Translation (Tarjama): Arabic to Assamese/English and Reverse
Translation (Tarjama) in the Assam ASSEB Higher Secondary Arabic paper tests Arabic into Assamese or English and the reverse. Marks come from meaning, grammar, and register, not from matching word order.
Principles
- Translate sense units, not single words.
- Preserve tense/aspect: Arabic perfect often maps to English past, but context can require present perfect.
- Render definiteness naturally; do not force ‘the’ everywhere.
- Keep proper names in standard form.
- Expand idioms into their equivalent, not their literal image.
- In reverse translation, use Modern Standard Arabic and correct case endings.
Worked example
Arabic: ‘qāla al-mudarrisu li-l-ṭullābi: iqraʾū al-darsa bi-ʿināyatin qabla al-imtiḥāni.’ English: ‘The teacher said to the students, “Read the lesson carefully before the examination.”’ Reasoning: qāla = said; li-l-ṭullābi = to the students; iqraʾū = plural imperative ‘read’; bi-ʿināya = with care/carefully; qabla = before. In Assamese, use the natural reported-speech frame and the polite plural imperative, not a word-for-word calque.
Reverse direction
English: ‘Your letter has not reached me yet.’ Arabic: ‘lam taṣilnī risālatuka baʿd.’ Reasoning: lam + jussive for ‘not yet’; risāla = letter; baʿd = yet. Avoid a literal English word order.
Traps
Missing negation; mistaking false friends; translating ‘inna’ as ‘that’ mechanically; leaving an idiom literal; and ignoring gender or number in address. Always read the whole sentence before writing.