Master’s Thesis on Translating Civil Status Documents from Arabic into Spanish
The Department of Spanish at the College of Languages discussed the master’s thesis titled “Addressing Cultural and Linguistic Differences in Translating Civil Status Documents from Arabic into Spanish,” submitted by Zainab Thamer Subeih.
The thesis aimed to analyze legal terminology in civil status documents—such as marriage and divorce certificates, and birth and death records—when translated from Arabic into Spanish.
The study concluded that translating Iraqi legal documents (e.g., marriage and divorce contracts) into Spanish poses major challenges that are not merely linguistic but fundamentally cultural and conceptual. This is due to the gap between Iraqi law, which is rooted in Islamic jurisprudence, and Spanish civil law.
The practical analysis demonstrated the impossibility of relying on literal translation, especially for Islamic legal terms such as (mahr) (dowry) and (iddah) (waiting period), which lack direct equivalents in Spanish. This necessitates the use of specialised techniques such as explanatory translation to bridge conceptual gaps.
The findings emphasise that a successful legal translator is not merely a linguistic mediator but a cultural-legal expert, capable of ensuring accurate transfer of legal meaning.
The committee recommended accepting the thesis.
**Committee Members:**
– Asst. Prof. Dr. Abbas Farhan Aluway – Chair
– Asst. Prof. Khalil Awein Farhan – Member
– Asst. Prof. Rana Abdul-Rahman Aziz – Member
– Asst. Prof. Dr. Riyadh Mahdi Jassim – Supervisor
