The Impact of the Google Translate App on the Accuracy of Arabic-English Legal Translations: Lexical and Syntactic Errors
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33977/0507-000-066-015Keywords:
Machine translation, Google translate (GT), legal translation, lexical errors, syntactic errorsAbstract
Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the precision of Google Translate (GT) in translating legal documents and to pinpoint the inaccuracies that may arise while using GT in translating legal documents.
Methods: To conduct the study, the researchers used five Arabic legal certificates taken from Dr. Adel Azzam’s book, “The Reliable Guide to Legal Translation." To ensure reliability, the researchers inputted these legal certificate texts into GT and then compared the translation output to the model translation provided in the book.
Results: The results showed that there are two main errors: lexical and syntactic errors. The majority of these errors were lexical, including mistranslation and incorrect selection of words. Syntactic errors included errors in using pronouns, passivation, archaic terms, prepositional phrases, modal verbs, and references.
Conclusions: The researchers concluded that GT is not a reliable tool for legal translation. Errors from GT in legal documents can significantly affect their validity, with consequences depending on the nature and extent of the errors. Therefore, GT translation requires human editing.
References
References
Abbasi, G., Saleh, S., Assemi, A., & Dehghan, S. S. (2012). Language, translation, and culture. International Conference on Language, Medias and Culture. IPEDR. IACSIT Press, Singapore. Vol.33 ,83-87
Abu-Zahra, M. J., & Shayeb, A. Sh. (2022). Do mobile translation apps enhance or hinder translation trainees' linguistic competence: The Case Study of Translation Students at Birzeit University. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 18(4) 154-162.
Alkatheery, E.R. (2023). Google Translate errors in legal texts: Machine translation quality assessment. Arab World English Journal for Translation & Literary Studies 7 (1), 208- 219
Alsalem, R. (2019). The effects of the use of Google Translate on translation students' learning outcomes. Arab World English Journal for Translation & Literary Studies, 3(4)46-60
Al-Hamadi, F. (2014). Machine translation into arabic language...difficulties and challenges: “Google Translation” as a case study. The Journal of Linguistic and Literary Studies (JLLS), 5(1), 17-38.
Amilia, I. K., & Darmawan, E. Y (2020). A study of the translation of Google Translate. Lengua Jurnal Ilmiah, 16(2), 1-21.
Andrabi, S. A. B., & Wahid, A. (2022). Machine translation system using deep learning for English to Urdu. Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience, 2023, 1-11
Bernacka, A. (2012). The importance of translation studies for development education. Policy & Practice: A Development Education Review, (14) 110-115.
Cahyaningrum, I. O. (2022). Google Translate for legal document. In I. Suripto & N. Rianingrum (Eds.), Proceedings of the 10th UNNES Virtual International Conference on English Language Teaching, Literature, and Translation, ELTLT 2021 (pp. 1-7). EAI.
Camelia, C. (2014). Errors and difficulties in translating legal texts. Management Strategies Journal, Constantin Brancoveanu University. 26(4), 487-492.
Cao, D. (2007). Translating law. Multilingual Matters
Chéragui, M. A. (2012). Theoretical overview of machine translation. Proceedings (ICWIT 2012). (P.160-169).
Dingwaney, A., & Maier, C (eds) (1995). Between languages and cultures: translation and cross-cultural texts. University of Pittsburgh Press.
Fitria, T. N. (2021). A review of Machine Translation tools: The translation's ability. LANGUAGE CIRCLE: Journal of Language and Literature, 16(1), 162-176.
Giampieri, P. (2023). Is machine translation reliable in the legal field? A corpus-based critical comparative analysis for teaching ESP at tertiary level. Journal of English for Specific Purposes at Tertiary Level, 11(1), 119-137.
Güldal, B. K, & İşisağ, K. U. (2019). A comparative study on Google Translate: An error analysis of Turkish-to-English translations in terms of the text typology of Katherina Reiss. RumeliDE Dil ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi, (Ö5), 367-376.
Hadla, L., S. Hailat, T. M., & Al-Kabi, M. N. (2014). Evaluating Arabic to English Machine Translation. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, 5(11) 68-73
Hervey, S., & Higgins, I. (1992). Thinking translation: A course in translation method: French to English (1st ed.). Routledge.
