Khóa luận tốt nghiệp a study on translation of accounting terms from english into vietnamese

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES

BA THESIS
A STUDY ON TRANSLATION OF ACCOUNTING
TERMS FROM ENGLISH INTO VIETNAMESE
NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ CÁCH DỊCH CÁC THUẬT NGỮ
CHUYÊN NGÀNH KẾ TOÁN TỪ TIẾNG ANH SANG
TIẾNG VIỆT

Student:

HA THI THU HUONG

Student code:

621206

Major:

ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

Supervisor:

TRAN THI TUYET MAI, M.A

Hanoi – 2021


VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES

BA THESIS
A STUDY ON TRANSLATION OF ACCOUNTING
TERMS FROM ENGLISH INTO VIETNAMESE
NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ CÁCH DỊCH CÁC THUẬT NGỮ
CHUYÊN NGÀNH KẾ TOÁN TỪ TIẾNG ANH SANG
TIẾNG VIỆT

Student:

HA THI THU HUONG

Student code:

621206

Major:

ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

Supervisor:

TRAN THI TUYET MAI, M.A

Hanoi – 2021


CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report
entitled “A study on translation of accounting terms from English into
Vietnamese” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree
of Bachelor in English Language. Except where the reference is indicated, no
other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of
the thesis.
Hanoi, 2021

Ha Thi Thu Huong

Approved by
SUPERVISOR
(Signature and full name)
Date:……………………

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In the process of completing my graduation paper, I have received a great
deal of help and encouragement from teachers, family, and friends.
I would first and foremost like to express my thanks to my supervisor,
M.A Tran Thi Tuyet Mai, who helps, supports, and makes many comments to
me, which help me overcome this challenging process.
I would also like to thank the teachers of the Faculty of Education and
Foreign languages. They gave me a chance to make a graduation paper. Thanks
for the knowledge they taught me during four years to help me have the
background knowledge to do this thesis.

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ABSTRACT
In this thesis, I will point out basic knowledge of translation and common
terms in Accounting filed.
Firstly, I will introduce some previous studies related to translation
knowledge in accounting terms. Next, there are definitions of translation I
collected and their techniques applied in translating terms. This can help
students have more knowledge about it. Finally, I will give some information
about Accounting terms and give some examples.
This thesis aims to learn about the structures of accounting terms to help
students have a clearer view of the terms and demonstrate translation procedures
used in the field of accounting. Hopefully, the results of the research will help
students in the process of studying and translating.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ....................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................... iv
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................... viii
PART 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 1
1.

Rationale ..................................................................................................... 1

2.

Aims and objectives of the study................................................................ 1

3.

Research questions ..................................................................................... 2

4.

Scope of the study....................................................................................... 2

5.

Significant of the study ............................................................................... 2

6.

Design of the study ..................................................................................... 3

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT .................................................................................... 4
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................ 4
1.1.

Review of previous studies ......................................................................... 4

1.1.1. Research by Dang Thi Le Quyen ............................................................... 4
1.1.2. Research by Luong Thi Dao ....................................................................... 4
1.1.3. Research by Pedro A.Fuertes-Olivera ........................................................ 5
1.2.

Review of theoretical background .............................................................. 6

1.2.1. Translation theory ....................................................................................... 6
1.2.1.1. Definitions .................................................................................................. 6
1.2.1.2. Translation equivalence .............................................................................. 7
1.2.1.3. Translation procedures ............................................................................. 11
1.2.1.4. Translation strategies ................................................................................ 18
1.2.2. Translation of ESP .................................................................................... 23
1.2.2.1. Definition of ESP...................................................................................... 23
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1.2.2.2. Types of ESP ............................................................................................ 25
1.2.3. Terminology ............................................................................................. 26
1.2.3.1. Definition of terminology ......................................................................... 26
1.2.3.2. Characteristic of terminology ................................................................... 28
1.2.4. Overview of Accounting .......................................................................... 30
1.2.4.1. Definition of Accounting .......................................................................... 30
1.2.4.2. Accounting terms ...................................................................................... 31
1.3.

