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The illusion of untranslatability: a theoretical perspective with reference to the translation of culture-bound euphemistic expressions in the Qur'an

The present study investigates the notion of untranslatability where the concept of equivalence is reconsidered since the misconceptions, related to the said concept, inevitably lead to the emergence of untranslatability. Identifying equivalence as relative, approximate and necessary identity makes...

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Main Authors: Al-Saidi, A. Ali H., Md Rashid, Sabariah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Australian International Academic Centre 2016
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53014/1/The%20illusion%20of%20untranslatability%20a%20theoretical%20perspective%20with%20reference%20to%20the%20translation%20of%20culture-bound%20euphemistic%20expressions%20in%20the%20Qur%27an.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53014/
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spelling my.upm.eprints.530142018-05-17T01:46:36Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53014/ The illusion of untranslatability: a theoretical perspective with reference to the translation of culture-bound euphemistic expressions in the Qur'an Al-Saidi, A. Ali H. Md Rashid, Sabariah The present study investigates the notion of untranslatability where the concept of equivalence is reconsidered since the misconceptions, related to the said concept, inevitably lead to the emergence of untranslatability. Identifying equivalence as relative, approximate and necessary identity makes the notion of untranslatability a mere theorization. The objectives of the present study are (1) to investigate the notion of untranslatability in terms of the misconceptions associated with the concept of equivalence (2) to examine the possibility of translatability from Arabic into English focusing on culture-bound euphemistic expressions in the Quran as an area of challenge in translation. Data on the translation of culture-bound euphemistic expressions were purposively selected from the Quran and its four identified English translations. Ten examples were randomly selected and the criterion for their selection is that they are culture-bound and therefore translation-resistant. Qualitative content analysis was used to examine the source data by referring to traditional exegetical books to determine the source text intentionality. Additionally, the translated data were analyzed according to the functional equivalence proposed by Nida (1993; 2001).Findings of this study revealed that translatability is always possible and, accordingly, untranslatability is no more valid. Australian International Academic Centre 2016-05 Article PeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53014/1/The%20illusion%20of%20untranslatability%20a%20theoretical%20perspective%20with%20reference%20to%20the%20translation%20of%20culture-bound%20euphemistic%20expressions%20in%20the%20Qur%27an.pdf Al-Saidi, A. Ali H. and Md Rashid, Sabariah (2016) The illusion of untranslatability: a theoretical perspective with reference to the translation of culture-bound euphemistic expressions in the Qur'an. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 5 (3). pp. 81-90. ISSN 2200-3592; ESSN: 2200-3452 10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.5n.3p.81
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
building UPM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Putra Malaysia
content_source UPM Institutional Repository
url_provider http://psasir.upm.edu.my/
language English
description The present study investigates the notion of untranslatability where the concept of equivalence is reconsidered since the misconceptions, related to the said concept, inevitably lead to the emergence of untranslatability. Identifying equivalence as relative, approximate and necessary identity makes the notion of untranslatability a mere theorization. The objectives of the present study are (1) to investigate the notion of untranslatability in terms of the misconceptions associated with the concept of equivalence (2) to examine the possibility of translatability from Arabic into English focusing on culture-bound euphemistic expressions in the Quran as an area of challenge in translation. Data on the translation of culture-bound euphemistic expressions were purposively selected from the Quran and its four identified English translations. Ten examples were randomly selected and the criterion for their selection is that they are culture-bound and therefore translation-resistant. Qualitative content analysis was used to examine the source data by referring to traditional exegetical books to determine the source text intentionality. Additionally, the translated data were analyzed according to the functional equivalence proposed by Nida (1993; 2001).Findings of this study revealed that translatability is always possible and, accordingly, untranslatability is no more valid.
format Article
author Al-Saidi, A. Ali H.
Md Rashid, Sabariah
spellingShingle Al-Saidi, A. Ali H.
Md Rashid, Sabariah
The illusion of untranslatability: a theoretical perspective with reference to the translation of culture-bound euphemistic expressions in the Qur'an
author_facet Al-Saidi, A. Ali H.
Md Rashid, Sabariah
author_sort Al-Saidi, A. Ali H.
title The illusion of untranslatability: a theoretical perspective with reference to the translation of culture-bound euphemistic expressions in the Qur'an
title_short The illusion of untranslatability: a theoretical perspective with reference to the translation of culture-bound euphemistic expressions in the Qur'an
title_full The illusion of untranslatability: a theoretical perspective with reference to the translation of culture-bound euphemistic expressions in the Qur'an
title_fullStr The illusion of untranslatability: a theoretical perspective with reference to the translation of culture-bound euphemistic expressions in the Qur'an
title_full_unstemmed The illusion of untranslatability: a theoretical perspective with reference to the translation of culture-bound euphemistic expressions in the Qur'an
title_sort illusion of untranslatability: a theoretical perspective with reference to the translation of culture-bound euphemistic expressions in the qur'an
publisher Australian International Academic Centre
publishDate 2016
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53014/1/The%20illusion%20of%20untranslatability%20a%20theoretical%20perspective%20with%20reference%20to%20the%20translation%20of%20culture-bound%20euphemistic%20expressions%20in%20the%20Qur%27an.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53014/
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score 13.211869

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