Simplification, Explicitation And Normalization Of Y.T.Lin’s English Translations Of Chinese Classical Literature: A Corpus-based Study

Corpus-based Translation Studies (henceforth CTS) is a new paradigm of translationstudies, which is the combination of Corpus Linguistics and Descriptive Translation Studies. Itsmajor findings are simplification, explicitation and normalization, which are supposed to bedistinctive features of translational texts in contrast to compositional texts.To verify whether these distinctive features still exist under a new constraint of thetranslator and writer being the same person, this study takes Y. T. Lin as the case study subjectand compiles two comparable corpora: Lin’s Translational Corpus (henceforth LTC) and Lin’sNon-translational Corpus (henceforth LNC). In light of CTS, by using Wordsmith and Antconc,this study compares and analyses the two corpora at lexical and syntactical levels, with thefollowing findings:(1) Standardised type-token ratio (STTR) in LTC is40.58, slightly lower than41.65inLNC. However, this does not fully support simplification theory, for the difference isinsignificant, not above chance level. STTS in the sub-corpus of translational fiction is41.31,higher than40.72in the corresponding sub-corpus of compositional fiction, falsifyingsimplification hypothesis.(2) Lexical density in LTC is52.07%, slightly lower than53.16%inLNC, indicating slight tendency of simplification.(3) There are126high frequency words inLTC and117in LNC; high frequency words account for55.93%in LTC and53.85%in LNC.Those findings indicate higher repetition chance in LTC than in LNC, displaying simplificationtendency. But interestingly, of the first10list heads, nine overlap and six rank exactly the samein the two corpora, meaning the same person tend to use similar high-frequency words whetherhe translates or writes. So the factor of translator’s style claims attention in CTS researches.(4) There are slightly more shorter words and less longer words in LTC than in LNC, indicating aslight tendency of simplification.(5) Standardised mean sentence length is20.46words in LTC,which is significantly lower than23.20in LNC, indicating simplification tendency.(6)Omission rate of optional reporting “that” is24.07%in LTC and38.55%in LNC, indicatingsignificant explicitation tendency.(7) There are2744stances of passive construction in LTC and2607in LNC, which means Lin tends to use more English typical constructions of passivesentences in translation, indicating a tendency of normalization.In brief, this study has mostly verified the existence of simplification, explicitation andnormalization even under the new constraint. However, the differences between the two corporaare insignificant, which means the tendencies of simplification, explicitation and normalizationseem slim if the translator and writer are the same person, implying that the factor of translator’sstyle is influential and claims attention in CTS.This study, by applying a new constraint in studying simplification, explicitation andnormalization, deepens CTS and provides data for future related researches. In future CTSresearches, stylistic differences between translators and writers should not be taken asdistinctive features of translational texts and how to exclude the factor of stylistic differencesbetween translators and writers should be taken into consideration.