Strategies Applied in Translating Quranic Idiomatic Expressions

Abstract

Translation is a difficult task but a necessary means for conveying the concepts and meanings from one language into another. Some concepts are problematic for the translator to transfer to another language including idioms which are among the most challenging, especially in religious texts. The present research attempted to distinguish strategies by which English and Persian translators of the Holy Qur’an translated the idiomatic expressions of this Noble Book. To this end, three Persian versions of the Holy Qur’an (by Meshkini, Elahi Qomsheii and Ansarian) together with three English translations (by Arberry, Shakir and Starkovsky) were selected and some verses which contained such expressions were extracted. The researchers limited the research to verbal idioms and investigated just five chapters of the Holy Qur’an. Then based on the framework proposed by Baker (1992:72-78) the analysis was made. The final results demonstrated that translation by paraphrasing was the most frequent strategy applied by both English and Persian translators.