Nghiên cứu phương pháp dịch Việt – Anh trong bộ sách song ngữ “Những câu hỏi thường gặp về văn hóa Việt Nam” do Nhà xuất bản Thế Giới ấn hành

1

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES



PHẠM THU GIANG

A STUDY ON THE VIETNAMESE-ENGLISH TRANSLATION
STRATEGIES IN THE SERIES OF BILINGUAL HANDBOOKS
"VIETNAMESE CULTURE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS"
PUBLISHED BY THE THẾ GIỚI PUBLISHER

Nghiên cứu phương pháp dịch Việt – Anh trong bộ sách song ngữ “Những câu
hỏi thường gặp về văn hóa Việt Nam” do Nhà xuất bản Thế Giới ấn hành
M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS










Hanoi - 2010

Field: English linguistics
Code: 602215




2

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES



PHẠM THU GIANG


A STUDY ON THE VIETNAMESE-ENGLISH TRANSLATION
STRATEGIES IN THE SERIES OF BILINGUAL HANDBOOKS
"VIETNAMESE CULTURE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS"
PUBLISHED BY THE THẾ GIỚI PUBLISHER

Nghiên cứu phương pháp dịch Việt – Anh trong bộ sách song ngữ “Những câu
hỏi thường gặp về văn hóa Việt Nam” do Nhà xuất bản Thế Giới ấn hành

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Hanoi - 2010
Field: English linguistics
Code: 602215
Supervisor: Dr. Trần Xuân Điệp




6

TABLES OF CONTENTS Page

Acknowledgement i
Abstract ii
Table of contents iii
List of abbreviations v

Part I - Introduction

1. Rationale
1
2. Aims of the study
1
3. Scope of the study
2
4. Methodology of the study
3

5. Organization of the study
4


Part II - Development

Chapter 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
6
1.1. Definitions of translation
6
1.2. Translation methods and strategies
6
1.2.1. Translation methods
6
1.2.2. Translation strategies
7
1.3. Foreign language translation
11
1.4. Translation of cultural texts
11


Chapter 2: VIETNAMESE-ENGLISH TRANSLATION STRATEGIES
USED IN THE BILINGUAL HANDBOOKS
13
2.1. Modified literal translation
13
2.2. Changes in grammar
15
2.2.1. Changes in the order of word groups

15
2.2.2. Changes of grammatical word class
17
2.2.3. Modulation
18
2.2.4. Sentences split or merged
19


7

2.3. Choice of vocabulary
21
2.3.1. Using words of more general meaning
21
2.3.2. Descriptive equivalents
22
2.3.3. Addition
23
2.3.4. Subtraction
25
2.3.5. Using different words or phrases
26
2.4. Translating culture-bound terms, names and titles, and poems
28
2.4.1. Translating culture-bound terms
28
2.4.2. Translating names and titles
30
2.4.3. Translating poems

31
2.5. Some opinions on expressive richness of the translations
32
2.5.1. Relevant equivalents
32
2.5.2. Poorer equivalents
33
2.5.3. Richer equivalents
33
2.6. Some opinions on language style of the translations
34
2.6.1. Formality
34
2.6.2. Conciseness
35
2.6.3. Clarity
37


Part III - Conclusion
39
1. Recapitulation
39
2. Implications
40
3. Limitations of the study
41
4. Suggestions for further study
42

REFERENCES



APPENDIX





8

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
SL Source language
SLT Source language text
TL Target language
TLT Target language text
PT "Popular Theatre"
WC "Wedding Customs"
SF "Spring Festival in Northern Việt Nam"


9

PART I - INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
In a globalized world, translation has played an indispensable role in facilitating
international exchanges and cooperation in various fields, one of the most important of
which is culture because culture is the background of every human communication. There

have been a large number of studies on translation methods and strategies but many of
which just focus on general techniques supposed to be applied to all pairs of languages in
the world and few works are concerned with specific problems in certain pairs of language,
especially those related to culture. Even within one pair of languages, first language
translators and foreign language translators encounter different challenges. While the first
language translator can depend much on their long-built habitual use of the target
languages, the second language translators often work with more awareness than feeling,
more analysis and reasoning than intuition. Therefore, to some extent, foreign language
translators are more interested in translations strategies which help them do their work
rationally.
For those reasons, the study on the translation strategies in the series of Vietnamese-
English handbooks “Vietnamese culture frequently asked questions” published by the Thế
Giới Publisher has been carried out from the perspective of a Vietnamese student. The
books cover different cultural aspects of Vietnam, therefore demonstrating many
interesting translation strategies in use, especially those to deal with culture-specific terms.
The study is expected to offer practical advice for Vietnamese-English translators with
detailed and thorough analysis of the strategies used in the set of the books.
2. Aims of the study
The study is carried out with the following aims:
- Finding out common strategies used in some books of the series "Vietnamese culture
frequently asked questions."
- Taking a close look at expressive power and writing styles of the translations to
understand the reasons hidden in the translators' use of certain strategies.
- Drawing out some possible implications of the study results for Vietnamese-English
translators.


