Shifts and Naturalness: A Case Study of Sura Ya'sin

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to study the Zwart’s comparative model of shifts and Nida’s naturalness applied in Persian to English translations of the Holy Qur’an. To achieve the purpose of the research, after considering the historical background related to this study, the researchers selected three English translations of the Holy Qur’an by Saffarzadeh (2005), Pickthall (1930) and Yusuf Ali (1977). As a next step, the first thirty verses of sura “Ya'sin” were considered and the Persian verses were contrasted with their English renderings. Then 51 shift cases were identified, and based on the Zwart’s comparative model of shifts, the number of naturalness were classified. Finally, the frequency of shift cases and naturalness were calculated. Based on the obtained results, the researchers concluded that the highest number of applying the shifts belongs to Pickthall with 21 cases. Furthermore, the most frequent naturalness found belongs to Saffarzadeh, which is exactly 47.54% of the total occurrence of the naturalness. The data were analyzed by ANOVA and Spearman’s Correlation test and its significance at the level zero; therefore, there is not any direct effect between these two factors i.e., Zwart’s comparative model of shifts and naturalness applied in Persian to English translations.