Khóa luận The difficulties and suggested solutions in translating tourism terms from English into Vietnamese

Nội dung text: Khóa luận The difficulties and suggested solutions in translating tourism terms from English into Vietnamese

1. BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC DÂN LẬP HẢI PHÒNG ISO 9001 : 2008 KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP NGÀNH: NGOẠI NGỮ HẢI PHÒNG – 2012
2. HAIPHONG PRIVATE UNIVESITY FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT GRADUATION PAFER THE DIFFICULTIES AND SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS IN TRANSLATING TOURISM TERMS FROM ENGLISH INTO VIETNAMESE By: Nguyễn Thị Biên Class: NA1201 Supervisor: Phạm Thị Thu Hằng, MA HAI PHONG - 2012
3. BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC DÂN LẬP HẢI PHÒNG Nhiệm vụ đề tài tốt nghiệp Sinh viên: Mã số: Lớp: Ngành: Tên đề tài:
4. Nhiệm vụ đề tài 1. Nội dung và các yêu cầu cần giải quyết trong nhiệm vụ đề tài tốt nghiệp ( về lý luận, thực tiễn, các số liệu cần tính toán và các bản vẽ). 2. Các số liệu cần thiết để thiết kế, tính toán. 3. Địa điểm thực tập tốt nghiệp.
5. CÁN BỘ HƯỚNG DẪN ĐỀ TÀI Người hướng dẫn thứ nhất: Họ và tên: Phạm Thị Thu Hằng Học hàm, học vị:Thạc Sĩ Cơ quan công tác: Trường Đại Học Dân Lập Hải Phòng Nội dung hướng dẫn: The difficulties and suggested solutions in translating tourism terms from English into Vietnamese Người hướng dẫn thứ hai: Họ và tên: Học hàm, học vị: Cơ quan công tác: Nội dung hướng dẫn: Đề tài tốt nghiệp được giao ngày tháng năm 2012 Yêu cầu phải hoàn thành xong trước ngày tháng năm 2012 Đã nhận nhiệm vụ ĐTTN Đã giao nhiệm vụ ĐTTN Sinh viên Người hướng dẫn Hải Phòng, ngày tháng năm 2012 HIỆU TRƯỞNG GS.TS.NGƯT. Trần Hữu Nghị
6. PHẦN NHẬN XÉT TÓM TẮT CỦA CÁN BỘ HƯỚNG DẪN 1. Tinh thần thái độ của sinh viên trong quá trình làm đề tài tốt nghiệp: 2. Đánh giá chất lượng của khóa luận (so với nội dung yêu cầu đã đề ra trong nhiệm vụ Đ.T. T.N trên các mặt lý luận, thực tiễn, tính toán số liệu ): 3. Cho điểm của cán bộ hướng dẫn (ghi bằng cả số và chữ): Hải Phòng, ngày tháng năm 2012 Cán bộ hướng dẫn (họ tên và chữ ký)
7. NHẬN XÉT ĐÁNH GIÁ CỦA NGƯỜI CHẤM PHẢN BIỆN ĐỀ TÀI TỐT NGHIỆP 1.Đánh giá chất lượng đề tài tốt nghiệp về các mặt thu thập và phân tích tài liệu, số liệu ban đầu, giá trị lí luận và thực tiễn của đề tài. 2. Cho điểm của người chấm phản biện: (Điểm ghi bằng số và chữ) Ngày tháng năm 2012 Người chấm phản biện
8. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT During the time of completing this graduation paper, I have received a lot of help, assistance, guidance encouragement and contributed idea from my teachers, family and friends. I wish first of all, to express my deepest gratitude and indebtedness to my supervisor – Ms Pham Thi Thu Hang, M.A- who has always been most willing and ready to give me valuable advice, inspiration and supervision to finish this study. My sincere thanks are also sent to the teachers in the English Department of Hai Phong Private University for their useful lessons and whole-hearted advices during four years studying here. Last but not least, I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to my family and my close friends, to whom I have never got enough words to express my great gratitude for their encouragement and support. This graduation paper is my sincere thanks to all of you. Hai Phong, December 3rd 2012 Nguyen Thi Bien
9. TABLE OF CONTENTS PART A. INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale 1 2. Aims of the study 2 3. Scopes of the study 2 4. Methodology of the study 3 5. Design of the study 4 PART B. DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Background of the study 5 I. Literature review 5 1. Overview of tourism 5 1.1 Definition of tourism 5 1.2 History of tourism 5 1.3 Type of tourism 6 1.3.1 Eco-tourism 7 1.3.2 Mass tourism 7 1.3.3 Cultural tourism 7 1.3.4 Adventure travel 8 1.3.5 Epicurean tourism 8 1.3.6 Rural tourism 8 2. Overview of terminology 9 2.1 Definition of terminology 9 2.2 Features of terminology 10 2.2.1 Accuracy 10 2.2.2 Systematicality 11
10. 2.2.3 Internationality 12 3. Norms of Vietnamese terminology 13 4. The importance of translating tourism term from English into Vietnamese . 14 5. Translation errors 15 5.1 Definitions of translation errors 15 5.2 Typology of errors 16 5.3 Impacts of errors 17 5.4 Etiology of errors 18 II. The difficulties in translating tourism terms from English into Vietnamese 1. On linguistic aspects 18 1.1 At word level 18 1.1.1 Loss of connotative meanings 18 1.1.2 Rigid use of the part of speech 21 1.1.3 Plural form 22 1.2 At phrase level 23 1.2.1 Noun phrase 23 1.2.2 Word order 24 1.3 At sentence level 25 1.3.1 Passive voice 25 1.3.2 Relative clause 26 1.3.3 Time adverbial 27 1.3.4 Order of importance vs. order of time 27 1.4 Linguistic untranslatability 28 2. On cultural aspects 29 2.1 Translation of idioms and fixed expressions 29 2.1.1 Simile 30
11. 2.1.2 Metaphor 30 2.1.3 Proverb 31 2.2 Translation of implications and classic references 32 Chapter 2: Methodology 33 2.1 Material 33 2.2 Data analysis and results 33 2.2.1 Results for translation procedures at word level 33 2.2.2 Results for Translation Procedures at Phrase Level 37 2.2.3 Results for Translation Procedures at Sentence Level 42 Chapter 3: Findings and Discussions 46 3.1. Subjective clauses 46 3.1.1 Insufficient language competence 47 3.1.1.1 Insufficient target language (Vietnamese) competence 47 3.1.1.2 Insufficient source language (English) competence 48 3.1.2 Inadequate cultural background 49 3.2 Objective causes 50 3.2.1 Linguistic differences between English and Vietnamese 50 3.2.2 Cultural differences 51 3.3 Overcoming linguistic problems 51 3.3.1 Choose the right word 51 3.3.2 Choose the right structure 52 3.3.2.1 Transpositions 52 3.3.2.2 Replacements 52 3.3.3 Dealing with linguistic untranslatability 52 3.4 Overcoming cultural problems 53 3.4.1 Cultural s substitutions 53 3.4.2 Dealing with cultural untranslatability 53
12. 3.4.2.1 Free translation 53 3.4.2.2 Borrowing 54 Part C: CONCLUSION 55 APPENDIXES 56 REFERENCES 61
13. PART A. INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale It is generally believed that translation plays a key role in the universalisation of human knowledge. It helps improve international understanding, socio-cultural awareness, professional communicative activities, implementation of technologies, and so much more. However, the practice of translation has long been criticized for being, more than often, unsatisfactory or even incorrect. This seems to evoke an immoderate distaste for translators; yet it has its own reasoning. Certainly, almost no translation is perfect even when the general message is conveyed. This is due to the many linguistic and cultural differences between one language and another. And during my university, I am especially interested in the field of tourism that is, as for me, implicit tremendous challenges, and difficulties in terms of language. I always look forward to having a chance to go inside the world of tourism language, discover and resolve translation obstacles set by tourism terminology. However, tourism is a huge topic that holds thousands of concepts and has a range of thousands of terms. In most cases, tourism is a collection of activities, services and industries that delivers a travel experience, including transportation, accommodations, eating and drinking establishments, retail shops, entertainment businesses, activity facilities and other hospitality services provided for individuals or groups traveling away from home. The World Tourism Organization (WTO) claims that tourism is currently the world largest industry with annual revenues of over $3 trillion dollars. Tourism provides over six million jobs in the United States, making it the country's largest employer. In the recent years, Vietnamese‟s needs to travel abroad are up-coming. Travel firms have reported that the number of travelers booking tours for May holiday still has increased by 20-30 percent in comparison with the same period of the last year. Tourism translation allows travel agencies, tour operators, hotels and other businesses to reach out to potential customers around the world. From websites to brochures, magazine advertisements and more, there are many ways for tourism-related businesses to promote themselves. By translating these materials into multiple languages, tourism businesses can ensure that they reach as many potential customers as possible. 1
14. So for maximum effect, however, tourism businesses can‟t rely on any basic translation – they must be able to present their material in a clear, comprehensive and attention-catching manner. Therefore, I come up with a smaller topic and expect to deal with it in details within my Graduation Paper, which is “The difficulties and suggested solutions in translating tourism terms from English into Vietnamese”. 2. Aims of the study The primary aim of the Graduation paper is to give students of English, the would-be translators: - An overview of the frequently seen types of mistakes in English - Vietnamese translation on tourism terms that may make their translations unnatural and incomprehensible so that they are fully aware of and able to avoid them. - Finding causes of translation unnaturalness and then suggesting some possible strategies to overcome the problems. The Graduation paper touches upon a field of study that is still rather insufficient in Vietnam so its targeted subjects are mainly students; nevertheless, all people who are interested in tourism translation work can consider it a useful reference helping improve their translating skills. 3. Scopes of the study The term translation can be understood in two ways. In broader term, translation is the process of converting words from one language to another (International Translation Bureau™, 2003). According to this definition, it includes interpreting as the conversion of spoken words from one language into another. However, what this Graduation paper looks at is translation with its narrower definition, concerning only the written words. And in this Graduation paper, I will concentrate on analyzing about linguistic and cultural aspect to recognize the mistakes causing unnaturalness when translate tourism terms from English into Vietnamese. 2
15. 4. Methodology of the study In a bid to write a good Graduation Paper, it is vital for me to start on the right track and carefully outline a sound and effective method of doing a research. A descriptive method of research was used to collect data, find possible solutions for the existing translation problems of selected tourist guidebooks and draw conclusions of the study. Therefore, the present study tried to find the cases of inappropriate translation procedures used for cultural elements in these books based on a functional theory of translation. First, in data analysis, the tourist guidebooks of travel firms and their English translations were compared at word, phrase, and sentence levels to find examples of different translation procedures used for cultural elements. The above mentioned examples were listed in separate tables. Next, considering the basic underlying principles of the cases of inappropriate translation procedures were found among those listed in previous part. Then, the percentage of different translation procedures and their inadequacies were listed in separate tables and pie charts. After that, in the discussion part, the reasons for inappropriate translation procedures used for cultural elements were given based on communication theory and cooperative principle which are closely interwoven. 3
16. 5. Design of the study The present study is organized in 3 parts: Part A: Introduction Introduction states Rationale, Aims, Scope and Methods of the study. Part B: Development This part is subdivided into three chapters: Chapter 1: Background of the study This chapter is background of tourism, terminology, norms of Vietnamese terminology, the importance of translating tourism term from English into Vietnamese and Translation errors. Chapter 2: Methodology This chapter is analyzing translation procedures to find inappropriate ones used for cultural elements in tourist guidebooks. Chapter 3: Findings and discussions In this chapter, discussion the reasons and suggested solutions to overcome the common errors. Part C: Conclusion The Conclusion which gives the reviews of the study, limitations of the study and suggestions for further study. 4
