The future of general tendencies in translation: Explicitation in web localization

Miguel A. Jiménez-Crespo
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Explicitation has long been considered a tendency in translation and has been empirically investigated by a number of scholars. This paper responds to Chesterman´s (2004a: 47) call to test explicitation phenomena on different translation modalities and types, and tests the explicitation hypothesis against a comparable web corpus containing 40m words. The fast evolving field of web localization was selected given that (1) if explicitation is a potential universal or general tendency, it should be equally present in current and future translation types; (2) localization is a specific case of translation in which explicitation might not be expected due to space constraints and web usability guidelines; (3) research using comparable web corpora has produced evidence contradicting other proposed general tendencies, such as conventionalization (Jiménez-Crespo 2009a; Kenny 2001). The results of the study confirm that despite specific constraints, localized texts show explicitation if contrasted with non-translated web texts belonging to the same digital genre.

Table of contents

“Universals are absolute; translation is probabilistic”

Full-text access is restricted to subscribers. Log in to obtain additional credentials. For subscription information see Subscription & Price. Direct PDF access to this article can be purchased through our e-platform.

[ p. 22 ]References

Alcina, Amparo
2008 “Translation technologies: scope, tools and resources”. Target 20:1. 79–102.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Austermühl, Frank
2001 Electronic tools for translators. Manchester: St Jerome Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baker, Mona
1993 “Corpus Linguistics and Translation Studies: implications and applications”. Mona Baker, Gill Francis and Elena Tognini-Bonelli, eds. Text and Technology: In Honour of John Sinclair. Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins 1993 233–250.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1995 “Corpora in Translation Studies: an overview and some suggestions for future research”. Target 7:2. 223–243.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1996 “Corpus-based Translation Studies: the challenges that lie ahead”. Harold Somers, ed. Terminology, LSP and Translation: studies in language engineering in honour of Juan C. Sager. Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins 1996 175–186.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1999 “The role of corpora in investigating the linguistic behavior of professional translators”. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 4:2. 281–298.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2004 “A Corpus-based View of Similarity and Difference in Translation”. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 9: 2. 167–193.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Biber, Douglas
1993 “Representativeness in corpus design”. Literary and Linguistic Computing 8: 4. 243–257.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blum-Kulka, Shoshana
1986 “Shifts of cohesion and coherence in translation”. Julianne House and Shoshana Blum-Kulka, eds. Interlingual and intercultural communication: discourse and cognition in translation and second language acquisition studies. Tübingen: Gunter Narr 1986 17–35.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bly, Robert
2002 The Online Copywriter’s Handbook. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brinck, Tom, Darren Gergle and Scott Wood
2002 Usability for the Web. San Francisco: Morgan Kauffman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bowker, Lynn
2006 “Translation memory and ‘text’”. Lynn Bowker, ed. Lexicography, terminology and translation. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press 2006 175–187. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2002 Computer-aided translation technology: a practical introduction. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cheong, Ho-Jeong
2006 “Target text contraction in English into Korean Translation: a contradiction of presumed translation universals?”. Meta 51:2. 343–367.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chesterman, Andrew
2000 “Causal model for Translation Studies”. Maeve Olohan, ed. Intercultural faultlines. Research models in Translation Studies I. Textual and cognitive aspects. Manchester: St Jerome Publishing 2000 15–27.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2004a “Beyond the particular”. Anna Mauranen and Pekka Kujamäki, eds. Translation universals: do they exist?. Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins 2004 33–50.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2004b “Hypotheses about translation universals.” Gyde Hansen, Kirsten Malmkjær and Daniel Gile, eds. Claims, changes and challenges in Translation Studies. Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins 2004 1–13.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2010 “Response and discussion”. Paper presented at the MATS 2010, Methodological advances in Corpus-Based Translation Studies Conference, University College Ghent, Belgium, January 8, 9, 2010.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cronin, Michael
2003 Translation and globalization. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
[ p. 23 ]
Daelemans, Walter and Véronique Hoste
(eds.) 2009 Evaluation of translation technology. LANS 8/2009. Brussels: Academic and Scientific Publishers.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Delisle, Jean, Lee-Jahnke, Hannelore and Monique C. Cormier
