Translation Universals.pdf - ymerleksi - home

138 Per-Ola Nilsson
InthecaseoftheTLvid + x + av framework category, the distribution
of corresponding source constructions is less uniform than in the case of
the collocational pattern änden + av: 10 of the 37 instances (Table 3) can be
classified as being renderings of non-corresponding structures.
The remaining instances, however, can be said to be cases of structural
transfer. Consider the following selected source text examples:
at the bottom of the off-ramp
at the celebration of a marriage
at the edge of ariver
to the edge of thecanefield
on the very edge of the sea
at the end of the year
at the end of the road
at the foot of atree
at the foot of the Tor
at the foot of my bed
At the foot of the staircase
at the group of farmers
upon sale of the fourth stone
at the side of the table
at the very sight of a hypodermic needle
at the thought of battery hens
As can be seen from the examples, some of the nouns from the earlier two-word
collocation analysis turn up in the framework as well (e.g. edge, end and side).
At is the most common grammatical word which appears in initial position in
the source patterns, but there are also other grammatical initial position words
(to, on and upon). As all these are translated as vid, it can be said that even
when the structure as such is reproduced, there is a kind of convergence of
grammatical initial position words that contributes to the overrepresentation
of the target language pattern.
There is also a range of non-corresponding source structures that contributes
to the overrepresentation of the framework in translations; cf. the
following examples:
rose and stood next to her father – vid sidan av (‘bythesideof’)
Alongside my real life – vid sidan av (‘bythesideof’)
Apart from Marie-Louise – vid sidan av (‘bythesideof’)
while crossing some Polish river – vid övergången av (‘at the crossing of’)
felt actual physical nausea at such sights – vid åsynen av (‘at the sight of’)