Slang is a nonstandard informal vocabulary peculiar to a group. In this digital age, the reproduction and evolution of slang words has become faster due to the digital platforms that they are often...Show moreSlang is a nonstandard informal vocabulary peculiar to a group. In this digital age, the reproduction and evolution of slang words has become faster due to the digital platforms that they are often used in. Research has been done on the lexical aspects of slang and slang in general (Sornig (1981); Metcalf (2002)), and on forms of digital slang (McCulloch (2019)), but none view slang as a mode of translation and applied it to to other types of text besides messages on social media. This thesis will address where digital slang terms come from, and if their origins can help explain how likely they are to be understood by someone who speaks regular English. To do so I will annotate a slang translation of Harry Potter, and research the etymological origins of the slang to try to discover - using Metcalf’s (2002) FUDGE theory - which slang terms are more likely to be understood. I expect to find that the slang terms that more closely resemble regular English words are more likely to be understood.Show less
This thesis focuses on idiolect translation when certain features of the idiolect are not present in the target language. The protagonist in Alan Bennett’s “The Uncommon Reader” is based on Queen...Show moreThis thesis focuses on idiolect translation when certain features of the idiolect are not present in the target language. The protagonist in Alan Bennett’s “The Uncommon Reader” is based on Queen Elizabeth II and contains features that are not present in Dutch. In order to investigate how the idiolect of the protagonist has been translated into Dutch, the research question for this thesis is the following: “How is the royal idiolect in ‘The Uncommon Reader’ by Alan Bennett translated into Dutch?” This was researched by determining the features of the idiolect of Queen Elizabeth II; which of these features were used by Bennett; and how they were translated into Dutch. The royal idiolect in “The Uncommon Reader” was analysed and compared to the Dutch translation. In order to determine how the idiolect was translated, the translation strategies used by the translators were determined based on the analysis. The results of the analysis show that the translators stayed close to the source text by maintaining the linguistic variation that is used in the source text. They also used several translation strategies to maintain the sense of the source text, while changing some features of the royal idiolect that were not present in the target language. The translation strategies that the translators used the most are: clause structure change; sentence structure change; changes in schemes and tropes; explication; and paraphrasing.Show less
In this thesis I set out to describe and subsequently compile a terminology of the prosecution of financial crime in the Netherlands in its entirety, from the initial reporting to the final...Show moreIn this thesis I set out to describe and subsequently compile a terminology of the prosecution of financial crime in the Netherlands in its entirety, from the initial reporting to the final sentence. I will discuss the legal system of the Netherlands with the help of various legal scholarly sources and other descriptive sources. By situating the uniquely system-bound language of the prosecution of financial crime in the Netherlands within Dutch legal language, I uncover the challenges of producing an English language terminology for this particular subfield. The subfield, which touches on multiple areas of law and policy and is regulated by multiple institutions, results from governments’ and supranational organizations’ increased attention for crimes with a significant financial component and high societal impact in recent years. By giving an overview of the field of translation studies – and in particular theory of legal translation – such as theories by Deborah Cao and Susan Šarčević I will provide a foundation for overcoming terminological and translation challenges. My proposed methodology suggests an approach to translating Dutch legal terminology which consists of presenting micro-evaluation and macro-evaluation of concepts, assessing both conceptual relations and origins, and illustrating the found relations and definitions in the end product.Show less
This research is a literature and jurisprudence study into the effect of the differences in legal interpretation between the EU legal system and the US legal system regarding competition law on the...Show moreThis research is a literature and jurisprudence study into the effect of the differences in legal interpretation between the EU legal system and the US legal system regarding competition law on the translation of competition law terminology into Dutch. Both EU and US competition law addresses broadly the same categories of anticompetitive behaviour - agreements, monopolisation, mergers - but the wording and interpretation of the legislative provisions varies. EU competition law is originally based upon US antitrust law, and therefore shares a lot of the same terminology. The US antitrust law has undergone some fundamental changes in its interpretation, which has in turn driven EU and US terminology further apart. Nowadays, there are vast differences in economic interpretation, political interpretation and legal interpretation. These differences in interpretation have influence on the translation of competition law terminology from US English and EU English, respectively, into Dutch. In the jurisprudence it is shown that the ECJ interprets textually and teleologically, where the US Supreme Court uses conservative purposivism. This leads to differences in the meaning of the same term. Generally, the US Supreme Court find an additional proof of inefficiency necessary in order to establish a competition violation. Both EU competition law and Dutch competition law do not need this additional proof. Therefore, the semantic meaning of competition law terminology is narrower in the US than in the EU. For translation into Dutch it must be assessed on a case-to-case basis whether it is necessary to add ‘inefficiënte’ before a US term so that the target text reader has the same understanding of the legal term as the source text reader.Show less
