Jou nal Ti le He e,2022, 1–15
doi: DOI HERE
Ad ance Access Publica ion Da e: Day Mon h Yea
Pape
Syn ac ic ma kedness as a cul u al ansmi e : The
Swedish ansla ion o Wi old Gomb owicz’s
T ans-A lan yk
Sil ie Cinko á
1,∗and Ewa Da a-Bukowska
2
1Ins i u e o Fo mal and Applied Linguis ics, Cha les Uni e si y – Facul y o Ma hema ics and Physics,
Ke Ka lo u 3, P aha 2, 121 16, Czechia and 2Ins i u e o Ge man and No dic S udies, Jagiellonian
Uni e si y – Facul y o Philology, Gołębia 24, K aków, 31-007, Poland
∗Co esponding au ho . cink[email p o ec ed]
FOR PUBLISHER ONLY Recei ed on Da e Mon h Yea ; e ised on Da e Mon h Yea ; accep ed on Da e Mon h Yea
Abs ac
Wi old Gomb owicz, a wo ld- amous Polish exis en ialis w i e , is known o his s ylis ic eccen ici y. The
cen al heme o his wo k was he disc epancy be ween he mode n indi idual and he na ional iden i y. In his
1953 no el T ans-A lan yk, his ension is e lec ed no only in he con en bu also in he o m o exp ession,
which decons uc s a dis inc i e 17 h-cen u y Polish s o y elling s yle – a s yle ha o mode n Poles emains
amilia and laden wi h pa io ic conno a ions. T ansla ing such a ex poses a o midable challenge. This s udy
examines he po en ial pi alls o his challenge om he syn ac ic pe spec i e, applying he concep o s uc u al
ma kedness o a case s udy o he Swedish ansla ion o T ans-A lan yk – ega ded as one o i s mos success ul
endi ions in ano he language. A quan i a i e compa ison o he dis ibu ions o selec ed syn ac ic s uc u es
in he no el and in a e e ence co pus e eals ex eme syn ac ic ma kedness in bo h he o iginal Polish and he
Swedish e sion. Ou analysis shows ha he Swedish ansla ion p ese es and e en ampli ies key ea u es o
Gomb owicz’s ma ked s yle – especially he on ing o in ini i e clauses. This con i ms ha syn ac ic ma kedness
plays a cen al ole in he no el’s he o ic and is e ec i ely ende ed in Bodegå d’s ansla ion.
Key wo ds: syn ac ic ma kedness, co pus linguis ics, s ylome y, Polish li e a u e, ansla ion, Swedish wo d o de
1. In oduc ion
Wi old Gomb owicz’ enowned no el T ans-A lan yk
poses a ansla ion challenge due o i s highly
s ylized language. Ea lie s udies ha e sugges ed ha ,
a leas on he syn ac ic le el, he hallma k o
Gomb owicz’ qui ky s yle is syn ac ically o e loaded
sen ence-ini ial posi ions. In his s udy, we p o ide
a quan i a i e assessmen o his phenomenon in he
Polish o iginal and in he Swedish ansla ion. We
illus a e how Gomb owicz’s s ylis ic manipula ion
o wo d o de alls ou side he no ma i e syn ac ic
con en ions o ei he Polish o Swedish w i en
discou se. In e es ingly, he Swedish ansla ion u ns
ou o be e en mo e ex eme han he Polish o iginal,
and ye i was widely celeb a ed as e y eadable.
This a es s o he unexpec ed syn ac ic elas ici y o
his ixed-wo d-o de language and he ansla o ’s
mas e y alike.
The Polish no elis , philosophe , and play-
w igh Wi old Gomb owicz (1904-1969) ga ne ed
in e na ional acclaim and signi ican ly in luenced bo h
Eu opean and A gen inian exis en ialis li e a u e
© The Au ho 2022. Published by Ox o d Uni e si y P ess. All igh s ese ed. Fo pe missions, please e-mail: jou nals.p[email p o ec ed]
1
2Sil ie Cinko á and Ewa Da a-Bukowska
(Basiuk, 2013; Dapıa, 2019; Misu ella, 1987; Nycz and
Kobyłecka-Piwońska, 2024; Ross, 1971; Kobyłecka-
Piwońska and Piglia, 2015; S asiakiewicz, 2015). His
mos ansla ed wo ks a e he no els Fe dydu ke
(1937), T ans-A lan yk (1953), Po nog aphy (1960),
and Cosmos (1965), he d amas I ona, P incess o
Bu gundia (1938), and The Ma iage (1948/1953)1, as
well as his Dia ies (1957-1966) and K onos (published
pos humously, 2013).
Wi hin Polish li e a u e, Gomb owicz occupies a
cen al place wi hin he canon o domes ic mode nism
and – alongside Wi kacy and B uno Schulz – is
conside ed one o he mos b illian igu es o mode n
Polish w i ing (e.g., Bolecki, 2014). A he same
ime, Gomb owicz is o en desc ibed as ’a o e unne
o pos mode n li e a u e’ (Basiuk, 2013, p. 218),
, due o his endency o e lec on he sign-based
na u e o eali y (“sign- e lexi i y”), esul ing in bold
expe imen s on he le el o li e a y ep esen a ion
(Basiuk, 2013, p. 221).
Rysza d Nycz discusses Gomb owicz’s semio ic
expe imen a ion in connec ion wi h sil ae e um2
– o iginally p i a e ch onicles main ained by Polish
noble amilies o e gene a ions, whe ein accoun s o
amily e en s in e mingled wi h local poli ics and
exce p s o in e es ing eads. Nycz desc ibes his
adi ion as a “‘bio-g aphy’ o s uc u e” cha ac e ized
“no so much by an e o o ep esen a ion, bu
a he by an a emp o p esen a c i ical expe ience
o language, o s age i s possibili ies, and inally o
p esen i sel as a ex , exposing i s sign-like, ma e ial
p esence” (Nycz, 1996, p. 102).
