tiểu luận Ý thức ngôn ngữ

Hue University
Hue University Of Foreign Languges And International Studies
English Deparment


FINAL ASSIGNMENT

LANGUAGE AWARENESS
Intrustor: Trương Bạch Lê
Student: Nguyễn Anh Thư
Student ID: 19F7511540
Hue - 12/ 2022


TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction

Page 1

Chapter I: English Vietnamese text

Page 2

Analyzing

Page 5

Chapter II: Vietnamese  English text

Page 10

Analyzing

Page 13

Chapter III: Conclusion

Page 17

Reference

Page 18


INTRODUCTION
Translation is considered to be a difficult work because of the different elements in
various languages and the translator has to have a solid command of the language in
order to generate an accurate translation version. Therefore, the purpose of analysis task
is to reveal a fantastic chance to review some basic and fundamental linguistic
information. This research is going to look into and analyze some language elements in
translating the source language (SL) into the target language (TL). The two languages
used in this study are English and Vietnamese.
This assignment has two main chapters. In the first chapter, we are going to read
English – Vietnamese translation and analyze some language elements. In the second
chapter, it will be Vietnamese – English translation and its language elements analysis.

3


CHAPTER 1: ENGLISH – VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION

Source language

Target language

ENGLISH

VIETNAMESE

Matilda (Roald Dahl), page 86-87, published by

Matilda – Cô bé nghịch ngợm (translated by

PUFFIN BOOKS

Gió), page 38

Source language

Target language

(1) When Miss Honey emerged from the

(1) Khi cơ Honey ra khỏi văn phịng

Headmistress's study, most of the children were

hiệu trưởng, bọn trẻ đang ở ngoài sân chơi.

outside in the playground. (2) Her first move

(2) Cô tới chỗ các giáo viên khác dạy lớp

was to go round to the various teachers who

lớn và mượn họ vài cuốn sách giáo khoa,

taught the senior class and borrow from them a

sách toán học, sách tiếng Pháp và sách

number of text-books, books on algebra,

tiếng Anh. (3) Rồi cô đi tìm Matilda, gọi bé

geometry, French, English Literature and the

vào. Cơ nói:

like. (3) Then she sought out Matilda and called
her into the classroom.
(4) "There is no point", she said, "in you
sitting in class doing nothing while I am
teaching the rest of the form the two-times table
and how to spell cat and rat and mouse. (5) So

(4) - Trong lúc cô dạy các bạn bảng cửu

during each lesson I shall give you one of these

chương 2 và dạy đánh vần con mèo, con

text-books to study. (6) At the end of the lesson

chuột, thì em khơng thể ngồi chơi được. (5)

you can come up to me with your questions if

Vậy, mỗi lần cô dạy học, thì cơ sẽ phát sách

you have any and I shall try to help you. (7)

giáo khoa để em đọc. (6) Cuối giờ, em sẽ

How does that sound?"

hỏi cô những câu hỏi nếu em có và cơ sẽ
giúp em. (7) Thấy thế nào?

(8) "Thank you, Miss Honey," Matilda said.
(9) "That sounds fine."
4


(10) "I am sure," Miss Honey said, "that we'll
be able to get you moved into a much higher
form later on, but for the moment the
Headmistress wishes you to stay where you are."
(11) "Very well, Miss Honey," Matilda said.
(12) "Thank you so much for getting those

(8) - Cảm ơn cô Honey. (9) Được ạ.
(10) - Cơ tin rằng chúng ta có thể đưa
em lên học lớp cao hơn, nhưng lúc này, hiệu
trưởng muốn em vẫn ở lại đây.

books for me."
(13) What a nice child she is, Miss Honey
thought. (14) I don't care what her father said
about her, she seems very quiet and gentle to
me. (15) And not a bit stuck up in spite of her

(11) - Tốt lắm, cô Honey. (12) Cám ơn
cô đã đi kiếm sách cho em.

brilliance. (16) In fact she hardly seems aware of
it.
(17) So when the class reassembled, Matilda
went to her desk and began to study a text-book
on geometry which Miss Honey had given her.
(18) The teacher kept half an eye on her all the
time and noticed that the child very soon became
deeply absorbed in the book. (19) She never
glanced up once during the entire lesson.

