VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ XUÂN PHƯƠNG VIETNAMESE – ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF VIETNAMESE CULTURAL WORDS IN THE BOOK “HANOI’S ANCIENT FEATURES” BY TRAN MANH THUONG (CÁCH DỊCH TỪ TIẾNG VIỆT SANG TIẾNG ANH CÁC TỪ NGỮ VĂN HÓA TRONG TÁC PHẨM “NÉT XƯA HÀ NỘI” CỦA TRẦN MẠNH THƯỜNG) M.A Minor Thesis English Linguistics 602215 Hanoi, 2011 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ XUÂN PHƯƠNG VIETNAMESE – ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF VIETNAMESE CULTURAL WORDS IN THE BOOK “HANOI’S ANCIENT FEATURES” BY TRAN MANH THUONG (CÁCH DỊCH TỪ TIẾNG VIỆT SANG TIẾNG ANH CÁC TỪ NGỮ VĂN HÓA TRONG TÁC PHẨM “NÉT XƯA HÀ NỘI” CỦA TRẦN MẠNH THƯỜNG) M.A Minor Thesis Field: English Linguistics Code: 602215 Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Lê Hùng Tiến Hanoi, 2011 TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration Acknowledgement Abstract Table of contents PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Scope of the study Aims of the study Methodology Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Translation Theory 1.1.1 Definition of translation 1.1.2 Translation equivalence 1.1.2.1 The concept of translation equivalence 1.1.2.2 Types of equivalence in translation 1.1.3 The problem of non – equivalence 10 1.2 The concept of culture in translation 13 1.3 Cultural categories 14 1.4 Translation methods 15 CHAPTER 2: THE MOST COMMON TYPE OF CULTURAL WORDS EQUIVALENCE 2.1 The most common types of cultural words 18 2.2 The most common types of equivalence 18 2.3 Strategies to deal with nil – equivalence 21 2.3.1 Borrowings 22 2.3.2 Paraphrasing 24 2.3.2.1 Description of the ingredients and how the dish is cooked 24 2.3.2.2 Description of the use of the object 24 2.3.2.3 Description of the shape and appearance of things 25 2.3.2.4 Literal translation 26 2.3.2.5 Transferring meanings of the words 27 CHAPTER 3: OTHER TYPES OF EQUIVALENCE 3.1 Many-to-one equivalence 29 3.2 One-to-part-of-one equivalence 32 3.3 One-to-one equivalence 35 3.4 Reasons for the differences 37 3.4.1 Different religions and beliefs 37 3.4.2 Different traditions and customs 38 3.4.3 Different historical allusion 38 PART C: CONCLUSION Addressed issues 39 Suggestions for further study 40 REFERENCES APPENDICES PART A – INTRODUCTION Rationale Language is the carrier of the culture For one thing, language is a part of culture and plays an important role in it Thus it reflects culture For another, as a mirror of culture, language is strongly influenced and shaped by culture Culture and intercultural competence and awareness that rise out of experience of culture, are far more complex phenomena than it may seem to the translator The more a translator is aware of complexities of differences between cultures, the better a translator s/he will be It is probably right to say that there has never been a time when the community of translators was unaware of cultural differences and their significance for translation Translation theorists have been cognizant of the problems attendant upon cultural knowledge and cultural differences at least since ancient Rome Cultural knowledge and cultural differences have been a major focus of translator training and translation theory for as long as either has been in existence The main concern has traditionally been with words and phrases that are so heavily and exclusively grounded in one culture that they are almost impossible to translate into the terms – verbal or otherwise – of another Long debate have been held over when to paraphrase, when to use the nearest local equivalent, when to coin a new word by translating literally, and when