Pawel Woj as elabo a es on Nycz’s no ion o
’syl ici y’ in Gomb owicz’s w i ing, desc ibing i
as ’ he linguis ic-on ological misalliance o he
ex as an exempli ica ion o he decons uc ion
o me aphysics ha kep pos s uc u alis and
pos mode nis philosophe s busy; i also d ama izes
Gomb owicz’s sel - e lexi e w i ing and language’
Woj as (2014). Indeed, some con empo a y schola s
(Jaszewska, 2002; Ma kowski, 2004) associa e Gom-
b owicz’s w i ing wi h pos -mode nism a he han
mode nism (bo h o which a e well-es ablished
ca ego ies in Polish li e a y his o y).
Gomb owicz’s p e ailing heme is he indi idual
exis en ial s uggle wi h na ionali y, concei ed as
a bu den o igid no ms ied o social classes and
1Fi s published in a Spanish ansla ion in 1948.
2O iginally, a syl a (La in: sil a e um) was a o m o
w i ing de i ed, among o he hings, om he collec ion
Sil ae by he Roman poe S acius.
eligiosi y, imposed by a homogeneous communi y
(Boye s, 1970; Gömö i, 1978). I eme ges in his
na ional debu Fe dydu ke and con inues o un old
h ough his yea s o A gen inian (1939-1963) and
F ench (1963-1969) exile, bu i is mos p ominen
in he no el T ans-A lan yk. Unplanned exile en iched
Gomb owicz’s e lec ions on na ional iden i y, shaped
by his encoun e s wi h he Polish diaspo a, he
A gen inian in ellec ual milieu, as well as he
cosmopoli an and uni e salis endencies o 1960s’
exis en ialism, wi h i s epicen e in Pa is.
In his wo ks, Gomb owicz p ojec ed he con lic
be ween belonging and aliena ion in o his w i ing s yle,
seasoning his he o ical ehemence wi h a humo ous
eye-wink. He mas e ully exploi ed di e en s ylis ic
egis e s o emphasize his con lic . His a ou i e
echnique was dis o ing and wis ing conno a ion-
hea y his o ical Polish w i ing s yles beyond pa ody.
The s ylis ic dimension o his w i ings, along
wi h his ex ensi e in e na ional ecep ion, makes
Gomb owicz an in iguing subjec no only o
li e a y analysis bu also o ansla ion s udies.
Exis ing schola ship on ansla ions o Gomb o-
wicz’s ex s e eals a ema kable di e si y o a ge
languages and pe spec i es (Dapıa, 2019; Da a-
Bukowska and de Bończa Bukowski, 2022; Holmg en,
1988; Ja zębski, 2012; Kobyłecka-Piwońska and Piglia,
2015; Konieczna-Twa dzikowa and Filipowicz-Rudek,
2006; Kühl, 1995; Lau en , 2005; Masłowska, 2022;
Skibińska, 2004; Spólna, 2022; S ohano a, 2018;
Szwebs, 2014). Conside ed o ank among his mos
challenging ex s in his ega d a e he no els
Fe dydu ke and T ans-A lan yk, and i is in T ans-
A lan yk whe e he Gomb owiczian s yle- wis ing
culmina es.
In his s udy, he e o e, we u n ou a en ion o
T ans-A lan yk o con ibu e a compa a i e co pus-
linguis ic pe spec i e o his deba e. We ocus on
he Swedish ansla ion by Ande s Bodegå d (Gom-
b owicz, 2009), which has been highly p aised by
bo h Swedish eade s and Polish li e a y schola s
(Da a-Bukowska and de Bończa Bukowski, 2018; Da a-
Bukowska, 2023; Da a-Bukowska and de Bończa Bukow-
ski, 2022).
Bodegå d in ui i ely mimicked one p ominen
ea u e o he o iginal idiolec , namely a hea y
syn ac ic o e loading in sen ence-ini ial posi ion ( o
he le o he main sen ence p edica e). Ou s udy
quan i a i ely examines he e ec o o e loaded sen-
ence ini ials on he s ylis ic ma kedness o bo h he
Polish o iginal and he Swedish ansla ion.
Sho A icle Ti le 3
2. S yliza ion and in e ex uali y in
T ans-A lan yk
Gomb owicz w o e T ans-A lan yk in 1953, ha ing
spen ou een yea s in A gen ina. By ha ime,
he had al eady become well in eg a ed in o exile in
A gen inian in ellec ual ci cles as well as in o he
Polish émig é communi y he e. T ans-A lan yk is, on
he one hand, a ic i ious coun e pa o his Dia ies,
and, on he o he , a e isi a ion o Fe dydu ke – his
ime wi h a p o agonis who has come o age and g own
con iden abou his own ma u i y, ye is s ill s uggling
wi h he con en ions o he di e se communi ies in
which he inds himsel . He li es a li e o n be ween
di e en loyal ies, one o which is o his own pe sonal
and a is ic in eg i y.
The na a o and p o agonis o T ans-A lan yk
is a young w i e named Wi old Gomb owicz, who
a i es in Buenos Ai es on a Polish ou is c uise
in he summe o 1939 and, on lea ning abou he
ou b eak o wa , akes a spon aneous decision o
s ay in A gen ina. The eali y he inds he e, ich
in g o esquely exagge a ed eali ies o Polish émig é
li e, gene a es a chain o comical and absu d e en s.
Howe e , he au ho himsel ele a es his linguis ic
eccen ici ies (which he e e s o in Polish as ha ce
“an ics”) o he s a us o a seconda y p o agonis ,
desc ibing he language o he no el as “disjoin ed,
scle o ic, ba oque, absu d, in he 17 h cen u y
s o y elling s yle” (Gomb owicz, 1996, p. 88).