Summary ................................................................................................... 34

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY ........................................................................ 35
2.1. Research governing principles ....................................................................... 35
2.1.1. Research question(s) ................................................................................... 35
2.1.2. Research types ............................................................................................. 35
2.1.3. Research approaches ................................................................................... 35
2.1.4. Data analysis framework ............................................................................. 36

2.2. Research methods ........................................................................................... 36
2.3. Summary ........................................................................................................ 37
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .................................................. 38
3.1. Some accounting terms and their construction .............................................. 38
3.2. Useful techniques for translating of accounting terms .................................. 41
3.2.1. Shift or transposition translation ................................................................. 41
3.2.2. Translation by using loan word ................................................................... 44
3.2.3. Translation by omission .............................................................................. 46
3.2.4. Literal translation ........................................................................................ 48
3.2.5. Translation by paraphrase ........................................................................... 49
3.3. Problems in translation of accounting terms .................................................. 52
3.4. Summary ...................................................................................................... 54
PART 3: CONCLUSION ...................................................................................... 56
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1.

Recapitulation ........................................................................................... 56

2.

Concluding remarks .................................................................................. 57

3.

Limitation of the study ............................................................................. 57

4.

Suggestions for further study.................................................................... 58

REFERENCES ...................................................................................................... 59

vi


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

SL

Source language

TL

Target language

ESP

English for language purpose

VNUA

Vietnam National University of Agriculture

V

Verb

N

Noun

Adj

Adjective

vii


LIST OF TABLES
Table 1.2.4. 1 Some single accounting terms ....................................................... 32
Table 1.2.4. 2 Some auditing terms....................................................................... 32
Table 1.2.4. 3 Compound terms in accounting ..................................................... 33
Table 1.2.4. 4 Compound auditing terms .............................................................. 33
Table 1.2.4. 5 Acronyms in accounting terms ...................................................... 34
Table 3.1.1. Single terms ....................................................................................... 38
Table 3.1.2. Some compound terms ...................................................................... 39
Table 3.1.3. Some acronyms terms ....................................................................... 40
Table 3.2. 1 Terms using automatic translation .................................................... 42
Table 3.2. 2 Terms using rank-shift translation .................................................... 43
Table 3.2. 3 Acronym terms .................................................................................. 44
Table 3.2. 4 Terms using omission translation ..................................................... 47
Table 3.2. 5 Terms using literal translation .......................................................... 48
Table 3.2. 6 Terms using translation by paraphrase using related word .............. 50
Table 3.2. 7 Terms using translation by paraphrase using unrelated word .......... 51

viii

PART 1: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
In the modern society, accounting is very important to businesses. A lot of
information given by it is necessary for managers, it can help them to make
strategies and decisions of the business. None of the business can operate
without it. Therefore, basic accounting knowledge will help you to have more
chances in any industry.
In the integration process of globalization and with “open” policies of all
countries in the world, more and more entrepreneurs come and invest in
Vietnam. That is a chance to develop the economy. Besides, teaching and
learning English has also become more significant and necessary to people,
especially in the business field. However, teaching accounting terms in English
is not easy for students.
Plenty of people have trouble learning and translating accounting terms.
Translation terms need to have an accumulation of language and knowledge of
culture in both two languages: native language and foreign language. I am fond
of translation skills and satisfied with the business field, which are reasons I
carry out this study. This study also helps me to have a chance to learn about
translation methods.
2. Aims and objectives of the study
The study aims to figure out an overview of translation strategies and
procedures employed in the translation of basic accounting terms.
Based on knowledge finding out, my study focuses on two objectives:
The first is to find out some linguistic features of accounting terms. I will
collect English accounting terms and provide their Vietnamese equivalents or
expressions.
The second objective is to point out the techniques used in translating the
accounting terms. The study will give analyzing translation strategies and
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procedures, which employed in the translation of these English terms into
Vietnamese.
3. Research questions
My study only focuses on translation techniques and knowledge about
accounting terms. In the learning process, I have some common problems during
translation. So this study will focus on two questions to make clear problems
encountered during translating.
In details, two questions of the thesis are:
Question 1: what are the linguistic features of accounting terms?
Question 2: what techniques are used in translating accounting terms?
I hope via two questions helping people to have the necessary knowledge
and help them overcome some problems when translating terms.
4. Scope of the study
The terms in fields of accounting require a great deal of competence and
time to study, but due to the time and knowledge limitation, the research cannot
be generalized even the problems in this area. Therefore, I only focus on
translation issues in general and making comparison between English and
Vietnamese in the basic accounting terms.
Regarding accounting terms, I will take most of the terminology from the
textbooks of VNUA's accounting department. They are Financial accounting,
Internal auditing, English for accounting and business management and
Accounting textbooks, which are included in the learning process of the students.
5. Significant of the study
Firstly, in terms of theoretical significance, this paper can provide
additional information on general translation techniques and translation methods
used in accounting terminology translation.
In terms of practical significance, I hope this research paper can provide
students at VNUA who are studying translation with more knowledge about
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translation methods, especially techniques used in accounting terminology
translation. Through this study, I hope it can help English learners have more
and more knowledge about other majors, thereby accumulating more knowledge
for themselves. Besides, it can help students studying Accounting at VNUA can
learn more about translating your professional terms.
6. Design of the study
My essay is divided into three parts, in which part two is the most
important.
- Part 1 is the Introduction including rationale, aims, and Objectives of the
study, research of the study, the scope of the study, the significance of the study,
and design of the study.
- Part 2 is the Development that consists of 3 chapters:
Chapter 1 is Literature review: a review of the previous studies included
two studies I found out related to Accounting and review of theoretical
background
Chapter 2 is Methodology including researched governing principles,
research methods and summary.
Chapter 3 is Findings and discussion
- Part 3 is the Conclusions including recapitulation, concluding remarks,
limitation of the study and suggestion for the further study.

