The semiology of colors in scripture translation

Arabic-English

Bibliographic Data

ID4472231
AuthorsAbdelhamid Elewa (0000-0002-0453-9455, Al-Azhar University, Faculty of Languages and Translation , Cairo , Egypt, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume2022
Issue246
Pages117-138
Publication date2022-05-25
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSemiotica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0037-1998 • E-ISSN: 1613-3692
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/sem-2021-0075
OpenAlexW4224938591
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited8

This paper examines the color symbolic values in two different and unrelated languages, Arabic and English. It analyses the colors mentioned in the Qur'an semiotically and their translation based on Peirce's semiotic model of sign interpretation, while considering the socio-cultural differences that influence the understanding and rendering of color signs, informed by corpus-based analysis. Although the Qur'an contains the most basic colors like other languages, the semiotic values of some colors are different. The study shows that colors in the Qur'an, and Arabic in general, are tightly linked to the environment and culture of the early Muslims who received the Qur'an first-hand from the Prophet. These colors as situated in their culture could appear positively or negatively to users in other languages in a way that is not intended in the source text. Therefore, the translator's awareness of the socio-cultural signs could bridge the gap between the different systems of codification and recodification of signs

Arabic · Interpretation (philosophy) · Linguistics · Semiotics · Sign (mathematics) · Sign system · Categorization, perception, and language · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Mathematics · Multisensory perception and integration · Philosophy · Psychology

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