Are translations longer than source texts? A corpus-based study of explicitation Ana Frankenberg-Garcia ISLA, Lisbon
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Are translations longer than source texts?
A corpus-based study of explicitation
Ana Frankenberg-Garcia ISLA, Lisbon
What is explicitation?
SOURCE TEXT
STimplicit
TRANSLATIONTEXT
TTexplicit
Vinay e Darbelnet (1958)
ST TTobligatory
Explicitation
when target language grammar forces translators to add information
not present in source text
Obligatory explicitation 1
Frances liked her doctor.
Frances gostava dessa médica.
Trollope, Joanna1993 A Spanish Lover, London: Bloomsbury. 1999 Um Amante Espanhol, translated by Ana Falcão Bastos. Lisboa: Gradiva.
ST
TT
sua pele lembrava a crosta lunar e tinha o nariz mais volumoso do mundo; o cabelo era cor de fogo […]
her skin resembled the lunar crust and she had the most voluminous nose in the world; her hair was the color of fire […]Rey, Marcos1986 Memórias de um Gigolô, São Paulo: Ática Editorial. 1987 Memoirs of a Gigolo, translated by Clifford Landers. New York: Avon
Obligatory explicitation 2
ST
TT
ST TT
Explicitation
when for no grammatically compelling reasontranslators distance themselves from source text
making translation easier to understand
voluntary
Voluntary explicitation 1
Você também gosta dela?
So you like her too?
Dourado, Autran1973 O Risco do Bordado, Rio: Expressão e Cultura. 1984 Pattern for a Tapestry, translated by John Parker. London: Peter Owen.
ST
TT
Voluntary explicitation 2
"It's probably Rummidge. -- Então é provável que seja Rummidge.
Lodge, David1975 Changing Places, London: Secker & Warburg. 1998 Invertendo os Papéis, translated by Lídia Luther-Cavalcante. São Paulo: Scipione
ST
TT
Voluntary explicitation 3
" All's Well That Ends Well? " he snaps back, quick as a flash.
-- Será que é All ' s well that ends well? -- ele diz rápido como um relâmpago.*
*Tudo está bem quando acaba bem é o título de uma peça de Shakespeare, que nasceu em Stratford-upon-Avon.
Lodge, David1975 Changing Places, London: Secker & Warburg. 1998 Invertendo os Papéis, translated by Lídia Luther-Cavalcante. São Paulo: Scipione
ST
TT
ST TTvoluntary
Explicitation
obligatory
Qualitative evidence of explicitation
Vanderauwera (1985) modifiers, qualifiers & conjunctions Dutch-English
Blum-Kulka (1986) lexical repetition English-Hebrew
Séguinot (1988) connectives French-English & English-French
Ten years or so later….
corpus studies
Quantitative evidence of explicitation
Øverås (1998) more explicitating shifts than implicitating ones English-Norwegian Parallel Corpus
Olohan & Baker (2000) more optional that after reporting verbs BNC and TEC
It is one of the universal characteristics of translation Vanderauwera 1985
It is inherent to the nature of the translation process Séguinot 1988
The Explicitation Hypothesis: translations tend to be more explicit than source texts, regardless of the increase in explicitness dictated by language- specific differences Blum-Kulka 1986
Claims about explicitation
Explicitation and text length
Since explicitation often takes the form of additions…
…are translations longer than source texts?
With a parallel corpus….
It’s very simple to check whether or not a TT has more words than a ST
ST TT
COMPARA 5.2
ST TT
Over 1.5 million wordsPublished fiction
http://www.linguateca.pt/COMPARA/
Portuguese
PortugueseEnglishEnglish
COMPARA 5.2
STEn
TTPt- 1% words
http://www.linguateca.pt/COMPARA/Contents.html
COMPARA 5.2
STPt
TTEn
+11% words
http://www.linguateca.pt/COMPARA/Contents.html
COMPARA 5.2 Pt-En translators better off if they base their fees
on TT words
En-Pt translators better off if they base their fees on ST words
But impossible to tell the extent to which differences observed are due to differences between:
Portuguese & English
or
source texts & translations
COMPARA 5.2
Word counts as such shed little light on the relationship between translation and explicitation
Claims about text length across languages are difficult
to put to test Corpora list
Over twenty postings on the subject!
How do you measure it?
Different scales affect different languages differently
English
Portuguese
Counting words
English Portuguese
isn’t (1) não é (2)gave him (2) dei-lhe (1)
teapot (1) bule de chá (3)
Did you like it? (4) Gostou? (1)
When comparing text length across languages
ST TTmore words ≠ greater explicitation
Explicitation using fewer words
What have I got to complain about? (7 words)
De que me queixo então? (5 words)
Lodge, David1995 Therapy, London: Secker & Warburg. 1995 Terapia, translated by Maria do Carmo Figueira. Lisboa: Gradiva.
ST
TT
More words but no explicitation
Fui visitá-lo. (2 words)
I went to visit him. (5 words)
Fonseca, Rubem1988 Vastas emoções e pensamentos imperfeitos.São Paulo: Companhia das Letras1995 The lost manuscript, translated by Clifford Landers. London: Bloomsbury
ST
TT
Counting characters
English Portuguese
isn’t (5) não é (5)
gave him (9) deu-lhe (7)
teapot (6) bule de chá (11)
Did you like it? (16) Gostou? (7)
Counting morphemes
English Portuguese
isn’t (4) não é (4)
gave him (4) deu-lhe (4)
teapot (2) bule de chá (3)
Did you like it? (4) Gostou? (3)
Counting words
English Portuguese
isn’t (1) não é (2)gave him (2) dei-lhe (1)
teapot (1) bule de chá (3)
Did you like it? (4) Gostou? (1)
Word counts affect different languages differently…
To make any claims about text length across languages based on word counts…
…the language-dependent bias of word counts has to be controlled.
TRANSLATIONTEXTS
SOURCETEXTS
L1 L2
L2 L1
A bi-directional analysis
But a balanced corpus is essential!
?
>
<
COMPARA 5.2 Similar amount of Portuguese and
English, but not balanced
25 Pt
12 En
Pt
En
A balanced sub-corpus I
English Portuguese
Assigning equal weight to both languages
16 source texts: 8 Pt + 8 En
Same length: 1500 words each
A balanced sub-corpus IIEnsuring no particular author or translator
is over-represented
16 ST=
16 authors 8 Pt + 8 En
16 TT=
16 translators8 Pt + 8 En
Pt1500
words
Pt1500
words
Pt1500
words
Pt1500
words
Pt1500
words
Pt1500
words
Pt1500
words
Pt1500
words
En1500
words
En1500
words
En1500
words
En1500
words
En1500
words
En1500
words
En1500
words
En1500
words?
The analysisSource Texts Translations
Translators’ notes
ST
TTTT
TTTT
TTTT
TTTT
TTTT
TTTT
TTTT
TTTT
The results
+ 5%
Matched t-test: 95% probabilityTT significantly longer than ST
Conclusion
Portuguese & English
Source Texts & Translations
Explicitation Hypothesis
Future research…This study was based on only a small sample of Portuguese and English source texts and translations
Do different samples (and
genres) of Portuguese and English
ST & TT render similar results?
Can these results be
replicated using different ST-TT
language combinations?
More future research… On a more exploratory front:
Is there anything qualitatively deviant about translations that are much longer or much shorter than the
average increase or decrease in text length for a particular
language pair?
Implications for translator education?
Findings like these can help translators become generally more informed about what goes on when they are translating
Learning that text length can vary from source texts to translations for more reasons than just the differences between languages is an important step towards this end.
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