计算语言学视角下英汉句法复杂度对比分析——基于《格列佛游记》多译本的Stanza实证研究

A Comparative Analysis of Syntactic Complexity between English and Chinese from the Perspective of Computational Linguistics—An Empirical Study of Stanza Based on Multiple Translations of “Gulliver’s Travels”

摘要: 本研究采用计算语言学方法，对《格列佛游记》英文原文及张健、杨昊成两个中文译本进行句法复杂度量化分析，以验证翻译普遍性假设(简化、显化)在经典文本中的适用性。通过Stanza工具，选取平均句长、嵌套深度、依存距离和实词密度四项指标，对全文本四个卷次进行分析。结果显示，相较原文，两译本均呈现显著简化趋势(p < 0.01)，平均句长缩短30%~40%，嵌套深度降低23%~30%，依存距离增加2%~7%，实词密度提高60%~70%，印证了汉英语言类型差异。译本间比较显示，张健译本在句长和嵌套深度上显著更低(p < 0.05)，结构更简洁；杨昊成译本依存距离更高，句法更趋向汉语意合表达与话语逻辑。实词密度也反映了信息表达效率差异。结论表明，本研究以数据驱动方式为英汉翻译句法特征演变及译者风格差异提供了量化证据，并为相关交叉研究提供了可复制的计算框架。

Abstract: Based on computational linguistic analysis, this study examines the syntactic complexity of Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels” and its two Chinese translations by Zhang Jian and Yang Haocheng, with a focus on translation universals including simplification and explicitation. Using Stanza toolkit, the study measures average sentence length, nesting depth, dependency distance, and lexical density across all four volumes. Results indicate significant syntactic simplification in both translations (p < 0.01), reflected in reduced sentence length (30%~40%) and lower nesting depth (23%~30%), alongside typological shifts such as increased dependency distance (2%~7%) and higher lexical density (60%~70%). Cross-translation comparison further reveals distinct translator styles: Zhang’s version employs notably shorter sentences and simplified structures, whereas Yang’s translation demonstrates greater syntactic complexity and a closer adherence to the characteristics of the original language. The findings offer quantitative support for syntactic evolution in translation and translator-specific stylistic variation, while providing a reproducible computational framework for cross-linguistic and translator studies.