MINISTERUL EDUCAIEI, CERCETRII, TINERETULUI I SPORTULUI

UNIVERSITATEA 1 DECEMBRIE 1918 ALBA IULIA

FACULTATEA DE ISTORIE I FILOLOGIE
SPECIALIZAREA: LIMB I COMUNICARE N ADMINISTRAREA AFACERILOR

EQUIVALENCE AND NON-EQUIVALENCE

IN TRANSLATING A BUSINESS TEXT

MASTERAND: DANIELA GRUIAN

An. 1, Sem. 2

ALBA IULIA
2010

INTRODUCTION
According to Bertrand Russell, we cannot understand a word unless we have a
nonlinguistic acquaintance with that word. Therefore, when using a word, like money, for
example, we need to know exactly how it looks like and what its purpose is. And once we
have this nonlinguistic encounter with the word, it is easy to understand and use it. However,
when it comes to translating a word, things get a little more complicated, as the process of
translation involves two equivalent messages in two different codes. The first code is the
source language of the word, while the second is the target language, in which the word is to
be translated. It gets even more complicated when we try to translate sentences, passages or
texts, as we cannot translate each word unit separately and get the original message
transmitted correctly in the same time. Therefore, translation from one language into another
substitutes messages in one language not for separate code-units but for entire messages in
same other language. Such a translation is a reported speech; the translator recodes and
transmits a message received from another source.
EQUIVALENCE AND NON-EQUIVALENCE
Equivalence can be said to be the central issue in translation although its definition,
relevance, and applicability within the field of translation theory have caused heated
controversy. Translational equivalence is the similarity between a word (or expression) in one
language and its translation in another. This similarity results from overlapping ranges of
reference. A translation equivalent is a corresponding word or expression in another language.
In his article On Linguistic Aspects of Translation, Roman Jakobson distinguishes
three types of translations: intralingual translation, interlingual translations and intersemiotic
translation. Although for this paper we only seem to be interested in the second type of
translations, namely the interlingual one, Jakobson points out the central problem in all three
types: that while messages may serve as adequate interpretations of code units or messages,
there is orderly no full equivalence through translation.
Sometimes even synonymy fails to convey equivalence in translations. Therefore,
Jakobson introduces the notion of 'equivalence in difference'. He claims that, in the case of
interlingual translation, the translator makes use of synonyms in order to get the ST message
across. This means that in interlingual translations there is no full equivalence between code
units. Jakobson goes on to say that from a grammatical point of view languages may differ
from one another to a greater or lesser degree, but this does not mean that a translation cannot
be possible, in other words, that the translator may face the problem of not finding a
translation equivalent. He acknowledges that whenever there is deficiency, terminology may
be qualified and amplified by loanwords or loan-translations, neologisms or semantic shifts,
and finally, by circumlocutions (Jakobson as cited in Leonardi 2000: 6).
Another important scholar, Eugene Nida, distinguishes two types of equivalence:
formal and dynamic. Formal correspondence focuses attention on the message itself, in both
form and content (Nida as cited in Leonardi 2000: 8), unlike dynamic equivalence which is
based upon the principle of equivalent effect (Nida as cited in Leonardi 2000: 8). Formal
equivalence consists of a word which represents the closest equivalent of the original word or
phrase, while dynamic equivalence tries to translate in such a way that the initial meaning
stays the same.

