Phương thức dịch áp dụng trong dịch thuật ngữ kinh tế quốc tế

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION

GRADUATION PAPER

TRANSLATION PROCEDURES APPLIED IN
TRANSLATING ECONOMIC TERMS
RELATED TO INTERNATIONAL TRADE

SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN THI THANH VAN (M.A.)
STUDENT: PHUONG MINH HANG
YEAR OF ENROLMENT: QH2010

Hanoi, May 2014

i


ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI

TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ
KHOA SƢ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH

KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP

TÊN ĐỀ TÀI

PHƢƠNG THỨC DỊCH ÁP DỤNG TRONG
DỊCH THUẬT NGỮ KINH TẾ QUỐC TẾ

Giáo viên hƣớng dẫn

: Th.S Nguyễn Thị Thanh Vân

Sinh viên

: Phƣơng Minh Hằng

Khóa

: QH2010

HÀ NỘI – NĂM 2014

ii


ACCEPTANCE
I hereby state that I: Phuong Minh Hang, class QH2010.F.1.E21, being a
candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (TEFL) accept the requirements of the
College relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited
in the library.
In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in
the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in
accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan
or reproduction of the paper.
Signature

Phuong Minh Hang
May, 2014

iii


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This paper would not have been completed without the support of many
people, to all of whom I am profoundly indebted.
Firstly, I would like to express my great appreciation to Ms. Nguyen Thi
Thanh Van, M.A. for her valuable advice and constructive suggestions during the
planning and development of this research. Without her constant support and
encouragement, this study could not have been accomplished.
In addition, I wish to acknowledge the assistance given by the staff of the
University of Languages and International Studies’ library for their willingness to
offer appropriate sources of information and materials for my thesis.
Last but not least, I would like to offer my special thanks to my family and
friends for their support, encouragement, love and care during the completion of
this paper.

iv


ABSTRACT
In the current context of globalization, international trade exerts gre at
importance on the development of every economy. As a result, mutual
understanding between international business partners must be enhanced in order to
ensure the success of any business deal. Hence, translation of economic terms in
business documents plays a significant role as a linguistic bridge between domestic
enterprises and their oversea partners.
In view of that, this study entitled “Translation Procedures Applied in
Translating Economic Terms Related to International Trade” has been conducted

with the purpose of investigating the procedures applied in translating international
economic terms. First, the researcher aims at listing out the commonly-used
translation procedures. In addition, this paper finds out the most dominant type of
procedures applied in the translation of international trade terms. To achieve these
objectives, the researcher collected and analyzed data from the text book
“International Economics: Theory and Policy” (ninth edition) by Krugman Obstfeld
Melitz and its translated version published by National Political Publishing House.
Qualitative and quantitative analysis methods were employed to interpret the
collected data.
The results of this study suggested that among nine prominent translation
procedures by Peter Newmark, through translation was the most frequently-used
due

to

its

accuracy.

Following

the

common

translation

procedures,

recommendations for appropriate translation procedures to deal with economic

documents were also offered.

v


TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .............................................................................................. iv
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ v
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................ vi
LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND ABBREVIATIONS ......................................ix
PART 1: INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................1
1.1 Statement of problem and rationale of the study .................................................1
1.2 Aims and research questions.....................................................................................2
1.3 Significance of the study ............................................................................................3
1.4 Scope of the study ........................................................................................................3
1.5 Thesis structure............................................................................................................4
PART 2: DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................................5
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW .....................................................................5
1.1 Translation Theory .....................................................................................................5
1.1.1 Definition of translation .........................................................................................5
1.1.2 Translation procedures ..........................................................................................6
1.1.2.1 Transference ..........................................................................................................7
1.1.2.2 Naturalization......................................................................................................7
1.1.2.3 Through translation ...........................................................................................7
1.1.2.4 Shift or transposition .........................................................................................8
1.1.2.5 Modulation ...........................................................................................................8
1.1.2.6 Cultural equivalent ............................................................................................8
1.1.2.7 Functional equivalent ........................................................................................8
1.1.2.8 Descriptive equivalent .......................................................................................9
1.1.2.9 Couplets ................................................................................................................9

