On the Features of Interpreting and Its Note： A Peircean Semiotic Approach

WANG JIN

摘要：This paper intends to use Peircean semiotic system as the analysis tool to explore the essence of interpreting process. Meanwhile， this paper would analyze the characteristics and features of interpretation signs and their specific roles. In essence， this study argues that interpreting is a typical semiotic process which is consistent with triadic relation of signs in Peircean semiotics. Therefore， in this semiotic process， interpreting， the sign-interpreting agencies which are the interpreters as a signs' users explain or decode the information or meaning （the objects） through source language （the signs） to create or encode relative significance or meanings （the interpretants） as that in the source language. In addition， this paper also uses the Peircean classic triadic theory as the basis to analyze the characteristics and specific roles of icons， indices， and symbols in the process of interpreting.

關鍵詞：Peircean Semiotics;Triadic Relation;Interpreting; Interpreter’s Notes

Introduction

Interpreting is referring to the interpreter who sit in the conference room， listening to the source language and make notes at the meantime. When the information of a keynote speech is to wait for the interpretation， the interpreter has to express all the information in the source language with clear and natural language accurately and completely. Sometimes a paragraph of the speech may last for a couple of seconds， minutes or longer. At this moment， for an interpreter to rely solely on the brain's memory ability is obviously not enough. Before the information haven't been translated into the target language， interpreters have to store it temporarily.

Notes is a necessary means to keep the information alive. Appropriate notes are the auxiliary of brain. When interpreters review them， they can help interpreters activate the information which has been understood and analyzed from the source language. If the interpreters' short-term memory ability are strong or the information are clear and? ?brief， so they do not need to take notes and complete understanding and record in the brain; but if the interpreter is receiving large chunks of information， they would have to use notes to preserved the perceive or information， transmitting after understanding and analyzing with target language. At this moment， notes are not the information， but to write down the expression， the main meaning and points of views with simple words or symbols.

Numerous studies are conducted to explore the essence of the interpreting and its notes from various aspects， seldom of which adopt the semiotics to probe into those questions. This paper holds that semiotics， that is， the study of meanings， is an efficient tool to ponder the nature of interpreting. The ideas of semiotics originated from the famous Greek doctor Hippocrates’s Medical Semiotics. However， semiotics was established in 20th century as an independent subject. Semiotics has enjoyed a long flourishing period. Some semiotics theories have been an important component in the philosophy and many a discipline fields. Nature sciences， humanities and social sciences， modern philosophy and modern linguistics are the four main sources of modern semiotics theories. And the two founders of modern semiotics are Charles Sanders Peirce who is the forerunner of American pragmatic philosophy and the father of modern linguistics， Ferdinand de Saussure whose linguistic researching has stepped into semiotics domain. The rapid development and matureness of semiotics have changed the people’s altitude of this subject. Semiotics provides an effective way to help people research every field in the humanities. And it also provides the epistemology and methodology to study the relations between each language.

Influenced by this semiotic turn inhumanities， some Chinese scholars begin to analyze the interpreting by virtue of semiotic approaches. However， most of them prefer to use Saussure’s semiology instead of Peirce’s semiotics to conduct their relevant researches. For instance， under the influence of the ideas of semiotics from Ferdinand de Saussure， there are some researches regards the interpreting is a process that is from signans and designatum. They draw a conclusion that from perceived to received is the first appearing and from received to interpreted is the second appearing. Those two appearings of signans and designatum help the interpreters finish the cognition process in the interpreting. The researchers believe that the using of ideas of semiotics can help the interpreters to find an equinoctial point in the cognition process to maximize the aesthetic feeling and accuracy.

Saussure's semiology is based on the linguistics. In other words， He used the ideas of linguistics to provide a mode to his thoughts of semiology. To some extent， his semiology studies could not escape from the category of semiology rather than make them into a broad sense. Besides， he used the binary elementary to analyze his semiology; however， Peirce studied the semiotics with triadic theory which has more universalities and space. What's more， compared with semiology， semiotics is more dynamic and open which is more suitable to interpret all kinds of symbolic process's characteristics. Consequently， the results of the study are more universal.

