Validation of Translation Universals Based on Comparable Corpus: Simplification and Explicitation
Abstract
This study aims to validate the phenomena of simplification and explicitation in translation universals using comparable corpus, providing support for translation theory and practice. By constructing a corpus encompassing multiple language pairs and text types, and employing methods such as frequency analysis and chi-square tests, the study compares translated texts with native texts. The findings reveal that translated texts tend to use more common vocabulary and simplify complex syntactic structures, as exemplified in translations of The Moon and Sixpence and The Million Pound Note. Explicitation is achieved through semantic supplementation and syntactic adjustments. This research offers insights for translation teaching and practice, contributing to the advancement of translation studies.
References
Arntz, G. (2024). Translation technobabble: An exploration of online discourse about machine translation and artificial intelligence using corpus driven discourse analysis and appraisal theory (Master's thesis).
Baker, M. (2019). Corpus linguistics and translation studies*: Implications and applications. In Researching Translation in the Age of Technology and Global Conflict (pp. 9-24). Routledge.
Becher, V. (2011). Explicitation and implicitation in translation: A corpus-based study of English-German and German-English translations of business texts (Doctoral dissertation, Staats-und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg Carl von Ossietzky).
Bolaños Cuellar, S. (2008). Towards an Integrated Translation Approach. A Dynamic Translation Model (DTM) (Doctoral dissertation, Staats-und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg Carl von Ossietzky).
Chen, J., Li, D., & Liu, K. (2024). Unraveling cognitive constraints in constrained languages: A comparative study of syntactic complexity in translated, EFL, and native varieties. Language Sciences, 102, 101612. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2023.101612
Ding, R. (2016). Mo Yan’s style in using color expressions and Goldblatt’s translation strategies (Doctoral dissertation, University of Hong Kong).
Englund Dimitrova, B. (2005). Expertise and explicitation in the translation process. John Benjamins Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.64
Fang, X. (2024). Translator’s (In)visibility: A Case Study of Howard Goldblatt’s Translation of Red Sorghum. SAGE Open, 14(2), 21582440241251473. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241251473
Harper, C., & De Jong, E. (2004). Misconceptions about teaching English‐language learners. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 48(2), 152-162. https://doi.org/10.1598/JAAL.48.2.6
Hawamdeh, M. A., & Alzu’bi, K. (2020). A concise review of the principles and procedures of ‘explicitation’ as a translation universal. International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies, 8(4), 50-59.
Hynynen, J. V. (2023). Readability-Controlled Sentence Simplification.
Kyle, K. (2019). Measuring lexical richness. In The Routledge Handbook of Vocabulary Studies (pp. 454-476). Routledge.
Laviosa, S., Pagano, A., Kemppanen, H., & Ji, M. (2017). Textual and contextual analysis in empirical translation studies. Springer Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4077-8
Wang, L. Review on Translation Studies of Red Sorghum.
Xiao, R., & Hu, X. (2015). Corpus-based studies of translational Chinese in English-Chinese translation. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47383-1
Zhou, J. (2018). Analysis on Differences between English and Chinese Sentence Structure.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
1.png)
1.png){kind=logo}
