International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD) Volume 5 Issue 6, September-October 2021 Available Online: www.ijtsrd.com e-ISSN: 2456 – 6470 @ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD47579 | Volume – 5 | Issue – 6 | Sep-Oct 2021 Page 1301 Difference between Arabic and English in the Basic Sentence Structure: Contrastive Analysis and Typical Translation Errors Ibrahim Muneer Abdalatif Kub 1 , Karim Muneer Abdalatif Kub 2 1Osmania University, Hyderabad, Telangana, India 2University College of Arts and Social Sciences, Department of Linguistics, Amberpet, Hyderabad, Telangana, India ABSTRACT Human beings have a one-of-a-kind feature: language. Languages differ from one another in many ways. Standard Arabic and Standard English, for example, are distinct yet similar languages. That is, these two languages were developed independently of one another. The Arabic language is Semitic, or Syro-Arabian, in the same way as the English language is German. They do, however, share some language characteristics on all levels, including phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic. These topics are heavily influenced by the fields of Contrastive Linguistics and Comparative Linguistics. The differences in fundamental sentence form between Arabic and English, as well as how English and Arabic differ in sentence structure, will be examined in this article, as well as how this impacts Arab students learning English as a second language. When attempting to translate from Arabic to English and vice versa, one of the most common mistakes students make is using incorrect terms. Keywords: Classical Arabic, linguistics, English, Difference between English and Arabic, syntax, Sentence Structure How to cite this paper: Ibrahim Muneer Abdalatif Kub | Karim Muneer Abdalatif Kub "Difference between Arabic and English in the Basic Sentence Structure: Contrastive Analysis and Typical Translation Errors" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456- 6470, Volume-5 | Issue-6, October 2021, pp.1301- 1305, URL: www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd47579.pdf Copyright © 2021 by author (s) and International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development Journal. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) 1. INTRODUCTION "There are four tongues worthy of the world's use," says the Talmud: "Greek for the song, Latin for war, Syriac for lamentation, and Hebrew for ordinary speech." Other authorities have been as certain in their assessments of what languages are useful for. "Spanish to God, Italian to ladies, French to men, and German to my horse," said Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, monarch of Spain, Archduke of Austria, and master of many European languages. Language is a sociolinguistic communication system that allows people, groups, regions, countries, and other entities to communicate with one another. Psycholinguistics. Human mental conduct is referred to as language. Every country or region in the globe has its own language. Simply said, languages, like countries, are diverse. That is to say, all languages have the same main goal, but they will need to be completely or partially distinct from one another. Rather, one language may be fairly similar to another, but it is not necessarily identical to that or this Language. Many attempts have been made by hysterical linguists all over the globe to designate one language as the genesis of all languages. Furthermore, their researchers have attempted to formulate or map the world's languages. They may have accomplished something, but their results and conclusions remain suspect due to a lack of supporting data. Other linguists, led by Chomsky, have explored another element of language, which is seeking for universal features/characteristics of all the world's words. Universal Grammar is the name given to this idea (UG). On the other hand, some linguists prefer to discuss languages in terms of their similarities or commonalities. Comparative Linguistics (CL) is an approach that demands all CL researchers to compare IJTSRD47579 International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470 @ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD47579 | Volume – 5 | Issue – 6 | Sep-Oct 2021 Page 1302 two or more languages, dialects, or other languages in order to identify similarities. In great shape. Contrastive Analysis (CA) is a method that first appeared in the early 1940s and became popular in the 1960s and beyond (Lightbown, 2006). Constructivists have attempted to contrast two languages from an educational standpoint, focusing on the contrasts between them in order to prepare second language (L2) (ESL) or foreign language (EFL) learners to overcome difficulties that obstruct the learning process. One of the designated official languages of the United Nations is Arabic (Chejne: 1969). Classical Arabic, Standard Arabic, and Spoken Arabic are the three kinds of Arabic language. Classical Arabic is frequently referred to as the pre-Islamic language, as well as the language of art, literature, the Islamic Golden Ages, and Arabic sciences. A new Momani and Altaher 281 era developed later, along with a unique Arabic form called as Standard Arabic or Modern Standard Arabic, following the European Renaissance. The English language, on the other hand, originated in England and is the official language of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and a number of Caribbean and Pacific Ocean islands. The Philippines, Singapore, and several nations in Sub-Saharan Africa, notably South Africa, speak it as an official language. English is the primary foreign language choice in most other nations throughout the world, and it is because of this that it has earned the title of global lingua franca. According to some estimates, English is currently spoken by roughly a third of the world's population, or two billion people. 2. ENGLISH AND ARABIC BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURE In general, Nominal and verbal sentences are the two types of sentences. One of the most significant differences between Standard Arabic and Standard English grammar is that English only has spoken sentences, but Arabic includes both nominal and verbal sentences. The predicate in the verbal sentence is a verb which may be compose of one or more verbal elements as demonstrated below: 1.
