Language is the most fundamental unit in information gathering. Without it, human beings would have a limited capacity to communicate. Language has often been the cause of miscommunication and misunderstanding, a problem that is exacerbated by the lack of precision in translation. Sometimes, there is just no way to translate a word or concept into another language, for no word exists in that language. This seriously impedes access to information, for how does one gather information if there is no name for what they are gathering?
As the Middle East North Africa region undergoes economic reform, it needs to understand new concepts like corporate governance. However, there was no word or phrase for some concepts like ‘corporate governance’ in Arabic. Either speakers say the words in English, or they use one of several imprecise Arabic terms to try to describe something for which there is no word. One common term for corporate governance was tahakkum, which implied more governmental involvement than private management, as its literal translation means “rule,” “regulation,” or “control.” Another common term was sulutat al-adara, whose literal translation is “authorities of management.” There were other terms as well, none of which accurately conveyed the meaning of corporate governance.
In 2001, the problem was officially recognized by Dr. Youssef Boutros Ghali, Egyptian Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade, during a CIPE conference, the first corporate governance conference ever held in Egypt. CIPE set to work to craft a precise term that was approved by the Arabic Linguists Council.
Arabic words are based on three (and occasionally four) letter roots. A combination of prefixes, suffixes, and unwritten short vowel sounds, called a measure by linguists, gives the three letter root a meaning. The trick was to find the proper measure for the three letter root H-k-m to change its meaning from ‘control’ to ‘governance.’ After consulting experts, the term hawkama asharikat, literally “the governance of companies,” was created as the Arabic term for corporate governance.
CIPE’s efforts to promote the use of the term have been highly successful, as evident in the launch of Hawkama – The Institute for Corporate Governance. The institute is sponsored by the Dubai International Financial Center and benefits from the participation of CIPE, OECD, IFC, and the Union of Arab Banks. Hawkama is dedicated to introducing and promoting best practices in corporate governance throughout the MENA region. The use of the term hawkama by a regional think tank proves that CIPE has succeeded in creating a single term and changing a language, thus taking down one of the serious obstacles to information in the Arab world.
Next up: Finding a single word for entrepreneur in Arabic.
Published Date: February 15, 2006