Article published in:
Corpus-Based Research in Legal and Institutional TranslationEdited by Fernando Prieto Ramos
[Translation Spaces 8:1] 2019
► pp. 93–116
Building representative multi-genre corpora for legal and institutional translation research
The LETRINT approach to text categorization and stratified sampling
Fernando Prieto Ramos | University of Geneva
Giorgina Cerutti | University of Geneva
Diego Guzmán | University of Geneva
Exploring questions of representativeness, balance and
comparability is essential to tailoring corpus design and compilation to
research goals, and to ensuring the validity of research results. This is
especially true when the target population of texts under examination is very
large and transcends a restricted area of specialization and/or covers multiple
genres, as in the case of texts translated in institutional settings. This paper
describes the multilayered sequential approach to corpus building applied in a
comparative study on legal translation in three of these settings. The approach
is based on a full mapping and categorization of institutional texts from a
legal perspective; it applies an innovative combination of stratified sampling
techniques integrating quantitative and qualitative criteria adapted to the
research aims. The resulting corpora, categorization matrix and selection
records, together with the methodological detail provided, can be useful for
building other multi-genre corpora in translation studies and further
afield.
Keywords: corpus, representativeness, text categorization, stratified sampling, genre, balance, legal translation, institutional translation
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.
For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.
Published online: 26 June 2019
https://doi.org/10.1075/ts.00014.pri
https://doi.org/10.1075/ts.00014.pri
Full-text
References
References
Atkins, Sue, Jeremy Clear, and Nicholas Ostler
Bowker, Lynne, and Jennifer Pearson
Cerutti, Giorgina
2017 “Evaluating Tools for Legal Translation Research Needs: The Case
of Fourth-generation Concordancers.” Legal Translation and Court Interpreting: Ethical Values, Quality,
Competence Training, edited by Annikki Liimatainen, Arja Nurmi, Marja Kivilehto, Leena Salmi, Anu Viljanmaa, and Melissa Wallace, 357–391. Berlin: Frank & Timme.
Claridge, Claudia
Corpas Pastor, Gloria, and Miriam Seghiri Domínguez
European Commission
2014 “Theme: Sample Selection–Main Module.” Memobust Handbook on Methodology of Modern Business Statistics. Brussels: European Commission. Accessed December 18,
2018. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cros/system/files/Sample%20Selection-01-T-Main%20Module%20v1.0_1.pdf
Felici, Annarita
Halverson, Sandra
Husa, Jaakko
Koester, Almut
Leech, Geoffrey
McEnery, Tony, and Andrew Hardie
McEnery, Tony, and Anita Wilson
McEnery, Tony, Richard Xiao, and Yukio Tono
Mellinger, Christopher D., and Thomas A. Hanson
[ p. 115 ]
Mori, Laura
Oostdijk, Nelleke
Prieto Ramos, Fernando
2019 “Implications of Text Categorisation for Corpus-based Legal
Translation Research: The Case of International Institutional
Settings.” Research Methods in Legal Translation and Interpreting: Crossing
Methodological Boundaries, edited by Łucja Biel, Jan Engberg, Rosario Martín Ruano, and Vilelmini Sosoni, 29–47. London and New York: Routledge. 

Prieto Ramos, Fernando, and Diego Guzmán
2018 “Legal Terminology Consistency and Adequacy as Quality Indicators
in Institutional Translation: A Mixed-Method Comparative
Study.” Institutional Translation for International Governance: Enhancing
Quality in Multilingual Legal Communication, edited by Fernando Prieto Ramos, 81–101. London: Bloomsbury.
Steinberg, Richard H.
Trklja, Aleksandar, and Karen McAuliffe
2018 “The European Union Case Law Corpus (EUCLCORP): A Multilingual
Parallel and Comparative Corpus of EU Court Judgments (March 5,
2018).” Proceedings of the Second Workshop on Corpus-Based Research in the
Humanities: CRH-2, edited by Andrew U. Frank, Christine Ivanovic, Francesco Mambrini, Marco Passarotti, and Caroline Sporleder, 217–226. Vienna: Gerastree Proceedings.
van Els, Theo
Varantola, Krista
Walter, Elizabeth
Zanettin, Federico
[ p. 116 ]