Translation strategies for the addressing forms between english and vietnamese in the novel “hunger” = các chiến lược dịch từ xưng hô anh việt trong tiểu thuyết đói

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

TRƯƠNG THỊ HUYỀN

TRANSLATION STRATEGIES FOR THE ADDRESSING FORMS
BETWEEN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE
IN THE NOVEL “HUNGER”
(Các chiến lược dịch từ xưng hô Anh-Việt trong tiểu thuyết “Đói”)

MAJOR MASTER THESIS

Major: English Linguistics
Supervisor: Assoc. Prof.Dr. Le Hung Tien

HANOI - 2019


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

TRƯƠNG THỊ HUYỀN

TRANSLATION STRATEGIES FOR THE ADDRESSING FORMS
BETWEEN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE
IN THE NOVEL “HUNGER”
(Các chiến lược dịch từ xưng hô Anh-Việt trong tiểu thuyết “Đói”)

MAJOR MASTER THESIS

Major: English Linguistics
Code: 8220201.01
Supervisor: Assoc. Prof.Dr. Le Hung Tien

HANOI - 2019


CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY
I, the undersigned, herby certify that this project entitled Translation
strategies for the addressing forms between English and Vietnamese in
the novel “Hunger” (Các chiến lược dịch từ xưng hô Anh-Việt trong tiểu
thuyết “Đói”) is my original work. I have duly acknowledged all the sources
from which the ideas and extracts have been taken. This project is submitted
in partial fulfillment of requirements for degree of Master in English
Language.
Hanam, 2019
Truong Thi Huyen

Approved by
SUPERVISOR

Assoc. Prof.Dr. Le Hung Tien
Date:..............................

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My thesis could not be completed without great contributions and

support form the supervisor and a number or people.
Frist, I would like to express my sincere gratitue to my supervisor,
Assoc.Prof. Dr. Le Hung Tien for his suppervision and great guidance,
valuable encourage as well as comments during the time I did this research
which help me possibe to complete this thesis.
I am also grateful to all my lecturers of Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies
at the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National
University, Hanoi who give me an opportunity and the best conditions to do
this research.
Last but not least, my special gratitute is for my family and my friends
from whom I have received alot of spiritual encourage and material support.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ............................................................ I
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................................................... II
TABLE OF CONTENTS..............................................................................III
LIST OF TABLE............................................................................................ V
LIST OF FIGURE.......................................................................................... V
PART A: INTRODUCTION.......................................................................... 1
1. Rationale .................................................................................................... 1
2. Scope of the research ................................................................................. 2
3. Research objectives and research questions .............................................. 2
3.1. Research objectives.............................................................................. 2
3.2. Research questions .............................................................................. 3
4. Research significance................................................................................. 3
5. Research method ....................................................................................... 3
6. Thesis structure .......................................................................................... 4

PART B: DEVELOPMENT .......................................................................... 5
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................... 5
1. Translation ................................................................................................. 5
1.1. Definitions of translation ..................................................................... 5
1.2. Translation strategies .......................................................................... 7
2. Addressing forms ....................................................................................... 9
2.1. Definition of addressing forms ............................................................ 9
2.1.1. Pronouns ......................................................................................... 12
2.1.2. Names .............................................................................................. 15
2.1.3. Titles ................................................................................................ 16
2.1.4. Kinship terms .................................................................................. 17
2.1.5. Endearment expressions ................................................................. 20
2.2. Translating addressing forms from one language to another ........... 20
3. Previous Studies ....................................................................................... 25
CHAPTER II: RESEARCH METHOD ..................................................... 28

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1. Research Approach .................................................................................. 28
2. Data and Data Sources ............................................................................. 29
3. Research Instruments ............................................................................... 30
4. Data Collection Techniques ..................................................................... 33
5. Data Analysis Techniques........................................................................ 34
CHAPTER III: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ...................................... 35
1. Findings .................................................................................................... 35
1.1. The types of Addressing Forms.......................................................... 35
1.2. The Translation Strategies of Addressing Forms .............................. 36
2. Discussion ................................................................................................ 43
PART C. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ................................... 45

