A STUDY ON THE ENGLISH VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION OF TERMS IN THE MATERIALS FOR MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i
ABSTRACT ii
PART A: INTRODUCTION 3
1. Rationale 3
2. Scope of the study 4
3. Aims of the study 4
4. Method of the study 5
5. Design of the study 5
PART B: DEVELOPMENT 7
CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 7
1. Terminology 7
1.1. Definition of terminology 7
1.2. General features of terminology 8
1.3. Formation of terminology 9
1.4. Words and neologisms 11
2. Translation theory 11
2.1. Definition of translation 11
2.2. Translation methods 12
2.3. Translation equivalence 13
2.4. Translation procedures 15
2.5. Technical term translation 19
CHAPTER II: MECHANICAL ENGINEERING TERM TRANSLATION 20
1. Structural features of Vietnamese mechanical engineering terms 20
1.1. Simple terms 20
1.2. Complex terms 20
2. Structural features of English mechanical engineering terms 22
2.1. Simple terms 22
2.2. Complex terms 23
3. English-Vietnamese translation of mechanical engineering terms 24
3.1. English-Vietnamese translation of mechanical engineering simple terms.24

3.2. English-Vietnamese translation of mechanical engineering complex terms
30
PART C: CONCLUSION 39
REFERENCES 43
DATA SOURCES 44
APPENDIXES
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PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
In the trend of globalization and dramatic development of science and technology,
translation in general and technical translation in particular have become extremely
necessary and attracted very much attention from translation theorists and researchers.
Like many developing countries in the world, in national industrialization and
modernization, Vietnam needs continuously develop its mechanical engineering, one of the
most important fields of science and engineering. This means it is necessary for Vietnam to
improve international cooperation, translation studies and applications in mechanical
engineering.
More and more inventions as well as products of mechanical engineering are made in
the world. More and more new information and valuable experience in the field of
mechanical engineering should be shared and exchanged in order to constantly update
knowledge of such an essential field. Meanwhile, English is an international language; it is
used in almost fields, in many materials, and on various media. Therefore, the English-
Vietnamese translation particularly mechanical engineering term translation plays a very
important role in the development of mechanical engineering.
In practice, very few English-Vietnamese Mechanical dictionaries are published in
Vietnam. These dictionaries sometimes provide Vietnamese different meanings of the
same English term and they can not cover all the meanings of mechanical engineering
terms. This causes some difficulties for dictionary users to choose the most suitable terms.
Besides, translators and researchers sometimes find it difficult to translate a number of
English mechanical engineering terms into Vietnamese equivalents. The main reasons are

that they do not have enough knowledge of mechanical engineering and that Vietnamese
language has not had words that can express or present the meaning of some English terms
exactly. In this case, they need study and choose suitable translation strategies to carry out
the English-Vietnamese translation of terms in materials for mechanical engineering
effectively.
In addition, translation studies and applications are also important in English language
teaching. Translation is really useful for teachers who teach English for mechanical
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engineering. They can save time and sometimes help their students understand English
lessons more profoundly when they translate some English mechanical terms into
Vietnamese equivalents. In this case, they do not need analyse or explain English terms by
using other English words, which may cause confusion, waste much time, and make their
lectures more difficult. Moreover, teachers, students and engineers can understand and
translate English materials into Vietnamese more exactly and easily when they apply
appropriate translation strategies. It is better when they have the knowledge of English and
Vietnamese languages, translation theories as well as mechanical engineering to deal with
difficult mechanical engineering terms in English and Vietnamese languages.
It can be said that technical term translation in general and mechanical engineering
term translation in particular represent one of the most difficult tasks for everyone. In fact,
in Vietnam there are not many studies on English-Vietnamese translation of terms in
science and technology especially mechanical engineering and the need for and important
role of studies on the English-Vietnamese translation of mechanical engineering terms are
increasing.
Therefore, the author decides to carry out a study on the English-Vietnamese
translation of terms in the materials for mechanical engineering. Hopefully, the thesis
would bring concrete benefits to translators/interpreters, researchers, engineers, teachers,
students and so on.
2. Scope of the study
There are innumerable English and Vietnamese mechanical engineering terms in many
materials for mechanical engineering. The study concentrates on typical English terms and

their Vietnamese equivalents in some materials for mechanical engineering. The materials
are derived from some books, dictionaries, and the Internet. The study will analyse typical
English mechanical engineering terms’ structural features, compare them with Vietnamese
equivalents, and then find out common translation strategies that can be applied in the
English-Vietnamese translation of mechanical engineering terms.
3. Aims of the study
The study is ultimately aimed at:
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• Working out and comparing typical structural features of English terms with that of
Vietnamese terms in the materials for mechanical engineering to find out appropriate
Vietnamese equivalents for English mechanical engineering terms.
• Defining common translation strategies that can be applied in the translation of
mechanical engineering terms.
• Giving some suggestions for technical translation especially translation in mechanical
engineering, dictionaries editing, English language teaching as well as for the
standardization of Vietnamese mechanical engineering terminology.
Research question:
What are common translation strategies applied in the English-Vietnamese translation
of terms in materials for mechanical engineering?
4. Method of the study
The study will present a theoretical background based on a number of materials for
translation and terminology. Next, it will collect typical English and Vietnamese
mechanical engineering terms from some materials for mechanical engineering and
analyze their general features and main structural features. In the process, the study will
always compare English mechanical terms with Vietnamese ones in order to choose the
best Vietnamese equivalents. After that, the study will define common strategies applied in
the English-Vietnamese mechanical engineering term translation.
A number of general research methods such as qualitative statistics, quantitative
analysis, deductive, and inductive method will be applied to carry out the thesis. Besides,
observation, contrastive analysis, and description which are usually used to study

