The
Equivalence
Theory
Delos Santos, Rosieliza T.
BSED IV- Old Curriculum
The equivalence theories and approaches in translation was initiated by
Eugene Nida. This theory evolved from his experience from the 1940s
onwards when he translated and organized the translation of the Bible. This
theory used in both of his works: (1) Toward a Science of Translating (1960),
and (2) Theory and Practice of Translation (Nida and Taber, 1969). Nida’s
approach more systematically after adopting the theoretical and terminology
semantics and pragmatics concepts, and Chomsky’s transformational-
generative grammar.
2
Nida classify meaning into two classes, (1) the
linguistic meaning (borrowing the elements of
Chomsky’s model), (2) referential meaning
(denotative). A series of techniques adapted from
various works in linguistics study and served as
guidance for translator in seeking the referential and
emotive meaning (connotative), focuses on the
analysis of word structure and distinguishes the
same words in related lexical field. In general, the
component analysis technique is intended as the way
to explain the ambiguity, avoiding the fuzzy parts,
and identify the cultural differences.
Regarding the equivalence, Nida proposed two types of equivalence: (1)
the formal equivalent, and (2) the dynamic equivalent (1964a: 159). The formal
equivalent focus on the message itself, both form and content..., that the
message in TL should matched as little as possible the different elements in the
SL. The formal equivalence carefully oriented to the formal structure of the SL,
which uses a strong influence in determining the accuracy and correctness.
4
The dynamic equivalent based on the principle
of equivalent effect where the relationship between
the recipient and the message substantially same as
the original one. Messages should be created for the
recipient and linguistic needs and cultural
expectations leads to fairness of complete
expression. The purpose of dynamic equivalents is
looking for the closest natural equivalent of SL
message.
On another occasion, Nida described that the translation activities requires
sophisticated knowledge of source and target languages. Translation is viewed
as the process of communicating the foreign text based on the universality
equivalence of cultural language. Translation involves double action, that
communicate and represent not merely one language, but also two different
languages. The first process is analyzing the text of SL, that can be examined
from various aspects. They are includes (a)analyzing the grammatical
relationship between the constituent parts , (b)identify the meanings of semantic
units.
6
The nonlinguistic analysis employed to get the
message in the text, socio-cultural background of the
speaker, elements that are closely related to the
communication situation where the text was used,
and condition of users. The next phase is parsing the
text into units of basic structure and semantics. The
goal is to assure that there are no more points are
lost.
The chart below illustrates the process of conveying the message that
consist of the basic units translation, then reconstruct the raw translation results
into semantic units in accordance with the wishes of the users. (Nida in Dil(ed).
1975:80).
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Translation Process
Source Language Target Language
Analysis
Analyzing the source language on Restructurization
the form of meaning message, Transferring the form and meaning of the
socio-cultural background of the source language into the closest natural
speaker and author of text, the equivalence to achieve the meaning and
purpose of writing, the background style in the target language.
of target language users. Matching the syntactic and semantic
The complex syntactic and structure to fit the socio-cultural
semantic structure is analyzed into background of target language speakers.
basic units to generate the relevant For example: A seemingly quiet and calm
meaning. person might:
Result Raw Translation
A seemingly quiet and calm person Orang yang tampaknya kalem dan
can: pendiam tetapi:
a. Have a strong emotion Transferring a. Mungkin mempunyai emosi
yang kuat
b. Be wise or have a vast b. Mungkin bijaksana dan
knowledge mempunyai banyak ilmu
c. Perform unpredictable or c. Dapat melakukan tindak tak
dangerous terduga dan berbahaya
Source: Nida (dalam Dil (Ed) 1975:80) 9
Thank You!
