The central focus of this Master's thesis is to describe the ways the elements of linguistic expressivity used in political speeches are transformed in French-to-Czech simultaneous interpreting. In the introductory part of the present thesis, we provide a summary of previous research on the means of expressivity in political speeches, which is completed by a description of the process of simultaneous interpreting. In this way, we intend to define possibilities of transfer of expressive elements in the French-to-Czech language combination. The second part consists of an in-depth contrastive analysis of original French and Czech political speeches followed by a comparison of the former with their interpreted versions. In the third step, we compared the original Czech speeches with interpretations. Using our own methodology, we assessed collected data and came to the conclusion that in French-to- Czech simultaneous interpreting, expressivity rate decreases. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

This thesis explores the issue of noise in the simultaneous interpreting process, using the concept of noise as defined in information theory and the model of communication developed by Claude Shannon. The theoretical section of this thesis first offers a brief explanation of the basic concepts involved in information theory, followed by a description of Shannon's model. Selected models of interpreting are then introduced based on this model of communication. A list of potential types of noise is then presented based on the literature examined that may have an impact on the interpreter during simultaneous interpreting. The empirical section of this thesis consists of a questionnaire and an experiment. The questionnaire determines to what extent interpreters find the potential types of noise from the list created in the theoretical section disruptive in their work. The list of types of noise is also expanded based on respondents' answers. The questionnaire also determines what strategies respondents employ to overcome adverse factors. The new types of noise and strategies employed are described in this thesis using open-ended answers from the respondents. The experiment tests the impact of a burst-noise channel on simultaneous interpreting. A total of 13 respondents took part in the experiment,...

This theoretical-empirical thesis deals with the quality assessment of simultaneous interpreters done by clients not familiar with the original speech, with special regard to self-correction. The aim of this thesis is to find out what effect self-correction has on listeners who are not familiar with the content of the original speech. At the same time, the thesis tries to shed light on the influence of stress on self-correction and it wants to reveal if being under stress leads to a lower level of self-correction, or if it stimulates the interpreters. The theoretical part of the thesis deals with the simultaneous interpretation in general, working conditions of a simultaneous interpreter, self-correction and it shows some of the previous investigations in the field of quality assessment of simultaneous interpreting. Also, the thesis investigates various factors that influence simultaneous interpretation and it presents mistakes typology. The empirical part of the study describes the experiment with students interpreting simultaneously from Spanish into Czech and it presents the results obtained via questionnaire surveys.

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The present thesis addresses the issue of the impact of two independent variables - speech rate and interpreters' experience - on the length of time lag in simultaneous interpreting from English to Czech. Time lag, or ear-voice-span (EVS), in simultaneous interpreting is the time difference between the input in source language and the output in target language. The study comprises of two parts. The first, theoretical part summarises the current state of research on the subject. The second, empirical part compares the average EVS in excerpts of sixty simultaneous interpreting renditions uttered by forty-nine subjects divided into two speech rate categories and three experiential categories. The aim is to find out, firstly, whether there are any differences in EVS length based on speech rate, and, secondly, how the interpreters' level of experience influences their EVS length. The first main finding is that a higher speech rate leads, on average, to a shorter EVS than an optimal speech rate; this does not, however, apply in the case of professional interpreters - their EVS length is not affected by speech rate. The second main finding is that the interpreters' level of experience influences EVS length significantly: the more experienced the subjects, the shorter their EVS on average. While evaluating...

This study compares simultaneously interpreted German speech to non-interpreted German discourse in order to determine whether interpreted language is characterised by any of the laws that have been found to feature in translated text, i.e. the law of growing standardisation and the law of interference. It is hypothesised that interpreters typically exaggerate German communicative norms, thereby producing manifestations of growing standardisation. In order to test this hypothesis, comparative and parallel analyses are carried out using corpora of interpreted and non-interpreted discourse. During the comparative phase, two types of interpreted German speech are each compared to non-interpreted language and to each other in order to determine how interpreted speech differs from non-interpreted discourse. During the parallel analysis, the interpreted German segments are compared to their source language counterparts with the aim of determining the reasons for the production of the patterns discovered during the first phase. The results indicate that interpreters do not produce patterns similar to those that characterise translated text: neither the law of growing standardisation nor the law of interference is manifest in the data. Instead, a different feature, namely an increased degree of generalisation, is discovered in the interpreters‟ output. This feature appears to be the result of the use of strategies that enable interpreters to deal with time, memory and linearity constraints inherent in SI. It can hence be confirmed that interpreted German differs from non-interpreted German discourse in certain respects. / Linguistics / M.A. (Linguistics)

This thesis addresses the pronunciation of proper names in simultaneous interpreting from French into Czech. It consists of 2 parts: the 1st, theoretical part discusses the definitions, categorization and functions of proper names as described in the relevant literature. The work then focuses on adoption of loanwords in Czech and on the specific situation of proper names in simultaneous interpreting. The empirical part analyses 600 personal names from speeches interpreted at plenary sessions of the European Parliament. The aim of the research is to describe the adaptation principles in pronunciation of proper names interpreted into Czech; the intelligibility of the used equivalents; and the frequency of use of female forms of surnames in the European Parliament. The results show that the prevailing adaptation principle is phonological approximation, which corresponds to the rules set by the codified pronunciation standard. Other common principles are retention of the original pronunciation and spelling pronunciation. Original pronunciation is more frequent in names of French origin, whereas spelling pronunciation is found mostly in English and German names. Most of the used translation equivalents are comprehensible: the number of incomprehensible equivalents amounts to 7-11%. Surprisingly, most of...