1. Summary of findings................................................................................ 45
2. Conclusions .............................................................................................. 45
3. Suggestions .............................................................................................. 47
3.1. For translator..................................................................................... 47
3.2. For students majoring in translation ................................................. 47
3.3. For researchers.................................................................................. 47
REFERENCES .............................................................................................. 48
APPENDIX ....................................................................................................... I

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LIST OF TABLE
Table 1: English Pronouns System (according to Larson, 1984) ................... 12
Table 2: Vietnamese Pronouns System by Ngo (2006) .................................. 12
Table 3: Example of Addressing People Using Names in English................. 15
Table 5: The Meanings and Usages of the Vietnamese Kinship Terms ......... 18
Table 6: The Table Data Sheet ........................................................................ 32
Table 7. The Frequencies of Types of Addressing Forms in the novel
“Hunger” ........................................................................................................ 35
Table 8: The Translation Strategies of Addressing Forms ............................. 37
Table 9: Pronouns ........................................................................................... 37
Table 10. Names .............................................................................................. 38
Table 11: Titles................................................................................................ 39
Table 12: Kinship Terms ................................................................................. 41
Table 13: Endearment expressions ................................................................. 42

LIST OF FIGURE
Figure 1. The Diagram of Types of Address Terms ....................................... 36
Figure 2. The Diagram of Translation Strategies............................................ 42

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PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Translation is one of important and not easy skills in the course of
English learning, especially in the process of world economic integration
today. It is a crucial tool and plays important role in the life and in various
fields such as communication, education, culture, tourism, economy as well as
literature, ect. Translation helps people from different countries be able to
understand and connects together. Depending on each field, proper and
certain strategies and procedures are applied to gain a good translation.
Because translation is the process of transferring meaning, it is necessary to
have great attention when translating from source language into target
language to get the profound insight about the source language. Translating
from English into Vietnamese means transferring the meaning from English
culture into Vietnamese culture.
Addressing forms are indispensable in any acts of communication. In
language in general, they express the hierarchical, attitude and emotional
relationship between the persons involved in the conversation. Therefore, the
important thing is to select proper addressing forms in order to get a smooth
and good conversation. Almost English learners, however, face some
difficulties in translating addressing forms from English into Vietnamese.
Like other fields, translation of addressing forms from English into
Vietnamese is not easy which depends on various factors and elements such
as culture and translation strategies.
The system of addressing forms in Vietnamese language is very rich
and diverse which depends on each circumstance and relationship. The rules
of addressing in Vietnamese are also varied and complicated. Personal

pronouns, addressing forms referring to kinship are usually used in

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Vietnamese which cannot be found in English. This is one of the difficulties
in the course of translating such type of addressing forms from English into
Vietnamese. This forces the translator to focus, pay attention and find signs to
distinguish and find words with the same meaning in two languages.
On the other hand, the cultural difference is also an element leading to
different use of addressing forms in English and Vietnamese. Cultural factors
and social norms require each language to have a proper system of addressing
forms. In short, during communication, in English or Vietnamese, addressing
forms should be selected and adjusted by each individual to suit the subject as
well as the context of communication. Hence, this paper is carried to refect
the similarities and differences between the system of addressing forms in
English language and Vietnamese language as well as translation strategies
for translating the addressing form in the novel “Hunger” of Knut Hamsun.
2. Scope of the research
Through the process of translation, various versions of target texts can
be created from a source language. The translation process is also impacted
by different factors. These factors can consist of translator behavior or
cultural problem in which cultural factor has a big influence. As a result, the
translator must have good understanding on the background of each culture to
have the best translation. The addressing forms in the novel “Hunger” of
Knut Hamsun and “Đói” of T.B.Tan are collected by the author to be used as
research data.
3. Research objectives and research questions
3.1. Research objectives
The research aims to:



Describe types of addressing forms that occur in “Hunger” of Knut

Hamsun.

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

Describe types of translation strategies used in “Đói” of T.B.Tan.

