The Implicatures Analysis of Translating English Medical Prescriptions into Arabic: Pragma-Semantic Analysis

Abstract

English and Arabic languages, like all other natural languages, provide their speakers with an impressive array of referring expressions from which they can choose for their daily communications and interactions. This study examines Grice‘s cooperative principle in Translating English Medical prescriptions into Arabic. The comparison was made between the English medical prescriptions and their  Arabic translations. To achieve consistent data analysis, the study used Medical Prescriptions designed by different companies under a medical term called Side Effect (Adverse Effect). The research demonstrates how the Implicature Maxims are identified in the prescription medicine label for both languages. Moreover, the research investigates whether Arabic text conveys similar Maxims in English carrying similar messages as in the original Medical English prescription. Generally, the study reveals that the Translated English Medical prescription and its Arabic version follow most of Grice’s maxims and the Arabic version conveys a similar message as the English prescription.