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Syntactic complexity in translated and non-translated texts: A corpus-based study of simplification
Kanglong Liu1, Muhammad Afzaal1,2
1Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
Plos One
|June 24, 2021
Summary
Translation generally results in less complex texts, supporting the simplification hypothesis. However, genre significantly influences syntactic complexity, with notable differences in fiction and academic writing compared to non-translated texts.
Area of Science:
- Corpus Linguistics
- Translation Studies
- Computational Linguistics
Background:
- The simplification hypothesis in translation suggests translated texts are less complex than original texts.
- Syntactic complexity is a key linguistic feature for analyzing text complexity.
- Corpus-based approaches offer empirical data for translation studies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the simplification hypothesis from a syntactic complexity perspective.
- To compare syntactic complexity between translated and non-translated texts using comparable corpora.
- To examine the influence of genre on syntactic complexity in translation.
Main Methods:
- Utilized two comparable corpora: COCE (Corpus of Chinese-English) and FLOB (Freiburg-LOB Corpus of British English).
- Applied 13 syntactic complexity measures across five subconstructs (e.g., sentence length, subordination, coordination).
- Employed Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to test the significance of translation status and genre.
Main Results:
- Overall, translated texts (COCE) exhibited lower syntactic complexity than non-translated texts (FLOB), supporting the simplification hypothesis.
- Significant differences were observed in subordination and overall sentence complexity.
- Genre-specific findings: translated news mirrored native news; translated general prose and academic writing were less complex; translated fiction was more complex than non-translated fiction.
Conclusions:
- The study provides empirical support for the simplification hypothesis in English-to-Chinese translation.
- Syntactic complexity is a valid measure for analyzing translation simplification.
- Genre is a significant factor interacting with translation status to shape text complexity.
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