Miao and Salem

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Using Corpora in Contrastive and Translation Studies September 2008 Zhejiang University China 1

The Specificity of Translator's Notes

Textometrial !nalysis o" the #ootnotes in #u $ei%s Translation o" Jean-Christopheby &omain &olland

'un ()!*+ l%,S)T+ -aris .+ miaojun/miaojunnet

!ndr S!$,(+ )$-!+ -aris .+ salem/msh3paris"r

Abstract4 )n our 5or6 on the style o" the translator+ 5e "ous on the visually most obvious aspets o" the translator%s

interventions in the translation proess4 the notes added by the translator 7e base our 5or6 on the #renh3Chinese

parallel orpus that 5e developed ontaining &omain &olland%s omplete 5or6 Jean-Christopheand its Chinese

translation 7e an "ind+ ount+ display and lassi"y semi3automatially the abundane o" translator%s notes in #u

$ei%s translation using textometrial methods and so"t5are+ allo5ing "or rapid statistial measures on the suborpus

o" translator%s notes and the visualiation o" the distribution o" di""erent 6inds o" "ootnotes in the text

The omputation o" the spei"iity o" the voabulary used in #u $ei%s notes reveals that+ ontrary to the ommon idea

that the translator%s note is predominantly a medium to overome problems o" un3translatability+ he uses the notes to

introdue his Chinese readers to 7estern ulture (oreover+ his notes reveal his vie5 on history and+ more

generally+ on man6ind as a 5hole )n this 5ay+ 5e an examine his ideas on the relationship bet5een the author+ the

reader+ and himsel" as a translator The results+ based on 9uantitative measures that allo5 "or reproduible results not

relying on personal aestheti interpretations+ on"irm the speial status o" #u $ei%s 5or6 among Chinese translations

Keywords: textometrial+ translation studies+ parallel orpus+ translator%s note+ #u $ei+ &omain &olland

*ur 5or6 "ouses on an important "igure o" #rano3Chinese literary translation4 #u $ei : +

1;08 31;#u $ei style>

7hen reading #u $ei%s translation o" Jean-Christophe+ one is easily impressed by the

abundane o" pre"aes and "ootnotes17hat is the lin6 bet5een his style o" translation and the

1 This artile only addresses the "ootnotes+ leaving an analysis o" his pre"aes to "uture researh


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notes? )n "at+ the translator%s note is an important issue in translation studies+ beause it is lin6ed

5ith many problems 5hen 5e disuss the translator%s legitimate plae+ his visibility and the

problem o" translatability

Until no5+ many sholars and researhers in translation studies have engaged in studies

and re"letions on the subjet o" the translator%s note )n the artile De l'rudition l'chec : la

note du traducteur+ 'a9ueline @enry :2000= has systematially examined many sides o" this

subjet4 $inguisti+ typographi+ historial+ and "untional aspets o" translator%s notes #rom

stylisti and literary angles+ Christelle Aahier3-orte :200B= has provided her interesting studies

on the notes in the ,astern stories The Thousand and One Nights and The Thousand and One

Days Aut it is a pity to note that these existing studies are o"ten limited to itations o" notes

sattered in the 5or6s+ and there are "e5 studies using omputational orpus based methods+

despite the inreased importane o" this issue in translation studies ever sine their "irst

introdution by (ona ba6er in 1;;.2 7e should also mention the artile by 'enni"er arney

:200B= 5hih deals 5ith taboo subjets in translation by examining translators% notes in a big

orpus4 )talian translations o" !nglo3!merian "ition "rom 1;DB to 200B @o5ever+ her 5or6

still uses traditional methods

)n our present artile+ 5e "ous on an empirial researh on the "ootnotes in #u $ei%s

translation+ inspeting in detail 5hat the translator puts into the "ootnotes To do this+ our 5or6s

relies on textometrial methods :also alled ElexiometrialF methods=+ ie a division o" the text

into units and an analysis o" juxtapositions and o3ourrenes to apture the meaning o" the

text. The orpus o" the present 5or6 is the soure text and #u $ei%s translation o" Jean-

2 Aa6er+ ( :1;;.= GCorpus $inguistis and Translation Studies4 )mpliations and !ppliationsH+ in Aa6er+ et al:eds= Text and Technology+ p2..32B0 !msterdamI-hiladelphia4 'ohn Aenjamins. C" $ebart $ and Salem ! :1;;D= Statistique textuelle -aris4 Junod


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Using Corpora in Contrastive and Translation Studies September 2008 Zhejiang University China .

