A quantitative analysis of translationese indicators in medical literature translations
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33910/1992-6464-2025-217-312-326Keywords:
scientific literature, medical translation , translationese, translationese indicators, implification, normalization, explicitation, interferenceAbstract
Introduction. Translationese comprises a range of linguistic characteristics that distinguish translated texts from originally composed (non-translated) texts in a target language. These characteristics manifest through specific formal indicators frequently associated with reduced translation quality and stylistic unnaturalness. Accounting for such features is particularly crucial in the translation and post-editing of medical scientific literature, where the accurate transmission of information is paramount for clinical practice and patient safety. Moreover, in the context of integrating international medical practice into Russian clinical practice, translation quality becomes a critical determinant for the effective implemen- tation of foreign clinical guidelines and treatment protocols. This study aims to identify indicators of translationese in English-to-Russian translations of medical research articles.
Materials and Methods. The investigation utilized a comparable corpus of 80 texts, comprising 40 translated and 40 non-translated medical research papers. All texts were sourced from peer-reviewed specialized journals and are matched for genre, length, and thematic focus. The analysis was performed using a specialized automated tool designed to detect formal indicators associated with the translatio- nese characteristics of simplification, normalization, explicitation, and interference.
Results. The analysis confirmed the presence of distinct translationese characteristics in the translated corpus. These include decreased lexical density, reduced lexical variety, and lower lexical uniqueness. The translations also exhibited increased frequency of modal constructions with infinitives, participial phrases, prepositional constructions, and subordinate clauses. Furthermore, translations were identified to have higher frequency of discourse markers for introducing new information, expressing contrast, and providing examples, alongside an increased proportion of passive voice verbs. Conclusions. Based on these results, the study proposes preliminary recommendations for translators and post-editors focusing on enhancing terminological precision, mitigating syntactic interference, and carefully managing modality and verb voice.
References
ИСТОЧНИКИ
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Lyashevskaya, O. N., Sharov, S. A. (2009) Novyj chastotnyj slovar’ russkoj leksiki [New frequency dictionary of modern Russian]. Moscow: Azbukovnik Publ. [Online]. Available at: dict.ruslang.ru/freq.php (accessed 15.04.25). (In Russian).
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Belyaeva, L. N., Kamshilova, O. N., Shubina, N. L. (2023) Nauchnaya stat’ya v tekhnologicheskom prostranstve mashinnogo perevoda: pravila i protsedury redaktirovaniya [Scientific article in the technological space of machine translation: Editing rules and procedures]. Saint Petersburg: Knizhnyj dom Publ., 90 p. (In Russian)
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Kunilovskaya, M., Corpas Pastor, G. (2021) Translationese and register variation in English-to-Russian professional translation. In: New Perspectives on Corpus Translation Studies. Singapore: Springer Publ., pp. 133–180. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4918-9_6 (In English)
Millar, N., Budgell, B., Fuller, K. (2013) “Use the active voice whenever possible”: The impact of style guidelines in medical journals. Applied Linguistics, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 393–414. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/ams059 (In English)
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Volansky, V., Ordan, N., Wintner, Sh. (2013) On the features of translationese. Digital Scholarship in the Humanities, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 98–118. https://doi.org/10.1093/llc/fqt031 (In English)
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