3.2. Research questions
Two following questions are formulated for this research:
1. What types of addressing forms occur in “Hunger” of Knut
Hamsun?
2. What are the types of translation strategies used to translate
addressing terms in “Đói” of T.B.Tan?
4. Research significance
The research is carried out to help the readers and English learners to
take in the meaning of addressing forms effectively by understanding the
notion of addressing forms, the types of addressing forms and the factors
affecting the use of addressing forms and the similarities and differences of
the system of addressing forms in English and Vietnamese language. The
result of this research also helps people understand that the use of different
translation strategies will lead to the change of addressing forms. It then will
be a good reference for teachers and students as well as translators, writers of
language who are interested in studying the addressing forms in linguistics in
general and in translation in particular.

5. Research method
Research procedures:


Developing a theoretical background.



Collecting and synthesizing the system of addressing forms in both

English and Vietnamese for analysis and comparison.


Finding out the similarities and differences of the system of

addressing forms between English and Vietnamese.


Drawing out the common translation strategies for the addressing

forms.

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

Data collection: the addressing forms in the novel “Hunger” of

Knut Hamsun and “Đói” of T.B.Tan.



Descriptive and comparative methods are used in this research.

6. Thesis structure
This research consists of three main parts and a reference.
Part A: Introduction
Briefly introduces rationale for the research, research objectives, scope
of the research, research significance and research methodology.
Part B: Development
The development includes two chapters:
Chapter I – Literature reviews deals with the literature reviews relevant
to translation definition; translation types, translation process, translation
strategies, addressing forms, previous studies and brife summary on the novel
“Hunger” of Knut Hamsun.
Chapter II – Research method.
Chapter focuses on the research approach, data and data sources,
research instruments, data collection techniques, data analysis techniques.
Chapter III – Findings and discussion present the research’s results
and related discussion
Part C: Conclusions and suggestions give conclusions and
suggestions drawn from the research’s results.

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW
All literature theories related to translation and addressing forms which
are necessary for analyzing all research objectives are discussed in this

chapter. Many reference sources from books, articles and journals from the
internet are collected and used for the completion of this chapter. The
previous studies of other researchers are also mentioned as the references for
this research.
1. Translation
1.1. Definitions of translation
The term of translation has been concerned by many authors. It is
mentioned as a way to transfer the meaning from one language into another.
Larson (1984) defines translation is a way of rendering the meaning of the
source language into the target language. According to him, the render of
language is conducted in a semantic manner by going from the form of the
first language to the form of a second language. He also says that the lexicon,
grammatical structure and communication situation are studied during the
translation and their meaning is defined, and then reconstructing the same
meaning by using the lexicon and grammatical structure which are suitable
for the receptor’s language and that language’s cultural content. Nida (1969)
also similarly states that translation is the process of reproducing the
receptor’s language to the closest natural equivalence of the SL message, first
in the terms of meaning and followed by the terms of style. Hatim and
Munday (2004) states that translation is the process of transferring a written
text from source language to target language. The translator needs to use
some strategies to transfer a meaning in an accurate and natural manner.

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Catford (1995) mentions that translation is to replace textual material in one
language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language (TL).
According to Newmark (1988), translation is rendering the meaning of a text
from one language into another language based on the intention and purpose

of the author. Hatim and Mason (1990) suggest that translation is a process of
the negotiation of meaning between producers and receivers of the text.
Picken (1989) defines that general translation is transferring messages in the
oral and written forms from writing to speech or from one language to another
language. Bell (1991) mentions that translation is to replace a text in one
language by an equivalent text in another language. Newmark (1981) views
translation as a craft that attempts to replace a message and/or statement in
written in one language by the equivalent message or statement in another
language. And also, he defines translation is a science, a skill, an art, and a
matter of taste. Regarding a science, translation consits of the knowledge and
assessment of the facts and the language that describes them; as a skill,
translation contains the appropriate language and acceptable usage; as an art,
translation differentiates good writing from bad and involves innovative,
intuitive and inspired levels; and lastly, he views translation as a matter of
taste includes the fact that the translator resorts to his/her own preferences; so,
the translated text varies from one translator to another. Kelly (2005) states
translation as the skill of understanding the source text and rendering it in the
target language by using the register, the background knowledge, and other
language resources according to the intended purpose. Therefore, a translator
is considered as a mediator of the two languages and cultures who can
transfer the source language to the target language.
From those definitions mentioned above, it can be summarized that
translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by

