Context and Meaning in Acts of Translation and Interpretation
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| Title: | Context and Meaning in Acts of Translation and Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Chiara Ferrari (ORCID |
| Source: | Analysis of Verbal Behavior. 2025 41(2):179-199. |
| Availability: | Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/ |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 21 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Information Analyses |
| Descriptors: | Speech, Behavior, Responses, Behavior Modification, Verbal Stimuli, Context Effect, Topography, Translation, Verbal Operant Conditioning |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s40616-025-00223-z |
| ISSN: | 0889-9401 2196-8926 |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive behavioristic conceptual analysis of acts of translation and interpretation (ATIs) by analyzing the role of historical and current context in shared meaning/understanding among parties involved in ATIs: speakers/writers, interpreters/translators, and listeners/readers. The conventional nature of verbal behavior, and the importance of and challenges inherent to ATIs are considered first. Next, B. F. Skinner's analyses of ATIs, understanding, and meaning is summarized as a starting point for an analysis of ATIs and meaning in terms of the situations in which verbal stimuli occur. A technical definition of "context" is provided, and we suggest that shared meaning/understanding depends upon the extent to which the historical and current contexts in which writers/speakers and readers/listeners encounter specific topographies of verbal behavior are similar. This is then applied to ATIs, focusing on the different contextual circumstances under which translation (involving written stimuli) and interpretation (involving spoken/gestural stimuli) occur, and the implications of these for shared meaning/understanding between writers/speakers and readers/listeners in different languages in ATIs. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1499946 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive behavioristic conceptual analysis of acts of translation and interpretation (ATIs) by analyzing the role of historical and current context in shared meaning/understanding among parties involved in ATIs: speakers/writers, interpreters/translators, and listeners/readers. The conventional nature of verbal behavior, and the importance of and challenges inherent to ATIs are considered first. Next, B. F. Skinner's analyses of ATIs, understanding, and meaning is summarized as a starting point for an analysis of ATIs and meaning in terms of the situations in which verbal stimuli occur. A technical definition of "context" is provided, and we suggest that shared meaning/understanding depends upon the extent to which the historical and current contexts in which writers/speakers and readers/listeners encounter specific topographies of verbal behavior are similar. This is then applied to ATIs, focusing on the different contextual circumstances under which translation (involving written stimuli) and interpretation (involving spoken/gestural stimuli) occur, and the implications of these for shared meaning/understanding between writers/speakers and readers/listeners in different languages in ATIs. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0889-9401 2196-8926 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s40616-025-00223-z |
