C－E Interpreting of Political Neologisms in Contemporary Chinese Political Discourse〔*〕

Ji Xiaowen，Wan Hongyu

(1．Graduate School Shanghai International Studies University，Shanghai200083;2．School of English Studies Shanghai International Studies University，Shanghai200083)

Ⅰ．Introduction

Since the beginning of reform and opening up，our comprehensive national strength has been on the rise，coupled with growing international economic and cultural exchanges．What follows，thus，must be greater discourse power enjoyed by Chinese．However，researches in this regard are far lagging behind，which is a mismatch with the increasingly significant role played by our country on the global stage．

Uniqueness of our political systems and tremendous changes brought about by reform and opening up are reflected in language use，so contemporary Chinese political discourse(hereafter CCPD for short)has its own distinctiveness，which poses difficulties for interpreters．As interpreting is essentially a communicative activity and interpreters are working to facilitate communication，interpreters of CCPD can also gain guidance from Bachman’s theory about communicative language ability．This paper analyzes features of CCPD，and explores strategies for interpreting flourishing political neologisms contained．The effective interpreting of political neologisms can contribute much to the smooth conveyance of CCPD，which can hopefully lead to realization of discourse power of Chinese．

Ⅱ．Contemporary chinese political discourse(CCPD)

Various definitions of“discourse”are given by scholars．Understanding of“discourse”from different perspectives leads to the complexity of this concept．In this discussion，“discourse”refers to language in use that speakers utilize in certain contexts to fulfill the target of communication．

The authors，having taken into account the above scholars’views，regard“political discourse”as language that participants of political activities，such as political parties and statesmen，use in political context to achieve certain goals．

Narrowing down to the scope of CCPD，this discussion restricts“contemporary”to the time limit of“since the beginning of reform and opening up”．Compared with Chinese political discourse before reform and opening up，CCPD is more factual and popularized．Since the third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of CPC，the core of government’s discourse has gradually shifted from “rule”to“administration”，with the government changing from an authoritative governance body to one that administers public affairs in a consultative and interactive manner．Therefore，the public is allowed more freedom and is more willing to express true opinions about certain affairs，and governments on all levels are able to have a better knowledge of people’s ideas．With more pragmatic governments，there gradually forms a trend of using more daily-life language in CCPD．The new central leadership also advocates talking plain and adopting clear and substantial words familiar to the public while avoiding obscure and empty ones．

A closer examination of the features above will lead one to conclude that it is only natural to see the booming of political neologisms like“灰色收入”，“菜篮子工程”，and“草根工业”．Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English(9)defines“neologism”as“a new word or expression，or a word used with a new meaning”．In this paper，“Chinese political neologisms”refer to newly coined expressions，old expressions with new meanings，and newly loaned expressions．

Ⅲ．Bachman’s CLA model— with strategic competence in focus

Language is regarded as a dynamic and creative system，and mastery of a language indicates effective communication with the language within certain context．Strategic competence refers to mental capacity to conduct communication using language knowledge under specific context．Psychophysiological mechanisms refer to the psychological and neurological activities involved in communication via language．

Among them，strategic competence is a vital part in language use，which enables language users to relate language knowledge to knowledge structures as well as context of situation to ensure success of communication．This integration involves a dynamic interaction among the situation，language users’knowledge structures and discourse．Similarly，when a listener decodes the meaning of a speaker，the listener employs language competence on one hand，and knowledge about the topics in question and about the context on the other hand．

This CLA model can also shed light on interpreting because of essence of interpreting and roles of interpreters．

Ⅳ．Essence of interpreting and roles of interpreters

Contemporary translation studies hold that translation in its essence is a complex communicative act．As to interpreting，its immediacy and time pressure determine that it is a more direct communicative act．

From the above analysis，we can clearly see that the interpreter is an intermediary between speaker A and speaker B，so the interpreter also assumes the role of a communicator，who is both a listener and a speaker in the process．

First of all，the interpreter is a message receiver．When speaker A begins to express an idea，the interpreter begins a complex process of listening to grasp the message．Furthermore，a judgment of the communication occasion also takes place simultaneously，as the interpreter needs it to help find out the intended meaning．

In the second phase，the interpreter is a message sender．He/she reproduces what he/she has stored．Language knowledge is again mobilized，but this time it is knowledge of the target language．Besides，the interpreter，as an ordinary speaker does，needs to infer what is anticipated from the listeners and observe the context，so as to produce target language understood by the listeners and deemed proper on the specific occasion．

Therefore，in both phases，language knowledge，knowledge structures and consciousness of the occasion are required of the interpreter．In the final analysis，interpreting is essentially a communicative activity，and the interpreter shoulders the responsibility to facilitate communication．

Ⅴ．C-E interpreting of political neologisms

Interpreting，essentially a communicative activity can draw insights from Bach-man’s CLA model．So to ensure the success of interpreting，interpreters also need to improve their knowledge structures and to correctly judge the situational context．In the following，the authors would like to elaborate on mobilizing strategic competence to interpret Chinese political neologisms．

1．Features of Chinese political neologisms

To begin with，some Chinese political neologisms are often shortened，have few syllables but contain extraordinary amount of content．Government officials on all levels usually need to make clear and publicize national policies，inform people of national and local events，etc．It is natural for them to use concise and to-thepoint abbreviated forms to achieve simplicity and efficiency，if people are acquainted with the expressions．

Moreover，four-character expressions are popular，as they are neatly-structured and effective in conveying meanings and emotions．In the new era，many four-character political neologisms are coined．“高度自治”，“反腐倡廉”and“抓大放小”are good examples．