Indeed, T ans-A lan yk’s qui ky language d aws
on he so-called Sa ma ian s yle, a signa u e s yle
o Polish ba oque li e a u e. This ba oque Polish
idiom emains amilia o and e en che ished by
speake s o mode n Polish, no leas hanks o
i s his o icizing euse in he g ea na ional epopees
by Adam Mickiewicz (Si Thaddeus, 1834) and
he his o ical no els by he Nobel lau ea e Hen yk
Sienkiewicz (Wi h Fi e and Swo d 1884, The Deluge
1886, and Si Michael 1887).
The main linguis ic ea u e o he Sa ma ian s yle is
o namen ali y in bo h ocabula y and syn ax. This is
accompanied by cha ac e is ic opoi, such as a s ong
hie a chy o alues, wi h God, homeland, and hono
a he op, an excessi e emphasis on official i les
and anks, and an unshakable belie in he supe io i y
o he Sa ma ian iden i y o e he es o he wo ld
(Dąb owska, 2004, p. 190; Wilkoń, 2002, p. 110 ).
Howe e , he Sa ma ian s yle was no exclusi ely
associa ed wi h solemn hemes; i was also used
in humo ous w i ings. A no able en e aining gen e
o he 17 h cen u y was gawęda szlachecka (noble
s o y- elling). This li e a y o m ea u es a na a o
assuming he pe sona o a Polish nobleman gi ing a
bombas ic accoun o his li e, as i in a spon aneous
speech. The e en s eme ge in a loose sequence, wi h
no o e a ching poin o plo (see Nycz, 1996), me ely
se ing as a p oud demons a ion o he na a o ’s
p ominence in a sys em amed by he Sa ma ian
adi ions, high- anking offices, and he au ho i y o
God’s (Ca holic) chu ch, all delibe a ely augmen ed
o a g o esque e ec .
The mos amous gawęda is Memoi s by Jan
Ch yzos om Pasek (app ox. 1636–1701). Wi h an
i esis ible b a ado, he e i ed soldie Pasek ecoun s
g isly clashes wi h Swedes and Musco i es on
Li huanian and Ru henian ba le ields, da ing sea
expedi ions and hun s, all his embellished wi h
abundan name d opping. La e Pasek also akes
his audience h ough he o deals o he collapse o
he Polish-Li huanian Commonweal h and his own
less- han-ideal ma iage wi h a weal hy widow.
Pasek has been ado ed no only by schola s o
Polish li e a u e bu also by he b oade Polish public.
His idiolec has inspi ed Polish au ho s e e since. Fo
ins ance, Hen yk Rzewuski’s humo ous Memoi s o
Soplica (1839-45) is a di ec e e ence o Pasek; bu
e en Mickiewicz and Sienkiewicz in oked i o enli en
di ec speech in hei o he wise solemn his o ical
escoes.
Gomb owicz’s T ans-A lan yk hus o ges in e ex-
ual links o a long-s anding adi ion o Polishness,
in bo h con en and o m (gawęda), ye wi h a clea ly
sub e si e in en : while challenging he Polish pa io ic
adi ionalism om an exis en ialis , cosmopoli an,
Sou h Ame ican, and “ ansa lan ic” pe spec i e,
i also linguis ically decons uc s he gawęda as
he inco po a ion o ha adi ionalism. I is his
de amilia iza ion o a classic his o ical s yle, pushed
beyond aliena ion, ha a he same ime ep esen s
he s o y’s “mos impo an o ganizing p inciple” and
“cen al heme”3(Sławkowa, 1981, p. 31 ).
In he highly p aised monog aph dedica ed o he
na a i e s yle o T ans-A lan yk, Sławkowa iden i ies
indi idual elemen s ha s ike he eade , sc u inizing
hem on he phone ic, mo phological, lexical and
syn ac ic le els om a diach onic pe spec i e. She
c oss- e e ences hese ea u es wi h exis ing linguis ic-
his o ical wo ks, conside ing hei sys ema ic as well
as p agma ic aspec s (la langue and la pa ole in he
3C . Gomb owicz in his own wo ds: “Wha o choose?
Loyal y o he pas ... o eedom o ee c ea ion?”
(Gomb owicz, 1996, p. 93).
4Sil ie Cinko á and Ewa Da a-Bukowska
Saussu ean adi ion) (1981, p. 34 ). Among hese
ea u es, he mos sys ema ically ecu ing u ns ou
o be he shi ing o he p edica e o he las posi ion
in he clause (1981, pp. 58, 63). P edica e shi s
we e ce ainly used in he Sa ma ian s yle bu we e
nei he as equen no as adical as in Gomb owicz’s
ende ing.
Sławkowa concludes ha he s yle is decidedly
un ypical4(zdecydowanie nie ypowy, 1981, p. 62) and
canno be associa ed wi h any pa icula pe iod o ime
(1981, p. 15) despi e i s clea in e ex ual e e ences o
he Old Polish cul u al s uc u e (s a opolska s uk u a
kul u owa, 1981, p. 14). All in all, he s yle is ex emely
ma ked in he Jakobsonian sense (Jakobson, 1972),
and indeed doubly so: no only in ela ion o mode n
Polish no ms, bu also in ela ion o he (mode n
ecep ion o ) ba oque Polish.
3. T ans-A lan yk as a ansla ion challenge
Li e a y ansla ion o en s e ches a beyond he
ques o adequacy in con en and s yle; a he , i
seeks o ansmi cul u al concep s ac oss communi ies
sepa a ed by languages and cul u es. The linguis ic
as well as he cul u al dis ance a y, each posing a
di e en so o challenge o he ansla o .
