Dialogue of Scriptures European Studies in Theology Philosophy and History of Religions Kulwicka Kaminska Online Ebook Texxtbook Full Chapter PDF

Dialogue of Scriptures European
Studies in Theology Philosophy and

History of Religions
Kulwicka-Kaminska
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmeta.com/product/dialogue-of-scriptures-european-studies-in-theology-p
hilosophy-and-history-of-religions-kulwicka-kaminska/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...
Genesis European Studies in Theology Philosophy and

History of Religions Adamczewski
https://ebookmeta.com/product/genesis-european-studies-in-
theology-philosophy-and-history-of-religions-adamczewski/
Exodus Numbers European Studies in Theology Philosophy

and History of Religions Adamczewski
https://ebookmeta.com/product/exodus-numbers-european-studies-in-
theology-philosophy-and-history-of-religions-adamczewski/
Bible Caught in Violence European Studies in Theology

Philosophy and History of Religions Cezary Korzec
(Editor)
https://ebookmeta.com/product/bible-caught-in-violence-european-
studies-in-theology-philosophy-and-history-of-religions-cezary-
korzec-editor/
Catholic Religious Minorities in the Times of

Transformation European Studies in Theology Philosophy
and History of Religions Zowczak
https://ebookmeta.com/product/catholic-religious-minorities-in-
the-times-of-transformation-european-studies-in-theology-
philosophy-and-history-of-religions-zowczak/
Between Construction and Deconstruction of the
Universes of Meaning European Studies in Theology
Philosophy and History of Religions Zareba
https://ebookmeta.com/product/between-construction-and-
deconstruction-of-the-universes-of-meaning-european-studies-in-
theology-philosophy-and-history-of-religions-zareba/
The Gospel of John: A Hypertextual Commentary (European

Studies in Theology, Philosophy and History of
Religions) Bartosz Adamczewski
https://ebookmeta.com/product/the-gospel-of-john-a-hypertextual-
commentary-european-studies-in-theology-philosophy-and-history-
of-religions-bartosz-adamczewski/
Exodus Numbers A Hypertextual Commentary European

Studies in Theology Philosophy and History of Religions
Book 26 Adamczewski
https://ebookmeta.com/product/exodus-numbers-a-hypertextual-
commentary-european-studies-in-theology-philosophy-and-history-
of-religions-book-26-adamczewski/
The Gospel of Matthew A Hypertextual Commentary

European Studies in Theology Philosophy and History of
Religions Book 16 Adamczewski
https://ebookmeta.com/product/the-gospel-of-matthew-a-
hypertextual-commentary-european-studies-in-theology-philosophy-
and-history-of-religions-book-16-adamczewski/
The Archparadox of Death Martyrdom as a Philosophical

Category European Studies in Theology Philosophy and
History of Religions Dariusz Karlowicz
https://ebookmeta.com/product/the-archparadox-of-death-martyrdom-
as-a-philosophical-category-european-studies-in-theology-
philosophy-and-history-of-religions-dariusz-karlowicz/
Dialogue of Scriptures
EUROPEAN ST UDIES IN THEOLOGY,
PHILOSOPHY AND HISTORY OF RELIGIONS
Edited by Bartosz Adamczewski
VOL. 19
Joanna Kulwicka-Kamińska
Dialogue of Scriptures
The Tatar Tefsir in the Context of Biblical
and Qur’anic Interpretations
Bibliographic Information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the internet at
http://dnb.d-nb.de.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Biblical and Quranic interpretations / Joanna Kulwicka-Kaminska.
Description: Berlin ; New York : Peter Lang, [2018] | Series: European studies in
theology, philosophy and history of religions, ISSN 2192-1857 ;
vol. 19 | Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018042906 | ISBN 9783631675946 (Print) |
ISBN 9783653069174 (E-PDF) | ISBN 9783631709948 (EPUB) |
ISBN 9783631709955 (MOBI)
Subjects: LCSH: Quran--Translating. | Quran--Versions, Polish. |
Qur’an--Hermeneutics. | Islam--Terminology. | Bible--Translating--Lithuania
(Grand Duchy) | Bible--Versions, Polish. | Bible--Commentaries--History and
criticism. | Tatars--Lithuania (Grand Duchy) | Islam--Relations--Christianity. |
Polish language--Religious aspects--Islam. | Polish language--Religious
aspects--Christianity.
Classification: LCC BP131.15.P6 K85 2018 | DDC 220.5/91851--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018042906
This publication was financed by the Faculty of Languages of

the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń.
Translators: Andrzej Rubaszewski and Arkadiusz Zwolski

Proofreading: Szymon Matusiak, Kevin Rayner and Magdalena Wanot-Miśtura
Cover Design: © Olaf Gloekler, Atelier Platen, Friedberg
ISSN 2192-1857
E-ISBN 978-3-653-06917-4 (E-PDF)

E-ISBN 978-3-631-70994-8 (EPUB)
E-ISBN 978-3-631-70995-5 (MOBI)
DOI 10.3726/978-3-653-06917-4
© Peter Lang GmbH

Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
Berlin 2018
All rights reserved.
Peter Lang – Berlin ∙ Bern ∙ Bruxelles ∙ New York ∙

Oxford ∙ Warszawa ∙ Wien
All parts of this publication are protected by copyright. Any

utilisation outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without
the permission of the publisher, is forbidden and liable to
prosecution. This applies in particular to reproductions,
translations, microfilming, and storage and processing in
electronic retrieval systems.
This publication has been peer reviewed.
www.peterlang.com
Contents
Introduction .......................................................................................................... 9
0.1 Theoretical assumptions of the description and the purpose of
the research ..................................................................................................... 11
0.2 Methodological assumptions ...................................................................... 22
0.3 The state of research ..................................................................................... 26
0.4 Why terminology? ........................................................................................ 43
0.5 The selection of source texts ....................................................................... 45
0.6 The description of source texts ................................................................... 52
0.6.1 The 16th-century translations of the Bible into Polish ................. 52
0.6.1.1 Biblia brzeska (1563) ............................................................... 53
0.6.1.2 Biblia nieświeska (1572) ......................................................... 55
0.6.1.3 Biblia Jakuba Wujka (1599) ................................................... 58
0.6.1.4 Biblia gdańska (1632) .............................................................. 59
0.6.2 The Tatar translation literature .......................................................... 60
0.6.2.1 Aetiology ................................................................................... 60
0.6.2.2 Slavic aljamiado ....................................................................... 61
0.6.2.3 The authors and copyists ....................................................... 62
0.6.2.4 The types of the text ............................................................... 64
0.6.2.5 Multilingualism ........................................................................ 68
0.6.2.6 Heterogeneous nature ............................................................ 75
0.6.2.7 The content ............................................................................... 76
0.6.2.8 The Tatar tefsir – the first translation of the Qur’an
into a Slavic language ............................................................. 76
0.6.2.9 The problem of transcription and transliteration ............ 80
0.6.3 Printed Polish translations of the Qur’an ........................................ 84
6 Contents
1 The problems of the translation of the Bible and the

Qur’an .................................................................................................................. 91
1.1 Extra-linguistic factors – the role of the Reformation ....................... 91
1.2 Translation of religious texts of Divine Revelation ............................ 98
1.2.1 Translator’s expertise ........................................................................ 105
1.2.2 The tradition of Biblical translation ............................................... 110
1.2.3 The specificity of Qur’anic translations ........................................ 117
2 The translation of the religious terminology of Islam

into Slavic languages in the monuments of Tatar
literature in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ............................. 121
2.1 Th
e profile of a Tatar translator and the significance of Tatar
translations of the Qur’an into Polish �� 121
2.2 Sources of knowledge. Sources of inspiration ..................................... 124
2.2.1 The Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Religion. Language .................. 124
2.2.2 Education .............................................................................................. 126
2.3 Between faithful and free translation .................................................... 127
2.4 In the circle of European culture. The style of the Bible ................... 148
2.5 C
hristian influences on Tatar manuscript literature in the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania �� 155
2.6 Th
e relationship between Tatar translations and Old Polish
Biblical and Psalter literature and translations of the Bible into
Polish �� 161
2.7 W
ays and methods of rendering the peculiar terminology
of Islam �� 174
2.8 Th
e degree of adaptation of foreign proper names in the light
of the research �� 193
2.9 Th
e impact of Tatar translations on the development and
standardization of the Polish language �� 196
2.10 Th
e north-eastern borderland variety of Polish in translation
literature of the Tatars of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania �� 198
Contents 7
3 The translation of Islamic religious terminology

into the Polish language in printed translations
of the Qur’an ................................................................................................... 211
3.1 Methods of translation ................................................................................ 211
3.2 Collocations – the extent of the faithfulness to the original text ..... 235
3.3 A comparison of modern translations of the Qur’an into
Polish on the basis of the example of the translation of Islamic
religious terminology .................................................................................. 248
3.4 The distinctiveness of the translation of the Vilnius Philomaths
compared with other translations of the Qur’an .................................. 253
3.5 A comparison of Tatar religious literature and the translation
by the Vilnius Philomaths on the basis of the example of the
translation of Islamic religious terminology .......................................... 260
4 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 267
Bibliography ........................................................................................................ 287

Literature of the subject and the abbreviations of source texts ................ 287
Other sources of excerption .............................................................................. 288
Etymological dictionaries and dictionaries of the Polish language ......... 288
Dictionaries of foreign languages .................................................................... 290
Thematic dictionaries .......................................................................................... 290
Concordancies ....................................................................................................... 291
Non-Polish literature of the subject ................................................................. 292
Polish literature of the subject .......................................................................... 302
Websites ................................................................................................................. 366
Index of Slavic words and phrases ....................................................... 367
Index of Oriental words and phrases ................................................. 399
Index of proper names .................................................................................. 403

Introduction
…it is difficult for us to recall that heretofore we and our

children have been praising God in a language which
is unintelligible to us, and we do not use the language
which was spoken by our fathers for so many centuries
[…] it makes us sad that our writings, texts and various
worship services heretofore have been concealed in
a language that we do not understand. It is time to
wake up from our ignorance […] from now on we will
pronounce the words of the Maker revealed by his
messenger in our mother tongue, the language which is
peculiar to us.
(J. Sobolewski, Wykład wiary machometańskiej czyli

iślamskiej, Wilno 1830, Preface, p. III)
Who are the people who forgot the language of their forefathers and the language
of their worship services, and whose mother tongue became Slavic languages
(Polish and Belorussian)?
For 620 years, the areas of present-day Lithuania, north-eastern Poland, Belarus
and a part of Ukraine, i.e. the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) have been inhab-
ited by the Tatar people, who represent the Sunni branch of Islam. The material
and spiritual heritage of their culture is constituted by religious books in which
the Polish and the Belorussian language used the Arabic script. These books: tef-
sirs, kitabs, chamails, tejwids and smaller forms of writing which performed the
function of amulets, conceal under the garb of the Arabic script content which is
intelligible for Slavs. Tatar religious literature is a genuine cultural phenomenon.
It combines the culture of Islam with the tradition of Muslim mysticism – Sufism,
Christian culture and with the folk beliefs and customs of Slavic peoples: the
Polish, Lithuanian and Belorussian people. This conglomerate of various types of
content sets the Tatars of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania1 apart from the rest of the
1 In this work, I use the term the Tatars of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) –
after C. Łapicz, Kitabistyka a historia języka polskiego i białoruskiego. Wybrane
zagadnienia, „Rocznik Slawistyczny” LVII, 2008, p. 38, and A. Gadomski, C. Łapicz,
Teolingwistyka: historia, stan współczesny, perspektywy……, [in:] Chrestomatia teo-
lingwistyki, eds. A. Gadomski, C. Łapicz, Symferopol 2008–2009, p. 45 – cf. “For
a long time, researchers – especially historians and philologists (linguists) – dis-
cussed the most suitable way to refer to the creators of religious writings i.e. »our«
10 Introduction
world of Islam in a significant way, and it constitutes an important factor of their

self-identification.
The writings of the Tatar ethnic group are also testimony of the existence of a
phenomenon which was unique in the history of Europe – the Commonwealth of
Poland and Lithuania. The union of a number of peoples within the framework of
the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was realized five centuries before the contempo-
rary European Union and it continues to constitute a unique example of peaceful
coexistence of many ethnicities, cultures and religions. Since the 14th century the
Tatar settlers, who represented a type of inclusive culture – open to external cul-
tural influences – associated their future with the lands of the Duchy. They brought
to the “Christian world” a new religion, a different culture and language, a dif-
ferent tradition and different values. In the course of time, probably already in the
second half of the 16th century, they ceased to speak dialects derived from the
Kipchak group of Turkish languages, and began to use Slavic languages – Polish
and Belorussian. They also were unable to use actively the liturgical language,
Arabic, which performs in the Muslim world a function which is analogous to that
of Latin in Medieval Europe. Therefore, in order to maintain their separate ethnic
and cultural identity, which was identified already by the 16th century exclusively
through Islam, educated Tatar people, who usually maintained a contact with the
Muslim East, began to create religious literature in Slavic languages, written by
means of the Arabic script.
This literature emerged in the conditions of voluntary, unforced Slavicization
and gradual Christianization, which without doubt contributed to the fact that the
Tatars developed a translation of the Qur’an into a European language – the third
translation of this kind in the world, and the first translation into a Slavic language
(i.e. Polish). This translation was called a tefsir. In the world of Islam, tafsirs are
known as commentaries on the Qur’an, whereas among the Tatars of the GDL the
term “tefsir” refers to comprehensive manuscripts which contain the complete text
of the Qur’an with an intralinear translation into Polish, enhanced by an exeget-
ical layer. It was developed in the period of the Reformation, at a time when the
Bible was being translated into national languages. Thus, it constitutes a part of the
European Biblical translation tradition as far as the methods of translation and the
translatorial solutions which were embraced are concerned. Moreover, it continues
the Muslim exegetical tradition, which was accessible to the Tatars of the GDL in
Muslims (Tatars); various attributes were attached to these people: Lithuanian,

