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Article published In:
Languages in Contrast
Vol. 17:2 (2017) ► pp.229–254

The pervasiveness of coordination in Arabic, with reference to Arabic>English translation

| University of Leeds

This article analyses aspects of the greater use of coordination in Modern Standard Arabic as compared to English, illustrating this through Arabic>English translation. It argues that Arabic ‘favours’ coordination linguistically, textually and rhetorically, as follows: 1. The linguistic resources of Arabic favour coordination while those of English favour subordination – whether these are lexical (Arabic و wa- and ف fa- vs. English ‘and’), or semantic (the possibility of backgrounding coordinated clauses in Arabic compared to the marginality of backgrounded coordinated clauses in English); 2. Accompanying Arabic textual norms, e.g. (near-)synonym repetition and chained coordination, favour coordination while those of English favour subordination; 3. Further associated ‘rhetorical semantic’ uses of coordination are found in Arabic, e.g. hyperonym-hyponym repetition and associative repetition, which do not exist in English; 4. These extended usages further entrench coordination as a norm in Arabic as compared to English.

Keywords: coordination, subordination, backgrounding, English, Arabic
Article outline
  • 1.Coordination vs. subordination
  • 2.Objectives, material and method
  • 3.Linguistic norms favouring coordination in Arabic
    • 3.1Coordination and ‘grounding’
  • 4.Textual norms favouring coordination in Arabic
    • 4.1(Near-)synonym repetition
    • 4.2Listing and chained coordination
      • 4.2.1Listing
      • 4.2.2Chained coordination
  • 5.‘Rhetorical semantic’ developments of coordination in Arabic
    • 5.1Hyperonym-hyponym repetition
    • 5.2Associative repetition
  • 6.Conclusion and possible extensions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 19 September 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lic.17.2.04dic
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