CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter is devoted to
discuss the Introduction that related with Arabic negation in Qur’an of Surah Al-Baqarah and
English negation in its translation in English
done by Marmaduke Pickthall. The discussion is divided into six sections, the first is about Background if the Study,
the second is Problems of the Study, the
third is about Objectives of the Study, the fourth is about Significance of the
Study, the fifth is about Limitation of
the Study and the last section is about the Definition of Key Terms.
1.1 Background of the Study Related to the function of language as a means
of communication in any language,
negation plays a very important role. The main function of negation is to deny or to disavow statement(s) of
addressee or addresser considered wrong by the addresser. In verbal communication, people
use negative devices as the most common
means to express denial or disavowal. The occurrence of a negative device in a sentence changes the meaning of
the former sentence-the sentence without
negation. The change of meaning which is caused by the occurrence of the negative device has significant
implication, since it may mean cancellation, denial, or negation, all of which will
determine the follow up of the communication
being done. In view of the urgency of negation toward the followup of the
communication, negation becomes center of attraction in forming and understanding the meaning of utterances.
1 Further,
Sudaryono (1992:1) states that such linguists as Lehnman (1973), Bloomfield (1993), Greenberg (1963),Langaker
(1972), and Payne (1985) propose that
negation is universal. The universality of negation shows that, in any language, its existence plays an important
role. Nevertheless, according to Sudaryono
(1992:22),the application of negation theory in some languages in the world shows that there are differences inboth
the expression system of negation and
the grammatical unit usedto express the negation.
In Arabic and in English,
negation isalso expressed differently. Belonging to different language families - Arabic
belongs to a group of languages collectively
known as the Semitic languages (Versteegh, 19979) and English is an Indo-European language (Parera, 1987:120-121),
Arabic and English have different
systems of negation, not only in terms of negative devices used to express the negation but alsotheir
distribution in sentences. Arabic has many negative devices that can be in the formof
verbs, nouns, or particles, each of which
has certain distribution and special function. Certain negative devices can only negate and precede certain kinds of
words. This means that the use of negative
device may become a parameter in classifying words, though it is not the main and the most representative parameter
(Al-Ghulayaini, 1991:13).
Besides, in the Holy Qur’an, as
in natural language, negation also plays a very important role and has relatively the
same function. This is in accordance with
the main function of this Holy Book for Moslems, that is as the guidance for them to distinguish the right and the wrong
ways. In terms of belief, negation may mean
emphasis, which is used to ensure the truth of a given idea. In dealing with laws, negation is one way to state
prohibition. These two aspects (belief or ‘aqidah and law of syari’ah) are the chief
content of the Qur’an. Qur'an is also considered
as opened for any interpretation.
In addition to such a unique
language ofPickthall in his translation, this study of describing syntactically
Arabicnegation in the Qur’an and English negation in its translation, followed by
analyzing the semantic implication, is interesting
as it can be an attempt to compare syntactically negative expressions in Arabic and in the English translation. The
attempt to compare languages is as old as
language itself. This attempt is unavoidable since the interaction between one language and another always invites people’s
attention tocompare aspects of the languages
(Ibrahim, 1985:9). There are many aspects of language that can be compared, namely the sound system (phonology),
the word formation (morphology), and the
phrase, clause or sentence structures (syntax). Comparing languages syntactically, that is in terms
ofthe word order, the meanings given by different
word order arrangements and how different words are combined and distributed, has not been developed well
(Parera, 1987:108). Lehmann (1978) in his
book Syntactic Typology, Studies in the Phenomenology of Language proposes thirty points of subject matters that can
adequately be objects of research and are necessary to be elaborated. One of the subject
matters is negative expressions.
1.2 Problems of the Study In compliance with the background above, this
study is intended to describe the
syntactic characteristics of negation in the verses of the Holy Qur’an on Surah Al-baqarah and their English
translations by Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall
. Thus, the questions to be answered in this study are: 1. What
are the syntactic patterns of Arabic negation in the Qur’an on Surah Al-Baqarah in the English translation of the
Qur’an by M. M. Pickthall? 2. What is the semantic implication ofeach
syntactic pattern of Arabic negation in
the Qur’an on Surah Al-Baqarah in the English translation of the Qur'an by M.M. Pickthall? 1.3 Objectives of the Study In line with the research problems, this study
is aimed at describing the syntactic
characteristics ofArabic negation in Qur’an and English negation of the English translation of the Qur'anon Surah Al
Baqarah by Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall.
Specifically, the objectives ofthe present study are: 1. To
find out the syntactic patterns ofArabic negation in the Qur’an on Surah Al-Baqarah in its English translation by
M. M. Pickthall.
2. To find out the semantic implication of each
syntactic pattern of Arabic negation in
the Qur’an on Surah Al-Baqarah of each syntactic pattern of English negation in its English translation by
M.M. Pickthall.
1.4 Significance of the Study By analyzing and comparing syntactically and
semantically Arabic negation in Qur’an
on Surah Al-Baqarah and the different versions of its translation in English, this study is expected
to provide both theoretical and practical
significance. Theoretically, this study is expected to be able to present an obvious description about syntactic analysis
on Arabic and English negation, and generate
specific applied syntactic theory for translating Arabic negation into English. This might be valuable for those who
want to deepen their knowledge in syntax
and translation, specifically in translating the Holy Qur'an into their mother tongue, as well as for those who want to
improve their comprehension on the content
of the Holy Qur’an.
For the practical use, this study
can, hopefully, give contribution to the learners of Arabic, particularly the
HolyQur’an, as well as to language teaching.
It is by providing students with
an example of the application of the theories of negation, syntax and semantics in analyzing a
classical written text and its translation.
1.5 Limitation of the Study This study is limited to investigate the
syntactic aspect of Arabic negation in
the Holy Qur’an and English negation inthe English translation of the Holy Book on Surah Al-Baqarah by Muhammed Marmaduke
Pickthall. Therefore, it would only deal
with negation which is expressed with negative devices. Besides, the present study is focused on the analysis
of simple sentences, i.e. those containing
only a main verb, a subject, and a complement.
1.6 Definition of Key Terms Negation : an expression of denial,
cancellation, disavowal or prohibition.
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