Polish, Belorussian, Polish-Lithuanian, Lithuanian-Polish etc. None of these terms
represented the genesis of the Tatar settlements in the lands of the Grand Duchy of
Lithuania or the diversified present-day situation. Nowadays, the term which is most
frequently used is the one which is legitimate in terms of history, i.e. the Tatars of
the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, for the Grand Duke Witold initiated and developed
the settlements of Oriental (Turkic) tribes in the regions of Wilno (Vilnius) and Troki
(Trakai).”
Theoretical assumptions 11
the form of inter alia Turkish tefsirs. Therefore, it is an unfamiliar, new and original
source for the history of the translation of sacred books.
“The historical complexity of the Lithuanian-Polish Tatars as well as the ethnic and
cultural diversity of this group may be [therefore] synthesized in the following
way: A Tatar from Lithuania, who spoke a Belorussian or Polish language [dialect],
and who considered himself a Pole, an adherent of the Muslim tradition who used the
Arabic alphabet”2.
Who were the Tatar translators of Muslim religious books? What inspired them?
What sources did they use? How and by what means did they translate the Arabic
Qur’anic terminology into a Slavic language? Why is the translation of the Qur’an
into a national language, the third translation of this kind in Europe, not familiar
and accessible to researchers who represent various branches of scholarship? Did
the Tatars of the GDL violate the ban on the translation of the holy book of Islam?
The present monograph constitutes an attempt at answering these and associ-
ated questions.
0.1 Theoretical assumptions of the description

and the purpose of the research
The researchers of the manuscript religious literature of the Tatars of the GDL3
postulate the demonstration of the language of the Tatar translations against the
background of the medieval and Renaissance literature (psalters, prayers, songs,
translations of the Bible and religious-polemic writings, especially 16th-century
ones)4.
The object of research which they indicate also involves the placement of
the Tatar translation writings, especially of the translation of the Qur’an into
Slavic languages5, in the context of the anti-Trinitarian literature of the Polish
Reformation. However, the influence of the Reformation on the aetiology of Tatar
2 C. Łapicz, Kitab Tatarów litewsko-polskich. (Paleografia. Grafia. Język), Toruń 1986,

pp. 32–33.
3 The notions religious literature and religious writings are treated synonymously,
which is in keeping with the principles adopted in historical and linguistic works
in which the term religious literature refers not only to belles-lettres, but also to all
linguistic monuments.
4 A. Drozd, Arabskie teksty liturgiczne w przekładzie na język polski XVII wieku.
Zagadnienia gramatyczne na materiale chutb świątecznych, Warszawa 1999, pp.
178–179.
5 The language layer of Tatar manuscripts in the GDL consists of Oriental and Slavic
languages – the north-eastern borderland variety of Polish and/or Belorussian
dialects.
12 Introduction
religious literature is recognized as a separate area of study6. It has also been

shown that despite emerging treatises, studies and monographs, as well as source
publications devoted to the history of the Tatars and Islam in Poland, the whole
sphere of the material culture, spirituality and religion of the Tatars and their rich
literature – their manuscript legacy – still remains to be examined, both in its his-
torical and linguistic aspects7, as there is no work that deals with these issues in a
monographic and synthetic way.
The importance of the Tatar literature is considerable, because, on the one hand,
it shows the relationship between the multi-faceted culture of Poland and the Islamic
world, whereas on the other hand, it is an important source for conducting philolog-
ical research, because it contains layers of unexplored grammar and vocabulary of the
north-eastern borderland variety of Polish (“polszczyzna północnokresowa” in Polish)
dating from the 16th to the 20th centuries.
Tatar literature also comprehensively illustrates the ways and methods of
Slavicization – Polonization and Belorussization – of Orientalisms (especially
Arabisms and Turkisms)8. Furthermore, it constitutes invaluable material to
observe the processes of interference and transference within the Slavic languages
and contacts of Slavs with the Orient at all levels of language: graphical and spell-
ing-related, phonetic and phonological, lexical and semantic, as well as grammat-
ical levels9. Finally, it is a basis for interdisciplinary research, such as linguistic,
historical, ethnographic, religious studies, etc.10
6 P. Suter, Alfurkan Tatarski. Der litauisch-tatarische Koran-Tefsir, Köln–Weimar–Wien

2004, p. 539.
7 Cf. A. Kołodziejczyk, Rozprawy i studia z dziejów Tatarów litewsko-polskich i islamu
w Polsce w XVII–XX wieku, Siedlce 1997, p. 5.
8 A. Gadomski, C. Łapicz, op. cit., p. 49. Cf. J. Kulwicka-Kamińska, Kształtowanie się
polskiej terminologii islamistycznej, doctoral thesis, Nicolaus Copernicus University
in Toruń, Toruń 2001 (digital version), p. 2. In the book, the term Qur’anism (a
term created by analogy to Biblism) is used – a word of both Oriental and non-
Oriental origin that occurs in the religious literature of the Tatars of the GDL and/
or in the Qur’anic translations and in the lexical system of the Polish language in
a religious sense – cf. I. Kończak, Kształtowanie się rosyjskiej terminologii islamisty-
cznej na podstawie czterech rosyjskich przekładów Koranu, Łódź 2011, p. 64. Cf. the
term Biblism – J. Godyń, Od Adama i Ewy zaczynać. Mały słownik biblizmów języka
polskiego, Kraków–Warszawa 1995, p. 7, and W. Chlebda, Библия в языке – язык
в Библии, [in:] Problemy frazeologii europejskiej II. Frazeologia a religia, eds. A. M.
Lewicki, W. Chlebda, Warszawa 1997, pp. 67–74, as well as K. Długosz-Kurczabowa,
Szkice z dziejów języka religijnego, Warszawa 2007, pp. 155–156.
9 C. Łapicz, Kitab Tatarów litewsko-polskich…, pp. 219–220.
10 A. Gadomski, C. Łapicz, op. cit., p. 42; also I. Radziszewska, Chamaiły Tatarów
Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego jako teksty religijne i źródła filologiczne, [in:]
Chrestomatia teolingwistyki…, p. 227, who says that monuments of Lithuanian-Polish
Muslims constitute valuable material for linguistic studies, both for Orientalists
and Slavists. On the basis of these texts, it is possible “to trace changes in Oriental
It arose, as has already been mentioned, in a multicultural and multilingual Grand

Duchy of Lithuania, in a community of Muslims who coexisted with Christians.
This condition had an effect on the multilayered genetic structure of Tatar creative
output, on the presence of geographically and chronologically diversified features
of the north-eastern borderland variety of Polish and Belorussian, on the connec-
tion of the literature of the Tatars of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with Renaissance
translations of the Bible into Polish, and at the same time on the Qur’anic translation
tradition in the form, among others, of Turkish tefsirs. Moreover, it is possible to dem-
onstrate common features of Tatar writings and Biblical and Psalter literature of the
Middle Ages.
The purpose of this thesis is to present, in the most comprehensive manner pos-
sible, the ways of rendering Arabic lexis and phraseology11 into Slavic languages,
including the adaptation of Arab and Turkish grammatical and lexical forms to the
grammatical and lexical system of those languages, as well as showing methods of
translation used by different translators, and also methods of transformation of the
original12, such as simplifications, reductions (e.g. ellipsis, anacolutha), amplifications,
univerbizations, descriptions, substitutions, and so forth. Therefore, the task of this
work is to identify language mechanisms which influence new Polish Muslim ter-
minology with regard to the denomination of Allah13 and pagan gods, angels, holy
books, prophets, and the Day of Judgement. This study will serve to identify vocab-
ulary and phraseology used in translated texts, or observation of the denomination
process – giving names to certain concepts and phenomena (designata), positioning
them, creating specific views of the world, and capturing new terminology in statu
nascendi. Its aim is also to show and provide documentation of the specific lexis, emer-
ging from the analyzed text, peculiar to the Polish Muslims and vocabulary that is
shared by adherents of Islam and Christianity.
In connection with this, an attempt was made to discuss the phenomenon of
adequate translation of Muslim religious terminology, contained in the semantic
languages which were under the influence of the Slavic environment, to observe the
development and changes in the language of the Borderlands over the centuries, and
also complete the image of the Belorussian and Polish literary languages.”
11 Combinations manifesting various degrees of semantic lexicalization of components
were taken into account. From this point of view, idiomatic expressions may consti-
tute not only idioms, but also loose word combinations.
12 Cf. Л. С. Бархударов, Язык и перевод, Москва 1975, and A. Drozd’s postulates in
this context – cf. op. cit., p. 10.
13 Allah is the first, unique and most important name of God in Islam, which according
to Muslim exegetes should not be translated or replaced by any other word. Hence,
translations of the Qur’an for Muslims retain as a rule the original form of the name
(cf. the Tatar tefsir and WzK – the name is used interchangeably with the denom-
ination God, K3). In this study, the Qur’anic proper name Allah is used in order to
identify and indicate the unique features of the Absolute, in which Muslims believe.
14 Introduction
field of tenets of Islam14, into Slavic languages (i.e. to convey Islamic concepts in
languages from different cultures) in Tatar manuscript monuments in the Grand
Duchy of Lithuania as well as in Polish printed translations of the Qur’an in com-
parison with Biblical terminology. The purpose of such comparison is to determine
the potential scope of influence of translations of the Bible on the Tatar trans-
lated texts, as well as on Polish printed translations of the Qur’an. In fact, one of
the main tasks of this monograph is to identify to what extent qualitative lexical
and phraseological resources present in Tatar translations15 are shared with or are
different from the vocabulary that can be found in Bible translations and Biblical
and Psalter literature, and so to show the relation between Muslim religious ter-
minology and the already existing Polish Christian terminology. The aim of the
monograph is also to indicate the extent to which the doctrinal distinctiveness
of Islam and Christianity is reflected in the lexis and phraseology used by Polish
Muslims, thus, indicating differences in the understanding of the same formal lex-
ical items16. Having set such a task, it is essential to provide documentation, to ana-
lyze and describe Polish Muslim terminology, referring to the constitutive Islamic
doctrinal concepts. Moreover, Christian religious vocabulary is included only to
the extent that it constitutes a common and suprareligious core terminology of
different faiths or a point of reference for the Muslim vocabulary.
Thus, the research procedure included examining the vocabulary and phrase-
ology of translations of the Qur’an and Polish Bible translations, preceding them
chronologically17. As a result, it is possible to determine the degree of specificity,
14 In order to present this issue in the most complete manner possible – by analogy –
the search for adequate equivalence in translations of the Qur’an into Russian is also
indicated (cf. I. Kończak, Kształtowanie się rosyjskiej terminologii islamistycznej…).
A discussion of the translation of vocabulary representative for the pillars of Islam,
its rituals etc. is beyond the scope of this paper and may be considered only a
research postulate.
15 In the theory of translation, the traditional terms przekład (translation) and
tłumaczenie (translation) are synonymous and they mean both “the process and its
result – a text”, while the more recent term translacja (translation) refers only to the
“process”. In this study, these terms are used interchangeably, in the sense of “the
process and its result”, because such use is acceptable and widely adopted in the
works on translation of religious texts – especially the Bible and the Qur’an.
16 A lexical item is considered a word, a phrase (expression) or a descriptive term of
an overall meaning, but in relation to the Muslim religion. The classical concept
of meaning is adopted, so it was concluded that “language signs, as lexical items,
refer to fragments of reality (categories of phenomena) recognized and organized by
human cognitive consciousness” – cf. R. Grzegorczykowa, Wprowadzenie do seman-
tyki językoznawczej, Warszawa 2001, pp. 18–19. Such a concept of a linguistic item
also allows us to recognize semantic derivatives as new items.
17 Vocabulary and phraseology play an important role in the structure of literary
genres, that is in the linguistic and stylistic form of a work or an entire genre.
Phraseological elements may be characterized by special stylistic properties – they
originality and specific distribution of Slavic equivalents of the initial text etc. of
analyzed translations, and to present lexical dependency relationships between
translations of the Bible and Qur’anic translations, and therefore, to indicate their
typical features and the distinctive features of individualistic translators. The taking
into account of a comparative background gave the basis to show the relationship
between the Tatar and later translations of the Qur’an and West-European Biblical
studies, including the Polish tradition of translating. As a comparative background
there Polish Bible translations of the 16th and 17th centuries were adopted, both
Protestant and Catholic ones, as well as one 20th-century Catholic translation
known as Biblia Tysiąclecia (Millennium Bible)18. Some Bible concordances were
also used. The treatment of these issues is accompanied by a stylistic analysis of
collected denominations, that is, their choice and functioning both within the
translated text as well as in the intertextual relation and the pursuit of the rules in
this regard. The style of translation is conditioned, among other things, by the fact
that Arabic texts of prayer are at the same time literary works. In the case of the
Qur’an and prayers, Tatar translators came into contact with a form of rhythmic
and rhymed prose which is unusual in reference to Polish literature – known as
saǧ‘19. Their role was therefore to render also the formal layer of the original, that
is, rhythmic and rhymed prose. They were, in fact, texts meant not only for readers
but also for listeners20.
The lexical resources of the translations have also been confronted with the
lexis collected from Polish lexicographical sources, both historical and modern21;
hence the discussion is accompanied by a lexicographical analysis of the terms
presented in the monograph. Discussion of such issues would be inadequate or
impossible without reference to the linguistic background: north borderland Polish
and the standard Polish language. The result of this is the introduction, in addition
to the basic immanent description, of comparative elements that show parallels
between the Tatar translations and later translations and the language of Polish
religious and secular literature are included.
The work has also become a part of the current research into the lexis and
phraseology of the Polish Reformation. It shows the development of Muslim
specify the semantic range of the words of which they are composed. New meanings
or shades of meanings are often combined with them.
18 Cf. the list and description of source texts of the present monograph together with
the list of abbreviations, pp. [287–288] in this monograph.
19 The features of this genre of prose are discussed among others by A. Drozd, Arabskie
teksty liturgiczne…, p. 10 and p. 72. The problems associated with the translation of
Qur’anic surahs on the example of the XCII surah, are also indicated by W. P. Turek,
Od Gilgamesza do Kasydy. Poezja semicka w oryginale i w przekładzie, Kraków 2010,
pp. 237–262.
20 Cf. A. Drozd, Arabskie teksty liturgiczne…, p. 25.
21 Cf. the list of lexicographical sources, pp. [288–291] in this monograph.
16 Introduction
terminology in its structural and pragmatic aspects, i.e. taking into consideration
its historical and cultural background.
This kind of description implements the most important and necessary research
procedures used in the study of religious vocabulary, namely: 1. semantic focus in
the analyses, and 2. the inclusion of elements of the pragmatic level22.
The starting point for the discussion has to do with Polish entries that make
up the lexicon of selected translations of the Qur’an. According to the author, the
most representative linguistic items for the tenets of Islam were analyzed, namely
these words that substitute nomina appellativa and nomina propria (the traditional
division of the names in the lexical system of any natural language)23 of the original
text. Their choice is therefore to some extent arbitrary. These include autoseman-
tic parts of speech such as nouns, adjectives and participles24, as well as nominal
compounds/phrases (expressions), i.e. items of a higher order, which also enjoy
semantic and syntactic autonomy. This choice is dictated, among others, by the
high rank of noun lexemes which, although they are not numerous in translated
texts, due to extension are considered to be dominant lexical features25. Therefore,
they can be characterized by the greatest extent of semantic explicitness, expressed
by the relation lexeme-designatum or designatum-lexeme26. With this feature,
22 I. Winiarska, Słownictwo religijne polskiego kalwinizmu od XVI do XVIII wieku na tle

