Contextual Meanings Of Qur'ānic Near-Synonyms And Their Translations
Abstract
This study identifies the contextual meanings of some selected Qur'ānic near-synonyms and the semantic differences that exist between them, as explained in the Holy Qur'ān. It also elucidates how the semantic differences between the selected Qur'ānic pairs are reflected in the English translations. Three pairs of Qur’anic near-synonyms are chosen for this study. The collected data are qualitatively analyzed based on the RC-S approach by Murphy. The findings show that some semantic differences exist between the selected pairs of Qur'ānic near-synonyms, and some semantic differences are not reflected in the English translations. An example of the investigated Qur’anic near-synonyms is the pair of جوع and مسغبة (hunger). The findings reveal that مسغبة (famine) denotes extreme and severe hunger of a large number of people. It is also associated with weakness, fatigue, exhaustion, and thirst. However, its near-synonymجوع (hunger) is more general and does not have the same semantic features asمسغبة (famine). It is shown that translating both words by Arberry as ‘hunger’ is inappropriate since the semantic differences between them are not reflected in the English translation. This study presents recommendations that could be useful for translators, readers, and interested researchers.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Abdellah, A. (2003). Translations of Near-synonyms in the Qur'ān: a Context-based Analysis. Unpublished Master’s Thesis. London: University of London.
Abdul-Ghafour, A. K. M., Awal, N. M., Zainudin, I. S., Aladdin, A. (2017). Meanings of Near-Synonyms and Their English Translation Issues in the Holy Qur'ān. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies. Vol. 17(4), 258-273.
Abdul-Ghafour, A. K. M., Awal, N. M., Zainudin, I. S., Aladdin, A. (2019). The Interplay of Qur'ānic synonymy and polysemy with special reference to Al-asfārand Al-kutub (the books) and their English translations. 3L: The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, Vol 25(1): 129 – 143.
Abdul-Ghafour, A. K. M., Awal, N. M., Zainudin, I. S., Aladdin, A. (2020). Meanings of the Qur'anic Near-Synonyms: Al-Ṣirāṭ and Al-Sabīl (the Path) and Their English Translations. Akademika. Vol. 90(3), 63-73.
Abdul-Raof, H. (2001). Qur'ān Translation: Discourse, Texture and Exegesis. Britain: Curzon Press.
Abdul-Raof, H. (2018). New Horizons in Qur’anic Linguistics: A Syntactic, Semantic and Stylistic Analysis. London and New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.
Abdur-Rahim (2008). Selections from the Glorious Quran with Lexical and Grammatical Notes. Chennai, India: Islamic Foundation Trust.
Abū cUdah, K. (1985). Al-taṭawur Al-dalālī Bayn Lughat Al-shicr Al-jāhilī wa Lughat Al-Qur'ān Al-Karīm: Dirāsah dalāliyyah. Al-Zarqā: Al-Manār Library.
Al-Alūsī, Shihāb Al-Dīn Maḥmūd (1995). Rūḥ Al-Macānī fī Tafsīr Al-Qur'ān Al-cazīm wa Al-Sabcu Al-Mathānī. Ali Abdul-Bari Atiyah (Ed.). Beirut: Dār Al-Kutub Al-cilmiyah. www.shamela.ws.
Al-Asfahānī, A. (2009). Mufradāt Al-Fā ẓAl-Qur'ān (4th ed.). Safwan Adnan Dawidi (Ed.). Damascus: Dār Al-Qalam.
Al-cAskarī, A. (1997). Mu cjam Al-Furūq Al-Lughawyyah. Mohamed Ibrahim Salim (Ed.). Cairo: Dar Al-cIlm Wa Al-Thaqāfah.
Al-Azzam, B. H. S. (2005). Certain Terms Relating to Islamic Observances: Their Meanings, With Reference to Three Translations of the Qur’ān and a Translation of Hadith. Unpublished Phd Thesis: Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies.
Ali, M.Y. (1938). The Holy Qur'ān: Text, Translation and Commentary. Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf Publishers.
Al-Khudrawi, D. (2004). Dictionary of Islamic Terms. Damascus: Al-Yamamah for Priniting and Publishing.
Al-Maḥallī, Galāl Al-Dīn. & Al-Sayyūṭī, Galal Al-Dīn (2003). Tafsīr Al-Jalalaīn. Fakhr Al-Din Qabawah (Ed.). Lebnon: Nashrūn Publishers. www.waqfeya.com.
Al-Qurṭubī, A. A. (2006). Al-Jamicu Li Aḥkām Al-Qur'ān. Beruit: Al-Resalah Publishers.
