Translation Universals.pdf - ymerleksi - home

Untypical frequencies in translated language 91
In addition to showing that the referative construction is used less frequently
in translations, the results indicate that it is used also in a different
way. Tables 2 and 3 show the frequencies of two specific types of referative
constructions that show some appreciable dissimilarities between translated
and non-translated texts. First, there is a clear tendency that referative constructions
which are used with perception verbs (e.g. see, hear, notice) inthe
present tense are strongly overrepresented in translations from English (Table
2): the figures show that both the frequency and the relative proportion of
such structures are higher in translations from English than in the other two
components.
Table 2. Frequencies and percentages of perception verbs in referative constuctions
(present tense)
TE-texts TR-texts OF-texts
N = 1869 N = 851 N = 2604
f % f % f %
521 27.9 123 14.5 236 9.1
This explains at least partly the differences between translations from
Russian and English in the frequencies of the referative construction used in
the present tense (shown in Figure 2). As opposed to Russian and Finnish, in
English perception verbs are typically used in referative expressions with an
infinitive (3). On the basis of these results this systemic feature seems to relate
to their overuse in translations from English.
(3) Näin Liisan lukevan kirjaa. non-finite
Ja videla,čto Liisa čitaet knigu. finite
I saw Liisa read/reading a book. non-finite
Second, there is a clear tendency for referative constructions that are used with
verbs of saying and reporting (e.g. say, tell, inform) in both tenses to be used
less in both translated text groups than in original Finnish (Table 3).
Table 3. Frequencies and percentages of verbs of saying and reporting in referative
constructions (present and past tense)
TE-texts TR-texts OF-texts
N = 1869 N = 851 N = 2604
f % f % f %
181 9.7 80 9.4 1036 39.8