Equivalence and Adequacy in Translation

1. A Brief Outline of Approaches to Defining Equivalence in Translation

There are different approaches to defining equivalence in translation, but even the brief outline of the issue indicates its importance within the framework of the theoretical reflection on translation.

I. Vinay and Darbelnet use this term to refer to cases where languages describe the same situation by different stylistic or structural means.

II. E.V. Breus distinguishes between syntactic, semantic and pragmatic levels of equivalence.

The syntactic equivalence implies the word-for-word translation. It means that the word forms and the syntactic structures in the SL utterance coincide with those in the TL. But such a close correspondence between the syntactic structures of the sentence in both languages is rare, so quite often to produce an adequate and effective translation we have to resort to various transformations. For example, it concerns predicative constructions with the participle and gerund and infinitive constructions when translating them from English into Russian, and the adverbial participle (деепричастие), when translating it from Russian into English.

English sentence	Russian translation	Commentary
The search was conducted during the summer of 2011.	Исследование проводилось летом 2011 года.	1. The passive construction is translated by the analogous Russian construction. 2. The meanings of the elements in the original sentence coincide with those in the translated sentence.

Compare:

Type of construction	English sentence	Russian translation
The Prepositional Absolute Participial Construction	With a loyal customer base thus assured, Matalan saves money by locating its stores out of town.	Таким образом, заручившись поддержкой со стороны лояльных потребителей, компания Matalan экономит деньги, вынося свои магазины за черту города.

The semantic level of equivalence implies the maximal semantic identity of the elements of the SL and the TL utterances.

Example	Translation	Commentary
In the 1980s, much academic ink was spilled over the “productivity paradox,” …	В 1980-х множество научных трудов было посвящено так называемому «парадоксу производительности», … but not: В 1980-х много академических чернил было пролито над "парадоксом производительности ", …	The metonymic translation is appropriate here because the phrase much academic ink was spilled over is associated with scientific research.

Compare:

Example	Translation	Commentary
Depending on the weight of news day, the story either dies there, or can be “reverse published” into the newspaper as a 6-inch short or a brief.	В зависимости от загруженности новостями в определенный день, конкретный информационный повод может либо остаться без внимания газетчиков либо быть опубликованным в виде короткой заметки или в сводке известий.	A word-for-word translation of the highlighted phrases can lead to a complete misunderstanding of the author’s ideas, that is why they require interpretation.

The pragmatic equivalence is achieved by means of interpreting extra-linguistic factors. It implies a close fit between communicative intent and the receptor’s response is required at all levels of equivalence.

Example	Translation
Mr. White: Mr. Davis. Let me introduce you to my business partner Mr. Johnson. Mr. Davis: How do you do? Mr. Johnson: How do you do?	Мистер Уайт: Мистер Дэвис. Позвольте представить вас моему деловому партнеру мистеру Джонсону. Мистер Дэвис: Очень приятно. Мистер Джонсон: Очень приятно.   The conventional formula when being introduced How do you do? is translated into Russian by means of the phrase Очень хорошо.
Тоже мне знаток нашелся!	An acceptable translation of the exclamatory Russian sentence Тоже мне знаток нашелся! would be the following: Since when have you been such an expert? but not Also I found an expert! as the original utterance is dripping with sarcasm. (Strelkova, p.3)