In this thesis, the subculture of online live streaming is explored on the platform Twitch by using a register analysis and Hoffman’s adaptation of usage-based Construction Grammar analysis....Show moreIn this thesis, the subculture of online live streaming is explored on the platform Twitch by using a register analysis and Hoffman’s adaptation of usage-based Construction Grammar analysis. Research on language use has increasingly focused on communication via electronic means by conducting register, and genre analyses as more sophisticated registers emerge with rich contextual linguistic and non-linguistic features, such as the general register of email messages and Twitter tweets. This work expands on these general registers by examining one of the most prominent and fast-growing platforms in the online live streaming space, Twitch (Biber et al., 2019, p. 175; Sjöblom, 2019, p. 20). This fast growth can mainly be attributed to the immense growth in the online space. As of 2022, almost 5.3 billion people worldwide utilize the internet; this amounts to about 66.2% of the entire world population (“Internet World Stats,” n.d.). In particular, the thesis will utilize a combination of register analysis with Hoffman’s usage-based Construction Grammar analysis to depict how complex the register of Twitch is and explore how interaction occurs between parties on the platform within its register and is supported by a collision of audiovisual elements and computer-mediated communication (Biber et al., 2019, p. 174; Sjöblom, 2019, p. 20). It will present the results of 107 hours of observation watching Twitch chats between January 2022 and April 2022. Intending not only to shed light on the, as it will be referred to henceforth, Twitch register but also to show how the complex social and physical context factors shape the register through its users and, in turn, enhance the social cement present on the platform and within its communities.Show less
Most comparative studies have focused on Obama and Trump’s elocution (e.g. Hill, 2020) or invention (Bostdorf, 2017). Much less research has been done on both speaker’s arrangement and deviation...Show moreMost comparative studies have focused on Obama and Trump’s elocution (e.g. Hill, 2020) or invention (Bostdorf, 2017). Much less research has been done on both speaker’s arrangement and deviation from the classical prescripts. Nevertheless, arrangement is an important process that is omnipresent in different canons and complicated by nature as there is not one set framework of ordering. The lack of a set order is caused by the heavy influence the audience has on the disposition of a speech. This thesis will look at arrangement in a broader sense by investigating how information is ordered in various cannons of rhetoric. Finally, this thesis aims to answer the central question: is Obama or Trump the most successful classical rhetorical speaker in terms of arranging the information in their speech. To research this, I examined and compared one set of speeches by Obama and Trump with various classical pre-set orders. The classical orders that were used were the parts of speech by Cicero, the three appeals by Aristotle, and Aristotle's stock issues that Katula and Roth modified to suit the modern deliberative rhetoric. Stock issues are questions that frequently occur during argumentation. They can help the speaker anticipate what questions will be asked and help the critic ask appropriate questions (Katula and Roth, 1980, p. 184). The results showed that Obama’s speech was closer to the classical pre-sets than Trump’s speech. Obama incorporates each component of the arrangement, whereas Trump has shown to leave out certain components. These results propose that classical rhetoric is still prevalent in modern rhetoric and suggest how classical rhetoric can be altered to suit the present-day audience. With this thesis, I hope to have shed light on the value of classical rhetoric, in particular of arrangement, in modern debate.Show less
This thesis aims to find out whether or not the procedures mentioned in Byrne’s Scientific and Technical Translation Explained (2014) are applicable to animal names and scientific nomenclature. A...Show moreThis thesis aims to find out whether or not the procedures mentioned in Byrne’s Scientific and Technical Translation Explained (2014) are applicable to animal names and scientific nomenclature. A secondary goal is to create a list of Dutch names for animals in the Gekkonidae family, following the naming guidelines set by Linnaeus (1758) and the International Code for Zoological Nomenclature (1999). After translating the names for 58 genera and 609 species, it was found that the retaining procedure mentioned by Byrne was highly applicable to zoological nomenclature, and a list of animal names for all species in 21 genera in the Gekkonidae family has been made.Show less
