LESSON 1

FORM AND MEANING

1.1. What is translation?

1.1.1. Translation is the expression in another language (target language) of what has been expressed in
one language (source language), preserving semantic and stylistic equivalencies. (By Roger T.
Bell).
1.1.2. Translation is the replacement of a representation of a text in one language by a representation of
an equivalent text in a second language. (By Roger T. Bell).
The author continues and makes the problems of equivalence very plain:
Texts in different languages can be equivalent in different degrees (fully or partially different), in respect
of different levels of presentation (in respect of context, of semantics, of grammar, of lexis, etc.) and at
different ranks (word-for-word, phrase-for-phrase, sentence-for-sentence).
However, languages are different from each other; they are different in form having different codes and
rules regulating the construction of grammatical stretches of language and these forms have different
meanings. To shift from one language to another is, by definition, to change the forms. Also, the contrasting
forms convey meanings which cannot but fail to coincide totally; there is no absolute synonym between
words in the same language, why should anyone be surprised to discover a lack synonym between
languages. Something is always “lost” (or might one suggest “gain”?) in the process and translators can find
themselves being accused of reproducing only part of the original and so “betraying” the author’s intentions.
Hence the traitorous nature ascribed to the translator by the notorious Italian proverb: “Traduttore traditore”.
Faced by a text in a language, we are able to work out not only the meaning of each word and
sentence but also its communicative value, its place in time and space and information about the participants
involved in its production and reception. We might take, as a light-hearted model of the questions we can ask
of the text, the first verse of a short poem by Kipling.
I keep six honest serving men; (They taught me all I knew); 1976+
Their names were What? And Why? And When? And How? And Where? And Who?
What? is the message contained in the text; the content of the signal.
Why? orients us towards the intention of the sender, the purpose for which the text was is used.
(Informing, persuading, flattering, etc.)
When? is concerned with the time of communication realized in the text and setting in its historical
context; contemporary or set in the recent or remote past or future.
Where? is concerned with the place of communication, the physical location of the speech event
realized in the text.
How? refers to whether the text is written in a formal or informal way.
Who? refers to the participants involved in the communication; the sender and receiver.

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 1.1.3. Translation is rendering a written text into another language in a way that the author intended the
text. (By Bui Tien Bao - Hanoi National University)
“Translators are concerned with written texts. They render written texts from one language into another
language. Translators are required to translate texts which arrange from simple items including birth
certificates or driving licences to more complex written materials such as articles in journals of various
kinds, business contracts and legal documents.” (Bui Tien Bao - Hanoi National University).
1.1.4. Translation, by dictionary definition, consists of changing from one state or form to another, to
turn into one’s own or another’s language. (The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 1974). Translation
is basically a change of form. When we speak of the form of a language, we are referring to the
actual words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, etc. The forms are referred to as the surface
structure of a language. It is the structural part of language which is actually seen in print or heard
in speech. In translation the form of the source language is replaced by the form of the
receptor/target language. But how is this change accomplished? What determines the choices of
form in the translation?
The purpose of this lesson is to show that translation consists of transferring the meaning of the source
language into the receptor language. This is done by going from the form of the first language to the form of
the second language by a way of semantic structure. It is meaning that is being transferred and must be held
constant. Only the form changes. The form from which the translation is made will be called the source
language and the form into which it is to be changed will be called the receptor language. Translation, then,
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 the lexicon, grammatical structure which are appropriate in the receptor language and its
cultural context.
Let us look at an example. Assume that we are translating the Vietnamese sentence “Cám ơn bạn đã
giúp đỡ tôi tận tình.” into English. This Vietnamese sentence has the verb “giúp đỡ tận tình”, but to convey
the same meaning in English one would use a noun phrase: “your kind help”. To do effective translation one
must discover the meaning of the source language and use the receptor language forms which express the
meaning in a natural way.
It is the purpose of this unit to familiarize the learners with the basic linguistic and sociolinguistic factors
involved in translating a text from a source language into a receptor language, and to give them enough
practice in the translation process for the development of skills in cross-language transfer.

1.2. Characteristics of language which affect translation

There are certain characteristics of languages which have a very direct bearing on principles of
translation. First, let us look at the characteristics of meaning components. Meaning components are
packaged into lexical items, but they are packaged differently in some language than in another. In most
languages there is a meaning of plurality, for example the English -s. This often occurs in the grammar as a
suffix on the nouns or verbs or both. In Vietnamese, however, plurality is expressed in an isolated word
“những/các”. Many times a single word in the source language will need to be translated by several words.
For example, a projector was called the thing that shows pictures on the wall by the Chipara Bolivia.
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 Second, it is characteristic of languages that the same meaning component will occur in several surface
structure lexical items. In English, the word “sheep” occurs. However, the words “lamb”, “ram” and “ewe”
also include the meaning “sheep”. They include the addition meaning components of young (in “lamb”,
adult and male in “ram” and adult and female in “ewe”. In Peru, “lamb” would need to be translated by
“sheep its child”, “ram” by “sheep big” and “ewe” by “sheep its woman”.
Third, it is further characteristic of language that one form will be used to represent several alternative
meanings. This again is obvious from looking in any good dictionary. For example, the Reader’s Digest
Great Encyclopedic Dictionary gives 54 meanings for the English word “run”. Most words have more than
one meaning. There will be a primary meaning - the one which usually comes to mind when the word is said
in isolation and the secondary meaning - the additional meanings, which a word has in context with other
words. In English, we can say “the boy runs”, using “run” in its primary meaning. We can also say “the motor
runs, the river runs, and his nose runs”, using runs in its secondary meanings. This principle is not limited to
lexical items for it is also true that the same grammatical pattern may express several quite different
meanings. For instance, the English possessive phrase “my house” may mean “the house I built”, “the house I
rent”, “the house I live in”, or “the house for which I drew up in my plans.” Only the larger context
determines the meaning. Notice the following possessive phrases and the variety of meanings:
my car ownership
my brother kinship
my foot part-whole
my singing action
my book ownership or authorship
( the book I own, or, the book I wrote)
my village residence
( the village where I live)
my train use
(the train I ride on)
Just as words have primary and secondary meanings, so grammatical markers have their primary
function and often have other secondary functions. The preposition “on” is used in English to signal a va-riety
of meanings. Compare the following uses of “on” with the corresponding form used in Vietnamese.

John found the book on the floor. John tìm thấy cuốn sách trên sàn nhà.
John found the book on Mathematics. John tìm thấy cuốn sách viết về môn Toán.
John found the book on Tuesday. John tìm thấy cuốn sách vào thứ Ba.
John found the book on sale. John tìm thấy cuốn sách đang bày bán.

Compare also the following uses of “by”

John was stopped by the policeman.
John was stopped by the bookstand.
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 In the first, by is used to signal the meaning that the policeman is the agent of the action. In the second,
by is used to signal that the bookstand is the location. We have seen that one form may express many
meanings. On the other hand, another characteristic of languages is that a single meaning may be expressed
in a variety of forms. For example, the meaning “the cat is black” may be expressed by the following: the cat
is black, the black cat, and, the cat, which is black, depending on how that meaning relates to other
meanings. In addition, the meanings of “Is this place taken?”, “Is there anyone sitting here?” and “May I sit
here?” are essentially the same. Also, the meaning is essentially the same in the following English sentences:
Others blamed John because of the difficulty.
Others blamed John for the difficulty.
Others blamed the difficulty on John.
Others said John was responsible for the difficulty.
Others accused John of being responsible for the difficulty.
We have seen that even within a single language there are a great variety of ways in which form
expresses meaning. Only when a form being used in its primary meaning or function is there a one-to-one
correlation between form and meaning. The other meanings are secondary meanings or figurative meanings.
Words have these extended meanings and in the same way grammatical forms have extended usages
(secondary and figurative function). This characteristic of “skewing”; that is, the diversity or the lack of one-to-
one correlation between form and meaning is the basic reason that translation is a complicated task. If there
were no skewing, then all lexical items and all grammatical forms would have only one meaning and a literal
word-for-word and grammatical structure-for-grammatical structure translation would be possible. But the fact
is that a language is a complex set of skewed relationship between meaning (semantics) and form (lexicon
and grammar). Each language has its own distinctive forms for representing the meaning. Therefore, in
translation the same meaning may have to be expressed in another language by a very different form.
To translate the form of one language literally according to the corresponding form in another language
would often change the meaning or at least result in a form which is unnatural in the second language.
Meaning must, therefore, have priority over form in translation. It is meaning that is to be carried over from
the source language to the receptor language, not the linguistic forms. For example, to translate the English
sentence “he is cold hearted” i.e. His heart is cold (meaning “he is unfeeling, has no emotional sympathy.”)
literally into Mambila in Nigeria would be understood to mean, “he is peaceful, not quick-tempered.” And if
translated literally into Cinyanja in Zambia, it would mean, “he is frightened.” The nature of language is that
each language uses different forms and these forms have secondary and figurative meanings which add
further complications. A word-for-word translation which follows closely the form of the source language is
called a literal translation. A literal translation does not communicate the meaning of the source text. It is
generally no more than a string of words intended to help someone read a text in its original language. It is
unnatural and hard to understand, and may even be quite meaningless, or give a wrong meaning in the
receptor language. It can hardly be called a translation. The goal of a translator should be to produce a
receptor language text (a translation) which is idiomatic; that is one which has the same meaning as the
source language but is expressed in the natural form of the receptor language. The meaning, not form is
retained.

