The data are collected from the Glorious Qur’an. They consist of forty vocative sentences covering all rhetorical purposes mentioned in the literature review. These data have been chosen, just for clarification, from different surahs (chapters) of the whole Qur’an supplied together with one English rendering. The English rendering that has been selected is that of a remarkable Indian translator, Ali, (2006) who is a non-Arab Muslim scholar, from a different culture and language. In addition to being a speaker of English and Arabic he has memorized the whole Qur’an by heart. Ali received his education in several universities in Europe. He also studied English literature and Qur`anic interpretations known as “tafsir”. In addition, he focused his efforts on Qur`anic studies and then produced his English version “The Meaning of The Holy Qur`an: Text, translation and Commentary ” in the1920s. His translation is highly
literary, and easy to follow with many footnotes and explanations where necessary. In fact, this translation expresses the translator`s own understanding of the Qur’an, therefore it is not an outstanding version, equal to the original (i.e. the Qur`an).
This study is limited to vocative Qur`anic sentences with specific rhetorical purposes. These purposes studied by Arab rhetoricians in their works. Some of these purposes are handled by Arab grammarians and rhetoricians, others by Arab rhetoricians only.
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Actually, each one of these rhetorical purposes reveals its aesthetic sense when it is used in the Glorious Qur’an. Therefore, the researcher opts to present these purposes together in this study since they are considered the outstanding ones available to those who are specialists in translation. Arab rhetoricians (al-Zawbaᶜī, 1997; Fūd 1998) classified rhetorical purposes of vocative sentences into the following types:
1. Grief
ST: اًزىُجْهَم َنآْسُقْلا اَرٰـَه اوُرَخَّتا ًِمْىَق َّنِإ ِّبَز اٌَ [ al-Fūrqān,verse30] Trs: yā rabbī ᵓinna qawmī ittaḫaḏū hāḏā al-qurāna mahǧūran
TT: O my Lord, Truly my people took this Qur`an for just foolish nonsense (Ali, 2006, p. 896).
2. Lamentation
ST: َفُسىٌُ ٰىَلَع ٰىَفَسَأ اٌَ [ Yūsūf , verse84] Trs: yā ᵓasāfā ᶜalā Yūsūfa
TT: How great is my grief for Joseph! (Ali, 2006, p. 574).
3. Exclamation
ST: اَوِدَق ْسَّم هِم اَىَثَعَب هَم اَىَلٌَْو اٌَ [ Yāsin,verse52] Trs : yā waylanā man baᵓaṯanā min marqadinā
TT: Ah! Woe unto us! Who hath raised us up from our beds of repose ? (Ali, 2006, p. 1128).
4. Call for help
ST: ُلَمْعَو اَّىُك يِرَّلا َسٍَْغ اًحِلاَص ْلَمْعَو اَى ْجِس ْخَأ اَىَّبَز [ Faṭir, verse37]
Trs: rabbanā ᵓaḫriǧnā naᵓmalu saliḥan ġayra ᵓallaḏī kunnā naᵓmalu
TT: Our Lord! Bring us out: we shall work righteousness, not the ( deeds)we used to do ! (Ali, 2006, p. 1112)
5. Particularization
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Trs: ᶜalaykum ᵓahla al-bayti
TT: on you, O ye people of the house? (Ali, 2006, p. 530).
6. Reprimand
ST: اىُّلَض ْمُهَتٌَْأَز ْذِإ َكَعَىَم اَم ُنوُزاَه اٌَ [Ṭaha, verse92] Trs: yā Hāruūnu mā manaᶜakā iḏ raᵓaytahum ḍallū
TT: O Aaron! What kept thee back, when Thou sawest them going wrong (Ali, 2006, p. 783).
7. Encouragement
ST: ْمُكَسُفوَأ ْمُكٍَْلَع اىُىَمآ َهٌِرَّلا اَهٌَُّأ اٌَ [ al-Maᵓida, verse 105]. Trs: yā ayyuhā ᵓallaḏīna āmanū ᶜalaykum ᵓanfusakum
TT: O ye who believe! Guard your own souls (Ali, 2006, p. 281).
8. Recollection
ST: ْمُكٍَْلَع ُتْمَعْوَأ ًِتَّلا ًَِتَمْعِو اوُسُكْذا َلٍِئاَسْسِإ ًِىَب اٌَ [ al-Baqarā, verse 40] Trs: yā banī Isrāilā ūḏkūrū niᶜmātiyā ᵓallatī ᵓanᶜāmtū ᶜalaykūm.
TT: O Children of Israel! call to mind the (special) favour which I bestowed upon you. ( Ali,2006, p.27).
3.2.1 Justification for Choosing the Data
Various rhetorical vocative sentences are considered due to certain reasons:
1. Vocative sentences with rhetorical purposes have not been studied by previous researchers from the translation perspective since these vocative sentences are related to theintentions of the speaker, which are hard to detect through writing.
2. The chosen data represent the most prominent types studied by Arab rhetoricians when they classify rhetorical vocative sentences, depending on the context, into various kinds such as: reprimand, recollection, grief, encouragement, call for help, lamentation, particularization, and exclamation.
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3. A clear variance is observed in Qur’an in the usage of the rhetorical vocative sentences mentioned above in point (2) due to their contextual situation in which these vocative sentences have taken place. This variance is affected sometimes in the process of translation when the translator fails to capture the internal meaning of the vocative sentences.
4. The rhetorical vocative sentences represent a unique linguistic miracle narrated by the Qur’an. Each lexical item in the vocative sentence has sometimes more than one meaning. The acceptable meaning of this lexical item is determined when the intended meaning is captured. For example, the vocative sentence’s message may involve imperative, exclamatory, negative or interrogative tools which have to be conveyed when translated into target language.
5. Rhetorical vocative sentences are characterized by a particular aesthetic value which is hardly preserved in the target language. For instance, the musical tone of the vocative particle “ اٌ/ yā” , which is characterized with prolonged phonemic sound, loses its distinctive feature through translation into English. In addition, the psychological state of the speaker who utters the vocative sentences (especially those of human beings to Almighty Allah) is also lost through translation into target language.
6. Vocative sentences in the Qur’an are of two main types: the first type is real vocative sentences which aim to draw the attention of the hearer toward the speaker and the second type is non-real vocative sentences which contain different rhetorical purposes. Forty rhetorical vocative sentences are of the second type represent a small portion of the total number of vocative sentences in the Qur’an have been chosen to illustrate how they operate in the process of translation and to avoid repetition. The selection is based on their rhetorical purposes as suggested by Arab rhetoricians and their occurrence in Qur`an.
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