Investigative Notes on Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall’s Translation of the Qur’anic Surahs’ Names

Ali Yunis Aldahesh

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijll.20190706.16

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Investigative Notes on Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall’s Translation of the Qur’anic Surahs’ Names

Ali Yunis Aldahesh

Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 7, Issue 6)

Received: 7 October 2019 Accepted: 26 October 2019 Published: 5 November 2019

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Abstract

The Meaning of The Glorious Qur’an of Muhammad Marmaduke is one of the earliest English translations of the Qur’an conducted by Muslims’ translators and the first translation conducted by an English-speaking Muslim scholar. This translation of the Qur’an has been the focus of a number of studies that scrutinise it from different angles. Yet, there has been no thoughtful study dedicated to investigate the issue of Pickthall’s translation of the Qur’anic surahs’ names. Utilising the Contrastive Analysis approach as a theoretical framework, this study aims to fill this gap by assessing the accuracy of the equivalents provided by Pickthall to the 114 Qur’anic surahs’ names. The study consists of an introduction and five sections. It gives a succinct description of the Qur’anic surahs’ names, pinpoints the major features of Pickthall’s translation of the Qur’an, details his own approach in handling the Qur’anic surahs’ names, and analytically discusses the difficulties he encountered when rendering such vital terms of the Qur’an into English. The chief purpose of this study is fourfold: 1) to gauge the accuracy of Pickthall’s translation of the Qur’anic surah’s names, 2) to identify the difficulties encountered by him, 3) to pinpoint his own procedure (s), and 4) to advocate recommended translations and practical procedures. The study finds that Pickthall has been inconsistent and experiences a number of syntactic and semantic difficulties when rendering the Qur’anic surahs names into English. The study also finds that due to unjustifiable syntactic and semantic deviations, Pickthall conducts three types of translational pitfalls, namely: over-translation, under-translation, and erroneous translation. It is hoped that the arrived at findings are of fruitful benefit to the translators of the Qur’an and, by extension, to scholars of Qur’anic and Islamic studies.

Published in	International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 7, Issue 6)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijll.20190706.16
Page(s)	286-297
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Qur’an Translation, Qur’anic Surahs’ Names, Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, Contrastive Analysis, Over-translation, Under-translation

References

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Ali Yunis Aldahesh. (2019). Investigative Notes on Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall’s Translation of the Qur’anic Surahs’ Names. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 7(6), 286-297. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20190706.16

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Ali Yunis Aldahesh. Investigative Notes on Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall’s Translation of the Qur’anic Surahs’ Names. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2019, 7(6), 286-297. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20190706.16

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AMA Style

Ali Yunis Aldahesh. Investigative Notes on Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall’s Translation of the Qur’anic Surahs’ Names. Int J Lang Linguist. 2019;7(6):286-297. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20190706.16

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@article{10.11648/j.ijll.20190706.16,
  author = {Ali Yunis Aldahesh},
  title = {Investigative Notes on Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall’s Translation of the Qur’anic Surahs’ Names},
  journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
  volume = {7},
  number = {6},
  pages = {286-297},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20190706.16},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20190706.16},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20190706.16},
  abstract = {The Meaning of The Glorious Qur’an of Muhammad Marmaduke is one of the earliest English translations of the Qur’an conducted by Muslims’ translators and the first translation conducted by an English-speaking Muslim scholar. This translation of the Qur’an has been the focus of a number of studies that scrutinise it from different angles. Yet, there has been no thoughtful study dedicated to investigate the issue of Pickthall’s translation of the Qur’anic surahs’ names. Utilising the Contrastive Analysis approach as a theoretical framework, this study aims to fill this gap by assessing the accuracy of the equivalents provided by Pickthall to the 114 Qur’anic surahs’ names. The study consists of an introduction and five sections. It gives a succinct description of the Qur’anic surahs’ names, pinpoints the major features of Pickthall’s translation of the Qur’an, details his own approach in handling the Qur’anic surahs’ names, and analytically discusses the difficulties he encountered when rendering such vital terms of the Qur’an into English. The chief purpose of this study is fourfold: 1) to gauge the accuracy of Pickthall’s translation of the Qur’anic surah’s names, 2) to identify the difficulties encountered by him, 3) to pinpoint his own procedure (s), and 4) to advocate recommended translations and practical procedures. The study finds that Pickthall has been inconsistent and experiences a number of syntactic and semantic difficulties when rendering the Qur’anic surahs names into English. The study also finds that due to unjustifiable syntactic and semantic deviations, Pickthall conducts three types of translational pitfalls, namely: over-translation, under-translation, and erroneous translation. It is hoped that the arrived at findings are of fruitful benefit to the translators of the Qur’an and, by extension, to scholars of Qur’anic and Islamic studies.},
 year = {2019}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Investigative Notes on Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall’s Translation of the Qur’anic Surahs’ Names
AU  - Ali Yunis Aldahesh
Y1  - 2019/11/05
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20190706.16
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijll.20190706.16
T2  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JF  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JO  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
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AB  - The Meaning of The Glorious Qur’an of Muhammad Marmaduke is one of the earliest English translations of the Qur’an conducted by Muslims’ translators and the first translation conducted by an English-speaking Muslim scholar. This translation of the Qur’an has been the focus of a number of studies that scrutinise it from different angles. Yet, there has been no thoughtful study dedicated to investigate the issue of Pickthall’s translation of the Qur’anic surahs’ names. Utilising the Contrastive Analysis approach as a theoretical framework, this study aims to fill this gap by assessing the accuracy of the equivalents provided by Pickthall to the 114 Qur’anic surahs’ names. The study consists of an introduction and five sections. It gives a succinct description of the Qur’anic surahs’ names, pinpoints the major features of Pickthall’s translation of the Qur’an, details his own approach in handling the Qur’anic surahs’ names, and analytically discusses the difficulties he encountered when rendering such vital terms of the Qur’an into English. The chief purpose of this study is fourfold: 1) to gauge the accuracy of Pickthall’s translation of the Qur’anic surah’s names, 2) to identify the difficulties encountered by him, 3) to pinpoint his own procedure (s), and 4) to advocate recommended translations and practical procedures. The study finds that Pickthall has been inconsistent and experiences a number of syntactic and semantic difficulties when rendering the Qur’anic surahs names into English. The study also finds that due to unjustifiable syntactic and semantic deviations, Pickthall conducts three types of translational pitfalls, namely: over-translation, under-translation, and erroneous translation. It is hoped that the arrived at findings are of fruitful benefit to the translators of the Qur’an and, by extension, to scholars of Qur’anic and Islamic studies.
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Ali Yunis Aldahesh

