Lexical Similarity vs Lexical Dissimilarity in Consecutive Interpreting

AbstractThe present paper reports on a product-oriented study of consecutive interpreting in which lexical similarity and lexical dissimilarity, i.e. similarity and dissimilarity between source and target texts as regards the choice of lexical items, are proposed as tools for the identification of form-based and meaning-based interpreting, respectively. A model of analysis designed to investigate the two phenomena is presented and applied to data drawn from a Spanish source text as rendered consecutively into Danish by five professional interpreters. Contrary to current claims regarding the typical distribution of form-based and meaning-based interpreting, the findings of the study suggest that form-based interpreting is more frequent than meaning-based interpreting.