to transcribe All these “untranslatable” culturalbound words and phrases continued to fascinate translators and translation theorists As hard as it may seem, the translation of Vietnamese cultural words is now an inevitable part in our integrating life since we have become a member of WTO It is important for any Vietnamese to match cultural equivalence between English and Vietnamese to introduce our culture into the world However, not many empirical studies have been conducted so far on the issue of translation of Vietnamese cultural words into English Those reasons may justify for the necessity of this study The study investigates how Vietnamese cultural words are transferred in the book “Hanoi’s Ancient Features” It also raised the need for translators of Vietnamese- English texts, especially in treating cultural terms, to pay close attention to the linguistic and cultural elements of the source texts Scope of the study Within limited time, resources, conditions, and the length of the thesis, the researcher focuses only on cultural words occurring in the book “Hanoi’s Ancient Features” by Tran Manh Thuong Such is the boundary set for my thesis so as to achieve a thorough investigation Specifically, the study takes into consideration such major aspects as follows:  The most common types of equivalence  The possible reasons for the non – equivalence  Their translations Aims of the study The main aims of the study are:  To work out the most common types of equivalence used in the translation of Vietnamese cultural words  To draw out the common problems of equivalence seen in the translation of Vietnamese cultural words into English  To draw out strategies and procedures that may apply to the translation of Vietnamese cultural words and suggest some implications for the translation of the cultural words Methodology 4.1 Research questions The thesis seeks answers for the following research questions: a What is the most typical type of equivalence used in the translation of cultural words in the book “Hanoi’s Ancient Features”? b What are the most common problems in translating Vietnamese cultural words into English that can be seen in the book? c What are the common methods used in the translation of Vietnamese cultural words? 4.2 Research methods On the completion of the thesis, the researcher went through the following steps:  Building up a theoretical background by reviewing translation and terminology  Collecting and grouping Vietnamese cultural words in the book and their English equivalents for description, analysis and induction  Finding out the similarities and differences and draw out the translation used in the translation of cultural words  The main method is contrastive analysis 4.3 Data collection The Vietnamese cultural words studied are taken from the book “Hanoi’s Ancient Features” and their equivalents are picked out from the translation by the Vietnamese translator Tran Manh Thuong Design of the study The study consists of three main parts, references and appendices as follows: PART A – INTRODUCTION The introduction gives rationale for the study It also outlines the aims and the methods of the study PART B – DEVELOPMENT The development comprises two chapters Chapter 1: Theoretical background The theory of translation and the translation of cultural words will be dealt with in this chapter Chapter 2: The most common type of equivalence This chapter features an investigation into the equivalence between Vietnamese and English translation of cultural words to draw out the most common type of equivalence in translation of Vietnamese cultural words, that is nil equivalence It also studies the translation of Vietnamese cultural