Christopheby &omain &ollandD The sie o" the 5hole orpus is about 12 million 5ords

Aesides the ontent o" the "ootnotes+ it is important to study their 9uantity+ their loations+

and their "untion The present 5or6 5ill address these issues one a"ter the other 4 Thus is our

"irst setion o" this paper The setion 2 5ill analye the reason "or 5hih #u $ei 5rote the

"ootnote+ and 5e 5ill deal 5ith this 9uestion in light o" the theory o" translation studies and

speially in the examen o" #u $ei%s personal experiene in the soial ontext

A. The results of the experiments

!"ter the preliminary treatment o" our parallel orpus :leaning+ alignment+ et=B

+ 5e launh our

experiment using the program!exico"#

D &omain &olland :18#$> "or the Chinese translation o" #u $ei Kote also

that 5e have not inluded the pre"aes in our present experiene They 5ill be the subjet o" "urther researh

< The !exico" textometrial program is produed by the university researh team SP$,J3C$!2T :Systmes

Linguistiques nonciation et Discours - Centre Lexicomtrie et d'Analyse Automatique des Textes=+ "ounded in

1;;L This so"t5are 5as originally developed by !ndr Salem See the 5ebsite4 http4II555aviuniv3paris."rI)lpgaIilpgaItalIlexio777Ilexio.htm "or "urther details


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Using Corpora in Contrastive and Translation Studies September 2008 Zhejiang University China D

1. The number of footnotes in the translation

#irst o" all+ 5e intend to give the exat number o" the "ootnotes in #u $ei%s translation )t seems

not very di""iult to ount the "ootnotes+ at least "or a small boo6 5hen the "ootnotes are not too

"re9uent+ "or example+ @enry :@enry 20004 2.2= "ound 2. translator%s notes in the #renh

translation "or the ,nglish boo6 o" Javid $odge S(all )orld:1;8B=+ translated by (auritius and

Pvonne Couturier :1;;1= Aut it is umbersome to searh+ reord+ and ount all the "ootnotes

sattered in Jean-Christophe+ a boo6 ontaining 10 volumes and 1801 imprint pagesL

The eletroni version o" the orpus and !exico" allo5 us to overome the ounting

problem The tool*or(+roups :tags=+ allo5s us to ombine ourrenes o" di""erent graphis

into one group )n order to "ind the "ootnotes+ 5e reate the group onsisting o" the symbols used

"or "ootnotes in the translation+ ie + + + 8

*igure , : *or( group o ootnotes in *u !ei's translation

7e don%t ta6e into aount the number used "or the "ootnote as they only di""erentiate bet5een

L This ounting re"ers to the edition by the !nhui $iterature -ublishing @ouse 1;;8 :=8 There is no page in the #u $ei%s translation 5hih has more than D "ootnotes


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Using Corpora in Contrastive and Translation Studies September 2008 Zhejiang University China B

"ootnotes on a single page Kote also that the "re9ueny ount sho5n in*igure , ounts the

atual symbols and sine the same symbol appears in the position to annotate and in the

beginning o" the orresponding "ootnote+ eah "ootnote is ounted t5ie So+ the atual number

o" notes is hal" o" the "re9ueny sho5n in*igure ,7e might thin6 that the "re9ueny should be

an even number+ but the "ootnote mar6er has an odd "re9ueny :B.L= This is due to the "at

that at one oasion+ #u $ei re"ers inside a "ootnote to another "ootnote labeled

Ay omputing :B.< Q1.8 QD2 Q8= I 2 N .


