A Corpus-Based Analysis: Kazakh-Russian Grammatical Transformations in Akhmet Baitursynuly’s Translations

Abstract

This paper examines grammatical transformations (translation techniques), in rendering the works of Akhmet Baitursynuly into Russian, using a corpus-based approach. The primary analysis is based on the Kazakh-Russian parallel corpus of Baitursynuly’s texts, created by the authors. This corpus serves as a foundational tool for identifying linguistic patterns, translation techniques, and stylistic nuances across the languages. The study focuses on selected texts by Baitursynuly in both Kazakh and Russian. Focusing on selected original texts and their translations, the identified key grammatical transformations include syntactic assimilation, sentence splitting and merging, and grammatical substitutions. These transformations are analyzed to uncover their role in adapting linguistic structures and preserving the stylistic essence of the source material. The study highlights the utility of parallel corpora in translation studies, demonstrating their effectiveness in analyzing linguistic and stylistic nuances. A frequency analysis of specific translation challenges, such as the causative conjunctions sebebі and üjtkenі (both meaning because) in Kazakh, reveals variations in their Russian equivalents influenced by linguistic constraints and Baitursynuly’s stylistic preferences. Corpus-based research methods enable sampling, comparative and contrastive text analysis, and detailed examination of grammatical transformations. The parallel corpus facilitates the alignment of source and target texts, offering quantitative and qualitative insights into the translation process. This approach also provides an empirical framework for examining recurring translation patterns and assessing the influence of language typology on grammatical adaptation. The study utilized exhaustive sampling of linguistic material from original texts and translations, comparative and contrastive text analysis, analysis of grammatical transformations, and text alignment.