Cover not available
Article published In:
Babel
Vol. 68:5 (2022) ► pp.742–770

Exploring genre variation and simplification in interpreted language from comparable and intermodal perspectives

| Beijing Institute of Technology
| The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
This article explores genre variation and simplification in interpreted language from both comparable (interpreted vs. non-interpreted/non-mediated) and intermodal (interpreted vs. translated) perspectives. It draws on a newly built unidirectional comparable and intermodal corpus named the LegCo+, which features legislative proceedings in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (including originals and their translations and interpretations from Cantonese to English), as well as original plenary speeches delivered by native English speakers in the UK Parliament. It investigates the variation patterns of four simplification features in three dimensions, namely, standardized type-token ratio (STTR) and list heads for lexical diversity, lexical density for informativeness, and average sentence length for lexical sophistication. It aims to uncover the effects of mediation and genre, as well as their interaction effects on linguistic variation. The results indicate that texts of different mediation statuses and genre categories vary with respect to simplification patterns. From a comparable perspective, interpretations rely on a narrower range of vocabulary than non-interpretations, but they are also more informative, and such informativeness is dependent on genre categories. Intermodally speaking, interpretations exhibit consistent patterns of simplification, indicating a strong modality (or mode of mediation) effect.
Keywords: genre variation, simplification, comparable, intermodal, variation patterns
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Simplification in translation and interpreting
    • 2.2Register/genre variation in translation and interpreting
    • 2.3Translation, interpreting, and intermodal comparison
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Introducing the LegCo+ corpus
    • 3.2Features to be investigated
    • 3.3Data processing and statistical analysis
  • 4.Results and analysis
    • 4.1Overview
    • 4.2Lexical diversity
      • 4.2.1Standardized type-token ratio
      • 4.2.2List heads
    • 4.3Information density – Lexical density
    • 4.4Syntactic complexity – Average sentence length
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 27 September 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00289.cui
References (42)
References
Baker, Mona. 1993. “Corpus Linguistics and Translation Studies: Implications and Applications.” In Text and Technology: In Honour of John Sinclair, edited by Mona Baker, Gill Francis, and Elena Tognini-Bonelli, 233–250. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 1996. “Corpus-based Translation Studies: The Challenges That Lie Ahead.” Benjamins Translation Library 181: 175–186. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bernardini, Silvia, Adriano Ferraresi, and Maja Miličević. 2016. “From EPIC to EPTIC – Exploring Simplification in Interpreting and Translation from an Intermodal Perspective.” Target 28 (1): 61–86. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Biber, Douglas. 1988. Variation Across Speech and Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Blum-Kulka, Shoshana, and Eddie. A. Levenston. 1978. “Universals of Lexical Simplification.” Language Learning 28 (2): 399–415. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chafe, Wallace. 1982. “Integration and Involvement in Speaking, Writing, and Oral Literature.” In Spoken and Written Language: Exploring Orality and Literacy, edited by Deborah Tannen, 35–54. Norwood, NJ: ABLEX Pub. Corp.Google Scholar
Chen, Jiansheng 陳建生, and Cui Yani 崔亞妮. 2010. “Jiyu yuliaoku de zhongguo zhenfu gongzuobaogao yingyiben cihui tezheng yanjiu” 基於語料庫的中國《政府工作報告》英譯本詞匯特征研究 [A Corpus-based study on lexical features in the English translation of Report on the Work of the Government ]. Dangdai waiyu yanjiu 當代外語研究 [Contemporary foreign languages studies] 61: 39–43.Google Scholar
De Sutter, Gert, and Marie-Aude Lefer. 2020. “On the Need for a New Research Agenda for Corpus-based Translation Studies: A Multi-methodological, Multifactorial and Interdisciplinary Approach.” Perspectives 28 (1): 1–23. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Evert, Stephen, and S. Neumann. 2017. “The Impact of Translation Direction on Characteristics of Translated Texts. A Multivariate Analysis for English and German.” In Empirical Translation Studies: New Theoretical and Methodological Traditions, edited by Gert De Sutter, Isabelle Delaere, and M. A. Lefer, 47–80. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ferraresi, Adriano, Silvia Bernardini, Maja Petrović, and Marie-Aude Lefer. 2018. “Simplified or Not Simplified? The Different Guises of Mediated English at the European Parliament.” Meta 63 (3): 717–738. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gibson, James W., Charles R. Gruner, Robert J. Kibler, and Francis J. Kelly. 1966. “A Quantitative Examination of Differences and Similarities in Written and Spoken Messages.” Speech Monographs 33 (4): 444–451. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gile, Daniel. 2009. Basic Concepts and Models for Interpreter and Translator Training. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hu, Kaibao 胡開寶, and Qing Tao 陶慶. 2010. “Hanying huiyi kouyi yuliaoku de chuangjian yu yingyong yanjiu” 漢英會議口譯語料庫的創建與應用研究 [The compilation and use of the Chinese-English conference interpreting corpus]. Zhongguo fanyi 中國翻譯 [Chinese translators journal] 51: 49–56.Google Scholar
Hu, Xianyao, Richard Xiao, and Andrew Hardie. 2016. “How do English Translations Differ from Non-translated English Writings? A Multi-feature Statistical Model for Linguistic Variation Analysis.” Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory 15 (2): 347–382. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jantunen, Jarmo Harri. 2001. “Synonymity and Lexical Simplification in Translations: A Corpus-based Approach.” Across Languages and Cultures 2 (1): 97–112. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kajzer-Wietrzny, Marta. 2012. “Interpreting Universals and Interpreting Style.” Ph.D. diss. Adama Mickiewicza University.
