Daruws b) 3aniyfah c) TaHinah (81.3%)
20- naSrun….. b) mu?azzar (85.7%) c) saaHiq (87.5%) X
c) saaHiq d) mubiyn
21-3awaaqibun….. a) waxiymah (95.2%) a) waxiimah (100%) a) waxiymah (87.5%)
22-3uTlatun….. c) rasmiyyah (85.7%) c) rasmiyyah (93.8%) c) rasmiyyah (87.5%)
23- riyaaHun...... X X X
24- jaysun….. d) jiraar (90.5%) X X
c) Daxm d) jarraar
25- saylun….. c) 3arim (85.7%) X X
a) haa?ij b) gaziyr
c) 3arim d) haddaar
26- Haajatun..... a) maassah (100%) a) maassah (87.5%) a) maassah (100%)
27- najaaHun….. d) baahir (90.5%) d) baahir (81.3%) d) baahir (100%)
c) baliyg d) baahir
28- fasalun….. a) dariy3 (100%) a) dariy3 (100%) a) dariy3 (87.5%)
a) dariy3 b) kabiyr
29- ragbatun…… X X
30- jabalun…… b) saahiq (90.5%) b) saahiq (87.5%) X
a) ?asam b) saahiq
c) 3aaliy d) saamix
31- hawaa?un….. c) Talq (95.2%) c) Talq (100%) c) Talq (100%)
a) xaarijiy b) Hur
c) Talq d) maksuwf
32- daliylun….. d) qaaTi3 (95.2%) d) qaaTi3 (100%) X
a) bayyin b) saaTi3
c) qawiy d) qaaTi3
33- diqqatun..... b) mutanaahiyah(90.5%) b) mutanaahiyah (100%) b) mutanaahiyah (87.5%)
34- nismatun….. a) 3aliylah (100%) a) 3aliylah (93.8%) a) 3aliylah (87.5%)
35- xabarun….. c) saar (90.5%) c) saar (87.5%) X
a) maymuun b) sa3iid
c) saar d) mufriH
36- saayun….. d) taqiyl (100%) X X
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37-?awaamirun….. b) Saarimah (90.5%) b) Saarimah (100%) b) Saarimah (100%)

38- taklufatun..... a) baahiZah (100%) a) baahiZah (100%) a) baahiZah (87.5%)
39- xidmatun..... X X X
40-3uquwbatun…... b) raadi3ah (100%) b) raadi3ah (93.8%) X
41-3aduwun….. c) laduwd (95.2%) c) laduwd (100%) c) laduwd (100%)
a) mubiyn b) sadiyd
c) laduwd d) ?atiym
42-?a3daarun….. a) waahiyah (100%) a) waahiyah (100%) a) waahiyah (87.5%)
43-Dararun….. d) jasiym (95.2%) d) jasiym (87.5%) X
a) faadiH b)baalig
c) xaTiyr d) jasiym
44-3aaSifatun….. X X X
45- fikratun….. X X
46-3ilaajun..... b) naaji3 (90.5%) X X
a) saafiy b) naaji3
c) mufiyd d) mutmir
47- ma3rakatun….. b) TaaHinah (90.5%) b) TaaHinah (81.3%)
48- HaZZun….. a) sa3iyd (95.2%) a) sa3iyd (100%) a) sa3iyd (87.5%)
a) sa3iyd b) waafir
c) jayyid d) 3aZiym
49- Hiqdun….. c) dafiyn (100%) c) dafiyn (100%) X
a) qadiym b) 3atiyq
50- biHaarun….. X c) haa?ijah (87.5%) c) haa?ijah (100%)
Table 7. 8 Results of the questionnaire of Arabic collocations (part two: noun + adjective
collocations)
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The results of the questionnaiare of Arabic collocations, as shown in the two previous
tables, obviously show that there was a significant difference in the level of
decisiveness and, therefore, knowledge of Arabic verb + object and noun + adjective
collocations between the three groups involved in the study. The greatest significant
difference was found between the Arabic Control Group and the Student Translators’
Group, followed by the difference between the Professional Translators’ Group and
the Student Translators’ Group, and, finally, the difference between the Arabic
Control Group and the Professional Translators’ Group. The following two tables
summarize the results of the three different groups in terms of their decisiveness.
Group No Clear One Clear Two Clear

Preference Preference Preferences
7/50 (14%) 39/50 (78%) 4/50 (8%)
Professional 12/50 (24%) 38/50 (76%) 0/50 (0%)
Translators
Student Translators 27/50 (54%) 23/50 (46%) 0/50 (0%)
Table 7. 9 Part one: verb + object collocations. Summary table of numbers and percentages of
preferences among the three groups
Group No Clear One Clear Two Clear

Preference Preference Preferences
8/50 (16%) 41/50 (82%) 1/50 (2%)
Professional 13/50 (26%) 36/50 (72%) 1/50 (2%)
Translators
Student Translators 29/50 (58%) 21/50 (42%) 0/50 (0%)
Table 7. 10 Part two: noun + adjective collocations. Summary table of numbers and percentages
of preferences among the three groups
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7.2.4.1 Arabic Control Group
The Arabic Control Group was more decisive than the Professional Translators’
Group and much more decisive than the Student Translators’ Group. In the first part
of the questionnaire, the verb + object collocations, they were decisive in forty-three
examples of fifty (86%), and only indecisive in the remaining seven examples (14%).
As for the second part of the questionnaire, the noun + adjective collocations, the
Arabic Control Group were decisive in forty-two examples of fifty (84%), and only
indecisive in the remaining eight examples (16%).
7.2.4.2 Professional Translators’ Group
The Professional Translators’ Group was less decisive than the Arabic Control
Group, but much more decisive than the Student Translators’ Group. In the first part
of the questionnaire, the verb + object collocations, they were decisive in thirty-eight
examples of fifty (76%) and indecisive in the other twelve examples (24%).
As for part two of the questionnaire, the noun + adjective collocations, the
Professional Translators’ Group were decisive in thirty-seven examples of fifty (74%)
and indecisive in the other thirteen examples (26%).
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7.2.4.3 Student Translators’ Group
The Student Translators’ Group was considered indecisive. They were much less
decisive than both the Arabic Control Group and the Professional Translators’ Group.
In addition, they were indecisive in the majority of examples in both parts of the
questionnaire. In the first part of the questionnaire, the verb + object collocations,
they were decisive in only twenty-three examples of fifty (46%) and indecisive in the
other twenty-seven examples (54%).
As for the second part of the questionnaire, the noun + adjective collocations, the
Student Translators’ Group were decisive in only twenty-one examples of fifty (42%)
and indecisive in the other twenty-nine examples (58%).
7.2.4.4 Discussion
The results of the questionnaire of Arabic collocations show the range of decisiveness
among the three different groups involved in this study. The Arabic Control Group,
as expected, was the most decisive group; the Professional Translators’ Group was
less decisive; and, finally, the Student Translators’ Group was indecisive.
A question that follows from this finding is, “why should there be such differences
between the three groups involved in this study?” All professional and student
translators as a basic requirement for being translators or trainee translators should be
equally fluent in both languages, English and Arabic, not to mention that (87.5%) of
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the professional translators and (100%) of the student translators were native speakers
of Arabic. Yet their abilities in making collocation judgments still fell behind those of
the Arabic Control Group. The professional translators were more decisive than the
student translators, however, there was still a difference between their collocational
knowledge and those of the Arabic Control Group. Even when disregarding their
general performance in English-Arabic translation, the Professional Translators’
Group and the Student Translators’ Group were still not on the same scale as the
Arabic Control Group, at least in terms of collocational knowledge.
There are many possible reasons to explain the differences between the Arabic
Control Group and the two other groups. The following reasons may, at least, partly
account for these differences. For example, the Arabic Control Group respondents
may have been quite confident in selecting their preferences. One definite reason
would be that all the respondents were native speakers of Arabic and were
postgraduate students of either Arabic linguistics or literature, which was not
necessarily the case with the other two groups. Besides this, all the respondents in the
Arabic Control Group did not speak English fluently nor did they speak any other
language. They also knew, from the information sheet, that the researcher was using
them as a control group for the study and that the results from the two other groups
would be compared against theirs, which may have given them more confidence in
filling out the questionnaire. The respondents of the Professional Translators’ Group
were less decisive, probably because of the influence of the English collocations that
were given to them in the translation test prior to the questionnaire of Arabic
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collocations. The same could apply to the respondents of the Student Translators’
Group, only that the student translators were indecisive. The differences between the
Arabic Control Group and the two other groups could be the result of the latter
groups’ learning Arabic without an emphasis on collocations, but rather simply
learning words in isolation. Another possible reason might be that some professional
and student translators were not aware of the phenomenon of collocation at all.
As for the difference between professional and student translators, there may be many
other possible reasons to account for this. The Professional Translators’ Group may
have studied Arabic longer than the Student Translators’ Group (which was a factor
the questionnaire did not consider). It might be that the professional translators, as
full-time practitioners, were more exposed to Arabic texts than the student translators.
Therefore, the more frequently a person is exposed to a particular collocation in
Arabic (or in any other language), the more likely they are to know it and, therefore,
produce it appropriately.
Finally, it may be assumed that the professional and student translators’ knowledge of
Arabic verb + object and noun + adjective collocations may not have been reflected
accurately by the questionnaire of Arabic collocations, and thus such differences
between those two groups and the Arabic Control Group could have been due to
factors such as the questionnaire’s complexity and the test conditions. The impact of
educational and language exposure variation between the groups, as well as the
influence of a myriad of other factors, would require further research and
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investigation beyond the scope of this thesis to ascertain their relative weight and
would appear to have relatively little effect on the respondents’ specific knowledge-
base examined in this study.
The conclusion that can be drawn, therefore, is that the Arabic Control Group’s
knowledge of Arabic verb + object and noun + adjective collocations is better than
the Professional Translators’ Group and much better than the Student Translators’
Group. This conclusion becomes even more significant when we consider that
collocations are not taught explicitly in translation schools, which probably suggests
that collocations may be acquired unconsciously.
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7.3 Section two: Characteristics of Arabic collocations
Collocation was defined in the introductory chapter as the tendency of certain words
in a language to combine with one another, as against others that do not have this
tendency, and the meaning of which can be deduced from at least one of the
components of the collocation. This section attempts to discuss the characteristics of
Arabic verb + object and noun + adjective collocations. In this section, this author
distinguishes collocations from other multi-word expressions that may have a similar
grammatical structure but that are of dissimilar semantic types such as idiomatic
expressions.
The following are the most significant thirteen characteristics identified by this author
of Arabic verb + object and noun + adjective collocations: 1- Collocations consist of
two or more words. 2- Semantic transparency. 3- Arbitrariness. 4- Unpredictability.
5- Language-specificity. 6- Flexibility of word order. 7- Cannot be replaced by a
synonym. 8- Formality. 9- Possibility of addition. 10- Possibility of a change in tense.
11-Possibilty of passivization. 12- Possibility of pluralization. 13- Possibility of
collocational range expansion.
These characteristics are now presented and explained in more detail below.
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7.3.1 Collocations consist of two or more words
A collocation consists of two or more words in the Arabic language. It contains at
least a ‘base’ and a ‘collocate’ (Nicolas, 1995:234). A collocation cannot consist of
one word only, otherwise it would not be considered a collocation. This applies even
to components of unique collocations (see 6.4.1 below), where one word in a
collocation is restrictedly used with only one other word. For example, ‫عقدم رقف‬
faqrun mudqi3 (abject poverty). Although the adjective ‫ عقدم‬mudqi3 (abject)
uniquely collocates with the noun ‫ رقف‬faqr (poverty), the adjective cannot just be
used separately and called a collocation. Both the noun and adjective have to be used.
7.3.2 Semantic transparency
Collocations are characterized as semantically transparent. That is, the meaning of a
collocation can clearly be deduced from at least one of its constituent parts. At least
one of the words in a collocation should be used in its literal, non-figurative sense. If
the meaning of an expression was semantically opaque, it could not be considered a
collocation. Thus, the meaning of the whole collocation can be clearly understood
from at least one of the constituent parts of the combination.
For example, ‫ ادهع عطق‬qaTa3a 3ahdan (He made a pact.) (literally: He cut a pact.).
Although the word ‫ عطق‬qaTa3a (to cut) is used figuratively, the meaning of the
expression can still be predicted from the other component of the collocation, ‫دهع‬
3ahd (a pact), which is used in its literal, transparent sense.
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7.3.3 Arbitrariness
A collocation is said to be arbitrary (Benson et al., 1986). That is, the words are
joined together arbitrarily to form a collocation. There is no logical or semantic
reason why word X would collocate with word Y. Take for example the noun +
adjective collocation ‫ ديعس ظح‬HaZZun sa3iyd (good luck). The noun ‫ ظح‬HaZZ
(luck) in Arabic arbitrarily collocates with the adjective ‫ ديعس‬sa3iyd (happy), which
literally means happy. There is no reason why it should collocate with this particular
word and not with another. It could be asked why it would not collocate with the
adjective ‫ ديج‬jayyid (good), which means good, as in English. This question cannot
be answered from a semantic basis. It is simply a matter of convention.
7.3.4 Unpredictability
The association between the components of a collocation is unpredictable (Benson et
al, 1986). Collocations are not predictable on the basis of syntactic or semantic rules.
This characteristic especially applies to non-native speakers of Arabic, as a native
speaker of Arabic should be able to predict collocations. However, this
unpredictability feature depends on several factors. One factor would be education,
because written Arabic differs from spoken in terms of collocation. In spoken Arabic,
speakers tend to use generic or neutral verbs such as, ‫لعف‬ fa3ala (to do), ‫لمع‬
3amila (to make), or ‫ ـب ماق‬qaama bi (to perform), and generic or neutral adjectives
such as, ‫ريبك‬ kabiyr (big), or ‫ ريثك‬katiyr (plenty). These generic or neutral
words are interesting, because these verbs or adjectives could be used with almost
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any noun in Arabic. These generic or neutral verbs and adjectives are characterised
generally by their high frequency and universality of meaning. The more educated the
speaker is the more they would be able to predict collocations and the less educated
the less able to predict. Thus, the more the speaker is exposed to Modern Standard
Arabic through reading and listening the more they would be able to predict and,
therefore, demonstrate acceptable collocations.
Another factor in unpredictability arises from the speaker being multilingual or even
bilingual. If a person speaks another language(s) they may not be able easily to
predict collocations. There could be the possibility of language interference from the
other language(s).
7.3.5 Language-specificity
What collocates with a word in one language does not necessarily collocate with the
same word in another language. In other words, a collocation in one language may be
totally different in another. For example, in English the noun news collocates with the
adjective good, however, the same noun in Arabic, ‫? رابخأ‬axbaar (news), collocates
with a different adjective, which is ‫ةراس‬ saarrah (happy).
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7.3.6 Flexibility of word order
Another characteristic of collocations in the Arabic language is the flexibility of word
order. One can possibly change the order of words in a collocation. The following
examples illustrate this feature:
1.a- ‫[ ﺧﯿﺎل واﺳﻊ‬noun + adjective] xayaalun waasi3 (rich imagination); or
1.b- ‫لايخلا عساو‬ [adjective + noun] waasi3u al-xayaal (rich imagination).
2.a- ‫[ ةيكز ةحئار‬noun + adjective] raa?iHatun zakiyyah (a good smell); or
2.b- ‫[ ةحئارلا يكز‬adjective + noun] zakiyyi al-raa?iHah (a good smell)
In example 1.a, the collocation ‫ عساو لايخ‬xayaalun waasi3 (rich imagination) is a
noun + adjective collocation. It is possible to change the word order of this
collocation. The collocation can be, as in example 1.b, an adjective + noun
collocation, ‫ لايخلا عساو‬waasi3u al-xayaal (rich imagination). The same applies to
examples 2.a and 2.b. In Arabic, one could say ‫ ةيكز ةحئار‬raa?iHatun zakiyyah (a
good smell), a noun + adjective collocation. One could also say ‫ زﻛﻲ اﻟﺮاﺋﺤﺔ‬zakiyyi al-
raa?iHah (a good smell), an adjective + noun collocation.
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7.3.7 Cannot be replaced by a synonym
Arabic is a language that is rich in synonyms (Blau, 1981:95). Nevertheless, it has
been generally argued in semantics that true or real synonymy does not exist in
language and that no two words have exactly the same meaning (Zughoul, 1991:48;
Nilsen & Nilsen, 1975:154-5). Palmer (1981) states that it is unlikely that two
different words with exactly the same meaning would both survive in a language. In
some respects, there is a difference in meaning between synonyms. Nilsen and Nilsen
(1975) state that this difference in meaning between synonyms may be a difference in
collocation.
Substituting a synonym for one of the words of a collocation usually results in an
unacceptable collocation. Take for instance the collocation ‫افيس لتسا‬ istalla
sayfan (he drew a sword). Although the verbs ‫ لتسا‬istalla (to draw) and ‫ رج‬jarra
(to draw) are synonyms, the latter cannot substitute for the former.
7.3.8 Formality
Most, but not all, collocations are formal in usage. In idiomatically extended
collocations (see idiomatic extensions of collocations section below), for example,
where all the components of a collocation are not used in their literal sense, the
collocation can be substituted by formal words to express the same meaning. That is
unlike other semantic patterns of collocations, where a collocation cannot usually be
substituted by other better words in order to express the same meaning. The
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idiomatically extended collocation ‫ ذرف دﻣﻮﻋﺎ‬darafa dumuw3an (he shed tears), for
example, can be used in its literal non-idiomatic sense and be called a collocation,
and can also be used in a non-literal idiomatic sense meaning to show sadness.
Therefore, an idiomatically extended collocation in its non-literal idiomatic sense can
be substituted by formal words used in their literal sense.
7.3.9 Possibility of addition
Addition is another characteristic of collocation. It is possible to add a word to the
components of a collocation. For example, ‫ةميرج بكترا‬ irtakaba jariymah (he
committed a crime) is a collocation. If we add an adjective to modify the noun in the
previous collocation, it will still remain a collocation; ‫ ةضماغ ةميرج بكترا‬irtakaba
jariymah gaamiDah (he committed a mysterious crime).
7.3.10 Possibility of a change in tense
One can possibly change the tense of a verb in a collocation. For example, ‫أطخ فرتقا‬
iqtarafa xaTa?an (he made a mistake) in the past tense is a collocation, and ‫فرتقي‬
‫ أطخ‬yaqtarifu xaTa?an (he makes a mistake) in the present tense is also definitely a
collocation. Changing the tense of a verb in a collocation will not change other
features of collocability.
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7.3.11 Possibility of passivization
The formation of the passive voice in a collocation is possible in most cases. The
choice between using the active or passive voice in Arabic is a matter of style, not
correctness. However, the active voice is described as more natural, direct, lively and
succinct. Furthermore, Arabic passives rarely include an agent clause (Carroll, 1993).
For example, ‫ ﻋﻘﺪ اﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﺎ‬3aqada ijtimaa3an (he held a meeting) is active, and ‫ﻋﻘﺪ اﺟﺘﻤﺎع‬
3uqida ijtimaa3un (a meeting was held) is passive. Thus, a verb in a collocation could
be active or passive. Another example is ‫ ﺑﺬل ﺟﮭﺪا‬badala juhdan (he exerted an effort)
where the verb is in the active voice, and ‫ ﺑﺬل ﺟﮭﺪ‬budila juhdun (an effort was
exerted).
7.3.12 Possibility of pluralization
Another characteristic of collocations in the Arabic language is the possibility of
using the plural form of a noun in a collocation. Consequently, if the plural form is
possible in some collocations in Arabic, then the singular form is possible in others.
The examples below illustrate this point.
1.a- Singular noun: ‫ريزغ رطم‬ maTarun gaziyr (heavy rain)
1.b- Plural noun: ‫? ةريزغ راطمأ‬amTaarun gaziyrah (heavy rains)
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2.a- Singular noun: ‫? ارمأ ردصأ‬aSdara ?amran (he gave an order)
2.b- Plural noun: ‫? ارماوأ ردصأ‬aSdara ?awaamiran (he gave orders)
In example 1.a, the singular noun ‫ رطم‬maTar (rain) collocates with the adjective
‫ريزغ‬ gaziyr (literally: abundant). At the same time, the plural form of the same
noun is also possible. In example 1.b, the plural noun ‫? راطمأ‬amTaar (rains) also
collocates with the same adjective, which is ‫ ةريزغ‬gaziyrah (literally: abundant).
The same applies to verb + object collocations. In example 2.a, the verb ‫ردصأ‬
?aSdara (literally: to issue) collocates with the singular noun ‫? رمأ‬amr (an order). The
same verb can also collocate with the plural form of the same noun. Therefore, in
example 2.b, the verb ‫? ردصأ‬aSdara (literally: to issue) can also collocate with the
plural noun ‫? رماوأ‬awaamir (orders).
7.3.13 Possibility of collocational range expansion
A collocational range of a word is, according to Lyons (1995:62), “the set of contexts
in which it can occur”. Gully (1993) states that certain words in modern Arabic may
possibly expand their collocational range (although classified by Gully as a semantic
feature of modern Arabic). That is, a word over time may gain new collocates. The
examples below illustrate this point.
164
1- ‫ اﻧﺪﻟﻌﺖ اﻟﺤﺮب‬indala3at al-Harb (war broke out)
2- ‫ اﻧﺪﻟﻌﺖ اﻻﺿﻄﺮاﺑﺎت‬indala3at al-iDTiraabaat (disturbances broke out)
3- ‫ اﻧﺪﻟﻌﺖ اﻟﺘﻈﺎھﺮات‬indala3at al-taZaahuraat (demonstrations broke out)
Gully (1993) points out that although the verb ‫ اﻧﺪﻟﻊ‬indala3a (to break out) usually
collocates with ‫ ﺣﺮب‬Harb (war), its collocational range has expanded. Examples 2
and 3 above show that the verb ‫ اﻧﺪﻟﻊ‬indala3a (to break out) may possibly collocate
with other nouns in modern Arabic. Gully (1993:51) further explains that the
expansion of the collocational range of a word in modern Arabic refers to “a certain
similarity of meaning”. Therefore, all of the examples above reflect some kind of
intensification of hostility, probably with the idea of some force involved, and
demonstrate a generally negative sense.
165
7.4 Section three: Semantic and distributional patterning of Arabic
collocations
This section discusses the semantic and distributional patterning of collocations in the
Arabic language. It answers the questions, do the components of collocations differ in
their tendency to collocate with one another, and, if they do differ, into what semantic
patterns do they fall? It partly follows a classification of English collocations by Hill
(2000). This classificatory system is based on the strength of the attraction between
the components of the particular collocation. Unfortunately, his classification is not
based on empirical data.
The semantic and distributional classification in this section accords with the
restrictedness between the components of the examples of collocations used in this
study. This classification is based on the results of the questionnaire of Arabic
collocations given to the Arabic Control Group. The questionnaire used in this study
is based on a scale of frequency of collocability. The scale is as follows: always
collocating (strong collocations), occasionally collocating (acceptable collocations),
seldom collocating (weak collocations), and never collocating (unacceptable
collocations). Since the respondents of the Arabic Control Group did not achieve
what this author set as the threshold level of frequency (80% or more) for denoting
acceptable or weak collocations, then these two patterns will not be examined below.
166
The lexical relationship of collocations can be ascertained by their frequency, but also
by the semantic relationship between the components. In addition to the four patterns
proposed above, there are three further specifically semantic patterns of collocations
proposed by this author for this study. These semantic patterns are: unique
collocations, metaphorical collocations, and idiomatic extensions of collocations.
These three categories represent patterns of meaning, whereas the previous four
patterns (strong collocations, acceptable collocations, weak collocations, and
unacceptable collocations) represent the range of frequency with which they were
identified as collocations (their strength of attraction) by the respondents in the
Arabic Control Group. Meaning and frequency are simply two sides, qualitative and
quantitative, of the semantic and distributional patterning presented in this study.
7.4.1 Strong collocations
A strong collocation was when the respondents in the Arabic Control group gave a
frequency of 80 percent or more to the alternative of ‘always’ collocating with the
head noun in the sentence. This pattern will, hopefully, help to clearly establish in the
field of Arabic linguistics examples of strong collocations in the Arabic language
according to the Arabic Control Group in the study.
Below are examples of strong collocations and their frequencies drawn from of the
data of this study.
1- Verb + object strong collocations
167
Verb + object collocation English equivalent Frequency

