Equivalence of 'Lamma' in the Holy Quran Translations

Abstract

'Lamma' is chosen as an example of having or not equivalence or equivalences in four English translations of the H. Quran. Dealing with it semantically, 'Lamma' as an adverbial noun or a particle (conjunction) has certain meanings in Arabic grammar. It has more than one type that carries different meanings. Assessment of rendering 'lamma' relies on Nida's (1964) types of equivalences (formal and dynamic); both kinds are reflected in different terms by Newmark’s (1988) type of translations, i.e. semantic and communicative. The aim of the study is to investigate the translation of these types and to high light the differences in the translations as well as to detect the equivalences of 'lamma' in English.The research is trying to answer the following questions: Have the translators succeeded in rendering the grammatical meanings of 'lamma'? and how they tackle the difference in meanings. Are renderings of 'lamma' different from one translator to another; is that depends on time (old or modern), or culture (Muslim or Christian, Knowing Arabic (the source language) or not. Relatively speaking, translators have found a formal and dynamic equivalence of 'lamma' as far as the meaning is clear, as in the first type of 'lamma'. However, when the meaning of 'lamma' is not clear enough, as in the second and third type of 'lamma', the translators didn't grasp the whole meaning of 'lamma'. Moreover, rarely there are differences between the translators concerning their time and culture.