1.2 Overview of terminology.........................................................................................9
1.2.1 Definition of terminology .......................................................................................9
1.2.2 Characteristics of terminology ........................................................................ 10
1.2.2.1 Accuracy ............................................................................................................ 11

vi


1.2.2.2 Systematism ........................................................................................................ 11
1.2.2.3 Internationalism................................................................................................. 12
1.2.2.4 Nationalism ......................................................................................................... 12
1.2.2.5 Popularity ............................................................................................................ 12
1.2.3 Classification of terminology ........................................................................... 13
1.2.3.1 Simple terms .................................................................................................... 13
1.2.3.2 Above-word- level terms ............................................................................... 13
1.2.3.3 Acronyms............................................................................................................. 14
1.3 Economic terms........................................................................................................ 15
1.3.1 International economics ..................................................................................... 15
1.3.2 Main characteristics and classification of international trade terms ..... 16
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOG Y..................................................... 18
2.1 Selection of subjects................................................................................................ 18
2.2 Data collection instrument .................................................................................... 18
2.3 Data collection procedures .................................................................................... 18
2.4 Data analysis procedures ....................................................................................... 19
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ...................................................... 21
3.1 Data analysis .............................................................................................................. 21
3.1.1 Through translation ............................................................................................. 21
3.1.2 Shift translation..................................................................................................... 26
3.1.3 Modulation ............................................................................................................. 29
3.1.4 Couplets ................................................................................................................. 31

3.1.5 Cultural equivalent.............................................................................................. 33
3.1.6 Descriptive equivalent ........................................................................................ 33
3.2 Findings ...................................................................................................................... 34
3.2.1 Research question 1 .............................................................................................. 34
3.2.2 Research question 2 .............................................................................................. 35
3.3 Discussion ................................................................................................................... 37
3.3.1 Through translation ........................................................................................... 37
3.3.2 Shift translation..................................................................................................... 38

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3.3.3 Modulation and Couplets ................................................................................. 38
3.3.4 Descriptive equivalent and cultural equivalent ........................................... 39
3.3.5 Suggestion............................................................................................................. 39
PART 3: CONCLUSION.............................................................................................. 41
3.1 Recapitulation of the study..................................................................................... 41
3.2 Limitations of the study .......................................................................................... 41
3.2 Suggestions for further study................................................................................. 42
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 43
APPENDIX ...................................................................................................................... 45

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LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND ABBREVIATIONS
List of tables
Table 1.2.1: Examples of economic terms
Table 1.2.3.2: Examples of mixed – compound terms
Table 1.3.2.1: Examples of one-word-level terms

Table 1.3.2.2: Examples of above-word-level terms
Table 1.3.2.3: Examples of economic acronyms
Table 3.1.1: Analysis of cases applying through translation procedure
Table 3.1.1: Analysis of cases applying through translation procedure
Table 3.1.2: Analysis of cases applying shift translation procedure
Table 3.1.3: Analysis of cases applying modulation translation procedure
Table 3.1.4: Analysis of cases applying couplet procedure
Table 3.1.5: Analysis of cases applying cultural equivalent procedure
Table 3.1.6: Analysis of cases applying descriptive equivalent procedure
Table 3.2.1: Frequency and percentage of translation procedures
List of figures
Figure 3.2.2: The percentage of translation procedures applied in the EnglishVietnamese translation of international economic terms in the book “International
Economics: Theory and Policy” by Krugman Obstfield Melitz.
List of abbreviations
A: Indo-European words
H: Sino-Vietnamese
SL: Source language
TL: Target language
V: Pure – Vietnamese
WTO: World Trade Organization