‫ﻗﻄﻊ ﻋﮭﺪا‬ To make a pact 85.7%
qata3a 3ahdan
‫ﻧﻘﺾ ﻋﮭﺪا‬ To break a promise 85.7%
naqaDa 3ahdan
‫اﻣﺘﻄﻰ ﺟﻮادا‬ To ride a horse 100%
imtaTaa jawaadan
‫افيس لتسا‬ To draw a sword 95.2%
istalla sayfan
‫أﺛﺎر ﺟﺪﻻ‬ To open a debate 100%
?ataara jadalan
‫أﺻﺪر أﻣﺮا‬ To give an order 95.2%
?aSdara ?amran
‫أﻓﺸﻰ ﺳﺮا‬ To reveal a secret 100%
?afsaa sirran
‫أﺑﺮم اﺗﻔﺎﻗﯿﺔ‬ To make a deal 90.5%
?abrama ittifaaqiyyah
‫ذرف دﻣﻮﻋﺎ‬ To shed tears 95.2%
Darafa dumuw3an
‫اﻗﺘﺮف ﺧﻄﺄ‬ To make a mistake 85.7%
iqtarafa xaTa?an
‫ارﺗﻜﺐ ﺧﻄﺄ‬ To make a mistake 85.7%
irtakaba xaTa?an
‫ارﺗﻜﺐ ﺟﺮﯾﻤﺔ‬ To commit a crime 85.7%
irtakaba jariymatan
‫ﺑﺬل ﺟﮭﺪا‬ To make an effort 100%
Badala juhdan
‫ﺧﺎﻟﻒ ﻗﺎﻧﻮﻧﺎ‬ To violate a law 100%
Xaalafa qaanuwnan
‫اﻗﺘﻔﻰ أﺛﺮا‬ To keep track 95.2%
Iqtafaa ?ataran
‫ﺿﺮب ﻣﺜﻼ‬ To give an example 100%
Daraba matalan
‫ﺧﺎض ﻣﻌﺮﻛﺔ‬ To fight a battle 100%
XaaDa ma3rakatan
‫أﺷﻌﻞ ﺣﺮﯾﻘﺎ‬ To start a fire 85.7%
?as3ala Hariyqan
‫ﻋﺒﺪ ﻃﺮﯾﻘﺎ‬ To build a road 95.2%
3abbada Tariyqan
‫ﺣﻘﻖ ھﺪﻓﺎ‬ To achieve a goal 95.2%
Haqqaqa hadafan
‫ﻛﻈﻢ ﻏﯿﻈﺎ‬ To suppress rage 100%
kaZama gayZan
‫ﻗﺺ ﻗﺼﺔ‬ To tell a story 81%
qaSSa qiSSatan
‫أﻃﻠﻖ ﻟﺤﯿﺔ‬ To grow a beard 90.5%
168
?aTlaqa liHyah
‫أﺿﺎع وﻗﺘﺎ‬ To waste time 81%
?aDaa3a waqtan
‫أھﺪر وﻗﺘﺎ‬ To waste time 85.7%
?ahdara waqtan
‫ﻋﻘﺪ اﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﺎ‬ To hold a meeting 100%
3aqada ijtimaa3an
‫ﻋﻘﺪ ﻣﺆﺗﻤﺮا‬ To hold a conference 90.5
3aqada muw?tamaran
‫أﺳﺪى ﺧﺪﻣﺔ‬ To do a favour 81%
?asdaa xidmatan
‫ﺷﻦ ﺣﺮﺑﺎ‬ To wage a war 100%
sanna Harban
‫ﺗﻮﺧﻰ ﺣﺬرا‬ To exercise caution 90.5%
tawaxxaa Hadaran
‫ﺗﺤﻤﻞ ﻣﺴﺆوﻟﯿﺔ‬ To take responsibility 100%
taHammala mas?uwliyyah
‫اﻏﺘﻨﻢ ﻓﺮﺻﺔ‬ To seize an opportunity 85.7%
igtanama furSatan
‫اﻧﺘﮭﺰ ﻓﺮﺻﺔ‬ To seize an opportunity 100%
intahaza furSatan
‫ﺳﻠﻂ ﺿﻮءا‬ To shed light 100%
sallaTa Daw?an
‫اﺗﺨﺬ إﺟﺮاءا‬ To adopt a measure 90.5%
ittaxada ?ijraa?an
‫ﺷﻐﻞ ﻣﻨﺼﺒﺎ‬ To hold a position 85.7%
sagila maSiban
‫أﻟﺤﻖ ﺿﺮرا‬ To cause damage 100%
?alHaqa Dararan
‫أﻟﻘﻰ ﺧﻄﺎﺑﺎ‬ To make a speech 100%
?alqaa xiTaaban
‫أﺟﺮى اﺗﺼﺎﻻ‬ To make a call 100%
?ajraa ittiSaalan
‫أﺟﺮى ﺗﺠﺮﺑﺔ‬ To conduct an experiment 95.2%
?ajraa tajribatan
‫ﺳﻦ ﻗﺎﻧﻮﻧﺎ‬ To pass a law 81%
sanna qaanuwnan
‫ﺗﺮأس ﺷﺮﻛﺔ‬ To run a company 81%
Tara?asa sarikatan
‫أدار ﺷﺮﻛﺔ‬ To run a company 85.7%
?adaara sarikatan
‫ﻟﻘﻦ درﺳﺎ‬ To teach a lesson 100%
laqqana darsan
‫أﺣﺮز اﻧﺘﺼﺎرا‬ To score a victory 81%
?aHraza intiSaaran
‫ﺣﺪد ھﺪﻓﺎ‬ To set a goal 100%
169
Haddada hadafan
Table 7. 11 Verb + object strong collocations in Arabic
2- Noun + adjective strong collocations
Noun + adjective English equivalent Frequency

collocation
‫ﺷﻔﺎء ﺗﺎم‬ A full recovery 100%
sifaa? Taam
‫ﻣﻄﺮ ﻏﺰﯾﺮ‬ Heavy rain 100%
maTarun gaziyr
‫راﺋﺤﺔ زﻛﯿﺔ‬ A sweet smell 100%
raa?iHatun zakiyyah
‫راﺋﺤﺔ ﻛﺮﯾﮭﺔ‬ A bad smell 95.2%
raa?iHatun kariyha
‫ﻋﻀﻼت ﻣﻔﺘﻮﻟﺔ‬ Strong muscles 90.5%
3aDalaatun maftuwlah
‫ذاﻛﺮة ﻗﻮﯾﺔ‬ A good memory 95.2%
daakiratun qawiyyah
‫ﺳﻼح ﻓﺘﺎك‬ A deadly weapon 85.7%
silaaHun fattaak
‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﺎدح‬ A serious mistake 85.7%
xaTa?un faadiH
‫ﻓﻘﺮ ﻣﺪﻗﻊ‬ Great poverty 100%
Faqrun mudqi3
‫ﺧﯿﺎل واﺳﻊ‬ Great imagination 85.7%
xayaalun waasi3
‫ﺧﯿﺎل ﺧﺼﺐ‬ Great imagination 90.5%
xayaalun xiSb
‫ﺟﻮاب ﺷﺎﻓﻲ‬ A satisfactory answer 100%
jawaabun saafiy
‫ﺳﺒﺐ وﺟﯿﮫ‬ A good reason 100%
sababun wajiyh
‫ﺣﯿﺎة ﺳﻌﯿﺪة‬ A good life 85.7%
Hayaatun sa3iydah
‫ﺟﻤﻊ ﻏﻔﯿﺮ‬ A large crowd 100%
jam3un gafiyr
‫ﺳﺆال وﺟﯿﮫ‬ A good question 95.2%
Suw?aalun wajiyh
‫ﻏﻨﻰ ﻓﺎﺣﺶ‬ Great wealth 90.5%
ginaan faaHis
‫ﺣﺮب ﺿﺮوس‬ A vicious war 95.2%
Harbun Daruws
170
‫ﻧﺼﺮ ﻣﺆزر‬ A great victory 85.7%

naSrun muw?azar
‫ﻋﻮاﻗﺐ وﺧﯿﻤﺔ‬ Serious consequences 95.2%
3awaaqibun waxiymah
‫ﻋﻄﻠﺔ رﺳﻤﯿﺔ‬ A public holiday 85.7%
3uTlatun rasmiyyah
‫ﺟﯿﺶ ﺟﺮار‬ A large army 90.5%
jaysun jarraar
‫ﺳﯿﻞ ﻋﺮم‬ A raging flood 85.7%
saylun 3arim
‫ﺣﺎﺟﺔ ﻣﺎﺳﺔ‬ An urgent need 100%
Haajatun maassah
‫ﻧﺠﺎح ﺑﺎھﺮ‬ A great success 90.5%
najaaHun baahir
‫ﻓﺸﻞ ذرﯾﻊ‬ A complete failure 100%
fasalun dariy3
‫ﺟﺒﻞ ﺷﺎھﻖ‬ A high mountain 90.5%
jabalun saahiq
‫ھﻮاء ﻃﻠﻖ‬ Open air 95.2%
hawaa?un Talq
‫دﻟﯿﻞ ﻗﺎﻃﻊ‬ Hard evidence 95.2%
daliylun qaaTi3
‫دﻗﺔ ﻣﺘﻨﺎھﯿﺔ‬ Great accuracy 90.5%
diqqatun mutanaahiyah
‫ﻧﺴﻤﺔ ﻋﻠﯿﻠﺔ‬ A gentle breeze 100%
nismatun 3aliylah
‫ﺧﺒﺮ ﺳﺎر‬ Good news 90.5%
xabarun saar
‫ﺷﺎي ﺛﻘﯿﻞ‬ Strong tea 100%
saayun taqiyl
‫أواﻣﺮ ﺻﺎرﻣﺔ‬ Strict orders 90.5%
?awaamirun Saarimah
‫ﺗﻜﻠﻔﺔ ﺑﺎھﻈﺔ‬ A high cost 100%
taklufatun baahiZah
‫ﻋﻘﻮﺑﺔ رادﻋﺔ‬ A severe punishment 100%
3uquwbatun raadi3ah
‫ﻋﺪو ﻟﺪود‬ A bitter enemy 95.2%
3aduwun laduwd
‫أﻋﺬار واھﯿﺔ‬ Lame excuses 100%
?a3daarun waahiyah
‫ﺿﺮر ﺟﺴﯿﻢ‬ Serious damage 95.2%
Dararun jasiym
‫ﻋﻼج ﻧﺎﺟﻊ‬ An effective treatment 90.5%
3ilaajun naaji3
‫ﻣﻌﺮﻛﺔ ﻃﺎﺣﻨﺔ‬ A fierce battle 90.5%
Ma3rakatun TaaHinah
171
‫ﺣﻆ ﺳﻌﯿﺪ‬ Good luck 95.2%

HaZZun sa3iyd
‫ﺣﻘﺪ دﻓﯿﻦ‬ Deep hostility 100%
Hiqdun dafiyn
Table 7. 12 Noun + adjective strong collocations in Arabic
In the first part of the questionnaire (the verb + object collocations), the Arabic
Control Group managed to confirm that forty-three examples of fifty (86%) were
strong collocations. However, they failed to identify the remaining seven examples
(14%).
As for the second part of the questionnaire (the noun + adjective collocations), the
Arabic Control Group managed to confirm that forty-two examples of fifty (84%)
were strong collocations, while they failed to identify the remaining eight examples
(16%).
There are two reasons that could possibly account for the Arabic Control Group’s
failure in identifying strong collocations in seven of fifty (14%) of the items in the
first part of the questionnaire (the verb + object collocations), and eight of fifty (16%)
of the items in the second part (the noun + adjective collocations). The first reason
could be that there might be more than one alternative of the four that, in the
respondents’ opinion, could make a strong collocation if combined with the head
noun in the sentence. Therefore, the distribution of the results shows that there was
not even one single strong collocation identified by the respondents. Another possible
172
reason could be that there are actually no strong collocations for those particular
items. That is, there is no strong association between any of the four alternatives
provided for each of those items and the head noun. For example, in item 31 in the
first part of the questionnaire, the noun ‫ ﺧﻼف‬xilaaf (a dispute) did not prove to have
a strong association with any of the four verbs provided in the questionnaire (to
resolve: ‫? أﺻﻠﺢ‬aSlaHa, ‫ ﻓﻚ‬fakka, ‫ ﺳﻮى‬sawwaa, and ‫ ﻓﺾ‬faDDa), nor did any of the
respondents suggest a verb that could possibly collocate with the head noun and carry
the same meaning.
7.4.2 Unique collocations
When one of the constituents of a collocation is uniquely used with another, one can
call this lexical relationship collocational uniqueness. However, Emery (1988a) uses
the term bound collocations in his classification of collocations to present this
phenomenon. In Arabic, this constituent can only be a verb in a verb + object
collocation and can only be an adjective in a noun + adjective collocation. Cowie
(1981:228) describes this type of word combination as a ‘bridge’ form between other
types of collocations and idioms. The tendency for a word to be used with only one
other word is an indication of its contextual uniqueness. Emery (1988a:29-30) states
that this type of relation is relatively uncommon in English. Exceptional examples
would be to foot the bill and to curry favour. However, the derivational richness of
the Arabic language frequently allows a particular word (in this study a verb or an
adjective) to be reserved for a specific collocate (in this study the noun). This applies
173
to both types of collocations involved in this study, that is, verb + object and noun +
adjective.
For this pattern of collocation, Arabic monolingual dictionaries and dictionaries of
meaning were consulted to check the collocability of the verbs and adjectives with
other nouns. Internet search-engines were also used as sources for the examples used
here of occurrences of verbs and adjectives collocating (forming unique collocations)
with other nouns, and to determine how frequently they co-occurred. The author,
being a native speaker, also used his knowledge of Arabic to identify unique
collocations in the examples for this study. Two monolingual teachers of Arabic, very
recent arrivals in Australia, were consulted too. They both confirmed that the
examples below represent collocational uniqueness.
In this semantic pattern, according to the Arabic Control Group, the components of
the unique collocations scored a frequency of 80 percent or more as ‘always’
collocating with each other. It was found that all the examples of unique collocations
as determined by this author were selected by the Arabic Control Group to be strong
collocations. The tabulated examples below of verb + object collocations illustrate
collocational uniqueness.
1- Verb + object unique collocations
174
Verb + object collocation English equivalent Frequency

a-‫اداوج ىطتما‬ To ride a horse 100%
imtaTaa jawaadan
b- ‫افيس لتسا‬ To draw a sword 95.2%
istalla sayfan
c- ‫ارس ىشفأ‬ To reveal a secret 100%
?afsaa sirran
d- ‫اعومد فرذ‬ To shed tears 95.2%
darafa dumuw3an
e- ‫ارثأ ىفتقا‬ To keep track 95.2%
iqtafa ?ataran
f- ‫اقيرط دبع‬ To build a road 95.2%
3abbada Tariyqan
g- ‫ةمدخ ىدسأ‬ To do a favour 81%
?asdaa xidmatan
h- ‫ارذح ىخوت‬ To exercise caution 90.5%
tawaxxaa Hadaran
i- ‫ةصرف زهتنا‬ To seize an opportunity 100%
intahaza furSatan
Table 7. 13 Verb + object unique collocations in Arabic
In each of the cases above of verb + object unique collocations, the verb collocates
uniquely with a certain noun and is not likely to be used with any other noun in
Arabic. For example, the verb ‫ اﻣﺘﻄﻰ‬imtaTaa (to ride) in Arabic is restricted in
denotation or applicability to riding on horseback. Therefore, it can only collocate
with the noun ‫ ﺟﻮاد‬jawaad (a horse).
175
If any of the examples of the verbs above were given to native speakers of Arabic, the
listener or reader very likely would know what the following noun should be. In other
words, the verb in each of the above examples is restricted to that sense and
invariably cannot be used in any other sense or with any other noun in Arabic. Nine
examples of fifty (18%) verb + object collocations in this study illustrate
The other group of examples that illustrates collocational uniqueness containing noun
+ adjective collocations were as follows.
2- Noun + adjective unique collocations
Noun +adjective collocation English equivalent Frequency

a- ‫ةيكز ةحئار‬ A sweet smell 100%
raa?iHatun zakiyyah
b- ‫ةلوتفم تالضع‬ strong muscles 90.5%
3aDalaatun maftuwlah
c- ‫حداف أطخ‬ A serious mistake 85.7%
xaTa?un faadiH
d- ‫عقدم رقف‬ great poverty 100%
faqrun mudqi3
e- ‫ريفغ عمج‬ A large crowd 100%
jam3un gafiyr
f- ‫شحاف ىنغ‬ great wealth 90.5%
ginan faaHis
g- ‫سورض برح‬ A vicious war 95.2%
176
Harbun Daruws
h- ‫رزؤم رصن‬ A great victory 85.7%
naSrun muw?azar
i- ‫ةميخو بقاوع‬ serious consequences 95.2%
3awaaqibun waxiymah
j- ‫رارج شيج‬ A large army 90.5%
jaysun jarraar
k- ‫مرع ليس‬ A raging flood 85.7%
saylun 3arim
l- ‫ةسام ةجاح‬ An urgent need 100%
Haajatun maassah
m- ‫رهاب حاجن‬ great success 90.5%
najaaHun baahir
n- ‫عيرذ لشف‬ complete failure 100%
fasalun dariy3
o- ‫قهاش لبج‬ A high mountain 90.5%
jabalun saahiq
p- ‫ةليلع ةمسن‬ A gentle breeze 100%
nismatun 3aliylah
q- ‫ةظهاب ةفلكت‬ A high cost 100%
taklufatun baahiZah
r- ‫ةعدار ةبوقع‬ A severe punishment 100%
3uquwbatun raadi3ah
s- ‫دودل ودع‬ A bitter enemy 95.2%
3aduwun laduwd
t- ‫ةيهاو راذعأ‬ lame excuses 100%
?a3daarun waahiyah
u- ‫ميسج ررض‬ serious damage 95.2%
Dararun jasiym
v- ‫عجان جالع‬ An effective treatment 90.5%
3ilaajun naaji3
177
w- ‫ةنحاط ةكرعم‬ A fierce battle 90.5%

ma3rakatun TaaHinah
Table 7. 14 Noun + adjective unique collocations in Arabic
In each example above of noun + adjective unique collocations, the adjective
uniquely collocates with a particular noun and is not likely to collocate with any other
noun in Arabic. For example, the adjective ‫ زﻛﻲ‬zakiy (nice) in Arabic is restricted in
denotation or applicability to smells. Therefore, it can only collocate with the noun
‫ راﺋﺤﺔ‬raa?iHah (a smell).
The adjective in each of the above examples is restricted to that sense and invariably
cannot be used in any other sense or with any other noun in Arabic. Twenty-three
examples of fifty (46%) noun + adjective collocations in this study illustrate
The number of noun + adjective collocations (23/50 = 46%) that illustrate
collocational uniqueness appears to be more than the number of verb + object
collocations (9/50 = 18%). This shows that the phenomenon of collocational
uniqueness is generally more common in attributive structures than in verbal
structures in the Arabic language.
178
7.4.3 Metaphorical collocations
A metaphor is a figurative usage of language largely for aesthetic emotive and
expressive purposes. This follows Ullmann’s (1962:136) definition of a metaphor as
“an implicit use of figurative language which is used for emotive and expressive
purposes”. A metaphor has, in addition to its literal sense or meaning, another sense
or meaning, which is figurative.
Many collocations in languages can be metaphorical. These collocations can be called
metaphorical collocations. Only metaphorical collocations of a frequency of 80
percent or more as ‘always’ collocating according to the Arabic Control Group were
considered in this study. That is, all the examples of metaphorical collocations are
strong collocations at the same time.
Below are examples of metaphorical collocations drawn from the data of this study.
179
1- Verb + object metaphorical collocations
Verb + object metaphorical collocation English equivalent Literal translation

a- ‫ادهع عطق‬ to make a pact to cut a pact
qaTa3a 3ahdan
b- ‫الثم برض‬ to give an example to hit an example
Daraba matalan
c- ‫اعامتجا دقع‬ to hold a meeting to tie a meeting
3aqada ijtimaa3an
d- ‫اباطخ ىقلأ‬ to make a speech to throw a speech
?alqaa xiTaaban
Table 7. 15 Verb + object metaphorical collocations in Arabic
The first example above, the collocation ‫ ﻗﻄﻊ ﻋﮭﺪا‬qaTa3a 3ahdan (to make a pact), is
an example of metaphorical collocation, because the verb ‫ ﻗﻄﻊ‬qaTa3a (literally: to
cut) is used metaphorically. The same applies to the other three examples of verb +
object metaphorical collocations in the table above. The verb ‫ﺿﺮب‬ Daraba
(literally: to hit) in example (b) is used metaphorically in the metaphorical
collocation ‫ ﺿﺮب ﻣﺜﻼ‬Daraba matalan (to give an example). In the third example,
example (c), the verb ‫ ﻋﻘﺪ‬3aqada (literally: to tie) is also used metaphorically in the
metaphorical collocation ‫ﻋﻘﺪ اﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﺎ‬ 3aqada ijtimaa3an (to hold a meeting).
Similarly, in example (d) the verb ‫أﻟﻘﻰ‬ ?alqaa (literally: to throw) is used
metaphorically in the metaphorical collocation ‫? أﻟﻘﻰ ﺧﻄﺎﺑﺎ‬alqaa xiTaaban (to make a
speech).
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2- Noun + adjective metaphorical collocations
Noun + adjective metaphorical English equivalent Literal

collocation translation
a- ‫بصخ لايخ‬ great imagination fertile imagination
xayaalun xiSb
b- ‫يفاش باوج‬ A satisfactory answer a healing answer
jawaabun saafiy
c- ‫عطاق ليلد‬ hard evidence cutting evidence
daliylun qaaTi3
d- ‫ليقث ياش‬ strong tea heavy tea
saayun taqiyl
Table 7. 16 Noun + adjective metaphorical collocations in Arabic
The first example above, the collocation ‫ﺧﯿﺎل ﺧﺼﺐ‬ xayaalun xiSb (great
imagination), is an example of metaphorical collocation, because the adjective ‫ﺧﺼﺐ‬
xiSb (literally: fertile) is used metaphorically. The same applies to the other three
examples of noun + adjective metaphorical collocations in the table above. The
adjective ‫ ﺷﺎﻓﻲ‬saafiy (literally: healing) in example (b) is used metaphorically in the
metaphorical collocation ‫ ﺟﻮاب ﺷﺎﻓﻲ‬jawaabun saafiy (a satisfactory answer). In the
third example, example (c), the adjective ‫ ﻗﺎﻃﻊ‬qaaTi3 (literally: cutting) is also used
metaphorically in the metaphorical collocation ‫ دﻟﯿﻞ ﻗﺎﻃﻊ‬daliylun qaati3 (hard
evidence). Similarly, in example (d) the adjective ‫ ﺛﻘﯿﻞ‬taqiyl (literally: heavy) is used
metaphorically in the metaphorical collocation ‫ ﺷﺎي ﺛﻘﯿﻞ‬saayun taqiyl (strong tea).
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As can be seen from the results, some of the examples in this study fall into the
pattern of metaphorical collocations. This may indicate that metaphor plays an
important role in constructing collocations in the Arabic language.
7.4.4 Idiomatic extensions of collocations
An idiom, in contrast with a collocation, is a fixed expression, the meaning of which
“cannot be predicted from the normal meaning of its component words” (Healey et
al., 1998:75). The meaning of a collocation, on the other hand, can be predicted from
at least one of its constituent words. However, some collocations can be used in an
idiomatic non-literal sense, and thus can be called idiomatic extensions of
collocations, so that the meaning of the whole can no longer be derived from the
meaning of the parts. These collocations, in addition to their literal non-idiomatic
sense or meaning (making them appropriate for inclusion in this study), have another
meaning, which is idiomatic and non-literal. The examples of Arabic collocations
presented in this study are not used in an idiomatic non-literal sense.
An idiomatically extended collocation would be one getting a frequency of 80 percent
or more as ‘always’ collocating according to the Arabic Control Group. That is, all
the examples of idiomatically extended collocations are strong collocations at the
same time.
The examples of idiomatic extensions of collocations below illustrate this point.
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Idiomatically Literal non-Idiomatic Non-literal

extended collocation Meaning Idiomatic meaning
a- ‫اعومد فرذ‬ To shed tears To show sadness
darafa dumuw3an
b- ‫اءوض طلس‬ To shed light To focus
SallaTa Daw?an
c- ‫اقيرح لعشأ‬ To start a fire To cause trouble
?as3ala Hariyqan
Table 7. 17 Examples of idiomatic extensions of collocations
In the first example above, ‫اعومد فرذ‬ darafa dumuw3an (literally: to shed tears) can
be used in its literal non-idiomatic sense and called a collocation. It can also be used
in a non-literal idiomatic sense (and thus be called an idiom), meaning to show
sadness. Similarly, the second example, ‫ اءوض طلس‬sallaTa Daw?an (literally: to
shed light), can also be used in its literal non-idiomatic sense, meaning to shed light.
Another meaning can be added to it, which is non-literal and idiomatic (forming an
idiom), meaning to focus. Again the third example, ‫? أﺷﻌﻞ ﺣﺮﯾﻘﺎ‬as3ala Hariyqan
(literally: to start a fire) can be used in its literal non-idiomatic sense, meaning to start
a fire (and thus be a true collocation), and can also be used, in another context, in a
non-literal idiomatic sense meaning to cause trouble (as an idiom).
This brings us to the conclusion that Arabic collocations may gain an idiomatic
meaning depending on their usage. This tentatively confirms Emery’s (1988a:31)
view that collocation may be one of the routes towards idiomaticity.
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7.4.5 Unacceptable collocations
An unacceptable collocation, or as termed by Healey et al. (1998) a collocational
clash, is simply to “put words together which sound unnatural to a native speaker”
(Healey et al, 1998:72). Baker (1992:54) gives the following example of an
unacceptable collocation in the Arabic language: ‫ ﻛﺴﺮ اﻟﻘﺎﻧﻮن‬kasara al-qaanuwn (to
break the law). She states that the common collocation in Arabic would be ‫فلاخ‬
‫نوناقلا‬ xaalafa al-qaanuwn (literally: to contradict the law). In this study, an
unacceptable collocation would be where the Arabic Control Group gave a frequency
of response in the questionnaire to an alternative verb or adjective collocating with
the head noun in the sentence of 80 percent or more as ‘never’ collocating.
The following are examples of unacceptable collocations according to the Arabic
Control Group in this study.
1- Verb + object unacceptable collocations
184
Unacceptable verb + object English equivalent Strong Arabic collocation(s)

collocation according to Arabic Control
Group
a- *‫اداوج دعص‬ To ride a horse ‫اداوج ىطتما‬
Sa3ida jawaadan imtaTaa jawaadan
b- *‫افيس رج‬ To draw a sword ‫افيس لتسا‬
jara sayfan istalla sayfan
c-*‫ارماوأ حنم‬ To give orders ‫أﺻﺪر أواﻣﺮا‬

