1. Are translations longer than source texts?
A corpus-based study of explicitation
Ana Frankenberg-Garcia
ISLA, Lisbon

2. What is explicitation? ST implicit TT explicit
SOURCE
TEXT ST
implicit
TRANSLATION
TEXT TT
explicit
Vinay e Darbelnet (1958)

3. Explicitation ST TT when target language grammar
obligatory
when target language grammar
forces translators to add information
not present in source text

4. Obligatory explicitation 1ST
Frances liked her doctor.
Frances gostava dessa médica. TT
Trollope, Joanna
1993 A Spanish Lover, London: Bloomsbury.
1999 Um Amante Espanhol, translated by Ana Falcão Bastos. Lisboa: Gradiva.

5. Obligatory explicitation 2ST
sua pele lembrava a crosta lunar e tinha o nariz mais volumoso do mundo; o cabelo era cor de fogo […]
her skin resembled the lunar crust and she had the most voluminous nose in the world; her hair was the color of fire […] TT
Rey, Marcos
1986 Memórias de um Gigolô, São Paulo: Ática Editorial.
1987 Memoirs of a Gigolo, translated by Clifford Landers. New York: Avon

6. Explicitation ST TT when for no grammatically compelling reason
voluntary
when for no grammatically compelling reason
translators distance themselves from source text
making translation easier to understand

7. Voluntary explicitation 1ST
Você também gosta dela?
So you like her too? TT
Dourado, Autran
1973 O Risco do Bordado, Rio: Expressão e Cultura.
1984 Pattern for a Tapestry, translated by John Parker. London: Peter Owen.

8. Voluntary explicitation 2ST
"It's probably Rummidge.
-- Então é provável que seja Rummidge. TT
Lodge, David
1975 Changing Places, London: Secker & Warburg.
1998 Invertendo os Papéis, translated by Lídia Luther-Cavalcante. São Paulo: Scipione

9. Voluntary explicitation 3
" All's Well That Ends Well? " he snaps back, quick as a flash.
-- Será que é All ' s well that ends well? -- ele diz rápido como um relâmpago.*
*Tudo está bem quando acaba bem é o título de uma peça de Shakespeare, que nasceu em Stratford-upon-Avon. ST TT
Lodge, David
1975 Changing Places, London: Secker & Warburg.
1998 Invertendo os Papéis, translated by Lídia Luther-Cavalcante. São Paulo: Scipione

10. Explicitation ST
obligatory TT
voluntary

11. Qualitative evidence of explicitation
Vanderauwera (1985) modifiers, qualifiers & conjunctions Dutch-English
Blum-Kulka (1986) lexical repetition English-Hebrew
Séguinot (1988) connectives French-English & English-French

12. Ten years or so later….
corpus studies

13. Quantitative evidence of explicitation
Øverås (1998) more explicitating shifts than implicitating ones English-Norwegian Parallel Corpus
Olohan & Baker (2000) more optional that after reporting verbs BNC and TEC

14. Claims about explicitation
It is one of the universal characteristics of translation Vanderauwera 1985
It is inherent to the nature of the translation process Séguinot 1988
The Explicitation Hypothesis: translations tend to be more explicit than source texts, regardless of the increase in explicitness dictated by language- specific differences Blum-Kulka 1986

15. Explicitation and text length
Since explicitation often takes the form of additions…
…are translations longer than source texts?

16. With a parallel corpus….TT ST
It’s very simple to check whether or not a TT has more words than a ST

17. COMPARA 5.2 ST TT http://www.linguateca.pt/COMPARA/
Portuguese
English
English
Portuguese
Over 1.5 million words
Published fiction

18. COMPARA 5.2 ST TT En Pt http://www.linguateca.pt/COMPARA/Contents.html
- 1% words

19. COMPARA 5.2 ST TT Pt En http://www.linguateca.pt/COMPARA/Contents.html
+11% words

20. source texts & translations
COMPARA 5.2
Pt-En translators better off if they base their fees on TT words
En-Pt translators better off if they base their fees on ST words
But impossible to tell the extent to which differences observed are due to differences between:
Portuguese & English or
source texts & translations

21. COMPARA 5.2
Word counts as such shed little light on the relationship between translation and explicitation

22. Claims about text length across languages are difficult to put to test
Corpora list
Over twenty postings on the subject!
How do you measure it?

