Luận văn thạc sĩ english – vietnamese translation of odontology terms in odontology materials used for vietnamese dentists

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN THU HẰNG

ENGLISH – VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION OF
ODONTOLOGY TERMS IN ODONTOLOGY MATERIALS
USED FOR VIETNAMESE DENTISTS
(Nghiên cứu dịch thuật Anh – Việt các thuật ngữ Nha khoa trong các tài liệu
Nha khoa sử dụng cho Nha sĩ Việt Nam)

MA THESIS

Field: English Linguistics
Code: 8220201.01

Ha Noi - 2020


UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN THU HẰNG

ENGLISH – VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION OF
ODONTOLOGY TERMS IN ODONTOLOGY MATERIALS
USED FOR VIETNAMESE DENTISTS
(Nghiên cứu dịch thuật Anh – Việt các thuật ngữ Nha khoa trong các tài liệu
Nha khoa sử dụng cho Nha sĩ Việt Nam)

MA THESIS

Field: English Linguistics
Code: 8220201.01
Supervisor: Assoc.Prof. Dr. Lê Hùng Tiến

Ha Noi - 2020


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my very great gratitude to my esteemed Supervisor,
Assoc.Prof.Dr. Le Hung Tien, who has unfailingly given me valuable insights into my
thesis, oriented me towards the right direction and encourage me to no end throughout
the process.
My deep gratefulness is for my husband, as well as my family, who have always been
beside me most of the time of the Thesis and given me so much care and help.
I would also highly appreciate my colleagues, my husband’s dentist team and my friends
for their close and effective cooperation, without which my doing the thesis would have
been a much more difficult experience.

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ABSTRACT
This thesis aimed to investigate the translation procedures of the dental terms in the
dictionary “Thuật ngữ Răng Hàm Mặt” by the Faculty of Odonto-Stomatology, Ho Chi
Minh Pharmaceutical – Medical University, 1993; and the book “Dental Terminology”
by Charline M. Dofka, published by Delmar, Cengage Learning, 2012, combined with
the field notes taken by the researcher. The notes included the commonly-used
translation procedures for the translator – the researcher - between doctors and patients

or clients, who are the participants in this study in a dental clinic. The thesis uses the
theoretical framework of translation procedures of Peter Newmark (1995) to classify the
translation procedures of those terms and compare with the actual practice of translation.
The findings of the research reveal that, in some circumstances, many Vietnamese dental
terms do not make easy sense to the doctors and patients or clients because they are
mostly academic or professional terms. The paraphrased terms the book “Dental
terminology” and their synonyms are helpful in making them more easily-understood.
The paraphrasing and synonymy procedures by Peter Newmark are also the most
effective ones apart from the others which are: literal translation, transference,
naturalization, descriptive equivalence, cultural equivalence, shift or transposition and
omission. The study suggests practical applications of translation procedures in real-life
dental translating contexts in Vietnam.

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

1. SL

Source language

2. TL

Target language

3. ST

Source text

4. TT

Target text

5. DT

Dental terminology / Dental terms
(Dental = Odontological / Odontology)

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TABLE OF CONTENT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... i
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. ii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................. iv
TABLE OF CONTENT ............................................................................................ v
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .......................................................................... 1
1.1. Rationale ............................................................................................................. 1
1.2. Scope of the study .............................................................................................. 1
1.3. Aims of the study ................................................................................................ 2
1.4. Objectives ........................................................................................................... 2
1.5. Research questions ............................................................................................. 2
1.6. Significance of the study .................................................................................... 2
1.7. Methods of the study .......................................................................................... 2
1.8. Organization of the thesis ................................................................................... 2
CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND .............................................. 4
2.1. An overview on translation .............................................................................. 4
2.1.1. Translation procedures .................................................................................... 4
2.1.2. Technical translation ....................................................................................... 9

