Sammendrag
May-Britt Marthinsen Smith:
Initial ing clauses in English and their translation into Norwegian
Summary
This thesis investigates English non-finite ing forms and the way they are treated in translation into Norwegian. The study is based on the English-Norwegian Parallel Corpus (ENPC) and focuses on participle ing forms in initial position in the sentence. 100 examples were selected from the fiction material of the ENPC, and 50 examples from the non-fiction material. The examples are classified by the function of the ing clauses and their translation patterns are noted. An attempt is made to reveal to what extent any patterns exist between function and the alternative chosen in translation and to assess to what extent the different alternatives in translation carry the same meaning as the original. The study also examines whether there are any differences to be found between fiction and non-fiction texts, in the use of non-finite ing clauses and their translations. The results show that coordination is the most common way of translating initial ing clauses, followed by subordinate clauses. It also seems that there is greater variety in the use of these clauses in fiction than in non-fiction.