. 2015. “Simplification in Interpreting and Translation.” Across Languages and Cultures 16 (2): 233–255. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kruger, Haidee, and Bertus Van Rooy. 2012. “Register and the Features of Translated Language.” Across Languages and Cultures 13 (1): 33–65. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2018. “Register Variation in Written Contact Varieties of English: A Multidimensional Analysis.” English World-Wide 39 (2): 214–242. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Laviosa, Sara. 1997. “How Comparable can ‘Comparable Corpora’ be?” Target 9 (2): 287–317. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 1998. “Core Patterns of Lexical Use in a Comparable Corpus of English Narrative Prose.” Meta 43 (4): 557–570. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2002. Corpus-based Translation Studies: Theory, Findings, Applications (Vol. 171). Amsterdam: Rodopi. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Li, Dechao 李德超, and Kefei Wang 王克非. 2012. “Hanying tongchuan zhong cihui moshi de yuliaoku kaocha” 漢英同傳中詞匯模式的語料庫考察 [A corpus-based study on lexical patterns in simultaneous interpreting from Chinese into English]. Xiandai waiyu 現代外語 [Modern foreign languages] 35 (4): 409–415.Google Scholar
Lü, Qianxi, and Junying Liang. 2018. “Is Consecutive Interpreting Easier than Simultaneous Interpreting? – A Corpus-based Study of Lexical Simplification in Interpretation.” Perspectives 27 (1): 91–106. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mauranen, Anna. 2000. “Strange Strings in Translated Language: A Study on Corpora.” In Intercultural Faultlines. Research Models in Translation Studies I. Textual and Cognitive Aspects, edited by Maeve Olohan, 119–141. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Qin, Hongwu 秦洪武, and Kefei Wang 王克非. 2009. “Jiyu duiying yuliaoku de yingyi hanyu yuyan tezheng fenxi” 基於對應語料庫的英譯漢語言特征分析 [A parallel corpus-based study of Chinese as target language in EC translation]. Waiyu jiaoxue yu yanjiu 外語教學與研究 [Foreign language teaching and research] 21: 131–136.Google Scholar
Redeker, Gisela. 1984. “On Differences Between Spoken and Written Language.” Discourse Processes 7 (1): 43–55. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sandrelli, Annalisa, and Claudio Bendazzoli. 2005. “Lexical Patterns in Simultaneous Interpreting: A Preliminary Investigation of EPIC (European Parliament Interpreting Corpus).” In Proceedings from the Corpus Linguistics Conference, 1–18. Birmingham: University of Birmingham.Google Scholar
Sandrelli, Annalisa, Claudio Bendazzoli, and Mariachiara Russo. 2010. “European Parliament Interpreting Corpus (EPIC): Methodological Issues and Preliminary Results on Lexical Patterns in Simultaneous Interpreting.” International Journal of Translation 221: 165–203.Google Scholar
Schmid, Helmut. 1994. TreeTagger – A Language Independent Part-of-Speech Tagger. [URL]
Scott, Michael. 2012. WordSmith Tools (Version 6) [Computer software]. Lexical Analysis Software. [URL]
Shlesinger, Miriam. 1989. “Simultaneous Interpretation as a Factor in Effecting Shifts in the Position of Texts on the Oral-Literate Continuum.” Ph.D. diss., Tel Aviv University.
. 1995. “Shifts in Cohesion in Simultaneous Interpreting.” The Translator 1 (2): 193–214. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2008. “Towards a Definition of Interpretese: An Intermodal, Corpus-based Study.” In Efforts and Models in Interpreting and Translation Research: A Tribute to Daniel Gile, edited by Hansen, Gyde, Andrew Chesterman, and Heidrun G. Arbogast, 237–253. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shlesinger, Miriam, and Noam Ordan. 2012. “More Spoken or More Translated?: Exploring a Known Unknown of Simultaneous Interpreting.” Target 24 (1): 43–60. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Williams, Donna A. 2005. “Recurrent Features of Translation in Canada: A Corpus-based Study.” PhD diss., University of Ottawa.
Xiao, Richard. 2010. “How Different is Translated Chinese from Native Chinese?: A Corpus-based Study of Translation Universals.” International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 15 (1): 5–35. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Xiao, Richard, and Ming Yue. 2009. “Using Corpora in Translation Studies: The State of the Art.” In Contemporary Corpus Linguistics, edited by Paul Baker, 237–262. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Xiao, Richard, and Guangrong Dai. 2014. “Lexical and Grammatical Properties of Translational Chinese: Translation Universal Hypotheses Reevaluated from the Chinese Perspective.” Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory 10 (1): 11–55. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Xiao, Richard, and Xianyao Hu. 2015. “The Features of Translational Chinese and Translation Universals.” In Corpus-based Studies of Translational Chinese in English-Chinese Translation, edited by Richard Xiao, and Xianyao Hu, 157–167. Berlin: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by (5)

Cited by five other publications

Wang, Zhongliang & Kanglong Liu
2024. Linguistic Variations Between Translated and Non-Translated English Chairman’s Statements in Corporate Annual Reports: A Multidimensional Analysis. Sage Open 14:2 DOI logo
Xu, Cui & Dechao Li
2024. More spoken or more translated?. Target. International Journal of Translation Studies DOI logo
Kwok, Ho Ling, Sara Laviosa & Kanglong Liu
2023. Lexical simplification in learner translation: A corpus-based approach. Research in Corpus Linguistics 11:2 ► pp. 103 ff. DOI logo
Xu, Han & Kanglong Liu
2023. Syntactic simplification in interpreted English: Dependency distance and direction measures. Lingua 294 ► pp. 103607 ff. DOI logo
Xu, Han & Kanglong Liu
2024. The impact of directionality on interpreters’ syntactic processing: Insights from syntactic dependency relation measures. Lingua 308 ► pp. 103778 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 9 october 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.