The Relation between Editing and Three Elements in Nida's Translation Theory (the Case of Quranic Translations)

Eugene Nida is one of the pioneer theorists of translation and linguistics who in his translation theory, introduced in his book Towards a Science of Translation, has mentioned elements in the translation processcomprising of "addition, deletion, and alteration". These elements can be evaluated by the editing process at three structural, contentual and technical levels. In the present article, first the similarity of the aforementioned elements in Nida's theory with different editing types is pointed out and then those similar elements are analyzed in Quranic translations to emphasize that Quranic translations also allow for diffident editing types. Therefore, two aims were pursued in this study: first, to show that editing elements and translation elements share similarities in Nida's theory, and secondly these similar elements are applicable to Quranic translations. To carry out this scientific analytical study, the elements of Nida's theory and their relations with different types of editions were investigated in Quranic translations and in three fields: 1. Additions in translation and editing 2. Deletions in translation and editing 3. Alterations in translation and editing. Finally, some of the editorial defects in the translations of the Holy Quran were displayed, that proves the necessity of collaboration between translators and editors so that, for better explication of ayahs, either translators should incorporate editing or consult editors and improve their translation quality through editing.