Translation-induced language change in the field of migration: a multilingual corpus analysis of EU legal texts and press articles

Clay, Edward ORCID: 0000-0002-2468-4641 (2024). Translation-induced language change in the field of migration: a multilingual corpus analysis of EU legal texts and press articles. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

The terminology used in both legal and non-legal contexts to discuss issues related to migration is particularly critical given the consequences that the use of such language can have on people’s lived experiences and the ways they are perceived by others. It is therefore essential to understand how this terminology is evolving and the way in which it interacts across different languages. While the potential of translation to act as a propagating factor in language change across a range of language combinations has been demonstrated by previous research (e.g. Bisiada 2016, Malamatidou 2011, Amouzadeh & House 2010), this is the first sustained study investigating translation-induced language change in the field of migration terminology. This research aims to examine changes in migration terminology in English, French and Italian EU legal texts and press articles over a pre-defined time frame (1992-1998 & 2015-2018). The research focuses on the analysis of two purpose-built multilingual corpora, the EUMigrLaw Corpus and the MigrationInTheNews Corpus, created using the online corpus analysis software Sketch Engine. The EUMigrLaw Corpus is a multilingual parallel corpus made up of a range of binding and non-binding legislative texts produced by the EU, and the MigrationInTheNews Corpus is a comparable corpus containing a range of press articles from newspapers from the UK, France and Italy on the subject of migration. The research methodology, broken down into three sections of results and analysis, combines a range of both existing and innovative quantitative and qualitative corpus methods to detect and measure intralingual and interlingual variation and change in both corpora and identify potential sites of translation-induced language change in migration terminology. The key findings from this research reveal i) persistent widespread terminological variation across all three languages in EU legal texts in the field of migration and areas of terminological convergence among the languages being studied, suggesting the occurrence of translation-induced language change; ii) intralingual terminological variation in press articles in each language, with significant differences between the terminological trends identified in each language; iii) isolated examples of contact-induced changes originating in EU texts, before becoming de-terminologised and appearing in press articles. This study therefore provides a rigorous methodological approach to examining different types of terminological variation and change in migration terminology over time, revealing the potential and limitations of translation-induced language change in this specific context. This thesis consequently explores the significant legal and linguistic implications of its findings and considers subsequent avenues for future research.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

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