1

THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES

The use of a technique is always dependent upon the application
of a certain nu!er of principles" This is what we call the instructions"
#ne need not follow the rules recoended in such instructions"
Indeed the product$ de%ice or syste for which they were de%ised ay
well wor& e%en if they are not o!ser%ed$ !ut will do so less efficiently"
'urtherore$ the sipler the instructions$ the ore li&ely the user is to
follow the" The sae applies to note(ta&in)" * few %ery siple
principles )i%e this syste its sound !ase and precision$ and a&e
usin) it strai)htforward" There are se%en of these principles+ in order
they are,
1 Notin) the idea and not the word
- The rules of a!!re%iation
. Lin&s
/ Ne)ation
0 *ddin) ephasis
1 Verticality
2 Shift
Soe of these principles ha%e already !een e3plained !y 4ean
Her!ert in his Interpreter5s Hand!oo&
1
"
1. Noting the idea rather than the word
Ta&e any 'rench te3t and )i%e it to 16 e3cellent en)lish
translators" The result will !e ten %ery well translated te3ts$ !ut ten
%ery different te3ts in as far as the actual words used are concerned"
The fact that we ha%e ten )ood translations$ !ut ten different te3ts$
shows that what is iportant is the translation of the idea and not the
word" This is e%en truer of interpretation since the interpreter ust
produce a %ersion of the te3t in another lan)ua)e iediately" He
ust !e free of the often isleadin) constraints that words represent"
1
7eor) 8 C
ie
$ 7ene%a$ 1901"
-
It is throu)h the analysis and notation of the ideas that the interpreter
will a%oid ista&es and a la!oured deli%ery"
E3aple, Let us ta&e the followin)$ fro 'rench into En)lish,
:Il y a des fortes chances pour que"""""; There is a %ery )ood chance
that"""< If we !ase our notation of this e3pression on the words$ the &ey
word is chance" If we !ase it on the idea$ it is probable"
The notes will ha%e to !e read -6 inutes = e%en an hour
-
= after
the idea was ori)inally e3pressed" In the first e3aple it would !e %ery
easy to a&e a ista&e" Ha%in) noted chance the interpreter i)ht$ if
the conte3t allowed$ render it :there is a chance that< or :!y chance<"
If on the other hand he noted probable the ista&e cannot !e ade"
The issue of style is also dealt with in the second e3aple where one
would autoatically say >interpretin) into En)lish?$ :It is pro!a!le
that<$ or :it is li&ely that<$ or :in all li&elihood< whereas in the first
e3aple e%en if the interpreter had correctly recalled the idea that the
word chance represented he;she will !e a prisoner to that word and
i)ht easily produce a )allicis
.
"
E3aple, :@e should try to li%e up to""""<" It would !e a!surd to
note the word :li%e< and it would )reatly increase the ris& of a&in) a
ista&e" *lthou)h it would see to !e %ery different fro the ori)inal
it would !e ore appropriate to note in 'rench$ for e3aple$ : A la
hauteur< >in en)lish Bto !e up to5?" This is the result of analysin) the
idea !ehind what is said and notin) it idioatically in the tar)et
lan)ua)e" It would !e Cust as useful to note be =, representin) being
equal to $ which could %ery easily !e read !ac& idioatically in
intepretation >ie" la hauteur in French, to be up to in English?"
@hene%er ta&in) notes the interpreter ust concentrate on the
aCor idea and how this can !e noted clearly and siply >prefera!ly in
the tar)et lan)ua)e$ althou)h this is not essential?"
In the practical e3ercises in Part . of this !oo& you will find a
nu!er of e3aples of notin) the idea rather than the word" It is
recoended that you e3aine these with particular care"
-
this was indeed the case when RoDan wrote" *lthou)h nowadays -6 inutes is considered a lon) consecuti%e
speech$ his coents still apply"
.
!ein) unduly influenced !y the source lan)ua)e is$ of course$ not only a pro!le in 'rench(En)lish
interpretation !ut in all interpretation"
.
2. The Rules of Abbreviation
*" *EEREVI*TI#N #' @#RFS

The rule of thu! is that unless a word is short >/(0 letters? the
interpreter should note it in an a!!re%iated for"
If we ha%e to note :specialiDed< it is ore eanin)ful and
relia!le to note sp
ed
than to write spec"
#ther e3aples,
Stat. could !e read as :statute< or :statistics< whilst St
ute
and
St
ics
are una!i)uous"
Prod. could !e read as :production<$ :producer<$ :product< or
:producti%ity< while Pr
on
, Pr
er
, Pr
ct
, Pr
vity
are una!i)uous"
Co. could !e read as :Coission< or :coittee< while C
on
and C
tee
are una!i)uous"
!ule" #$ you have tie %rite a %ord as copletely as possible,
ho%ever, i$ a %ord ust be abbreviated, then %rite soe o$ the $irst
and last letters rather than trying to %rite as any letters as possible
$ro the start on%ards.
E" INFIC*TIN7 7ENFER *NF TENSE
Ha%in) a!!re%iated a word or an idea >!e it !y the use of a
sy!ol or a contraction of its coponent letters? it can also !e %ery
helpful to )i%e an indication of )ender
/
and tense?"
Thus in the e3pression, :I will coe !ac& to this a little later<$
notin) the future tense will render the words a little later
superfluous" @e will see !elow that :I spea&< can !e noted , # "
Therefore we note , #
ll


