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Article published In: Babel
Vol. 64:5/6 (2018) ► pp.710–733

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Present perfect or simple past?

The function of qad in English-into-Arabic translation

 | Kuwait University
Published online: 28 January 2019
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https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00063.far
Abstract
The present study aims to examine the claim that the preverbal particle qad in the perfective is an aspectual marker of near past in Arabic, hence it corresponds to the present perfect in English. The authentic translational corpus drawn from two works (journalistic/scientific and literary discourse) clearly indicates that the preverbal qad is employed as a cohesive marker whose main function is to smooth and naturalize Arabic discourse. The study demonstrates that the translator’s choice between an Arabic simple past with or without qad is governed by the requirements of the flow of discourse rather than by aspectual marking. Failure to account for this discursive function of qad when translating from English into Arabic would in Arabic translations produce cohesion gaps which in English are usually taken care of by punctuation.
Résumé
Cette étude a pour but d’examiner l’allégation selon laquelle la particule pré-verbale qad dans le perfectif serait un marqueur aspectuel du passé récent en arabe et correspondrait par conséquent au passé composé en anglais. L’authentique corpus translationnel tiré de deux travaux (discours journalistique/scientifique et discours littéraire) montre clairement que le qad pré-verbal est utilisé comme marqueur cohésif, dont la principale fonction est d’adoucir le discours arabe et de le rendre naturel. L’étude démontre que le choix du traducteur entre un passé simple arabe avec ou sans qad est régi par les exigences du flux du discours plutôt que par un marquage aspectuel. L’absence de prise en compte de cette fonction discursive de qad, lorsque l’on traduit de l’anglais en arabe, produirait des différences de cohésion dans les traductions arabes, généralement prises en charge par la ponctuation en anglais.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Objective of study
  • 3.Corpus
  • 4.Data analysis and discussion
    • 4.1Scientific/journalistic discourse
    • 4.2Literary discourse
    • 4.3Simple past data from both genres
    • 4.4Function of qad intersententially
  • 5.Conclusion
  • References
References (30)
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2022. Regional variation in the syntactic use of qad reflexes: Convergence or divergence in Saudi Arabic varieties?. Cogent Arts & Humanities 9:1 DOI logo

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