I & T Theory Interpreting Lecture 4

I & T Theory Interpreting Lecture 4

Politeness •

Traditional theories of politeness are based on the English language

•

Brown and Levinson (1987), Leech (1983) and Lakoff (1973), have all suggested that politeness correlates with indirectness.

•

The use of the imperative in Polish is not necessarily related to impoliteness (Wierzbicka, 1985)

•

Spanish speakers use more direct requests than American speakers to express politeness (Mir, 1993)

•

A study showed that interpreters added a degree of politeness when interpreting from Spanish into English (Berk-seligson, 1988)

3 maxims of politeness (Lakoff, 1973): 1.Don’t impose 2.Give options 3.Make the hearer feel good In order to adhere to these maxims, Grice’s conversational maxims may have to be flouted. Politeness, truth and brevity are often incompatible.

Cross-cultural differences regarding politeness • Politeness is expressed through different strategies by different cultures • A very important strategy used in English to give the hearer the option to refuse is making requests by way of questions, which are indirect speech acts. • The use of imperative in German to make requests (e.g. “pass me the book, please!” versus “would you pass me the book, please?”

Register • A register is a variety of a language distinguished according to use and situational appropriateness. (Halliday et al,1973) • Register falls into the pragmatic domain of language because it is concerned with appropriateness of language according to context. • A register is a configuration of meanings that are typically associated with a particular situational configuration of field, mode and tenor. • Register is commonly divided into two major broad categories: formal and informal

Register Register is manifested in field, tenor and mode: Field: Refers to the subject matter, the setting or the context, e.g. lecture Tenor: Refers to the relationship between the interlocutors in that particular context, e.g. lecturer – student. Mode: Refers to the medium through which the discourse is expressed, e.g. written, spoken, spoken to be written etc.

Register • Field, tenor and mode guide speakers to the use of formal/informal register • Some linguists use the term register to refer to dialects or language varieties. • Sociolinguists speak of 3 types of dialects: regional, social and temporal • ‘Low' register and 'high' register are used to refer to low and high varieties or social dialects of English • Some interpreters shift registers (Berk-seligson, 1990; Hale, 1997)

Pragmatic equivalence • Pragmatic meaning overrides semantic meaning • Translation is primarily a pragmatic reconstruction of its source text (House, 1977) • The interpreter must be aware of all the pragmatic aspects of both languages

• Interpreters must understand the speakers’ intention, not their words (Morris, 1995) • Pragmatic equivalence does not mean a complete disregard for form • The form of an utterance will impact on its effect • The pragmatic meaning is represented through lexis and syntax, as well as the supra-segmental features of speech • 'what' + 'how' = pragmatic meaning • Languages often have ready semantic equivalents that are not pragmatically equivalent, e.g., swear words

• Accuracy is an important ethical tenet • NAATI’s definition of accuracy is unclear • Accuracy expectations differ according to interpreting mode and participant expectations • Some monolingual users of interpreting services believe that accuracy is delivering the same quantity of words in TL • Untrained bilinguals believe accuracy is reporting, summarising or filtering • It is problematic when interpreters act in line with bilinguals, e.g. reporting in the third person.

Example: Defendant : Mi declracion es que he llegado, y he llegado solo y estoy diciendo Back translation: (My statement is that I arrived, and that I arrived by myself I'm saying) Interpreter: He says, sir, that he has made his statement that he lived alone and that was all, and I am telling... (Berk-Seligson, 1990).

The level of accuracy differs according to the mode and setting: Court: • For witness testimony, accuracy of content and form is essential • Incoherence is important to be delivered in court Conference Interpreting: • In conference interpreting (simultaneous, consecutive, chuchotage and sight translation) information content is most important • Stylistic considerations take second priority • Filtering, paraphrasing and summarising are acceptable strategies

• Accuracy is not interpreting verbatim • Accuracy is relaying what is said in a similar style and manner • Due attention to equivalent effect is required, i.e., TL delivery of equivalent pragmatic meaning and force • Register, style, completeness and intention are crucial in interpreting. (Benmann,1997)

Benmann (1997) quotes Dueñas Gonzales et al, 1991:

Interpreting register: “Faithful adherence to the register of speech” (formal, educated and uneducated syntax and vocabulary) Interpreting obscenities: “Articulation of slang, obscenities, sexually explicit language” (Interpreters are not responsible for the content) Interpreting pragmatically: “The intended meaning cannot be misrepresented in any way”

Interpreting Register: Example: Witness from low socio-economic background with poor education Prosecutor: Tell the court what happened. Witness: Well I was walkin’ past about on the 18th of uh ‘bout a month ago I was walking past goin’ to get the bus… I, I was in a public footpath which I’m entile’ to walk on …. and he threw the gate out and narrowly missed me back, he knows I’ve got a bad back and just missed me and I jumped aside

Informal dialect: dialect:

High social

Well I was walkin’ past about on the 18th of uh ‘bout a month ago I was walking past goin’ to get the bus… I, I was in a public footpath which I’m entile’ to walk on…

Well, I was walking passed his house on about the 18th, about a month ago, on my way to catch the bus. I was on a public footpath as I am entitled to do.

and he threw the gate out and narrowly missed me back, he knows I’ve got a bad back and just missed me and I jumped aside so…

He threw the gate out and narrowly missed my back. He knew I have an injured back. He narrowly missed me as I jumped back.

Register adaptation is common among interpreters and it can affect accuracy: • They attempt to match the listener’s dialect • They are tempted to neutralize social dialects • Lowering or raising the register can alter the impression the listener has of the speaker.

• Finding a pragmatic equivalent to obscenities is important • Interpreters are actors and need to portray the speaker’s style to give the same impression • Accurate interpretation can only be achieved when we interpret pragmatically.

End of Lecture 4

Readings 6, 7 and 8