TRANSLATION UNIVERSALS AND DEICTIC SHIFTS IN GERMAN QUR'AN TRANSLATIONS

This article investigates the relationship between translation universals and deictic shifts in selected German translations of the Qur’an. Translation universals, such as explicitation, simplification, normalization and explicative restructuring, are frequently observed in translated texts and may influence the way deictic expressions are rendered in the target language. The study focuses on personal, spatial, temporal and discourse deixis in German Qur’an translations and examines how shifts in deictic reference affect meaning, textual coherence and reader interpretation. Special attention is given to cases where translators clarify implicit references, adjust pronoun usage, reorganize demonstrative structures or make contextual meanings more explicit for German-speaking readers.