COMMON PROBLEMS OF NON-EQUIVALENCE

a) Culture-specific concepts
The source-language word may express a concept which is totally unknown in the target culture.
The concept in question may be abstract or concrete; it may relate to a religious belief, a social
custom, or even a type of food. For example, the word mate in Spanish.

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 word to express it. For example, the word
nerd in English.

c) The source-language word is semantically complex

This is a fairly common problem in translation. Words do not have to be morphologically complex
to be semantically complex. In other words, a single word which consists of a single morpheme
can sometimes express a more complex set of meanings than a whole sentence. For example, the
title Ms in English.

d) The source and target languages make different distinctions in meaning

The target language may make more or fewer distinctions in meaning than the source language.
What one language regards as an important distinction in meaning another language may not
perceive as relevant. For example, the word agriculture in English means: “the science, art, and
business of cultivating soil, producing crops, and raising livestock; farming.” The word agricultura
in Spanish means: “labranza o cultivo de la tierra”. The word agricultura in Spanish does not
include the idea of “raising livestock”. So when translating agriculture into Spanish, we should take
this into account. A good translation would be: agricultura y ganadería

e) The target language lacks a superordinate

The target language may have specific words (hyponyms) but not general word (superordinate) to
head the semantic field. For example, Spanish has no ready equivalent for delicatessen, meaning
“a shop or part of one that sells cooked meats and cheeses, and special or unusual foods that
come from other countries.” It does, however, have several specific words and expressions which
can be thought of as types of delicatessen, for example, embutidos, fiambres, alimentos selectos,
alimentos exóticos.

f) The target language lacks a specific term (hyponym)

More commonly, languages tend to have general words (superordinate) but lack specific ones
(hyponyms), since each language makes only those distinctions in meaning which seem relevant
to its particular environment. For example, under house English has a variety of hyponyms which
have no full equivalents in Spanish, such as: detached/semi-detached/terraced house or cottage.
 g) Differences in expressive meaning
There may be a target-language word which has the same propositional meaning as the source-
language word, but it may have a different expressive meaning. It is usually easier to add
expressive meaning than to subtract it. In other words, 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 by building it in somewhere else in the text.
Differences in expressive meaning are usually more difficult to handle when the target-language
equivalent is more emotionally loaded than the source language item. For example, the word
macho has different expressive meanings in Spanish and in English.

h) Differences in form
Certain suffixes and prefixes which convey propositional and other types of meaning in English
often have no direct equivalents in other languages. English has many couplets such as
employer/employee, trainer/trainee, and payer/payee. In Spanish these couplets are not always
possible: empleador/empleado, entrenador/aprendiz, pagador/beneficiario.
Affixes which contribute to evoked meaning, for instance by creating buzz words such as
washateria, carpeteria, and groceteria (chiefly Southern American English), and those which
convey expressive meaning, such as journalese, and legalese (the –ese suffix usually suggests
disapproval of a muddled or stilted form of writing) are more difficult to translate by means of a
paraphrase. It is relatively easy to paraphrase propositional meaning, but other types of meaning
cannot always be spelt out in a translation. Their subtle contribution to the overall meaning of the
text is either lost altogether or recovered elsewhere by means of compensatory techniques.
It is most important for translators to understand the contribution that affixes make to the meaning
of words and expressions, especially since such affixes are often used creatively in English to coin
new words for various reasons, such as filling temporary semantic gaps in the language and
creating humour. Their contribution is also important in the area of terminology and
standardization.

i) Differences in frequency and purpose of using specific forms

Even when a particular form does have a ready equivalent in the target language, there may be a
difference in the frequency with which it is used or the purpose for which it is used. English, for
instance, uses the adverbs –ly much more frenquently than Spanish uses –mente. Consequently,
rendering every –ly form in an English source text with an equivalent –mente in a Spanish target
text would result in stilted, unnatural style.

j) The use of loan words in the source text

Quite apart from their respective propositional meaning, loan words such as au fait, chic and
dilettante in English are often used for their prestige value, because they can add and air of
sophistication to the text or its subject matter. 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. Au fait is a loan
word in English which means “to the point, fully competent, fully informed, socially correct”; but
Spanish has no equivalent loan word. This means that only the propositional meaning of au fait
can be rendered into Spanish; its stylistic effect would almost certainly have to be sacrificed. On
the other hand, chic and dilettante could be easily understood by Spanish speakers.
Loan words also pose another problem for the unwary translator, namely the problem of false
friends, that is to say, the words or expressions which have the same form in two or more
languages but convey different meanings. An inexperienced Spanish translator may confuse
English sensible with Spanish sensible or English sympathetic with Spanish simpático, for
example.

COMMON STRATEGIES USED BY PROFESSIONAL TRANSLATORS TO OVERCOME THE

PROBLEMS OF NON-EQUIVALENCE AT WORD LEVEL
• 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. Example:
Source Text (English: Kolestral Super – leaflet accompanying a hair-conditioning product)
Shampoo the hair with a mild WELLA-SHAMPOO and lightly towel dry
Target Text (Spanish)
Lavar el cabello con un champú suave de WELLA y frotar ligeramente con una toalla.
The above example illustrates the use of a general word (superordinate) to overcome a relative
lack of specificity in the target language compared to the source language. “Shampooing” can be
seen as a type of “washing” since it is more restricted in its use: you can wash lots of things but
you can only shampoo hair. The translator of this extract has gone up a level in the “WASH”
semantic field to find a more general word that covers the core propositional meaning of the
missing hyponym in the target language.