This thesis addresses the issue of the subjective perception of the speaker's speed during simultaneous interpretation. The theoretical grounding of the thesis is based on Karla Déjean Le Féal's doctoral thesis (1978), which first introduced the notion of subjective speed, whereby two speeches of equal objective speed (as measured in syllables/min.) are perceived as having different speeds. The conclusions of Déjean Le Féal's thesis demonstrate that interpreters usually experience a faster subjective speed when interpreting speeches which were prewritten and then read aloud by the speaker. Impromptu speeches are usually perceived as being slower than read speeches. Aside from the above-mentioned theory of subjective speed, the theoretical section of this thesis analyzes various approaches to measuring speech speed, the relation between objective speed and simultaneous interpreting, the determinants of speech speed and prosodic features influencing the subjective perception of speed. The empirical section of this thesis consists of an experiment which aims to verify Déjean Le Féal's conclusions using French-Czech material. The methodology of the experiment partially replicates the method used by Aneta Mandysová in her master's thesis (2011), which is focused on German-Czech material. The method used...

The dissertation provides a comprehensive analysis of the issue of quality in simultaneous interpreting. The theoretical part explores general questions related to quality in interpreting, namely the inherent difficulties encountered in defining quality, the issue of subjectivity in the assessment of quality, the different perspectives on quality and the issues surrounding the various quality criteria as suggested by different authors. The work focuses on the cognitive processes involved in simultaneous interpreting; concepts of working memory and cognitive load are discussed as well as their connection to the concept of interpreting as a decision-making process and a strategic behaviour. Quality is therefore understood as the capacity to efficiently and effectively manage available cognitive resources and to choose appropriate strategies to solve a particular problem in a specific interpreting situation, while taking into account the overall working conditions and the individual predispositions of the interpreter. The empirical part includes an analysis of actual interpreting of technical (legal) speeches. The technical nature of the speeches and the resulting linguistic and conceptual difficulties of the input material is considered to be a factor that increases cognitive load. The aim is to...

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T18:23:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Layla Penha.pdf: 3636004 bytes, checksum: 1250eb28a67e8200c80d85ca12e44e67 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-28 / This paper addresses the area of simultaneous interpretation, interpreting mode inserted in the field of Conference Interpreting. The purpose of this study is to verify the prosodic features of semi-spontaneous and interpreted speeches of a group of interpreters and analyze how such features may interfere in the assessment of quality and comprehension of the message delivered in interpretation. The subjects of this study were twelve female conference interpreters. The interpreters were recorded when producing a semi-spontaneous speech and during the simultaneous interpretation of a lecture. Three sampling segments representing the speech (extracted from the start, middle and end positions of the lecture) were selected. We conducted three types of assessment: an acoustic analysis of the selected speech samples, a perceptive assessment on the quality and comprehensibility of interpreters oral production, and an assessment on the quality of the content of the interpretation compared to the original lecture. Using the software Praat, we analyzed the prosodic features of interpreters semi-spontaneous and interpreted speeches acoustically, comparing them in terms of number and distribution of intonation groups and pauses; speech rate; and average, minimum and maximum fundamental frequency rates. By means of a questionnaire based on the Likert Scale applied to 90 judges, we assessed the impressive effects of interpreters oral production. Three interpreter trainers followed an assessment protocol to compare the speech produced by interpreters and the original lecture and verify completeness of original sense (S), errors (E) and omissions (O). Results were then compared for similarities and differences. This project was approved by the Brazilian Research Ethics Committee under no. 44465314.0.0000.5482 / Esta dissertação contempla a interpretação simultânea, modalidade inserida dentro da área de Interpretação de Conferências. O objetivo deste estudo é verificar as características prosódicas da fala semi-espontânea e da fala interpretada de um grupo de intérpretes e analisar como as características da fala interpretada podem influenciar a avaliação de qualidade e compreensão da mensagem produzida pelo intérprete. Participam como sujeitos da pesquisa doze intérpretes de conferência, do sexo feminino. As intérpretes foram audiogravadas em uma fala semi-espontânea e durante a interpretação simultânea de uma palestra. Três segmentos amostrais representativos do discurso (nas posições inicial, medial e final da palestra) foram selecionados. Foram realizados três tipos de estudo: um de natureza acústica, um de natureza perceptiva da qualidade e compreensibilidade da produção oral dos intérpretes e outro da qualidade da interpretação em relação ao discurso interpretado em termos de conteúdo semântico-discursivo. Com a utilização do software Praat, foram analisadas acusticamente as características prosódicas da fala semi-espontânea das intérpretes e dos extratos selecionados, comparando-os em termos de número e distribuição de grupos entoacionais e pausas, taxa de elocução e frequência fundamental média, mínima e máxima. Por meio de um questionário com base na escala de Likert aplicado a 90 juízes, foram avaliados os efeitos impressivos da produção oral dos intérpretes e através de um protocolo de avaliação aplicado a 3 profissionais da área de formação em interpretação foram comparadas as transcrições do discurso produzido pelas intérpretes em relação ao discurso interpretado para verificação da manutenção do sentido original (S), presença de erros (E) e de omissões (O). Os resultados foram discutidos para verificação de similaridades e diferenças entre as avaliações. Esse projeto foi aprovado pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa sob o no. 44465314.0.0000.5482