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means of an equivalent target-language text. Additionally, the translator must
pay attention to the meaning to reach a good translation. Especially, there are
various factors affecting the translation of a literary work. The close, natural

and equivalent translation must be ensured to have a good translation work.
1.2. Translation strategies
Translation strategies are categorized, classified and suggested by
different authors and experts. The term of translation strategies is often
mentioned along with other terms such as procedure, technique, method,
tactic, and approach, etc. Many researchers study two types of translation
strategies include literal translation and free translation. Vinay & Darbelnet
describe these two strategies in the form of word-for-word translation and
sense-for-sense translation, source-oriented translation and target-oriented
translation, direct translation and oblique translation. Meanwhile Eugene Nida
views them through adequacy and acceptability, formal equivalence and
dynamic equivalence; Peter Newmark describes via semantic translation and
communicative translation.
Lorscher (1991) defines translation strategy is a procedure or a sequence
of actions. Krings (1986) views translation strategies as “potentially conscious
plans for solving a translation problem”. Strategies related to using procedures
to deal with problems, and the chosen procedure will affect the result.
Gerloff (1986) expresses that the text processing strategies include
problem identification, linguistic analysis, storage and retrieval, general
search

and

selection,

inferencing

and

reasoning

strategies,

text

contextualizatoin, editing, and task monitoring.
Chesterman (1997) and other researchers agree on a few characteristics
of a translation strategy in which translation strategy is goal-oriented;

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problem-centered; requires making coordinated decisions; is potentially
conscious; and involves text manipulation.
Baker (1992) lists eight strategies which are used to deal with the
problematic issues during the process of translation.
 Translation by a more specific word: This often involves choosing
among several different words, as there may be many Vietnamese words that
correspond to the general category or meaning expressed by English word.
Example: “Carry” in English can be translated into “mang”, “địu”,
“xách”, “cầm”, “thồ”, “địu” etc in Vietnamese.
Or “Rice” is used commonly for “thóc”, “gạo”, “cơm”, “cháo”, etc
depending on whether one is planting it, is harvesting it or cooking it.
 Translation by a more general word: in this strategy, a more general
word is used to replace the more specific one.
Example: the English words “paw”, “foot” or “leg” may all be
translated by the Vietnamese word “chân”.
 Translation by a more neutral/ less expressive word: uses more
neutral/less word to replace word which doesn’t have equivalent one.
Example: Source language: The number of talent students in English

class has mushroomed in recent days.
Target language: Số lượng học sinh tài năng trong lớp tiếng Anh đã
tăng nhanh trong những ngày gần đây.
Back-translation: The number of talent students in English class has
increased fastly in recent days.
In this example, the verb “mushroom” mentions the fast growth, but it
means “mọc lên như nấm” in Vietnamese which implies a negative meaning.
In Vietnamese, “mọc lên như nấm” is often used to refer to the over-heated or
uncontrollable development. Therefore, in this case, it should be replaced by a

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word “increase” which is more neutral because the growth in quantity of
talent students is a good news.
 Translation by cultural substitution: This strategy involves replacing a
cultural-specific item with one of the different meaning but similar impact in
the target language.
Example: “Mother day”  Ngày lễ vu lan
 Translation using a loan word or loan word plus explanation: This
strategy is used to handle culture-specific items in which loan word should be
followed with an explanation.
Example: HIV and AIDS are two loan words which are familiar concepts
with Vietnamese. Thus, they are often used without accompanying
explanation.


