CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study Language is the most important means of
communication. It is needed by all
people in the world. Human being as social creature cannot live alone in this world.
They live in society in which the group of them who are drawn together for certain purpose or purposes; therefore, they
need a tool to communicate each other using
a language. That is why language is very important. The power of the language exists in its meaning and its
function as a means of communication and interaction with other people around us. In
the process of interaction and communication,
there are extended possibilities of misunderstanding and misinterpretation of meaning in the language
we use. That is why, meaning is necessary
to be understood deeply. Language as a means of communication is used to transfer the idea from one person to
others.
Because of the importance of
meaning, we can enhance our knowledge about
meaning on linguistics, especially about semantics. Semantics is one of the branches of linguistics studying about the
meaning and it is considered as a major branch
of linguistics devoted to the study of meaning in language (Crystal: 310).
According to what has long been
the most widely accepted as theory of semantics,
meanings are ideas or concepts that can be transferred from the mind of the speaker to the mind of the hearer by
embodying them, as it were, in the forms
of one language or another. (Lyons, 1984: 136). Semantics is a crucial subject at least if it is seen from two
aspects, they are language teaching and communication.
Dealing with language teaching, Wahab (1977: 20) states: Students, teachers and scholars interested in
linguistic studies realize that semantics
is one of the significant aspects of the study of language as its two siblings – phonology and syntax. Logically,
semantics should not be neglected in the
study of language. Despite its important status in linguistic study, in
addition to the two others, semantics as
a subject has no place in the current curriculum of TEFL (Teaching English Foreign Language) on a
level of the Indonesian higher educational
systems. Consequently, negligence of semantics may result in inappropriateness in teaching lexical and
sentence meanings. On the level of lexical
meaning, ignorance of semantics in TEFL may create false concepts of synonymy,
antonymy and ambiguity. On the level of sentence meaning, problems of grammaticality and acceptability may appear.
The study of meaning is much
needed for those who want to be good speaker
or writer to communicate better in their daily life activities. Leech (1997: ix) states that “semantics (as the study of
meaning) is central to the study of communication,
and as communication becomes more and more a crucial factor in social organization. The need to understand it
becomes more pressing”. Chaer (1995: 2)
described that semantics is from the Greek”sema” (nouns) means “sign or signal” and the verb is “semaino” means
signal or mean.
Meaning is also found in language
of the translation of Holy Qur’an. The Holy
Qur’an as a revelation of Allah consists of the guidance for all human beings. Allah saysMeans that: Ramadan is the
(month) in which was sent down the Qur’an, as a guide to mankind, also clear (signs) for
guidance and judgment (between right and
wrong). So every one of you who is present (at his home) during that month should spent it in fasting, but if any
one is ill, or on a journey, the prescribed
period (should be made up) by days later. Allah intends every facility for you, he does not want to put you to
difficulties. (He wants you) to complete the prescribed period, and to glorify him in
that he has guided you; and perchance ye
shall be grateful. (al - Baqarah: 185).
Al–Qur’an that has a great
grammatical is always amazed by everyone who reads it even the non-Moslem. It is one of
the peculiarities of Al–Qur’an. Al– Qur’an is a revelation from God to Muhammad
that consists of 77.439 words and 323.015
letters (Shihab, 1997: 4). Al–Qur’an has a beautiful language, carefulness, balance with the deep meaning and
the riches of the truth from many kinds
of al–Qur’an’s peculiarities. The researcher is interested in analyzing one of al–Qur’an’s surah. Here the researcher chooses
Surah Al Ra’d as his research object. Surah
Al Ra’d is the thirteenth surah of the Qur’an that has 43 verses. It contains the Tauhid, Resurrection and Prophet
hood.
This surah takes its name from
the word (al-Ra’ad) (thunder) that occurs in 13 verses. It is merely the symbolic name of
the surah and does not in any way mean
that the surah deals with the scientific problems connected with thunder.
From those miracles covered this
surah make the researcher interested in analyzing
it. He will not research it in Arabic language but he will analyze the English translation of Surah Al Ra’d. There
are many English translations, but he chooses
the English translation of Surah Al Ra’d by Marmaduke Pickthall.
Marmaduke Pickthall is chosen
because his explanatory translation of the Holy Qur’an is the only English translation that
has received the approval from the Supreme
Islamic Authority of al–Azhar in Cairo. His English translation of the Holy Qur’an is the first English translation
of the Qur’an by an Englishman who is a
Moslem. Pickthall (1982: xxvii) stated that the glorious Qur’an was there rendered almost literary and every attempt had
been to select befitting language.
But the result is not the
glorious Qur’an that inimitable symphony, the very sound of which moves men to tears and ecstasy. It is
only an attempt to present the meaning
of the Qur’an and peradventure something of the charm – in English. It can never take the place of the Qur’an in
Arabic, nor is it meant to do so.
Marmaduke Pickthall is not only a
translator but also a novelist, journalist, political and religious leader.
Actually, the previous
researchers have already conducted the research in the same field. Such as Laily (2002), in her
reserach entitled “Semantic Analysis on
the Lyrics of Jon Bon Jovi’s Songs”. She researched kinds of meanings used on the language of Jon Bon Jovi’s songs and
she did not analyze the language used on
the Holy Qur’an. Ahmadin (2002), in his research entitled Semantic Analysis on the Meaning of the Glorious
Qur’an. He discussed about kinds of meanings,
the translation methods and the way Pickthall followed the criteria used by MCIS in Pickthall’s book “The Meaning of
the Glorious Qur’an”. But here the researcher
specifies on analyzing kinds of meanings and the intended messages on one of surah of Holy Qur’an.
Based on the previous
explanation, the researcher finds other area that is not researched yet by the previous study
namely A Semantic Analysis of the English
Translation of “Surah Al Ra’d” By Marmaduke Pickthall.
In analyzing the translation of
Surah Al Ra’d, the researcher will analyze kinds of meaning used on it and the messages
behind it.
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