Readability Analysis of the Imperative Verses Translation of the

Holy Quran

Mohamad Zaka Al Farisi

Department of Arabic Language Education, Faculty of Language and Literature Education, Universitas Pendidikan

Indonesia, Jalan Doktor Setiabudhi 229 Bandung 40154, West Java, Indonesia

zaka@upi.edu

Keywords: Clarity, imperative verses, pragmatic meaning, translation.

Abstract: Speeches that have certain pragmatic meanings often become obstacles in translation processes

because of the absence of acceptable equivalence in target language. Based on the fact, translation

does not merely exchange semantic aspects into target language. Translation also diverts pragmatic

aspects that are meant in speeches. This study is descriptive and oriented on translation as a cognitive

product with the design of embedded case study. The sample was chosen purposively i.e. the

imperative verses that contain certain pragmatic meanings. The data used in this study consist of

respondent’s comprehension about the imperative verses translation measured by using cloze test. The

analysis of this data is to show the degree of readability of the imperative translation verses. Other

data cover the words, phrases, and clauses contained in 20 verses of the Quran’s imperatives and their

translations. The analysis of this data is to describe the application of translation techniques used in

translating the imperative verses. The result shows that the translation of imperative verses has the

acceptable degrees of readability. The translation readability presents because of the application of

proper translation techniques.

1 INTRODUCTION

The gap between language and cultural aspects of

SL (source language) and TL (target language)

leaves untranslatability problem. In the process,

there are aspects of language and culture that are

not transferred in TL. Therefore, according to Al-

Shawi (2013), linguistic and cultural knowledge

contained in SL and TL become a necessity in

translation. For instance, according to

Shanmugam (2010), the proverbs in Malay

pantuns (a kind of traditional Malay’s poem) can

have a universal idea but they are often packaged

in unique metaphors. With regard to the

translation of the Quran, Al Farisi’s research

(2010) reveals that the translation by the Ministry

of Religious Affairs of Indonesia (Al-Quran dan

Terjemahnya) contains literal techniques in

handling the iltifat verses up to 60% of all iltifat

verses translations. Al Farisi (2015) asserts that

the literal tendency of Al-Quran dan Terjemahnya

is inseparable from the ideology of foreignization

underlying the translation of the verses. In

addition, Garces (2008) argues that imaginary

phrases, feelings, and humors contained in Harry

Potter books do not always be translated into TL.

Seong’s (2011) findings also explain that the

meaning of a verb in Chinese is often difficult to

find its equivalent in Malay.

The problem is, as Xiao-yan (2013) points out,

translation errors can occur due to improper

translator decisions in diverting certain cultural

concepts within TL. Al Farisi’s research (2013)

reveals that 93.3% of the readers of Al-Quran dan

Terjemahnya do not need a complex processing-

effort to understand the translations of pragmatic

meanings of kinayah verses about sexual

intercourse. In the Quran, imperative speeches

often present different pragmatic meanings from

their formal forms. This study intends to reveal

the readability of the translation of the Quran’s

imperative verses that have certain pragmatic

meanings.

1.1 Translation Readability

Readability, according to Richards, Plat and

Weber (2005, p.238), state that a text, including a

translated text, is considered having a high degree

Farisi, M.

Readability Analysis of the Imperative Verses Translation of the Holy Quran.

DOI: 10.5220/0007171105710575

In Proceedings of the Tenth Conference on Applied Linguistics and the Second English Language Teaching and Technology Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference

on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education (CONAPLIN and ICOLLITE 2017) - Literacy, Culture, and Technology in Language Pedagogy and Use, pages 571-575

ISBN: 978-989-758-332-2

571

of readability when the information in it is easy to

understand. Vice versa, it is called to have a low

degree of readability when the information in it is

difficult to understand. The readability of

translation is influenced by sentence construction,

including length of sentence. Usually the length of

sentence in a translation text depends on the

length of sentence in its source text. Sentences

that are complex and too long tend to obstruct the

readability of the translation. According to Flesch

(2005), the average length of sentences consisting

of seventeen words can present a discourse with

standard readability. In addition, translation

(un)readability may also be caused by factors of

ambiguity, either in terms of lexical, grammatical,

or stylistic. In the view of Al Farisi (2014), the

degree of translation readability is related to

linguistic aspects such as the use of syntactic

categories, placement of syntactic functions, as

well as the choice of diction, preposition,

copulation, collocation, punctuation, and the like.

The degree of translation readability can be

reviewed by measuring the mean length of

sentences, sentence structure, and the amount of

new vocabulary used. For those purposes, a

translator can ask responses of a number of

respondents who do not master the SL to take part

in a comprehension test for translation. The

comprehension test aims to know reader’s

understanding of translation. Therefore, as Larson

(1998) points out, the comprehension test should

be designed to elicit the extent to which a

translated text communicates information

according to the source text. Furthermore, the

results of comprehension test can be used to

decide the readability of the translation text.

