A Semantic review of Qur’ānic Near-Synonyms, English and French Translations

Abstract

This study examines the nuances among the chosen near-synonyms and the extent to which the translators considered such nuances in the selected translations of the Qur’an. It seeks to identify the meanings of two sets of near-synonyms in their Qur’anic contexts based on the Qur’ānic exegeses. It also highlights the differences in meaning that exist among these near-synonyms and the extent to which the semantic differences among those near-synonyms are preserved in translation. This study is grounded on the RC-S approach by Murphy as a theoretical framework for data analysis. The obtained results show that there are some differences in meaning among the chosen near-synonyms and that some of such nuances are not preserved in the English and French translations. Thus, the study recommends that the differences in meaning among the near-synonyms should be identified before translating the Qur’ānic texts, and subsequently, the identified differences should be reflected in the translation.

A Semantic Review of Qur’ānic Near-Synonyms, English and French Translations

“…Finally, social meaning is related to the meaning of a word in some dialects, jargon, and so forth. This approach has been extensively used in previous studies (e.g., Abdul-Ghafour et al, 2017, 2022& Zitouni et al, 2022 to highlight the contextual differences of the meanings of the near-synonyms in the Qur'an and then to assess the translations of synonyms in other languages.…”

“…In fact, the concept of synonymy in the Holy Qur'ān has been studied by many scholars (e.g., Bint Al-Shāṭi ', 1971;Al-Sowaidi, 2011;Abdul-Ghafour et al 2017, 2022Zitouni et al, 2022). In fact, the term 'near-synonyms' has been proposed for the Qur'anic nearsynonyms in previous studies (e.g., Al-Sowaidi, 2011).…”