2.1.2.1. Definition of technical translation ................................................................ 9
2.1.2.2. Varieties of technical styles .......................................................................... 9
2.2. An overview on terminology .......................................................................... 10
2.2.1. Definition of terminology .............................................................................. 10
2.2.2. Dental terminology ........................................................................................ 10
2.2.2.1. Formation of dental words .......................................................................... 10
2.2.2.2. Areas of dental terminology ....................................................................... 11
2.2.2.3. Types of dental terms ................................................................................. 12
2.3. Summary of the chapter ................................................................................ 16
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................ 18
3.1. Research questions ........................................................................................... 18
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3.2. Methodology ..................................................................................................... 18
3.3. The researcher ................................................................................................... 19
3.4. Study participants ............................................................................................. 19
3.5. Mixed methods procedures ............................................................................... 19
3.6. Data analysis ..................................................................................................... 20
3.7. Summary of the chapter .................................................................................... 21
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ................................................. 22
4.1. Translation procedures for technical terms .................................................. 22
4.1.1. Literal translation ........................................................................................... 23
4.1.2. Transference or naturalization procedures .................................................... 24
4.1.3. Translation by cultural equivalence procedure .............................................. 27
4.1.4. Translation by descriptive equivalence procedure ........................................ 27
4.1.5. Translation by synonymy .............................................................................. 29
4.1.6. Translation by paraphrasing technical terms into commonly-used words ..... 29
4.1.7. Shift or transposition procedures ................................................................... 37
4.1.8. Omission procedure ....................................................................................... 38

4.1.9. Combination of two or more translation procedures ..................................... 39
4.1.10. Summary ...................................................................................................... 40
4.2. Translation procedures for descriptive terms ............................................. 40
4.2.1. Literal translation ........................................................................................... 41
4.2.2. Shift or transposition procedure ..................................................................... 41
4.2.3. Omission procedure ........................................................................................ 42
4.2.4. Summary ........................................................................................................ 42
4.3. Translation procedures applied in translating dental terminology from
English to Vietnamese ........................................................................................... 43
Procedure 1: Literal translation ............................................................................... 43
Procedure 2: Transference or naturalization procedures .......................................... 43
Procedure 3: Translation by descriptive equivalence procedure .............................. 44
Procedure 4: Translation by using shift or transposition procedures ....................... 44
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Procedure 5: Translation by using procedure of omission ....................................... 44
Procedure 6: Translation by using synonymy or paraphrasing procedures ............. 44
4.4. Summary of the chapter ................................................................................... 44
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................... 45
5.1. Summary of key findings ................................................................................. 45
5.2. Limitations of the study .................................................................................... 46
5.3. Implications of the study .................................................................................. 47

REFERENCES ........................................................................................................ 50

APPENDIXES ............................................................................................................ I

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
First of all, it is not difficult to realise that the Odontology is growing in momentum in
most of the big cities of Vietnam. Many dentistry hospitals, dental clinics have been
opened everywhere with a very fast speed.
Furthermore, one new field has recently appeared and has been more and more paid
attention to, that is “Dental Tourism” – it means tourism combines to dentistry, or
tourists come to Vietnam and use Vietnam’s dental services. It can be said that Dental
Tourism will be one of the future key industry of Vietnam, which will contribute a
significant part to the development of national tourism.
Secondly, English for Odontology is like a bridge between the specialists who are
dentists, dental doctors, dental technicians, dental nurses and their customers or patients.
The specialists are interested in Odontology English to serve their job requirements,
such as to read and comprehend foreign documents, listen to and understand the content
in international workshops, do further studies oversea. The scholars or researchers pay
attention to Odontology English because of their own linguistic purposes. The
interpreters or translators take interest in Odontology English to help dentists or doctors
in their jobs. Ordinary people also need Odontology English to have basic dental
vocabulary to communicate with dentists to protect their own oral health.
It can be said that, translation of Odontology terms is a very difficult task because most
of the Odontology terms are acedemic and professional ones, which contains their jargon
prefixes and suffixes. The translator must make them clearer by paraphrasing them into
more popularly-used words or phrases.
Thus, the author of this thesis has made a decision of studying English–Vietnamese
Odontology translation procedures with the hope to provide the readers useful
translation procedures what can be applied in their jobs and requirements.
2. Scope of the study
Not many Odontology materials or documents are found in Vietnam’s bookstores. This
research focuses on studying English Odontology terms and their Vietnamese

equivalents, mainly from the dictionary “Thuật ngữ Răng Hàm Mặt” by the Faculty of
Odonto-Stomatology, Ho Chi Minh Pharmaceutical – Medical University, 1993 and the
book “Dental Terminology” by Charline M. Dofka, published by Delmar, Cengage
Learning, 2012