terminologii katolickiej, Warszawa 2004, p. 65.
23 This division is also used in descriptions in the Polish language, and here the
boundary between these classes of names is vague. If we analyze this issue from a
diachronic perspective, it is clear that this border is also fluid i.e., some words in cer-
tain circumstances renounce their own characteristics and acquire features specific
to the opposite class, i.e., they move from one class to another – after K. Długosz-
Kurczabowa, Jeszcze raz o apelatywizacji biblijnych nazw własnych, [in:] Chrestomatia
teolingwistyki…, p. 123.
24 According to A. Lenartowicz-Zagrodna, „Eklezjastes” Hieronima z Wielunia (1522).
Transliteracja i transkrypcja. Monografia języka, Łódź 2011, p. 241: “The translator
enhanced the adjectival and nominal vocabulary the most because there the factor
k increases in relation to the Latin text by 0.91 and 0.45, respectively.” She also notes
that the Polish translation is richer in the number of text/content words than the
Vulgate, and “the largest number of additions includes a group of pronouns, preposi-
tions and conjunctions, a total of approx. 335, as well as nouns (approx. 120)” – cf.
p. 242.
25 T. Lisowski, Sola Scriptura. Leksyka Nowego Testamentu Biblii Gdańskiej (1632) na tle
porównawczym. Ujęcie kwantytatywno-dystrybucyjne, Poznań 2010, p. 85.
26 Ibidem, p. 60. Moreover, the author of the monograph adds that “This property of
Polish nouns in the Biblical translation text that is the 15th-c. part of the Psałterz
floriański was noticed by M. Cybulski, who writes that »Therefore, on the whole,
nouns do not require extended Polish synonymy. Exceptions include words which
refer to actions, states, products of actions and features«” – cf. M. Cybulski, Analiza
statystyczna słownictwa piętnastowiecznej części „Psałterza floriańskiego”, „Rozprawy
Komisji Językowej ŁTN” XXXIX, 1994, p. 23.
which distinguishes them from other autosemantic words, one may understand
better the arbitrary decisions that were taken by translators in the selection of
Polish lexical substitutions which are equivalents of the original text27.
The analysis of denominations that occur in translated texts also plays an
important role in the presentation of the development of the language, and its
saturation with abstract vocabulary, which develops and differentiates a little
later than specific vocabulary related to the realities of everyday life28. It is known
that the vocabulary of the Polish language (especially in the 16th century when
the first translations of the holy books of Islam and Christianity came into exis-
tence) was poorer (in certain areas) than the language of the Bible and the Qur’an.
Furthermore, from a formal point of view, nominal compounds/phrases (expres-
sions) constitute about 30% of Biblisms, or one-third of collocations of Biblical
provenance29.
Whereas adjectives constitute an autosemantic part of speech, which compared
to nouns, occur much less frequently, both in the lexicon, and in the analyzed
translations. Polish translations of the Qur’an are also characterized by less diver-
sity of adjectives in comparison with the original, because an Arabic adjective used
in a text can undergo substantivization. Therefore, a noun can be the Polish equiv-
alent of an adjective which is contextually converted in such a way. And the Polish
equivalents of some verbal, and especially nominal forms, in the original text may
be adjectival participles, which according to the principle adopted in Słownik pol-
szczyzny XVI wieku (SPolXVI) (they are subject to the inflection of nouns, although
they are grammatical forms of verbs) are considered separate entries in this work30.
Therefore, the scope of the work is limited by both the source material or lex-
ical and phraseological resources provided by the researched texts, as well as by
an arbitrary choice (based on contextual meanings) of the extensive exemplifica-
tive material of the vocabulary used for a thorough examination of the phenom-
enon of the translating of Muslim religious terminology. A file was formed from
this material, which includes representative vocabulary of the tenets of Islam. All
27 T. Lisowski, Sola Scriptura…, p. 60.

28 Ibidem, pp. 438–443; M. Cybulski, Staropolskie przekłady psałterza, „Rozprawy
Komisji Językowej ŁTN” XLI, Brochure 2, Łódź 1996, p. 77.
29 Verbal compounds (phrases) are predominant – about 55%, phrases (proverbs, say-
ings) constitute about 15% of all Biblisms – cf. T. Z. Orłoś, Skrzydlate słowa pochodze-
nia biblijnego w języku czeskim i polskim, [in:] Problemy frazeologii europejskiej II…,
p. 124. According to J. Godyń, op. cit., p. 10 and p. 13, “in the modern Polish literary
language, in its various varieties, there are 36 words and about 330 phrasemes of
Biblical origin […]. It is significant that more than half of Biblisms of the Modern
standard Polish language already had such a status in the standard language of the
16th and 17th centuries; a much smaller part of them entered the standard language
in the 19th century. This is due to the wave of Bible translations into Polish which
appeared in the period of the Reformation in Poland.”
30 Cf. T. Lisowski, Sola Scriptura…, p. 59 and p. 64.
18 Introduction
possible places where an entity can have textual attestations were the object of
observation. This concerns also those words or expressions which belong to the
category of hapax legomenon – they have only a single textual attestation in the
printed translations of the Qur’an and selected monuments of Tatar literature in
the GDL. The focus of the research also had to do with vocabulary that “creates the
sacred space” of the studied religious texts. The lexis here can be characterized by
a fairly large scope of meaning and semantic capacity, and its common or different
semantic and functional components reveal themselves only in a broader context.
It is essential that formally identical terms, e.g. an angel, a prophet, have a different
range of meanings for followers of different religions who speak the same national
language. Hence, as it is stated by I. Winiarska: “Only a contextual analysis, which
takes into consideration a broad pragmatic background, enables us to reconstruct
the meaning of those religious terms that became relative”31. The issues discussed
in the book are illustrated with abundant sample material. It had been collected for
many years and compiled in the form of a dictionary32. This dictionary became a
basis for conducting further research, and its results are presented in this mono-
graph. The dictionary contains five chapters corresponding to the five basic tenets
of Islam, namely: 1. Belief in only one God, 2. Belief in angels, 3. Belief in the holy
books: the Torah, the Gospel and the Qur’an, 4. Belief in God’s messengers (from
Adam to Muhammad), 5. Belief in the Day of the Last Judgement33. Within each
chapter the terms representative of each of the tenets are discussed, excerpted
from the monuments of religious literature of Lithuanian-Polish Muslims and
Polish printed translations of the Qur’an. At the same time, the following presen-
tation of the material was adopted: a short description of each tenet with a list of
its representative terms, arranged in alphabetical order with their history in the
Polish language, contextual meanings in translated texts and their confrontation
as well as comparison in terms of semantics with the Hebrew, Greek and Arabic
bases of translation. These chapters have therefore the form of a dictionary with
entries arranged in alphabetical order34. It includes autosemantic parts of speech,
and therefore, nouns, adjectives and participles, as well as nominal compounds/
phrases (expressions). A headword (a compound component of complete meaning)
is brought to its basic form, that is to Nom. sg for the noun, and Nom. sg m. for
the adjective and particle. Phraseological items are given with the main expression
recognized as the centre of an idiomatic expression (in the case of expressions, it
31 I. Winiarska, Słownictwo religijne polskiego kalwinizmu…, p. 64.

32 A large body of exemplificative material was recorded on an electronic medium,
a CD, and was attached to the Polish edition of the monograph entitled Przekład
terminologii religijnej islamu w polskich tłumaczeniach Koranu na tle biblijnej tradycji
translatorycznej, Toruń 2013. There is a plan to publish the material in paper form.
This book is the revised, expanded and updated version of the Polish edition.
33 Cf. J. Danecki, Podstawowe wiadomości o islamie, Warszawa 2007, p. 104.
34 This is consistent with contemporary lexicography and paremiography – cf. J. Godyń,
op. cit., p. 25.
is a described noun) in such a syntactic form (word order) in which they appeared
in the text. Two options are given in the case of a variable word order. Thus, the
entry comprises:
1. A headword and a list of phrasemes in which it is the centre35.
2. Dictionary documentation36, namely:
– the state of attestations of selected lexical items with an attempt to establish
their degree of universality (When were they first recorded? Do they appear in
other texts of the period or only in studied translations?).
– the status of specified lexical items in the Polish Biblical and secular language
(with reference to the genetic qualifier – the Bible, especially in historical dic-
tionaries of the Polish language).
– explanation of the meanings of the analyzed items37 (with particular atten-
tion to their primary (Biblical) significance, as well as with an indication
35 The order of entries has been adopted in accordance with the chronology of transla-
tions, and so first a list of corresponding words used in Tatar translation is given, in
alphabetical order, and then a list of equivalents which occur in Polish printed trans-
lations of the Qur’an (KB1 and KB2, while as an exception some peculiar denomi-
nations from K3 are cited). Lexical or phraseological equivalents of Arabic etyma
which were excerpted from Tatar translations are quoted by means of the transcribed
or transliterated form used by researchers of the literature of Lithuanian-Polish
Muslims. This also has its negative side because in works in the field of kitabistics the
most common practice is to use original systems of transcription and transliteration
elaborated on an ad hoc basis, which are furnished with a key for interpreting and
specifying (at least approximately) the sound values of transcription signs. In many
cases, this makes the identification of terms and names which have the same Arabic
etymology but which are differently transliterated or transcribed in different works
difficult or even impossible. However, such a solution was adopted due to the fact
that the phonetic nuances are not necessary for research in the field of lexicology
and etymology. Therefore, various phonetic forms of words and various forms of the
simple and complex inflection of adjectives are treated as one entry. All varieties of
formative words and forms of the comparative and superlative degree of adjectives,
forms of collective nouns, suppletive forms of nouns and adjectives, e.g. human –
people, good – better, are treated as separate entries. Forms of words reconstructed on
the basis of the appearance of their contextual forms in oblique cases are indicated
by an asterisk (*). In this study, all equivalents of linguistic items which occur in the
literature of Lithuanian-Polish Muslims are quoted with an asterisk (*). With regard
to printed translations of the Qur’an, the above-mentioned symbol specifies only
word combinations.
36 When reference to the exemplificative material included in dictionaries of the Polish
language is made, abbreviations of sources that are used in specific lexicographical
studies are applied.
37 In a study devoted to such a specific issue as Muslim religious terminology, a decision
was made to limit the number of general dictionary definitions which are featured in
lexicographical works to those that are necessary for the presentation of the semantic
20 Introduction
whether the equivalents present in lexicographical sources create a chain of

synonyms, which would demonstrate the stylistic conditioning, and not only
the semantic conditioning of the equivalents introduced by the translator.
– discussion of the life of individual lexical items in Polish, which reflects lex-
icographical analysis showing the evolution of the words that have survived
in the language, but with a different meaning, that is semantically evolved –
they have changed their scope or shade of meaning; revealing their semantic
transformations, including lexicalization of individual word combinations,
and comparison of their meanings in Polish with those in the analyzed texts.
3. Location of a headword in translated texts – both Biblical and Qur’anic38. The
selection of quotations is determined by their chronology. The first recorded
headword is given first. The clarity of meaning and a phonetical variant form
was also taken into consideration. Due to their high frequency, it is limited to
giving samples of the uses of the discussed linguistic items, which are, in the
opinion of the author, the most representative ones.
4. A short semantic description, made on the basis of a number of selected Qur’anic
contexts (connotative meanings that are referred to in some contexts, potential,
contextual and objective) in comparison with the semantic analysis of these
items, made on the basis of Biblical contexts39. The analysis that takes into con-
sideration contexts focuses on the Polish lexical item, which is the equivalent of
a lexical item in the original text. This sometimes leads to fragmentation of the
translated text into single words, the consequence of which is deconstruction of
features of the terms which are discussed. If a particular linguistic item is a term
sensu stricto, only the meanings which are directly connected with religion are given.
However, if the expression which is analyzed belongs to the general vocabulary, and
when it acquires its specific overtones (meaning) only in a religious context, then
its general dictionary definition is given. In the majority of cases, a certain semantic
component is the basis for a new (specialized) meaning of the lexeme (semantic der-
ivation). When a word is a semantic archaism the meaning that replaced the old one
is presented.
38 The citations in the text are referenced according to the following rules: Tatar monu-
ments – a manuscript page number or a surah number is given in Roman numerals, a
line number and a page in printed translations of the Qur’an (Tefsir z Olity [the Olita
Tefsir], which was not published, is an exception, and therefore, I give the number of
a surah [in Roman numerals], the page number of the manuscript and the number of
a line); printed translations of the Qur’an – a Roman numeral denotes the number
of a surah, and the subsequent Arabic digit number denotes the number of a verse.
As a rule, I give the location of the same context only once, with reference to the
first notation of the example in the present monograph.
39 In the case of Biblical entries, which have Old Testament and New Testament attes-
tations, documentation for both of them is placed with the appropriate provision
of meanings. This is because the concepts present in the Old Testament were quite
often taken over and developed in the New Testament.
some collocations or fixed phrases, Biblical or Qur’anic idiomatic expressions40.

However, reference is made also to the word combinations that constitute a
reflection of original Qur’anic combinations and that are the result of ampli-
fication tendencies (when one word in the original language has a word com-
bination as its equivalent in Polish) or univerbization trends (when the Polish
equivalent replaces more than one lexeme of the original text). Moreover, con-
notative meanings are sometimes supplemented and compared with the data
provided by the science of religion.
5. An Arab etymon or etyma, which can be found in the same position in the
Qur’anic translation base, as well as in Greek and Hebrew for Polish transla-
tions of the Bible41 (cited in their primary forms, analogues with dictionary
entries in their original spelling and transcription42, and Arabic forms in ISO
transcription – International Standardization Organization). Etyma that are pre-
sent in analogue locations of the translation base concurrently carry out the
function of semantic explanations43.
6. Documentation of the presence of phraseological combinations typical of the
Tatar religious literature in the GDL, and of Polish printed translations of the
Qur’an, in Bible translations and/or in Polish lexicographical sources.
40 Cf. T. Lisowski, Sola Scriptura…, p. 39.

41 Due to the abundance of linguistic material, only the vocabulary of the highest
frequency was taken into account.
42 According to S. Wronka, Transliteracja i transkrypcja alfabetu hebrajskiego, „Ruch
Biblijny i Liturgiczny” LVII, 2004, pp. 45–58.
43 Therefore each time Hebrew, Greek and Arabic lexemes and their contextual mean-
ings are quoted (from the Old Testament and New Testament, after the lexico-
graphical studies by W. Bauer, Wörterbuch zu den Schriften des Neuen Testaments,
Berlin–New York 1988, Fr. R. Popowski, Wielki słownik grecko-polski Nowego
Testamentu. Wydanie z pełną lokalizacją greckich haseł, kluczem polsko-greckim oraz
indeksem form czasownikowych, Warszawa 1994, Fr. P. Briks, Podręczny słownik
hebrajsko-polski i aramejsko-polski Starego Testamentu, Warszawa 2000, J. Stamm,
L. Koehler, W. Baumgartner, Wielki słownik hebrajsko-polski i aramejsko-polski
Starego Testamentu, Warszawa 2012, as well as Qur’anic ones according to the fol-
lowing dictionaries Х. К. Баранов, Арабско-русский словарь, Москва 1984, and H.
Wehr, Arabisches Wörterbuch für die Schriftsprache der Gegenwart. Arabisch-Deutsch,
Wiesbaden 1985. Arabic lexemes were compared with data featured in J. Danecki,
J. Kozłowska, Słownik arabsko-polski, Warszawa 1996), which are interpolated into
their Polish equivalents, quoted by the translator in their contexts. The aim of the
translator was to provide a faithful rendition of the Biblical or Qur’anic message,
as it may be assumed due to its semantic adequacy for a lexeme of the original text.
In this way universal contextual meanings will be defined (independently of chro-
nological factors) of Polish lexemes, which are sometimes not included in the dic-
tionaries of the Polish language which have been published so far – cf. T. Lisowski,
Sola Scriptura…, p. 39.
22 Introduction
The collected lexical material of the monuments thus became the basis for compar-
ison of the language of Biblical and Qur’anic translations.
This book, based on the dictionary presented above, which is the source of
exemplificative material, constitutes a detailed discussion of the issues related to
the translations of the Qur’an and Islamic religious literature into Slavic languages
(including strategies adopted in translation, the methods that were selected and
the ways of translating, as well as the degree of transformation of the original
implied by them), tracing intertextual dependence and affiliations within a selected
group of translations, and thereby attempt to identify the role of each translation
unit44 in the process of creation and consolidation of Qur’anic lexical items (the
share of individual texts in building and preserving the native corpus), the compar-
ison of that resource with canonical and related texts as well as to determine the
state of documentation of these structures in the general and Biblical lexicography
collections.
0.2 Methodological assumptions

