Lexical Equivalents in French-English Translation and their Impact on Cameroon English

Elizabeth Kumbong Amaazee (Advanced School of Translators and Interpreters, University of Buea)

Email: fidelisbeth@yahoo.co.uk

 

ABSTRACT:

Official translation in Cameroon is one of those areas where language contact between English and French is expressed. Because official translation is mostly done from French into English, the French language exerts a lot of lexical and cultural influence on Cameroon English. Besides cases of borrowing, loan translation and interference observed, the translation phenomenon is equally manifested through the creation of new lexical realities that are peculiar to Cameroon Standard English, making it distinct from other varieties of English around the globe.

In carrying out this study, several French-English official translations are examined, especially those that appear in the Official Gazette, a government journal where public documents are published in the two official languages.