?aSdara ?awaamiran
manaHa ?awaamiran
d- *‫اعومد عقوأ‬ To shed tears ‫اعومد فرذ‬
?awqa3a dumuu3an darafa dumuu3an
e- *‫أطخ مدق‬ To make a mistake ‫فرتقا‬/‫أطخ بكترا‬
qaddama xaTa?an iqtarafa/irtakaba xaTa?an
f- *‫ةميرج مدق‬ To commit a crime ‫ارﺗﻜﺐ ﺟﺮﯾﻤﺔ‬

qaddama jariymatan irtakaba jariymatan
g- *‫رثأ دراط‬ To keep track ‫ارثأ ىفتقا‬
Taarada ?ataran iqtafaa ?ataran
h- *‫الثم ىقلأ‬ To give an example ‫الثم برض‬
?alqaa matalan Daraba matalan
i- *‫ةكرعم ازغ‬ To fight a battle ‫ةكرعم ضاخ‬
gazaa ma3rakatan xaaDa ma3rakatan
j- *‫ﺷ ّﯿّﺪ ﻃﺮﯾﻘﺎ‬ To build a road ‫اقيرط دبع‬
sayyada Tariiqan 3abbada Tariiqan
k- *‫اظيغ عمق‬ To suppress rage ‫اظيغ مظك‬
qama3a gayZan kaZama gayZan
l- *‫ةصق دشنأ‬ To tell a story ‫ةصق صق‬
?ansada qiSSatan qaSSa qiSSatan
m- *‫ارذح سرام‬ To exercise caution ‫ارذح ىخوت‬
maarasa Hadaran tawaxxaa Hadaran
n- *‫ارذح قفار‬ To exercise caution ‫ارذح ىخوت‬
raafaqa Hadaran tawaxxaa Hadaran
185
o-*‫ارارق لمع‬ To make a decision -----------

3amila qaraaran
p- *‫ارارق زجنأ‬ To make a decision -----------
?anjaza qaraaran
q- *‫اءوض لزنأ‬ To shed light ‫اءوض طلس‬
?anzala Daw?an sallaTa Daw?an
r- *‫اباطخ ىطعأ‬ To make a speech ‫اباطخ ىقلأ‬
?a3Taa xiTaaban ?alqaa xiTaaban
s- *‫اباطخ لقن‬ To make a speech ‫اباطخ ىقلأ‬
naqala xiTaaban ?alqaa xiTaaban
t- *‫الاصتا ىدأ‬ To make a call ‫الاصتا ىرجأ‬
?addaa ittiSaalan ?ajraa ittiSaalan
u- *‫الاصتا مدق‬ To make a call ‫الاصتا ىرجأ‬
qaddama ittiSaalan ?ajraa ittiSaalan
v- *‫ةكرش مكح‬ To run a company ‫رادأ‬/‫ةكرش سأرت‬
Hakama sarikatan ?adaara/tara?asa sarikatan
w- *‫اراصتنا لمع‬ To score a victory ‫اراصتنا زرحأ‬
3amila intiSaaran ?aHraza intiSaaran
x- *‫اهابتنا مدق‬ To pay attention -------
qaddama intibaahan
Table 7. 18 Unacceptable verb + object collocations in Arabic
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2- Noun + adjective unacceptable collocations
Unacceptable noun + adjective English Strong Arabic collocation

collocation equivalent according to Arabic Control
Group
a- *‫زجان ءافش‬ full recovery ‫مات ءافش‬
sifaa?un naajiz sifaa?un taam
b- *‫عساو عمج‬ a large crowd ‫ريفغ عمج‬
jam3un waasi3 jam3un gafiyr
c-*‫قدحم لشف‬ complete failure ‫عيرذ لشف‬
fasalun muHadiq fasalun dariy3
d- *‫فثكم ياش‬ strong tea ‫ليقث ياش‬
saayun mukattaf saayun taqiyl
Table 7. 19 Unacceptable noun + adjective collocations in Arabic
All of the examples above, according to the Arabic Control Group in this study,
represent examples of unacceptable collocations. That is, collocations that would
sound unnatural or non-native-like when read or heard by a native speaker of Arabic.
The Arabic Control Group in this study confirmed that twenty-four verb + object
collocations in the first part of the questionnaire (the verb + object collocations) were
unacceptable. However, they only confirmed that four noun + adjective collocations
in the second part of the questionnaire (the noun + adjective collocations) were
unacceptable. That is, there were much more unacceptable verb + object collocations
than noun + adjective collocations. Importantly for the findings of this thesis, this
may suggest that verb + object collocations are more restricted in the Arabic language
than noun + adjective collocations.
187
7.5 Conclusion
The first section of this chapter presented the results of the questionnaire of Arabic
collocations. The most important finding was the degree of relative decisiveness
shown by the three different respondent groups in selecting the range of acceptable
collocations. The section showed that the Arabic Control Group was the most
decisive group; the Professional Translators’ Group was less decisive; and, finally,
the Student Translators’ Group was indecisive.
In the second section, by drawing on the Arabic equivalents of the random sample of
collocations found in the translation test of English collocations into Arabic, it
became apparent that there were thirteen significant characteristics relating to the
semantics of Arabic collocations, especially when focusing on verb + object and noun
+ adjective collocations. Most importantly, a pioneering distinction by this author is
the characterising of collocations as separate from other semantic types that have
similar grammatical structures but which are of a dissimilar semantic type (such as
idioms).
The chapter also discussed the semantic and distributional patterning of collocations
in the Arabic language. In this study, a major contribution would be that the Arabic
Control Group helped to ascertain the frequency of usage of some strong
collocations, and denoted unacceptable collocations in the Arabic language. This was
used, along with several other sources, to test other findings relating to semantic
188
propositions regarding collocations. It was also found that all the examples of unique
collocations as determined by this author were proven, at the same time, to be strong
collocations by the Arabic Control Group. From the results, it can be seen that some
of the examples in this study fall into the metaphorical collocation pattern. This may
suggest that metaphor plays an important role in forming collocations in the Arabic
language and has significant implications for translation. This study also suggests that
Arabic collocations may gain an idiomatic meaning depending on their usage, which
could lead to the conclusion that collocation may be one of the routes towards
idiomaticity. From the results, this study also indicates importantly that verb + object
collocations are more restricted in usage than noun + adjective collocations in the
Arabic language.
The next chapter will discuss the results of the other data collection tool used, the
translation test of English collocations into Arabic, and relate these to the results of
the questionnaire of Arabic collocations in the current chapter. This will be done in
terms of the respondents’ competence with Arabic collocations and their performance
in translating English collocations into Arabic.
189
Chapter eight: Results & discussion: Translation test of English collocations into Arabic
8 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: TRANSLATION
TEST OF ENGLISH COLLOCATIONS INTO
ARABIC
8.1 Introduction
As defined earlier in this thesis, a collocation is the tendency for certain words in a
language to combine with one another, as against others that do not have this
tendency of combining together, and the meaning of which can be deduced from at
least one of the components of the collocation. Collocations are a source of difficulty
for translators. The reason for this difficulty is that collocations, in most cases,
“cannot be translated on a word-by-word basis” (Smadja et al., 1996:5). The
translator should know the meaning of the collocation as a whole in the source
language and then render it into an acceptable equivalent collocation typically used in
the target language. Therefore, in order to produce a fluent translation of a full
sentence, “it is necessary to know the specific translation for each of the source
collocations” (Smadja et al., 1996:6). Furthermore, the equivalents of words that
collocate in one language do not necessarily collocate in another (Zughoul, 1991). As
a consequence, some collocations may sound odd and be misapplied when translated
190
(Zughoul & Abdul-Fattah, 2003).
This chapter has two main sections. The first section in this chapter presents the
results of the Translation Test of English Verb + Object and Adjective + Noun
Collocations into Arabic given to the two translation groups involved in this study,
the Student Translators’ Group and the Professional Translators’ Group. This section
presents the findings of the translation test in relation to the following research
questions of this study.
 What are the translation outcomes observed in the Student Translators’ Group
when rendering English verb + object and adjective + noun collocations into
Arabic?
 What are the translation outcomes observed in the Professional Translators’
collocations into Arabic?
The aim of the first section is to point out all the acceptable and unacceptable
translation outcomes from the student and professional translators’ attempts to render
the one hundred examples of English verb + object and adjective + noun
191
collocations into Arabic. Another aim of section one is to try to account for the errors
apparent in the translation of the English collocations into Arabic. It also aims to
point out the differences and similarities between the translation outcomes of the
Student Translators’ Group and the Professional Translators’ Group.
The second section of this chapter discusses the translation outcomes established by
the Student Translators’ Group and the Professional Translators’ Group for rendering
English verb + object and adjective + noun collocations into Arabic. The outcomes
will be discussed in detail using examples from the data. The second section of this
chapter attempts to answer the following research questions:
 What are the most common outcomes in the translations of the English verb +
object and adjective + noun collocations into Arabic?, how frequently did the
Student Translators’ Group and Professional Group resort to each one of the
translation outcomes?
One objective of this section is to define and discuss the outcomes of translating
English verb + object and adjective + noun collocations into Arabic. Another
objective is to state how frequently the Student Translators’ Group and the
Professional Translators’ group resorted to each of the translation outcomes.
192
8.2 Section one: Results of the translation test of English
collocations into Arabic
The Translation Test of English Collocation into Arabic was given to two different
groups: the Student Translators’ Group and the Professional Translators’ Group. The
test consisted of one hundred relatively short English sentences each of which was to
be translated into Arabic. Each one of the one hundred sentences contained an
example of an English collocation. The first fifty examples contained verb + object
collocations, while the second fifty contained adjective + noun collocations. This
section presents the results of the translation test of English collocations into Arabic.
The results of the Translation Test of English collocations into Arabic given to the
Student Translators’ Group and the Professional Translators’ Group are presented
below.
193
8.2.1 The outcomes of translating the English verb + object collocations
into Arabic
Tables 8.1 and 8.2 below demonstrate the differing results of the student and
professional translators’ attempts to produce Arabic equivalents of the fifty English
examples of verb + object collocations. The variety of translations is evident in the
differing renditions of the source language collocations. Such attempts are referred to
in this study as translation outcomes.
The two tables below, Tables 8.1 and 8.2, present the examples of English verb +
object collocations, the translation outcomes of each example, and the frequency of
each outcome. Table 8.1 presents the results of the Student Translators’ Group, while
Table 8.2 presents the results of the Professional Translators’ Group.
194
Translation Outcomes
Strong Unacceptable
Verb + object collocation collocation Encapsulating Neutralizing Paraphrasing Malapropism Calquing Mistranslating Omitting collocation
1- to make a pact 8/8
2- to break a promise 1/8 5/8 2/8
3- to ride a horse 3/8 5/8
4- to draw a sword 3/8 4/8 1/8
5- to open a debate 5/8 3/8
6- to give orders 1/8 1/8 6/8
7- to follow instructions 8/8
8- to reveal a secret 3/8 5/8
9- to make a deal 1/8 6/8 1/8
10- to shed tears 7/8 1/8
11- to make a mistake 5/8 2/8 1/8
12- to commit a crime 6/8 2/8
13- to make an effort 5/8 1/8 2/8
14- to violate law 2/8 5/8 1/8
15- to keep track 2/8 2/8 3/8 1/8
16- to give an example 3/8 5/8
17- to fight a battle 5/8 1/8 2/8
18- to start a fire 7/8 1/8
19- to build a road 8/8
20- to achieve a goal 7/8 1/8
21- to get a score 4/8 4/8
22- to suppress rage 1/8 6/8 1/8
23- to tell a story 2/8 5/8 1/8
24- to grow a beard 4/8 2/8 2/8
25- to waste time 8/8
195
26- to waste energy 6/8 2/8

27- to hold a meeting 6/8 2/8
28- to hold a conference 8/8
29- to do a favour 1/8 3/8 4/8
30- to wage a war 5/8 2/8 1/8
31- to resolve a dispute 8/8
32- to exercise caution 4/8 2/8 1/8 1/8
33- to make a decision 1/8 7/8
34- to take responsibility 6/8 2/8
35- to seize an opportunity 4/8 4/8
36- to shed light 1/8 1/8 6/8
37- to adopt measures 3/8 2/8 3/8
38- to hold a position 4/8 2/8 2/8
39- to cause damage 4/8 4/8
40- to make a speech 8/8
41- to make a call 4/8 1/8 2/8 1/8
42- to conduct an experiment 6/8 2/8
43- to pass a law 1/8 7/8
44- to run a company 8/8
45- to teach a lesson 6/8 2/8
46- to win confidence 1/8 5/8 1/8 1/8
47- to score victory 1/8 5/8 2/8
48- to pay attention 4/8 1/8 3/8
49- to set a goal 2/8 4/8 1/8 1/8
50- to lose consciousness 8/8
152/400 151/400 31/400 3/400
Total (38%) 18/400 (4.5%) (37.75%) 4/400 (1%) 2/400 (.5%) (7.75%) 39/400 (9.75%) (.75%) 0/400 (0%)
Table 8. 1 Translation outcomes of verb + object Collocations: Student Translators' Group (n= 8)
196
Strong Unacceptable
Verb + object collocation collocation Encapsulating Neutralizing Paraphrasing Malapropism Calquing Mistranslating Omitting collocation
1- to make a pact 1/16 10/16 3/16 1/16 1/16
2- to break a promise 1/16 13/16 2/16
3- to ride a horse 8/16 8/16
4- to draw a sword 9/16 6/16 1/16
5- to open a debate 14/16 2/16
6- to give orders 6/16 1/16 9/16
7- to follow instructions 16/16
8- to reveal a secret 1/16 15/16
9- to make a deal 3/16 13/16
10- to shed tears 15/16 1/16
11- to make a mistake 14/16 2/16
12- to commit a crime 12/16 4/16
13- to make an effort 8/16 2/16 5/16 1/16
14- to violate law 3/16 4/16 8/16 1/16
15- to keep track 6/16 5/16 4/16 1/16
16- to give an example 3/16 13/16
17- to fight a battle 11/16 1/16 1/16 3/16
18- to start a fire 12/16 3/16 1/16
19- to build a road 15/16 1/16
20- to achieve a goal 13/16 1/16 2/16
21- to get a score 13/16 3/16
22- to suppress rage 5/16 11/16
23- to tell a story 2/16 11/16 3/16
24- to grow a beard 6/16 9/16 1/16
25- to waste time 16/16
197
26- to waste energy 13/16 1/16 2/16

27- to hold a meeting 14/16 2/16
28- to hold a conference 13/16 1/16 2/16
29- to do a favour 7/16 6/16 3/16
30- to wage a war 12/16 4/16
31- to resolve a dispute 16/16
32- to exercise caution 6/16 1/16 3/16 2/16 1/16 3/16
33- to make a decision 15/16 1/16
34- to take responsibility 13/16 2/16 1/16
35- to seize an opportunity 10/16 4/16 2/16
36- to shed light 3/16 12/16 1/16
37- to adopt measures 6/16 1/16 8/16 1/16
38- to hold a position 6/16 6/16 4/16
39- to cause damage 1/16 14/16 1/16
40- to make a speech 7/16 3/16 2/16 1/16 3/16
41- to make a call 10/16 2/16 3/16 1/16
42- to conduct an experiment 10/16 5/16 1/16
43- to pass a law 2/16 9/16 3/16 2/16
44- to run a company 14/16 2/16
45- to teach a lesson 15/16 1/16
46- to win confidence 2/16 14/16
47- to score victory 5/16 6/16 4/16 1/16
48- to pay attention 8/16 6/16 2/16
49- to set a goal 11/16 4/16 1/16
50- to lose consciousness 15/16 1/16
313/800 29/800 309/800 78/800 5/800
Total (39.125%) (3.625%) (38.625%) 8/800 (1%) 6/800 (.75%) (9.75%) 48/800 (6%) (.625%) 4/800 (.5%)
Table 8. 2 Translation outcomes of verb + object Collocations: Professional Translators' Group (n= 16)
198
8.2.2 The outcomes of translating the English adjective + noun
collocations into Arabic
Tables 8.3 and 8.4 below demonstrate the different types of student and
professional translators’ attempts to produce Arabic equivalents of the other fifty
examples of English collocations, adjective + noun collocations.
The two tables below, Tables 8.3 and 8.4, present the examples of English
adjective + noun collocations, the translation outcomes of each example, and the
frequency of each outcome. Table 8.3 presents the results of the Student
Translators’ Group, while Table 8.4 presents the results of the Professional
Translators’ Group.
199
Adjective + Noun Collocation
Strong collocation Neutralising Paraphrasing Missing adjective Calquing Mistranslating Omitting
1- a full recovery 1/8 2/8 3/8 2/8
2- heavy rain 5/8 2/8 1/8
3- a sweet smell 5/8 1/8 1/8 1/8
4- a bad smell 5/8 2/8 1/8
5- strong muscles 8/8
6- a good memory 4/8 4/8
7- tender feelings 7/8 1/8
8- a deadly weapon 1/8 1/8 6/8
9- a serious mistake 4/8 2/8 2/8
10- great poverty 5/8 2/8 1/8
11- great imagination 5/8 2/8 1/8
12- a satisfactory answer 4/8 4/8
13- a good reason 2/8 3/8 3/8
14- a close friend 6/8 2/8
15- a good life 1/8 3/8 1/8 3/8
16- a large crowd 1/8 1/8 5/8 1/8
17- a good question 3/8 5/8
18- great wealth 3/8 1/8 2/8 2/8
19- a vicious war 1/8 7/8
20- a great victory 1/8 1/8 6/8
21- serious consequences 2/8 4/8 1/8 1/8
22- a public holiday 6/8 1/8 1/8
23- heavy winds 7/8 1/8
24- a large army 2/8 2/8 3/8 1/8
25- a raging flood 2/8 3/8 1/8 2/8
200
26- an urgent need 2/8 6/8

27- a great success 3/8 1/8 2/8 1/8 1/8
28- a complete failure 4/8 3/8 1/8
29- a great desire 7/8 1/8
30- a high mountain 2/8 1/8 5/8
31- open air 7/8 1/8
32- hard evidence 2/8 6/8
33- great accuracy 3/8 4/8 1/8
34- a gentle breeze 3/8 2/8 3/8
35- good news 1/8 7/8
36- strong tea 3/8 3/8 1/8 1/8
37- strict orders 2/8 4/8 1/8 1/8
38- a high cost 7/8 1/8
39- a big favour 3/8 5/8
40- a severe punishment 7/8 1/8
41- bitter enemies 7/8 1/8
42- lame excuses 4/8 2/8 2/8
43- a serious damage 2/8 3/8 3/8
44- a heavy storm 6/8 2/8
45- a great idea 5/8 3/8
46- an effective treatment 1/8 7/8
47- a fierce battle 5/8 3/8
48- good luck 5/8 1/8 2/8
49- deep hostility 1/8 4/8 2/8 1/8
50- heavy seas 4/8 1/8 3/8
134/400 9/400
Total 108/400 (27%) (33.5%) (2.25%) 18/400 (4.5%) 101/400 (25.25%) 29/400 (7.25%) 1/400 (.25%)
Table 8. 3 Translation outcomes of adjective + noun Collocations: Student Translators' Group (n= 8)
201
Adjective + Noun Collocation
Strong collocation Neutralising Paraphrasing Missing adjective Calquing Mistranslating Omitting
1- a full recovery 5/16 6/16 5/16

2- heavy rain 13/16 1/16 2/16
3- a sweet smell 6/16 8/16 1/16 1/16
4- a bad smell 10/16 3/16 3/16
5- strong muscles 1/16 15/16
6- a good memory 11/16 5/16
7- tender feelings 13/16 2/16 1/16
8- a deadly weapon 4/16 11/16 1/16
9- a serious mistake 7/16 4/16 1/16 4/16
10- great poverty 8/16 5/16 2/16 1/16
11- great imagination 10/16 6/16
12- a satisfactory answer 1/16 7/16 8/16
13- a good reason 8/16 8/16
14- a close friend 12/16 4/16
15- a good life 1/16 9/16 2/16 3/16 1/16
16- a large crowd 1/16 1/16 8/16 4/16 2/16
17- a good question 3/16 2/16 11/16
18- great wealth 14/16 1/16 1/16
19- a vicious war 1/16 15/16
20- a great victory 4/16 12/16
21- serious consequences 8/16 6/16 1/16 1/16
22- a public holiday 13/16 2/16 1/16
23- heavy winds 16/16
24- a large army 1/16 6/16 9/16
25- a raging flood 2/16 12/16 2/16
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26- an urgent need 1/16 9/16 2/16 4/16

27- a great success 4/16 2/16 4/16 1/16 4/16 1/16
28- a complete failure 9/16 7/16
29- a great desire 13/16 2/16 1/16
30- a high mountain 2/16 3/16 11/16
31- open air 14/16 2/16
32- hard evidence 2/16 14/16
33- great accuracy 7/16 7/16 2/16
34- a gentle breeze 4/16 1/16 10/16 1/16
35- good news 7/16 9/16
36- strong tea 7/16 2/16 1/16 6/16
37- strict orders 9/16 3/16 4/16
38- a high cost 10/16 6/16
39- a big favour 1/16 1/16 11/16 3/16
40- a severe punishment 13/16 3/16
41- bitter enemies 15/16 1/16
42- lame excuses 13/16 1/16 1/16 1/16
43- a serious damage 5/16 9/16 1/16 1/16
44- a heavy storm 12/16 2/16 2/16
45- a great idea 12/16 4/16
46- an effective treatment 1/16 15/16
47- a fierce battle 3/16 6/16 5/16 2/16
48- good luck 13/16 1/16 1/16 1/16
49- deep hostility 10/16 2/16 3/16 1/16
50- heavy seas 10/16 2/16 4/16
269/800 197/800 47/800
Total 229/800 (28.625%) (33.625%) 24/800 (3%) 30/800 (3.75%) (24.625%) (5.875%) 4/800 (.5%)
Table 8. 4 Translation outcomes of adjective + noun Collocations: Professional Translators' Group (n= 16)
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8.2.3 Acceptable versus unacceptable translation outcomes
In this analysis, the concern is with what translation outcomes there are and the
frequencies of each outcome. Thus, the first step was to inspect the unacceptable
collocations, those conforming to the Arabic Control Group’s choices or
preferences of unacceptable collocations (see Chapter Seven). The next step was
to point out the strong collocations, those conforming to the Arabic Control
Group’s choices of strong collocations (see Chapter Seven). Therefore, the
choices made by the Arabic Control Group judge the legitimacy of the Arabic
collocations. The rest of the translation outcomes were classified by the
researcher. Finally, all translation outcomes were further classified into two
categories, acceptable and unacceptable translation outcomes. An acceptable
translation outcome would be one where a student or professional translator
rendered the English collocation into Arabic correctly, while an unacceptable
translation outcome would be one where a student or professional translator
rendered the English collocation into Arabic incorrectly. Acceptable and
unacceptable translation outcomes are illustrated in the tables below.
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Translating English Verb + Object Collocations into Arabic

Acceptable Translation Outcomes Unacceptable Translation Outcomes
Student Translators Professional Translators Student Translators Professional Translators
(n=8) (n=16) (n=8) (n=16)
Strong collocation 38% Strong collocation 39.125% Malapropism 0.5% Malapropism 0.75%
Encapsulating 4.5% Encapsulating 3.625% Calquing 7.75% Calquing 9.75%
Neutralising 37.75% Neutralising 38.625% Mistranslating 9.75% Mistranslating 6%
Paraphrasing 4% Paraphrasing 1% Omitting 0.75% Omitting 0.625%
-------------------------- -------------------------------- Unacceptable collocation 0% Unacceptable collocation 0.5%
Total 81.25% Total 82.375% Total 18.75% Total 17.625%
Table 8. 5 Outcomes of translating English verb + object collocations into Arabic
Table 8.5 above presents a summary of the results of the first part of the
translation test of English collocation into Arabic. That is, the part that contained
English verb + object collocations to be translated into Arabic.
Translating English Adjective + Noun Collocations into Arabic

