Investigating the Dynamic"Translation Universals":A Diachronic Corpus-Based Analysis Across Multiple Registers
Translation universals have attracted academic attention since their emergence.However,studies typically focus on a specific universal translation feature within a particular register,such as literature or popular science.This paper examines the changes in simplification and explicita-tion features of translated Chinese across three registers—literary,scientific,and academic—over two time periods(1925-1935 and 1985-1995).It analyzes the relationship between these features and text types,as well as any diachronic changes that occur.The findings are as follows:(1)The simplification features of translation texts manifest differently across the three registers.In terms of high-frequency words and lexical density,literary translation adheres to simplifica-tion,while other registers do not show this clearly.In the evaluation of other indicators,none of three registers exhibit simplification featueres.(2)The explicitation shows differences across the three registers in translated Chinese,with a more pronounced presence in the literary register,while the other registers are less obvious.(3)Diachronic analysis indicates that several indicators of simplification and explicitation in translated Chinese exhibit significant differences between the two sampling periods.Some simplification indicators are not correlated with the register and time period,maintaining stability across phases.In contrast,the preferences for explicitation indi-cators reveal considerable differences across different time periods and registers,being signifi-cantly affected by social factors.This study posits that the simplification and explicitation of translation language exhibit diverse characteristics across different registers and time periods.A dynamic investigation of multiple registers in translated Chinese can provide new perspectives for research on translation features and language change.
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万方数据
