Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Corpora in Translation

  • Chapter
Translation: A Multidisciplinary Approach

Part of the book series: Palgrave Advances in Language and Linguistics ((PADLL))

Abstract

Corpus resources and tools have come to play an increasingly important role both in Translation Studies research and in translation practices. In Translation Studies, corpora have provided a basis for empirical descriptive research. Corpus-based studies usually involves the comparison of two (sub) corpora, in which translated texts are compared with either their source texts (parallel corpus) or with another (sub)corpus constructed according to similar design criteria (comparable corpus), either in the same or in another language. These corpora are used to investigate regularities of translated texts, regularities of translators and regularities of languages. Regularities of translation may consist either of universal features which are hypothesised to be distinctive of translated texts as opposed to non-translated texts, or of translation norms and strategies which characterise texts translated under specific social and historical circumstances. Regularities of translators are individual linguistic habits manifested through consistently different (unconscious) patterns of choices, independently of the source texts. Parallel corpora are used, together with bilingual or multilingual comparable corpora, to compare and contrast regularities of languages. Bilingual and multilingual corpora have also found application in translator education. Parallel corpora offer learners a repository of translators’ strategies and choices, while comparable corpora provide them with a mapping of the words and structures employed by different linguistic communities for building discourse.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Alves, F., A. Pagano, S. Neumann, E. Steiner and S. Hansen-Schirra (2010) ‘Translation Units and Grammatical Shifts: Towards an Integration of Productand Process-based Translation Research’ in E. Angelone and G. Shreve (eds) Translation and Cognition: Recent Developments. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 109–42.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Aston, G., S. Bernardini and D. Stewart (eds) (2004) Corpora and Language Learners. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker, M. (1993) ‘Corpus Linguistics and Translation Studies: Implications and Applications’ in M. Baker, G. Francis and E. Tognini-Bonelli (eds) Text and Technology: In Honour of John Sinclair. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 233–50.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Baker, M. (1996) ‘Corpus-based Translation Studies — the Challenges that Lie ahead’ in H. Somers (ed.) Terminology, LSP & Translation. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 175–86.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Baker, M. (1999) ‘The Role of Corpora in Investigating the Linguistic Behaviour of Professional Translators’, International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 4:2. 281–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker, M. (2000) ‘Towards a methodology for investigating the style of a literary translator’, Target 12:2. 241–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becher, V. (2010) ‘Abandoning the notion of “translation-inherent” explicitation: Against a dogma of translation studies’, Across Languages and Cultures 11:1. 1–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becher, V. (2011a) ‘When and why do translators add connectives? A corpusbased study’, Target 23:1. 26–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becher, V. (2011b) Explicitation and implicitation in translation. A corpus-based study of English-German and German-English translations of business texts. PhD Dissertation, University of Hamburg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beeby, A., P. Rodríguez Inés and P. Sánchez-Gijón (eds) (2009) Corpus Use and Translating: Corpus Use for Learning to Translate and Learning Corpus Use to Translate. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernardini, S. (2002) ‘Exploring New Directions for Discovery Learning’ in B. Kettemann and G. Marko (eds) Teaching and Learning by Doing Corpus Analysis. Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 165–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernardini, S. (2011) ‘Monolingual comparable corpora and parallel corpora in the search for features of translated language’, Synaps 26. 2–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blum-Kulka, S. (1986) ‘Shitts ot Cohesion and Coherence in Translation’ in J. House and S. Blum-Kulka (eds) Interlingual and Intercultural Communication. Tübingen: Narr, 17–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blum-Kulka, S. and E. Levenston (1983) ‘Universals of Lexical Simplification’ in C. Faerch and G. Kasper (eds) Strategies in Inter language Communication. London and New York: Longman, 119–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bosseaux, C. (2007) How Does It Feel? Point of View in Translation. The Case of Virginia Woolf into French. Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowker, L. (2011) ‘Off the Record and On the Fly: Examining the Impact of Corpora on Terminographic Practice in the Context of Translation’ in A. Kruger, K. Wallmach and J. Munday (eds) Corpus-based Translation Studies: Research and Applications. London and New York: Continuum, 212–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chesterman, A. (2004) ‘Beyond the Particular’ in A. Mauranen and P. Kujamäki (eds) Translation Universals. Do They Exist? Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 33–49.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Corpas Pastor, G. (2008) Investigar con corpus en traducción: los retos de un nuevo paradigma. Bern: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Sutter, G., I. Delaere and K. Plevoets (2012) ‘Lexical Lectometry in Corpusbased Translation Studies. Combining Profile-based Correspondence Analysis and Logistic Regression Modelling’ in M. Oakes and M. Ji (eds) Quantitative Methods in Corpus-Based Translation Studies. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 325–46.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Gaspari, F. and S. Bernardini (2010) ‘Comparing Non-native and Translated Language: Monolingual Comparable Corpora with a Twist’ in R. Xiao (ed.) Using Corpora in Contrastive and Translation Studies. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, 215–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gellerstam, M. (1986) ‘Translationese in Swedish Novels Translated from English’ in L. Wollin and H. Lindquist (eds) Translation Studies in Scandinavia. Lund: CWK Gleerup, 88–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gellerstam, M. (2005) ‘Fingerprints in Translation’ in G. Anderman and M. Rogers (eds) In and Out of English: For Better, For Worse? Clavedon: Multilingual Matters, 201–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansen-Schirra, S., S. Neumann and E. Steiner (2012) Cross-Linguistic Corpora for the Study of Translations. Insights from the Language Pair English-German. Berlin, New York: de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansen-Schirra, S., S. Neumann and M. Vela (2006) ‘Multi-dimensional Annotation and Alignment in an English-German Translation Corpus’ in Proceedings of the Workshop on Multi-dimensional Markup in Natural Language Processing (NLPXML-2006), EACL, Trento, Italy, April 2006, 35–42.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hermans, T. (1999) Translation in Systems. Manchester: St Jerome.

