Evaluating the Semantic Equivalence of a Poetic Text

Abstract

Purpose. Some texts have been translated into another language multiple times. There are various reasons to compile a new translation of a previously translated text: some translators are not satisfied with the accuracy of the existing translations, while others try to create new interpretations. The study presents a comparative evaluation of translation equivalence on the base of one of Horace's odes, namely Ad Leuconoën (I:XI), and its 55 translations into Russian. Results. Detailed study of the problem revealed the impossibility of postulating a single scale of translation equivalence; at least for translations of a Latin poetic text, metrical, cultural, and semantic equivalence should be considered separately. The article describes the semantic equivalence. Our method is divided into two steps - semantic analysis and arithmetic calculations. First, in Horace's poem, we select 30 keywords, and then we define the actual semes for each of them in the original text and in the translations. Then we compare the semes and register the differences. At last, we determine the coefficient of semantic equivalence for every translation using the arithmetic means. Conclusion. High semantic equivalence does not always correlate with aesthetic perception. Moreover, earlier translations tend to have lesser equivalence.