An Examination of Lexical Coherence in Three English Translations of Complementary Oppositions in Surah Al-An'aam

Document Type : Original Research

Authors

Department of English Language, Imam Reza International University, Mashhad, Iran

Abstract

This study investigates whether complementary oppositions (COs) in the Glorious Qur’ān have been accurately translated from Arabic into English. The research is based on Halliday and Hasan's (1976) theory of lexical cohesion, focusing on lexical cohesive devices in three selected translations of COs in Surah Al-An'aam. COs are defined as paired semantic opposites, where the negation of one reinforces the meaning of the other. This qualitative study employs an analytical-documentary method to evaluate the translations. Translators often face challenges, particularly with collocations, as they strive to preserve both meaning and form. The selected theoretical framework by Halliday and Hasan (1976) examines lexical cohesive devices such as repetition, collocations, and sense relations. The primary objective is to assess the lexical coherence of the selected translations and analyze the lexical relationships between English CO equivalents, which function as key cohesive devices. The study uses Arabic CO examples from Seyyedi and Baghojary (2020) alongside their English translations by Arberry (1955), Pickthall (1930), and Qaraa'i (2005), sourced from the online Tanzil Qur’ān Navigator. Findings indicate that Arberry’s translation demonstrates the highest lexical coherence due to its alignment with the Qur’ānic style and frequent use of collocations and contrasting repetition.

Keywords

Main Subjects

©2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.

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International Journal of Textual and Translation Analysis in Islamic Studies
Volume 2, Issue 2 - Serial Number 6
April 2024
Pages 172-187

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History

  • Receive Date: 11 November 2024
  • Revise Date: 09 February 2025
  • Accept Date: 11 March 2025
  • Publish Date: 01 April 2024

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