words and translation methods employed in their translation by Tran Manh Thuong in his book “Hanoi’s Ancient Features” Chapter 3: Other types of equivalence The other types of equivalence are to be stated and analysed in this chapter The researcher also indicates the reasons for the differences in cultural words between the two languages at the last part PART C – CONCLUSION The conclusion summaries the strategies and procedures and methods of translation as well as makes relevant suggestions Reference includes all the books, articles or website that has been referred to during the writing of this thesis The appendices list examples of different groups of equivalence in order of the alphabet PART B – DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Translation Theory 1.1.1 Definition of translation Kelly, L.G - a prominent figure in linguistics stated “Without translation, there is no history of the world.” What is a basis for him to make such a strong claim? What is translation that is of great importance as implied by Kelly? Translation, traditionally and controversially seen with its status as an art or a science, has been viewed differently through times and thus defined variously Thus, in this section, the writer cites some definitions proposed by Catford, Larson, Newmark and Bell in order to have a clear concept about translation General definition of translation has been set by Catford (1965:20) in “A Linguistic Theory of Translation”, he defines translation as “the replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language (TL)” He tried to emphasize the translation is the process of substituting the equivalent of lexical items ‘textual material’ It means that the process of substituting a text cannot be regarded as a translation if the message of the TL text is not comparable to the message of the SL text In addition to statement of Catford, Larson (1984:3) views that translation is a process of how a language is transferred into another by changing the form of source language and not the meaning of the source language, as he states that: Translation consists of translating the meaning of the source language into the receptor language This is done by going from the form of the first language to the form of a second language by way of semantic structure It is meaning which is being transferred and must be held constant Only the form changes Larson (1984:3) In accordance with those definitions, Newmark (1988) assumes that translation is a way of conveying message from the author of the SL into TL He points out translation as “rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that the author intended the text.” (1988:5) He did not seem to totally agree with Larson – who viewed translation a basic “change of form”, by emphasizing the “intended the text” In line with the theory above, Bell (1991:5) assumes that “translation is the expression in another language (or target language) of what has been expressed in another, source language, preserving semantic and stylistic equivalences” He also says that translation “is the replacement of a representation of a text in one language by a representation of an equivalent text in a second language.” It is noticed that those definitions discussed above, though put different, share common features which is to find equivalents that best or appropriately preserve features of the original in terms of semantics, grammatical structures, lexis, cultural context as well as communication situation among other things to be considered 1.1.2 Translation equivalence 1.1.2.1 The concept of translation equivalence Translation equivalence is a principal concept in translation theory