Theoretical issues of functional equivalence at the lexico-grammatical level

Abstract

The article systematically examines the theoretical issues related to the concept of functional equivalence at the lexico-grammatical level. The main aim of the study is to identify the mechanisms of functional correspondence that emerge from the interaction between lexical meaning and grammatical structure in different language systems. Functional equivalence is considered not only in terms of semantic similarity, but also from the perspective of conveying communicative intention, contextual conditions, stylistic nuances, and pragmatic effect. In this respect, equivalence is interpreted as the preservation of communicative value rather than mere formal coincidence between linguistic units. The study employs structural-semantic, functional-pragmatic, comparative-typological, and component analysis methods. Various examples from genetically and typologically different languages are examined in order to reveal how lexical and grammatical means cooperate in the process of meaning construction. The analysis demonstrates that identical situational content may be expressed through different lexical choices and grammatical patterns depending on the structural features of a particular language. Therefore, translation cannot be limited to word-for-word substitution, but requires a deeper consideration of discourse context, communicative purpose, and the intended impact on the recipient. Special attention is paid to such categories as tense and aspect forms, modality, syntactic organization, phraseological units, and emotionally expressive elements, since these often require functional transformations in translation. The findings demonstrate that lexico-grammatical equivalence is based primarily on the principle of functional-communicative adequacy rather than direct formal correspondence. The expression of the same situational content through different grammatical models across languages highlights the inevitability of transformations aimed at preserving meaning and pragmatic force. The article also emphasizes that successful functional equivalence depends on the translator’s ability to take into account national-cultural specificity, discourse conventions, and the typological characteristics of the source and target languages. It is concluded that the study of functional equivalence has significant theoretical and practical importance for modern translation studies, comparative linguistics, applied linguistics, and intercultural communication.