III. According to Komissarov there are five levels of equivalence in translation.

	The level of the purport of communication	It is only the purport of communication that is retained in translation. Such sentences can be characterized by an absolute dissimilarity of language units which is accompanied by the absence of obvious logical link between the two messages. Nevertheless they describe one and the same situation.	The chemistry between him [HK Gruber] and the Philharmonic was there from the start. (The Times, 12.02.2010) (= He established a good relationship with the Philharmonic from the very beginning.) - С самого начала между ним [Грубером] и филармонией установились хорошие, добрые отношения.
	The level of identification of situation	Most of the words or syntactical structures of the original have no direct correspondences in the translation. At the same time it is obvious that there is a greater proximity of contents than in the preceding group.	He answered the telephone. (= He lifted the receiver.) - Он снял трубку.
	The level of methods of situation description	The translation is a semantic paraphrase of the original, preserving its basic semesand allowing their free reshuffle in the sentence.	Art schools pumped out rebellious young designers, rock fell in love with avant-garde clothing … and the first generation of ‘stylists’ – those benign dictators of dress – told consumers what to wear and how to wear it. Школы искусств интенсивно выпускали молодых дизайнеров, не признающих никаких авторитетов; рок-музыканты увлекались костюмами в стиле «авангард», … появилось первое поколение стилистов – этих пользующихся безграничным авторитетом законодателей моды, которые объясняли потребителям, что и как следует носить в текущем сезоне. None of the meanings of the adjective rebellious (восставший, мятежный, повстанческий, непокорный) corresponds to the situation described, so it is justified to substitute it for the phrase не признающих никаких авторитетов. The same approach is employed for the translation of the phrase fell in love with. As the Russian verbвлюбиться doesn’t fit in the context it is appropriate to substitute it for the word увлекались. The word-combination benign dictators of dress also can’t be translated into Russian literally (добросердечные диктаторы платья), so to preserve the author’s idea intact, it should be reformulated like this: пользующихся безграничным авторитетом законодателей моды.
	The level of invariant meaning of syntactic structures (which is also called transformational equivalence)	The target and the source language sentences manifest grammar transformations, which can include transposition of the sentence elements (words, phrases and clauses), parts of speech replacement, the replacement of the word form, the replacement of the sentence structure, the replacement of the sentence type, etc.	We are drawing down resources that took millions of years to create in order to supplement current consumption. Для расширения сферы потребления мы истощаем ресурсы, на создание которых потребовалось миллионы лет.
	The level of words semantics	Here we can observe: 1) the equivalence of semes which make up the meaning of correlated words in the original text and the translation; 2) parallelism of syntactic structures implying the maximum invariance of their meanings; 3) the similarity of the notional categories which determine the method of describing the situation; 4) the identity of the situations; 5) the identical functional aim of the utterance or the purport of communication.	Business power is legitimate when it is used for the common good. Могущество бизнеса является легитимным, когда оно реализуется на общее благо.

Some linguists consider the terms equivalence and adequacy synonymous, but according to V. Komissarov they denote non-identical but closely related notions. In his opinion adequate translation is broader in meaning than equivalent translation. Adequate translation is good translation, as it provides communication in full: it should be accurate, readable and correct, while equivalent translation is the translation providing the semantic identity of the target and source texts. (Komissarov, p.) Therefore, translation equivalence is defined as a measure of semantic similarity between the SL text and the TL text. Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics gives a broader definition of the term translation equivalence: it is the degree to which linguistic units (e.g. words, syntactic structures) can be translated into another language without loss of meaning. Two items with the same meaning in two languages are said to be translation equivalents.

In this connection it makes sense to move to the consideration of the types of meaning, which is the most vital part of the translation process. As a rule, word meaning is represented by to types of meaning: lexical and grammatical.

Types of Meaning: Lexical and Grammatical

Grammatical meaning is any aspect of meaning described as part of the syntax and morphology of a language as distinct from its lexicon (Oxford Concise Dictionary of Linguistics, p. 164). In other words it is the meaning of a word by reference to its function within a sentence rather than to a world outside the sentence. Compare the following sentences:

1. If you are not late, we will be able to finish our work on time. (Here if is used as a conjunction.)

2. I asked him if he could come in time. (Here if is used as the marker of an indirect question.)

Lexical meaning is the meaning of a word in relation to the physical world or to abstract concepts (a thing, quality, state or action), without reference to any sentence in which the word may occur. For example, the verb to receive implies taking what is offered, given, or sent (to receive a letter / news / an invitation). To receive describes simply the act of taking (the person who receives is passive). The verb to obtain almost always implies activity, or intent, or hope in the one who obtains; it means ‘to succeed in gaining possession of as the result of planning or endeavor’ (to obtain a position, to obtain experience, to obtain money).

