Tertium Comparationis and Semanto-Syntactic Equivalence Across Arabic-English Languages: A Study of Qur’anic Constructions and Their Translations Through Krzeszowski’s Approach
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1603.06Keywords:
Arabic-English deep structures, equivalence across Arabic-English languages, Krzeszowski’s methodology, semanto-syntactic equivalence, Fillmore’s and Al-Khuli’s semantic rolesAbstract
This Arabic-English contrastive study aims to fill the gap left by the lack of a comparison model by employing both Krzeszowski’s (1990) taxonomy of equivalence and his semanto-syntactic equivalence, which are based on the hypothesis of identical deep structures or semantic inputs across the languages under scrutiny. In the present contrastive study, the deep structures of selected Arabic Qur’anic constructions and their English renderings were investigated. Specific methods were used for the examination of deep structures, such as semantically describing the origin and target constructions in terms of Fillmore’s and Al-Khuli’s semantic roles. Afterwards, selectional restrictions, co-occurrence restrictions, lexical items, and transformations of the texts under scrutiny were discussed. To do this, Qur’anic texts and their four renderings (i.e., 40 Qur’anic constructions and 160 translations) were selected and analyzed. As a result, the study reached certain conclusions supporting or opposing the hypotheses, objectives, and research questions. Using a quantitative (or statistical) approach, the results and conclusions of the present study found that a large number of the renderings of Qur’anic constructions into English are semanto-syntactically equivalent, whereas a low percentage are non-equivalent.
References
Abdel Haleem, M. A. S. (Trans.). (2005). The Qur’an. Oxford University Press.
Ali, Y. (Trans.). (1934, 2001). The Holy Quran: Translation and Commentary. In The Quranic Arabic Corpus, from https://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp. Retrieved October 15, 2025.
Al-Khuli, M. A. (1999). Alqawaa’id altahwilyyah li allugha alArabyya [Transformational Rules for Arabic Language]. Dar Alfalaah lil nashir wal tawzi’.
Al-Khuli, M. A. (2000). A Contrastive Transformational Grammar: Arabic and English. Dar Al-Falah.
Al-Kurbasi, M. J. (2010). I’raab Al-Qur’an [Parsing of Qur’an]. Dar wa maktabat al-hilaal.
Al-Wa’er, M. (1983). Toward A Modern and Realistic Sentential Theory of Basic Structures in Standard Arabic [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Georgetown University.
Al-Wa’er, M. (1987). Nahw nadharya lissaaniyah arabiyya hadiitha li tahleel altaraakeeb alassassyyah fi allugha alarabiyya [Towards an Arabic Linguistic Theory for Analysing Base Structures of Arabic Language]. Dar Talaas lil diraasaat wal tarjama wal nashir.
Badawi, A. S. M., & Abdel Haleem, M. A. (2008). Arabic-English Dictionary of Qurʾanic Usage. Brill.
Bakir, M. J. (1990). Mafhum albunya al’meeqa bayn Chomsky wal dars al nahwi al Araby [The Concept of Deep Structure between Chomsky and Arabic Grammar]. Allissaan alaraby, Jaami’at al-duwal al-Arabyya, 5, 34-35.
Bouton, L. F. (1976). The Problem of Equivalence in Contrastive Analysis. IRAL, 14(2), 143-163.
Catford, J. C. (1965). A Linguistic Theory of Translation. Oxford University Press.
Chesterman, A. (1998). Contrastive Functional Analysis. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Chomsky, N. (1957). Syntactic Structures. Mouton de Gruyter.
Cruse, A. (2006). A Glossary of Semantics and Pragmatics. Edinburgh University Press.
Di Pietro, R. J. (1971). Language Structures in Contrast. Newbury House Publishers.
Fillmore, C. (1968). The Case for Case. In Universal in Linguistic Theory (pp. 1-90). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Fillmore, C. J. (1966). A Proposal Concerning English Prepositions. Monograph Series on Languages and Linguistics, 19, 19-34.