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The research would analyse features of typical English Odontology terms, based on
some translation procedures, then find out the most commonly applied translation
procedures.
Due to the popularity of the terms “dental” or “dentistry”, I will use them instead of the
less popular ones: “odontological” or “odontology”.
3. Aims of the study
This study is carried out with the aims of making the writer’s job easier when she works
as a translator in Hoan Kiem dental clinic, Hai Phong city. Simultaneously, the study is
the reference source for the people who are concerned about the dentistry industry.
4. Objectives
Based on the aims of the research, some specific objectives would be drawn out. Those
are:
• To find out the useful translation procedures applied in translation process.
• To make some implications and applications for the dental term translation process.
5. Research questions
On this ground, the study seeks the answer to these two questions:
Research question 1: What are the translation procedures used in the communication
between dentists and patients / clients?
Research question 2: What translation procedures are effective?
6. Significance of the study
Originating from the problems in the translation job of the researcher, in which the
listeners sometimes find it difficult to understand the dental terms, I have studied the

changes in the translation methods by applying the translation procedures of Newmark
(1995) into my job. The results show that patients and doctor communicate more
effectively, the listeners do not have to ask for the information again and again, the
translator does not have to use the online dictionaries during the dialogues.
7. Methods of the study
A mixed method which is the mixture of both quantitative and qualitative methods is
applied in the thesis. The participants are the doctors, patients or clients and the
translator – also the researcher – working in Hoan Kiem dental clinic, Hai Phong city.
8. Organization of the thesis
The paper is divided into 5 chapters as follows:
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Chapter 1: Introduction
This chapter provides readers an overview of the study including reason for choosing
the topic, scope, aims, objectives and its organization.
Chapter 2: Theoretical background
Theoretical background in the light of which the research matters is discussed in this
chapter.
Chapter 3: Methodology
This chapter provides the main methodology and procedures of data collection.
Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion
This chapter presents, analyzes and discusses the results what the researcher found out
from the collected data. It also gives answer to the research questions.
Chapter 5: Conclusion
This chapter summarizes the overall study and suggests some forms of further studies
on the field.

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CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
2.1. An overview on translation
2.1.1. Translation procedures
Many linguists have mentioned the concept of “translation procedure” up to now.
However, they have different expressions for the similar terms. Some linguists use the
term “procedure”, some others prefer “procedure”, the rest choose “method”. Clarifying
the distinction among translation procedures, procedures, and mothods is a challenging task.
Krings (1986:18) sees translation procedure as “translator’s potentially conscious plans
for solving concrete translation problems in the framework of a concrete translation
task”. Similarly, Loescher (1991:8) defines translation procedure as “a potentially
conscious procedure for solving a problem faced in translating a text or any segment of it”.
Besides, Newmark (1995: 68) clearly distinguishes translation methods with translation
procedures: “while translation methods relate to whole texts, translation procedures are
used for sentences and the smaller units of language”.
In brief, translation procedure can be basically understood as ways of choosing
appropriate translation methods and procedures applied in particular cases.
I myself choose the theory framework about translation procedures by Newmark (1995)
to apply in the thesis. In the book “A text book of translation” by Peter Newmark (1995:
68-91), he classified the translation procedures into twelve types as follows:
2.1.1.1. Literal translation
Literal translation is the most important of the procedures, so he discussed it in a separate
chapter. According to Newmark (1995: 69), literal translation ranges from one word to
one word, through group to group, collocation to collocation, to sentence to sentence;
the longer the unit, the rarer the one-to-one. This also means “above the word level,
literal translation becomes increasingly difficult”. He (1995: 70) also added “normally,
the more specific or technical a word, the less it is likely to be affected by context” and
“the more likely a literal translation”. Further, “a common object will usually have oneto-one litetal translation if there is a cultural overlap, though most languages have
strange lexical gaps” and “a term for a common object sometimes has other common
senses”.

Specific features: This type of procedure is mostly used when translating SL words /
phrases / text with available meanings presented in the dictionary into TL words /
phrases / text.

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For instance: the English words “tooth”, “gum”, “lip” has just only one Vietnamese
meaning in the dictionary as “răng”, “lợi”, “môi”, respectively, therefore the translator
has to use their available meanings.
2.1.1.2. Transference
The second type of translation procedure is the transference, which was discussed in “A
textbook of translation” (1995: 81).
Newmark defined “transference (emprunt, loan word, transcription) is the process of
transferring a SL word to a TL text as a translation procedure. He also gives some
following cases applied the procedure: “names of all living” and “most dead people”,
“geographical and topographical names including newly independent countries such as
(le) Zaire, Malawi, unless they already have recognized translations”; “names of
periodicals and newspapers; title of as yet untranslated literary works, plays, films;
names of private companies and institutions; names of public or nationalized
institutions, unless they have recognized translation; street names, addresses, etc”.
Until now, there have been always arguments about transference procedure, “the
argument in favour of transference is that it shows respect for the SL country’s culture.
The argument against it is that the translator’s job to translate, to explain” (Newmark,
1995: 82)
Specific features: This procedure is applied usefully in translation the materials and
chemicals that have in the TL words the similar pronunciation or transcription as the SL
words.
For instance: the English substance “alginate” used in moulding the tooth shapes has
the Vietnamese equivalent in the dictionary as “al-gi-nat”, which has the similar

