CULTURAL ADAPTATION IN AI-BASED MACHINE TRANSLATION AND LINGUISTIC CHALLENGES IN FRENCH-UZBEK TRANSLATION

Abstract

This paper examines cultural adaptation in artificial intelligence (AI)-based machine translation, focusing on linguistic and intercultural challenges in French-Uzbek translation. It considers translation quality not only in terms of grammatical correctness and lexical correspondence but also in relation to semantic equivalence, pragmatic intention, register, and culturally embedded meaning. Particular attention is given to lexical ambiguity, grammatical and morphological differences, idiomatic expressions, forms of address, culture-specific vocabulary, and discourse conventions. The paper discusses the role of AI tools in producing preliminary translations and the importance of human linguistic and cultural expertise in reviewing their output. It proposes a human- centred approach that combines contextual analysis, machine translation, cultural adaptation, and post-editing. The discussion is especially relevant to French-Uzbek translation in educational, academic, and professional communication.