3. 4 English Lexemes7 Components
C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6
Wash O O O O + O
Soak - O - - + -
Rinse O O - - + O
Bathe O O - - O O
Definitions & Examples
• Wash: to cleanse by water in order to remove
something, such as dirt/soap …etc.
“Rinse the cloth again in warm water and wash the
soap off”
“The cleaning lady washed the vegetables with
water and soap”
• Br. album title: “Wash the Sins Not Only the
Face”
• Journal: “To anoint and wash, to pray to Thee in
secret”
• Soak: to leave something in liquid, especially in
order to clean it, make it softer, or change flavor
• “You can usually soak out a stain”
• Rinse: to use water to clean the soap or dirt from
something
• “The girl rinsed her hair thoroughly after
washing it with the shampoo”
• Bathe: to wash in a liquid (such as water)
• “When we bathe, the soap along with the dirt
dissolves in the water.”
• Or to cover something in a way that causes a
pleasant feeling or appearance
• “The sun bathes the city in shades”
• C1: To remove soap using water
• C2: To remove material dirt using water
• C3: To remove spiritual dirt using water
• C4: To perform ritual ablution using water
• C5: To douse sth/sb with water
• C6: Human
4. 5 Arabic Lexemes7 Components
C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6
غسل O O O O + O
شطف O O - - + O
نقع - O - - + -
اغتسل - O O + + +
توضأ - - + + O +
Definitions & Examples
•غسل:الماء باستخدام شئ أي يزيل
•ْهيَدَي َلَسغ:اءَمْالب اَمُهَفَّظَنوَسَو َلاَزَأاَمُهَخ
•هَبنَذ ُهللا لَسغ:َّرههطمنه
شطف:غسل:الماء باستخدام شئ أي يزيل
•فَطشوبّثال:غسله/نظفهبالماء
•«يشطفالصابون آثار كل من للتخلص فائقة بعناية الوجه»
•«يشطف ال بلسم»
•«لمنظف أثر أي من والتخلص ًاجيد الوجه شطف من التأكد يجب
البشرة»
•«قبل الطازجة الخضروات شطف يجباستخدامها»
عَقنالماء في َءَّيشال:أت من به علق ما ّللينح الماء في وضعهوأوساخ ربة
غسله فيسهلوتنظيفه
«الصودا بيكربونات في المالبس انقعي»
«دوني في المالبس انقعي»
اغتسل:الطهارة بقصد البدن جميع على الماء إفاضة
توضأ:الصالة استعدادا األعضاء بعض غسل
•«اَيَّصال ىَلإ ْمُتْمُق اَذإ واُنَمآ َينذَّال اَهُّيَأة َالواُلسْاغَفْيَأَو ْمُكَهُوجُوىَلإ ْمُكَيد
َو قافَرَمْالُواَُسْامْمُكَلُجْرَأَو ْمُكُوسءُربىَلإْنيَبْعَكْال»ۚ
• C1: To remove soap using water
• C2: To remove material dirt using water
• C3: To remove spiritual dirt using water
• C4: To perform ritual ablution using water
• C5: To douse sth/sb with water
• C6: Human
5. C1
To remove
soap using
water
C2
To remove
material
dirt using
water
C3
To remove
spiritual dirt
using water
C4
To
perform
ritual
ablution
using
water
C5
To douse
sth/sb
with water
C6
Human
Wash O O O O + O
Soak - O - - + -
Rinse O O - - + O
Bathe O O O - - O
غسل O O O O + O
شطف O O - - + O
نقع - O - - + -
اغتسل - O O + + +
6. CONCLUSION
DIVERGENT GENERALITY in
English: Wash is the archilexeme
of English lexemes; all English
lexemes are cohyponyms of the
hypernym wash.
• DIVERGENT GENERALITY in
Arabic: غسل is the archilexeme of
Arabic lexemes; ; all Arabic lexemes
are cohyponyms of the hypernym
غسل
Divergent Generality
7. Arabic: Synonyms vs. Collocations
• غسل/شطف
They are defined by the dictionary
and used interchangeably by
corpus examples to seem
synonymous.
• However , C3 and C4 revealed
that they are NOT synonyms.
• شطف does NOT collocate with
توضأ and اغتسل , and is never used
in religious discourses.
8. English-Arabic Synonymy
The analysis shows that wash and غسل, rinse and شطف, soak and نقع are
synonyms. They share ALL the semantic components meant by this study.
They are exact matches of each other.
9. A Translation Loss Due to Cultural Differences
• Translating اغتسل/توضأ have NO
equivalents in English
• Regarding the religious discourse, we
found only “Ablution” in English:
• Not a verb
• A noun in a verbal phrase (perform an
ablution)
• Very general: 6 Components:
• Get rid of EITHER spiritual dirt OR/AND
material dirt
• Wash with EITHER water OR a liquid
• Wash EITHER the whole body OR specific
organs (hands and legs)
10. A Translation Loss Due to Cultural Differences
Although توضأ ،اغتسل are frequently translated wash, for example by الشريف المصحف لطباعة فهد الملك مجمع , they
are NOT synonyms. The six components fail to distinguish them as synonyms because of the religious
differences between Christianity and Islam.
On the one hand, translating them into wash is an acceptable linguistic solution as both of them are
cohyponyms of the hypernym wash. On the other hand, this solution results in a translation loss as the
specific differences between the two cultures and the differences between توضأ ، اغتسلwithin their own culture
are not translated in the general hypernym wash. Wash is very general and does not belong specifically to
religious discourse.
The relationship between the very general hypernym wash and the cohyponyms توضأ ، اغتسلis another
DIVERGENT GENERALITY relationship but across the two languages.
C1
To remove
soap using
water
C2
To remove
material
dirt using
water
C3
To remove
spiritual dirt
using water
C4
To
perform
ritual
ablution
using
water
C5
To douse
sth/sb
with water
C6
Human
Wash O O O O + O
اغتسل - O O + + +
توضأ - - + + O +
11. References
العربية باللغة:
•المعاني.من مسترجعhttp://www.almaany.com
•الشريف المصُف لطباعة فهد الملك مجمع.من مسترجع
http://publications-
img.qurancomplex.gov.sa/?p=44&mushaf_pageno=139&imagewidth=550
English References :
• Biller, Sarah. (2010). Memoir of the Late Hannah Kilham: Chiefly Compiled form her
Journal. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from
https://books.google.com.eg/books?id=berMC1FvkxkC&pg=PA334&lpg=PA334&dq=%22To+ano
int+and+wash,+to+pray+to+Thee+in+secret%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=0H-
oMNGYJ9&sig=_A0mK8opT4rwlJIMAAFfAQgj0g4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj20ofA9MvT
AhUpYZoKHTIZDvAQ6AEIITAA#v=onepage&q=%22To%20anoint%20and%20wash%2C%20
to%20pray%20to%20Thee%20in%20secret%E2%80%9D&f=false
• Cambridge Dictionary Online. Retrieved from http://dictionary.cambridge.org/
• Merriam Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/
