Determining Register in Sign-to-English Interpreting

DETERMINING REGISTER IN SIGN-TO-ENGLISH INTERPRETING Risa Shaw Register in discourse. Register is a discourse variable of immense importance in making communication possible, but because it involves knowledge that several different disciplines claim as their own it has not been studied as much as its importance warrants. Linguists can claim that such linguistic variables as syntax, lexicon, phonology help set and maintain register. Paralinguistic features are also directly involved; e.g. intonation, pausing, and rate of speaking. But social variables--context, setting, the participants in the discourse--operate both with and apart from linguistic ones. Psychology enters as well, particularly in the process of deciding among alternate behaviors and judging their effects. Sociolinguistics helps in uniting these disparate analyses of register, for its field is that of discourse functions and the ways these interact with each other and with social factors. Although register has received little direct and sustained attention, the following remarks may help to make clear what is meant by register. Wardhaugh refers to several distinguishing features: People do have aide range of choices available to them when they speak: they can be technical or non-technical, formal or informalconscious of their role or unconscious of it, familiar with the listener or distant; and so on. The consequences will show in the language they use; the amount of technical terminology employed; the kinds of omissions made and tolerated; the types and complexity of grammatical constructions; the standards of grammatical "accuracy" observed. (1976). Bolinger adds to this list the importance of tone of voice, or intonation (1975). McEdwards describes register as "the product of [one's] conscious and unconscious selection of the topic, the organization, the diction, the vocabulary, the syntax, and the imagery allowed lone] by [one's] premises to communicate [one's] emotions and ideas" (1968). ( 1987 by Linstok Press, Inc. 295 ISSN 0302-1475 See note inside front cover, Register in interpreting In his 1961 book The Five Cocks Martin Joos, who refers to register as style, makes a very useful division into five levels. (Presumably because "style" has come to have so many meanings, the word reghter is currently preferred for the matter in hand.) A brief listing of the definitions by Joos follows: Frozen style is characteristic of poetry and liturgy; not a word can be changed; ambiguity is its special form of politeness; Formal style is marked by personal detachment, cohesion of form and organization, absence of participation, explicit pronunciation, grammar that tolerates no ellipsis, careful semantics, and a clear intention to inform; Consultative style also intents to be informative but supplies background information, includes the addressee(s) in participation, has complete grammar and clear pronunciation: Casual style is marked by ellipsis and slang (participants are on first-name terms and can supply what is left out); background information is likewise absent; there is little reliance on listener participation but treatment of the addressee as an "insider; Intimate style is a personal code shared only by those using it and is full of jargon and omissions that would puzzle others. Most of the time sign language interpreters work in the middle three levels, of register, although Joos's frozen style might be appropriate in interpreting certain rituals. (The kind of relationship calling for communication in intimate style excludes any third party, even an interpreter, by definition.) Register is a complicated phenomenon. Its numerous indicators are neither isolated nor static. It is a combination of linguistic, sociological, and psychological factors, some or all of which may determine the register a communicating person uses at any time. This is not to imply that register is impossible to investigate but only to warn that there is rarely an absolute. The investigation reported here is an attempt to identify indicators of register in selected portions of two lectures presented in ASL, and in the interpretations of each made by two interpreters. The results are used to suggest desiderata for training interpreters. Winter 1987 SLS 57 SLS 57 The dai Ideally one would be able to determine register immediately and directly from live discourse, but to do so might well require a large part of a lifetime; therefore, in this preliminary attempt to describe register in interpreted...