pronunciation as the original English word.
2.1.1.3. Naturalization
Another type of procedure is the naturalization translation. In his book, Newmark (1995:
82) said: “The procedure succeeds transference and adapts the SL word first to the
normal pronunciation, then to the normal morphology of the TL”. It means the SL and
the TL words or phrases have the similar way of pronouncing and their word-forms.
Specific features: This procedure has a similar feature as the transference one in the way
it transfers the similar pronunciation or morphology of the SL words into the TL words.
For instance: the English word “abscess” in the SL has the similar pronunciation in the
TL as “áp-xe”, therefore its equivalent in the dictionary is “áp-xe” as well.

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2.1.1.4. Cultural equivalent
Every context has its own cultural aspects. The translator needs to consider the cultural
equivalents to produce more appropriate TL.
Newmark (1995: 82) also said that the procedure is “an approximate translation where
a SL cultural word is translated by TL cultural words”. He clearly points out that “the
main purpose of the procedure is to support or supplement another translation procedure
in a couplet”
Specific features: This procedure has its advantage when the TL words need a cultural
factor translation.
For instance: For the English word “gum”, if it is translated as “lợi”, it just makes sense
in the North of Vietnam whereas if it is translated as “nướu”, it will make more sense in
the South of Vietnam. However, in the case that the listener masters both dialects, they
do not differentiate.
2.1.1.5. Functional equivalent
As it is stated by Newmark (1995: 83), the procedure is usually applied to cultural words,
“it requires the use of a culture-free word, sometimes with a new specific term”.

Therefore, it generalizes or neutralizes the SL word. This procedure is “the most
accurate way of translating i.e. decentralizing a cultural word”.
Specific features: This procedure is opposite to the cultural one mentioned above when
it is used for “decentralizing a cultural word”. However, this procedure is rarely used as
a single one, it is usually combined with another procedure, such as transference
procedure, to make a “couplet’ in translation - Newmark (1995: 83)
2.1.1.6. Descriptive equivalent
According to Newmark (1995: 83-84), “in translation, description sometimes has to be
weighted against function”. Moreover, functional procedure and descriptive one can be
simultaneously used in translation. It is reasonable when he says “description and
function are essential elements in explanation and therefore in translation” and “in
translation discussion, functions used to be neglected; now it tends to be overplayed”.
For instance: “Samurai” is described as “the Japanese aristocracy fro the eleventh to the
nineteenth century”. The TL text tends to add more information to the SL text to make
it clearer to the listeners.
2.1.1.7. Synonymy
Newmark (1995: 84) uses “the word “synonym” in the sense of a near TL equivalent to
an SL word in a context, where a precise equivalent may or may not exist”. “This
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procedure is used for a SL word where there is no clear one-to-one equivalent, and the
word is not important in the text, in particular for adjectives or adverbs of quality”. The
procedure is only appropriate where literal translation is not possible and because the
word is not important enough for componential analysis. “Here, economy preceeds
accuracy.”
We can see this procedure in many examples around us every day. For instance: the
English word “tartar” can be synonymized as “calculus” to make it more easily
understood before it is translated into Vietnamese equivalent as “cao răng”.
2.1.1.8. Through-translation