10

3. Scope of the study

More than twenty handbooks on “Vietnamese culture frequently asked questions” have
been released so far. The set of the books prominently features Vietnamese culture with
different aspects such as arts, festivals, customs, and architecture and so on. Yet, within the
limit of the research, the paper is not supposed to cover the whole series of the books. The
three small books chosen are “Popular Theatre” (Chèo), “Spring Festivals in Northern Việt
Nam” and “Wedding Customs” which are all edited by Hữu Ngọc and Lady Borton and
published by Thế Giới Publisher in 2008.
Strategy is a broad term which may refer to global strategies (those dealing with whole
texts) and local strategies (those dealing with text segments) (Bell, 1998). However, within
the limit of the minor thesis, the author would like to focus on local strategies which are
specific activities affecting micro-units of the text. Translation procedures studied by
Vinay, Darbelnet, New Mark, Nida are the main source of reference for the author to carry
out her research scientifically. Studies by other experts would also be considered when
necessary.
It is certainly hard for the author to mention a great number of differences between
Vietnamese and English in her analysis. The author would not study the alteration in the
transfer process related to basic grammatical differences such as the order of nouns and
adjectives, the possessions, the verb tenses and so on. Her main concern is the strategies
which translators, especially learners or novice translators may not be aware of in their
work, such as omission, addition, alteration and so on.
4. Methodology of the study
4.1. Research question
The main research question raised in the paper is:
What translation strategies were used in the three selected book of the series "Vietnamese
culture frequently asked questions" published by the Gioi Publisher?
The answer to the question will help readers to realize some common Vietnamese-English
translation strategies used in the bilingual handbooks “Vietnamese culture frequently asked
questions”. The study may also help sharpen the translators’ awareness of some
outstanding differences between the nature of English and Vietnamese languages in use so
that they can learn to produce natural-looking texts in their translation.

11

4.2. Methods
Data corpus:
Cultural scholar Huu Ngoc and American writer Lady Borton work together to bring us the
series of bilingual handbooks on Vietnamese culture. The set of books provide the readers
with basic knowledge of the Vietnamese culture such as the Tet holiday, water puppetry,
Hue cuisine and so on. The pocket-sized books are designed for readers of different
backgrounds. Firstly, the books are a valuable reference for foreigners who are interested
in the Vietnamese culture. The books also offer useful practice for English native speakers
who want to study Vietnamese. Thirdly, tourist guides and officials of foreign affairs
benefit a great deal from the books in their business. Besides, the books are useful for
English teachers and students with interesting contents and comparatively simple language.
The three books, “Popular Theatre”, “Spring Festivals in Northern Việt Nam” and
“Wedding customs”, were chosen with careful thoughts. Chèo, an authentically
Vietnamese theatre form, festival and wedding customs are the themes which may involve
many culture-specific terms, conceptions, idioms or allusions which pose considerable
challenges for the translators. Therefore, the researcher would discover more helpful
strategies to deal with culture-related problems which remain very controversial in the area
of translation.
The "Popular Theatre" covering 99 pages tells stories about chèo with six main parts:
background, popular plays, artists, music, chèo villages, and future development. The
"Wedding Customs" with 83 pages discusses different customs, from the past to present,
from the North to the South and some emerging issues in modern wedding rites. The
thickest handbook "Spring Festivals in Northern Việt Nam" with 133 pages describes
many famous spring festivals, some of which belong to minority groups such as Tày and
Thái peoples. Over 300 sentence pairs were collected from the three selected handbooks to
examine how and why the strategies are used to produce comprehensible and acceptable

target language texts.
Data analysis:
A mechanical listing of noteworthy and typical examples of translations in the books
which, together, cover a wide range of strategies is done first. The author does not solely
depend on the methods and strategies already studied by many researchers presented in the
literature. She tries to seek more specific techniques employed by the translators and


12

discover their particular challenges, especially those related to culture-bound terms, and
how they overcome their challenges. The author attempts to reason the use of the strategies
and, in a few cases, adds some evaluation on the results or the effectiveness of the
translations. Finally, the author draws a conclusion on the strategies in Vietnamese-English
translation of the books and then gives some suggestions for translators and further studies.
This study is carried out by the combination of the following methods:
- Deductive and inductive methods. Deductive method is the important method used in this
research. The author makes the description and interpretation of the strategies used in the
translations based on the studies by some famous linguists, translators and other
researchers contributing to the field. However, the author also needs inductive method to
arrive at necessary conclusions about common strategies used and the reasons beneath.
- Qualitative and quantitative methods. This study is much more qualitative than
quantitative in nature because it heavily depends on the author's own interpretation of
translation examples. Qualitative method offers the opportunity to gain insight into the
translators' decision-making during their transfer process, thus seeking out the "why".
Quantitative method is sometimes used to add necessary details and figures to the findings.
- Descriptive and contrastive methods: Descriptive is the main method of this study. A
detailed description of the translation versions would help the readers acquire profound
understanding of the translation strategies. For many cases, the author needs to explain the
differences between English and Vietnamese to clarify the translators' intention hidden in

their decision-making process. In other words, the contrastive method helps to explain the
effectiveness of the strategies utilized.
5. Organization of the study
Part I is the Introduction which allows the readers to get the general idea of what the thesis
is about. It provides the rationale for the study, aims of the study, the scope, the method
and the organization of the study.
Part II is the Development, which consist of three chapters.
Chapter I briefly introduces some necessary theoretical points from different backgrounds.
The author begins by reviewing different views of translation theories with the focus on
translation strategies. Following that a review of foreign language translation and
translation of cultural texts is undertaken.


13

Chapter II is the main part of the study. This chapter provides discussion on the use of
translation strategies in the three selected books in terms of modified literal translation,
changes in grammar, choice of vocabulary. The author is particularly interested in
translations of culture-bound terms, names and titles. This part is ended with some
evaluations on the meaning transfer including expressive richness and writing style in the
target language.
Part III is Conclusion which recapitulates the main ideas and findings of the study; draws
out some important implications for Vietnamese-English translators, presents limitations of
the study and lastly, suggests some ideas for further research.


14

PART II - DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1.1. Definitions of translation
Translation is an incredibly broad notion which has been defined from various
perspectives. Some definitions are quite simple such as the definition by Hatim and Mason
(1990) “translating is a communicative process which takes place within a social context”,
some definitions give more details, “translating is the transformation of a text originally in
one language into an equivalent text in a different language retaining, as far as possible, the
content of the message, and the formal features and the roles of the original text” (Bell
1991: XIII cited by Hoang Van Van, 2005). Nida and Taber (1982) claim, “Translation
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.” Along the
line, Wills (1982) extends the above definition with more terms, “Translation is the
procedure which leads from a written SL text to an optimally equivalent TL text, and
which requires the syntactic, semantic, stylistic and text pragmatic comprehension by the
translator of the original text.” In general, it can be drawn from the above definitions that
translation is regarded as an action of communication, a problem-solving activity, an
intercultural action and a text-processing action. No matter how different the definitions
can be, faithfulness to the source text is widely considered to be the most important
concern of translators. However, translators have different views on the essence of
faithfulness or the application of the idea on their work, which will be discussed in the next
parts of the thesis.
1.2. Translation methods and strategies
1.2.1. Translation methods
Translation method refers to the way that particular process is carried out in terms of
translator’s objective that affects the whole text.
Different views on the translation process result in different translation approaches which
are mainly related to two main directions: literal and free. The literal approach involves
adherence to the form of the original text while the free translation aims at capturing the
sense of a longer stretch of language (Basil Hatim & Jeremy Munday, 2004).

15

There are few translations which absolutely apply either literal or free method. Therefore,
Larson (1984) suggests that the methods spread in the continuum from very literal, to
literal, to modified literal, to near idiomatic, idiomatic, and unduly free. Similarly,
Newmark (1988a) uses eight terms in his classification and puts these methods in the
form of a flatterned V diagram.
SL emphasis TL emphasis
Word-for-word translation Adaptation
Literal translation Free translation
Faithful translation Idiomatic translation
Semantic translation Communicative translation

Newmark (1981) adds that there are two best methods of translation. They are (1)
communicative translation to produce the same effect on the TL readers and (2) semantic
translation to reproduce the precise contextual meaning of the author. Both Newmark and
Larson emphasize that the selection of the appropriate methods plays an important role in
making a good translation.
1.2.2. Translation strategies
Translation strategies open the way to finding a suitable solution for a translation unit.
Jaaskelainen (1999) considers strategy "a series of competencies, a set of steps or
processes that favor the acquisition, storage, and/or utilization of information." Some
experts emphasize the consciousness in their discussion of strategies. Loescher (1991)
defines translation strategy as "a potentially conscious procedure for solving a problem
faced in translating a text, or any segment of it." As it is stated in this definition,
consciousness is a significant element in translators' decision-making process. In this
regard, Cohen (1998) asserts that "the element of consciousness is what distinguishes
strategies from these processes that are not strategic."
Furthermore, Bell (1998) differentiates between global (those dealing with whole texts)
and local (those dealing with text segments) strategies. "Local strategy" relates specifically

to the translation of certain grammatical structures and lexical items while global strategy
operate at a more general level.