Both the linguistic and the grammatical meaning make up the content of the word and neither can exist without the other.

For example, the grammatical meaning of the noun news is expressed by only plural form of the word. The lexical meaning of the word is: facts that are reported about a recent event or events; new information – известие / известия, новость / новости.

Types of Lexical Meaning

Type of meaning	Its characteristics	Example
Referential meaning	The denotative ‘dictionary’ meaning (референциальное значение). This type of meaning has direct reference to things or phenomena of objective reality.	Country town - провинциальный город
Pragmatic(or emotive)meaning	It reflects the subjective relations, that is emotional, expressive and stylistic.	Ударник - record-setter in work productivity / top performer, shock-worker
Interlinguisticmeaning	It reflects the relationship between the language sign and the participant of the process of speech.	Policeman – 1) полисмен, полицейский (a member of a police force, esp. one holding the rank of constable); 2) полицай (recruited by Nazi authorities from among collaborating locals in occupied territories during World War Two)

The Degree of Preservation of Meaning

The degree of preservation of meaning in the process of translation is different; it mostly depends on the type of meaning.

Reason	Example
The highest degree of preservation of meaning is that of referential meanings, because they are better translatable, the reason is easily explained as the objective reality of the language communities has more common features than differences and so referential meanings coincide more often than not in different languages.	Ex. 1 Thus, human capital is a means of production, into which additional investment yields additional output. – Таким образом, человеческий капитал – это средство производства, дополнительные инвестиции в который приносят дополнительный доход. Ex. 2 С (огромным) удовольствием. – With (great) pleasure.
Pragmatic meanings have alower degree and the difference lies in the fact that the relation of different communities to the given things, notions and situations will be different, so the attitude will be different, too. It especially concerns metaphorical meanings and complex cultural idioms, where the sense of the phrase is always diverges from the sum of the individual elements.	Ex. 1 the white man's burden – «миссия (или бремя) белого человека» (якобы культурная миссия колонизаторов - прикрытие колониальной политики) [выражение Р. Киплинга, назвавшего так одно из своих стихотворений] Ex. 2 Большевик - Bolshevik (from Russian Bol'shevik majority, from bol'shoi - great; from the fact that this group formed a majority of the Russian Social Democratic Party in 1903); The derivative is bolshie – реакционер, бунтарь; ярый фанатик; несговорчивый приверженец своих взглядов
A minimum degree of preservation is in interlinguistic meaning. In this case a translator can resort to functional replacements.	Ex. 1 the political phrase “guns or butter” – расхожее политическое выражение «кнут или пряник» Ex. 2 ждать у моря погоды – to let the grass grow under one's feet

There are three main types of the above mentioned semantic correspondences between the lexical units of two languages:

1) complete correspondence;

2) partial correspondence;

3) absence of correspondence (non-equivalent lexis).

Complete Correspondences

Complete correspondence in translation is typical of mono-semantic words, that is, the words which have one meaning in both languages. These lexical units can be presented by the following groups:

Semantic group	English example	Russian translation
Proper and geographical names	The British Isles	Британские острова
Scientific and technical terms	Eye of hurricane	Глаз бури; глаз тропического циклона
Words closed in semantics	(days of the week, months, etc.) Sunday, March	Воскресенье, март

Partial Correspondences

Partial correspondence is the most widely spread case in the process of comparing lexical units of two languages. In this case one word in the SL has several semantic equivalents in the TL. For example, let’s consider the meanings of the noun table – стол.

