Voice linguists on the record: An introspective investigation of foreign-language transcribers at work

Even a broad definition of interpreting and translation--the interlingual t ransfer of the spoken and the written word respectively--would normally exc lude any linguistic activity involving the recording and transcription of s peech. However, an apparently unconnected group of language professionals, including foreign-language transcribers or 'voice linguists', UN precis-wri ters, market research analysts, and film sub-titlers, is engaged in the tra nscription of speech coupled with its transfer into a second language. The study described int his paper centres on the work of voice linguists and us es introspective accounts to investigate the processes involved and to iden tify the skill-set they use. It concludes that the work of such voice lingu ists involves a unique combination of inferencing and puzzle solving to res olve the difficulties of aural comprehension and a distinct, but essentiall y translation-based, approach to the subsequent written expression.