(13) Cô Honey nghĩ: con bé mới dễ
thương làm sao. (14) Mình chẳng cần biết
cha nó nói về nó như thế nào, mình chỉ
thấy nó trầm lặng và lễ phép. (15) (16) Nó
khơng hề ngạo mạn, mặc dù rất thơng
minh, hình như nó cũng khơng hề biết điều

đó.
(17) Khi cả lớp bắt đầu học, Matilda về
bàn bé ngồi và bắt đầu đọc cuốn Hình Học
mà cơ Honey mới đưa. (18) Cơ ln để mắt
tới nó, thấy rằng, chẳng mấy chốc con bé bị

(20) Miss Honey, meanwhile, was making

hút vào cuốn sách. (19) Suốt giờ học, nó

another decision. (21) She was deciding that she

chẳng hề ngước mắt nhìn lên dù chỉ một

would go herself and have a secret talk with

lần.

Matilda's mother and father as soon as possible.
5


(22) She simply refused to let the matter rest
where it was. (23) The whole thing was
ridiculous. (24) She couldn't believe that the
parents were totally unaware of their daughter's
remarkable

talents.

(25)

After

all,

Mr

Wormwood was a successful motor-car dealer so
she presumed that he was a fairly intelligent man
himself. (26) In any event, parents never
underestimated the abilities of their own
children. (27) Quite the reverse. (28) Sometimes
it was well nigh impossible for a teacher to
convince the proud father or mother that their
beloved offspring was a complete nitwit. (29)
Miss Honey felt confident that she would have
no difficulty in convincing Mr and Mrs
Wormwood that Matilda was something very
special indeed. (30) The trouble was going to be
to stop them from getting over-enthusiastic.

(20) Lúc này, cô Honey nảy ra một
quyết định khác. (21) Cơ quyết định sẽ tới
và có cuộc trị chuyện bí mật với bố mẹ
Matilda càng sớm càng tốt. (22) Cơ khơng
muốn để vấn đề giậm chân tại chỗ. (23)
Tồn bộ câu chuyện thật kỳ cục. (24) Cô
không tin bố mẹ bé hoàn toàn chẳng biết
tới tài năng đặc biệt của con gái họ. (25)

Sau cùng, ông Wormwood là người buôn
bán xe thành đạt, hẳn ông phải là người lịch
sự. (26) Thông thường, bậc bố mẹ không
bao giờ đánh giá thấp khả năng của con cái.
(27) Mà hoàn toàn ngược lại. (28) Đơi khi
giáo viên khó mà thuyết phục cho ông bố
hoặc bà mẹ đầy tự hào đó biết rằng cục
cưng của họ chỉ là đứa bé ngốc nghếch.
(29) Cô Honey tin rằng chẳng khó khăn gì
khi báo cho ơng bà Wormwood biết
Matilda là cô bé rất đặc biệt. (30) Chỉ còn
một vấn đề, ngăn cho họ khỏi vui mừng
thái quá.

Link source text:
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/>usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-S0HeXRAbL7yz8BBj7FAFug

Link target text:
/>iew?usp=sharing

7


ANALYZING
1.

Text-linking means:

In general, the author often uses the word “and” in the English version to make a
complex sentence with two clauses and add more details. And in the Vietnamese
paragraph, it is translated into “và”. For example, the word “and” in sentence (2), (6),
(18), (21). In contrast, the word “and” in sentence (15) is used to add opposite details to
the previous sentence, and is translated into “mặc dù”. In sentence (10), the author uses
“but” to link an opposite clause to the sentence to make a complex sentencce, which is
translated into “nhưng”.
Besides, some adverbs are used to make the sentences meaning clearly and connect
them together such as “when”, “then”, “meanwhile”, “after all” are translated literally
into “khi”, “rồi”, “lúc này”, “sau cùng”. Also, the author uses “in fact” at the beginning
of sentence (16) to support the previous sentence and make it more detailed, in
Vietnamese version, the translator uses “hình như” when she connect sentence (15) and
(16) together.
Moreover, the word “so” is translated into “vậy” to indicate to conclusion idea of the
speaker in the text. The author also uses relative pronuon “who”, which is omitted, not
really translated.