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 The following is a literal translation of a story first told in the Quiche language of Guatemala:
“It is said that being one man not from here, not known where the his or the he comes where. One day
the things he walks in a plantation or in them the coastlands, he saw his appearance one little necklace, or he
thought that a little necklace the very pretty thrown on the ground in the road. He took the necklace this he
threw in his mouth for its cause that coming the one person another to his behind ness, for his that not he
encounters the one the following this way in his behindness not he knows and that the necklace the he
threw in his mouth this one snake and the man this one died right now because not he knows his
appearance the snake or that the he ate this not this a necklace only probably this snake.”
Now compare the above with the following less literal translation of the same story:
“It is said that there once was a man not from here, and I do not know his town or where he came
from, who one day was walking in a plantation (or in the coastlands). He saw a little necklace, or rather, what
he thought was a very pretty little necklace, lying on the road. He grabbed this necklace and threw this into
his mouth because there was someone coming along behind him, and he did not want the other person to
see it. He did not know that the necklace he threw into his mouth was really a snake. The man died in short
order because he did not recognize from its appearance that it was a snake. He did not know that what he
had put in his mouth was not a necklace, but rather a snake.”
In the first, each quiche word was replaced by the nearest English equivalent. The result was nonsense.
In the second translation, the natural forms of English lexicon and grammar were used to express the
meaning of the Quiche story. Below the story is again rewritten in a more idiomatic English style.
“I am told that there once was a stranger from some other town who was walking in a plantation along
the coast. As he walked along he suddenly saw a very pretty little necklace lying on the road. He snatched up
this necklace and threw this into his mouth because there was another person walking behind him and he
did not want him to see the necklace. The stranger did not know that the necklace was really a snake. The
man died immediately. He died because he did not realize that it was a snake. He did not know he put a
snake into his mouth rather than a necklace.”
Anything which can be said in one language can be said in another. It is possible to translate. The goal
of the translator is to keep the meaning constant. Wherever necessary, the receptor language form should be
changed in order that the source language meaning should not be distorted. Since a meaning expressed by a
particular form in one language may be expressed by quite a different form in another language, it is often
necessary to change the form when translating.

1.3. Notes

Form-based translation: dịch dựa vào hình thức hay cấu trúc
Meaning-based translation: dịch dựa vào nghĩa, dựa vào nội dung cần chuyển tải

Source language: ngôn ngữ gốc

Receptor language: ngôn ngữ dịch

Context: văn cảnh/ngữ cảnh

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Principle of translation: nguyên tắc dịch/kĩ thuật dịch

Meaning component: thành tố nghĩa

Lexical: thuộc về từ vựng

Surface structure: cấu trúc sâu/cấu trúc ngữ nghĩa

Deep structure: cấu trúc bề mặt

Meaning/ sense: nghĩa

Primary meaning: nghĩa chính/nghĩa gốc

Secondary meaning: nghĩa phái sinh

Literal translation: dịch từng từ một

One-to-one correlation: quan hệ một đối một

Figurative meaning: nghĩa bóng

Function: chức năng

Idiomatic translation: dịch đúng, dịch sát nghĩa

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 LESSON 2
KIND OF TRANSLATION

2.1. Literal versus idiomatic

Because a given text has both form and meaning, as discussed in the previous lesson, there are two
main kinds of translation. One is form-based and the other is meaning-based. Form-based translations attempt
to follow the form of the source language and are known as literal translation. Meaning-based translations
make every effort to communicate the meaning of the source language text in the natural forms of the
receptor language. Such translations are called idiomatic translations.
An interlinear translation is a completely literal translation. For some purposes, it is desirable to
reproduce the linguistic features of the source text, as for example, in a linguistic study of that language.
Although these literal translations may be very useful for purposes related to the study of the source
language, they are of little help to speakers of the receptor language who are interested in the meaning of the
source language text. A literal translation sounds like nonsense and has little communication value. For
example:

Vietnamese: Mời bạn về nhà tôi chơi.

Literal translation: Invite friend about house me play.
This literal translation makes little sense in English. The appropriate translation would be: Would you
like to come to my home?
If the two languages are related, the literal translation can often be understood, since the general
grammatical form may be similar. However, the literal choice of lexical items may the translation sounds
foreign. The following bilingual announcement was overheard at an airport ( Barnwell 1980:18)
Literal English: Madame Odette passenger with destination Domda is demanded on the telephone.
This English version is a literal translation of the French.
French: Madame Odette, passager µ destination de Domda, est demandeÐ au telefon.
An idiomatic translation into English would be: Miss Odette, passenger for Domda. You are wanted on
the phone.
Except for interlinear translation, a truly literal translation is uncommon. Most translators who tend to
translate literally actually make a partially modified literal translation. They modify the order and grammar
enough to use acceptable sentence structure in the receptor language. However, the lexical items are
translated literally. Occasionally, these are also changed to avoid complete nonsense or to improve the
communication. However, the result still does not sound natural. Notice the following example from a
language in Papua New Guinea:
Ro abombo ngusifu pamariboyandi.
I my heart fastened-her. (literal)
I fastened her in my heart. (modified literal)

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 The modified literal translation changes the order into English structure. However, the sentence still
does not communicate in clear English. An idiomatic translation would have used the form: “I never forgot
her.” or “I’ve kept her memory in my heart.” A person who translates in a modified literal manner will
change the grammatical forms when the constructions are obligatory. However, if he has a choice, he will
follow the form of the source text even though a different form might be more natural in the receptor
language. Literal and modified literal translations consistently err in that they choose literal equivalents for the
words, i.e. lexical items being translated. Literal translations of words, idioms result in unclear, unnatural, and
sometimes nonsensical translations. In a modified literal translation, the translator usually adjusts the
translation enough to avoid the nonsense and wrong meanings, but the unnaturalness still remains.
Idiomatic translations use the natural forms of the receptor language, both in the grammatical
constructions and in the choice of lexical items. A truly idiomatic translation does not sound like a
translation. It sounds like it was written originally in the receptor language. Therefore, a good translator will
try to translate idiomatically. This is his goal. However, translations are often a mixture of a literal transfer of
the grammatical units along with some idiomatic translation of the meaning of the text. It is not easy to
consistently translate. A translator may express some parts of his translation in very natural forms and then in
other parts fall back into a literal form. In one translation, the source text said, “Nhiều du khách nước ngoài
đã giới thiệu cho chúng tôi về khách sạn Hương Giang ”. It was translated, “Many foreign tourists have
introduced us about Huong Giang Hotel.” It would have been translated idiomatically, “Huong Giang Hotel
has been recommended to us by a number of foreign tourists.” The translator’s goal should be to reproduce
in a receptor language a text which communicates the same message as the source language but using the
natural grammatical and lexical choices of the receptor language. The basic overriding principle is that an
idiomatic translation reproduces the meaning of the source language in the natural form of the receptor
language.

