The Influence Of "Source Language Effect" On English-Chinese Interpretation

Interpretation is an inter-lingual behavior of explanation, which gains understanding ofthe source language through the explanation of symbolized language. Interpretation has thecharacteristics of impromptu, strong pressure, great comprehensive and so on. These featuresmake that interpreters inevitably follow the sentences patterns of source language in a verylimited time. This is called the “SL Effect”.“SL Effect” refers to the strategy of following theoriginal language in the process of interpretation, which means makes use of the maximumtolerance of target language to imitate the source language. Meanwhile, this kind of imitationis not mechanical, but dynamic. This report discusses the theoretical basis of “SL Effect”from the perspective of the characteristics of interpretation, communication studies, andcomparative linguistics to probe into the rationale of “SL Effect” in interpretation. Then, asthe State of Union Address an example, this report has a close analysis of the effect of “SLEffect” on the English-Chinese interpretation, especially positive impact. At last, this reportintroduces three strategies including the literal translation, syntactic linearity, reasonablegeneralization that interpreters can adopt in the interpretation activities such as simultaneousinterpretation.