T ans-A lan yk was w i en o and abou Poles, by
a Pole s uggling wi h his Polishness, based on he
unique Polish cou se o his o y and li e a y adi ion.
The au ho himsel conside ed T ans-A lan yk he leas
known o his wo ks, a ibu ing his o “i s linguis-
ic eccen ici ies” ha he desc ibed as “difficul o
ansla e” (Gomb owicz, 1994, p. 85). Wi hou a
doub , i s plo is deeply cul u e-speci ic. A he same
ime, he con lic be ween belonging and au hen ici y,
which i explo es, is ne e heless a uni e sal heme.
T ansla o s o en ace a s a egic choice be ween
he op ions o domes ica ion o o eigniza ion o sou ce
concep s (G ims ad, 2021, p. 292), based on whe he
simila concep s exis in he a ge communi y. T ans-
A lan yk, in pa icula , challenges he ansla o o
s ike a success ul balance be ween domes ica ion
and o eigniza ion, no only ega ding he concep s
p esen ed in he con en , bu also hose p esen ed by
he linguis ic s yliza ion.
Nume ous s udies ha e discussed s ylis ic issues
in a ious ansla ions o T ans-A lan yk in o di e se
a ge languages (see e.g., Dapıa, 2019; Da a-
Bukowska, 2019, 2023; G ims ad, 2021; Ja niewicz
4Unless s a ed o he wise, ansla ions o quo a ions
in o English a e ou own.
and Skibińska, 2004; Szulim, 2014; Szwebs, 2014;
Toka z, 2003; Tomaszewski, 2004; Da a-Bukowska and
de Bończa Bukowski, 2022; Woj as, 2014, pp. 42-
44, 128-137), bu hey ba ely men ion he syn ac ic
ma kedness in he o iginal no ed by Sławkowa (1981).
One excep ion is Claudio Salme i’s doc o al hesis
T ans-A lan yk Wi olda Gomb owicza w angielskim
i włoskim p zekładzie (T ans-A lan yk by Wi old
Gomb owicz in English and I alian T ansla ion,
2012), which analyses examples o syn ac ic ma -
kedness in he a ge languages alongside phone ic,
mo phological, lexical and ph aseological a chaiza ions
(al hough he analysis is gene ally limi ed o a
subjec i e e alua ion o he ansla ion quali y).
Da a-Bukowska and de Bończa Bukowski (2018)
s udied syn ac ic pa e ns in he Swedish ansla-
ion and p aised i s adequa e app oach o T ans-
A lan yk’s syn ac ic ingenui y. Howe e , hei wo k
was mos ly quali a i e. Ou cu en s udy elabo a es
on hei ini ial obse a ions wi h a da a-d i en quan-
i a i e assessmen o he di e ences be ween he
Swedish ansla ion and di e en egis e s o he
con empo a y Swedish language, compa ed o he
di e ences be ween he Polish o iginal and di e en
egis e s o con empo a y Polish – in each case based
on a e e ence co pus.
4. T ansmission o cul u al concep s in he
Swedish ansla ion
T ans-A lan yk was ansla ed in o Swedish by Ande s
Bodegå d (Gomb owicz, 2009), a enowned Swedish
philologis and ansla o , who also ansla ed Gom-
b owicz’s Dia ies (Dagboken, 1990–1993) and he
d ama The Ma iage (Vigseln, 1995), wi h g ea
success.
C i ical commen a ies on he ansla ion e lec ed
on he s ylis ic complexi y o T ans-A lan yk: “The
eno mous difficul y makes i unde s andable ha we
ha e had o wai almos six y yea s o a Swedish
ansla ion” (S ömbe g, 2009). They app ecia ed ha
Bodegå d’s ansla ion emained eadable, despi e
he o iginal being “a giddy language mons e wi h
bois e ous ges u es, a bewilde ing numbe o capi al
le e s and all he clauses ou o o de ”. Bodegå d’s
ansla ion was p aised o being “midway be ween
no malizing and sel - iolen – in o he wo ds, jus
igh ” (Kas ne , 2009).
A his poin i will be use ul o d aw compa isons
wi h ansla ions in o o he wo Ge manic languages,
English and No wegian, which we see as ep esen ing
Sho A icle Ti le 5
opposi e ex emes on he domes ica ion– o eigniza ion
spec um (c . G ims ad, 2021).
Like he Swedish ansla ion, he No wegian
ansla ion by A. Banach (Gomb owicz, 2015) was
also e y well ecei ed. In con as o Bodegå d,
howe e , she esol ed he s ylis ic challenge h ough
consis en cul u al domes ica ion: she adop ed he
s yle o ( he a he and son pai ) Nicolai and Hen ik
We geland, p ominen ep esen a i es o No wegian
oman ic na ionalism (1840–1867). Bo h Poland and
No way sha e he his o ical expe ience o o eign
domina ion and cul u al ma ginaliza ion, in ol ing
a lack o espec (o ou igh opp ession) om
o he s. The esul ing esen men led o a o m
o a pa io ic collec i ism, in which exp essions o
indi idual au hen ici y could easily be pe cei ed as
ac s o be ayal. Hence, he s ylis ic allusion on he
pe iod o No wegian na ional emancipa ion esona ed
well wi h No wegian eade s (G ims ad, 2021).
The English ansla ion by F ench and Ka so
(Gomb owicz, 1994) p esen s qui e he opposi e
example5. As English has been a language o dominan
wo ld powe s and a global lingua anca, i lacks a
s ylis ic exp ession o de ensi e na ionalism. The e o e,
F ench and Ka so op ed o a gene al s a egy o
exo iciza ion ( o analysis, see Szwebs, 2014, p. 138).