Newmark (1995: 84) also says that the literal translation of common collocations, names
of organizations, the components of compounds and perhaps phrases, is known as calque
or loan translation or “through-translation”. “The most obvious examples of throughtranslation are the names of international organizations which often consist of universal
words which may be transparent for English and Romance languages, and semantically
motivated for Germanica and Slavonic”. In addition, “international organizations are
often known by their acronyms”.
For instance: “WHO” is translated as “World Health Organization” (Tổ chức Y tế Thế
giới); MPD (maximum permissible dose): liều tối đa cho phép.
2.1.1.9. Shifts or transpositions
According to Newmark (1995: 85-86), “shift” or “transposition” is a translation
procedure involving a change in the grammar from SL to TL. There are four main types.
The first type is the change from singular to plural of in the position of adjectives, nouns,
adverbs. The second type is used when a SL grammatical structure does not exist in the
TL. The third one is required when literal translation is grammatically possible but may
not accord with natural usage in the TL. The fourth type of transposition is the
replacement of a vertical lexical gap by a grammatical structure.
As it is also stated by Newmark (1995: 88), transposition is the only translation
procedure concerned with grammar, and most translators make transpositions
intuitively”.
For instance: The transposition translation is needed when translate “the white house”
from English to “ngôi nhà màu trắng” to Vietnamese, because of the position of the
adjective. The shift is required when an SL grammatical structure does not exist in the
TL, in the example: “It is interesting that ….” from English is translated as “… thật là
thú vị”.

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2.1.1.10. Modulation
When mentioning modulation procedure, Newmark (1995: 88) analyses Vinay and

Darbelnet’s definition of the procedure. Vinay and Darbelnet (1965) coin the term
“modulation” to define “a variation through a change of viewpoint, of perspective and
very often of category of thought”. They divide modulations into “eleven rather random
categories”. However, in Newmark’s opinion the “negated contrary” category, only
important one, is not discussed by Vinay and Darbelnet. The “negated contrary”
category or “positive for double negative” (or “double negative for positive”) is a
“concrete translation procedure which can be applied in principle to any action (verb)
or quality (adjective or adverb)”.
However, it is reasonable when Newmark (1995: 88) thoroughly states “in theory
negative is not as forceful as the positive; in fact, the force of the double negative
depends on the tone of voice, and therefore the appropriateness of this modulation must
depend on its formulation and the context”
Vinay and Darbelnet (1965) give several types of modulation. Some examples are:
abstract for concrete, cause for effect, one part for another, reversal of terms, active for
passive, space for time, intervals and limits, change of symbols.
For instance: the English word “loan” is alternatively translated as “claim” or “credit”
or “debt” depending on the point of view at the time of translation.
2.1.1.11. Paraphrase
One more procedure that was mentioned in the book “A textbook of translation” by
Peter Newmark is the paraphrase. This procedure was said to be “an amplification or
explanation of the meaning of a segment of the text. It is used in an “anonymous” text
when it is poorly written, or has important implications and omissions” (Newmark,
1995: 90).
However, as far as I know, in translating technical terms, this procedure is adequately
used (Chapter 4, this thesis).
2.1.1.12. Translation label
Newmark (1995: 90) regards translation label as “a provisional translation, usually of a
new institutional term, which should be made in inverted commas, which can later be
discreetly withdrawn”.
In addition, there are other procedures such as compensation, componential analysis,

reduction and expansion, and so on. Writing notes or additional information in
translation at bottom of page, at end of chapter or book is a useful way to support and
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clarify the meaning of target language terms. Normally, in the translation of terms in
diagrams, maps, or models, notes are written under them or at bottom of page.
In general, the translation procedures are useful to the translator. The translator may
apply the flexibly in particular context and he may combine two, three or four
procedures (couplets, triplets, quadruplets) to deal with a single problem.
2.1.2. Technical translation
2.1.2.1. Definition of technical translation
It is necessary to mention technical translation in this part, because, it is, to some extent,
directly or indirectly related to its branch: medical terminology. In the same way, dental
terminology belongs to its mother category “medical terminology”.
According to Peter Newmark (1995: 151) “Technical translation is one part of
specialised translation, institutional translation” and “technical translation is potentially
(but far from actual) non-cultural, therefore, universal”. Mark asserts that “Technical
translation is primarily distinguished from other forms of translation by terminology,
although terminology usually makes up about 5 – 10% of a text”
2.1.2.2. Varieties of technical style
Newmark (1995: 152) states that there are four varieties of technical language: (1)
scientific, (2) workshop level, (3) everyday usage level and (4) publicity/sales. However,
a scale is likely to be valid only for one or two terms in a new field. Based on medical
vocabulary, he suggests the three following levels:
• Academic: This includes transferred Latin and Greek words associated with
academic papers.
• Professional: Formal terms used by experts.
• Popular: Layman vocabulary which may include familiar alternative terms.
In cases where there is a TL technical equivalent, the translator may translate a SL

descriptive term by a TL technical term. This shows out the translator’s knowledge and
acclimatizes the professional reader. Conversely, in cases where the translator does not
find TL equivalent for a SL technical term, he should use a descriptive term.
One of the most important requirements for a translator to become a competent technical
translator is that he has to have much knowledge of linguistics and background
knowledge of the specific field (a particular technical field).