Hence， this paper attempts to study the characteristics of interpreting and its notes under the perspective of Peircean semiotics. Inspired by Peirce’s theories， interpreting can also be regarded as the “semiosis” from the perspective of semiotics. As the existential condition of any signs， semiosis is the reducible triadic relation among sign， object and interpretant. Accordingly， the three essential elements of interpreting， namely， source language， content or meaning carried by the source language and the meaning by the target language， can be considered as the sign， object and the intrepretant respectively. Hence， in the semiosis of the interpreting， the function of the interpreter is to interpret or decode the meaning of the source language， and then to create or encode a relatively equivalent meaning， that is interpretant， conveyed by the target language.

A detailed analysis of the nature or the semiotic form of interpreting can be found at the Part I of this paper. In addition， this essay also tends to explore the various note signs of the interpreters and their functions in interpreting， by employing Peirce’s classical classification theories of signs. According to Peirce， signs can be classified into three categories， namely， icon， index， and symbol， in terms of the relations between them and their objects. And those three main types of signs indeed can be found in the notes of interpreters and play different roles in interpreting. Hence， to study those three main types of note signs can help the interpreters make their notes more efficient and scientific.

Part One： The Semiotic Form of Interpreting

This part would give a brief introduction to the triadic relation of sings in Peircean semiotics. As the existential condition of any signs， semiosis is the reducible triadic relation among sign， object and interpretant. Accordingly， the three essential elements of interpreting， namely， source language， content or meaning carried by the source language and the meaning by the target language， can be considered as the sign， object and the interpretant respectively.

1.1 A Brief Introduction to the Triadic Relation of Sings in Peircean Semiotics

The triadic relation among signs， object and its interpretants is the core of Peircean semiotics， because Peirce thinks it is the existential condition of any signs. This paper attempts to discuss the characteristics of interpreting and its notes in terms of Peircean semiotics. Hence， it is necessary to explain this important relation at the very beginning of this paper.

According to Peircean semiotics， anything can be regarded as a sign if it is placed in the triadic relation between its object， its interpretant and itself. The object is what is replaced by the signs，while the thought or another signs intrigued by the original sign is called the “interpretant”.This triadic theory has been a base that is accepted by the schools of semiotics， linguistics and linguistic philosophy which are the theoretical pillars of the thought of semiotics of Peirce.

Paneroscopy' s core is divided into firstness， secondness and thirdness which is also the establishments of Peircean semiotics. Peirce divided the signs into qualisign， sinsign and legissign to correspond the three categories. Correspondingly， the firstness of object is icon. The secondness is index. And the thirdness is sign. For interpretant， he put forward rheme， dicent and argument. Those three categories can be formed into ten different kinds of symbols. From the firstness to thirdness is a process to deepen the understandings which is from perceiving the appearances to apperceiving the experience to comprehending the abstractions.

Followings are the detailed explanation of the three elements in the triadic relation， based on the foundations of Peircean semiotics. Sign can be regarded as the perception that carries meanings. Meanings must be expressed through signs. In a sense， signs and meanings are the two aspects of the same thing. Sign is the outward manifestation and the meaning is internal meanings. We can draw an analogy that sign is the cloth of meaning and if people want to touch the meaning， they have to open the sign. So， sign is not only the tool or the vehicle to express the meanings but also the condition that makes meanings implement. What’s more， sign and meaning is a unity which cannot be separated.

The qualities or characteristics of the object are the foundations of signs （Zhao Xingzhi 2014：161）. In Peircean semiotics， he regarded them as the quality. Because the sign is to exhibit the qualities and characteristics of its objects in a more abstract form and show the corresponding meanings or connotations. This is a more pure form and the essence of the spirit than others （Zhao Xingzhi 2014：161）. The quality has become an important nexus between the objects and signs.

Object is what the signs can be represented to. The sign has become a sign， because the sign needs to represent an object. In this case， the object can be divided into immediate objects and dynamic objects. Immediate object is the contents which be represented by the signs. Dynamic objects determining the meaning to the related information or signs which is the driving force to drive the process of signs （Zhao Xingzhi 2014：162）.

The interpretant is what can make the signs be explained. If a sign wants to become a sign， it must be expressed into an interpretant or can be translated into another sign （Zhao Xingzhi 2014：165）. Peirce also subdivides the interpretants as the following types： immediate interpretation， dynamical interpretation， and ultimate interpretation.

The mechanism of the above three elements can be explained as the follows： The objects act on the signs and signs are driven by the objects. The signs act on the interpretants and the interpretants are driven by the signs. The interpretants are not influenced by the force which acts on the signs by the objects.

1.2 The Semiotic Form of Interpreting

As the existential condition of any signs， semiosis is the reducible triadic relation among sign， object and interpretant. The three essential elements of interpreting， namely， source language， content or meaning carried by the source language and the meaning by the target language， can be considered as the sign， object and the interpretant respectively.