17. PART B. DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY I. Literature review 1. Overview of tourism 1.1 Definition of tourism “Tourism comprises the activities of persons traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purpose”. ( Three criteria are used simultaneously in order to characterize a trip as belong to tourism. The displacement must be such that: It involves a displacement outside the usual environment: this term is of utmost importance and will be discussed later on; Type of purpose: the travel must occur for any purpose different from being remunerated from within the place visited: the previous limits, where tourism was restricted to recreation and visiting family and friends are now expended to include a vast array of purposes; Duration: only a maximal duration is mentioned, not a minimal. Tourism displacement can be with or without an overnight stay. We shall discuss the particularity of in transit visits, from a conceptual and statistical point of view. 1.2 History of tourism The earliest forms of leisure tourism can be traced as far back as the Babylonian and Egyptian empires. A museum of “historic antiquities” was open to the public in the sixth century BC in Babylon, while the Egyptians held many religious festivals attracting not only the devout, but many who came to see the famous buildings and works of art in the cities. The local towns accommodated tourists by providing services such as: vendors of food and drink, guides, hawkers of souvenirs, touts and prostitutes. From around the same date, Greek tourists travelled to visit the sites of healing gods. Because the independent city-states of ancient Greece had no central 5
18. authority to order the construction of roads, most of these tourists travelled by water, hence seaports prospered. The lands of the Mediterranean Sea produced a remarkable evolution in travel. People travel for trade, commerce, religious purposes, festivals, medical treatment, or education developed at an early date. Guidebooks became available as early as the fourth century BC, covering a vast area of destinations, i.e. Athens, Sparta and Troy. Pausanias, a Greek travel writer, produced a noted “description of Greece” between AD 160 and 180, which, in its critical evaluation of facilities and destinations, acted as a model for later writers. Advertisements, in the form of signs directing visitors to wayside inns, are also known from this period. However, under Romans rule is where international travel became first important. With no foreign borders between England and Syria, and with the seas safe from piracy due to the Roman patrols, conditions favoring travel had arrived. Roman coinage was acceptable everywhere, and Latin was the common language. Romans travelled to Sicily, Greece, Rhodes, and Troy, Egypt and from the third century AD, to the Holy Land. 1.3 Types of tourism 6
19. 1.3.1 Eco- tourism Ecotourism, ecotravel, ecolodges and just generally being "eco" have become popular tourism sales pitches. Perhaps the most over-used and mis-used word in the travel industry. But what does it mean? The Ecotourism Society defines it as "responsible travel to natural areas which conserves the environment and improves the welfare of the local people". A walk through the rainforest is not eco-tourism unless that particular walk somehow benefits that environment and the people who live there. A rafting trip is only eco-tourism if it raises awareness and funds to help protect the watershed. A loose interpretation of this definition allows many companies to promote them as something that they are not. If true eco-tourism is important to you, ask plenty of questions to determine if your trip will help "conserve and improve" the places you visit. ( 1.3.2 Mass tourism Mass tourism is the act of visiting a destination with large amounts of people at one time, and the study of the effect that large amounts of people can have on a particular destination, or on a particular destination which has been over-exposed by single tourists having been there repeatedly. These tourists also help other businesses such as telecommunication services. It also means: Traditional, large scale tourism commonly, but loosely used to refer to popular forms of leisure tourism pioneered in southern Europe, the Caribbean, and North America in the 1960s and 1970s. ( 1.3.3 Cultural Tourism Interacting with and observing unique culture is the focus of this style of trip. The concept of learning from other cultures to broaden ones perspective is usually a core value. An artisan showing you how to weave a tapestry and learning from them about their traditional dress would be a form of cultural tourism. Buying crafts in the market with no more interaction than the exchange of money does not provide the insight into another culture that is the central theme of cultural tourism. 7
20. 1.3.4 Adventure Travel Another term which is heavily, used by marketing departments. While travel to another country is often adventurous it is not necessarily "Adventure Travel". Most dictionaries define adventure similarly: "an unusual experience including some level of risk and uncertainty". "Adventure Travel" includes this idea of risk and oftentimes some unconventional means of transport. A dugout canoe journey deep into the Amazon basin with it's attendant difficulties meets this definition. While a city tour of Paris might have some level of uncertainty it is not by definition "Adventure Travel". If you love true adventure you probably already know this and can see through the hype to find the real thing for yourself. There is sometimes a distinction made between "Soft" and "Hard" adventures. Soft adventures have a lower level of risk, greater comfort in accommodations and are less physically rigorous. Hard adventures often have very basic facilities, higher risk factor and greater physical challenge (ie: mountain climbing, backpacking or river expeditions). 1.3.5 Epicurean tourism Epicurean Tourism is the enjoyment of a different culture and a different lifestyle through. The cuisine and the foods enjoyed in their own cultural context. 1.3.6 Rural tourism Rural tourism has been defined both as a variety of visits away from home to locations outside main towns and seaside resorts, be they holidays, day trips, business trips or to visit friends and relatives as well as tourism where enjoyment of the countryside is the primary motive. Respondents to an English Tourism Council research project on rural tourism described the concept of rural tourism as “peace and quiet”, “slower pace of life”, “non-urbanized” and “lots of space”. Rural tourism could encompass “gentle” countryside (farm, fields, cow) “rugged” countryside (moors, hills, mountains), coastal areas and non- urbanized towns and villages. 8
21. 2. Overview of terminology 2.1 Definition of terminology Since the topic of the graduation paper read “The difficulties and suggested solutions in translating tourism terms from English into Vietnamese”, apparently the word “terminology” should appeal to any reader who happens to rest his eyes on the cover of the research as the core point of the work. A question will then be raised there by “what is terminology?” or “Do the word “term” and “terminology” mean the same thing?” It is necessary to bring these questions to light within the limited scope of the study. According to Oxford Advance Learner Dictionary, term is “a word or phrase used as the name of something especially one connected with a particular type of language.” Also this dictionary defines terminology as “a set of technical words or expressions used in a particular subject.”As such, terminology is broader in meaning compared with term. While term separately refers to discrete conceptual entities, properties that constitute the knowledge of a particular field, terminology refers to the system of all concepts and definitions concerning a specific technical area. As defined in this way, tourism term must be a set of terms relating to tourism, a collection of activities, services and industries which deliver a travel experience comprising transportation, accommodation, eating and drinking establishments, retail shops, entertainment businesses and other hospitality services provided for individuals or groups traveling away from home" Quite a few senior Vietnamese linguists have also proposed other definition of terminology as follows: Terminology is a word or a word- group used in science, technology, politics, diplomacy, art, etc , which exactly indicates a concept or a title of a particular. (Nguyen Van Tu, 1960, 176) Terminology is a part of special words of language. It consists of certain word and phrases that are the exact names of varieties of concepts and objects which belongs to the professional field. (Nguyen Thien Giap 1986, 223) 9
22. In brief, unlike ordinary words, terminology or a set of term are regarded as scientific words and each term denotes a concept in a particular field such as economics, biology, and chemistry and so on. Ordinary words often convey more than literal meanings and evoke further images, emotions and reactions on the part of listeners or readers, whereas terms are largely free from such distorting associations. 2.2 Features of terminology It is of common knowledge that most of layers of vocabularies have their own features and are used in certain situation by particular groups of people. That is also applied to terminology. Do Huu Chau (1981) in his book: Từ vựng tiếng việt hiện đại or Modern Vietnamese Vocabulary has defined three main characteristics of terminology including Accuracy, Systematicality and Internationality. 2.2.1 Accuracy A concept represented a term must be clear and exact. In addition, an accurate term should not make the reader misunderstand the concept it expresses with another. Actually the accuracy of terminology is well recognized in both its form and meaning. With respect to the lexical meaning of words, normal word often bears the characteristics of polysemy and synonym, whereas terminology must keep away from this. The semantics of ordinary words may change in different usage and contexts while that of terminology is fixed in specialized fields it is employed in. For example, a normal and simple noun like “school” in general language has up to eight shades of meanings when used in different circumstances. However, the term “pneumonia” in medicine is taken for one single meaning “a serious illness affecting one or both lungs that makes breathing difficult.” As regards the accuracy os terminology in terms of form, terminology has no other form or outer cover other than its original one. We can hardly add any factors like prefix, suffix, etc , to a term to refer to the plural form, antonyms, or any change in word meaning. For example, the above- mentioned word “pneumonia” does not allow any transformation to its form. However, considering systematicality (that will be further discussed in the next part), the form of a term could be changed, but in a special way. 10
