A CONTRASTIVE STUDY OF TENSE AND ASPECT IN ENGLISH AND ARABIC WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO TRANSLATION

Available from UMI in association with The British Library.; This thesis is the result of a study of tense and aspect in English and Arabic, with special reference to translation. Thus the main focus is made on the analysis of tense and aspect in both languages. As the title foretells, translation is only referred to when and where problems arise or are expected to arise as a result of rendering a temporal expression into another language.; The Introduction points out to the confusion in understanding tense and aspect, and clarifies the reasons for understanding research. It also expounds the misgivings of some equivocatory claims about Arabic, and clarifies the nature of the present research.; Chapter I reviews the most important literature on tense and aspect in English, starting with Murray (1816), ending with Comrie (1985).; Chapter II attempts to give acceptable definitions of tense and aspect, and offers a new approach to the analysis of these categories in English.; Chapter III reviews the available literature on tense and aspect in Arabic, starting with early Arab grammarians like Sibawayh, ending with modern Arab grammarians/linguists as well as old and modern Arabists.; Chapter IV constitutes a philological study of the Arabic verb forms, as viewed by early Arab grammarians--Basrans as well as Kufans--especially as regards their temporal values.; Chapter V clarifies the relation between CA and MSA as well as the particularity of Arabic grammar, while explaining some of its terminology. It, then, suggests a new approach for the analysis of tense and aspect in Arabic.; Chapter VI briefly tackles the controversy over the nature and uses of applied contrastive linguistics, and clarifies the position of the present research. It, then, attempts to construct formal and functional equivalence between English and Arabic, in the expression of tense and aspect.; Chapter VII discusses some of the problems of tense and aspect in translation, and recommends some solutions in the light of the new approach.; Chapter VIII presents a general summary of the whole work, which draws up the general conclusions of the research.