This study investigates differences in the frequencies of Translation Method Categories (TMCs) as defined by Amenador and Wang (2022) in menus from Chinese restaurants in Pittsburgh neighborhoods with varying Asian population densities. Amenador & Wang (2022) TMC classifications include: Retention, Literal Translation, Neutralization (D, P, G), Amplification, Intercultural Adaptation, Substitution and Omission. Neighborhood selection involved Class A (high Asian population) and B (low Asian population) assignment based upon publicly available census data. Restaurants were randomly selected from each neighborhood using Yelp filtering criteria. Quantitative TMC comparisons were conducted on Chinese to English menus including frequency (f), composition (f/Ntotal * 100) and cross-class composition averages (x̅). Class A restaurants yielded a significantly higher average Literal Translation composition (x̅ = 34.5%); however, Class B restaurants had a higher average Retention composition (x̅ = 30.2%). Furthermore, treemap figures indicate a majority Neutralization (D, P, G) composition between both Class A and B. Class A incorporated significantly less instances of Intercultural Adaptation than Class B (x̅ = 6.2% vs x̅ = 0.5%). Wade-Giles romanization appeared more frequently throughout Retention cases in Class B. Observed differences between Class A and B TMC frequencies correlate with differences in American Chinese versus Authentic Chinese dishes served. Yet, further analysis may be required to establish a clear correlation between translation preference and customer ethnicities.
Food for Thought: A Quantitative Study Between Asian/Non-Asian Pittsburgh Neighborhoods & Chinese Menu Translation Methods
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