Semantic maps : a way out of the equivalence conundrum?

Like other constructs within translation studies, the construct known as the unique item crucially depends on a concept of equivalence. However, when defining the unique item as a linguistic unit which lacks a linguistic counterpart in the source language, the propounder of the unique-items hypothesis, Sonja Tirkkonen-Condit, is laconic as to what she means by a linguistic counterpart. Although it has been suggested that one could, in one's definition, resort to a classical account of translation shifts, a better solution may be discovered in the field of linguistic typology. The present paper illustrates how comparing linguistic items across languages can be achieved with a typological approach based on the semantic-map model. It is shown on the example of indefinite pronouns that semantic maps offer a much more precise way of assessing the degree to which two items from different languages can be said to be equivalent. While semantic maps reveal as much as they conceal, they are developed on the basis of empirical data from numerous languages and can be falsified. They can therefore be considered a valuable asset to translation scholars.