Translation by omission: This strategy means the deletion of a word or

words from the source language which do not have equivalent words in the

target language during the translation.
Example: Vietnamese culture is very various, diverse.
 Nền văn hóa của Việt Nam rất đa dạng.
 Translation by illustration: This strategy is used in case where is no
equivalent in target language.
Example: Chain hotels
 Chuỗi khách sạn (The hotel has branches around the world, such as Hyatt,
Marriott and Hilton)
2. Addressing forms
2.1. Definition of addressing forms
Addressing forms is indispensable in any communication and defined
in a various manner by different authors and experts. C.Richards, H. Platt
(1999) mentions addressing forms consist of the word and words used to

9


address somebody in speech or writing text. The way in which a person
addressing one another usually depends on their age, sex, social group, and
personal relationship. For example, in the British family relationship, the
younger generation uses and kinship terms to address the above generation,
and the older generation addresses the below generation by the first name. In
society, they use formal terms such as title, first name, respected and
intimated words to address. In Vietnam, people use almost the kinship terms
to call in both family and in society, for formal communicated situation, they
use title and respected words to address.
Fasold (1990) mentions addressing forms are the words that speakers
use to call the person who they are talking. According to him, in most
languages, there are two main kinds of addressing forms including names and
second-person pronouns. Braun (1998) defines address as basis concept of the

theory of address. Addressing forms consist of words or expressions used to
indicate certain relations between people, or to show the difference in
identity, position and social status. They reflect national cultures. Addressing
forms plays a very important role in the communication in person because it
is the first information transferred to others. This means that a person who has
higher social status in society may address people from their lower social
status by using a familiar form, although he/she had received any formal
forms. On the other hand, the familiar title or class of people may influence
the power of addressing someone.
According to Khang (2008), “addressing terms are words used to call
self and others, which used to address or call the hearer or speaker in the
communication”.
Luong (1990) mentions “Both the use and the meanings of Vietnamese
addressing forms are saliently and inextricably linked to the power,

10


solidarity, and formality dimensions in the relations among the addressor,
addressee, as well as the referred parties.”
Addressing forms can be classified into different categories. In many
language, addressing forms may have relations with social status or family.
There are some authors and experts which categorized addressing forms into
few types. Dunkling (1990) in A Dictionary of Epithets and Terms of Address
divides address terms into two types, nominal vocatives and verbal vocatives.
While Braun (1988) classifies addressing forms into five types which consist
of pronouns of address, verb forms of address, noun of address and bound
forms of address and free forms of address.
The Vietnamese addressing forms is much more diversified and
complicated. According to Luong (1990), for example, English I and you,

“have as their counterparts in the Vietnamese system dozens of linguistic
forms of various grammatical subclasses”. These include personal pronouns,
kinship terms, status terms, and proper nouns (personal names)
Addressing terms can be classified into various categories. In many
languages, addressing forms may have relations with social status or family.
There are some experts which categorized addressing forms into few types.
Therefore, in this research, the researcher will discuss pronouns, names, titles
and endearment expressions in terms of group of word or phrase. Further, the
researcher will focus on the addressing forms which is categorized into group
of word or phrase. Before the researcher starts to explain about group of word
or phrase in address terms, the researcher will discuss about the main idea of
addressing forms, that idea is relevant with Trudgil (1992) and other authors.
Addressing forms are divided into the following types:

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2.1.1. Pronouns
Pronoun is a part of addressing forms. Only second person of pronouns
that can be used by someone for addressing, since addressing forms are word
or phrase used for addressing. Every language has their own pronouns
systems that used for addressing. The example of English and Vietnamese
pronouns system will discuss below.
Table 1: English Pronouns System (according to Larson, 1984)
Point of View

Singular

Plural

First person

I

We

Second person
Third person

You

You

Masculine Feminine Neuter
He

She

It

They

Table 2: Vietnamese Pronouns System by Ngo (2006)
Singular
Person
First person

Formal
tôi

Second person

Ông
(male),
bà
(female)
Third Masculine Ông ta,
person
ngài ấy,
anh ấy

Feminine

Bà ấy,
cô ấy

Neuter

-

Plural

In
In
Formal Informal
English
English
tao,
I, me chúng tôi bọn tao, We, us
mình

bọn
mình
Mày,
you
Các ông
Chúng
You
bạn
(male), mày, các
các bà
bạn
(female)
Thằng
He,
Các ông
Mấy
They,
đó
him
ấy, các
thằng
them
ngài ấy,
đó, bọn
các anh
nó
ấy
Con nhỏ
She,
Các bà Mấy con They,