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Using Corpora in Contrastive and Translation Studies September 2008 Zhejiang University China > :8ei+ beI

meanIonsider+ .28 times= in the "irst ro5 o" the table+ 5hih immediately expose the abundane

o" the designation meaning in the "ootnotes ! 9ui6 overvie5 on the "ollo5ing 5ords in the list

sho5s that the 5ords li6eK:nai+ be=+*:7i+ namely=+,:xi+ namely=+Y :ji+ also= ontaining

on"irmatory meanings+ are also very numerous in the "ootnotes )t is interesting to note that the

modern Chinese 5ord "or the on"irmation >!> :shi+ be= appears muh more o"ten in the text

than in the "ootnotes :10B02 vs D8= Considering that > > :8ei/be= and K :nai/be= are the


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Using Corpora in Contrastive and Translation Studies September 2008 Zhejiang University China 1.

traditional Chinese 5ords to desribe >be>+ it reveals that "or the on"irmation+ #u $ei adopted

the modern Chinese 5ords in the translation text+ 5hile he hose to use traditional Chinese in the

"ootnotes 7e thin6 that #u $ei did it in order to avoid too many 5ords in the "ootnotes+ sine

traditional Chinese allo5ed a onise style

)t omes as no surprise that the "ootnote mar6ers themselves also obtain high sores in the

list4 !s they appear only in the note side+ it is natural to obtain the high spei"iity

(oreover+ the high spei"iity o" the Chinese puntuation mar6s >> bet5een the "ootnote

and the text displays learly that there are many itations o" boo6 and artile titles in the

"ootnotes Contrary to the #renh EhevronF 9uotes E F+ the Chinese puntuation >> are

reserved "or the names o" boo6s+ artiles+ pitures+ songs This is a lear indiation that the

"ootnotes in #u $ei%s translation provide rih ultural in"ormation

#urther do5n the list+ another puntuation at the 1Bth ran6 o" the table attrats our attention4

>V> This symbol is in "at a orretion o" the original >W> 5hih is the separator bet5een the

Chinese phoneti transription o" "oreigner%s "amily names and "irst names iven that this

puntuation is only "ound in Chinese+ 5e have hanged it to >V> during our pretreatment o" the

orpus in order to ma6e Chinese and #renh orpus more omparable 7e an onlude that the

"ootnotes ontain a lot o" in"ormation about the "oreign persons Aut+ the main persons o" the

novel our only rarely in the "ootnote #or example+ >Christophe > :$%&'= appears only > :ta+ she=+ > > :ta+ he=+ >#>

:ta(en/ they=+ > 56 > :%i7i+ sel"=+ > 0>:ni+ you=+ > H>:8o+ )= are also used only rarely in the

1B!bout the employment o" the personal pronouns in the parallel orpus Jean-Christophe+ see 'un (iao%s artile4

Fu Lei en chiffre : Les pronoms personnels dans la traduction de Jean-Christopheat http4II555miaojunnet


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Using Corpora in Contrastive and Translation Studies September 2008 Zhejiang University China 1D

"ootnotes This an be explained by the "at that "ootnotes are sel"3ontained texts that annot use

many pronouns re"erring to some previously de"ined entity+ and "ootnotes deliver 6no5ledge

5hih is not entered around the text%s story

(oreover+ 5e "ind another list o" 5ords in the highly spei"i list4 Kames o" ountries li6e

>> :aguo+ #rane=+ >\> :deguo+ ermany=+ and >^_> :xila+ reee=+ are listed in the

table 5ith the respetive "re9uenies o" 10> :deI %s= to "orm the orresponding adjetives #renh+

erman+ and ree6 et !s the novel ta6es plae in #rane and in ermany+ 5e believe that #u

$ei added in"ormation about these 7estern ountries 3 a 5orld "ar a5ay and strange "or Chinese

readers 7hy reee? (aybe #u $ei explains a lot o" things about ree6 ulture

$et%s brie"ly mention some other interesting 5ords in this table4 The 5ords > > :shi7i+

entury=+ >D> :shi+ time+ period= and >78> :7indai+ ontemporary= remind us that history is an

important element in the "ootnotes 7ith B1 ourrenes+ > :;> :ge7u+ opera= is doubtlessly a

topi disussed extensively and >QR> :yesu+ 'esus= and >TU>:shenhua+ myth+ "airy tale= sho5

#u $ei%s e""ort to introdue religion and 7estern mythology to China

#rom this analysis+ 5e an dra5 some onlusions4 Than6s to the textometrial methods+

5e sa5 that the "ootnotes in #u $ei%s translation are harateried by a strong supply o"

in"ormation on the ultures+ "oreign personages+ ustoms+ and history )n this 5ay+ the soial

ontexts o" 7estern ountries 3 a 5orld 5here the novel ta6es plae 3 un"olds to the Chinese

readers @o5ever+ this is just our dedution "rom the observations o" statistial results 5hih 5e

