translation equivalence of terms in quan ho bac ninh folk songs = tương đương trong dịch thuật ngữ dân ca quan họ bắc ninh
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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE
VƢƠNG THỊ THANH NHÀN
TRANSLATION EQUIVALENCE OF TERMS IN QUAN HO
BAC NINH FOLK SONGS
(Tương đương trong dịch thuật ngữ dân ca Quan Họ Bắc Ninh)
M.A COMBINED PROGRAM THESIS
Field: English Linguistics
Code: 60 22 15
Hanoi - 2012
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE
VƢƠNG THỊ THANH NHÀN
TRANSLATION EQUIVALENCE OF TERMS IN QUAN HO BAC
NINH FOLK SONGS
(Tương đương trong dịch thuật ngữ dân ca Quan Họ Bắc Ninh)
M.A COMBINED PROGRAM THESIS
Field: English Linguistics
Code: 60 22 15
Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lê Hùng Tiến
Hanoi - 2012
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSii
ABSTRACT...iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS.. iv
LIST OF TABLES.viii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
PART A: INTRODUCTION1
I. Identification of the problem and rationale for the study1
II. Aims of the study2
III. Scope of the study3
IV. Significance of the study3
V. Organization of the study4
PART B: DEVELOPMENT .5
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 5
I. Translation equivalence 5
1. Definitions of translation 5
1.1. From linguistic approach5
1.2. From cultural approach .6
2. Different theories of translation equivalence8
2.1. 8
2.2. -11
3. Translation of culture-specific concepts16
3.1. Different views on culture-specific concepts16
3.2. Translation strategies for culture-specific concepts17
II. Terms in Quan Ho Bac Ninh folk songs as culture-specific concepts.24
1. Description of Quan Ho Bac Ninh folk songs 24
1.1. Origin of 24
1.2. Performance 25
1.3. Quan Ho 26
1.4. Quan Ho si27
2. Outstanding features of Quan Ho Bac Ninh folk songs27
2.1. From artistic aspect27
v
2.2. From cultural aspect28
3. Quan Ho Bac Ninh terms as culture-specific concepts29
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODS30
I. Phase 1: Identification of 30
1. Data collection methods30
1.1. Document review30
1.2. Observation 31
1.3. Interviews 31
2. Data analysis methods 32
II. Phase 2: Analysis of QHBN 38
1. Data collection methods38
1.1. Document review38
1.2. Observation 39
1.3. Interviews.39
2. Data analysis methods 39
3. Phase 3: Creatio39
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 40
I. What are translation strategies for terms in Quan Ho Bac Ninh folk
songs?
1. Transfer45
2. Literal tra45
3. Redu49
4. Cultural 50
5. Descriptive 52
6. Co53
II. What are suggested translations of terms in Quan Ho Bac Ninh
folk songs? 55
PART C: CONCLUSION .60
I. 60
II. .61
vi
III. .62
REFERENCES64
APPENDICES I
vii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
QHBN: Quan Ho Bac Ninh
SL/ ST: Source language/ source text
TL/ TT: Target language/ target text
viii
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: QHBN terms in Vietnamese
Table 2: English equivalents of QHBN terms
Table 3: QHBN terms translated by literal translation
Table 4: QHBN terms translated by reduction
Table 5: QHBN terms translated by cultural equivalents
Table 6: QHBN terms translated by descriptive equivalents
Table 7: QHBN terms translated by couplets
Table 8: Glossary of key terms in QHBN folk songs
1
PART A: INTRODUCTION
I. Identification of the problem and rationales for the study
Quan Ho Bac Ninh singing was recognized as an intangible cultural heritage
of humanity at the fourth session of the UNESCO International Committee
for the Safeguarding of Intangible Heritage, which took place in Abu Dhabi,
UAE, from September 28 to October 2, 2010. After that, Vietnam snapped
into action to protect its indigenous art form. In October 2011, the Ministry of
Culture, Sports and Tourism claimed that Quan Ho singing had been listed as
a cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding. Among the measures taken
to preserve and promote the heritage, introducing Quan Ho Bac Ninh
documents in English to international friends is an indispensable part.
However, the translation process has encountered a number of challenges due
to the following reasons:
As a cultural heritage of humanity, Quan Ho Bac Ninh is characterized
by its distinction in local customs, musical features and singing outfits.
Then the terms in Quan Ho Bac Ninh are considered culture-specific
concepts. In translation theory, non-equivalence caused by culture-specific
items has put an unanswered question and this issue calls for more
researches from translators as well as theorists to figure out better solutions.
