A contrastive study on the translation of hyphenated compounds in fashion writing

Sammanfattning: This study examines the translation of hyphenated compounds from English to Swedish in a non-fiction text about fashion. The translation is performed by the author of this study, which is important to keep in mind. The aim is to evaluate the structure and function of hyphenated compounds and analyze if and what changes occur in the translation process. The quantitative analysis demonstrates that the majority of the hyphenated compounds function as adjectives in the source text, and the most frequent left-hand elements are adjectives and nouns, while the most frequent right-hand elements are nouns and -ed participles. An overview of the translation equivalents in the target text reveals compound participles, compound adjectives, and prepositional phrases as the most common structural categories. The qualitative analysis illustrates how general methods like transposition, modulation, and literal translations are necessary in order to produce appropriate translations. Furthermore, translation universals, especially in the form of explicitation and simplification, prove to be prominent strategies when translating hyphenated compounds. Explicitation is particularly evident when hyphenated compounds are rendered as postmodifying prepositional phrases, clauses, and noun phrases, while simplification is especially notable in the category of simple adjectives. In addition, a noteworthy finding that stands out compared to previous studies is how some hyphenated compounds are kept in their hyphenated form when translated, which appears to correlate with the genre of fashion writing.