In interpreting， the different process， encoding and decoding， the source language， object and interpretant are different. At the stage of encoding， the interpreter is the sign-interpreting agency; the source language which is the inputted foreign language is the object; the target language is the interpretant; the style， qualities and characteristics of the source language are the basis of the signs in the notes which be made by the interpreters. The direct objects are the meanings of the source language and the dynamic objects are the three forms of the signs which are icon， index and symbol and the author will discuss them in a detailed way later. At the stage of decoding， the signs or the notes are the source language; the object is the meanings who are carried by the source language and the interpretant is the equivalent meaning which the target language expresses as it of the source language.

Part Two： Icons， Indices and Symbols in Interpreter’s Notes

According to Peirce， signs can be classified into the nine main types in terms of his three trichotomies. The first trichotomy focuses on the signs themselves especially their qualities or characters. In this case， the signs can be divided into qualisign， sinsign and legisign （Zhao Xingzhi 2014：176）. The second one focuses on the relations between the signs and the objects. In this case， the signs can be divided into icon， index， and symbol. The third one focuses on signs' interpretants. In this case， the signs can be divided into possibility， fact， and reason or rheme， dicisign and argument.

However， this paper only pays attention to the signs in the interpreting notes and the relationship between the source languages and the signs. So， the second one is more available， and it can give people more information about the signs in interpreting.

Using the triadic relation of sings in Peircean semiotics to analyze the signs of the interpreting notes， people can find the detail characters and functions of the signs and make more effective use of the signs.

2.1The icons in the notes of interpreting

Icon is a sign simply because it resembles its object （Zhao Xingzhi 2014：177）. However， Peirce further recognized that there was more than one way for entities to resemble other entities， and therefore divided the icon into three distinct ‘hypoicons’ or ‘sub-iconic’ configurations.

According to Peirce， icons may be roughly divided according to the qualitative structure the resemblance of which they partake. Those which partake of simple qualities are images or imaginal icons; those which represent the relations， mainly dyadic， or so regarded， of the parts of one thing by analogous relations in their own parts， are diagrams or diagrammatical icons; and those which represent the representative character of a sign by representing a parallelism in something else， are metaphors or metaphorical icons（Zhao Yiheng 2012：80）. These three icons also generally exist in the notes which are made by the interpreters in interpreting.

2.1.1 The imaginal icon

In the imaginal icons， the relationships between the icons and the objects are clear and nature since they are all based on simple qualities such as the images or appearances （Zhao Yiheng 2012：80）.

For instance， in interpreting， the interpreters always use ⊙ to indicate the conferences， meetings， round-table conference， congress and councils and so on. This paper can analyze it through examples.

It can have two explanation about this sign. Firstly， the outer circle is just like people sit in a round. And the inter dot is like a table. The combination of those two signs is to indicate a scene that people draw round a table to have a meeting. Secondly， this circle extracts the trait to indicate the round table to express the meaning of meeting.

Another instance， the interpreters often use the? ?to indicate the expressions of gratitude， passion， honor and happy and so on. Those kinds of imaginal icon is clear and simple for interpreters to remember， write down and express the meanings.

2.1.2The diagrammatical icon

The diagrammatical icon focuses on the similarity on the structures or the relations between each part of the objects （Zhao Yiheng 2012：80）. The resemblance of diagrammatical icon is showing at the relations between every parts of the subjects or the texts rather than a direct indication. Briefly the diagrammatical icon just turns those relations into charts to express clearly and simplely. Its advantage is that it can help the interpreters understand the texts easily and logically and transmit the right meanings to the audiences. The diagrammatical icon in the interpretation between English and Chinese is usually used to indicate the relations of time successively and number size.

As example 1：

Example 1.

According to this chart， there is a timeline and the early time is on the top and the later time is at the below. We can see that event A; event B and event C. distribute on the timeline one by one from the top to the below. This chart can help the interpreters sort out the events in correct order and it is also helpful for interpreters to make a compendious note.

As example 2：

N人 China> India > the USA

Example2.

The "N人" means the number of population. So according to this chart， the interpreters use it to indicate the population ranking between China， India， and the United States of America.

But it is not to say that diagrammatical icons only focus on the two relations mentioned above， and sometimes it is also used to indicate the relations in the internal of the objects.

