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Article published In:
Target
Vol. 10:1 (1998) ► pp.95–111

Choice Factors in Translation

| Voronezh State Technical University, Russia

In this article, grammatical forms in context are viewed as processual patterns of choice activity. A hierarchy of choice factors is presented, using the example of the present perfect forms in parallel translations from Russian into several languages. To ensure adequacy of comparison, the notions of grammatical contextual complex and universal grammatical integral are introduced and used as the required tertium comparationis. Particular attention is devoted to the interplay of universal and language-specific features in processes of grammatical choice in translation.

Article outline
  • 0.Introduction
    • 0.1.The Role of Context in Grammatical Usage
  • 1.The Process of Grammatical Choice
    • 1.1.Grammatical Choice in Translation
  • 2.Choice Hierarchy
    • 2.1.Choice Factors for the Present Perfect
      • 2.1.1.Textual and Stylistic Background
      • 2.1.2.General Situational Background
      • 2.1.3.Categorial Background
      • 2.1.4.Contextual Background
      • 2.1.5.Lexical Background
  • 3.The Grammatical Unit of Translation
    • 3.1.Grammatical Integrals
    • 3.2.Choice Factors in Coding and in Translation
  • 4.Conclusions
    • 4.1.Methodological Inference
  • References
Published online: 1 January 1998
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https://doi.org/10.1075/target.10.1.05kas
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