1887
Volume 16, Issue 1
  • ISSN 1932-2798
  • E-ISSN: 1876-2700
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

This study employs a pragmasemantic approach to investigate the challenges Qur’an translators encounter when rendering Qur’anic euphemisms of licit intercourse (X-phemisms) into English. To achieve the objectives of the study, two understudied translations have been selected for a contrastive analysis of source language X-phemisms and their target language renderings. The analysis reveals that Qur’anic X-phemisms do not lend themselves to an easy translation due to cultural and linguistic idiosyncrasies; they hold a variety of lexical-semantic relations, and branch out into three broad ramifications: procreation, protection, and pleasure. Several Qur’anic X-phemisms have undergone semantic change through meaning-related processes, including generalization, particularization, amelioration, pejoration, and opposition. Some linguistic mechanisms have been manipulated to create euphemistic substitutes for direct references to marital sex through periphrasis, collocation, and figuration, all of which flout the Cooperative Principle in favor of the Politeness Principle.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/tis.18010.has
2020-11-30
2025-02-18
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Abdel Haleem, Muhammad
    2004The Qur’an: A New Translation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Abdul-Raof, Hussein
    2004 “The Qur’an: Limits of translatability.” InCultural Encounters in Translation from Arabic, ed. bySaid Faiq, 91–106. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. 10.21832/9781853597459‑010
    https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853597459-010 [Google Scholar]
  3. Abū-Zulāl, Iṣām
    2001 Al-Taʿbīr ʿan al-Maḥẓūr al-Luġawī wa al-Muḥassin al-Lafẓī fī al-Qurʾān al-Karīm [Expression of Taboos and Euphemisms in the Holy Qur’an]. Ph.D. dissertation, Cairo University.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Al-ʿAskarī, Abū Hilāl
    1952Al-Ṣināʿatayn: Al-Kitāba wa al-Šiʿr [The Two Crafts: Writing and Poetry], first edition, ed. byʿAlī M. al-Baǧāwī and Muḥammad A. Ibrāhīm. Cairo: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Kutub al-ʿArabiyya.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. 1997Al-Furūq al-Luġawiyya [The Linguistic Differences]. Edited byMuḥammad I. Sālim. Cairo: Dār al-ʿIlm wal-Ṯaqāfa.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Al-Bidīrī, Kāẓim
    2003 Ẓāhirat al-Taġlīb fī al-ʿArabiyya [The Phenomenon of Prioritized Selection in Arabic]. M.A. dissertation, Kufa University.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Al-Ǧurǧānī, Abū al-ʿAbbās
    1908Al-Muntaḫab min Kināyāt al-Udabāʾ wa Išārāt al-Bulaġāʾ [The Selected Collection of Metonymies by Men of Letters and References by Rhetoricians], first edition, ed. byMuḥammad Badr al-Dīn al-Ḥalabī. Cairo: Maṭbaʿat al-Saʿāda.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Al-Hadary, Tariq
    2008 Equivalence and Translatability of Qur’anic Discourse: A Comparative and Analytical Evaluation. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Leeds.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Al-Hamad, Mohammad and Asma Salman
    2013 “The translatability of euphemism in the Holy Quran.” European Scientific Journal9 (2): 190–214.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Al-Khatib, Mohamed
    2012 “Politeness in the Holy Qur’an: A sociolinguistic and pragmatic perspective.” Intercultural Pragmatics9 (4): 479–509. doi:  10.1515/ip‑2012‑0027
    https://doi.org/10.1515/ip-2012-0027 [Google Scholar]
  11. Allan, Keith and Kate Burridge
    1991Euphemism and Dysphemism: Language Used as a Shield and Weapon. New York: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. 2006Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511617881
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511617881 [Google Scholar]
  13. Al-Qadi, Nasser
    2009 “A sociolinguistic comparison of euphemisms in English and Arabic.” King Saud University’s Journal of Language and Translation21: 13–22.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Al-Qayrawānī, Abū ʿAlī
    1981Al-ʿUmda fī Maḥāsin al- Šiʿr wa Ādābih wa Naqdih [The Mainstay of Poetic Amenities, Literature, and Criticism]. 5th edition. Edited byMuḥammad Muḥyī al-Dīn Abd al-Ḥamīd. Beirut: Dār al-Ǧīl.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Al-Qurṭubī, Abū ʿAbdallāh
    2006Al-Ǧāmiʿ li-Aḥkām Al-Qur’ān [The Collection of Qur’anic Injunctions]. 1st edition. Edited byʿA. al-Turkī. Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risāla.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Al-Rāzī, Faḫr al-Dīn
    1981Tafsīr al-Faḫr al-Rāzī [Al-Faḫr al-Rāzī’s Exegesis]. 1st edition. Beirut: Dār Al-Fikr.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Al-Ṯaʿālibī, Abū Manṣūr