Acceptable Translation Outcomes Unacceptable Translation Outcomes
Student Translators Professional Translators Student Translators Professional Translators
(n=8) (n=16) (n=8) (n=16)
Strong collocation 27% Strong collocation 28.625% Missing adjective 4.5% Missing adjective 3.75%
Neutralising 33.5% Neutralising 33.625% Calquing 25.25% Calquing 24.625%
Paraphrasing 2.25% Paraphrasing 3% Mistranslating 7.25% Mistranslating 5.875%
----------------------------- ------------------------------------ Omitting 0.25% Omitting 0.5%
Total 62.75% Total 65.25% Total 37.25% Total 34.75%
Table 8. 6 Outcomes of translating English adjective + noun collocations into Arabic
As for Table 8.6 above, it presents a summary of the results of the second part of
the translation test of English collocations into Arabic. That is, the part that
contained English adjective + noun collocations to be translated into Arabic.
The following analysis will discuss both acceptable and unacceptable translation
outcomes. However, more focus will be on the unacceptable translation outcomes.
A question that has to be asked here is, “what are the sources of errors that
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provoke the production of unacceptable translation outcomes when translating
English verb + object and adjective + noun collocations into Arabic?”
The inspection of the results of the Student Translators’ Group yielded a
frequency of 18.75% of instances of unacceptable translation outcomes when
translating the English verb + object collocations, and a frequency of 37.25%
when translating the English adjective + noun collocations into Arabic.
As for the Professional Translators’ Group, they yielded 17.625% of unacceptable
translation outcomes when translating the English verb + object collocations, and
34.75% when translating the English adjective + noun collocations into Arabic.
There are several possible reasons to account for the production of these errors.
Firstly, the influence from the source language, which is English. This resulted
mainly in transferring the source language collocation directly into Arabic
(calquing). Secondly, the misunderstanding of the meaning of the source language
collocation. This resulted in either mistranslating the English collocation, omitting
part of the collocation, or even not translating the collocation at all.
Another possible reason to account for the production of errors in translating
English verb + object and adjective + noun collocations into Arabic is time
constraint, as neither the student translators nor the professional
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translators were paid to participate in this study. This probably led the student and
professional translators to translate the sentences hurriedly and without revising
them when completed. Moreover, there were one hundred relatively short
sentences to be translated, which in a situation of time constraint would be
considered to be a large number of sentences.
It should also be pointed out that the production of unacceptable translation
outcomes could possibly be attributed to the use of general-purpose bilingual
dictionaries. The use of such dictionaries with their lists of context-free words
without any detailed explanations or examples of collocations could be another
source of producing unacceptable translation outcomes.
8.3 Section two: Translation outcomes
Data analysis demonstrated nine different translation outcomes employed by the
student and professional translators when translating the English verb + object
examples of collocations into Arabic and seven outcomes when translating the
adjective + noun examples of collocations into Arabic. Some of these outcomes,
although referred to as ‘strategies’ by some other researchers, were identified in
the literature proposed by Shakir and Farghal (1992) (for details of Shakir and
Farghal’s study see Chapter Four).
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The nine different translation outcomes of translating the English verb + object
collocations into Arabic were: strong collocation, encapsulating, neutralizing,
paraphrasing, malapropism, calquing, mistranslating, omitting, and unacceptable
collocation. The seven different outcomes of translating the English adjective +
noun collocations into Arabic were: strong collocation, neutralizing, paraphrasing,
missing adjective, calquing, mistranslating, and omitting.
Below is a definition of each and discussion of each of the translation outcomes
found in the study.
8.3.1 Translating English verb + object collocations into Arabic
The translation of the English verb + object collocations into Arabic resulted in
nine different outcomes, four of which were considered to be acceptable
translation outcomes, while the rest of the five were considered to be unacceptable
translation outcomes. The acceptable translation outcomes provided by the
Student Translators’ Group and the Professional Translators’ Group were: strong
collocation, encapsulating, neutralizing, and paraphrasing. The unacceptable
translation outcomes were: malapropism, calquing, mistranslating, omitting, and
unacceptable collocation. Each translation outcome is defined and discussed in
detail below.
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8.3.1.1 Strong collocation
“Strong collocation” indicates that the example was translated into Arabic by a
collocation suggested as a strong collocation by the Arabic Control Group in the
previous chapter, Chapter Seven. Needless to say, this is the most accurate
translation outcome that student or professional translators could achieve, because
whenever there is an equivalent strong collocation in the target language,
translators should use it.
In translating the examples of English verb + object collocations into Arabic, this
outcome scored a frequency of 38% with the student translators’ group and
39.125% with the professional translators’ group. Fortunately, this percentage is
the highest for both groups.
Producing a strong collocation in the target language indicated that the student or
professional translator knew the best equivalent target collocation for the source
collocation and then applied it.
Examples of strong collocation outcomes from the two groups are presented
below.
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Source language collocation Strong collocation provided

To break a promise ‫ ﻧﻘﺾ ﻋﮭﺪا‬naqaDa 3ahdan
To ride a horse ‫ اﻣﺘﻄﻰ ﺟﻮادا‬imtaTaa jawaadan
To draw a sword ‫ اﺳﺘﻞ ﺳﯿﻔﺎ‬istalla sayfan
To give an order ‫? أﺻﺪر أﻣﺮا‬aSdara ?amran
To reveal a secret ‫? أﻓﺸﻰ ﺳﺮا‬afsaa sirran
To make a deal ‫? أﺑﺮم اﺗﻔﺎﻗﯿﺔ‬abrama ittifaaqiyyatan
To shed tears ‫ ذرف دﻣﻮﻋﺎ‬darafa dumuw3an
To make a mistake ‫ ارﺗﻜﺐ ﺧﻄﺄ‬irtakaba xaTa?an
To commit a crime ‫ ارﺗﻜﺐ ﺟﺮﯾﻤﺔ‬irtakaba jariymatan
To make an effort ‫ ﺑﺬل ﺟﮭﺪا‬badala juhdan
To violate a law ‫ ﺧﺎﻟﻒ ﻗﺎﻧﻮﻧﺎ‬xaalafa qaanuwnan
To give an example ‫ ﺿﺮب ﻣﺜﻼ‬Daraba matalan
To fight a battle ‫ ﺧﺎض ﻣﻌﺮﻛﺔ‬xaaDa ma3rakatan
To start a fire ‫? أﺷﻌﻞ ﺣﺮﯾﻘﺎ‬as3ala Hariyqan
To achieve a goal ‫ ﺣﻘﻖ ھﺪﻓﺎ‬Haqaqa hadafan
To suppress rage ‫ ﻛﻈﻢ ﻏﯿﻈﺎ‬kaZama gayZan
To tell a story ‫ ﻗﺺ ﻗﺼﺔ‬qaSSa qiSSatan
To grow a beard ‫? أﻃﻠﻖ ﻟﺤﯿﺔ‬aTlaqa liHyatan
To waste time ‫? أﺿﺎع وﻗﺘﺎ‬aDaa3a waqtan
To hold a meeting ‫ ﻋﻘﺪ اﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﺎ‬3aqada ijtimaa3an
To hold a conference ‫ ﻋﻘﺪ ﻣﺆﺗﻤﺮا‬3aqada muw?tamaran
To do a favour ‫? أﺳﺪى ﺧﺪﻣﺔ‬asdaa xidmatan
To wage war ‫ ﺷﻦ ﺣﺮﺑﺎ‬sanna Harban
To exercise caution ‫ ﺗﻮﺧﻰ ﺣﺬرا‬tawaxxaa Hadaran
To take responsibility ‫ ﺗﺤﻤﻞ ﻣﺴﺆوﻟﯿﺔ‬taHammala mas?uwliyyatan
To seize an opportunity ‫ اﻧﺘﮭﺰ ﻓﺮﺻﺔ‬intahaza furSatan
To seize an opportunity ‫ اﻏﺘﻨﻢ ﻓﺮﺻﺔ‬igtanama furSatan
To shed light ‫ ﺳﻠﻂ ﺿﻮءا‬sallaTa Daw?an
To adopt a measure ‫ اﺗﺨﺬ إﺟﺮاءا‬ittaxada ?ijraa?an
To hold a position ‫ ﺷﻐﻞ ﻣﻨﺼﺒﺎ‬sagila manSiban
To make a speech ‫? أﻟﻘﻰ ﺧﻄﺎﺑﺎ‬alqaa xiTaaban
To make a call ‫? أﺟﺮى اﺗﺼﺎﻻ‬ajraa ittiSaalan
To conduct an experiment ‫? أﺟﺮى ﺗﺠﺮﺑﺔ‬ajraa tajrubatan
To pass a law ‫ ﺳﻦ ﻗﺎﻧﻮﻧﺎ‬sanna qaanuwnan
To run a company ‫? أدار ﺷﺮﻛﺔ‬adaara sarikatan
To score victory ‫? أﺣﺮز اﻧﺘﺼﺎرا‬aHraza intiSaaran
To set a goal ‫ ﺣﺪد ھﺪﻓﺎ‬Haddada hadafan
Table 8. 7 Examples of the strong collocation translation outcome (Translating English verb
+ object collocations into Arabic)
The above table presents the equivalent strong collocations in Arabic for those in
the source language. The table illustrates the examples of English verb + object
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collocations and their equivalent strong collocations in target language, Arabic.
8.3.1.2 Encapsulating
Lyons (1978) was first to introduce the term “encapsulation” in linguistics. By
encapsulation, he meant that an expression in one language could be represented
by “a single lexeme with roughly the same meaning” (Lyons, 1978:262).
Encapsulation is one of the acceptable translation outcomes in the translation of
English verb + object collocations into Arabic. By resorting to this outcome, the
student or professional translator encapsulated the verb + object collocation in
English into a single verb in Arabic, which gave almost the same meaning. While
encapsulation was one of the translation outcomes of translating English verb +
object collocations into Arabic, it is not possible to encapsulate an English
adjective + noun collocation into just a single word in Arabic. By doing so, the
result would be a mistranslation.
Encapsulation accounted for a frequency of 4.5% of the instances in the Student
Translators’ Group and 3.625% in the Professional Translators’ Group.
Examples of encapsulation are presented below.
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Source language collocation Encapsulation examples

To make a pact ‫ ﺗﻌﺎھﺪ‬ta3aahada
To give an order ‫? أﻣﺮ‬amara
To keep track ‫ ﺗﺘﺒﻊ‬tatabba3a
To keep track ‫ ﺗﻌﻘﺐ‬ta3aqqaba
To keep track ‫ ﺗﺎﺑﻊ‬taaba3a
To fight a battle ‫ ﺣﺎرب‬Haaraba
To make a decision ‫ ﻗﺮر‬qarrara
To make a call ‫ اﺗﺼﻞ‬ittaSala
To pay attention ‫ اﻧﺘﺒﮫ‬intabaha
Table 8. 8 Examples of encapsulation (Translating English verb + object collocations into
Arabic)
Encapsulation was possible with only a few number of examples. It is not possible
to render all English verb + object collocations into only a verb in Arabic. This
outcome shows that translators do not have to follow the English verb + object
collocation word-for-word. Alternatively, they can resort to encapsulation as long
as the meaning is not affected.
8.3.1.3 Neutralising
This is when the student or professional translator could not recall a specific verb
in the target language to describe an action and resorted to using a neutral or
generic verb such as, ‫لعف‬ fa3ala (to do), ‫لمع‬ 3amila (to make), or ‫ـب ماق‬
qaama bi (to perform). Although neutralising is considered an acceptable
translation outcome in this study, it is not recommended that translators neutralise
a collocation, especially if an equivalent strong collocation is available.
These generic or neutral verbs used when neutralising in translation could be used
with almost any noun in Arabic. They are characterised generally by their
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frequent usage and universality of meaning.
The translation outcome of neutralising accounted for 37.75% of the instances in
the Student Translators’ Group and 38.625% in the Professional Translators’
Group. This was the second highest percentage in both groups involved in the
study.
Below are some of the examples of neutralizing.
Source language collocation Neutral equivalent provided

To make a pact ‫ ﻋﻤﻞ اﺗﻔﺎﻗﺎ‬3amila ittifaaqan
To draw a sword ‫? أﺧﺮج ﺳﯿﻔﺎ‬axraja sayfan
To follow instructions ‫ اﺗﺒﻊ ﺗﻌﻠﯿﻤﺎت‬ittaba3a ta3liymaatin
To reveal a secret ‫ ﻛﺸﻒ ﺳﺮا‬kasafa sirran
To make a deal ‫ ﻋﻤﻞ اﺗﻔﺎﻗﯿﺔ‬3amila ittifaaqiyyatan
To make a mistake ‫ ﻓﻌﻞ ﺧﻄﺄ‬fa3ala xaTa?an
To make a mistake ‫ ﻋﻤﻞ ﺧﻄﺄ‬3amila xaTa?an
To make an effort ‫ ﻋﻤﻞ ﺟﮭﺪا‬3amila juhdan
To give an example ‫? أﻋﻄﻰ ﻣﺜﻼ‬a3Taa matalan
To fight a battle ‫ ﺣﺎرب ﻣﻌﺮﻛﺔ‬Haaraba ma3rakatan
To build a road ‫? أﻧﺸﺄ ﻃﺮﯾﻘﺎ‬ansa?a Tariyqan
To achieve a goal ‫? أﻧﺠﺰ ھﺪﻓﺎ‬anjaza hadafan
To achieve a goal ‫ ﺑﻠﻎ ھﺪﻓﺎ‬balaga hadafan
To suppress anger ‫? أﺧﻔﻰ ﻏﻀﺒﺎ‬axfaa gaDaban
To tell a story ‫ ﺣﻜﻰ ﻗﺼﺔ‬Hakaa qiSSatan
To grow a beard ‫ ﺗﺮك ﻟﺤﯿﺔ‬taraka liHyatan
To hold a conference ‫? أﻗﺎم ﻣﺆﺗﻤﺮا‬aqaama muw?tamaran
To do a favour ‫ ﻋﻤﻞ ﺧﺪﻣﺔ‬3amila xidmatan
To do a favour ‫? أدى ﺧﺪﻣﺔ‬addaa xidmatan
To wage a war ‫? أﻗﺎم ﺣﺮﺑﺎ‬aqaama harban
To resolve a dispute ‫ ﺣﻞ ﺧﻼﻓﺎ‬Halla xilaafan
To make a decision ‫ وﺻﻞ إﻟﻰ ﻗﺮار‬waSala ?ila qaraarin
To make a speech ‫ ﻗﺪم ﺧﻄﺎﺑﺎ‬qadama xiTaaban
To conduct an experiment ‫ ﻋﻤﻞ ﺗﺠﺮﺑﺔ‬3amila tajrubatan
To set a goal ‫ وﺿﻊ ھﺪﻓﺎ‬waDa3a hadafan
Table 8. 9 Examples of neutralising verb + object collocations
The above table presents examples of English verb + object collocations and
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the way they were neutralised by the use of a generic or neutral verb in Arabic.
For example, the verb ‫ لمع‬3amila (to do) is very popular in Arabic. It was used
by the translators many times to describe different nouns.
8.3.1.4 Paraphrasing
Newmark (1988:90) defines a paraphrase as “an amplification or explanation of
the meaning of a segment of the text.” Paraphrasing is a translation outcome that
student or professional translators employ when they are short of exact target
language collocations. Paraphrasing a source language collocation is considered
an acceptable translation outcome when used as a strategy to overcome the
shortage of exact target collocations. However, paraphrasing a source language
collocation in translation does not make comprehension easy, nor does it facilitate
production of the target text because it sometimes complicates sentence structure
to a point where the student or professional translator may have to use more words
than in the source language to express the same concept in the target language.
Paraphrasing scored a low frequency with both groups in the study. It accounted
for 4% of the instances with the Student Translators’ Group, and only 1% with the
Professional Translators’ Group.
Below are examples from the data of this study representing this translation
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outcome.
Source language collocations Paraphrase provided
To break a promise ‫ ﻟﻢ ﯾﻮف ﺑﻮﻋﺪ‬lam yuwfi bi-wa3din
To achieve a goal ‫ وﺻﻞ إﻟﻰ ھﺪف‬waSala ?ila hadafin
Not to waste energy ‫ وﻓﺮ ﻃﺎﻗﺔ‬waffara Taaqatan
To exercise caution ‫ ﺑﻘﻲ ﺣﺬرا‬baqiya Hadiran
To exercise caution ‫ ﺗﺼﺮف ﺑﺤﺬر‬taSarrafa bi-Hadarin
Table 8. 10 Examples of paraphrasing verb + object collocations
In each of the examples in Table 8.10 above, the student or professional translator
tried to explain the meaning of the English collocation in Arabic instead of
providing a target language collocation.
8.3.1.5 Malapropism
Malapropism is defined, according to the Collins English Dictionary and
Thesaurus, as “the unintentional misuse of a word by confusion with one of
similar sound, especially when creating a ridiculous effect.” That is, the student or
professional translator uses a word similar to the one that collocates with the noun
in the collocation. The similarity in this case is phonetic.
This translation outcome accounted for 0.5% with Student Translators’ Group,
and 0.75% with Professional Translators’ Group. Examples of this type of error
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are presented below.
Source language collocations Examples of malapropism
To make a pact ‫ ﻋﻘﺪ ﻋﮭﺪا‬3aqada 3ahdan
To break a promise ‫ ﺣﻨﺚ ﻋﮭﺪا‬Hanita 3ahdan
To suppress rage ‫ ﻛﺒﺢ ﻏﯿﻈﺎ‬kabaHa gaZan
To suppress rage ‫ ﻛﻤﺪ ﻏﯿﻈﺎ‬kamida gayZan
To exercise caution ‫ ﺗﻮﻗﻰ ﺣﺬرا‬tawaqqaa Hadaran
Table 8. 11 Examples of malapropism (Translating English verb + object collocations into

Arabic)
In the first example in Table 8.11, the verb ‫ دقع‬3aqada (to tie) was mistaken for
the verb ‫ عطق‬qata3a (to cut), which does not collocate with the noun ‫ دهع‬3ahd (a
pact) in Arabic. Similarly, the verb ‫ ثنح‬Hanita (to perjure) was mistaken for the
verb ‫ ثكن‬nakata (to cancel), which does not collocate with the noun ‫ دهع‬3ahd (a
promise) in Arabic. The same applies to the rest of the three examples in Table
8.11, where a verb was mistaken for another one that does not collocate with the
noun in the collocation.
8.3.1.6 Calquing
A calque is the literal or word-for-word translation of a source language
collocation. To avoid calquing, translators should not attempt to transfer certain
collocations into the target language no matter how much the temptation may be
to follow the source language collocation word-for-word.
216
Therefore, in certain cases a translator assuming word-for-word correspondence
between English and Arabic will most likely produce an unacceptable collocation
in the target language. This will result in a negative transfer, which will in turn
result in translations that do not sound natural or native-like.
This translation outcome, being one of the sources of error in translation,
accounted for 7.75% with Student Translators’ Group, and 9.75% with
Professional Translators’ Group.
Below are some examples of calques.
Source language collocation Calques

To open a debate ‫ ﻓﺘﺢ ﻣﻨﺎﻇﺮة‬fataHa mujaadalatan
To tell a story ‫? أﺧﺒﺮ ﻗﺼﺔ‬axbara qiSSatan
To take responsibility ‫? أﺧﺬ ﻣﺴﺆوﻟﯿﺔ‬axada mas?uwliyyatan
To adopt measures ‫ ﺗﺒﻨﻰ إﺟﺮاءات‬tabannaa ?ijraa?aatin
To cause damage ‫ ﺳﺒﺐ ﺿﺮرا‬sababa Dararan
To make a speech ‫ ﻋﻤﻞ ﺣﺪﯾﺜﺎ‬3amila Hadiytan
To make a call ‫ ﻋﻤﻞ ﻣﻜﺎﻟﻤﺔ‬3amila mukaalamatan
To pass a law ‫ ﻣﺮر ﻗﺎﻧﻮﻧﺎ‬marrara qaanuwnan
To score a victory ‫ ﺳﺠﻞ اﻧﺘﺼﺎرا‬sajjala intiSaaran
Table 8. 12 Examples of the translation outcome of calquing (Translating English verb +
object collocations into Arabic)
The choice to calque or transfer an English collocation into Arabic can be
attributed to more than one factor. One would be the lack of extensive reading of
texts in the target language. Another factor would be the literal or word-for-word
translation of the source language collocations. A third factor possibly could be
the reliance on general-purpose English-Arabic dictionaries that offer
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meanings of words out of context and, while providing many cases, do so without
illustrating examples.
8.3.1.7 Mistranslating
Mistranslating is a translation outcome where the student or professional
translator has produced an incorrect translation of the source language collocation.
The outcome of mistranslating scored a frequency of 9.75% with the Student
Translators’ Group, and 6% with the Professional Translators’ Group.
The following examples illustrate the way meanings were distorted as a result of
the respondents’ mistranslation into Arabic of some of the English verb + object
collocations.
Source language collocation Mistranslations

To make a pact ‫ وﺻﻞ إﻟﻰ اﺗﻔﺎق‬waSala ?ilaa ittifaaqin (to reach an agreement)
To draw a sword ‫ اﺳﺘﻞ رﻣﺤﺎ‬istalla rumHan (to draw a spear)
To open a debate ‫ اﻓﺘﺘﺢ ﺟﻠﺴﺔ‬iftataHa jalsatan (to open a session)
To open a debate ‫ اﻓﺘﺘﺢ ﺣﺪﯾﺜﺎ‬iftataHa Hadiytan (to open a talk)
To make a deal ‫ ﺗﻌﺎﻗﺪ‬ta3aaqada (to contract)
To make an effort ‫ ﺣﺎول‬Haawala (to try)
To make an effort ‫ ﺳﻌﻰ‬sa3aa (to attempt)
To keep track ‫ ﺣﺎول رﺻﺪ‬Haawala raSda (to try to observe)
To fight a battle ‫ ﻧﺎﺿﻞ ﻧﻀﺎﻻ‬naaDala niDaalan (to struggle a struggle)
To fight a battle ‫ ﺣﺎرب ﺣﺮﺑﺎ‬Haaraba Harban (to fight a war)
To fight a battle ‫ داﻓﻊ‬daafa3a (to defend)
To get a score ‫ ﺣﺼﻞ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺻﻮت‬HaSala 3alaa Sawtin (to get a vote
To get a score ‫? أﺣﺮز ﺗﺤﺼﯿﻼ‬aHraza taHSiylan (to obtain an achievement)
To grow a beard ‫ رﺑﻰ ذﻗﻨﺎ‬rabbaa diqnan (to grow a chin)
To grow a beard ‫ ﺑﺮز ﻟﺤﯿﺔ‬barraza liHyatan (to show a beard)
To grow a beard ‫? أﻃﻠﻖ ذﻗﻨﺎ‬aTlaqa diqnan (to grow a chin)
To waste energy ‫ اﺳﺘﮭﻠﻚ ﻃﺎﻗﺔ‬istahlaka taqatan (to consume energy)
To hold a meeting ‫ ﻋﻘﺪ ﺟﻠﺴﺔ‬3aqada jalsatan (to hold a session)
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To hold a conference ‫ ﻋﻘﺪ ﻧﺪوة‬3aqada nadwatan (to hold a symposium)

To hold a conference ‫ ﻋﻘﺪ اﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﺎ‬3aqada ijtimaa3an (to hold a meeting)
To wage a war ‫ ﺗﺤﻤﻞ ﺣﺮﺑﺎ‬taHammala Harban (to bear a war)
To make a decision ‫? أﺻﺪر ﻗﺮارا‬aSdara qaraaran (to issue a decision)
To take responsibility ‫ ﺟﺎزف‬jaazafa (to risk)
To seize an opportunity ‫ اﺳﺘﻔﺎد ﻣﻦ ﻓﺮﺻﺔ‬istafaada min furSatin (to benefit from an
opportunity)
To seize an opportunity ‫ﺗﻮﺻﻞ إﻟﻰ ﻓﺮﺻﺔ‬ tawaSSala ?ilaa furSatin (to reach an
opportunity)
To adopt measures ‫ ﺗﺒﻨﻰ ﻗﯿﺎﺳﺎت‬tabannaa qiyaasatin (to adopt measurements)
To adopt measures ‫ ﺗﺒﻨﻰ ﻣﻌﺎﯾﯿﺮ‬tabanna ma3aayiyir (to adopt standards)
To hold a position ‫ ﺗﺴﻠﻢ ﻣﮭﻤﺔ‬tasallama muhimmatan (to receive a duty)
To hold a position ‫ ﺗﻘﻠﺐ ﻓﻲ وﻇﯿﻔﺔ‬taqalaba fiy waZiyfatin (to move in a job)
To hold a position ‫ ﺗﻨﻘﻞ ﻓﻲ وﻇﯿﻔﺔ‬tanaqqala fiy waZiyfatin (to move to a job)
To hold a position ‫ ﻗﺎم ﺑﺸﻐﻞ‬qaama bi-sugulin (to perform a job)
To cause damage ‫ ﺳﺒﺐ إﺻﺎﺑﺔ‬sabbaba ?iSaabatan (to cause an injury)
To cause damage ‫ ﺳﺒﺐ ﻋﺎھﺔ‬sabbaba 3aahatan (to cause a deformity)
To cause damage ‫ ﺳﺒﺐ ﻋﻄﻼ‬sabbaba 3uTlan (to cause a breakdown)
To pass a law ‫ واﻓﻖ‬waafaqa (to agree)
To run a company ‫? أدار ﻣﺼﻨﻌﺎ‬adaara maSna3an (to run a factory)
To score victory ‫ ﺳﺠﻞ ﻧﺠﺎﺣﺎ‬sajjala najaaHan (to score success)
To set a goal ‫? أﺻﺎب ھﺪﻓﺎ‬aSaaba hadafan (to score a goal)
To lose consciousness ‫ ﻓﻘﺪ ﺻﻮاﺑﺎ‬faqada Sawaaban (to lose mind)
Table 8. 13 Examples of mistranslation (Translating English verb + object collocations into
Arabic)
In each of the examples above, the meaning of the source collocation was
distorted in one way or another. In some cases, the meaning of the verb was
distorted. For example, the mistranslating of the verb in the English collocation to
seize an opportunity into Arabic by the verb + preposition ‫ اﺳﺘﻔﺎد ﻣﻦ‬istafaada min
(to benefit from). In some other cases, the meaning of the noun was distorted. The
noun in the English collocation to hold a conference, for example, was
mistranslated into Arabic by the noun ‫ اﺟﺘﻤﺎع‬ijtimaa3 (a meeting). In only a few
cases, the meaning of both the verb and noun was distorted. For instance, the
English collocation to take responsibility was mistranslated into Arabic by the
verb ‫ ﺟﺎزف‬jaazafa (to risk).
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8.3.1.8 Omitting
Another translation outcome observed by the researcher was that of omitting. This
outcome refers to items where no translation was offered at all by a student or
professional translator. This outcome scored a frequency of 0.75% with the
Student Translators’ Group, and 0.625% with the Professional Translators’ Group.
The respondents’ impatience and probably unwillingness to continue translating
for about an hour and a half could possibly account for this particular outcome in
translating English verb + object and adjective + noun collocations into Arabic.
8.3.1.9 Unacceptable collocation
“Unacceptable collocation” indicates that the example was translated into Arabic
by a collocation that was suggested to be an unacceptable collocation by the
Arabic Control Group, as described in the previous chapter, Chapter Seven.
Fortunately, this unacceptable translation outcome did not account for any of the
instances from the Student Translators’ Group, and accounted for only 0.5% of
the instances from the Professional Translators’ Group.
Examples of this type of error are presented in the table below.
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Source language collocation Unacceptable collocation provided
To build a road ‫ ﺷﯿﺪ ﻃﺮﯾﻘﺎ‬sayyada Tariyqan
To exercise caution ‫ ﻣﺎرس ﺣﺬرا‬maarasa Hadaran
Table 8. 14 Examples of unacceptable collocations in Arabic (Translating English verb +

object collocations into Arabic)
In Arabic, we cannot say ‫ ﺷﯿﺪ ﻃﺮﯾﻘﺎ‬sayyada Tariyqan (to build a road), nor can we
say ‫ ﻣﺎرس ﺣﺬرا‬marasa Hadaran (to exercise caution). Instead, we could possibly
say ‫ﻋﺒﺪ ﻃﺮﯾﻘﺎ‬ 3abbada Tariyqan (to build a road) and ‫ﺗﻮﺧﻰ ﺣﺬرا‬ tawaxxaa
Hadaran (to exercise caution).
8.3.2 Translating English adjective + noun collocations into Arabic
The translation of the English adjective + noun collocations into Arabic resulted
in seven different outcomes, three of which were considered to be acceptable
translation outcomes, while the rest of the four were considered to be
unacceptable translation outcomes. The acceptable translation outcomes provided
by the Student Translators’ Group and the Professional Translators’ Group were:
strong collocation, neutralizing, and paraphrasing. The unacceptable translation
outcomes were: missing adjective, calquing, mistranslating, and omitting. Each
translation outcome is defined and then discussed in detail below.
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8.3.2.1 Strong collocation
“Strong collocation”, as explained previously in 8.3.1.1, indicates that the
example was translated into Arabic by a collocation suggested as a strong
collocation by the Arabic Control Group, as set out in the previous chapter,
Chapter Seven.
In translating into Arabic the examples of English adjective + noun collocations,
this outcome scored a frequency of 27% with the student translators’ group and
28.625% with the professional translators’ group.
Examples of strong collocation translations from the two groups are presented
below.
Source language collocation Strong collocation provided

