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

Abstract

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.