23. In fact, the accuracy of terminology has, to some extent, changed along periods of history. For instance the term “consult” in Roman time means “Quan chấp chính”, however, it is understood in recent modern time as “tổng đài” and in modern time as “Lãnh sự”. Besides, the accuracy of terminology does not require one- to –one relationship in translation. This means a term in source language (English) may be equivalent in two (or more) terms in the target language (Vietnamese). For instance, the term “tongue” in English could be translated as “lưỡi” or “tiếng” in Vietnamese. Thus, it is importance for translators to be cautioned about the accuracy of terms when doing translating or interpreting job, especially in tourism field. They should closely observe the principle “each term represents one concept and vice versa”. Undeniably, homophones and synonyms may exist in the terminology of various fields; however, they do not degrade the accuracy of terminology itself. 2.2.2 Systematicality As defined above, terminology is “a set of technical words or expressions used in a particular subject.” This means terminology of a specific profession should include terms that are closely related to each other and reflect a system of concepts of the profession. The relation between them can be based on contrast in meaning: “negative and positive”, “male and female”, “final sounds and initial sounds”; similarities in meaning: “securities, stocks, bond, debenture, share”; dominant and secondary meaning: “lexis” and “noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, conjunction, preposition, adverb”, etc A system of terms not only meets general requirement but also satisfy particular ones posed by certain specialized it reflects. As a matter of facts, each field of science has its own systems of solid and finite concepts, expressed by its own terms. The semantic value of a term is determined by its relation to others in the same field. Therefore, once isolated, the term may have no or ambiguous meaning. However, there exist homophones and synonyms among term systems of different fields. For example, “floor” in architecture means “sàn nhà”, while in banking is defined as “tối thiểu”. The systematicality also requires a term itself to be systematic in its own meaning. To this end, terms are usually short in form. For instance, “chứng lang thang trong tình trạng mê ngủ” is named “mộng du”, “người lái máy bay” is 11
24. called “phi công”, or terms like “affix, prefix, infix, suffix” represent bound morphemes that are added to different positions within a word. In sum, systematicality makes terms the insiders of a particular field and helps us understand concepts that terms express. 2.2.3 Internationality The internationality is recognized in both form and meaning of terminology. With respect to such characteristics of terminology in term of meaning, terminology denotes common scientific concepts shared and equally understood by speaker of different cultures. This feature is an important property that helps distinguish terminology from other layers of vocabulary such as slang, dialect, etc Terms denote universal concepts of a certain subject, whereas normal lexical items are confined to various limits of expression, context and culture differences. The similarities in form of terms are due to various causes including geography, tradition, history, or language habits. To put it more clearly, terminology in scientific is often originated from Latin and Greek languages. In contrast, Vietnamese and Eastern Asian countries have terms based on Chinese- rooted words, which can be explained by their close relation with China in both geography and culture. Acronyms also contribute to the internationality of terms. They are widely used and easy to remember to people in all countries they reach. Finally, the internationality could make terms quickly shift into normal words and become non-standardized language. The internationality of terms helps promote and accelerate the irreversible trend of global integration today in term of languages as well as other fields. Because language is actually the bridge linking people of nations in the world and the popularity of common language through terms contributes to the transfer of science and technology worldwide. Terminology on tourism bears all these common feature of terminology. It is above- mentioned specific characteristics of terminology in source language (English) that determine suitable translation methods applied to produce exact Vietnamese terms. 12
25. 3. Norms of Vietnamese terminology Controversy has risen upon which standards Vietnamese terminology should follow. L.K Kế in his book “Tiếng Việt và dạy học bằng Tiếng Việt” (Vietnamese and teaching in Vietnamese) puts it that Vietnamese terminology, in his first place should be scientific, accurate, systematic, then popular, applicable, and of native language in accordance with characteristics of Vietnamese. Meanwhile, according to L.V Thới, a noun that is used in particular subject must belong to such field linguistically and practically, and as concise and simple as possible. Therefore, he said, the noun must be monosemy (has one meaning) and a concept should be expressed by one noun. In the final analysis, the conference on terminology held in Ha Noi, 1967 by the State Committee of Science came to a unanimous conclusion that the Vietnamese terminology is to be: 1. Systematical 2. Linguistically native 3. Accurate 4. Concise 5. Popular and of great utility (comprehensible, memorable, easy to speak, write and edit) Generally speaking, Vietnamese terminology bears the same features to English ones. It expresses exactly one concept; rarely has synonyms or polysemy; and is popular among its users. In terms of the origin of Vietnamese terminology, Vietnamese terminology is made up of four components namely Pure- Vietnamese words, Sino- Vietnamese words and Indo- European words. Pure- Vietnamese words are generally original Vietnamese ones and they express the fundamental, popular objects, phenomena in informal manner. For example: cha, mẹ, cây, củ, quả 13
26. Indo-European words are borrowed from Indo- European family. When integrating into Vietnamese, some are changed in terms of pronunciation, some are not. For instance, Internet, hydro, xà phòng, bít tết, oxy, violong, etc Sino- Vietnamese words are Vietnamese words of Chinese derivation. During a thousand years under the domination of China, Vietnamese language was assimilated, and it received Mandarin lexicon through both communication and education. Sino- Vietnamese words account for a great proportion of Vietnamese vocabulary and has been used widely in daily life. For example: xạ thủ, hoàng thượng, lãi xuất tối thiểu, thấu chi, etc Above features ò Vietnamese terminology has helped translator a lot in deciding most suitable methods of translation when it comes to handling difficult terms in general and terms on credit card in particular. Notably, the use of Sino- Vietnamese word has been especially exploited in their translation work. 4. The importance of translating tourism term from English into Vietnamese Although terminology, according to Peter Newmark, accounts for only 5-10% of words in a written or oral text, I think, the mastery of such tiny percentage terminology will determine the success of the translating work. Only two following reason can possible illustrate such idea. First, studying terminology of one specific area means to learn the general knowledge about this field and most of its concerned issues. In a sense, acquiring a language is not simply implicit that we are learning the language itself. In fact, what is more important is to acquire a language together with things behind it like rich information it conveys. This is well proved in the process I study terminology on tourism. Although tourism is among many cultures and services of tourism, I have to get to know how to understand and use tourism terms in a context when convey information from one to another culture. Second, the mastery of terminology in a particular subject and the common way to convert them into Vietnamese is very helpful in using terms accurately, precisely and with expertise. This helps translators avoid embarrassing situations where they are confused with new, strange and difficult terms. 14
27. Besides, through studying terms of one profession, we will get familiar with abbreviations that are well known to people working in this field but quite unfamiliar with outsiders. As an English student, I felt somewhat a shame when I discovered the truth. Honestly speaking, when a term has become popular in daily life, getting to know it is not only the job of translators. Evidently, the study of terminology in a specific field will enrich our vocabulary, helps us to use them in an accurate, concise, flexible manner and finally results in professional and effective translation. Therefore, translators should be skilled in dealing with terminology to smooth their work. Anyway, 5-10% is just statistical figures on average. In fact, the frequency of terminology appearance in some areas is much higher or lower than others. Thus, the study of terminology if great importance, especially when translators are about to undertake jobs in a brand new field. 5. Translation errors 5.1. Definitions of translation errors In „Translation as text‟ (1992), Neubert & Shreve depict translation errors as follows: What rightly appears to be linguistically equivalent may very frequently qualify as „translationally‟ nonequivalent? And this is so because the complex demands on adequacy in translation involve subject factors and transfer conventions that typically run counter to considerations about „surface‟ linguistic equivalence. Given this statement, defining and identifying translation errors are undeniably complicated and difficulty, particularly in the case of second language learners for translation errors may be mixed up with linguistic errors. A list of possible errors in translations is presented by Albir (1995 in Waddington, 2001) as follows: 1. Inappropriate renderings, which affect the understanding of the ST. These are divided into eight categories: countersense, faux sense, nonsense, addition, omission, unresolved extra linguistic references, loss of meaning and inappropriate linguistic variation (register, style, dialect, etc.). 2. Inappropriate renderings, which affect expression in the TL. These are divided into five categories: spelling, grammar, lexical items, text and style. 15
28. 3. Inadequate renderings, which affect the transmission of either the main function or secondary function of the ST. 5.2. Typology of errors Until now, how to classify translation errors remains controversial for there is no unified framework of error classification. Newmark (1995) simply divides most of the „mistakes‟ into two types: referential and linguistic. In his categorization, referential mistakes refer to all mistakes relating to facts or information in the real world. Linguistic mistakes, on the other hand, result from the translator‟s lack of proficiency in the foreign language. Linguistic mistakes include words, collocations, and idioms. Meanwhile, American Translation Association (ATA) 7 suggests a list of 22 types of errors that should be used as criteria for marking errors and evaluating work done by professional translators: 1) Incomplete passage, 2) Illegible handwriting, 3) Misunderstanding of the original text, 4) Mistranslation into target language, 5) Addition or omission, 6) Terminology, word choice, 7) Register, 8) Too freely translated, 9) Too literal, word-for-word translation, 10) False cognate, 11) Indecision in word choice, 12) Inconsistent, 13) Ambiguity, 14) Grammar, 15) Syntax, 16) Punctuation, 17) Spelling, 18) Accents and other diacritical marks, 19) Case (upper case/lower case), 20) Word form, 21) Usage and 22) Style Undeniably, the framework covers all different types of possible errors that translators might encounter. However, the list seems to focus more on linguistic aspect of the translation tasks. Moreover, it also concentrates more on sentence-level errors rather than text- level errors. Although Melis and Albir (2001) do not provide specific classification of errors, the two authors present major questions that in their views should be taken into account in order to make clear-cut categorization. Four questions are as follows: 1. Difference between errors relating to the ST (opposite sense, wrong sense, nonsense, addition and suppression) and errors relating to the TT (spelling, vocabulary, syntax, coherence and cohesion) (Kupsch-Losereit, 1985; Delisle, 1993; Albir, 1995, 1999 in Melis and Albir, 2001). 16