1.2 Formal Imperative Form in

Arabic

In Arabic, the concept of kalam insya’iy refers to

the utterance that does not contain the possibility

of right or wrong. The imperative “Sit!” is a

kalam insya’iy because it does not present the

possibility of right or wrong. The utterance sit!

cannot be said compatible or incompatible with

reality outside the language. As a matter of fact,

the action of sitting has not been realized yet

when the utterance is spoken. If the act of sitting

is already realized, surely the speaker will not say

Sit! Hence, imperative is included in the kalam

insya’iy, which does not contain the possibility of

right or wrong.

In Indonesian language, there are several terms

commonly used to refer to imperative. Keraf

(1980) and Moeliono (1992) use the term kalimat

perintah (order sentence) as an equivalent of

imperative. Poedjawijatna and Zoetmulder (1964)

and Ramlan (1987) call it kalimat suruh

(command sentence). Verhaar (2008) and Rahardi

(2010) use the term kalimat imperatif (imperative

sentence), which is also used to refer to the form

of verbs used in imperative sentences. Based on

verb presents in a sentence, imperative formal

form is differentiated into passive imperative and

active imperative. Active imperative can be

shaped from declarative speech by dissolving the

subject in the form of second person (see Verhaar,

2008), maintaining the verb form used in

declarative speech, and inserting particle -lah to

make the speech more polite (Rahardi, 2010).

Imperative is an utterance that demands

interlocutor to do action as the embodiment of the

superiority of speaker (Al-Hasyimi, 2016; Al-

Jarim and Amin, 2014). In this case, speaker may

actually be in a higher power continuum or simply

feel himself superior to interlocutor (Eggins,

2004). The power continuum represents an

(in)equality of social relation between speaker and

interlocutor. Almost similar, Ghalayaini (2015)

considers imperative as a demand for the

realization of an action that has not been realized

when the demand is submitted.

In practice, the meaning of a speech is not

always determined by the construction of the

sentence. Imperative speech also does not always

present imperative meaning of command or order.

Sometimes, it is intended to present certain

pragmatic meaning. The presence of pragmatic

meaning in an imperative speech depends on the

context underlying the aforementioned. The

context of a speech event is very important

because it relates to the understanding of

interlocutor to the meaning of speech. Mey (2008,

p.38) defines the context as “the surroundings, in

the widest sense, that the linguistic expressions of

their interaction intelligible.” This is also

reinforced by 'Utsaimin (1434 H) who asserts that

the meaning of an imperative speech in Arabic

may be shifted from its original meaning when

there are certain indications, either in context or

co-text underlying the speech. According to Al-

Hasyimi (2016), the presence of pragmatic

meaning in an imperative speech can be

understood from word, gesture, message, pattern,

and context.

CONAPLIN and ICOLLITE 2017 - Tenth Conference on Applied Linguistics and the Second English Language Teaching and Technology

Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education

572

Al-Hasyimi (2016) divided various pragmatic

meanings of imperative: (1) prayer, (2) asking, (3)

guiding, (4) threatening, (5) weakening, (6)

allowing, (7) equating, (8) giving lesson, (9)

conferring, (10) humiliating, (11) glorifying, (12)

daydreaming, (13) aligning, (14) permitting, (15)

making, (16) amazing, (17) educating, and (18)

opting. Other than that, Al-Suyuthi (1386 H)

added two more pragmatic meanings: warning and

underestimating.

2 RESEARCH METHOD

This study is descriptive and oriented on

translation as a cognitive product. The study

employed a qualitative-evaluative approach with

content analysis design. The study sample consists

of 20 verses of the Quran’s imperatives chosen

purposively based on the criteria of imperative

verses that have certain pragmatic meanings.

Furthermore, the study focuses on translation of

imperative verses contained in Al-Quran dan

Terjemahnya. There are two categories of data

used in this study. The first is respondent’s

comprehension measured by using cloze test with

criteria of independent (≥50% correct),

instructional (between 30%-49% correct), or

frustrated (<30% correct). The second covers

words, phrases, and clauses contained in 20 verses

of the Quran’s imperatives and their translations.

The analysis of this data is to show the application

of translation techniques.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Readability deals with how readers easily

understand information contained in translation. A

translation is said to be easy to understand when it

has a high degree of readability. The readability

aspects relate to the readability of the translation

language, which includes elements present in it –

such as plot, sentence construction, and other

grammatical elements.