Full recovery ‫ ﺷﻔﺎء ﺗﺎم‬sifaa?un taamun
Heavy rain ‫? أﻣﻄﺎر ﻏﺰﯾﺮة‬amTaarun gaziyratun
A sweet smell ‫ راﺋﺤﺔ زﻛﯿﺔ‬raa?iHatun zakiyyatun
A bad smell ‫ راﺋﺤﺔ ﻛﺮﯾﮭﺔ‬raa?iHatun kariyhatun
A good memory ‫ ذاﻛﺮة ﻗﻮﯾﺔ‬daakiratun qawiyyatun
A deadly weapon ‫ ﺳﻼح ﻓﺘﺎك‬silaaHun fattaakun
A serious mistake ‫ ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﺎدح‬xaTa?un faadiHun
Great poverty ‫ ﻓﻘﺮ ﻣﺪﻗﻊ‬faqrun mudqi3un
Great imagination ‫ ﺧﯿﺎل واﺳﻊ‬xayaalun waasi3un
Great imagination ‫ ﺧﯿﺎل ﺧﺼﺐ‬xayaalyun xiSbun
A satisfactory answer ‫ ﺟﻮاب ﺷﺎف‬jawaabun saafin
A good reason ‫ ﺳﺒﺐ وﺟﯿﮫ‬sababun wajiyhun
A good life ‫ ﺣﯿﺎة ﺳﻌﯿﺪة‬Hayaatun sa3iydatun
A large crowd ‫ ﺟﻤﻊ ﻏﻔﯿﺮ‬jam3un gafiyrun
A good question ‫ ﺳﺆال وﺟﯿﮫ‬su?aalun wajiyhun
A vicious war ‫ ﺣﺮب ﺿﺮوس‬Harbun Daruwsun
A great victory ‫ ﻧﺼﺮ ﻣﺆزر‬naSrun muw?azarun
Serious consequences ‫ ﻋﻮاﻗﺐ وﺧﯿﻤﺔ‬3awaaqibun waxiymatun
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A public holiday ‫ ﻋﻄﻠﺔ رﺳﻤﯿﺔ‬3uTlatun rasmiyyatun

A large army ‫ ﺟﯿﺶ ﺟﺮار‬jaysun jarraarun
A raging flood ‫ ﺳﯿﻞ ﻋﺮم‬saylun 3arimun
An urgent need ‫ ﺣﺎﺟﺔ ﻣﺎﺳﺔ‬Haajatun maassatun
A great success ‫ ﻧﺠﺎح ﺑﺎھﺮ‬najaaHun baahirun
A complete failure ‫ ﻓﺸﻞ ذرﯾﻊ‬fasalun dariy3un
A high mountain ‫ ﺟﺒﻞ ﺷﺎھﻖ‬jabalun saahiqun
Open air ‫ ھﻮاء ﻃﻠﻖ‬hawaa?un Talqun
Hard evidence ‫ دﻟﯿﻞ ﻗﺎﻃﻊ‬daliylun qaaTi3un
Great accuracy ‫ دﻗﺔ ﻣﺘﻨﺎھﯿﺔ‬diqqatun mutanaahiyatun
A gentle breeze ‫ ﻧﺴﻤﺔ ﻋﻠﯿﻠﺔ‬nismatun 3aliylatun
Good news ‫? أﺧﺒﺎر ﺳﺎرة‬axbaarun saarratun
Strong tea ‫ ﺷﺎي ﺛﻘﯿﻞ‬saayyun taqiylun
Strict orders ‫? أواﻣﺮ ﺻﺎرﻣﺔ‬awaamirun Saarimatun
A bitter enemy ‫ ﻋﺪو ﻟﺪود‬3aduwun laduwdun
Lame excuses ‫? أﻋﺬار واھﯿﺔ‬a3daarun waahiyatun
Serious damage ‫ ﺿﺮر ﺟﺴﯿﻢ‬Dararun jasiymun
An effective treatment ‫ ﻋﻼج ﻧﺎﺟﻊ‬3ilaajun naaji3un
A fierce battle ‫ ﻣﻌﺮﻛﺔ ﻃﺎﺣﻨﺔ‬ma3rakatun TaaHinatun
Good luck ‫ ﺣﻆ ﺳﻌﯿﺪ‬HaZZun sa3iydun
Deep hostility ‫ ﺣﻘﺪ دﻓﯿﻦ‬Hiqdun dafiynun
Table 8. 15 Examples of strong collocations (Translating English adjective + noun
collocations into Arabic)
The above table presents the equivalent strong collocation in Arabic as indicated
by the Student and Professional Translators’ Groups for those in the source
language. The table illustrates the examples of English adjective + noun
collocations and their equivalent strong collocations in the target language,
Arabic.
8.3.2.2 Neutralising
This translation outcome is observed when the student or professional translator
could not recall a specific adjective used to modify a noun and resorted to using a
neutral or generic adjective such as, ‫ريبك‬ kabiyr (big), or ‫ ريثك‬katiyr
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(plenty).
These generic or neutral adjectives could be used to modify almost any noun in
Arabic. They are characterised generally by their frequent usage and universality
of meaning.
The translation outcome of neutralising scored a frequency of 33.5% with the
Student Translators’ Group, and 33.625% with the Professional Translators’
Group. For both groups involved in the study, this percentage was the highest
among all the translation outcomes for rendering the examples of English
adjective + noun collocations into Arabic.
Below are some of the examples of neutralizing.
Source language collocation Neutral equivalent provided

Full recovery ‫ ﺷﻔﺎء ﻛﺎﻣﻞ‬sifaa?un kaamilun
Heavy rain ‫ ﻣﻄﺮ ﻛﺜﯿﻒ‬matarun katiyfun
A sweet smell ‫ راﺋﺤﺔ ﺟﻤﯿﻠﺔ‬raa?iHatun jamiylatun
A sweet smell ‫ راﺋﺤﺔ ﻃﯿﺒﺔ‬raa?iHatun Tayyibatun
A bad smell ‫ راﺋﺤﺔ ﻧﺘﻨﺔ‬raa?iHatun natinatun
A bad smell ‫ راﺋﺤﺔ ﻗﺬرة‬raa?iHatun qadiratun
Tender feelings ‫ ﻣﺸﺎﻋﺮ ﺟﻤﯿﻠﺔ‬masaa3irun jamiylatun
A serious mistake ‫ ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻈﯿﻊ‬xaTa?un faZiy3un
Great poverty ‫ ﻓﻘﺮ ﺷﺪﯾﺪ‬faqrun sadiydun
Great poverty ‫ ﻓﻘﺮ ﻛﺒﯿﺮ‬faqrun kabiyrun
Great imagination ‫ ﺧﯿﺎل ﺳﺎھﺐ‬xataalun saahibun
Great imagination ‫ ﺧﯿﺎل ﺟﺎﻣﺢ‬xayaalun jaamiHun
A satisfactory answer ‫ ﺟﻮاب ﻣﻘﻨﻊ‬jawaabun muqni3un
A good reason ‫ ﺳﺒﺐ ﻗﻮي‬sababun qawiyyun
A good reason ‫ ﺳﺒﺐ ﻣﻘﻨﻊ‬sababun muqni3un
A good reason ‫ ﺳﺒﺐ ﻛﺎف‬sababun kaafin
A good reason ‫ ﺳﺒﺐ ﻣﻌﻘﻮل‬sababun ma3quwlun
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A close friend ‫ ﺻﺪﯾﻖ ﺣﻤﯿﻢ‬Sadiyqun Hamiymun

A good life ‫ ﺣﯿﺎة ﻃﯿﺒﺔ‬Hayaatun Tayyibatun
A good life ‫ ﺣﯿﺎة رﻏﺪة‬Hayaatun ragdatun
A good life ‫ ﺣﯿﺎة ﻛﺮﯾﻤﺔ‬Hayaatun kariymatun
A good life ‫ ﺣﯿﺎة ﺣﺴﻨﺔ‬Hayaatun Hasanatun
A large crowd ‫ ﺟﻤﮭﻮر ﺿﺨﻢ‬jamhuwrun Daxmun
A large crowd ‫ ﺟﻤﮭﻮر وﻓﯿﺮ‬jamhuwrun wafiyrun
Great wealth ‫ ﺛﺮوة ﻛﺒﯿﺮة‬tarwatun kabiyratun
A vicious war ‫ ﺣﺮب ﺷﺮﺳﺔ‬Harbun sarisatun
A vicious war ‫ ﺣﺮب ﺷﺮﯾﺮة‬Harbun sirriyratun
A vicious war ‫ ﺣﺮب ﻗﺎﺳﯿﺔ‬Harbun qaasiyatun
A great victory ‫ ﻧﺼﺮ ﻛﺒﯿﺮ‬naSrun kabiyrun
Serious consequences ‫ ﻋﻮاﻗﺐ ﺧﻄﯿﺮة‬3awaaqibun xaTiyratun
A public holiday ‫ ﻋﻄﻠﺔ ﺣﻜﻮﻣﯿﺔ‬3uTlatun Hukuwmiyyatun
Heavy winds ‫ رﯾﺎح ﻗﻮﯾﺔ‬riyaaHun qawiyyatun
Heavy winds ‫ رﯾﺎح ﻛﺜﯿﻔﺔ‬riyaaHun katiyfatun
Heavy winds ‫ رﯾﺎح ﺷﺪﯾﺪة‬riyaaHun sadiydatun
A large army ‫ ﺟﯿﺶ ﺿﺨﻢ‬jaysun Daxmun
A large army ‫ ﺟﯿﺶ ﺟﺒﺎر‬jaysun jabbaarun
A raging flood ‫ ﺳﯿﻞ ﺷﺪﯾﺪ‬saylun sadiydun
A raging flood ‫ ﺳﯿﻞ ﻋﻨﯿﻒ‬saylun 3aniyfun
An urgent need ‫ ﺣﺎﺟﺔ ﺷﺪﯾﺪة‬Haajatun sadiydatun
An urgent need ‫ ﺣﺎﺟﺔ ﺑﺎﻟﻐﺔ‬Haajatun baaligatun
A great success ‫ ﻧﺠﺎح ﻛﺒﯿﺮ‬najaaHun kabiyrun
A great desire ‫ رﻏﺒﺔ ﺷﺪﯾﺪة‬ragbatun sadiydatun
Hard evidence ‫ دﻟﯿﻞ ﻗﻮي‬daliylun qawiyyun
Hard evidence ‫ دﻟﯿﻞ واﺿﺢ‬daliylun waaDiHun
Great accuracy ‫ دﻗﺔ ﺷﺪﯾﺪة‬diqqatun sadiydatun
Great accuracy ‫ دﻗﺔ ﻋﺎﻟﯿﺔ‬diqqatun 3aaliyatun
Great accuracy ‫ دﻗﺔ ﻛﺒﯿﺮة‬diqqatun kabiyratun
Strong tea ‫ ﺷﺎي ﻣﺮﻛﺰ‬saayyun murakkazun
Strict orders ‫? أواﻣﺮ ﻣﺸﺪدة‬awaamirun musaddadatun
A big favour ‫ ﺧﺪﻣﺔ ﺟﻠﯿﻠﺔ‬xidmatun jaliylatun
Severe punishment ‫ ﻋﻘﻮﺑﺔ ﻗﺎﺳﯿﺔ‬3uquwbatun qaasiyatun
Severe punishment ‫ ﻋﻘﻮﺑﺔ ﺷﺪﯾﺪة‬3uquwbatun sadiydatun
Lame excuses ‫? أﻋﺬار ﺿﻌﯿﻔﺔ‬a3daarun Da3iyfatun
Serious damage ‫ ﺿﺮر ﺷﺪﯾﺪ‬Dararun sadiydun
Serious damage ‫ ﺿﺮر ﺧﻄﯿﺮ‬Dararun xaTiyrun
A heavy storm ‫ ﻋﺎﺻﻔﺔ ﻗﻮﯾﺔ‬3aaSifatun qawiyyatun
A heavy storm ‫ ﻋﺎﺻﻔﺔ ﻛﺒﯿﺮة‬3aaSifatun kabiyratun
A heavy storm ‫ ﻋﺎﺻﻔﺔ ﺷﺪﯾﺪة‬3aaSifatun sadiydatun
A great idea ‫ ﻓﻜﺮة راﺋﻌﺔ‬fikratun raa?i3atun
A great idea ‫ ﻓﻜﺮة ﻃﯿﺒﺔ‬fikratun Tayyibatun
A great idea ‫ ﻓﻜﺮة ﻣﻤﺘﺎزة‬fikratun mumtaazatun
A fierce battle ‫ ﻣﻌﺮﻛﺔ ﻋﻨﯿﻔﺔ‬ma3rakatun 3aniyfatun
A fierce battle ‫ ﻣﻌﺮﻛﺔ ﺷﺪﯾﺪة‬ma3rakatun sadiydatun
Good luck ‫ ﺣﻆ وﻓﯿﺮ‬HaZZun wafiyrun
Good luck ‫ ﺣﻆ ﻣﻮﻓﻖ‬HaZZun muwaffaqun
Deep hostility ‫ ﺣﻘﺪ ﺷﺪﯾﺪ‬Hiqdun sadiydun
Deep hostility ‫ ﺣﻘﺪ ﺣﺎد‬Hiqdun Haaddun
Heavy seas ‫ ﺑﺤﺎر ﺷﺪﯾﺪة‬biHaarun sadiydatun
Table 8. 16 Examples of neutral collocations (Translating English adjective + noun
collocations into Arabic)
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The table above presents examples of English adjective + noun collocations and
the way they were neutralized by using a generic or neutral adjective in Arabic.
Adjectives such as, ‫ ﻛﺒﯿﺮ‬kabiyr (big), and ‫ ﺷﺪﯾﺪ‬sadiyd (strong) were used many
times to modify different nouns in Arabic.
8.3.2.3 Paraphrasing
As seen earlier in this chapter, paraphrasing is a translation outcome where the
student or professional translator resorts to using several words to explain the
source language collocation instead of providing an exact collocation in the target
language. It is often employed when a student or professional translator is short of
exact target language collocations.
This translation outcome accounts for a low percentage of instances for both
groups in the study. It accounted for 2.25% of the instances with the Student
Translators’ Group, and only 3% with the Professional Translators’ Group.
Below are examples from the data representing the translation outcome of
paraphrasing.
226
Source language collocation Paraphrase provided
A bad smell ‫راﺋﺤﺔ ﻏﯿﺮ ﻣﺴﺘﺤﺒﺔ‬ raa?iHatun gayru mustaHabah
Great wealth ‫ﻣﺎل ﻛﺜﯿﺮ‬ maalun katiyrun
Serious consequences ‫ﻋﻮاﻗﺐ ﻻ ﺗﺴﺮ ﺻﺪﯾﻖ‬ 3awaaqibun laa tasurru Sadiyq
A big favour ‫ﻃﻠﺐ ھﺎم‬ Talabun haammun
Table 8. 17 Examples of the translation outcome of paraphrasing (Translating English

adjective + noun collocations into Arabic)
As can be seen in Table 8.17 above, the student or professional translator tried to
explain the meaning of the English collocation in Arabic.
8.3.2.4 Missing adjective
The student or professional producing this translation outcome rendered the
source language collocation incompletely. That is, they translated an English
adjective + noun collocation into only a noun in Arabic. By doing so, the student
or professional translator produced only part of the meaning of the source
language collocation. This, of course, leads to the production of an incomplete
message.
This translation outcome accounts for 4.5% with the Student Translators’ Group,
and 3.75% with the Professional Translators’ Group.
The student or professional translators may have resorted to this translation

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outcome when they failed to grasp the semantic unit in question. Therefore, they
decided to omit the adjective from the translation.
8.3.2.5 Calquing
A calque, as defined earlier in this chapter, is the literal or word-for-word
translation of a source language collocation. This translation outcome, being one
of the major sources of error in translating the examples of English adjective +
noun collocations into Arabic, accounted for a high percentage of the instances. It
accounted for 25.25% with Student Translators’ Group, and 24.625% with
Professional Translators’ Group. This would result in translations not meeting the
anticipation of the target language reader. That is, this negative transfer from the
source language collocations would lead to the production of unnatural
collocations in Arabic.
Below are examples from the data of this unacceptable translation outcome.
Source language collocation Calques provided

Heavy rain ‫? أﻣﻄﺎر ﺛﻘﯿﻠﺔ‬amTaarun taqiylatun
A good memory ‫ ذاﻛﺮة ﺣﺴﻨﺔ‬daakiratun Hasanatun
A deadly weapon ‫ ﺳﻼح ﻣﻤﯿﺖ‬silaaHun mumiytun
Great imagination ‫ ﺧﯿﺎل ﻋﻈﯿﻢ‬xayaalun 3aZiymun
A satisfactory answer ‫ ﺟﻮاب ﻣﺮض‬jawaabun murDin
A close friend ‫ ﺻﺪﯾﻖ ﻗﺮﯾﺐ‬Sadiyqun qariybun
A close friend ‫ ﺻﺪﯾﻖ ﻣﻘﺮب‬Sadiyqun muqarabun
A good life ‫ ﺣﯿﺎة ﺟﯿﺪة‬Hayaatun jayyidatun
A large crowd ‫ ﺟﻤﻊ ﻛﺒﯿﺮ‬jam3un kabiyrun
A good question ‫ ﺳﺆال ﺣﺴﻦ‬suw?aalun Hasanun
Serious consequences ‫ ﻋﻮاﻗﺐ ﺟﺪﯾﺔ‬3awaaqibun jiddiyyatun
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A public holiday ‫ ﻋﻄﻠﺔ ﻋﺎﻣﺔ‬3uTlatun 3aammatun

A complete failure ‫ ﻓﺸﻞ ﻛﺎﻣﻞ‬fasalun kaamilun
A great desire ‫ رﻏﺒﺔ ﻋﻈﯿﻤﺔ‬ragbatun 3aZiymatun
Great accuracy ‫ دﻗﺔ ﻋﻈﯿﻤﺔ‬diqqatun 3aZiymatun
A gentle breeze ‫ ﻧﺴﻤﺔ ﻧﺎﻋﻤﺔ‬nismatun naa3imatun
A gentle breeze ‫ ﻧﺴﻤﺔ ﻃﺮﯾﺔ‬nismatun Tariyyatun
Strong tea ‫ ﺷﺎي ﻗﻮي‬sayyun qawiyyun
Lame excuses ‫? أﻋﺬار ﻋﺮﺟﺎء‬a3daarun 3arjaa?un
Deep hostility ‫ ﺣﻘﺪ ﻋﻤﯿﻖ‬hiqdun 3amiyqun
Table 8. 18 Examples of calques (Translating English adjective + noun collocations into
Arabic)
As explained earlier under subheading 8.3.1.6, there is more than one reason to
account for the choice to calque or to transfer directly an English collocation into
Arabic. The first could be the lack of extensive reading of texts in the target
language, which is in our case Arabic. The second reason possibly for resorting to
this translation outcome would be the assumption by the student or professional
translator that there is word-for-word correspondence between the source and
target languages. A third reason possibly could be the reliance on general-purpose
English-Arabic dictionaries that offer meanings of words out of context and, in
many cases, without giving illustrative examples.
8.3.2.6 Mistranslating
As explained under subheading 8.3.1.7 above, mistranslating is a translation
outcome where the student or professional translator has produced an incorrect
translation of the source language collocation. The translation outcome of
mistranslating scored a frequency of 7.25% with the Student Translators’ Group,
and 5.875% with the Professional Translators’ Group.
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The following examples illustrate the way the meaning was distorted as a result of
the respondents’ mistranslations.
Source language collocation Mistranslations

A sweet smell ‫ راﺋﺤﺔ ﻣﻨﻌﺸﺔ‬raa?iHatun mun3isatun (a refreshing smell)
A sweet smell ‫ راﺋﺤﺔ ﻋﺮق‬raa?iHatu 3araqin (sweat smell)
A serious mistake ‫ ﺧﻄﺄ ﻣﻤﯿﺖ‬xaTa?un mumiytun (a deadly mistake)
A serious mistake ‫ ذﻧﺐ ﻋﻈﯿﻢ‬danbun 3aZiymun (a great sin)
A good life ‫ ﺣﯿﺎة ﻣﻨﻌﻤﺔ‬Hayaatun muna33amatun (a luxurious life)
A large crowd ‫ ﻋﺪد ﻛﺒﯿﺮ‬3adadun kabiyrun (a large number)
Serious consequences ‫ ﻋﻮاﻗﺐ ﺳﻠﺒﯿﺔ‬3awaaqibun salbiyyatun (passive consequences)
A raging flood ‫ ﺳﯿﻞ ﻣﺪﻣﺮ‬saylun mudammirun (a destroying flood)
An urgent need ‫ رﻏﺒﺔ ﻣﻠﺤﺔ‬ragbatun muliHHatun (an urgent desire)
An urgent need ‫ رﻏﺒﺔ ﺷﺪﯾﺪة‬ragbatun sadiydatun (a strong desire)
An urgent need ‫ ﺷﻌﻮر ﻣﻠﺢ‬su3uwrun muliHHun (an urgent feeling)
Great success ‫ ﻓﻮز ﻋﻈﯿﻢ‬fawzun 3aZiymun (a great victory)
A gentle breeze ‫ ھﻮاء ﻧﺎﻋﻢ‬hawaa?un naa3imun (soft air)
A high cost ‫ ﻧﻔﻘﺔ ﻋﺎﻟﯿﺔ‬nafaqatun 3aaliyatun (a high expense)
A severe punishment ‫ ﻋﻘﻮﺑﺔ ﻗﺼﻮى‬3uquwbatun quSwaa (a maximum punishment)
Lame excuses ‫? أﺳﺒﺎب ﺿﻌﯿﻔﺔ‬asbaabun Da3iyfatun (weak reasons)
Serious damage ‫ دﻣﺎر ﻛﺒﯿﺮ‬damaarun kabiyrun (big destruction)
Serious damage ‫? إﺻﺎﺑﺎت ﺧﻄﯿﺮة‬iSaabatin xatiyrah (dangerous injuries)
A heavy storm ‫? إﻋﺼﺎر ﺷﺪﯾﺪ‬i3Saarun sadiydun (a strong hurricane)
A fierce battle ‫ ﺣﺮب ﺿﺮوس‬Harbun Daruwsun (a vicious war)
Heavy seas ‫ ﺑﺤﺎر ﻋﻤﯿﻘﺔ‬biHaarun 3amiyqatun (deep seas)
Heavy seas ‫? أﻣﻮاج ﻋﺎﺗﯿﺔ‬amwaajun 3aatiyatun (strong waves)
Heavy seas ‫? أﻣﻮاج ﺛﻘﯿﻠﺔ‬amwaajun taqiylatun (heavy waves)
Heavy seas ‫ ﻣﯿﺎه ﻋﻤﯿﻘﺔ‬miyaahun 3amiyqatun (deep waters)
Table 8. 19 Examples of mistranslations (Translating English adjective + noun collocations
into Arabic)
In each of the examples above, the meaning of the source collocation was
distorted in one way or another. In some cases, the meaning of the adjective was
distorted. For example, the mistranslating of the adjective in the English
collocation a serious mistake into Arabic by the adjective ‫ ﻣﻤﯿﺖ‬mumiyt (deadly).
In some other cases, the meaning of the noun was distorted. The noun in the
English collocation a great success, for example, was mistranslated into Arabic
by the noun ‫ ﻓﻮز‬fawz (victory). In only a few cases, the meaning of both the
adjective and noun was distorted. For instance, the English collocation lame
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excuses was mistranslated into Arabic by the collocation ‫? أﺳﺒﺎب ﺿﻌﯿﻔﺔ‬asbaabun
Da3iyfatun (weak reasons).
8.3.2.7 Omitting
Another outcome of translating the English examples of adjective + noun
collocations into Arabic is that of omitting. This translation outcome applies to
cases where the respondents did not translate the whole sentence containing the
collocation or just omitted the collocation. Omitting was resorted to in only a few
cases. The translation outcome of omitting scored a frequency of 0.25% for the
instances in the Student Translators’ Group, and 0.5% for the Professional
Translators’ Group.
The respondents’ impatience and probably unwillingness to continue translating
for about an hour and a half could possibly account for this particular outcome. In
addition, it may have resulted from a failure to comprehend the source language
collocation.
8.4 Conclusion
In summary, what do these observations of a small group of student translators
and professional translators suggest? It seems that both student and
professional translators tend to have some specific problems in translating