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PART 2: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1.

Review of previous studies
Because accounting has many different sub-sectors, each sub-sector has

different specialized terms. Therefore, it takes a lot of time to learn all the terms,
so there are many researchers in the world who have researched this field, but
they only study in one field.
1.1.1. Research by Dang Thi Le Quyen
Her research is called “A study on translation of accounting terms from
English to Vietnamese”. This research was written in 2010. In this study, she
used a descriptive method to write this research paper. First, she has come up
with the necessary theories related to the study such as translation conceptual
theories that she has gathered from sources of different researchers around the
world. Besides, she introduced translation methods used in translating
specialized terms.
On the other hand, in this paper, she also shows the structures of the
accounting terminology included its structures, and gives examples. However,
the number of terms in the thesis is not much more than just the general
accounting term, not divided to indicate which small field it belongs.
Above all, in her research, she has given out many difficulties that people
face in the process of translating specialized translation from which they can
offer alternative solutions to help people.
1.1.2. Research by Luong Thi Dao
This study was written in 2010 called “A study on the translation of
English terms related to management accounting terms from English to
Vietnamese”. She also studies accounting terminology, but her research focuses
on the field of management accounting - a small area of the accounting field in
4

general. This study helps us understanding more about a small area of
accounting.
Like the research above, in order to be able to translate, we must first
grasp the basic theory of translation and translation methods. That is why in the
first part of the study, she gave information about translation. Next is her general
research about accounting, especially management accounting, from which she
offers methods to translate those terms. Besides, she also gives the common
management accounting terms to help people get more capital from this major.
The last part of the paper is also the common difficulty that translators encounter
in the translation process.
1.1.3. Research by Pedro A.Fuertes-Olivera
This research was written in 2018 called “Translating English Specialized
Dictionary Articles into Danish and Spanish: Some Reflections. This article
aims to provide reflection on three major topics: dictionary as text, lexicographic
equivalence and translating English accounting dictionary articles into Danish,
Spanish. In the third part, the translation of articles from English into Danish
and Spanish will show the peculiarities of the English translation of Accounting.
In part of translating English accounting dictionary articles into Spanish, the
author used some procedures to translate accounting terms such as: literal
translation, translation creation. Besides, the article also pointed out the
difficulties and ways to translate groups of accounting terms. The translation of
English noun groups may result in different Spanish renderings, which are
caused by the presence or absence of one or more Spanish articles. These
different renderings indicate that English noun groups used as terms do not
contain articles but their Spanish equivalents can or cannot contain them.
Both theses are different from my thesis. The first thesis focuses on
researching translation strategy in general and contrastive analyzing accounting

5

terms between English and Vietnamese. The second thesis also shows
specialized terminology translation and collation strategies. However, focusing
on only a small part in the field of Accounting, which is management
accounting. The third study is the translation of accounting documents into
Danish and Spanish, thereby providing ways to translate accounting terms.
My study is different from these two previous dissertations. It focuses on the
types of structures found in Accounting Terminology and explores ways to
translate them from English to Vietnamese. The target of my research is the
students studying at VNUA, I will focus on only two small areas that are
accounting and auditing. Most of the terms in this thesis are taken from the
VNUA's Accounting books to help students studying Accounting at VNUA
more easily learn English in their major.
1.2.