It is a constitutive feature and the guiding principle of translation As Catford points out, "the central problem of translation-practice is that of finding TL equivalents A central task of translation theory is that of defining the nature and conditions of translation equivalence." (Catford 1965:21) Actually, since the fifties of the twentieth century, many translation theorists have involved and elaborated translation equivalence in their respective theories First of all, it is necessary for us to understand exactly the meaning of the word "equivalence" itself According to Mary Snell-Hornby (1988:17), for the last 150 years, the word "equivalence" in English has been used as a technical term in different kinds of exact sciences to refer to a number of scientific phenomena or processes For instance, in mathematics, it indicates a relationship of absolute equality that involves guaranteed 96 Chùa cột One pillar pagoda 97 Cửa ô The city entrance 98 Dạm ngõ Proposal 99 Đầu bạc long White hair and toothless 100 Đỉnh Urn 101 Đụn gạo Rice dune 102 Gà mía Sugar-cane chicken 103 Gian Room 104 Giếng ngọc Pearl well 105 Hái lộc Picking buds 106 Hương Hải Sea Perfume 107 Kẹo bột Powdered candy 108 Khung cửi Loom 109 Khng nón Hat frame 110 Lá ngọc cành vàng Pearl leaf and gold bough 111 Lễ rước mã Horse’s procession 112 Lợp Roof 113 Mạch nha Barley sugar 114 Múa đèn thờ Worship lamp dance 115 Múa võ Martial performance 116 Nong tằm Silkworm basket 117 Nước mắm Fish sauce 118 Nương lúa Rice field 119 Phố cổ Old quarter 120 Quạt thóc Paddy fans 121 Rồng cuộn hổ ngồi Coiled dragon and seated tiger 122 Thánh hóa God-transformed 123 Thảo am Grass hermitage 124 Tháp rùa Turtle Tower 125 Thay lòng đổi Change their minds 126 Thư tịch Literature 127 Thượng điện Upper palace 128 Thủy đình Water common house 129 Trẻ chăn trâu Buffalo-gazing children 130 Trồng dâu nuôi tằm Mulberry planting and silkworm breeding 131 Tứ phương Four cardinal points 132 Tuyết sơn Snow Mountain 133 Vải sơn Lacquered cloth 134 Văn vần Verses 135 Vành nón Hat brim By transferring the meanings of the words 136 Ăn đời kiếp Live together 137 Bảng nhãn The Second Doctoral Candidates 138 Báo mộng Warn in a dream 139 Bát bửu Ornamental eight weapons 140 Bích đào Vermilion colored peach blossom 141 Binh Tả thị lang Vice-Minister of Defense 142 Bơi chải Rowing 143 Ca dao Folk poems 144 Chè Sweet porridge 145 Chữ quốc ngữ Romanizing Vietnamese language 146 Chức sắc Notable dignitaries 147 Cờ người Living chess 148 Cờ Tướng Chinese chess 149 Công Thượng thư Minister of construction 150 Cựu quán Native village 151 Đa đinh, điền thiểu, bách Many tax-payers and few field land but nghệ tinh hundreds good crafts 152 Dân tứ chiếng People from everywhere 153 Dâng sớ Submission of petition to the spirits 154 Danh nho Great Confucian scholar 155 Đức His Majesty 156 Dựng nêu Setting up the Lunar New Year’s pole 157 Gia phả Family annals 158 Gia phong Family traditions 159 Hiến sát sứ Supervision Envoy 160 Hoành phi Horizontal lacquered boards 161 Hội chủ hưng công Appealed to people for generous donation 162 Hội tụ trọng yếu bốn Bringing together men and riches from the phương four cardinal points 163 Hương ước làng xã Village conventions 164 Kẻ chợ Urban area 165 Khoa thi National civil exam 166 Khoa thi thái học sinh Doctoral examination 167 Kinh lý Go on an inspection tour 168 Làng quê tứ xứ Every corner in the countryside 169 Lễ Giao thừa The Eve worshiping 170 Lễ mộc dục Washing Buddhist statues 171 Mẫu Mother Goddess 172 Múa bồng Playing tom tom 173 Múa côn quyền Performing stick and fists martial arts 174 Múa xênh tiền Playing castanets with coins stringed 175 Ngày kỵ Death anniversary 176 