ABSTRACT

This chapter begins from the idea that what people say in one language can have the same value when translated into another language. It covers some detail the list of translation solutions proposed by Vinay and Darbelnet. The main points covered in thechapter are: Natural equivalence should not be affected by directionality: it should be the same whether translated from language A into language B or the other way round. Structuralist linguistics, especially of the kind that sees languages as world-views, would consider natural equivalence to be theoretically impossible. The equivalence paradigm solves this problem by working at levels lower than language systems. This can be done by focusing on contextual signification rather than systemic meaning, by undertaking componential analysis, by assuming reference to a tertium comparationis, by assuming that deverbalization is possible, or by considering value to be markedness.