Review of theoretical background

1.2.1. Translation theory
1.2.1.1. Definitions
Today, the world is increasingly developing, countries are in the stage of
globalization, so there are many new documents and knowledge that we need to
learn more from countries around the world. Each country has a different
language, so that to be able to understand and accurately define knowledge from
different countries, translation has an importance and indispensableness role.
In the world, many researchers and authors study the algorithm and come
up with different concepts about it, so there are many good books and articles
written on this topic. Here are some of the concepts that I gathered.
- Advanced Oxford Dictionary indicates that “Translation is the process of
changing something that is written or spoken into another language”.
- Newmark (1981: 7) indicates that translation is “rendering the meaning of

a text into another language in the way that the author intended the text”.
- According to Nida and Taber (1982:12), “translating consists in
6


reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source
language message”.
- Hatim and Munday’s (2004:6) conclusion is that “the process of
transferring a written text from source language (SL) to target language (TL)”.
- Bell’s point of view that translation as the replacement of a text in one
language by an equivalent text in another language (1991:8).
- Catford’s claim seems to be that “Translation is the replacement of the
textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another
language (TL)” (1965).
- Nida and Taber (1974) define “Translation consist of in reproducing in
the target language (TL), the closet natural equivalent of the source language
(SL) message, firstly in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of styles”.
- Hatim and Mason (1997:1) state that “Translation is an act of
communication which attempts to relay, across cultural and linguistic
boundaries, another act of communication”.
In all the definitions of translation by the above authors, I will apply
Newmark's definition to complete my thesis.

From that definition, I will

introduce in my research aspects related to translation. About the definitions of
other authors, I will use them as references for my research.
1.2.1.2. Translation equivalence
To be able to understand a foreign language, we accurately need to
translate phrases and sentences and link them together. English phrases always

need to be exactly translated in their inherent meaning, and they will have
equivalent meanings in Vietnamese. Thus, equivalent translation is needed in the
translation process.
First, we need to know what equivalent translation is:
- Translation equivalence is the similarity between a word (expression) in
one language and its translation in another. This similarity results from
7


overlapping ranges of reference.
- Translation equivalence is a corresponding word or expression in another
language.
The concepts “equivalence” and “the equivalent” appear in definitions of
translation, for example, according to Catford (1965): “equivalent textual
material”, “the closest natural equivalent” (Nida and Taber, 1969), “a maximally
equivalent target-language text.” (Wilss, 1982).
However, equivalents and issues of non-equivalence are thought to be the
main concepts in translation. According to Pyn (1992), equivalence is said to
define the translation, and vice versa the equivalent is the definition of the
equivalence. The relationship between equivalence and the translation process
was specifically defined by scientists through two approaches, which are
qualitative and quantitative.
a. The natural of equivalence in translation
Equivalence is considered the only inter-textual relationship that the desired
translations express: it is defined as the relationship between the source text and
the target text, which allows the TT to be considered the first ST translation.
Most of the concepts of translation follow this: translation is the replacement of
a word in one language with a formal or semantic equivalent in another
language.
According to Koller (1995: 196), translation can be understood as the result

of word processing, using the text source language converted to target language
text. Between the L2 text (target language text) and the L1 text (source language
text) that takes up at a relationship can be specified as a translation or relation
equivalent. Then there is a question of the type and degree of translation
equivalent to what they offer. Thus, in Dr. Ph.D.'s (2007) lecture he states that
equivalence is "any characteristic relationship that allows translation in a
particular set of situations" and "similarity is a between two documents in two
8


languages, not between the languages themselves. ”
b. Types of equivalence in translation
 Quantitative approach
According to Kade (1968) the equivalent translation is divided into four
categories.
+ The first type is a translation of one-to-one equivalence, when a single
expression in the TL for a single SL expression is used.
+ The second type is when more than one TL expression for a single SL
expression is used, this is called one-to-many equivalence.
+ The next one was a one-to-part-of-one equivalence: when a TL expression
covers part of a concept designed by a single SL expression.
+ The last type is nil equivalence, which occurs when there is no TL
expression for an SL expression. For example: Ao dai, Banh chung, ...
 Qualitative approach
 Functional-based approach:
According to Nida and Taber (1982), functionally they are divided into two
distinct categories:
+ Formal equivalence: this occurs when the source and target languages
have the best possible match for the form and content of the message. They also
add that there is not always a perfect match between the two languages and

suggest that formal equivalence can be used whenever possible. Form equivalent
of trying to translate the text closely following each word in the text. (This is
suitable for translating international diplomatic documents)
+ Dynamic equivalence / functional equivalence: this type mainly focused
on "equivalent effect". In other words, this is the kind of equivalent in which the
translator tries to convey a meaning in a way that affects the object, the target as
well as the source language.
 Meaning-based approach
9