In terms of research subject matter and methodology this work combines the dis-
ciplines of linguistics (the history of the Polish language, theolinguistics, Islamic
linguistics, kitabistics, religious language) and translation studies45. As is empha-
sized by I. Winiarska: “any researcher who tackles religious issues must wrestle
44 The term translation unit is traditionally understood as the result of translation or

an equivalent of a linguistic item in the original text.
45 The methodological pluralism adopted in this monograph opens up a broad research
perspective. It enables, for example, semantic investigation to be combined with
pragmalinguistic analysis. Furthermore, it is consistent with the postulate of the
integration of various categories and research tools in linguistic research due to the
heterogeneous structure of the language. R. Lewicki, Przekład – Język – Kultura,
ed. idem, Lublin 2002, p. 8 claims, among other things, that: “The linguistic mate-
rial and interlingual nature of any translation, regardless of its type or a genre
of translated text, as well as regardless of the adopted criteria for equivalence of
translations – done consciously or unconsciously – makes it possible to examine
every translation by linguistic methods. At the same time, it becomes clear that
these methods are insufficient with their traditional application. […] The descrip-
tion tools developed in the last decade by cognitive linguistics have proved useful.”
The advocates of linguistic theories also postulate an interdisciplinary analysis of
translation. Translation, therefore, is to be subjected to a linguistic analysis of the
language exponents of its content, a pragmatic analysis as an act of speech and to
be analyzed on the basis of communication theory, which examines its social and
cultural determinants – cf. A. Dębski, Translatologia. Podstawowe problemy, stan i
perspektywy badań, zainteresowania badaczy, „Rocznik Przekładoznawczy” 2, eds.
L. Zieliński, M. Pławski, Toruń 2006, p. 24.
Methodological assumptions 23
with issues that are far beyond the horizon traditionally circled by linguistics”46. In
addition, according to her, religious vocabulary requires the use of a dual research
perspective, considering it both as a component of general lexis as well as the spe-
cific vocabulary (terminology)47.
Historical and linguistic analysis of religious terminology is based on the
research methods used in diachronic lexicology, especially on the historical and
linguistic comparative method48. It takes into account not only structural changes
the language is subjected to in its lexical and semantic subsystems (its internal
history) but it also describes extra-linguistic factors that affect the emergence and
development of Muslim religious terminology (its external history – social, polit-
ical, historical and religious transformations and changes). Due to the fact that
the “lexical layer accumulates knowledge about the outside world and reflects
extra-linguistic reality”49, these external determinants play an extremely impor-
tant role in diachronic lexicology50. Thus, this monograph, as has already been
mentioned, follows the current research in the field of lexis and phraseology of
the Polish Reformation. Therefore, the subject of description becomes religious
language as a functional variety of a general language, being describable by the fol-
lowing features: its subject matter (the proper choice of vocabulary); “the frequent
46 Cf. Słownictwo religijne polskiego kalwinizmu od XVI do XVIII w., digital version,
chapter II. Theoretical Assumptions. 1. The state of research in Polish religious vocab-
ulary. 1.2. The state of research in general Christian vocabulary. Linguistic perspec-
tives, p. 110. In the collection of the author of this monograph.
48 A. Gadomski, Cz. Łapicz also indicate that “numerous and significant similarities
between Tatar texts and monuments of Old Church Slavonic literature may be
seen. Highlighting the analogies between Church Slavonic literature and Muslim
literature is important for a researcher of kitabs because Slavic philology devel-
oped and verified in practice adequate methods of examination of source texts in
Old Church Slavonic and their later versions. These methods can be used in the
study of texts that were written several centuries later, created by Muslims in the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania” – cf. A. Gadomski, C. Łapicz, op. cit., p. 44; J. Kulwicka-
Kamińska, Cechy wspólne piśmiennictwa Tatarów litewsko-polskich i kanonu tekstów
scs. Geneza. Grafia. Ortografia, [in:] Varia, ed. M. Olšiak, Vol. XIV, Bratislava 2006,
pp. 15–23.
50 In the literature on the subject, the external factors that do not arise due to gram-
matical or system rules, but act directly on the system, include cultural interferences
that cause lexical borrowings. “Lexical borrowings as a result of these interferences
(importations) are linguistic items that already belong to the lexical system of the
Polish language” – cf. ibidem, and W. R. Rzepka, Odbicie historii narodu polskiego
w dziejach rozwoju języka polskiego, „Nurt” 1971, No. 1, pp. 28–38. Completely
non-linguistic factors are another type of determinants. However, they have a stim-
ulating impact on the development of the language system, as, for example, the
Reformation.
24 Introduction
participation of a supernatural factor in the act of speech”, which in the belief

of the faithful is the recipient, and the witness of the act of speech; “community
dimension” – religious texts perform the function of unifying the community of
believers; “a creative power” (spells, exorcisms, formulas etc.); its connection with
non-linguistic symbols51. Religious language is thus the subject of theolinguistic
research (Gr. theos ‘God’ and Lat. lingua ‘language’) defined at the same time as
1. The science which was established as a result of interaction of language and
religion, as well as 2. A branch of linguistics that deals with the study of religious
language, in the narrow and broad sense of the term, and analysis of religious phe-
nomena that are manifested and consolidated in the language52. It is therefore one
of the developing trends in contemporary linguistics, which is not limited either by
the framework of a particular language or a particular religion. Theolinguistics can
be divided into general and specific theolinguistics. Specific theolinguistics exam-
ines the phenomena within a particular religion (e.g. Christianity, Judaism, Islam,
Buddhism and others) or problems existing in the language (e.g. translation of reli-
gious books into the vernacular). Therefore, it is reasonable to single out such vari-
eties of theolinguistics as Christian linguistics (including for example Orthodox,
Catholic and Protestant linguistics and the others) and linguistics associated with
non-Christian religions, including Muslim linguistics. One of its branches is kitabis-
tics – an original, academic philological sub-discipline53, which combines Polish
and Slavic philology with Oriental studies (with Arabic studies and Turkology),
and also with cultural and religious studies. The subject of its study is the material
and non-material legacy of the Tatars of the GDL, and in particular their original
manuscript literature in the form of kitabs, although it also refers to other varie-
ties of handwritten texts of Lithuanian-Polish Muslims54. Its name comes from the

52 A. Gadomski, C. Łapicz, op. cit., p. 51. The history of theolinguistic research –
pp. 33–39, and p. 51. Their genesis and development in Polish linguistics – cf.
pp. 35–36, including an indication of the pioneering role of I. Bajerowa in the study
of Polish religious language (cf. the collection of articles entitled O języku religijnym.
Zagadnienia wybrane, eds. M. Karpluk, J. Sambor, Lublin 1988), as well as devoting
attention to the chronology of the term theolinguistics in Polish linguistics – cf. works
by E. Kucharska-Dreiss, Teolingwistyka – próba popularyzacji terminu, [in:] Język
religijny dawniej i dziś, eds. S. Mikołajczak, T. Węcławski, Poznań 2004, pp. 23–30, and
by D. Zdunkiewicz-Jedynak, Surfując po Internecie w poszukiwaniu Boga…… Gatunki
komunikacji religijnej na polskich katolickich stronach internetowych, Tarnów 2006.
53 Cf. A. Gadomski, Опыт составления словаря русско-польской терминологии
теолингвистики, [in:] Chrestomatia teolingwistyki…, pp. 247–268.
54 Cf., among others, P. Suter, Alfurkan Tatarski…, p. 3, and C. Łapicz, Kitabistyka a his-
toria języka polskiego i białoruskiego …, p. 31, as well as Г. Мишкиниене, Развитие
китабистики в Вильнюсском университете, „Kalbotyra” LIV (2), Vilnius 2009,
p. 235, and М. Тарэлка, I. Сынкова, Адкуль пайшлі ідалы, Мiнск 2009, p. 16.
Methodological assumptions 25
Arabic term  kitāb ‘a book, writing, document’55. Originally, kitab, as a general
Semitic word, implied ‘the act of writing’. In its specific use the Arabic term 
Al-Kitāb is one of many synonymous names of the Qur’an.
In addition, theolinguistics can be divided into theoretical and applied; syn-
chronic (investigating the processes that occur in the religious language in a spe-
cific historical moment) and diachronic (examining the changes happening in the
historical development); historical-theological (dealing with typologization of
theolinguistic phenomena in their historical development); comparative and con-
trastive. Its aim is to explore and describe religious phenomena, being expressed
and established in the language; hence, as the current research problems in the
field of contemporary theolinguistics, one may mention the following: religious
language, religious text, discourse, genre, translation of religious texts, religious
terminology, etc. Therefore, its principal tasks are: the choice of material from rel-
evant sources or texts, differentiation of the collected material, systematization of
the collected material, its integration and others. Whereas among the specific tasks
and postulates of kitabistics56, which also delimit research areas of this monograph
such as: the need to describe the historical and linguistic relationship between
the Orient and the Slavic world, in which philological source material is helpful
and even indispensable (the monuments of religious literature of the Tatars of
the GDL); the issue of determining ways and methods of adequate translation of
Muslim religious texts into the languages outside the culture and tradition of Islam,
especially Slavic languages (Polish and Belorussian); the opportunity to show the
development and the shaping of Polish (and Belorussian) Muslim terminology –
both in terms of religious tenets and exegesis as well as prayers, rituals, customs
etc. and the mutual influence of the Christian and Muslim religions and cultures,
including the acquisition by the Tatars of the GDL of Slavic religious vocabulary
and phraseology and its transferral – not always adequately and in compliance
with the doctrinal differences – to the so-called local Islam professed by them.
The philological and historical research method was used in the work on texts,
taking into account the historical background, which is particularly important in
the analysis of the lexical level of translation. The study was conducted by means
of a full index of Polish printed translations of the Qur’an, together with locations
and vocabulary of selected monuments of Tatar literature in the GDL. Linguistic
details were excerpted from religious literature of Lithuanian-Polish Muslims
and the material from Polish translations of the Qur’an, and then they were
55 The meanings of words of Oriental origin were established on the basis of etymo-
logical dictionaries, dictionaries of foreign languages and thematic dictionaries, the
list of which is given at the end of the monograph in the literature of the subject.
56 The most important tasks and research demands of kitabistics were presented and
discussed in detail in an article by C. Łapicz, Kitabistyka a historia języka polskiego
i białoruskiego…, pp. 38–44, and in the study by A. Gadomski, C. Łapicz, op. cit.,
pp. 46–51.
26 Introduction
systematically compiled, and related to the Polish translations of the Bible and
lexicographical sources. The analysis of the vocabulary and phraseology, carried
out on the basis of solid linguistic material, conducted against a comparative back-
ground, facilitated to search for evidence of compliance or borrowings between
previously existing Bible translations and the translations of the Qur’an, and as a
result, to determine the degree of dependence of Polish Qur’anic translations from
the previously existing translations of the Bible, and the degree of originality and
innovation of the translated texts of the Qur’an. With the comparative background
one could also determine how certain equivalents are embedded in the tradition of
translation of religious terminology, and to what extent they constitute reflection
of an innovative attitude of translators to the source text.
A lexical and phraseological description of Tatar religious literature and Polish
translations of the Qur’an is also closely associated with a demonstration of the
relationship that occurs between a translation unit and its base, enabling us to
examine the most important Polish translations of the Qur’an in terms of the
extent and the role they played in the process of co-creation and preservation of
items, which ultimately contributed to the resources of idiomatic expressions of
Qur’anic provenience. Investigation of the ways of translating word combinations
also enables us to determine the extent to which the translator remained faithful
to the original text, calquing Arabic word combinations, and to what extent he
departed from the source text, preferring contextual translation.
0.3 The state of research

The state of research in religious vocabulary of the Polish Reformation and on
the general Christian vocabulary is discussed in detail in the works devoted to
linguistic and translatological research of Polish religious literature, including
Scripture translations into vernacular languages57. Among recently published
monographs the following ones should unquestionably be mentioned: Stanisław
Koziara Frazeologia biblijna w języku polskim (2001 and 2009) and Tradycyjne
biblizmy a nowe polskie przekłady Pisma Świętego. Ujęcie filologiczno-normaty-
wne (2009), Danuta Bieńkowska Polski styl biblijny (2002), Irena Kwilecka Studia
nad staropolskimi przekładami Biblii (2003), Katarzyna Meller „Noc przeszła,
a dzień się przybliżył”. Studia o polskim słownictwie reformacyjnym XVI wieku
(2004), I. Winiarska Słownictwo religijne polskiego kalwinizmu od XVI do XVIII
wieku na tle terminologii katolickiej (2004), Tomasz Lisowski Sola Scriptura.
Leksyka Nowego Testamentu Biblii Gdańskiej (1632) na tle porównawczym. Ujęcie
57 Cf. M. Makuchowska, Bibliografia języka religijnego 1945–2005, Tarnów 2007. The

entry Styl religijny developed by M. Makuchowska includes the synthesis and
the overview of the main developments in the field of religious language – cf. M.
Makuchowska – the entry Styl religijny, [in:] Przewodnik po stylistyce polskiej, ed. S.
Gajda, Opole 1995, pp. 449–473.
The state of research 27
kwantytatywno-dystrybucyjne (2010), and Joanna Sobczykowa O naukowej

polszczyźnie humanistycznej złotego wieku. Wujek – Budny – Murzynowski (2012).
Among these works – the most important ones for this discussion – in terms of
the scope of the research and the methodology adopted, there are the monographs
by I. Kwilecka and I. Winiarska58.
Irena Kwilecka discusses comprehensively and in detail the issue of the Holy
Scripture, that is the translation of a religious text of the status of Revelation into
vernacular languages, comparing Old Polish Bible translations with Old Czech
translations and as well as Old French translations. She indicates the peculiar
nature of the books of the Old Testament (OT), and the New Testament (NT),
58 A special influence on the creation of this monograph, especially in terms