29. 2. Difference between functional errors and absolute errors. The former deals with the infringement of specific functional aspects of specific translation tasks meanwhile the latter involves an unjustified violation of cultural and linguistic rules, or of the use of a given language (Gouadec, 1989; Nord, 1996 in Melis and Albir, 2001). 3. Difference in individual translators between systematic errors and random errors. 4. Difference between errors in the product and errors in the process. The four questions inevitably provide a comprehensive approach to the translation texts as both the perspectives of the ST and the TT are taken into consideration. Additionally, the process of translation is also a criterion to evaluate the translations. Yet, it would be better and more convenient for translators and evaluators if a more specific list of error types is created. 5.3. Impacts of errors The seriousness and impacts of errors still remain controversial. Melis and Albir (2001) present several different views and approaches regarding this issue provided by a few of authors including Nord (1996), Larose (1989), Dancette (1989), etc. These authors classify errors based on „a scale of more to less serious‟ with either syntax approach or pragmatic approach, ST-oriented approach or TT-oriented approach. However, both Melis and Albir assume that it is not the nature of an error that determines its gravity. Instead, errors should be assessed based on their importance in relation to: 1. The text as a whole (whether the errors affect a key idea or a subordinate idea) 2. The coherence and cohesion of the TT 3. The degree of difference from the sense of the ST, particularly if this difference is likely to remain undetected by the reader of the translation 4. The functionality on a communicative level of the TT 5. Consequences regarding the purpose of the translation 17
30. 5.4 Etiology of errors In order to find a comprehensive remedy, causes of errors should be discovered and analyzed. Gile (1992 in Melis and Albir, 2001) assumes errors in translation are made due to three main causes: lack of knowledge (extra-linguistic, in the SL and the TL); lack of methodology; and lack of motivation. In my opinion, the lack of knowledge and the inadequate application of translation methods are the main causes of translation errors especially those are encountered during translation process. II. The difficulties in translating tourism terms from English into Vietnamese 1. On linguistic aspects On the ground of linguistics, the most important aspect on which a translation is judged as good or bad, unnaturalness in translation can be broken down into three levels: word level, phrase level, and sentence level. No matter what level you may consider, perfect equivalence rarely happens between two languages, especially when they belong to two quite different language families like English and Vietnamese. (While English belongs to the Indo-European family, Vietnamese is one of the Austro-Asiatic languages.) Thus, translators employ various strategies to deal with the non-equivalence. Some of them succeed, while the others do not and thus produce unnatural translations. 1.1 At word level 1.1.1 Loss of connotative meanings Before analyzing translation unnaturalness at the level of word, it is recommended to define and differentiate the two types of semantic components of the word. According to Catchword glossary, denotative component or denotation is the intrinsic, literal sense of a word, excluding its overtones and shades of meaning while connotative component or connotation is a word‟s extrinsic, figurative sense, which includes its overtones and shades of meaning. 18
31. To better understand these concepts, see the following table of the denotation and connotation of meanings of some synonyms. Noticeably, too often these synonyms are not interchangeable in contexts though they have the same denotation “to look”. Suggested Vietnamese Word Denotation Connotation equipvalent glare (v) to look fixedly nhìn trừng trừng peer (v) to look intently or searchingly dòm flirtatiously or ogle (v) to look nhìn hau háu amorously gaze (v) to look intently and steadily nhìn chăm chăm carefully and eye (v) to look nhìn chằm chặp suspiciously glance to look briefly or hastily thoáng nhìn (v) to peep to look quickly and secretly liếc trộm (v) in an unpleasant way to leer to look that shows an evil or liếc đểu (v) sexual interest Table 2.1: Words with similar denotation but different connotation Conspicuously, it is much simpler for a Vietnamese translator to remember the denotation of a word than keeping in mind all of its connotations. As a result, when encountering an English word he is not so sure about, an average or inexperienced translator tends to immediately choose the best Vietnamese equivalent of what he has known so far, regardless if it is suitable in the context or not. In this way, he may somehow misrepresent the writer‟s writing style and his/her intention. 19
32. In other cases, the translation turns out to be unnecessarily ceremonious, which sometimes becomes a ridiculous joke. For instance, in her English- Vietnamese translation exercise, a student translated the headline “Chocs downsized in obesity battle” as “Những thanh sô- cô- la giảm thiểu về mặt kích cỡ trong cuộc chiến chống căn bệnh béo phì”. ( file=8781) The translation is rather cumbersome and does not have the sence of humour of the original headline. Generally speaking, it is easier to see over-informal translations than unnecessarily formal ones. It is understandable given the fact that Vietnamese people tend to use much casual language in almost every situation. A high- ranking official‟s speech at a justice ministry‟s annual conference may read, “Chúng ta phải rà coi ông nào tiêu cực, tham nhũng, phải “dứt” mấy ông đó chứ không thể để mấy ông đó hoành hành trong bộ máy của chúng ta được!” or “Những cử tri cho tôi biết ở nơi nào có mấy thằng đầu gấu du côn là cả làng sợ, cả phố lo sợ”.( apa_1.pdf) Thus, to be formal at the right time and in the right place, translators must put a lot of effort in changing their own mindset and practice frequently. Apart from formality, there are a number of other connotative meanings worth considering as we go through the process of translation. Looking at Table 2.1, we can see emotive connotation, evaluative connotation, connotation of duration, connotation of cause, etc. These can be called nuances of meaning, giving the word some different nuances that differentiate it from other similar ones. Only when a translation conveys all of these nuances, Yan Fu‟s criteria of the “communication of the ideas (da)” and the “literary elegance (ya)” are reached. However, too often we observe the missing of these criteria. In English there are words which carry a positive or negative connotation according to the phrases or sentences with which they co-occur. The translation of these words will sound very un-Vietnamese if the translator fails to choose the correct Vietnamese collocation. For example, the word 'contribute' in English usually co-occurs with words or phrases which can carry either a positive or a negative meaning. Let us consider the following sentences: 20
33. No. English Vietnamese 1. a. We must all work together to Chúng ta cần phải làm việc cùng contribute to the building of a nhau nhằm góp phần xây dựng đất strong nation. (positive) nước vững mạnh. 2. b. The Government was blamed Chính phủ đã bị nhiều người dân đổ by many people for contributing lỗi về việc góp phần làm nền kinh to the poor economy. (negative) tế trở nên nghèo nàn. Table 2.3: Different nuances of the verb “to contribute” It is clearly seen that while “góp phần” is The Vietnamese equivalent for "contribute", it can only be used in a positive sense. Thus, the term is appropriate for translating the word “contribute” in Sentence (1), however not Sentence (2), as it sounds less typical Vietnamese. In Sentence (2), it is suggested that “contributing” be translated as “phần nào làm cho” because it helps convey a negative meaning. 1.1.2 Rigid use of the part of speech Most translators, even unskilled ones or translation learners, know that they should avoid the word- for- word translation. Nevertheless, this is not a simple task especially when you are not very flexible in the use of words and parts of speech. No. English Vietnamese Suggested Vietnamese version Japan is a country of Nhật Bản là một Nhật Bản là xứ sở hoa 1. sakura. nước hoa anh đào. anh đào. A woman with a baby Một phụ nữ với một Một phụ nữ ẵm em bé 2. in her arms. em bé trên tay. trên tay. Ông ấy là một thất Ông ấy đã thất bại 3. He was a failure in art. bại trong nghệ thuật. trong nghệ thuật. 21
34. Table 2.4: Replacements of parts of speech In the first example, because the translator does not change the part of speech, she should use the word “xứ sở” instead of “đất nước” (country). Obviously, the translations (second column) sound unnatural while, with a little adjustment, the suggested ones (third column) are much more Vietnamese. To enhance the effectiveness of his translation, a translator should definitely try to escape the prison of the source language towards a more target- language- oriented translation. Only in this way will the Vietnamese language regain its purity and Vietnamese readers no longer have to encounter such unnatural expressions like “thú nhỏ nhất là loài rơi đến từ Thái Lan” instead of “thú nhỏ nhất là loài dơi ở Thái Lan” or “Ban văn hóa giáo dục nằm trong thành phần quốc hội” instead of “Ban văn hóa xã hội trực thuộc quốc hội” as quoted in an article on translation by Bùi Việt Bắc (2005, para. 2) 1.1.3 Plural form Another un- Vietnamese translation occurs when the translator encounters plural nouns in the English text. The Vietnamese people are not as precise as English people in terms of singular and plural forms. In theory, Vietnamese words “các” and “những” are “used as plural noun makers to convey the notion of plurality” (Frank Tranh, 2002). But using them automatically, according to Trinh, is ungrammatical to Vietnamese people. In his article, Bùi Việt Bắc (2005, para. 2) also sites a Vietnamese writer who uses reduntdant plural form indicators in his own writing. This can be considered a direct negative impact of carelessness in the practice of translation. The citation goes: “Những chiếc lá trên một cành cây đang tỏ ra rung rinh trước những cơn gió.” In their daily conversation or in their own writing, most Vietnamese people are intuitively aware of this phenomenon; however, when they translate into Vietnamese an English text, people seem to forget about it and stick hard to the use of plurality in the source text. The unnatural translation at word level mentioned above is some but not all of the faults that might make a translation fail to convey the writer‟s intention and 22
35. satisfy the target language readers. To continue with, the Graduation paper will discuss unnaturalness in translation at the phrase level. 1.2 At phrase level 1.2.1 Noun phrase Noun phrase tend to be used a lot in written English, especially in formal documents. Certainly, it is not a habit of Vietnamese language users. So, when encountering a bare word-for-word translation of an English noun phrase, a Vietnamese reader would immediately see it as not having met the criteria of a goo translation. Worryingly, this phenomenon occurs frequently not only in students‟ translation exercises but also in many translated publications. The fact has it that Vietnamese translators tend to automatically render Enlish noun into Vietnamese nouns by using markers such as “sự” and “việc”. In doing so, there is a risk of not sounding right to a Vietnamese ear (Frank Trinh, 2002), especially when those markers appears repeatedly in a text. The translation of a fourth- year student below may serve as an illustration. The original text is: “Your wellness experience includes complimentary usage of geothermal hot dipping pools, thermal steam cave, ice bath, meditation cave, therapeutic reflexology pool, garra rufa doctor fish pool, crystal cave and fitness center when you visit Banjaran in Malaysia.” ( dung-trong-du-lich-kha/5) And the translated version is: “Sự trải nghiệm tốt của bạn khi đến thăm Banjaran ở Malaysia bao gồm việc sử dụng hồ nước nóng địa nhiệt, hang động hơi nhiệt, tắm băng, hang động thiền định, bể bơi điều trị bằng liệu pháp phản xạ, bể cá bác sĩ Garra Rufa, hang động pha lê và trung tâm thể hình.” This translator is not skillful enough to avoid using too many English sounding noun phrases. Most readers in this case cannot understand what the sentence conveys without much effort. 23
