Papers by Omar A Sheikh Al-Shabab
IJALEL, Vol.4 No.5 (2015)
Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 2015
Simple observation reveals that each language and each culture enjoys specific linguistic feature... more Simple observation reveals that each language and each culture enjoys specific linguistic features and rhetorical traditions. In poetry translation difference and the resultant linguistic tension create a gap between Source Language and Target language, a gap that needs to be bridged by creating an approximation processed through the translator's interpretation. The existentialist thrust behind this position supersedes equivalence and disallows "intervention", since in producing his/her pre-dictionary self-attributed translation, the poetry translator works from within the first person domain, a theoretical construct which is assumed to handle Davidson's first person authority and more. Translating Herbert's "Even-Song" requires knowledge of Arabic Islamic discourse and the ability to create, via interpretation, the right angle that allows Herbert's deep religious experience and voice to be heard in a discourse that relates Arab audience to English religious devotion to God, a devotion which lies well beyond tension and cultural difference.
Journal of King Saud University - Languages and Translation, 2012
International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 2015
Since a language variety contains shared variants, and since a complete correlation between autho... more Since a language variety contains shared variants, and since a complete correlation between author and linguistic features is rarely acquired, it is suggested that linguistic features which fall outside the correlational agreement in a variety belong to the author's First Person Domain (FPD). Advances in computerized vocabulary profiling and readability provide useful characterization of features found in Academic English (AE), but they cannot capture the full range of linguistic features in a text. A corpus of about 38 extracts and texts (111.000 words) from local and international authors is analyzed to determine interpersonal and intrapersonal variations. The results show that language variation determines the features of FPD which are crucial for author identification and that computational methods are not adequately sensitive to insure a hundred percent author identification. Therefore, epistemological author identity profile (AIP) is suggested to plot alleged texts against the socio-physical and epistemological parameters of alleging authors.
Linguistic Experience and Identity: Contextualizing the Mental Lexicon In English-Arabic Poetry Translation
International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 2021
Monolingual Language behavior rests on three components: human agent, code and message. Translati... more Monolingual Language behavior rests on three components: human agent, code and message. Translation processing requires three more constructs: translator, two codes, and a message in two texts. Equivalence theories attempted to supersede faithfulness and sameness of meaning in translation, but equivalence is a “convenience”, and is “always relative” (Baker 1992). Translational commensurability and semantic transportation thwart obtaining equivalence; therefore, the Interpretive Frame includes experience and identity among the elements necessary for any translation (Author, 2008). To explore poetic aesthetics, experience is related to personality observed in the Mental lexicon, while identity is related to phonic appeal observed in euphony. These relations are investigated in Arabic translations of English poems by Coleridge, Keats, Tennyson, Wordsworth, and Auden. Preliminary results show that: 1) the Mental Lexicon and euphony vary according to experience and identity, 2) contextua...
279 Arabic References 299 VII ACKNOWLEDGEMENT C heer luck and good fortune have combined to make ... more 279 Arabic References 299 VII ACKNOWLEDGEMENT C heer luck and good fortune have combined to make the number of people to whom I must express gratitude infinite. But when we are surrounded by love and care we do not notice it until we have an occasion to stop and think whom to thank. The list should start with the wise, the academics, and they are so many. My colleagues at various institutions should head the list. The most immediate are my students and colleagues at the Department of English Language, previously the Department of Foreign Languages, King Faisal University. The list must include those who translated the English poem for Chapter
Monolingual Language behavior rests on three components: human agent, code and message. Translati... more Monolingual Language behavior rests on three components: human agent, code and message. Translation processing requires three more constructs: translator, two codes, and a message in two texts. Equivalence theories attempted to supersede faithfulness and sameness of meaning in translation, but equivalence is a "convenience", and is "always relative" (Baker 1992). Translational commensurability and semantic transportation thwart obtaining equivalence; therefore, the Interpretive Frame includes experience and identity among the elements necessary for any translation (Author, 2008). To explore poetic aesthetics, experience is related to personality observed in the Mental lexicon, while identity is related to phonic appeal observed in euphony. These relations are investigated in Arabic translations of English poems by Coleridge, Keats, Tennyson, Wordsworth, and Auden. Preliminary results show that: 1) the Mental Lexicon and euphony vary according to experience and identity, 2) contextualizing lexical appropriateness, euphony and metaphors contributes to poetic aesthetics.