of research and methodological proposals, was also exerted by the following
works: E. Belcarzowa, Polskie i czeskie źródła przekładu Biblii Leopolity, Kraków
2006; D. Bieńkowska, Słownictwo i frazeologia w Psałterzu przełożonym przez ks.
Jakuba Wujka (1594), Łódź 1999; J. Biniewicz, Kształtowanie się polskiego języka
nauk matematyczno-przyrodniczych, Opole 2002, as well as Kształtowanie się pol-
skiej leksyki naukowej – mechanizm derywowania pierwszych polskich terminów
matematycznych, [in:] Żywe problemy historii języka, eds. M. Kuźmicki, M. Osiewicz,
Poznań 2010, pp. 47–56; M. Cybulski, Staropolskie przekłady psałterza…; K. Długosz-
Kurczabowa Szkice z dziejów języka religijnego…; B. Greszczuk, Archetypy starotesta-
mentowe w polskich przekładach Psalmów. Problemy lingwistyki stosowanej, Rzeszów
2000; M. Kamińska, Psałterz floriański. Monografia językowa, Part 1: Ortografia.
Fonetyka. Fleksja imion, Wrocław 1981, and Psałterz floriański. Monografia językowa,
Part 2: Fleksja liczebników, zaimków, czasowników, Łódź 1991; M. Karpluk, Nad
staropolskim słownictwem chrześcijańskim, [in:] Leksyka słowiańska na warsztacie
językoznawcy, ed. H. Popowska-Taborska, Warszawa 1997, pp. 105–115, and Słownik
staropolskiej terminologii chrześcijańskiej, Kraków 2001, S. Koziara, among others,
Pojęcia wartościujące w polskich przekładach Psałterza, Kraków 1993 – and the bib-
liography, including works in other languages, dedicated to a semantic and sty-
listic analysis of Old Testament concepts, T. Lisowski, Polszczyzna początku XVI
wieku. Problemy wariantywności i normalizacji fonetyki i fleksji, Poznań 1999, and
Grafia druków polskich z 1521 i 1522 roku. Problemy wariantywności i normalizacji,
Poznań 2001; T. Lisowski and J. Migdał, W drodze do doskonałości. Uwagi o leksyce
protestanckich przekładów Biblii, [in:] O doskonałości, Part 1, ed. A. Maliszewska,
Łódź 2002, pp. 271–282; B. Matuszczyk, Problemy ekwiwalencji w tłumaczeniu Biblii,
[in:] Warsztaty translatorskie. Workshop on translation, eds. R. Sokolowski, H. Duda,
Lublin–Ottawa 2001, pp. 51–61; L. Moszyński, Słownictwo na warsztacie Szymona
Budnego, [in:] Leksyka słowiańska na warsztacie językoznawcy, ed. H. Popowska-
Taborska, Warszawa 1997, pp. 185–200; J. Puzynina – numerous pubications dedi-
cated to axiologically marked vocabulary, and especially her collection of studies,
Słowo – wartość – kultura, Lublin 1997, and Słownictwo etyczne. Part 1: Prawda, fałsz,
kłamstwo, ed. J. Puzynina, Warszawa 1993; A. Wierzbicka, Jak można mówić o Trójcy
Świętej w słowach prostych i uniwersalnych, Lublin 2004; R. Zarębski, Nazwy osobowe
w polskich przekładach Nowego Testamentu, Łódź 2006.
28 Introduction
which are the product of cultures which are chronologically and geographically
distant and therefore extremely difficult to translate.
Her detailed research, based on reference material or Old Church Slavonic, Old
French and Old Czech translations, proves that Old Polish translations were either
faithful or pursued the method of free translation, based among others on the
Vulgate, but adapted to the needs of a wide audience – with their simple and naïve
imagination and their perceptive abilities59. She draws attention to suprareligious
tradition of translating the Bible, and she also shows that the method of free trans-
lation of the Bible, compatible with a general trend towards making the Bible more
accessible to the faithful, was developed in Poland very early, and can already be
seen in the oldest monuments of Polish literature, in Kazania świętokrzyskie from
the end of the 13th century, and in Kazania gnieźnieńskie from the end of the 14th
century or the beginning of the 15th century60, as well as in somewhat later ones,
e.g. in Rozmyślanie przemyskie61 and in Żołtarz by Walenty Wróbel62.
The determinants of free translation given by I. Kwilecka, based on the work by
Pierre of Troyes called Comestor Historia scholastica, can also refer to the religious
literature of the Tatars of the GDL. In addition to this, Tatar translations, as well
as Polish printed translations of the Qur’an implement the methods of translating
words and word combinations from the source text, which were proposed by her63.
Izabela Winiarska, in turn, draws attention to the important fact that the liter-
ature on the Reformation mainly includes broadly understood historical and reli-
gious studies works. In studies on the problems of the language of religion, such
as semantic and terminological disputes, the introduction of new terms by the
supporters of the Reformation (neologisms, neosemantisms etc.) or the change in
meaning of some of the terms can be explained in the light of theoretical and con-
ceptual categories of religious studies. However, lexical issues in historical works
are only incidental, acting merely as an illustration of different content64. In addi-
tion to this, if their authors make use of the terms and vocabulary taken directly
from their sources they attribute to them only real encyclopaedic definitions.
Therefore, Winiarska indicates that there is a serious lack of linguistic studies
in the literature of the subject, which would undertake to synthesize the vocabu-
lary of the Reformation. The few existing linguistic studies only mention it briefly
rather than thoroughly examine the issue65.
59 Cf. I. Kwilecka, Studia nad staropolskimi przekładami Biblii, Poznań 2003, p. 266.
These observations are confirmed by the results of research of T. Lisowski, Sola
Scriptura…, pp. 438–443.
60 I. Kwilecka, Studia nad staropolskimi przekładami Biblii…, pp.165–166.
61 Ibidem, pp. 167–168.
62 Ibidem, pp. 169–172 – cf. M. Cybulski, Staropolskie przekłady psałterza…, pp. 69–74.
63 They are mentioned on pp. [174–175] in this monograph.
65 Cf. K. Górski, Zagadnienia słownictwa reformacji polskiej, [in:] Odrodzenie w Polsce,
eds. M. R. Mayenowa, Z. Klemensiewicz, Vol. III: Historia języka, Part 2, Warszawa
According to the author, a lack is also felt in the research in general Christian
vocabulary of proven methods and theoretical generalizations, which would
analyze the diverse Christian lexis as a whole, creating a theoretical context for
material works66. She lists the most representative, in her opinion, contemporary
trends of research in religious vocabulary (both from historical and linguistic per-
spective, as well as in relation to the contemporary religious language), which
include: the current that concentrates on the history of the language (focused on
genetic research) (studies of this trend can be characterized by the presence of
etymological analysis and reflections on the origin, importation and adaptation of
foreign religious terminology in Polish, as well as comparative analyses of isolated
words)67; a historical and linguistic current in terminal cross sections (here the
subject of description is the existing Polish religious vocabulary in its development
dynamics, conditioned by extra-linguistic and intralinguistic factors)68; a lexical
and semantic current concentrating on the semantic analysis of selected lexemes
in the field of religious terminology (single words or groups of lexemes represent-
ing a word field)69; a current of stylistic research (here there is the dominance
1962, pp. 233–279; Słownictwo reformacji polskiej, [in:] idem, Z historii i teorii lite
ratury. Seria druga, Warszawa 1964, pp. 352–387; I. Rucka – a series of articles about
excommunication, the Eucharist, and the Holy Trinity in the language of reformed
churches, e.g. O wyklęciu albo wyłączeniu… – słownictwo związane z ekskomuniką
w kościołach reformowanych w drugiej połowie XVI i początku XVII wieku, „Slavia
Occidentalis” LIII, 1996, pp. 69–86; Nazwy eucharystii w polskich kościołach
różnowierczych XVI wieku, „Slavia Occidentalis” LIV–LV, 1997, pp. 113–121;
Słownictwo związane z dogmatem Trójcy Świętej w polskich kościołach różnowierczych
XVI w. i jego dalsze losy, „Slavia Occidentalis” LVI, 1999, pp. 99–114; „Godzien jest
robotnik zapłaty swojej” (1 Tm 5, 18), czyli o słownictwie związanym z utrzymaniem
ministrów i zborów różnowierczych przełomu XVI i XVII wieku, „Slavia Occidentalis”
LXI, 2004, pp. 50–61; L. Moszyński, Jeden werset staropolskiego przekładu Psałterza,
„Acta Universitatis Lodziensis”, Folia Linguistica 23, Polszczyzna średniowieczna i
renesansowa, ed. M. Kamińska, 1990, pp. 103–109, etc.
67 Cf., among others, E. Klich, Polska terminologia chrześcijańska, Poznań 1927; L.
Moszyński, Geografia niektórych zapożyczeń niemieckich w staropolszczyźnie, Poznań
1954; M. Karpluk, Słownik staropolskiej terminologii chrześcijańskiej…; M. Jurkowski,
Elementy zachodniosłowiańskie w ukraińskiej terminologii sakralnej, „Z Polskich
Studiów Slawistycznych”, Językoznawstwo, Warszawa 1992, pp. 83–87.
68 Cf., among others, I. Bajerowa, O słownictwie nowego katechizmu, [in:] Tysiąc lat
polskiego słownictwa religijnego, ed. B. Kreja, Gdańsk 1999, pp. 253–263; eadem,
Kilka problemów stylistyczno-leksykalnych współczesnego polskiego języka religij-
nego, [in:] O języku religijnym. Zagadnienia wybrane…, pp. 21–44; J. Puzynina,
Słownictwo eucharystyczne w historii języka polskiego, „Zeszyty Naukowe WSP w
Opolu”, Językoznawstwo, Vol. XIII: Onomastyka, historia języka, dialektologia, Opole
1991, pp. 479–485.
69 Cf., among others, Z. Zaron, Refleksje na temat wyrażenia WIERZYĆ, [in:]
Nazwy wartości. Studia leksykalno-semantyczne, eds. J. Bartmiński, M.
30 Introduction
of the study of the religious language and style, treated as one of the functional
styles in the Polish language)70; a functional-communicational current connected
with the stylistic current (it is assumed here that the diversity of vocabulary stems
from the diversity of religious situations, considered as communication situations,
in which the believer comes into contact with the sphere of sacrum)71; a stylistic
and semiotic current (referring to the assumptions of structuralism (it is assumed
here that religious language creates a multi-level structure, on par with lexis, a
number of pragmalinguistic and extra-linguistic items)72; sociolinguistic issues
(religious vocabulary functioning in various social groups, particularly among
young people)73; a current that focuses on the meaning of the terminology, based
mainly on the analysis of religious vocabulary that is present in the general (lit-
erary) language while issues that are closely connected with terminology are only
hinted at in the research in general religious vocabulary, even in colloquial state-
ments about God and religion74.
The author of the monograph also stresses that a lack is felt in the studies on
the period of the Middle Polish language, which was of fundamental importance
for the development of religious vocabulary and phraseology. Her work consti-
tutes a significant and to some extent pioneering contribution to the description
Mazurkiewicz-Brzozowska, Lublin 1993, pp. 231–238; A. Wierzbicka, Kocha, lubi,

szanuje. Medytacje semantyczne, Warszawa 1971; J. Sobczykowa, Leksyka religijna
w słowniku współczesnego języka polskiego, „Biuletyn PTJ” L, 1994, pp. 129–139;
S. Koziara, Pojęcia wartościujące w polskich przekładach Psałterza…; as well as the
works by I. Bajerowa., e.g. Wpływ życia religijnego na język ogólnopolski, [in:] Język
a chrześcijaństwo, eds. I. Bajerowa, M. Karpluk, Z. Leszczyński, Lublin 1993, pp. 7–18.
70 Cf., among others, M. Makuchowska, Styl religijny…; M. Wojtak, O początkach stylu
religijnego w polszczyźnie, „Stylistyka” I, 1992, pp. 90–97; H. Duda, „……każdą razą
Biblią odmieniać”. Modernizacja języka przedruków Nowego Testamentu ks. Jakuba
Wujka w XVII i XVIII wieku, Lublin 1998; as well as works by I. Bajerowa, e.g. Wpływ
życia religijnego na język ogólnopolski…; Rola języka we współczesnym polskim
życiu religijnym. Wprowadzenie do dyskusji, [in:] O języku religijnym. Zagadnienia
wybrane…, pp. 9–20.
71 Cf., among others, I. Bajerowa, Swoistość języka religijnego i niektóre problemy jego
skuteczności, „Łódzkie Studia Teologiczne” III, 1994, pp. 11–17; M. Makuchowska,
Modlitwa jako gatunek języka religijnego, Opole 1998.
72 E.g. J. Mistřik, Religiózny štýl, „Stylistyka” I, 1992, pp. 82–89.
73 Cf., among others, H. Zgółkowa, K. Czarnecka, Kategoria Boga w słownictwie ucznio-
wskim, [in:] Język a kultura, eds. J. Anusiewicz, B. Siciński, Vol. X: Języki subkultur,
Wrocław 1994, pp. 29–36; M. Kamińska, Z problemów funkcjonowania terminologii
religijnej w świadomości wiernych, [in:] Język a chrześcijaństwo…, pp. 85–94.
74 Cf., among others, I. Bajerowa, J. Puzynina, Język religijny. Aspekt filologiczny,
[entry in:] Encyklopedia katolicka, Vol. VIII, Lublin 2000, col. 19–20; for evangelical
vocabulary, e.g. B. Zeler, Język innych kościołów chrześcijańskich (na przykładzie
Kościoła Ewangelickoaugsburskiego), [in:] Polszczyzna 2000. Orędzie o stanie języka
na przełomie tysiącleci, ed. W. Pisarek, Kraków 1999, pp. 149–165.
of the religious vocabulary of Polish Calvinism, taking into account its wide cul-
tural background. Another researcher of the vocabulary of the Polish Reformation,
Magdalena Hawrysz, follows I. Winiarska. The subject of her research is the termi-
nology of the Polish Brethren, who were also called Arians75.
This monograph – within the history of the Polish language – is a part of the
current of historical and linguistic research with elements of lexical and semantic
analysis. It is a contribution to the current trend of historical and linguistic analysis
in temporal cross sections. But, in the area of theolinguistic research, it attempts to
achieve the postulated objectives of kitabistics, especially to determine possibili-
ties, ways and methods of adequate translation of Muslim religious texts, including
the Qur’an, into Slavic languages.
The history of kitabistics dates back to the 19th century. The work by Stanisław
Kryczyński Bibliografia do historii Tatarów polskich (1935) contains a full list of
publications which engage the problems of Tatar literature in the GDL before
1935. The state of research until the mid-1960s is discussed at length by Maciej
Konopacki in his article Piśmiennictwo Tatarów polsko-litewskich w nauce polskiej i
obcej (1966). The beginnings of kitabistics, its development and current trends in its
research are presented in detail in works by Andrzej Drozd76, Paul Suter77, Czesław
Łapicz78, Galina Miškinienė79, Joanna Kulwicka-Kamińska80 and other researchers
of the religious literature of the Tatar of the GDL. The academic achievements in
the study of Tatar texts will therefore be presented in a synthetic way.
The Tatar literature in the GDL, hermetic due to its nature (due to the use of the
Arabic alphabet81) originated probably in the second half of the 16th century and
its goal was to meet the needs of a small community. It was copied and compiled
for successive centuries, but for a long time it was not available for direct research.
75 M. Hawrysz, Terminologia jako wyznacznik granic wspólnoty religijnej (na przykładzie

