A STUDY ON THE VIETNAMESE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF EXHIBIT LABELS IN THE VIETNAM MUSEUM OF ETHNOGRAPHY

HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
Nguyễn Thị Nhàn
A STUDY ON THE VIETNAMESE-ENGLISH
TRANSLATION OF EXHIBIT LABELS IN THE
VIETNAM MUSEUM OF ETHNOGRAPHY
(Nghiên cứu cách dịch Việt-Anh các phụ đề hiện vật
tại bảo tàng dân tộc học Việt Nam)
M.A.THESIS
Field: Linguistics
Code: 5.04.09
Hanoi, 2005
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HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
Nguyễn Thị Nhàn
A STUDY ON THE VIETNAMESE-ENGLISH
TRANSLATION OF EXHIBIT LABELS IN THE
VIETNAM MUSEUM OF ETHNOGRAPHY
(Nghiên cứu cách dịch Việt-Anh các phụ đề hiện vật
tại bảo tàng dân tộc học Việt Nam)
By: Nguyễn Thị Nhàn
Supervisor: Dr. Trần Xuân Điệp
Hanoi, 2005
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PART I. INTRODUCTION
I. RATIONALE
In Vietnam as well as in every country of the world, museums have been open to help people
understand and appreciate the natural world, the history of civilizations, and the record of

humanity’s artistic, scientific, and technological achievements. Museums exhibit objects of
scientific, aesthetic, or historical importance for the purposes of public education and the
advancement of knowledge. The Vietnam Museum of Ethnography founded in 1997 is a
cultural and scientific center. It studies, collects, classifies, preserves, restores and exhibits
cultural and historical values of all ethnic groups in Vietnam. People visit the museum not
only to amuse themselves but also to study ethnic groups as well as various cultural values of
Vietnamese people. Therefore, people from all over the country as well as foreign visitors,
scientists as well as students can find interesting things in here. For the purpose of
welcoming foreign visitors, all the exhibit labels are written in Vietnamese and then
translated into English and French.
The translation of exhibit labels is not at all an easy process as many concepts about the life
of ethnic people in Vietnam do not have equivalents in the English language. The translators
have to use lots of translation strategies in transferring the concepts in a way that is the most
understandable to foreign visitors. However, the translators also have some difficulties in
translating the concepts for the problem of non-equivalence at word level.
So far, little research on the Vietnamese – English translation of exhibit labels has been
done. Therefore, an investigation on the Vietnamese – English translation of exhibit labels in
the Vietnam Museum of Ethnography is really necessary. In the hope for some suggestions
of implications that can be of some use to those who are responsible for translating exhibit
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labels in the Vietnam Museum of Ethnography as well as in other museums, the author
would like to carry out this minor thesis to answer the question: What are the translation
strategies and procedures used in the translation of exhibit labels in the Vietnam Museum of
Ethnography (VME)?
II. SCOPE OF THE STUDY
There are several types of exhibit labels in a museum: title or headline labels giving the title
of an exhibit; primary or introductory labels providing an overview or introduction to the
exhibit; secondary or text labels giving an intermediate level of information between an
introductory label and the more specific object labels; and object labels providing
information, such as description or title, date or age, artist or user, material composition, and