    1998Al-Kināya wa al-Taʿrīḍ [Metonymy and Innuendo]. Edited byʿĀʾiša Ḥusayn Farīd. Cairo: Dār Qibāʾ.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. 2000Fiqh al-Luġa wa Asrār al-ʿArabiyya [The Philology and Secrets of Arabic]. 2nd edition. Edited byYāsīn al-Ayyūbī. Beirut: al-Maktaba al-ʿAṣriyya.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Al-Ṭībī, Šaraf al-Dīn
    1977Al-Tibyān fī al-Bayān [Elucidation of Eloquence]. Edited byʿAbd al-Sattār H. M. Zamūt. Ph.D. dissertation, Al-Azhar University.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Al-Zamaḫšarī, Abū al-Qasim
    1998Al-Kaššāf [The Detector]. 1st edition. Edited byʿĀdil. A. ʿAbd al-Mawjūd and ʿAlī. M. Muʿawwaḍ. Riyadh: Maktabat al-ʿUbaykān.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Al-Zarkašī, Badr al-Dīn
    . n.d.Al-Burhān fī ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān [Evidence for Qur’anic Sciences] Edited by Muḥammad Abū al-Faḍl Ibrāhīm. Cairo: Maktabat Dār al-Turāṯ.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Al-Zāwī, al-Ṭāhir
    . n.d.Muḫtār al-Qāmūs [The Selected Dictionary]. Tunis: Al-Dār al-ʿArabiyya lil-Kitāb.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Arundale, Robert
    2010 “Constituting face in conversation: face, facework, and interactional achievement.” Journal of Pragmatics42: 2078–2105. doi:  10.1016/j.pragma.2009.12.021
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2009.12.021 [Google Scholar]
  24. Baker, Mona
    1992In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Black, Elizabeth
    2006Pragmatic Stylistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Blake, Barry
    2010Secret Language: Codes, Tricks, Spies, Thieves, and Symbols. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Boswell, Freddy
    2009 “‘Are you sure you can say that?!’ Fresh considerations in translating euphemisms.” The Bible Translator37 (1): 139–143. doi:  10.1177/026009350906000302
    https://doi.org/10.1177/026009350906000302 [Google Scholar]
  28. Brown, Penelope and Stephen Levinson
    1987Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511813085
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511813085 [Google Scholar]
  29. Burchfield, Robert
    1985 “An outline history of euphemisms in English.” InFair of Speech: The Uses of Euphemism, ed. byDennis. J. Enright, 13–31. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Burridge, Kate
    2004Blooming English: Observations on the Roots, Cultivation and Hybrids of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. 2006 “Taboo, euphemism, and political correctness.” InEncyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, ed. byKeith Brown, 455–462. Amsterdam: Elsevier. 10.1016/B0‑08‑044854‑2/01092‑0
    https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/01092-0 [Google Scholar]
  32. Bussmann, Hadumod
    1996Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics. Trans. and ed. byGregory P. Trauth and Kerstin Kazzazi. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Catford, John
    1965A Linguistic Theory of Translation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Crespo-Fernández, Eliecer
    2005 “Euphemistic strategies in politeness and face concerns.” Pragmalinguística13: 77–86. doi:  10.25267/Pragmalinguistica.2005.i13.05
    https://doi.org/10.25267/Pragmalinguistica.2005.i13.05 [Google Scholar]
  35. 2014 “Euphemism and political discourse in the British Regional Press.” Brno Studies in English40 (1): 5–26. doi:  10.5817/BSE2014‑1‑1
    https://doi.org/10.5817/BSE2014-1-1 [Google Scholar]
  36. 2015Sex in Language: Euphemistic and Dysphemistic Metaphors in Internet-based Forums. London: Bloomsbury.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Cruse, Alan
    2006A Glossary of Semantics and Pragmatics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Dynel, Marta
    2009 “Where cooperation meets politeness: revisiting politeness models in view of the Gricean framework.” Brno Studies in English35 (1): 23–43.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Eble, Connie
    1996Slang and Sociability: In-group Language among College Students. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Ellingworth, Paul and Aloo Mojola
    1986 “Translating euphemisms in the Bible.” The Bible Translator60 (3): 132–139. doi:  10.1177/026009358603700105
    https://doi.org/10.1177/026009358603700105 [Google Scholar]
  41. Epstein, Jeffrey
    1985 “Sex and euphemism.” InFair of Speech: The Uses of Euphemism, ed. byDennis J. Enright, 56–71. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Faiq, Said
    ed. 2004Cultural Encounters in Translating from Arabic. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. 10.21832/9781853597459
    https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853597459 [Google Scholar]
  43. Farghal, Mohammed
    1995 “Euphemism in Arabic: A Gricean interpretation.” Anthropological Linguistics37 (3): 366–378.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. 2005 “Arabic euphemism in English translation.” International Journal of Arabic-English Studies6: 57–70.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman, and Nina Hyams
    2003An Introduction to Language. 7th edition. Boston, MA: Thomson Wadsworth.