16

As mentioned in the Scope of the Study, the main concern of the author is local strategies in
transfer process, those which affect the micro-units of the text.
Looking closely at techniques to deal with "local problems", Chesterman (1997) divides
strategies into three categories of grammatical strategies (involving purely syntactic
changes of one kind or another, e.g. loans/calques, phrase and sentence structure changes,
etc.), semantic strategies (changes mainly relating to lexical semantics and clause meaning,
e.g. synonym, antonym, paraphrase and trope changes) and pragmatics strategies
(involving selection of information, e.g. cultural filtering, information changes,
illocutionary changes, partial translation, transcending, etc.)
We can find more detailed description of each "local strategy" through the work by Vinay
and Darbelnet (1995) though they use the term "procedure" instead of "strategy".
Vinay and Darbelnet propose seven procedures operating on three level of style: lexis,
distribution, and message. The procedures are classified as direct and indirect translation.
Oblique translation occurs when word for word translation is impossible.
Direct
Indirect (Oblique)
1.Borrowing
4. Transposition
2.Calque
5. Modulation
3. Literal translation
6. Equivalence

7. Adaptation

(1) Borrowing refers to words taken directly from another language. Generally, borrowings
enter a language through translation, and just as with false friends (false cognates) the
translator should strive to look for the equivalents in the SL that convey the meaning of the
SL more advantageously
(2) Calque is used when a foreign word or phrase is translated and incorporated into
another language. It is a special type of borrowing, consisting of borrowing an expression
from the source language and translating literally each element.
(3) Literal translation means the direct transfer of the source text into the target language in
a grammatically and idiomatically proper way. This technique is used when it is possible to
transpose the source language message element by element into the target language and
obtain a text that is idiomatic.


17

(4) Transposition replaces words from one grammatical word class with another without
changing the meaning of the message. For example, a verb is translated with a noun, a
noun with an adjective, an adjective with an adverb and so on.
(5) Modulation is a shift in point of view, changing the point of view without changing the
meaning of the message. Vinay and Darbelnet identify different types of modulation, some
of which are abstract for concrete, cause for effect, means for result, a part for the whole,
geographical change
(6) Equivalence accounts for the same situation using a completely different phrase. It
generally refers to the commonly accepted and used equivalents of idioms, proverbs,
idiomatic expression and lexicalized terms.
(7) Adaptation refers to a shift in cultural environment, for instance, to express the message
using a different situation. Translators have to adapt a source language situation when it
does not exist in the target language or would be considered inappropriate in the target
culture.
Nida (1964) proposes three types of translation strategies: additions, subtractions and

alterations. They are used (1) to adjust the form of the message to the characteristics of the
structure of the target language, (2) to produce semantically equivalent structures, (3) to
generate appropriate stylistic equivalences and (4) to produce an equivalent communicative
effect.
A translator makes an addition when he needs to clarify an elliptic expression, to avoid
ambiguity in the target language, to change a grammatical category, to amplify implicit
elements or to add connectors
Subtraction refers to the omission of words or phrases if they are not essential to the
meaning or impact of the text.
Alterations are changes made because of incompatibilities between the two languages due
to structural differences between the two languages such as changes in word order,
grammatical categories and semantic misfits, especially with idiomatic expressions.
New Mark (1988b) contributes a large number of strategies affecting the micro-units of the
text.
- Transference: it is the process of transferring a SL word to a TL text. It includes
transliteration and it is somewhere called "transcription."


18

- Naturalization: it adapts the SL word first to the normal pronunciation, then to the normal
morphology of the TL.
- Cultural equivalent: it means replacing a cultural word in the SL with a TL one. however,
"they are not accurate"
- Functional equivalent: it requires the use of a culture-neutral word.
Descriptive equivalent: in this procedure the meaning of the SLT is explained in several
words.
Componential analysis: it means "comparing an SL word with a TL word which has a
similar meaning but is not an obvious one-to-one equivalent, by demonstrating first their
common and then their differing sense components."

Synonymy: it is a "near TL equivalent." Here economy trumps accuracy.
Through-translation: it is the literal translation of common collocations, names of
organizations and components of compounds. It can also be called: calque or loan
translation.
Shifts or transpositions: it involves a change in the grammar from SL to TL, for instance,
(i) change from singular to plural, (ii) the change required when a specific SL structure
does not exist in the TL, (iii) change of an SL verb to a TL word, change of an SL noun
group to a TL noun and so forth.
Modulation: it occurs when the translator reproduces the message of the original text in the
TL text in conformity with the current norms of the TL, since the SL and the TL may
appear dissimilar in terms of perspective.
Recognized translation: it occurs when the translator "normally uses the official or the
generally accepted translation of any institutional term."
Compensation: it occurs when loss of meaning in one part of a sentence is compensated in
another part.
Paraphrase: in this procedure the meaning of the CBT is explained. Here the explanation
is much more detailed than that of descriptive equivalent.
Couplets: it occurs when the translator combines two different procedures.
Notes: notes are additional information in a translation.
All the translation strategies mentioned above will form a steady background from which
the author will investigate thoroughly translation techniques in the set of handbooks.
However, all the above theories just mention the most common strategies supposed to be