They ende ed Gomb owicz’s eccen ici y h ough a
combina ion o allusions o T. S. Elio , Jona han Swi ,
and Lau ence S e ne, as well as an eclec ic a chaiza ion
o ocabula y and in lec ion s e ching ac oss di e en
pe iods and wi h a ema kable o e use o in e se
wo d o de (Szwebs, 2014, pp. 139-141). While he
ansla o s iden i ied and ai h ully mimicked Gom-
b owicz’s language dis o ion s a egies6, he eade s
did no app ecia e his s ylis ic pa ody and ound he
ansla ion o be o e all misguided (Szwebs, 2014, p.
143).
Bodegå d’s ansla ion is somewhe e in he middle
on he domes ica ion – o eigniza ion/exo iciza ion
scale. I spo s an eccen ic idiolec ha makes a
5The e also exis s a mo e ecen English ansla ion
by Danu a Bo cha d (Gomb owicz, 2014), which is no
u he analyzed he e.
6This is illus a ed by he ollowing exce p :
“[...] Ha ing eached his edi ice, I s opped he e,
and me hinks go o no go as why should I go o
he Bishop i om he Fai h I am a backslide , a
he e ic, a blaspheme . And p esen ly a mos e ible
Vainglo y, a P ide o mine ha om my childhood
has di ec ed me agains his Chu ch o mine!”
(Gomb owicz, 1994, p.10, a e Szwebs, 2014, p. 141)
aguely a chaic imp ession wi hou explici ly e e ing
o a conc e e pe iod. A he same ime, he
a chaiza ion is e y sub le: explici ly a chaic wo ds
occu only a ely, and he syn ac ic s yliza ion is
e iden , ye i ne e iola es he mode n Swedish
g amma . On he one hand, Bodegå d manages
o p ese e he o e whelming s ylis ic e ec o he
o iginal; on he o he hand, he a oids making a di ec
g amma ical e e ence o he na ional pas .
Swedish li e a y his o y knows no equi alen o he
Polish gawęda in e ms o i s communica i e unc ion;
ha is, a gen e ha is bo h pompous and cha y.
Hence, Bodegå d adop ed a mix u e o g andiosi y and
spokenness and made his na a o a cha e box who
seeks o imp ess his audience wi h e ined speech abo e
his social ank, ul ima ely bending he s yle owa ds
pa ody.
5. Syn ac ic ma kedness in he Swedish
ansla ion
The mos s iking ea u e o he Polish Sa ma ian
s yliza ion is ha i equen ly places he ini e e b
a he end o he clause (Sławkowa, 1981, pp. 58, 63).
In hei ea lie analysis o Bodegå d’s Swedish ans-
la ion, Da a-Bukowska and de Bończa Bukowski 2018
quali a i ely de e mined p ominen syn ac ic pa e ns,
and hey no iced a ecu en syn ac ic o e load o he
sen ence-ini ial posi ion ( ha is, he main ini e e b
being p eceded by unusually many wo ds), a ea u e
ha i sha ed wi h he Polish o iginal, al hough he
ansla ion did no dis ibu e i in qui e he same
sen ences. This is illus a ed in Examples 1-3 ( o each
example, we i s p o ide he o iginal Polish, hen a
li e al gloss in English, ollowed by Bodegå d’s Swedish
e sion, also wi h a li e al gloss in English).
Example 1
Polish:Dwudzies ego pie wszego sie pnia 1939
oku ja na s a ku „Ch ob y” do Buenos Ai es
p zybijałem.
(Twen y- i s Augus 1939 I on he ship “Ch ob y”
o Buenos Ai es a i ed.)
Swedish:Den jugo ö s a augus i å e 1939
landade jag med a yge Bolesław den Tapp e i
Buenos Ai es.
(The 21 Augus he yea 1939 landed I wi h he
ship Bolesław den Tapp e in Buenos Ai es.)
6Sil ie Cinko á and Ewa Da a-Bukowska
Example 2
Polish:Sam zos awszy (bo Ciecisz dawno
już był zemknął) w cichości, k ó a nas ąpiła
po ozgłośnem nadejściu naszem, naokoło z
ciekawością się ozglądnąłem.
(Alone s aying (because Ciecisz had long since
disappea ed) in he quie ha ollowed ou loud
a i al, a ound cu iously I looked.)
Swedish:Ensam k a dä (Ciecisz hade smugi
i äg ö länge sedan), i ys he en som a lös å
la mande ankoms , såg jag mig ny ike omk ing.
(Alone le he e (Ciecisz had long since slipped
away), in he silence ha ollowed ou noisy
a i al, looked I a ound cu iously.)
Example 3
Polish:Owóż człowiek en, Me ys chyba,
Po ugalczyk, z pe skiej u eckiej ma ki w Libii
u odzony, Gonzalem zwał się; a ba dzo Boga y,
około 11- ej lub 12- ej z ana z łóżka ws aje i
kawę wypija, a po em na ulicę wychodzi i am po
niej chodzi, a za Chłopcami albo Chłopakami.
(Well, his man, a Mes is p esumably, a
Po uguese, om a Pe sian Tu kish mo he in
Libya bo n, Gonzal was called: and e y Rich,
abou 11 o 12 o’clock in he mo ning he ou o
bed aises and co ee d inks, and hen ou in o
he s ee and walks he e along i , and a e Boys
o Guys.)
Swedish:Denne man minsann, Mes is an agligen,
Po ugis a pe sisk u kisk mode ödd i Libyen,
id namn Gonzalo; och mycke Rik, ci ka klockan
11 elle klockan 12 s ige han u sängen och
d icke ka e, och sedan gå han u på ga an och
dä gå han ga an am, och e e Pojka elle
Småpojka gå han
(This man, Mes is p obably, Po uguese o
Pe sian Tu kish mo he bo n in Libya, by name
Gonzalo; and e y ich, abou 11 o 12 o’clock
ge s he ou o bed and d inks co ee, and hen goes
he ou in o he s ee and he e walks he s ee
down, and a e he Boys o Li le Boys he goes.)
