A Study on the Problem of Translating Some University Administrative Terms

There are observed problems in translating certain university administrative terms from English to Hausa. Variations are noticed in translating the terms “Chancellor†, “Pro-chancellor†and “Vice-chancellor†during speeches, conversations and in media translations. The aim of this study is to find better interpretations in translating the university administrative terms. The specific objectives of the research are: (i) to identify the various interpretations of the three terms: (ii) to determine better interpretation of the terms in line with certain established theoretical concepts and socio-cultural norms of the receptor language Hausa. The study is of qualitative type in the collection and analysis of the data by employing Halliday’s (2014) theoretical concept of systemic functional linguistics (SFL) focusing on “context of situation†and “context of culture†. Among the findings of the study were that: (i) The three terms, Chancellor, Pro-chancellor and Vice-chancellor have variations in translation among Hausa speakers and media organisations; (ii) by employing the context of situation and context of culture of the receptor language Hausa, Chancellor was translated as Uban Jami’a, Pro-chancellor as Shugaban Majalisar Gudanarwa ta Jami’a while Vice-chancellor was interpreted as Shugaban Jami’a. The study concludes that the functional and pragmatic approaches to translation using Halliday’s (2014) Systemic Functional Linguistics theory was effective in unveiling meaning through the application of the contextual variables of language instead of restricting to only the linguistic context.