US-China Foreign Language, ISSN 1539-8080
October 2012, Vol. 10, No. 10, 1676-1681
The Study of Pragmatics in the Interpretation
From Chine Into English ∗
ZOU Jian-ling
University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
Interpretation is a cross-cultural communication. Interpreters’ awareness of cultural difference and context plays a
vital role in conveying faithful and reliable information. Thus it is esntial for interpreters to posss some
pragmatic ability. It is propod that pragmatic ability should be obtained from studying the correctness and
appropriateness of language expression and linguistic comprehension. This paper lists examples of two kinds of
pragmatic failures committed in the process of interpretation: pragma-linguistic failures and socio-linguistic
pragmatic failures, and analyzes the caus of the pragmatic failures from the perspectives of culture and value.
The purpo of the paper is to help facilitate oral interpretation in the cross-cultural communication.
Keywords: interpretation, communication, pragmatic ability, context, cross-culture pragmatic failure, pragmatic
difference Introduction
思恋的诗
With the development of foreign trade and cultural exchange, interpreting activities are wildly carried
on. Interpreter also becomes a very hot occupation. Many English majors and learners are involved in this occupation. However, their oral interpretative qualities are at variance. Judging from interpreting standards, we can find that some interpreters only focus on correctness in linguistic form and fluency in expression but neglect two important factors—cultural difference and context. Conquently, their interpretation will be inappropriate in context and cannot convey the speaker’s true feeling or attitude. Accordingly, interpretation is cloly relevant with other disciplines, pragmatics in particular. Firstly, let us analyze the relationship between pragmatics ability and interpretation.
Pragmatic ability is a kind of communicative ability, referring to the ability to comprehend context and understand others’ meaning and intention bad on contextual knowledge, and to correctly express one’s meaning (HE, 1997). In other words, pragmatic ability is an ability to understand and apply language to different communicative situations. Interpretation is a process of receiving and decoding source language, then recoding it to target language. Therefore, interpreter has to undertake the hard task of decoding and recoding message simultaneously. Faithful and reliable information conveyed by an interpreter depends largely on his/her ∗ Acknowledgements: The paper is funded by University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (US
ST) of Humanities and Social Sciences (USST 11XSY21). ZOU Jian-ling, lecturer at College of Foreign Language, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology.
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STUDY OF PRAGMATICS IN THE INTERPRETATION FROM CHINESE INTO ENGLISH1677
awareness of context, thus it is esntial for interpreter to posss pragmatic ability. How to obtain pragmatic
ability? We will discuss the question from the perspectives of language expression and language comprehension.
Language Expression—Correctness and Appropriateness
Correctness in expression refers to that words are correct in collocation and ntences are correct in grammar. Its function is to ensure that communication can be smoothly carried out. Appropriateness of
expression refers to ntences which are not only grammatically correct, but also appropriate and fit in specific
situations. Since interpretation is an oral communication, the appropriateness in context is more important than
the correctness in grammar. What is more, not all grammatically correct ntences are appropriate. Some of them
are pragmatically unacceptable. XIA (1995) gave us the followings (e Examples 1-2).
Example (1) A director of a school made a welcome speech for an American teacher. The interpreter
translated his ntences like following:
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m delighted to introduce to you a very pretty girl, Miss Brown. She
is a very good teacher from the USA…”
Although this ntence is grammatically correct, but inappropriate from the angle of pragmatics. Firstly, according to western culture, a grown-up will be unhappy when addresd “girl”, since girl implies being
inexperienced and immature. Secondly, when meeting at the first time, people ldom u subjective words, such
as “pretty”, “good”, etc., to describe a person.
Example (2) “Could you possibly help me with the luggage?”
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If the speaker asks for help to an unfamiliar person, this ntence is undoubtedly very appropriate. But if the speaker talks to his/her intimate friend, it will not be suitable.
In a word, correctness and appropriateness are important in cross-cultural communication. Communication is a dynamic process. Interpreters must frequently adjust their codes and make their interpretation fit for cultural
context in target language.
Interpretation is a direct and face-to-face cross-cultural communication. The interpreters’ cultural knowledge on the source language and the target language is vital to the success of interpretation. Therefore, it is
of great importance for interpreters to have awareness of cross-cultrue in order to avoid cross-cultural pragmatic
failures. The followings will analyze and study some pragmatic failures frequently committed in Chine-English
interpretation in order to clear up misunderstandings and facilitate communication.
Pragmatic failures do not refer to performance errors in lecting words and making ntence, but failures in talking something in inappropriate or incorrect expression, which results in the failure of communication (HE,
1997). “The inability to understand what is meant by what is said”, Thomas (1983) believed that there were two
kinds of cross-culture pragmatic failures: pragma-linguistic failure and socio-linguistic failure.
