Useful techniques for English - Vietnamese anh Vietnamese - English translation

USEFUL TECHNIQUES FOR ENGLISH-VIETNAMESE AND VIETNAMESE-ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Tran Nguyen Dang Tuan *

The study was carried out by using qualitative method to interpret and explain the techniques of translation. Besides, quantitative method was also employed to generalize and analyze the data from the survey questionnaire.

Hereafter are five useful techniques for English-Vietnamese and Vietnamese-English translation with illustrated examples for attempting to contribute to better translation competence of English learners.

1. Addition technique is the way, when translating, translators can add some words which are not found in the source language so as to make the translation text increasingly fluent and coherent. About this issue, Hung (1986:15) has said:

Additions are caused by various factors. Very often, they are necessitated by what may be called “Lexical incompleteness” of certain word group in the source language. Thus, in English in many cases words which are omitted can be easily restored in the context, while in Vietnamese their actual presence in the group is necessary, which calls for additions in translation.

Hereafter are some sample versions translated from English into Vietnamese and vice versa.

“A peace committee. ® Uỷ ban bảo vệ hoà bình.” (Su, 2003:32). Obviously to reach the adequate and fluent meaning, “bảo vệ” was added in the Vietnamese version whereas there was no equivalent meaning “bảo vệ” in the source language.

“Bấy nhiêu người đều ùa nhau vào đẩy, thì hòn đá lăn ra bên đường... ® All men eagerly push the stone, it rolls out of the road immediately...” (An & Anh, 1993:161). The addition here is “immediately” to emphasize a level of a clear and complete expression in the version.

“He was always glad because he showed his gratitude to his parents. ® Vậy mà lúc nào ông cũng lấy làm vui vẻ trong lòng, vì có thế thì con mới tỏ hết lòng hiếu với cha mẹ.” (An & Anh, 1993:69). “Vậy mà”, “lấy làm” and “trong lòng” were added to convey the total feelings and spirits of the person involved.

2. The exact opposite of addition technique, omissions are the way, when translating, to reduce the pleonastic words that can be unnecessary for the meaning in the translation text. In other words, translators can make use of the omission technique to omit some redundant words, which does not really change the meaning of the version. Hung (1986:15) has mentioned:

Omissions are the reverse of additions and are used to ensure a greater degree of what is called “compression” that is reducing the redundancy of the text by omitting words which can be easily restored from the context.

The following are some examples about this technique.

“... and he bent down over the bed and took his wife’s hand and began to caress her forehead. ® ... rồi anh cúi xuống cầm tay vợ và vuốt ve trán nàng.” (An & Anh, 1993:183). “over the bed” and “began” were omitted to make the version more concise.

“Với tư cách là những sinh viên mới, chúng ta phải học bài trước khi đến lớp học. ® As new students, we must study lessons before class.” (Dung, 2003:24). The verb “đến” was omitted to convey a concise verison in the target language.

“One day, a dog entered an inn, stole a piece of meat and ran away with it. ® Một hôm, có một con chó vào hàng cơm ngoạm trộm miếng thịt rồi bỏ chạy.” (An & Anh, 1993:79). It would be wordy if the verion in the target language was rendered “ ….rồi bỏ chạy với miếng thịt/với nó.” Instead, “with it” was omitted to make the version briefer and smoother, but the meaning remained the same.

3. Replacements are the way, when translating, translators ought to get insights about two common types of linguistic units: (i) word forms and (ii) parts of speech, which have considerable influence on grammatical transformations between the source language and the target language.

i. Special attention should be paid to singular and plural forms of word forms that are commonly recognized in the rendering. In some cases, translators, to reach the fluency in the target language, can convert the plural forms into the singular ones and vice versa.

The following are some examples about this technique.

“To tell him an hour before your date is the epitome of bad manners. ® Chỉ báo cho người yêu trước cuộc hẹn một tiếng đồng hồ là biểu lộ lối cư xử tệ.” (Yen, 2004:67). The plural noun – “manners” was transformed into the singular one – “lối cư xử” rather than “những lối cư xử”.

“Họ sẽ nằm trên cỏ trong vòng tay của nhau,... ® They would lie down on the grass in one another’s arms,...” (Yen, 2004:59). It is clear that the singular noun “vòng tay” was replaced by the plural form “arms” in the rendering.

“They would listen to the beating of their hearts. ® Họ sẽ lắng nghe nhịp đập của trái tim.” (Yen, 2004:149).It is clear to recognize the replacements of the word forms. The word “hearts” in plural form was rendered into “trái tim” in singular form instead of “những trái tim” which sounds too verbose.

ii. Replacements of parts of speech are quite common in translation. Nouns in English, for example, can be replaced by verbs or adjectives in Vietnamese and vice versa to obtain accuracy and suitability of semantics in English and Vietnamese styles.

The following examples illustrate this part of the technique.

“Our belief is that Vietnam’s economy will be at the top-ten of the world. ® Chúng tôi tin rằng nền kinh tế Việt Nam sẽ được xếp vào 10 nước đứng đầu thế giới.” (Dung, 2003:54). Obviously, the possessive adjective “Our” was replaced with the pronoun “Chúng tôi” and the noun “belief” was replaced with the verb “tin” to match the suitable meaning in the target-language style.

“Trong buổi họp tổng kết, các chuyên gia đã tiếp chuyện một cách thân mật và sôi nổi với các đại diện của chính phủ. ® At the summing-up conference, the experts had friendly and enthusiastic talks with government and representatives.” (Dung, 2003:86). The verb “tiếp chuyện” was replaced by the noun “talks” thanks to the replacement technique.

