Language translation services have become vital to expand the business overseas. Whether it’s for business, academic, or personal purposes, translation services are essential for breaking down language barriers and facilitating communication across borders. Gone are the days when English used to be treated as the last language. There are languages that have billions of speakers such as Chinese. Different regions come with different languages.
Arabic and Farsi – Introduction
Arabic and Farsi are two languages with rich historical backgrounds if you look at the list of cultures and these got distinct cultures. two languages that are in high demand for translation services. The countries that have these languages as their first and national languages don’t allow an international business to enter their market without translating the whole content and business into Arabic or Farsi languages depending on the market businesses want to tap. Arabic and Farsi languages share a lot of similarities and differences as well. This is what makes translators navigate through a number of challenges while translating the content for the respective masses.
Arabic
Arabic is a Semitic language that has over 420 million speakers worldwide. It is the fifth most spoken language in the world, and the official language of 26 countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. Arabic also happens to be one of the six official languages of the United Nations, the Arab world, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Arabic translation services are highly in demand due to the language’s prevalence in the Middle East and North Africa region, considering it is home to many fast-growing economies. Translation services in Arabic and Farsi are essential for businesses that want to enter these markets and expand their operations in the region. Moreover, these are also significant for academic and scientific research, as many important studies and publications are conducted in Arabic.
Farsi
Farsi, also known as Persian, is an Indo-European language spoken by over 110 million people globally. It is the official language of Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. Farsi is also widely spoken in other countries such as Uzbekistan, Bahrain, and Iraq. However, there are different variants that are in practice in these regions.
Translation types required for both languages
Arabic and Farsi translation services could be required for all types of documents and translation types. These may include the following as major types.
Technical translation
During the business expansion, a lot of technical content requires translation. Whenever people from the western world have to tap the Arabic market, they need to hire translators to translate the content into the Arabic language for a better understanding of locals. Technical documents such as manuals, patents, and engineering reports require translation accurately.
Legal translation
Legal documents including contracts, deeds, and patents require precise translation to ensure their legality in the target language.
Medical translation
Medical translation involves translating medical documents, such as patient reports, medical research, pharmaceutical documents clinical research reports, consent forms with a lot more.
Marketing translation
Marketing translation focuses on translating advertising and promotional materials such as brochures, flyers, and websites. It also deals with transcreation services.
Challenges of Arabic and Farsi Translation
Arabic and Farsi, both languages are far different from other language families and Indo-European languages. This fact makes it tough to translate the content into the required language. Translators often have to struggle a lot while working on professional Arabic translation services and the Farsi language. This is why experts advise always hiring native or bilingual speakers of Farsi and Arabic language as these languages and their translations come with a lot of challenges.
Different writing systems
Arabic and Farsi use different writing systems than English, which makes it challenging for translators to accurately translate documents.
Arabic script is used to write the Arabic font and a few other languages of south Asia including Farsi too. Another interesting factor about these languages is they are written from right to left.
Complex grammar
Arabic and Farsi have complex grammar rules that can be challenging to translate accurately. Therefore, translation services should ensure their translators know the relevant details before they start trying their hands on these languages. The grammar structures for both languages are quite different. Arabic follows the subject-verb-object pattern. Whereas for Persian, it is subject object verb.
Cultural nuances
Arabic and Farsi are languages that are rich in cultural nuances, which can be difficult to translate accurately. Arabic has a traditional language variant and nuances and its modern version is quite easier than the previous one. Similarly, the Farsi language has also evolved a lot over the centuries. This is why professional farsi translation services should be carried out considering all these details and information.
Dialects
Arabic and Farsi have many dialects, which can make it challenging to translate documents accurately. The Arabic language is rich in dialects. It has up to 25 dialects. A few of these are mutually unintelligible and others are not. It gets tough for the translators to keep the track of all these.
Farsi language has three main dialects.
Long and expanded font and text
One of the important challenges that translators find tough to sail through is the length of the text. It gets difficult to adjust the text within a limited and specific space. The font gets expanded while writing. Therefore, the translators have to work on it while translating these into subtitles and captions particularly.
Conclusion
Arabic and Farsi are two important languages. These are different from other western languages due to the fact that these have different writing patterns as well as come with a writing direction from right to left. This is why translators have to struggle a lot while translating content in both languages.