Translation Studies

Lecture: 2
Topic: Equivalence at WORD level
Instructor: Amjad Ali
 Equivalence at Word Level
• The Word in Different Languages
• Lexical Meaning
• The Problem Of Non-Equivalence Equivalence
At Word Level
 The Word In Different Languages
• What is Word?
• The word is ‘The smallest unit of language that
can be used by itself’ ((Bolinger and Sears,
1968:43) in Mona Baker, 1991:17 ).
• The word is smallest unit which we would expect
to prossess individual meaning (Mona Baker,
1991:17)
• Meaning can be carried by units smaller than the
word.
 The Word In Different Languages
• Is there a one-to-one relationship between w
ord and meaning?

• Two distinct elements of meaning in it : re and

build. ‘to built again’
• Example :
Tennis player (english):tenisci (turkish).
Boxing player (english): petinju (ind).
 The Word In Different Languages
Introducing Morpheme
• The term morpheme is the minimal formal
element of meaning in language.
• Morpheme cannot contain more than one
element of meaning and cannot be further
analysed.
 The Word In Different Languages
• In English some morpheme have grammatical
functions such as
• marking plurality, gender and tense.
• Marking plurality : boys=boy+s
friends=friend+s Gender : beautifull (female)
handsome (male) Tense : slept (past)
 Lexical Meaning
Propositional vs expressive meaning 
• The propositional meaning of a word or an utterance
arises from the relation between it and what if
refers to or describes in a real or imaginary world, as
conceived by the speakers of the particular language
to which the word or utterance belong.
• Expressive meaning relates to the speakers’s feelings
or attitude rather than to what words and utterance
refer to.
 Lexical Meaning
• Presupposed Meaning 
• Presupposed meaning arises from co-
occurrence restrictions :
• Selectional restrictions
• Collocational restrictions
 Lexical Meaning
• Evoked Meaning 
Evoked meaning arises from dialect and register
variation :
a) Geographical
b) Temporal
c) Social
 Lexical Meaning
• Register variation is a variety of language that
a language user considers appropriate to a
specific situation.
Register variation arises from variation in the
followings:
• Field of discourse
• Tenor of discourse
• Mode of discourse
 The Problem of Non-Equivalence
• The choice of a suitable equivalent in a given c
ontext
 depends on a wide variety of factors. Some of
these factors may be strictly lingusitcs (ex.
collocations and idioms), others may be extra
linguistics (ex. pragmatics).
 Semantic fields and lexical sets – the
segmentation of experience
• The vocabulary of a language as a set of word
s referring to
 a series of conceptual fields. These fields
reflect the divisions and sub-divisions
‘imposed’ by a given linguistics community on
the continuum of experience. In linguistics,
the divisions are called semantic fields.
 Semantic fields and lexical sets – the
segmentation of experience
• Fields are abstract concepts. 
Example : the field of SPEECH, PLANTS, or
VEHICLES.
Lexical sets are the actual words and
expressions under each field.
Example : SPEECH VERBS OF SPEECH speak, say,
mumble, murmur, mutter, whisper
 Semantic fields and lexical sets – the
segmentation of experience
• Two ways of semantic fields and lexical sets understan
ding
 :
• a. Understanding the difference in the structure of
semantic fields in the source and target languages
allows a translator to assess the value of a given item in
a lexical sets.
Example : the field of TEMPERATURE
English: cold, cool, hot, and warm
Arabic: baarld (‘cold/cool’), haar (‘hot : of the weather’),
saakhin (‘hot : of objects), and daafi (‘warm’)
 Semantic fields and lexical sets – the segmentation of experience

• b. Sematics
fields are arranged hierarchically, going from
 the more general to the more specific.
The general word is usually referred to as
superordinate and the specific word as
hyponym.
Semantic fields are not fixed. They are always
changing.
Non-equivalence at word level and some
common strategies for dealing with
Non-equivalence at word level means that the t
arget language
 has no direct equivalence for a word which
occurs in the source text.