1999 Translation terminology. Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Díaz-Cintas, Jorge
2003 Teoría y práctica de la subtitulación: ingles/Español. Barcelona: Ariel.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dieguez, María I.
2008 “Análisis terminológico de sitios web localizados del ingles al Español: uso de técnicas de amplificación y elision”. Tradumática 6. Available at http://​www​.fti​.uab​.es​/tradumatica​/revista​/num6​/articles​/09​/9​.pdf
Dunne, Kieran
2006 Perspectives on localization. Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Englund-Dimitrova, Birgitta
2005 Expertise and explicitation in the translation. Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Frawley, William
2000 “Prolegomenon to a theory of translation”. Lawrence Venuti ed. The translation studies reader. London-New York: Routledge. 250–263.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gamero, Silvia
2001 La Traducción de textos técnicos. Barcelona: Ariel.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gerzymisch-Arbogast, Heidrun
2008 “Universal thought in translation”. MuTra 2007–LSP translation scenarios: Conference proceedings, June 10, 2009. Available at http://​www​.euro​-conferences​.info​/proceedings​/2007​_Proceedings​/2007​_Gerzymich​-Arbogast​_Heidrun​.pdf
Halverson, Sandra Louise
1998 “Translation studies and representative corpora: establishing links between translation corpora, theoretical/descriptive categories and a conception of the object of study”. Meta 43:4. 494–514.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Holmes, James
1972/1988 “The name and nature of translation studies.” James S. Holmes, ed. Translated! Papers on literary translation and translation studies. Amserdam: Rodopi. 67–80.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
House, Juliane
1987 Translation quality assessment: A model revisited. Tübingen: Gunter Narr.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2008 “Beyond intervention: universals in translation”. Trans-kom 1:1. 6–19.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hjort-Pedersen, Mette
2010 “Explicitation and implicitation in legal translation: A process study of trainee translators”. Meta 55:2. 237–250.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jeney, Cynthia
2007 Writing for the web: A practical guide. Columbus: Pearson Prentice Hall.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jiménez-Crespo, Miguel A.
2008a El proceso de localización web: estudio contrastivo de un corpus comparable del género sitio web corporativo. Department of Translation and Interpreting, University of Granada, Spain. [PhD thesis]. Available at: http://​hera​.ugr​.es​/tesisugr​/17515324​.pdf
2008b “Web genres in localization: a Spanish corpus study”. Localization Focus – The International Journal of Localization 6:1. 2–13.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2008c “Caracterización del género ‘sitio web corporativo’ español: análisis descriptivo con fines traductológicos”. Maria Fernández Sánchez and Ricardo Muñoz Martín, eds. Aproximaciones cognitivas al estudio de la traducción y la interpretación. Granada: Comares 2008 259–300.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2009a “Conventions in localisation: a corpus study of original vs. translated web texts.” Jostrans: The Journal of Specialized Translation 12. 79–102.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
①
2009b “Navegación Web accesible”. Tercedor, Maria Isabel, ed. Inclusión y accesibilidad desde el diseño y la presentación de materiales multimedia. Granada: Editorial Tragacanto, 187–206.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2010a “The effect of Translation Memory tools in translated web texts: evidence from a comparative product-based study”. Linguistica Antverpiensia 8. 213–232.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2010b “Localization and writing for a new medium: a review of digital style guides”. Tradumática 8. Available at: www​.fti​.uab​.es​/tradumatica​/revista​/num8​/articles​/08​/08art​.htm.
[ p. 24 ]
Kenny, Dorothy
2001 Lexis and creativity in translation. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
①
Klaudy, Kinga
1996 “Back-translation as a tool for detecting explicitation strategies in translation”. Kinga Klaudy, Jose Lambert and Aniko Sohár, eds. Translation Studies in Hungary. Budapest: Scholastica, 99–114.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1998 “Explicitation”. Mona Baker, ed. Routledge Encyclopaedia of Translation Studies. London: Routledge, 80–84.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Klaudy, Kinga and Karoly, Krisztina
2003 “Implicitation in translation: an empirical justification of operational asymmetry in translation”. Across Languages and Cultures 6:1. 13–28.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Larose, Robert
1998 “Méthodologie de l’évaluation des traductions”. Meta 43:2. 163–186.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Laviosa-Braithwaite, Sara
1996 “Investigating simplification in an English Comparable Corpus of newspaper articles”. Kinga Klaudy and Janos Kohn, eds. Transferre Necesse Est: current issues of translation theory. Budapest: Scholastica 1996 531–540.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Laviosa, Sara
1998 “The corpus-based approach: A new paradigm in Translation Studies”. Meta 43:4. 474–479.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2002 Corpus-based Translation Studies. Amsterdam: Rodopi.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
LISA
2003 Localization Industry Primer. Geneva: The Localization Industry Standards Association (LISA). Available at: http://​www​.lisa​.org​/products​/primer​.html