In the dynamics of environmental context, the referent of a linguistic sign changes, but the sign... more In the dynamics of environmental context, the referent of a linguistic sign changes, but the sign persists as a verbal symbol. Since a technical term strictly evokes one referent, it may lack in specificity due to the ever-changing reality, resulting in homonymy, overlap, and a semantic continuum based on designating by necessity. In addition to the elements of reference theory, the criteria for technical terms postulate the user, whose authority and responsibility are necessary for the term to function as a specific designator. The centrality of the user, translator or otherwise, has hermeneutic and linguistic implications for the evolution of terminology, because it stipulates that terminological meaning and usage are dependent on the user's conscious knowledge, a condition that leads to the recognition of a user epistemic continuum parallel to the semantic necessity continuum. Ideally, a term should be universally specific in reference, and its user should be epistemologicall...
King Faisal University , 2017
The present chapter investigates rendering a sample of names of Quranic Suras, especially proper ... more The present chapter investigates rendering a sample of names of Quranic Suras, especially proper names, in seventeen translations of the Quran into six European languages. The choice of proper names for study may seem strange, since on the face of it a proper name is supposed to be stable (with no change or little change) when translated. But this is an essential point in the present chapter, since the translation, or better, rendering of proper names in another language may be disputed and sometimes deformed. Questions about rendering proper names may include the following: 1- Would a proper name especially that which has lexical or cultural components in its meaning, retain these components when translated into a language that does not know this name and/or its context before? To what degree does a name show resistance to mutation in the process of translation? Do Quranic names remain the same when they are translated into European languages? Does the translated Quranic name retain its emotive effect? Have the translators of the Quran succeeded in maintaining the connotations of the name of God including the ninety-nine descriptors specified in the Quran when they shifted to using the Arabic word Allah instead of God? Are the translations which do not follow this Arabized convention less trustworthy? Does the choice of Allah or God pertain to the question of linguistic necessity? Or does it affect, help or hinder, comprehension? Where is the boundary of language in such a choice? Does the choice evoke the relationship between language on the one hand and thought and ideology )creed( on the other?
King Suad Journal , 2001
Ludivico Marracci's translation of the Quran, published in 1698, has not been studied by a native... more Ludivico Marracci's translation of the Quran, published in 1698, has not been studied by a native speaker of Arabic. The views and purpose of the work, as the title Refutatio Alcorani suggests, have overshadowed the contribution of Marracci as a translator. In this paper, Marracci's contribution is examined in light of his use of parallel grammatical structures. Marracci also employed communicative strategies as seen in providing explanatory subscripts and translating by "default. His translation, therefore, shows features of difference, inadequacy and impossibility. The painstaking achievement of Marracci is seen in his influence on later translations of the Quran into European languages. In this subculture, which generated misunderstanding of Muslims and Arabs in the West, Marracci is central. But, his contribution to the field of translation, the paper argues, is everlasting.
Advances in Language and Literary Studies
Simple observation reveals that each language and each culture enjoys specific linguistic feature... more Simple observation reveals that each language and each culture enjoys specific linguistic features and rhetorical traditions. In poetry translation difference and the resultant linguistic tension create a gap between Source Language and Target language, a gap that needs to be bridged by creating an approximation processed through the translator's interpretation. The existentialist thrust behind this position supersedes equivalence and disallows "intervention", since in producing his/her pre-dictionary self-attributed translation, the poetry translator works from within the first person domain, a theoretical construct which is assumed to handle Davidson's first person authority and more. Translating Herbert's "Even-Song" requires knowledge of Arabic Islamic discourse and the ability to create, via interpretation, the right angle that allows Herbert's deep religious experience and voice to be heard in a discourse that relates Arab audience to English religious devotion to God, a devotion which lies well beyond tension and cultural difference. 1. Tension and Approximation in Translation: Gap between Theory and Practice At the level of practice, the translator, whether aware or not, is trapped between various options. Regardless of his/her theoretical background or his/her methodological and linguistic skills, the translator is put to test when facing a new ST, especially when the ST is a poem. 1 Surely, poetry translators choose to take up the challenge with well-studied determination, and most of the time they translate into their native language. The task is always difficult, but translators who are themselves poets would stand an advantage. 2 Not only would differences between code and culture of the SL and TL require attention, but also the unique character and circumstance of the poem present relentless pressure in the process of recreating a poetic text in a language other than its own. Looking at the deep abyss from above, the translator realizes that there is no other choice but to positively intervene and muster his own solutions which will naturally emerge from his background knowledge and experience. The focus of the discussion in this paper is on the presence of difference between the ST and the TL, and on the tension caused by this difference, which makes theories of equivalence of all types beg the question of what translation is about. The poetry translator's own solution, rather than the futile search for equivalence, therefore, marks the starting point for studying approximation in translating poetry.