The type and level of difficulty posed can vary

tremendously depending on the nature of
non-equivalence.
 Non-equivalence at word level and some
common strategies for dealing with
a) Culture-specific concepts 
The concept may be abstract or concrete; it may relate to
a religious belief, a social custom, or even a type of food.
Example : privacy, speaker (of the House of Commons)
b) The source-language concept is not lexicalized in the
target language
The source-language word may express a concept which is
known in the target culture but simply not lexicalized, that
is not “allocated” a target-language to express it.
Example : standard
Non-equivalence at word level and some
common strategies for dealing with
c)The source-language word is semantically com
plex
 A single word which consists of a single
morpheme can sometimes express a more
complex set of meanings than a whole
sentence.
• Example : arruaçáo ‘clearing the ground under
coffee trees of rubbish and pilling it in the
middle of the row in order to aid in the
recovery of beans dropped during harvesting’
Non-equivalence at word level and some
common strategies for dealing with
d) The source and the target language make diff
erent
 distinctions in meaning What one language
regards as an important distinction in meaning
another language may not perceive as
relevant.
Example : kehujanan
hujan-hujanan
 villa Non-equivalence at word level and
some common strategies for dealing with
e) The target language lacks a superordinate 
The target language may have specific words (hyponyms)
but no general word (superordinate) to head the semantic
fields. Example : the word facilities in English and Russian
f) The target language lacks a specific term
Language tend to have general words but lack specific
ones, since each language makes only those distinction in
meaning which seem relevant to its particular
environment. Example : the word house in English has
many variety of hyponyms, such as cottage, lodge,
Non-equivalence at word level and some
common strategies for dealing with
g) Differences in physical or interpersonal persp
ective
 physical perspective has to do with where
things or people are in relation to one another
or, to a place.
Example: the word give in Japanese has six
equivalents, depending on who gives to
whom.
Non-equivalence at word level and some
common strategies for dealing with
h) Differences in expressive meaning 
If the target-language equivalent is neutral
compared to the source-language item, the
translator can sometimes add the evaluative
element by means of a modifier or adverb if
necessary, or building it in somewhere else in
the text.
Example : the differences in expressive meaning
in word homosexuality in English and Arabic
Non-equivalence at word level and some
common strategies for dealing with
i) Differences in form There is often no
equivalent in the target language for a
particular form in the source text. Certain
suffixes and prefixes which convey
propositional and other types of meaning in
English often have no direct equivalents in
other languages.
Example: employer / employee, trainer /
trainee, retrieavable, boyish
 Non-equivalence at word level and some
common strategies for dealing with
j) Differences in frequency and purpose of using specific for
ms
 
Example: the using of the continuous –ing form in English
is more frequently than other languages which have
equivalents for it, for example German and the
Scandinavian languages.
k) The use of loan words in the source text
The use of loan words in the source text poses a special
problem in translation. This is often lost in translation
because it is not always possible to find a loan word with
the same meaning in the target language.
Strategies used by professional translators

• The examples of strategies used by professional tra

nslators
 for dealing with various types of nonequivalence :
(a) Translation by a more general word
(superordinate) This is one of the commonest
strategies for dealing with many types of non-
equivalence, particularly in the area of
propositional meaning. It works equally well in
most, if not all, languages, since the hierarchical
structure of semantic fields is not language-specific.
 Strategies used by professional translators

• Example : Source text (Kolestral Super): Shampoo

the hair with a mild WELLA-SHAMPOO and lightly
towel dry. Target text 1 (Spanish): Lavar el cabello
con un champú suave de WELLA y frotar
ligeramente con una toalla. Wash hair with a mild
WELLA shampoo and rub lightly with a towel. Target
text 2 (Arabic): The hair is washed with ‘wella’
shampoo, provided that it is a mild shampoo . . .
Strategies used by professional translators

• (b) Translation by a more neutral/less expressive w

ord 
Example: Source text (China’s Panda Reserves):
Many of the species growing wild here are familiar
to us as plants cultivated in European gardens –
species like this exotic lily.
Target text (back-translated from Chinese): We are
very familiar with many varieties of the wild life
here, they are the kind grown in European gardens
– varieties like this strange unique lily flower.
 Strategies used by professional translators