د ا  ا (verbal sentence, English and Arabic languages) alghurafahaihmaddakhal the room Ahmed entered “Ahmed entered the room” The predicate in the nominal sentence, on the other hand, is a form other than a verb (i.e. a noun, an adjective, and adverb etc.) thus, such sentence don’t contain verbal elements. For example 2. با   (nominal sentence, Arabic language) mufydunalkitabu usefull the book “the book is useful” 2.1. FIVE BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURES IN ENGLISH There are five main sentence structures in English. 2.1.1. Subject (S) – Verb (V) “Ibrahim walks,” for example, is an example of this type of sentence structure. The subject is "Ibrahim," and the verb is "walks." To make the sentence longer, several elements of speech might be added. You may create the statement "Ibrahim walks swiftly" by adding an adverb, or you can make it "Ibrahim walks every morning" by adding a time expression. 2.1.2. Subject (S) – Verb (V) – Object (O) “She is playing a ball,” for example, is an example of an essence statement. The subject of this sentence is "She," the verb is "is playing," and the object is "a ball." You can use parts like an adjective (e.g., “She is playing a little ball”) or an adverb (e.g., “She is playing the ball quickly”) to lengthen the sentence. 2.1.3. Subject (S) – Verb (V) – Adjective (adj) This kind of sentence starts with an essential statement, such as "She is beautiful." The subject is "she," the verb is "is," and the adjective is "beautiful." You may build on the sentence by adding other parts of speech, such as “She is very beautiful,” where “very” functions as an adverb. 2.1.4. Subject (S) – Verb (V) – Adverb (adv) These sentences start with a key word, such as "Sara walked away." “Sara” is the subject, “walked” is the verb, and “away” is the adverb in this sentence. This kind of sentence can have components attached to it, such as "Sara gently walked away," where "gently" is an adjective describing Sara's walking style. 2.1.5. Subject (S) – Verb (V) – Noun (N) This kind of sentence starts with an essential sentence, such as "She is a teacher." The subject is "She," the verb is "is," and the noun is "a teacher." You can add words or phrases to the sentence, just like you do with the other sentence kinds. To describe her further and indicate where she works, you may use the adjective "intelligent" and the adverbial phrase "at the college" to say "She is a teacher at the university is an intellectual lady." To form sentences, all of the elements of speech in the English language are used. The first component of every sentence is the subject, and the second part is International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470 @ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD47579 | Volume – 5 | Issue – 6 | Sep-Oct 2021 Page 1303 the verb (also known as the predicate). A sentence isn't complete until it has a subject and a verb (for example, in the statement "Went to the Room," we don't know who went to bed). 2.2. ARABIC Distinct types of sentences and, as a result, different structures exist in the Standard Arabic. There are four sentences structures in Standard Arabic: 1) Verbal Sentences ( ُ َِِّْْا َُُْْا). 2) Nominal Sentences (اا َُُْْا). 3) Sentences Functional ( ) با إا !
" # $ا َُُْْا . 4) Non-Sentences Functional ) !
