Figurative Language in The English translation of surah Al-Baqarah by M. Marmaduke Pickthall

ABSTRACT

This study investigates meanings involved in the English translation of surah Al-Baqarah by M. Marmaduke Pickthall through figurative language. Figurative language means a way of saying something other than the literal meaning of the words. It discusses about meaning which is different from the literal interpretation. It is supported by the theory which said that figurative or imaginative language is the sentences fall outside the domain of normal literal language (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980: 53). Figurative language according to M.H. Abrahams, is a deviation from what speakers of language apprehend as the ordinary, or standard, significance or sequence of words, in order to achieve some special meaning of effect (Abrahams, 1981: 45).

The objective of this study is to describe the way of each type of figurative languages which are used in in the English translation of Surah “Al-Baqarah“ by M. Marmaduke Pickthall. This study uses descriptive qualitative approach because this analysis has done something for language research. The data are collected from the English translation by M. Marmaduke Pickthall. This data are analyzed by Dennis’s theory.

The result of this study shows that there are several types of figures of speech in the English translation of surah Al-Baqarah by M. Marmaduke Pickthall. They are simile (similitudo) three times, metaphor four times, metonymy once, climax three times, hyperbole six times, irony once, synecdoche four times, exclamation thirty seven times, apostrophe fifteen times, antithesis once, parenthesis two times, and periphrasis once. So, there are twelve kinds of figures of speech used in the English translation of surah Al-Baqarah by M. Marmaduke Pickthall.

The most dominant figure of speech used is exclamation. The exclamation as the most dominant shows that surah Al-Baqarah containing of confirmation, abjuration, and verification verses descended upon the messenger for rejoinder the disbelievers’ refusal. The result of the types of figuratives language used in the English translation of surah Al-Baqarah by M. Marmaduke Pickthall shows many figures of speech applied accurately. So, the English translation of surah Al- Baqarah by M. Marmaduke Pickthall is more beautiful, understandable, and trustable.