2.2. Translating grammatical features

Parts of speech are language specific. Each language has its own division of the lexicon into classes such
as nouns, verbs, adjectives and so on. Different languages will have different classes and subclasses. It will not
always be possible to translate a source language noun with a noun in the receptor language. For example,
English has many nouns which really refer to actions while Vietnamese prefers to express actions as verbs
rather than nouns.
In one translation, the source text said, “There is a general agreement that the govern-ment has given
top priority to education.” It was translated, “Có một sự đồng ý chung rằng Chính phủ đã dành nhiều ưu
tiên cho giáo dục”. This would have been translated idiomatically, “Ai cũng đồng ý rằng Chính phủ đã
dành nhiều ưu tiên cho giáo dục”. Similarly, a translator in Papua New Guinea was asked to translate the
Eight Point Improvement Plan for Papua New Guinea. One point reads, “ Decentralization of economic
activity, planning and government spending, with emphasis on agricultural development, village industry,
better internal trade, and more spending channeled through local and area bodies”. Such sentences are very
difficult for translators who want to translate into the native language of the country. Words such as
Decentralization, activity, planning, government spending, emphasis development, trade would have to be
rendered by verbs in most languages. When verbs are used, then, the appropriate subject and object of the
verb may need to be made explicit also. The form in the receptor language is very different from the source
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language form and yet this kind of adjustment, using verbs rather than using nouns, must be made in order
to communicate the message. An idiomatic translation was made which used verbs as in the following.
“The government wants to decrease the work it does for businesses and what it plans and the money it
spends in the capital, and wants to increase what people and groups in local area do to help farmers and
small businesses whose owners live in the villages, and help people in this country buy and sell things made
in this country and to help local groups spend the government’s money.”
Most languages have a class of words which may be called pronouns. Pronominal systems vary greatly
from language to language and the translator is obliged to use the form of the receptor language even though
they may have very different meanings than the pronouns of the source language. For example, if one is
translating into Kiowa (USA), the pronouns will have to indicate a different between singular, dual and plural
person even though the source language does not make this three-way distinction. Or if a translator is
translating into Balinese, he must distinguish degrees of honor even though nothing in the source language
indicates these distinctions. He will need to understand the culture of the Balinese and the cultural context of
the text he is translating in order to choose correctly.
In English, the first plural pronoun we is often used when the real meaning is second person you. The
reason for the use of we is to show empathy and understanding. The nurse say to the sick child, “It’s time for
us to take our medicine now.” Or the teacher says, “We’re not going to shout, quietly to our we’ll walk
places.” Clearly, the pronouns do not refer to the nurse or the teacher but to the children whom she is
addressing you. In translating these pronouns into another language, a literal translation with first person
plural would probably distort the meaning. The translator would need to look for the natural way to
communicate second person and the feeling of empathy carried by the source language. Grammatical
constructions also vary between the source language and the receptor language. The order, for example, may
be completely reserved. The following simple sentences from Vietnamese is given with a literal English
translations:

Chị sống ở đâu?

You live where ?
Cô ấy thường mặc áo sơ mi vải silk màu xanh cỡ nhỏ.
She often wears a shirt silk blue small.
It will readily be seen that understandable translations into English requires a complete reversal of the
order: She often wears a small blue silk shirt. It is not uncommon that passive constructions will need to be
translated with an active construction or vice versa, depending on the natural form of the receptor language.
For example, Vietnamese people tend to use active constructions to express their ideas whereas English
people prefer to use passive constructions.
Example:
1. English: Nguyen Du is considered to be a great poet. ( passive)
Vietnamese: Người ta xem Nguyễn Du là một nhà thơ vĩ đại. (active)
2. English:
A: What has happened to all your money after the will was settled and the business was sold?
(passive)
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 B: The usual thing, false friends, fast-living style and bad investment.
Vietnamese:
A: Chuyện gì đã xảy ra với toàn bộ số tiền mà bạn có được sau khi giải quyết xong chuyện chúc
thư và bán đi cả sản nghiệp. (active)
B: Cũng lẽ thường tình thôi, bạn bè giả dối, ăn chơi hoang đàn và đầu tư sai chỗ.
The above translated sentences are only examples to show some types of grammatical adjustments
which will result if a translator translates idiomatically in the source language. Certainly, there will be times
by coincidence they match, but a translator should translate the meaning not concern himself with whether
the forms turn out the same or not.

2.3. Translating lexical features

Each language has its own idiomatic way of expressing meaning lexical items. Languages abound in
idioms, secondary meanings, metaphors, and other figurative meanings. For example, notice the following
ways in which a fever is referred to ( literal translations are given to show the source language form):
Greek: The fever left him.
Aguaruna: He cooled.
Vietnamese: He cooled. or The fever was no more in him.
Ilocano: The fever was no more in him.
The English translations of all six would be: His fever went down, or His temperature returned to
normal. All languages have idioms, i.e. a string of words whose meaning is different than the meaning
conveyed by the individual words. In English to say that someone is bullheaded means that the person is
“stubborn”. The meaning has little to do with bull or head. Similarly, in Viet-namese to say that someone is
“cứng đầu cứng cổ” means that the person is “stubborn”. The meaning has to do with “đầu” or “cổ”.
Languages abound in such idioms. The following are a few English idioms using in and into: run into debt,
rush into print, step into a practice, jump into a fight, dive into a book, stumble into acquaintance, fall in
love, break into society. In spite of all these combinations, one cannot say the following break into debt, fall
into print, rush into a fight, dive into debt, etc. The combinations are fixed as to form and their meaning
comes from their combination. A literal word-for-word translation of these idioms into another language will
not make sense. The form cannot be kept, but the receptor language word or phrase which has the
equivalent meaning will be the correct one to use in the translation. The following idioms occur in
Vietnamese. In the first column is a literal translation from Vietnamese. In the second is an idiomatic
translation. The literal English is misleading.
LITERAL IDIOMATIC
I don’t have my eye on you. I don’t remember you.
He is as strong as a buffalo. He is as strong as a horse.
I have buried my head into my business. I have been busy with my work.

Translators who wants to make a good idiomatic translation often find figures of speech especially

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challenging. A literal translation of strong as a horse might sound really strange in a language where the
comparison between a strong person and a horse has never been use as a figure of speech. In Vietnamese it
would be more natural to say strong as a buffalo. Similarly, a literal translation of blind as a bat might sound
really strange in a language where the comparison between a blind person and a bat has never been use as a
figure of speech. In Aguaruma it would be more natural to say blind as a fox. There is a legend in which the
sun borrowed the fox’s eyes and then returned to heaven taking the fox’s good eyes with him and leaving the
fox with the sun’s inferior eyes. That is why they say, when the fox is trying to see, he stretches back his head
and looks with his throat. Figures of speech are often based on stories or historical incidents. Names of
animals are used metaphorically in most languages. But the comparison is often different and so the figure
will be misunderstood unless some adjustment is made. For example, when someone is called a pig in
English, it usually means he is dirty or a greedy eater. In Vietnamese, it has different meanings. It could
means that the person is stupid or that the person is a greedy. Care would need to be taken if pig were used
metaphorically or a wrong meaning might result in the receptor language.
Some lexical combinations of the source language may be ambiguous. The meaning is not clear. For
example, “It is too hot to eat,” could mean any of the following: The food is too hot to eat; the weather is too
hot for us to feel like eating; the horse is too hot after running a race and does not want to eat. In the process
of making an idiomatic translation, such ambiguities must often be resolved and only the intended meaning
communicated.

2.4. Conclusion
It is obvious that translation is a complicated process. However, a translator who is concerned with
transferring the meaning will find that the receptor language has a way in which the desired meaning can be
expressed even though it may be very different from the source language form. Considering the complexity
of language structures, how can a translator ever hope to produce an adequate translation? Literal translation
can only be avoided by careful analysis of the source language: by, first of all, understanding clearly the
message to be communicated. A translator who takes the time to study carefully the source language text, to
write analysis of translation. His goal must be to avoid literalisms and to strive for a truly idiomatic receptor
language text. He will know he is successful if the receptor language readers do not recognize his work as a
translation at all, but simply as a text written in the receptor language for their information and enjoyment.

2.5. Notes

Form-based translation: dịch dựa vào hình thức

Meaning-based translation: dịch dựa vào nghĩa
Literal translation: dịch từng từ một
Idiomatic translation: dịch đúng nghĩa
Interference: sự can thiệp
Mother-tongue interference: sự can thiệp của tiếng mẹ đẻ

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To make adjustments: hiệu đính/ điều chỉnh
Translating grammatical features: đặc trưng ngữ pháp dịch
Parts of speech: từ loại
Subclass: nhóm nhỏ
Indo-European language: ngôn ngữ Ấn-Âu
Pronominal system: hệ thống đại từ

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 LESSON 3
STEPS IN A TRANSLATION PROJECT

Before beginning an actual translation, it is important to have in mind the total translation project and
what is involved in producing a good translation. Each of these steps will be elaborated on in more detail in
the last section of the book.

