1.5 Language combination

The term "language combination" refers to the languages an interpreter uses professionally. These “working” languages can be further subdivided into “active” and “passive” languages. Below a fuller description is provided of the different terms, following the AIIC classification of A, B and C languages.

Active languages:

Active languages are those languages into which the interpreter works. An active language can be one of two kinds:

A Language:

The interpreter's mother tongue (or another language strictly equivalent to a mother tongue), into which she/he interprets from all other working languages, generally in the two modes of interpretation, simultaneous and consecutive. AIIC members are expected to have at least one A language.

B Language:

A language, into which the interpreter works from one or more of her/his other languages and which, although not a mother tongue, is a language of which she/he has perfect command. Some interpreters work into B languages in only one of the two modes of interpretation. In principle, an interpreter’s main active language is the mother tongue – the language in which the interpreter was formally educated and feels completely at ease. An active language, which is not the interpreter’s mother tongue, can only be acquired after years of hard work and frequent stays in a country of that language. Usually, however, the second active language reaches a satisfactory standard only after many years of practice and is more suited to interpretation of technical discussions where lexical accuracy is more important than style or very discrete shades of meaning. It is customary only to work into the second active language out of the mother tongue. The very rare case of true bilinguals, i.e. people whose personal circumstances have resulted in having two "mother tongues", is the exception that proves the rule. Bilingual interpreters are much in demand, especially if they can offer a third language.

Passive languages:

C Language:

Passive languages are those languages of which the interpreter has complete understanding and from which she/he interprets. These are what interpreters call their C languages, according to AIIC classification.

Using the information provided above as a basis, let us take an example of an interpreter with three working languages – Ukrainian, English and French. By classifying them as A, B and C languages respectively, we will have that particular interpreter’s language combination. This means that this interpreter may be employed to work from English and French into English, as well as from Ukrainian into English [see more in Annex 1 and at http://www.aiic.net/ViewPage.cfm/page1403.htm].

1.6 Specific skills required for interpreting

Professional interpreting requires certain specific skills, which interpreters must have and constantly improve. The most important of these skills are as follows [see Методичні рекомендації 2007; Миньяр-Белоручев 1959, 1969, 1996, 1999; Робинсон 2005; Чернов 1987; Jones 1998]:

1. Ability to perceive and understand the message which includes:

• phonological aspects: ability to perceive “the phonic substance” of the language [Hoey 1991: 195-199], i.e. ability to comprehend various accents and regional variants of pronunciation both of the native and non-native speakers of the SL, as well as mispronunciation of words by the SL speaker;

• lexical aspects: ability to render the meaning of words and phrases in messages which requires knowledge of special subject field terms, proper names, non-equivalent lexical units, set phrases, idioms, polysemantic words and expressions, as well as the ability to use the tools of cohesion to reinstate the meaning of the misheard words with the aim of filling in the interpreter’s “gaps” in comprehension of oral speech;

• grammatical aspects: ability to perceive the morphological (mainly the use of the tense forms of the verb and forms expressing unreality, negative as opposed to affirmative constructions, etc) and syntactical (word order as means of arranging the theme and the rheme of the message) structures of messages;

• communicative aspects: ability to interpret the meaning of the utterance in the context of the given communicative situation, bearing in mind relevant cultural and other extra-linguistic factors.

2. Memory factor, which is of primary importance for the consecutive interpreting: an interpreter must memorise speech messages of any length (from one to five-seven utterances) and has to master interpreter’s note-taking skills (see Unit 5), which allow to take quick short notes of the SL utterances;

3. Ability to anticipate the probability of occurrence of certain patterns of information in speech being guided by the communicative situation (skills of the so-called “anticipation”, see Unit 9), “automatic reaction” to set phrases, clichés, idioms, proper names and certain subject field terms (the so-called “pat phrases”), and the general “encyclopaedic” knowledge (interpreter’s cultural competence);

4. Synchronisation of perception and speech (the so-called “split attention”), which is of primary importance for simultaneous interpretation, where an interpreter listens and speaks simultaneously with an allowed delay of 3-7 seconds;

5. Ability to “switch” from one language to another, i.e. to find a proper strategy in arranging the final result of interpreting. Ability to arrange the “final design” includes the ability to construct coherent messages in the TL avoiding “gaps” and grammatical distortions; ability to speak clearly, distinctly and loudly so that the audience has no difficulties in perceiving the interpreted messages;

6. Compliance with the interpreters’ professional ethics and moral code, rules of the etiquette, respect of the culture, traditions and customs of the SL and TL countries; compliance with the requirements of professional impartiality, integrity and confidentiality (see more on this in Annexes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8);

7. Ability to work under mental, moral pressure and physical stress;

8. Ability to relax and ensure personal physical and mental health.

See more on professional standards of interpretation as established by AIIC in Annex 2 to this book.