(Luận văn thạc sĩ) a study on english vietnamese translation of the bridge highway civil engineering texts in some bridge highway construction projects in vietnam

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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES
*************************

NGUYỄN MINH NGỌC

A STUDY ON ENGLISH – VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION
OF THE BRIDGE – HIGHWAY CIVIL ENGINEERING TEXTS
IN SOME BRIDGE – HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN VIETNAM
NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ CÁCH DỊCH ANH VIỆT
CÁC VĂN BẢN CỦA NGÀNH XÂY DỰNG CẦU ĐƯỜNG
TẠI MỘT SỐ CÁC DỰ ÁN XÂY DỰNG CẦU ĐƯỜNG TẠI VIỆT NAM
M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Linguistics
Code: 602215

Hanoi, October 2010


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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES
*************************

NGUYỄN MINH NGỌC

A STUDY ON ENGLISH – VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION
OF THE BRIDGE – HIGHWAY CIVIL ENGINEERING TEXTS
IN SOME BRIDGE – HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN VIETNAM
NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ CÁCH DỊCH ANH VIỆT
CÁC VĂN BẢN CỦA NGÀNH XÂY DỰNG CẦU ĐƯỜNG
TẠI MỘT SỐ CÁC DỰ ÁN XÂY DỰNG CẦU ĐƯỜNG TẠI VIỆT NAM
M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Linguistics
Code: 602215
SUPERVISOR: ASSOC. PROF. DR. LE HUNG TIEN

Hanoi, October 2010


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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT

Page
i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ii

ABSTRACT

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

iv

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1

1.

Rationale of the study

1

2.

Aim of the study

1

3.

Scope of the study

2

4.

Method of the study

2

5.

Design of the study

3

PART II: DEVELOPMENT

4

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

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1. Translation Theory

4

1.1.

What is translation?

4

1.2.

Translation method

4

1.3.

Translation procedures

5

2. Text functions, Text types and Road and Bridge Engineering

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Texts.
2.1.

Text functions and Text types

7

2.2.

Road and Bridge Engineering Texts (RBE Text)

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3. Overview of terminology

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3.1.

What is terminology?

10

3.2.

General features of terminology.

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4. Technical Translation and Translation of Technical Terms

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4.1.

Technical Translation

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4.2.

Translation method

11

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4.3.

Translation of technical terms

CHAPTER II: STUDY OF TRANSLATION METHODS AND

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14

PROCEDURES OF RBE TERMINOLOGIES BY SURVEYING
SOME MATERIALS IN HIGHWAY – BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION
PROJECTS
1. Overview of the Thanh Tri Bridge Construction Projects

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2. Overview of some surveyed materials.

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2.1. The Addendum No.1 of the Contract for Consulting Services for

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the Thanh Tri Bridge Construction Project
2.2. The Civil Engineering Contract of Package 3A under the Thanh Tri

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Bridge Construction Project
2.3. The Conditions of the Civil Engineering Contract of Package 3A

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under the Thanh Tri Bridge Construction Project
2.4. The Technical Specifications and the Special Specifications

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2.5. Some typical letters, correspondences, decisions…

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3. Study of translation methods and translation procedures of RBE

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Terminologies by survey in some materials in the Thanh Tri Bridge
Construction Projects.
3.1. General RBE Terminologies

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3.2. Specialized RBE Terminologies

31

4. Conclusion

38
PART III: CONCLUSION

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REFERENCES

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SOURCES OF SURVEYED MATERIALS

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APPENDIX


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ABSTRACT

This study surveyed some technical materials of the Thanh tri Bridge Construction Project in
both English and Vietnamese version to find out how the Road Bridge Engineering (RBE)
terminologies are translated from English to Vietnamese by the translators/ interpreters of the
project. The author collected 747 general RBE terminologies and 141 specified RBE
terminologies (including Material Section and Electric Section) from the technical documents
of the Thanh Tri Bridge Construction Project. Analysis of those terminologies in comparison
with theory of translation methods and translation procedures was conducted. As a result, the
researcher observed that only three translation methods (word-by-word translation, literal
translation and faithful translation) and three translation procedures (naturalization, descriptive

equivalent and functional equivalent) used for translation of RBE terminologies in those
documents. This study clarified the RBE terminologies and translation of RBE terminologies.
It would not only help the translators and interpreters fulfill their tasks more effectively but
also help the engineers and experts of the RBE fields and who concerned to access the RBE
documents in both English and Vietnamese version more simply and comprehensively.
However, this study focused on only the translation of terminology of the Thanh Tri Bridge
Construction Project; therefore, it still included some shortcomings, which should be
improved in the further researches.