Finch, G. (2000). Linguistic Terms and Concepts. Palgrave.
Firbas, J. (1974). Some Aspects of the Czechoslovak Approach to Problems of Functional Sentence Perspective. In F. Danes (Ed.), Papers on Functional Sentence Perspective (pp. 11-37). De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111676524.11
Hamaasa, M. H. (2000). Alnahw wal dalaala: madkhal li diraasat al-ma’naa alnahwi-aldalaali [Syntax and Semantics: Introduction to the Study of Syntactic-Semantic Meaning]. Dar alshuruq.
Hassaan, T. (1985). Wihdat albunya wa ikhtilaaf al-andhima [Common Structure and different Systems of Languages]. Majalat Majma’ allughat al-Arabyya fi al-Qaahira (Cairo), 22, 56-57.
Hassaan, T. (1985). Jadwa Issti’maal altaqaabul fi ta’liim allugha alarabyya li ghayr abnaa’aha [The Use of Contrast in Teaching Arabic to Non-Arab Learners]. Waqaa’ii’ nadawaat ta’leem allugha alarabyya li ghyar alnaatiqiin biha, maktab altarbya al-Arabi li diwal alkhaliij, Part. 2, 75-93.
Krzeszowski, T. P. (1971). Equivalence, Congruence, and Deep Structure. In G. Nickel (Ed.), Papers in Contrastive Linguistics (pp. 37-48), Cambridge University Press.
Krzeszowski, T. P. (1981). The Problem of Equivalence Revisited. IRAL, 19, 113-128.
Krzeszowski, T. P. (1990). Contrasting Languages: The Scope of Contrastive Linguistics. Mouton de Gruyter.
Lakoff, G. (1968). Instrumental Adverbs and the Concept of Deep Structure. Foundations of language, 4(1), 4-29. Springer.
McCawley, J. D. (1966, 1968). Concerning the Base Component of a Transformational Grammar. Foundations of Language, 4(3), 243-269.
McCawley, J. D. (1968). The Role of Semantics in a Grammar. In E. Bach & R. T. Harms (Eds.), Universals in Linguistic Theory (pp. 124-169). New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
Murphy, M. L., & Koskela, A. (2010). Key Terms in Semantics. Continuum International Publishing Group.
Omar, Ahmad Mukhtaar. (2002). Almu’jam almawsu’ii li alfaadh al-Qur’an alkareem wa kiraa’aatih [The Encyclopedic Dictionary of Qur’anic Expressions and Its Readings]. Mu’ssassat sutur al-ma’rifa.
Pickthall, M. M. (Trans.). (1930, 1997). The Meaning of the Glorious Koran. In The Quranic Arabic Corpus, from https://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp. Retrieved October 15, 2025.
Shakir, M. H. (Trans.). (1999). The Holy Quran Translated. In The Quranic Arabic Corpus, from https://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp. Retrieved October 15, 2025.
Szwedek, A. (1984). Some Problems of Contrastive Analysis and Text Linguistics. In J. Fisiak (Ed.), Contrastive Linguistics Prospects and Problems (pp. 419-429). Walter de Gruyter.
Trask, R. L. (1993). A Dictionary of Grammatical Terms in Linguistics. Routledge.
Ukasha, M. A. (2014). Alfaa’il alnahwi wal alfaa’il almunafidh fi “nadhariyat al haala al’iraabiya” dirasat alfaai’l inda Charles Fillmore fi daw’ aaraa’ alnuhaat [Grammatical Subject and Factual Subject in Case (Grammar) Theory: A Study of the Subject of Charles Fillmore in terms of (Arab) Grammarians’ Opinions]. College of Arts Journal, 38, 395-452.
Zakaria, M. (1986). Al-alsunya altawlidyya wal tahwilyya wa qawaa’id al-lugha al-Arabiya (al-nadhariya al-alsuniyya) [Generative-Transformational Linguistics and Arabic Grammar (Linguistic Theory)]. Al-Mu’assassa al-Jaami’yah lil diraasaaat wal nashir wal tawzii’.