2004 Localization Industry Primer, 2nd Edition. Geneva: The Localization Industry Standards Association (LISA).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Malmkjær, Kirsten
2005 “Norms and nature in Translation Studies”. Synaps: Fagspråk, Kommuniksjon, Kulturkunnscap 16. 13–19.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mauranen, Anna and Kujamäki, Pekka
2004 Translation universals: do they exist?. Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Munday, Jeremy
2009 The Routledge companion to Translation Studies. London-New York: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nielsen, Jacob
2000 Designing Web usability: the practice of simplicity. Indianapolis: News Riders.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nielsen, Jacob and Loranger, Hoa
2006 Prioritizing Web usability. Indianapolis: News Riders.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nielsen, Jacob and Tahir, Marie
2002 Homepage usability: 50 Websited deconstructed. Indianapolis: News Riders.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nord, Christiane
1997 Translating as a purposeful activity: Functionalist approaches explained. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O’Hagan, Minako
2009 “Evolution of user-generated translation: fansubs, translation hacking and crowdsourcing”. The Journal of Internationalization and Localization 1. 94–121.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O´Hagan, Minako and Ashworth, Donald
2003 Translation-mediated communication in a digital World: facing the challenges of globalization and localization. Clevendon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Olohan, Maeve
2004 Introducing corpora in Translation Studies. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Olohan, Maeve and Mona Baker
2000 “Reporting that in translated English: evidence for subconscious processes of explicitation?”. Across Languages and Cultures 1:2. 141–158.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Perego, Elisa
2003 “Evidence of explicitation in subtitling: towards a categorisation”. Across Languages and Cultures 4:1. 63–88.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Price, John and Lisa Price
2002 Hot text. Web writing that works. Berkeley: News Riders.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Puurtinen, Tiina
2004 “Explicitation of clausal relations: A corpus-based analysis of clause connectives in translated and non-translated Finnish children’s literature”. Anna Mauranen and Pekka Kujamäki, eds. Translation universals: do they exist?. Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins 2004 165–176.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
[ p. 25 ]
Pym, Anthony
2005 “Explaining explicitation”. Krisztina Károly and Ágota Fora, eds. New trends in Translation Studies: In honour of Kinga Klaudy. Budapest. Akadémiai Kiadó 2005 29–34.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reineke, Detlef
2005 .Traducción y localización. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Anroart Ediciones.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Saldhana, Gabriela
2008 “Explicitation revisited: bringing the reader into the picture”. Transkom 1:1. 20–35.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schäler, Reinhard
2005 “The Irish model in localization”. Paper presented at LISA Forum Cairo 2005: Perspectives from the Middle East and Africa. Available at: http://​www​.lisa​.org​/utils​/ getfile​.html​?id​=61136686.
Snell-Hornby, Mary
2006 The Turns of Translation Studies. Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Spyridakis, Jan H.
2000 “Guidelines for authoring comprehensible WebPages and evaluating their success”. Technical Communication 47:3. 359–382.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Swales, John
1990 Genre analysis. English in academic and research settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Toury, Gideon
1995 Descriptive Translation Studies and beyond. Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2004 “Probabilistic explanations in Translation Studies: welcome as they are, would they qualify as universals?”. Anna Mauranen and Pekka Kujamäki, eds. Translation universals: do they exist? Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins 2004 15–32.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tirkkonen-Condit, Sonia
2004 “Unique items—over—or under-represented in translated language?”. Anna Mauranen and Pekka Kujamäki, eds. Translation universals: do they exist?, Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins 2004 177–184.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tymoczko, Maria
2005 “Trajectories of research in Translation Studies”. Meta 50:4. 1082–1097.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1998 “Computerized corpora and the future of Translation Studies”. Meta 43:4. 652–659.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vanderauwera, Rita
1985 Dutch novels translated into English: The transformation of a ‘minority’ literature. Amsterdam: Rodopi.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Venuti, Laurence
2005 “Translation, history, narrative”. Meta 50:3. 800–816.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vinay, Jean-Paul and Jean Darbelnet
1958 Stylistique comparée du français et de l’anglais. Méthode de traduction. Paris: Didier.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Whittaker, Sunniva
2004 “Étude contrastive des syntagmes nominaux démonstratifs dans des textes traduits du français en norvégien et des textes sources norvégiens: stratégie de traduction ou translationese?”. Forum 2:2. 221–240. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
 
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue