Between Languages and Cultures: Arabic into English Transliteration in English Travel Literature

This essay aspires to examine the use of transliteration of some words and phrases from Arabic to English in travel literature books. This has been conducted by exploring the transliterated Arabic words and phrases, and comparing the different transliterations of the same words and phrases by different writers. It investigates the way that the travel writers employ in making plural nouns, the use of the definite article (Al) (ال), and Al-tashdid (the duplication of a letter). The conclusion drawn is that travel literature writers resort to transliteration for three reasons; one of the main reasons is that sometimes there is no one-to-one correspondence; the second main reason suggests that transliteration avoids the loss of meaning; and the third one stems from the fact that transliteration helps to find transculturation between cultures. The contributions of this essay would be of concern to scholars, who are interested in Arabic into English transliteration, specifically in English travel literature. According to the researchers’ knowledge, this essay can be considered a leading pioneer study in the field that deals with transliteration from Arabic into English in English travel literature.