Translation of كاد in the Quran as an Instance of Lexical Gaps

Writings in the field of contrastive analysis make a rich source of classifications and exemplifications concerning the lexical divergences that occur between pairs of languages. Such a state of affairs is not surprising when being familiar with the abundance of lexicographic work implied by the quantitative evaluation of lexical divergences and discrepancies. In other words, it seems obvious that a contrastive lexical study between any given pair of languages shows that many instances of conceptual mismatches occur, and henceforth, the existence of lexical gaps. Of such a nature, where a lexical contrastive work is done, is translation. It is no doubt that translation is not a matter of replacing vocabulary or sentences from one language into another. It is a process of communication which requires the creative reproduction of the translated piece of text. So, a translator has to be fully aware of the conceptual mismatches that exist between languages in order to handle them properly in such a dynamic process. In the present paper, a translation assessment of the Arabic verb of appropinquation كاد in the Quran is attempted with the aim of identifying the various types of lexical items used as its rendition counterparts in English in so far as the meaning would be conveyed happily, and of investigating whether or not translators are aware of the influential role negative particles would play when used along with كاد . By so doing, the researcher will pass his judgment on the various translations used in the study.