Simplification of stories by A. P. Chekhov in Chinese translations

The subject of this study is the phenomenon of linguistic simplification manifested in Chinese translations of short stories by A.P. Chekhov. The focus is on lexical and syntactic transformations occurring during interlingual transfer that lead to a reduction in lexical diversity, an increase in the proportion of high-frequency vocabulary, and the standardization of syntactic structures. The study relies on a specially created Russian-Chinese parallel corpus containing original texts by Chekhov and their translations by Ru Long and Xue Huan. Particular attention is given to the typological differences between Russian and Chinese languages that influence the ways of expressing spatial, grammatical, and semantic relationships. This research allows for a comprehensive characterization of the mechanisms of simplification as one of the key translation strategies and reveals the features of the formation of the translated language in the Chinese literary tradition. The study employed methods of automatic text processing (MyStem, HanLP), calculation of lexical density (STTR), construction of a parallel corpus of Chekhov's stories in Chinese, automatic segmentation and morphological annotation, as well as frequency analysis of high-frequency words and function and content parts of speech. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the creation of the first Russian-Chinese parallel corpus of A.P. Chekhov's stories, which has become the empirical basis for studying the phenomenon of simplification in translations. A multidimensional model of analysis of simplification has been developed for the first time, combining lexical density, frequency analysis, and syntactic transformations. The use of automatic tools (Python, MyStem, HanLP) allowed for the quantitative identification and confirmation of trends in simplification, expressed in the reduction of lexical diversity, increase in the proportion of high-frequency words, and simplification of syntax, for example, through the transformation of spatial structures. The research confirms that simplification is a characteristic strategy in A.P. Chekhov's translations into Chinese, which is determined by the typological and cultural features of the languages. The results obtained contribute to the development of the methodology of corpus studies and have practical significance for translation studies and linguodidactics.