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

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

| Najran University

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 , 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.

Keywords: lexical analysis, exegeses, collocations, translation, frequency
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
Published online: 18 February 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00256.qas
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The Qur’anic Arabic Corpus
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