Translating the Syntactic Features of Legal Texts from English into Arabic
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Abstract
This paper examines some syntactic features of English legal texts, and the changes that may be reflected on these features when they are translated into Arabic. For example, passivization, nominalization, complex sentences and modality. The researcher tries to demonstrate why it is difficult to suggest a specific translation of each syntactic feature, especially the modal verbs. The researcher also attempts to provide translations for some legal sentences written in some charters and international organizations. The descriptive methodology is used to identify the characteristics of these syntactic features in order to provide a proper translation of each legal sentence. It has been concluded that the translator has to be aware of the precise meaning of the legislator before deciding the translation, and that the meaning of any specific modal verb is translated differently from English into Arabic according to the linguistic system and organizations in which it is used.
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