Omission In Chinese-English Simultaneous Interpreting From The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

This thesis studies omission in Chinese to English simultaneous interpreting (SI) fromthe perspective of Relevance Theory (RT). Previous scholars in this area have studied thephenomena, causes, types, and impact of omission. But they only paid attention toinformation loss, not communication. Besides, few have studied omission in Chinese toEnglish simultaneous interpreting. So, this paper wants to probe into omission in Chineseto English simultaneous interpreting from the viewpoint of RT.Simultaneous interpreting, as a form of communication can be guided by RT whichfocuses on "optimal relevance", namely, spending minimal mental processing efforts togain the maximum contextual effects. Due to language and culture differences, effectiveomission to achieve "optimal relevance" is desirable.This paper discusses two questions: First, types of omission in C-E SI; Second, howto achieve effective omissions according to RT. To this end, an empirical study is carriedout. Five excerpts of C-E SI are transcribed and analyzed.Based on the analysis, following conclusions are drawn: in terms of languagedifferences, it is advisable to omit unnecessary words and structures that may result in“Chinglish”, and express in a more idiomatic manner. As for culture-loaded expressions, ifno equivalent is readily available, the interpreter can just omit the original words and focuson the communicative intention, or “implicature”(as is called in RT). As long as theintention is delivered, the communication is successful. Finally, with regard to new wordscropping up in Chinese, especially in political speeches, the interpreter should omit theunfathomable new term when the speaker has introduced the content or aim of it. Besides,when given the context, the lost information can be easily inferred, the exact term can alsobe left out.