To appendix 1: Comments and discussion
Back to Paper
Back to Helge Niska home page
1998-04-02
Helge Niska
Department of Finnish
Stockholm University
S-106 91 Stockholm
Dear Court interpreter,
Here are five strategies that interpreters may use when they encounter
a term or concept that they cannot (immediately) translate:
1. Omission and/or substitution by non-committal, "empty" phrase,
e.g. "things", "these facts" etc.
2. Use of approximate or provisional equivalent, e.g. EN "junior high
school" for DE "Gymnasium"
3. Explanation of concept, e.g. FR le baccalauréat - EN "the
French secondary school leaving examination"
4. Loan translation. "Literal" translation of source language
term, i.e. compound words and word combinations are translated component
by component. E.g. DE "runterladen" for EN "download",
la Communauté Européenne - the European Community - Europeiska
Gemenskapen
5. Direct loan. Source language term is used "as is" or with
some modification to make it fit in the target language system, e.g. "baccalaureat"
in an English text about the French secondary school exam.
Throught this simple survey I am trying to find out if the various strategies
are indeed being used and if it is possible to rank them statistically.
For each question, please pick the alternative that you are most likely
to choose in the most typical court or legal interpreting situation you
work in. All answers are registered automatically by a computer program
and can not be traced back to the sender. If you have comments, questions
or methodological criticism, please send a message to Helge.Niska@tolk.su.se
Thank you in advance for taking part in this survey! Your cooperation is
much appreciated.
Helge Niska
Stockholm University, Sweden