5ill have to on"irm by providing onrete examples later


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Using Corpora in Contrastive and Translation Studies September 2008 Zhejiang University China 1B

"0 Contextuali%ation o ootnotes

@ere+ 5e use the toollignoscope5hih displays simultaneously the soure and target texts+ in

order to srutinie the ontents o" "ootnotes in their ontext )n the *igure 3above+ 5e sa5 that

!exico"an 9ui6ly "ind the 5ords annotated in the text and the ontent o" "ootnotes+ but no5

5e 5ould li6e to aede diretly to the re"erenes o" the original ontext

Ay paying attention to the importane o" >re3ontextualiation> o" eah note in the target

text+ arney :arney 200B4 D;3B0= proposed to identi"y the elements o" maro3struture o" eah

note and assess their rhetori strategy sine >a omparative analysis o" the target text segment

signaled by the note and the orresponding segment in the soure text 5ill enable us to identi"y

the problemati issue>

#ollo5ing this idea+ 5e are launhing an experiment on all "ootnotes + + + using

lignoscope

*igure 9 : Si(ultaneous 1isuali%ation o ootnotes in source - target texts o Jean-Christophe 4extract5

!ording to the in"ormation bar in the middle o"*igure 9+ 5e an see there are a total o" L0B8

blo6s throughout the parallel orpus Sine the omplete parallel :5ith the pre"aes= is inserted

in the online programlignoscope+ the result about the "ootnote is slightly in"luened4 there are D

"ootnotes o" in the pre"aes Aut 5e 5ill not deal 5ith them in this present artile So+ there


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Using Corpora in Contrastive and Translation Studies September 2008 Zhejiang University China 1"loral sript> the ample in"ormation is

loated at the "ootnote o" paragraph Ko .2


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The so"t5are lignoscope an also export the searh results o" all "ootnotes a use"ul

"eature "or doing an intensive revie5 o" all the "ootnotes in their ontext

*igure : The i(portation o ootnotes research results in Jean-Christophe corpus 4extract5

!ll o" the above sho5 that the textometrial so"t5are greatly "ailitates translation studies4 *n

the one hand+ it allo5s us to penetrate the paragraph 5here #u $ei gave the "ootnote+ thus+ 5e

study are"ully the ontents o" the "ootnote in its ontext and on the other hand+ the

simultaneous visualiation ma6es it possible to "ind the original 5ord annotated+ and by

srutiniing soure3target3texts+ 5e an analye the translator%s motivation

"" The types o ootnotes

#rom the observation o" "ootnotes in #u $ei%s translation+ 5e attempt a summary on "ootnotes%

ontent in order to better examine the issue o" adding "ootnotes 7e should remind here that our

synthesis is made by the analysis o" the annotated 5ords and by the simultaneous visualiation

There are about seven types o" "ootnotes


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Subjects of

footnotes

Examples

Places1 The geography o" a plae

2 The geography in religion :The Aibe=

. The harateristi o" a plae

D The style o" onstrution o" one plae or a

building

B The name o" a plae

Bloc 2978 $%&' ~ V

K c g g v g )

Z {

K g cd g g 1

K c 1 {(The Sinai is an !rabi -eninsula+ and it is also the name o" the

mountain !ording to the Aible+ the Sinai is the plae 5here (oses

reeived od%s ommand)

Persons 1.The name, status and profession of somebody;

2.The story or anecdote of somebody;

3. Somebody's ideas, or the ideas of one school.

bloc 4438 1! { v

x g B P J M {

O " . D

g {( -iarre and Cortes 5ere t5o Spanish explorers o" the 1


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3. On the historical context in the original;

4. On the author or the others personages;

5. On the works of art.

:oN g { { {

+?" Gtransparent>+ at least


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Using Corpora in Contrastive and Translation Studies September 2008 Zhejiang University China 2.

at the appearane Aeause the "ootnote addition notes produe a visual e""et to the translation4

