On English translation variation of similar plural nouns in the Holy Quran

Abstract

This study aims to explore the difficulties involved in translating similar plural nouns in the Holy Quran from Arabic into English. It specifically investigates 21 plural nouns derived from seven singular nouns in the Holy Quran and discusses their exegetic contexts and translation into English. To achieve this aim, the study tracks singular nouns where three plurals are derived from each of them. The meaning of each singular noun is looked up in Al-Mu’jam Al-Waseet, typically the most reliable Arabic dictionary. These meanings are also checked in Ibn Katheer’s explication, an accredited Islamic exegesis. The study also compares the translation of these nouns into English in two translations: Translation of the meanings of the Noble Qur’an in the English language by Al-Hilali and Khan (1983) and The meaning of the Holy Qur’an by Ali (1999). The findings show that broken plurals which derive from the same root or singular noun are slightly different in meaning. This nuance is a result of the morphological pattern of the plural. These patterns may denote abundance, rarity, size, form, or time. These differences are actually ignored in translation, i.e. similar broken plurals are rendered into English as if they were synonyms in Arabic, which is not the case.