Problems Encountered in Translating Conversational Implicatures in the Holy Qurʾān into English

Abstract

This study investigates the problems that translators of the Holy Qurʾān encounter when translating utterances containing conversational implicatures (henceforth Qurʾānic implicatures), where what is meant goes well beyond what is said into English. The study is based on utterances singled out from the Holy Qurʾān which have been analyzed with reference to three well-known translations of the Qurʾān. The translations provide an empirical basis for the discussion of the problems while translating Qurʾānic utterances into English. In addition, some well-known exegetes (tafsīr) have been consulted to facilitate the process of analyzing the conversational implicatures in their Qurʾānic context and clarify the intended meaning. Two important and interrelated issues have been discussed. These are: how the utterances, containing conversational implicatures, have been translated and how they should (or can) be translated in accordance with the interpretation. More often than not, translators of the Holy Qurʾān fail to construe some conversational implicatures; therefore some strategies have been suggested by the researcher.