ABSTRACT
This chapter compares translated language with original texts in the same language by means of investigating multi-word strings which carry text-reflexive (metatextual) meanings. Text-reflexive expressions are separable from the prepositional content of the text, and fulfil the functions of organizing the text and guiding the reader's interpretation. They are particularly typical of academic texts, and more common in English than in Finnish. Corpus analysis supported the hypotheses that there would be more reflexivity in academic texts than in popular texts, and more in translated texts independent of the source language. Moreover, the multi-word patterning in translated texts was found to be less clear and stable than in original texts, and the strings tended to be different. This suggests that translations may not observe the same co-selectional restrictions as comparable original texts. The different behaviour of near-synonymous lexical combinations in translations and originals supported this observation. In addition, there was evidence to suggest that highly TL specific items tend to be underrepresented in translations. Popular non-fiction texts appeared to deviate more from the TL norm than academic texts, implying that cultural prestige may be less important than other determinants of translation.