As opposed to equivalence, non-equivalence means that the target language has no

direct equivalent for a word or a phrase in the source language. There are a few common
types of non-equivalence at word level and here are some of them:
Culture specific concepts, when the source language word may express a
concept which is totally unknown in the target culture.
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, it is not allocated a target language word to
express it.
The source and target languages make different distinctions in meaning.
The target language lacks a specific term (hyponym).
Differences in expressive meaning. A target language word which has the
same propositional meaning as the source language word, but it may have a
different expressive meaning. The difference may be obvious or subtle but
important enough to pose a translation problem in a given context.
Differences in form. There is often no equivalence in the target language for a
particular form in the source text. Certain prefixes and suffixes in English
often have no direct equivalent in other languages.
False friends which are the same in form in both languages different in
meaning.
The type and level of difficulty posed can vary depending on the nature of nonequivalence. In translating, different kinds of non-equivalence require different strategies,
some very straightforward, others more involved and difficult to handle.
In conclusion, equivalence in translation may or may not be possible, depending on
the nature of the text and the factors which influence the translation. One thing is certain
though, that equivalence in translation should not be approached as a search for sameness,
since sameness cannot exist between two different versions of the same text in two different
languages.
TRANSLATION ANALYSIS
The following two fragments, taken from business related articles, will be analyzed in
terms of equivalence and non-equivalence.
Source Text 1
Central and eastern Europe is under the greatest strain, having binged on international
borrowing in recent years. Relative to GDP, foreign banks assets in the region far exceed
those in emerging Asian markets at the time of the crisis that swept across Asia in the late
1990s. In places such as Russia and Ukraine, local banks that had relied on borrowing abroad
to finance their expansion were the first to suffer when credit dried up.
Banks with foreign parents are also feeling the pinch. The idea that foreign
ownership would help to keep the tap turned on worked until the fourth quarter of 2008, says
Simon Nellis of Citigroup. At least one foreign bank in the region has been asked to make a
formal commitment to provide liquidity if its local unit gets into trouble. Last month Western
banks and multilateral bodies such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development launched separate initiatives to secure extra money for Eastern Europe.

The imponderable is just how much this retraction in banks foreign lending owes to
political pressure to focus credit on domestic customers. The natural operation of the system
has the same effect as financial nationalism, says David Mayes of the University of
Auckland.
Translated Text 1
Europa Central i de Est este cel mai greu ncercat, dup dezmul cu
mprumuturi de pe piaa strain din ultimii ani. n ceea ce privete PIB-ul, activele bncilor
strine din zon depesc cu mult pe cele de pe pieele asiatice n curs de dezvoltare din
vremea crizei care a devastat Asia la sfritul anilor '90. n ri precum Rusia sau Ucraina,
bncile locale care s-au axat pe mrumutarea extern pentru a-i finana extinderea, au fost
primele care au suferit cnd creditarea a secat.
Bncile cu filial n strintate sunt de asemenea strmtorate. Ideea c prezena
capitalului strin ajut s in robinetul pornit a funcionat pn n al patrulea trimestru al
anului 2008, afirm Simon Nellis de la Citigroup. Cel puin unei banci strine din regiune i
s-a solicitat s-i asume un angajament formal de a asigura lichiditate dac filiala sa local
va da de bucluc. Luna trecut bncile din occident i instituiile financiare multilaterale
precum Banca European pentru Reconstrucie i Dezvoltare au lansat iniiative separate
pentru a asigura bani n plus pentru Europa de est.
Este ns de neptruns ct de mult aceast retragere a bncilor din acordarea de
credite pe pieele strine se datoreaz presiunilor politice de a-i concentra acordarea de
credite clienilor interni. Funcionarea fireasc a sistemului are acelai efect ca i
naionalismul financiar afirm David Mayes de la Universitatea din Aukland.
The first obstacle in translating this fragment comes with the expression to be under
great strain (is under the greatest strain, in this text), which means to be under a lot of
pressure, or in great difficulties. The Romanian idiom a fi n dificultate might fit in the
translation, although I believe that by using the idiom a fi greu ncercat, the original meaning
is better transmitted.
For the English idiom to binge on something, having the meaning of engaging in
excessive or uncontrolled indulgence in food or drink, Romanian language has the
correspondent word dezm, which, in my opinion, manages to transmit the right idea of
excess. Therefore, the sentence having binged on international borrowing in recent years will
be translated by dezmul cu mprumuturi de pe piaa strain din ultimii ani. As we can
see, Romanian language does not have a verb for the noun dezm, and so the use of the noun
will have to satisfy the translation. However, the original meaning is still the same.
The English word international is a false friend for Romanian language in this
situation, being similar in form with internaional but not the right equivalent. The correct
meaning of international borrowing is not mprumuturi internaionale, but mprumuturi de pe
piaa strain. So in this case, for one English word we have to use four Romanian words, in
order to keep the same meaning in the target language as in the source language.
Another false friend is the word relative, which is similar in both form and meaning
with the Romanian relativ, yet here it gets a different meaning, that of regarding, or n ceea
ce privete in Romanian.
When it comes to abreviations, there are few cases when equivalence can be
established between the source language and the target language. For example the abreviation

for Gross Domestic Product, GDP, is totally different from the Romanian Produs Intern Brut,
PIB.
Some English phrasal verbs can easily find their correspondent in Romanian, like, for
example the verb to dry up, which is translated by a seca. Others, are more difficult to match.
To sweep away for example, cannot be translated word-by-word into a mtura departe, and
therefore, it needs a deeper look into the meaning of the original phrasal verb so that it can get
the right sense transmitted into the target language. The best choice would finally be a
devasta or a cuprinde.
The English expression banks with foreign parents does not have an exact
correspondent as it cannot be translated banci cu prini strini, and therefore, the closest
translation is bnci cu filial n strintate. In a report of the Bureau of Economic Analysis,
the expression foreign parents is defined as the first person (bank in this case) outside the
country which holds the direct investment interest. After doing a Google search, I have
found press articles in which the expression banca-mam din strintate is commonly used.
We are therefore, facing a clear case of non-equivalence, in which the translation requires to
keep the original meaning, despite the necessary use of different words. So, the best
translation here would be Bancile cu filial n strintate (sau care o banca-mam n afara
rii).
The next issue that gets my attention in translating this text is the expression to feel
the pinch. Non-equivalence is established again, as we dont have a perfect matching
expression in Romanian. However, this is not an obstacle in translation because at a simple
search in the Hallo dictionary one can realize that the Romanian translation of this expression
is strongly connected to the issue of money. Therefore, one translation in this case would be a
simi lipsa banilor. There are other Romanian expressions which could fit here: a strnge
cureaua, or a fi strmtorat, and perhaps using one of these two idioms would be better.
The word ownership is another example of non-equivalence, as it cannot find a perfect
matched translation in Romanian. Taken out of the context, the term may mean possession or
property (posesiune, proprietate), but associated with the word foreign, as in foreign
ownership, the word gets a different meaning. The idea expressed here has to do with banks,
which have their headquarters in a different country and are run by a foreign management. So,
if the literal translation proprietatea strin cannot satisfy the true meaning of the expression,
then the solution would be to rephrase a bit into something like: prezena capitalului strin.
There is also the fortunate case of equivalence, in which both English and Romanian
languages have corresponding idiomatic expressions and this eases the translation and makes
it better to understand. One of these expressions is to keep the tap turned on which can be
easily translated into Romanian as a ine robinetul pornit. However, it can be tempting to say
that the translated expression does not render the exact match as it loses the economic
perspective, and in this case for the phrase would help to keep the tap turned on, some may
prefer the translation ar ajuta la mentinerea finantarii. I personally prefer the first choice,
because the reader can assume from the context that it has to do with a continuing financing
and it is not necessary to repeat it.
The expression to get into trouble, as found in the following context to provide
liquidity if its local unit gets into trouble, also has a close match in our language: a da de
bucluc / necaz (as found in the Hallo dictionary) or a fi la ananghie (found on dictio.ro), with
the meaning that it might face problems.
Multilateral bodies is an expression which needs the replacement of the lexical item
body with the Romanian one instituie, organism or grup. The literal translation corp does not
fit in this context, as we cannot speak about the European Bank for Reconstruction and

