Lost and gained in translation : Pragmatic markers in an English source text andits Swedish target text

Abstract: This study analyses the translation of some pragmatic markers in an informal English non-fiction text and its Swedish target text. The pragmatic markers in focus are interjections, modal adverbs and question tags, and the sources of the Swedish modal particle ju are also analysed. While pragmatic markers are more common in spoken language or fiction, in this case they were considered important to the interpersonal function and casual style of the non-fiction text. The results were also compared to data from a non-fiction parallel corpus. In total, the ST contained 31 of the selected types of pragmatic markers, compared to 29 in the TT. However, there were considerable variations between types of marker, with less than a quarter being translated as the same type (e.g., interjection as interjection); this reflects the fact that the two languages inherently prefer different types of markers in some cases, with question tags being considerably more common in English, while the modal particles were the most common pragmatic markers in Swedish. There were no zero translations of pragmatic markers, indicating that they were not considered as superfluous or optional as might be indicated in previous research. The fact that ju most commonly had a zero source (in the corpus examples as well), and so was ‘added’ in translation, illustrates the lack of clear translation equivalents for many common pragmatic markers, as well as the translator’s attempt to domesticate the TT.