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English collocations into Arabic. These problems appear to be worse when
translating English adjective + noun collocations into Arabic. This tendency can
be observed when the student and professional translators produce unacceptable
translation outcomes. The errors may be attributed to the influence from the
source language, which is English, the misunderstanding of the meaning of the
source language collocation, time constraint, and to the use of general-purpose
bilingual dictionaries that do not provide the translators with detailed explanations
or examples of collocations. This would require further investigation, which is
beyond the scope of this study.
Translation practice requires a whole group of competences in the source and
target languages. One of these competences that is importantly required by
translators is what is termed ‘collocational competence’ (Hill, 2000).
Collocational competence is the translators’ knowledge of collocations in the
source language and the way they are rendered into the target language.
Collocational competence involves several factors. These factors could be
summarized in the following points.
1- Translators should be aware of the meaning and, therefore, the
significance of collocation.
2- They should realize that different languages do not
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necessarily have the same collocates for equivalent words.
Unless translators completely separate the source language collocations from the
target language, they may not be able to retrieve equivalent target language
collocations from their memories.
It is hoped that this study raises an interest in collocations in general for those
researchers working in the field of linguistics and specifically those interested in
the translation of collocations in particular. Of special interest to translation
schools is how to apply the observations of this particular study in order to
improve the teaching of translation. As far as teaching is concerned, it would be
wise to conclude that those translation outcomes found in this study to be
acceptable and those found to be unacceptable must be addressed in any practical
translation course. Such translation outcomes may help give student translators,
who in turn will become professional translators, insights into how to possibly
render a collocation. This study, therefore, recommends testing the possibility of
teaching translation students how to employ acceptable translation outcomes for
collocations. This possibly could be a useful teaching strategy for dealing with
translation in general.
It may be that other acceptable translation outcomes still need to be identified by
researchers in order to devise strategies for teaching the translation of the
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particular linguistic aspect of collocation to enhance such outcomes. In addition,
and most importantly, more attention should be given to collocations in
developing and enhancing translators’ performance.
Thus, the more the translator is exposed to Modern Standard Arabic through
reading and listening the more they should be able to demonstrate acceptable
collocations in their translations, as it is not open for translators to misuse and
misinterpret the collocations. Misuse and misinterpretation possibly could arise
from the translator being multilingual or even bilingual, because there could be
the possibility of language interference from the other language(s). However, this
study is not suggesting that it is against borrowed collocations in the Arabic
language. In fact, they have been discussed in Chapter Three and have been
considered to be one source of collocations in the Arabic language. However, for
the purpose of acceptable translations, these collocations have to be first
established in the Arabic language and, second, have to be recognised in the
language by monolingual native speakers.
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Chapter nine: Conclusion
9 CONCLUSION
9.1 Introduction
The main questions addressed in the present study were concerned with the
characteristics and semantic patterns of Arabic collocations, the student and
professional translators’ knowledge of Arabic collocations, and how they rendered
English collocations into Arabic. Answers to certain interesting questions were
sought by using elicited competence and performance data among English-Arabic
student and professional translators. The general purpose of the thesis was thus to
make a general contribution to the understanding of Arabic collocations and of the
translating of English collocations into Arabic.
More explicitly, the following general aims were established for the study. This study
aimed at characterising collocations in the Arabic language, devising a classification
of the semantic and distributional patterns of collocations in the Arabic language, and
examining the problems encountered in translating English collocations into Arabic.
The study required an analysis of the collocational patterns in both English and
Arabic, a classification of the translation outcomes, and, therefore, the types of errors
made by translators in terms of indicating the frequency and significance of each
error and analysing the causes of each error.
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9.2 Summary
The present study attempted to answer the following research questions:
1. What is the difference between the Arabic Control Group’s knowledge and
the Professional Translators Group’s knowledge of Arabic verb + object and
noun + adjective collocations?
2. What is the difference between the Arabic Control Group’s knowledge and
the Student Translators Group’s knowledge of Arabic verb + object and noun
+ adjective collocations?
3. What is the difference between the Professional Translators Group’s
knowledge and the Student Translators Group’s knowledge of Arabic verb +
object and noun + adjective collocations?
4. What are the semantic characteristics of Arabic verb + object and noun +
adjective collocations?
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5. What are the semantic and distributional patterns into which Arabic verb +
object and noun + adjective collocations fall?
6. What are the translation outcomes observed in the Student Translators’ Group
when rendering English verb + object and adjective + noun collocations into
Arabic?
7. What are the translation outcomes observed in the Professional Translators’
collocations into Arabic?
8. What are the most common outcomes in the translations of the English verb +
object and adjective + noun collocations into Arabic?, and how frequently did
the Student Translators’ Group and Professional Group resort to each one of
the translation outcomes?
Chapter One was an introductory chapter that gave a definition of collocations. Then
it discussed the rationale behind the study. It also presented the aims of the thesis.
This was followed by an explanation of the type of Arabic language used in the study,
being Modern Standard Arabic. The chapter also illustrated the method of
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presenting Arabic examples in the thesis and a transliteration guide to Arabic vowels
and consonants. The reasons for choosing particular types of collocations for this
study were discussed as well. Finally, the chapter included a brief presentation of the
structure of the thesis.
Chapter Two presented the scholarly work on collocations since the 1930’s. It
showed the significant disagreement and the lack of clarity in defining collocations
among different linguists. The chapter also discussed the interest shown in
collocations by lexicographers, the importance of computational linguistics in
collocational research, and how electronic collocational dictionaries have contributed
to the study of English collocations.
Chapter Three showed that collocations in the Arabic language have not been
comprehensively explored. It presented the classifications of Arabic collocations
offered by different studies. The chapter also proved that Classical Arabic
lexicographers were aware of the phenomenon of collocations and included
collocations in their dictionaries of meaning. The difficulty of processing Arabic on
computers was also noted in this chapter, and it was suggested that more accurate
software could be developed to cope with such difficulties. Finally, the chapter
presented some of the sources for collocations in Modern Standard Arabic. It showed
Modern Standard Arabic includes collocations that are derived from

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different sources, including the Quran and borrowed collocations.
Chapter Four showed that there was little previous research that investigated the
translation of English collocations into Arabic. It also considered collocation to be a
translation problem. The chapter explained the different ways of translating English
verb + object and adjective + noun collocations into Arabic.
Chapter Five gave a brief overview of the translation profession in Australia with the
understanding that this had been shaped in the context of the history of immigration
to Australia and by Australia’s multicultural policy in order to throw light on the
subjects of the study. Both the history and policy were presented. Following from
this, the chapter discussed the imperative for English-Arabic translation in Australia.
Finally, the chapter explained translator and interpreter accreditation and
translator/interpreter training in Australia.
Chapter Six presented the research methodology. It discussed the research design, the
setting of the study, the participants, the instruments, and the data collection
procedures.
Chapter Seven presented the results of the questionnaire of Arabic collocations.
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One of the findings was the variation in the degree of relative decisiveness shown by
the three groups in selecting the range of acceptable collocations. The results proved
that the Arabic Control Group was the most decisive group; the Professional
Translators’ Group was less decisive; and, finally, the Student Translators’ Group
was indecisive. Most importantly, the chapter presented thirteen significant
characteristics of collocations in the Arabic language to separate them from other
semantic types that have similar grammatical structures but which are of a dissimilar
semantic type. Another major finding of the chapter was a semantic and distributional
classification of different patterns of collocations in the Arabic language.
Finally, Chapter Eight presented and discussed the results of the Translation Test of
English Collocations into Arabic. The chapter proved that both the Student
Translators’ Group and the Professional Translators’ Group tend to have some
specific problems in translating English verb + object and adjective + noun
collocations into Arabic. These problems appear to be worse for both groups when
they translate English adjective + noun collocations into Arabic. This was observed
when the student and professional translators produced unacceptable translation
outcomes. It was suggested that these errors may be attributed to following reasons:
the influence of the source language, which is English; the misunderstanding of the
meaning of the source language collocation; time constraint; and, finally, the
translators’ consultation of general- purpose bilingual dictionaries that did
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not provide the translators with detailed explanations or examples of collocations.
9.3 Implications for translation
The present study suggests eight implications for translating collocations in general.
These can be applied as a generic framework or model for translating all collocations.
The seven implications are:
1- Translators should identify collocations in the source text at the same time as
they identify difficult words.
2- They should understand that the production of collocations in translated texts
can be influenced by source language collocations.
3- They should be aware of the limitations of general-purpose bilingual
dictionaries in terms of dealing with collocations.
4- They should realize the translation problem of trying to make collocations in
the source language match ones in the target language word-for-word. That is,
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it is not always the case that there is a word-for-word equivalent in the target
language.
5- They should also understand that when a target language collocation(s) exists,
there might not be much room for creativity. Therefore, creating new
collocations can be risky.
6- They should make their own lists of collocations they encounter in all
languages they deal with.
7- Finally, translators should try to expand their collocational repertoire in all
languages with which they deal. One way to achieve this is probably through
reading from and listening to the widest variety of sources of the target
language, in this case, Modern Standard Arabic.
What makes translators perform appropriately with regard to collocations is their
overall collocational competence. A near-perfect knowledge of source language
collocations and their equivalents in the target language is a basic requirement for,
what this study terms, collocational performance in translation. This includes the
awareness of the differences between the source and target languages in terms of
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the formation of collocations, which may be only partially reflected in general-
purpose bilingual dictionaries. Collocational competence in both source and target
languages is part and parcel of overall translation competence and this may explain
why unacceptable translation outcomes result in linguistically ill-formed expressions.
However, collocational competence may not necessarily reflect collocational
performance in translation.
One way to judge translation performance is through the translators’ collocational
performance. Effective collocational performance demands effective collocational
competence. Furthermore, translating collocations is one of the measures by which
overall performance of translators can be assessed (Izwaini, 2000). Therefore, if a
translator lacks collocational competence, the translated text will be affected in one
way or another. Collocational competence can be conceived to be a factor enabling
translators to perform their translation task appropriately with regard to collocational
performance.
9.4 Contributions made by this study
This study provided five main contributions to the research into linguistics and
translation. The first contribution was the thesis’ addition to the very limited studies
into collocations in the Arabic language and was the first to conduct an empirical
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investigation into Arabic collocation, from which the author provided a semantic
characterisation and a semantic and distributional classification of collocations in the
Arabic language. The semantic and distributional classification of Arabic collocations
was used to propose a determination of a set of strong verb + object and noun +
adjective collocations in the Arabic language. The study, therefore, provides
principles for a framework for the study of Arabic collocations.
The second contribution of this piece of research is that it undertook a thorough
presentation of the characteristics of collocations. From this it offered an
unprecedented characterization of collocations. This characterization will lead to a
better understanding of collocations in general and collocations in Arabic in
particular. This contribution of characterizing collocations in a specific way provided
firm definitions that should enhance the method for studying collocations.
The third contribution of this study derives from the fact that it was the only study
that tested student and professional translators’ performance with regard to translating
English collocations into Arabic. Therefore, the study provides a practical approach
to the translation of collocations. Although the study focused on translating English
verb + object and adjective + noun collocations into Arabic, translators can apply the
suggested model in the following ways: translating other types of collocation;
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translating from Arabic into English; and translating between any two language pairs.
The fourth contribution of this thesis lies in the large quantity of items and the design
of the Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations with its unique categories for its scale of
frequency. The questionnaire that was designed specifically for this study included
one hundred items: fifty items with four verb + object collocations, and fifty further
items with four noun + adjective collocations, which resulted in a total of four
hundred collocations. This would be considered to be amongst the largest number of
items used in questionnaires for similar studies. It was also unique in that the
questionnaire was the first to be applied to Arabic collocations.
The fifth contribution of the present study was the formulation of seven implications
for translating collocations in general. As a result, these can be applied as a generic
framework or model for translating all collocations. This is extremely significant for
the teaching of translation.
9.5 Final remarks and directions for further research
One conclusion must be a call for more research into the area of Arabic collocation in
general and the area of translating collocations into Arabic in particular,
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especially those collocations that show a high frequency of usage. Future studies may
possibly consider using the same design of the Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations
proposed by this study.
With regard to dictionaries, the compiling of bilingual dictionaries of collocations
should be considered urgently (the author of this thesis is currently undertaking a
project of compiling an English-Arabic dictionary of collocations). The noted
researcher into the area of collocations, Hasan Ghazala (personal communication), is
in the process of compiling a bilingual dictionary of collocations. However,
Ghazala’s dictionary will include, in addition to collocations, what this study
considers to be idiomatic expressions. Such specialized dictionaries would be more
practical than general-purpose dictionaries, which are concerned more with meaning
than with word combinations. Also, general-purpose dictionaries do not include most
collocations in a language, perhaps because of space limitation. Unfortunately,
collocations as opposed to idioms are still not given appropriate and singular attention
by bilingual dictionary compilers. Cowie (1981:225) states that this may be because
“it is doubtful whether, in the face of continuing user conservatism, lexicographers
will undertake an ambitious treatment of collocations in general pedagogical
dictionaries”.
A bilingual collocational dictionary would act as a reference book and help

246
both the language learner and the translator. Such specialized dictionaries would have
to be comprehensive in covering the different usages of each word in the source
language and their closest equivalent(s) in the target language. Moreover, these
dictionaries would help their users to identify source language collocations and find
quickly their target language equivalents.
This study suggests that for the best outcomes a translation product should be
‘polished’ in a post-translation task by being given to an editor who is a monolingual
native speaker of the target language. Alternatively, translators can do the final post-
translation editing themselves by reading the target language text without referring to
the original source language text (Newmark, 1988:222). In addition, translators
should not create their own collocations when an equivalent target collocation exists,
because the resulting collocation may be misinterpreted. In order to produce
acceptable target language collocations, translators must completely separate the
source language collocations from the target language. That will help translators
retrieve equivalent target language collocations from their memories or other sources.
Translators should produce target language collocations that sound natural and
native-like when read by a monolingual native speaker. As Abu-Ssaydeh (1991:66)
points out, “ideally, a translation will be lexically judged as a good rendition of the
text in the source language if the vocabulary used by the translator is qualitatively and
247
quantitatively similar to what an educated native speaker would use in a similar
context”.
It is hoped that the insights presented in this study may inspire more research into
translators’ collocational performance, which is of crucial importance to overall
translation performance.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that this study, because it was conducted in
multicultural Australia, could be used as an example for those multilingual societies
where English-Arabic translation is needed. Therefore, it might be a good idea to
conduct similar studies in other multicultural and multilingual countries, such as the
United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa
and others.
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APPENDICIES
270
‫‪APPENDIX A‬‬
‫‪Information sheet and demographic questionnaire: Arabic Control Group‬‬
‫اﻟﻤﻮﻗﺮ‬ ‫أﺧﻲ اﻟﻤﺸﺎرك ﻓﻲ اﻟﺒﺤﺚ‬
‫اﻟﺴﻼم ﻋﻠﯿﻜﻢ ورﺣﻤﺔ اﷲ وﺑﺮﻛﺎﺗﮫ وﺑﻌﺪ‪:‬‬

‫ﻓﻲ إﻃﺎر إﺟﺮاء دراﺳﺔ ﻟﻨﯿﻞ درﺟﺔ اﻟﺪﻛﺘﻮراه ﻓﻲ اﻟﻠﻐﻮﯾﺎت واﻟﺘﺮﺟﻤﺔ ﺗﺤﺖ ﻋﻨﻮان " اﻟﻤﺘﻼزﻣﺎت‬
‫اﻟﻠﻔﻈﯿﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻠﻐﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ " أﻗﺪم ﻟﻚ ھﺬا اﻻﺧﺘﺒﺎر‪.‬أرﺟﻮ اﻟﺘﻜﺮم ﺑﺎﻹﺟﺎﺑﺔ ﻋﻦ ﺟﻤﯿﻊ اﻟﻔﻘﺮات ﻣﻊ اﻟﻌﻠﻢ‬
‫أﻧﮫ ﻟﯿﺴﺖ ھﻨﺎك إﺟﺎﺑﺔ ﺻﺤﯿﺤﺔ وأﺧﺮى ﺧﺎﻃﺌﺔ وإﻧﻤﺎ ﻟﻜﻞ ﺷﺨﺺ رأﯾﮫ ﻓﯿﻤﺎ ﯾﻔﻜﺮ ﻓﯿﮫ‪.‬‬
‫إن اﻟﺘﻼزم اﻟﻠﻔﻈﻲ‪ ،‬ﻓﻲ أﺑﺴﻂ ﺗﻌﺮﯾﻒ ﻟﮫ‪ ،‬ھﻮ ﺗﻜﺮر اﺳﺘﺨﺪام ﻛﻠﻤﺘﯿﻦ أو أﻛﺜﺮ ﻣﻊ ﺑﻌﻀﮭﺎ اﻟﺒﻌﺾ ﻓﻲ‬
‫ﻟﻐﺔ ﻣﺎ ﻓﺘﻌﻮّد أھﻞ اﻟﻠﻐﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ اﺳﺘﺨﺪاﻣﮭﺎ ﻛﺬﻟﻚ‪ .‬ﻓﮭﺬا اﻟﺒﺤﺚ ﯾﮭﺪف إﻟﻰ ﺗﺼﻨﯿﻒ اﻟﻤﺘﻼزﻣﺎت اﻟﻠﻔﻈﯿﺔ‬
‫دﻻﻟﯿﺎ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻠﻐﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ‪ .‬ﻛﻤﺎ ﯾﮭﺪف إﻟﻰ اﺳﺘﻜﺸﺎف اﻟﻄﺮق اﻟﺘﻲ ﯾﺴﺘﺨﺪﻣﮭﺎ ﺑﻌﺾ اﻟﻤﺘﺮﺟﻤﯿﻦ‬
‫اﻟﻤﺤﺘﺮﻓﯿﻦ وﻃﻼب اﻟﺘﺮﺟﻤﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻧﻘﻞ اﻟﻤﺘﻼزﻣﺎت اﻟﻠﻔﻈﯿﺔ اﻹﻧﺠﻠﯿﺰﯾﺔ إﻟﻰ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ‪.‬‬
‫إن اﻻﺧﺘﺒﺎر اﻟﺘﺎﻟﻲ ھﻮ ﺟﺰء ﻣﻦ ھﺬه اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ واﻟﺬي ﯾﻌﺘﺰم اﻟﺒﺎﺣﺚ إﺟﺮاءه ﻋﻠﻰ ﻋﯿﻨﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻃﻼب‬
‫اﻟﺪراﺳﺎت اﻟﻌﻠﯿﺎ ﺑﻜﻠﯿﺔ اﻟﻠﻐﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ ﺑﺠﺎﻣﻌﺔ أم اﻟﻘﺮى وذﻟﻚ ﺑﮭﺪف ﺗﺤﺪﯾﺪ اﺳﺘﺨﺪام ﺑﻌﺾ اﻟﻤﺘﻼزﻣﺎت‬
‫اﻟﻠﻔﻈﯿﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻠﻐﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ ﻟﺘﺴﺘﺨﺪم اﻟﻨﺘﺎﺋﺞ ﺑﻌﺪ ذﻟﻚ ﻛﻤﺮﺟﻊ ﻟﺘﻘﯿﯿﻢ ﺑﻌﺾ اﻟﻤﺘﺮﺟﻤﯿﻦ اﻟﻤﺤﺘﺮﻓﯿﻦ‬
‫وﻃﻼب اﻟﺘﺮﺟﻤﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻧﻘﻠﮭﻢ ﻟﺒﻌﺾ اﻟﻤﺘﻼزﻣﺎت اﻟﻠﻔﻈﯿﺔ اﻹﻧﺠﻠﯿﺰﯾﺔ إﻟﻰ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ‪.‬‬
‫ﺷﻜﺮا ﻟﻜﻢ ﺳﻠﻔﺎ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻤﺸﺎرﻛﺔ وﻋﻠﻰ وﻗﺘﻜﻢ اﻟﺜﻤﯿﻦ‪،،،‬‬
‫ﻣﻠﺤﻮﻇﺔ‪ :‬اﻟﺒﯿﺎﻧﺎت اﻟﻮاردة ﻓﻲ ھﺬا اﻻﺧﺘﺒﺎر ﺳﺮﯾﺔ وﻟﻦ ﺗﺴﺘﺨﺪم ﻓﻲ ﻏﯿﺮ أﻏﺮاض اﻟﺒﺤﺚ اﻟﻌﻠﻤﻲ ﻣﻦ‬
‫ﻗﺒﻞ اﻟﺒﺎﺣﺚ‪.‬‬
‫اﻟﺒﺎﺣﺚ‬
‫‪271‬‬
‫أوﻻ‪ :‬ﻣﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت ﺷﺨﺼﯿﺔ وأﻛﺎدﯾﻤﯿﺔ وﻟﻐﻮﯾﺔ‬
‫أﺟﺐ ﻋﻦ اﻷﺳﺌﻠﺔ اﻟﺘﺎﻟﯿﺔ إﻣﺎ ﻛﺘﺎﺑﺔ أو ﺑﻮﺿﻊ ﻋﻼﻣﺔ )‪ (X‬أﻣﺎم اﻻﺧﺘﯿﺎر اﻟﻤﻨﺎﺳﺐ ﻟﻜﻞ‬
‫ﻓﻘﺮة‪:‬‬
‫‪ (1‬اﻟﺠﻨﺲ‪:‬‬
‫( ‪ -2‬أﻧﺜﻰ‬ ‫)‬ ‫( ‪ -1‬ذﻛﺮ‬ ‫)‬
‫‪ (2‬اﻟﻌﻤﺮ‪.................... :‬‬
‫‪ (3‬اﻟﻤﺮﺣﻠﺔ اﻟﺪراﺳﯿﺔ‪:‬‬
‫( ‪ -2‬دﻛﺘﻮراه‬ ‫)‬ ‫( ‪ -1‬ﻣﺎﺟﺴﺘﯿﺮ‬ ‫)‬
‫‪ (4‬اﻟﺘﺨﺼﺺ‪:‬‬
‫( ‪ -2‬أدب‬ ‫)‬ ‫( ‪ -1‬ﻋﻠﻢ ﻟﻐﺔ‬ ‫)‬
‫‪ (5‬اﻟﻤﻌﺪل اﻟﺘﺮاﻛﻤﻲ‪................... :‬‬

‫‪ (6‬اﻟﻤﮭﻨﺔ‪.................... :‬‬
‫‪ (7‬ﻋﺪد ﺳﻨﻮات اﻟﺨﺒﺮة ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﻤﻞ‪.................... :‬‬
‫‪ (8‬ﻣﺎ ﻣﺪى إﻟﻤﺎﻣﻚ ﺑﺎﻟﻠﻐﺔ اﻹﻧﺠﻠﯿﺰﯾﺔ؟‬
‫( ‪ -3‬ﻣﺘﻮﺳﻂ‬ ‫)‬ ‫( ‪ -2‬ﻗﻮي‬ ‫)‬ ‫( ‪ -1‬ﻗﻮي ﺟﺪا‬ ‫)‬
‫( ‪ -5‬ﺿﻌﯿﻒ ﺟﺪا‬ ‫)‬ ‫( ‪ -4‬ﺿﻌﯿﻒ‬ ‫)‬
‫‪ (9‬ھﻞ ﺳﺒﻖ وأن ﻗﻤﺖ ﺑﺎﻟﺘﺮﺟﻤﺔ ﺑﯿﻦ اﻟﻠﻐﺘﯿﻦ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ واﻹﻧﺠﻠﯿﺰﯾﺔ؟‬
‫( ‪ -2‬ﻻ‬ ‫)‬ ‫( ‪ -1‬ﻧﻌﻢ‬ ‫)‬
‫‪272‬‬
‫‪APPENDIX B‬‬
‫‪Questionnaire of Arabic Collocations‬‬
‫اﻟﻘﺴﻢ اﻷول‪:‬‬
‫اﻗﺮأ ﻛﻞ ﻋﺒﺎرة ﻣﻦ اﻟﻌﺒﺎرات اﻟﺘﺎﻟﯿﺔ ﻗﺮاءة ﺟﯿﺪة‪ ،‬ﺛﻢ اﻗﺮأ اﻷﻓﻌﺎل ﻣﻦ )أ( إﻟﻰ )د( وﺣﺪد درﺟﺔ ﺗﻼزم‬
‫ﻛﻞ ﻓﻌﻞ ﻣﻦ اﻷﻓﻌﺎل ﻣﻊ اﻻﺳﻢ اﻟﺬي ﺗﺤﺘﮫ ﺧﻂ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺒﺎرة وذﻟﻚ ﺑﻮﺿﻊ ﻋﻼﻣﺔ )‪ (X‬ﺗﺤﺖ ﻣﺎ ﯾﻨﺎﺳﺒﮫ‬
‫ﻣﻦ درﺟﺔ ﺗﻼزم ﻓﻲ اﻟﺠﺪول‪ .‬أﻣﺎ ﺑﺎﻟﻨﺴﺒﺔ ﻟﻠﻔﺮاغ )ھـ( ﻓﻲ اﻟﺠﺪول ﻓﻘﺪ وﺿﻊ ﻟﻚ ﻟﺘﻘﺘﺮح ﻓﻌﻼ آﺧﺮ‬
‫ﯾﻤﻜﻦ أن ﯾﺴﺘﺨﺪم ﻣﻊ اﻻﺳﻢ اﻟﺬي ﺗﺤﺘﮫ ﺧﻂ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺒﺎرة ﻣﻌﻄﯿﺎ ﻧﻔﺲ اﻟﻤﻌﻨﻰ )إن ﻛﺎن ھﻨﺎك ﻓﻌﻞ آﺧﺮ‬
‫ﻓﻲ اﻋﺘﻘﺎدك( ﺛﻢ ﺣﺪد درﺟﺔ ﺗﻼزﻣﮫ ﻣﻊ اﻻﺳﻢ ﺑﻨﻔﺲ اﻟﻄﺮﯾﻘﺔ‪.‬‬
‫‪ ________ (1‬ﻋﮭﺪاً ﻋﻠﻰ ﻧﻔﺴﮫ ﺑﺄن ﻻ ﯾﻔﻌﻞ ذﻟﻚ ﻣﺮة أﺧﺮى‪.‬‬
‫ﯾﺘﻼزم داﺋﻤﺎ‬ ‫أﺣﯿﺎﻧﺎ‬ ‫ﻻ ﯾﺘﻼزم أﺑﺪا ﻧﺎدرا‬

