Chinese Interpreting: Challenges and Issues

This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the inherent challenges of the Chinese language in the context of interpreting. It begins by outlining the key characteristics of the Chinese language, such as homophony, its isolating nature, tones, and classifiers. Subsequently, the syntactic and morphological differences between Italian/English and Chinese are analyzed. In the second part of the chapter, the focus shifts to the main challenges of interpreting in general. The chapter concludes with an overview of the essential skills and basic knowledge that a Chinese interpreter should possess and that can be acquired through appropriate training.