Strategies Used by Translators for Translating Allah’s Names in Holy Quran Based onVan Coillie’s (2006) Model

Translating proper nouns has always been a complicated and critical subject for translators. Like other divine books, the Holy Quran contains lots of nouns especially proper nouns. The present study aimed to investigate the strategies used in translation of proper nouns from Arabic into Persian and English. The sample consisted of 99 Allah’s names (whole sampling), which had been translated by two Persian and two English translators. All items were extracted with the help of an expert with a Ph.D degree in theology. To analyze the data, Van Coillie’s (2006) model was used. The findings revealed that the four translators had used four out of eleven strategies discussed. Saheeh, Makarem and Qomshei had used the strategies differently but Yusuf Ali had used them similarly. Strategies ‘reproduction’ and ‘addition’ were used significantly differently by the translators. Further, English and Iranian translators used these strategies differently. ‘Non translation plus additional explanation’ and ‘replacement of personal name plus additional explanation’ were used by translators in a similar way, and also English and Persian translators used them similarly. ‘Reproduction’ was used by Iranian translators, but never by English ones. Replacement of personal name by a common noun and non-translation plus additional explanation were the most/least frequently used strategy types by translators. These findings were in line with those reported by Farahani (2013). English and Persian translators, students and teachers of translation could benefit from findings in this study.

Strategies Used by Translators for Translating Allah’s Names in Holy Quran Based onVan Coillie’s (2006) Model Keywords:

Proper nouns , translation , translation strategies , Holy Quran , translation of religious texts