Parenthetical cohesive explicitness: A linguistic approach for a modified translation of the quranic text

Abstract

Motivated by the severe criticism the Hilali and Khan (HK) Translation of the Holy Quran has received for its too many parenthetical insertions, this study aimed at linguistically realizing how such added pieces of information could be for necessary cohesive explicitness or worthless redundant interpolation. Methodically, the HK translation of the first 8 verses of Chapter 18 (The Cave, Surah Al Kahf) of the Holy Quran was selected to be a subject material. A number of 15 instances of explicitation put in parentheses were encountered; they were found to be based upon 23 cohesive (grammatical/lexical) relationships and, hence, to be considered as ones of cohesive explicitness. Eventually, such an analysis could be of use for modifying the available translations of the Holy Quran.