3.1. Establishing the project

Before one considers beginning a translation project, there are a number of matters which need to be
clearly understood by all who will be involved. These can be summarized under four T’s - the text, the target,
the team, and the tools.
The text refers to the source language document which is to be translated. The desirability of
translating a particular text must be determined. Texts are chosen to be translated for various reasons. Most
often it is to communicate certain information to people speaking another language, or it may be to share the
enjoyment of the source text. The translator should examine his reasons for choosing the text and the
potential for its use by the receptor language audience.
The target refers to the audience. For whom is the translation prepared? The form of translation will be
affected by questions of dialect, educational level, age level, bilingualism, and people’s attitudes towards their
languages. Will it be used in school, in business, or read orally in a meeting or at home?
The team refers to the people who will be involved in the project. If a person is a competent speaker of
both the source language and the receptor language, it may be that the project can be done completely by
one person. But even so there should be other available for evaluation and consultation. Most translation
projects require a team, a number of people who are going to contribute to the translation at some stage in
the project. The working relationship between these people needs to be established before the project gets
underway. It may, however, also change as the project moves along and new factors come into focus. There
are certain essentials to any translation project. Not all these need to be found in one person. There are
various kinds of programs which may be set up depending on the abilities and backgrounds of those who
will be involved. The team may consist of 1. co-translators, where one is a specialist in the source language
and the other a specialist in the receptor language, or 2. a translator with capability to handle both source
language and receptor language matters and an advisor or consultant, or 3. a committee working together
with specific responsibilities delegated to each one. Which kind of program is developed will depend on who
is available and qualified to determine the meaning of the source language, who is most skilled at drafting in
the receptor language, and who has an understanding of translation principles. The team may include the
translators, a consultant, testers, and reviewers.
Tools refer to the written source materials which will be used by the translators as helps. These include,
in addition to the document to be translated, any dictionaries, lexicons, grammars, cultural descriptions. etc…
of both the source language and receptor language which are available. The team will want as much in
formation available as possible while translating. All of these tools should be brought to the translation site in
preparation for the project. For some projects, there will be a wealth of materials that can be used to help in
interpreting the source language text and in finding equivalents in the receptor language. For other projects,
15
there may be a scarcity of such material, but whatever is available should be there to make the work easier.

3.2. Exegesis
Exegesis is used to refer to the process of discovering the meaning of the source language text which is
to be translated. It is the step which includes the preparation and analysis which must be done before
anything at all can be written in the receptor language. The text must be understood completely. This is the
process which takes place in moving from the source language form to the meaning of the text. The
translator should begin by reading the text several times, then by reading other materials that may help in
understanding the culture or language of the source text. As he reads the text, he will be looking for the
author’s purpose and the theme of the text. He will look for the larger groupings or sections. He may want to
outline the text. The purpose is to understand the text as a whole. Once he has done this, he is ready to work
on the material a section at a time.
The analysis of the source text will include resolving ambiguity, identifying implicit information,
studying key words, interpreting figurative senses, recognizing when words are being used in a secondary
sense, when grammatical structures are being used in a secondary function, etc. It will involve doing the kind
of analysis which this book is all about. The goal of exegesis is to determine the meaning which is to be
communicated in the receptor language text. The translator carefully studies the source language text and
using all the available tools, determines the content of the source language message, the related
communication situation matters, and all other factors which will need to be understood in order to produce
an equivalent translation.

3.3. Transfer and initial draft

After a careful analysis of the source language text, as indicated above, the translator begins drafting
piece by piece, section by section. The transfer results in the initial draft. In preparing this draft, the translator
is transferring from the source language into the receptor language. As he does so, he must always keep his
target audience in mind. Before any extensive drafting can be done, the key terms must be determined.
Every text has a set of words which re crucial to the content and correct communication of the theme. These
need to be decided upon and may need to be checked with other speakers of the receptor language.
There are two ways of approaching the transfer and initial draft. Some translators prefer to do a quick
rough translation so that the material flows naturally. Then they go back and tighten up the details to be sure
that there is no wrong information, and no omissions or additions. In this way, the receptor language text is
more apt to be in the natural style of the receptor language. Others prefer to prepare a proposition like
semantic draft, being sure that all the information all the information is accounted for, and then reword it
for naturalness; that is, reword it in the idiomatic form of the receptor language. Either method will lead to
an idiomatic translation if careful work is done. It may be necessary to rework the initial draft several times
before the team is satisfied that all the adjustments needed have been made, that no information is wrong or
omitted, that the text communicates clearly in the receptor language, and that the form chosen will
communicate to the desired audience. While making and reworking this draft, the audience must always be
kept in mind. Once the translation team has sufficiently reworked the initial draft, they arrange for copies to
be made so that adequate evaluation.

16
3.4. Evaluation
The purpose of evaluation is threefold: accuracy, clearness, and naturalness. The questions to be
answer are: 1. Does the translation communicate the same meaning as the source language?, 2. Does the
audience for whom the translation is intended understand it clearly? and 3. Is the form of the translation easy
to read and natural receptor language grammar and style? Those helping with the evaluation should be
mother-tongue speakers of the receptor language. There are a number of kinds of evaluations which need to
be done. The translator will want to compare the translation with the source text at several points during the
translation process to be sure no additions, deletions or change of in formation have crept in. Others may
help with this work. It is especially advantageous to have a consultant check over the material. The translator
will want to have receptor language speakers read the text and then tell back what the text communicated to
them. As they read, there will be parts that are hard to read or hard to understand. Any time there is an
indication of a problem in reading, this should be noted for further checking . Another way to check is by
asking questions of those who read the text, or to whom it is read. Questions need to be carefully formed so
that they bring out the theme, the author’s purpose, and the relevant facts of the text. Any wrong
understanding should be noted and then checked with others as well. It is best to have someone who has not
worked on the translation, but know both the source language and receptor language, translate back from the
receptor language into the source language without the reference to the original source language text. Does
the back translation carry the same information as the original source language text? Any difference will need
to be checked further. It is very important that sufficient time and effort be given to evaluation. If many of the
people who will eventually be using the receptor language text can be involved in the evaluation process, this
will also create interest in the translated material when it is finally published.

3.5. Revised
After evaluation is done carefully, there will need to be a revised draft made on the basis of the
feedback received. Those with whom the translator has checked may have suggested many rewordings, may
have expressed misunderstanding, etc. The translation team now works through this material, honestly
accepting the evaluation, and rewording the material accordingly. If any key words are changed, the text will
need to be checked carefully for consistency in the change made. If some parts were hard for people to read,
they may need to be made easier by more redundancy (or less redundancy in another language), by adding
more information to clarify participants or theme or whatever. How much redrafting will be needed will vary
depending on the results of the evaluation.

3.6. Consultation
In many translation projects, there are advisors or consultants who are willing to help the translator.
The translator(s) will expect that the consultant is interested in three matters: 1.accuracy of content, 2.
naturalness of style, and 3. effect on the receptor language audience. It is important that translators check
their materials with a trained consultant after completing a section or two of a long document. If they
continue, and do large amounts of translation work without this kind of a check, they will miss out on the
training which a consultant can give as they go over the material together. Asking a consultant to work
through the material with him will give the translator insights which will not only help his final draft of the
material being worked on, but will help him do better transfer drafts on the sections of the document
remaining to be done.
17
3.7. Final draft
The translator incorporates into the translated text the suggestions made by the consultant, checks them
again with mother-tongue speakers to be sure they are warranted, and makes any other minor changes which
have come to his attention. However, before he prepares the final draft, decisions about format need to be
discussed with the whole translation team, the consultant, the potential publisher and those who will promote
distribution.
Some matters may need special testing before the final draft is prepared. If the publication is to include
pictures, these will need evaluation. If a special size of print is being recommended, it will need to be tested.
A final editing for spelling and punctuation will need to be made. When all matters are cared for, a number
of copies should be prepared and distributed for proofreading by various people before the actual printing
takes place. Every translator wants his final copy to be as accurate as possible. The time spent in careful
checking and preparation of the final draft will improve quality and will make the translation more
acceptable to the audience for whom it is being prepared.

