12. Ways of handling equivalent lacking words

Many English words have no regular equivalents, and a number of techniques has been suggested for rendering the meanings of such equivalent-lacking words in TT. Now the practising translator most often has to resort to such techniques when he comes across some new-coined words in the source text or deals with names of objects or phenomena unknown to the TL community (the so-called "realia").

When new words come into being to denote new objects or phenomena, they naturally cannot have regular equivalents in another language. Such equivalents may only gradually evolve as the result of extensive contacts between the two nations. Therefore the translator coming across a new coinage has to interpret its meaning and to choose the appropriate way of rendering it in his translation. Consider the following sentence: "In many European capitals central streets have been recently pedestrianized.'1 First, the translator will recognize the origin of "pedestrianize" which is coined from the word "pedestrian" — «пешеход» and the verb-forming suffix -ize. Then he will realize the impossibility of a similar formation in Russian (опешеходить!) and will opt for a semantic transformation: «движение транспорта было запрещено», «улицы были закрыты для транспорта» or «улицы были отведены только для пешеходов».

As often as not a whole set of new words may enter in common use, all formed on the same model. Thus, the anti-segregation movement in the United States in the 1960's introduced a number of new terms to name various kinds of public demonstrations formed from a verb + -in on the analogy of "sit-in": "ride-in" (in segregated buses), "swim-in" (in segregated swimming pools), "pray-in" (in segregated churches) and many others.

Translating equivalent-lacking words calls for a good deal of ingenuity and imagination on the part of the translator who should be well trained to use the appropriate semantic transformations, whenever necessary. At the same time he must be prepared to look for new ways of solving his problems whenever the standard methods cannot be applied to the particular context.

16. Proverbs and sayings

Proverbs often have an equivalent in the target language. However, even if a linguistic equivalent exists, there may be cultural differences to consider. For example, translation into English could vary based on whether the target is the Uk or the US. It often helps to determine the origin of the proverb, especially if it isn’t an entirely common saying. An obscure literary proverb should not be translated into a very familiar proverb in the target language. It is best to aim for equivalence between the proverb’s standing within the context of the source culture and the target.Often, proverbs deal directly with societal customs that might not translate directly to certain other societies. In these cases, it might help to find a saying that approximates the intended message of the proverb and use that.Ultimately, the challenges of translating proverbs depend on the case at hand, and therefore, it it is best for translators to adjust their method on a case by case basis.