Ufanisi katika ya pendekezo la katiba ya Kenya

Abstract

This study is an analysis of the traslated version of Proposed Constitution of Kenya, 2010. The purpose of the study was to assess the quality of the translation of the Proposed Constitution. It underscores the uniqueness of legal language. Legal language is composed of lengthy sentences with many conjuctions. Ambiguity in meaning in the translated text from English to Kiswahili was investigated. It was discovered that the tranlated version had distorted meanings. In some instances the translated words were inaccurate in rendering the various meaning. From the analysis, it was clear that some words and clauses were not translated at all, thus denying the reader the intended message. The grammar, style and language structure were central to this study. Grammartical errors were detected. However the translator managed in maintaining the style of legal text.The study was interested in investigating choice of words. In some instances, the message was lost due to poor choice of vocabulary. The study was guided by basic tenets of relevance theory. Library research was conducted where the source text, the translated text and other relevant literature were read. Data was collected from the proposed constitution of Kenya 2010.