Ngày mồng Một The 1st of lunar months 177 Ngày rằm 15th of lunar months 178 Nghề tầm tang Grow mulberry and breed silkworm 179 Nghĩa tử nghĩa tận One must have wholehearted feeling for the dead 180 Nhà thờ họ Family line ancestor worshipping temples 181 Nội gia huynh đệ, ngoại quốc Brother and husband in family, but king and quân thần mandarin outside 182 Ông tổ trung hưng National Restorer 183 Phá cỗ Enjoy the Mid-Autumn festival offerings 184 Pha nan Preparing splints and laths 185 Phố phường Traditional handicraft streets 186 Phương đình The high ranking mandarin 187 Quan Chưởng The officer 188 Rằm tháng tám Mid-Autumn festival 189 Sắc phong Honourable Royal Decrees 190 Sự giao duyên The harmonious integration 191 Tâm đức Good heart and mind 192 Tam khôi Three first candidates 193 Tâm thức Mind inner feeling 194 Tết Nguyên Đán Lunar New Year Festival 195 Tết Ông Táo Kitchen Genie Festival 196 Thái Hà ấp Thai Ha Farm 197 Thám hoa The Third Doctoral Candidates 198 Thăng Long tứ trấn Four Great Gods that protected the capital of Thang Long 199 Thành hoàng Village founder 200 Thiết triều Have audiences with mandarins 201 Thời Lê mạt The end of the Le Dynasty 202 Thượng đẳng thiên vương Superior Heavenly King 203 Thượng đẳng tối linh thần Most superior god 204 Tổ nghiệp Traditional handicrafts 205 Trạng nguyên The First Doctoral Candidates 206 Trẩy hội Going on the pilgrimage 207 Tứ trấn Four guardian genies 208 Tụng kinh Reciting Buddhist scriptures 209 Uống máu ăn thề Drank the blood mixed in alcohol and swore 210 Vinh quy bái tổ Returning home to pay thanks to his ancestors after attaining academic honor 211 Xứ Đoài Western part APPENDIX MANY-TO-ONE EQUIVALENTS 212 Nứa Bamboo 213 Luồng Bamboo 214 Tre Bamboo 215 Trúc Bamboo 216 Sư cụ Bonze 217 Thiền sư Bonze 218 Hiển thánh Canonize 219 Phong thần Canonize 220 Giấy Coarse paper 221 Giấy moi Coarse paper 222 Cụ đồ Confucian scholar 223 Cụ đồ Nho Confucian teacher 224 Khổng miếu Confucian temple 225 ấp Farm 226 Trại Farm 227 Đám ma Funeral 228 Ma chay Funeral 229 Thánh Genies 230 Thần Genies 231 Làng Hamlet 232 Ngõ Hamlet 233 Thơn Hamlet 234 Xóm Hamlet 235 Tướng ông King 236 Thục phán King 237 Vua King 238 Bàn cỗ Offerings 239 Lễ vật Offerings 240 Cung Palace 241 Điện Palace 242 Lâu đài Palace 243 Lọng Parasol 244 Ô, dù Parasol 245 Đồ đàn Pottery 246 Đồ gốm Pottery 247 Tướng bà Queen 248 Hoàng hậu Queen 249 Song Rattan 250 Mây Rattan 251 Triều đình Royal administration 252 Ngịi ngự Royal canal 253 Đế Royal capital 254 Đại vương Royal Highness 255 Hài Shoes 256 Giày Shoes 257 Lĩnh Silk 258 Lụa Silk 259 Vóc Silk 260 Văn miếu Temple of literature 261 Miếu Temples 262 Phủ Temples 263 Điện Temples 264 Đền Temples 265 Văn Temples of literature 266 Nhà hát Theatre 267 Rạp Theatre 268 Thuốc sợi Tobacco 269 Thuốc lào Tobacco 270 Hòm Trunk 271 Rương Trunk 272 Hồ Two string violin 273 Nhị Two string violin 274 Đồ hàng mã Votive paper objects 275 Đồ vàng mã Votive paper objects 276 Lò Workshop 277 Xưởng Workshop 278 Tế lễ Worshiping 279 Cúng Thổ công Worshiping the Land Genie 280 Thờ Worshipping 281 Đô vật Wrestlers 282 Lực sỹ Wrestlers APPENDIX ONE-TO-PART-OF-ONE EQUIVALENTS 283 Ăn hỏi Betrothal 284 Áng văn thơ Poems and essays 285 Ban nhạc tùy hứng Improvisational band 286 Bồi lấp Sedimentation 287 Cao đẳng Higher School 288 Cây cảnh Bonsai plant 289 Chiếu Edict 290 Chính điện Principal temple 291 Chúa Lord 292 Chùa chiền Pagodas 293 Cốt cách Property 294 Cụ đồ Confucian scholar 295 Cứ liệu Vestige 296 Cửa hang Bách hóa tổng hợp General store 297 Cửa hàng vàng bạc Jewelry shop 298 Cục Department 299 Địa linh Sacred land 300 Định đô Relocate the capital 301 Dốc Slope 302 ế Non-saleable 303 Gian