A Pragma- Stylo –Semanitc Analysis of Three Translations of the Meanings of Surratt Al-Saffat into English: A Comparative Linguistic Study

Abstract

The current study aims at exploring the pragma- stylo-semantic obstacles encounter the translators of the meaning of the Holy Qura’n into English and challenging task in translating Surah Al-Saffat into English as well ; that is in three selected translations of Mohammed A.S Abdel- Hakeem, Mohammed M. Pickthall and Mohammed Khan and Mohammed Taj Al-Din Al-Hilai. Also, the study aims at investigating how the three translators deal with the linguistic, cultural and stylistic, pragmatic difficulties in their translations of Surah Al-Saffat into English.. Ten ayahs from the intended Surah were purposefully selected to address the research questions. The study results reveal that loss in a pragma- stylo –semanitc meaning of Surah Al-Saffat into English occurred due to many factors such as lack of equivalence and the translation strategies employed by the three translators . As far as the strategies adopted in the translations of Surah Al-Saffat is concerned, it is clear that between the two, Abdel-Haleem’s translation is better than Pickthall’s in the sense that it is more informative. Moreover, the study also showed that literal translation poses problems on different levels. These are; word, idiom, style and culture.This study also suggests solutions for the identified pragma- stylo –semantic problems and also recommends for further studies.