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2.2. An overview on terminology
2.2.1. Definition of terminology
Valeontis and Mantzari (2006: 01) described “terminology has a two fold meaning: (1)
it is the discipline concerned with the principles and methods governing the study of
concepts and their designations (terms, names, symbols) in any subject field, and the job
of collecting, processing, and managing relevant data and (2) the set of terms belonging
to the special language of an individual subject field”. In another word, a term, or
terminology unit, is the name or designation of a concept in a particular subject field.
Backer (1998: 261) pointed out the differences between words and terms 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.” In Vietnam, a lot of
research on vocabulary as well as terminology have been made by famous linguists such
as Nguyen Van Tu, Do Huu Chau, and Nguyen Thien Giap. Nguyen Van Tu (1968)
stated that terminology consists of fixed words or phrases which denote concepts of
sciences, manufacturing fields, or culture and so on. Similarly, Do Huu Chau (1998)
said that terminology includes specialist words used within a scientific field, a
profession or any technological field. Besides, Nguyen Thien Giap (1999) defined it as a
part of special lexis of a language. It consists of fixed words or groups of words which
accurately name concepts and subjects belonging to different specialized fields of human

beings. From the above-mentioned definitions, terminology can be considered fixed words
or phrases which accurately denote concepts of particular subject fields.
2.2.2. Dental terminology
Sue Ellen Wright and Gerhard Budin (1997:160) writes “Medical terminology is highlystructured and therefore lends itself to logical classification schemes.”
Charline M. Dolfka (2012: 03), in the book “Dental terminology”, states that “Dental
terminology involves the study of words and terms related specifically to the dental
sciences.” and “Rules and conventions are standardized for formation, pronunciation,
pluralization and meaning of terms.”
More specifically, she represents “In medical terminology, many words refer to the
proximity or nearness to anatomical structures. Many dental terms originate from the
names of bones or structures, but more often, from the names of dental procedures”.
2.2.2.1. Formation of the dental words
Also, in the same part, she writes “Dental terms are usually formed by a combination of
small words or syllables linked in a “building block” or word chain”.
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When analysing the structure of a dental word, some considerations to observe include
the following:
• A prefix: qualifies the word by indicating such things as the quantity, color, size,
condition or location. A word may or may not have a prefix.
• A root: provides the basic foundation for the word. A dental term may have more
than one root. When two roots are combined, a combining vowel (usually “o”) is
used to connect them.
• A suffix: is sometimes added to a root (s) to qualify or describe the meaning. The
combining vowel (o) placed after the root is not used when the suffix itself begins
with a vowel.
• A word may be easier to analyse by beginning with the suffix and working toward
the beginning of the word.
• Many word structures have multiple meanings, either from Greek, Latin, or French

languages.
2.2.2.2. Areas of dental terminology
Charline M. Dolfka (2012:3), in the book “Dental terminology” divides Dental
terminology into areas of interest like the following:
(1)

Operative dentistry: general information about the working dentistry industry.

(2)

Practice and facilities setups: Updating of duties, services, and employment
concerns as well as new instrument information

(3)

Emergency care: new guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the use
of automated external defibrillation.

(4)

Examination and prevention: the importance of proper and thorough patient
health information data and examination concerns as well as diagnostic testing.

(5)

Pain management and pharmacology: descriptions of anxiety abatement
controls as a method of pain reduction.

(6)

Radiography: digital radiography, biological effects and safety.

(7)

Cosmetic dentistry: tooth reconstruction, gingival reductions and augmentation,
implant placement and other cosmetic procedures.

(8)

Prosthodontics: material combination, makeup and uses of the requirements for
practice.

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(9)

Endodontics: charting and diagnosis of pulpal conditions as well as new
instruments such as flowmeters, loupes, microscopic surgical instruments and
methods.