linguistics will be applied in the thesis.
The materials for mechanical engineering are derived from books, bilingual
dictionaries and downloaded from the Internet.
5. Design of the study
The study includes three main parts, a bibliography, and appendixes.
Part A: Introduction
It consists of rationales, aims, scope and methods of the study.
Part B: Development
Chapter I: Theoretical background
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The chapter provides the theory of terminology and translation.
Chapter II: Mechanical engineering term translation
The chapter analyses typical structural features of mechanical engineering terms in
both English and Vietnamese and draws out main strategies used in the English-
Vietnamese translation of mechanical engineering terms.
Part C: Conclusion
The conclusion summarizes a number of common translation strategies and makes
some comments on them.
In addition, Part C gives some suggestions for translation, dictionaries editing, English
language teaching, and the standardization of Vietnamese mechanical engineering
terminology. Finally, the part C suggests further study.
References
Data sources
Appendixes.
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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
The chapter will provide typical theories on terminology and translation considered a
basis for studying the English – Vietnamese translation of mechanical engineering terms.
1. Terminology

Many linguists and theorists study terminology in various aspects. The study will
present typical definitions and general features of terminology.
1.1. Definition of terminology
Valeontis and Mantzari (2006:1) says “terminology has a twofold meaning: (1) it is the
discipline concerned with the principles and methods governing the study of concepts and
their designations (terms, names, symbols) in any subject field, and the job of collecting,
processing, and managing relevant data and (2) the set of terms belonging to the special
language of an individual subject field”.
In practice, it is more familiar with the second meaning of the term terminology, which
is considered “the set of special words belonging to a science, an art, an author, or a social
entity”; for example, “the terminology of law” or “the terminology of culture”. In another
word, a term, or terminology unit, is the name or designation of a concept in a particular
subject field.
In Vietnam, many studies on vocabulary as well as terminology have been made by
famous linguists such as Nguyen Van Tu, Do Huu Chau, Nguyen Thien Giap, and Nguyen
Huu Quynh.
Nguyen Van Tu (1968) states that terminology consists of fixed words or phrases
which denote concepts of sciences, manufacturing fields, or culture and so on. Similarly,
Do Huu Chau (1998) says that terminology includes specialist words used within a
scientific field, a profession or any technological field. Besides, Nguyen Thien Giap (1999)
defines it as a part of special lexis of a language. It consists of fixed words or groups of
words which accurately name concepts and subjects belonging to different specialized
fields of human beings. In addition, for scientific terminology, Nguyen Huu Quynh
(2007:104) defines a scientific term as a word or a phrase which designates a concept in
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fields of science (social science, natural science, technical science). He also states that
generally a scientific term has a certain phonetic form and designates a concept with one
meaning (monosemy) which is not the same as the meaning of other terms.
From the above-mentioned definitions, terminology can be considered fixed words or
phrases which accurately denote concepts of particular subject fields.

1.2. General features of terminology
There are different ideas about features of terminology. In general, many linguists have
common agreement about the following general features of terminology. They are
systematic, accurate, international, and national.
1.2.1. Systematic
This is the most important characteristic of terminology. In one terminology system,
each term is dependent on others. The characteristic helps terms define their positions in
one terminology system. Terms name things, events, phenomena, activities, and
concepts…which exist objectively and have relations with other terms in a particular
system with disciplines controlling their existence and development, so their concepts can
be easily comprehended (Nguyen Thien Giap, 1999).
1.2.2. Accurate
Nowadays, science and technology have dramatically developed, and terminology
plays an important role in building a specific theory. To understand the theory, it is
necessary to know the terms which are used to present the theory. To help the reader
thoroughly comprehend any scientific and technical objects, terms must have functions of
exactly naming and correctly define the objects without confusion. Therefore, terminology
is featured with accuracy.
1.2.3. National
Each nation should use its own language’s terms to express scientific concepts and
avoid abusing foreign terms. Luu Van Lang (1977:58) states that terminology in any
scientific fields or specific fields must be part of one national language, so terminology
must be national and have the national language’ features.
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1.2.4. International
Besides national charateristic, terminology is international. This seems to be
contradictory, but in fact it is very logical. The vocabulary system of each language brings
the typical features of a nation which uses that language but science is the common fortune
of human beings. Theories or concepts of mathematics, physics, and biology… are
universally used. It is impossible that theories on biology in Vietnam are different from