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Galal, Mohamed
    2014 “Death euphemism in English and Arabic: A conceptual metaphorization approach.” International Journal of Linguistics6 (1): 153–170. doi:  10.5296/ijl.v6i1.4514
    https://doi.org/10.5296/ijl.v6i1.4514 [Google Scholar]
  47. Goffman, Erving
    1967Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face-to-Face Behaviour. New York: Double Day.
    [Google Scholar]
  48. Grice, Paul
    1975 “Logic and conversation.” InSyntax and Semantics 3: Speech Acts, ed. byPeter Cole and Jerry L. Morgan, 41–58. New York: Academic Press. 10.1163/9789004368811_003
    https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004368811_003 [Google Scholar]
  49. Ham, Kerry
    2005 “The linguistics of euphemism: A diachronic study of euphemism formation.” Journal of Language and Linguistics4 (2): 227–263.
    [Google Scholar]
  50. Hassanein, Hamada
    2017 “Translating aspects of lexical-semantic opposition from Qur’anic Arabic into English: a cross-linguistic perspective.” Perspectives: Studies in Translation Theory and Practice25 (1): 137–156. doi:  10.1080/0907676X.2016.1159236
    https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2016.1159236 [Google Scholar]
  51. Hatim, Basil and Ian Mason
    1997The Translator as Communicator. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  52. Haugh, Michael
    2007 “The co-constitution of politeness implicature in conversation.” Journal of Pragmatics39 (1): 84–110. doi:  10.1016/j.pragma.2006.07.004
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2006.07.004 [Google Scholar]
  53. House, Juliane
    2018Translation: The Basics. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  54. Ibn al-Aṯīr, Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn
    . n.d.Al-Maṯal al- Sāʾir fī Adab al-Kātib wa al-Šāʿir [The Common Example of the Literature of Man of letters and the Poet] Edited by Aḥmad al-Ḥufī and Badawī Ṭabāna. Cairo: Dār Nahḍit Misr.
    [Google Scholar]
  55. Ibn ʿĀšūr, al-Ṭāhir
    1984Tafsīr al-Taḥrīr wa al-Tanwīr [The Exegesis of Liberation and Enlightenment]. Tunis: al-Dār al-Tūnisiyya li-Našr.
    [Google Scholar]
  56. Ibn Fāris, Abū al-Ḥusayn
    1997Al-Ṣāḥibī fī fiqh al-Luġa al-ʿArabiyya wa Masāʾilihā wa Sunan al-ʿArab fī Kalāmihā [The Companion in Arabic Philology and its Issues and the Practices of Arabs’ Speech]. Edited byAḥmad Ḥasan Basaǧ. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya.
    [Google Scholar]
  57. Ibn Manẓūr, Abū al-Faḍl
    . n.d.Lisān al-ʿArab [The Arabs’ Tongue]. 2nd Volume. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir.
    [Google Scholar]
  58. Ibn Qutayba, Abū Muḥammad
    1996ʿUyūn al-Aḫbār [The News’ Eyes]. 3rd Volume. Cairo: Dār al-Kutub.
    [Google Scholar]
  59. Ibn Wahb, Abū al-Ḥusayn
    1930Al-Burhān fī Wuǧūh al-Bayān [Evidence for Aspects of Eloquence]. Edited byḤifnī Muḥammad Šaraf. Cairo: Maktabat al-Šabāb.
    [Google Scholar]
  60. Jackson, Howard
    1988Learning about Language: Words and their Meaning. London: Longman.