Compartments 304 Hiền tài nguyên khí quốc The talented and moral people are the elite gia of the nation 305 Hồ Thủy Quân Navy Lake 306 Khoa thi Exam 307 Khu Đấu Xảo Grand Exhibition Hall 308 Kim hồn Making jewelry 309 Lị bánh mỳ Bakery 310 Lư Cauldron 311 Môn đồ Disciples 312 Múa lân Unicorn dance 313 Múa sư tử Lion dance 314 Mứt Marmalades 315 Người vãng lai Passers-by 316 Nhịp cầu Spans 317 Nón Hats 318 Phế The no more royal capital 319 Pho sử Historical vestige 320 Phủ toàn quyền Governor General’s Palace 321 Phương tiện thô sơ Rudimentary means of communication 322 Quan ba Captain 323 Quân cờ Pieces 324 Quan giám thị Examination supervisor 325 Rình miếng Grapple 326 Sới Arena 327 Tam giáo đồng nguyên Three religion of the same origin 328 Tâm linh Spiritual 329 Tàn Canopy 330 Tháp Tower 331 Tháp nước Water Work 332 Thôn Hamlet 333 Thống sứ Resident Superior 334 Tiền đồ gỗ Wood turners 335 Tổng Canton 336 Tổng đốc Governor 337 Trị sở Headquarters 338 Trường đúc tiền Mint 339 Ước lệ Stylization 340 Văn hiến Culture 341 Vo gạo Washing rice 342 Võng Hammock APPENDIX ONE-TO-ONE EQUIVALENTS 343 Ăn trầu Chewing betel 344 Ao Ponds 345 ấu trĩ Infantile thoughts 346 Bắt vịt Seizing duck 347 Bể nước Water basin 348 Bia đá Stone stelae 349 Bút kí Notes 350 Bút lơng Pen brush 351 Cành đào Peach flower branches 352 Cao đẳng College 353 Cau Areca 354 Câu lạc Đoàn Kết Union Club 355 Cày Plough 356 Cây đèn nến Lampstand 357 Cây si Benjamine fig 358 Chiếu trơn Mats 359 Chọi gà Cock fighting 360 Cờ người Human chess 361 Cơ sở tín ngưỡng Religious foundations 362 Cối giã Mortar 363 Cột cờ Flag Tower 364 Cúc Chrysanthemum 365 Cuốc Hoe 366 Cuốc Hoes 367 Đầm Swamps 368 Đắp đất Made of earth 369 Đấu gậy Stick fighting 370 Dây đay Jute string 371 Dây gai Flax string 372 Điền địa Estate 373 Đúc bạc nén Casting silver ingots 374 Gà vịt Poultry 375 Gia tiên Ancestors 376 Hoa đào Peach flower 377 Khố Loincloth 378 Khu phố cổ Ancient quarter 379 Lan Orchid 380 Liềm Sickles 381 Lò đúc đồng Brass furnaces 382 Long Phụng thành Dragon-Phoenix Citadel 383 Long thành Dragon Citadel 384 Mâm Tray 385 Mơ Apricot 386 Múa rắn Snake dance 387 Múa rồng Dragon dance 388 Ngã ba T-junction 389 Nghi lễ Rituals 390 Ngõ Lane 391 Nhà hát kịch Drama theatre 392 Nhà hát lớn Opera House 393 Nóc Roofs 394 Phà Ferry 395 Phát lộ Excavation 396 Phường Wards 397 Quan lại Mandarins 398 Quất Cumquat 399 Rạp chiếu phim Movie house 400 Rìu Axe 401 Rối nước Water puppet 402 Thả diều Kite flying 403 Than Charcoal 404 Tháng thiếu Deficit month 405 Tháp Bút Pen Tower 406 Thiền sư Great monks 407 Thừng Rope 408 Tín ngưỡng dân gian Folk beliefs 409 Tinh hoa Quintessence 410 Tôn Iron sheets 411 Trà mi Camellia 412 Trường thi Examination place 413 Vải Fabric 414 Vạt thành đất Earthern citadel 415 Vườn hoa Park 416 Xe kéo Rickshaws Thank you for evaluating AnyBizSoft PDF Merger! To remove this page, please register your program! Go to Purchase Now>> AnyBizSoft PDF Merger  Merge multiple PDF files into one  Select page range of PDF to merge  Select specific page(s) to merge  Extract page(s) from different PDF files and merge into one ... common types of equivalence 18 2. 3 Strategies to deal with nil – equivalence 21 2. 3 .1 Borrowings 22 2. 3 .2 Paraphrasing 24 2. 3 .2. 1 Description of the ingredients... Rate (%) Nil equivalence 21 1 50.7% One-to-one equivalence 74 17 .8% Many-to-one equivalence 71 17 .1% One-to-part-of-one 60 14 .4% 416 10 0% equivalence Total 14 .4% 17 .1% 50.7% 17 .8% Nil One-to-one Many-to-one... is cooked 24 2. 3 .2. 2 Description of the use of the object 24 2. 3 .2. 3 Description of the shape and appearance of things 25 2. 3 .2. 4 Literal translation 26 2. 3 .2. 5 Transferring