Non-Equivalence in The Kĩkamba Bible Translation Eunice Nthenya Mũsyoka

Abstract

Translation is encoding the meaning and forms in the target language by means of the decoded meaning and form of the source language. It involves the rendering of a source language text into the target text so as to ensure that the surface meaning of the two will be approximately similar and the structures of the source language will be preserved as closely as possible in the target text. Translators are faced with challenges of non-equivalence since languages present ideas and information differently. Translation strategies are used to overcome the challenges of non-equivalence and other inherent problems of translation. Non-equivalence occurs when a lexical item or an expression in the source language lacks an equivalent item to translate it in the target text. The objectives of this study were; to investigate the types of non-equivalences in the Kĩkamba Bible translation, to analyse the translation strategies used to handle non-equivalence in the Kĩkamba Bible translation and to suggest alternative strategies to handle non-equivalence in the Kĩkamba Bible translation. In investigating these objectives, the Equivalence Theory proposed by Nida and the Relevance Theory by Sperber and Wilson were used. The Equivalence theory discusses equivalences at different levels of the text by comparing it with the source text, for example, at word level and above the word level. Relevance Theory was also used to explore the translation strategies. The Relevance theory can be divided into two sets of assumptions, assumptions relating to cognition and assumptions about communication. Both sets were relevant to the study in analyzing the strategies used to handle non-equivalence in the Kĩkamba Bible translation. A descriptive research design was used to obtain information from a sampled population. The Bible is divided into two sections that is the Old and the New Testament, it is further categorized into seven categories which include; Pentateuch books, historical books, poetical books, prophetic books, the gospels, the early church (Acts) and the epistles. Purposive sampling was used to select one book from each category except the early church category which has only one book forming a total of seven books which included Genesis, Judges, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Mathew, Acts of the Apostle and Hebrews. One chapter was purposively selected from each book to form a total of seven chapters. Data was collected through careful study of the English Bible, the Revised Standard Version to identify non-equivalence and the Kĩkamba Bible to analyse the strategies that were used to handle non-equivalence. The study established two types of non-equivalences; non-equivalence at lexical/word level and non-equivalence above the word level. The study reveals that non-equivalence is difficult to handle at lexical /word level mostly due to culture-specific words. Above the word level, translation is hampered by the use of figurative language in the source text and in this study, metaphors were the most difficult to translate. The non-equivalence at the grammatical categories was adequately handled. Fifteen translation strategies that the translator used to handle non-equivalence were identified and discussed. They include; amplification, explicitation, literal translation, hyponymy, naturalization, descriptive equivalent, synonymy, reduction, compensation, borrowing, unit change, use of paraphrase, addition and omission. The study suggests that the translator needs a good background on the culture of the two languages and the metaphorical language use in the Bible. It is hoped that the research will be a contribution to applied linguistics in the area of translation, specifically on non-equivalence and translation strategies.