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PART 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Statement of problem and rationale of the study
After 6 years joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), Vietnam has
increasingly strengthened its power and position worldwide through international
economic integration. Such achievements owe much to translators who deal with
the linguistic aspects of all business contracts and transactions in order to raise

mutual understanding between domestic enterprises and their international business
partners.
The main reason is that currently, “economists have become increasingly
aware of the importance of paying attention to their language” (Pedro, 2011). Also,
every business document contains a number of economic terms, and nothing other
than sufficient knowledge of such terms can ensure the success of a business deal.
Thus, in the current context of globalization, the translation of economic terms is of
vital importance for anyone who would like to do business globally.
Addressing the need to investigate economic translation, many researches to
date have been conducted on a number of sub-areas. A typical study was conducted
by Andreea-Rosalia Olteanu on “Errors and Difficulties in Translating Economic
Texts”. This study pointed out all the common errors in translating economic
documents

from

a

source

language

into

a

target

language

and

gave

recommendations for improvement based on difficulties during the translation
process. Another study with the title “Metaphor and Translation: A Case Study in
the Field of Economics” conducted by Professor Pedro A. Fuertes Olivera from
University of Valladolid also raised great concern about the translation of economic
documents at sentence and discourse level. Both of these aforementioned studies
have focused on economic translation in a broad and general scale, but ignored
typical features of different languages all over the world. In Vietnam, studies on
economic translation have also been widely discussed including the studies by
Phung (2013), Bui (2013), Bui (2011), Hoang (2005). However, none of these
investigations have been made in the area of international trade terminologies. All
the conditions above have offered the researcher a chance to conduct a study on

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“Translation Procedures Applied in Translating Economic Terms Related to
International Trade”.
This study is an attempt to find out the translation procedures commonly
used in translating terminologies of international trade. In addition, the researcher
will make a statistical calculation according to the frequency of each type of
translation procedures so as to point out the most dominant one. Such understanding
will provide a solid foundation for the researcher’s suggestions on how to apply
appropriate procedures in translating international trade terms. Besides, offering an
insightful knowledge of English-Vietnamese translation of economic terms related
to international trade, the researcher expects that this paper will form a basis for
ones who take interest in this topic.

1.2 Aims and research questions
This study is specially targeted at identifying the procedures of translation
applied in translating international trade terms in the book “International
Economics: Theory and Policy” by Krugman Obstfeld Melitz. Not merely listing
out all translation procedures, the researcher also analyzes and generalizes the
collected data so as to find out the most common type of procedures used in the
translation of international trade terms. Then, the most dominant procedure is
pointed out to help translators produce high-quality translations by applying
appropriate strategies. This can save time as well as energy for translators during
their working process.
Research questions
Specifically, the aims and objectives of the research are to answer the two following
research questions:
1. What are translation procedures applied in translating economic terms
related to international trade in part 1 and part 2 of the book “International
Economics: Theory and Policy”?
2. What is the most dominant translation procedure applied in translating
these economic terms from English to Vietnamese?

2


1.3 Significance of the study
As one of comprehensive studies on translation procedures applied in
translating economic terms, this study is expected to be of great benefits for
students majoring in translation and interpreting, professional translators and other
researchers interested in the topic.
Firstly, the research provides learners of translation and interpreting with a
bank of economic terms related to international trade with a highly-accurate
translated version. As the results, the learners can use this bank of glossary to

facilitate their translation practice, especially when they have to deal with economic
documents. Also, the findings of the research will make the students aware of the
effectiveness as well as the prevalence of each translation procedure in translating
economic terms so that they can choose an appropriate procedure to produce a highquality translation with less time and effort.
As for the professional translators, they can base themselves on the results of
the paper to make a suitable choice of translation procedures when translating
economic terms. In addition, the available source of economic terms and its
translation presented by the research will help enrich their specialized vocabulary,
which will greatly benefit their working process.
Regarding the researchers who share the same interests, this study can be
exploited as a useful primary source for references. Also, in this study, the
researcher investigates the translation of economic materials at word level. Thus,
the study can be effectively used as a foundation for any researcher who would like
to conduct a research on this topic at sentence and discourse levels.
1.4 Scope of the study
The given research problem is about translation of terms related to
international trade, which is such a broad and extensive economic field. Conducting
a research in a large scale would require an in-depth knowledge about economics in
general and international trade in particular, which is a challenging and ambitious
objective for a linguistic learner like the researcher.

