EQUIVALENCE IN TRANSLATION

1. EQUIVALENCE IN TRANSLATION

Basic assumptions

2. Definition/levels of equivalence

Translation equivalence is defined as a
measure of semantic similarity between ST
and TT.
5 levels of equivalence

3. Level 1

Purport of communication
• E.g
• (1) Maybe there is some chemistry between
us that doesn't mix. Бывает, что люди не
сходятся характерами.
• (2) A rolling stone gathers no moss.
• Кому дома не сидится, тот добра не
наживет.
• (3) That's a pretty thing to say. Постыдился
бы!

4. Level 2

Purport of communication +identification of
the situation.
He answered the telephone.
Он снял трубку.
You see one bear, you have seen them all.
Все медведи похожи друг на друга.
It was late in the day.
Близился вечер.

5. Level 3

Purport of communication + identification of
the situation + the method of its description.
E.g. Scrubbing makes me bad-tempered.
Or мытья полов у меня настроение
портится.
London saw a cold winter last year.
В прошлом году зима в Лондоне была
холодной.
You are not serious?
Вышутите?

6. Level 4

Purport of communication + identification of
the situation + the method of its description
+ the invariant meaning of the syntactic
structures.
He was never tired of old songs.
Старые песни ему никогда не надоедали. I
don't see that I need to convince you. He вижу
надобности доказывать это вам. Не was
standing with his arms crossed and his bare head
bent. Он стоял, сложив руки на груди и
опустив непокрытую голову.

7. Level 5

Purport of communication + identification of
the situation + the method of its description
+ the invariant meaning of the syntactic
structures+ word semantics.
I saw him at the theatre.
Я видел его в театре.
The house was sold for 10 thousand dollars.
Дом был продан за десять тысяч долларов.
The Organisation is based on the principle of the sovereign
equality of all its Members.
Организация основана на принципе суверенного равенства
всех ее членов.

8. Topics for Discussion

What is translation equivalence? Is every
translation equally close semantically to its
ST? How can different types of equivalence
be singled out? In what way does one type of
equivalence differ from the other?
2. What is the minimum semantic similarity
between ST and TT? How can the first type of
translation equivalence be defined? What is
the purport of communication? Should the
purport of communication be always
preserved in translation?

9. Summary

Each level of equivalence is characterized by
the part of information the retention of
which distinguishes it from the previous
level. The list of levels, therefore, includes:
1) the level of the purport of
communication; 2) the level of (the
identification of) the situation; 3) the level
of the method of description (of the
situation); 4) the level of syntactic meanings;
5) the level of word semantics.