sometimes a brief text on a particular object. This study limits itself to the analysis of the
Vietnamese-English translation of object labels in the Vietnam Museum of Ethnography in
Hanoi.
III. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
This study aims at:
• Analysing the strategies and procedures used in the translation of exhibit labels from
Vietnamese to English in the Vietnam Museum of Ethnography.
• Working out the difficulties of translation process that the translators in the museum
may have.
• Giving some suggestions for the problems.
IV. METHODS OF THE STUDY
To accomplish this thesis, we will go through a number of materials on translation studies to
build up a theoretical background for the research. Then, as it was stated in the aims and
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scope of the study, we will collect the authentic exhibit labels in the Vietnam Museum of
Ethnography in Nguyen Van Huyen street, Cau Giay district, Hanoi for description and
analysis. From these sources, we will analyse and draw out the methods and techniques used
in the translation. Furthermore, some translators who have translated the labels, will also be
interviewed for more specific information about the translation.
V. DESIGN OF THE STUDY
This study consists of three major parts: Introduction, Development, and Conclusion; a
bibliography, and some photographs for illustration.
Part I - Introduction
The rationale of the study is given in this part. It also gives the aims, scope and methods of
the study.
Part II - Development
Chapter I - Literature review
This chapter provides the theory of translation, translation equivalence, translation strategies
and procedures.
Chapter II - The translation of exhibit labels in the Vietnam Museum of Ethnography

This chapter presents the current context of the translation of exhibit labels in VME; it also
deals with the methods and procedures used in the translation.
Part III – Conclusion
This part summarises all the things mentioned in chapter II and gives comments on the
suggestions for better translation and further research on the problem.
The appendix shows photographs for illustration.
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PART II – DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I – TRANSLATION THEORIES
I.1. Definition of translation
Translation has been approached from a scientific point of view by linguists through times
and thus has been defined variously. Many have concluded that translation is scarcely an
aspect of applied linguistics or it is just regarded as a complicated process of communicating,
in which one decodes from one language and encodes into another. Some others, who have
considered translation as something scientific, however, think of translation merely in terms
of complex techniques of comparative linguistics (Jumpet 1961, Carry and Jumpet, 1963). In
order to find an adequate definition of translation, prominent figures in linguistics such as
Cat Ford, Bell, Hatim & Mason, Nida, and many others have carried out careful analyses of
the process of translating, especially in the case of source and receptor languages having
quite different linguistic structures and cultural features.
We start with a definition quoted from the Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics
(1992:4739):
“Translation is the replacement of a text in one language (Source Language-SL) by an
equivalent text in another language (Target Language-TL).”
And it is then followed by the linguists’ definitions:
“Translation is the expression in another language of what has been expressed in another,
source language, preserving semantic and stylistic equivalences.”
Bell (1991:5)
“Translation is basically a change of form. In translation the form of the source language is
replaced by the form of the receptor (target) language.”

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Larson, M.L. (1984:3)
“Translation is a communicative process which takes place within a social context.”
Hatim & Mason (1990:3)
“Translating consists of producing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent to
the message of the source language, first in meaning and secondly in style.”
Nida, E.A. (1975:33)
These five definitions, in spite of slight differences in the expressions, share common
features that they all emphasize the importance of finding the closest equivalence in meaning
by the choice of appropriate target language’s lexical and grammatical structures,
communication situation, and cultural context. Through their definitions these scholars also
confirm the possibilities of effective interlingual communication by translation if a set of
basic requirements which are considered “Laws of Translation” could be achieved. Nida
(1964:164) proposes four major principles:
1. Making sense
2. Conveying the spirit and manner of the original
3. Having a natural and easy form of expression
4. Producing a similar response
Whereas Savory (1968:54) sets up twelve objectives for a translation:
1. A translation must give words of the original
2. A translation must give the idea of the original
3. A translation should read like an original work
4. A translation should read like a translation
5. A translation should reflect the style of the original
6. A translation should possess the style of the original
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7. A translation should read as a contemporary of the original
8. A translation should read as a contemporary of the translation
9. A translation may add to or omit from the original
10. A translation may never add to or omit from the original

