Equivalence in Translation
Translation is the bridge of human communication which enables people who speak different languages to communicate with each other. According to the theory of social semeiology, the process of translation is the process of “decode” and “encode”, namely to revert the original information containing in the code of source language, then to make a fully understanding and finally to reproduce the same effects as the original in the target language. ... Nida defines translation as such: “Translation consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style” (1969:12). He then proceeds to analyze this statement with declarations such as “the translator must strive for equivalence rather than identity”, “the best translation does not sound like a translation”, and “a conscientious translator will want the closest natural equivalent.” (1969:54) On the basis of this definition, Nida proposes the concept of “dynamic equivalence” in which he points out that: 1. Equivalence is the most natural equivalence; 2. ... Catford had described, equivalence is a “key term” and that “The central problem of translation practice is that of finding TL translation equivalents. A central problem of translation theory is that of defining the nature and conditions of translation equivalence. ... Classification of Equivalence in Translation Equivalence in translation is realized in the process of translating. ... Therefore, equivalence in translation can also be classified into several levels. ... (Hartmann & Stork, 1972:713) In this thesis equivalence in translation will be classified as formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence which in turn can be further classified as equivalence in meaning, equivalence in function and equivalence in style. 1．Formal equivalence It is a concept presented by Nida in his Toward a Science of Translating in 1964. For 30 years this concept has been widely used in the field of international translation theory and has given it great effect. Formal equivalence is centered on the source language and it tries to reproduce all the factors such as grammar, lexicon, meaning and even structure, etc. ... The translation has the same structure as the original. ... If formal equivalence is mechanically understood as complete correspondence of word order, then certainly the target language grammar rules will be violated and readers will be confused. ... From this we can see that the real formal equivalence means to replace the formal structure in the source language with the corresponding structure in the target language. So the right way should goes like this: 每餐他都要喝半瓶啤酒。 2．Semantic equivalence: In linguistics, semantics studies the meaning of language. ... Thus only by translating the original sentence as “客户第一主义是我们的宗旨” can the equivalence between the source language and the target language be achieved successfully. ... In translation, the corresponding glossary in the target language should have the same connotative meaning with that in the source language. ... Therefore the real semantic equivalence means that both the conceptual meaning and the associative meaning of the target language should be equivalent with that of the source language. ... Functional equivalence Pragmatics studies the relationship between language and its users. The exertion of pragmatics in translation is how to understand the meaning of language in factual conversation. ... Due to the same psychological, physiological and emotional needs of human beings, it is possible to find equivalence in translation on the level of pragmatics. ... While “你过奖了” re-expresses the purpose of speaker in the target language and thus the real equivalence between the translation and the original is achieved. ... Stylish equivalence Language is usually classified as formal style and informal style. ... To keep the features of the original language is to pursue the stylish equivalence in translation, namely to find the corresponding style in the target language with that of the original.