    [Google Scholar]
  61. Kittay, Eva
    1997 “Women as metaphor.” InFeminist Social Thought: A Reader, ed. byDiana Tietjens Meyers, 264–285. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  62. Lakoff, Robin
    1989 “The limits of politeness: therapeutic and courtroom discourse.” Multilingua8 (2–3): 101–130. doi:  10.1515/mult.1989.8.2‑3.101
    https://doi.org/10.1515/mult.1989.8.2-3.101 [Google Scholar]
  63. Lane, Edward
    1968An Arabic-English Lexicon. 6th Part. Lebanon: Librairie Du Liban.
    [Google Scholar]
  64. Leech, Geoffrey
    1983Principles of Pragmatics. London: Longman.
    [Google Scholar]
  65. 2007 “Politeness: Is there an East-West divide?” Journal of Politeness Research3 (2): 167–206. doi:  10.1515/PR.2007.009
    https://doi.org/10.1515/PR.2007.009 [Google Scholar]
  66. Lyons, John
    1977Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  67. Mustafa, Burçin
    2019 “Ambiguity, ideology, and doctrine propagation in Qur’an translation.” Journal of Qur’anic Studies21 (1): 21–49. 10.3366/jqs.2019.0367
    https://doi.org/10.3366/jqs.2019.0367 [Google Scholar]
  68. Naudé, Jacobus
    2010 “Religious translation.” InHandbook of Translation Studies, ed. byYves Gambier and Luc van Doorslaer, 285–293. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/hts.1.rel3
    https://doi.org/10.1075/hts.1.rel3 [Google Scholar]
  69. Nida, Eugene
    2001Contexts in Translating. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/btl.41
    https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.41 [Google Scholar]
  70. Rabab’ah, Ghaleb and Ali Al-Qarni
    2012 “Euphemism in Saudi Arabic and British English.” Journal of Pragmatics44: 730–743. doi:  10.1016/j.pragma.2012.02.008
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2012.02.008 [Google Scholar]
  71. Radulović, Milica
    2016 “Euphemisms through time: The rhetorical power of palliation.” Linguistics and Literature14 (2): 173–187. doi:  10.22190/FULL1602173R
    https://doi.org/10.22190/FULL1602173R [Google Scholar]
  72. Rawson, Hugh
    1981A Dictionary of Euphemisms and Other Doubletalk. New York: Crown Publishers.
    [Google Scholar]
  73. Robinson, Doug
    2003Becoming a Translator: An Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Translation. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. 10.4324/9780203441138
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203441138 [Google Scholar]
  74. Ross, Alison
    1998The Language of Humour. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  75. Sanatifar, Mohammad and Mohammad Kenevisi
    2017 “The idea of faithfulness and reformulation of the Gricean maxims for the needs of translation.” Forum15 (1): 66–84. doi:  10.1075/forum.15.1.04san
    https://doi.org/10.1075/forum.15.1.04san [Google Scholar]
  76. Thompson, Katrina
    2017POPOBAWA: Tanzanian Talk, Global Misreadings. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 10.2307/j.ctt1zxz0t1
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1zxz0t1 [Google Scholar]
  77. Trask, Robert
    1994Language Change. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  78. 2010Why do Languages Change?Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  79. Venuti, Lawrence
    1998The Scandals of Translation: Towards an Ethics of Difference. London: Routledge. 10.4324/9780203269701
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203269701 [Google Scholar]
  80. Warren, Beatrice
    1992 “What euphemisms tell us about the interpretation of words.” Studia Linguistica6 (2): 130–172. doi:  10.1111/j.1467‑9582.1992.tb00833.x
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9582.1992.tb00833.x [Google Scholar]
  81. Webster’s New Dictionary of Synonyms: A Dictionary of Discriminated Synonyms with Antonyms and Analogous and Contrasted Words
    Webster’s New Dictionary of Synonyms: A Dictionary of Discriminated Synonyms with Antonyms and Analogous and Contrasted Words 1984 Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc.
  82. Wierzbicka, Anna
    2006 “Intercultural pragmatics and communication.” InEncyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, ed. byKeith Brown, 735–742. Amsterdam: Elsevier. 10.1016/B0‑08‑044854‑2/00320‑5
    https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00320-5 [Google Scholar]
  83. Yüksel, Edip, Layth al-Shaiban, and Martha Schulte-Nafeh
    2007Qur’an: A Reformist Translation. Breinigsville, PA: Brainbow Press.
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/tis.18010.has
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/tis.18010.has
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): Arabic; English; pragmasemantics; Qur’anic X-phemisms; translation
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error