11. A translation of verse should be in prose
12. A translation of prose should be in prose
Nida and Savory’s principles are different in number. However, they all pay their first
attention to correspondence of meaning over correspondence of style. And it is also
recognizable that equivalence in both meaning and style cannot always be retained
altogether. In concrete textual situation, it is the translator that decides which principles must
be achieved and it is the meaning that must have priority over the stylistic forms.
I.2. Translation equivalence
Equivalence can be considered a central concept in translation theory; many theorists define
translation in terms of equivalence relation. Pym (1992) has even pointed to its circularity:
equivalence is supposed to define translation, and translation, in turn, defines equivalence.
Here are some elaborate approaches to translation equivalence:
Nida 91964) distinguishes formal equivalence and dynamic translation as basic orientations
rather than as a binary choice:
+ Formal equivalence is achieved when the source language and target language words have
the closest possible match of form and content.
+ Dynamic equivalence is achieved when the source language and target language words
have the same effect on their effective readers
Newmark (1988a) terms Nida’s dynamic equivalence as ‘equivalence effect’ or ‘equivalence
response’ principle: “the overriding purpose of any translation should be to achieve
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‘equivalence effect’, that is to produce the same effect (or one as close as possible) on the
readership of the translation as was obtained on the readership of the original” (Newmark
1988a). He also sees equivalence effect as the desirable result rather than the aim of any
translation except for two cases: (1) if the purpose of the source language text is to affect and
the target language translation is to inform or vice versa; (2) if there is a pronounced cultural
gap between the source language and the target language text.
Koller (1979) considers five types of equivalence:
+ Denotative equivalence: the source language and target language words refer to the same
thing in the real world.

+ Connotative equivalence: provides additional values besides denotative and is achieved by
the translator’s choice of synonymous words or expressions.
+ Text-normative equivalence: the source language and target language words are used in the
same or similar context in their respective languages
+ Pragmatic equivalence: with readership orientation, the source language and target
language words have the same effect on their respective 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.
I.3. Non-equivalence at word level
According to Baker (1992:20), non-equivalence at word level means that the TG has no
direct equivalent for a word which occurs in the ST. The type and level of difficulty posed
can vary tremendously depending on the nature of non-equivalence. Different kinds of non-
equivalence require different strategies, some very straightforward, others more involved and
difficult to handle
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I.3.1. Different kinds of non-equivalence
(a) Culture-specific concepts
The SL word may express a concept which is totally unknown in the target culture. The
concept in question may be abstract or concrete; it may relate to a religious belief, a social
custom, or even a type of food. Such concepts are often referred to as ‘culture-specific’.
Speaker (of the House of Commons) has no equivalent in many languages. It is often
translated into Russian as ‘Chairman’, which does not reflect the role of the speaker of the
House of Commons as an independent person who maintains authority and order in
Parliament.
(b) The SL concept is not lexicalised in the TL
The SL word may express a concept which is known in the target culture but simply not
lexicalised, i.e. not allocated a TL word to express it. Landslide has no ready equivalence in
many languages, although it simply means ‘overwhelming majority’.
(c) The SL word is semantically complex
This is a fairly common problem in translation. A single word which consists of a single

morpheme can sometimes express a more complex set of meanings than a whole sentence.
(d) The SL and TL make different distinctions in meaning
The TL may make more or fewer distinctions in meaning than the SL. What one language
regards as an important distinction in meaning another may not perceive as relevant.
(e) The TL lacks a superordinate
The TL may have specific words (hyponyms) but no general word (superordinate) to head
the semantic field.
(f) The TL lacks a specific term (hyponym)
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More commonly, languages tend to have general words but lack specific ones, since each
language makes only those distinctions in meaning which seem relevant to its particular
environment. English has many hyponyms under article for which it is difficult to find
precise equivalents in other languages, for example feature, survey, report, review and many
more.
(g) Differences in physical or interpersonal perspective
Physical perspective may be of more importance in one language than it is in another.
Physical perspective has to do with where things or people are in relation to one another or to
a place, as expressed in pairs of words such as come/go, take/bring.
(h) Differences in expressive meaning
There may be a TL word which has the same propositional meaning as the SL word, but it
may have a different expressive meaning. The difference may be considerable or it may be
subtle but important enough to pose a translation problem in a given context. Differences in
expressive meaning are usually more difficult to handle when the TL equivalent is more
emotionally loaded than the SL item. This is often the case with items which relate to
sensitive issues such as religion, politics and sex.
(i) Differences in form
There is often no equivalent in the TL for a particular form in the source text. Certain
suffixes and prefixes which convey propositional and other types of meaning in English
often have no direct equivalents in other languages. English has many couplets such as
employer/employee, trainer/trainee, and payer/payee.

(j) Differences in frequency and purpose of using specific forms
Even when a particular form does have a ready equivalent in the TL, there may be a
difference in the frequency with which it is used or the purpose for which it is used. English
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uses the continuous –ing form for binding clauses much more frequently than other
languages which have equivalents for it.
(k) The use of loan words in the source text
The use of loan words in the ST poses a special problem in translation. Quite apart from their
respective propositional meaning, loan words such as au fait, chic in English are often used
for their prestige value, because they can add an air of sophistication to the text or its subject
matter. This is often lost in translation because it is not always possible to find a loan word
with the same meaning in the TL.
I.3.2. Strategies used by professional translators
(a) Translation by a more general word (superordinate)
This is one of the commonest strategies for dealing with many types of non-equivalence,
particularly in the area of propositional meaning. It works equally well in most, if not all,
languages, since the hierarchical structure of semantic fields is not language-specific.
(b) Translation by a more neutral /less expressive word
Baker (1992:29) gives an example to illustrate this.
Source text: the shamanic practices we have investigated are rightly seen as an archaic
mysticism.
Target text (back-translated from Japanese): the shamanic behaviour which we have been
researching should rightly be considered as ancient mysticism.
The translator could have used a Japanese phrase which means ‘behind the times’ and which
would have been closer to both the propositional and expressive meanings of archaic. This,
however, would have been too direct, that is too openly disapproving by Japanese standards.
The expressive meaning of archaic is lost in the translation.
(c) Translation by cultural substitution
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This strategy involves replacing a culture-specific item or expression with a target-language

item which does not have the same propositional meaning but is likely to have a similar
impact on the target reader. The main advantage of this strategy is that it gives the reader a
concept with he/she can identify, something familiar and appealing.
E.g. Source text: The Patrick Collection has restaurant facilities to suit every taste – from the
discerning gourmet, to the Cream Tea expert.
Target text (back translated from Italian): to satisfy all tastes: from those of the demanding
gastronomist to those of the expert in pastry.
In Britain, ‘cream tea’ is ‘an afternoon meal consisting of tea to drink and scones with jam
and clotted cream to eat. It can also include sandwiches and cakes. ‘Cream tea’ has no
equivalent in other cultures. The Italian replaced it with ‘pastry’, which does not have the
same meaning. However, ‘pastry’ is familiar to the Italian reader and therefore provides a
good cultural substitute.
(d) Translation using a loan word or loan word plus explanation
This strategy is particularly common in dealing with culture-specific items, modern
concepts, and buzz words. Following the loan word with an explanation is very useful when
the word in question is repeated several times in the text. Once explained, the loan word can
be used on its own; the reader can understand it and is not distracted by further lengthy
explanations
E.g. Source text: Morning coffee and traditional cream teas are served in the conservatory.
Target text (back-translated from Japanese): Morning coffee and traditional afternoon tea
and cream cakes can be enjoyed in the conservatory (green house)
The underlined word in the ST is used as loan words in the Japanese text, not because they
have no equivalents in Japanese but because they sound more modern, smart, high class.
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(e) Translation by paraphrase using a related word
This strategy tends to be used when the concept expressed by the source item is lexicalised
in the TL but in a different form, and when the frequency with which a certain form is used
in the source text is significantly higher than would be natural in the TL.
E.g. Source text: There is strong evidence, however that giant pandas are related to the bears.
Target text (back-translated from Chinese): but there is rather strong evidence that shows