The e3pression, :those entioned<$ ust !e noted , r$
d
+ !ecause
r$ alone could !e read !ac& as :those which ention<"
/
RoDan was wor&in) fro and into 'rench" 7ender is eanin)less for those notin) in En)lish$ howe%er$ the idea
could !e usefully adapted for use in$ for e3aple$ the Sla%ic lan)ua)es where nouns ha%e )ender"
/
!ule" &o indicate gender
'
and nuber %e add
e
or
s
to the
sybol or abbreviation. &o indicate tense %e add
ll
$or the $uture and
d

$or the past.
See also the e3aples in Part ."
C" *EEREVI*TIN7 THE RE7ISTER
The e3pression :which ha%e contri!uted to< is lon)" The word
help is short" @here%er possi!le we ust a!!re%iate !y usin) a word
which con%eys the sae eanin) !ut is shorter"
Siilarly$ :"""which are worth loo&in) at< can !e noted int
g

>interestin)?"
:In order to arri%e at soe conclusions< can !e noted to end.
:Ta&in) into account the situation at the present tie< can !e
noted as sit
on
no%.
E3aine closely the a!!re%iations in Part ."
3. Links
The part of any speech that is !oth the ost iportant and the
ost difficult to note is the sequence of ideas and the lin&s !etween
the" >4ean Her!ert?
*n idea can !e distorted copletely if its relation to the pre%ious
idea is not clearly indicated" @hen ta&in) notes then$ we should ne%er
iss out the lin&s" Indeed what we actually see is that if the lin&s are
noted well the rest of the idea can !e suarised in Cust a few stro&es
of the pen"
*" Notin) lin&s !ecoes %ery siple if we use the &ey words that
follow" >#%er tie this will !ecoe autoatic"?
0
*)ain the Be5 represents the 'rench feinine endin)" *ny letter can !e used and this will depend on the
lan)ua)es in%ol%ed"
0
as, %hy and that is !ecause$ this is the reason why$ since$
)i%en the fact that$ >in soe instances?)i%en that+ to con%ey
e3planation"
tho althou)h$ despite the fact that+ to con%ey opposition
but on the other hand$ !ut$ ne%ertheless$ howe%er+ to
con%ey liitations
i$ it is possi!le that$ assuin) that+ to con%ey
supposition"
as to as far as 3 is concerned$ on the atter of+ to con%ey
reference
t$e therefore$ one can then conclude+ to con%ey
conclusion"
The three sy!ols !elow >which can also !e found in Part -? are
also e3treely useful"
= the sae )oes for$ one i)ht say the sae of+ to
con%ey the idea of equality or correspondance
on the other hand$ contrary to+ to con%ey the idea of
difference or lac& of correspondance
in ( in addition$ furtherore$ if we also ta&e account of+ to
con%ey the idea of additional precision"
E" Lin&in) is not Cust a!out representin) the idea+ it will often ipact
on the %ery content of the speech" It is a question of notin)
quic&ly and without repetition the )roup of su!Cect words and the
)roup of copleent words to which the idea relates" This pro!le
can !e sol%ed quic&ly and easily !y usin) the the recall arrow >4ean
Her!ert?
E3aine carefully the e3aples of lin&s in Part ."
4. and 5. Negation and emhasis
1
Ne)ation and ephasis are two essential eleents of any speech
and as such should !e noted una!i)uously >See 4ean Her!ert pp/1(
/2?"
1. N!"AT#$N
Ne)ation i)ht !e noted !y eans of a line runnin) throu)h a
word or sy!ol"
E3aple,
If we use )* to si)nify :a)ree<$ then :disa)ree< will !e )* " It
is also possi!le to write the word no !efore the word to !e ne)ated
>thus in our e3aple we would note no )*?" This second ethod is
clearer and since :no< is a %ery short word usin) it is not a pro!le"
2. !%&'A(#(
To ephasiDe a word we can underline it >twice if we are
dealin) with a superlati%e or a!solute?"
E3aple,
:>The study? is interestin)< , int
g
:>The study? is %ery interestin)< , int
g
:>The study? is e3treely interestin)< , int
g
In soe cases the line ay !e replaced !y a circufle3 to a%oid
confusion arisin) fro the use of %erticality"
*lternati%ely ephasis can !e noted with a dotted line"
E3aple,
:This report i)ht !e useful< , use$ul
The use of underlinin) to denote nuance allows us to qualify the
word >or idea? underlined without notin) the qualifier"
E3aple,
:iportant question< !ecoes , +
:we should loo& at this %ery carefully< !ecoes , loo, at
2
:I would li&e to say in the stron)est possi!le ters< !ecoes , #
say
:"""an iperfect solution< !ecoes , sol
tn
1" VERTIC*LITG
It is the principles of Verticality and Shift >descri!ed in the ne3t
section? which for the !ac&!one of the note(ta&in) syste descri!ed
in this !oo&"
Verticality eans ta&in) notes fro top to !otto rather than
fro left to ri)ht" This ethod a&es it possi!le to,
a? )roup ideas lo)ically$ allowin) a coplete and iediate synthesis
when we coe to read !ac& our notes$
!? to do away with any lin&s which would otherwise !e essential to
the clarity of the te3t"
*" ST*CHIN7
:Stac&in)
1
< consists of placin) different eleents of the te3t
a!o%e or !elow one another"
:the report on western europe<