As example 3：

Example 3

The political leaders， scientists， writers， and businesspeople and the six of the American Presidents are compound complex. The interpreters use the diagrammatical icon to indicate the parallel relationship between them.

The diagrammatical icons make the notes have the linear feature which are more organized and clearer for interpreters to carding things.

2.1.3 The metaphorical icon

As mentioned at Part one of this paper， the qualities or characteristics of the objects are the basis of any signs which is a purer form and the essence of the spirit than others. The quality has become an important nexus between the objects and signs. To represent the corresponding meanings or connotations， signs can exhibit the qualities and characteristics of their objects in a more abstract form.

Though the characteristics are regarded as the rendering conditions of the signs， the icon's characteristics are inborn， no matter that their objects exist or not. In other words， the icon's characteristics are not influenced with the changes of objects. In the nature， there are a great number of icons， however， in the consecutive interpretation between English and Chinese， when the interpreters choose a sign as an icon， they always take the shapes， forms and appearances as standards. So， in this paper， the kind of icon is confined to that fields. This kind of icon is not like the glyphs such as Oracle Bone Inscriptions and Hieroglyph. These two glyphs were designed strictly in accordance with the detailed appearance of natural things.

Oracle Bone Inscriptions

Hieroglyph

Example 4

Both of the two pictures show people that traditional icons are not according with the rules the interpreters have to follow when they take the notes which are accurate， concise， and fast.

In fact， the icon that interpreters use is more abstract， and these icons always use the symbolizing to transform their qualities and characters. In another words， symbolizing is a product of metaphor. Symbolic rhetoric is more complex than the usual rhetoric， but the reasons are not the importance in this paper. Metaphor is one of the most significant and common not only in the purism but also in the semiotics. In symbolic rhetoric，? the simile is more common than the metaphor， however， in the interpretation between English and Chinese， the author believe that it is a opposite situation though there is no clear boundary between the simile and metaphor and the author would give some instance later to explain that.

Therefore， the traditional icons are based on the clear nature appearances and shapes; the metaphorical icons are based on the similarities of abstract conception.

The author would give some examples to show how the interpreters use the metaphorical icon in their notes.

As example 5：

Example 5

The meaning of the circle is not same as the example of the imaginal icons. In the imaginal icons， it is like a round table， so this paper regards it as the imaginal icons， however， in the metaphorical icon， it means the comprehensive rather than the round table or any conference so in this case， the circle uses the purism of metaphor to transmit and express its characters. The icon ⊕means tapping. In this sign， the effect of the circle is been weakened and the importance is on the" +".“+”means expanding， improving or adding.

As the above has already mentioned， the? ?can indicate a country. To express the whole countries， the interpreters always use the? ? ?to refer to the world. The "...... "does not mean the ellipsis. Because of the many dots， the interpreters take the meaning of "many".? ? ? is a more abstract icon among them. Almost of the time， the author think that it is an index icon since people have been used it to indicate the stars in hundreds of years. And the first reaction when people see it is also the star. But in the interpreting， the interpreters use it as the meaning of importance or something Worth noting.

These metaphorical icons' examples all send a message that they have and show the most significant characters and qualities of the source language or objects which can point the meanings. Benefited from this point， the interpreters can use less space and time to note more information.

3.2The indices in the notes of interpreting

According to Peirce，the index is a sign， because the object and sign has some real connections. （Zhao Yiheng 2012：82） It means that both sign and its object must exist in the index. The indices generally exist in interpreting and the effect or the purpose of the indices are making the interpreters can associate the objects; and this is the final aim and the essence of the indices.

As example6：

This sign is usually used to indicate the meanings or relations of past? ? such as " in the past"， "long before"， "past time"， "many years ago" and so on.

This sign is usually used to indicate the meanings or relations of future such as " in future"， "in the future"， "many years later" and so on.

This sign is usually used to indicate the meanings or relations of declining， decreasing， reducing， dropping， falling and so on.

This sign is usually used to indicate the meanings or relations of increasing， developing， enhancing， growing， raising and so on.

This sign is usually used to indicate the meanings or relations of influence， effect， affect， pressure， stress， burden， load and so on.

Example 6

The most palpable instance of index in the interpreting between Chinese and English is abbreviation. And there are several ways to make the abbreviation. The first one is taking off the vowel of the words such as MGR （manager） and MKT （market） and so on.