that in England, Japan…As it is stated by Nguyen Thien Giap (1999:275), if the content of
terminology is noticed, it is agreed that international characteristic of terminology is
important; it distinguishes terminology with other parts of vocabulary. Terminology is a
special part of vocabulary which denotes common scientific concepts for all people
speaking different languages. Therefore, the unification of terminology among languages is
necessary and useful. This makes terminology bear international characteristic.
In addition, terminology has other features particularly mono-meaning. Terms should
be fixed words or phrases which have only one meaning. Terminology should not denote
more than one concept simultaneously. Many linguists agree that there should not be more
than one term which denotes one scientific concept.
1.3. Formation of terminology
According to Valeontis and Mantzari (2006:5), the following term formation
mechanisms applied in the English language are recognized and applied in other
languages:
•Creating new forms:
The mechanism consists of derivation, compounding, and abbreviated forms, e.g.
Derivation: phosphor + ous = phosphorous, co- + education- + al = co-educational
Compounding: member country, biological + electronic = bionic
Abbreviated forms: Court of Justice of the Justice of the European Communities -
Court, page - p., United Nations – U.N.
•Using existing forms:
The mechanism consists of terminologization, transdisciplinary borrowing, conversion,
and semantic transfer within a special language.
Terminologization: a word or phrase from general language is transformed into a
term designating a concept in a special language, e.g.
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‘circuit’
General language: a line enclosing a surface
Electric or mechanical engineering language: an arrangement of devices or media
through which electric current can flow

Transdisciplinary borrowing: as internal borrowing, it refers to situations where a
designation from one specific subject field is used in another one to represent a different
concept. The general features making up the intension of both concepts in both subject
fields are often comparable and analogous, e.g.
‘Reaction’
In Chemistry: interaction among two or more chemical elements or compounds,
resulting in the creation of another chemical compound.
In Physics: force of equal magnitude and opposite direction, developed due to action
of any given force.
Conversion: as the morphosyntactically differentiated usage of a single form, e.g.
Input (noun) – input (verb), intake (noun) – intake (verb)
Semantic transfer within a special language: An existing term in a special language
is used to designate a different concept, by an analogous extension. These are some main
modes of semantic transfer:
Simile: this is usually expressed by means of suffixes (–like, -style, -type…), e.g.
Noise-like error, ethernet-like interface, bus-type interface.
Synecdoche: this is the most productive technique of utilizing existing forms, which
is referred to as systematic polysemy in the contemporary linguistic theory of semantics,
e.g. ‘Screen’
Concrete: the part of a computer on which information is displayed
Abstract: the information displayed on this computer part.
•Interlingual borrowing:
Terms existing in one language can be introduced into another language by means of:
Direct borrowing: e.g. English: diameter, spiral (from Ancient Greek)
Loan translation: The morphological elements of a term or whole words from the
source language are translated literally (“word by word”) to form a new term in the target
language, e.g. German: die nische (from ‘niche’ in French).
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1.4. Words and neologisms
In translation, it is necessary to distinguish terms with neologisms and words.

Newmark (1988b: 140) defines neologisms as “newly coined lexical units or existing
lexical units that acquire a new sense”. He proposes twelve types of neologisms including
words, collocations, new coinages, derived words, abbreviations, eponyms, phrasal words,
transferred words, acronyms, pneudo-neologisms and internationalisms.
A term in a specialized language is distinguished from a word in general language by
its single-meaning relationship (called monosemy) with the specialized concept that it
denotes and by the stability of the relationship between form and content in texts with this
concept (called lexicalization).
2. Translation theory
2.1. Definition of translation
Translation has a long history and it has received more and more attention from
translation researchers and theorists.
However, up to now “What is translation” is still a difficult question. Many different
definitions of translation have been made. Newmark has made an important contribution to
the development of translation. Newmark states (1988a:7) “translation is a craft consisting
in the attempt to replace a written message and statement in one language by the same
message and/or statement in another language”.
Catford (1965:20) considers translation “the replacement of textual material in one
language (source language) by an equivalent textual material in other language (target
language)”.
Hartman and Stork (1972:713) also give a similar definition of translation, “translation
is the replacement of a representation of a text in one language by a representation of an
equivalent text in a second language.”
Hatim and Mason (1990:3) say translating is a communicative process which takes
place within a social context.
The above-mentioned different definitions of translation prove translation is a
complicated process.
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2.2. Translation methods
There is argument about different translation methods which can be appropriate to this

