Changing conventions in English-German translations of popular scientific texts

2017

The Translator

Existing studies on the translation of Nadsatthe invented language in the novella A Clockwork Orangedo not provide an in-depth examination of Nadsat as a result of language contact between English and Russian, and ignore the role that translators play in linguistic innovation, as well as the motivating factors behind their creativity. This study addresses this conspicuous gap by examining a multilingual corpus of A Clockwork Orange from a language contact and language change perspective, and creating for the first time a link between adaptation, as understood in contact linguistics, and creativity in translation. The focus is on how Russian-derived nouns in the English version have been rendered in four versions of Nadsat (French, German, Greek, and Spanish), and how these differ from naturally occurring Russian loan nouns in these languages, in terms of gender assignment and inflectional suffixes. Results suggest that the level of creativity that translators demonstrate is not simply an indication of their talent, but rather a result of an interplay of factors related to translation, and that concepts from the field of language contact are particularly effective in reframing the way in which creativity is viewed in translation studies.

Section: Adaptation and Creativitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Creativity in translation through the lens of contact linguistics: a multilingual corpus ofA Clockwork Orange

2017

The Translator

“…The investigation of translation as a potential site of language contact capable of encouraging linguistic change in the target language has by now received close attention (Baumgarten 2009;Becher, House, and Kranich 2009;Kranich, House, and Becher 2012;House 2003;House 2006;House 2008;Amouzadeh and House 2010;Hansen-Schirra 2011;Sidiropoulou 2017). Evidence suggests that translation might be at least partly responsible for introducing linguistic developments in the target language.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why changes go unnoticed: The role of adaptation in translation-induced linguistic change

2017

Lingua

Although adaptation is widely recognised by contact linguistics as an important mechanism of language change, previous studies examining the relationship between translation and language change in the target language normally ignore its role. The present study aims to address this gap and expand the application of the Code-Copying Framework (Johanson 1993, 1999, 2002b) to the study of translation as a language contact phenomenon by examining how the frequential copy of the passive voice reporting verbs in Greek popular science has been combinationally adapted regarding word order. By examining the role that adaptation plays in translation-induced change, we can gain a complete understanding not only of the complex mechanisms that govern the relationship between translation and language change, but also shed light on the nature of the translation activity. The paper provides a strong argument that translation can be understood using existing concepts of contact linguistics, most notably the Code-Copying Framework.

“…These studies provide evidence that translation can give rise to language change, but also take a step forward from the obvious lexical changes to an examination of the possible effects that translation from English might have on the development of native genres. Although attempts have been made to provide some explanation of the role played by translation in linguistic change in specific contexts, for example by observing that there is a decline in the 'cultural filtering' in translations from English (Kranich et al 2012, House 2011, or by establishing the factors that might have an impact on contact through translation (Kranich et al 2011), these studies provide only partial links between translation and the wider processes of language contact and change. Thus, the question of how exactly translation can contribute to change in a range of contexts has not so far been adequately addressed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding translation as a site of language contact

2016

Target

This paper begins by acknowledging translation as an important site of language contact and its primary aim is to reinterpret a theoretical framework from the field of language contact, namely Johanson’s Code-Copying Framework (1993, 1999, 2002a), with translation in mind. The framework is then systematically applied to empirical data and a corpus-based study is conducted, using the translation of popular science articles from English into Greek as a case in point, and in particular examining any change in the frequency of passive voice reporting verbs. The discussion and corpus analysis suggest that the Code-Copying Framework offers a new vantage point for understanding translation as facilitating linguistic development in the target language, and that translation studies can benefit from adopting it as a descriptive mechanism when comparing instances of contact through translation across languages.