Dynamic vs Formal Equivalence: Nida Explained
Eugene Nida split translation strategy into two equivalence types: formal equivalence mirrors source form, dynamic equivalence recreates source effect. The choice is upstream of every other decision.
The two strategies
- Formal equivalence: word-for-word, structure-for-structure fidelity. Reader feels the source language behind the target.
- Dynamic (functional) equivalence: same effect on the target reader as the source had on its original reader. Form is rewritten when needed.
How to choose
Formal equivalence fits scripture, legal text, source-cited scholarship, and poetry where form is meaning. Dynamic equivalence fits marketing, journalism, instructional copy, and most fiction where the reading experience matters more than the syntactic shape.
Further reading: foreignization vs domestication, skopos theory, the 8 frameworks.