Remarkable efforts in the field have been made with the introduction of
many articles and journals about Quan Ho Bac Ninh written in English.
However, terminological inconsistency has existed among those documents.
A glossary will help to standardize the way Quan Ho terms are translated
and increase the quality of products made by different translators. Once the
glossary is provided, confusion among the target readership will not occur
2
when they have access to a variety of materials about Quan Ho Bac Ninh
folk songs.
As a child growing up with the sweet melody of Quan Ho songs, the
researcher has nurtured a great love for the folk. Bac Ninh is famous for
traditional festivals held constantly around the year so the researcher has
chances to join many social events in Quan Ho hometown. A period of time
working with experts on Quan Ho folk songs has also brought the researcher
particular understanding about this unique type of music. In addition, it is
will set
firm background for related studies.
These above grounds have encouraged the researcher to conduct a study on
“Translation Equivalence of Terms in Quan Ho Bac Ninh Folk Songs”.
The study is hoped to be a modest contribution to the field.
II. Aims of the study
The study is firstly aimed at examining the problem of non-equivalence
caused by culture-specific concepts like Quan Ho Bac Ninh terms so that
solutions to overcome the difficulties will be worked out. Then, the study will
highlight a number of strategies to deal with Quan Ho Bac Ninh terms as
culture-specific items. Finally, several suggested translations of key terms in
Bac Ninh Quan Ho folk songs will be given.
In brief, these aims can be summarized into two research questions as follows:
- What are the strategies to form equivalents of terms in Quan Ho Bac
Ninh folk songs?
3
- What are the suggested equivalents of terms in Quan Ho Bac Ninh folk
songs?
III. Scope of the study
Within the limitation of time and reference materials, the study will address
the problem of non-equivalence rather than stretching efforts in other differnt
aspects of translation equivalence. In addition, the researcher will not focus
on all the terms used in Quan Ho singing documents. Only some key terms
related to the following points will be discussed:
- Quan Ho singing origin and social practice (with major focus on
several customs)
- Quan Ho singing forms
- Quan Ho singing tunes
- Quan Ho singing techniques
- Quan Ho singing outfits
IV. Significance of the study
Once being completed, the study will serve as one of the initial small-scale
researches on the non-equivalence in translation of Quan Ho Bac Ninh folk
terms with different strategies to cope with the problem.
When the findings of the study are revealed, there might be several
implications for those working on translating Quan Ho singing documents to
take them into consideration. The glossary of key terms in Quan Ho Bac Ninh
folk songs will certainly be an effective supporting tool for those who take
interest in this type of music and want to introduce it to international friends.
4
The proposed study is also expected to be a practical guide and benefit future
researchers in related fields. There might be opening doors to other aspects of
translation that need to be explored.
V. Organization of the study
The study is divided into three main parts:
Part A - Introduction identifies the central problem and introduces major
objectives of the study which are shown in the two research questions. The
scope and significance of the study are also stated. Part B – Development is
covered by three chapters. Chapter 1 – Literature review presents a review of
relevant researches associated with the problem addressed. Chapter 2 –
Research methods describes the research methods used for data collection and
analysis. Chapter 3 – Findings and discussion contains an analysis of the data
and presentation of the results. Part C - Conclusion offers a summary of the
study's findings, implications for practice, and recommendations for future
research.
5
Part B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
This chapter explores the present state of knowledge regarding the topic under
discussion. A critical review of major works on translation will be given. An
investigation of s
- -
could be clearly identified, creating reasonable grounds for the study.
I. Translation equivalence
1. Definitions of translation
1.1 From linguistic approach
It has been long taken for granted that translation deals only with language.
Cultural perspective, however, has not yet been brought into discussion. The
first definition presented by Catford (1965: 20) refers to translation as the
equivalence. Culture was not taken into account.
Next, Nida and Taber (1969) explain the process of translating as follows:
Translating consists of reproducing in the receptor language the closest
natural equivalent of the source language message, first in terms of meaning
and secondly in terms of style.
In the definitions of translation during 1960s-1970s, some similarities have
been found:
6
there is a change of expression from one language to the other
the meaning and message are rendered in the TL
the translator has an obligation to seek for the closest equivalent in
the TL. Yet, there is no indication that culture is placed emphasis on.