2.

The article:
The paragraph contains two different types of articles, including "a/an" and "the."
Nonetheless, the articles in Vietnamese are often translated unclearly.
In sentence (2), (10), (21), (25) (28), the article “a” is omitted, not translated.
However, in sentence (17), the translator uses “một” in place of article “a”.
In sentence (1), (10), “the” is used to indicate a specific person in school.
The word “the” in sentence (3), (6) and (17) refers to the classroom that the author has
described before.
8

In the target text, most articles beginning with "the" are eliminated. The article is not
translated because doing so would be unnecessary given the context of the extract in
Vietnamese and this work could result in a natural translation in Vietnam. For example, in
sentence (22) “She simply refused to let the matter rest where it was”, the Vietnamese is
“Cô không muốn để vấn đề giậm chân tại chỗ”

3.

Vocabulary:
Because the readers of this story are mostly children, the vocabulary used is simple,

not too difficult. and the words in the book are common daily words.
Besides, the author frequently uses straightforward, commonplace, and easy-tounderstand vocabulary. Therefore, the book is also a suitable alternative source for people
who want to learn or read foreign-language works without too much trouble. Each word is
alos placed logically. Most words are used with the first meaning in the dictionary, so
readers can easily convey the meaning
However, some words in the English version are used to show the situation that the
translator does not use its first meaning or omits it. For example, “emerged” in sentence (1)
is translated into “ra khỏi”, “her first move” in sentence (2) is omitted.
The author also uses some phrasal verbs that readers should search them on the
Internet. These words can help readers improve their vocabulary skills. For example:
“sought out” = find, “keep half an eye on” = pay attention to, “glanced up” = look up.
4.

Sentence structure:
This text includes both long compound sentences and short simple sentences.
Therefore, when translated, there is a change in the number of sentences, the translaator has
combined single sentences to create a complex sentence that is easier to understand for
readers.
Almost compound sentences in the text have many clauses and are translated

literally keeping the structure in target text.
9


Sentence from (4) to (12) are the dialogues of the characters, and are also
translated literally and the speaker introduction is omitted, for example “Matilda
said” and “Miss Honey said”.
Sentence (15) and (16) are simple sentence in the target version, then in
Vietnamese version, the translator combines them into one sentence.
Additionally, sentences (19), (20), (22), (23), and (30) are simple sentences.
The structure of these sentences is quite simple. They are all kept the original type
and structure because none of them are too complicated.

5.

Tense:
In the English version, this is a story-telling text, so the author uses majority
past simple tense and present tense in the dialogue. However, the signals between
the past tense and present tense in the Vietnamese version are unclear while the text
is indicating the past events.
For example, in source text, in sentence (17) “So when the class
reassembled, Matilda went to her desk and began to study a text-book on geometry
which Miss Honey had given her.” is translated into “Khi cả lớp bắt đầu học,
Matilda về bàn bé ngồi và bắt đầu đọc cuốn Hình Học mà cơ Honey mới đưa.” in
Vietnamese version.
When translating the verbs in past tense, the translator does not use the
word “đã” to give the reader a real vision and motion in the context of the story.
On the other hand, the word “shall” in present tense in sentence (5) and
(6) is translated clearly in Vietnamese into “sẽ”.
6.

Translation strategies:
6.1.

10 micro strategies in Cragie & Pattison, 2018, pp. 66-70:
1.

Direct transfer of an SL item into the TL (this involves
preserving the item in its original form, without any
10


modification).
2.

Calque (literal translation of the SL word or phrase in the TL).

