Lecture 2 口译基本方法在线视频

Hello everyone

Welcome to the online course

Interpreting: Theory and Practice

I’m your lecturer Catherine

In last lecture

we talked about three essential skills of public speaking

In this lecture

I’ll introduce some basic approaches to interpretation

including syntactic linearity

language reorganization and repetition

We’ll learn about each of them in detail

Syntactic linearity is a common strategy applied

in simultaneous interpreting

Considering the immediacy of simultaneous interpreting

the interpreter has to keep pace with the speaker

from the beginning to the end

making sure the audience

can get firsthand target information timely

To maintain the coherence of the language

and timely delivery

the interpreter barely has time

to make big adjustments

to the structure of the source language

Therefore

he/she divides the source language sentences

into several sense groups

without changing the source language structure

and connects them as naturally as possible

via a target language

This is the skill of syntactic linearity

which saves time and relieves the burden

of short-term memory

Because of these reasons

syntactic linearity is taken as a must-have skill

for simultaneous interpreters

Here are some examples of syntactic linearity

Let’s look at them and get an insight

into how the target language is arranged

When people are speaking

they do not keep talking

until the end without a break

On the contrary

they pause regularly at the right place

and each pause makes a sense group

In this example

the interpreter divided what the speaker said

into seven sense groups

and delivered the target language on that basis

But there is a slight difference

between the source language and the target language

Can you point it out?

You may have noted that in the source language

there are seven sense groups

whereas

the target language includes only six

Why?

It’s due to the conciseness of the Chinese

If we inflexibly render the last two sense groups

into corresponding number of sense groups

in the target language

it’ll cause redundancy

giving the listeners an unpleasant feeling

that the interpreter lacks language skill

Here’s another example

In this example

there are six sense groups

The interpreter also used six in the target language

without causing any verbosity

Interestingly

the word “形成” was employed as much as four times

in the source language

The interpreter skillfully found a counterpart

for each of them

avoiding repetition and producing a good effect

From these two examples

we can see that in syntactic linearity

the sentence patterns are largely identical

in both the source and the target language

To ensure coherent reproduction

the interpreter tends to use simple sentences

rather than compound ones

But for all its strengths

syntactic linearity doesn’t work all the time

There exist great divergences

between Chinese and English

in their syntactic structure and ways of expression

Long and complicated sentences

frequently appear in English

but in Chinese

it’s not the custom to include long attributives

and adverbials in speaking

If we awkwardly apply the strategy of syntactic linearity

at the wrong time

chances are that they will lead to misunderstanding

or inaccuracy

That’s why

we have to adopt other techniques as well

and language reorganization

has found popularity among interpreters

Language reorganization means

the process of rearranging sentences

on the basis of a clear understanding

of the source language structure and its meaning

Its key purpose

is to break away from the original structure

so as to make the target language

suit native speakers’ habits

Let’s look at some examples

Example 1

In this example

the source language is split into four sense groups

But we cannot adopt the skill of syntactic linearity

because of three reasons

First

this sentence includes an attributive clause

that cannot exist or express meanings independently

Second

the expression “more than” in the sense group one

and three cannot be separated

Third

an “as clause” can be put at the beginning

in the middle or at the end of a sentence in English

but it is usually put at the beginning in Chinese

Therefore

none of the groups makes sense independently

In rendering this sentence

we have to reorganize the source sentence

based on the custom of Chinese

The target language goes like this

One of the major differences

between Chinese and English

lies in their terms of logic

in reason and narration

In Chinese

key information does not appear till the end

Wheareas

it’s the opposite in English

Central information usually comes the first

followed by secondary information

In rendering this sentence

we have to take this into consideration

and make some adjustments

to the senquence of the sentence

The above two examples

just reflect the macro skill of language reorganization

In fact

some micro techniques are involved

in language organization too

including conversion

paraphrasing

addition

omission etc

Next

we’ll look at some examples

that demonstrate these skills

Examples 1

Conversion

He’s a good public speaker

Usually

we interpret this sentence into “他很擅长演讲”

instead of “他是一个好的演讲者”

But why?