• (c) Translation by cultural substitution 

This strategy involves replacing a culture-
specific item or expression with a target-
language item which does not have the same
propositional meaning but is likely to have a
similar impact on the target reader. The main
advantage of using this strategy is that it gives
the reader a concept with which s/he can
identify, something familiar and appealing
Strategies used by professional translators

• Example : 
Source text (Italian – Gadda, ‘La cenere delle battaglie’):
Poi, siccome la serva di due piani sotto la sfringuellava al
telefono coll’innamorato, assenti i padroni, si imbizzì: prese a
pestare i piedi sacripantando «porca, porca, porca, porca . . .»:
finché la non ismise, che non fu molto presto.
Target text (English: ‘The ash of battles past’):
Then, because the servant-girl two floors down was chattering at
thetelephone with her young man, her employers being away,
he lost his temper: and began to stamp his feet, bellowing ‘Bitch,
bitch, bitch . . .’ until she gave up, which was not very soon.
Strategies used by professional translators

• (d) Translation using a loan word or loan word plus

 explanation
This strategy is particularly common in dealing with
culture-specific items, modern concepts, and buzz
words. Following the loan word with an explanation
is very useful when the word in question is repeated
several times in the text. Once explained, the loan
word can then be used on its own; the reader can
understand it and is not distracted by further
lengthy explanations.
Strategies used by professional translators

• Example : Source text (The Patrick Collection):

The Patrick Collection has restaurant facilities
to suit every taste – from the discerning
gourmet, to the Cream Tea expert.
– Target text (German): . . . vom anspruchsvollen
Feinschmecker bis zum ‘Cream-Tea’Experten.
Strategies used by professional translators

• (e) Translation by paraphrase using a related word This

strategy tends to be used when the concept expressed by the
source item is lexicalized in the target language but in a
different form, and when the frequency with which a certain
form is used in the source text is significantly higher than
would be natural in the target language.
Example : Source Text (China’s Panda Reserves) There is strong
evidence, however, that giant pandas are related to the bears.
Target text (back-translated from Chinese): But there is rather
strong evidence that shows that big pandas have a kinship
relation with the bears.
 Strategies used by professional translators

• (f) Translation by paraphrase using unrelated

words 
If the concept expressed by the source item is
not lexicalized at all in thetarget language, the
paraphrase strategy can still be used in some
contexts. Instead of a related word, the
paraphrase may be based on modifying a
superordinate or simply on unpacking the
meaning of the source item, particularly if the
item in question is semantically complex.
Strategies used by professional translators

• Example : Source text (Brintons – press

release issued by carpet manufacturer):
• They have a totally integrated operation from
the preparation of the yarn through to the
weaving process.
– Target text (Arabic): The company carries out all
steps of production in its factories, from preparing
the yarn to weaving it . . .
Strategies used by professional translators

• (g) Translation by omission This strategy may

sound rather drastic, but in fact it does no harm
to omittranslating a word or expression in some
contexts. If the meaning conveyed by a
particular item or expression is not vital enough
to the development of the text to justify
distracting the reader with lengthy explanations,
translators can and often do simply omit
translating the word or expression in question.
Strategies used by professional translators

• Example : Source text (The Patrick Collection; see

Appendix 4):
This is your chance to remember the way things
were, and for younger visitors to see in real-life detail
the way their parents, and their parents before them
lived and travelled
Target text (French): Voici l’occasion de retrouver
votre jeunesse (qui sait?) et pour les plus jeunes de
voir comment leurs parents et grands-parents
vivaient et voyageaient
 Strategies used by professional translators

• (h) Translation by illustration This is a useful

option if the word which lacks an equivalent in
the target language refers to a physical entity
which can be illustrated, particularly if there
are restrictions on space and if the text has to
remain short, concise, and to the point.
 Strategies used by professional translators

• Example : Appeared on a Lipton Yellow Label

tea packet prepared for the Arab market.
There is no easy way of translating tagged, as
in tagged teabags, into Arabic without going
into lengthy explanations which would clutter
the text. An illustration of a tagged teabag is
therefore used instead of a paraphrase.
Thank you