đó, cô ta
her
ấy, các
đó, bọn
them
cô ấy
nó
nó
it
Họ
Chúng
They,
nó
them

Informal

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From the mentioned above table, the system of pronouns of both
English and Vietnamese is categorized into the same form. The finding
illustrates that pronouns of both languages have the same function. Both
English and Vietnamese pronouns are categorized into three persons: first
person, second person and third person. However, English pronouns depend
mostly on the grammatical role while Vietnamese pronouns can indicate the
social status or the relation of the speaker and other persons.
In terms of grammatical role, English pronouns are classified into
subject pronouns and object pronouns.
A subjective pronoun is used to indicate that the pronoun is acting as

the object of the verb.
Example: Marry is a writer. She was awarded outstanding writer.
In this example, “she” takes the place of “Marry” which is the subject
of the sentence.
An objective pronoun is used to indicate that the pronoun is acting as
the object of the verb or preposition.
Example: Tom knows her.
In this example, Tom is the subjective case. Her is the objective case.
In addition, English pronouns must be in accordance with the gender
and the number of people mentioned.
Regarding gender, there are three genders in English pronouns:
masculine, feminine and neuter. In term of number, English pronouns are
divided into singular and plural pronouns.
Therefore, English pronouns used depend on the grammatical role and
must be in concord with the gender and number of people indicated.
As showed in the table above, the Vietnamese pronouns system is
much more complicated than English pronouns system. Unlike English

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pronouns, the Vietnamese pronouns are not divided into subjective pronouns
and objective pronouns. A Vietnamese pronoun can be used as both the
subject and object of the sentence.
Example, in English we say:
Marry is a writer. She was awarded outstanding writer. I idolize her.
Compare with the way we say in Vietnamese:
Marry là một nhà văn. Cô ấy được nhận giải thưởng nhà văn xuất sắc.
Tôi rất thần tượng cô ấy.
From the example above we can see that in English, the pronoun “she” is

the subject of the verb “was awarded” and “her” is the object of the verb
“idolize”, but in Vietnamese we can use the pronoun “cô ấy” for both the subject
of the verb “được nhận giải thưởng” and the object of the verb “thần tượng”.
Vietnamese pronouns are not only in concord with the person, gender
and number like the English pronouns but also can show the social status of
the speaker and the other people in the communication. For example, the first
person “tôi” is the only pronoun used in polite speech. The second person
“ta” does not only reveal a higher status of the speaker, this second person
also is used when talking to oneself as in a soliloquy. The other superior-toinferior forms in the first and second persons (tao, mày, mi, bay), which are
considered impolite, are commonly used in familiar social contexts, such as
among family member (Huynh, 2009”).
The following example will illustrate this difference:
I think this restaurant looks like good. I want to have lunch here.
 Tôi nghĩ nhà hàng này có vẻ được đấy. Tôi muốn ăn trưa ở đây.
In this sentence: context is formal and form is inferior-to-superior.
 Tao thấy nhà hàng này có vẻ được đấy. Tao muốn ăn trưa ở đây.
In this sentence: context is informal, form is superior-to-inferior or
between two people at the same age.

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2.1.2. Names
Names are used by humans to addressing people, names are mentioned
as part of addressing forms by Trudgill (1992). There are various descriptions
about names to address someone. Names is used for addressing when two
people are talking to each other. How to mention someone in Vietnamese is
different from in English.
Table 3: Example of Addressing People Using Names in English
Family name/Surname/Last

name

Middle name

First name

Hussein

Barack

Obama

In the example above, Barrack is first name, Hussein is middle name
and Obama is last name. The last name is used to address someone in US and
Western countries. In this example, the last name Obama is used when we
want to mention the former President of the US.
The use of first name + family name (surname) is also used in English
when we are not sure if the person we are talking to knows who we are
talking about while first names only appear in informal situations.
Generally, in some English speaking countries, a woman will change her
last name when getting married. However, not all women do like that. And, a
widowed woman often keeps her husband’s name unless she remarries. A
divorced woman often changes her name back to her maiden name.
Table 4: Example of Addressing People Using Names in Vietnamese
Family name/Surname/Last
name

