Pun in Arabic Classical Rhetoric with Reference to Translation

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to explore the nature and role of the pun in classical Arabic rhetoric. Looking at as a rhetorical device, pun makes Arabic texts (Quranic, poetic and everyday formal expressions) more vivid and their content richer in semantic values. Essential rhetorical differences between Arabic and English in the domain of pun have been dealt with in some detail. These result in ruling out phonologically – oriented rhetorical schemes such as paronomasia from being regarded as a type of pun in Arabic as mentioned by a number of recent rhetorical studies. Arabic pun is seen as a lexical process through which a lexical item is used in a tricky manner creating a deliberate confusion of different senses of the same word. Arabic puns used in Quranic and poetic texts represent a barrier to translatability for they are mostly culture – specific. Suggesting some basic and powerful procedures and techniques for the rendition of Arabic pun into English is also included in the present work.