Lexical Insertion as a barricade to English-Hausa Courtroom Interpretation and its Effects on Legal Justice in Jigawa State Magistrate Courts

Abstract

This paper discusses the insertions of lexical items in Jigawa state’s magistrate courts English-Hausa interpretation, the main objective of this paper is to find out how these lexical items are inserted into the target language as well as their impacts in the minds of the two parties involved. The research adopts an ethnography method for the collection of data and a descriptive approach for the data analysis. It is a known fact that the exchange of precise meanings is basically the bedrock of interpretation via which meanings are directly communicated into another language. Thus, the concise equivalents should directly be incorporated for the transfer of meaning to be exact, however, items of the receptor language are unnecessarily thrust which mostly creates problem in comprehending the meanings intended to communicate. The study finally proves that the insertion of the items in courts’ interpretation is indeed a barrier that renders it so ineffective. And therefore, recommended that Courts’ interpreters should avoid insertion of lexical items that are unnecessary.