Middle name

First name

Linh

Giang

Nguyen

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Normally, Vietnamese names consist of three parts: Family
name/Surname/Last name, middle name and first name name. Vietnamese
family name comes first and then middle name and first name. Based on table
4 above, it can be showed that Nguyen is family name, Linh is middle name
and Giang is first name. Vietnamese always say the first name when they
want to mention someone. Moreover, unlike US and Western culture, a
married Vietnamese woman always keeps her family name. She will rarely
use her husband’s last name on occasions for formal addressing only.
2.1.3. Titles
According to Wardhaugh (2006), title used in addressing other people
indicates the least intimate relationship. A speaker addresses his/her
interlocutor only by his/her title, such as Professor, Doctor. A Dr or Prof title
is used in more formal situations. Dr or Prof title is only used to determine the
ranks of occupation. The use of Dr or Prof can be encountered in an official
situation when the speaker knows the social status or occupational rank. The
title Dr short for Doctor is generally used for a medical doctor (MD) or a
Ph.D used for hard sciences. Other title such as Mr, Ms, Mrs, Miss is often
used to people who are foreign or can be used title for the foreign. For
example: “Mr” for men. “Mrs” for married women. “Ms” used for women if
they are married or not or in the case of women who do not want to disclose

their marital status. Some women take on their husband’s surname. The title
“Mrs” when they get married. Some women prefer to keep their surname and
use the title Ms. “Miss” also indicates single status or not married. Sometimes
people use the words “madam”, “miss” or “sir” in a service situation. This is
because when younger as a speaker does not know the name of the addressee,
but they want to be polite and respect the addressee.

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Different from English, Vietnamese has its own different honorific
titles in accordance with the culture of Vietnam. There is a significant
difference between the Vietnamese honorific system and other systems, in
addressing certain family members. For example, suppose your first cousin
once removed (son or daughter of your cousin) is older than you. Despite
being of greater age, your first cousin once removed would (formally) have to
address you as “Anh (your first name)” or just “anh”, if the addressed is
male, and “Chị (your name)” or just “chị”, if the addressed is female. Both
terms on their own mean“my elder”. Such a situation is an example of how
hierarchy in the family takes precedence even over age.
2.1.4. Kinship terms
Wardhaugh (2006) states that kinship term is related to generation and
ageoriented. Kinship terms are a very important part of the Vietnamese
system to address or refer to oneself and others. They are even used much
more than true personal pronouns. Even though the listener is not a family
member or relative, kinship terms can also used as pronouns to address and
refer to friends and unfamiliar interlocutors (Luong, 1990). The Vietnamese
kinship term system is quiet complicated, it is not only very challenging for
foreigners but also sometimes hard for Vietnamese people to master all
kinship terms. There are many terms for which cannot find equivalents in

English. In English, there is hardly any kinship term to be used as personal
pronoun. The below table summarizes the meanings and usages of the
Vietnamese kinship terms:

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Table 5: The Meanings and Usages of the Vietnamese Kinship Terms
Term

cố

Literal
meaning

great-great
grandparent

cụ

great
grandparent

ông

grandfather
(great uncle)

bà

grandmother
(great aunt)

Usages
In both 1st &
2nd persons
Very elderly
person to or by
much younger
person
Very elderly
person to or by
much younger
person
Male about
grandparent's age
to or by young
person
Female about
grandparent’s age
to or by young
person

bố/
cha

father

Father to or by
offspring

mẹ

mother

Mother to or by
offspring

bác

parent’s elder
sibling, or
cousin

Person parent’s age
or above to or by
young person

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In 1stperson

In 2nd person
To a very
elderly
person

To a very
elderly
person

Male
(arrogant)

Among male
equals

Female
(arrogant)

Among
female equals
Young man
(humorous,
ironical)
Young
woman
(humorous,
ironical)
Person
speaker’s age
or above