Stylistic Problems

“ a change of style is a change of meaning”
- Style: the collection of choices made by language users including layout, grammar, vocabulary and phonology.
- Translators should maintain the same or at least a similar style of the original when translating.

A- Formality VS Informality
- There are many different scales that are suggested by different linguists. As an example, in 1962 Joos suggested the following scale:
1- Frozen Formal بالغ الفصاحة أو قح such as: we are terribly sorry for the inconvenience
2- Formal فصيح such as: sorry for the
3- Informal شبه فصيح
4- Colloquial عامي
5- Vulgar or slang سوقي
However, it is not always possible to have those different five levels of formality or informality. Due to differences among languages, languages can express actions differently with variable utterances, and not necessarily with the same number of variations.
B- Fronting:
- It is an important stylistic device that is used to put stress on the fronted unit of translation.
- Translators need to differentiate between the two different systems of word order which are used in Arabic and English. When fronting is made, a clear shift in word order takes place.
Examples: قول الله تعالى " إنما يخشى اللهَ من عبادهِ العلماءُ"
A thief he became.
Being a hard-working employee, he could manage his time in both jobs.

C- Parallelism
- Identical structures that are used consecutively.
- Examples: 1- Reporters are urged not to praise or belittle the minister’s comments.
2- He is not a poet. He is not a writer. He is not literate.

D- Ambiguity
- Unclarity in meaning of a translation unit. It is a stylistic function that is used to hide the message or the truth, complicate meaning, or for rhetorical purposes.
Examples:
1- Management of managers can be unmanageable.
2- He is wizard

E- Short Sentences or Utterances
Except for legal English, short sentences, as a stylistic feature, are prevailing in English. Arabic, on the other hand, tends to use longer sentences. Yet, this feature has invaded Arabic and has become a majority in some literary genres such as short stories.
Example:
1- Ali Salem, a Saudi citizen, who has never been abroad, is at last in America. He’s never expected to be one day away, not even fro a minute. Remembering his childhood at his country house, where birds of all kinds were singing, he remembered his cousin, Sara, that little girl with the most beautiful eyes.
2- This policy issued by the society on payment of the first premium stated in the schedule hereto subject to the Registered Rules of the society.

F- Passive Vs Active Voices
- Translators should be careful when translating texts of such a function. Those two contrastive styles are sometimes used on purpose and may not be used interchangeably.
Consider the following examples:
1- 20 soldiers were killed in a recent raid in Iraq
2- US troops kill 20 soldiers in a recent raid in Iraq

G- Repetition
- Repeating phrases or words more than once.
Examples:
1- My dear son, oh dear son. I have been waiting for years to see you getting married and here you are. Oh my son, it’s been a wish to see you getting married.
بني ، آهٍ يا بني ، لقد انتظرت سنيناً لكي أراك عريسآ ، وها أنت الآن. آهٍ يا بني، لقد كانت أمنية بالنسبة لي أن أراك عريسآ.