English	Russian
1) a piece of furniture – стол kitchen table - кухонный стол	1) предмет мебели – table письменный стол – writing table / desk
2) food as served in a particular household or restaurant – пища, стол; еда, кухня good table - хороший стол, вкусная еда	2) питание – board; diet; meals; (кухня) cooking, cuisine стол и квартира – board and lodging диетический стол – diet, dietary meals
3) such a piece of furniture specially designed for any of various purposes – доска для настольных игр backgammon table – доска для игры в нарды	3) (отдел в учреждении) desk, department, office стол заказов – order placement desk адресный стол – address bureau паспортный стол – passport office
4) the people sitting at a table James’ funny stories kept the whole table amused. – Джеймс развлекал гостей за столом своими забавными рассказами.
5) a printed or written set of figures, facts, or information arranged in orderly rows across and down the page – таблица; расписание, табель to give data in tables – представить данные в форме таблицы; table of contents – оглавление
6) a tablet on which laws were inscribed by the ancient Romans, the Hebrews, etc. – скрижаль ten tables – десять заповедей

Absence of Correspondences (Non-equivalent lexis)

Non-equivalent lexis is words and word-combinations of the source language, denoting objects, processes and other realia which do not exist or have correspondences at present in the target language.

Types of non-equivalent lexis:	1) temporary non-equivalence: the target language has no ready equivalence. Ex: plane spotter (a person who observes, photographs, and catalogues aircraft as a hobby) – споттер; человек, хобби которого – отслеживать самолеты и записывать их бортовые номера Ex: childfree – чайлдфри; свободный от детей Childfree is a term used to describe individuals who neither have children nor desire to have children (отсутствие детей и сознательное нежелание когда-либо иметь их). An alternative term is childless by choice – добровольная бездетность.
2) constant non-equivalence: – these are words which designate concepts or realities of culture, i.e. exotisms and realia. Ex: house party – вечеринка в загородном доме (гости остаются на ночь или на несколько дней) Ex: backstory – книга или фильм с участием уже знакомых зрителю персонажей, при этом действие разворачивается до момента, описанного в предыдущих произведениях – lacunas: lexical units don’t have equivalents in the target language because they denote specific elements typical of the source language national culture only. Ex: arm / hand – рука
Where non-equivalent lexis can be found:	1) in science fiction and scientific and technical literature where authors use a lot of terms and neologisms. Ex: start-up – стартап (недавно созданная фирма, обычно интернет-компания) Ex: fabricator - фабрикатор (изготовитель конечного изделия из исходного продукта или полуфабриката, например, фабрикаторы кухонных гарнитуров, и т.п.) 2) in the names of realia: – geographical and ethnographical realia Ex: Irish coffee – «ирландский кофе» (алкогольный напиток из смеси ирландского виски [whiskey] и кофе с сахаром и сливками) Ex: стахановское движение – Stakhanovism (in the former Soviet Union) a system designed to raise production by offering incentives to efficient workers – everyday life realia Ex: mail-order husband – мужчина, выбирающий невесту по интернет-каталогу (обращается в брачное агентство с целью подобрать себе невесту из другой страны) Ex: детское пособие – monthly handout for a first baby (in Russia) – political realia Ex: Bushism (an apparently fatuous statement attributed to George W. Bush, 43rd Presidnt of the USA) – бушизм Ex: агитпункт – agitation centre; (в предвыборной кампании) campaigning centre, election campaign centre / office
Ways of translation:	1) loan translation (or calque): Ex: brain drain – утечка мозгов (массовая эмиграция научных работников); Ex: early-bird discount – скидка для ранней пташки (распродажа товаров по сниженным ценам в утренние часы, обычно с 8 до 10) 2) transcription / transliteration: Ex: окрошка – okroshka Ex: flash mob – флеш-моб 3) descriptive translation (or translation by means of definition): Ex: caregiver – тот, кто ухаживает за больным, инвалидом, пожилым человеком (обычно на дому) Ex: coffee bar – небольшое кафе, где продаются безалкогольные напитки и кондитерские изделия 4) analogous translation: Ex: drugstore (a shop where medical prescriptions are made up and a wide variety of goods and sometimes light meals are sold) – аптека Ex: доцент – associate professor (a university teacher lower in rank than a full professor but higher than an assistant professor)

It should be noted that each exercise involves some kind of loss of meaning due to a number of factors. The basic loss can result from overtranslation (increased detail - детализация) or undertranslation (increased generalization - обобщение).

