The Translation of Public Health Communication Materials from English into Ndebele in Zimbabwe

Translating public health communication materials into indigenous languages facilitates equitable access to crucial health information, particularly in a multilingual country like Zimbabwe. This study thus aims to identify, describe and analyze the constraints encountered by Ndebele translators whentranslating public health communication materials and the techniques they use to translate the latter.This study adopts a corpus-based, descriptive and analytical research design.Data was collected in the form of posters, pamphlets and booklets from clinics, hospitals and non- governmental organizations in Zimbabwe. 15 English excerpts and their corresponding Ndebele translations on COVID-19, Cholera, and HIV and AIDS were analyzed using Gideon Toury’s Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) model. The study is guided by the Communication Theory, Socio-linguistic theories and the Skopos Theory. Findings reveal that Ndebele translators encounter lexical, structural, and cultural constraints, with lexical constraints being the most prevalent due to gaps in the development and standardization of medical terminology in the Ndebele language. The results also indicate that among the several techniques employed by Ndebele translators, explicitation, borrowing and omission are the most frequently used techniques. The results of the study also indicate that the translations are effective to a greater extent. However, there are instances where important information is lost in the translation process thus highlighting the need for the development of medical terminology and specialized dictionaries so as to improve public health communication in the Ndebele language.