The extension o" the page and its layout o" the printed page hanges *ur results above sho5 that

the "ootnotes add 1021D 5ords to the resulting translation

@enry :@enry 20004 2.B= points that adding notes is in "at a translational notion 5hih is

lin6ed 5ith the spaeEalready said and unsaidF in the text+ preisely+ it lies 5ithin the hoie o"

the impliit and+ most importantly+ the expliit or not Aut the issue is oming "rom the

inompleteness o" 6no5ledge :$ederer+ 1;8D=+ due to the une9ual possession o" 6no5ledge

bet5een individuals+ or in other 5ords+ there is the la6 o" ElexiultureF in some readers

:!ntoine+ 1;;8= )n the present orpus+ most o" the #u $ei%s "ootnotes are in"ormative and

explanatory They provide the 6no5ledge o" 7estern ulture and o" 7estern musi in partiular4

! 5orld almost ompletely un6no5n to the Chinese Aesides+ many "ootnotes tell the stories o"

myths and religions+ 5hih reates a ourse on ulture "or Chinese readers+ and this in"ormation

an inrease enormously the understanding o" the readers "or the meaning o" itations in the

original texts and its underlying ultural onepts Conse9uently+ these "ootnotes ompensate "or

the ultural loss

@o5ever+ our researh sho5s that the addition o" "ootnotes in #u $ei%s translation o" Jean-

Christophe is not limited to the introdution o" the 7estern 5orld 6no5ledge it moreover o""ers

a 5ay "or the translator to aomplish his ambition to introdue ne5 and good ideas to the

readers This mani"ests #u $ei %s responsibility a responsibility not only "rom a translator and

but also as a thin6er

)n one o" #u $ei%s letters :the B #ebruary+ 1;


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Using Corpora in Contrastive and Translation Studies September 2008 Zhejiang University China 2D

E!s you mention o"ten the @ellenism in the art+ ) transribed espeially the "ourth hapter >$a

supture en re> o" @ Taine%s


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Using Corpora in Contrastive and Translation Studies September 2008 Zhejiang University China 2B

the normal reading+ as it is the reader 5ho has the hoie to read or not to read those notes

:Aahier3-orte 200B= 7e are in agreement 5ith the "at that too many "ootnotes destroy the

>lean "ae> o" the original text+ and they ould eventually bore the reader Aut 6eeping in mind

that eah "ootnote ontains about 28 5ords and #u $ei uses the traditional Chinese haraters+ 5e

see that #u $ei has the goal to simpli"y as muh as possible his "ootnotes

(oreover+ 5e thin6 that the addition o" "ootnotes is just "or the purpose o" ensuring the

linearity o" the ontent o" the original text Aeause the other 5ays :see @enry 20004 2.B32.9i> :B+ spirit= 3 borro5ing the Chinese term 3 o" the original

text !ny5ay+ 5e thin6 5e should examine the note problem 5ith the translator%s intention in the

soial ontext

)n "at+ 5hen #u $ei returned to China in 1;.1+ a"ter "our years o" studies in #rane+ China

5as su""ering "rom terrible 5ars &ealiing that >la6 o" moral strength+ the Chinese today are

living day by day as i" asleep+ or they have little to do+ as i" they 5ere in an amorphous state> 2.+

he deided to translate three 5or6s o" &omain &olland4!ie o Tolstoi+!ie o =ichelangelo+ and

!ie o >eetho1en The goal he set 5ith his translation 5as to enourage people li6e him in the

middle o" the 5ar su""ering o" the time

7hen #u $ei translated Jean-Christophe+ he exposed diretly his admiration "or this 5or6 at

the pre"ae o" the translation2D4 >Jean-Christopheis not a novel+ 3 5e should say4 it is not just a

novel+ it is a glorious human epi ) hope that the readers an open this treasure 5ith the

2.#u $ei :200


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)n the beginning+ #u $ei loved &omain &olland%s 5or6s just by his personal pre"erene4 @e

"elt enouraged by the main haraters o" the novel Aut "rom the moment he deided to translate

&olland%s 5or6s+ 5e might be tempted to say that it 5as rather a sense o" soial responsibility

5hih pushed him to ahieve the translation Unsatis"ied 5ith his personal development+ #u $ei