The inclusion of cultural perspective in the definition of translation
unfortunately does not continue. The later ones keep on not touching this
matter. For example, "translation involves the rendering of a source language
(SL) text into the target language (TL) so as to ensure that the surface
meaning of the two will be approximately similar and the structure of the SL
will be preserved as closely as possible, but not so closely that the TL
structure will be seriously distorted (McGuire, 1980: 2).
focus on linguistic aspect: "translation is a craft consisting in the attempt to
replace a written message and/or statement in one language by the same
message and/or statement in another language"
By nature, it is understood that the translation should be done to every
language. However, as the content addresses all walks of life and culture
plays an important role in human life, culture, therefore, should be considered.
1.2 From cultural approach
Other definitions are meant to explain the experts' view on translation theory
to be applied in the translation of all types of material, including scientific or
technical texts which are not deeply embedded in any culture. Thus, it can be
momentarily hypothesized that cultural consideration must be taken if the
material to translate is related to culture.
7
According to Snell-Hornby (1988: 39), however, the exclusion of cultural
aspect from the discussion of translation theory is due to the view of the
traditional approach in linguistics which draws a sharp dividing-line between
language and "extralinguistic reality" (culture, situation, etc.). The
contemporary approach, according to her, sees language as an integral part of
culture.
In 1964, Nida discussed the problems of correspondence in translation,
conferred equal importance to both linguistic and cultural differences between
the SL and the TL and concluded that differences between cultures may cause
more severe complications for the translator than do differences in language
structure. It is further explained that parallels in culture often provide a
common understanding despite significant formal shifts in the translation.
According to him cultural implications for translation are thus of significant
importance as well as lexical concerns.
In his discussion of translation theory, Toury (1978) considers translation as
ich inevitably involves at least two languages and two
faced with the problem of how to treat the cultural aspects implicit in a ST
and of finding the most appropriate technique of successfully conveying these
aspects in the TL.
conveying messages across linguistic and cultural barriers. Venuti (1995)
claims that the aim of translation is to bring back a culture as the same, the
recognizable, even the familiar with the source one.
8
2. Different theories of translation equivalence
2.1. “Equivalent effect” in translation
The notion of equivalence held sway as a key issue in translation throughout
the 1970s and beyond. T
translation equivalence have
been elaborated in the past fifty years. This study will look at several major
works of Eugene Nida, Peter Newmark and Werner Koller.
1940s when he was
(1969) co-authored with Taber.
structure which formed the theory of generative-transformational grammar in
1957 and 1965, Nida generated the two basic types of equivalence: formal
equivalence and dynamic equivalence.
Formal equivalence
ld match
Thus, this type is keenly oriented towards the ST structure, which
exerts strong influence in determining accuracy and correctness.
Dynamic equivalence: is based on what Nida
message should be substantially the same at that which existed between
has to be tailored to the r
9
natural equivalent to the source-
The two types of equivalence by Nida are crucial in introducing a receptor-
based (or reader-based) orientation to translation theory. However, the
principle of equivalence is heavily criticized for a number of reasons.
Lefevere (1993) claims that equivalence is still overly concerned with the
word level, while Van De Broeck (1978) and Larose (1989) considers
whom? how can a text possibly have the same response in two different
cultures?).
In his books of
-oriented line,
between emphasis on source language and target language will remain as the
the former aims at rendering as closely
as
9)
However, Newmark has been criticized for his strong prescriptivism, and the
-
10
while transla
guidance and advice for the trainee and many of the questions he tackles are
of important practical relevance to translation.
Important work on equivalence is also carried out by Werner Koller in his
the field of contrastive linguistics which compares two language systems and
describes contrastively differences and similarities. Equivalence, on the other
hand, relates to equivalent items in specific ST- TT pairs and contexts. Koller
points out that while knowledge of correspondences is indicative of
competence in the foreign language, it is knowledge and ability in
equivalence that are indicative of competence in translation. However, the
answer the question, Koller goes on to describe 5 types of equivalence:
Denotative equivalence: related to equivalence of the
extralinguistic content of a text.
Connotative equivalence: related to the lexical choices,
especially between near synonyms.
Text-normative equivalence: related to text types, with different
kinds of text behaving in different ways.
Pragmatic equivalence: oriented towards the receiver of the text
or message.
Formal equivalence: related to the form and aesthetics of the text,
includes word plays and the individual stylistic features of the ST.
11
2.2. “Non-equivalence” in translation
The concept of Equivalence has had its share of criticism and challenges. If
equivalence is considered the essence of translation, the next question is what
about cases of non-equivalence in translation? Snell-Hornby (1988) criticized
the concept of equivalence by comparing the meaning of the word
-
on-
parallel corpus can be used to investigate the consistency of translation
equivalence across the two languages in a parallel corpus. The particular
issues addressed are the bi-directionality of translation equivalence, the
coverage of multi-word units, and the amount of implicit knowledge
presupposed on the part of the user in interpreting the data. Non-equivalence
is a fact among languages.