Besides，affixation is often utilized in political neologisms．Traditionally affixation is a distinctive feature of English，but nowadays Chinese also sees many political neologisms appear with affixation，such as“透明度”，“新鲜度”;“吃喝风”，“摊派风”;“特色化”，“智能化”，etc．with the growing trend of borrowing words from foreign languages．Affixation，as a way of word formation，is very productive．

Additionally，abundant rhetorical devices are adopted in political neologisms．Expressions like“擦边球”，“垃圾邮件”，and“穿玻璃小鞋”use metaphor comparing respectively stretching rules to their limit to playing edge ball，useless mails to junk，and being inflicted by some superiors’hidden retaliation to wearing small glass shoes．Some others may employ euphemism．For instance，“经济滑坡”is used to describe serious economic problems and“分配不公”is preferred when addressing unfair distribution of social wealth．

A study of features of Chinese political neologisms can lay a solid foundation for exploring strategies to interpret them．

2．Interpreting Chinese political neologisms

Interpreters，as communicators，according to Bachman’s CLA model，need language competence，strategic competence and psychophysiological mechanisms．However，interpreting Chinese political neologisms still has its own distinctiveness，which poses greater demands on the interpreters’strategic competence or competence to relate language knowledge and psychophysiological mechanisms to knowledge structures as well as context of situation．Here we’ll present a detailed analysis of how interpreters can mobilize strategic competence to help with interpreting Chinese political neologisms．

Some Chinese political neologisms are borrowed from English．Considering that the audience is supposed to have no confusion about original English expressions，interpreters may directly use the original English versions，such as“峰会(summit)”，“绿卡 (green card)”，“白皮书 (white paper)”and“泡沫经济(bubble economy)”．

However，not all Chinese political neologisms have English origins or are already accepted as China English．Then interpreters can adopt literal interpreting，literal interpreting plus explanation and free interpreting accordingly．

First of all，there are some occasions on which literal interpreting can be adopted．Literal interpreting is a strategy that retains the form of source language，including its rhetorical devices and cultural images．One occasion on which literal interpreting can be utilized is when interpreters，after mobilizing their strategic competence through grasping the meanings of political neologisms and correctly judging the cognitive abilities of the audience，believe that the literally interpreted versions without explanation are within the audience’s comprehension ability．

Literal interpreting is time-saving，but there are some occasions when explanation is necessary．Take the interpreting of“三讲”as an example．First of all，interpreters need to take into account the occasion．As CCPD interpreting may largely take place on formal occasions on which China’s policies are introduced to and expounded for foreign countries，it is essential that meanings of those neologisms are effectively conveyed．Besides，the audience’s knowledge about China should also be considered．They may not have sufficient knowledge about China’s current situation and development，or context of situation may not be enough to enable them to grasp meanings of some political neologisms like“三讲”．In such a case，literal interpreting plus explanation is suggested，and“三讲”can be rendered into“three emphases on theoretical study，political awareness and good conduct”．In order to provide that explanation，need arises that the interpreter activates his/her knowledge structures．Therefore，in this process，strategic competence is again of paramount importance．Here we list some more instances．

One point needs to be made here．In interpreting，in order to save time，interpreters，when encountering the same neologism for the second time within the same context，may choose not to add explanation after the literally interpreted version．

Moreover，there are still some other Chinese political neologisms that need free interpreting．Free interpreting，aiming at increasing acceptability of target language，attempts to convey the hidden connotative meanings of neologisms，while sacrificing the form of source language．Therefore，in this process，strategic competence of interpreters plays a significant role，again．This adding or explaining technique can be applied to interpreting of many Chinese political neologisms— those formed with rhetorical devices，those in abbreviated forms，etc．

There are some occasions when the other technique of omission or generalization can be adopted．Some Chinese political neologisms repeat the same idea to form four-character expressions，or the neologisms contain several four-character expressions that are of similar meanings．

Ⅵ．Conclusion

Quality of political neologisms interpreting has a direct bearing on whether successful conveyance of CCPD and realization of discourse power of Chinese can be achieved．According to Bachman’s clarification on CLA，strategic competence is of great importance which requires interpreters to fully activate their knowledge structures and to be aware of the situational context．Thus，when interpreting political neologisms，first of all，interpreters need to improve their knowledge structures by familiarizing themselves with not only the denotative meanings but also the connotative meanings of political neologisms to ensure accurate conveyance of speakers’intended meanings．This demands long-term preparation．Furthermore，the situational context of interpreting political neologisms is also worthy of interpreters’careful study．Interpreters need to keep the foreign audience in mind and enhance cultural awareness and political sensitivity so as to produce acceptable and politically proper interpreted versions of Chinese political neologisms．Mobilized strategic competence together with excellent language knowledge and psychophysiological mechanisms can enable interpreters to choose appropriate target language．

Notes:

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〔5〕Wilson，John，Politically Speaking:The Pragmatic Analysis of Political Language，Oxford:Basil Blackwell，1990，p．4．

〔6〕Chilton，Paul and Christina Schäffner，Discourse and Politics，Discourse as Social Interaction(Discourse Studies:A Multidisciplinary Introduction，Vol 2．)，London:Sage Publications，1997，pp．206-230．

〔7〕Van Dijk，Teun A．，Critical Discourse Analysis，Handbook of Discourse Analysis，Oxford:Blackwell，2001，pp．352-371．

〔8〕McNair，Brian，An Introduction to Political Communication，London:Routledge，1995，p．4．

〔9〕Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English，Beijing:Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，2002，p．951．

〔10〕杨惠中:《导读》，Language Test Construction and Evaluation．北京外语教学与研究出版社，2000年，第F12页。

〔11〕〔12〕〔13〕Bachman，Lyle F．，Fundamental Considerations in Language Testing，Oxford:OUP，1990，pp．25-26，81-110．

〔14〕步益青:《从交际语言测试角度初探口译测试设计》，上海外国语大学硕士论文，2009年，第19页。