“Oh dear, never more could my love turn to him; for faith has been blighted... ® Ôi, không bao giờ tôi có thể yêu anh ấy được nữa; vì lòng chung thuỷ đã không còn...” (Yen, 2004:225). Obviously, the noun “love” was converted into the verb “yêu” by using the replacement technique.

4. With transposition technique, translators can absolutely change the order of the structures: words, phrases, clauses and sentences without altering the content of the utterance. Hung (1986:12) has stated:

It should be noted that the traditional word order in English is Subject – Predicate – Object – Adverbial modifier (manner/means/instruments + place + time) while the common tendency in Vietnamese is to place adverbial modifier of time at the beginning of the sentence.

Such technique is more clearly illustrated by the following examples.

“Use your napkin to wipe the area around your mouth every few minutes. ® Chốc chốc bạn hãy dùng khăn ăn lau quanh miệng.” (Yen, 2004:82). In this case, “every few minutes” at the ending order was transposed when being rendered into the target language.

“The train had already left when we arrived at the station. ® Khi chúng tôi đến thì xe lửa đã rời ga rồi.” (Hung, 1986:10). The reason why “Khi chúng tôi đến nơi” was transformed to the first order as being rendered is that the first place of a sentence, in Vietnamese, is most often occupied by the subordinate clause.

“Nếu nó cứ lười biếng như thế mãi, thì về sau chắc sẽ phải khổ suốt đời. ® He will be unhappy all his life, if he continues to be lazy.” (An & Anh, 1993:31). Opposite to the Vietnamese style, the subordinate clause is mostly surpassed at the first place by the main clause. Thus, it can be easy to find that “if he continues to be lazy” – the subordinate clause was transferred to the end in the rendering.

5. It is of expressions that there are various types, but mainly proverbs, short well-known statements or wise sayings giving people practical advice about life, are discussed. It should be borne in mind that translators, when applying the expressions to proverbs, ought to find in the target language utterances or word combinations which have an equivalent meaning to those in the source language. Actually, Su (2003) asserted that the meaning of a fixed combination is not equal to the sum of the meaning of separate words.

The following are some examples about this technique.

“No guide, no realization. ® Không thầy đố mày làm nên.” (An & Anh, 1993:87). With the expression technique, it can be easy to find that “No guide, no realization” was conveyed meaningfully by providing the equivalent-meaning saying “Không thầy đố mày làm nên” in the target language rather than the attempt of translating literally the message (e.g. “No guide, no realization” ® Không có sự hướng dẫn thì không có sự hiểu rõ.) Obviously, this sounds ambiguous and incomprehensible.

“Có tiền mua tiên cũng được. ® Money makes many things.” (An & Anh, 1993:49). It cannot be translated word by word in this case (e.g. “Có tiền mua tiên cũng được.” ® Money can even buy a fairy.) Instead, to be easily understandable, the translators did find the equivalent-meaning saying “Money makes many things” in the target language to transmit a clearer message to the target-language receptor.

“Practice makes perfect. ® Có công mài sắt có ngày nên kim.” (An & Anh, 1993:141). Like the example above, it seems to be a good choice as using the expression technique. This makes the version clear and coherent. How can the translator convey the completely meaningful message if they use the word-for-word translation (e.g. “Practice makes perfect.” ® Thực hành tạo nên sự hoàn hảo)? This would hardly convey any sense to the Vietnamese receptor due to the unfamiliarity with the custom.

In summary, the study has shown some techniques for English – Vietnamese and Vietnamese – English translation such as additions, omissions, replacements, transpositions and expressions with illustrated examples which are considered to be very useful for English learners. This is the researcher’s effort and contribution. For the clarity, each technique was discussed individually, but in reality, these techniques can be combined during the translation when needed. Hopefully, this research will be a small useful booklet for those who are concerned in English – Vietnamese and Vietnamese – English translation.

Last of all, some recommendations are expected to give to students of English, to teachers of English and for further research.

1. Students ought to invest much more time and effort in studying translation by searching for and equipping themselves with more knowledge about translation techniques, cultures, societies and the world so as to enrich and specialize their translation skills.

2. Teachers, to help students better their translation skills, are supposed to provide them with profound techniques rather than word-for-word translation or/and the traditional ways which the students have been taught. Teachers should also widen students’ knowledge by giving them translation assignments in various fields.

3. In view of limited time, this research cannot cover every aspect of translation and cannot even explore the presented techniques deeply. For example, only proverbs were discussed in the expressions. Hence, more research needs to be done on this field to help English users easily overcome their difficulties in translation and improve their translation competence.

REFERENCES

1. An, V. L. and Anh, V. L. (1999). 100 Bài Luyện Dịch Việt - Anh (100 Vietnamese - English Translations). Dong Nai: Dong Nai General Publisher.

2. Dung, L. M. (2003). Written Translation of Articles in Vietnamese-English (Luyện Dịch Báo Chí Việt - Anh). Ha Noi: Youth Publisher.

3. Hatim, B. and Mason, I. (1990). Discourse and the Translator. London and NewYork: Longman.

4. Hung, N. T. (1986). A Course in the Theory of Translation. HCMC: HCMC General Publisher.

5. Newmark, P. P. (1984). An approach to translation. UK: Pergamon Press Ltd.

6. Robinson, D. (1999). Becoming a Translator. New York: Roultledge

7. Su, L. V. (2003). Cẩm Nang Luyện Dịch và Ngữ Pháp Tiếng Anh - Translation & Grammar. Ha Noi: Culture and Information Publisher.

8. Yen, N. T. (2004). Lời nói từ trái tim. HCMC: HCMC General Publisher

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* Tran Nguyen Dang Tuan, a student of English in class 04AV3, graduated from Lac Hong University in 2008.

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Useful techniques for English - Vietnamese anh Vietnamese - English translation