This was an in iguing obse a ion, gi en ha he
syn ac ic o e load o he sen ence-ini ial posi ion is
e y ma ked e en in a ee-wo d-o de language like
Polish. In a e b-second language like Swedish, he
ma kedness is p esumably e en mo e ex eme.
To assess jus how ma ked he syn ac ic o e load o
he sen ence ini ial posi ion is o Swedish, we need a
way o compa e agains a bulk o p esumably unma -
ked sen ences. In Swedish g amma , he decla a i e
sen ence is concei ed as a sequence o slo s (see Table
1), wi h he second slo always occupied by he ini e
e b. The i s slo (sen ence-ini ial elemen ) can be
popula ed by any clause elemen .
The mos unma ked op ion is o he subjec o
come in his i s slo , bu i i does no , hen he
subjec occupies he slo immedia ely ollowing he
ini e e b ( esul ing in wha is known as in e se wo d
o de ). The clause elemen s in he sen ence-ini ial
posi ion can be wo ds o cons uc ions anging om
p eposi ional ph ases o ini e subo dina e clauses.
The leng h o he sen ence-ini ial elemen is an
impo an s ylis ic ea u e: long sen ence-ini ial ele-
men s a e ypical o o mal ex s, whe eas spoken
language ends o a ou sho e ones (Lage holm,
2016, p. 131 ). Acco ding o Lage holm’s epo on
ela ed esea ch, he sen ence-ini ial elemen akes (on
a e age) app oxima ely 1.4 – 1.9 wo ds in spon aneous
speech, 2.8 in newspape s, 3.4 in academic p ose, and
6 in legal p ose (Lage holm, 2016, p. 250), bu wi h a
high dispe sion, especially in o mal ex s.
How is i , hen, ha bo h he Polish and Swedish
ex exhibi syn ac ic o e load in he sen ence-ini ial
posi ion, and eade s pe cei e his wo d o de in bo h
languages as ma ked ye accep able? We specula e
ha i is he syn ac ic o e load o sen ence-ini ial
elemen s ha lends he na a ion i s ehemence. I s
ma kedness is conside able, gi en ha such s uc u es
a ely occu in he colloquial egis e .
Undeniably, he na a o pushes himsel in o a
o mal s yle; and ye e en wi h all i s eccen ici y, he
na a ion is s ill ecognizable as spon aneous speech.
In his espec , on ing se es as a powe ul p agma ic
de ice o spon aneous speech: When on ing a piece
o in o ma ion, a speake delibe a ely con as s i
wi h wha he o she assumes o be he ecipien ’s
expec a ions7.
7P esen ing a piece o in o ma ion as con adic o y o
expec a ions is a way o highligh i . As Gi ón pu s
i : “The less p edic able he in o ma ion is o he mo e
impo an , he mo e likely i is o be placed ea lie in
he clause.” Ex ending i s leng h, as we obse e in bo h
language e sions o T ans-A lan yk, adds e en mo e
emphasis: “ he less p edic able he in o ma ion is, o he
mo e impo an , he mo e p ominen , dis inc o la ge
will be he code elemen (s) ha con ey i ” (Gi ón, 1984,
p. 249 ).
Sho A icle Ti le 7
Table 1. S uc u e o he Swedish decla a i e sen ence.
Sen ence-ini ial elemen Fini e e b Subjec Ad e bial In ini e e b Complemen Ad e bial
A he same ime, his causes he main p edica e
o d i owa ds he end o he sen ence. In unma -
ked sen ences, he end is popula ed wi h ci cums ances
ha a e new o he ecipien ( ocus). Ye he main
p edica e in a pos poned posi ion spo ligh s he en i e
e en , p esen ing each and e e y piece o in o ma ion
as new, s iking, and ex ao dina y a he same ime.
And his is how Gomb owicz (and Bodegå d likewise)
claim he eade ’s a en ion o e en he mos banal
s a emen s (which, in i s u n, in okes he gis o
gawęda).
6. Quan i a i e assessmen o syn ac ic
ma kedness
6.1. Resea ch ques ion
In hei analysis o he Swedish ansla ion o T ans-
A lan yk, Da a-Bukowska and de Bończa Bukowski
2018 applied a quali a i e app oach, obse ing he
syn ac ic o e load o sen ence-ini ial elemen s as i s
mos ma ked s ylis ic ea u e. In his pape , we assess
his same phenomenon quan i a i ely, based on a com-
pa ison o a syn ac ically anno a ed e e ence co pus.
The esea ch ques ion was his: Is sen ence-ini ial
syn ac ic loading mo e p e alen in he Swedish ans-
la ion o T ans-A lan yk han is usual o w i en
Swedish ex s (and is his di e ence compa able o
he ha be ween he Polish T ans-A lan yk and o he
w i en Polish ex s)? To compa e he sen ence-ini ial
syn ac ic loading (hence o h: le syn ac ic load) in
he Swedish ansla ion o T ans-A lan yk wi h o he
Swedish ex s, and in he o iginal Polish wi h o he
Polish ex s, we used a ela i ely la ge, high-quali y
pa allel co pus wi h gen e classi ica ion and a mos ly
manual sen ence alignmen . We ope a ionalized he
le syn ac ic load as he numbe o okens p eceding
he ini e e b o he main p edica e. In he second
s ep, we eco d he posi ions o subjec s, objec s,
p eposi ional g oups, and ad e bs loca ed o he le
o he sen ence p edica e, along wi h he ela i e
equency (i ems pe million) o sen ences wi h ha
elemen on ed. We assumed ha :
1. The p edica e posi ion index would be highe in
he Swedish e sion o T ans-A lan yk han in
o he Swedish ex s (and he same o Polish).
