Cover not available

Article published In: Interpreting
Vol. 16:1 (2014) ► pp.34–48

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Source language-related erroneous stress placement in the target language output of simultaneous interpreters

Published online: 10 March 2014
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/intp.16.1.03bak
Erroneous stress placement (ESP) in the target language is one of the salient suprasegmental features of simultaneously interpreted texts. This paper investigates the phenomenon in simultaneous interpretation from English, a free stress language, into Hungarian, a fixed stress language, the aim being to ascertain whether ESPs are related to source language features. Analysis of an experimental corpus collected for an earlier study (Bóna & Bakti 2009) made it possible to identify 122 ESPs, divided into two categories: (a) related to source language features; (b) others. These categories were further divided into several subcategories. Thus, (a) included ESPs related to: (i) source language stress, with semantic correspondence between the source language and target language units concerned; (ii) source language stress, but with no semantic correspondence between the target language unit and the prosodically similar source language unit identified in relatively close proximity to it. For (b), the subcategories distinguished between ESPs related to: (iii) the phonetic target language context; (iv) translation problems; (v) individual speech characteristics. Our results provide support for the view that metrical planning and segmental planning are separate processes. Thus, successful inhibition of source language interference on the segmental level during simultaneous interpreting is not necessarily associated with suppression of suprasegmental level source language interference.
References (29)
(1973). Simultaneous interpretation: Qualitative and linguistic data. Language and Speech 16 (3), 237–270.. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Boersma, P. & Weenink, D. (1998). Praat: Doing phonetics by computer (Version 5.0.1). [URL] (accessed 23 May 2011).
Bóna, J. & Bakti, M. (2009). Erroneous stress placement in the target language output of simultaneous interpreters. The Phonetician 99/100 (I/II), 29–44.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bóna, J. & Imre, A. (2007). A hangsúlyeltolódás hatása a beszédfeldolgozásra. [The effects of stress shift on speech perception.] In Gósy M. (Ed.), Beszédkutatás 2007 . Budapest: MTA Nyelvtudományi Intézet, 75–82.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Collins, B. & Mees, I. M. (2008). Practical phonetics and phonology . London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cutler, A. (1980). Errors of stress and intonation. In Fromkin, V. A. (Ed.), Errors in linguistic performance. Slips of the tongue, ear, pen, and hand . New York: Academic Press, 67–80.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2008). Lexical stress. In D. Pisoni & R. E. Remez (Eds.), The handbook of speech perception . Malden, MA/Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 264–289.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fónagy, I. (1958). A hangsúlyról [On stress]. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goldman-Eisler, F. (1972). Segmentation of input in simultaneous translation. Journal of Psycholingusitic Research 1 (2), 127–140. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gósy M. (2002). A hangsúlyeltolódás jelensége [The phenomenon of stress shift]. In G. Balázs, A. Jászó & Á. Koltói (Eds.), Éltet? anyanyelvünk . Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 193–198.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2004). Fonetika, a beszéd tudománya [Phonetics]. Budapest: Osiris Kiadó.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2005). Pszicholingvisztika [Psycholinguistics]. Budapest: Osiris Kiadó.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, T. (1999). Speech proportion and accuracy in simultaneous interpretation from English into Korean. Meta 44 (2), 260–267. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levelt, W. M. J. (1989). Speaking: From intention to articulation . Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levelt, W. M. J., Roelofs, A. & Meyer, A. S. (1999). A theory of lexical access in speech production. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 22 (1), 1–75. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Paradis, M. (2000). Prerequisites to a study of neurolinguistic processes involved in simultaneous interpreting: A synopsis. In B. Englund Dimitrova & K. Hyltenstam (Eds.), Language processing and simultaneous interpreting: Interdisciplinary perspectives . Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 17–24.. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pöchhacker, F. (2004). Introducing interpreting studies . London/New York: Routledge.. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Roelofs, A. & Meyer, A. S. (1998). Metrical structure in planning the production of spoken words. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition 241, 922–939. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schiller, N. O. (2003). Metrical stress in speech production: A time course study. The proceedings of the 15th ICPhS , 451–454.
Shlesinger, M. (1994). Intonation in the production and perception of simultaneous interpretation. In S. Lambert & B. Moser-Mercer (Eds.), Bridging the gap: Empirical research in simultaneous interpretation . Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 225–236.. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Szende, T. (1995). A beszéd hangszerelése. Id?, hangmagasság, hanger? és határjelzés a közlésben [Time, pitch, volume and boundary marking in utterances]. Budapest: MTA Nyelvtudományi Intézet.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Varga, L. (1985). Intonation in the Hungarian sentence. In I. Kenesei (Ed.), Approaches to Hungarian. Volume one. Data and descriptions . Szeged: JATE, 205–224.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wheeldon, L. R. & Lahiri, A. (2002). The minimal unit of phonological encoding: prosodic or lexical word. Cognition 851, B31–B41. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Williams, S. (1995). Observations on anomalous stress in interpreting. The Translator 1 (1), 47–64. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (5)

Cited by five other publications

Defrancq, Bart
2026. Corpus-Based Research in Interpreting Studies. In Reference Module in Social Sciences, DOI logo
Defrancq, Bart & Sofie Verliefde
2023. A Dutch discourse marker in interpreter-mediated police interviewing with drafting: A corpus-based approach to dialogue interpreting. Research in Corpus Linguistics 11:2 ► pp. 50 ff. DOI logo
Kallio, Heini, Antti Suni & Juraj Šimko
2022. Fluency-related Temporal Features and Syllable Prominence as Prosodic Proficiency Predictors for Learners of English with Different Language Backgrounds. Language and Speech 65:3 ► pp. 571 ff. DOI logo
Abdel Latif, Muhammad M. M.
2018. Towards a typology of pedagogy-oriented translation and interpreting research. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 12:3 ► pp. 322 ff. DOI logo
Abdel Latif, Muhammad M. M.
2020. Translation/Interpreting Product Research. In Translator and Interpreter Education Research [New Frontiers in Translation Studies, ], ► pp. 111 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 12 march 2026. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue