6. What is the difference between partial and full translation equivalence?

The units of the target language with meanings similar to the relevant units of the source language are called translation equivalents. Modern translation theory suggests two basic grades of translation equivalents.

a) Full Translation Equivalents

From the previous discussion (bearing in mind differences in mental images standing for the equivalent words in different languages and context dependence of equivalents) it may be righteously presumed that one can hardly find truly full and universal equivalents for a word.

For practical purpose full equivalence is presumed when the pragmatic meanings of the source and target language units are the same.

This rule applies both to individual words and their regular combinations.

b) Partial Translation Equivalents

Partial equivalence is the absence of one or more of equivalence aspects, i. e. of syntactic, semantic or pragmatic aspect, as well as inconsistencies in textual norms and linguistic forms.

Semantic similarity between the source and target texts is desirable, but again it is not an ultimate goal of a translator. More often than not slight differences in meaning help to adapt the idea of the original message to the target audience.

What is really important for translation adequacy is the pragmatic equivalence. When the original message is lost for the target audience it is a failure of the translation and translator and no semantic or syntactic similarity will redress the damage.

7. What are the main principles of Skopos theory?

Skopos theory was developed by Hans Vermeer. His theory is based on the principle that translation is communicative activity, which is performed for a specific reason; a text is written for the specific purpose and it is translated for the specific purpose as well.

A text, according to Skopos theory, is an offer of information, i.e. the raw materials from which any number of possible translations can be produced. The way in which a translator selects the “correct” translation depends on the intended purpose of the translation.

Skopos theory introduces the notion of the translation brief, which is defined as a form of project specification which sets out the requirements for the translation. This brief is intended to form the basis for identifying the Skopos of the translation and is supposed to, among other things, clearly define what the translation is to be used for and who will use it.

The most proper method of translation is to combine the best features of Skopos theory and equivalence theory. This would involve using Skopos theory to determine what it is we need to achieve with our translation. This gives us our general overview of what type of translation is required.Then, with this knowledge, we can use the various levels of equivalence.

8. What are the basic translation approaches? Specify denotative approach.

The translation theories may be divided into three main groups: transformational approach, denotative approach, and communicational approach.

The transformational theories consist of many varieties but they all have one common feature: the process of translation is regarded as transformation.

According to the transformational approach translation is viewed as the transformation of objects and structures of the source language into those of the target.

In the transformational approach we shall distinguish three levels of substitutions: morphological transformations, lexical transformations, and syntactic transformations.

There are many different approaches to classify transformations which occur during translation.

Yakov Retsker distinguished two main types of transformations:

Grammatical transformations. Lexical transformations.

Denotative approach to translation is based on the idea of denotatum.

According to denotative approach the process of translation consists of the following mental operations:

♦ translator reads (hears) a message in the source language;

♦ translator finds a denotatum and concept that correspond to this message;

♦ translator formulates a message in the target language relevant to the above denotatum and concept.

It should be noted that the relationship between the source and target word forms is occasional rather than regular.