19

applied to all pairs of languages in the world. Vietnamese authors have done many
research on translations concerning the pairs of English and Vietnamese languages but
most of them focus on English-Vietnamese translations in a certain book or in a certain
academic or technological field. The author has found few materials which emphasizes

strategies used in Vietnamese-English translations. Thus, the author expects to dig deep
into the case of Vietnamese-English translation with a view to providing more valuable
information for readers.
1.3. Foreign language translation
Translation into a foreign language is usually a big challenge for any translators because
they have to learn to write in the foreign language with an authentic style. Stuart Campbell
(1998) says, “In translating into a second language, comprehension of the source text is
the easier aspect; the real difficulty is in producing a target text in a language in which
composition does not come naturally”. It is easy to look up equivalent meanings of certain
words in a dictionary but it is much more difficult to produce a target text that sounds
natural to English native readers in terms of word choice, collocation, and sentence
structure and so on. The reason is probably that “The second language translators have to
work within the limitations of their second language repertoire, and the stages of
individuals’ language development must be reflected in the quality of their translation.”
(Stuart Campbell, 1998) Translation competence in the foreign language is somehow
associated with foreign language proficiency. Though a good translator certainly has
language proficiency, a good foreign language learner does not necessarily become a good
translator. A good translation into a foreign language must demonstrate the translator’s
sensitivity to both his native language and his foreign language. Besides, translators need
to have good background knowledge of the subject they tackle and understand the role of
the translation as well as the target audience.
1.4. Translation of cultural texts
Different cultures have their own culture-specifics; therefore, the issue of cultural loss is of
central concern in translation. Newmark defines culture as "the way of life and its
manifestations that are peculiar to a community that uses a particular language as its means
of expression" (1988a). With regard to correspondence in translation, Nida attaches equal
importance to both linguistic and cultural differences between the SL and the TL and
concludes that "differences between cultures may cause more severe complications for the

20

translator than do differences in language structure" (1964). Mona Baker (1992) states that
S.L word may express a concept which is totally unknown in the target culture. It can be
abstract or concrete. It may be a religious belief, a social custom or even a type of food.
However, culture is not something separated from language; the two notions are closely
related to each other. Culture is expressed through the means of language and language is
part of the culture as the articulation of a language reflect the its community's way of
thinking. Lotman's theory states that "no language can exist unless it is steeped in the
context of culture; and no culture can exist which does not have at its centre, the structure
of natural language" (1978). Along the line, Bassnett (1980) states that language is "the
heart within the body of culture," thus acknowledging the survival of both aspects being
interdependent.
In the era of globalization, multiculturalism is a present-day phenomenon which is
dramatically influenced by the development of technology and the expansion of mass
media. In this broad context of the modern time, translators certainly gain more
opportunities to experience more cultures which add valuable benefits to their practical
work as a cross-cultural translator. According to Nico Wiersema (2004), cultures are
getting closer and closer and this is something that he believed translators need to take into
account. In the end, it all depends on what the translator, or more often, the publisher wants
to achieve with a certain translation.




21

CHAPTER II: VIETNAMESE-ENGLISH TRANSLATION STRATEGIES USED
IN THE BILINGUAL HANDBOOKS
2.1. Modified literal translation

Literal translation follows closely the form of the source language; therefore, it is also
known as form-based translation. According to Vinay and Darbelnet (1995), literal
translation occurs when there is an exact structural, lexical, even morphological
equivalence between two languages. Vietnamese and English are two languages of
numerous grammatical and lexical differences; hence, the author could hardly find any true
literal translation in three selected books. However, the meaning of the terminology “literal
translation” is not always restricted within the strict rule given by Vinay and Darbelnet
above. Many linguists classify the level of the “literal” depending on how much close the
TLT and the SLT are. Newmark (1988) differentiates between word-for-word translation,
literal translation, faithful translation and semantic translation which are all categorized as
the methods closest to the SL. Larson (1984) divides translation method into two
categories: literal translation and idiomatic translation. He uses three terms for the scope of
“literal translation”. They are very literal, literal and modified literal. He states that very
literal and literal translation normally have little communicative value because the SLT
sounds strange and odd to the readership. The author finds the term modified literal most
suitable to identify the most common strategy in the books. According to Larson, modified
literal strategy is a way to modify order and grammar of the source language in an
acceptable sentence structure in the receptor language but the lexical items are translated
literally.
One of the most significant differences between Vietnamese and English is word order in
noun phrases. Many of the pre-modifiers characterizing the head noun in English, are post-
modifiers in Vietnamese, especially adjective, nouns and possessive. For most of the cases,
the order of the words in Vietnamese noun phrases has to be changed to acceptable
grammatical rules in English. The underlined words in the following examples are head
nouns.
Example 1: “Tuồng và chèo là hai loại hình nghệ thuật sân khấu truyền thống của Việt
Nam.” (PT. p12)
Tuồng and chèo are both Vietnamese traditional theatrical art forms. (PT. p13)
Example 2: “Các đôi uyên ương vận những trang phục giản dị.” (WC. p16)