Trying to Avoid Pragma-Linguistic Failures in Interpretation
Thomas (1983) pointed out that:
Pragma-linguistic failure occurs when the pragmatic force mapped by the speaker onto a given utterance is systematically different from most frequently assigned to it by native speakers of the target language, or when
conversational strategies are inappropriately transferred from language 1 to language 2. (p. 99)
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STUDY OF PRAGMATICS IN THE INTERPRETATION FROM CHINESE INTO ENGLISH Pragma-linguistic failures result from a failure to identify or express meanings correctly. As far as Chine-English interpretation is concerned, pragma-linguistic failures are committed in the equivalence
between Chine and English words according to their literary meaning, which violate linguistic conventions of吃的笔顺
English native speakers. People often commit pragma-linguistic failures in the following situations:
Finding equivalence from one language to the other language. The typical example is that Chine people are ud to answering some questions with “当然” (“of cour” in English) (ZHANG, 2000). When they
communicate with foreigners, they also bring this habit into English expressions. But in English, “of cour”
implies “evidently” and “clearly”. Therefore, after hearing the reply, listener will probably feel unhappy: “Do
you think I am foolish?”.
For another example: There are many modifiers in Chine, such as “顺利进行，胜利完成，热烈拥护，积极支持，努力做到，认真贯彻，广泛开展，严肃查处”, etc. (WANG, 2002). But in English, too many
modifiers will appear redundant and malfunction contrarily. Interpreter does not necessarily translate each
modifier. Moreover, some ntences with modifiers, which em very correct and appropriate in Chine
expression, become completely unsuitable when interpreted into English. For instance, when one foreign
delegation visit a company, Chine like to say to them “请多提宝贵意见” as an end. If an interpreter translates
this ntence into “Plea give us your valuable opinions”, the visitors will feel embarrasd and probably think
“How can I know whether my opinions are valuable or not”. On this occasion, they will say nothing. In fact, the
best interpretation is “Your opinions will be appreciated”.
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Neglecting the cultural difference between Chine and English and interpret in Chine way.
Influenced by traditional culture with Confucianism as a core, Chine people regard modesty and implicitness
as virtues and tend to respond in an ambiguous way to show their courtesy. Thus, Chine people often u
vague words in communication, such as “也许、或许、可能、大约、大概、差不多、大体上、基本上”
(“maybe, perhaps, probably, about, approximately, almost, nearly, generally, basically”) (WANG, 2002). But
Westerners, especially American people, on the contrary, are more straightforward. They like to go directly to
topics. Too many vague words in interpretation will give foreigners the impression of ambiguity and speaking
with their tongues in their cheeks. The vagueness of Chine expressions also violates one of the standards of
interpretation—clarity, which may result in pragma-linguistic failures in communication. In addition, Chine
people usually u the pet phra “我尽量…”, which can be translated into “I will do my best…”. In Chine,
this phra has two connotations: One is to decline, and the other is for the sake of avoiding taking
responsibility. It ems to imply that once they cannot finish task, they may easily find excu. But in English,
this phra is a positive respon, becau “I will do my best” means “I will try to overcome difficulties to
accomplish commission”.
Trying to Avoid Socio-Linguistic Pragmatic Failures
醉春风
Socio-pragmatic failures refer to linguistic inappropriateness committed in communication due to the ignorance or neglect of difference in social and cultural background (HE, 1997). Socio-pragmatic failure results
from different cultural norms and pragmatic principles that govern linguistic behaviors in different cultures. It is
related to the status of communicators, communicative register, and familiarity to topic. In interpretation,
socio-linguistic pragmatic failures are showed in the following aspects.南瓜子的功效与作用及禁忌
STUDY OF PRAGMATICS IN THE INTERPRETATION FROM CHINESE INTO ENGLISH1679
Interpreting polite formulas but neglecting cultural difference. With the evolution of culture, each language has its own polite formulas which are accepted through common practice. In oral communication, it is
easy for interpreter to transfer this kind of polite formula into the target language if the interpreter is lack of two
languages competences (e Examples 3-4).
Example (3) In opening ceremony of international academic conference, the key-note speaker usually concludes their ceremonial speech with the ntence “祝大会圆满成功！祝与会代表身体健康，家庭幸福”,
“家庭幸福” as a kind of polite formulas. But in Westerners’ view, it is ridiculous to wish family happy in rious
international academic conference. Therefore, interpreters may not translate the words literally but replace
them with English expressions, such as “I wish the conference a great success and wish you good health and a
happy stay in… (the name of city holding conference)”.