‫ﻋﺎھﺪ‬ ‫أ‬
‫أﺧﺬ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻗﻀﻰ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻗﻄﻊ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ ________ (2‬اﻟﻌﮭﺪ اﻟﺬي ﺑﯿﻨﻲ وﺑﯿﻨﮫ‪.‬‬

‫ﺧﺎن‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻧﻜﺚ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻧﻘﺾ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻧﺒﺬ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ ________ (3‬ﺟﻮاداً ﻓﻲ اﻟﺴﺒﺎق‪.‬‬

‫رﻛﺐ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﺻﻌﺪ‬ ‫ب‬
‫اﻣﺘﻄﻰ‬ ‫ج‬
‫اﻋﺘﻠﻰ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ ________ (4‬ﺳﯿﻔﺎ ﻟﻠﻤﺒﺎرزة‪.‬‬

‫اﺳﺘﻞّ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﺷﮭﺮ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺟﺮّ‬ ‫ج‬
‫أﺧﺮج‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪273‬‬
‫‪ ________ (5‬ﺟﺪﻻً ﺣﻮل اﻟﻘﻀﯿﺔ‪.‬‬

‫ﻋﻤﻞ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻓﺘﺢ‬ ‫ب‬
‫أﺷﻌﻞ‬ ‫ج‬
‫أﺛﺎر‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ ________ (6‬أواﻣﺮ ﻟﻤﻮﻇﻔﯿﮫ‪.‬‬

‫أﻣﻠﻰ‬ ‫أ‬
‫أﻋﻄﻰ‬ ‫ب‬
‫أﺻﺪر‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻣﻨﺢ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ ________ (7‬ﺗﻌﻠﯿﻤﺎت ﻣﺪﯾﺮه‪.‬‬

‫ﻧﻔﺬ‬ ‫أ‬
‫اﺗﺒﻊ‬ ‫ب‬
‫أﻃﺎع‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻃﺒّﻖ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ ________ (8‬ﺳﺮاً ﻓﻲ ﻏﺎﯾﺔ اﻷھﻤﯿﺔ‪.‬‬

‫أذاع‬ ‫أ‬
‫أﻋﻠﻦ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻛﺸﻒ‬ ‫ج‬
‫أﻓﺸﻰ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ ________ (9‬اﺗﻔﺎﻗﯿﺔ ﻣﻊ اﻟﺸﺮﻛﺔ‪.‬‬

‫ﻋﻘﺪ‬ ‫أ‬
‫أﺑﺮم‬ ‫ب‬
‫أﺟﺮى‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻋﻤﻞ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪274‬‬
‫‪ ________ (10‬اﻟﺪﻣﻮع ﻣﻦ ﻋﯿﻨﯿﮫ‪.‬‬

‫ذرف‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﺳﻜﺐ‬ ‫ب‬
‫أوﻗﻊ‬ ‫ج‬
‫أﻧﺰل‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ ________ (11‬ﺧﻄﺄ ﺑﺤﻖ اﻟﺠﻤﯿﻊ‪.‬‬

‫ﻗﺪم‬ ‫أ‬
‫اﻗﺘﺮف‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻋﻤﻞ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ارﺗﻜﺐ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ ________ (12‬ﺟﺮﯾﻤﺔ ﻻ ﺗﻐﺘﻔﺮ‪.‬‬

‫ارﺗﻜﺐ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻋﻤﻞ‬ ‫ب‬
‫اﻗﺘﺮف‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻗﺪم‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ ________ (13‬ﺟﮭﺪاً ﻻ ﯾﺴﺘﮭﺎن ﺑﮫ‪.‬‬

‫ﺑﺬل‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻗﺪم‬ ‫ج‬
‫أدى‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ ________ (14‬اﻟﻘﺎﻧﻮن ﺑﺘﺼﺮﻓﺎﺗﮫ اﻟﺨﺎﻃﺌﺔ‪.‬‬
‫ﯾﺘﻼزم داﺋﻤﺎ‬ ‫أﺣﯿﺎﻧﺎ‬ ‫ﻧﺎدرا‬ ‫ﻻ ﯾﺘﻼزم أﺑﺪا‬

‫ﻛﺴﺮ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻧﺎﻗﺾ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺗﺠﺎوز‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﺧﺎﻟﻒ‬ ‫د‬
‫ھـ ‪...............‬‬
‫‪275‬‬
‫‪ ________ (15‬أﺛﺮ اﻟﻄﺮﯾﺪة‪.‬‬

‫ﺗﻌﻘﺐ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﺗﺒﻊ‬ ‫ب‬
‫اﻗﺘﻔﻰ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻃﺎرد‬ ‫د‬
‫ھـ ‪...............‬‬
‫‪ ________ (16‬ﻣﺜﻼً ﻓﻲ اﻟﺘﻀﺤﯿﺔ‪.‬‬

‫أﻋﻄﻰ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﺿﺮب‬ ‫ب‬
‫أﻟﻘﻰ‬ ‫د‬
‫ھـ ‪...............‬‬
‫‪ ________ (17‬ﻣﻌﺮﻛﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺷﺒﺎﺑﮫ‪.‬‬

‫ﺧﺎض‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﺣﺎرب‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻗﺎﺗﻞ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻏﺰا‬ ‫د‬
‫ھـ ‪...............‬‬
‫‪ ________ (18‬ﺣﺮﯾﻘًﺎ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻐﺎﺑﺔ‪.‬‬

‫أوﻗﺪ‬ ‫أ‬
‫أﺷﻌﻞ‬ ‫ب‬
‫أﻧﺸﺄ‬ ‫ج‬
‫أﺿﺮم‬ ‫د‬
‫ھـ ‪...............‬‬
‫‪ ________ (19‬ﻃﺮﯾﻘﺎً ﺑﯿﻦ اﻟﻤﺪﯾﻨﺘﯿﻦ‪.‬‬

‫ﺑﻨﻰ‬ ‫أ‬
‫أﻧﺸﺄ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻋﺒّﺪ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﺷﯿّﺪ‬ ‫د‬
‫ھـ ‪...............‬‬
‫‪276‬‬
‫‪ ________ (20‬ھﺪﻓﺎً ﻓﻲ اﻟﺘﺮﺑﯿﺔ‪.‬‬

‫أﺣﺮز‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﺣﻘﻖ‬ ‫ب‬
‫أﻧﺠﺰ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﺑﻠﻎ‬ ‫د‬
‫ھـ ‪...............‬‬
‫‪ ________ (21‬ﻧﺘﯿﺠﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻻﻣﺘﺤﺎن اﻟﻨﮭﺎﺋﻲ‪.‬‬

‫ﻧﺎل‬ ‫أ‬
‫أﺣﺮز‬ ‫ب‬
‫اﻛﺘﺴﺐ‬ ‫ج‬
‫أﻧﺠﺰ‬ ‫د‬
‫ھـ ‪...............‬‬
‫‪ ________ (22‬ﻏﯿﻈﺎً ﻓﻲ ﻧﻔﺴﮫ‪.‬‬

‫ﻛﺒﺖ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻛﻈﻢ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻛﺘﻢ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻗﻤﻊ‬ ‫د‬
‫ھـ ‪...............‬‬
‫‪ ________ (23‬ﻗﺼﺔ ﻋﻦ ﻗﺮﯾﺘﮫ‪.‬‬

‫ﻗﺺ‬ ‫أ‬
‫أﻧﺸﺪ‬ ‫ب‬
‫روى‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﺣﻜﻰ‬ ‫د‬
‫ھـ ‪...............‬‬
‫‪ ________ (24‬اﻟﻠﺤﯿﺔ ﻟﻤﺪة ﻃﻮﯾﻠﺔ‪.‬‬

‫وﻓّﺮ‬ ‫أ‬
‫أﺳﺪل‬ ‫ب‬
‫أﻃﻠﻖ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻃﻮّل‬ ‫د‬
‫ھـ ‪...............‬‬
‫‪277‬‬
‫‪ ________ (25‬اﻟﻮﻗﺖ ﺑﺪون ﻓﺎﺋﺪة‪.‬‬

‫أﺿﺎع‬ ‫أ‬
‫أھﺪر‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺻﺮف‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﺧﺴﺮ‬ ‫د‬
‫ھـ ‪...............‬‬
‫‪ ________ (26‬اﻟﻄﺎﻗﺔ ﻟﺠﮭﻠﮫ‪.‬‬

‫ﺧﺴﺮ‬ ‫أ‬
‫أھﺪر‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺻﺮف‬ ‫ج‬
‫أﺿﺎع‬ ‫د‬
‫ھـ ‪...............‬‬
‫‪ ________ (27‬اﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﺎ ﻓﻲ ﺻﺎﻟﺔ ﻣﻐﻠﻘﺔ‪.‬‬

‫رﺗﺐ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﺷﻜّﻞ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻋﻘﺪ‬ ‫ج‬
‫أﺟﺮى‬ ‫د‬
‫ھـ ‪...............‬‬
‫‪ ________ (28‬ﻣﺆﺗﻤﺮاً ﻟﻤﻨﺎﻗﺸﺔ اﻟﻮﺿﻊ‪.‬‬

‫رﺗﺐ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﺷﻜّﻞ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻋﻘﺪ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ھـ ‪...............‬‬
‫‪ ________ (29‬ﺧﺪﻣﺔ ﻻ ﺗﻨﺴﻰ‪.‬‬

‫أﻋﻄﻰ‬ ‫ب‬
‫أﺳﺪى‬ ‫ج‬
‫ھـ ‪...............‬‬
‫‪278‬‬
‫‪ ________ (30‬ﺣﺮﺑﺎً ﻣﻊ دوﻟﺔ ﻣﺠﺎورة‪.‬‬

‫ﺷﻦّ‬ ‫أ‬
‫أﺷﻌﻞ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺳﻌّﺮ‬ ‫ج‬
‫أﺣﺪث‬ ‫د‬
‫ھـ ‪...............‬‬
‫‪ ________ (31‬ﺧﻼﻓﺎً وﻗﻊ ﺑﯿﻦ ﺻﺪﯾﻘﯿﮫ‪.‬‬

‫أﺻﻠﺢ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻓﻚّ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺳﻮى‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻓﺾّ‬ ‫د‬
‫ھـ ‪...............‬‬
‫‪ ________ (32‬اﻟﺤﺬر ﻓﻲ ﻛﻞ أﻣﻮره‪.‬‬

‫أﺧﺬ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻣﺎرس‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺗﻮﺧﻰ‬ ‫ج‬
‫راﻓﻖ‬ ‫د‬
‫ھـ ‪...............‬‬
‫‪ ________ (33‬ﻗﺮاراً ﺑﻌﺪم اﻟﻌﻮدة إﻟﻰ اﻟﺘﺪﺧﯿﻦ‪.‬‬

‫اﺗﺨﺬ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻋﻤﻞ‬ ‫ج‬
‫أﻧﺠﺰ‬ ‫د‬
‫ھـ ‪...............‬‬
‫‪ ________ (34‬اﻟﻤﺴﺆوﻟﯿﺔ ﺑﻌﺪ وﻓﺎة أﺑﯿﮫ‪.‬‬

‫رﻋﻰ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺣﻔﻆ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﺗﺤﻤّﻞ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪279‬‬
‫‪ ________ (35‬اﻟﻔﺮﺻﺔ ﺑﺪون ﺗﺮدد‪.‬‬

‫اﻏﺘﻨﻢ‬ ‫أ‬
‫اﻧﺘﮭﺰ‬ ‫ب‬
‫اﺳﺘﻐﻞ‬ ‫ج‬
‫اھﺘﺒﻞ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ ________ (36‬اﻟﻀﻮء ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻘﻀﯿﺔ‪.‬‬

‫أﻧﺰل‬ ‫أ‬
‫رﻛﺰّ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺳﻠّﻂ‬ ‫ج‬
‫أﻟﻘﻰ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ ________ (37‬إﺟﺮاءات ﻟﺘﻄﻮﯾﺮ اﻟﻤﺆﺳﺴﺔ‪.‬‬

‫ﺻﺎغ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻋﻤﻞ‬ ‫ب‬
‫اﺗﺨﺬ‬ ‫ج‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ ________ (38‬ﻣﻨﺼﺒﺎً ﻓﻲ اﻟﺤﻜﻮﻣﺔ اﻟﺠﺪﯾﺪة‪.‬‬

‫ﺷﻐﻞ‬ ‫أ‬
‫اﺣﺘﻞ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺗﺒﻮأ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﺑﻠﻎ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ ________ (39‬ﺿﺮراً ﺑﺎﻟﺒﯿﺌﺔ‪.‬‬

‫ﺳﺒﺐ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻛﻮّن‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺷﻜﻞ‬ ‫ج‬
‫أﻟﺤﻖ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪280‬‬
‫‪ ________ (40‬ﺧﻄﺎﺑﺎً ﻓﻲ اﻟﺒﺮﻟﻤﺎن‪.‬‬

‫ﻧﻘﻞ‬ ‫ب‬
‫أﻟﻘﻰ‬ ‫ج‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ ________ (41‬اﺗﺼﺎﻻً ﺑﻘﺴﻢ اﻟﻄﻮارئ‪.‬‬

‫أدى‬ ‫ب‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ ________ (42‬ﺗﺠﺮﺑﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻣﻌﺎﻣﻞ اﻟﻜﻠﯿﺔ‪.‬‬

‫أﺟﺮى‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻗﺪم‬ ‫ب‬
‫أدى‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻋﻤﻞ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ ________ (43‬ﻗﺎﻧﻮﻧﺎً ﯾﺤﻜﻢ اﻟﮭﺠﺮة إﻟﻰ اﻟﺒﻠﺪ‪.‬‬

‫ﺳﻦّ‬ ‫أ‬
‫وﺿﻊ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺷﺮع‬ ‫ج‬
‫أﻗﺎم‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ ________ (44‬ﺷﺮﻛﺔ ﻟﻠﻤﻘﺎوﻻت‪.‬‬

‫ﻗﺎد‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﺗﺮأس‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺣﻜﻢ‬ ‫ج‬
‫أدار‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪281‬‬
APPENDIX C
Information sheet and demographic questionnaire: Professional Translators’
Group
UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN SYDNEY

College of Arts, Education and Social Sciences
School of Languages and Linguistics
Dear research participant,
This is a research conducted by Abbas Brashi, a PhD student at the School of Languages
& Linguistics, College of Arts, Education & Social Sciences, University of Western
Sydney.
The present study aims to devise a classification of types of collocations in the Arabic
language and examine the strategies adopted by professional and student translators in
translating English collocations into Arabic.
A collocation, in its simplest definition, is the co-occurrence of two or more words

together in a language, the meaning of which can be deduced from at least one the
components of the collocation.
The value and benefits of this study will be to suggest teaching strategies in translating
English collocations into Arabic and to come up with a classification of collocations in
Arabic.
If you agree to participate, you will be given one hundred English sentences to translate
into Arabic. The test will approximately take one hour. After that, you will be given a
test of Arabic collocations and this test will also take approximately one hour. If you
decide not to participate, please return the material in the postage paid envelope.
For the sake of confidentiality, the participants will be given code numbers to replace
their names, so that their real names will not appear in our records. Furthermore,
295
the information collected will be safely stored at the University of Western Sydney.
Only the researcher, Abbas Brashi, will be permitted to use the information. The
information will be destroyed after seven years.
As a participant in this research, you may withdraw from the test at any time without
having to give us any reasons. There will be no penalty or disadvantage to participants
who decide to terminate or not participate in the research.
We will not pay you anything for your participation. However, as a token of
appreciation, you will receive a letter from the School of Languages & Linguistics
acknowledging your participation.
Your participation will be highly appreciated.
NOTE:
This study has been approved by the University of Western Sydney Human Research Ethics Committee.
If you have any complaints or reservations about the ethical conduct of this research, you may contact the
Ethics Committee through the Research Ethics Officers (tel: 02 4570 1136). Any issues you raise will be
treated in confidence and investigated fully, and you will be informed of the outcome.
Yours sincerely,
A Brashi
Phone: (02) 9772 6214
296
Please answer the following questions:
1- Name: …………………………………………..
2- Gender: 1- Male ( ) 2- Female ( )
3- Age: …………..
4- Qualification: 1- Diploma ( ) 2- B.A. ( ) 3- M.A. ( ) 4- Ph.D. ( )
5- Major: ………………………
6- Accreditation level: ………………………………
7- Length of translation experience: ……………………………
8- First language: 1- Arabic ( ) 2- English ( ) 3- other (please specify)
……………………..
9- How long have you been in Australia? ……………………….
10- What language(s) do you speak at home? ……………………….
11- What language(s) do you speak other than Arabic and English?
…………………………………….
297
‫‪ ________ (45‬درﺳﺎً ﻟﻠﻤﺴﻲء‪.‬‬

‫ﻋﻠّﻢ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻓﮭّﻢ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻟﻘّﻦ‬ ‫ج‬
‫أﻋﻄﻰ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ ________ (46‬ﺛﻘﺔ اﻟﺠﻤﮭﻮر‪.‬‬

‫ﻧﺎل‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻛﺴﺐ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺣﺎز‬ ‫ج‬
‫رﺑﺢ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ ________ (47‬اﻧﺘﺼﺎرا ﻓﻲ ﻛﺮة اﻟﺴﻠﺔ‪.‬‬

‫أ ﺣﻘﻖ‬
‫ب أﻧﺠﺰ‬
‫ج ﻋﻤﻞ‬
‫د أﺣﺮز‬
‫ھـ ‪...............‬‬
‫‪ ________ (48‬اﻧﺘﺒﺎھﺎً ﻟﻠﻤﺤﺎﺿﺮ‪.‬‬

‫ﻗﺪم‬ ‫ب‬
‫أﻋﺎر‬ ‫ج‬
‫أﺑﺪى‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ ________ (49‬ھﺪﻓﺎ ﻟﻠﻤﺸﺮوع‪.‬‬

‫وﺿّﺢ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﺑﯿّﻦ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻗﺮر‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﺣﺪد‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪282‬‬
‫‪ ________ (50‬وﻋﯿﮫ ﻟﻤﺪة ﻗﺼﯿﺮة‪.‬‬

‫ﻓﻘﺪ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻏﺎب‬ ‫ب‬
‫زال‬ ‫ج‬
‫اﺧﺘﻔﻰ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪283‬‬
‫اﻟﻘﺴﻢ اﻟﺜﺎﻧﻲ‪ :‬اﻗﺮأ ﻛﻞ ﻋﺒﺎرة ﻣﻦ اﻟﻌﺒﺎرات اﻟﺘﺎﻟﯿﺔ ﻗﺮاءة ﺟﯿﺪة‪ ،‬ﺛﻢ اﻗﺮأ اﻟﺼﻔﺎت ﻣﻦ )أ( إﻟﻰ )د(‬
‫وﺣﺪد درﺟﺔ ﺗﻼزم ﻛﻞ ﺻﻔﺔ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺼﻔﺎت ﻣﻊ اﻻﺳﻢ اﻟﺬي ﺗﺤﺘﮫ ﺧﻂ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺒﺎرة وذﻟﻚ ﺑﻮﺿﻊ ﻋﻼﻣﺔ‬
‫( ﺗﺤﺖ ﻣﺎ ﯾﻨﺎﺳﺒﮭﺎ ﻣﻦ درﺟﺔ ﺗﻼزم ﻓﻲ اﻟﺠﺪول‪ .‬أﻣﺎ ﺑﺎﻟﻨﺴﺒﺔ ﻟﻠﻔﺮاغ )ھـ( ﻓﻘﺪ وﺿﻊ ﻟﻚ ﻟﺘﻘﺘﺮح ‪)X‬‬
‫ﺻﻔﺔ أﺧﺮى ﯾﻤﻜﻦ أن ﺗﺴﺘﺨﺪم ﻣﻊ اﻻﺳﻢ اﻟﺬي ﺗﺤﺘﮫ ﺧﻂ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺒﺎرة وﺗﻌﻄﻲ ﻧﻔﺲ اﻟﻤﻌﻨﻰ )إن ﻛﺎﻧﺖ‬
‫ھﻨﺎك ﺻﻔﺔ أﺧﺮى ﻓﻲ اﻋﺘﻘﺎدك( ﺛﻢ ﺣﺪد درﺟﺔ ﺗﻼزﻣﮭﺎ ﻣﻊ اﻻﺳﻢ ﺑﻨﻔﺲ اﻟﻄﺮﯾﻘﺔ‪.‬‬
‫‪ (1‬ﺷﻔﻲ اﻟﻤﺮﯾﺾ ﺷﻔﺎء ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﻧﺎﺟﺰا‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﺗﺎﻣﺎ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺧﺎﻟﺼﺎ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻛﻠﯿﺎ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (2‬ھﻄﻞ ﻣﻄﺮ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﻏﺰﯾﺮ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﺷﺪﯾﺪ‬ ‫ب‬
‫واﺑﻞ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻛﺜﯿﺮ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (3‬ﺷﻤﻤﺖ راﺋﺤﺔ _______ ‪.‬‬

‫ﺟﻤﯿﻠﺔ‬ ‫أ‬
‫راﺋﻌﺔ‬ ‫ب‬
‫زﻛﯿﮫ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻃﯿﺒﺔ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (4‬ﻇﮭﺮت ﻣﻨﮫ راﺋﺤﺔ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﺳﯿﺌﺔ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻧﺘﻨﺔ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻋﻔﻨﺔ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻛﺮﯾﮭﺔ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪284‬‬
‫‪ (5‬ھﺬا اﻟﻤﻼﻛﻢ ﻟﺪﯾﮫ ﻋﻀﻼت ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﻣﻔﺘﻮﻟﺔ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻣﺘﯿﻨﺔ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻏﻠﯿﻈﺔ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﺻﻠﺒﺔ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (6‬ﻟﺪﯾﮫ ذاﻛﺮة ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﺣﯿّﺔ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻗﻮﯾﺔ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺣﺎﻓﻈﺔ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻻﻗﻄﺔ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (7‬ﻟﻸم ﻣﺸﺎﻋﺮ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﺟﯿﺎﺷﺔ‬ ‫أ‬
‫رﻗﯿﻘﺔ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻧﺒﯿﻠﺔ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻣﺮھﻔﺔ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (8‬اﺳﺘﺨﺪم اﻟﺠﯿﺶ ﺳﻼﺣﺎ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﻣﻤﯿﺘﺎ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻗﺎﺗﻼ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻣﺪﻣﺮا‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻓﺘﺎﻛﺎ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (9‬ﻛﺎن ﺧﻄﺄ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﻓﺎﺣﺸﺎ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﺟﺴﯿﻤﺎ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻓﺎدﺣﺎ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻋﻈﯿﻤﺎ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪285‬‬
‫‪ (10‬ﻋﺎﻧﺖ اﻟﺪوﻟﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻓﻘﺮ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﻣﺮ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻗﺎﺗﻞ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻣﺪﻗﻊ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻣﻀﻦٍ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (11‬ﯾﺤﺘﺎج اﻟﺸﺎﻋﺮ ﺧﯿﺎﻻ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﻣﺒﺪﻋﺎ‬ ‫أ‬
‫واﺳﻌﺎ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺧﻼﻗﺎ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﺧﺼﺒﺎ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (12‬أﺟﺎب اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻢ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺳﺆال اﻟﺘﻠﻤﯿﺬ ﺟﻮاﺑﺎ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﺷﺎﻓﯿﺎ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻣﺮﺿﯿﺎ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻣﻘﻨﻌﺎ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻗﺎﻃﻌﺎ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ - (13‬أﺑﺪى ﺳﺒﺒﺎ ________ ﻟﺘﺼﺮﻓﮫ ‪.‬‬