22

“Couples wore simple clothes” (WC. p17)
Example 3: “Chèo và múa rối nước là hai sản phẩm độc đáo của nền văn minh châu thổ
sông Hồng, nhưng chèo là loại hình nghệ thuật tinh tế hơn.” (PT. p16)
Chèo and water puppetry are unique products of the Red River Delta civilization,
but chèo is the more refined art form. (PT. p17)
Example 4: "Mẹ kế phải yêu con riêng của chồng" (PT. p18)
Step-mothers must love their husbands' children (PT. p19)
Besides order changes in noun phrases, we can see some changes related to adjective
phrases
Example 5: "Cuộc đi bộ trở nên mệt mỏi hơn" (WC. p76)
"Walking becomes more tiring" (WC. p77)
Example 6 : "Ít gia đình đủ dũng cảm để chống lại lề thói hiện nay." (WC. p24)
Few families are bold enough to counter curren practice. (WC. p25)
Orders of words in Vietnamese and English questions are often different. While the
question word in English usually appears at the beginning of the sentence, some of the
question words in Vietnamese often appear at the end.
Example 7: "Thời trang của cô dâu Hà Nội đã thay đổi như thế nào?" (WC. p52)
How has the fashion of Hanoian brides changed? (WC. p53)
Example 8: "Các đặc trưng nổi bật của chèo là gì?" (PT. p16)
What are the dramatic characteristics of chèo? (PT. p17)
However, some simple questions beginning with "ai", "cái nào" "tại sao" can be
surprisingly translated literally with few changes.
Example 9: "Lễ hội nào dùng pháo đất?" (SF. p64)
What festivals use clay firecrackers? (SF. p65)
Example 10: "Tại sao những người bạn tốt lại hay được ví như Lưu Bình và Dương Lễ
(PT. p34)
Why are good friends compared with Lưu Bình and Dương Lễ (PT. p36)

The translators usually have to add function words, such as prepositions, pronouns,
auxiliary verbs and articles and so on, to express acceptable grammatical relationship
within a sentence of the receptor language. However, as long as the content words are
translated literally, the strategy remains modified literal translation.
Example 11: "Chèo tiếp tục phát triển và đạt đến đỉnh cao vào cuối thế kỷ 19" (PT. p16)


23

Chèo continued to develop and reached its peak by the end of the nineteenth
century (PT. 17)
Example 12: "Những nghi lễ cưới xin đã phát triển qua thời gian như thế nào?" (PT.p12)
How have wedding rites evolved over time? (PT. p13)
Most of the sentences applying modified literal translation strategy in the transfer process
definitely have simple grammatical structure and lexical terms with literal meaning. Unlike
other strategies which will be discussed later, this strategy is detected in almost all pages of
the three selected books. It is quiet understandable why this strategy is the most common
one used by the translators. The books aim at ordinary people interested in basic
information on Vietnamese culture; therefore, the content is quite readable with clear
wording. Another important reason is that the intended audience, either Vietnamese people
or English speakers interested in language study, would learn little if the expressions of the
TLT are too far different from those of the SLT.
However, the simplification of the content and language of the source texts could not help
erase all difficulties for translators because they had to convey cultural elements of a
country assumed strange and unfamiliar to the target readers, and language is obviously
part of that culture. When serious linguistic gaps or cultural gaps occur, modified literal
translation is of little help. Many other strategies are used to express shades of meaning,
explain culture-bound terms and achieve effective communication with the target readers.
These strategies, which reveal the translators' language proficiency and creativity, will be
discussed thoroughly in the latter sections of the thesis.

2.2. Changes in grammar
2.2.1. Changes in the order of word groups
The order of sentence elements are changed mainly because English does not have the
equal grammatical structure of Vietnamese or the translator attempts to create effective
communication in his or her translation.
In many cases, adverb clauses, particularly those expressing time, placed before the main
clause of the SL sentence are often changed to be put after the equivalent clause in TL
Example 1: “So với 10 năm trước, Phủ Giầy đã thay đổi rất nhiều.” (SF. p82)
Phủ Giầy had changed dramatically from ten years. (SF. p83)


24

Example 2: “Trải qua nhiều giai đoạn lịch sử của dân tộc Việt Nam, chèo cổ với vốn âm
nhạc đặc sắc đã có nhiều thay đổi.” (PT. p72)
The classical chèo theatrical performance of today, including its specialized music,
has undergone many changes over the long course of Vietnamese history. (PT. p73)
Example 3: “Chị Nguyễn Thị Xuất, làm nghề tráng bánh cuốn, sau mỗi buổi tập đêm nào
cũng phải thức khuya làm hàng cho buổi chợ sớm mai.” (PT. p78)
Nguyễn Thị Xuất, who sells rice pancakes (bánh cuốn), prepares the cakes for the
next day's market late at night, after she has practiced chèo with the troupe. (PT. p79)
Changes in the order of the main clauses and the adverb clauses showing cause and effect
(marked by "because", "because of", etc.) and opposition (marked by "though", "although",
etc) sometimes occur
Example 4: “Ảnh hưởng của văn hóa Pháp đối với văn hóa Việt Nam cũng khá rõ nét dù
không sâu đậm như văn hóa Trung Hoa.” (WC. p14)
French influence on Vietnamese culture although not as profound as Chinese, was
nevertheless deep. (WC. p15)
Example 5: “Do lịch sử rất lâu đời của chầu văn, một số người ở các vùng miền Bắc Việt
Nam như …cũng biết chơi đàn nguyệt và hát chầu văn.” (SF. p78)

