This research has a number of sources of data, to which I will adopt a basically qualitative approach. In this chapter, I will assess the translations of financial terminology in three Arabic texts: 1. Al-Hidāyah by Al-Marghinani (c.12 AD); 2. A compendium of Legal Opinions on the Operation of Islamic Banks by Yusuf DeLorenzo (1997); 3. The General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Ifta (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) website). I will discuss each of these STs, the reasons for selecting them, their TTs, and the assessment of the TTs in more detail below.
1- I have chosen these extracts as they fullfil my purpose in this thesis to investigate techniques used for translating Arabic financial terms into English through Legal Opinions (fatwās) on the operations of Islamic banks, as well as new terms translated by specialized translators,
2- These extracts have been chosen due to the fact they provide a chronological ordering of the translation of Islamic legal terminology. Al-Hidāyah was the first work in this field, having been translated in 1791, while the Saudi fatwa website (the most recent ST used) dates to 2010.
3- Al-Hidāyah is one of the most influential works historically in this field, while DeLorenzo and the Saudi fatwa website are important modern documents.
4- The translators of these extracts are significant figures in the translation of Islamic financial terms.
5- I have chosen to apply modern linguistic techniques in analysing the data, with a focus on denotative meaning, and the related notions of synonymy, hyperonymy, hyponymy, semantic overlap, and semantic disjuction.
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As already noted, the research will be based on Islamic Legal Opinions that are commonly followed in Saudi Arabia, and the financial terms involved in these Legal Opinions.For ease of reference, I will repeat here the research questions for this thesis, which were originally given in chapter 1 (section 1.5) :
1. What techniques are in practice used by translators between Arabic and English of financial terminology and in particular Islamic finance terms?
2. What techniques should the translator use when he translates financial terms that are related to religious culture from Arabic to English, since most translators fail to transfer the original message to the target language?
3. When the translator translates English financial terms into Arabic what are the obstacles?
These research questions can be re-expressed in the following hypotheses and linked to related issues (chapter 1, section 1.5):
Hypotheses:
1. It is possible to analyse and classify the translation techniques used in translations of Islamic financial terminology using a defined set of linguistic translation criteria.
2. It is possible to state which translation techniques are likely to be successful.
3. It is possible to define the obstacles, which typically face the translator of financial terms between English and Arabic.
The analyses in this chapter will focus on the following:
1. Three different translations of Al-Hidāyah, which was written by Al-Marghinani. The Al- Hidāyah, was particularly influential as a source of interpretation for Islamic Law during the British colonial period in India. The three translations to be investigated in this chapter were done by i. Hamilton (1791/1957), ii. Baintner (2005), and iii. Nyazee (2006);
2. Translations of financial material produced by government bodies in Saudi Arabia; 3. Material in Delorenzo (1997) A Compendium of Legal Opinions on the Operation of
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Generally speaking, any kind of translation suffers from some changes in the TL, due to the different procedures used to render the original text. These procedures include: paraphrasing, footnoting, word-for-word translation and omission and addition. When the translator tries to be faithful to source text values, he will lose other values, which could be important in the translation process. Ghazala (2002: 159) points out, however, that the translator's bias is indispensable and unavoidable, due to different kinds of pressure on him such as experience, proficiency, personal interactions, and social, political, religious, cultural and linguistic background.
Translation of financial religious terms in legal texts differs from translation of non-technical texts since the former are composed such that every single part is meaningful and purposefully used. Consequently, translators may opt to use a number of procedures to convey as much of the intended meaning as possible. Dickins, Hervey and Higgins (2002: 78) point out that all source text features fall prey to translation loss in some respect or other; for instance, even if the target text conveys the exact denotative meaning of the source text, there will, at the very least, be phonic loss, and very likely also loss in terms of connotation, register and so on.
In analyzing the translation techniques, I will employ the following notions in particular: 1. Use of hyperonym (or superordinate), or hyponym, or what Dickins, Hervey and Higgins
(2002: 56-57) refer to as generalizing and particularizing translation, respectively. This is one of the most often used translation techniques. These concepts are discussed in detail by Lyons (1963). Baker (1992:18) points out that the the use of a superordinate (hyperonym) or hyponym is one of the most common techniques for translating lexical items.
2. Paraphrasing. This is another technique commonly employed by translators. Newmark (1988b:130)) defines paraphrase as an amplification or free rendering of the meaning of a sentence. He adds that it is the translator’s last resort. Baker (1992:38) maintains that a paraphrase may be based on modifying a superordinate (hyperonym) or simply on unpacking the meaning of the source item particularly if the item in question is semantically complex. In this thesis, a paraphrase may translate a word or phrase (as well, in principle, as a sentence). A paraphrase is distinct from a synonym, hyperonym, hyponym, or overlapping translation in that all of the former are taken in this thesis to be
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concise enough to function as possible financial terms in the TT, while a paraphrase is too lengthy and unwieldy to function as a possible TT financial term.
3. Synonymy. This has been fully discussed in Section 3.3.1, and does not require further elucidation here.
4. Semantic overlap (i.e. partially overlapping translation). This has been fully discussed in Section 3.3.3, and does not require further elucidation here.
5. Omission. As used in this thesis, omission means the non-occurrence of any TT equivalent to an ST word or phrase, and specifically the non-occurrence in the TT of an equivalent to an ST financial term.
6. Addition. As used in this thesis, addition means the adding in the TT of words and phrases which relate to an ST financial term, but do not correspond to anything in the meaning (denotative or connotative) of the ST financial term.
7. Compensation. In this thesis, compensation is used to mean: “a technique of reducing translation loss; where any conventional translation, however literal or free, would entail an unacceptable translation loss, this loss is mitigated by deliberately introducing a less acceptable one, important ST effects being approximated in the TT through means other than those used in the ST. […] Unlike an unavoidable standard grammatical transposition, for example, compensation is not forced on the translator by the constraints of TL structure – it is a free, conscious, careful, ad hoc choice” (Dickins, Hervey and Higgins 2002: 234).
8. Transliteration. In this thesis, transliteration is used to mean: “the use of TL spelling conventions for the written representation of SL expressions” (Dickins, Hervey and Higgins 2002: 243). A form, however, only counts as a transliteration if it is not used standardly as a word in the TL (English in this case). Thus, although English imam is a reasonable Latin-script written representation of Arabic مامإ, English imam does not count as a transliteration, because this is (now) a standard word in English.
9. Literal translation / calque. In this thesis, these terms will be used interchangeably for “a form of cultural transposition whereby a TT expression is closely modeled on the grammatical structure of the corresponding ST expression” (Dickins, Hervey and Higgins 2002: 233). A form, however, only counts as a calque if it is not used standardly as a word in the TL (English in this case). Thus, although Arabic ريودت ةداعإis modeled on English ‘recycling’ and was thus originally a calque, it is no longer one, because ةداعإ ريودت is (now) a standard phrase in Arabic. The use of calque yields what is referred to in this thesis (following Dickins 2012), as non-lexicalised synonymy. The English TT form
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is non-lexicalised (not a standard word/phrase in English with a fixed – i.e. lexicalised – meaning). However, it is to be regarded as synonymous with the ST form, because it is used specifically as the equivalent of that form.