A Study On The Consecutive Interpreting Principle: The Interpretation Of Sense

Based on the Interpretive Theory, this dissertation argues that the nature of consecutive interpreting is the interpretation of the sense of the source speech, not its linguistic forms, and that the principle of consecutive interpreting is the accurate interpretation of the sense of the source speech --- the complete interpretation of the key points of explicit information and the accurate interpretation of the implicit information conveyed by the key points of the source speech through the analysis of the factors that influence the working of consecutive interpreting and the case study of the consecutive interpretations of news conference. "Interpretation" indicates the profound comprehension and clear expression of the sense of the source text in an intelligible way. "Sense" is the whole meaning of the text in interpreting, it is the organic whole of the explicit information and the implicit information of the source speech, or the organic whole of the linguistic information and the non-linguistic information. Spoken language---the language carrier of interpreting, memory structures---the psychological mechanism of interpreting, the situation of interpreting, including the simultaneity of communication and interpreting, the information receptivity of the listener(s) and the expressing ability of the speaker, these factors justify the interpretation of the sense of the source speech as necessary, inevitable and feasible. As shown from the analysis of the handling of the key points and the words in the interpretation of the news conference hosted by Premier Zhu Rongji, the interpreter tries to reproduce the sense of the source speech based on the comprehension of the source speech, not focusing on the correspondence of words.Key points are the explicit forms of sense units, while the implicit information conveyed by the key points is the information that the speaker intends to convey. Therefore, the accurate interpretation of sense indicates the complete interpretation of the key points of explicit information and the accurate interpretation of the implicit information conveyed by the key points of the source speech.