PARALLEL TRANSLATION CORPUS: ADVANCES AND APPLICATION EXAMPLE IN THE ANALYSIS OF FICTION

Abstract

The aim of the investigation is to addresses human and computer interaction issues related to the description, generation, application, and management of parallel translation corpus, with close attention to English and Ukrainian languages. Today, Corpus Linguistics is actively used for the processing of parallel translation corpus data and for statistical analysis of the data obtained. The topicality of this study is caused by the insufficient attention to the practical application of the parallel translation corpus and linguistic statistics in translation of fiction and translation studies, especially for the analysis of English original works and Ukrainian translations in terms of reproducing the dominant characteristics of the author's individual style. The evidence has it that the lack of illustrative sample of necessary stages of how to create corpus and analyze it prevents scholars, in particular young researchers and students, from active usage of the benefits of corpus in translation. Therefore, in this article, we aim to look in brief at the most important nuances of compiling and applying a parallel translation corpus. We consider our addressee to have a level of basic knowledge in the field of philology and computer technology.

The methods of text corpora analysis applied in the article helped to illustrate the process and result of text mark-up, clarify the difference between the parallel translation corpus and the corpus of parallel texts, outline the stages of text corpus analysis and restructuring of translation units, specify the procedure for selecting linguistic equivalents.

Results and conclusions are driven from the findings and recommendations outlined in the paper and, thus, can serve as a basis for a better understanding of how to use corpora in the study of author’s individual style and how to integrate the results (a) into translation analysis, (b) better translation. It is claimed that quantitative comparative analysis in translation is not limited to statistics for calculating units of text (structural) level; by using quantitative comparative analysis, we are able to disclose the content (meaning) of the author’s messages encoded in his/her creative writing. In addition to the benefits of corpora in translation studies research, in particular when it goes about translation quality assessment, the results obtained can enrich the personal notepad of a translator of prose.