Development as a corp multilateral, but as instituie (institution). Therefore the best

translation is instituie financiar multilateral. The choice for this translation was confirmed
after realizing that the site doingbusiness.ro introduces the European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (Banca European pentru Reconstrucie i Dezvoltare) into the category of
instituii financiare (financial institutions).
The next case of non-equivalence is given by the word imponderable, as found in the
context The imponderable is just how much. Although the Oxford dictionary gives the
definition of the word as referring to something which is difficult to measure or estimate
(Homby 2000: 600), still the true meaning here does not refer to the ability to measure, but to
the fact that it is hard to understand. This word seems to be a false friend to the Romanian
language, being similar in form and meaning with imponderabil. However, the translation of
the word in Romanian cannot be taken directly from the dictionary as imponderabil, because
it changes the original meaning of the idiom. Therefore, for this translation I would choose
the expression este de neptruns / neneles because it fits better with the given context.
The expression domestic customers is another example in which a word cannot be
translated by using its perfect match, but by using a synonym. So, the word domestic cannot
be interpreted in Romanian as domestic even if it has the same form as the word in the source
language, but as intern, so the expression becomes clieni interni. Also, the word customers,
although it corresponds to the Romanian word clieni, it can also get the meaning of pia as
in pia intern, and it can still have the same meaning as domestic customers.
Source Text 2
Bula imobiliar s-a spart n momentul n care beneficiarii au dat semne c nu mai pot
plti, iar investitorii n respectivele produse i-au cerut banii napoi. Instituiile financiare au
nceput s aib probleme de solvabilitate din ce n ce mai mari, iar dominoul pierderilor s-a
rspndit n toat lumea.
Cel mai surprinztor lucru a fost amploarea crizei. Nimeni nu ar fi putut anticipa
dimensiunea pierderilor ce au urmat i nici mrimea expunerilor instituiilor din Europa i
Asia. Dac piaa imobiliar s-ar fi prbuit de una singur, adic s-ar fi nregistrat falimente
printre dezvoltatorii i finanatorii proiectelor (fr instrumente derivate!), criza s-ar fi oprit la
acest sector.
Dei considerat cauza principal a recesiunii cu care se confrunt economia global,
criza subprime nu a fost ns dect factorul declanator al acesteia. Banii ieftini din pia nu
au fost investii numai n produse derivate din ipoteci neacoperite. Cotaiile companiilor
listate la burse erau, de asemenea, umflate. Scderea brusc a ncrederii investitorilor n
instituiile financiare a dus la retrageri masive din fonduri i din bnci.
Translated Text 2
The real-estate bubble burst when the borrowers showed signs of insolvency and the
investors of those products reclaimed their money. Financial institutions started having
increasingly high solvency problems and the domino of losses spread all over the world.
The most surprising thing was the magnitude of the crisis. Nobody could have
anticipated either the size of the ensuing losses, nor the extent of exposure of the European
and Asian institutions. Had the real estate market crumbled on its own, in other words had
bankruptcies been recorded among project developers and financiers (without derivatives)
the crisis would have stopped at this sector.

