1887
Volume 10, Issue 2
  • ISSN 2211-3711
  • E-ISSN: 2211-372X
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Abstract

Abstract

The present study propounds a methodology for the translation of Qur’anic lexis in a way that synergizes semantic preference, discourse prosody, and para/intertextuality. Towards the validation of this methodology, the Qur’anic lexical item آيـة () is investigated at two levels: (a) the intertextual level of the semantic preferences emerging in the various co-texts of inside the Qurʼan and (b) the paratextual level of the overall discourse prosody underlying these semantic preferences in the exegetical contexts of . The research finds firstly that there are four semantic preferences associated with , viz. cosmological phenomena, miraculous tokens, conclusive evidence, and divine revelations/communications. Second, the discourse prosody underlying the Qurʼanic usages of is divine visibility, which motivates the word’s generic English translation as “sign.” Third, in rendering the lexical item آيـة () into English, the well-known Qur’an translators in the Qurʼanic Arabic Corpus have opted either for “sign,” to maintain the positive discourse prosody associated with the Qur’anic usages of the item, or “token,” “portent,” “miracle(s),” or “verse/revelations/communications,” with a view to observing the semantic preferences associated with them.

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/content/journals/10.1075/ts.20042.sal
2021-08-31
2025-04-26
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