This thesis examines whether the conditions are right for a codification of a Euro-English. English has emerged as Europe’s undisputed lingua franca (ELF), and much earlier research on ELF...Show moreThis thesis examines whether the conditions are right for a codification of a Euro-English. English has emerged as Europe’s undisputed lingua franca (ELF), and much earlier research on ELF primarily revolved around identifying salient features for the purpose of a codification of ELF. Even though several salient features have been found in ELF, there is also increasing evidence of fluidity and flexibility, which brings the viability of a codification into question. Therefore, this thesis includes a case study, comprised of a corpus-based comparative analysis of English as a Lingua Franca in the professional organizational (PO) and leisure (LE) domains, in order to determine whether there is variability in salient ELF features. The results of the case study did not show any significant variability in the supposed salient ELF features in either domain. However, the features did not appear frequently enough in order to be considered as salient. Nevertheless, some evidence of variation was found in the features used by speakers of different lingual backgrounds, which could indicate that linguistic background plays a role in which particular forms are utilized at a particular point in a given ELF interaction. These findings, even though unexplored, support the observation that there are different ‘local Englishes’ in Europe, which makes the viability of attempting a description of ELF questionable. It can thus be concluded that a codification of Euro-English is unlikely at this point and that it makes more sense for English to continue as a lingua franca or to argue for a multiglossic recognition of Euro-Englishes.Show less
This thesis explores the readability of Roald Dahl's books. Specifically, it tests two adult books against two children's books to see if there is a difference between the language use of the two...Show moreThis thesis explores the readability of Roald Dahl's books. Specifically, it tests two adult books against two children's books to see if there is a difference between the language use of the two genres for Dahl. Did he change his language when switching from adult stories to children's books? The readability is tested through the use of the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level and the Automated Readability Index tests. These tests showed that there is indeed a slight difference between the readability of the children's books and the adult books of Dahl. This was in line with the prediction based on the literature discussed on language development, children's books as a genre, and readability. However, the adult texts of Dahl turned out to be easier to read than expected and easier to read than the average of adult books. This raises the question whether Dahl really did change his language to fit his new audience, children, or if his adult books show that he actually has always written in a way that is readable for children.Show less
American criminal jury trials are more likely than not very intense and hectic. Often, these trials revolve around a murder, where it is the prosecutor’s job to persuade the jury to convict the...Show moreAmerican criminal jury trials are more likely than not very intense and hectic. Often, these trials revolve around a murder, where it is the prosecutor’s job to persuade the jury to convict the murderer. It is no wonder therefore, that the prosecutorial opening statements during these kids of trials stand symbol for cornerstones to persuasive oratory. This thesis starts off by describing how prosecutors can use Aristotle’s three modes of persuasion called ethos, pathos and logos, most effectively to persuade the jury during their opening statement and uses the findings on how to use these three modes to analyze and compare two real-life criminal jury trials that occurred in the United States in order to answer the following question: Is the use of prosecutorial persuasion in the opening statement of a trial resulting in conviction more compelling than the use of prosecutorial persuasion in the opening statement of a trial resulting in acquittal? The first trial that will be analyzed is the State of Arizona vs. Jodi Ann Arias, which is a trial where a woman named Jodi Arias was convicted of the brutal murder of her ex-boyfriend Travis Victor Alexander, prosecuted by Juan Martinez. The second trial to be analyzed is the State of Florida vs. Casey Marie Anthony, which is a trial where a woman named Casey Anthony was acquitted for the murder of her toddler daughter Caylee Anthony, prosecuted by Linda Burdick. Both these trials have been well known around the world and dealt with two of the most hated women in the United States.Show less
This paper contains a detailed analysis of the use and non-use of biased language amongst students of the BA English Language & Culture at the Leiden University. To be more precise, it...Show moreThis paper contains a detailed analysis of the use and non-use of biased language amongst students of the BA English Language & Culture at the Leiden University. To be more precise, it discusses the reasoning behind the use and non-use of biased language, as well as the contexts and manners in which they occur alongside the targeted groups of such biased language. There was a general tendency to abstain from using biased language in general with the exception of camaraderie forms among the subjects. Still, the participants reacted very differently to the instances of biased language pertaining to different groups of people, with religion being treated the least careful, and race the most careful.Show less
