Equivalence in Translation

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Equivalence in Translation

• A key concept in translation
• Equivalence centers around the processes
  interacting between the original source text and
  translated text.

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Types of Equivalence

• (1) Referential equivalence is established when
  the words in the source language (SL) refer to
  the same objects in the world as the words in the
  target language (TL)
• e???? .g. book and in English refers.
• (2) Connotative equivalence is established when
  the words in both languages and texts trigger the
  same associations and connotations.
• (3) Pragmatic equivalence refers to words in both
  languages having the same effect on the readers
  in both languages.

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Types of Equivalence

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Types of Equivalence

• (4) Contextual equivalence is established when
  words in both languages are used in the same or
  similar contexts.
• (5) Formal equivalence refers to words in both
  languages having similar phonological or
  orthographic features.
• (6) Textual equivalence refers to aspects of
  cohesion and coherence which are similar in both
  texts and languages.

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Types of Equivalence

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Why is equivalence important in translation?

• How is meaning reproduced in translation?

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How is meaning reproduced in translation?
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What is pragmatics?

• The study of language in use.
• How utterances are used in communicative
  situations and the way we interpret them in a
  context
• The study of meaning not as generated by the
  linguistic system but as conveyed and manipulated
  by participants in a communicative situation

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Two important concepts in pragmatics
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a network of relations which organizes and
create textconcerned with how utterances are
connected to each other Coherence and cohesion

• coherence

• cohesion

• Conceptual relationship underlying the surface
  text
• Underlying semantic relation
• Readership property readers evaluation of the
  text
• Implicit meaning
• Subjective varies from reader to reader
• Making sense of the text

• Surface textual relationships such as cohesive
  devices
• Linking words and expressions to other words and
  expressions.
• Text property cohesive markers therefore etc.
• Explicit meaning
• Objective automatic recognition
• Cannot create coherence

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Example of a cohesive text

• I bought a Ford. The car in which President
  Wilson rode down the Champs Elysees was black.
  Black English has been widely discussed. (See
  Baker P 218)
• As for coherence see example P. 220 A Hero from
  Zero

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What is pragmatic equivalence?

• How a text makes sense to a given readership. We
  go beyond the textual level and see how
  utterances are used in communicative situations
• pragmatic equivalence tends to reproduce the
  context and text goals of the SL.
• "pragmatic equivalence subsumes all of the
  semio-pragmatic-communicative layers of
  communication."29
• Examples of these semiotic and communicative
  dimensions are genre, field, mode, tenor, text
  type and translation purpose (skopos).

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Examples

• a)
•  1-Eng ST He was armed to his teeth.
•  2-Arb TT1??? ????? ??? ??????  
•  3-Arb TT2, (optimal)??? ????? ??????? 
• b)
•  1-Eng ST He kicked the bucket.
•  2-Arb TT1 ??? ????? 
•  3-Arb TT2, (optimal)????? ?????? 

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Example for translation

• ???? ?????? ?? ?????? (???????)Amulet Give me an
  amulet that keeps intelligence with youRed when
  you love, and rosier redAnd when you love not,
  pale and blue?? ??????????? ????? ?????
  ???????/????????? ???????? ????? ???? ??????
  ???? ????????????? ????? ????? ?? ??????? ?? ??
  ????? ?? ?????????? ????? ??????? ?????? ??
  ????????? ???? ??? ????? ??? ??????? ??????? ???
  ??? ??? ??? ??.?????? ????? ????? ???? ?????
  ????? ????? ??? ???? ????? ??? ???????? ?? ???
  ????? ????? ????? ?????? ????? ?? ??? ??? ????
  ????.

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Implicature