Department of Arabic Language and Cultures, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, SLC, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

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Ali Yunis Aldahesh. (2019). Investigative Notes on Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall’s Translation of the Qur’anic Surahs’ Names. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 7(6), 286-297. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20190706.16

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ACS Style

Ali Yunis Aldahesh. Investigative Notes on Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall’s Translation of the Qur’anic Surahs’ Names. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2019, 7(6), 286-297. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20190706.16

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AMA Style

Ali Yunis Aldahesh. Investigative Notes on Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall’s Translation of the Qur’anic Surahs’ Names. Int J Lang Linguist. 2019;7(6):286-297. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20190706.16

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@article{10.11648/j.ijll.20190706.16,
  author = {Ali Yunis Aldahesh},
  title = {Investigative Notes on Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall’s Translation of the Qur’anic Surahs’ Names},
  journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
  volume = {7},
  number = {6},
  pages = {286-297},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20190706.16},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20190706.16},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20190706.16},
  abstract = {The Meaning of The Glorious Qur’an of Muhammad Marmaduke is one of the earliest English translations of the Qur’an conducted by Muslims’ translators and the first translation conducted by an English-speaking Muslim scholar. This translation of the Qur’an has been the focus of a number of studies that scrutinise it from different angles. Yet, there has been no thoughtful study dedicated to investigate the issue of Pickthall’s translation of the Qur’anic surahs’ names. Utilising the Contrastive Analysis approach as a theoretical framework, this study aims to fill this gap by assessing the accuracy of the equivalents provided by Pickthall to the 114 Qur’anic surahs’ names. The study consists of an introduction and five sections. It gives a succinct description of the Qur’anic surahs’ names, pinpoints the major features of Pickthall’s translation of the Qur’an, details his own approach in handling the Qur’anic surahs’ names, and analytically discusses the difficulties he encountered when rendering such vital terms of the Qur’an into English. The chief purpose of this study is fourfold: 1) to gauge the accuracy of Pickthall’s translation of the Qur’anic surah’s names, 2) to identify the difficulties encountered by him, 3) to pinpoint his own procedure (s), and 4) to advocate recommended translations and practical procedures. The study finds that Pickthall has been inconsistent and experiences a number of syntactic and semantic difficulties when rendering the Qur’anic surahs names into English. The study also finds that due to unjustifiable syntactic and semantic deviations, Pickthall conducts three types of translational pitfalls, namely: over-translation, under-translation, and erroneous translation. It is hoped that the arrived at findings are of fruitful benefit to the translators of the Qur’an and, by extension, to scholars of Qur’anic and Islamic studies.},
 year = {2019}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Investigative Notes on Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall’s Translation of the Qur’anic Surahs’ Names
AU  - Ali Yunis Aldahesh
Y1  - 2019/11/05
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20190706.16
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijll.20190706.16
T2  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JF  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JO  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
SP  - 286
EP  - 297
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-0221
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20190706.16
AB  - The Meaning of The Glorious Qur’an of Muhammad Marmaduke is one of the earliest English translations of the Qur’an conducted by Muslims’ translators and the first translation conducted by an English-speaking Muslim scholar. This translation of the Qur’an has been the focus of a number of studies that scrutinise it from different angles. Yet, there has been no thoughtful study dedicated to investigate the issue of Pickthall’s translation of the Qur’anic surahs’ names. Utilising the Contrastive Analysis approach as a theoretical framework, this study aims to fill this gap by assessing the accuracy of the equivalents provided by Pickthall to the 114 Qur’anic surahs’ names. The study consists of an introduction and five sections. It gives a succinct description of the Qur’anic surahs’ names, pinpoints the major features of Pickthall’s translation of the Qur’an, details his own approach in handling the Qur’anic surahs’ names, and analytically discusses the difficulties he encountered when rendering such vital terms of the Qur’an into English. The chief purpose of this study is fourfold: 1) to gauge the accuracy of Pickthall’s translation of the Qur’anic surah’s names, 2) to identify the difficulties encountered by him, 3) to pinpoint his own procedure (s), and 4) to advocate recommended translations and practical procedures. The study finds that Pickthall has been inconsistent and experiences a number of syntactic and semantic difficulties when rendering the Qur’anic surahs names into English. The study also finds that due to unjustifiable syntactic and semantic deviations, Pickthall conducts three types of translational pitfalls, namely: over-translation, under-translation, and erroneous translation. It is hoped that the arrived at findings are of fruitful benefit to the translators of the Qur’an and, by extension, to scholars of Qur’anic and Islamic studies.
VL  - 7
IS  - 6
ER  -

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