The English language

is known as a stative language

It uses fewer verbs

but more nouns and prepositions

to express meanings

while Chinese is more of a dynamic language

because it tends to use verbs

In interpreting this sentence

we convert the adjective “good” into a verb

so that it suits the language custom

Examples 2

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing means to explain the source language meaning

by abandoning its language constraints

It’s not easy to become a member of that club

They want people who have plenty of money

not just every Tom and Harry

In this example

“Tom” and “Harry”

are common American and British names

They do not refer to any specific persons

We have corresponding expressions

for them in Chinese

like “张三 李四”

So this sentence can be interpreted into

要参加那个俱乐部并非易事

他们只吸收手头阔绰的人

而不是普通百姓

Paraphrasing makes the target language

concise and clear

without affecting the source language meaning

Examples 3

Addition

To make the target language suitable

for native readers

sometimes we have to add some words

phrases or sentences to the source language

to achieve a clearer logic

But remember you should never add further meanings

Let’s look at this example

如何使中美关系健康向前发展

我想还是要遵行

平等相待

互利共赢的原则

As for how to ensure healthy development

of China-US ties

I believe both countries need to act

in keeping with the principles

of equality and mutual benefit

In the target language

the subject “both countries”

is added to make the target version

coherent in meaning

Examples 4

Omission

在我国改革开放和现代化建设发展的关键时期

我们召开这样一个

承前启后、继往开来

的大会具有极为重要的意义

Repetition is broadly used in Chinese

to achieve a rhythmic effect

In contrast

the English language tries to be concise

by omitting repetitive information

In the source language

“承前启后” and “继往开来”

share a similar meaning

In interpreting this sentence

we don’t have to repeat them twice by saying

inherits the past and ushers in the future

and builds on the past and prepares for the future

Instead

we can omit one of the phrases

and interpret this sentence into

With China’s reform and opening up

and socialist modernization drive

at the critical stage

it is of extremely great significance for us

to have convened such a congress

that builds on the past and prepares for the future

Apart from syntactic linearity

and language reorganization

there is a third skill called repetition

which is really indispensable

in simultaneous interpreting

Repetition

as an important technique

helps compensate what is lost

in syntactic linearity

and makes simultaneous interpreting

complete and smooth

Here’re two examples

When you read them

please think about how you will interpret

and translate them

respectively

Examples 1

He has also developed

a positive and constructive dialogue

with the NGO community

How will you translate this sentence?

I believe most of you will translate it into

他也与非政府组织开展了

积极 建设性的对话

But in simultaneous interpreting

we’ll get a different version

他还开展了积极的

建设性的对话

与非政府组织进行了这样的对话

For the first sense group

we can apply the skill of syntactic linearity

because the sentence structure

is the same in two languages

But we need to repeat the word “dialogue”

in the second sense group

to make it complete in meaning

Examples 2

It is necessary to guarantee women

full equality of rights

in social life as a whole

有必要保障妇女充分平等的权利

在整个生活中都保障这样的权利

“It is necessary” as a formal subject

is usually put at the end of a sentence

in translation

meaning “something is necessary”

In interpreting

“It is necessary” comes the first

followed by the rest of the information

So this sentence is interpreted into

有必要保障妇女充分平等的权利

在整个生活中都保障这样的权利

In this lecture

we discussed three interpreting skills

syntactic linearity

language reorganization and repetition

In your practice

please consciously apply these skills

to see how they can help your interpretation

Yet it is worthy of mentioning that interpretation

is not all about skills

Skills do improve interpreting efficiency

but what we need more is a solid foundation

of the source and the target language

wide range of knowledge

strong short-memory

helpful notes and constant practice

In spite of these general tactics

we may still meet with various difficulties

and frustrations in interpreting

In next lecture

we’ll learn how to cope with the

unexpected situations in interpretation

Be sure to come back for more