!
ort
.
- Eur.
:the report on western europe is an interestin) docuent<
!
ort
int
g
- Eur.
:Since the 'rench$ IS and IH dele)ations""""<
1
:Superposition< in 'rench
J
:Since the 'rench$ IS and IH dele)ations ha%e su))ested""""<
Fre
.s /S
/*
Fre
.s /S suggest
d
/*
:The chapters of the report which deal with econoic situation
in Europe offer additional inforation and new statistics<
Ch
rs
in$o
000000000
give ne%
Ec.Eur stat
ics
If >as we will see in part -? the si)n K is used to denote :offer<
and the si)n L to denote :additional< and :new< then our notes will
loo& li&e this,
Ch
rs
in$o
000000000
1 (
Ec.Eur stat
ics
See the e3aples in the practical e3ercises in part . and study
the carefully"
E" ISIN7 ER*CHETS
Erac&ets are an iportant part of the %erticality syste" In e%ery
speech there will !e certain eleents$ which are entioned to clarify
an idea or to hi)hli)ht a particular point$ !ut which are not inte)ral to
the spea&er5s train of thou)ht"
These parts of a speech should !e noted in !rac&ets$ !elow the
ain eleent to which they refer"
9
E3aples,
:""""which leads to new in%estent$ particularly in the transport sector<
1 ( inv
ts
2&
ort
3
:>@e hear that our e3ports will suffer as a result of increases in factor
costs?$ which will a&e the less copetiti%e"<
2so 4 cop
ive
3
See also the e3aples of the use of parentheses )i%en in the
practical e3ercises at the !ac&"
To encoura)e a natural use of the %erticality technique it is
recoended that you use relati%ely lar)e !ut narrow pieces of paper"
This will allow you to note the a3iu aount of te3t on one pa)e
whilst autoatically !rin)in) your notes !ac& to the left hand side of
the pa)e"
2" SHI'T
Shift and Verticality are the fundaental principles underlyin)
this note(ta&in) syste"
To e3plain Shift let us ta&e an e3aple, :#%er the course of
190/$ prices rose$ althou)h not to the sae e3tent as incoe$ thus the
population5s net incoe increased"< #ur notes will !e as follows > the
sy!ol denotes increase?,
'5, prices
but 66666 no = incoe
so 6666Pop
on


@ord for word on the first line , #%er the course of 190/$ prices
rose$
@ord for word on the second line , althou)h not to the sae e3tent
as incoe$
@ord for word on the third line , thus the population5s net
incoe increased"
Ha%in) used Shift to )i%e our notes a %ertical layout on the pa)e$
notin) the lin&s is alost enou)h to )i%e us an accurate and full
%ersion of the te3t"
Shi$t eans %riting notes in the place on a lo%er line %here they
%ould have appeared had the te7t on the line above been repeated.
The e3aples !elow show how notes would !e positioned
durin) interpretation$ !ut ha%e not !een a!!re%iated"
:The report on the econoic situation in Europe is a fine
docuent which discusses soe interestin) topics<,
!
ort
good
Ec.Eur
discusses interesting topics
:to understand the pro)ra$ one ust<
to understand the progra
one ust
:The effecti%eness of the Social and Econoic Council5s efforts
at sol%in)"""""<
e$$ectiveness e$$orts Ecosoc
at solving.....
:Thus in the Report and the Study we find a theoretical and
practical analysis which will help in the adoption of""""""<
t$e
2in !
ort
3
Study
theoretical
there is analysis practical
%hich %ill help in the adoption
o$
See also e3aples of Shift in part ."