", Techreen University Journal for Studies and Scientific Research, 2007
The hermeneutic approach was developed by German scholars (Lafont 1999) mainly within philosophy.... more The hermeneutic approach was developed by German scholars (Lafont 1999) mainly within philosophy. The present paper elaborates on a theoretical linguistic designate named the Interpretive Frame (IF) (Al-Shabab 2007). It investigates two elements of the IF, experience and identity, showing how the translator uses his own experience to project his identity in his translation. The experience of the translator of Tennyson's "Ulysses" finds its echoes in the wandering and suffering of Ulysses. Arabic language and culture, which have a tendency to favour lyrical poetry and heroic characters, provide the translator with a rich background enabling him to creatively express his identity. Thus, the translated poem portrays the translator as a determined traveller looking in the horizon for further experience and far away lands.
International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature , 2017
Construction and Interpretation Of Corpus-Based English Poetry Vocabulary Profile
Omar A. Sh... more Construction and Interpretation Of Corpus-Based English Poetry Vocabulary Profile
Omar A. Sheikh Al-Shabab,
King Abdullah Institute for Translation and Arabization,
Imam University (IMISIU),
E-mail: [email protected]
Received: 04-02-2017 Accepted: 28-03-2017 Advance Access Published: July 2017 Published: 01-09-2017 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.6n.5p.51
Abstract
Vocabulary Profilers (VPrs) are deeply rooted in pedagogical purposes. The current investigation, however, uses the Classic and Compleat VPrs to: 1) determine the distribution and content of vocabulary in an English poetry corpus 2) explain differences in the constituents of the vocabulary profile (VP), 3) explore the role of language users in constructing the VP. The corpus includes Extended Corpus (EC: 1.363.225 words), Micro Corpus (MC: 43.200 words) from thirty-six poets, and two poems translated into Arabic. The main results show that Types, Offlist words, Academic and Anglo-Saxon words outline the VP, and that the number of Types and the size of the Individual Mental Lexicon constitute the main features of the translator’s VP. The paper concludes that the poet’s construction of the poetry VP undergoes multilayer interpretation by the reader/analyst and the translator, who utilize their socio-environmental context to pin down the semantic potential of the VP anew.
Keywords: Vocabulary profiles, Translator Mental Lexicon, Type/Token Ratio, Offlist words
Abstract:
In the dynamics of environmental context, the referent of a linguistic sign changes, b... more Abstract:
In the dynamics of environmental context, the referent of a linguistic sign changes, but the sign persists as a verbal symbol. Since a technical term strictly evokes one referent, it may lack in specificity due to the ever-changing reality, resulting in homonymy, overlap, and a semantic continuum based on designating by necessity. In addition to the elements of reference theory, the criteria for technical terms postulate the user, whose authority and responsibility are necessary for the term to function as a specific designator. The centrality of the user, translator or otherwise, has hermeneutic and linguistic implications for the evolution of terminology, because it stipulates that terminological meaning and usage are dependent on the user’s conscious knowledge, a condition that leads to the recognition of a user epistemic continuum parallel to the semantic necessity continuum. Ideally, a term should be universally specific in reference, and its user should be epistemologically empowered and ethically responsible.
Keyword: Terminology, technical terms, Translation, Islamic terminology, semantic continuum
Since a language variety contains shared variants, and since a complete correlation between autho... more Since a language variety contains shared variants, and since a complete correlation between author and linguistic features is rarely acquired, it is suggested that linguistic features which fall outside the correlational agreement in a variety belong to the author's First Person Domain (FPD). Advances in computerized vocabulary profiling and readability provide useful characterization of features found in Academic English (AE), but they cannot capture the full range of linguistic features in a text. A corpus of about 38 extracts and texts (111.000 words) from local and international authors is analyzed to determine interpersonal and intrapersonal variations. The results show that language variation determines the features of FPD which are crucial for author identification and that computational methods are not adequately sensitive to insure a hundred percent author identification. Therefore, epistemological author identity profile (AIP) is suggested to plot alleged texts against the socio-physical and epistemological parameters of alleging authors.
Saudi Arabia has not been colonized or dominated by a super power in its history. But English has... more Saudi Arabia has not been colonized or dominated by a super power in its history. But English has assumed a special status in the whole region since the beginning of the twentieth century. This paper explores the place of English in academic settings in Saudi Arabia, and the bearings this role has assumed on translation from English as a language of a super power into Arabic. One important aspect of this case of language in contact is seen in the role ascribed to English in the process of the "Arabization" of higher education in the country. The paper explores the prevailing culture and practices that have maintained English as a language of academic teaching, research and publication. It concludes that Arabic needs to extend its social, epidemiological and cultural domains to launch a substantiated translation program, in which English maintains its central position as an international language.
