Are translations longer than source texts? A corpus-based study of explicitation Ana...

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.