According to Koller (1979), he divided into five equivalent categories:
+ Denotative equivalence: the source language and target language words
have the same denotations.
+ Connotative equivalence: also referred to as stylistic equivalence,
provides additional values besides denotative and is related to the lexical choices
between near synonyms.
+ Text-normative equivalence: the source language and target language
words are used in the same or similar context in their respective languages
+ Pragmatic equivalence: also called communicative equivalence, is
readership-orientated is the equivalence in which the source language and target
language words have the same effect on the readers.
+ Formal equivalence: produces and analogy of form in the translation by
either exploiting formal possibilities of target language, or creating new forms in
target language.
 Form-based approach
According to Baker (1992) this approach is divided into four equivalence
categories, respectively:
+ Equivalence at word level: Baker defines the term “word" and states that
one word can have different meanings in different languages, and also relates

meaning of words with morpheme. Baker introduces problems at word level and
above word level before suggesting some strategies to deal with them.
+ Grammatical equivalence: Grammatical rules can vary across the
language, and this may cause some trouble in finding a direct correspondence in
the TL
+ Textual equivalence refers to the equivalence between a SL text and a TL
text regarding to information and cohesion. Whether the cohesive relations
between TL and SL should be maintained is up to three main factors: the target
audience, the purpose of the translation and the text type
10


+ Pragmatic equivalence refers to implication of the TL text. The duty of a
translator is to recognize the implied meaning of SL text, and then reproduce in
such a way which readers of the TL can understand clearly without any
misunderstandings.
In summary, of the two translation equivalents mentioned above, my
research mainly focuses on the quantitative approach. This approach will be
applied in understanding and showing ways to translate terms.
1.2.1.3. Translation procedures
Translation procedures are the proper procedures or methods used by the
translator in transferring the source language into the target language. The
definition of procedure by the Oxford dictionary is the usual or proper way of
doing something. Gallagher (1996:31) also said that “translation procedures are
the technical devices to convey the message of a text in one language into
another language.” The difference between translation procedures and
translation methods as mentioned by Newmark (1988:81) “translation methods
relate to whole texts, translation procedures are used for sentences and the
smaller units of language.”
 Literal translation

The SL grammatical constructions are converted to their nearest TL
equivalents, but the lexical items are again translated out of context. As a pretranslation process, it indicates problems to be solved (This is a broader form of
translation, each SL word has a corresponding TL word, but their primary
meaning may differ. The SL grammatical forms are converted to their nearest
target language equivalents. However, the lexical words are again translated out
of context. A literal translation is considered the basic translation step, both in
communication and semantic translation, in that translation starts from there. As
a pre-translation process, it indicates problems to be solved.
A literal translation is a translation that follows closely the form of the
11


source language. It is also known as Word for Word translation. Newmark
(1995: 69) approaches literal translation by distinguishing it from word-for-word
and one-to-one translation. “Word-for-word translation transfers SL grammar
and word order, as well as the primary meanings of all the SL words, into the
translation”. Newmark agrees that this technique is the best option for
translating texts where the form is as important as the content such as great
speeches, autobiographies, literal works.
Literal translation goes beyond one-to-one translation. It ranges from one
word to one word, through group to group, collocation to collocation, clause to
clause, to sentence to sentence.
 Transference
Transference is the process of transferring an SL word to a TL text as a
translation procedure. The word becomes a loan word. As Newmark (1995:81)
once said, transfer (loan word, transliteration) refers to the process of converting
an SL word into a TL text after which it becomes a loan word. However,
cultural objects or concepts only should be transferred to show respect for the
SL country's culture.
Moreover, it is used for name of all living or dead people, geographical and

topographical names, names of periodicals and newspapers, titles of untranslated
literary works, plays, films, names of private companies and institutions, street
names, addresses, technical terms that do not have equivalents in TL.
There are two ways to use the loan words, which are with an explanation or
without an explanation. For usage with an explanation, the word loan becomes
very useful when it is reiterated many times in the text. After using explanation,
the loan word can be used, and the reader is not distracted by further lengthy
explanations (Baker, 1992:34). Some loan words can indicate a new concept or a
different meaning that is unfamiliar to the speaker of the language. Therefore,
when such words are spoken for the first time, they should be accompanied by
12