3.8. Notes
Target: đọc giả
Target language audience: người đọc bản dịch

Dialect: phương ngữ

Educational level: trình độ học vấn

Bilingualism: song ngữ

To come into focus: chú ý/ tập trung

Co-translator: người cùng dịch

Specialist: chuyên gia

Tools: tài liệu tham khảo khi dịch

Lexicon: tự điển từ vựng

Exegesis: hiểu nghĩa văn bản trước khi dịch

Initial draft: bản thảo đầu tiên

Revised draft: bản thảo đã được hiệu đính

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 LESSON 4
STRATEGIES FOR TRANSLATORS

The following strategies have been suggested by translators, commissioners of translations, and others
involved in translating as ways to approach difficulties in translations from English into Vietnamese.

4.1. STRATEGY 1 : How to deal with non-equivalence at lexical level

It is often the case that no direct equivalents can be found in Vietnamese for English words. It may be
that the concept or idea is new to Vietnamese translators, as in the case of “gender”, which is, in fact, a
relatively new concept in general, and a very difficult concept to understand and explain in many languages.
It may also be that the concept is known or understood but there is no specific word in Vietnamese used to
express it. Another difficulty is that, in addition to their concrete meaning, some words have special
connotations that are not conveyed by the Vietnamese word for the same thing. The strategies listed below
can be used to handle cases of non-equivalence.

4.1.1. Translating by a more specific word

In some cases, it may be appropriate or necessary to use a more specific word to translate an English
word into Vietnamese. This usually involves choosing among several different words, as there may be many
Vietnamese words that correspond to the general category or meaning expressed by English word. For
instance, Vietnamese has many words that mean “to carry” with distinction being made depending on the
size and shape of the object; its animate (e.g. a child as opposed to a box); and how it is carried (e.g. in the
hand, or in the arms...). Similarly, the English word for “rice” can be translated by many different
Vietnamese words, depending on whether one is planting it, harvesting it, cooking it, or eating it. In these
cases, the English word alone is not enough to determine the appropriate Vietnamese translation, and it is
necessary to examine the English context.

4.1.2. Translating by a more general word

In other cases, it may be appropriate to use a more general word to translate an English word with no
specific Vietnamese equivalent. For example, English makes distinctions among mopeds, scooters, and
motorcycles, the latter having larger wheels and engines than both mopeds and scooters. Vietnamese, on the
one hand, refers to all two-wheel, motorized vehicles as “xe máy”. Similarly, the English words “paw”, “foot”,
or “leg” may all be translated by the Vietnamese word “chân”, which does not suggest any problems of
comprehension in Vietnamese, as it should be clear from the context which of these words is meant. Another
example can be found in a manual on community development, which translates the word “matrix” by the
Vietnamese word “ma trận”. However, in Vietnamese, “ma trận” has a specific use in mathematics only, and
does not have the additional sense of a model or a plan according to which something is developed. In this
example, “matrix” is better translated “bản”, which is a more general word used to classify a written plan or
formula.

4.1.3. Translating by cultural substitution

This strategy involves replacing a culture-specific item or expression with one of the different meanings
19
but similar impact in the translated text. Because of their self-described “respect” for the original text, most
Vietnamese translators object to this strategy and tend to translate directly, even though it is in appropriate.
For example, a farmer’s manual that has been translated into Vietnamese suggests the planting of different
types of fruit trees which are not even grown in Vietnam. The original manual, which was developed in other
parts in Asia, was not modified at all for the Vietnamese context. Though some translators argue that it is not
the responsibility of the translator to chance the text in this way, the translator is in fact playing an important
role in this task. Translators should be encouraged to consider the appropriateness of the documents they are
translating and suggest changes to make them more culturally appropriate. However, this is not only the
burden of the translator, but also of the commissioners of the translation and the editor.

4.1.4. Translating by using a loan word plus explanation

There is some objection to this strategy in Vietnam, as many translator prefer to coin new words in
Vietnamese rather than borrow English words. However, this strategy is very useful when the translator deal
with concepts or ideas that are new to Vietnamese audience, culture-specific items, and proper names of
diseases or medicines that are widely known in English names. For instance, HIV and AIDS are two loan
words that are frequently used in Vietnamese, as they are referred to by their English names in almost every
part of the world. Because these words have been in common used in Vietnam for a long time, they are often
used without any accompanying explanation. Whenever a loan word is used, it is better to give an
explanation. Another example is the acronym for oral dehydration salts, or ORS, which is printed on every
package and hence easily recognized; this is normally written in English with an explanation in Vietnamese:
ORS (muối bù mất nước)

4.1.5. Translating by using a paraphrase

This strategy can be used when we translate an English word or concept that does not exist in
Vietnamese, or when the Vietnamese term for it does not include all the meanings conveyed by the English
term for the same concept. For example, in the sentence: “Pregnant women should avoid alcohol.”, the
English “alcohol” includes all alcoholic drinks in its meaning. The Vietnamese word “rượu” does not include
beer in its definition, so the Vietnamese translation should add the word beer to reflect the full meaning of
the source language sentence. Another example is that the English words “abuse” and “neglect” signify a
whole range of behaviors, some of which are not conveyed by the Vietnamese words alone. As a result, the
English sentence: “Children should be protected from abuse and neglect.” cannot be translated as simply as
“Trẻ em nên được bảo vệ khỏi sự lạm dụng và lơ là”. This translation does not account for their full
meaning, which must be unpacked for better understanding. This can be done by paraphrasing as a
translator has attempted in the following translation: “Trẻ em cần bảo vệ chống lại mọi hình thức bạo lực,
gây tổn thương hay xúc phạm, bỏ mặc hoặc xao nhãng trong việc chăm sóc”. Back translated roughly into
English, this sentence reads: “Children must be protected from all forms of violence causing harm or offense,
and from abandonment and negligence in their care.”

4.1.6. Translating by omission

Though some translators may reject this strategy as too drastic, it is sometimes appropriate to omit words
or phrases that are not essential to the meaning or impact of the text. This is especially true for words that

20
would require lengthy explanations, awkward paraphrases, or literal and unnatural translations, which would
interrupt the flow of the text and could distract the reader from the overall meaning. For example, the
sentence “Much can be done even without being physically present in the meeting.” is best translated into
Vietnamese by, “nhiều việc có thể làm ngày cả khi không có mặt tại cuộc họp” which omit the word
“physically” in the translation. The difference in meaning between “being physically present” and being
present” is so minimal that it does not justify translation into Vietnamese, which cannot easily express the
slight emphasis implied here by the author, and would not do so by emphasizing the physicality of a person’s
presence.

4.2. STRATEGY 2 : How to deal with idioms and set expressions

Idioms and set expressions can be dealt with in the ways similar to those mentioned above. With
idioms, however, there is another difficulty that the translator may not realize that he/she is dealing with an
idiomatic expression, since more idioms may make sense when translated literally.

4.2.1. Using an idiom or a set expression of similar meaning and form

It is sometimes possible to find a Vietnamese idiom or expression with a similar meaning to an English
idiom or expression, and which is expressed in the same way. One example is the idiom “to fight like cats
and dogs”, which is expressed using the same words in Vietnamese: “Cãi nhau như chó với mèo”; another is
“Better than never.”, which is translated: “Thà muộn còn hơn không đến”. It is ideal if such a match can be
found, but this kind of correspondence is not common, and it is usually necessary to use other strategies in
dealing with idioms and set expressions.

4.2.2. Using an idiom or a set expression of similar meaning but different form
It is possible and easy to find a Vietnamese idiom with a similar meaning for an English idiom or set
expression. A good example can be found is the translation for to carry coals to Newcastle”: “Chở củi về
rừng.”, which is translated as “to carry firewood to the forest.” The meaning here is clearly the same for both
idioms - to bring something to a place that has an abundance of that thing - but the way in which each
language expresses is bound to be the culture of that language. It is far more cumbersome to translate this
idiom literally into Vietnamese with an explanation that Newcastle is a well-known coal-producing city in
England (as was suggested by some Vietnamese translators), which would unduly interrupt the flow of the
text and greatly diminish the idiom’s impact. By substituting a similar Vietnamese idiom, then the flow and
the impact of the source text are retained in the translation.

