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One language, many hierarchies

Corpus — status interplay in intralingual translation between Classical Arabic and Egyptian Arabic

ORCiD logo with link | KU Leuven
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with KU Leuven.

Published online: 24 October 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/lplp.25022.ali
Abstract
Intralingual translation in Arabic has been treated as a tool of simplification, while its implications for language planning remain underexplored. Using al-Shāmilī’s (2016). Risālat al-Ghufrān [The Epistle of Foregiveness] (N. al-Shāmilī, Trans.). Al Kotob Khan.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar translation of al-Maʿarrī’s Risālat al-Ghufrān into semi-literate spoken Arabic as a case study, this article argues that intralingual translation constitutes a site where corpus and status planning interact reciprocally rather than unfold in a linear sequence of form following function. Four dynamics exemplify this interplay. First, the translation advances modernization rather than standardization, evident in its minimal graphization and its alignment with state discourses on renewing heritage texts. Second, it engages in intertextual positioning by drawing on earlier editions and interlingual translations as auxiliary sources to enhance intelligibility and, in so doing, cast Classical Arabic as a code requiring mediation. Third, it disrupts entrenched hierarchies and sparks media controversy through labelling by presenting the work as a translation in the Egyptian language. Finally, it undertakes functional reallocation by authorizing the selected variety as a medium of storytelling and religious expression. These dynamics show that intralingual translation should be understood not as a secondary act of simplification but as a powerful instrument of language planning that modernizes linguistic resources, renegotiates hierarchies, and redistributes authority across communicative domains.
الملخص البحثي
غالبًا ما يُنظر إلى الترجمة داخل اللغة في العربية على أنها أداة للتبسيط، في حين أن انعكاساتها على التخطيط اللغوي لم تستكشف بالقدر الكافي. انطلاقًا من ترجمة الشاملي (2016) لرسالة الغفران للمعرّي إلى عربية محكية موجّهة للقراء محدودي التعليم بوصفها دراسة حالة، تجادل المقالة بأن هذا النوع من الترجمة يشكّل مجالاً تتقاطع فيه عمليات تخطيط البنية اللغوية وتخطيط المكانة والوظيفة الاجتماعية بصورة تبادلية لا وفق تسلسل خطي يضع الشكل في خدمة الوظيفة. وتكشف الدراسة أربع ديناميات توضّح هذا التداخل: فالترجمة أولًا تدفع نحو التحديث بدلًا من المعيرة من خلال الاكتفاء بإقرار حد أدنى من نظام كتابة العربية المحكية ومواءمة النص مع الخطاب الرسمي حول تجديد التراث. وثانيًا تعتمد الترجمة على إنشاء علاقات تناصية عبر البناء على نسخ سابقة من النص وترجمات من لغات أخرى لتعزيز الفهم، وهو ما يظهر أن العربية الكلاسيكية تتطلب وسيطًا للنقل منها. وثالثًا تقوض الترجمة التراتبيات اللغوية الراسخة وتثير جدلًا إعلاميًا عبر تقديم العمل على أنه ترجمة إلى اللغة المصرية. ورابعًا تعيد الترجمة توزيع الوظائف اللغوية من خلال إضفاء الشرعية على العربية المحكية باعتبارها وسيطًا للسرد والتعبير الديني. وتخلص المقالة إلى أن الترجمة داخل اللغة ليست مجرد فعل ثانوي للتبسيط، بل أداة فاعلة في التخطيط اللغوي تسهم في تحديث الموارد اللغوية، وإعادة تشكيل التراتبيات، وإعادة توزيع السلطة عبر المجالات التواصلية.
Abstraktaĵo
Oni ofte traktas enlingvan tradukadon en la araba kiel simpligon, sed dume ĝiaj implicoj rilate lingvoplanadon restas neesplorataj. Ĉerpante el la traduko farita de al-Shāmilī de la verko Risālat al-Ghufrān de al-Maʿarrī (2016) en duonedukitan parolan araban lingvon, ĉi tiu artikolo argumentas, ke enlingva tradukado konsistigas lokon kie korpusa lingvoplanado kaj statusa lingvoplanado interagas reciproke anstataŭ disvolviĝi en laŭlinia sinsekvo kie formo sekvas funkcion. Kvar dinamikoj ekzemplas tiun interagon. Per minimuma grafikigo kaj kongruigo kun ŝtataj diskursoj pri heredaĵa renovigo, la traduko elstarigas modernigon super normigo. Interteksta poziciigo ĉerpas el pli fruaj eldonoj kaj interlingvaj tradukoj por fortigi kompreneblon kaj roligi la klasikan araban kiel kodon kiu postulas peradon. Etikedado disrompas hierarkiojn kaj provokas komunikmedian polemikon per prezento de la verko kiel tradukon en la egiptan lingvon. Funkcia redistribuo vastigas la vulgaran lingvoformon en rakontadon kaj religian diskurson. Tiuj dinamikoj starigas enlingvan tradukadon kiel lingvoplanan rimedon kiu modernigas lingvajn resursojn, renegocas hierarkiojn, kaj redistribuas aŭtoritaton trans komunikajn domajnojn.
Article outline
  • Intralingual translation and language planning
  • Methodology
  • Repositioning semi-literate Arabic through intertextuality and modernization
  • The politics of labelling in status planning
  • Allocation of functions: Storytelling as a hallmark of semi-literate spoken Arabic
  • Vernacularizing the sacred: Challenging Classical Arabic in religious discourse
  • Conclusion
  • References
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