Al-Samarā'ī, F. S. (2003). Lamasāt Bayaniyah fī Nuṣuṣ Min Al-tanzīl. Amman: Dār Ammar li Al-nashr.
Al-Shacrawī, M. M. (1991). Tafsīr Al-Shacrāwī. Cairo: Bookshops and Books Management.
Al-Shacrawī, M. M. (1993). Mucjizāt Al-Qur'ān. Cairo: Bookshops and Books Management.
Al-Sowaidi, B. S. (2011). Textuality in Near Synonyms Translations of the Holy Qur'ān into English. PhD Thesis. Univeristy of the Western Cape.
Al-Ṭabarī, J. M. (2001). Tafsīr Al-Ṭabarī: Jamecu Al-Bayān can Ta'wīl Ay Al-Qur'ān. Cairo: Dār Al-Macrefah.
Al-Zamakhsharī, A. (2009). Al-Kash-shāf can Haqāiq Ghawāmiḍ Al-Tanzīl. Beirut: Dār Al-Macrefah.
Arberry, A. J. (2003). The Koran Interpreted. London: Allen & Unwin.
Cruse, D. A. (2000). Meaning in Language: An Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics. New York: Oxford University Press.
Baharun, H., Rahman, S. A., Ahmad, H., Saad, N. S. M., & Jamal, I. H. (2020). Quranic understanding among non-native speaker of Arabic: Malaysian experts’ perspectives. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies.
Dawūd, M. M. (2008). Mucjam Al-Furūq Al-Dalāliyah fī Al-Qur'ān Al-Karīm. Cairo: Dār Gharib for Printing and Publishing.
Dolezal, F. (2013). Synonymy and sameness of meaning: an introductory note. International Journal of Lexicography. Vol. 26 (3), 255–259.
Haily, T. and Jung, C. K. (2015). A Corpus Investigation: The Similarities and Differences of cute, pretty and beautiful. 3L: The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies. Vol. 21(3), 125 – 140.
Hassan, A. E. (2014). Readdressing the Translation of near-Synonym in the Glorious Qura'n. European Scientific Journal. Vol. 10(8), 165-191.
Hatim, B. & Mason, I. (1997). The Translator as Communicator. London: Routledge.
Ibn Al-Jawzī, Abdul-Rahman Bin cAli. (2002). Zād Al-Masīr fī cIlm Al-Tafsīr. Zuhair Al-Shawish (Ed.). Beirut: Dār Ibn Hazm. www.waqfeya.com
Ibn cĀshūr, M. A. (1984). Tafsīr Al-Taḥrīr wa Al-Tanwīr. Tunisia: Al-Dār Al-Tunesīah Publishers.
Ibn Kathīr, I. O. (1999). Tafsīr Al-Qur'ān Al-Aẓīm. Riyadh: Dār Ṭaibah.
Ishrateh, M. (2006). The Translatability of Cognitive Synonyms in Shakespeare's Macbeth: A comparative/Contrastive Study. Unpublished MA thesis. An-Najah University, Palestine.
Irving T. B. (2002). The Qur'ān: The first American version. Retrieved from http://almubin.tripod.com/irving.htm
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (6th edition) (2007). Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd.
Matulewska, A. (2016). Semantic relations between legal terms: a case study of the intralingual relation of synonymy. Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric. Vol. 45 (58), 161-174.
Merriam Webster Dictionary Online. www.merriam-webster.com.
Murphy, M. L. (2003). Semantic Relations and the Lexicon: Antonymy, Synonymy and Other Paradigms. New York: Cambridge Univeristy Press.
Newmark, P. (1988). A Textbook of Translation. Singapore: Prentice Hall.
O'Neill, P. (2018). Near-synonymy in morphological structures. Languages in Contrast. Vol. 18 (1). pp. 6-34.
Rad, H. Z., Tiun, S., and Saad, S. (2018). Lexical scoring system of lexical chain for Quranic document retrieval. GEMA: Online Journal of Language Studies, 18 (2). pp. 59-79. ISSN 1675-8021
Richards, J. C. & Schmidt, R. (2002). Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics (3rd ed.). London: Pearson Education Limited.
The Oxford English Dictionary (1989), second edition (20 Volumes). Simpson, J.A. and Weiner, E. S. C. (eds). Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Wang, T. (2016). Exploiting Linguistic Knowledge in Lexical and Compositional Semantic Models. PhD thesis, University of Toronto.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18860/ijazarabi.v5i3.16519
Refbacks
Copyright (c) 2022 Abdul-Qader Khaleel Abdul-Ghafour, Ashinida Aladdin, Intan Safinaz Zainudin, Norsimah Mat Awal
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/