Abstracts
Abstract
The expression of modal meanings is an area of great complexity in the relationship between form and function in a single language and cross-linguistically. Modal adverbs in particular are considered to be problematic from a contrastive perspective due to their multifunctionality in English (Aijmer 2005). This paper is a corpus-based study of the expression of epistemic possibility by means of three common modal adverbs in English (certainly, probably, possibly) and the translational options chosen in Spanish for expressing those meanings. The aim is to identify trends in the translations of these epistemic adverbs that contribute to a better understanding of the various semantic functions that native speakers attribute to these units. The analysis shows that the omission of modal adverbs in the translations may be considered as an indicator of the degree of grammaticalization attained by these adverbs in English. The results provide useful information not only in the field of translator training and practice, but also in descriptive linguistics.
Mots-Clés/Keywords:
- epistemic adverbs,
- grammaticalization,
- modal meanings,
- parallel corpus,
- Spanish
Résumé
L’expression de la modalité est un exemple très complexe des relations entre forme et fonction dans une même langue et, plus encore, entre plusieurs langues. En particulier, les adverbes modaux sont tenus pour être problématiques dans une perspective contrastive à cause de leur multifonctionnalité en anglais (Aijmer 2005). À partir d’une analyse de corpus, l’article étudie l’expression de la possibilité épistémique à travers trois adverbes de modalité très courants en anglais (certainly, probably, possibly) et leur traduction en espagnol. Le but est d’identifier des tendances dans les traductions de ces adverbes épistémiques, ce qui pourrait contribuer à une meilleure compréhension des différentes fonctions sémantiques que les locuteurs anglophones attribuent à ces unités lexicales. L’analyse montre que l’omission des adverbes de modalité dans les traductions espagnoles peut être considérée comme un signe du degré de grammaticalisation atteint par ces adverbes en anglais. Les résultats de cette étude sont utiles non seulement pour la pratique et l’apprentissage de la traduction, mais aussi pour la linguistique descriptive.
Appendices
References
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10.7202/001951ar