3


Hence, the researcher only focuses on investigating translation procedures
applied in translating international trade terms from part 1 and part 2 of the book
“International Economics: Theory and Policy” (ninth edition) by Krugman Obstfeld
Melitz. The translated terms are collected from the translation version published by
National Political Publishing House.
1.5 Thesis structure

Overall, the paper is comprised of three following parts, each of which
would be divided into some chapters:
Part 1 – Introduction: provides a comprehensive overview of the study including
the rationale, aims, research questions, the significance, the scope and the structure
of the research.
Part 2 – Development
Chapter 1 (Literature review) introduces the theoretical background for the
whole paper. Definitions of key concepts, such as translation procedures and
terminologies would be provided in the light of the researcher’s critical review
of studies relating to the research problem.
Chapter 2 (Methodology) describes the research instruments, the sampling
method, and the procedure of collecting and analyzing data.
Chapter 3 (Findings and Discussions) presents and analyzes all the collected
data in order to give satisfactory answers to the two research questions.
Part 3 – Conclusion: summarizes the main points discussed in the research and
points out the limitation of the study as well as suggestions for further study.

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PART 2: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1 Translation Theory
1.1.1 Definition of translation
With the general growth in the need for mutual understanding between
people of different languages, translation has become a subject of great concern.
Linguists along with linguistic researchers all over the world have contributed their
time and effort in order to offer the most precise definition of translation. Until now,
there have been various ways to define the term “translation”.
Etymologically, translation originates from the Latin word translatio (to

carry across or to bring across). According to Oxford Advanced Learners’
Dictionary Sixth Edition (2000), translation is “the process of changing something
that is written or spoken into another language”. This definition is quite simple,
which fails to point out the specific features of translation.
Thus, it is of great importance to consider Newmark’s idea. Newmark (1998)
asserts that “Translation is rendering the meaning of a text into another language in
the way that the author intended the text.” In this definition, Newmark mentions the
significant role of the author to the process of producing translation but neglects all
other factors, such as the readership and stylistic features of the translated version.
Catford (1965) produces a more sufficient definition, in which he emphasizes the
equivalence of translation. According to this linguist, translation is defined as “the
replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material
in another language (TL).” Clearly, the process of translating something is not
restricted by the author’s intention but depends much on the equivalence of the
languages. However, in fact, it is quite common when translators fail to find the
equivalence of a word in the target language to express the source language. Hence,
the definition provided by Catford still needs some modifications.

5


Apart from these aforementioned definitions of translation, there is also a
detailed discussion of Larson. Larson (1984, p.3) states that:
Translation consists of studying the lexicon, grammatical structure,
communication situation, and cultural context of the source language
text, analyzing it in order to determine its meaning, and then
reconstructing this same meaning using lexicon and grammatical
structure which are appropriate in the receptor language and its cultural
context.
Three vital factors including lexical aspect, grammatical aspect and context

are clearly pointed out in Larson’s definition. It means that translation is not
simply a process of language transference. In an attempt to produce a quality
translation, translators must pay attention to the analytic stages to explore all the
linguistic aspects of the source text.
From the researcher’s perspective, the definition offered by Larson (1984)
covers almost all features of translation. Thus, the researcher decides to use this
definition as a basic theoretical background for this thesis paper.
1.1.2 Translation procedures
Translation procedures are applied in translating small linguistic units of a
text such as words or sentences. Numerous theories on translations procedures have
been introduced throughout the time, including those of Nida (1964), Vinay and
Darbelnet (1957) and Newmark (1988). In his work “Towards a science of
translation, with special reference to principles and procedures involved in Bible
translating.” Nida (1964) divides translation procedures into two categories:
technical and organizational. The technical procedures consist of the text analysis,
including three phrases: phases: (i) analysis of the respective SL and TL; (ii) careful
study of the SL text, and (iii) determination of the appropriate equivalents (Nida
1964, p. 241). The other procedure focuses on checking and evaluating the
translated text.