4.2.3. Translating by paraphrasing

When Vietnamese equivalents cannot be found, paraphrasing may be the best way to deal with an
idiom or set expression in English. A good example can be found in an article on maternal mortality, which
includes the sentence, “But before the new estimates replace the old as a way of packaging up the problem, it
should be said that a mistake has been made in allowing statistics such as these to slip into easy language.
The expression “packaging up the problem” caused the problems in translation, as it was misinterpreted to
mean “assembling” or “gathering”. However, even if this phrase were clearly understood, it would be difficult
to find a precise equivalent in Vietnamese. In fact, it would be difficult to restate concisely in English. This
21
phrase is best dealt with by paraphrasing, which in English could be understood as something like “summing
up the problem by referring to it simply as a number, which does not reflect its true magnitude or impact.”
The expression “to slip into easy usage” is problematic for the same reasons, and is also best dealt with by
paraphrasing, as a literal translation into Vietnamese would be meaningless.

4.2.4. Translating by omission

This strategy could be used when we translate words or phrases that would require lengthy
explanations, awkward paraphrases, or literal and unnatural translation. This strategy has also be used when
we translate phases which has two meanings one of the meanings may be sacrificed for the other. For
instance, a book entitled “BEING POSITIVE-LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS” causes problems in translate
because of the double meaning of “being positive”. The meaning of the phrase could be that a person is
suffering from positive HIV and that she should have an optimistic outlook on life. This may be clear to the
translator, who may interpret the phrase to mean that this book is for and about people who are HIV
positive. However, the double meaning should be made clear through collaboration with the commissioner,
after which a choice must be made between the two meanings, for it would not be possible to translate both
meanings by one Vietnamese phrase. As the emphasis is on positive outlook on life but not on the fact of
being HIV positive, one translator has suggested the translation: “HÃY SỐNG YÊU ĐỜI DÙ NHIỄM HIV”. This
translation expresses the notion of being positive about life without mentioning anything about being HIV
positive status.

4.3. STRATEGY 3 : How to deal with voice, number and person

4.3.1. Voice
The passive voice is used very often in English and poses some problems in Vietnamese translation.
Passive voice can be translated from English into Vietnamese in the following ways:
a. English : A is/was/has been done by B
b. Vietnamese:

(i) A được+ động từ+(bởi B)

A được/do+(B)+động từ
(ii) A bị +động từ + bởi B A bị +(B) + động từ
Example:
This house was built by Frank in 1930.
Ngôi nhà này do Frank xây năm 1930.
Tom is given a present by Mary.
Tom được Mary tặng một món quà.
Tom was attacked by a stranger last night.
Tom bị một kẻ lạ mặt tấn công tối hôm qua.

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 b. English: A is/was/has been done.

Vietnamese: A được/bị + động từ

Người ta/ai đó + động từ + A
Example:
Tom has been promoted recently.
Tom mới được đề bạt gần đây.
The CD has been broken.
Chiếc đĩa CD đã bị vỡ/ Ai đó đã làm vỡ chiếc đĩa CD.
The positive and negative connotation is not often conveyed in English, so it is difficult to know what
way used to translate into Vietnamese depending on whether the receiving injection is considered a positive
or negative experience.
Example:
English: The children were given injections.
Vietnamese: “Các cháu được tiêm.” or “Các cháu bị tiêm.”
On the other hand, when the positive or negative connotation of the sentence is clear it is more
appropriate to retain the passive voice in Vietnamese.
Example:
English:
The H’Mong people do not like to be called Meo. They prefer to be called H’Mong.
Vietnamese:

Người dân tộc H-Mông không thích bị gọi là dân tộc Mèo. Họ thích được gọi là dân tộc H-Mông.

In Vietnamese, there are some cases where one can see the words được/bị but they are not translated
into English passive sentences at all.
Example:
‒ Anh ấy bị ngã.: He fell.

‒ Chị Lan bị ho.: Lan has a cough.

‒ Hôm nay chúng ta được đánh chén no nê.: We had and enormous meal today.

4.3.2. Number
Though both languages have similar notions of number and countability, each language has its own
way to express these notions. In English, number is expressed as a grammar category; that is, there are
different grammatical forms for singular and plural nouns. In Vietnamese, however, no such distinction is
grammatically made. For example, phụ nữ can mean either woman or women. Some plural markers such as
“các”, “những”, “tất cả”, “mọi”, “mỗi” can be used in addition to the noun. “Các” generally means all of the given

23
category of things, whereas “những” refers only to some of the total number of things being discussed. “Mỗi”
emphasizes the identity of the individual member of the category without indicating anything of their totality;
“mọi” expresses both the individuality of the items and the totality of the category. If it is clear from the
English context which of these plural markers should be used in the Vietnamese, then the translator should
choose accordingly.
4.3.3. Person
Participants’ roles and forms of address are expressed in Vietnamese through a very complicated
system of personal pronouns based largely on kinship terms. Unlike English pronouns, Vietnamese pronouns
bear a number of semantic components depending on the relationship within a family, age, sex, familiarity,
social status, and even one’s particular mood or attitude in a given situation. These distinctions are not always
explicitly expressed in English and can usually be determined by the context in which the language operates.
If it is not possible to determine the distinctions of the English pronouns, the attention should be focused on
the tone and the overall purpose of the text to be translated.
Example: A book on healthcare contains many sections written especially for children and adults. In the
sections for children the pronoun “you” is translated as “em” or “các em”. In the sections for adults, “you”
should be translated as “chúng ta”.

4.4. STRATEGY 4 : How to deal with non-subject sentences (Vietnamese-English translation)

The following techniques could be used to translate the nonsubject sentences in VNese texts:
 Passive voice
 It + to be + Adj + to infinitive
 There + to be...
 Use the subject that is found in the previous sentence(s)
Example:
Cần đẩy mạnh công nghiệp hóa, hiện đại hóa.
Industrialization and modernization should be promoted.
Or It is necessary to promote industrialization and modernization.
Vẫn chưa có cách chữa khỏi bệnh AIDS.
There has been no cure for AIDS.

4.5. STRATEGY 5 : How to deal with newspaper headlines

Some main characteristics of newspaper headlines are as follows.
 Present tense = past events
 Present participle = event in progress
 To infinitive = future events
 Past participle = passive voice

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  Nouns, Verb + noun
Example:
1. Chinese Professors Turn To Business
Các giáo sư Trung Quốc chuyển sang kinh doanh
2. US President Visiting Vietnam
Tổng thống Hoa Kỳ đang thăm Việt Nam
3. Oil Price To Rise?
Giá dầu sẽ tăng
4. Three More Investment Projects Licensed This Year
Thêm ba dự án đầu tư nữa được cấp giấy phép trong năm nay
5. Investment Boom
Bùng nổ đầu tư
6. See You In Court
Hẹn gặp tại tòa

25
 LESSON 5
PATTERNS AND SOURCES OF ERRORS
MADE BY VIETNAMESE TRANSLATORS

What is mother tongue interference in translation?

In the narrow definition, interference in translation takes place when apparently, any feature of the
source language - notably a syntactic structure, a lexical item, and idiom, a metaphor, word order or culture
is carried over or literally translated as the case may be into the target language (TL) text.
In a wider definition, interference includes cases when sentence length, punctuation, proper names,
culture words are evidently transferred in the translation in fact all cases where the language of the translation
is manifestly affected whether appropriately or not by the language of the original.
When the mother tongue interference is an error, a “false friend”, a sign of the translator’s ignorance, a
mark of the effect of the source language (SL) or the SL culture, it can be categorized as follows.

5.1. LINGUISTIC ERRORS

The linguistic errors can be divided into the following groups:

5.1.1. Lexical Errors

Lexical interference traps are common enough but more invidious are innocent looking collocations
which appear to make sense until one asks oneself what they mean in particular context. E.g. in English “to
cook an account” translated as “nấu sổ sách” is meanigless and it must be translated as “giả mạo sổ sách”.
Lexical interference is very dangerous because it can distort the meaning of a sentence.
 Context
The context itself determines the meaning of words. Therefore, their meaning should be solved in the
context. It is commonly known that a word may have equivalents and accordingly the analysis of its meaning
has to be made carefully in order to pick out the most appropriate word. There are many ways of translating
of some nouns related to professions, classes, fields in society. For example, in a text written about Buddhism
in which there are two words “clergy” and “death”. Some translated transferred “clergy” as “giáo sĩ” and
“death” as “cái chết” for Buddha. It sounds strange and funny. In fact, “clergy” translated as “giáo sĩ” for
Catholicism but “giới tăng đồ” for Buddhism. The word “death” is normally translated as “cái chết” but “vua
băng hà” in “King’s death” and as for Buddhism this word should be translated as “viên tịch”.
When translators are asked to translate these sentences into English:

a. Kha Luân Bố đã tìm ra Tân thế giới vào năm 1842.

b. Tôi đang tìm cuốn sách.

c. Michael Faraday đã tìm ra máy phát điện.