an explanation. In contrast to usage without explanation, many people now
prefer to use words from another language directly without explanation. Those
words are written and pronounced like a native word.
However, cultural objects or concepts only related to a small group, which
should be transferred names of SL objects, inventions, devices, processes to be
imported into the TL.
 Naturalization
This procedure succeeds transference and adapts the SL word first to the
normal pronunciation then to the normal morphology of TL. For example: gene
- gen, virus – vi-rút, etc. The use of borrowed words without explanation can be
hyphenated or not. In the case of hyphenation, each sound is written separately
with a hyphen to illustrate the pronunciation of TL. This loan transcription
shows some problems due to the lack of a principle of separating the sounds in
polyphony. Following the original phonological model of TL can lead to a
change in the original pronunciation of words. However, there are also many
people who can easily recognize it as a borrowed word to pay attention to
pronunciation.

 Cultural equivalent
The relationship between language and culture is a close relationship
between translation and culture. Using two languages is considered the basic
requirement of the translator, culture of the two languages must be involved in
the translation process. In different cultures, the same words can have different
cultural meanings, and indifferent people, different words can have the same
meaning.
In Baker's terms (1992: 31), this procedure involves replacing a culturespecific item or expression with a TL item that does not have the same
propositional meaning but is likely to have a similar impact on the target reader.
The substituted culture-specific section provides the reader with a more familiar
13


and understandable concept.
Newmark (1995:83) has noted that this type of translation is limited
because approximate cultural equivalences are imprecise. This type can be used
to explain to ignorant readers about the relevant SL culture as in propaganda
texts. This type is usually intended to support and complement another
translation procedure.
 Functional equivalent
By the end of the 1970s, the concept of ‘functional equivalence’ was
proposed by functionalists and scholars working from the text-linguistic
standpoint. The new text-linguistics models started emerging with many
proponents of this new approach. They viewed translation as “an act of
communication, not as a procession of trans-coding in linguistics approaches.
Functional equivalent applied to cultural words required the use of a
culture-free word, sometimes with a new specific term; it, therefore, neutralizes
or generalizes the SL word. According to New mark (1995), functional
equivalent, which is applied to cultural words, requires the usage of cultural-free
words, sometimes with a new specific term. Its function is to neutralize or

generalize the SL word: and sometimes add a particular thus. This procedure,
which is a componential cultural analysis, is the most accurate way of
translating.
This procedure is used when an SL technical word has no TL equivalent. It
fills the gap between source and target languages or cultures. In cultural
terminology translation, this procedure is often associated with the transfer.
 Descriptive equivalent
The descriptive equivalent is the meaning of the cultural words explained in
few words.
In translation, the description sometimes has to be weighed against
function. Description and function are essential elements in explanation and
14


therefore. In translation discussion, the function used to be neglected; now it
tends to be overplayed.
 Shifts or transpositions
“A shift” (Catford’s term) or “transposition” (Vinay and Darbelnet) is a
translation procedure involving a change in the grammar from SL to TL”
(Newmark, 1995: 85). There are four types of shifts or transpositions in this
procedure.
The first type of change is from singular to plural: when a translator does
not another choice. The most obvious example of this type is used in English
and Vietnamese grammar: “glasses/spectacles” is translated as “kính đeo mắt”,
which completely ignores the plural form of the original word but does not
affect the meaning of the words in TL.
The second type of transition is when an SL grammar structure does not
exist in the TL. Translators usually always have options in this case. For
example, when translating from English to Vietnamese, the translator can
choose to translate by a gerund, noun phrase, clause or infinitive: “when hearing

her success….” can be translated as “khi biết cô ấy thành công…” or “khi biết
về sự thành công của cô ấy…”
The third type of translation is where literal translation is grammatically
possible but may not accord with natural usage in TL. As Vinay and Darbelnet
see it, transposition means the replacement of one word-class by another,
without changing the meaning of the message (Newmark, 1995: 86).
However, it is not possible to standardize the displacements in the way of
Vinay and Darnelnet strictly because there are many overlaps and the
transformation to lexis which Carfod calls degree shifts.
The fourth type of shift is the replacement of a virtual lexical gap by a
grammatical structure. For example: “before you coming…” translates to “trước
khi bạn đến…”
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