How trainee translators and their teachers deal with phraseological units in the ARTES database
Mojca Pecman, Christopher Gledhill · Équivalences · 2018
This paper discusses the notion of ‘ generic collocation’ as a translational unit of relevance for achieving textual coherence, and explores how such units are analysed and processed in the ARTES database by Masters students in Specialised Translation. Generic collocations (GCs) are semi pre-constructed sequences of words, which are used widely in texts belonging to the same register or genre, and which extend beyond the narrow confines of one single domain – e. g. in this paper/report/study we conclude/show/suggest that X, Failure to (comply/follow these instructions, etc.) may result in (damage/malfunction injury, etc). GCs constitute one of the most codified ‘ signatures’ of technical and specialised discourse, a fact that should be of interest to specialised translators. The ARTES project (Aide à la Redaction de TExtes Scientifiques) involves a database in which students collect and record GCs for future use by translators and writers of LSP texts. We thus explore the architecture of ARTES and its role as a template for teaching GCs. We also discuss the problems encountered by students of translation, who often have difficulty in understanding the concept of GCs and applying it to the analysis of their own data.