Facts to go
Why Arabic is important – and what makes the language so special
The fact that Arabic is an important language is quickly evident from two simple examples: first, it is the language of Islam, one of the biggest world religions with around 2 billion believers, and its holy scripture (the Koran) is written in Arabic. Second, alongside Chinese, English, French, Russian und Spanish, Arabic is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (UN). In addition, Arabic is the recognised official language of 26 countries, and over 420 million people worldwide speak it every day.
At the same time, Arabic differs from other languages in many respects: the Arabic script is striking, as it differs so much from the familiar Latin script, particularly to European and American eyes. There are also distinctive features in the grammar and direction of writing (more on this below). And if that is not complex enough, there are multiple dialects, such as Egyptian Arabic, Moroccan Arabic and Syrian Arabic. So there is a lot to take into account with Arabic translations.
Context, grammar and the direction of writing – important factors in Arabic translations
Arabic is a heavily context-dependent language. This means that the context of a statement is often more important than the words themselves. In addition, sentences can be very long and have multiple meanings. So anyone who wants to translate from or into Arabic should first make sure they understand what the text is about. Native speakers, ideally living in an Arabic-speaking country, are the best at doing this. They are familiar with the grammar and know that individual letters – depending on their position in the word – can take various forms and that there is no difference between upper and lower case.
Arabic writing runs from right to left. A professional translation also takes account of this and makes the appropriate adjustments. This is not a challenge for experienced translators. Things become more complex, however, when it is not just text files that require translation, but, for example, graphics too. It is then worth asking for a layout adaptation in addition to the translation. In this process, the text is inserted into the design of the original file and adapted to the layout down to the smallest detail.
How to translate Arabic in a comprehensible way – and why almost everybody already speaks it
In order to reach your intended recipients and target audience with an Arabic translation, the messages you want to convey must be correctly translated and adapted in terms of culture and specialist area. The focus can vary here: legal translations must be accurate and are translated without any scope for interpretation; marketing translations, on the other hand, depend more on the right tone. And since a little more feel for the language is required for a very good Arabic translation than for some other languages, it is usually worth commissioning a translation agency.
By the way, Arabic is already firmly anchored in most people’s vocabulary. You may already have suspected the origins of the word algebra (it comes from the Arabic word al-jabr meaning “joining of parts”). But most people are probably not aware that they are speaking a distant relative of Arabic when they use everyday terms such as coffee (Arab. qahwah meaning “stimulation”) and sugar (Arab. sukkar meaning “sweet”).
