Exploring The Challenges Of Syntactic And Semantic Translation: A Case Study Of Arabic-Indonesian Translation Using Google Translate In Linguistics and Translation Studies

Septinisa Maftuhah
Ilham Nur Kholiq

IJGIE (International Journal of Graduate of Islamic Education)
Vol. 6 No. 2 (2025): September

The The development of automatic translation technology, especially platforms like Google Translate, has facilitated communication between languages. However, while this technology offers quick and efficient solutions, challenges in syntax and semantics remain major obstacles, especially when translating languages with significantly different structures, such as Arabic to Indonesian. This study uses a descriptive qualitative method to gather data through respondents and analyzes the findings, revealing various issues, particularly those related to syntactic and semantic errors. The analysis shows that syntactic and semantic errors in Arabic to Indonesian translations manifest in the following forms: (1) the neglect of harakat in syntax, which affects word interpretation; (2) errors in translating plural forms, which do not align with the context of Indonesian. In terms of semantics, errors are found in the following cases: (1) the translation of two overlapping meanings, which causes ambiguity; (2) incorrect selection of meaning, which compromises the accuracy of the information conveyed; (3) differences in interpreting the intended meaning. These errors affect the quality of the translations, making them less accurate and hindering the reader’s understanding of the text in its intended context. Theoretically, these findings align with meaning theory and cross-linguistic sentence structure theory, which emphasize the importance of syntactic alignment and correct meaning selection in translation. Therefore, while the translations produced are generally understandable, these errors hinder the precise delivery of the intended message. This study suggests that further development in automatic translation technology should focus on improving contextual understanding and adapting to diverse syntactic structures. By considering these linguistic theories, future technological advancements could lead to more accurate translations, effectively handling languages with significant structural differences.