(10) Oral and maxillofacial surgery: various surgical procedures for maxillofacial
treatment, bone reconstruction, implant placement as well as surgical
participation in esthetic dentistry.
(11) Orthodontics: direct or indirect banding or brackets, lingual or invisalign
braces, anchor devices.
(12) Periodontics: periodontic treatment in cosmetic dentistry,
(13) Pediatric dentistry: development and growth concerns of the child patients as
well as control and sedation of the child.
(14) Dental laboratory procedures: computer-assisted systems in the area of dental

restoration and appliances
(15) Implantology: system of the methods of implanting a total false tooth
(including both crown and root) in to the clients’ alveolar bone.
Each area has its own and specific content related to its functions and missions in the
general dental terminology system, which are presented in the book “Dental
terminology” mentioned in this thesis.
2.2.2.3. Types of dental terms
Each field of research has its technical terms and descriptive terms. These types of terms
are not the same in both form and usage.
The sources of data are taken from the two materials: one is the dictionary “Thuật ngữ
Răng Hàm Mặt” by the Faculty of Odonto-Stomatology, Ho Chi Minh Pharmaceutical
– Medical University, 1993 and the other is the book “Dental Terminology” by Charline
M. Dofka, published by Delmar, Cengage Learning, 2012. For the later book, I have
used it to compare and contrast the English meanings of the terms in order to understand
the nature of them.
In the dictionary “Thuật ngữ Răng Hàm Mặt”, I have collected about 450 terms which
are used in my every day job as a translator. They are divided into technical terms and
descriptive terms (Newmark, 1995: 153).
About 250 words / phrases of all are the technical terms, which occupies approximately
55%, and the rest of words / phrases are the descriptive terms, which occupies 45%.

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a. Technical terms
In the book “Writing That Works, Walter E. Oliu, Charles T. B & Geraid J. A, 1998),
technical terms were defined as “words which are meaningful only in a certain
specialised industry. Outside this specialised industry, these words cannot be
understood”
As mentioned above, these 250 technical terms are of academic and professional styles,

and the rest 200 descriptive terms are of popular style.
* Prefix added terms
It is found that, many terms in the dental field are added with prefixes to create different
meaning derivative words. A prefix alters the word’s meaning by indicating number,
color, size, location or condition (Charline M. Dofka, 2012, 4-5-6). The prefix added
terms are taken from the book “Dental terminology, 2012” and their meanings are
looked up in the dictionary “Thuật ngữ Răng Hàm Mặt, 1993”.
The examples are in the table below:
Prefix added words

Word meanings

(Dental terminology, 2012)

(Thuật ngữ Răng Hàm Mặt, 1993)

Bifurcation (n)

: sự chẻ đơi

Quadrant (a)

: cung ¼ (hàm)

Hypertrophy (n)

: sự nở to, phình

Incision (n)

: vêt rạch, vết khắc

Ectopic (a)

: lệch vị trí

Implant (v)

: cấy ghép

Retromolar (a)

: nghiến hàm trong

Interdental (a)

: ở khe răng

Endodontic (a)

: (thuộc) nội nha

Periodontal (a)

: (thuộc) nha chu

Malocclusion (n)

: khớp cắn lệch

Uneruption (n)

: sự không mọc được răng

Premolar (a)

: tiền hàm

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* Suffix added terms
Charline M. Dofka in her book (Dental terminology, 2012, 11) says that “An element
added to the end of the root word or combining form to describe or quality the word
meaning is a suffix. A suffix cannot stand alone and is usually united with a root element
by inserting a combining vowel (“o”) unless the suffix begins with a vowel. In that case,
the combining form or vowel is dropped.”
For instance, the surgical removal of gum tissue is the meaning of “gingivectomy” from
the root word “gingivo” (gum) and suffix “ectomy” (surgical excision). Dropping the
ending vowel in “gingivo” and adding “ectomy” to make “gingivectomy” unites these
two-word elements.
Suffixes used as adjectives are word endings that describe or show a relationship.
Suffixes have the ability to transform a noun or verb into an adjective, or verbs into
nouns, by the addition of a word ending. The specific examples are taken from the two
materials mentioned above and listed below:
Suffix-added words

Word meanings

(Dental terminology, 2012)

(Thuật ngữ Răng Hàm Mặt, 1993)

trainee, employee …

: người được huấn luyện, người làm công

patient, recipient …

: bệnh nhân, người thụ hưởng

surgeon

: bác sĩ phẫu thuật

examiner, practitioner

: người khám bệnh, thực tập sinh

physician

: bác sĩ điều trị

dentist, orthodontist

: nha sĩ, bác sĩ chỉnh nha

doctor, donor

: bác sĩ, người hiến tặng

Some suffixes are added to root elements to show processes, uses or healing. When
analyzing a long dental word, starting at the suffix may indicate something happening
to the root element, such as “-ectomy” (surgical removal) or “-trophy” (development).
Other suffixes are added to indicate pain (-algia) and so on. Here are some examples:
Suffix-added words