" # % $ا َُُْْا با إا ( . This study is mostly focused on the first two types, which are the most common in Standard Arabic. Verbal Sentences ( ُ َِِّْْا َُُْْا) and Nominal Sentences (اا َُُْْا) are two different types of sentences. 2.2.1. Nominal Sentences (
ا ُ
َ ْُْا) Nominal sentences are those that begin with subject pronouns. When the subject pronoun is followed by a verb, the pronoun might be maintained or removed. If the third-person subject pronouns are retained before the verb, they will always have a significant role; but, depending on the intonation, the other pronouns (1st and 2nd person) may or may not have an important function.. 1. Subject – Verb َْ&َأ ف ِ)َْأ 'anaa'a"rif Translation:I know The pronoun (a first-person pronoun) isn't relevant in this case unless the intonation stressed it. 2. Subject – Predicate *ھِْ,َ َْ&َأ 'anaajaahiz Translation: I am ready 3. Subject – Verb – Object ! َ"ََ- .َ&َْأ َ َِّ/ ََْا ثُ َّ 'antntatahaddath AL-"arabiyya Translation: you speak Arabic! Other kinds of nouns can be used to begin nominal sentences. Example: a demonstrative: are terms like this and that, are used to identify which entities are being discussed and to differentiate them from others. 4. ٌ
ِْ,َ مٌَْ3 اْ4ََھ haathaayawm(un) jameel(un) Translation: this is a nice day A relative pronounis a pronoun that indicates that a clause is relative. Its function is to connect altering information about an antecedent referent. 5. َ5ََ عَرَزَ !َْ manzarahasad Translation: he who plants harvests or he who planted harvested The Subject The Verb The Stress A demonstrative Each verb except "be" in the present tense (apparent) On the subject A noun 1st & 2nd person: changeable A pronoun 3rd person: on the subject A demonstrative "Be" in the present tense (not apparent) On the predicate A noun A pronoun A summary for nominal sentences: 2.2.2. Verbal Sentences ( ُ
َِّ ِْْا ُ
َ ْُْا) A verbal sentence ( ُْْا ُ َِِّْْا َُ ) is a sentence that starts with the verb and then moves on to the topic. A noun, demonstrative or pronoun, or a relative sentence can be used as the subject. A verbal sentence is distinguished by the fact that the verb comes before the subject. In the presence of an adverb, an object, an adjective, etc., there are several opportunities for verbal sentences. Standard Structure of Verbal Sentences Structure Verb Subject Others Object Adverb Prepositional Phrase Read Ibrahim his book quickly in the classroom The standard usual structure is: Other possible forms structures for verbal sentences are more uncommon: Alternative Structure for Verbal Sentences Others Verb Subject Others in the classroom Read Ibrahim his book International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470 @ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD47579 | Volume – 5 | Issue – 6 | Sep-Oct 2021 Page 1304 Alternative Structure for Verbal Sentences Verb Others Subject Read in the classroom Ibrahim The key element to remember in Arabic verbal sentences is that the verb always comes before the subject. 2.2.2.1. Subjects of Verbal Sentences In verbal sentences, subjects may or may not appear. In theStandard Arabic, there can be obvious, connected, and hidden Subjects in verbal sentences. 8. Verb –Subject – Object سرا َُَْ:; katabaAl-waladAl-darss Translation: the boy wrote the lesson Compare this example to its nominal alternative, in which the stressed element is the subject: 9. Subject – Verb – Object <; َُَْ=را Al-waladkatabaAl-darss Translation: THE BOY wrote the lesson In Standard Arabic, the verb be requires an adverb rather than an adjective, as it does in English. This is only true when the verb appears; it is not true when it does not (i.e. in the present tense). In Arabic, verbs like these are referred to as incomplete verbs. لُ َْ?ا ُ5َِ@ْ َّAا. 10. Verb - Attached Object – Subject َْAُ#ِْ& ُّ َُ3 Cَ َّ&َأ yasurr-nee'anna-khunaa Translation: I am glad that you are here In the Arabic language, sentences that begin with an indefinite word, such as "a gentleman is here," are not commonly employed, and the demonstrative "there" is generally used instead. 3. CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS Verbal Sentences are the only type of sentence in the English language, and their structure is (S + V + O/C). The Standard Arabic, on the other hand, contains two sentence structures: (a) a nominal sentence with Mobtada (subject) and Khabar (predicate), and (b) a verbal sentence with a verb, a subject, and an object. In contrast to English, the word order in both kinds is more flexible than the English equivalent. A sentence in English like "Mohammed bought a book" can be translated into Arabic in a variety of ways. First, this sentence can be written as a nominal sentence (Mohammed bae kitaban) or as a verbal sentence such as: 11. Arabic: bae Mohammedkitaban Transliteration: sold Mohammeda kitaban (Not possible in English) English: Mohammedsold a car "Kitaban" has the accusative nunnation finishing (an) as a sign of being an infinite subject. Second, we can also say: 12. Arabic: kitaban bae Mohammed. Transliteration: A book sold Mohammed. (Not possible in English) English: Mohammed sold a book "Mohammed” has a nominative nunnation ending as a sign of being a subject. 