    Google Scholar 

  • House, J. (2008) ‘Beyond intervention: Universals in translation?’, trans-kom 1(1). 6–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • House, J. (2011) ‘Using Translation and Parallel Text Corpora to Investigate the Influence of Global English on Textual Norms in Other Languages’ in A. Kruger, K. Wallmach and J. Munday (eds) Corpus-based Translation Studies. London: Continuum, 187–208.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutchins, J. (2010) ‘Machine translation: A concise history’, Journal of Translation Studies 13:1–2, 29–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ji, M. (2012) ‘Hypothesis Testing in Corpus-based Literary Translation Studies’ in M. Oakes and M. Ji (eds) Quantitative Methods in Corpus-based Translation Studies. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 53–72.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ji, M. and M. P. Oakes (2012) ‘A Corpus study of Early English translations of Cao Xueqin’s Hongloumeng’ in M. Oakes and M. Ji (eds) Quantitative Methods in Corpus-based Translation Studies. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 175–208.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johansson, S. (1998) ‘On the Role of Corpora in Cross-linguistic Research’ in S. Johansson and S. Oksefjell (eds) Corpora and Cross-Linguistic Research: Theory, Method, and Case Studies. Amsterdam and Atlanta, GA: Rodopi, 3–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johansson, S. (2004) ‘Why change the subject? On changes in subject selection in translation from English into Norwegian’, Target 16:1. 29–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johns, T. and P. King (eds) (1991) Classroom Concordancing. English Language Research Journal, vol. 4. University of Birmingham: Centre for English Language Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kenny, D. (1998) ‘Creatures of habit? What translators usually do with words’, Meta 43:4. 515–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klaudy, K. and K. Károly (2005) ‘Implicitation in translation: Empirical evidence for operational asymmetry in translation’, Across Languages and Cultures 6:1. 13–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kranich, S., V. Becher and J. House (2012) ‘Changing Conventions in English German Translations of Popular Scientific Texts’ in K. Braunmüller and C. Gabriel (eds) Multilingual Individuals and Multilingual Societies. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 315–34.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kranich, S., V. Becher and S. Höder (2011) ‘A Tentative Typology of Translation Induced Language Change’ in S. Kranich, V. Becher, S. Höder and J. House (eds) Multilingual Discourse Production. Diachronic and Synchronic Perspectives. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 9–44.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lanstyák, I. and P. Heltai (2012) ‘Universals in language contact and translation’, Across Languages and Cultures 13:1. 99–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laviosa, S. (1998) ‘The Corpus-based approach: A new paradigm in translation studies’, Meta 43:4. 474–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laviosa, S. (2002) Corpus-based Translation Studies: Theory, Findings, Applications, Amsterdam: Rodopi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laviosa, S. (2008a) ‘Description in the Translation Classroom’ in A. Pym, M. Shlesinger and D. Simeoni (eds) Beyond Descriptive Translation Studies: Investigations in Homage to Gideon Toury. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 119–32.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Laviosa, S. (2008b) ‘Corpus Studies of Translation Universals: A Critical Appraisal’ in A. Martelli and V. Pulcini (eds) Investigating English with Corpora. Monza: Polimetrica, 223–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malamatidou, S. (in press) Translation and Language Change: The Impact of English on Modern Greek, with Reference to Popular Science Articles. The University of Manchester: PhD Thesis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mauranen, A. (2008) ‘Universal Tendencies in Translation’ in G. Anderman and M. Rogers (eds) Incorporating Corpora: The Linguist and the Translator. Clevedon, Buffalo and Toronto: Multilingual Matters, 32–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mauranen, A. and P. Kujamäki (eds) (2004) Translation Universals. Do They Exist? Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Munday, J. (2008) ‘The Relations of Style and Ideology in Translation: A Case Study of Harriet de Onís’ in L. Pegenaute, J. Decesaris, M. Tricás and E. Bernal (eds) Actas del III Congreso Internacional de la Asociación Ibérica de Estudios de Traducción e Interpretación. La traducción del futuro: mediación lingüístca y cultural en el siglo XXI. Barcelona 22–24 de marzo de 2007, Barcelona: PPU, Vol. 1, 57–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Och, F. (2012) ‘Breaking down the language barrier-six years in’ Google Official Blog, 26 April 2012 <http://googleblog.blogspot.it/2012/04/breaking-downlanguage-barriersix-years.html>.