Firstly, if the text describes a situation, which has elements peculiar to the natural environment, institutions and culture of its language area, there is an inevitable loss of meaning unless there is already recognized translation equivalent in the target language.

Secondly, as the two languages have different lexical, grammatical and sound systems, they determine many physical objects and intellectual concepts differently. Usually the closer is the language and the culture, the closer is the translation and the original.

Thirdly, very often the individual usage (словоупотребление) of the language of the text by the writer and the translator don’t coincide. Everybody has lexical, if not grammatical idiosyncrasies, or peculiarities (индивидуальная или групповая отличительная особенность (характера, стиля)) and attaches “private” meaning to some words. The translator usually writes in a style that comes naturally to him unless the text prevents it.

Fourthly, the translator and the writer of the text have different theories of meaning and different values. The translator’s theory colors his interpretation of the text. He may set greater value than the writer of the text on connotation (коннотация (дополнительное, сопутствующее значение языковой единицы или категории)) and correspondingly less on denotation (значение; смысл).

Thus, the translator requires knowledge of literary and nonliterary text criticism (критика (анализ, истолкование и оценка литературных и художественных произведений)) since he has to estimate and assess the quality of the text before he decides how to interpret it and then translate it.

3. Translation of Internationalisms (Borrowings) and the Problem of False Friends

Internationalisms (Borrowings)

Borrowing is a word or phrase which has been taken from one language and used in another language.

Borrowed terms often pass into general usage, for example in the fields of technology ("software") and culture ("punk"). It can be pure (without any change, when speakers pronounce them as they are pronounced in the original language), e.g., lobby (English) and лобби (Russian), or it can be naturalized (when speakers pronounce it according to the sound system of their own language), e.g., globalization – глобализация (Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics, p. 57).

False Friends

False friend is a word or expression in one language that, because it resembles one in another language, is often wrongly taken to have the same meaning

Classification of False Friends

№	Type of false friend	English	Russian
	The Russian word coincides with the English word only in one or two meanings.	Import - 1) импорт; импортирование (ввоз в страну товаров из-за границы); 2) значение, смысл, суть, сущность	Импорт - ввоз
	The Russian word has the meanings which the English word has not. It occurs when the word is borrowed into Russian and English from the third language.	Auditorium - аудитория (помещение)	Аудитория - 1) помещение для занятий - auditorium; 2) слушатели - audience
	The word has both coinciding and different meanings in Russian and English.	Expertise - 1) экспертиза; экспертная оценка; 2) квалификация, компетентность, компетенция специальные знания; профессиональные знания	Экспертиза - 1) изучение экспертами, экспертная оценка - (expert) examination; assessment; 2) комиссия экспертов - commission of experts
	The Russian and the English words have the same or very similar form in both languages, but their meanings are absolutely different.	Pathetic - 1) жалостный; трогательный, умилительный; 2) душераздирающий; 3) грустный, задумчивый, печальный; 4) жалкий, вызывающий презрение	Патетический – высокий, возвышенный, приподнятый, торжественный, патетичный

Discussing false friends of a translator it should be noted that some of them differ in their denotative meaning. For example, the English noun politician means a person actively engaged in politics, esp. a full-time professional member of a deliberative assembly and is translated as политик, государственный/политический деятель. The Russian false friend политикан sounds disparagingly in this case, because it stands for a person who engages in politics out of a wish for personal gain, as realized by holding a public office.

Lecture 4

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