Passive Voice in Translation: A Corpus-Based Study

Mgr. Jana Plecháčková

Diplomová práce

Abstract:

The present thesis examines the use of the passive voice in English and Czech. It is a study based on an analysis of the use of the passive in two English novels (The Lord of the Rings, Catch 22) and their Czech translations and two Czech novels (Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka, Válka s mloky) and their English translations. The works analysed are included in a parallel bilingual corpus of the Department of English and American Studies. The thesis consists of a theoretical and a practical part. In the theoretical part, differences and similarities in the form, function and stylistic value of the passive in English and in Czech are discussed. The analytical part comprises two parts. First, the frequency of the passive voice in English and Czech originals and translations is examined. Second, there is a practical analysis of dealing with individual instances of the passive that appear in English and Czech original novels in their translations.

Keywords

translation, překlad, passive voice, trpný rod, active voice, činný rod, reflexive passive, zvratné pasívum, periphrastic passive, opisné pasívum, parallel corpus, paralelní korpus, K2, frequency, frekvence, translation analysis, analýza překladu

Jazyk práce: angličtina

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 5. 9. 2007

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Obhajoba proběhla 11. 9. 2007
• Vedoucí: Ing. Mgr. Jiří Rambousek, Ph.D.

Masarykova univerzita

Filozofická fakulta

Magisterský studijní program / obor:
Filologie / Anglický jazyk a literatura