Equivalence in computer-assisted translation : the accuracy in the use of translation memories in English-Arabic translations

Abstract

CAT tools are Computer-Assisted Translation tools which help translators in delivering a better-quality and faster translation. Among their multiple features, the Translation Memory (TM) is considered to be the most prominent. In this TM, pairs of segments consisting of a source text and its equivalent target text are stored. When searching in the TM, the users can refer to these segments also known as Translation Units (TUs) in order to look for the word, phrase, sentence, etc. they are seeking. In this process, the equivalents provided by the TM are not necessarily reliable. This means that they could contain either one equivalent to multiple source-text segments or units forming the segments, or they could contain many equivalents for these segments or units. Hence, this puts the translators in front of a plethora of options which might hinder the translation process. As a result, the consistency and accuracy of the translation would be at stake, not to mention time consumption.