Between source language constructions and target language expectations

Abstract

This paper is situated within Cognitive Translation Studies (CTS). It follows Halverson’s Gravitational Pull Hypothesis (2003, 2010, 2017, 2024), a framework that explains the translation process and its outcome by invoking the cognitive mechanisms of the bilingual mind. The paper adopts the cognitive, multi-method approach of the GPH to describe and compare the use of Spanish passive constructions in a multilingual comparable corpus of translated and non-translated texts. In doing so, it pushes the boundaries of the model by: (a) following an onomasiological rather than a semasiological approach; (b) focusing on constructions rather than lexical items; and (c) explicitly incorporating the aspect of translator socialisation into the hypothesis formulation, thereby taking into account the situatedness of translation. The results provide evidence in support of the GPH, as salience of a construction in the source or target language leads to its overrepresentation in the translated texts, and non-salience leads to its underrepresentation.