leksemu ponurzać i wyrazów pokrewnych), [in:] Żywe problemy historii języka…,
pp. 125–135; eadem, Polemiczna twórczość Marcina Czechowica w perspektywie
genologii lingwistycznej, Zielona Góra 2012.
76 A. Drozd, Arabskie teksty liturgiczne…, pp. 14–18.
77 P. Suter, Alfurkan Tatarski…, pp. 3–6.
78 C. Łapicz, Kitab Tatarów litewsko-polskich…, pp. 10–15; C. Łapicz, Kitabistyka a his-
toria języka polskiego i białoruskiego…, pp. 31–49, and A. Gadomski, C. Łapicz, op.
cit., pp. 43–45.
79 G. Miškinienė, Sieniausi lietuvos totorių rankrašciai. Grafika. Transliteracija. Vertimas.
Tekstų struktūra ir turinys, Vilnius 2001, pp. 29–40, as well as eadem, Развитие
китабистики в Вильнюсском университете…, pp. 231–237.
80 Badania kitabistyczne w Polsce i na świecie, „Życie Tatarskie” X (XXVIII), No. 39(116),
styczeń–czerwiec 2014, pp. 37–49; Przekład terminologii religijnej…
81 In the texts, the Arabic alphabet was used, which, according to the belief of Muslims,
is an excellent form and it has bigger significance than the language itself – cf.
M. M. Dziekan, Historia i tradycje polskiego islamu, [in:] Muzułmanie w Europie, ed.
A. Parzymies, Warszawa 2005, pp. 216–217.
32 Introduction
The first pieces of information about it appeared in a small treatise Risāle-i Tātār-i
Leh from 1558 (this was written in Turkish by an anonymous Tatar, who was
a pilgrim to Mecca, for Rustem Pasha, a son-in-law of the Turkish Sultan)82, in
Apologia by Azulewicz from 1630, and in the work by Józef Sobolewski, Wykład
wiary machometańskiej czyli iślamskiej from 1830. The content of the treatise of
1558 was made available to its readers for the first time through the publication
by Antoni Muchliński Zdanie sprawy o Tatarach litewskich, przez jednego z tych
Tatarów złożone sułtanowi Sulejmanowi w r. 1558. Z języka Tureckiego przełożył,
objaśnił i materyałami historycznemi uzupełnił A. Muchliński, professor zwyczajny
literatury Tureckiéj w Cesarskim St. Petersburskim uniwersytecie in a journal Teka
Wileńska (1858). However, the original of the treatise was not preserved. Apologia
by Azulewicz was a response to anti-Tatar and anti-Muslim lampoon by Piotr
Czyżewski, Alfurkan tatarski of 1616. Some quotes from Apologia can be found e.g.
in Józef Ignacy Kraszewski, but its entire text has also not survived to our times.
J. Sobolewski expounded in Polish the basic tenets of Islam in his work of 1830.
Numerous passages of the Qur’an served as a source for him (probably also tefsirs
were used and the translation of Philomaths – Polish: filomaci) and hadiths.
The first scholar who undertook research in one of Tatar hamails was a German
Orientalist, Heinrich O. Fleischer (1838)83. However, his ignorance of Slavic
languages did not enable him to identify the texts contained in it. In his catalogue
he called it an Arabic, Tatar and Polish monument84. He referred to the Chamaił
lipski (the Lipsk/Leipzig Hamail), in our times regarded as one of the oldest Tatar
manuscripts85.
The literature of the Tatars of the GDL was only discovered for scholarship with
the publication of works by an eminent Orientalist, professor of Turkish studies at
the University of St. Petersburg, A. Muchliński, who published a few texts in Polish
and Belorussian in 1857. A. Muchliński is also the author of the book Źródłosłownik
wyrazów, które przeszły, wprost czy pośrednio, do naszej mowy z języków wschodnich
of 1858. In that lexicographical compendium the author used words that occur in
the language of the Tatars of the GDL, with reference to their meanings and origin.
Although his works made a significant contribution to the study of Tatar literature
82 However, the authenticity of the document is questioned – cf. A. Drozd, M. M.

Dziekan, T. Majda, Piśmiennictwo i muhiry Tatarów polsko-litewskich. Katalog zabyt-
ków tatarskich, Vol. III, Warszawa 2000, p. 16 and p. 37.
83 In the work by B. Liebrenz, Arabische, Persische and Türkische Handschriften in
Leipzig. Geschichte ihrer Sammlung und Erschließung von den Anfängen bis zu Karl
Vollers, Leipzig 2008, p. 69, it is mentioned that the manuscript of Leipzig could have
been described before Fleischer – in the 18th century by Georg Jakon Kehr, but the
description was not preserved.
84 H. O. Fleischer, F. Delitzsch, Catalogus librorum manuscriptorum qui in Bibliotheca
Senatoria civitatis Libsiensis asservantur, Grimmae 1838, p. 450.
85 The earliest dated text is Kitab z Suchowoli (the Suchowola Kitab) of 1631.
until the end of the 19th century, they faded into oblivion. And Muchliński did not
find a direct successor to carry on his work.
This issue was revived only in the early 20th century, when more and more
Tatar manuscripts were being found and notes and more extensive treatments
were announced. In 1915, Iwan Łuckiewicz, a Belorussian ethnographer received a
copy of a kitab from Mullah S. Połtarakiewicz, from the village of Sorok-Tatary86.
A work by I. Łuckiewicz Aŭ-kimaб concerning that monument was published in
the Belorussian journal Warta in 1918. However, the research in the phonetics of
the monument was carried out by another Belorussian scholar, Jan Stankievič, who
together with a Czech scholar M. Tauer made a transcription of the monument in
1924, and in his work written in the following year he discussed its phonetics and
morphology. He presented the results of his research in several articles87 and in
a more extensive work in the field of phonetics88. Since then, many authors have
taken Tatar texts into consideration in their works. They usually informed about
their existence and proposed to undertake research in them. Philological descrip-
tions of the texts were made by A. N. Samojłowicz, W. Wolski, I. Krachkovsky,
E. Karski, J. Szynkiewicz, and A. Woronowicz, who were collecting words and
phrases of Arab, Persian and Turkish origin, as well as A. Zajączkowski, who
focused his attention on the texts in Turkish, and M. Konopacki, who described
the community of the Tatars of the GDL and their handwritten literature89. Thus,
up till the 1950s there appeared small fragments of various manuscripts, but their
transliteration and/or transcription into Slavic languages was still a major problem
for researchers.
Eventually in 1968 a work in Russian by Аnton К. Antonovich, Белорусские
тексты, писанные арабским письмом, и их графико-орфографическая система
was published. On the basis of rich text material (23 Tatar manuscripts in the form
of books and one official document from 1759), the author conducted a thorough
study of the spelling system of Tatar manuscripts. In the introduction, he pro-
vided some information about the settlement of the Tatars of the Grand Duchy of
Lithuania since the 14th and 15th centuries, the process of linguistic assimilation
with the local population and the origins of Tatar literature. The author reviewed
the manuscripts available to him in an attempt to date and locate them. He also
developed a system of their transliteration. For many years this monograph was
the main source of knowledge about Tatar kitabs. According to A. Drozd and other
researchers (including Iwona Radziszewska), Antonovich created the scholarly
86 Cf. C. Łapicz, Kitab Tatarów litewsko-polskich…, p. 11.

87 Among others, Беларуские мусульмане и беларуская литература арабским
письмом, „Гадавік Беларускага Навуковага Таварыства” I, Вільна 1933; Přispěvky
k dějinám běloruského jazyka na zăkladě rukopisu ‘Al-Kitab’, „Slavia” XII, 1933–1934,
pp. 357–390.
88 Мова рукапісу «Аль-Кітаб», ч. I: Фанэтыка, New York 1952.
89 Cf. a list of these works – C. Łapicz, Kitab Tatarów litewsko-polskich…, pp. 11–12.
34 Introduction
basis of kitabistics90. А. К. Antonovich had many plans. Among other things, he

wanted to publish a chrestomathy of certain texts from the 16th and 17th centuries,
to compile a dictionary of kitabs, and to publish transliterated texts, which could
form the basis of studies for not only for linguists but also historians, ethnogra-
phers, folklorists, etc. The sudden death of the professor in 1980 ended his plans to
conduct research in this area.
Valerijus N. Čekmonas from the University of Vilnius was a continuator of
the work begun by Antonovich. In 1985 he published an article Гадальная книга
Ходыны (из китаба КУ-1446) in the journal “Kalbotyra”, in which he formulated a
proposal to develop a corpus of monuments of Tatar literature and indicated their
particular role in the conducting of research into the history of the Belorussian
language and to elaborate a complete image of the languages of the GDL. An
important postulate, which was put forward already by V. N. Čekmonas, was to
develop a uniform system of transliteration and/or transcription of Muslim texts
in the Cyrillic or Latin alphabet.
It is worth mentioning that in the 1970s, research in Tatar monuments was also
conducted in London, “where in 1969 the director of Francis Skaryna Belorussian
Library and Museum in London, Alexander Nadson, discovered the so-called Tefsir
of 1725 in its collection. Two further monuments – a hamail and a kitab – were
found in the British Museum”91. In London a number of works devoted to the Tatars
and their writings have been published. Here one may mention The Vocabulary of
a Belorussian K’it’ab in the British Museum, developed by Shirin Akiner (1973), and
The Belorussian Tartars and their Writings by Glyn Munro Meredith-Owens and
Alexander Nadson (1970).
In Poland, kitab studies were initiated in the second half of 1980s by C. Łapicz
of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. A monograph of his authorship
entitled Kitab Tatarów litewsko-polskich (Paleografia. Grafia. Język) was pub-
lished in 1986. This was devoted to orthographical notation, orthography, as well
as to inflection and lexis of the 18th century manuscript (1782/1783) called Kitab
Milkamanowicza (the Milkamanowicz Kitab). In it he drew up and applied a system
of transliteration of the oldest written texts of Lithuanian-Polish Muslims, based
on the Latin alphabet. In his next publication Klucz do raju. Księga Tatarów lite-
wsko-polskich z XVIII wieku w przekładzie i opracowaniu Henryka Jankowskiego i
Czesława Łapicza (2000), he introduced modifications and supplementation of this
system. It is a philological translation of Kitab Milkamanowicza into contemporary
Polish. The contribution of C. Łapicz to kitab studies is essential. He modified the
scholarly views about the causes and the time of the appearance of Tatar religious
writings. He corrected and supplemented the classification of Tatar monuments.
90 A. Drozd, Arabskie teksty liturgiczne…, p. 14; I. Radziszewska, Chamaiły jako typ

piśmiennictwa religijnego muzułmanów Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego (na podstawie
słowiańskiej warstwy językowej), Toruń 2010 (digital version).
91 C. Łapicz, Kitab Tatarów litewsko-polskich…, p. 13.
He also developed rules of transliteration of the Arabic alphabet into the Latin
alphabet, and with the reference of Kitab Milkamanowicza, his achievement was
to present, for the first time in the history of the Polish language, its philological
description and translation into contemporary Polish. And although it is assumed
that the scholarly basis of kitabistics was established by Anton K. Antonovich of
the University of Vilnius, without doubt Polish academic research owes C. Łapicz
the scholarly term kitabistics and its popularization. This term started to be used in
the second half of the 1990s. However, it was popularized after 2000.
The young generation of scholars of Tatar literature in the GDL include, among
others, G. Miškinienė from Vilnius, a researcher of the oldest Tatar manuscript
copies: Kitab z Kazania (the Kazan Kitab) (1645) and Chamaił lipski (the 17th cen-
tury)92 – cf. Sieniausi lietuvos totorių rankrašciai. Grafika. Transliteracija. Vertimas.
Tekstų struktūra ir turinys (2001). She represents the so-called Vilnius school of
kitabistics, who in addition to doing research, dedicated to the problems of trans-
literation and transcription of handwritten texts of the Tatars of the GDL, focuses
on their publication and textological analysis. Thanks to this work 181 manuscripts
were provisionally described – cf. A. I. Цiтавец, Рукапiсы нашчадкаў татараў
Вялiкага княства Літоўскага ў калекцыях свету (2009). The manuscripts that
come from Lithuania, Belorussia and Poland were collected in the following cata-
logues: Рукапісныя i друкаваныя кнігі (1997), A. Drozd, M. M. Dziekan, T. Majda,
Piśmiennictwo i muhiry Tatarów polsko-litewskich. Katalog zabytków tatarskich
(2000 – here there is a description of Tatar manuscripts available in Poland,
Lithuania, Bielorussia, Ukraine, Russia, Tatarstan, Germany and Great Britain), I. A.
Ганчарова, A. I. Цiтавец, М. У. Тарэлка, Рукапiсы беларускіх татараў канца
XVII – пачатку XX стагоддзя з калекцыі Цэнтральнай Навуковай Бібліятэкі
НАН Беларусі: Каталог (2003), Г. Мишкинене, C. Намавичюте, E. Покровская,
Каталог арабскоалфавитных рукописей литовских татар (2005), М. У.
Тарэлка, Рукапісы татараў Беларусі XVIII – пачатку XXI стагоддзя з
дзяржаўных і грамадскіх кнігазбораў краіны. Каталог (2015), whereas in 2009 in
Vilnius Ivano Luckevičiaus kitabas – Lietuvos totorių kultūros paminklas developed
by G. Miškinienė was published. The subject of transliteration here was not only
the Slavic language layer, but also the Turkish and Arabic layers. The publication
includes a commentary and it has been translated into Russian and Lithuanian.
Among the researchers who are currently engaged in studies of Tatar reli-
gious writings one may mention the following: Paul Suter from Zurich, whose
work includes a linguistic and translatological evaluation and an analysis of the
oldest translation of the Qur’an into north-eastern borderland variety of Polish,
e.g. Alfurkan Tatarski. Der litauisch-tatarische Koran-Tefsir (2004), Shirin Akiner
92 According to the most recent findings, this text could have come into existence
between 1640 and 1700 – cf. М. Тарэлка, Лейпцыгскі канвалют – беларускататарскі
рукапіс XVII стагоддзя (кадыкалагічнае апісанне), „Здабыткі” 19, Mінск 2016,
pp. 49–59.
36 Introduction
from London, who describes the fates of Tatars of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
and analyzes in a detailed and complementary manner the kitab language of the
documents that are preserved in the British Museum – cf. Religious Language of a
Belarusian Tatar Kitab: A Cultural Monument of Islam in Europe. With a Latin-Script
Transliteration of the BL Tatar Belarusian Kitab (Or. 13020)’ on CD-ROM (2009),
Michail Tarelka from Minsk, who, among other things, indicates interference
between Christianity and Islam in Tatar writings in the GDL, e.g. Структура
арабаграфичного текста на польской мове (2004), as well as analyzes in lin-
guistic and textological terms the monuments of Lithuanian-Polish Muslims, indi-
cating sources from which they drew knowledge about the Christian religion and
creatively adapted it to the tenets of Islam – cf. the work written in collaboration
with Iryna Synkova Адкуль пайшлі ідалы (2009), Andrzej Drozd from Poznań,
who describes Tatar manuscripts from the historical perspective (among other
things, parallels with Old Polish literature), as well as inscriptions on tombstones
of the Tatars of the GDL, e.g. Arabskie teksty liturgiczne w przekładzie na język pol-
ski XVII wieku. Zagadnienia gramatyczne na materiale chutb świątecznych (1999),
Corpus inscriptionum tartarorum poloniae et lithuaniae (2016), Marek M. Dziekan of
Łódź, who analyzes the content of Chamaił Aleksandrowicza (the Aleksandrowicz
Hamail) from the collection of Zakład Arabistyki i Islamistyki (the Department
of Arabic and Islamic Studies) of the University of Warsaw – cf. Czas święty i
czas świecki w chamaile Aleksandrowicza: godziny i dni Niechsiowe (2008), Chcąc
znać i wiedzieć, jak ciągnąć fał alkuranowy w „Chamaile Aleksandrowicza” (2013).
Manuscripts of Lithuanian-Polish Muslims are also the subject of the research of
Iwona Radziszewska of Gdańsk, whose PhD thesis Chamaiły jako typ piśmiennictwa
religijnego muzułmanów Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego (na podstawie słowiańskiej
warstwy językowej), defended in 2010 in the Nicolaus Copernicus University in
Toruń, which constituted the most comprehensive review to date of manuscript
hamails. Joanna Kulwicka-Kamińska from Toruń, the author of the monograph
Kształtowanie się polskiej terminologii muzułmańskiej (2004), in which she engaged
the problem of the historical development of Polish vocabulary related to Islam,
taking into account – as source texts – monuments of Tatar religious literature in
the GDL, and Olga Starostina from Minsk, who is engaged in philological descrip-
tion of the Kitab of Jan Lebiedź from the second half of the 18th century, and
Inse Klemme whose Master’s thesis, entitled Der Chamail Aleksandrowicz. Die
Sprachwissenschaftliche Analyse einer Handschrift der polnisch-litauischen Tataren
aus dem 19. Jahrhundert on the basis of Chamaił Aleksandrowicza, was accepted at
Freiburg University.
Among the researchers of Tatar manuscript literature in the GDL one should
also mention Stanisław Dumin from Moscow, who is engaged in the studies of
Tatar heraldry and the issue of Christianization of Lithuanian-Polish Muslims, as
well as their history and culture, e.g. Herbarz rodzin tatarskich Wielkiego Księstwa
Litewskiego (2006) or Lietuvos totoriai istorijoje ir kulturoje, together with Adas
Jakubauskas, Galim Sitdykov (2009). Selim Chazbijewicz of Olsztyn engages,
among other things, the problems connected with the Christian-Muslim dialogue
or Tatar motifs in literature – cf. Islam i Tatarzy w literaturze polskiej (2013). Artur
Konopacki of Białystok is a historian and the author of the monograph Życie
religijne Tatarów na ziemiach Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego w XVI–XIX wieku (2010).
In 2015, in the Philological Department of the Nicolaus Copernicus University
in Toruń, a specialist research unit, known as Centrum Badań Kitabistycznych (the
Centre for Kitab Studies), was established. J. Kulwicka-Kamińska supervises the
work of the Centre. The statutory tasks of the unit include initiating, running and
coordinating interdisciplinary international scholarly and research activity, edito-
rial work and popularization of kitabistics, and in particular:
1. Introducing to the social awareness and in the academic circulation of an orig-
inal philological source, namely Muslim religious writings in the GDL, together
with the first, Slavic (Polish) translation of the Qur’an which was made prob-
ably already in the 16th century. This translation was called a tefsir, for legiti-
mate reasons. On the basis of sources it documents the civilization and cultural
rank of two Slavic languages – Polish and Belorussian, which originated the
so-called north-eastern borderland variety of Polish93;
93 Years of study in this area are crowned with the preparation of the Tatar translation.
The work associated with it was initiated in 2013 by an international interdisci-
plinary team of scientists as a part of a project of the Narodowy Program Rozwoju
Humanistyki (the National Development Programme of Humanities), called Tefsir –
projekt filologiczno-historycznego opracowania oraz krytycznego wydania tzw. tefsiru
Tatarów Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego z 2. połowy XVI w. (pierwszego przekładu
Koranu na język polski). The international project “TEFSIR”, whose authors are
Joanna Kulwicka-Kamińska and Czesław Łapicz, was carried out as a part of the
National Development Programme of Humanities, 1.2 module No. 12H 12 0041 81.
Works preceding the submission of an application initiated by C. Łapicz lasted a
few years. They were led by C. Łapicz and J. Kulwicka-Kamińska of the Nicolaus
Copernicus University in Toruń in cooperation with Galina Miškinienė from the
Institute of the Lithuanian Language in Vilnius, and then also with Dainora Pociūtė
of the University of Vilnius. The result of joint action was the drafting of the project
The Qur’an in Europe within the Seventh Research Framework Programme (FP7).
Then Sergejus Temčinas from the Institute of the Lithuanian language in Vilnius as
well as Michail Tarelka and Genadij Cychun from the National Academy of Sciences
of Belarus in Minsk were invited to collaborate in the project. Since 2017, the second
part of the project (No. 11H 16 0319 84) has been in progress. The result of the work
conducted within the framework of this project is supposed to be a critical edition
of the Tatar tefsir, containing the complete text of the monument i.e. the Slavic layer
in transliteration and the Oriental layer – a transcription of selected fragments of
the Arabic and/or Turkish text, accompanied with a philological and historical com-
mentary. The vast majority of the researchers continue the kitabistics-related studies
and further partners joined the effort associated with the completion of the tasks of
the second part of the grant: from Ukraine – Mykhaylo Yakubovych (University in
Ostroh), from Belarus – Alla Kozhinova (Belarusian State University in Minsk) and
38 Introduction
2. Conducting long-term documentary, editorial and research activities of funda-