Hijazi, B. (2013). Assessment of Google's translation of legal texts, (Unpublished Master's Thesis). University of Petra. Amman, Jordan.
Hu, P. C., & Cheng, L. (2016). A study of legal translation from the perspective of error analysis. International Journal of Legal Discourse.1(1), 235-252
Ismailia, T. (2022). The analysis of errors on translating informative texts by Google Translate. JETLEE, 2(2), 123-132
Jabak, O. O. (2019). Assessment of Arabic-English translation produced by Google Translate. IJLLT, 2(4) 238-247
Killman, J. (2014). Vocabulary accuracy of statistical machine translation in the legal context. In Proceedings of the 11th Conference of the Association for Machine Translation in the Americas (pp. 85-98). Vancouver, Canada: Association for Machine Translation in the Americas.
Malakhova A, et al. (2015). Difficulties of legal translation. In Young Scientist USA, Vol. 2 (p. 139). Lulu Press.
Matthiesen, A. (2017). Maschinelle Übersetzung im Wandel. Die Auswirkungen von künstlicher Intelligenz auf maschinelle Übersetzungssysteme. Mit einer vergleichenden Untersuchung von Google Translate und Microsoft Translator, epubli
Putri, A. E. (2021). Students' dependence on using Google Translate: a case study at three universities in Semarang. MA Thesis, Faculty of Education and Teacher Training Universitas Islam Negeri Walisongo Semarang.
Ramos, F.P. (2015). Quality assurance in legal translation: Evaluating process, competence, and product in the pursuit of adequacy. International Journal of Semiotics and Law, 28, 11–30.
Šimurka, M. (2020). The importance of translation. Retrieved on 20th Sep 2023. Retrieved from: https://www.lexika-translations.com/blog/the-importance-of-translation/
Sofyan, R., & Rosa, R. N. (2021). Problems and strategies in translating legal. Universitas Negeri Padang UNP, 20(2), 221-232.
Sosoni, V., O’Shea, J., & Stasimioti, M. (2023). Translating law: A comparison of human and post-edited translations from Greek to English. Revista de Llengua i Dret, Journal of Language and Law, 109-120.
Trosborg, A. (1997). Rhetorical strategies in legal language: discourse analysis of statutes and contracts. Narr
Ubhayawardhana, P., & Hansani, M. (2023). A Study on the effectiveness of Using Google Translate in legal translation: With special reference to selected legal documents of the registrar's department. Sri Lanka Journal of Humanities and Language Studies, 1(1), 168-190.
Wahler, M. E. (2018). A word is worth a thousand words: Legal implications of relying on machine translation technology. Stetson Law Review, 48(1), 109-139.
Wang, H., Wu, H., He, Z., Huang, L., & Church, K. W. (2022). Progress in machine translation. Engineering, 18 (2022), 143-153
Yusran, N. (2017). An error analysis of legal terminology translation using Google Translate from English to Indonesian. A thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Adab and Humanities in Partial Accomplishment of the Requirements for the Degree of Strata 1. State Islamic University of Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta
Zafitri, L., & Harida, E. S. (2017). The effectiveness of using Google Translate on students' translation at Mathematic Faculty of Universitas Negeri Padang. Proceedings of the Fifth International Seminar on English Language and Teaching (ISELT-5), 5(1), 80-85.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Al-Quds Open University for Humanities and Social Studies
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- The editorial board confirms its commitment to the intellectual property rights
- Researchers also have to commit to the intellectual property rights.
- The research copyrights and publication are owned by the Journal once the researcher is notified about the approval of the paper. The scientific materials published or approved for publishing in the Journal should not be republished unless a written acknowledgment is obtained by the Deanship of Scientific Research.
- Research papers should not be published or republished unless a written acknowledgement is obtained from the Deanship of Scientific Research.
- The researcher has the right to accredit the research to himself, and to place his name on all the copies, editions and volumes published.
- The author has the right to request the accreditation of the published papers to himself.
_2.png)
_.png)
_2.png)
_1.png)
_.png)