36. Compare the two Vietnamese versions of an English sentence: “Tôi xin lỗi vì sự trả lời chậm của tôi.” and “Tôi xin lỗi vì trả lời anh chậm.” We can say the former translation is too foreign to Vietnamese people and somehow wordy while the latter is much more natural and familiar. This is because in the first sentence the translator used the word-for-word rendering of English noun phrase “my delayed response”whereas the second sentence has suitable adjustments. Another cumbersome translation of English noun phrase is presented below. The English version is extracted from the novel The Da Vinci Code (Brown, 2003) and the translation is the published Vietnamese version by a renowned professional translator. The English version: “In an instant, the curator grasped the true horror of the situation.” The Vietnamese version: “Trong giây lát, người quản lý chợt hiểu ra sự kinh khủng thực của tình cảnh này” Surely, the underlined phrase is nowhere to be found in a standard Vietnamese written text. It is too unnatural to be accepted as a translation of a literary work, which requires high level of smoothness and elegance. 1.2.2 Word order Every English leaner knows that the English word order is quite different from, if not usually opposite to, the Vietnamese one. The key point here is whether he is fully aware of this when translating from English into Vietnamese. For instance, Vietnamese language users tend to use adverb(s) before the verb; however, when translating English sentence, many stick to the source language and do not think of a proper switch of word order. No. English Vietnamese Suggested Vietnamese version 1. Discover the priceless Khám phá Crown Khám phá Crown Crown Jewels newly Jewels vô giá được Jewels vô giá mới displayed in 2012 hiển thị theo cách trong năm 2012 mới trong năm 2012 2. London is incredibly London là kết nối vô London được kết nối well-connected, with cùng tốt với sân bay tốt với sân bay quốc tế five quốc tế và liên kết và đường sắt Eurostar international airports and đường sắt Eurostar tốc độ cao. 24
37. the high - tốc độ cao. speed Eurostar rail link. Table 2.5: Word order at phrase level Apparently, if the translator does not switch the position of the verb and adverb, he may have to use “một cách” before the adverb to clarify its function, which sometimes makes the phrase rather awkward. Even when there is no adverb marker, the phrase still sounds unfamiliar to Vietnamese readers. 1.3 At sentence level The sentence is a combination of words that expresses a complete thought (Lê Huy Trường, Đặng Đình Thiện & Trần Huy Phương, 1998). We have simple sentences, compound sentences, complex sentences, and even compound- complex sentences. The interpretation and analysis the source language sentence; the choosing of appropriate structures in the target language; and the reformulation of the sentence are very complicated processes. This gives room for host of flaws which, in turn, make the translated sentence awkward or even nonsensical. There are potential “traps” in which Vietnamese translators usually find themselves caught. They are the English passive voice, relative clauses, time adverbials, and so on. This Graduation paperwould concentrate on the main types of mistakes concerning unnatural translation at sentence level. 1.3.1 Passive voice This is one of the most frequently seen problems in English – Vietnamese translation. Though most translation learners have been taught to avoid the unnecessary use of passive voice in the Vietnamese version of a translation task, this kind of mistake still occurs regularly. Worse still, it can also be seen here and there in many Vietnamese published translation works. The following table presents some illustrations: No. English Vietnamese 1. More than 300 languages are Hơn 300 ngôn ngữ được nói ở đây spoken here and you'll find a và bạn sẽ thấy sự giàu có của một wealth of different cultures and nền văn hóa và cộng đồng khác communities throughout the 25
38. capital. trên khắp thủ đô. 2. London's world-class tourist Những điểm du lịch hấp dẫn của attractions are renowned across London được biết đến trên toàn the globe. cầu. Table 2.6: Unnecessary use of the passive voice Almost all Vietnamese readers reading the Vietnamese version of these examples may immediately presume they are translated sentences without knowing in advance. This is simply because they are too unnatural. Passive sentences beginning with “It is said that ” or “It is believed that ”, where the pronoun “it” is used as an unreal subject are also typical of the English language. Although it is recommended that this sort of sentence be rendered as “Nhiều người cho rằng ” or “Mọi người tin rằng ” so that it would sound Vietnamese, quite a few translators are too inflexible to modify it that way. Translators should always keep in mind that the use of the passive voice in English is quite common while in the Vietnamese language, the active voice is much preferred. There are some ways to avoid sounding unnatural whereas still be able to keep the passive meaning. This Graduation paperwill discuss them later. 1.3.2 Relative clauses In Vietnamese there are words like “mà”, “khi mà”, and “rằng” used to signal a relative clause in a sentence. Yet, the unyield using of these words whenever encounters a sentence with relative clause(s) without reasonable modification may spoil the outcome. Consider the following illustrations as cited in Translation and Grammar (Lê Văn Sự, 2003): No. English Vietnamese 1. The young man who is helping Người thanh niên mà giúp ba tôi là my father is his son-in-law con rể của ông 2. The factory which produces cars Nhà máy mà sản xuất xe hơi thì is modern. hiện đại 26
39. 3. The girl whose hat is pink is tall. Cô gái mà nón của cô ấy màu hồng thì cao. Table 2.7: Translation of sentences containing a relative clause To overcome the unnaturalness in these cases, the translator should employ the omission of the marker “mà”. Especially, in sentences containing the relative pronoun “whose”, it is necessary that the translator be flexible enough to think of another suitable structure in Vietnamese rather than that in the table of illustrations. Then the suggested Vietnamese version of Sentence (3) is: “Cô gái có chiếc nón hồng cao thật/ nhỉ”. 1.3.3 Time adverbials This issue concerning word order at sentence level is another potential trap for careless translators. They appear to be unaware of the subtle differences between English and Vietnamese with regard to the order of adverbs of time. Though the position of a time adverbial in a sentence is not of great significance in both languages, it should be noted that time expressions in Vietnamese usually come at the beginning of the sentences. This is because the initial position in the sentence helps set the scene and bring into focus the events to be talked about in a certain time-frame. Interestingly, it is this fact that allows Vietnamese language users not to resort to the complex use of tenses and aspects. Hence, in Vietnamese common parlance, it is rather strange to put expressions of time at the end of a sentence. When the English people say, “Today Malaysia has changed so much with a few years before” Vietnamese people tend to say, “Ngày nay Malaysia đã thay đổi nhiều so với một vài năm trước kia.” Similarly, the sentence, “I haven‟t met Mr. Floyd for months until now,” should be translated as “Đã vài tháng nay tôi chưa gặp ông Floyd” Nevertheless, observing translations by students of English, we can see that not all are fully aware of this. Consequently, the “unusual” position of the time adverbials make the Vietnamese translation sounds English. We do not need to look at the source sentences to know they are translation texts. 1.3.4 Order of importance vs. order of time Besides, Vietnamese people intuitively observe “the law of continuity in syntax” (Trinh, 2002). In the Vietnamese language, what happens first should be 27
40. described first while English speakers and writers usually emphasize the importance of the events rather than the time order of them. Consider the examples below. Original sentences: (1) Dad has just come home from work. (2) The Canadian sprinter; Ben Johnson, has returned to Canada from Seoul. An average translator may translate these sentences as: (1a) Bố vừa về từ sở làm. (2a) Vận động viên chạy nước rút người Canada, Ben Johnson, đã về đến Canada từ Seoul. But a more skillful translator will know how to make the translated sentences more Vietnamese: (1b) Bố vừa đi làm về (2b) Vận động viên chạy nước rút Canada, Ben Johnson, đã từ Seoul về đến Canada. The Graduation paper has gone through several mistakes with regard to the linguistic aspects of translation. The analysis is not a comprehensive one but it has touches upon some most common issues at word, phrase and sentence level. However, translation is also considered the process of cultural de-coding, re- coding and en-coding (Karamanian, 2002, para. 3). The next part of the Graduation paperwill discuss problems arise during this delicate process. 1.4 Linguistic untranslatability Untranslatability can be considered a property of a text in one language, for which no equivalent can be found in another language. There are two types of untranslatability, linguistic untranslatability and cultural untranslatability. The latter will be discussed later in this thesis. Untranslatability is also frequently seen in translation of poetry and wordplay. In these two areas, there is hardly any approach to reach perfect equivalent. Poetry is difficult to translate because of its reliance on the sounds (for example, 28
41. rhymes) and rhythms of the source language. Without proper rhythms, the translation of poems cannot sound natural. The translation of the verse below fails to “translate” the original rhythms therefore does not go far in making readers moved. The translation of puns, and other similar semantic puns and wordplay, are also challenging because of they are tightly tied to the original language. This virtually untranslatable pun is not handled well by the Vietnamese translator. 2. On cultural aspects Under the cultural perspective, translators is supposed to be the messengers whose task is to convey a message from one language to another in anything but an alien way that may cause confusion or feeling of foreignness to target language readers. This is definitely not a simple task because culture is a notion too broad and sophisticated to be fully grasped. Raymond Williams (1983), once said, “Culture is one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language” as quoted by Tuan Ngoc Nguyen (2004). This causes various disagreements among scholars on what to be called an unacceptable translation in cultural terms. Yet, unnaturalness in translation, on cultural aspect, can be divided into two following main problems. 2.1 Translation of idioms and fixed expressions As already mentioned somewhere in this thesis, rarely can we find a perfect equivalent between two languages. This is particularly true when translating idioms and fixed expressions. What is an idiom? According to English Idioms in Use (McCarthy & O‟Dell, 2004, p. 6), it is a fixed expression which “has a meaning that is not obvious from the individual words”. In other words, in the idiom, words have lost their individual identity. The structure of the idiom is, to a large extent, fixed and unchangeable. Every language has a set of idioms and fixed expressions of its own, which has been created and developed throughout history. It is profoundly influenced by the geographical position, natural and social conditions of the culture in which the language is used. Thus, the sets of idioms and fixed of expressions in different languages varies in many ways. Let us consider some of the major respects directly relevant to the unnaturalness of the practice of translation. 29
42. 2.1.1 Simile The formulae of similes are as follows: (1) as + Adjective + as (2) like + Noun Though coincidences occur sometimes, in essence, English similes are quite different from those in Vietnamese language. To avoid translation like “sô- cô- la cho những đôi tai” (a word- for- word translation of “chocolate for the ears”) instead of a familiar Vietnamese simile: “Nói như rót mật vào tai”. In translating of “đẹp như công” from “as beautiful as a peacock” instead of “đẹp như tiên sa”, translator need to be sensitive to this kind of rhetorical figure. No. English Vietnamese 1. as hot as fire nóng như lửa 2. as quick as lightning nhanh như chớp 3. as bright as day sáng rõ như ban ngày 4. as hard as rock cứng như đá 5. as slow as a turtle chậm như rùa Two tables above may show that the coincidental similes are the ones containing things familiar to both English and Vietnamese cultures, such as natural figures (lightning, thunder, fire, etc.) and common animals (pig, bull, turtle, etc.). As such, the different similes originated from differences in natural and social features between the two cultures. Things like snow, ice, statue, and butter is as alien to Vietnamese readers as bún, mồng tơi, and hến to English people. This is what translators should pay due attention to so as to make proper cultural substitutions in their translations. 2.1.2 Metaphor Metaphors are similar to similes in the way that they both are comparisons between things. However, the explicit use of the word 'like' or 'as' which always 30