Obviously, there are many equivalents in English for the word “tìm” such as “seek”, “look for”, “search
for”, “find”, “find out”. In addition, there are two more words related to this meaning: “to invent” and “to
26
discover”. However, in sentence (1) the word “tìm” has an equivalent in English as “discover”. In sentence (2)
the word “tìm” is understood as “look for”, “search for” or “seek”. In sentence (3) the word “tìm” has an
equivalent as “invent”.
The three above-mentioned sentences can be translated as follows:
1. The New World was discovered by Christopher.
2. I am looking for my book.
3. Michael Faraday invented the generator.
It is characteristic of word that a single lexical item may have several meanings. For example, the word
“head” in isolation means something like “the upper part of the body”. But the same word used in the
context of talking about a company or an organization has nothing to do with the human body though the
idea of the upper position of something still remains.
Example:
1. He is the former head of the Chemistry Section of the Australian Atomic Energy Commission.
(leader)
2. Although he is the head of the company, he has no head. ( leader-intelligence)
The following examples show that the translators do not treat words in context but rely on the meaning
in dictionary:
1. “In 1999, some major commodities were stockpiled because of poor quality.” It is not accurate at all
when “stockpiled” was translated “lưu trữ”. In fact, due to poor quality, major commodities were not
sold out leading to stockpile. Therefore, the sentence should be translated as “Năm 1999 một số mặt
hàng chủ yếu bị tồn kho do chất lượng kém.”
2. “The Prime Minister has also assigned relevant agencies to formulate a law on industrial zones to
provide a complete legal background/frame for the operation of Izs and EPZs in Vietnam.” was
translated “Thủ tướng đã bổ nhiệm những chính sách thích hợp để đưa ra luật về khu công nghiệp
để cung cấp một bối cảnh hoàn toàn hợp pháp cho các hoạt động của khu công nghiệp, khu chế
xuất Việt Nam”. This translation is quite vague in Vietnamese. In fact, a word in source language has
many equivalents in target language. The word “assign” is equivalent with “phân công/ bổ nhiệm”;
“relevant” with “thích đáng, thích hợp, có liên quan”; “agency” with “đại lý, cơ quan, chi nhánh”;
“foundation” “nền móng, nền tảng, cơ sở”. For this reason, in this context it should be chosen the
most appropriate equivalents to create an idiomatic translation: “Thủ tướng đã giao cho các cơ quan
có liên quan ban hành bộ luật về khu công nghiệp nhằm cung cấp một số cơ sở pháp lý hoàn
chỉnh cho việc hoạt động của khu công nghiệp và khu chế xuất ở Việt Nam.”
In brief, the translators have a habit of translating literally and depending largely on the meaning in
dictionary due to the mother-tongue interference. In order to avoid committing errors of context, words
should be solved in context and the analysis of their meaning has to be made carefully to pick out the most
appropriate equivalent.

27
  Word collocation
Word collocation consists of the associations a word acquires on account of the meanings of words
which tend to occur in its environment. Each of language has its own principle in word collocation. For
example, the word “pretty” often goes with girls and women, while the word “handsome” often goes with
boys or men. Some translators do not realize this, which leads to wrong and funny collocation. For instance,
in Vietnamese the word “uống” (drink) can go with many different kinds of liquid including water, beer,
alcohol, medicine and even poison. However, in English these are clear distinction as follows:
Drink beer/ water/ wine/ coffee.
Take medicine/ poison.

Another example indicates that in Vietnamese the word “nói” (say) can be collocated with “lời tạm biệt”
“goodbye”, “lời chào hỏi” “hello”, “dối” “a lie”, “sự thật” “the truth”, “tiếng Pháp” “French”. However, in
English it is quite different.
Say hello/ goodbye/ yes/ no.
Tell a lie/ the truth/ a story.
Speak English/ French/ Chinese.

In Vietnamese, the word “đàn” can be collocated with many different nouns such as “cá” (fish), “chim”
(bird), “sư tử” (lion), “gia súc” (cattle). On the contrary, in English there are many words meaning “đàn” as
follows.

A flock of birds/ sheep: Đàn chim/ cừu

A herd of cattle/ buffaloes: Đàn gia súc/ trâu

A pack of dogs/ calves: Đàn chó/ bê

A school of fish/ chickens: Đàn cá/ gà

A pride of lions/ deer : Đàn sư tử/ nai

Similarly, the word “decision” can be collocated with many word such as “to make/ to reach/ to arrive
at/ to come to... a decision”. The following examples show the wrong collocations of some translators:

1. Chính phủ đã tiến thực hiện nhiều biện pháp nhằm ngăn chặn việc buôn lậu ma túy.
(The government has made many measures to stop the drug smuggling.)

2. Chúng tôi phải hoàn thành nhiệm vụ trước khi tổ kiểm tra chất lượng sản phẩm.
(We have to complete our duty before the investigators control the product quality.)

3. Sau khi nghiên cứu thị trường, chúng tôi quyết định đưa ra thị trường một sản phẩm gây ấn
tượng có sức cạnh tranh với hàng ngoại nhập.
(After making a market research, we decided to launch an impressive product which can compete
against the imported ones.)

4. Từ khi Mỹ bỏ lệnh cấm vận Việt Nam, nhiều nước trên thế giới đã đầu tư vào các lĩnh vực khác
28
 nhau.
(Since the USA abolished the embargo against Vietnam many foreign countries have been investing in
many different fields.)
It is the mother tongue interference that leads to the mechanic collocation which is unacceptable in
target language. In fact, each language has its own principles of word collocation. Neither English nor
Vietnamese is an exception. As a result, the above-mentioned examples should be translated more accurately
and idiomatically as follows.
1. “The government has made many measures to stop the drug smuggling.” should be corrected as
“The government has taken many measures to stop the drug smuggling.”
2. “We have to complete our duty before the investigators control the product quality.” should be
corrected “We have to fulfill our duty before the investigators control the product quality.”
3. “After making a market research, we decided to launch an impressive product which can compete
against the imported ones.” should be corrected “After doing a market research, we decided to
launch an impressive product which can compete against the imported ones.”
4. “Since the USA abolished the embargo against Vietnam many foreign countries have been investing
in many different fields.” should be corrected “Since the USA lifted the embargo against Vietnam
many foreign countries have been investing in many different fields.”
In a word, it is inevitable for the translators to obey the principles of English and Vietnamese word
collocations. In order to avoid this type of errors, the translator should read as many English books and
magazines to take notes of collocated words under the English standard.

 Misuse of personal pronouns and prepositions

In Vietnamese, there are many ways to express the thoughts and feelings or attitude which differ from
those in English. The social status, age, sex, and the family order are distinguished clearly and systematically.
This is reflected in a distinguished clearly and systematically. This is reflected in a number of words for
addressing such as “cụ, ông, bà, bác, cô, chú, thím, dì, dượng, cậu, anh, chị, ngài, quí vị, mày, em,…” such
words are generally expressed by English people in one word “you”. The following examples show clearly
that the translator sometimes do not master the relationship between the speaker and the hearer leading to a
funny translation. A mother was taking care of her child in hospital. She said: “I love you very much, dear.”
Which was translated as “Em yêu anh lắm, cưng à.” instead of “Mẹ yêu con lắm, cưng à.”
In Vietnamese, each preposition has a fixed meaning which does not change regardless of the noun,
adjective or verb proceeding it. On the contrary, the meaning of a preposition in English depends on its
preceding word. This difference leads to errors in using prepositions of TL. For example, the Vietnamese
preposition “về” can be expressed by different prepositions in English:

a talk on history: một cuộc nói chuyện về lịch sử

be disappointed in: thất vọng về

be interested in: quan tâm về

29
 lay emphasis/ stress on: nhấn mạnh về

be worried about: lo lắng về

be proud of/ take pride in: tự hào về

be famous for: nổi tiếng về

Instead of “disappointed about”, “proud about”, “famous about” as the translator may use. These are
the typical errors made by the translators:
1. “According to Mr Thien, his plant currently produces lubricants under the API (American Petro-leum
Institute) standards”

(Theo ông Thiện thì hiện nay nhà máy của ông đang sản xuất dầu nhờn dưới tiêu chuẩn của Viện
xăng dầu Mỹ.)
2. “It is so easy to be misunderstood when talking on the phone.”

(Nói chuyện trên điện thoại thì dễ bị hiểu nhầm.)