3.

Direct equivalence of an SL item in the TL (one-to-one SL/TL match).
4.

Cultural equivalent (different words in the SL and TL for the
same concept/reference).

5.

Synonymy (synonym or near-synonym).
6.

Sense translation (untranslatable or non-viable SL item
rendered by a neutral TL form).

7.

Expansion or paraphrase (explanation of the SL item in the TL).

8.

Reduction (simplification and shortening of the SL item in the TL).
9.

Grammatical / syntactic change (change of form or structure
between the SL and TL).

10.

Compensation (the loss of meaning that occurs in translation
is compensated for elsewhere in the TT)

6.2.

Some micro strategies were used in translating the elements above:
1. Direct transfer

- Miss Honey = cô Honey
- Mr Wormwood = ông Wormwood
2. Direct equivalence

- Decision = quyết định

- Trouble = vấn đề
- Reverse = ngược lại
3. Cultural equivalent

- text-books = sách giáo khoa
4. Reduction

- "Very well, Miss Honey," Matilda said. = Tốt lắm, cô Honey
5. Grammatical/ syntactic change
11


- And not a bit stuck up in spite of her brilliance. In fact she hardly seems
aware of it. = Nó khơng hề ngạo mạn, mặc dù rất thơng minh, hình như nó
cũng khơng hề biết điều đó.
- She never glanced up once during the entire lesson. = Suốt giờ học, nó chẳng
hề ngước mắt nhìn lên dù chỉ một lần.

12


CHAPTER 2: VIETNAMESE – ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Source language

Target language

VIETNAMESE

ENGLISH

Số đỏ (VŨ TRỌNG PHỤNG), page 35

Dumb luck (translated by NGUYỄN
NGUYỆT CẦM and PETER ZINOMAN),
page 75 – 76

Source language

Target language

(1) Cái quạt trên trần nhà quay tít làm cho

(1) Gusts from the ceiling fan rustled the

những thớ lụa ở những thứ quần áo mỏng gần

cigarette paper-thin clothes covering the

bằng giấy hút thuốc lá cứ mấp máy nhảy như

white skin of the two fashionable ladies. (2)

sóng gợn một cách rất mỹ thuật trên da thịt trắng

The ticking of the clock drew attention to

trẻo của hai phụ nữ cùng tân tiến như nhau, mặc

the silence in the room. (3) Looking like

lịng tuy có khác xa nhau. (2) Tiếng quả lắc đồng

the

hồ tăng thêm sự tĩnh mịch của gian phòng. (3)

soul of Vietnam on the road of evolution

Với con chó Tây trong cánh tay, với hai con mắt

and liberation, Mrs. Deputy Customs

mơ màng nhìn lên chiếc quạt, bà Phó Đoan có

Officer hugged her French puppy and

vẻ là linh hồn nước Việt Nam trên đường tiến

gazed up dreamily at the ceiling fan. (4)

hóa và giải phóng. (4) Minh và Văn thì cứ uể oải

Mr. and Mrs. Civilization, on the other

nhọc mệt như những kẻ không bao giờ phải

hand, looked worn-out from the crushing

nhúng tay vào một việc gì nặng nhọc, mặc dầu

burdens of pursuing life's four essential

đã bao lâu nay rồi, cả hai người vẫn phải làm

pleasures (eating, sleeping, making love,

những cơng việc của tứ khối một cách rất văn

and going to the toilet) in a civilized way

minh và vẫn cổ động xng cho chủ nghĩa Bình

and promoting populism.

Dân.
(5) Một tiếng chng dài kêu ran lên ngồi
dàn thiên lý làm cho bà chủ nhà ngồi nhỏm dậy.
(6) Mấy phút sau, một ơng già lị dị bước vào,
13

(5) The doorbell rang out, jolting the
hostess from her chair. (6) Moments later,


hai vợ chồng Minh và Văn đứng lên thì bà Phó

an old man entered the room. (6) The

đon đả:

Civilizations stood up, and Mrs. Deputy
Customs Officer offered a warm greeting.
(7) "Welcome! (8) What a surprise and
honor that you have stopped by to visit us,

(7) - Lạy cụ! (8) Thật không ngờ hôm nay cụ
Hồng lại quá bộ đến chơi với em!