2. The Swedish e sion o T ans-A lan yk would
con ain mo e sen ences pe million wi h he gi en
elemen on ed han o he Swedish ex s would
(and he same o Polish).
3. The posi ion indices o indi idual on ed clause
elemen s would be highe in he Swedish e sion
o T ans-A lan yk han he posi ion indices o he
co esponding on ed clause elemen s in o he
Swedish ex s (and again, he same o Polish).
6.2. Da a
Ou e e ence co po a we e he Polish and he Swedish
subco po a o he In e Co p collec ion, Ve sion 13 ud
Rosen e al. (2021). They con ain 88 and 75 million
okens in o al, espec i ely, di ided in o gen es. Thei
mo phological and syn ac ic anno a ion is pe o med
in he Uni e sal Dependencies (UD) amewo k (Ni e
e al., 2020). We selec ed ex s con aining a leas i y
sen ences and disca ded a ew discussion ansc ip s
om EUROPARL (Koehn, 2005) due o ex emely
e oneous pa sing.
6.3. Da a ex ac ion
The e sion o he In e Co p co po a used in his
s udy is au oma ically lemma ized, mo phologically
agged, and syn ac ically pa sed, in keeping wi h he
UD amewo k. In e Co p canno be downloaded bu
is sea chable wi h he KonTex b owse (Machálek,
2020). We que ied In e Co p wi h he KonTex
API, which enables selec ed me ada a i ems o be
downloaded along wi h he que y esul s. We eques ed
he me ada a a ibu es ex _id and x ype (Tables 2
and 3 show he dis ibu ion o ex ac oss gen es).
Tex ype Tokens
Discussions – T ansc ip s 15,147,245
Fic ion 16,694,879
Non ic ion 716,776
O he 446,698
Religious 732,697
Sub i les 18,709,266
Table 2. Gen es in In e Co p Swedish, Ve sion 13-ud
We o mula ed ou sea ches as CQL que ies (E e
and CWB De elopmen Team, 2022), using he
8Sil ie Cinko á and Ewa Da a-Bukowska
Tex ype Tokens
Discussions – T ansc ip s 14,667,833
D ama 42,952
Fic ion 30,653,810
Jou nalism – commen a ies 2,2027,476
Jou nalism – news 851,620
Legal ex s 24,945,531
Non ic ion 897,641
O he 289,376
Religious 712,898
Sub i les 35,525,578
Table 3. Gen es in In e Co p Polish, Ve sion 13-ud
Uni e sal Dependencies ma kup. UD desc ibes each
sen ence as a oo ed syn ac ic dependency ee, wi h
he p edica e as he oo . Au oseman ic wo ds always
go e n unc ional wo ds. The syn ac ic ela ions
be ween wo ds a e indica ed by he dep el (depen-
dency ela ion) a ibu e. Each wo d is agged wi h a
pa o speech (upos) and some a e u he anno a ed
wi h mo phological ea u es, such as numbe , case, o
pe son, unde he ea s a ibu e.
CQL Que ies 1 and 2 illus a e he use o he
linea co pus sea ch o que y syn ac ic dependency
ees. The i s example que y iden i ies he ini e
o m o a con en e b (VERB) o an auxilia y e b
(AUX), whose dependency ela ion is oo . The second
que y sea ches o sen ences wi h long sen ence-ini ial
segmen s, s a ing wi h an ad e bial (always ma ked
as an ad e b in UD) ending wi h a ini e p edica e, as
desc ibed in he i s que y. In addi ion, he ad e bial
mus be syn ac ically go e ned by he p edica e.
Subsequen que ies we e o mula ed ollowing he
s uc u e o he second one, di e ing only in e ms o
he es ic ions on he ini ial elemen – including he
ollowing UD dep els: nominal subjec (nsubj), con en
clause (ccomp, can be ei he objec o subjec clause),
in ini i e clause (xcomp), ad e bial clause (ad cl),
nominal di ec objec (obj), nominal indi ec objec
(iobj), and p eposi ional nominal g oup o oblique
nominal g oup ecognized as nei he subjec no objec
(obl).
CQL Que y 1. Swedish ini e e bs as oo s
[dep el = " oo " & upos = "(VERB|AUX)" &
ea s="Ve bFo m=Fin"]
CQL Que y 2. Swedish ad e bs p eceding he ini e p edica e
1:[dep el = "ad mod"] []* 2:[dep el = " oo " &
upos = "(VERB|AUX)" & ea s="Ve bFo m=Fin"] &
1.head = 2.id wi hin <s/>
We ha es ed indi idual ma ches sepa a ely o
each clause elemen , eco ding he ex leng h (in
wo ds), gen e, and he KWIC leng h. Fo he posi ion
o he ini e p edica e in he sen ence, we also had
KonTex display he oken ID. Apa om uniquely
iden i ying a wo d, he oken ID also encodes i s
posi ion in he sen ence.
In e Co p con ains he Polish o iginal o T ans-
A lan yk, along wi h i s ansla ions in o se e al
languages, bu no o Swedish. The e o e, we pa sed i s
plain ex wi h UDPipe (S aka and S ako á, 2022)
and uploaded i in o he TEITOK co pus manage
(Janssen, 2021), p o ided as a web-based se ice
o indi idual use s by he LINDAT/CLARIAH-CZ
eposi o y.
Like KonTex , TEITOK uses Co pus Wo kbench
(E e and CWB De elopmen Team, 2022) and hence
CQL, wi h mino di e ences. We expe ienced no issues
ansla ing he que ies o making in e ope able he
espec i e ou pu s om TEITOK and KonTex .