43. seen in a simile, is not used in a metaphor which is rather a comparison of two things not directly alike using the verb "to be". In other words, metaphors suggest a comparison but do not make it explicitly. Hence, they usually sound more forceful and suggestive. Without knowing the metaphor the author uses in his/her original text, the translator may fail to produce a sound translation. For example, in an exercise for fourth-year students studying translation and interpreting, students were required to translate the sentence: “Economics and politics often make strange bedfellows.” Many of the students did not know that the metaphor “strange bedfellows” is used to describe people who are brought together though have little in common. That explains the clumsy translations of this metaphor as: “cặp bài trùng kỳ lạ”, “cặp đôi kỳ lạ”, “những vấn đề khó hiểu”, “những đối tác lạ lùng”, “những cộng sự lạ lung của nhau”, “những kẻ đồng hành không mong đợi”, “hai lĩnh vực thường luôn đi đôi với nhau”, etc. Actually, in Vietnamese, there is an equivalent to this metaphor. It is “những kẻ đồng sàn dị mộng”. It would be much easier for Vietnamese readers to catch the idea of the sentence if they meet such a familiar metaphor like this. As such, sentences like “She‟s kind of a cold fish” cannot be rendered as “Cô ấy là một con cá lạnh lùng” and “He‟s the teacher‟s pet” as “Cậu ta là một vật nuôi của giáo viên”. To sound natural, the translator must translate the sentences as “Cô ấy là người lạnh lùng” and “Cậu ấy là trò cưng của thầy giáo”. 2.1.3 Proverb Different from all kinds of fixed expressions mentioned above, proverbs are sayings, usually full clauses or sentences, describing certain experience that is considered true by many people. Translating these sayings requires great background on both languages and cultures; otherwise the outcomes would be dissatisfactory as in the examples below. A Vietnamese television program showed a puppet-play for children titled “Don‟t cry over the spilt milk” in English. Instead of translating the title as “Ăn năn thì sự đã rồi” so that it would be much more understandable, they gave the show a very un-Vietnamese title, “,"Đừng khóc vì lọ sữa đã đổ”. An English article titled “Gain through pain”, conspicuously inspired by the proverb “No pain, no gain” (Có công mài sắt có ngày nên kim), was translated 31
44. by translation learners as “Thành công đến sau thất bại” or “Thành quả có được nhờ chịu đựng khó khăn”. These would-be translators, though somehow conveyed the meaning of the title, failed to make it clear and sound right to Vietnamese readers. 2.2 Translation of implications and classic references Cultural and social background is so important to people who practice translating as their profession. Without which, they would probably produce unnatural translations because just like any other, the English culture has gone through a long time of existence and development. During this time, many concepts unique to the culture have been universally accepted by its members by many ways. For example, when English people write, “To his foes, he is a Judas Priest who betrayed loyal friends. To others, he remains an unrepentant agent-provocateur on the public payroll,” they do not talk about a real Judas but about a traitor as Judas Iscariot in the Bible was the betrayal among Jesus‟ disciples. Without knowing this, it is difficult for translators to naturally render this text into Vietnamese. This kind of metaphor or implication is popular in written English, thus, requires appropriate consideration by Vietnamese translators. As mentioned on the ground of linguistics, connotative meanings of a word are much more difficult to render than its denotation. This is especially true when the word contains characteristics distinct of each culture. For example, when English people talk about a “pub”, they are talking about something very close to them, something that they would remember when they are away from their hometown. If the translator simply renders it as “quán rượu”, Vietnamese readers will not comprehend thoroughly the whole notion. Sometimes it may even evoke negative prejudices because Vietnamese people usually relate pubs with noisy places with rude drunkards. In cases like this, the translator‟s task is exceptionally hard not to make the positive implications in English turn into negative ones in Vietnamese. 32
45. CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 2.1 Material The research has been conducted on the ground of studies on terminology by many foreign and Vietnamese linguists and tourist. The theoretical background is built on the basis of their tourist reports, statements and books on terminology and the translation of terminology. In addition, online and offline dictionaries and encyclopedia are also consulted to build a complete glossary on tourism. 2.2 Data Analysis and Results The cases of inappropriate translation procedures were marked with asterisks in the tables. The percentage of different translation procedures and their inadequacies were also illustrated in separate tables and pie charts. 2.2.1 Results for Translation Procedures at Word Level This part represents the elicited data for translation procedures at word level, marks the cases of inappropriate translation procedures with asterisks, and reports the results in frequency table and pie charts. Table 1: Elicited Data for Translation Procedures at Word level Translation No English Vietnamese Translation Procedure Khách du lịch quốc tế, người Việt tại 1 Inbound Hải ngoại đến thăm quan du lịch Việt Transference Nam Người Việt Nam, người nước ngoài tại 2 Outbound Việt Nam đi thăm quan đi thăm quan Transference các nước khác 3 Trekking Du lịch khám phá, mạo hiểm Transference 4 Homestay Sự ở cùng gia đình bản địa Naturalization 5 Incentive Chuyến du lịch khen thưởng Naturalization 6 Suite Loại phòng cao cấp nhất Transference 33
46. 7 Amenity Tiện nghi Naturalization 8 Bellhop Người khuân vác hành lý Naturalization 9 Cityscape Cảnh quan đô thị Naturalization 10 City tour Chuyến du lịch thành phố Naturalization Kế hoạch về một cuộc hành trình, sách 11 Itinerary Naturalization hướng dẫn du lịch 12 Monument Đài kỉ niệm, bia kỉ niệm Naturalization 13 Theme Park Công viên giải trí Naturalization 14 Art gallery Bảo tang mỹ thuật Naturalization 15 Parade Cuộc diễu binh, diễu hành Naturalization 16 Fountain Vòi phun nước Transference 17 Ecotourism Du lịch sinh thái Transference 18 Hiking Đi bộ đường dài Transference SIC: seat in Xe buýt thăm quan thành phố theo lịch Transference & 19 coach trình cố định paraphrase 20 OW: oneway Vé máy bay một chiều Naturalization Transference & 21 Block Số phòng, số chỗ còn trống paraphrase Naturalization & 22 Art museum Bảo tàng nghệ thuật Literal translation All-inclusive Transference & 23 Tour du lịch trọn gói tour Literal translation Transference 24 Campground Nơi cắm trại & literal translation Domestic Transference & 25 Du lịch trong nước tourist literal translation Transference& 26 Buffet house Nhà hàng ăn tự chọn Translation label 34
47. Bermuda Plan Transference & 27 Giá phòng bao gồm một bữa sáng Mỹ (BP) Paraphrase 28 Consortium Hiệp Đoàn, Liên Minh, Hiệp Hội Naturalization 29 Ecotourism Du lịch sinh thái Naturalization Industrial Chuyến đi thăm quan các khu công Naturalization & 30 tourism nghiệp Literal translation Amusement 31 Công viên nước Transference park Transference & 32 Escorted tour Chuyến du lịch có hướng dẫn viên Paraphrase Double 33 Phòng có 2 giường đôi Literal translation double Naturalization & 34 Eurailpass Vé du lịch đi 16 nước Châu Âu translation label European plan Giá phòng khách sạn không bao gồm 35 Transference (EP) các bữa ăn Table 2 The Frequency Table at Word Level Translation The Number The The number The Procedure of the Found Percentage of percentage of Cases of the Found Inappropriate inappropriate Cases cases cases Naturalization 14 40.0% 0 0% Transference 9 25.71% 5 11.90% Transference & 4 11.42% 1 2.38% Paraphrase Naturalization& 2 5.71% 0 0% Literal translation Transference & 3 8.57% 1 2.38% Literal translation 35
48. Transference & 1 2.85% 1 2.38% Translation label Literal translation 1 2.85% 2 4.76% Naturalization & 1 2.85% 1 2.38% Translation label The Total Number/ 35 99.96%~ 17 40.46% Percentage of the 100% Cases The above table shows that among the 35 cases found for translation procedures at word level, 17 cases (40.46 %) were inappropriate. Pie Charts at Word Level Figure 1.1 The percentage of different translation procedures at word level Naturalization 40.0% Transference 25.71% Transference & Paraphrase 11.42% Naturalization& Literal translation 5.71% Transference & Literal translation 8.57% 36
49. Transference & Translation label 2.85% Literal translation 2.85% Naturalization & Translation label 2.85% Figure 1.2 the percentage of inappropriate translation procedures at word level Inappropriate Naturalization 0% Inappropriate Transference 11.90% Inappropriate Transference & Naturalization 14.28% Inappropriate Transference & Paraphrase 2.38% Inappropriate Naturalization & Literal translation 0% Inappropriate Transference & Literal translation 2.38% Inappropriate Transference & Translation label 2.38% Inappropriate Literal translation 4.76% Inappropriate Naturalization & Translation label 2.38% 2.2.2 Results for Translation Procedures at Phrase Level This part represents the elicited data for translation procedures at phrase level, marks the cases of inappropriate translation procedures with asterisks, and reports the results in frequency table and pie charts. 37
50. Table 1: Elicited Data for Translation Procedures at Phrase level Translation No English Vietnamese Translation Procedure Literal translation & 1 Back to back Liên tục Transference Balance of Transference & Literal 2 Cán cân thanh toán payment translation Architectural 3 preservation Sự bảo tồn kiến trúc Literal translation Shift (Change in the 4 Boy voyage Chúc may mắn position of the adjective) 5 City guide Sách chỉ dẫn thành phố Literal translation Combination 6 destination Điểm du lịch hỗn hợp Functional equivalent Transference & Literal 7 Ballpark figure Con số gần đúng translation Commercial 8 agency Hãng du lịch thương mại Literal translation Đồ uống nhẹ không cồn được Shift (Change in the Free flow soft phục vụ liên tục dang bình lớn 9 position of the drink cho khách tự do lấy suốt bữa adjective) tiệc. Gói dịch vụ cơ bản chỉ bao gồm Free & Easy phương tiện vận chuyển , phòng 10 package nghỉ và các bữa ăn sáng tại Transference khách sạn 11 Cancellation Khoản phạt hủy bỏ Transference& Literal 38
51. penalty translation Shift (Change in the 12 Buffet breakfast Ăn sáng tự chọn position of the adjective) Bữa ăn sáng kiểu lục địa, thường Continental có vài lát bánh mì bơ, pho mát, Shift (Change in the 13 breakfast mứt, bánh sừng bò, bánh ngọt position of the kiểu Đan Mạch, nước quả, trà, adjective) cà phê. Ăn sáng đơn giản phổ biến tại các khách sạn mini chỉ với 1 Shift (Change in the 14 Set breakfast món hoặc bánh mỳ ốp la hoặc position of the phở, mỳ với hoa quả, trà hoặc cà adjective) phê. International Air Hiệp hội vận tải hàng không Transference & Literal 15 Transport Association quốc tế translation Half board 16 package Tour trọn gói Literal translation 17 Bullet train Tàu cao tốc Nhật Bản Transference Phòng có 1 giường cho 1 người Transference & Literal 18 Single bed room ở Translation Phòng có 2 giường cho 2 người Transference & Literal 19 Twin bed room ở translation Phòng có 1 giường lớn cho 2 Transference& Literal 20 Double bed room người ở translation Phòng cho 3 người ở hoặc có 3 Transference& Literal 21 Triple bed room giường nhỏ hoặc có 1 giường translation lớn và 1 giường nhỏ 39