6


Unlike Nida, Vinay and Darbelnet (1957) cited in Munday (2001) present
seven translation procedures, namely: (1) loan, (2) calque, (3) literal, (4)
transposition, (5) modulation, (6) total syntagmatic change, (7) adaptation.
Among the mentioned classifications, the translation procedures provided by
Peter Newmark have become the most popular, which are widely accepted by
professional translators all over the word due to their usefulness and effectiveness.
Hence, the researcher exploits the theory provided by Newmark for analyzing the

translation of economic terms in this paper. Regarding 17 translation procedures by
Peter Newmark, the researcher only focuses on 9 prominent procedures which are
often employed in the translation of terminology. They are:
1.1.2.1 Transference
A SL word is directly taken into a TL text with no translation in terms of
word form in order to create certain stylistic effect. Transference is often used in
translating proper names, such as: names of newspapers, geographical names, street
names or new technical terms that do not have equivalence in the source language,
such as: blog, web, Internet.
1.1.2.2 Naturalization
A transferred word is adapted to the TL (maintaining the pronunciation and
morphology)
e.g: Coffee: Cà phê
Turbine: Tua-bin
1.1.2.3 Through translation
A word or normally an expression is translated literally into the target
language. Through translation is used for already recognized terms, such as names
of organizations, common collocations
e.g.: WTO: World Trade Organization: Tổ chức thương mại thế giới.
ASEAN: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations: Hiệp hội các quốc
gia Đông Nam Á.
MOET: The Ministry of Education and Training: Bộ giáo dục đào tạo

7


1.1.2.4 Shift or transposition
Shift or transposition involves a change in the grammar/ part of speech from
SL to TL.
e.g: After her return: Sau khi cô ấy trở về nhà

He is thought to have left: Người ta cho rằng anh ta đã đi
1.1.2.5 Modulation
Modulation means the variation in the message when it is translated into the
TL due to change in the point of view, including:
+ One part ↔ another
I grew up here; I know the place like the back of my hand
Tôi đã lớn lên tại đây; vậy nên, tôi rõ nơi này như lòng bàn tay
+ Passive ↔ active
The thief was caught by the police
Cảnh sát đã bắt được tên trộm
+ Positive ↔ double-negative
I do not disagree
Tôi đồng ý
1.1.2.6 Cultural equivalent
A SL cultural word or expression is translated by a TL cultural word
considered equivalent to it.
e.g: A quarter mile down the road he stopped and looked back
Đi khoảng 400 mét, anh ngoảnh lại.
He graduated after obtaining a degree with high distinction
Anh ta tốt nghiệp loại xuất sắc.
1.1.2.7 Functional equivalent
This procedure uses a cultural-free word/ expression in a translation for a
cultural word/ expression in the source text.
e.g.: Will the Pentagon decide to terminate the program?
Liệu Bộ Quốc Phịng Mỹ có quyết định ngừng chương trình này khơng?

8


1.1.2.8 Descriptive equivalent

This means the meaning of the original word is explained in several words. It
is often used with transference to translate a cultural word/ expression.
e.g: To attend the barbecue, you must have a student ID.
Để được dự tiệc barbecue (bữa tiệc ngoài trời, đồ ăn được nướng trên bếp
cũng đặt ngoài trời), anh phải mang theo thẻ sinh viên.
1.1.2.9 Couplets
This combines two or more translation procedures for dealing with a single
problem. This type of translation procedures is particularly common for cultural
words, where transference may be combined with a functional or cultural
equivalent.
e.g: He bought old coins on Ebay.
Anh ta mua những đồng xu cổ trên trang mạng đấu giá trực tuyến Ebay.
1.2 Overview of terminology
1.2.1 Definition of terminology
One of the biggest challenges translators face during their working process is
dealing with technical terms. A good translation requires high level of accuracy, so
if translators do not have sufficient knowledge about a specialized field, their
understanding of the text will be limited. For instance, “bear” is defined in Oxford
dictionary as “a heavy wild animal with thick fur and sharp claws” (con gấu).
Nevertheless, in economic field, “bear” refers to “someone who sells shares or
goods when he expects the reduction in price” (người đầu cơ giá xuống). Technical
terms always have a totally irrelevant meaning compared to their common
definitions.
There have been numerous ways to define terminology. According to Oxford
Advanced Learners’ Dictionary Sixth Edition (2000), terminology means “the set of
technical words or expressions used in a particular subject” or “words used with
particular meanings”. This basic definition highlights the most distinctive feature of

