Abstract

The chapter is dedicated to the importance of nonverbal elements in oral language in general, and in spoken language interpreting in particular. Setting out from a definition of prosodic elements, such as pauses, intonation and accent, as well as their function in oral communication (structure and prominence), the chapter explains the role of prosody in interpreting and its importance in the source and the target text alike. The chapter presents general views on prosody in the interpreting profession and in interpreting studies, and empirical research on the prosodic parameters pauses, speech rate and segmentation, intonation and fundamental frequency, and accentuation and stress.