There are as many ways to turn one language version of an idea into target language version as there are ways of expressing the same idea in the target language irrespective of the original. Below are just a few ideas, they are not the only way to do things but rather a limited demonstration of how reformulation can be used as a problem solver by the interpreter.
1. Changing word order in a clause
1.1 hold the first idea in a German sentence and tag it on at the end
| Am 15.Nov entschied sich das Parlament fuer… | The Parliament decided on 15th Nov that.… . |
| In Deutschland werden weitere Fortschritte gemacht | Further progress is being made in Germany |
1.2 German prefers the order…
| TIME… MANNER… PLACE | Sie haben sich letzte Woche in Muenchen wiedergefunden. |
| English prefers the order…PLACE… MANNER… TIME | They met up in Munich last week. |
1.3 unbundling complex german qualifiers…
| die am 4. marz an der Sitzung in Rom unterzeichnete Vertrag wurde…. | On 4th march a contract was signed in Rome, which was… |
1.4 English likes compound nouns…
| methodes de collectes de donnees | data collection methods |
1.5 changing clause order in a sentence
( see also James Nolan on changing the order of adverbial clauses.)
| when we met in berlin last week, we ratified the committee’s draft opinion | we ratified the committee’s draft opinion, when we met in berlin last week |
2. Parts of Speech (transposition)
2.1 Changing parts of speech
| change nouns into verbs | keine Vereinbarung | failed to agree |
| change adjectives into verbs | sont reeligibles | may be re-elected |
| change nouns into adjectives | c’est un probleme de… | it’s difficult to… |
| etc. etc. |
2.2 changing active verbs to passive and vice versa
(this can be a useful when you are waiting for the verb in German.)
| wir haben das Parlament anschliessend zu dem am 15. erfolgreich abgeschlossenen Sitzung schriftlich informiert. | Following the successful meeting of 15th the Parliament was informed in writing |
| ca se fabrique en Italie | It’s made in Italy |
| wir haben einige sehr interesante Dokumente entwurfen | Some interesting documents have been drafted (by our team) |
2.3 “did” can be used in the normal affirmative sentence in English.
It may add potentially undesired emphasis but it can help you when working for languages in which the verb can come very late in the sentence (like German).
| The UN did the UN did , at its General Assembly Meeting in Geneva on the 11th May , agree that… | Some interesting documents have been drafted (by our team) |
3. Negation of opposites
Change affirmatives for words meaning the opposite in the negative…giving the same meaning. (Or vice versa. See Vinay & Darbelnet)
| plus que limité | less than generous |
| limité | not boundless |
| es geht mir nicht aus dem Kopf | It’s always on my mind |
| Das ist nicht Dein Ernst? | Are you serious? |
| Aucun piste n’a été priviligié | nothing has been ruled out |
4. Editing the irrelevant
Many languages have fillers that allow the speaker to start speaking before they have fully thought out their sentence. The interpreter can remove these and create a neater more concise syntax.
| en ce qui concerne les tarifs , nous sommes d’accord jezeli chodzi o tarify, jesteśmy tego samego zdania | we agree on tarifs |
5. Lists in reverse order
Lists do not always have to be given in the same order as the speaker gives them. Many lists contain 3 elements, as this is an oratorial technique often used, reproducing the list 1, 2, 3, in the order 1, 3, 2 can considerably ease the burden on short term memory
6. Easy bits
You can do at least three things with stuff like “let me just say ” or “in 1998” or “I talked to John about this on Monday”
- i) hold onto it to the very end of the section, because it requires almost no effort to remember it
- ii) get it out of the way as quickly as possible, because it is not the crux of the intervention
- iii) leave it just where it was in the original, risking sounding as inarticulate as the original, if, as is often the case, the phrase has been thrown in mid-sentence.