Lexical and Semantical Precision: Novice Vs Professional Simultaneous Interpreters
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22225/jr.12.2.2026.262-272Keywords:
Simultaneous interpreting, lexical precision, semantic precision, novice interpreters, professional interpreters, error analysis, Indonesian–English interpretingAbstract
This study investigates the lexical and semantic precision of Indonesian–English simultaneous interpreting performed by novice and professional interpreters. The research focuses on how accurately interpreters transfer lexical items, technical terms, propositions, and intended meanings from the Indonesian source speech into English. The data consists of one Indonesian source text and six English interpreting outputs produced by three novice interpreters and three professional interpreters. The source text discusses borders, the speaker’s experience in North Korea, the Timor-Leste-Indonesia border, military life, geodesy, and the political dimension of coordinate positions. This study applies a descriptive qualitative method with comparative error analysis. The Indonesian source text and the English interpreting outputs were segmented into meaning units and compared to identify lexical and semantic inaccuracies. The findings show that novice interpreters produced more frequent and more severe lexical and semantic inaccuracies than professional interpreters. The novice group tended to struggle with technical terms, political concepts, and complex propositions, while the professional group generally preserved the main meaning more successfully, although some lexical slips and semantic generalizations were still found. The study contributes to the development of interpreting training in the case of lexical-semantic accuracy and fluency. Future research is advised to examine lexical-semantic accuracy in different interpreting mode and language pairs.
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