52. 2 phòng riêng biệt có cửa thông Transference& Literal 22 Connecting room nhau translation Sắp xếp bất cứ phòng nào còn Transference& Literal 23 Run of the house trống cho khách translation 24 Soft drinks Các loại đồ uống không cồn Literal translation Table 2: The Frequency Table at Phrase Level Translation The Number The Percentage The number of The percentage Procedure of the Found of the Found Inappropriate of inappropriate Cases Cases cases cases Shift 5 20.83% 0 0% Literal 1 4.16% 1 4.16% translation & Transference Transference 10 41.66% 6 25% & Literal translation Literal 5 20.83% 3 12.5% translation Functional 1 4.16% 1 4.16% equivalent Transference 2 8.33% 2 8.33% The Total 24 99.97% ~ 100% 13 54.15% Number/ Percentage of the Cases The above table shows that among the 24 cases found for translation procedures at phrase level, 13 cases (54.15 %) were inappropriate. 40
53. Pie Charts at Phrase Level Figure 2.1 The percentage of different translation procedures at phrase level Shift 20.83% Literal translation & Transference 4.16% Transference & Literal translation 41.66% Literal translation 20.83% Functional equivalent 4.16% Transference 8.33% Figure 2.2 The percentage of impropriate translation procedures at phrase level 41
54. Inappropriate Shift 0% Inappropriate Literal translation & Transference 4.16% Inappropriate Transference & Literal translation 25% Inappropriate Literal translation 12.5% Inappropriate Functional equivalent 4.16% Inappropriate Transference 8.33% 2.2.3 Results for Translation Procedures at Sentence Level This part represents the elicited data for translation procedures at sentence level, marks the cases of inappropriate translation procedures with asterisks, and reports the results in frequency table and pie charts. Table 1: Elicited Data for Translation Procedures at Sentence level No English Vietnamese Translation Translation Procedure 1 Byron Bay used to be Byron Bay nổi tiếng bởi nền Modulation (Nega known for its beach hippy văn hóa bãi biển lập dị. ted contrary) culture. 2 Cape Tribulation is Cape Tribulation được bao Modulation (activ surrounded by quanh bởi rừng nhiệt đới và e to passive) tropical rainforest and là bờ biển thiên đường ít is the beach Paradise nhất là về phong cảnh, bắt with a capital P, at đầu bằng chữ cái P. least for the scenery. 3 This square was made in Quảng trường này được xây Literal translation. the place of a small square dựng trên một quảng trường remaining from Timurid nhỏ còn lại của triều đại dynasty Timurid 4 This mosque was a public Nhà thờ Hồi giáo này là nhà Shift (a complex one and Master Ali Akbar thờ công cộng và được thiết sentence to two Isfahani is its architect kế bởi kiến trúc sư rất nổi simple sentences) who has been very famous tiếng Ali Akbar Isfahani. Modualtion 42
55. at his time. His name is Tên của ông được khắc đầu (active to passive) carved on top of the tiên trên cổng nhà thờ. mosque portal 5 Many Aussie beaches Điểm đặc trưng của nhiều Literal translation feature backdrops of bush bãi biển Úc là khung cảnh and forest. cây bụi và rừng. 6 Cable Beach is world Cable Beach nổi tiếng bởi bờ Modulation renowned for its long cát trải dài và nhiệt độ nước (active to passive) stretch of sand and biển ấm áp. Thật tuyệt vời. bathwater tub-style ocean temperatures. Sheer bliss. 7 The number of these Một trong những ngôi làng Literal translation villages, each of which có ít nhất một đài kỉ niệm, holds at least one con số lên tới 500 đài. wonderful monument, reaches 500. 8 Qashqai women never cut Phụ nữ Qashqai không bao Literal translation their hair short. giờ cắt tóc ngắn. 9 This entertaining garden Khu vui chơi giải trí đầu tiên Literal translation. first was established in được thành lập năm 1996 ở 1996 in Northern bờ sông phía Bắc. riverbank. 10 The ancient fire temple is Ngôi đền lửa cổ kính nằm Literal translation on top of a stone hill near trên đỉnh đồi đá gần đường the road to Najaf-Abad. Najaf-Abad. Table 2 The Frequency Table at Sentence Level Translation The Number The Percentage The number of The percentage Procedure of the Found of the Found Inappropriate of Inappropriate Cases Cases cases cases Literal 6 60% 6 60% translation 43
56. Modulation 3 30% 1 10% Shift & 1 10% 1 10% Modulation The Total 10 100% 8 80% Number/ Percentage of the Cases The above table shows that among the 10 cases found for translation procedures at sentence level, 8 cases (80 %) were inappropriate. Figure 3.1 The percentage of different translation procedures at phrase level Literal translation 60% Modulation 30% Shift & Modulation 10% 44
57. Figure 3.2 The percentage of impropriate translation procedures at phrase level Inappropriate Literal translation 60% Inappropriate Modulation 10% Inappropriate Shift & Modulation 10% 45
58. CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS Based on the discussion of the results the following findings were elicited: 1. Transference, naturalization, transference and naturalization, transference and paraphrase, transference and literal translation, literal translation, naturalization and literal translation, transference and translation label, and naturalization and translation were identified as translation procedures used at word level based on their respective frequency. 40.46% of the above translation procedures were inappropriate whose subsequent negative effects on the process of cross-cultural communication are tangible in the existing tourist guidebooks. 2. Transference and literal translation, shift (change in the position of the adjective), literal translation, transference, literal translation and transference, and functional equivalent were identified as translation procedures used at phrase level based on their respective frequency. 54.15% of the above translation procedures were inappropriate whose subsequent negative effects on the process of cross-cultural communication are dramatic in the existing tourist guidebooks. 3. Literal translation, modulation (active to passive), modulation (negated contrary), and shift (converting a complex sentence to two simple sentences) were identified as translation procedures used at sentence level based on their respective frequency. 80% of the above translation procedures were inappropriate whose subsequent negative effects on the process of cross-cultural communication aren‟t less than disaster for the economy of Vietnam and Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (CHTO). To help translators and translation learners have a clearer view of the major causes of unnaturalness in translation, this Graduation paper classified them into the following categories. 3.1. Subjective clauses A translation of high quality must be the work of a skillful translator. To be able to produce good translation, the translator must be competent in both the source and target languages and have extensive cultural background. 46
59. 3.1.1 Insufficient language competence First and foremost, the practice of translation belongs to the linguistic realm. Thus, the primary reason of a poor translation must be the insufficiency of the translator‟s language competence. The incompetence may be of Vietnamese, the target language in English-Vietnamese translation, and/or of English, the source language. 3.1.1.1 Insufficient target language (Vietnamese) competence Before being a translator, one must be a good writer. It is to say that he is capable of using his mother tongue effectively to express the ideas. Unnatural translation, hence, is most of the time direct consequence of a poor or insufficient target language competence. As the Graduation paper focuses on the English- Vietnamese translation, the target language is the Vietnamese language. Vietnamese is known for its sophisticated grammatical rules on which not all Vietnamese people hold appropriate knowledge. The fact has it that only a few Vietnamese translators excel at their own mother tongue, let alone students who are still learning to become translators. Language incompetence can be observed in two broad areas: the vocabulary and the grammatical structures. Insufficient knowledge on either of the two areas may lead to translations of poor quality. Noticeably, many would- be translators learning at university nowadays do not know a remarkably large number of old Vietnamese words often use in formal documents. These cause limitations in their practice of translation, especially when the text strictly requires proper writing style. “Forgotten”- formal words like these, as observed, include “quan” (to lie in state), “hơi hướm” (a slight tendency of something), thủ đắc (to aquire) and “đồ rằng” (to allege). Some unskilled translators tend to use unwilling to improve their Vietnamese vocabulary. They do not have in mind that academic English should be translated into academic Vietnamese and vice versa. This requires all translators to ceaselessly enlarge their vocabulary, especially academic ones, which quite a few Vietnamese people lack. Vietnamese grammatical structures are just as diverse as that of any other language, sometimes even more. Most Vietnamese people can intuitively use 47
60. these structures but fail to connect them with certain foreign structures, hence cannot translate naturally. Besides, Vietnamese language users are known for over-using commas instead of conjunctions and run-on sentences. Overcoming these weaknesses is crucial to the improvement of English- Vietnamese translations. 3.1.1.2 Insufficient source language (English) competence It is easy to learn English but it is difficult to master it. The more you learn, the more complicated you find English is. Almost all English- Vietnamese translators are native Vietnamese or overseas Vietnamese; therefore it is difficult for them to have an expert – like English vocabulary as well as grammatical structures. Some people think that lack of English language competence is justifiable for Vietnamese translators because it is not their mother tongue. To my mind, this is a totally erroneous opinion. To better the quality of translation, translators must master both the source and the target languages. In other words, before being a translator, a person must first and foremost be a bilingual. Just like Vietnamese, English contains many words layers, formal and informal. Lack of vocabulary in any of these layers may cause serious unnaturalness and affect the flow of a translated text. Along with a considerable basic “equip” them with informal as well as formal vocabulary so as to be as flexible as possible in their translation. Most Vietnamese unskilled translators lack both the informal and formal words in their English vocabulary. On the other hand, they tend to abuse the words and phrases they know and risk making them sound improper in certain contexts. For example, answering the question: “Tell us about the weather in Saigon when you left a few days ago.” in a casual conversation with foreign friends, a student said: “My dear friends, when I took leave of my beloved fatherland, which is situated near the equator, the weather was scorching hot.” His lengthy grammatical structure and his use of archaic, flowery, and unnatural English made the sentence sound weird to native people. An “authentic” English speaker in this situation would have said: “When I left Vietnam, it was hot like hell!” Definitely, to be able to produce translations of high quality, translators must me an excellent user of the source language. Otherwise, it is likely that they will 48