Example (4) Chine people often say some polite formulas to foreign guests, such as “招待不周”, “准备工作做得不好”, etc.. If we interpret them literally to foreigner, they will surely be confud, and even cau
misunderstandings. Another example: When guests extend their thanks to Chine hosts, Chine hosts often
respond with the ntence “这是我们应该做的”. We cannot translate it into “It’s our duty” according to the literal
meaning, which will result in misunderstanding. Instead, we should say “With pleasure” or “ It is my pleasure”.
Pragmatic failures committed due to the neglect of value. As far as some political phenomena and propagandas are concerned, we had better translate in details and make complementary or explanatory translation
(e Examples 5-8).
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Political terms. There are a lot of political terms which are abbreviated into simple phras in utterances, becau they are so frequently quoted that Chine people are very familiar with their exact meaning. In the
cross-cultural communication, interpreters should give expanded explanations to the political terms rather than
translate their abbreviations.个人介绍>花朵手工制作
Example (5) “三个代表”
“Three reprents” theory (The Party should always reprent the development needs of China’s ad
vanced social productive force, always reprent the onward direction of china’s advanced culture, and always reprent
the fundamental interests of the largest member of the Chine people).
Example (6) “两手抓，两手硬”
We must give equal importance to economic development on the one hand and to the development of socialist culture as well as ideology on the other hand.
Example (7) “三讲教育”
“Three emphas” education (to stress theoretical study, political awareness and good conduct).
Example (8) “直接三通和双向交流”
Three direct links (mail, air, and shipping rvice and trade) and bilateral exchange.
Propaganda.Propaganda is a typical cultural phenomenon with Chine characteristics. Some propaganda cannot be translated into English according to their literary meaning (e Examples 9-11).
Example (9) “高高兴兴上班去，平平安安回家来”
If we express it in English according to its literary meaning, “Go to work happily, and come back safely!”, the foreigner will be at a loss and ask “So what?”. In fact, we only say “Good luck” to express the wish clearly.
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STUDY OF PRAGMATICS IN THE INTERPRETATION FROM CHINESE INTO ENGLISH Example (10) “当好东道主，热情迎嘉宾”
“Act as a good host, Warm welcome guests”. This kind of interpretation will surely result in confusion and misunderstanding. We can simply express “You are warmly welcome”.
Example (11) “向文明游客学习，向文明游客致敬”
“Learn from Civilized Tourists! Salute to Civilized Tourists!”. Any foreigner reading it will wonder that we foreign tourists are civilized, so are your domestic tourists barbarous. It is unnecessary to interpret this kind of
propaganda.
Linguistic Comprehension—Contextual Appropriateness
Language should be uttered in a certain context. How to choo appropriate expression is decided by dynamic context or communicative situation. Context and topics involved in interpretations range widely from
reception, ceremonial speech, tourism, business negotiation, conference address, publicity and prentation, to
阖家吉祥
interview, cultural exchange and science report, etc.. Different interpretation requires different expressions
especially in style and genre. Interpreters must u appropriate language to match with topic and context.
Diplomacy is an important part of state policy, so its language should be formal and appropriate. MEI (2000)
gave the following diplomatic examples, each of which has two different translations (e Examples 12-14).
Example (12) “今天晚上，我有机会在这里设宴款待来自斯里兰卡的尊敬客人，感到十分高兴”
A: I’m very happy to have the chance to give a banquet to our distinguished Sri Lanka guests.
B: It gives me great pleasure this evening to have the opportunity of hosting this banquet for All Rights Rerved.
our distinguished guests from Sri Lanka.
Example (13) “请来宾们就坐”
A: Our guests, would you plea find your ats and sit down.
B: Distinguished guests, you are kindly requested to take your ats.
Example (14) “在这个问题上，我们的态度没有变”
A: We have not changed our view on this issue
B: On this issue, our position remains unchanged.
形容美到极致的句子From the examples, we can find choices B are more appropriate and meet the requirements for formal diplomatic situation.
Linguistic comprehension is cloly related to the consciousness of pragmatic differences. Pragmatic differences caud by Chine and English cultural factors exist in the following aspects: number, color, time,
idiomatic expression, value, etc.. Interpreters should keep the differences in mind, and when necessary, make
some adjustment to achieve pragmatic equivalence. The same image has different meaning in different culture.
For instance, “she is a cat” does not say “她是一只馋猫”．It means “她是个心地恶毒的女人”. Here some
specific examples are listed out in color and idiomatic expression.
The Pragmatic Difference in Color
Different nations have different preference for colors. Culture differences are also reflected in color.
Interpreter should know tho differences in order to facilitate his/her interpretation. Green is a taboo color in
Brazil, so is yellow in Japan, red in Thailand, blue in Belgium, and black in Europe. Let us e Examples 15-17.