that big pandas have a kinship relation with the bears.
(f) Translation by paraphrase using unrelated words
If the concepts expressed by the source item is not lexicalised at all in the TL, the paraphrase
strategy can still be used in some contexts. Instead of a related word, the paraphrase may be
based on modifying a superordinate or simply on unpacking the meaning of the source item,
particularly if the item in question is semantically complex.
E.g. Source text: ….the lower mixed broadleaf forests….are the areas most assessible to and
disturbed by Man.
Target text (back-translated from Chinese): …the mixed broadleaf forests of the lowland
area …are the places where human beings enter most easily and interfere most.
The main advantage of the paraphrase strategy is that it achieves a high level of precision in
specifying propositional meaning. One of its disadvantages is that a paraphrases does not
have the status of a lexical item and therefore cannot convey expressive, evoked, or any kind
of associated meaning. Another advantage of using this strategy is that it is cumbersome and
awkward to use because it involves filling a one-item slot with an explanation consisting of
several items.
(g) Translation by omission
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This strategy may sound rather drastic, but in fact it does no harm to omit translating a word
or expression in some contexts. If the meaning conveyed by a particular item or expression is
not vital enough to the development of the text to justify distracting the reader with lengthy
explanations, translators can and often do simply omit translating the word or expression in
question.
(h) Translation by omission
This is a useful option if the word which lacks an equivalent in the TL refers to a physical
entity which can be illustrated, particularly if there are restrictions on space and if the text
has to remain short, concise, and to the point.
I.4. Translation procedures
Translation procedures, as stated by Newmark (1988:81), are used for the translation of
sentences and smaller units of language. According to Newmark there exist the following

procedures:
• Borrowing
• Calque
• Literal translation
• Transposition
• Modulation
• Total syntagmatic change
• Adaptation
The first three, called direct translation procedures, are used when structural and conceptual
elements of the source language can be transposed into the target language. The other four,
called oblique translation procedures, are used when structural and conceptual elements of
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the source language cannot be directly transposed without altering meaning or upsetting the
grammatical and stylistic elements of the target language. Oblique translation procedures
require that the translator have an in-depth knowledge of both languages involved in the
translation process. For instance, transposition requires that the translator know it is possible
to replace a word category in the target language without altering the meaning of the source
language text. Modulation, which is perhaps the most complex of all the procedures, requires
that the translator knows the mechanics of both source and target languages as well as their
respective inherent qualities.
I.4.1. Borrowing
It can be said that borrowing is the simplest translation procedure of all. Indeed, it would
scarcely be a procedure of any relevance here if the translator did not occasionally need to
make use of it in order to create some particular stylistic effect. To introduce an element of
local color, foreign terms are often retained. Elements of local color evoked by means of
borrowings have an effect on the style, and consequently also on the message itself. It is
worth noting that loans often actually enter language via translation as happens with
semantic loans or false friends against which one has to be on one’s guard.
Vietnamese is a language that has so many borrowings, especially in recent times when the
influence of foreign cultures is stronger than ever. Examples of borrowings in Vietnamese

are: Internet, vitamin, live show, hormone, axit, virus, dollar, email… (English), toilette,
cravate, fromage, savon (French), etc.
Similarly, when translating from Vietnamese into a foreign language, we have to retain some
culturally distinctive words that cannot be replaced by foreign words. Eg. Ao dai, pho, xich
lo….
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I.4.2. Calque
A calque is a loan translation of a particular kind: a complete syntactic unit is borrowed, but
its individual elements are translated literally. The result may be a calque of expression,
which preserves the syntactic structure of the source language while introducing a new mode
of expression.
Eg. Global warming vs. sự nóng lên toàn cầu
Cold war vs. chiến tranh lạnh
Trade mark vs. nhãn hiệu thương mại (thương hiệu)
Superman vs. siêu nhân
Call girl vs. gái gọi .
The White House vs. Nhà trắng
The summit conference vs. hội nghị thượng đỉnh
suicide bombing vs. ném bom tự sát
I.4.3. Literal translation
Literal, word-for-word translation is defined as one where the resulting target language text
is grammatically correct and idiomatic, but where the translator has not needed to make any
changes other than those that are obviously required by the target language grammar itself
(such as concord, inflectional endings).
Eg. Kim Chi là cô gái đẹp, làm vợ thằng Tuân đúng là “hoa nhài cắm bãi cứt trâu”.
⇒ Kim Chi is a beautiful girl, and as Tuan’s wife it was certainly a case of “a sprig of
jasmine in a field of buffalo shit”.
(Source: Nguyen Huy Thiep, Tuong ve huu, Material for translation studies tutorials)
In principle, literal translation is a unique solution, reversible and complete in itself. It is
most commonly found in translations between closely related languages, and especially