Grandpa Hồng."
(9) Before he could reply, Grandpa Hồng

(9) Cụ Hồng chưa kịp đáp đã giữ lấy ngực để

was seized by a fit of violent coughing. (9)

ho sù sụ lên một hồi dài ghê gớm như sặc thuốc

It sounded as if he were choking on a water

lào. (10) Tuy giữa mùa Hè, cụ cũng mặc áo bông

pipe. (10) Although it was the middle of

và đi giầy da. (11) Cụ vào thì một bầu khơng khí

summer, he wore a padded coat and heavy

sặc lên những mùi dầu bạc hà cũng theo cụ mà

leather shoes. (11) (12) He smelled of

vào phòng. (12) Trên ngực cụ có mấy cái cuống

peppermint oil and wore several medals

huy chương.

pinned to his chest.
(13) Mr. Civilization looked uneasily at
his wife, embarrassed at the fact that
Grandpa Hồng was his father. (14) In the

(13) Cặp vợ chồng Văn Minh đưa mắt nhìn
nhau rất chán nản, vì cụ Hồng chính là ơng bố.
(14) Xưa kia, cụ là một ông Phán. (15) Sau khi
hưu trí, nghiệm rằng cụ đã giúp nước phị vua
trong 30 năm tròn, Nhà nước bèn ân thưởng cho
cụ cái Hồng Lô Tự Thiếu Khanh. (16) Cụ đã là
một người dân bảo hộ trung thành, một viên
chức gương mẫu, một người cha nhân từ vì sợ
sệt con cái như một người nơ lệ. (17) Cụ lại cịn
nghiện thuốc phiện nữa, điều ấy mới thật tỏ ra
14

past he had been a senior clerk-an
exemplary official and loyal citizen of the
protectorate. (16) He was also a kindhearted father who feared and slavishly
indulged
Following

his

spoiled

children.

(15)

retirement,

the

state

acknowledged his thirty years of service to
the king and the country by awarding him
the Hồng Lô Tự Thiếu Khanh medal.3 (17)
Like many Vietnamese of the era, he was


cụ hoàn toàn là người Việt Nam.

also an opium addict.
_________________________________
3. Medal of work and Social Merit

Link source text:
/>usp=sharing
Link target text:

/>usp=sharing

15


ANALYZING
1.

Text-linking means:
In the Vietnamese version, the author does not use much linking words. Typically,

from sentence (9) to (17), sentences or clauses in sentences all have the subject at the
begining without any text-linking means.
The word “mặc dầu” in sentence (4) is to describe an opposite situation with the
previous clause, is translated literary into “on the other hand”. Besides, “mấy phút sau”
in sentence (6) is an adverb of time and in the English version, it is “moments later”
In general, the linking words are totally translated literaray in order to keep the
meaning of the sentence.

2.

The article:
Vietnamese writing does not frequently use articles, and the ways in which the two
languages do so differ greatly. Sometimes the Vietnamese version has no articles while the
English version has a ton.
In other words, there aren't any in the Vietnamese translation. The target language
version, however, makes use of a wide variety of English articles. This version is not a
translation. Only those are genuine examples of English grammar.

3.

Vocabulary:
The Vietnamese text has a few proper names, while some names remain the same,
others change. In sentence (4), there are 2 names: “Minh” and “Văn”, the combination of
this couple’s name is “Văn Minh” = “Civilization”. The author want to emphasize the the
ironic meaning in naming the characters, which the translator also understands and uses the
word “Civilization” as a kind of satire. However, the name of “cụ Hồng” is kept the same
“grandpa Hồng”. The word “Hồng Lô Tự Thiếu Khanh” in sentence (15) indicates a

16


reward that the King award to grandpa Hồng, which was unchanged in the English version
but with comment.
Moreover, there are proper names that mean titles of the ancient Vietnamese state are
translated by using paraphrase. For example, in sentence (3) “bà Phó Đoan” is translated
into “Mrs. Deputy Customs Officer” and “ông Phán” in sentence (14) is also paraphrase
into “a senior clerk-an exemplary official and loyal citizen of the protectorate”.
4.