61. make several errors caused by negative transfer (hiện tượng chuyển di tiêu cực từ tiếng mẹ đẻ). Finally, it is critical to understand that the sufficiency in both languages is not enough for a translator. He needs to flexibly compare and contrast, be aware of the differences between the two languages so that he can easily find an equivalent whenever necessary or at least know how to make himself understood when encountering untranslatable concepts. The art of translation requires a lot more than proficiency in languages. This may explain why bilingual people are not always good translators. One of the other crucial criteria is the cultural background, without which the translation would be unnatural. 3.1.2 Inadequate cultural background In fact, this includes competent knowledge on almost all aspects, such as religions, traditional customs, social norms, and historical awareness. This kind of combined knowledge can be gained along with the process of learning English and learning translation. Nevertheless, only a few learners are aware of this. As a result, in universities teaching English and translation on Vietnam today, students know just a little about the English- speaking countries‟ cultures. Available courses are inadequate, either. This is also the main cause of the so-called “disaster of the translation art”. Recently, the Vietnamese version of The Da Vinci Code has been repeatedly condemned on all kind of media. In my opinion, this is not a sole failure of Vietnamese translated literature but it is one manifestation of the inadequate cultural background among translators nowadays. It is crucial that translators also pay much attention to their own culture, the Vietnamese culture. Delving deeper into this colorful culture we will see that it is not easy to be an expert in various Vietnamese social and cultural aspects. At school and university, Vietnamese students are taught about this but the knowledge they acquire, without their own efforts to exports to explore new things, is obviously inadequate. The press has talked much about Vietnamese students‟ unnaturalness in translation but possibly also a total failure in rendering the idea. 49
62. 3.2 Objective causes 3.2.1 Linguistic differences between English and Vietnamese As mentioned above, the English language belongs to the Indo-European language family, and the Vietnamese language belongs to the Austro-Asiatic family. Therefore the two languages have various differences in terms of vocabulary and grammatical rules. It is almost impossible to analyze all the differences in the course of this sixty-two-page thesis. However, with a view to clarifying one important objective reason of unnaturalness in English – Vietnamese translation, some prominent variances are mentioned below: The phrasal is peculiar to English, as illustrated by constructions such as "turn on," "turn off," "mark up," or "mark down". In other languages, single specific verbs are used in place of the English phrasal verbs. A construction as such is highly problematic because in English, it has numerous meanings. English grammar is very inflexible compared to other languages. English goes by very strict structures while the Vietnamese language is much more flexible. For instance, the Vietnamese language does not always use articles and the rules are not as clear as those of the English language. Some English vocabulary is peculiar. A word in English may mean a lot of other words in Vietnamese. For example, you may translate the word “problem” as “vấn đề”, “vấn nạn”, “tệ nạn”, “khó khăn”, “trở ngại”, “trục trặc”, “biến chứng”, “thắc mắc”, “lỗi”, etc. depending on the context. While English does not have so many grammatical inflections, English verbs can pose problems. The problematic areas are the enormous use of auxiliary verbs to convey modes (subjunctive and conditional) that are indicated in Vietnamese by simple markers. English, especially American English, has a tendency to convert nouns to verbs. This is problematic for speakers of the Vietnamese language who cannot as easily convert nouns to verbs. Noun combinations such as “light emitter diode”, as well as compound nouns, also pose problems for inexperienced translators. All of these peculiarities of English grammar often make it difficult for non- native English speakers to get a full command of the language. It is also difficult 50
63. when it comes to translating English writing into other languages. In fact, the size of the text often increases when one translates from English to Vietnamese. 3.2.2 Cultural differences Translation is not simply a linguistic transformation of texts, but it is also a rendering of cultural concepts from one language to another. Asian culture in general and Vietnamese culture in particular has few things in common with Western and American culture. Unless a translator is capable of breaking through “decayed barriers” of his own culture and opening his mind to new and sometimes alien concepts, his translation cannot be considered successful and natural. Difficulties occur when you have to translate foreign notions like muck up day, New Year‟s resolution, fair go, and wife swapping because they are typical of the culture in English-speaking countries but not in Vietnam. However, most alien concepts can be rendered with some translation techniques to be mentioned in the text chapter. Even the untranslatability can also be solved with efforts by translators. To conclude this chapter, it is noteworthy that despite the many challenges when translating from English to Vietnamese and despite the actual untranslatability, be it linguistic or cultural, skilled translators still can, and must, find their own ways to overcome them to produce a high quality re-creation, not merely a rough combination of words, “for the sake of pure language”. In other words, there are always cures to certain causes. 3.3 Overcoming linguistic problems 3.3.1 Choose the right word At the level of word, problems can only be solved if the translator works hard to cumulate both his English and Vietnamese vocabulary to a level that he is capable of choosing the right word in any case to produce a natural translation. It is crucial for a translator to fully understand all the denotations and connotations of a word so that he can avoid making any loss of connotation meanings as in example in Chapter 2. To do that, he also needs flexibility in the use of words and does not translate mechanically basing on an English – Vietnamese dictionary. 51
64. Accommodation at word level includes the ability to proper switch between the plural form and singular form so that the translation best suits the mindset of Vietnamese readers. This is particularly noticeable as we deal with English uncountable nouns. 3.3.2 Choose the right structure By structure, it is meant both the structure of the phrase and the sentence. At phrase level, translators should choose the best word order possible so that their translation would sound more Vietnamese. Earlier in this thesis, unnatural translations due to the improper word order have been mentioned. At sentence level, it is necessary not only to switch the positions of certain parts of the sentence but also to replace some structures unfamiliar to Vietnamese readers. 3.3.2.1 Transpositions Transposition is a translation technique in which the translator reverses the order or place of certain words or phrases when necessary to improve the naturalness of the sentence. Noticeably, we would have to frequently employ this technique when translating sentences with time adverbials. 3.3.2.2 Replacements Replace passive voice with active voice: Needless to say, most of the times, passive voice in the original English text should be replaced with active voice in Vietnamese. Replace a complex sentence with two or more simple sentences: It would be unnatural to try to translate an English long complex sentence to a Vietnamese sentence of the same structure. The excessive use of markers like “mà”, “nơi mà”, etc. can make the sentence too complicated for an average Vietnamese reader to fully understand. 3.3.3 Dealing with linguistic untranslatability It is never easy to deal with linguistic challenges in translation, such as the rhythm and wordplay in literary works. However, there are techniques that translators can apply when necessary to compensate for the untranslatability to some extent. For example, the translator can compensate for an "untranslatable" pun by adding a new pun. This is called a replacement or substitution. But 52
65. substitution of this kind is very difficult unless you have a copious linguistic and even cultural background. 3.4 Overcoming cultural problems 3.4.1 Cultural substitutions To avoid unnaturalness over issues of culture, translators should keep in mind that sometimes an effort to translate correctly is not as valuable as a suitable substitution. Examples of similes, metaphors, and proverbs in Chapter 2 may serve as a source of references for translators. Things unfamiliar with the Vietnamese culture have been altered with ones that are close to Vietnamese people‟s daily life. Moreover, things that may seem improper or unpleasant due to Vietnamese cultural norms are also replaced so as to avoid causing any aversion to readers. 3.4.2 Dealing with cultural untranslatability Untranslatability is unavoidable due to the numerous differences between the two languages. A translator, however, can resort to a number of translation procedures to compensate. 3.4.2.1 Free translation In some studies, free translation is also called adaptation. According to Wikipedia, an adaptation is a translation procedure whereby the translator replaces a social, or cultural, reality in the source text with a corresponding reality in the target text; this new reality would be more usual to the audience of the target text. Also, adaptation is often used when translating poetry, works of theatre and, most popularly, advertising. Below are three of the most well-known slogans in Vietnam and how they have been freely translated. − Heineken – It‟s all about the beer (Chỉ vì loại bia này): Chỉ có thể là Heineken. − TigerBeer – It‟s time for a Tiger! (Đến lúc uống một chai Tiger rồi): Bản lĩnh đàn ông thời nay. − Prudential Insurance – Get a piece of the Rock (Hãy là một phần của phiến đá): Luôn luôn lắng nghe, luôn luôn thấu hiểu. 53
66. These slogans are not really something untranslatable. However, Vietnamese translators may resort to free translation because they want Vietnamese people to feel the main message, which is very important in advertising industry. 3.4.2.2 Borrowing Borrowing is not a new method. It has been discussed in many books on lexicology and translation. What the Graduation paper wants to emphasize is the translation-loan, special kind of borrowings. Translation-loans “are not taken into the vocabulary of another language more or less in the same phonemic shape in which they have been functioning in their own language, but undergo the process of translation.” Translation-loans do not only resolve problems of cultural untranslatability but also help increase one language‟s vocabulary. For instance, Vietnamese people are now familiar with terms like người chơi (indicating a player in a gameshow), thân thiện với môi trường (environmental friendly), and định hướng khách hàng (client-oriented). The above-mentioned techniques are useful for translators when trying to compensate cultural untranslatability. Besides, translators can also use techniques like paraphrase or calques. However, these techniques cannot be used successfully without the translator‟s willingness to diligently study with a view to gaining his cultural background along with his linguistic competence. 54
67. Part C: CONCLUSION Vietnam has been integrating into the world economy and culture. This progress requires translations of high quality, especially from English into Vietnamese and vice versa. Thus, more studies should be carried out to identify and how to cope with common mistakes in these translations. Besides, studies on what can be called a pure Vietnamese language and how to maintain it through the processes of translation should be implemented. These studies are supposed to bring readers an overview of the contemporary situation of Vietnamese translated works, its strengths and limitations, and how to improve it. Digging into current publications to find common pitfalls that may harm the quality of translations is recommended. Research should touch upon translation of all writing styles, be it literary, journalistic, or official. Because of limitation of timeframe and knowledge, this thesis also limited itself to basic English-Vietnamese terms in tourism only. However, no one can deny that these terms are very important for further study, because these basic ones themselves will contribute to help learners to improve other skills such as listening, speaking, reading, and writing. In conclusion, I want to significantly contribute to the study of English – Vietnamese translations in universities and on the media through this thesis. In my opinion, it can be considered a companion of all people who are seeking to improve their English – Vietnamese translation skills as well as the quality of their translations. Hopefully, readers of this thesis can find it useful in their future work and study or at least see it as a reference worth looking at. 55