General information about equivalence in translation Theories of equivalence Types of equivalence in translation

The second type of equivalence preserves the purpose of communication and at the same time describes the situation.
Most utterances in any language are used to indicate certain situations. In any language, most situations can be described in different ways, choosing different signs. However, each language has its preferred ways of describing a particular situation. Let's look at the examples.
Она там почти не бывает – Мы её там редко видим.
Here we see a situation that is described in different ways.
Ночь уже почти миновала – Скоро наступи рассвет
Он хорошо сохранился – Он выглядит моложе
Logical, cause-and-effect relationships are found between the different structural relationships
In one of Arthur Haley 's novels we find the phrase:
The telephone rang and he answered
Зазвонил телефон, и он снял трубку.
It is not difficult to notice that here the translation is closer to the original than in the previous type of equivalence. This conclusion is based on our knowledge that "picking up the phone" means "answering the phone". It describes "the same thing" - the same situation.
Stop I have a gun! - Стой я буду стрелять! –
We locked the door to keep thieves out – Мқ заперли дверь чтобқ ворқ не проникли внутрь
You are not fit to be in a boat.
Ты негоден для того, чтобы быть в лодке. Тебя нельзя пускать в лодку.
You see one bear you have seen them all
Все медведи похожи друг на друга
Не is the last man to betray a friend – as if implying that if you line up all people according to the degree of probability of betrayal of a friend, then he will be the last in this row. In the Russian translation, this situation will be described differently
However, each language may have its own preferences, as a result of which the way of describing the same situation used in one language turns out to be unacceptable in another. This is exactly what we find in the considered group of translations belonging to the second type of equivalence. Their equivalence consists in preserving two parts of the original content — the purpose of communication and the indication of a certain situation — when changing the way of describing this situation. We can say that there is an equivalence at the level of the situation or situational equivalence.
Within the framework of the second type of equivalence, several special cases of describing the situation in translation can be noted. First of all, there are situations that are always described in the same way. This is especially often the case in standard speech formulas, warning labels, generally accepted wishes, etc. To indicate which way the door opens, you need to write in Russian with the inscription ≪К себе≫ или ≪От себя≫ (англ. ≪Push — Pull≫). On the packaging of easily breakable items, an Englishman will always write "Fragile", and a Russian — " Осторожно,стекло ". Theoretically, you can warn about a freshly painted object in different ways, but in Russian they will definitely write " Осторожно, окрашено", and in English ≪Wet paint≫
If the situation described in the original must be translated in one strictly defined way, the choice of the translation option occurs, as it were, regardless of the way this situation is described in the original text and the structure of the message in the translation turns out to be predetermined. In other cases, the way of describing the situation in the target language is not mandatory, but there are preferred, more commonly used options. So, in Russian, forbidding smoking, they most often write "Не курить", although there are also formulas "Курить воспрещается" and “У нас не курят”. Answering a phone call, in English usually say “Hello!”, although some prefer “Слушаю” or just “Да?”.
Difficulties associated with the description of the situation in translation may also arise due to the fact that it can cause certain associations in the receptors of the original, give grounds for some conclusions that are inaccessible to the receptors of translation.
For example, the mention of a certain brand of car, company or store may be associated with a person's property or social status. For both an Englishman and a Russian, owning a Mercedes or a Cadillac allows us to conclude that we are not talking about a poor man. But the message that someone owns an Aston Martin car is unlikely to carry additional information for the Russian reader, while the English reader knows that this is an expensive sports car. The message in the original that some woman wears dresses from Dior will cause the corresponding associations in the Russian reader, and the indication that she buys all the clothes in the Marks & Spencer store (a relatively cheaper store in London) will not allow him to draw the necessary conclusions.
Some situations described in the original may cause confusion to the reader of the translation. In one detective novel there is such an episode. The hero of the novel is driving in a car and notices that the car in front of him is always swerving, preventing him from driving. Trying to discover the reason for this behavior of the driver of this car, he sees that (as it is said in the novel):