Learning to Interpret: Working from English into American Sign Language

265 Pages·2018·1.545 MB·

by  Campbell McDermid

learning to interpret

LEARNING TO INTERPRET
Working from English into American Sign Language
Campbell McDermid
rit press rochester, new york
Learning to Interpret: Working from English into American Sign Language
Copyright © 2018. Rochester Institute of Technology and Campbell McDermid
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any mechanical or elec-
tronic means without written permission of the publisher and/or the copyright holders, except in the
case of brief quotations embodied in the work.
Published and distributed by:
RIT Press
90 Lomb Memorial Drive
Rochester, New York 14623-5604
http://ritpress.rit.edu
Printed in the U.S.

ISBN 978-1-939125-52-1 (print)
ISBN 978-1-939125-53-8 (eBook)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: McDermid, Campbell, 1965- author.
Title: Learning to interpret : working from English into American Sign Language /
Campbell McDermid.
Description: Rochester, New York : RIT Press, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018019062| ISBN 9781939125521 (soft cover ; alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781939125538 (eBook)
Subjects: LCSH: Interpreters for the deaf—Training of--United States. | American Sign Language—
Study and teaching. | Translating and interpreting—Study and teaching.
Classification: LCC HV2402 .M38 2018 | DDC 419/.70802—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018019062
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix

Prologue – Who is this Book For? xi
one – what is interpreting? 1
What is Interpreting? 1
Literal Level 1
Transliteration 2
Why Literal Does Not Work – Multidimensionality 2
Potential Meanings 3
Contrastive Linguistic Comparison: ASL and English 4
Dynamically Equivalent 9
Model of Interpreting 11
Focus of this Manuscript 12
Summary Chapter One 21
two – literal interpretation 22
Context and Lexico-Semantic Meaning 28
Polysemy and Homonymy 29
Pragmatic Meaning 31
Phrasal Verbs 32
Summary Chapter Two 36
Answers Chapter Two 38
three – sentence restructuring 49
Prepositional Phrases and Adjuncts 49
Cataphoric Reference 55
Complements and Clauses 59
Embedded Relative Clauses 60
Summary Chapter Three 62
Answers Chapter Three 64
vi table of contents
four – antonyms 75
Complementary Antonyms and Converse Relationships 79
Summary Chapter Four 86
Answers Chapter Four 87
five – superordinate (hypernym) and hyponym 93
Identify Hyponyms 97
Paraphrase Superordinate with Hyponym 97
Replace Hyponym 98
Replace Superordinate 99
Identify and Paraphrase 99
Summary Chapter Five 102
Answers Chapter Five 103
six – holonym, meronym, synecdoche, and metonym 109
Synecdoche 112
Metonym 113
Summary Chapter Six 120
Answers Chapter Six 121
seven – verbs 128
Troponymy 129
One-Way Verb Entailments 131
Causative Verbs 134
Negated Verbs 136
Reversive Verbs 139
Iterative or Restitutive Verbs and Adverbs 140
Change of State Verbs 141
Modal Verbs 142
Verbs of Judgment 143
Summary Chapter Seven 146
Answers Chapter Seven 146
table of contents vii
eight – various enrichments 156
Adjuncts and Prepositional Phrases 156
Focus Particles and Adverbs 162
Comparatives and Superlatives 165
Stress 166
Subjunctive and Counterfactual Conditional Sentences 167
Summary Chapter Eight 169
Answers Chapter Eight 169
nine – implicature 177
Evidence of Implicatures in Signed Target Texts 183
Definition of Implicature 185
Triggers for Implicatures 186
Context and Implicature 188
Triggers for Implicatures 189
Hyperbole 189
Sarcasm/Irony 190
Meiosis (Understatement) 191
Metaphor (and Simile) 192
Politeness 195
Tautology and Truisms 196
Implicature Additional Summative Practice 198
Cultural Center 201
Summary Chapter Nine 205
Answers Chapter Nine 205
ten – conclusion 221
Suggested Activities 225
Answers Chapter Ten 227
References 235
Index 243

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book is the compilation of a few decades of teaching and research—
inspired along the way by a number of people. I owe a huge debt of grat-
itude to Dr. Debra Russell, who served as an inspiration and role model
to me throughout my career. I remember being a fledgling interpreter
and often going to her for advice, and she was a tremendous support to
me as an educator.
I had the opportunity to work with Dr. David Mason at York Uni-
versity for a number of years. We also spent years discussing topics such
as Deaf culture and the Deaf community in Canada as well as concepts
such as privilege.
Much of this text was influenced by my studies as a Ph.D. student,
where I had the good fortune of working with Dr. Sandra Schecter
and Dr. Joy Mannette. Sandra instilled in me the need to “be lost in the
weeds” in my research, and the wisdom of looking at a grain of sand
from a dozen different perspectives instead of trying to investigate an
entire beach. Joy opened my eyes to post-modernism and the impor-
tance of understanding one’s own cultural and theoretical baggage. As
an educator, she also helped me come to understand the complexity of
teaching through the framework of epistemology, ontology and axiology.
Prior to that time, I had the opportunity to be supervised by Dr.
Carolyn Ewoldt during my master’s program. Carolyn inspired me to
look at language learning as a holistic process, and she taught me about
the importance of student-centered practices. These lessons are with me
every day as an interpreter educator, as a researcher and as an author.
Cynthia Collward continues to remind me that some people like “to
do,” while others like “theory.” It is always important to meet the needs
of both.