A Relevance-Theoretic Exploration Of Fuzzy Information Rendering In Consecutive Interpretation

This thesis applies the relevance theory to exploring the inferential process of consecutive interpretation, or more specifically, to researches on how to gain the optimal relevance from contextual assumptions and how to deal with the fuzzy information in the speaker's utterance properly and transmit the speaker's informative intention and communicative intention to the target audience. But any neglecting of the fuzzy information in the source speaker's utterances may lead to misunderstanding of the source language. The author aims at dealing with the fuzzy information normally ignored by interpreters and in the hope of improving the overall quality of interpreting.Relevance theory believes that communication is an ostensive-inferential process in which people will obey the principle of relevance, namely every act of ostensive communication owns its own optimal relevance. The paper employs some important notions of this theory, such as ostensive-inferential communication, cognitive environment and mutual manifestness, contextual assumption and the principle of relevance. These notions enlighten consecutive interpretation research from a new angle. The paper employs relevance theory in consecutive interpretation and points out that consecutive interpretation is also ostensive-inferential communication in which the interpreter receives and transmits information; consecutive interpretation is inter-lingual interpretive use; the principle of relevance can also guide consecutive interpretation. At last, the paper indicates that the interpreter should transmit the source speaker's informative intention and communicative intention and illustrates that accessing contextual assumptions from different ways helps the interpreter gain the optimal relevance to the source speaker's utterances and deal with the fuzzy information properly to make the relevant consecutive interpretation.