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those having a similar culture. If literal translation is often possible between French and
English, this is because shared metalinguistic concepts can equally well derive from a
physical co-existence, periods of bilingualism, with the conscious or unconscious imitation
that accompanies a certain intellectual or political prestige. Another reason is the general
convergence of thought, and sometimes of structure, among the European languages (such as
the creation of the definite article, the concepts of culture and civilization).
I.4.4. Transposition
Transposition means the replacing of one word-class by another, without changing the
meaning of the message. The procedure can also be used within a language, as in rewording:
thus He announced that he would return can be reworded, with the subordinate verb
becoming a noun, as He announced his return. We call this second version the transposed
form, and the original one the base form. In translation, two types of transposition can be
distinguished: obligatory and optional transposition.
The base and transposed forms are not necessarily equivalent from the stylistic point of view.
The translator must thus be prepared to carry out a transposition if the resulting version fits
better in the sentence or allows a particular stylistic nuance to be retained. The transposed
form generally has a more literary character.
When translating from Vietnamese into English or vice versa, we have to use this procedure
very often. The reason is English tends to have more noun phrases whereas it sounds more
Vietnamese to use verb phrases.
Eg. His generosity was a result of the poverty of his early years
Sự hào phóng của ông là kết quả của những năm tháng nghèo khó thời niên thiếu.
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I.4.5. Modulation
Modulation means a variation in the message due to a change in the point of view: seeing
something in a different light. It is justified when a literal or transposed translation results in
a form which is grammatically correct but not quite natural, going against the feeling of the
target language.
Through modulation, the translator generates a change in the point of view of the message

without altering meaning and without generating a sense of awkwardness in the reader of the
target text.
As with transposition, we can distinguish free or optional modulations from fixed of
obligatory ones. An example of an obligatory modulation is the phrase “in the world” which
must be rendered in Vietnamese as “trên thế giới”. It is because it would sound unnatural to
say “trong thế giới”. A common example of an optional modulation takes place when a
negative expression in the source language becomes positive in the target language, although
this is also closely linked to language specific stylistic features.
Eg. It is not difficult to do this.
⇒ việc này dễ thôi mà.
The difference between fixed and free modulation is one of degree. In the case of fixed
modulation, a competent bilingual will not hesitate to have recourse to this procedure if it is
supported by frequency of usage, total acceptance of usage, or a status established by the
dictionary or a grammar book.
With free modulation, no fixation has taken place and the process must be undergone anew
in each case. However, this kind of modulation is not really optional in the strict sense;
correctly carried out, it must result in the ideal target language solution corresponding to the
source language situation. By way of comparison, one could say that a free modulation leads
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to a solution which makes the reader exclaim “yes, that’s just how it would be said.” Free
modulation thus nevertheless tends towards a unique solution; and this unique solution rests
on a habitual mode of thought, which is imposed and not optional. Between fixed and free
modulation, there is only a difference of degree; a free modulation may at any moment
become a fixed one as soon as it becomes frequent, or as soon as it is felt to be the unique
solution (this usually happens during the examination of bilingual texts or discussions at a
bilingual conference, or as a result of a famous translation which becomes established by
virtue of its literary value). The evolution of free modulation into a fixed one becomes
complete when it is recorded in dictionaries and grammar books, becoming something to be
taught. From that moment on, non-modulation constitutes a mistake of usage and is
condemned as such.