mental importance for cultural heritage – not only national, but also European;
3. The accumulation, drawing up and the making of source materials available for
interdisciplinary research, not only philological, but also for historical, sociolog-
ical, religious, literary, cultural, theological studies, etc., especially as some system
resemblances can be shown between Tatar manuscripts and Polish medieval and
Renaissance manuscript texts;
4. Participation in terms of scholarly expertise in initiatives of other domestic and
foreign centres which engage the problems of national and cultural minori-
ties, including, for example, the identification and description of historical Tatar
manuscripts;
5. The edition, furnished with philological and historical commentary, of the trans-
lation of the Qur’an into Polish from the 1820s by the Vilnius Philomaths – Fr.
Dionizy Chlewiński and of Ignacy Domeyko94.
Research conducted on the basis of Tatar manuscript literature was focused and
continues to be focused mainly on Slavic texts, in Polish and Belorussian, written
in the Arabic script, taking into account interjections derived from Oriental
languages. Meanwhile, a scholarly exploration of the Oriental layer of Tatar
monuments is also essential, for its research can contribute to the establishment
of the complete textual content of manuscripts, to the indication of the sources
of Oriental texts, as well as to an evaluation of the linguistic competence of the
authors and copyists of these books.
Orientalist studies of Tatar translation texts have been engaged mainly by
Turkologists, whose area of research involves Oriental borrowings in the language
of written texts and in everyday speech, as well as the onomastics of the Tatars of
the GDL. The ethnic language of Tatars also became the subject of their analysis95.
from Turkey – Halil İbrahim Usta (Ankara University). A detailed description of the
project is available at the following website – http://www.tefsir.umk.pl/ (09-06-2018).
94 Cf. J. Kulwicka-Kamińska, M. Lewicka, Instytucjonalne formy badań nad dziedzictwem
kulturowym Tatarów Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego. Centrum Badań Kitabistycznych
(UMK, Toruń), [in:] Tatarszczyzna w badaniach. Konteksty interdyscyplinarne, ed. A.
Konopacki, Białystok 2015, pp. 65–79.
95 Among contemporary Turkologists one may mention, for example, H. Jankowski,
The Tatar Name of Sorok Tatary. Keturiasdešimt Totorių Discovered, [in:] Orientas
Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštijos Visuomenės Tradicijoje: Totoriai ir Karaimai, eds. T.
Bairašauskaitė, H. Kobeckaitė, G. Miškinienė, Vilnius 2008, pp. 147–159; Imiennictwo
Tatarów litewsko-polsko-białoruskich w dawnych dokumentach, [in:] Tatarzy Wielkiego
Księstwa Litewskiego w historii, języku i kulturze, eds. J. Kulwicka-Kamińska, C. Łapicz,
Toruń 2013, pp. 149–163; Cechy graficzne i językowe tekstów turkijskich w zapisie
kopistów polsko-tatarskich, [in:] Tefsir Tatarów Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego. Teoria
i praktyka badawcza, e-monografia, eds. J. Kulwicka-Kamińska, C. Łapicz, Toruń
2015, pp. 139–171 [http://www.tefsir.umk.pl/pliki/Tefsir_Tatarow_WKL.pdf] (09-06-
2017), or T. Majda, Turkish-Belorussian-Polish Handbook, „Rocznik Orientalistyczny”
By contrast, the Arabic-language content of the religious literature of Lithuanian-

Polish Muslims still awaits monographical treatment. The state of research in this
field together with bibliographical references until the end of the 20th century is
discussed in detail by A. Drozd in his already-mentioned work of 199996.
This does not mean that until now in the works which engage the problems of
Tatar writings no references to the Arabic linguistic layer have appeared97. Those
which have been published concerned a preliminary indication of the content of
monuments (mainly hamails)98 and the graphy and orthography of Arabic texts
which appear in selected Tatar texts99. However, until the end of 1990s, the achieve-
ment of Arabic studies in the scope of kitabistics is associated only with the works
by A. Drozd: a study devoted to the prayer for sultans, being a part of khutbahs,
called Sułtan dua (świąteczna modlitwa za sułtanów)100, and the previously men-
tioned monograph Arabskie teksty liturgiczne w przekładzie na język polski XVII
wieku (1999), which deals with translation into Polish of three Arabic festive ora-
tions present in a hamail from the collection of the library of the Department of
Oriental Studies of the University of Saint Petersburg101. As far as foreign achieve-
ments are concerned, a turning point is linked with the previosly mentioned pub-
lications of kitab studies from Vilnius102 and the works of P. Suter, in which he
made an attempt to evaluate the translation of the Qur’an in a philological and in
XLIX (2), Warszawa 1995, pp. 139–158; Osmanizacja pisanego języka Tatarów polsko-
litewskich, [in:] Tatarzy Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego w historii, języku i kulturze,
eds. J. Kulwicka-Kamińska, C. Łapicz, Toruń 2013, pp. 203–210.
96 Cf. A. Drozd, Arabskie teksty liturgiczne…, pp. 14–17. Whereas the development
of Polish Orientalist studies from their beginnings, i.e. from Middle Polish until
now, was thoroughly described in a doctoral thesis by J. Kulwicka-Kamińska,
Kształtowanie się polskiej terminologii islamistycznej……
97 Cf. J. Kulwicka-Kamińska, M. Lewicka, Instytucjonalne formy badań…, pp. 70–71.
98 G. M. Meredith-Owens, A. Nadson, The Belorussian Tatars and their Writings, “The
Journal of Belorussian Studies”, Vol. 2, No. 2, 1970, pp. 141–176; A. Drozd, Chamaił
Sobolewskiego, „Rocznik Tatarów Polskich” I, Gdańsk 1993, pp. 48–62; idem, Rękopis
Tatarów polsko-litewskich w zbiorach Biblioteki Gdańskiej PAN, „d’Oriana. Awiza
Biblioteczne” 3, 1996, pp. 18–27.
99 Characteristics of their linguistic aspects confined themselves to the signaling of
the presence of numerous scriptorial corruptions, the cause of which was the lack
of knowledge of Arabic on the part of people who undertook the task of copying
religious Tatar books. See, for example, G. M. Meredith-Owens, op. cit., p. 168;
A. Drozd, Chamaił Sobolewskiego…, pp. 56–58.
100 A. Drozd, Sułtan dua (świateczna modlitwa za sułtanów), „Rocznik Tatarów Polskich”,
No. 2, 1994, pp. 206–217.
101 Sygn. LU-869. The monument is dated from the end of the 18th century or the begin-
ning of the 19th century, whereas the translation was made earlier. See A. Drozd,
Arabskie teksty liturgiczne…, p. 9.
102 Cf. Ivano Luckevičiaus kitabas – Lietuvos totorių kultūros paminklas in a study of G.
Miškinienė, Vilnius 2009.
40 Introduction
a translatological perspective on the basis of surah Al-Baqara103. As far as native

achievements are concerned, the work by J. Kulwicka-Kamińska Przekład termi-
nologii religijnej islamu w polskich tłumaczeniach Koranu na tle biblijnej tradycji
translatorycznej (2013) has already been mentioned. Work conducted as part of the
“TEFSIR” project opens new perspectives104. M. M. Dziekan, an Arabist of the team,
undertook his studies in the framework of the outlined areas of research105. In it
he made an attempt to answer the following questions: Is it possible to establish
on the basis of Tatar tefsirs in the GDL from what language (Turkish or Arabic)
the first translation of the Qur’an into Polish/Belorussian was made?, Is it possible
to subject to evaluation – even on limited (representative) material – the Arabic
(or Turkish) base of the translation of the Qur’an into Polish and/or Belorussian?
Finally, what conclusions (general or detailed) is it possible to draw with reference
to Slavic-Oriental relations on the basis of the Polish translation of the Qur’an in
the form of a tefsir?
An important and still relevant research problem is postulated by A. Drozd: the
multilingual content of Tatar manuscripts. Its full and complementary develop-
ment would require constant cooperation of Slavists and Orientalists. Textological
analyses based on the content of manuscripts will facilitate the tracing of the
movement of certain subjects through monuments, which are diversified in time
and space, and consequently the indication or reconstruction of the most ancient
books, and those which became a basis for subsequent copies. On the other hand,
they will enable motifs and subjects shared with other manuscripts to be distin-
guished, both within one kind (e.g. between hamails), as well as with different
types (e.g. between hamails and kitabs). The analysis of Arabic content can pro-
vide some additional information concerning the dating of individual monuments
(or their copies), based on annotations which appear in colophons, which enable
direct dating, as well as on additional notes (e.g. a certificate of the owner or family
notes) on the first or last pages of books, and on dates and historical facts woven
in the text, although some of these may relate to the time of the narration, rather
than extra-textual reality106.
Stylistic-linguistic and translatological research should include first of all Tatar
tefsirs. Only small fragments of these books were published by the mid-90’s. Some
103 Cf. P. Suter, Zu den Koranübersetzungen der litauischen Tataren, „Slavica Helvetica”,
Bern–Berlin–Nowy Jork 1993, pp. 371–395; idem, Alfurkan Tatarski… A Belorussian
version of the work by Suter was published in 2009 in Minsk – Альфуркан татарскі.
Каран-тэфсір татараў Вялікага Княства Літовўскага translated by I. Сынкова,
В. Свяклa, M. Тарэлкa, ed. by Г. Цыхун.
104 Cf. pp. [37–38] in this monograph.
105 These tasks, concerning the research in Slavic and Oriental Tatar manuscripts, are
an authorial contribution of C. Łapicz and J. Kulwicka-Kamińska to works on the
project “TEFSIR”.
106 J. Kulwicka-Kamińska, M. Lewicka, Instytucjonalne formy badań…, p. 73.
excerpts from Tatar tefsirs appeared in print, among others, owing to Antoni
Muchliński (1857), Ignaty Krachkovsky (1924), Stanisław Szachno-Romanowicz
(1931), Anton K. Antonovich (1968), Glyn Munro Meredith-Owens and Alexander
Nadson (1970)107. Thus, a critical edition of the earliest Polish translation of the
Qur’an is important for conducting further research in the translation of Muslim
religious texts into languages that are outside the circle of the culture and tradi-
tion of Islam, that is a so-called tefsir, with solid linguistic commentary108. Stylistic,
linguistic and translatological research should also include the subsequent trans-
lations of the holy book of Islam into Polish, that is the Philomath translation of
the Qur’an and the translation by Józef Bielawski. The necessity to draw atten-
tion to this issue is pointed out, among others, by Nihad Jord in his work Koran
rękopiśmienny w Polsce (1994) – cf. chapters entitled Znajomość Koranu w dawnej
Polsce; Koran w dorobku polskiej orientalistyki, including: Przekłady Koranu w
języku polskim. The issue of adequate translation of Muslim religious terminology
into Slavic languages, which has been raised by modern scholars, includes interfer-
ence of these two monotheistic religions – Islam and Christianity. These influences
have been indicated and described, among others, in the works of C. Łapicz109, A.
107 Cf. A. Drozd, Arabskie teksty liturgiczne…, p. 16.

