HOW IMPORTANT IS GRAMMAR

HOW IMPORTANT IS GRAMMAR?

My answer: Grammar is a tool by which words are fixed together to form proper sentences. A translator doesn’t just read the text but he is also influenced by the voice in his head. He has to deliberate on every sentence over and over again till he thinks that he got the sensible and meaningful interpretation. The original text would always remain original and translator cannot bring the same charm in the target language he intends to translate. While translating a classical or pre-classical language one must respect the register of the language as well as the era, which means he must have knowledge of the format of the stories written in those period, researching to see what words were used then, and he has to honestly apply the same meaning whether it is used in the modern context or not. The right context, content or the message will only appear when we chose the right meaning otherwise no amount of expertise in Grammar will help.


Grammar will remain the same for old, new or evolved languages but the main concern is meaning of the vocabularies. There are many grammar books as far as grammar is concerned, but where meaning is concerned majority of people go with the canonical meanings derived by the theologians thus doing injustice to the author and the pre-classical language of the Quran. One cannot confine or fix the vast essence of words to just single meaning. The meaning of the words will not change according to our preconceived context but proper selection of the right meaning will change the entire context and theme of the message. The Arabic language of Quran is pre-classical whose meanings are hard to trace in this modern era. The easiest way to translate is to concentrate on simple prepositions, honoring the meaning of classical vocabularies and then forming the context out of it even if you don’t always respect the commonly held syntax and rhythm.

Always respect the author’s intended message. Parenthesis is dishonesty or distorting the author’s message.