23. Different scales affect different languages differently
English
Portuguese

24. Counting words English Portuguese isn’t (1) não é (2) gave him (2)
dei-lhe (1)
teapot (1)
bule de chá (3)
Did you like it? (4)
Gostou? (1)

25. When comparing text length across languagesST TT
more words ≠
greater explicitation

26. Explicitation using fewer wordsST
What have I got to complain about? (7 words)
De que me queixo então? (5 words) TT
Lodge, David
1995 Therapy, London: Secker & Warburg.
1995 Terapia, translated by Maria do Carmo Figueira. Lisboa: Gradiva.

27. More words but no explicitationST
Fui visitá-lo. (2 words)
I went to visit him. (5 words) TT
Fonseca, Rubem
1988 Vastas emoções e pensamentos imperfeitos.São Paulo: Companhia das
Letras
1995 The lost manuscript, translated by Clifford Landers. London: Bloomsbury

28. Counting characters English Portuguese isn’t (5) não é (5)
gave him (9) deu-lhe (7)
teapot (6) bule de chá (11)
Did you like it? (16) Gostou? (7)

29. Counting morphemes English Portuguese isn’t (4) não é (4)
gave him (4) deu-lhe (4)
teapot (2) bule de chá (3)
Did you like it? (4) Gostou? (3)

30. Counting words English Portuguese isn’t (1) não é (2) gave him (2)
dei-lhe (1)
teapot (1)
bule de chá (3)
Did you like it? (4)
Gostou? (1)

31. Word counts affect different languages differently…
To make any claims about text length across languages based on word counts…
…the language-dependent bias of word counts has to be controlled.

32. A bi-directional analysis
SOURCE
TEXTS
TRANSLATION
TEXTS ?
>
< L1 L2 L2 L1
But a balanced corpus is essential!

33. Similar amount of Portuguese and English, but not balanced
COMPARA 5.2
Similar amount of Portuguese and English, but not balanced
25 Pt
12 En En Pt

34. A balanced sub-corpus I
English
Portuguese
Assigning equal weight to both languages
16 source texts: 8 Pt + 8 En
Same length: 1500 words each

35. A balanced sub-corpus II
Ensuring no particular author or translator
is over-represented
16 ST =
16 authors
8 Pt + 8 En
16 TT =
16 translators
8 Pt + 8 En

36. ? The analysis Source Texts Translations Pt 1500 words Pt 1500 wordsEn
1500
words En
1500
words En
1500
words En
1500
words En
1500
words En
1500
words En
1500
words ? En
1500
words
Translators’ notes

37. The results + 5% TT TT TT TT TT TT TT TT TT TT TT TT TT TT TT TT ST
Matched t-test:
95% probability
TT significantly longer than ST
+ 5%

38. Conclusion Explicitation Hypothesis Source Texts & Translations
Portuguese & English
Explicitation Hypothesis

39. Future research…
This study was based on only a small sample of Portuguese and English source texts and translations
Do different samples (and genres) of Portuguese and English ST & TT render similar results?
Can these results be replicated using different ST-TT language combinations?

40. More future research… On a more exploratory front:
Is there anything qualitatively deviant about translations that are much longer or much shorter than the average increase or decrease in text length for a particular language pair?

41. Implications for translator education?
Findings like these can help translators become generally more informed about what goes on when they are translating
Learning that text length can vary from source texts to translations for more reasons than just the differences between languages is an important step towards this end.

42. The End
Fim
Fin Fi