LEXICAL MEANING AND FIDELITY IN TWO ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF WOMEN-RELATED VERSES IN SURAH AN-NISA

Fidelity in translation concerns the exactness in reproducing meaning of a Source Text (ST) in the Target Text (TT). Yet, translation might involve creativity where translators have typical repertoires of vocabulary at their disposal influenced by their socio-cultural or ideological stances. This qualitative descriptive inquiry is a case study investigating the different lexical choices used by Arthur Arberry (translator of TT1) and Abdel Haleem (translator of TT2) in translating imperatives in women-related verses of Surah an-Nisa. Their lexical choices are compared to examine types of lexical meaning transferred, assess their fidelity and explore the motivations behind their differences. The theoretical framework is based on Cruse’s types of meaning and relies on componential analysis. Documentary method is employed for data collection. Of 18 data analyzed, four types of meaning recognized: propositional, expressive, presupposed and evoked. In terms of fidelity, TT1 performs more than TT2 yet in quality, TT2 remains better as TT1 fatally distorts the ST meanings. This study concurs partly with Elimam (2013) that Arberry is not motivated by the need for cultural mediation since he concerns with reproducing the authentic meaning of al-Quran whereas Haleem is driven by the need to mediate al-Quran to clearly communicate what it intends to say, particularly in women-related issues. To conclude, al-Quran might only be appropriately done by a Muslim