The role of morphology in translation : Arabic semi-active participle adjectives as an example

Abstract EN

This paper probes into the realm of morphology and translation.

The aim of this descriptive qualitative paper is to examine the effect of the morphology of the semi-active participle adjectives upon the process and product of their translation into English.

The analytical model used for the sake of analyzing the data is Halliday and Matthiessen (2004) functional grammar.

Data for analysis are taken from al-Samarra'i (2007) and some Quranic verses.

The findings showed that the morphology of these adjectives does play a significant role upon their rendering into English in that their case marking does entail meaning differences.

It is concluded that forms and functions of these adjectives are highly influential and have a role in the representation of a given text via their meanings on the three metafunctions: the ideational, the interpersonal and the textual ones.

It is recommended to give a good space for the teaching and learning of the morphological processes in the translation from Arabic into English.