context but inappropriate to other contexts. Newmark (1988b) presents eight main methods
of translation including each method’s features and applications.
Word – for- word translation
The method is often considered interlinear translation with the TL immediated below
the SL words. Newmark (1988b:45) states: “The SL word – order is preserved and the
words translated singly by their most common meanings, out of context. Cultural words
are translated literally. The main use of word – for – word translation is either to
understand the mechanics of the source language or to construe a difficult text as a pre-
translation process.”
Literal translation
As it is stated by Newmark (1988b:46), “the SL grammatical constructions are
converted to their nearest TL equivalents but the lexical words are again translated singly,
out of context. As a pre-translation process, this indicates the problems to be solved”.
Faithful translation
The method tries to reproduce “the precise contextual meaning of the original within
the constraints of the TL grammatical structures” and “it attempts to be completely faithful
to the intentions and the text-realization of the SL writer” (Newmark, 1988b:46).
Semantic translation
Newmark (1988b:46) distinguishes semantic translation with faithful translation. The
method is different from “faithful translation” “only in as far as it must take more account
of the aesthetic value…of the SL text, compromising on “meaning” where appropriate so
that no assonance, word-play or repetition jars in the finished version. Semantic translation
is more flexible, less dogmatic than faithful translation and admits the creative exception.
Adaptation
According to Newmark (1988b:46), the method is the freest form of translation; it is
mainly use for poetry, songs and plays. The method preserves the theme, plots, and
characters. The SL culture is converted to the TL culture and the text rewritten.
Free translation
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Newmark (1988b:46) says the method reproduces the matter without the manner, the

content without the form of the original. It is usually a paraphrase much longer than the
original, a so-called “intralingual translation”.
Idiomatic translation
In Newmark’s opinion (1988b:47), the method reproduces the “message” of the
original. It prefers colloquialisms and idioms which do not exist in the original.
Communicative translation
As it is stated by Newmark (1988b:47), the method attempts to render the exact
contextual meaning of the original. Both the content and the language are readily
acceptable and comprehensible to the reader.
Some translation researchers and theorists say the classification of translation methods
by Newmark is too complicated and theoretical, it is not practical. However, others support
Newmark’s translation methods.
In fact, the application of translation methods is required to be flexible. Translators can
apply Newmark’s translation methods and others creatively to carry out the translation of
texts in general and terms in particular effectively.
2.3. Translation equivalence
It is said that translation equivalence is a central concept in translation theory but it is
also a controversial one. According to Le Hung Tien (2006:52), translation equivalence has
become a “thorny problem”. Theorists’ opinions are different or even opposite to each
other. The reason is that the nature of translation has been seen in too different ways.
Translation equivalence can be classified in various ways based on different factors. Le
Hung Tien (2006:54-55) presents four common ways of classifying translation equivalence
as followed:
• Form-based equivalence: equivalence at word, sentence, or text level.
• Meaning-based equivalence: denotative, connotative, pragmatic, formal equivalence.
• Function-based equivalence: dynamic equivalence, formal equivalence.
• Quantitative equivalence: one-to-one equivalence, one-to-many equivalence, one-to-
part-of-one equivalence, nil equivalence.
It is necessary to consider four main types of equivalence by Le Hung Tien (2006).
1) Quantity-based equivalence:

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a. One-to-one equivalence:
A single expression in TL is equivalent to a single expression in SL. The equivalence
type often appears in terminology, e.g., information technology – công nghệ thông tin.
b. One-to-many equivalence:
More than one TL expressions are equivalent to a single SL expression, e.g., bamboo
(English) – tre/nứa/trúc/mai/vầu (Vietnamese).
c. One-to-part-of-one equivalence:
A TL expression part of a concept designated by a single SL expression, e.g., rồng
(Vietnamese) – dragon (English), bush (English) – thảo nguyên (Vietnamese).
d. Nil-equivalence:
No TL expression is equivalent to a single SL expression. In this case,
loaned/borrowed equivalents should be used, e.g., modem (English) – mô đem
(Vietnamese), áo dài (Vietnamese) – aodai (English).
In technical translation, many English terms are translated by transference (loaned
words or transcription).
2) Meaning-based equivalence:
Le Hung Tien (2006:56-59) states two kinds of meaning-based equivalence based on
the theory by Koller (1979):
a. Denotative equivalence:
The SL and TL words refer to the same thing the real world. This is the referential
identity between SL and TL units. This is equivalence of the extra linguistic content of a
text, otherwise called 'content invariance', e.g., rabbit (English) – con thỏ (Vietnamese).
b. Connotative equivalence:
The SL and TL words trigger the same or similar associations in the minds of native
speakers of the two languages. This is the equivalence between the dimensions of
connotation:
• Connotation of speech level: elevated, poetic, normal, colloquial, slang…
• Connotation of socially determined usage: student language, military language…
• Connotation of geographical relation or origin: American English, Australian…

• Connotation of medium: spoken language, written language…
• Connotation of stylistic effect: pompous, artificial, euphemistic…
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• Connotation of frequency: common, uncommon
• Connotation of register: normal usage, technical, medical…
• Connotation of evaluation: positively evaluative, ironic, pejorative
• Connotation of emotion: using emotive language to describe a given topic.
3) Text-normative equivalence:
The SL and TL words are used in the same or similar contexts in their respective
languages.
4) Formal equivalence:
The SL and TL have the same formal-aesthetic features-orthographic or phonological
features Formal equivalence is particularly used in translation of poems, songs
As mentioned above, translation equivalence is a very important and difficult aspect.
Translation means to find equivalence between two languages. The translator has to find
and choose appropriate TL equivalents to SL words.
2.4. Translation procedures
Clarifying the distinction among translation procedures, strategies, and methods is a
challenging task. Krings (1986:18) sees translation strategy as “translator’s potentially
conscious plans for solving concrete translation problems in the framework of a concrete
translation task”. Similarly, Loescher (1991:8) defines translation strategy as “a potentially
conscious procedure for solving a problem faced in translating a text or any segment of it”.
Besides, Newmark (1988b:81) clearly distinguishes translation methods with
translation procedures: “while translation methods relate to whole texts, translation
procedures are used for sentences and the smaller units of language”.
In conclusion, translation strategy can be basically understood as ways of choosing
appropriate translation methods and procedures applied in particular cases.
The following translation procedures by Newmark (1988b: 81-93) are typical ones in
translation theory.
2.4.1. Literal translation

