Using a hybrid methodology in the analysis of the topic and non-topic markers wa and ga in Chinese-to-Japanese translation

Abstract

This case study on Chinese-Japanese translation investigates the use of the topic marker wa and the non-topic marker ga in Japanese translations in contrast to Japanese non-translations. A small-scale comparable corpus of both translated and original Japanese texts was constructed, the results of which suggest that the frequency of the topic marker wa (a.o. compared to ga) is significantly higher in translation than in non-translated writings. The prevalence of wa in translations is argued to be an instantiation of a standardization tendency among translators. A follow-up questionnaire and interview study was conducted to investigate contexts in which the topic marker wa competed with ga. The results from this study show that translators tend to use wa even when ga is available, indicating the same trend toward standardization.