7. Analy ical me hods
7.1. Posi ion o he ini e p edica e in Swedish
The i s esea ch ques ion conce ned he posi ion
o he ini e p edica e in he Swedish ansla ion o
T ans-A lan yk compa ed o o he Swedish ex s. We
ope a ionalized his as he a i hme ic mean o p e-
dica e posi ion indices (i.e. he numbe o okens
p eceding he ini e e b in each sen ence) and
compa ed i o he mean posi ion o he ini e p e-
dica e in each In e Co p gen e a ailable o Swedish in
In e Co p.
The In e Co p API did no allow e ie ing
mean posi ions o he ini e p edica e o indi idual
ex s. The e o e, o pe o m he compa ison, we
boo s apped he mean posi ion o he ini e p edica e
in each gen e.
7.2. Dis ance be ween a on ed clause elemen and
he ini e p edica e in Swedish
The second esea ch ques ion conce ned he dis ance
o a clause elemen in he on ed posi ion be o e he
ini e p edica e. Fi s , we e ie ed he sen ence coun
o each ex . Then we que ied he API o each clause
Sho A icle Ti le 9
elemen sepa a ely (nsubj,ccomp,xcomp,ad cl,obj,
iobj, and obl, c . Sec ion 6.3, CQL Que ies 1 and 2).
We compu ed he ollowing s a is ics o each ex and
que ied clause elemen :
1. he equency, pe million sen ences, o he on ing
o he gi en clause elemen ;
2. he mean dis ance and he s anda d de ia ion o
he KWIC leng h.
7.3. Re e ence expe imen o Polish
We epea ed he same wo expe imen s wi h he Polish
o iginal o T ans-A lan yk and o he ex s in he
Polish In e Co p subco pus, ollowing he analogous
p ocedu es.
8. Resul s
8.1. Resul s o he posi ion o he ini e p edica e
Table 4 p esen s he anges o he boo s apped mean
o p edica e posi ion indices ( he numbe o okens
p eceding he ini e e b in each sen ence) in Swe-
dish ex s wi hin each gen e. Wi h he mean o 5.30,
he Swedish ansla ion o T ans-A lan yk exceeds he
anges o all eco ded gen es, indica ing ha T ans-
A lan yk is a clea ou lie in Swedish in e ms o
p edica e posi ioning.
Nea ly he same applies o all Polish gen es, excep
o non- ic ion (Table 5): he mean p edica e posi ion
index exceeds he gen e-wise maximum. No ably,
he Polish o iginal o T ans-A lan yk alls below he
boo s apped ange o non- ic ion – wi h a high
ma gin.
O e all, hen, in Swedish, we see a s ong igh
shi o he p edica e compa ed o all w i en gen es,
whe eas in Polish, his applies o mos gen es excep
non- ic ion. The ma gin a ies be ween he languages,
bu in he eligious ex s and “O he ”, i is somewha
smalle in Polish han in Swedish. On he o he
hand, in bo h languages, we obse e an almos
iden ical di e ence o T ans-A lan yk alues om he
boo s apped alues in ic ion ex s.
8.2. Resul s o he dis ance be ween a on ed clause
elemen and he ini e p edica e
In his expe imen , we obse ed on ed clause ele-
men s wi h espec o hei equency as well as o
hei dis ance om he ini e p edica e. We examined
he da a om h ee pe spec i es: equency, mean, and
s anda d de ia ion. We plo ed he mos in e es ing
obse a ions. In he plo s, he x-axis ep esen s he
ela i e equency and he y-axis ep esen s he mean
Gen e Mean p edica e posi ion index
Religious 1.00 - 3.50
O he 3.80 - 4.00
Non ic ion 4.70 - 4.85
Fic ion 3.25 - 4.90
T ans-A lan yk 5.30
Table 4. Boo s apped mean p edica e posi ion index in Swe-
dish w i en ex s.
Gen e Mean p edica e posi ion index
Religious 4.10 - 4.25
O he 4.80 - 5.00
Non ic ion 6.40 - 6.65
Fic ion 4.27 - 5.00
T ans-A lan yk 5.45
Table 5. Boo s apped mean p edica e posi ion index in Polish
w i en ex s.
KWIC leng h. The da a poin s ep esen ex s wi h
hei espec i e mean KWIC leng hs and s anda d
de ia ions. T ans-A lan yk is highligh ed by size and
colo .
In a second s ep, we iden i ied he op en
documen s wi h espec o he equency o he gi en
on ed clause elemen - o iden i y ep esen a i e
wo ks showing simila i y o T ans-A lan yk in his
pa icula ega d.
The in ini i e clause (xcomp) u ned ou o be he
signa u e on ed clause elemen o T ans-A lan yk,
ac oss gen es and languages alike. Figu es 1 and 2
show how ex emely equen on ed in ini i e clauses
we e in bo h languages. In Swedish, hey e en ended
o be u he away om he ini e p edica e han
in Polish. This is no ewo hy, since Polish sen ence-
ini ial posi ion can heo e ically be occupied by a
delibe a e numbe o clause elemen s, whe eas he
Swedish sen ence-ini ial posi ion accommoda es only
one. Such an eno mous dis ance o he in ini i e om
he ini e e b p edica e indica es ha he Swedish
on ed in ini i e clauses could e en be loaded wi h an
ex ao dina ily ich a gumen s uc u e, o occu in a
coo dina ion. A he same ime, we obse ed a mo e
a iance o ha dis ance in Swedish han in Polish.
Ano he e y dis inc ly on ed clause elemen
was he ad e b in he posi ion o a clause ad e -
bial (ad mod). F on ed ad e bs occu ed ex emely
equen ly in he Swedish T ans-A lan yk (Figu e 3),
while in Polish (Figu e 4), hey we e equen , bu no
genuine ou lie s. Nei he hei leng h no hei a iance
s ood ou .
