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Article published In: Translation Spaces
Vol. 10:2 (2021) ► pp.278–305

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A methodology for Qur’anic lexical translation

Synergizing semantic preference, discourse prosody, and para/intertextuality

ORCiD logo with link | Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University | Kafr El-Sheikh University
Published online: 31 August 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ts.20042.sal
Abstract
The present study propounds a methodology for the translation of Qur’anic lexis in a way that synergizes semantic preference, discourse prosody, and para/intertextuality. Towards the validation of this methodology, the Qur’anic lexical item آيـة (āyah) is investigated at two levels: (a) the intertextual level of the semantic preferences emerging in the various co-texts of āyah inside the Qurʼan and (b) the paratextual level of the overall discourse prosody underlying these semantic preferences in the exegetical contexts of āyah. The research finds firstly that there are four semantic preferences associated with āyah, viz. cosmological phenomena, miraculous tokens, conclusive evidence, and divine revelations/communications. Second, the discourse prosody underlying the Qurʼanic usages of āyah is divine visibility, which motivates the word’s generic English translation as “sign.” Third, in rendering the lexical item آيـة (āyah) into English, the well-known Qur’an translators in the Qurʼanic Arabic Corpus have opted either for “sign,” to maintain the positive discourse prosody associated with the Qur’anic usages of the item, or “token,” “portent,” “miracle(s),” or “verse/revelations/communications,” with a view to observing the semantic preferences associated with them.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical synergies
  • 3.Qur’anic corpus translation studies and the case of (āyah)
  • 4.Qurʼanic lexical translation: A methodology
    • 4.1Qurʼanic lexical translation: A methodological synergy
    • 4.2Data and procedure
  • 5.Translations of the Qurʼanic lexical item (āyah)
    • 5.1Intertextual semantic preferences across the co-texts of āyah
    • 5.2Paratextual discourse prosody underlying the exegetical contexts of (āyah)
  • 6.Conclusion: Findings and implications
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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Hassanein, Hamada
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