Rendering Emphatic Skopos in the English Qur'an translation: The Case of Surat Yusuf
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14031226Keywords:
Qur'an, Emphasis, Skopos, Purpose, Coherence, LoyaltyAbstract
Emphasis is a distinguished linguistic feature of Qur'anic Arabic that serves to bring out the function of the verses of the Holy Qur'an. Emphatic devices derive their significance from the context of the situation, which, in turn, is influenced by the recipient's mindset. Difficulties in finding equivalents in English for Qur'anic emphatic devices, or failing to recognize their function can pose major challenges in Qur'an translation. In exploring the translation of emphasizers in English translations of the Qur'an, this paper adopted a descriptive functional approach, building its theoretical framework upon Hans Vermeer’s (2012) Skopos Theory, which underscores the translator’s purpose, the coherence of the translation, and loyalty to the original text, as necessary conditions for the success of the translation. The paper focused on exploring the translation of emphasized structures in Surat Yusuf, with the aim of revealing whether the skopos of the original emphatic devices have been conveyed in the translation. Samples of study (i.e., emphatic devices in Surat Yusuf) were collected from three Qur'an translations produced by Abdullah Yusuf Ali (1934) (TT1), Taqi-ud-Din Hilali and Mohsin Khan (1924) (TT2), and Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall (1930) (TT3). Qualitative data analysis revealed that the three translators mostly succeeded in rendering the main function(s) of the emphatic devices through literal translation, addition and compensation. Loss of emphatic skopos generally resulted from omission of the emphatic devices due to misunderstanding of the skopos. Moreover, it was found that despite applying different strategies, all three translators usually achieved loyalty to original emphatic style and maintained coherence between the source and target text skopos.
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