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olohan, M. (2004) Introducing Corpora in Translation Studies. London and New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Puurtinen, T. (2003) ‘Genre-specific features of translationese? Linguistic differences between translated and non-translated Finnish children’s literature’, Literary and Linguistic Computing 18:4. 389–406.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russo, M., C. Bendazzoli and A. Sandrelli (2006) ‘Looking for lexical patterns in a trilingual corpus of source and interpreted speeches: Extended analysis of EPIC (European Parliament Interpreting Corpus)’, FORUM 4:1. 221–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rybicki, J. (2012) ‘The Great Mystery of the (Almost) Invisible Translator. Stylometry in Translation’ in M. Oakes and M. Ji (eds) Quantitative Methods in Corpus-based Translation Studies. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 231–48.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Saldanha, G. (2004) ‘Accounting for the exception to the norm: Split infinitives in translated English’ in Corpus-based Translation Studies — Research and Applications. Language Matters: Studies in the Languages of Africa 35:1. 39–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saldanha, G. (2011) ‘Style of Translation: The Use of Source Language Words in Translations by Margaret Jull Costa and Peter Bush’ in A. Kruger, K. Wallmach and J. Munday (eds) Corpus-based Translation Studies: Research and Applications. London: Continuum, 237–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Setton, R. (2011) ‘Corpus-based Interpretation Studies: Reflections and Prospects’ in A. Kruger, K. Wallmach and J. Munday (eds) Corpus-based Translation Studies: Research and Applications. London and New York: Continuum, 33–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shlesinger, M. (2009) ‘Towards a Definition of Interpretese: An intermodal, Corpus-based Study’ in G. Hansen, A. Chesterman and H. Gerzymisch-Arbogast (eds) Efforts and Models in Interpreting and Translation Research. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 237–53.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Straniero Sergio, F. and C. Falbo (2012) ‘Studying Interpreting through Corpora. An Introduction’ in F. Straniero Sergio and C. Falbo (eds) Breaking Ground in Corpus-based Interpreting Studies. Bern: Peter Lang, 9–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tengku Mahadi, T. S., H. Vaezian and M. Akbari (2010) Corpora in Translation: A Practical Guide. Bern: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tirkkonen-Condit, S. (2002) ‘Translationese — A Myth or an Empirical Fact? A Study into the Linguistic Identifiability of Translated Language’, Target 14:2. 207–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toury, G. (1995) Descriptive Translation Studies and Beyond. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Tymoczko, M. (1998) ‘Computerized Corpora and the Future of Translation Studies’, Meta 43:4. 652–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ulrych, M. and S. Anselmi (2008) ‘Towards a Corpus-based Distinction between Language-Specific and Universal Features of Mediated Discourse’ in Aurelia Martelli and Virginia Pulcini (eds) Investigating English with Corpora. Studies in Honour of Maria Teresa Prat. Monza: Polimetrica, 257–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, K. and H. Qin (2010) ‘A Parallel Corpus-based Study of Translational Chinese’ in R. Xiao (ed.) Using Corpora in Contrastive and Translation Studies. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 164–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Q. and D. Li (2012) ‘Looking for translator’s fingerprints: A corpus-based study on Chinese translations of Ulysses’, Literary and Linguistic Computing 27:1. 81–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winters, M. (2009) ‘Modal particles explained. How modal particles creep into translations and reveal translators’ styles’, Target 21:1. 74–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zanettin, F. (2009) ‘Corpus-based translation activities for language learners’, The Interpreter and Translator Trainer (ITT) 3:2. 209–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zanettin, F. (2011) ‘Translation and corpus design’, Synaps 26. 14–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zanettin, F. (2012) Translation-Driven Corpora. Corpus Resources in Descriptive and Applied Translation Studies. Manchester: St Jerome.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zanettin, E, S. Bernardini and D. Stewart (eds) (2003) Corpora in Translator Education. Manchester: St. Jerome.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Federico Zanettin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hamburg University, Germany and Hellenic American University, Greece

    Juliane House

Copyright information

© 2014 Federico Zanettin

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Zanettin, F. (2014). Corpora in Translation. In: House, J. (eds) Translation: A Multidisciplinary Approach. Palgrave Advances in Language and Linguistics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137025487_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation