Underlying Linguistic Problems Experienced by Translators in Translating the Qurʾānic Arabic l-ḥazana' Words Into English: A Comparative Study

Abstract

In this study, the researchers aimed to investigate the underlying linguistic problems experienced by three notable translators: Abdel Haleem (2004), Khan and AL-Hilali (1996), and Pickthall (1930) when rendering the Qurʾānic الْحَزَن l-ḥazana' words into English, and to identify the types of semantic loss produced by their renderings. Corpus-based research was conducted as the study examined three renditions of the Holy Qur’an that were sourced from the Qurʾānic Arabic Corpus (QAC) and books of Qurʾānic translation of the abovementioned translators. Based on the descriptive analytical approach, the researchers analyzed the underlying linguistic problems encountered by the aforementioned translators. Findings showed that the linguistic problems encountered when translating the Qurʾānic الْحَزَن l-ḥazana' words into English are the result of the linguistic gap arising from the cultural differences between the two source language text(Arabic) and target language text(English). Divergences in and loss of meaning are inevitable when translating the Holy Qurʾān into English in general and Qurʾānic الْحَزَن l-ḥazana' words in particular. It was also found that Arabic Qurʾānic الْحَزَن l-ḥazana' words are associated with distinctive rhetorical devices, literary style, and elegant technique which cannot be captured faithfully in English translations.