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Are translations longer than source texts?

Are translations longer than source texts?. A corpus-based study of explicitation Ana Frankenberg-Garcia ISLA, Lisbon. What is explicitation?. TRANSLATION TEXT TT explicit. SOURCE TEXT ST implicit. Vinay e Darbelnet (1958). Explicitation. ST. TT. obligatory.

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Are translations longer than source texts?

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  1. Are translations longer than source texts? A corpus-based study of explicitation Ana Frankenberg-Garcia ISLA, Lisbon

  2. What is explicitation? TRANSLATION TEXT TT explicit SOURCE TEXT ST implicit Vinay e Darbelnet (1958)

  3. Explicitation ST TT obligatory when target language grammar forces translators to add information not present in source text

  4. Obligatory explicitation 1 ST Frances liked her doctor. Frances gostava dessa médica. TT Trollope, Joanna 1993 A Spanish Lover, London: Bloomsbury. 1999 Um Amante Espanhol, translated by Ana Falcão Bastos. Lisboa: Gradiva.

  5. Obligatory explicitation 2 ST 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 […] TT Rey, Marcos 1986 Memórias de um Gigolô, São Paulo: Ática Editorial. 1987 Memoirs of a Gigolo, translated by Clifford Landers. New York: Avon

  6. Explicitation ST TT voluntary when for no grammatically compelling reason translators distance themselves from source text making translation easier to understand

  7. Voluntary explicitation 1 ST Você também gosta dela? So you like her too? TT Dourado, Autran 1973 O Risco do Bordado, Rio: Expressão e Cultura. 1984 Pattern for a Tapestry, translated by John Parker. London: Peter Owen.

  8. Voluntary explicitation 2 ST "It's probably Rummidge. -- Então é provável que seja Rummidge. TT Lodge, David 1975 Changing Places, London: Secker & Warburg. 1998 Invertendo os Papéis, translated by Lídia Luther-Cavalcante. São Paulo: Scipione

  9. Voluntary explicitation 3 " All's Well That Ends Well? " he snaps back, quick as a flash. -- Será que éAll ' 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. ST TT Lodge, David 1975 Changing Places, London: Secker & Warburg. 1998 Invertendo os Papéis, translated by Lídia Luther-Cavalcante. São Paulo: Scipione

  10. Explicitation ST obligatory TT voluntary

  11. 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

  12. Ten years or so later…. corpus studies

  13. Quantitative evidence of explicitation Øverås (1998) more explicitating shifts than implicitating ones English-Norwegian Parallel Corpus Olohan & Baker (2000) more optional that after reporting verbsBNC andTEC

  14. Claims about explicitation It is one of the universal characteristics of translation Vanderauwera 1985 It is inherent to the nature of the translation processSéguinot 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

  15. Explicitation and text length Since explicitation often takes the form of additions… …are translations longer than source texts?

  16. With a parallel corpus…. TT ST It’s very simple to check whether or not a TT has more words than a ST

  17. COMPARA 5.2 http://www.linguateca.pt/COMPARA/ ST TT Portuguese English English Portuguese Over 1.5 million words Published fiction

  18. COMPARA 5.2 http://www.linguateca.pt/COMPARA/Contents.html ST En TT Pt - 1% words

  19. COMPARA 5.2 http://www.linguateca.pt/COMPARA/Contents.html ST Pt TT En +11% words

  20. 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

  21. COMPARA 5.2 Word counts as such shed little light on the relationship between translation and explicitation

  22. 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?

  23. Different scales affect different languages differently English Portuguese

  24. Counting words English Portuguese isn’t (1) não é (2) dei-lhe (1) gave him (2) teapot (1) bule de chá (3) Gostou? (1) Did you like it? (4)

  25. When comparing text length across languages ST TT more words ≠ greater explicitation

  26. Explicitation using fewer words ST What have I got to complain about? (7 words) De que me queixo então? (5 words) TT Lodge, David 1995 Therapy, London: Secker & Warburg. 1995 Terapia, translated by Maria do Carmo Figueira. Lisboa: Gradiva.

  27. More words but no explicitation ST Fui visitá-lo. (2 words) I went to visit him. (5 words) TT Fonseca, Rubem 1988 Vastas emoções e pensamentos imperfeitos.São Paulo: Companhia das Letras 1995 The lost manuscript, translated by Clifford Landers. London: Bloomsbury

  28. 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)

  29. 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)

  30. Counting words English Portuguese isn’t (1) não é (2) dei-lhe (1) gave him (2) teapot (1) bule de chá (3) Gostou? (1) Did you like it? (4)

  31. To make any claims about text length across languages based on word counts… …the language-dependent bias of word counts has to be controlled. Word counts affect different languages differently…

  32. A bi-directional analysis SOURCE TEXTS TRANSLATION TEXTS ? > < L1 L2 L2 L1 But a balanced corpus is essential!

  33. COMPARA 5.2 Similar amount of Portuguese and English, but not balanced 25 Pt 12 En En Pt

  34. A balanced sub-corpus I Portuguese English Assigning equal weight to both languages 16 source texts: 8 Pt + 8 En Same length: 1500 words each

  35. A balanced sub-corpus II Ensuring no particular author or translator is over-represented 16 ST = 16 authors 8 Pt + 8 En 16 TT = 16 translators 8 Pt + 8 En

  36. The analysis Source Texts Translations Pt 1500 words Pt 1500 words Pt 1500 words Pt 1500 words Pt 1500 words Pt 1500 words Pt 1500 words Pt 1500 words En 1500 words En 1500 words En 1500 words En 1500 words En 1500 words En 1500 words En 1500 words ? En 1500 words Translators’ notes

  37. The results TT TT TT TT TT TT TT TT TT TT TT TT TT TT TT TT ST Matched t-test: 95% probability TT significantly longer than ST + 5%

  38. Conclusion Source Texts & Translations Portuguese & English • Explicitation Hypothesis

  39. 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?

  40. 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?

  41. 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.

  42. The End Fim Fin Fi

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