Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Department of English Language and Literature, Larestan branch, Islamic Azad University, Larestan, Iran
2 Department of English Language, School of Paramedical Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
Abstract
Introduction: In today’s global market, the accurate translation of product information is crucial for consumer safety, particularly in sensitive industries such as cosmetics. This study, conducted in 2023, aimed to investigate the translation of cosmetic product catalogs from English into Persian, utilizing Nord’s functional translation model as an analytical framework.
Methods: This research employed a qualitative content analysis approach. The corpus consisted of several English-language cosmetic product catalogs available on the market and their corresponding Persian translations. Data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively over four months. NVivo software was used for qualitative analysis, and SPSS software (version 26) was used for statistical analysis.
Results: The analysis revealed that linguistic and text-specific translation problems were the most prevalent. Of the 111 identified instances, linguistic problems accounted for 102 cases (91.89%), primarily involving lexical and syntactic errors. Text-specific problems constituted 9 (8.11%) cases, largely relating to the mistranslation of figurative expressions. No instances of pragmatic or cultural translation problems were observed.
Conclusion: Translation errors could lead to serious misunderstandings regarding the proper use of cosmetic products. For instance, inaccurate or incomplete translation of ingredient lists or usage instructions might result in adverse effects. Furthermore, the findings suggested that similar translation errors in medical education could impede the accurate transfer of pharmaceutical or therapeutic knowledge to students and professionals. This study highlighted the critical role of translation quality in high-stakes domains such as the cosmetics industry and medical education.
Keywords
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