According to Newmark (1988b), literal translation is the most important of the
procedures, so he discusses it in a separate chapter. Literal translation ranges from one
word to one word, through group to group, collocation to collocation, to sentence to
sentence; the longer the unit, the rarer the one-to-one translation. This also means “above
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the word level, literal translation becomes increasingly difficult”. Newmark (1988b:81)
adds “normally, the more specific or technical a word, the less it is likely to be affected by
context” and “the more likely a literal translation”.
Therefore, literal translation is a common procedure in technical translation,
particularly technical term translation.
2.4.2. Transference
Newmark (1988b:81-82) defines “transference (emprunt, loan word, transcription) is
the process of transferring a SL word to a TL text as a translation procedure. He also gives
some following cases applied the procedure: “names of all living” and “most dead people”;
“geographical and topographical names including newly independent countries such as (le)
Zaire, Malawi, unless they already have recognised translations”; “names of periodicals
and newspapers; titles of as yet untranslated literary works, plays, films; names of private
companies and institutions; names of public or nationalized institutions, unless they have
recognized translation; street names, addresses, etc”.
Up to now, there is always argument about transference procedure, “the argument in
favour of transference is that it shows respect for the SL country’s culture. The argument
against it is that it is the translator’s job to translate, to explain” (Newmark, 1988b:82).
2.4.3. Naturalization
Newmark (1988b:82) says: “The procedure succeeds transference and adapts the SL
word first to the normal pronunciation, then to the normal morphology of the TL”.
2.4.4. Cultural equivalent
As it is stated by Newmark (1988b:82), the procedure is “an approximate translation
where a SL cultural word is translated by TL cultural words”. He clearly points out that
“the main purpose of the procedure is to support or supplement another translation
procedure in a couplet”.

2.4.5. Functional equivalent
Newmark (1988b:83) states the procedure is usually applied to cultural words, “it
requires the use of a culture-free word, sometimes with a new specific term”. Therefore, it
generalizes or neutralizes the SL word. This procedure is ‘the most accurate way of
translating i.e. decentralizing a cultural word”.
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2.4.6. Descriptive equivalent
According to Newmark (1988b:84), “in translation, description sometimes has to be
weighed against function”. Moreover, functional procedure and descriptive one can be
simultaneously used in translation. It is reasonable when he says “description and function
are essential elements in explanation and therefore in translation” and “in translation
discussion, functions used to be neglected; now it tends to be overplayed”.
2.4.7. Synonymy
Newmark (1988b:84) uses “the word “synonym” in the sense of a near TL equivalent
to an SL word in a context, where a precise equivalent may or may not exist”. “This
procedure is used for a SL word where there is no clear one-to-one equivalent, and the
word is not important in the text, in particular for adjectives or adverbs of quality”. The
procedure is only appropriate where literal translation is not possible and because the word
is not important enough for componential analysis. “Here, economy precedes accuracy.”
2.4.8. Through-translation
According to Newmark (1988b:84), the literal translation of common collocations,
names of organizations, the components of compounds and perhaps phrases, is known as
calque or loan translation or “through-translation”. “The most obvious examples of
through-translations are the names of international organizations which often consist of
universal words which may be transparent for English and Romance languages, and
semantically motivated for Germanica and Slavonic.” In addition, “international
organizations are often known by their acronym”.
2.4.9. Shifts or transpositions
Newmark (1988b:85) defines “shift” or ‘transposition’ is a translation procedure
involving a change in the grammar from SL to TL. There are four main types. The first