108 Cf. A. Gadomski, C. Łapicz, op. cit., p. 46. J. Szynkiewicz also wrote about a signif-
icant role of tefsirs and their uniqueness, Literatura religijna Tatarów litewskich i
jej pochodzenie, „Rocznik Tatarski” II, Zamość 1935, p. 138: “At present tefsirs have
become almost unique, and they are kept by a few families as heirlooms. Some
copies date back to the 18th century. The text of their translation is very good, in
the spirit of the best Muslim commentators” and p. 140: “… there are very few kitabs
left, only one or two for a congregation, and as for tefsirs, in the whole country there
can be found not more than ten of them.” Cf. P. Suter, Alfurkan Tatarski…, p. 6: „Es
gibt bis heute kein vollständiges Inventar der litauisch-tatarischen Handschriften.
Die bekannten Manuskripte liegen verstreut in Museen und Bibliotheken in Wilna,
Mińsk, St. Petersburg, Kazań, Warschau, Leipzig oder London. Eine beträchtliche
Anzahl von Handschriften befindet sich in Privatbesitz tatarischer Familien, wo
sie von Generation zu Generation weitervererbt werden. Diese Manuskripte sind
in der Regel der wissenschaftlichen Forschung nur beschränkt zugänglich. Immer
wieder gehen Handschriften unwiederbringlich verloren, oft aus Unachtsamkeit
oder Gleichgültigkeit dem islamisch-tatarischen Erbe gegenüber.” At the begin-
ning of the project “TEFSIR”, in 2013, the researchers from Poland, Lithuania and
Belorussia knew of the existence of only of a dozen tefsirs. Until recently it was
thought that twenty tefsir-like monuments were preserved – cf. I. Сынкова http://
www.tefsir.umk.pl/pliki/Tefsir_Tatarow_WKL.pdf (09-10-2015), but the most recent
research of Michail Tarelka, (cf. Рукапісы татараў Беларусі XVIII – пачатку XXI
стагоддзя з дзяржаўных і грамадскіх кнігазбораў краіны. Каталог, Мінск 2015)
extends this canon by further texts.
109 C. Łapicz, Z zagadnień przekładu muzułmańskiej terminologii modlitewnej na
język polski i białoruski, [in:] Z przeszłości i teraźniejszości języka polskiego.
Księga pamiątkowa dedykowana Teresie Friedelównie, eds. J. Kamper-Warejko, J.
42 Introduction
Drozd110, K. Dufala111, G. Miškinienė112, J. Kulwicka-Kamińska113, I. Radziszewska114,

I. Synkova, М. Tarelka115, and A. Konopacki116. Some of them (Drozd, Dufala,
Miškinienė, Łapicz, Radziszewska, Synkova, Tarelka) indicated Christian sources,
featured in kitabs and hamails in particular (fragments of the Bible and Christian
Kulwicka-Kamińska, K. Nowakowska, Toruń 2007, pp. 99–117; Chrześcijańsko-

muzułmańska interferencja religijna w rękopisach Tatarów Wielkiego Księstwa
Litewskiego, [in:] Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystes kalbos, kultūros ir raštijos
tradicijos, Vilnius 2009, pp. 293–310; Z teorii i praktyki przekładów Koranu (wybrane
zagadnienia), [in:] Chrestomatia teolingwistyki…, pp. 269–288.
110 A. Drozd, Tatarska wersja pieśni-legendy o św. Hiobie, „Poznańskie Studia
Polonistyczne” II (XXII), Seria Literacka, Poznań 1995, pp. 163–195; Wpływy
chrześcijańskie na literaturę Tatarów w dawnej Rzeczypospolitej. Między antago-
nizmem a symbiozą, „Pamiętnik Literacki” LXXXVIII, 1997, fasc. 3, pp. 3–34;
Arabskie teksty liturgiczne…
111 K. Dufala, Legenda o św. Grzegorzu w kitabie Tatarów – muzułmanów Wielkiego
Księstwa Litewskiego, [in:] Chrestomatia teolingwistyki…, pp. 205–220.
112 G. Miškinienė, Sieniausi lietuvos totorių rankrašciai…
113 J. Kulwicka-Kamińska, Semantyka i przekład leksemów księga, pismo, słowo w
polskich translacjach biblijnych i koranicznych, [in:] Pogranicza, ed. D. Kowalska,
Łódź 2007, pp. 327–347; Bałwany i bogowie w Koranie i w Biblii – polski przekład
i jego analiza leksykalno-semantyczna, [in:] Studia nad słownictwem dawnym i
współczesnym języków słowiańskich, eds. J. Kamper-Warejko, I. Kaproń-Charzyńska,
J. Kulwicka-Kamińska, Toruń 2007, pp. 103–113; Nazwy bogów pogańskich w Koranie
i w Biblii – polski przekład i jego analiza leksykalno-semantyczna, [in:] Z przeszłości
i teraźniejszości języka polskiego…, pp. 47–69; Ewangelia, Pięcioksiąg, Psalm, Tora
w dawnych i współczesnych translacjach biblijnych i koranicznych, [in:] Tradycja
a nowoczesność, ed. E. Woźniak, Łódź 2008, pp. 101–114; Przekład słownictwa dog-
matycznego islamu i chrześcijaństwa w polskich translacjach biblijnych i koranicz
nych (na przykładzie wybranych nazw bogów pogańskich), [in:] Tożsamość na styku
kultur. Zbiór studiów, eds. I. Masojć, R. Naruniec, Vilnius 2008, pp. 372–390; Sposoby
przekładu chrześcijańskiej i muzułmańskiej terminologii religijnej w polskich trans-
lacjach biblijnych i koranicznych, [in:] Chrestomatia teolingwistyki…, pp. 333–348;
Z problematyki przekładu muzułmańskiej i chrześcijańskiej terminologii religijnej (na
podstawie piśmiennictwa Tatarów litewsko-polskich, polskich przekładów Koranu i
Biblii), [in:] Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštijos kalbos…, pp. 335–345; Przekład ter-
minologii religijnej…
114 I. Radziszewska, Chamaiły jako typ piśmiennictwa religijnego… In this work the
author raises, inter alia, the problem of the presence in one of Tatar hamails of some
elements taken from the Psalms translated by Bishop I. Krasicki. Eadem, Elementy
obyczajowości Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego na przykładzie oracji weselnych w
tatarskim rękopiśmiennictwie, [in:] Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštijos kalbos…,
pp. 346–356.
115 М. Тарэлка, I. Сынкова, op. cit.
116 A. Konopacki, Życie religijne Tatarów na ziemiach Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego
w XVI–XIX wieku, Warszawa 2010, pp. 155–158.
Why terminology? 43
religious literature), which were creatively used by the Tatars of the GDL, adapt-
ing them to the canons and principles of the Muslim faith. Czesław Łapicz has
also undertaken research in handwritten translations of the Qur’an into Slavic
languages. He indicated the reasons for the first translations of the Qur’an in the
form of Tatar tefsirs, and the difficulties encountered by their translators, as well as
translation solutions adopted by them, for example Slavicization of original terms,
the use of analytical forms and analogical translation to Christian terminology.
The aim of the research of J. Kulwicka-Kamińska is translation of the Muslim
terminology from Oriental languages (especially from Arabic and Turkish) into
Slavic languages (especially Polish and Belorussian), including the interference of
Christianity and Islam in Tatar religious literature in the GDL. She points to fac-
tors which are common to Polish translations and Muslim translation tradition
(translations of the Qur’an, e.g. in the form of Turkish tefsirs) and what consti-
tutes a pattern of Christian (including Biblical) influence, and analyzes inclusion of
adequately modified Christian sources into Muslim religious writings.
0.4 Why terminology?

Terminology, from a diachronic perspective, is a codification of vocabulary in a
specific area by selection of existing forms or creation of new ones, according to
arbitrarily created rules. There are three basic ways of obtaining terms: borrowing,
neosemantization and the creation of composita117. It is therefore usually a result
of a conscious and purposeful activity of specialists in the field that leads to filling
a gap in the naming of certain concepts. The role of terms is therefore to perform a
nominative function, “as well as definition, signification, identification and distinc-
tive functions”118. They are marked by their reproductiveness, that is they enable
to form further derivatives, and uniformity, the application of which is to comple-
ment the existing word family, if possible. In creating a new term the point is that
it should be used efficiently. It should meet the requirements of brevity, efficiency,
clarity and monosemy.
In a situation in which it is not possible to respect the principle of name ade-
quacy of the concept it describes, foreign terms are adopted to be able to meet the
requirement of monosemy. According to studies, borrowed words constitute one
fifth of all terms119. The tendency to preserve original, genetically Oriental terms
is a distinctive feature of translation of writings by the Tatars of the GDL. The
presence of untranslated terms here is a consequence of the lack of exact Slavic
117 Cf. H. Jadacka, Terminologia, [in:] Nowy słownik poprawnej polszczyzny PWN, ed.
A. Markowski, Warszawa 2002, pp. 1760–1767.
118 W. Lubaś, Wokół słownika współczesnego języka polskiego III. Zakres selekcji i infor-
macji, eds. W. Lubaś, F. Sowa, Kraków 1993, p. 8.
119 I. Burkacka, Terminy naukowe jako podstawy słowotwórcze, „LingVaria” VI, 2011, No.
1, p. 51.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO
REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF
WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE
FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY
DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE
TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL,
PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE
NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you

discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it,
you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by
sending a written explanation to the person you received the work
from. If you received the work on a physical medium, you must
return the medium with your written explanation. The person or entity
that provided you with the defective work may elect to provide a
replacement copy in lieu of a refund. If you received the work
electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose to
give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in
lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you may
demand a refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the
problem.
1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth in
paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO
OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied

warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted
by the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any
provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the
Foundation, the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the
Foundation, anyone providing copies of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and any
volunteers associated with the production, promotion and distribution
of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, harmless from all liability,
costs and expenses, including legal fees, that arise directly or
indirectly from any of the following which you do or cause to occur:
(a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b)
alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any Project
Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
Section 2. Information about the Mission of

Project Gutenberg™
Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.
It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and
donations from people in all walks of life.
Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the

assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a
secure and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future
generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help,
see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
www.gutenberg.org.
Section 3. Information about the Project

Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.
The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West,

Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up
to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website
and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
Section 4. Information about Donations to

the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation
Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without
widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can
be freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the
widest array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small
donations ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax
exempt status with the IRS.
The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating

charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and
keep up with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in
locations where we have not received written confirmation of
compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of
compliance for any particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.
While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where

we have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no
prohibition against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in
such states who approach us with offers to donate.
International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make

any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of
other ways including checks, online payments and credit card
donations. To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.
Section 5. General Information About Project

Gutenberg™ electronic works
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be
freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of
volunteer support.
Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed

editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
edition.
Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.
This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™,

including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how
to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.

Dialogue of Scriptures European Studies in Theology Philosophy and History of Religions Kulwicka Kaminska Online Ebook Texxtbook Full Chapter PDF

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Dialogue of Scriptures European Studies in Theology Philosophy and History of Religions Kulwicka Kaminska Online Ebook Texxtbook Full Chapter PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Dialogue of Scriptures European

Studies in Theology Philosophy and

Genesis European Studies in Theology Philosophy and

Exodus Numbers European Studies in Theology Philosophy

Bible Caught in Violence European Studies in Theology

Catholic Religious Minorities in the Times of

The Gospel of John: A Hypertextual Commentary (European

Exodus Numbers A Hypertextual Commentary European

The Gospel of Matthew A Hypertextual Commentary

The Archparadox of Death Martyrdom as a Philosophical

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

This publication was financed by the Faculty of Languages of

Translators: Andrzej Rubaszewski and Arkadiusz Zwolski

Cover Design: © Olaf Gloekler, Atelier Platen, Friedberg

E-ISBN 978-3-653-06917-4 (E-PDF)

© Peter Lang GmbH

Peter Lang – Berlin ∙ Bern ∙ Bruxelles ∙ New York ∙

All parts of this publication are protected by copyright. Any

This publication has been peer reviewed.

1 The problems of the translation of the Bible and the

2 The translation of the religious terminology of Islam

3 The translation of Islamic religious terminology

4 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 267

Bibliography ........................................................................................................ 287

Index of Slavic words and phrases ....................................................... 367

Index of Oriental words and phrases ................................................. 399

Index of proper names .................................................................................. 403

…it is difficult for us to recall that heretofore we and our

(J. Sobolewski, Wykład wiary machometańskiej czyli

world of Islam in a significant way, and it constitutes an important factor of their

Muslims (Tatars); various attributes were attached to these people: Lithuanian,

0.1 Theoretical assumptions of the description

2 C. Łapicz, Kitab Tatarów litewsko-polskich. (Paleografia. Grafia. Język), Toruń 1986,

religious literature is recognized as a separate area of study6. It has also been

6 P. Suter, Alfurkan Tatarski. Der litauisch-tatarische Koran-Tefsir, Köln–Weimar–Wien

It arose, as has already been mentioned, in a multicultural and multilingual Grand

22 I. Winiarska, Słownictwo religijne polskiego kalwinizmu od XVI do XVIII wieku na tle

27 T. Lisowski, Sola Scriptura…, p. 60.

31 I. Winiarska, Słownictwo religijne polskiego kalwinizmu…, p. 64.

whether the equivalents present in lexicographical sources create a chain of

some collocations or fixed phrases, Biblical or Qur’anic idiomatic expressions40.

40 Cf. T. Lisowski, Sola Scriptura…, p. 39.

0.2 Methodological assumptions

44 The term translation unit is traditionally understood as the result of translation or

participation of a supernatural factor in the act of speech”, which in the belief

51 I. Winiarska, Słownictwo religijne polskiego kalwinizmu…, p. 39.

0.3 The state of research

57 Cf. M. Makuchowska, Bibliografia języka religijnego 1945–2005, Tarnów 2007. The

kwantytatywno-dystrybucyjne (2010), and Joanna Sobczykowa O naukowej

58 A special influence on the creation of this monograph, especially in terms

Mazurkiewicz-Brzozowska, Lublin 1993, pp. 231–238; A. Wierzbicka, Kocha, lubi,

75 M. Hawrysz, Terminologia jako wyznacznik granic wspólnoty religijnej (na przykładzie

82 However, the authenticity of the document is questioned – cf. A. Drozd, M. M.

86 Cf. C. Łapicz, Kitab Tatarów litewsko-polskich…, p. 11.

basis of kitabistics90. А. К. Antonovich had many plans. Among other things, he

90 A. Drozd, Arabskie teksty liturgiczne…, p. 14; I. Radziszewska, Chamaiły jako typ

2. Conducting long-term documentary, editorial and research activities of funda-

By contrast, the Arabic-language content of the religious literature of Lithuanian-

a translatological perspective on the basis of surah Al-Baqara103. As far as native

107 Cf. A. Drozd, Arabskie teksty liturgiczne…, p. 16.

Drozd110, K. Dufala111, G. Miškinienė112, J. Kulwicka-Kamińska113, I. Radziszewska114,

Kulwicka-Kamińska, K. Nowakowska, Toruń 2007, pp. 99–117; Chrześcijańsko-

0.4 Why terminology?

0.1 Theoretical assumptions of the description