As example 7：

APEC? Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation

APEC? Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation

CEO? ?Chief Executive Officer

GDP? ?Gross Domestic Product

NMD? ?National Missile Defense

SC? ? ?Security Council

Example7

The second one is using the initials of the words such as INFO （information） and INS（insurance） and so on.

As example 8：

AL? ? ?although

EDU? ? education

INFRA? infrastructure

TR? ? ?trade

GYM? ?gymnasium

DOC? ?doctor

Example 8

The third one is using the pronunciations of the start and end such as WK （week） and THRU （through） and so on.

As example 9：

BZ? ? business? ?THO though? ? NZ? ? news? ? ? RM room

Example 10

As example 10：

The interpreters use the "e" to indicate the economy. The "? ? ? " indicates the "avoiding ups" and the "? ? " indicates the "avoiding downs".

As the examples show， these indices can help the interpreters note and remember the important information in a short time and guide them interpret the right meanings quickly.

2.3The symbols in the notes of interpreting

According to Peirce，the symbol is sign， because the relation between the sign and its objet is determined by the social conventions， suggesting that the meaning of sign is determined by the sign using groups. To be specific， these signs can be the symbols because of the strong wills of people and the social conventions. Under those wills and conventions， the symbols want to make the objects and themselves into the one and produce a better self to show the meaning.

As example 11：

€ GBP? ?pound

$USD? dollar

￥? ?CNY? ?RMB

♂? ?man? ? male

♀? ?woman? female

V? ?victory? triumph

No.? number

Example 11

Example 12

As example 12：

The interpreters use the sign "$" to indicate the meanings of money， accounts and expenditure.

Example 13

As example 13：

The interpreters use the sign "￥" to indicate the meanings of fundamental interests.

So， these signs are concinent for interpreters to note and it is hard to make fault when interpret them since the meanings and information have fixed in them.

2.4 The combination of three main types of signs in interpreters’ notes

Icon， index and symbol is a basic trichotomies to classify the signs. No matter what the objects exist or not， the icons still alive. As the index， it indicates its object and the relationship between themselves clearly and this kind of relationship decide the death of the index. As the symbol， the only reason which it can exist is that it can be explained into another signs. However， people never can make clear any signs that can be any simple type since some signs are belonging one or two types of the trichotomies. And most of the time， in the consecutive interpretation between English and Chinese， the interpreters usually use two to three types of signs to take their notes.

Using the combination of the three signs， the interpretation notes can be more intuitive， and it is also a more effectively method to help interpreters represent the core information in the process of interpreting.

As example 14：

Example 14

The? ? ? ? ? means in future which indicates the "will". The TEL and BZ means telecommunications and business respectively. The $ means the companies and investment. All of them belong to the indices. The relations between the “invest" and "set up joint ventures" belongs to the diagrammatical icon.

In short， the icon and index make the meanings more vivid and direct viewing and the symbol make the meanings more accurate and effective.（Zhao Yiheng 2012：88） The rational use of the three signs and making full use of their characters and benefits can help interpreters optimize the structures and signs of their notes.

Conclusion

As the existential condition of any signs， semiosis is the reducible triadic relation among sign， object and interpretant. Accordingly， the three essential elements of interpreting， namely， source language， content or meaning carried by the source language and the meaning by the target language， can be considered as the sign， object and the interpretant respectively.

Strong Coding is the essential feature of interpreting. The characteristics of strong encoding determine that the interpreter must be accurately understanding the meanings of the source language and encoded them strongly into the target language.

The icon and index make the meanings more vivid and direct viewing and the symbol make the meanings more accurate and effective. The rational use of the three signs and making full use of their characters and benefits can help interpreters optimize the structures and signs of their notes.

The notes and the signs that the interpreters make in the consecutive interpretation between English and Chinese also focus on the forms clearly and strictly. So， it is available and reasonable to use the semiotic to study the characters of the signs in the notes that have mentioned and showed above.

According to the system classification for sciences by Charles Sanders Peirce， the semiotic belongs to the suborder of philosophy. It focuses on the truth， but it does not care what the truth is. The semiotic study the situations which can make sure who can be the truth. As sign-interpreting agencies， the interpreters are the key to release the true meanings of the signs in their notes. Charles Sanders Peirce's semiotic has provided a scientific methodology. Using the triadic theory of Charles Sanders Peirce to study the interpreting notes can help the interpreters understand the notes’ semiotic characteristic and help them make their notes more efficient and scientific. The theory of the icon， index and symbol reveal the semiotic characteristic and the internal logic of the interpreting notes.

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