The Translation of Kān and its Similar Verbs in Glorious Qur’ān into English

Section: Article
Issue
Vol. 21 No. 4 (2025): Volume 21 Issues 4
Published
Dec 1, 2025
Pages
305-340

Abstract

kān and its counterparts or the so-called ‘incomplete verbs’ (أفعالٌ ناقِصَةٌ) in Arabic are a special group of verbs operating on  nominal sentence, causing changes in meaning of  sentence.  This  group of verbs is characterized by their own peculiarities in terms of  syntactic uses and  semantic functions it produces while translating. The problem doesn’t  reside in translating each verb individually, but syntactically in conjunction with other elements. The study aims at investigating   syntactic uses and semantic functions of kān and its counterparts and how they are contextually translated in  Glorious Qur’ān into English. To attain  this goal, five English translations   by five professional translators have been chosen to determine to what extent  translators have accurately managed to convey  meanings of kān and its counterparts into their English equivalents.


Study hypothesizes that this group of verbs is not confined to its past forms and lexical meanings  only, but it extends to indicate other time references and lexical meanings in context as well. To verify these hypotheses, kān and its similarities are identified and interpreted in  (ST), then their renditions in  (TTs) are syntactically and semantically analyzed and assessed. It has been concluded that  difference in nature, uses, and functions of kān and its counterparts in Arabic causes an obstacle for translators to come up with  accurate renderings in the TL.

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Authors

Ammar Yousuf Farman

University of Mosul, College of Arts, Dept. of Translation, Mosul, Iraq

Abdulrahman A. Abdulrahman

University of Mosul, College of Arts, Dept. of Translation, Mosul, Iraq

Identifiers

https://doi.org/10.33899/berj.2025.Vol21.Iss4.55911
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Ammar Yousuf Farman, & Abdulrahman A. Abdulrahman. (2025). The Translation of Kān and its Similar Verbs in Glorious Qur’ān into English. College of Basic Education Research Journal, 21(4), 305–340. https://doi.org/10.33899/berj.2025.Vol21.Iss4.55911
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