5anted his "ello5 Chinese itiens to 5a6e up and to improve )t is under the irumstanes o"

the time that #u $ei has hosen the 5or6s o" &omain &olland to translate

!nthony -ym noted the importane o" the responsibility o" the translator @e laimed+ in his

boo6


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Using Corpora in Contrastive and Translation Studies September 2008 Zhejiang University China 2L

riti= Suh things o" #u $ei 5ere many+ and these things made us thin6 that there is surely some

relation bet5een #u $ei%s omment notes in the translation and his pro"essional insight #rom the

art riti%s angle+ #u $ei put his personal aestheti interpretation on the ontent o" the original

text+ but at the bottom o" the page 5here his intervention does not destroy the integrality o" the

original text

)n a 5ord+ there are t5o big reasons "or #u $ei to ma6e "ootnotes4 The "irst one is to redue

the ultural loss sometimes engendered during the proess o" translation The seond reason 5as

to reate a plat"orm 5here he ould ommuniate 5ith his readers

C. Conclusion

7e have sho5n ho5 the textometrial method an be used in translation studies !nd this

tehni9ue allo5s us to highlight the inherent harateristis o" the text The most important

aspet o" the method may be its produtivity+ sine 5e an apply the exat same methodology to

others texts *" ourse+ the appliation o" this methodology and :in partiular= the interpretation

o" the results re9uire more re"letion and veri"iation in "uture researh

#rom our examination 5e learned that #u $ei shared his 6no5ledge and personal opinions

5ith his readers in the "ootnotes he added @e 5as not a translator 5ho "ollo5ed behind the

original author 5ord by 5ord+ but he 5as someone 5ho trans"erd+ as muh as possible+ the

ontent and the spirit o" the text in the light o" a literary riti Thus+ at the level o" the tehni9ue+

his translation seems very "ree but in "at it is very lose to the essene o" the original This

seems li6ely to be one o" the harateristis o" his translation style )ndeed+ the 9uestion on 5hat

is #u $ei%s style is a too big 9uestion to ans5er here and it ertainly needs "urther studies o" many


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years+ but this 9uestion an serve as the indiator 5hih leads us to ponder on the phenomena o"

translation in a 5hole in order to "ind use"ul ideas "or the pratie o" translation

These days+ as the exhange bet5een ountries is developing rapidly :transport+ )nternet+

media+=+ the understanding o" other ultures 5ill be easier and easier (aybe+ the translator%s

in"ormative note 5ill be employed less and less+ but it is still too early to say that in the "uture

there 5ill be less notes in the translation+ beause+ 5ith the independent onsiousness o" the

translator+ ommentary notes may also inrease )t is just our hypothesis+ 5hih a5aits its

on"irmation "rom systemati lexiometrial examinations o" translations in the "uture

References :

!nthony+ - :1;;L=Pour une thique du traducteur !rra:!rtois -ressesUniversit+ -resses de

lUniversitdH*tta5a

Aa6er+ ( :1;;.= GCorpus $inguistis and Translation Studies4 )mpliations and !ppliationsH+ in

Aa6er+ et al:eds= Text and Technology+ p2..32B0 !msterdamI-hiladelphia4 'ohn Aenjamins

Aahier3-orte+ C :200B= G$es notes dans les premiers ontes orientaux H+Feries24 ;13108U&$4

http4II"eeriesrevuesorgIdoument10


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Using Corpora in Contrastive and Translation Studies September 2008 Zhejiang University China 2;

@enry ' :2000= GDe l'rudition l'chec4 la note du traduteurH=eta \$4 22832D0 U&$4

555eruditorgIrevueImetaI2000IvDBIn2I00.0B;arpd"

$ederer+ ( :1;8D= G)mpliite ou expliiteH+ in Interprter pour traduire $ederer+ ( and

Seles6ovith+ J -aris4 Jidier rudition

$ebart+ $ and Salem+ ! :1;;D= Statistique textuelle -aris4 Junod

$amalle+ C et al :200.= Outils de statistique textuelle !exico" -aris4Universitde la Sorbonne

nouvelle3 -aris .

arney+ ' :200B= %Taboo and the translator 4 ! survey o" translators% notes in )talian translations

o" !nglo3!merian "ition+ 1;DB3200B% Tarragona4 Ne8 2esearch in Translation and

&nterpreting Studies4 DL3BL U&$4au isgurvesIlibraryIpapersIarneyTaboopd"

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Miao and Salem