9

terms, which are words used within a particular area of knowledge, such as
computing technology, science, and commerce. People working in each field will
gradually become familiar with their professional terms and make use of this
vocabulary in their working process. In agreement with this feature, Nguyen (1960)
also states that terminology consists of “words and fixed expressions” used in
“specialized areas”. Similarly, according to Nguyen (1981) cited in Hoang (2005),
“Terminology is a section of special lexis of a language. It consists of fixed words
and groups of words which are accurate names of concepts and subjects belonging
to different specialized fields of human beings”.
Obviously, linguists have numerous different ways of defining terminology.
However, the common idea is that terminology is a set of technical terms used in
particular professional field. A comprehensive understanding of terminology
contributes to a high-quality translation.
The table below shows some clear examples of economic terms:
Table 1.2.1: Examples of economic terms
English

Vietnamese

Specific factor model

Mơ hình các yếu tố sản xuất chuyên biệt

Mobile factors

Yếu tố linh động

Diminishing returns

Lợi tức giảm dần

Budget constraint

Ràng buộc ngân sách

1.2.2 Characteristics of terminology
Baker (1998) claims that: “Terms differ from words in that they are endowed
with a special form of reference, namely that they refer to discrete conceptual
entities, properties, activities or relations which constitute the knowledge space of a
particular subject field.” It is clear that terms are distinguished from ordinary words
in terms of its specialized purposes. People of particular working fields will have
their own specialized terms. Unlike terminology, words are commonly used in daily
life requiring no special knowledge to be understood. In addition to Baker’s

10


argument, there are several characteristics that can distinguish terminology from
ordinary words.
According to Hoang (2005), terminology has six qualities: (1) accuracy, (2)
systematism, (3) internationalism, (4) nationalism, (5) practicality and (6)
popularity. Unlike Hoang (2005), Nguyen (1985) and Do (1981) cited in Bui (2013)
argue that there are only three features of terminology, including (1) accuracy, (2)
internationality, and (3) systematicality. In fact, the theory provided by Hoang
(2005) is a development from that of Nguyen (1985) and Do (1981). Hoang (2005)
offers more detailed and comprehensive theoretical background on terminology
than the others. Hence, in this paper, the researcher decides to follow the opinion of
Hoang (2005).
1.2.2.1 Accuracy

As mentioned above, there are 7 features of terminology. The first and
foremost is accuracy. Nguyen (2005) claims that “accuracy is the most prominent
feature of terminology. A good term should be used to denote only one concept in a
particular area”. Similarly, Luu (1977) states that “each linguistic signal poses one
basic nuclear meaning and vice versa a concept also has a typical linguistic signal in
a concrete situation”. Terminology must express a concept of particular fields, such
as education, sports, business, technology precisely. It is vital that misunderstanding
between different concepts should be avoided. Each technical term denotes only one
concept in an area and it has capacity to direct readers to the specific knowledge
that it refers to. To sum up, this characteristic emphasizes the model of” one-to- one
equivalent” between a concept and a term in the translation of terminology in order
to avoid misunderstanding (Hoang, 2005).
1.2.2.2 Systematism
According to Nguyen (2002) cited in Bui (2013), “each term occupies a
given position in a whole definition system and belongs to a terminology system”. It
means that the value of a term depends on its relationship with other terms within