The language of a single individual has been
studied from the perspective of private language (W... more The language of a single individual has been
studied from the perspective of private language (Wittgenstein
1952), First person authority (Davidson 2006) and the Mental
Lexicon (Ullman 2001). The present paper examines the
threshold Mental Lexicon in two groups of Arab learners of
English, with emphasis on the First Person Domain (FPD).
A series of ten tasks has been given to two groups of
students majoring in English at King Faisal University. The
main aim is to discover the interpretive power of learners
first person domain by describing different aspects of their
Mental Lexicon. Six tasks study the lexical association within
learners interlingual system, and four tasks study learners
intralingual system via translation. The paper assesses the
Mental Lexicon in the learners first person domain.
The results show that the experimental groups have low
proficiency scores (mean 34 lower levels and 39 upper levels)
and they lack a core threshold Mental Lexicon. The
participants utilize direct parallel translation, and show
definite preference of lexical solutions when grammatical
structure is at stake. Finally, it is recommended that
curriculum planners, syllabus designers and local material
producers should adopt a scientific approach upholding
standard practice as defined by experts in the field and
professional practitioners. It is also recommended that
academics, educators, and administrators should establish
effective operational management of sound task delivery in
the execution of teaching/learning in the English classroom.
Linguistic studies of intertextuality and assertion pose the question of belief systems
availabl... more Linguistic studies of intertextuality and assertion pose the question of belief systems
available to language users. Although not all utterances in a text are easily read as assertions,
one can argue that all translated utterances are textual assertions. Still, the making of the Translated
Text may benefit from various sources other than the Source Text.
Using a hermeneutic textual approach, the present paper studies assertion in language and translation
through examining the complex intertextual relations and sources which characterize the translator’s
assertions. It studies George Sale’s English translation of the Holy Quran in light of three sources: ST
sources, Marracci’s Latin translation, commentaries on Arabic sources, and personal communication.
The paper reveals that the source of an utterance is complex and detrimental to the status of the
assertions made by the source. The source can be (1) divine, (2) external neutral, (3) external adversary,
(4) external opaque (unspecified by speaker), and (5) translator/interpreter. Assertion types relate to
the source and show various degrees of commitment to truth: (1) divine assertion, (2) neutral assertion,
(3) claim assertion, (4) counterclaim assertion, (5) translational assertions.
Parallel structures, lexical choices and informational additions, show that Sale’s English translation
made direct use of Marracci’s Latin translation. Sale also used a complex network of sources including
Arabic speaking informants. The study shows that translational assertions are the translator’s own
assertions, and hence, Sale’s assertions cannot have the power of the Divine Word of God. Still, Sale’s
great contribution lies in interpreting his sources and in the creative formulation of a standard English
translation.
The debate in American philosophy of language about naming and
necessity (Kripke 1972, and Rosen... more The debate in American philosophy of language about naming and
necessity (Kripke 1972, and Rosenberg 1994) can serve as a basis for a
hermeneutic theory of translation. The Interpretive Frame (IF) suggested in
the present paper, assumes that the scope of interpretation spreads from
necessity to infinity. Linguistic necessity accounts for the relationship
between language and reality, and thus gives an anchorage to the IF.
The language of translation, hypothesized as an interlanguage by Al-
Shabab (1996), shows constant engagement with necessity and infinity via a
process of approximation in which assertions are made to bring about relative
stability which is essential for communication. Davidson's views on
"assertion" are used to bring about the stability needed for the Interpretive
Frame.
The paper argues that contributions from American linguistics and
American philosophy of language benefit the current hermeneutic approach
to translation.
Uploads
Papers by Omar A Sheikh Al-Shabab
Omar A. Sheikh Al-Shabab,
King Abdullah Institute for Translation and Arabization,
Imam University (IMISIU),
E-mail: [email protected]
Received: 04-02-2017 Accepted: 28-03-2017 Advance Access Published: July 2017 Published: 01-09-2017 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.6n.5p.51
Abstract
Vocabulary Profilers (VPrs) are deeply rooted in pedagogical purposes. The current investigation, however, uses the Classic and Compleat VPrs to: 1) determine the distribution and content of vocabulary in an English poetry corpus 2) explain differences in the constituents of the vocabulary profile (VP), 3) explore the role of language users in constructing the VP. The corpus includes Extended Corpus (EC: 1.363.225 words), Micro Corpus (MC: 43.200 words) from thirty-six poets, and two poems translated into Arabic. The main results show that Types, Offlist words, Academic and Anglo-Saxon words outline the VP, and that the number of Types and the size of the Individual Mental Lexicon constitute the main features of the translator’s VP. The paper concludes that the poet’s construction of the poetry VP undergoes multilayer interpretation by the reader/analyst and the translator, who utilize their socio-environmental context to pin down the semantic potential of the VP anew.
