Teomparative Study of the Thematic Structure of One Poem of Rumi's Masnavi and its English Translation Based on Halliday's Functional Theory

Authors
Z. Asoudeh 1
T. Ishany 2
F. Seyyedebrahimi Nejad 3
1 PhD Student of Linguistics, Islamic Azad University- North Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran
2 Associate Professor of Literature, Faculty of Language and Literature, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran
3 Assistant Professor, English Language Department, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
10.48311/LRR.16.4.6
Abstract
This study aims to investigate to what extent the translator has reflected the function of source text in the system of target text, and has followed the style of source text in conveying the meaning. The authors used a descriptive-analytical method based on the Systemic Functional Approach of Halliday and Matthiessen. They aimed to compare the thematic structure of one poem in Rumi's Masnavi and its English translation. According to Halliday's model, the application frequency of topical and multiple themes as well as the marked and unmarked types in the clauses of two poems were calculated. The translator has been successful in translating 90% of the clauses containing unmarked themes and has been less successful in translating 66.6% of the clauses with marked themes and in conveying the meaning and emphasis intended by the author because of not considering the style of source text in theme markedness. Considering Halliday’s Approach of Equivalence in Translation, similarity in using the theme types in source and translation texts can indicate translator's adherence to the style of source text in conveying the textual meaning and achieving functional equivalence in translation process.



1. Introduction

The accelerated advancement of science and technology in today’s world has turned translation into a vital tool for accessing cultural knowledge and enhancing intercultural communication. Since the main purpose of translation is to transfer meaning to the target text and from there to the audience, a significant part of the process of comparing the original text with its translations is dedicated to examining whether the function of the source text has been preserved in the target system. Given this crucial issue, finding a linguistic framework that enables the translator to accomplish the mission of meaning transfer more successfully is of great importance.

Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics with its special emphasis on three layers of meaning (experiential, interpersonal, and textual) provides an efficient framework for analyzing the text and achieving a more accurate transfer of meaning from the source language to the target language.

On the other hand, Rumi’s Masnavi is one of the great literary and cultural masterpieces of Iran which has been translated into various languages, especially English. One of the most recent translations of Masnavi is the poetic translation by Mojaddedi (2004).

In this study, the authors intend to conduct a comparative analysis of the thematic structure within the textual metafunction framework of Halliday and Matthiessen, focusing on selected verses from the first book of Masnavi and its English translation by Mojaddedi. Using Halliday’s context-based approach to translation as a method for evaluating the translation, the research aims to assess the status of the English rendition. Since meaning cannot be realized without structure, it must first be organized. The thematic structure of a text shows how the author’s intended ideas are presented and how elements are linked.

Research Question(s)

The study aims to answer the following research questions:

1. According to Halliday’s Functional Theory, how were the theme types used in this poem of Masnavi and its translation?

2. Considering the comparative analysis of thematic structure in the source and target texts, what changes occurred in the textual meaning of the translated text? And to what extent has the translator been successful in transferring the concepts?



2. Literature Review

Due to the wide range of studies conducted in systemic functional linguistics and the interdisciplinary nature of the present study, the relevant literature is categorized into three areas:



2.1. Studies Related to SFL

Bayat (2016) showed that women preferred simple Themes in Persian writing, while the use of complex Themes increased with higher education levels. Darabi et al. (2020) found that the textual metafunction played a key role in cohesion within ESP textbooks and that author nationality was not a suitable criterion for textbook selection.



2.2. Studies Related to Literature

Safarzadeh (2010) confirmed the potential of SFL to distinguish stylistic features in different poetic texts. Eshani and Rezaei Laksar (2016) reported a higher frequency of compound Themes in authentic Khayyam quatrains and more marked Themes in the attributed ones.

Mostafavi and Sanati (2016), in their analysis of “Nimkat-e-Roberoo,” noted that the frequent use of material processes reflected the narrative style of the story. They also classified zero subject pronouns as unmarked Themes, consistent with Persian’s syntactic tendency to omit subjects at the beginning of clauses.

Khatibi and Alavi-Moghaddam (2017) observed a higher occurrence of textual Themes than interpersonal ones and classified Zero subject pronouns as unmarked Themes.



2.3. Studies Related to Translation

Zecquan (2003) presented Halliday’s register variables (field, tenor, and mode) as effective tools for evaluating translation quality. Manfredi (2011) demonstrated the pedagogical value of SFL in both analytical and practical aspects of translation instruction. Najafi Dehkordi (2018) found that most errors in Persian Translations of MA students occurred in transferring ideational meaning, then in interpersonal and textual ones, confirming the usefulness of Halliday’s three-level meaning model in translation training and assessment quality. The innovation of the present study is applying Halliday and Matthiessen’s systemic functional theory to analyze the thematic structure of selected verses from Rumi’s Masnavi and their corresponding English translation. By focusing on textual meaning and the translator’s adherence to the source text’s style, the study provides practical implications for translation analysis evaluation, and instruction.



3. Methodology

This descriptive-analytical study applies Halliday and Matthiessen’s model of SFL to compare thematic structures in persian verses from the first book of Rumi’s Masnavi and their English translation by Mojaddedi. The Persian text was interpreted using Zamani¢s commentary (2019). The research procedure was as follows: first, the Persian verses and their English translation were divided into their constituent clauses. Then, the types of Themes used in each Persian clause and its corresponding English translation were identified, based on Halliday’s classification, considering whether they were simple or complex, marked or unmarked. A comparative analysis was then conducted for each pair of clauses. In the final step, the overall frequency of Theme types in the source and target texts was compared. Based on Halliday’s functional equivalence approach in translation, the translator’s success in maintaining functional balance related to thematic structure and achieving maximum transfer of textual meaning was evaluated.



4. Results

Based on the conducted analyses, it can be concluded that Halliday’s textual metafunction is applicable as a tool for text analysis in the Persian language. According to the findings, experiential Themes account for 93.75% of the clauses in the original Persian poem and 81.25% in the English translation. The frequency of compound Themes was 1 in the Persian text and 3 in the translation. All four instances were Type I and unmarked compound Themes. Only 37.5% of experiential Themes in the original and 18.75% in the translation were marked. The remaining Themes were unmarked.

The 12.5% decrease in experiential Themes in the translation indicates that the translator, in some cases, rendered experiential Themes as compound Themes. The translator preserved 90% of the unmarked Themes from the original text in the translation. This indicates a successful transfer of meaning in those lines. However, in 66.6% of the cases, the translator rendered marked Themes from the source text as unmarked in the translation. This shift resulted in the loss of the textual emphasis originally intended by the author.

These findings highlight that the translator’s lack of attention to the author's use of Theme types leads to shifts in functional realization and can alter the textual meanings associated with thematic structure and markedness. It limits the achievement of functional equivalence. Awareness of source text structure is essential in translating literary works like Rumi’s Masnavi, where accurate meaning transfer is especially critical

Keywords

Subjects

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Language Related Research
Volume 16, Issue 4 - Serial Number 88
September and October 2025
Pages 177-212