The intricate nature of kināyah and its interaction with other English figures of speech

Abstract

Kināyah is a mode of Arabic rhetoric that is very broad as it entails many functions and multilayered meanings that interface with different English figures of speech. This study sought to investigate the multiple uses and functions of the illusive Arabic figure of speech kināyah and examine how it overlaps with other such English figures of speech as metonymy and euphemism. This study also explores how different translators translated kināyah from Arabic into English. The Componential Analysis Theory (CAT) is adopted to semantically analyze the lexico-semantic features and componential components of kināyah. 17 data samples which revolve around husband and-wife intimate relationship are all taken from the Holy Qur’ān. This study analyzed all the components meaning related to kināyah and made use of the exegetes to support the whole contextual meaning. This study reveals that metonymy cannot be interpretively addressed as kināyah as both figures differ in terms of categorization and function and translating kināyah as euphemism distorts the pragma-semantic meanings it implies. This study suggests that kināyah should be translated as Arabic metonymy (kināyah) to give a clear indication to both English and Arabic users that this mode is particularly different from the English metonymy and therefore kināyah should be treated as an independent figure of speech in the language. Thus, translators should be familiar with the genuine functions of kināyah as it is inaccurately broadly known as metonymy or euphemism in the English studies.