Towards the Translation of Obstetric Fistula Concepts from English into the Bafut Language

Abstract: This study examines the challenging issue of translating Obstetric Fistula concepts from the English language (a language of wider diffusion) into the Bafut language (a language of limited diffusion), spoken in the North-West region of Cameroon, due to obvious language and cultural differences between the two languages. Being a corpus-based study, the quality research design was more commonly used. This included the focus group to ascertain the translation of Obstetric Fistula concepts in the Bafut language. The “Cameroon keyboard” tool was used to transcribe 100 concepts into the Bafut language. Findings revealed that Obstetric Fistula concepts can be identified through meaning-suggestive linguistic indicators like prefixes, root words and suffixes, which contribute to understanding the state, nature or evolution of an illness. This study recommends that the translated Obstetric Fistula concepts in the Bafut language should be broadcast on community radio to alert as many Bafut residents as possible about the dangers of Obstetric Fistula. Keywords: Translation, Translatability, Obstetric Fistula, concepts, Bafut language