Different pausing, different meaning: translating Qur'anic verses containing syntactic ambiguity

摘要

The present study examined the sources of syntactic ambiguity in a corpus of Qur'anic verses. It also investigated how professional translators render these verses that may be interpreted in different ways. It was found that certain constituents of some Qur'anic verses can be syntactically combined in more than one way depending on where a syntactic pause occurs. This, in turn, results in more than one interpretation and translation. The different incidents of syntactic ambiguity problems could be related at least to four sources: pronominal reference, prepositional phrase (PP) attachment, adjunct attachment, and coordinating conjunctions. Surprisingly, all the English and American translations of the Qur'an consulted have included one meaning only and overlooked the other equally valid ones. The findings suggest that translators must consult various exegetical works in order to maintain and present the different meanings that result from different pausing in the source text.