Target. International Journal of Translation Studies - Volume 32, Issue 3, 2020

Abstract

This article proposes a new methodology for multimodal corpus analysis. It does so by particularly focusing on the issue of the translation of non-standard language varieties. This new methodology, which is significantly influenced by the work of Iedema (2003), Jimenez Hurtado and Soler Gallego (2013), Pastra (2008) and Ramos Pinto (2018), is capable of identifying the modes and resources at play and the relations identified between them, as well as how such relations participate in the construction of the non-standard varieties’ communicative meaning. It also accounts for the impact of the introduction of subtitles on preserving, cancelling or modifying the intermodal relations identified in the source text and, consequently, the diegetic functions they support; that is, the function they assume in the fictional world of the film. In this regard, the methodology assumes a clear translational perspective.

Abstract

This article investigates the role of translations from English in language change in Chinese. It employs a new corpus, the Chinese Diachronic Composite Corpus (CDCC), which incorporates a parallel corpus and comparable corpus in three sampling periods in the twentieth century, and a refe­rence corpus as a starting point in the timeframe. We examine whether explicitness in English–Chinese translations has exerted an impact on the target language, focusing on adversative conjunctions as a measure of explicitness. The results of the study demonstrate that: (1) translated Chinese texts have changed in step with original Chinese texts in the frequency of adversative conjunctions; (2) translated Chinese texts and original Chinese texts are interrelated throughout the three periods, but the correlation between them has changed perceptibly over the three sample points; and (3) source language interference found in translated Chinese texts increases over the three periods.

Abstract

On the face of it, it appears that the explicitation of contextual knowledge is consistent with Toury’s (1995) norm of acceptability rather than his norm of adequacy. This is because this type of explicitation, which seeks to bridge the gap in readers’ contextual knowledge, enhances readability and is directed towards the target audience. However, in this article I argue that the use of this type of explicitation actually demonstrates an awareness of the importance of adhering to the source text, and may thus be aligned with adequacy norms. To support the argument, I show that this type of explicitation seems to be more prevalent than ever before, using as an example a recent translation of a story by O. Henry into Hebrew, in the context of Hebrew translated literature generally moving towards the norm of adequacy (Zoran 1990; Weissbrod 1992; Ben-Shahar 1994). This highlights the complexity of the relation between increased explicitness and the notions of adequacy and acceptability.

Abstract

This paper investigates how variation in the complexity of speech tasks is reflected in the temporal characteristics and disfluency patterns of speech. We examined temporal characteristics (speech rate, global articulation rate, ratio of pauses, frequency of pauses, and mean duration of pauses) and disfluency markers (overall frequency of disfluencies; frequency of filled pauses, filler words, whole-word repetitions, part-word repetitions, broken words, prolonged sounds, and revisions; frequency of disfluency clusters) in four speech production tasks (consecutive interpreting, sight translation, spontaneous speech and extemporaneous speech) with twelve speakers.

Our hypothesis, according to which the examined parameters will differ across the four tasks, was partly confirmed by the data; even though not all speech tasks differed significantly in all the examined parameters, our investigation revealed that there were significant differences between some tasks in four parameters, and between others in nine out of the fourteen parameters examined. Our data also suggest that in terms of the temporal characteristics and disfluency markers examined, the four tasks can be represented on a continuum based on the cognitive load associated with each task. At one end of the continuum and generating the least cognitive load is spontaneous speech, and at the other, generating the most cognitive load, is sight translation.

This article reviews 改革开放以来中国翻译研究概论 (1978–2018)

This article reviews 翻译与现代中国