As Baker (1992) puts it, the difficulty and problem in translating from one
language into another is posed by the concept of non-equivalence, or lack of
equivalence. This problem appears at all language levels starting from the
word level up till the textual level. Baker discusses various equivalence
problems and their possible solutions at word, above word, grammatical,
textual, and pragmatic levels. She takes a bottom-up approach for pedagogical
reasons. Baker proceeds with her equivalence discussion from word to further
12
upward levels. She clai
acknowledges the fact that there are translation problems caused by non-
equivalence. She outlines some common types of non-equivalence at word
-specific
differences in physical or interpersonal perspective; differences in
expressive meaning; difference in form; differences in frequency and purpose
of using specific forms; the use of loan words in the source text or because the
source language concept is not lexicalized in the target language, the source
language word is semantically complex; the source and the target languages
make different distinctions in meaning; the target language lacks a super-
ordinate; the target language lacks a specific term (hyponym). Then she
proposes several strategies to deal with specific cases.
Hervey and Higgins (1995) believe that the principle that a translation should
have an equivalence relationship with the source language text is problematic.
For supporting their idea, they say that there are three main reasons that an
exact equivalence or effect is difficult to achieve. Firstly, it is impossible for a
text to have constant interpretations even for the same person on two
occasions. Before one could objectively assess textual effects, one would need
to have referred to a rather detailed and exact theory of psychological effect, a
theory capable, among other things, of giving an account of the aesthetic
sensations that are often important in response to a text. Secondly, translation
is a matter of subjective interpretation of translators of the source language
text. Thus, producing an objective effect on the target text readers, which is
the same as that on the source text readers is an unrealistic expectation.
Thirdly, it may not be possible for translators to determine how audiences
respond to the source text when it was first produced
13
Another scholar M. Mehrach (1997) also considers equivalence "an
impossible aim in translation". He supports his saying by the idea that no two
languages share the same linguistic structures, social or, cultural aspects.
Instead, he proposes the use of the term 'adequacy' for the 'appropriate'
translation, that is," a translation that has achieved the required optimal level
of interlanguage communication under certain given conditions."
conveyable in any existing langu
therefore works mostly in messages, not single code units
Different forms of non-equivalence can be found in several typologies of
equivalence proposed by Catford (1965), Kade (1968), Monia Bayar (2007)
under various terms such as “untranslatability”, “nil-equivalence” “null-
equivalence”, “zero-equivalence
Catford (1965) distinguishes two kinds of untranslatability, that is, linguistic
untranslatability and cultural untranslatability.
Linguistic untranslatability, occurs when there is no lexical or
syntactical substitute in the target language for a source language
item.
Cultural untranslatability is due to the absence in the target
language culture of a relevant situational feature for the source text.
Kade (1968) and other translators (Arntz 1993, Hann 1992) on lexical
equivalence, in particular in the area of terminology, combine the qualitative
14
distinctions with a quantitative aspect that categories equivalence
relationships according to following types:
One–to–one equivalence; when a single expression in the TL for a
single SL expression is used.
One–to–many equivalence; when more than one TL expression for a
single SL expression is used.
One–to–part–of–one equivalence; when a TL expression covers part
of a concept designated by a single SL expression.
Null equivalence or nil equivalence when there is no TL expression
for an SL expression.
According to Monia Bayar (2007), equivalence consists of seven degrees.
Each degree has specific characteristics that distinguish them from each other
which are explained in the following:
Optimum translation: "the closest equivalence degree attainable,
given the circumstances, the linguistic and extra linguistic resources
actually available to the translator." In other words, a TT may reach
the optimal degree when it preserves the ' super ordinate goal' of the
ST.
Near – optimum translation: refers to the case where the ST super
ordinate goal and sub-goals are cohesively and coherently rendered
to the TT, but do not reach the readability of the optimal degree
from a textual point of view.
Partial translation: occurs when the ST is partially rendered to the
TT, that is, the translator partially translates the text's superordinate
goal. According to her statement, in this type, it should be stated that
15
the readability and correctness of the TT do not mean its
preservation of the ST, because the TT might be read fluently,
without conveying the ST goal.
Weaker and stronger translation: by using Monia Bayar's words,
some translations are called weaker translations because they
reproduce the ST goals in' weaken terms' if compared to original,
whereas, others are named strong versions for their use of stronger
terms in their rendition of ST goals.
Poor translation: in poor translation, readability is the core of the
problem. Poor translation occurs when the translators are unable to
transfer the ST goals into a readable TT and in an obvious way that
helps the reader grasp them easily.