Sentence structure:
Because the writing style in Vietnamese is diffirent from English, so the structure of
sentence is not the same. The translator usually restruct the sentence elements. For example,
in sentence (3) “Với con chó Tây trong cánh tay, với hai con mắt mơ màng nhìn lên
chiếc quạt, bà Phó Đoan có vẻ là linh hồn nước Việt Nam trên đường tiến hóa và giải
phóng.” is translated reversely into “Looking like the soul of Vietnam on the road of
evolution and liberation, Mrs. Deputy Customs Officer hugged her French puppy and
gazed up dreamily at the ceiling fan.”

5.

Tense:
As a unique feature of the Vietnamese translation, these signals in the original text are
unclear while the book is describing historical events. However, the target text's use of
changing verb tenses makes the signal of tense very evident.
The author almost uses simple present tense in the whole text. For instance, in
sentence (13) “Cặp vợ chồng Văn Minh đưa mắt nhìn nhau rất chán nản, vì cụ Hồng
chính là ơng bố.” is translated into “Mr. Civilization looked uneasily at his wife,
embarrassed at the fact that Grandpa Hồng was his father” with the past tense in the
English version.
6.

Translation strategies:
6.1.

10 micro strategies in Cragie & Pattison, 2018, pp. 66-70:
1.

Direct transfer of an SL item into the TL (this involves
preserving the item in its original form, without any
modification).
17


2.

Calque (literal translation of the SL word or phrase in the TL).

3.

Direct equivalence of an SL item in the TL (one-to-one SL/TL
match).

4.

Cultural equivalent (different words in the SL and TL for the
same concept/reference).

5.

Synonymy (synonym or near-synonym).

6.

Sense translation (untranslatable or non-viable SL item
rendered by a neutral TL form).

7.

Expansion or paraphrase (explanation of the SL item in the
TL).

8.

Reduction (simplification and shortening of the SL item in the
TL).

9.

Grammatical / syntactic change (change of form or structure

between the SL and TL).

10.

Compensation (the loss of meaning that occurs in translation
is compensated for elsewhere in the TT)

6.2.

Some micro strategies were used in translating the elements
above:

1. Direct transfer

- Cụ Hồng = grandpa Hồng
2. Calque

- quạt trên trần nhà = ceiling fan
- linh hồn nước Việt Nam = the soul of Vietnam
3. Direct equivalence

- Ngực = chest
- Đồng hồ = clock
4. Cultural equivalent

- Bà Phó Đoan = Mrs. Deputy Customs Officer
18


- Chủ nghĩa bình dân = populism

5. Sense translation

- Lạy cụ = welcome
6. Expansion or paraphrase

- Ông Phán = been a senior clerk-an exemplary official and loyal citizen of the
protectorate
7. Grammatical/ syntactic change

- Cụ vào thì một bầu khơng khí sặc lên những mùi dầu bạc hà cũng theo cụ mà
vào phịng. Trên ngực cụ có mấy cái cuống huy chương. = He smelled of
peppermint oil and wore several medals pinned to his chest.

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CONCLUSION
To sum up, the most important part of translating a document from one language to another is
making sure that the intended audience understands the true intent of the text. Due to the language
barriers, the translated information would be changed in both form and meaning to seem more
natural and make sense to readers of the target language. In addition, there are several approaches to
translating a text, depending on the knowledge and skills of the translator. Comparing and
contrasting the texts in the source and target languages helps translators deal with more real-world
circumstances when they must use a variety of translation techniques and choose the one that works
best for a certain word, phrase, sentence, or project.

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REFERENCES

1.

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2.

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3.

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4.

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