Comments on: Translation Equivalence

By: transubstantiation

transubstantiation — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 08:36:48 +0000

Hamid,
Many thanks for the question. Pragmatic equivalence is the most difficult to pinpoint as it concerns the ‘effect’ the text has on the readers. Pragmatic equivalence relates to:
1) cohesion,
2) coherence,
3) relevance,
4) implicature.
One of the best tests of whether this has been fulfilled is through back-translation.

By: Hamid

Hamid — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 06:50:06 +0000

Can you tell me what`s Pragmatic equivalence? And how can one find whether a translated text has succedded in utilizing the pragmatic equivalence? I mean does it have any principles?? Thanks

By: transubstantiation

transubstantiation — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:04:45 +0000

Suzan,
Cultural references can mean a variety of things but within translation, cultural references usually concern elements that directly or indirectly refer to cultural elements in a given language. For example, a Polish text might discuss ‘pierogi’, or a British text might refer to ‘elevensies’ in which case the translator has to deal with these elements with particular sensitivity. Nearly all texts include some sort of cultural reference due to the fact that language and culture and inextricably interwoven.

By: Suzan

Suzan — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 02:12:20 +0000

Can you please tell me what is it meant by the term Cultural References in Translation?. or what does Cultural References mean ?.

By: And now for some theory… | yndigo

And now for some theory… | yndigo — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:27:58 +0000

[...] plays a role on how the translator translates, too, and for this I’m referring to an informative post on the transubstantiation blog. I would venture to say that, outside of literary translation, most [...]

By: transubstantiation

transubstantiation — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 13:37:20 +0000

Most certainly. We have to use this list of, for example, six types of equivalence in order to be able to ascertain which word best suits what we want to translate.

By: Magda W.

Magda W. — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 19:30:36 +0000

From my point of view, if one item do not have one equivalent word in the target language, it should be translated in another way, for instance, we should find some connotative equivalent, that is a word or expression that triggers off the same associations or connotations. MAybe we can also find some expression that would invoke the same effects on the target reader as the source item had on the source reader, and in this case that would be pragmatic equivalence.
Generally, equivalences given above may help a lot in the case of untrastability.

By: transubstantiation

transubstantiation — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 16:44:38 +0000

Very ambiguous and general. How does one ’stick to the meaning’? Unfortunately, it is not as simple as that and that is why we need help with ideas of equivalence and theoretical aids.

By: Madzia B

Madzia B — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 11:17:53 +0000

Apparently, all of us knows that not every word/phrase/idiom has its equivalent. Therefore, we need to stick to the meaning to make the phrase/word translated according ti its proper meaning.