Special Problems in Finding

Lexical Equivalents
 1. Key words
Key words are words which are used over and
over in the text and are crucial to the theme.
If translating into a language in which there is
no cultural equivalent, it would be necessary, not
only to come up with an equivalent for
designating such a building, but also to
distinguish the tree kinds of these buildings. And
all these principles which we discussed previously
for finding lexical equivalents would apply. There
we give analysis of these three words: church,
mosque and synagogue:
• Generic components – shelter, used for
religious intentions
• Generic class – kinds of shelters used for
religious intentions
• Specifying components:
Church – used by Christians
Mosque – used by Muslims
Synagogue – used by Jews.”
 2. Symbolic words
In many texts, there could be some key words which could
acquire symbolic value. They come to carry figurative and
metaphorical meaning as the basic meaning of the word.
When this happens, it may be necessary to use it in the
translation. For example, the word cross refers to the wooden
cross used for crucifixion during the time of the Roman
Empire. But for Christians, it has a symbolic meaning beyond
the basic meaning. Symbolically, it means death and suffering
and even beyond that, it stands for Christianity. That is, the
word cross in the source language has its basic meaning of
wooden cross used in crucifixion, but almost stronger in
meaning is the symbolic usage
3. Word combinations and false literal
translation
Words also combine to form compounds in
different languages. A compound is a new
word which is created by including together
simple words, which are the constituent parts.
There is also no limit to the kinds of
combinations which can be formed. For
example, armchair, driveway, pickpocket,
outlook, kindhearted.
 4. “False friends”
According to the bibliography [2] ”false friends are
pairs of words in two languages (or letters in two
alphabets) that look or sound similar, but differ in
meaning.” And one of the major causes of translation
error on the lexical level, when translating into related
languages, is that of “false friends”. The translator must
be cautious not to assume that because the words in
two languages look alike they have the same meaning.
For example, the English word intelligent for the
Lithuanian-English translator could seem as
inteligentas, but it is also “false friend” because it
means smart.
5. Implicit and explicit components of
meaning
The implicit information is part of the meaning
which is to be communicated by the translation,
because it is part of the meaning intended to be
understood by the original writer.
Explicit information, then, is the information
which is overtly stated by lexical items and
grammatical forms. It is a part of the surface
structure form. The implicit information is that
for which there is no form but the information is
part of the total communication intended by the
writer.”