• Translation by a more neutral/less expressive word

When a word has a heavy load of expressive meaning and there is not an equivalent in the target
language, three main strategies can be applied:
(a) A more neutral/less expressive word can be used in the target text. The propositional
meaning can be kept but the expressive meaning is often lost in the translation.
(b) The word can be replaced by a near-equivalent which is less expressive and more formal
but some expressive meaning is retained by adding a modifier.
 (c) One of the strategies above could be used and a footnote added to explain the expressive
meaning that the word has in the source language.
These strategies are exemplified below:
Source Text (Spanish: ¿Tanto problema porque mataron a tres “bolitas”? Saladillo Diario
http://www.saladillodiario.com.ar/ampliar_nota.php?id_n=3872)
Paraguas y bolitas vinieron a complicarnos la vida. Se creen con derechos igual que los
argentinos.
Target Text (English)
STRATEGY A: Paraguayan and Bolivian people have come to give us a hard time. They believe
they have the same rights as the Argentines.
STRATEGY B: Bloody Paraguayan and Bolivian people have come to give us a hard time. They
believe they have the same rights as the Argentines.
STRATEGY C: Paraguayan and Bolivian people have come to give us a hard time. They believe
they have the same rights as the Argentines.
TN: Paraguas y bolitas: these two words are used pejoratively to refer to Paraguayan
and Bolivian people respectively.

• 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.
Source Text (English: Eat your heart out. The Clarence, London.
http://goodyfoodies.blogspot.com/2010/01/clarence-london.html)
Even before I arrived in London, I was craving for a good Sunday roast. As we walked down
from Trafalgar Square heading towards Big Ben, we spotted a few potential pubs.
Target Text (Spanish)
Ya antes de llegar a Londres, moría de ganas de comer un buen asado de domingo y en nuestro
trayecto desde Trafalgar Square hacia el Big Ben, descubrimos varios restaurantes
prometedores.

• 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 explanations.
Source Text (English: Eat your heart out. The Clarence, London.
http://goodyfoodies.blogspot.com/2010/01/clarence-london.html)
 Even before I arrived in London, I was craving for a good Sunday roast. As we walked down
from Trafalgar Square heading towards Big Ben, we spotted a few potential pubs.
Target Text (Spanish)
Ya antes de llegar a Londres, moría de ganas de comer un buen «Sunday roast», un plato
tradicional británico que se suele servir los domingos para almorzar y que consta de carne y
verduras asadas. Cuando nos dirigíamos desde Trafalgar Square hacia el Big Ben, descubrimos
varios restaurantes prometedores.
Note that the transferred English expression is, as is often the case with loan words in translation,
in inverted commas.

• 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.
Source Text (English: Scarlet Feather by Maeve Binchy)
Gradually her mother began to relax when Neil came to visit. If she started to fuss, throw out
his cooling tea or sew a button on his coat, or, as she did on one terrible occasion, offer to clean
his shoes, he just got out of it gently without the kind of confrontation that Cathy would have
started.
Target Text (Spanish)
Con el tiempo, su madre comenzó a relajarse cuando Neil venía de visita. Ante su insistencia en
atenderlo y ofrecerse a tirarle el té que se le enfriaba o coserle un botón del sobretodo o hasta
limpiarle los zapatos, como ocurrió en cierta oportunidad que más vale olvidar, él rechazaba
su ayuda con mucho tacto y sin hacer un escándalo como los que Cathy era proclive a armar.

• Translation by paraphrase using unrelated words

If the concept expressed by the source item is not lexicalized at all in the target 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 questions is semantically complex.
Source Text (English: Scarlet Feather by Maeve Binchy)
Sara called quite unexpectedly, and did an inspection of the house. Eyes watched as she opened
the refrigerator, the washing machine, looked at the food shelves and checked the laundry in
the airing cupboard.
Target Text (Spanish)
Sara pasó de forma bastante inesperada e inspeccionó la casa. Con mirada atenta, examinó la
heladera, el lavarropas, los alimentos en las alacenas y la ropa en los armarios ubicados cerca
de la caldera para ver si estaba oreada.

• Translation by omission
This strategy may sound rather drastic, but in fact it does no harm to omit translating 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. There is
inevitably some loss of meaning when words and expressions are omitted in a translation. It is
therefore advisable to use this strategy only as a last resort, when the advantages of producing a
smooth, readable translation clearly outweigh the value of rendering a particular meaning
accurately in a given context.
Source Text (English: Scarlet Feather by Maeve Binchy)
Sara called quite unexpectedly, and did an inspection of the house. Eyes watched as she opened
the refrigerator, the washing machine, looked at the food shelves and checked the laundry in
the airing cupboard.
Target Text (Spanish)
Sara pasó de forma bastante inesperada e inspeccionó la casa. Con mirada atenta, examinó la
heladera, el lavarropas y se cercioró de que haya alimentos en buen estado en las alacenas y
ropa limpia en los armarios.

The examples discussed do not, by any means, represent and exhaustive account of the strategies
available for dealing with non-equivalence at word level. The translator’s decision to use these
strategies will largely depend on (a) how much licence is given to him/her by those who
commission the translation and (b) the purpose of the translation.

Source: In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation (Mona Baker, 1992)