An Empirical Study Of Register Deviation In Chinese To English Interpreting

As a demanding practice, interpreting is a continuous problem-solving process that poses various challenges on interpreters. Register deviation in Chinese-English(hereinafter referred to as C-E) interpreting is one of the most prominent hurdles for interpreters, be it an expert or a trainee. They not only have to deal with the sudden change of register, but also are obliged to ensure that the function of the register deviation is delivered in their interpreting output. With English as their second language, it is even harder for Chinese interpreters to interpret the original text or source text(hereinafter referred to as ST) with deviated register into the proper register of a foreign language.To examine the phenomenon of register deviation in C-E interpreting and shed some light on the approaches to deal with the typical hurdle, both the quantitative and qualitative methods will be adopted in the thesis to analyze the interpretation of Premier Li Keqiang’s Press Conference(PC) in from 2013 to 2015 for Li’s speeches are dotted with a variety of register deviations and the treatment of register deviations by senior interpreters from Ministry of Foreign Affairs are undoubtedly enlightening.Based on Halliday’s concept of register---field, tenor and mode, register deviations are put into three main categories: field deviation, tenor deviation and mode deviations. It is hypothesized in this paper that there are underlying rules of dealing with different register deviations that can not only appropriately deliver the meaning of the speaker but also realize functional effects of the deviations. Interpreters’ interpretation of different types of register deviations are analyzed with statistics records to find out this potential law of dealing with register deviations.After the quantitative and qualitative analysis of interpreters’ performance of the three typical press conferences, the proposed hypothesis is proved and the myth of register deviation in C-E interpreting and the strategies to deal with them has been unveiled. It is found in this study that the interpreters mainly resort to two major approaches to deal with various register deviations and deviation combination in the original speech. The two approaches are respectively oriented towards formal and functional equivalence of the register. Based on the statistical analysis, the following conclusion can be reached: despite the vivid style of the ST contributed by register deviations, the interpreter tends to adopt the approach to achieve functional equivalence hence producing an interpretation that demonstrated less register deviations. Nevertheless, as the style of the speaker begins to sink in the mind of the audience later, the interpreter would resort more to achieve the formal equivalence of register by stay true to the register deviations in the original text.This study is of empirical value and expected to further the research on the interpreting from the perspective of linguistics, especially from the angle of register, and to shed some light on the quality assessment, pedagogy and practice of interpreting.