Terminological equivalence in legal translation: A semiotic approach

Abstract Equivalence has been a critical issue in translation, as well as in legal translation. Based on a literature review of the concept of equivalence and analysis of the features of legal discourses, the article adopts a semiotic approach to the translation of legal terms. By adapting some principal propositions in semiotics, the paper argues that total equivalence can be achieved via meta-lingual adjustment, because a sign is not born with meaning but invested with reference by a sign user. The paper also provides some linguistic strategies for realizing terminological equivalence in legal translation, such as the use of a semantic reference scheme, componential analysis, and the principle of productivity and economy.

[1]  Mary Snell-Hornby,et al.  Translation Studies: An integrated approach , 1988 .

[2]  Susan Šarčević,et al.  New Approach To Legal Translation , 1997 .

[3]  P. Newmark.  Approaches to translation , 1981 .

[4]  Henricus J. Vermeer.  Skopos and commission in translational action , 1989 .

[5]  John F. Sowa,et al.  Book Reviews: Construing Experience through Meaning: A Language-based Approach to Cognition , 2001 .

[6]  Christiane Nord,et al.  Translating as a Purposeful Activity: Functionalist Approaches Explained , 1997 .

[7]  Lawrence Venuti.  The Translator's Invisibility: A History of Translation , 2017 .

[8]  Daniel Chandler,et al.  Semiotics: The Basics , 2001 .

[9]  Jordan B. Peterson.  The Meaning of Meaning , 2007 .

[10]  K. Sin,et al.  Language engineering for legal transplantation: Conceptual problems in creating common law Chinese , 1996 .

[11]  Archibald MacLeish,et al.  The Language of the Law , 1963 .

[12]  C. K. Ogden,et al.  The Meaning of Meaning , 1923 .

[13]  Juan C. Sager.  Historical readings in terminology: The Wording of the World presented graphically and terminologically , 2003 .

[14]  Lawrence Lessig.  Fidelity in Translation , 1993 .

[15]  Mona Baker,et al.  In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation , 1993 .

[16]  Mildred L. Larson,et al.  Meaning-Based Translation: A Guide to Cross-Language Equivalence , 1986 .

[17]  Juan C. Sager.  Language Engineering and Translation: Consequences of automation , 1994 .

[18]  Sandra L. Halverson.  The Concept of Equivalence in Translation Studies: Much Ado About Something , 1997 .

[19]  A. K. Abraham.  The fidelity of translation. , 1983, Progress in nucleic acid research and molecular biology.

[20]  Juan C. Sager,et al.  A practical course in terminology processing , 1990 .

[21]  Ferdinand de Saussure.  Course in General Linguistics , 1916 .

[22]  Mark Van Hoecke.  Law as Communication , 2002 .

[23]  Hans Kelsen,et al.  General Theory of Norms , 1991 .

[24]  P. Newmark.  A textbook of translation , 1988 .

[25]  J. C. Catford,et al.  A linguistic theory of translation : an essay in applied linguistics , 1965 .