type is the change from singular to plural or in the position of adjectives, nouns, adverbs.
The second type is used when a SL grammatical structures does not exist in the TL. The
third one is required when literal translation is grammatically possible but may not accord
with natural usage in the TL. The fourth type of transposition is the replacement of a
virtual lexical gap by a grammatical structure.
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As it is stated by Newmark (1988b:85), “transposition is the only translation procedure
concerned with grammar, and most translators make transpositions intuitively”.
2.4.10. Modulation
When mentioning modulation procedure, Newmark (1988b:88) analyses Vinay and
Darbelnet’ definition of the procedure. Vinay and Darbelnet (1965) coin the term
“modulation” to define “a variation through a change of viewpoint, of perspective and very
often of category of thought”. They divide modulations into “eleven rather random
categories”. However, in Newmark’s opinion the “negated contrary” category, only
important one, is not discussed by Vinay and Darbelnet. The “negated contrary” category
or “positive for double negative” (or “double negative for positive”) is a “concrete
translation procedure which can be applied in principle to any action (verb) or quality
(adjective or adverb)”.
However, it is reasonable when Newmark (1988b:88) thoroughly states “in theory
negative is not as forceful as the positive; in fact the force of the double negative depends
on the tone of voice, and therefore the appropriateness of this modulation must depend on
its formulation and the context”
Vinay and Darbelnet (1965) give several types of modulation. Some examples are:
abstract for concrete, cause for effect, one part for another, reversal of terms, active for
passive, space for time, intervals and limits, change of symbols. Practically, Vinay and
Darbelnet’s classification is not totally convincing but the types of modulation procedure
are useful in technical translation.
2.4.11. Paraphrase
The procedure is “an amplification or explanation of the meaning of a segment of the
text. It is used in an “anonymous” text when it is poorly written, or has important

implications and omissions” (Newmark, 1988b:90).
2.4.12. Translation label
Newmark (1988b:90) regards translation label as “a provisional translation, usually of a
new institutional term, which should be made in inverted commas, which can later be
discreetly withdrawn”.
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In addition, there are other procedures such as compensation, componential analysis,
reduction and expansion, and so on. Writing notes or additional information in translation
at bottom of page, at end of chapter or book is a useful way to support and clarify the
meaning of target language terms. Normally, in the translation of terms in diagrams, maps,
or models, notes are written under them or at bottom of page.
In general, the translation procedures are useful to the translator. The translator may
apply them flexibly in particular context and he may combine two, three or four procedures
(couplets, triplets, quadruplets) to deal with a single problem.
2.5. Technical term translation
Newmark (1988b:151) defines technical translation as “one part of specialized
translation; institutional translation, the area of politics, commerce, finance, government
etc., is the other”. In his opinion, technical translation is potentially (but far from actually)
non-cultural, therefore “universal”; the benefits of technology are not confined to one
speech community.
Technical term translation is part of technical translation. As it is stated by Newmark
(1988b:153), “the central difficulty in technical translation is usually the new
terminology”. Therefore, the first requirement of translating technical texts is to
comprehend and translate technical terminology. This is really a challenging task.
In technical texts particularly those which are translated from other languages,
descriptive terms usually occur to denote technical objects for three reasons (Newmark,
1988b:153):
(1) the object is new, and has not yet got a name;
(2) the descriptive term is being used as a familiar alternative, to avoid repetition;
(3) the descriptive term is being used to make a contrast with another one.

In cases where there is a TL technical equivalent, the translator may translate a SL
descriptive term by a TL technical term. This shows off the translator’s knowledge and
acclimatizes the professional reader. Conversely, in cases where the translator does not
find TL equivalent for an SL technical term, he should use a descriptive term.
One of the most important requirements for a translator to become a competent
technical translator is that he has to have much knowledge of linguistics and background
knowledge of the specific field (a particular technical field).
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CHAPTER II: MECHANICAL ENGINEERING TERM TRANSLATION
1. Structural features of Vietnamese mechanical engineering terms
Besides general features of terminology in languages, Vietnamese terminology is also
characterized with their own structural features. After collecting and observing a great
number of Vietnamese mechanical engineering terms, the author finds out that Vietnamese
mechanical engineering terms can be classified into two main kinds: simple terms and
complex terms. In this part, the author will describe and analyze typical structural features
of Vietnamese mechanical engineering simple terms and complex terms.
1.1. Simple terms
The number is really not great though Vietnamese consists of quite many simple
words. The general function of technical terms is to technically name the concepts of
things, phenomena, processes…. In some cases, Vietnamese simple terms do not denote
things, phenomena as well as technical and scientific processes as precisely and clearly as
complex terms do. This is one main reason for reducing the number of simple terms. The
majority of Vietnamese simple terms are nouns and verbs, e.g.
Verbs: tiện, bào, mài, rèn, đúc, nung, dập, tán, ép, nén, chặt, cắt, hàn…
Nouns: nắp, đế, giá, răng, rìu, quạt, đinh, ghim, ren, máng, bơm, van…
Vietnamese mechanical engineering simple terms may be Vietnamese-originated terms
(bào, nung, ép), Sino-Vietnamese originated terms (nhập, xuất, tuyến), or Indo-European
originated terms (van, cắt, pha). Nowadays, technology is always developed and improved,
so more and more new theories, techniques, equipments, machines, appliances, and tools
appear. This requires more and more new terms to name them. In some cases, Vietnamese