11


its terminological system. Once put separately, the term will beco me meaningless.
Hoang (2005) has provided a clear example to illustrate the systematic feature of
terminology. In the system of economic terms suffixes –er, -or, -ee are used to
indicate people, such as employer, employee, creditor.
1.2.2.3 Internationalism
A wide range of economic acronyms used globally is a strong evidence for
the international characteristic of terminology. The researcher can name some of
worldwide economic acronyms as WTO (World Trade Organization), BOT
(Balance of Trade), GNP (Gross National Product). These terms have fixed
references regardless of differences in language or geographical location. In the

current context of globalization, terms in general and economic terms in particular
have been increasingly internationalized.
1.2.2.4 Nationalism
The national feature of terminology means that terms must be appropriate to
people domestically both in grammatical and lexical aspects. Hoang (2005) claims
that “Clearly, terms belong to national language”. For example, terminologies in
Vietnamese have to follow Vietnamese grammatical rule as well as Vietnamese
culture.
1.2.2.5 Popularity
Terms must be rooted from common knowledge shared between people of
the same professional fields. Therefore, terms are understandable to a particular
group of people. However, in an attempt to bring scientific and technological
advancements to all people in the society, terms should be comprehensible for
everyone. Terms are classified into two types: one is for common communication
and understanding in order to support daily activities and the other is used for
specialized work.

12


1.2.3 Classification of terminology
According to Nguyen (2005) cited in Bui (2013) and Hoang (2005), there are
three main types of terminology, including simple terms, above-word-level terms
and acronyms. Within the limitation of this research, in an attempt to study the
English – Vietnamese translation of economic terms, the researcher only focuses on
the categories of Vietnamese terms. Vietnamese terminology is made up of three
kinds of components: Pure – Vietnamese (V), Sino-Vietnamese (H) and IndoEuropean (A) words (Tu, 1968 cited in Bui, 2013).
1.2.3.1 Simple terms
Simple terms or one-word terms are terms formed of only one word
regardless of the SL text that words come from (Bui, 2013). Simple terms consist of

three subtypes, namely Pure-Vietnamese, Sino-Vietnamese and Indo-European
Term.
A Pure-Vietnamese term is formed by a single pure Vietnamese word. This
type of terminology expresses basic and familiar objects, phenomena, such as “tiền”
(money), “bán” (sell), “hàng” (goods). Unlike pure – Vietnamese terms, Sino –
Vietnamese terms are Vietnamese words derived from Chinese. Sino – Vietnamese
words are commonly used in daily communication in both written and spoken
forms. For example: “lãi suất tối thiểu” (minimum interest rate), khấu hao
(discount). The last one, Indo – European terms are formed by word borrowed from
other languages which belong to Indo-European family, such as French and
English. For example: “oxy” (oxygen), “ghi-ta” (guitar), “radio” (radio).
1.2.3.2 Above-word- level terms
In this category, the researcher only mentions the main type of above-wordlevel terms, which will be applied in this study. Among above-word- level terms,
compound terms are the most important and the most common. Compound terms
are divided into two subtypes, including pure – compound terms and mixed –
compound terms (Bui, 2013).
Pure – compound terms are formed by two components from the same
language. This type of terms consists of V-V terms, H-H terms and A-A terms. V-V

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terms are made up of two pure – Vietnamese components, such as cho vay (loan),
mua bán (trade). Similarly, H-H terms contain two Sino – Vietnamese components,
such as khuyến mãi (sale off), thương mại (commerce), mậu dịch (trade). A-A terms
are formed by the combination of two Indo – European components, such as “ga-ra”
(garage), pe-dan (pedal).
Mixed – compound terms are the combination of more than two different
original languages. There are 8 sub-types of mixed – compound terms, including VA terms, H-A terms, H-V terms, A-V terms, A-H terms, V-H terms, H/V-A-A/V
terms, and A-V/H-A terms. Nguyen (2005) cited in Bui (2013) offers examples of

mixed – compound terms as below:
Table 1.2.3.2: Examples of of mixed – compound terms
Type

