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Article published In: Babel
Vol. 68:1 (2022) ► pp.86–113

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Lexical, exegetical, and frequency-based analyses of the translations of the Qur’anic collocations

 | Najran University
Published online: 18 February 2022
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https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00256.qas
Abstract
Translating collocations is one of the problematic areas in translation studies, which becomes even more complicated when translating Qur’anic text is involved. The uniqueness of Qur’anic linguistic features, special context of the Qur’anic text, and stylistic differences between English and Arabic are barriers to accurate and natural rendition. Along these veins, this study attempts to investigate seven translations of the Qur’anic noun-noun collocations (Sarwar 1981; Al-Hilali and Khan 1996; Arberry 1996; Pickthall 1997; Sahih International 1997; Shakir 1999; Ali 2001) to unfold the degree of accuracy and naturalness of their translations. The present article follows the approach of corpus-based research to study seven prominent translations of the Noble Qur’an taken from The Qur’anic Arabic Corpus. [URL], using lexical, exegetical, and frequency-based analyses, which reveal that integrated lexical and exegetical analyses are perquisites for adequate rendition and prevent deviation in meaning and translation loss. Frequency-based approach in translation of collocations could assist in maintaining naturalness of rendition to some extent.
Résumé
La traduction des cooccurrences constitue une problématique en traduction. Elle devient encore plus compliquée lorsqu’il s’agit de traduire un texte coranique. Le caractère unique des caractéristiques linguistiques, le contexte particulier du texte coranique et les différences stylistiques entre l’anglais et l’arabe constituent des obstacles à une restitution précise et naturelle. Dans ce contexte, cette étude tente d’examiner au sein de sept traductions du Coran (Sarwar 1981 ; Al-Hilali et Khan 1996 ; Arberry 1996 ; Pickthall 1997 ; Sahih International 1997 ; Shakir 1999 ; Ali 2001) les cooccurrences nom-nom afin de déterminer le degré de précision et le naturel de leurs traductions. La présente étude s’inscrit dans le cadre de la recherche en linguistique de corpus en ce sens que l’étude est menée sur sept traductions importantes du Noble Coran tirées du Corpus Arabe Coranique, en utilisant des analyses lexicales, exégétiques et de fréquence. L’étude révèle que les analyses lexicales et exégétiques intégrées sont des conditions préalables à une restitution adéquate, qui évitent les déviations de sens et les pertes de traduction. L’utilisation d’une approche basée sur la fréquence dans la traduction des cooccurrences pourrait aider à maintenir le naturel de la restitution dans une certaine mesure.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Problematicity of translating collocations
  • 3.Lexical, exegetical and frequency-based analyses of collocations
  • 4.Strategies for translating collocations
  • 5.Research objectives
  • 6.Approaches of the Noble Qur’an’s commentators
  • 7.Methods
  • 8.Data analysis
    • 8.1 (Ajal musama)
      • 8.1.1Lexical analysis
      • 8.1.2Exegetical analysis
      • 8.1.3Translation analysis
      • 8.1.4Frequency-based analysis
    • 8.2 (AL-Ardh AL-Juruz)
      • 8.2.1Lexical analysis
      • 8.2.2Exegetical analysis
      • 8.2.3Translation analysis
      • 8.2.4Frequency-based analysis
    • 8.3 (Alardh Almukaddasah)
      • 8.3.1Lexical analysis
      • 8.3.2Exegetical analysis
      • 8.3.3Translation analysis
      • 8.3.4Frequency-based analysis
    • 8.4 (Albaqayat alsalehat)
      • 8.4.1Lexical analysis
      • 8.4.2Exegetical analysis
      • 8.4.3Translation analysis
      • 8.4.4Frequency-based analysis
    • 8.5 (Alkhait Alabyadh min Alkhait Alaswad)
      • 8.5.1Lexical analysis
      • 8.5.2Exegetical analysis
      • 8.5.3Translation analysis
      • 8.5.4Frequency-based analysis
    • 8.6 Alshahr Alharam
      • 8.6.1Lexical analysis
      • 8.6.2Exegetical analysis
      • 8.6.3Translation analysis
      • 8.6.4Frequency-based analysis
    • 8.7 (Qalb saleem)
      • 8.7.1Lexical analysis
      • 8.7.2Exegetical analysis
      • 8.7.3Translation analysis
      • 8.7.4Frequency-based analysis
  • 9.Discussion of results
    • 9.1Differences between literal and functional meanings of collocations in the Noble Qur’an
    • 9.2Reliance on lexical analysis of the Qur’anic collocations
    • 9.3Lack of reliance on exegetical knowledge in translating Qur’anic collocations
    • 9.4Assessment of naturalness through frequency-based approach
    • 9.5(Un-)Lexicalization of some Qur’anic collocations in English
    • 9.6Use of translation procedures
  • 10.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
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