language has not terms which can clearly and precisely denote the concepts of these things;
Vietnamese people may directly borrow these new English terms (dynamo, cam, diesel) or
transfer them into Vietnamese language to make them sound familiar to the Vietnamese
reader (van, pha, cáp).
1.2. Complex terms
The number is quite great. This kind of terms can be classified into compound terms
and specifically combined words or nominal groups.
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● Compound terms’constituents may have coordinated or principal and accessory
relationship in which one constituent of a term support the meaning of the other
constituents of the term.
Vietnamese mechanical engineering terms are reduplicative ones (very few terms, for
example: (mắc) song song, (đèn/sáng) nhấp nháy, (gõ/nện) cồng cộc, (đập) chan chát…
which are usually used to describe the status of verbs. Maybe they are noun compounds,
adjective compound, verb compounds or adverbial compounds.
The common models of Vietnamese mechanical engineering compound terms can be
drawn out as follows:
T:
Tv:
Ti:
Ts:
t:
Term
Vietnamese originated terms
Indo – European originated terms
Sino-Vietnamese terms
adjunct (hư từ - bộ, cái, con, thiết bị…)
(1) T = Tv: vào, ra, đóng, tiện, rèn, hàn, đầu, đuôi, cổng…
(2) T = Ts: nhập, xuất, thoát, tuyến, băng…
(3) T = Ti: pha, cáp, các, phai…

(4) T = Tv + Tv: thân dao, lưỡi cắt, bàn cắt…
(5) T = t + Tv: thiết bị cắt, bộ điều khiển, con lăn …
(6) T = t + Th: sự tăng, bộ lọc, cái kế…
(7) T = Ti + Ti: véc ni, rô to, bu lông, sú páp, lanh tô…
(8) T = Tv + Ts: trộn cáp, đầu van, tạo pha…
In addition, there are other structures which will be clearly observed in the process of
studying the English-Vietnamese translation of mechanical engineering terms.
● Specifically combined words or nominal groups: the number of such terms is big.
They usually denote specific features and details related to things, events, phenomena as
well as processes in mechanical engineering. Specifically combined words usually consist
of a noun which plays the most important role in naming things, phenomena, processes in
mechanical engineering, the other words in each specific word combination help describe
features, status, nature of concepts of things, phenomena, and processes more concretely.
Main structural models of terms which can be seen as specifically combined words (the
main word is underlined)
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T: term A: adjective
N: noun Adv: adverb
V: verb VP: verb phrase
t: adjunct ( sự, cái, con, chiếc, và, cho, của,…)
(1) T = t + N + N: sự biến đổi trạng thái, sự tiếp nhận tín hiệu xung, cái tụ đĩa, sự đổi
chiều khí, sự thay đổi không khí, sự nối khớp cầu, bộ nối âm, cái tụ đĩa…
(2) T = N + V: máy phát, máy bào, máy tiện, máy phay, ống nghe…
(3) T = t + N + A: cái tụ vi sai, bộ điều khiển sơ bộ, cái bản lề cố định, cái bản lệ chìm…
(4) T = N + VP = hệ thống điều khiển kích thước, hệ thống định vị phương sai, phím điều
khiển bánh răng…
(5) T = t + N + Adv: sự điều khiển bằng tay, sự điều khiển bằng máy, sự tính lại bừng tay,
sự dừng trước thời gian, sự hàn trong chân không…
(6) T = N + Adv: tín hiệu tới đích, máy phay bằng tay…
Apart from the above common structures, there are other ones which are unpopular, so

the author does not present them here.
2. Structural features of English mechanical engineering terms
Besides general features of terminology, English mechanical engineering terms are also
distinguished with their own structural features. They can be classified into two types:
simple terms and complex terms.
2.1. Simple terms
English mechanical engineering terms consist of many verbs, nouns but few adjectives
and very few adverbs. They are formed by only one word, e.g.
Verbs: Control, damp, feed, bore, react, turn, abrade, strip
Nouns: Curvature, decay, chip, cutter, lathe, carriage, chuck
Adjectives: Bare, automatic, dead, steady, longitudinal, rough
Adverbs: Vertically, reciprocally, automatically
The author focuses on studying the translation of English mechanical simple terms in
forms of verbs, nouns, and adjectives and does not study simple terms in form of adverbs
because of their limited number.
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2.2. Complex terms
They are made of two or more words. To make it more convenient to carrying out the
study, the author divides complex terms into some groups based on their structural
features. The first typical group consists of eponyms which refer to names of people,
things, institutions, and so on, e.g., Guillery test, Hydrovac brake, Brause mill…These
terms designate the concepts of something like theories, techniques, machines, devices,
states which are originated, invented, or produced by someone named in the terms.
The second group include terms consisting of prepositions such as of, in, with, and so
on. For example: connection in parallel, acceleration of gravity, piston with rings…To
understand and translate these complex terms the reader and translator need to be very
creative to deal with prepositions.
The third group is terms consisting of elements which are numbers, e.g., four barrel
carburetor, double bend, two stage pump, double governor, first gear low speed…
The fourth group is terms including elements which are letter, e.g., V-belt drive, table T

