The project proposes the establishment of a three-way comparable corpus of authentic Chinese translations, Chinese pseudo-translations and texts composed in English that do not claim to be translations from 1712 - 1840.
This will allow the comparison of linguistic features between the three types of texts, as well as enable line-by-line comparison of multiple translations of the same text. By doing so, it is possible to trace the popularity of certain terms in translations over time and study the relationship between pseudo-translations and authentic translations in a period where we move from almost exclusively pseudo-translations (up to 1808), to a large majority of authentic translations (1809 onward). The corpus will be a ground-breaking endeavour: no one has yet compiled a comparable corpus of authentic translations and pseudo-translations.
The project uses a modular format comprising an initial core project (up to 1840) that will first be digitised. In the future, the time periods (up to 1900 or even beyond) and language (French, German) may be expanded if the project is successful and the department feels it is valuable to expand the database. It may also be used in conjunction with the Translational English Corpus (TEC) in Manchester.