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Article published In:
Target
Vol. 30:2 (2018) ► pp.240–259

Key clusters as indicators of translator style

 | University of Nottingham
This paper discusses the issue of translator style through the comparison of two Italian translations of H. P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness. Using a corpus linguistic approach, this paper proposes a method for the identification of potential indicators of translator style based on key cluster analysis. Comparing the two translations with this method identifies which clusters – i.e., repeated sequences of words – are used more frequently by one translator compared to the other. The analysis shows that the two translators differ in their usage of some linguistic features, specifically Italian euphonic -d, locative clitics, and distal demonstratives, which are then analysed as stylistic divergences.
Keywords: translator style, key clusters, corpus-based translation studies, literary translation, English-Italian
Article outline
  • 1.Translator style
  • 2.Keywords and key clusters
  • 3.Methodology
  • 4.Key clusters in the two translations
    • 4.1Use of euphonic -d
    • 4.2Use of locative clitics ci vs. vi
    • 4.3Use of distal demonstratives
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Published online: 30 April 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.17040.mas
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