Non-Equivalents

Non-equivalents are SL words which have no corresponding lexical units in the TL vocabulary.

The absence of equivalents may be explained both by extralinguistic and linguistic reasons. Accordingly, non-equivalents may be divided into two groups. The first group consists of words denoting referents unknown in the target language – things, objects, notions, features of national life, customs, habits, etc. the words of this group bear a distinctly national character and are tied up with the history of the people speaking that language, the growth of its culture, its way of life and traditions. Cultural discrepancy accounts for the appearance of words which are untranslatable in the literal sense of the word. Yet there are different ways of rendering these words in translation and of overcoming the so-called “barrier of untranslatability” (cultural untranslatability). The words belonging to this group cover a wide range of denotata, e.g. speaker, parliament, public school, landslide, coroner, teach-in, drive-in, know-how, striptease, brain drain, backbencher, grill-room, as well as titles of politeness, etc.

The second group embraces words which for some linguistic reason have no equivalents in the target language, the so-called linguistic lancunae, e.g. privacy, involvement, glimpse, conservationist, environmentalist, oralist, readership, riser, bedder, vote-getter, statehood, etc.

It should be stressed that the term “non-equivalents” merely implies the absence of a word or a word-combination in the vocabulary of the target language but does not exclude the possibility of rendering “non-equivalents” in translation, usually by descriptive translation.

Translation of Non-Equivalents

There are three ways of rendering non-equivalents in translation.

By Borrowings

The borrowed words may be either transliterated or transcribed, e.g. ale –эль, roastbeef – ростбиф, sweater – свитер (transliterated borrowings). Parliament – парламент, striptease – стриптиз, speaker – спикер, know-how – ноу-хау, establishment – истэблишмент (transcribed borrowings). The latter principle is, as seen from the above examples, applicable to the rendering of neologisms.

By translation loans

House of Commons – Палата Общин, backbencher – заднескамеечник, brain trust – мозговой трест.