Mistranslation: in mistranslation the TT neither is readable nor
keeps the super-ordinate goal of the ST.
Zero equivalence or translation: zero equivalence occurs when there
is no one to one equivalent between the ST and the TT. According
to Bayar, this happens when the translator deals with texts that
contain many culturally bound words or expressions.
In general, equivalence in translation can be measured by degrees that range
from optimal equivalence to zero equivalence. These degrees might be
measured by the levels of nearness or distance from the ST 'superordinate
goal'. While optimal equivalence is considered as the highest level in
equivalence, or the most nearest degree from the ST, zero equivalence is
related to the lowest degree of equivalence or the most distant degree from the
ST goal.
16
One of the explanations for the problem of non-equivalence is due to culture-
specific concepts. The study will take a closer look at the nature of those
items.
3. Translation of culture-specific concepts
3.1. Different views on culture-specific concepts
It is not always clear which words and expressions should be considered
culture-specific items, even in the literature of translation several names exist
for these items: realia, culture-specific concepts, culturally bound items, etc.
Vlahov and Florin (1980) (cited by Tellinger 2003) speak of realia and
categorize these items as follows: 1) geographical (geographic formations,
man-made geographical objects, flora and fauna that is special to a certain
place); 2) ethnographic (food and drink, clothing, places of living, furniture,
pots, vehicles, names of occupations and tools); 3) art and culture (music and
dance, musical instruments, feasts, games, rituals and their characters); 4)
ethnic (names of people, nicknames); 5) socio-political (administrative-
territorial units, offices and representatives, ranks, military realia).
Newmark (1988) introduced 'cultural word' which the readership is unlikely
to understand and the translation strategies for this kind of concept depend on
the particular text-type, requirements of the readership and client and
importance of the cultural word in the text. He classifies cultural words into 5
groups: ecology: flora, fauna, hills, winds, plains; material culture: food,
clothes, houses and towns, transport; social culture: work and leisure;
organizations, customs, activities, procedures, concepts: political and
administrative, religious, artistic; gestures and habits.
17
Baker (1992) refers to such cultural wor
religious belief, a social custom, or even a type of food." Baker then, calls
such concepts 'culture-specific items'. Nord uses the term 'cultureme' to refer
to these items. He defines cultureme as "a cultural phenomenon that is present
in culture X but not present (in the same way) in culture Y" (Nord 1997: 34).
Gambier also identifies those items through the term 'culture-specific
references' and asserts that they connote different aspects of life: such as
education, politics, history, art, institutions, legal systems, units of
measurement, place names, foods and drinks, sports and national pastimes, as
experienced in different countries and nations of the world. (Gambier 2004:
159)
As Álvarez and Vidal (1996) point out, everything in a language is a product
of a particular culture, beginning with language itself, it is difficult to define
exactly what can be classified in a text as culture-specific. One broad
culture- could be every
feature in a ST which presents a problem for the translator because there is an
intercultural gap between the SL and the TL. Such a gap is found where an
item in the ST does not exist in the TL culture, or the TL has no word for that
item.
3.2. Translation strategies for culture-specific concepts
-specific concepts we can
find some similarities with Newmark's point of views which are mentioned
above. His classification for translation of culture-specific concepts is as
follows:
18
Equivalence by modifying a generic word: This strategy is helpful to
analyze the source word to discover its generic component functions
of the words in its context.
Equivalence by modifying a loan word: This strategy is used to
translate names of people, geographical areas, etc.
Equivalence by cultural substitute: This strategy can be applied
when the source language lexical items can be translated by using
the words for things or events which are not exactly the same but
occur in the receptor language (Larson 1984, p. 170).
According to Newmark (1988) two translation procedures are normally used
for translation of cultural words: first transference which usually in literary
texts offers local colour and atmosphere. Although transference is brief and
concise, it blocks comprehension, it emphasizes the culture and excludes the
message and does not communicate. The other procedure is componential
analysis, the most accurate translation procedure in Newmark's point of view
which excludes the culture and highlights the message. It has also some
shortcomings. It is not economical and has not the pragmatic impact of the
original. He also believes that in translation of novels, cultural words are often
transferred from SL to TL to attract the reader (p.96). In the classification of
translation procedures, he also refers to these two procedures and also some
other procedures for translation of culture-specific concepts and define them
as a following way:
Transference (loan word, transcription) is the process of
transferring a SL word to a TL text as a translation procedure. The
following are normally transferred: names of all living and most
dead people; geographical and topographical names including newly