Several inhabitants of northern regions of Việt Nam - such as… can play đàn
nguyệt and chầu văn because of the form's long history. (SF. p79)
The translators usually have to modify sentence structures in TL when those in SL are
different from the standard subject-predicate sentence style of English. The most
noticeable ones are those containing words such as thì, là, mà which divide the sentence
into two main parts. These types of sentences are exhaustively discussed when the new
concept duos "Theme-Rheme" analysed by Lưu Vân Lăng (1970) and Trần Ngọc Thêm
(1985), and later "Topic-Comment" structure introduced by Cao Xuân Hạo (1991)
emerged to replace the old subject-predicative duos to describe basic grammatical
structures of Vietnamese sentences. Words such as thì, là, mà mark the linear between
topic and comment. Compared with the basic sentence type of English with subject-verb
structure, topic-comment sentences may lack subjects and the topic of the sentence can be
occupied by an adverb, an object or simply a word semantically relating to the comment
discussed in the topic. In these cases, the translators must change the order of the clauses or
the word groups to conform to the acceptable grammatical structure in English.


25

Example 6: “Dưới chân núi là các thung lũng, đồng lúa, và những dòng suối êm đềm.” (SF.
p46)
Valleys, paddy fields, and calm streams rest at the base of the mountains. (SF. p47)
In the above example, dưới chân núi is “topic” and the rest after “là” is comment. However
“dưới chân núi” cannot be the subject in an English sentence because an English subject is
person, place, thing, or idea that is doing or being something. Therefore, the translator
must remove it to the end of the sentence as an adverb clause. The following examples
illustrate similar reasons for shifts in the order of sentence elements.
Example 7: “Việc chi bao nhiêu là do bố mẹ chú rể và cô dâu quyết định.” (WC. p20)
The couple’s parents decide how much to spend. (WC. p21)
Example 8: "Tham gia liên hoan có trên 700 nghệ sĩ đến từ 14 đoàn chèo với 15 vở (PT.

p12)
Over 700 artists from fourteen chèo companies attended, performing fifteen plays
among them. (PT. p13)
Order of word groups in other sentences is also upset because of other types of
grammatical differences or the translator’s own intention to translate with best
communicative effect on the target readers.
Example 9: “Chỉ là diễn viên dự bị, nhưng chị đã diễn thật ấn tượng thay cho diễn viên
chính ốm đột xuất.” (PT. p64)
The lead actress suddenly fell ill; Thanh Hoai performed impressively as an
understudy. (PT. p65)
Example 10: “Việc người Việt Nam bắt giữ một binh sĩ quân đội Mông Cổ thế kỷ 14 đóng
vai trò quan trọng nhất trong sự phát triển của chèo.” (PT. p16)
Most significant in this development was the Vietnamese capture of a soldier from
the Mongolian army in the fourteenth century. (PT. p17)
2.2.2. Changes of grammatical word class
When literal translation of certain words may not accord with natural usage in the TL or
the translator just wants to produce a smoother flow of words, he or she needs to make
changes in word class. A grammatical item is replaced with another grammatical item, for
example, a noun may be translated with an adjective, a verb with a noun, an adverb with an
adjective, and a noun with an adverb and so on. Vinay and Darbelnet (1995) consider this


26

strategy, namely "transposition”, one of the four procedures of oblique translation. Catford
(1965) names this strategy class-shifts when he discusses the theory of equivalence. The
usage of this technique can be found in many examples in the three books. The following
examples illustrate the transposition of an adverb with an adjective, a noun with an adverb,
a verb with a noun and a noun with an adjective respectively.
Example 1: "Không ai biết chính xác cội nguồn của chèo làng Khuốc." (PT. p82)

"No one knows the exact origins of Khuốc chèo" (PT. p83)
Example 2: "Ở một số địa phương có thông lệ là mẹ cô dâu không được đưa con gái về nhà
chồng." (WC. p38)
In some localities, the mother the bride was not customarily allowed to escort her
daughter to the groom's house. (WC. p39)
Example 3: "Điển trai và thông minh, Lê Duy Kỳ hiểu biết rộng, đặc biệt là về văn học."
(WC. p50)
"Handsome and intelligent, Lê Duy Kỳ had a broad knowledge, especially of
literature." (WC. p51)
Example 4: "Gióng là một nhân vật anh hùng theo truyền thuyết đã dẹp tan quân xâm lăng
phương bắc." (SF. p104)
Gióng is a legendary hero who defeated northern invaders. (SF. p105)
This strategy is considered a common one which helps translators avoid awkward
production in the TL.
2.2.3. Modulation
Modulation is another strategy that helps the translator avoid rigid adherence to the
grammar structure of the SL. With modulation, the message’s form is altered by a change
in perspective or semantics. In other words, a phrase’s angle is adjusted so that it sounds
more familiar to the intended audience. The common types of modulation are the choices
made the translator to use negative instead of assertive as in the original structure, passive
instead of active or vice versa. With negation and assertion, replacement with antonyms is
always necessary.
Example 1: “Thị đề nghị nối lại tình nghĩa vợ chồng, nhưng Chu Mãi Thần từ chối” (PT.
p38)


