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ARABIC TO HAUSA TRANSLATION: HAUSA TRADITIONAL SCHOLARS (MALAMAN ZAURE) AND DIGITAL TRANSLATION CHALLENGES

Abstract

Malaman zaure are the Hausa traditional Islamic scholars, who usually stay at the entrance hall (zaure) of their houses where they receive and teach students of different ages based on an inherited traditional curriculum. One of their methods of teaching is translation from Islamic books written in Arabic to Hausa language for easy understanding, assimilation and digestion. In translating Arabic to Hausa, they choose classical Hausa words during their teachings. Their attempt to preserve the original meaning of an idea or concept from the Arabic books or to reject some taboo words resulted in direct borrowing of some new words into Hausa. It is noteworthy however, to know that the borrowed words are slightly modified in the process. It is also important to realize that Hausa often have equivalents of the borrowed word as seen in the example below:

ARABIC             MODIFIED BORROWING        EQUIVALENT WORDS            MEANING

Dahaaratun     Dàhááràà                                   Tsárkíí                                       cleanliness

Duburatun       Dúbùráá                                      Tákááshí                                   anus

Gaa’itun            Gá’ì]Ií                                         Tuútù                                        excreta
The challenges facing this category of scholars in their translation work today are that digital tools have not recognized some of their modified borrowed words which they use to preserve the original Arabic words translated into Hausa from misinterpretation. This paper is based on the result of interview outreached to so many traditional scholars, physical participation at the traditional schools, media works and some related works I have gone through. However, what I found suggests that some modified borrowed words are not included in the digital translation machines and that hinders Hausa traditional scholars from being digitalized translators in their very important duties (Islamic teaching) in their societies. These important categories of people have great recognition in Hausa communities, especially for their religious leadership role. Thus, if a digital tool can be developed for these scholars to enable the two languages they use in translation interact, their translation work would be simpler and their work would be easily comprehended.




Keywords: Traditional, Scholars, Arabic, Hausa, Translation, Challenges, Modifications


Being a Paper Presented at the 9th Annual International Translation Conference: Translation In The Digital Age: From Translation Tools To Shifting Paradigms, Held on March          27th – 28th 2018 At Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha Qatar.
 


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