Equivalence in bilingual lexicography: criticism and suggestions*

Abstract

A reminder of general problems in the formation of terminology, as illustrated by the German Äquivalence (Eng. equivalence) and äquivalent (Eng. equivalent), is followed by a critical discussion of the concept of equivalence in contrastive lexicology. It is shown that especially the concept of partial equivalence is contradictory in its different manifestations. Consequently attempts are made to give a more precise indication of the concept of equivalence in the metalexicography, with regard to the domain of the nominal lexicon. The problems of especially the metalexicographic concept of partial equivalence as well as that of divergence are fundamentally expounded. In conclusion the direction is indicated to find more appropriate metalexicographic versions of the concept of equivalence.

Keywords: equivalence, lexicographic equivalent, partial equivalence, congruence, divergence, convergence, polydivergence, syntagm-equivalence, zero equivalence, correspondence