27

She asks for renewal of their conjugal ties but Chu Mãi Thần does not accept her
back. (PT. p39)

Example 2 : “Hiện giờ, chị không còn quá vất vả như những năm 1980…” (PT. p64)
Her personal life is much easier now than in the 1980s. (PT. p65)
Example 3: “…chúng tôi thường xuyên bị bệnh sốt rét hành hạ.” (WC. p72)
…malaria tormented us. (WC. p73)
Example 4: “Ở nhà, Xúy Vân đi làm thuê cho một người đàn bà lừa lọc” (PT. p38)
Left at home, Xúy Vân is hired by a perfidious woman. (PT. p39)
Modulation is an effective tool for the translator to alter their perspective without changing
the meaning or creating a sense of awkwardness in the readers of the TL.
2.2.4. Sentences split or merged
During the process of translation, the translator may combine sentences, usually two, to
make a complete sentence or divide the sentence into two other ones without changing the
meanings.
Firstly, sentences are merged for many reasons. With reference to grammatical perspective,
the translator may combine two sentences making use of relative pronouns which are quite
favourable in the TL communication.
Example 1: “Xúy Vân cặp kè với Trần Phương, một tay lái buôn mù chữ nhưng giàu có.
Tay lái buôn nhanh chóng chán, đuổi Xúy Vân đi.” (PT. p40)
She takes up with Trần Phương, an illiterate but rich merchant, who soon tires of
her and sends her off. (PT. p41)
In Vietnamese language, it is not natural to combine the two sentences with pronoun
“người mà” or “mà” like the equivalent “who” in English because the combination would
make the new sentence sound awkward and wordy. Why relative pronoun are widely used
in written English, the words “người mà” “cái mà” or “mà” could generate a sense of
“lengthy” and they are only commonly used in Vietnamese spoken language.
Sometimes, sentence merge is a good choice to avoid producing choppy sentences which
are not recommended in English written language.
Example 2: “Thơ thường có hai vế, bốn cấu. Các tính cách có cách ngâm riêng.” (PT. p24)
Poems often have two parts and four sentences, with characters displaying their
own way of reciting lines. (PT. p25)

28

Besides, the translator combines sentences in his or her effort to achieve conciseness
strongly recommended in the TL.
Example 3: “Trào lộng trong chèo luôn gắn với trữ tình. Trữ tình cũng là một đặc trưng
quan trọng khác của chèo…” (PT. p22)
Satire in chèo is always linked to romance, another significant feature. (PT. p23)
The combination helps the translator avoid repetition of the word "romance"
Example 4: "Những chiếc thuyền khác trước mặt, đằng sau, hai bên lướt nhẹ theo dòng
suối uốn lượn. Khi sương mù đang tan dần, núi non lởm chởm hiện ra. ." (SF. p50)
Other boats in front, behind, and on both sides of us glided along the winding
stream as the gradually melting fog revealed the rugged face of the mountain. (PT. p51)
The second sentence becomes the adverb phrase of the fist one and the insertion of "reveal"
tactically refines the translated version.
Secondly, division of one sentence into two is necessary mostly when the equivalent
sentence may be too long. Noticeably, when the translator needs to explain some cultural
terms unfamiliar to the target audience, which obviously lengthens the original sentence,
he or she has to split the SL sentence into two.
Example 5: "Do không được triều đình ủng hộ, chèo trở về với những người hâm mộ ban
đầu là nông dân, kịch bản lấy từ truyện viết bằng chữ nôm." (PT. p16)
Without royal patronage, chèo returned to its original supporters, the farmers. It
drew on nôm stories, which were Vietnamese verse narratives written in modified Chinese
characters. (PT. p17)
Example 6: "Trong chèo hiện đại, có sử dụng thêm các nhạc cụ khác để làm phong phú
thêm phần đệm như thập lục, tam thập lục, nguyệt, tiêu." (PT. p76)
In modern chèo, other musical instruments enrich the background music. The
sixteen-stringed zither (thập lục), hammer dulcimer (tam thập lục), double-stringed lute
(nguyệt), and the flute (tiêu) add their harmonious influences. (PT. p77)
The division actually offers the translator opportunities to clarify and improve the

expressive power of the message in the TL.
Example 7: "Chú rể mặc áo khoác ngoài màu đen hoặc xanh thẫm và đội một khăn quấn
màu đen còn quần và giày thì theo kiểu châu Âu thông thường." (WC. p62)
As for the groom, he wore a black or dark blue tunic and a black turban. His slacks
and shoes were the usual Western style that most men had already adopted. (WC. p63)