slot, T-junction, L head engine, I head cylinder…
The next groups are terms with structures Noun + Noun+ (Noun), (Adverb) + Verb-ing
+ Noun, Adjective + Noun + (Noun) and Adverb+ Past Participle + Noun, Noun+ Past
Participle + Noun. The following terms are examples:
Noun + Noun Delivery valve, cap nut, gear box
Verb-ing + Noun Coupling reaction, drilling cable
Adjective + Noun + (Noun) Axial force diagram, Planetary gear set
Adverb+ Past Participle + Noun Finely ground powder, directly compressed air
Noun+ Past Participle + Noun Hand made tool, water cooled engine.
In mechanical engineering terminology, the number of abbreviations is quite great and
increasing. This causes it difficult to understand them and translate them into Vietnamese.
The following table presents some examples:
Simple terms Lathe, equalizer, saw, torch, track
Complex terms Thumb tack, cheese-head screw, agent of erosion, strain cracking,
Otto cycle
Abbreviations G (acceleration due to gravity), eff (efficiency), hp (horsepower)
Acronyms LOX (liquid oxygen explosive), DO (dissolved oxygen)
Initialisms EAP (equivalent air pressure), AWS (American Welding Society)
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In conclusion, it is necessary to know the common structural features of Vietnamese
and English mechanical engineering terms to compare them together in translation process
and to find out appropriate Vietnamese equivalents for English mechanical engineering
terms.
3. English-Vietnamese translation of mechanical engineering terms
This part will study the English-Vietnamese translation of mechanical engineering
terms according to the general features and structural features of English and Vietnamese
mechanical engineering terms.
3.1. English-Vietnamese translation of mechanical engineering simple terms
The part focuses on six common groups of English mechanical engineering simple
terms.

Group 1: Simple terms which are agential nouns made by a root plus suffix er/or
The group consists of terms which are agential nouns structured with a root + suffix –
er/or. The following table presents some examples of the group:
English terms
(root+suffix er/or)
Vietnamese equivalents
Abrader Máy thí nghiệm mài mòn, thiết bị thí nghiệm mài mòn
Cleaner Bộ làm sạch, bộ lọc, thiết bị lọc, máy lọc, dụng cụ lọc
Finger Vấu ngàm: phần nhô ra để ấn hay đẩy một bộ phận khác để có
một tác động trực tiếp hay hãm bớt đà tiến của bộ phận khác.
Governor Bộ điều tiết, người điều khiển
Riveter Thợ tán đinh, máy tán đinh
English one-word terms like the ones in the table usually have Vietnamese equivalents
consisting of one of elements called adjuncts such as máy, cái, bộ, thiết bị, bộ phận, dụng
cụ, vật, thợ, or người and other elements. Vietnamese equivalents are usually compound
nouns, phrases, or clauses (sometimes, it is added with an explanation) when there is not an
appropriate Vietnamese equivalent or the Vietnamese word is still new and unfamiliar to
the Vietnamese reader, e.g., dimmer - bộ phận giảm chói của đèn xe, dụng cụ chỉnh độ
sáng của đèn điện, dipper - thìa múc dầu làm trơn động cơ. In the examples, the
Vietnamese words refer to machines, appliances, devices, or tools and their functions. This
helps clearly convey the SL term’s meaning in the TL word.
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In another case, the term plunger is translated as thoi đẩy/pittông nhỏ trong bơm. The
Vietnamese word refers to a specific object with its position in another bigger object but
not its function.
Besides, English one-word terms can be translated into Vietnamese equivalents which
are Sino-Vietnamese originated, e.g., adapter – bộ chỉnh lưu, purifier – máy tinh chế.
Sometimes, they can be translated into Sino-Vietnamese equivalents with an explanation
expression, e.g., micrometer – thước trắc vi: loại thước đo các đường kính, chiều dày rất
nhỏ (đến phần trăm của l). This way of translation helps the reader comprehend more

profoundly the English term as well as the Vietnamese equivalent.
Particularly, those which refer to both people and things must be noticed in translation.
The translator should use more time considering the context of these terms to translate
them into Vietnamese terms; for example, the term regulator may be translated as máy
điều tiết or người điều tiết.
In conclusion, to understand and translate English terms which are agential nouns into
Vietnamese, the reader and translator should choose Vietnamese equivalents which consist
of elements called adjuncts like máy, cái, bộ, thiết bị, bộ phận, dụng cụ, vật, thợ, or người
and other elements which are Vietnamese or Sino-Vietnamese originated. They should
apply functional or descriptive equivalent procedure to find appropriate Vietnamese
equivalents to English terms with explanation if necessary. In case of long explanation,
they may put it in the footnote of page.
Group 2: Simple terms which are nouns
In mechanical engineering, it is necessary to focus on three typical subgroups of the
group. For the first subgroup of nouns, it includes the nouns belonging to Group 1
mentioned above and other nouns which do not end with suffix er/or, e.g., capstan – cái
tời (để kéo hay thả dây cáp), carriage - bàn xe dao, tailstock – ụ sau. Such English terms
tend to be literally translated because a SL term has a TL equivalent. In this case, the
translator usually does not find it difficult to translate an English term into a Vietnamese
term because this is one-to-one equivalence.
However, in some cases where an SL mechanical engineering term does not have TL
equivalent or it is a new term, transference and descriptive words should be used, e.g.,
coupe - coupe, xe thể thao giống sedan nhưng chỉ có hai cửa, sedan - sedan, loại xe hòm
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