Abstract: This paper combines a conceptual framework for subtypes of ellipsis in English and German with an analysis of elliptical constructions in a bilingual corpus of authentic language use. Its aim is to assess how ellipses contribute to the style and structure of texts, and to explore contrasts and similarities in the form, frequency and function of ellipses across languages and production modes. The sample texts are taken from a corpus of political speeches annotated for nominal, verbal and clausal ellipses. Clausal ellipses are the most frequent type, particularly in German, and contribute to an oral style. Less common are nominal and verbal ellipses, whose main purpose is to create an economical, crisp tone. The overall number of ellipses is generally lower in translations than in originals in the same language. Not only do translators tend to make their translations more explicit than the originals, they rarely create new ellipses as this would lead to stylistically marked textual units.

Keywords: aligned corpora, cohesive ellipsis, English-German contrasts, explicitation in translation, political speeches