Semiotic (the science investigating the general properties of sign system) distinguishes the following types of relations: semantic (sign to object), syntactic ( sign to sign ) and pragmatic (sign to man). On of the most essential requirements imposed on translation is that two texts (the original and its translation) should be semantically equivalent. In other words, they should be characterized by equivalent sets of relationship between the linguistic signs and their denote (referents). The goal of translation is to produce a text bearing same extralinguistic situation as the original. Semantic equivalent of message does not necessarily imply the semantic identity or linguistic sign. Semantically equivalent utterances include not only those made up of semantically identical signs (as, for instance: He lives in Paris - Он живет в Париже. ) but also utterance comprising different sets of signs which in their totality yields the same type of relationship to the extralinguistic word denoting the same extralinguistic situation, e.g., Wet paint! - Ocтоpoжноl Oкpaшено! Semantic relations affect translation both in the initial stage of analysis and in producing the TL text.
As distinct from semantic relations, syntactic relations are important only at the stage of analysis since relations between linguistic signs are essential for their semantic interpretation (cf. Bill hit John and John hit Bill). But although they may be occasionally preserved in translation, the translator does not set himself this goal. Very often syntactically nonequivalent utterances prove to be semantically equivalent: He was considered invincible - Еro считали непобедимым.
Pragmatic relations are superimposed on semantic relations and play an equally important role in analyzing the original text and in producing an equivalent text in the target language. Semantically equivalent messages do not necessarily mean the same thing to the source and target receptors, and therefore are not necessarily pragmatically equivalent. The phrases “He made a fifteen-yard and ran” - Он сделал пятнадцатиярдовый рывок по краю are semantically equivalent for they denote the same situation but the American reader, familiar with American football, will extract far more information from it than his Russian counterpart who would neither understand the aim of the manouerve nor appreciate the football-player’s performance. The pragmatic problems, involved in translation arise from three types of pragmatic relations: the relation of the SL sender to the original message, the relation of the target-language receptor to the TL message and the relation of the translator to both messages.

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