Reference Switching (ILTIFĀT) In Arabic and Its Translation into English: An Intertextual Analysis

One of the remarkable styles in the Arabic language especially in Qur’ānic discourse is reference switching (iltifāt). There are many types of reference switching (iltifāt) such as tense, number, gender, and case. However, the focus of this paper is on one personal reference switching which is the switch from the third person pronoun to the second person pronoun. The data is taken from sūrah al-Baqarah as the source text and its English translation by Ali (2008). This paper is concerned with applying the textual analysis approach which can provide valuable insights on reference switching (iltifāt) in the Qur’ānic discourse, its meaning and its translation into English by Ali. The paper will explore the strategies Ali used in his translation for reference switching from the third to the second person pronoun. In this study, it was found that the English translation is bound to miss important elements of meaning. The study also reveals that intertexuality helps translators identify and derive meaning from the surface features of the text in question by reference to other texts or text features they have previously come across. So in order to fully understand the Qur’ānic verse containing reference switching and render it accurately as possible into English, it is necessary to go through intertextual texts namely, exegeses that refer back to these reference switches like those by Al-Zamakhsharī , Abū-Sucūd , Al-Alūsī and others.