Open Data of the article "Literal vs. default translation. Challenging the constructs with Middle Egyptian translation as an extreme case in point"

The file contains the datasets and the code generated for the analyses presented in the article "Literal vs. default translation. Challenging the constructs with Middle Egyptian translation as an extreme case in point", to be published in Sendebar in 2023.

Abstract of the article:

This paper presents the results of a study that compares the constructs of literal translation (Schaeffer & Carl, 2014) and default translation (Halverson, 2019) by means of an observational, exploratory study with Middle Egyptian translation as an extreme case in point. Two graduating students of the MA in Egyptology at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and three recent graduates of the same MA took part in the study. They translated two excerpts from two Middle Egyptian literary texts into Spanish. InputLog was used to collect translation-process data and derive word-level indicators of cognitive effort (typos per word, word typing speed, and within-word pause) from them. Results showed a clear link between default translations and cognitive effort (low number of typos, low number of respites, and fast writing speed). However, the assumption that deviations from literality cause greater cognitive effort was not observed. Hence, default translation may serve as a more adequate construct to describe the regular way translators perform.