Keywords: Vocabulary profiles, Translator Mental Lexicon, Type/Token Ratio, Offlist words
In the dynamics of environmental context, the referent of a linguistic sign changes, but the sign persists as a verbal symbol. Since a technical term strictly evokes one referent, it may lack in specificity due to the ever-changing reality, resulting in homonymy, overlap, and a semantic continuum based on designating by necessity. In addition to the elements of reference theory, the criteria for technical terms postulate the user, whose authority and responsibility are necessary for the term to function as a specific designator. The centrality of the user, translator or otherwise, has hermeneutic and linguistic implications for the evolution of terminology, because it stipulates that terminological meaning and usage are dependent on the user’s conscious knowledge, a condition that leads to the recognition of a user epistemic continuum parallel to the semantic necessity continuum. Ideally, a term should be universally specific in reference, and its user should be epistemologically empowered and ethically responsible.
Keyword: Terminology, technical terms, Translation, Islamic terminology, semantic continuum
studied from the perspective of private language (Wittgenstein
1952), First person authority (Davidson 2006) and the Mental
Lexicon (Ullman 2001). The present paper examines the
threshold Mental Lexicon in two groups of Arab learners of
English, with emphasis on the First Person Domain (FPD).
A series of ten tasks has been given to two groups of
students majoring in English at King Faisal University. The
main aim is to discover the interpretive power of learners
first person domain by describing different aspects of their
Mental Lexicon. Six tasks study the lexical association within
learners interlingual system, and four tasks study learners
intralingual system via translation. The paper assesses the
Mental Lexicon in the learners first person domain.
The results show that the experimental groups have low
proficiency scores (mean 34 lower levels and 39 upper levels)
and they lack a core threshold Mental Lexicon. The
participants utilize direct parallel translation, and show
definite preference of lexical solutions when grammatical
structure is at stake. Finally, it is recommended that
curriculum planners, syllabus designers and local material
producers should adopt a scientific approach upholding
standard practice as defined by experts in the field and
professional practitioners. It is also recommended that
academics, educators, and administrators should establish
effective operational management of sound task delivery in
the execution of teaching/learning in the English classroom.
available to language users. Although not all utterances in a text are easily read as assertions,
one can argue that all translated utterances are textual assertions. Still, the making of the Translated
Text may benefit from various sources other than the Source Text.
Using a hermeneutic textual approach, the present paper studies assertion in language and translation
through examining the complex intertextual relations and sources which characterize the translator’s
assertions. It studies George Sale’s English translation of the Holy Quran in light of three sources: ST
sources, Marracci’s Latin translation, commentaries on Arabic sources, and personal communication.
The paper reveals that the source of an utterance is complex and detrimental to the status of the
assertions made by the source. The source can be (1) divine, (2) external neutral, (3) external adversary,
(4) external opaque (unspecified by speaker), and (5) translator/interpreter. Assertion types relate to
the source and show various degrees of commitment to truth: (1) divine assertion, (2) neutral assertion,
(3) claim assertion, (4) counterclaim assertion, (5) translational assertions.
Parallel structures, lexical choices and informational additions, show that Sale’s English translation
made direct use of Marracci’s Latin translation. Sale also used a complex network of sources including
Arabic speaking informants. The study shows that translational assertions are the translator’s own
assertions, and hence, Sale’s assertions cannot have the power of the Divine Word of God. Still, Sale’s
great contribution lies in interpreting his sources and in the creative formulation of a standard English
translation.
necessity (Kripke 1972, and Rosenberg 1994) can serve as a basis for a
hermeneutic theory of translation. The Interpretive Frame (IF) suggested in
the present paper, assumes that the scope of interpretation spreads from
necessity to infinity. Linguistic necessity accounts for the relationship
between language and reality, and thus gives an anchorage to the IF.
The language of translation, hypothesized as an interlanguage by Al-
Shabab (1996), shows constant engagement with necessity and infinity via a
process of approximation in which assertions are made to bring about relative
stability which is essential for communication. Davidson's views on
"assertion" are used to bring about the stability needed for the Interpretive
Frame.
The paper argues that contributions from American linguistics and
American philosophy of language benefit the current hermeneutic approach
to translation.