There are several types of modulation
Concrete vs. abstract: give a pint of your blood ⇒ donnez un peu de votre sang (give a little
of your blood)
Whole vs. part: he shut the door in my face ⇒ il me claque la porte au nez (he shut the door
in my nose)
Part vs. different part: water off a duck’s back ⇒ nước đổ đầu vịt
Converses: you can have it ⇒ je vous le laisse (I leave it to you)
Cause vs. effect: baffles analysis ⇒ échappe a l’analyse (escapes analysis)
Means vs. result: firewood ⇒ bois de chauffage (wood for heating)
Different sense: the rattle of a cab (sound) ⇒ le roulement d’un fiarce (movement) (the
rolling of a cab)
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I.4.6. Total syntagmatic change
Two texts may account for the same situation by means of very different stylistic and
structural devices. The change involved is usually syntagmatic, affecting the whole of the
message. Most examples are thus fixed, they belong to the phraseological repertoire of
idioms, clichés, proverbs, nominal or adjectival collocations, etc. proverbs typically provide
perfect illustrations of the procedure: when the cat’s away, the mice will play ⇒ vắng chủ
nhà gà vọc niêu tôm; the early bird catches the worm ⇒ trâu chậm uống nước đục.
And the same is true of idioms: as like as two peas ⇒ giống nhau như hai giọt nước;
promise the moon ⇒ hứa nhăng hứa cuội.
I.4.7. Adaptation
This last procedure brings us to the extreme limit of translation; it is used in cases where the
situation to which the message refers does not exist at all in the target language and must
thus be created by reference to a new situation, which is judged to be equivalent. This is
therefore a question of situational equivalence.
Eg. Bụt lại xuất hiện, khuông mặt hiền từ như người mẹ an ủi cô: con đừng khóc
The Goddess of Mercy appeared again, with a face as sweet as a loving mother, and
comforted her: "Do not cry, my child”.
(Source: />In Vietnamese culture, But is understood as an old fairy man, but when ‘Tam Cam’ is

translated into English by an English author, ‘But’ is translated as ‘The Goddess of Mercy’,
a female fairy figure, which is popular in English folklores.
Besides the above-mentioned procedures, Baker (1992) also suggests some other strategies
to deal with the problems of non-equivalence at word level.
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I.4.8. Naturalisation
This is the translation procedure that succeeds transference and adapts the SL word to the
normal pronunciation, and then to the normal morphology (word-forms) of the TL, e.g.
cowboy – cao bồi;
I.4.9. Cultural equivalent
This procedure is an approximate translation where the translator translates a SL cultural
word by a TL cultural word, e.g. baccalaureat is translated as “A” level. The translation uses
of these approximate equivalents are limited because they are not accurate, but they can be
used in general texts, publicity and propaganda, as well as for brief explanation to readers
who are ignorant of the relevant SL culture. A great advantage of approximate cultural
equivalents is that they have a greater pragmatic impact than culturally neutral terms; they
are important in drama as they can create an immediate effect. However, the main purpose of
this procedure is to support or supplement another translation procedure in a couplet.
I.4.10. Functional equivalent
Functional equivalent, which is applied to cultural words, requires the use of cultural-free
words, sometimes with a new specific term. Its function is to neutralise or generalise the SL
word; and sometimes add a particular, e.g. baccalaureat – French secondary school leaving
exam. This procedure is the most accurate way of translating or deculturalising a cultural
word.
This procedure is also used when a SL technical word has no TL equivalent. In other words,
this procedure fills in the gap between the SL culture and TL culture. In translation of
cultural terms, this procedure is often combined with transference.
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I.4.11. Descriptive equivalent
To distinguish description from function, Newmark (1988) presented an example: Samurai is