‫ﺟﯿﺪا‬ ‫أ‬
‫وﺟﯿﮭﺎ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻣﻘﻨﻌﺎ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻣﺮﺿﯿﺎ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (14‬ﻓﻲ وﻗﺖ اﻟﻤﺤﻦ ﯾﻈﮭﺮ اﻟﺼﺪﯾﻖ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫اﻟﺼﺪوق‬ ‫أ‬
‫اﻟﻘﺮﯾﺐ‬ ‫ب‬
‫اﻟﺤﻤﯿﻢ‬ ‫ج‬
‫اﻟﺤﻖ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪286‬‬
‫‪ (15‬اﻟﻘﻨﺎﻋﺔ ﺗﻤﻨﺤﻚ ﺣﯿﺎة ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ھﻨﯿﺌﺔ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻃﯿﺒﺔ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺳﻌﯿﺪة‬ ‫ج‬
‫رﻏﺪه‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (16‬ﺣﻀﺮ اﻻﺣﺘﻔﺎل ﺟﻤﻊ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﻏﻔﯿﺮ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻛﺒﯿﺮ‬ ‫ب‬
‫واﺳﻊ‬ ‫ج‬
‫واﻓﺮ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (17‬ﻃﺮح اﻟﺼﺤﻔﻲ ﺳﺆاﻻ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﺟﯿﺪا‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻣﺮﺿﯿﺎ‬ ‫ب‬
‫وﺟﯿﮭﺎ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻗﻮﯾﺎ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (18‬ﻋﺎش اﻟﺜﺮي ﻓﻲ ﻏﻨﻰ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﻛﺒﯿﺮ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻓﺎﺣﺶ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻣﻄﻎ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻋﻈﯿﻢ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (19‬دارت ﺑﯿﻦ اﻟﻔﺮﯾﻘﯿﻦ ﺣﺮب ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﺿﺮوس‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻋﻨﯿﻔﺔ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻃﺎﺣﻨﺔ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﺷﺮﺳﺔ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪287‬‬
‫‪ (20‬ﺣﻘﻖ اﻟﻤﺮﺷﺢ ﻧﺼﺮا ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﻋﻈﯿﻤﺎ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻣﺆزرا‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺳﺎﺣﻘﺎ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻣﺒﯿﻨﺎ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (21‬ﻟﻠﺠﮭﻞ ﻋﻮاﻗﺐ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫وﺧﯿﻤﺔ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﺧﻄﯿﺮة‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺳﯿﺌﺔ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻣﻘﯿﺘﺔ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (22‬ﺳﺎﻓﺮﻧﺎ إﻟﻰ أﺳﺘﺮاﻟﯿﺎ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﻄﻠﺔ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫اﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ‬ ‫أ‬
‫اﻟﺤﻜﻮﻣﯿﺔ‬ ‫ب‬
‫اﻟﺮﺳﻤﯿﺔ‬ ‫ج‬
‫اﻟﻌﻤﻮﻣﯿﺔ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (23‬ھﺒﺖ رﯾﺎح ________ ﻓﻲ ﻓﺼﻞ اﻟﺼﯿﻒ ‪.‬‬

‫ﻋﺎﺻﻔﺔ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻋﺎﺗﯿﺔ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺻﺮﺻﺮ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ھﻮﺟﺎء‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (24‬دﺧﻠﺖ اﻟﺪوﻟﺔ اﻟﻤﻌﺮﻛﺔ ﺑﺠﯿﺶ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﻋﺮﻣﺮم‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻛﺒﯿﺮ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺿﺨﻢ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﺟﺮار‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪288‬‬
‫‪ (25‬اﻛﺘﺴﺢ اﻟﻮادي ﺳﯿﻞ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ھﺎﺋﺞ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻏﺰﯾﺮ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻋﺮم‬ ‫ج‬
‫ھﺪّار‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (26‬ﻛﺎن اﻟﻤﺮﯾﺾ ﻓﻲ ﺣﺎﺟﺔ ________ ﻟﻠﺪواء ‪.‬‬

‫ﻣﺎﺳﺔ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻣﻠﺤﺔ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺣﺮﺟﺔ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﺷﺪﯾﺪة‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (27‬ﺣﻘﻖ اﻟﺒﺎﺣﺚ ﻧﺠﺎﺣﺎ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﻣﺮﻣﻮﻗﺎ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﺳﺎﺣﻘﺎ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺑﻠﯿﻐﺎ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﺑﺎھﺮا‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (28‬ﻓﺸﻠﺖ اﻟﻤﺤﺎدﺛﺎت ﻓﺸﻼ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ذرﯾﻌﺎ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻛﺒﯿﺮا‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻣﺤﺪﻗﺎ‬ ‫ج‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (29‬وﺟﺪ ﻓﻲ ﻧﻔﺴﮫ رﻏﺒﺔ ________ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺴﻔﺮ ‪.‬‬

‫ﻣﻠﺤّﺔ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﺟﺎﻣﺤﺔ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻋﺎرﻣﺔ‬ ‫ج‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪289‬‬
‫‪ (30‬ﯾﻄﻞ ﺟﺒﻞ ________ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻤﺪﯾﻨﺔ‪.‬‬

‫أﺷﻢ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﺷﺎھﻖ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻋﺎل‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﺷﺎﻣﺦ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (31‬ﺧﺮج اﻷوﻻد ﻟﯿﻠﻌﺒﻮا ﻓﻲ اﻟﮭﻮاء ________ ‪.‬‬

‫اﻟﺨﺎرﺟﻲ‬ ‫أ‬
‫اﻟﺤﺮ‬ ‫ب‬
‫اﻟﻄﻠﻖ‬ ‫ج‬
‫اﻟﻤﻜﺸﻮف‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (32‬وﺟﺪت اﻟﺸﺮﻃﺔ دﻟﯿﻼ ________ ﻋﻠﻰ إداﻧﺘﮫ‪.‬‬

‫ﺑﯿّﻨﺎ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﺳﺎﻃﻌﺎ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻗﻮﯾﺎ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻗﺎﻃﻌﺎ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (33‬ﯾﺤﺘﺎج اﻟﺠﺮاح إﻟﻰ دﻗﺔ ________ ﻓﻲ ﻋﻤﻠﮫ‪.‬‬

‫ﻛﺒﯿﺮة‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻣﺘﻨﺎھﯿﺔ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻗﺼﻮى‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﺑﺎﻟﻐﺔ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (34‬ھﺒﺖ ﻧﺴﻤﺔ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﻋﻠﯿﻠﺔ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻟﻄﯿﻔﺔ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺧﻔﯿﻔﺔ‬ ‫ج‬
‫رﺧﺎء‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪290‬‬
‫‪ (35‬ﻓﺮﺣﺖ ﻋﻨﺪ ﺳﻤﺎع اﻟﺨﺒﺮ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫اﻟﻤﯿﻤﻮن‬ ‫أ‬
‫اﻟﺴﻌﯿﺪ‬ ‫ب‬
‫اﻟﺴﺎر‬ ‫ج‬
‫اﻟﻤﻔﺮح‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (36‬ﺷﺮب ﺷﺎﯾﺎ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﻣﻌﺘﻘﺎ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻣﺮﻛﺰا‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻣﻜﺜﻔﺎ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﺛﻘﯿﻼ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (37‬ﺗﻠﻘﻰ اﻟﺠﻨﻮد أواﻣﺮ ________ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻀﺎﺑﻂ‪.‬‬

‫ﺷﺪﯾﺪة‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﺻﺎرﻣﺔ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺻﺮﯾﺤﺔ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﺑﺎﻟﻐﺔ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (38‬ﻟﻢ أﺗﻮﻗﻊ ھﺬه اﻟﺘﻜﻠﻔﺔ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫اﻟﺒﺎھﻈﺔ‬ ‫أ‬
‫اﻟﻌﺎﻟﯿﺔ‬ ‫ب‬
‫اﻟﻐﺎﻟﯿﺔ‬ ‫ج‬
‫اﻟﻔﺎﺣﺸﺔ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (39‬ﺷﻜﺮا ﻋﻠﻰ ھﺬه اﻟﺨﺪﻣﺔ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫اﻟﺴﺪﯾﺪة‬ ‫أ‬
‫اﻟﺴﺎﻣﯿﺔ‬ ‫ب‬
‫اﻟﻨﺒﯿﻠﺔ‬ ‫ج‬
‫اﻟﺠﻠﯿﻠﺔ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪291‬‬
‫‪ (40‬ﻧﺎل اﻟﻤﺠﺮم ﻋﻘﻮﺑﺔ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫زاﺟﺮة‬ ‫أ‬
‫رادﻋﺔ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻣﻨﻜﻠﺔ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻣﺎﻧﻌﺔ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (41‬ﻛﺎن ﻟﮫ ﻋﺪو ________ ﻓﻲ ﻛﻞ ﻣﻜﺎن‪.‬‬

‫ﻣﺒﯿﻦ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﺷﺪﯾﺪ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻟﺪود‬ ‫ج‬
‫أﺛﯿﻢ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (42‬ﻛﺎن ﯾﻘﺪم أﻋﺬارا ________ ﻟﻐﯿﺎﺑﮫ‪.‬‬

‫واھﯿﺔ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻣﺨﺘﻠﻘﺔ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻋﻨﻜﺒﻮﺗﯿﺔ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻋﺮﻗﻮﺑﯿﺔ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (43‬ﺗﺴﺒﺐ اﻟﺤﺎدث ﻓﻲ أﺿﺮار ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﻓﺎدﺣﺔ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﺑﺎﻟﻐﺔ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺧﻄﯿﺮة‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﺟﺴﯿﻤﺔ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (44‬ھﺒﺖ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻤﻨﻄﻘﺔ ﻋﺎﺻﻔﺔ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﻋﺎﺗﯿﺔ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻗﻮﯾﺔ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ھﻮﺟﺎء‬ ‫ج‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪292‬‬
‫‪ (45‬ﺗﺤﻀﺮﻧﻲ ﻓﻜﺮة ________ ﻟﺤﻞ اﻟﻤﺸﻜﻠﺔ‪.‬‬

‫ﻧﯿﺮة‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﺳﺪﯾﺪة‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺟﯿﺪة‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻋﻈﯿﻤﺔ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (46‬ھﻨﺎك ﻋﻼج ________ ﻟﻠﻤﺮض ‪.‬‬

‫ﺷﺎفٍ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻧﺎﺟﻊ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﻣﻔﯿﺪ‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﻣﺜﻤﺮ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (47‬دارت ﺑﯿﻦ اﻟﺨﺼﻤﯿﻦ ﻣﻌﺮﻛﺔ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﻋﻨﯿﻔﺔ‬ ‫أ‬
‫ﻃﺎﺣﻨﺔ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺿﺮوس‬ ‫ج‬
‫ﺟﺒﺎرة‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (48‬أﺗﻤﻨﻰ ﻟﻜﻢ ﺣﻈﺎ ________ ‪.‬‬

‫ﺳﻌﯿﺪا‬ ‫أ‬
‫واﻓﺮا‬ ‫ب‬
‫ﺟﯿﺪا‬ ‫ج‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪ (49‬ﯾﺠﺐ أن ﯾﻨﺴﻰ اﻟﻄﺮﻓﺎن اﻟﺤﻘﺪ ________ اﻟﺬي ﺑﯿﻨﮭﻤﺎ‪.‬‬

‫اﻟﻘﺪﯾﻢ‬ ‫أ‬
‫اﻟﻌﺘﯿﻖ‬ ‫ب‬
‫اﻟﺪﻓﯿﻦ‬ ‫ج‬
‫اﻟﻤﺘﻐﻠﻐﻞ‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪293‬‬
‫‪ (50‬اﻟﻐﻮص ﻓﻲ اﻟﺒﺤﺎر ________ ﺧﻄﯿﺮ‪.‬‬

‫اﻟﺸﺪﯾﺪة‬ ‫أ‬
‫اﻟﻌﻨﯿﻔﺔ‬ ‫ب‬
‫اﻟﮭﺎﺋﺠﺔ‬ ‫ج‬
‫اﻟﺜﺎﺋﺮة‬ ‫د‬
‫‪...............‬‬ ‫ھـ‬
‫‪294‬‬
APPENDIX D
Demographic questionnaire: Student Translators’ Group
Please answer the following questions:
1- Name: …………………………………………..
2- Gender: 1- Male ( ) 2- Female ( )
3- Age: …………..
4- Degree: 1- Graduate Diploma ( ) 2- M.A. ( )
5- Grade Point Average (GPA): ………………………….
6- First language: 1- Arabic ( ) 2- English ( ) 3- other (please specify)
……………………..
7- How long have you been in Australia? ……………………….
8- What language(s) do you speak at home? ……………………….
9- What language(s) do you speak other than Arabic and English?
……………………………………..
298
APPENDIX E
Translation Test of English Collocations into Arabic
Translate the following English sentences into Arabic:
1- The couple made a pact not to talk about each other.

……………………………………………………………………………
2- They are breaking the promise they made before the election.
……………………………………………………………………………
3- The last time I went anywhere near Peckham Rye, I believe I saw a
girl riding a horse.
……………………………………………………………………………
4- By the time Lord John had drawn his sword and touched his spurs to
his horse’s flanks, the French had pulled back leaving a dozen dead.
……………………………………………………………………………
5- Mrs. Thatcher’s refusal to open today’s debate will be exploited by
Neil Kinnock, the Labour leader.
……………………………………………………………………………
6- He doesn’t like to tell people what to do or give orders.
……………………………………………………………………………
7- Make sure you follow instructions carefully.
……………………………………………………………………………
8- In other words, if a woman asks you to reveal your secrets, she may
really be asking you to tell her that you have no secrets to reveal.
……………………………………………………………………………
9- Hong Kong government is under pressure from liberals who fear that
Britain will again make a secret deal with China.
……………………………………………………………………………
299
10- On the final day of filming we both shed a few tears.
……………………………………………………………………………
11- Now, looking back on it, I don't know how we could have
made such a mistake.
……………………………………………………………………………
12- In his mind, Robertson had committed a crime which was
unforgivable.
………………………………………………………………………………
13- Make an effort to keep in touch with your friends, even if it’s just a
quick phone call.
……………………………………………………………………………
14- Mr. Bush said the embassy must stay open and stressed that
President Saddam was violating international law by attempting to
force its closure.
……………………………………………………………………………
15- As Andrew approached the coast, forecasters tried to keep
track of the hurricane eye as it constantly changed direction.
……………………………………………………………………………
16- I can give you an example.
……………………………………………………………………………
17- But David Castle, of the council's Tenant's Advice Bureau, has
fought a long battle for thousands of people like Karin and Nigel
Harris.
……………………………………………………………………………
18- I poured petrol on them and started a fire.
……………………………………………………………………………
300
19- It attaches more importance to avoiding building new roads
near protected areas.
……………………………………………………………………………
20- New Zealand’s central bank looks well on track to achieve its
goal of reducing inflation to 0-2% by the end of 1993.
……………………………………………………………………………
21- He got the highest score in the whole state.
……………………………………………………………………………
22- She suppressed her rage and humiliation that night, driving
him home at the end of the evening.
……………………………………………………………………………
23- On the journey, as is the custom, they each tell a story.
……………………………………………………………………………
24- At 49 he will grow a beard.
……………………………………………………………………………
25- Generals, after all, did not waste their time with captains, and
especially in active service conditions.
……………………………………………………………………………
26- Only operate when full so you don't waste energy.
……………………………………………………………………………
27- The UN Security Council held an informal meeting on the
matter.
……………………………………………………………………………
28- The prime minister, who's also Kuwait's crown prince, held his
first news conference since returning to the country.
……………………………………………………………………………
29- She said she thought she was doing everybody a favour.
……………………………………………………………………………
301
30- But the Kurds cannot wage a civil war on the streets of
Baghdad.
……………………………………………………………………………
31- Kuwait has appealed to Iraq to co-operate in efforts to resolve
a dispute between Gulf oil-producers.
……………………………………………………………………………
32- Until then you will have to exercise caution in all your
financial dealings.
……………………………………………………………………………
33- He wanted to think it out himself, and he didn't want to talk
about it until he made his decision.
……………………………………………………………………………
34- He wanted to know what Italy was going to do, she said, and
didn't want to take responsibility for sending her to France until he
knew she’d be safe.
……………………………………………………………………………
35- He said he hoped Greece and Turkey would seize the
opportunity to resolve their disputes.
……………………………………………………………………………
36- The discovery could also shed light on other degenerative
nerve diseases such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases.
……………………………………………………………………………
37- The Russian Parliament issued a warning that it would adopt
measures of its own if Gorbachev took any steps to undermine its
sovereignty.
……………………………………………………………………………
302
38- He started as a factory worker and held various positions on
the work floor.
……………………………………………………………………………
39- This sort of incident can cause permanent damage.
……………………………………………………………………………
40- The Foreign Secretary, Mr Douglas Hurd, has made his first
major speech on Britain's relations with the European Community.
……………………………………………………………………………
41- All those who had apparently made an emergency call denied
it.
……………………………………………………………………………
42- But no one had yet conducted an experiment to demonstrate
the facts.
……………………………………………………………………………
43- The Supreme Soviet passed a new emigration law on May
20th.
……………………………………………………………………………
44- Because if they agree with you, it would be very hard for me
to run the company.
……………………………………………………………………………
45- He felt so angry for her that he wanted to go out and find
Kevin and teach him a lesson.
……………………………………………………………………………
46- If the Commissioner is serious about challenging racism and
winning the confidence of the public and the Black community, then
justice has to prevail.
……………………………………………………………………………
303
47- John Patten scored his first victory as Education Secretary.
……………………………………………………………………………
48- He’s got to get them to listen to others, to pay attention, to
learn how to work.
……………………………………………………………………………
49- What counts is to set a goal, to concentrate one's psychic
energy, to pay attention to the feedback, and to make certain that the
challenge is appropriate to one’s skill.
……………………………………………………………………………
50- Taken completely by surprise, I lost consciousness.
……………………………………………………………………………
51- A United States spokesman said all the injured are expected to
make a full recovery.
……………………………………………………………………………
52- More heavy rain affected South-East China on Friday and
Saturday.
……………………………………………………………………………
53- The candle will heat the water, evaporating the oil, giving off
a sweet smell and, at the same time, provide a friendly glow.
……………………………………………………………………………
54- It wasn't a bad smell; it was just the smell of being closed up.
……………………………………………………………………………
55- Exercise is essential to build strong muscles.
……………………………………………………………………………
56- His good memory helped in remembering all the loose threads
in that tangle.
……………………………………………………………………………
304
57- They bring out tender feelings in warm-hearted people.
……………………………………………………………………………
58- King now faces an assault with a deadly weapon charge.
……………………………………………………………………………
59- I think they have made a serious mistake.
……………………………………………………………………………
60- We cannot honestly say that people living in great poverty are
free, whatever legal rights they may have.
……………………………………………………………………………
61- Maxwell was a man of great imagination, of wide reading and
deep learning, and a scholar as well as a scientist.
……………………………………………………………………………
62- They complained that they hadn't been given satisfactory
answers by the Iraqi authorities.
……………………………………………………………………………
63- Ike and her husband have good reason to be concerned about
their economic future.
……………………………………………………………………………
64- I lived with a close friend when I was at college.
……………………………………………………………………………
65- They want the good life.
……………………………………………………………………………
66- When the results were announced, a large crowd of Walesa
supporters gathered outside his campaign office.
……………………………………………………………………………
67- This is also a good question.
……………………………………………………………………………
305
68- Even those who attain great wealth complain that, instead of
feeling happier, they feel their lives have been a complete waste.
……………………………………………………………………………
69- The vicious war in the former Yugoslavia was by no means
the only ethnic conflict unleashed.
……………………………………………………………………………
70- I'm happy and proud because it was a great victory.
……………………………………………………………………………
71- If I’d let it go on, there could have been serious consequences.
……………………………………………………………………………
72- Banks close at noon on the nearest working day before a
public holiday.
……………………………………………………………………………
73- Heavy winds swept my tent away.
……………………………………………………………………………
74- Both countries have large armies.
……………………………………………………………………………
75- At least 15 people died in raging floods in Americus, Georgia.
……………………………………………………………………………
76- He felt an urgent need to wash his hands, but he wasn't sure
why.
……………………………………………………………………………
77- Luckily the ball was a great success and helped raise over
100,000.
……………………………………………………………………………
78- But should it be described as a complete failure?
……………………………………………………………………………
306
79- She was still living at Tewkesbury and had a great desire to
see the Duke's hounds.
……………………………………………………………………………
80- You jump off a high mountain or bridge or whatever.
……………………………………………………………………………
81- So when you went through the back door you walked out into
open air.
……………………………………………………………………………
82- But there was still no hard evidence.
……………………………………………………………………………
83- Computers copy information from one place to another with

great accuracy.
……………………………………………………………………………
84- He remained motionless for almost a minute, the gentle breeze
fanning his sweating body, before he opened his eyes and looked at
his knee.
……………………………………………………………………………
85- We soon realised that it was in fact rather good news.
……………………………………………………………………………
86- Avoid stimulants like coffee, strong tea and alcohol.
……………………………………………………………………………
87- They were met by a huge police presence, which had
obviously received strict orders to ensure that no one reached the
mosque again.
……………………………………………………………………………
307
88- One reason for the high cost is said to be to deter `those who
are not serious.
……………………………………………………………………………
89- I think I've said enough but I have a very big favour to ask
you.
……………………………………………………………………………
90- And the press received many letters from members of the
public calling for severe punishment.
……………………………………………………………………………
91- And Gamsakhurdia and Shevardnadze have been bitter
enemies in the past.
……………………………………………………………………………
92- I found myself making lame excuses about how I really

needed this book for my exams.
……………………………………………………………………………
93- It appears there were no casualties or serious damage.
……………………………………………………………………………
94- But that estimate was made before another heavy storm hit the
Shetland Islands.
……………………………………………………………………………
95- It's a great idea, but I'm afraid somebody has already beaten
you to it, Ron.
……………………………………………………………………………
96- This is an effective treatment for nasal congestion.
……………………………………………………………………………
308
97- Nova Kasaba was the scene of a fierce battle two weeks ago.
……………………………………………………………………………
98- He wished Obree good luck.
……………………………………………………………………………
99- Yet there is still an atmosphere of deep hostility.
……………………………………………………………………………
100- The following day found the ship in heavy seas and dense fog.
……………………………………………………………………………
309
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ARABIC COLLOCATIONS:

IMPLICATIONS FOR TRANSLATION

A thesis presented to the

University of Western Sydney

piece of research possible. I am greatly indebted to my principal supervisor, Professor

my candidature. His valuable suggestions and constructive criticism led to improve

earlier versions of this thesis.

I am also deeply indebted to my co-supervisors, Associate Professor Sandra Hale and

their valuable suggestions and comments.

teachers in Al-Faisal College, Sydney, Australia, and Dr Zeid Al-Dakkan of the

Michael Kennedy. I benefited immensely from discussions I had with him.

been looking forward to seeing this mission accomplished.

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER TWO: COLLOCATIONS IN ENGLISH 13

CHAPTER THREE: COLLOCATIONS IN ARABIC 33

CHAPTER FOUR: COLLOCATIONS AND TRANSLATION 59

CHAPTER FIVE: AN OVERVIEW OF THE PROFESSIONAL 84

CHAPTER SIX: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 98

CHAPTER SEVEN: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: 118

CHAPTER EIGHT: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: TRANSLATION 190

CHAPTER NINE: CONCLUSION 235

2. 1 A sample page from Collins COBUILD

English Collocations on CD-Rom............................................................ 28

2. 1 Results from Collins COBUILD English Collocations on CD-Rom

showing the collocates of the word "pact"............................................... 29

2. 2 A list of short examples from Collins COBUILD English Collocations

2. 3 A window from Collins COBUILD English Collocations on CD-Rom

showing an expanded example and an indication of the genre of the text 31

and multi-word expressions. Collocations are among those multi-word expressions.

classification of the semantic and distributional patterns of collocations in the Arabic

language and to examine the problems encountered in translating English collocations

an analysis of the causes of each error.

Combinatory Dictionary of English, categorize collocations into two major groups:

lexical collocations and grammatical collocations.

do not contain prepositions, infinitives or clauses. In English, for example, the

collocation rich imagination is translated into Arabic by the equivalent collocation

‫ عساو لايخ‬xayaalun waasi3un (wide imagination) or the collocation ‫بصخ لايخ‬

xayaalun xiSbun (fertile imagination). The meaning association between the

components of a collocation is apparently arbitrary and non-predictable.

speakers of English are unlikely to produce a collocation such as wealthy

which means fertile.

A grammatical collocation, in contrast to a lexical collocation, is a phrase that

consists of a noun, an adjective, or a verb plus a preposition or grammatical structure

following example of a grammatical collocation (a close construction in Chomsky’s

hand, decide on a boat, meaning ‘make a decision while on a boat’ is a free

combination (a loose association in Chomsky’s terminology). Native speakers of

most likely reject violations of collocability such as decide at a boat.

appropriate nouns, and so on and so forth.

than a naturalistic methodology because of the problem of gathering sufficient data

(see Chapter Four).

1.1 Justification of the Study

The importance of collocations and the problems they cause to English-Arabic

translation. The translators’ knowledge of collocations (collocational competence) is

an essential requirement for the overall mastery of the target language.

Eyre of translating an English adjective + noun collocation into Arabic:

a- ..., there was a large public eager to read good novels.

The adjective + noun collocation in English was translated into Arabic by

Abdulkhaliq (1994) as follows:

‫ عساو روهمج‬jamhuwrun waasi3un (a wide public)

waasi3un (a wide public), which sounds unnatural to a native speaker of Arabic. In

b- … to call tears into his eyes.

Bihar Publishing House (1997)1 as follows:

‫ عومدلا ةوعد‬da3watu ad-dumuw3 (to call tears)