13. Arabic: bae kitaban Mohammed. Transliteration: sold a book Mohammed. (Not possible in English) English: Mohammed sold a book 14. Arabic: Mohammed kitaban bae. Transliteration: Mohammed a book sold, (Not possible in English). English: Mohammed sold a book Of course, each sentence's focus generates a somewhat different meaning, but the core idea is there in all of them. The primary difference is that in English, the word order differentiates the subject, verb, and object, but in Arabic, the indications of cases, "I rab": (construction), distinguish them. 4. Typical Translation Errors These kinds of sentences naturally undergo substantial modifications in translation, not just in terms of word order but also in terms of the overall structure of the sentence, in order to maintain the meaning expressed in the original language. "There was yet a visit to the instructor," for example, from "Heart of Darkness," is translated as: 15. Arabic IPA: Kana layazaluaalyyacinazour - modariss. Transliteration: was - it yet necessary for me to visit the teacher English: After all, I had to visit the teacher. 16. Arabic IPA: Kam hia jameelatun hajiihi-lmadina! (The Hostage). Transliteration: how it beautiful this the city (is)! English Translation: How beautiful this city was! (Translation). The form of the verbal Arabic sentence is another example that the student uses in building his English sentence. "kaburatfalaisa fi-famihigairasennain" is the Arabic word for "kaburatfalaisa fi- famihigairasennain" (grow up and not in mouth-his except two teeth). "Grow up not in his mouth except two teeth," the student translates the statement. International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470 @ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD47579 | Volume – 5 | Issue – 6 | Sep-Oct 2021 Page 1305 "He had grown up with only two teeth in his mouth," Ali translates this line as (S + V + C). However, the student began his statement with the verb and no reference to the subject (Zien), and even without a capital letter at the beginning of the sentence, as is customary in Arabic. The only difference is that the student added "his mouth" and, of course, ignored 95 "and." Despite the fact that his translation almost matches the original, his statement is not an acceptable English sentence, and he may not realise why. However, by comparing the two statements, he will quickly see his error. When it comes to these two types of Arabic language structures, it's important to remember that the Arabic nominal sentence doesn't always include a copula. This is because the predicate in this situation does not require a copula, whether it be a single word, a phrase, or a sentence. However, an English phrase cannot be complete without a verb. The following are some examples of this: 17. Arabic IPA: al-gamarumoshregun.. Transliteration: The moon bright English: The moon is bright 18. Arabic IPA: li fatimatiJ^aunsatuikhwah. Transliteration: for Fatima five brothers. English: Fatima has five brothers. Arab students of English prefer to remove the copula in their writing English because of this gap between English and Arabic. Sunderman (1978) discovered that students commonly missed the copula in an error analysis study of Arab students' writings. A similar finding was made by Dudley-Evans and Swales (1980), when possession is conveyed by prepositional forms rather than a verb like "have" (see the example above about Fatima). They blame a mistake like this on a straight translation from Arabic. CONCLUSION As Charlemagne said once “To have another language is to possess a second soul”. Language is very significant in every aspect of our single day because it enables people to communicate in a manner that enables the sharing of common ideas. So, to conclude this paper, since Standard English and Standard Arabic are two different languages from different origins and families, they both have their grammar, vocabulary, style, and phonology. In this paper, we have discussed the basic grammatical structure of the sentence in the two languages in detail and differentiated between them. And also we have discussed one of the most common mistakes that students make when they try to translate Arabic to English and vice versa. So, you ought to be capable to distinguish them and nevermore mix their characteristics as two amazing, different, rich languages. References [1] Guy Deutscher (2016) Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different In Other Languagesby, Random House. [2] Gazalah. H, (1995). Translation As Problems And Solutions: A Text Book For University Students And Trainee Translators Pp. 46. Jeddah, JED: Konooz AL-Marifa Company. [3] Moubaiddin, A., Toffaha, A., Obeid, N., &Hammo, B. (2013, December 14). Investigating the Syntactic Structure of Arabic Sentences. [4] Brinton, Laurel J. (2000). The Structure of Modern English: A Linguistic Introduction. [5] Fabb, Nigel. (2005). Sentence Structure. Routledge. [6] Alhawary, Mohammad T. (2011). Modern Standard Arabic Grammar: A Learner’s Guide. Willey- Blackwell. [7] Catford. J. C, Palmer, JD., McCarus, E., Moray E., Snider, S. A. (1974). A Contrastive Study of English and Arabic. Department of Linguistics: University of Michigan. [8] https://www.really-learn-english.com/sentence- structure.html [9] http://arabic.tripod.com/Sentences3.htm [10] https://blogs.transparent.com/arabic/arabic- sentences-the-verbal-sentence/ [11] https://linguapress.com/grammar/word- order.htm [12] https://www.really-learn-english.com/sentence- structure.html