described as ‘the Japanese aristocracy from the eleventh to the nineteenth century’; its
function was ‘to provide officers and administrators’. Generally, description and function are
essential elements in translation.
I.4.12. Reduction and expansion
Reduction and expansion are rather imprecise translation procedures, which the translator
practises intuitively in some cases and purposedly in others. There is, however, at least one
shift for any procedure.
E.g. (1) SL adjective of substance plus general noun, TL noun: science linguitique –
linguistics
(2) For expansion, a not uncommon shift is SL adjective, TL adverb plus past participle:
cheveux egaux – evenly cut hair.
I.4.13. Combination
Couplets, triplets, quadruplets are the combinations of two, three or four of the procedures
for dealing with a single problem. These combinations are particularly in the translation of
cultural words in which transference is combined with a functional or a cultural equivalent.
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CHAPTER II – THE TRANSLATION OF EXHIBIT LABELS IN THE
VIETNAM MUSEUM OF ETHNOGRAPHY
I. THE CURRENT CONTEXT OF TRANSLATION OF EXHIBIT LABELS IN THE
VIETNAM MUSEUM OF ETHNOGRAPHY
The Vietnam Museum of Ethnography on Nguyen Van Huyen street, Cau Giay district, is
both a scientific and cultural center. This museum studies the ethnic groups in Vietnam; its
main function is to collect, classify, preserve, exhibit historical and cultural values of all
ethnic groups in Vietnam. Of all these functions, exhibition is always the most important.
The museum considers exhibits the core as these exhibits reflect the peoples’ everyday life.
The permanent exhibition of the museum shows around 700 objects. Each object is
accompanied by a label showing its name and origin. The labels are written in Vietnamese,
French and English for the purpose of welcoming foreign visitors to this museum.
The English version of the exhibit labels have been translated by a group of four translators
of the museum. They all graduated from universities that specialise in English. None of them

learned about ethnography or anything related to it. When asked about the translation
process of the exhibit labels from Vietnamese into English, La Thi Thanh Thuy, one of the
translators, said that the most difficult aspect of the translation was some terms or name that
did not exist in English; then they had to choose words and phrases in English that could be
best suitable for that name. After that, the editor, an English native speaker, would give
comments on the translation and if he could understand what was meant by the translation.
Then the translation would be chosen.
Most of the exhibits in the museum are everyday life belongings of the people of ethnic
groups in Vietnam. Therefore, many items do not have equivalent terms in English. In the
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following section, we are going to examine the techniques and methods that have been used
by the translators in transferring the terms into English.
II. THE COMMON STRATEGIES USED IN THE TRANSLATION OF EXHIBIT
LABELS IN VME
The following section will deal with the strategies used in the translation of exhibit labels in
VME. Certainly and obviously, most of the label remains short and concise. This is
considered the case of illustration strategy in translation. Other strategies will be investigated
in the following parts
II.1. Translation using loan words
As said in the literature review, this strategy is particularly common in dealing with culture-
specific items. In the case of VME, a lot of concepts are about the life of ethnic groups in
Vietnam; the translators could not find equivalents for the concepts, so they had to use the
original words in their translation.
The followings are examples of using loan words in translation:
Example 1. Ông Địa = Ong Dia, water puppet
In this example, the concept ‘Ông Địa’ is truly culture-specific. It is a famous and unique
character in Vietnamese water puppetry and cannot be found in any other cultures. The
translators had no other ways than using this concept accompanied by an explanation ‘water
puppet’.
Example 2. Tượng thờ tổ nghề hát bội = ritual dolls for Hat boi singers

Similar to ‘Ông Địa’, ‘hát bội’ is a concept that only exists in Vietnamese culture and have
no equivalents in the English language. The translators reused this concept in the translation
without any explanation for it. Therefore, it might be a problem for foreign visitors to
understand the concept.
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