Differences in "Simplification" Between Literature Translations for Adults and for Children: A Corpus-based Study

[[abstract]]本研究使用語料庫研究方法，旨在比較西洋文學英譯中成人版與兒童版之簡單化特徵。「簡單化」乃是語料庫翻譯研究中已發現之翻譯文本呈現的普遍特徵之ㄧ；本研究之「簡單化」定義為在翻譯過程中，譯者將原文中之複雜訊息簡單地陳述，例如，重複使用相同的形容詞及副詞，並減少四字成語及縮短句子。 本研究共建立西洋文學英譯中單語語料庫近二十三萬字；其中英譯中成人文本語料庫約有162 861字；而英譯中兒童文本語料庫約有62 018字。研究數據顯示如下: 1) 兒童文學中譯的形容詞稠密度約6 62 %，而成人約6 8 %。 2 ) 兒童文學中譯的副詞稠密度約1 66 %，而成人約1 74%。 3)兒童文學中譯的四字成語比例約為0 24 %，而成人約為1 05 %。 4)兒童文學中譯的平均句子長度約為 22 75 字，而成人約為 26 25字。 此證明西洋文學英譯中兒童版之簡單化程度比成人版略高。 其潛在原因乃是因為兒童語言能力不高，對於詞彙稠密度高，及詞藻華麗的書籍接受度偏低。此推論符合Shavit的「兒童詩學翻譯論」 (Poetics of Children’s Literature)，此理論宣稱兒童文學乃是富教育性且符合兒童閱讀接受度之文學作品。同時，本研究結果也符合Vermeer的「翻譯目的論」(Skopos Theory)，此乃是強調每一項翻譯均有特定目標及讀者，而譯者應該盡力去完成此目標，以迎合不同讀者之需求。 本研究所採用之語料庫不大，但研究結果已提出有利證據可供作參考，也可應用至教學上，使學生了解：因應成人及兒童讀者之不同需求，譯者應使用不同之翻譯策略，以達成不同之翻譯目標。 關鍵字: 簡單化、語料庫翻譯研究、單語語料庫、西洋文學英譯中、翻譯目的論、兒童詩學翻譯論[[abstract]]This study aims to probe the simplification feature between literature translations for adults and for children with the Corpus-based Translation Studies approach Simplification is one of the three universal features identified by scholars of corpus-based translation studies The definition of simplification is to replace the complex source language with easy-to-understand and simplified target language To achieve this purpose the translator may reuse the same adjectives and adverbs reduce the amount of four-character phrases and shorten the sentences Two monolingual corpora are built and composed of a 162 861-word subcorpus of English-Chinese translated literature for adults and a 62 018-word subcorpus composed of English-Chinese translated literature for children The total word number of these two corpora is nearly 230 000 words The statistical results are shown as follows: 1) The translated literature for children has the lower adjective density (6 62 %) than the translated literature for adults does (6 8 %) 2) The translated literature for children has the lower adverb density (1 66 %) than the translated literature for adults does (1 74 %) 3) The four-character phrase density in the translated literature for children (0 24%) is lower than that (1 05 %) in the translated literature for adults 4) The average sentence length (22 75 words) in the translated literature for children is shorter than that (26 25 words) in the translated literature for adults It is found that the translated literature for children shows a higher degree of simplification feature The hidden reason for the above statistical results is that it is hard for children to accept the literary works that feature high lexical density and flowery expressions because they have the lower level of language proficiency This inference concurs with Shavit’s Poetics of Children’s Literature theory that claims that the translated literature should be good for children’s education and be adjusted to be readable for children Meanwhile the result of this study justifies Vermeer’s Skopos theory that emphasizes that each translation has a specific goal and the specific audience A competent translator should fulfill the goal and meets the reader’s needs The present study does not use huge corpora but the valid result can serve as a good reference for future studies and can be applied to translation teaching It is expected that trainee translators may learn that different translation strategies should be adopted to meet different needs and expectations of adults and children and to achieve different translation goals for them Keywords: simplification Corpus-based Translation Studies monolingual corpora English-Chinese translated literature Skopos theory Poetics of Children’s Literatur