Although the subprime crisis is considered the main cause of the recession that the
global economy is facing, it was but its trigger. The cheap money on the market had not been
invested solely in derivatives from the uncovered mortgages. The listed companies' quotations
were also inflated. The investors sudden slump in confidence in financial institutions led to
massive withdrawals from funds and banks.
The first example of equivalence in this second text comes when trying to translate the
word bubble, as the Romanian equivalent bul (with the meaning of balon) makes perfect
reference to the real-estate market, just like the English word.
For the Romanian idiom a da semne de ceva we ca easily find a correspondent in the
English idiom to show signs of. Although we cannot speak of an equivalence at word level,
because we cannot literally translate the word a da with to give (for we have to respect the
English use of the idiom to show signs of), still the chosen translation seems to fit perfectly.
English language has a unique particularity, which allows one word to express what
other languages do in many more. The word insolvency is a good example, for it covers what
the Romanian language is trying to express by the expression nu mai pot plti.
Equivalence seems to pay a great role in this fragment, for it applies to many words
related to business, like the following: investitori, produse, instituii financiare, solvabilitate,
proiecte, recesiune, economie global, companii listate, fonduri, banci, which would be
translated by their perfect match: investors, products, financial institutions, solvency,
projects, recession, global economy, listed companies, funds and banks. This shows that
certain specific terms related to the business domain are easier to find equivalence in a
different language, than, for example, poetic words.
The expression dominoul pierderilor seems to be borrowed from English and
therefore, the perfect translation for it would be its correspondent, the dominoe of losses.
The expression de una singur is another fortunate example in which the target
language, English, has a correspondent on its own, and the meaning is the same.
However, the word finanator caused a bit more trouble in translation as the tendency
is to invent the word financer, instead of using the right one, which is financier. Wikipedia
offers a good definition of this term: a person who handles typically large sums of money,
usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale
money management.
The Romanian instrumente derivate could be translated by just one word
derivatives, and the meaning would still be the same. The definition of derivatives, given by
Thesaurus Encyclopedia, is that of an agreement or contract that is not based on a real, or
true, exchange; there is nothing tangible like money, or a product, that is being exchanged.
The problem that arises in translations when languages we work with are English and
Romanian is word order in the sentence, although there is equivalence at word level. For
example, Dei considerat cauza principal a recesiunii cu care se confrunt economia
global, criza subprime nu a fost ns dect factorul declanator al acesteia becomes
Although the subprime crisis is considered the main cause of the recession that the global
economy is facing, it was but its trigger. I have noticed here the grammar problem regarding
word order in the English sentence. In this case, the English language requires the use of the
noun in the beginning of the sentence. Otherwise, there is equivalence concerning the
elements of grammar. In what concerns the lexical elements of this unit, the expression criza
subprim, which might have been borrowed from English, finds its equivalence in subprime
crisis. Again, Thesaurus Ecyclopedia was a great help in deciding whether these two word-

units are really equivalent, and it provided me with a definition which refers to the ongoing
financial crisis characterized by contracted liquidity in global credit markets and banking
systems.
For the Romanian scderea brusc a ncrederii... I could find the English
correspondent sudden slump in confidence, an expression which is commonly used in
business related articles, like the one I found in The Independent - Economic fears lead to
slump in confidence(Clark 2008: 1).

CONCLUSION
As we could see from these two fragments, equivalence does not always occur in
translating from one language into another. And for this reason, translation becomes a process
of thorough analysis, which requires great language knowledge and interpreting skills. When
equivalence is possible, translation is eased, but unfortunately, these cases are quite rare.
The good news is that when dealing with texts related to business, certain terms match
exactly in both the source language and the target one. Therefore, we can rightfully admit that
translating a business text is more facile than translating a literary one, because unlike
literature, which is unpredictable in terms of meaning, business texts are more precise, and
dont leave much space for interpretation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Books:
Popescu, T. (2009). Translation Studies. A Reader. Theory and Practice. Alba Iulia:
Tipografia Universitii 1 Decembrie 1918.
Dictionaries:
Hornby, A. S. (2000). Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English, Sixth
edition, Edited by Sally Wehmeier, Phonetics Editor Michael Ashby, New York: Oxford
University Press.
Online articles:
Clark, N. (2008). Economic fears lead to slump in confidence. Retrieved June 15, 2010, from
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/economic-fears-lead-to-slump-inconfidence-862945.html.
Leonardi, V. (2000). Equivalence in Translation: Between Myth and Reality. Retrieved June
15, 2010, from http://accurapid.com/journal/14equiv.htm.
Online dictionaries:
http://en.bab.la/dictionary/english-romanian/
http://www.hallo.ro
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
http://thesaurus.com/
http://www.wordreference.com/enro/
Other documents:
(2010). Transactions of U.S. banking affiliate with foreign parent. Mandatory confidential
quarterly
report.
Retrieved
June
15,
2010,
from
https://www.bea.gov/surveys/pdf/be605bankweb08.pdf.