Meanings

(Dental terminology, 2012)

(Thuật ngữ Răng Hàm Mặt, 1993)

odontalgia

: sự đau răng

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apicoectomy

: sự cắt chóp (răng, hoặc lợi)

osteotrophy

: sự phát triển xương

gingivoplasty

: phẫu thuật nướu / lợi

osteocyte

: tế bào xương

* Eponyms
Newmark (1995: 146) stated that “Eponyms, in my definition, are any words derived
from proper names”
In dental terms, tt is remarkable that many famous people names appear in dental terms.
Those people are usually the founder or the first to invent one definition or issue. The
terms containing these people’s names have no translation in Vietnamese. The following
table illustrates the matter clearer:
Eponyms

Meanings

Maryland bridge

: cầu Maryland

California bridge

: cầu California

Frankfort mandibular incisor angle

: góc răng dưới mặt phẳng Frankfort

Richmond crown

: mão Richmond
(Thuật ngữ Răng Hàm Mặt, 1993)

* Abbriviations or acronyms
According to Newmark (1995: 148), “acronyms are an increasingly common feature of
all non-literary texts” and “often to give the referent an artificial prestige to rouse people
to find out what the letters stand for”. As for him, “there is either a standard equivalent
term or, if it does not yet exist, a descriptive term”.
Some of the dental acronyms are used in English and applied directly in Vietnamese.
They are formed from the initial letters of words that create a term or a proper name.
For instance, MPD (maximum permissible dose): liều tối đa cho phép; MOD
(mesioclusion distal): khớp cắn xa giữa / khớp cắn ngoại biên; DMD (Doctor of medical
dentistry): bác sĩ nha khoa; MGJ (mucogingival junction): đường nối lợi dính. However,
those terms are not very popular in daily used context.
* Letter-contained terms
Some dental terms contain letters in their combination, thus, there are no translation
equivalents for them. For instance, the term “X-ray tube” contains the letter “X”, it is
translated in the way that the equivalent contains the letter “X” (ống tia X-quang). In
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another example, “T-strips”, the English term contains the letter “T”, and the
Vietnamese translation also consists of that letter (nút buộc chữ T). The term “X-bite”
is in the same case: we have to translate it “cắn chéo chữ X”
b. Descriptive terms
Different from technical terms, when we meet a descriptive term in the dentistry field,
or in other text, we can still understand its meaning. Because descriptive terms’
meanings are always the same in every context. Here I arrange them in the field of
dentistry whereas they can appear in other fields because their meanings are also related

to the dentistry field. They are considered as “words whose meanings belong to a
specialised industry, but they are still broadly meaningful in other industry” (Newmark,
1995)
As far as I know, descriptive terms are of root word terms, which are usually verbs,
nouns or adjectives as in the examples below:
Verbs: intrude (thụt vào), incline (nghiêng), masticate (nhai), grind (mài), irritate (kích
ứng), bite (cắn)
Nouns: pulp (tủy), punch (kìm bấm), saliva (nước bọt), sac (túi, nang), broach (cái châm
dùng để thăm dò ống tủy)
Adjectives: oral (thuộc răng miệng), manual (bằng tay), fixed (cố định)
(Thuật ngữ Răng Hàm Mặt, 1993)
They are phrases as well, such as: cemental resorption (sự tiêu xê-măng), rest bar (thanh
tì / thanh ngáng), incisal rest (tựa bờ răng cửa), retaining wire (dây cố vị), gingival
retraction (sự co nướu / lợi), sensitive teeth (răng nhạy cảm), dental laboratory
technician (kỹ thuật viên phục hình răng).
(Thuật ngữ Răng Hàm Mặt, 1993)
2.3. Summary of the chapter
In this chapter, the theory on translation procedures by Newmark (1995) as well as
technical translation with varieties of technical styles is stated. The field of dental
terminology is also presented here with the three sub parts. The first is the formation of
the dental terms in which prefixes, suffixes or roots are usually taken into consideration.
The chapter also mentions the dental areas of interests (Charline M. Dofka, 2012) which
are: Operative dentistry, practice facilities setups, emergency care, examination and
prevention, pain management, radiography, cosmetic dentistry, prosthodontics,
endodontics, orthodontics, periodontics, periatric dentistry, dental laboratory procedures
and implantology.
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The last but not least is the types of dental terms which are divided into technical terms

and descriptive terms, based on the theory of Newmark (1995).
The next chapter appears to deal with the research methodology of the thesis.

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