This study performed a cloze test on the

translation of imperative verses. The use of a

cloze test is to explain whether the translation

readability is at independent, instructional, or

frustration levels. The independent level indicates

that readers can understand the translation

independently. The instructional level indicates

that readers can understand the translation with

the help of others. Lastly, the frustration level

indicates that readers have difficulty in

understanding the translation.

Overall, the sample of the imperative verses

translation has 2,660 words. In this study, the

implementation of the test involves 25

respondents. After studying the translation of the

imperative verses, the respondents were asked to

complete parts of the translated text that were

systematically emptied. The results of the test

show that 78.4% of the respondents can complete

the translated portions properly. This percentage

indicates that the translation of the imperative

verses is at an independent level, since the

number of correct answers is more than half.

Thus, the respondents can understand the

translation of imperative verses independently

without the need for help from others. This

finding confirms that the translation of imperative

verses contained in Al-Quran dan Terjemahnya

has a high degree of readability.

This finding is understandable since the

translation of the Quranic imperative verses in Al-

Quran dan Terjemahnya has short sentence

constructions. The construction of average

sentences is considered to help the readers in

understanding messages contained in the verses.

According to Flesch (2005), the average sentence

length of 17 words can present a discourse with

standard readability. For example, the translation

of the imperative verse contained in Chapter al-

Mursalat verses 45-46 consists only of nine words

in the first sentence, and 15 words in the second

sentence.

Readability translation is also inseparable from

the handling of translation units on the micro

level. In other words, the application of

translation techniques has implication for the

degree of translation readability. The research

findings indicate that transposition is one of the

translation techniques that can significantly

improve the degree of translation readability.

Transposition technique is used to change

grammatical categories, such as verb to noun,

pronoun to noun, etc (see Molina and Albir,

2002). Often, changes to the grammatical category

must be made due to differences in language and

cultural aspects of SL and TL, especially if they

come from different language families.

These differences necessarily adjust

translation, at either structure or category level.

Based on the research findings, transposition

occurs at structure and category levels.

Transposition at structure level can be

Readability Analysis of the Imperative Verses Translation of the Holy Quran

573

understandable considering Arabic and Indonesian

have different structures. At category level,

transposition occurs mostly in the deixis of

persons because Arabic has a variety of pronouns.

In Arabic, there are 14 pronouns that are

classified based on the aspects of gender (male-

female) and numeral; every verb has a pronoun;

and each pronoun has different syntactic

functions. Therefore, a sentence in Arabic often

has many pronouns. The existence of pronouns in

Arabic that is anaphorical often confuses reader

when they are translated literally into Indonesian.

Linguistic amplification technique is also

considered able to make the translation of

imperative verses clearer. In Al-Quran dan

Terjemahnya, the verse 









(Chapter al-Mulk: 13) is translated into Dan

rahasiakanlah perkataanmu atau nyatakanlah

(And keep your talk secret or disclose it). This

translation is even considered to present the

meaning of choosing, since according to Al-

Tunisi (1984), the pragmatic meaning desired by

this verse is equating. Here the meaning of

equating is reinforced by the next verse fragment

 (Sesungguhnya Dia Maha

Mengetahui semua isi hati kalian –Verily He is

the all-Knower of what is in your hearts). This

fragment confirms that Allah knows everything all

sorts of words, both secret and open. Thus,

everything, whether these words are secret or

open, must be known by God. This opinion is also

endorsed by Al-Zuhaili (1418 H) who quotes from

Ibn ‘Abbas explaining that the context of

revelation of this verse concerns the polytheists

who like to discredit the Prophet Muhammad

PBUH. Then, Angel Gabriel informed him of the

words of the polytheists. The polytheists then

whispered to each other, “You must keep silent so

your words will not be heard by Muhammad’s

God.” In relation to this event, Chapter al-Mulk

verse 13 was revealed. According to some

respondents, the meaning of equating can actually

be strengthened in the translation by adding

lexical element sama saja (all the same) by using

linguistic amplification technique. The realization

of the translation can be Sama saja, kamu

merahasiakan atau menyatakan perkataanmu.

Sesungguhnya Allah Maha Mengetahui semua isi

hati kalian (All the same, you keep your talk

secret or disclose it. Verily Allah is the all-

Knower of what is in your hearts).

4 CONCLUSIONS

The imperative verses translation contained in Al-

Quran dan Terjemahnya has the acceptable

degrees of readability. The translation readability

presents because of the application of proper

translation techniques. Some translation

techniques, especially transposition technique and

linguistic amplification technique are considered

able to make the translation more readable. The

use of transposition technique causes a shift in

translation to be inevitable. It is understandable

since Arabic and Indonesian have many

differences. In some cases, the existence of

additional linguistic elements is seen to be able to

make the translation clearer. The presence of

additional linguistic elements in the translation is

done by applying linguistic amplification

technique.

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