Abstract
The readability of a text depends largely on such factors as the lexical difficulty, the length of sentences, and the sentential structures. In addition, previous studies have revealed that the frequency of Sino-Korean or Sino-Japanese vocabulary used in a Korean or Japanese text also affects its readability. In this paper, a study of sample newspaper articles shows that Korean newspapers have used Chinese-derived words more frequently than their Japanese counterparts. In translating newspaper articles from Korean into Japanese, therefore, translators may need to make conscious efforts to increase the readability of a translation by selectively employing a strategy of translating the Sino-Korean vocabulary into pure and unique Japanese words.