Source term

Vietnamese term

V-A

Sinusoid

Hình sin

H-A

Electronic theory

Thuyết hạt nhân

H-V

Contraction

Sự co

A-V

Dish antenna

Ăng ten đĩa

A-H

Photodiode

Đi-ốt quang

V-H

Nuclear

Hạt nhân

H/V-A-A/V

Overall gama

Hệ gama chung

A-V/H-A

Gama-ray photo

Photo tia Gamma

1.2.3.3 Acronyms
An acronym is “a word formed from the first letters of the words that
make up the name of something” (Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary Sixth
Edition (2000). Newmark (1995) defines acronyms as “the initial letters of words

that form a group of words used (vertiginously) for denoting an object, institution or
procedure”. Newmark has provided a sufficient definition of acronyms with all
detailed features, such as “initial letters of words”, “denoting an object”. Acronyms
are often transferred when they stand for proper names. For example: WTO (World

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Trade Organization), LC (letter of credit), WB (World Bank). When dealing with
acronyms in the text, translators often keep the abbreviations with no change.
1.3

Economic terms

1.3.1 International economics
In the current context of globalization, every nation all over the world has
to join hands in order to build up a strong global economy. The world economy
includes economies of all countries and territories worldwide. Regarding economic
relations, all nations are interdependent and interact with each other on a basis of
“labor division” and “mutual benefits” (Krugman, Obstfeld & Melitz, 2011)
International economics studies the economic interactions of nations and
how international issues affect world economic activities (Hall, 2010). This subject
has three main sub-branches, including international trade, international investment
and international finance. Seven core matters that international economics deals
with are (1) the gains from trade, (2) the pattern of trade, (3) protectionism, (4) the
balance of payments, (5) exchange rate determination, (6) international policy
coordination, and (7) the international capital market.
(1) The gains from trade: mutual benefits each country gains by selling goods
and services for each other.
(2) The pattern of trade: the problem of who sells what to whom. To be clearer,

the pattern of trade answers for the question “what commodities are traded
and which commodities are exported and imported by each nation?”
(Salvatore, 2007)
(3) Protectionism: policies to reduce imported goods, and at the same time
subsidize export in order to protect domestic industries from fierce
international competition.
(4) The balance of payments: a summary statement in which, in principle, all the
transactions of the residents of a nation with the residents of all other nations
are recorded during a particular period of time. (Salvatore, 2007 )

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(5) Exchange rate determination: the exchange rate between the domestic and
foreign currency is equal to the number of units of domestic currency needed
to purchase one unit of foreign currency. The matter of exchange rate
determination is closely related to the depreciation and appreciation of a
currency. Depreciation refers to an increase in the domestic price of the
foreign currency. Appreciation refers to a decline in the domestic price of the
foreign currency.
(6) International policy coordination: in an integrated economic world, the
policies of all countries will affect each other. Different goals among
countries cause conflicts of benefits. Thus, one of the core is sues that
international economics has to solve is determining how to create acceptable
agreement between countries to foster economic integration globally.
(7) The international capital market: international economics studies the way to
combine capital markets of individual countries into international market.
Within the limitation of this paper, among three branches of international
economics, the research chooses “international trade” as the research subject.
1.3.2 Main characteristics and classification of international trade terms

Based on the theoretical backgrounds about features of terms, international
trade terms in Vietnamese translation are also formed of three kinds of components:
Pure- Vietnamese (V), Sino-Vietnamese (H), and Indo-European (A).
Regarding their classification, international trade terms are divided into
simple terms (one-word-level terms), above-word-level terms and acronyms. Oneword terms can be in the form of verbs or nouns and the majority of them are made
up of Pure- Vietnamese (V).
Table 1.3.2.1: Examples of one-word-level terms
No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

English terms
buy
borrow
sell
transaction
distribution

Vietnamese equivalents
mua
vay
bán
giao dịch
phân phối

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