3. “Tòa án Nhân Dân quyết định kết án chúng 15 năm về tội buôn lậu ma túy.”
(The People’s Court decided to condemn them to 15 years imprisonment about the drug smuggling.)

4. “Là giáo viên ưu tú trong nhiều năm, ông Nam có nhiều kinh nghiệm về việc giảng dạy học sinh.”
(As a qualified teacher for many years, Mr.Nam is experienced about educating and teaching the
pupils.)

5. “Chúng tôi thành thật chia buồn về việc ra đi của bố bạn.”

(We really condole with you about the loss of your father.)
As can be seen from the above-mentioned examples, the translators tended to choose the English
prepositions basing on Vietnamese meanings without paying attention to their variations. These errors could
be corrected as follows.
1. “According to Mr Thien, his plant currently produces lubricants under the API (American
Petroleum Institute) standards” should be translated:

“Theo ông Thiện thì hiện nay nhà máy của ông đang sản xuất dầu nhờn theo tiêu chuẩn của Viện
xăng dầu Mỹ.”
2. “It is so easy to be misunderstood when talking on the phone.” is equivalent with:

“Nói chuyện qua điện thoại thì dễ bị hiểu nhầm.”

3. “Tòa án Nhân Dân quyết định kết án chúng 15 năm về tội buôn lậu ma túy.” should be translated
“The People’s Court decided to condemn them to 15 years imprisonment for the drug smuggling.”

4. “Là giáo viên ưu tú trong nhiều năm, ông Nam có nhiều kinh nghiệm về việc giảng dạy học sinh.”
should be translated: “As a qualified teacher for many years, Mr Nam is experienced in educating
and teaching the pupils.”

30
 5. “Chúng tôi thành thật chia buồn về việc ra đi của bố bạn.” should be translated: “We really condole
with you for the loss of your father.”

Due to the mother tongue interference, the translators found themselves in a confusing situation when
they use prepositions in English. In order to avoid this type of errors the translators should learn the
prepositions going with nouns, adjectives or verbs by heart. If they do not know how to use prepositions
exactly, they tend to the Vietnamese ones into English or vice versa. As a result, the translators should be
provided with as many structures with prepositions systematically as possible to help them take notes and
draw out the formation and rules.

 Misuse of synonyms
Some translators depend largely on the meaning in dictionary picking out the synonyms without paying
much to the context. In fact, the pairs of synonyms share at least one sense in common but do not share all
their senses. To some extent, they can hardly substitute for each other. The misuse of synonyms makes the
meaning of one of the following sentences unacceptable.
“You have my deep/ profound sympathy.(acceptable)
“The river is deep.” (acceptable)
“The river is very profound.” (unacceptable)
Another example shows that some translators do not realize the connotational meaning, which leads to
the distorting of the meaning of the sentence. Take “famous” (nổi tiếng) and “notorious” (khét tiếng) as an
example. While “famous” means “well-known/ celebrated”, and therefore contains some features of positive
meaning, “notorious” means “well-known” especially for unfavorable reason & negative meaning. The
following can be seen as the misuse of the synonyms by some of the inexperienced translators.

1. “Cậu bé này rất bướng bỉnh.”

(This boy is very stubborn/unyielding.) (right)

2. “Người Việt Nam có tinh thần bất khuất.”

(The Vietnamese people are really stubborn.) (wrong)

3. “Chính phủ có kế hoạch xây hàng ngàn ngôi nhà cho người vô gia cư.”
(The government plans to build thousands of homes for homeless people.) (wrong)

In Example 1, “stubborn” synonymous to “unyielding” means “cứng đầu/bướng bỉnh” in Vietnamese.

In Example 2, “stubborn” fails to evoke the features of positive meaning which praises the Vietnamese
people on their heroism expressing the speaker’s admiration. In contrast, it expresses the speaker’s anger and
discontent. In Example 3, “home” and “house” are places where one lives, meaning “nhà” in Vietnamese.
However, in terms of the connotational meaning they are quite different. “House” refers to the building or
structure while “home” refers to the atmosphere or feeling found in the house.
Example:
There is no place like home.

31
 Chẳng có nơi đâu như ở nhà.
Home is where the heart is.

Nhà là nơi con tim trú ngụ.

Most of the synonyms have the same meaning in certain context. If a translator use synonyms without
referring to the context, (s)he can make wrong & funny for his readers. In order to avoid the misuse, the
translator should carefully take the synonyms into consideration before using them. In addition, it would be
better for the translator to consider the differences of the pairs of synonyms when translating.
 Idioms & terminologies
The meanings of idioms are not definitely related to grammatical rules or the lexical meaning of each
word because they feature the metaphor and figures of speech. For example, “wet blanket” should be
translated “người rầu rĩ” instead of “cái chăn ướt” or “to read one’s palm” translated as “xem chỉ tay” instead of
“đọc cái gì ở lòng bàn tay”.
In fact, idioms can be translated satisfactorily by considering the context, if not, it is difficult to find the
exact meaning. An English idiom must be translated into Vietnamese by an equivalent one. It is very
important to be aware that we must not choose the equivalents of every word forming the idiom but we do
find the equivalent ways of expression which exist in both languages. If we stick to each word, the meaning
becomes strange, unnatural and funny. For instance, “to sell like a hot cake” is usually translated as “bán đắt
như tôm tươi.” instead of “bán như bánh nóng”. “There is no time like present.” is usually translated as “Việc
hôm nay chớ để ngày mai” instead of “Không có thời gian như bây giờ”. “Live and learn” is usually
translated as “Còn sống còn học” instead of “Sống và học”. The following errors were found in some of the
translated texts and should be corrected.
1. “Every time, we have our children’s birth certificates signed at the local People’s committee, we have
to go though a lot of red tape.” was translated as “Mỗi khi nhờ họ ký giấy khai sinh tại Ủy ban Nhân
dân phường, chúng tôi phải đi qua nhiều băng đỏ.”
2. “At first we intended to stay at home. On the second thought, we decided to go out.” was translated
as “Thoạt đầu chúng tôi có ý định ở nhà. Trong lần suy nghĩ thứ hai chúng tôi quyết định đi ra
ngoài.”
3. “She rarely saves her time to do her homework. She often lets the grass grow under her feet.” was
translated as “Cô ấy hiếm khi tiết kiệm thời gian để làm bài tập ở nhà. Cô thường để cỏ mọc dưới
chân.”
The above-mentioned translations could be improved as follows.
1. “Every time, we have our children’s birth certificates signed at the local People’s committee, we have
to go though a lot of red tape.” should be translated as “Mỗi khi nhờ họ ký giấy khai sinh tại ủy ban
nhân dân phường, chúng tôi phải làm nhiều thủ tục giấy tờ rườm rà.”
2. “At first we intended to stay at home. On the second thought, we decided to go out.” should be
translated as “Thoạt đầu chúng tôi có ý định ở nhà. Sau khi suy đi tính lại, chúng tôi quyết định đi

32
 ra ngoài.”
3. “She rarely saves her time to do her homework. She often lets the grass grow under her feet.” should
be translated as “Cô ấy hiếm khi tiết kiệm thời gian để làm bài tập ở nhà. Cô thường để nước đến
chân mới nhảy.”
In addition to this, due to the limited knowledge of social background and some special fields, some
translators mistranslated the terminologies causing vagueness, inaccuracy to readers. It is not very easy for
some translators to translate the following terminologies if they are not familiar with business texts.

‒ cash flow: lưu lượng tiền mặt

‒ insurance policy: hợp đồng bảo hiểm
‒ acknowledgement: giấy báo cho biết đã nhận được
‒ credit terms: những điều khoản tín dụng
‒ hard currency: đồng tiền mạnh
‒ marginal: biên tế chênh lệch giữa giá mua và giá bán
‒ total working capital: tổng số vốn lưu động
‒ sales promotion campaign: chiến dịch khuyến mại

In conclusion, some inexperienced translators committed the lexical errors mentioned above including
those of context, word collocation, prepositions, synonyms and idioms & terminologies. They are committed
by those who have little knowledge of both source language (SL) and target language (TG). At the same
time, they thought that although English is different from Vietnamese, both languages have a one-to-one
correlation of lexical items. In practice, in terms of translation, it can be chosen the only one appropriate
equivalent from this into that language. Even more, that equivalent hardly keeps the meaning of the word
itself but that of context.
In some dictionaries, the authors present series of synonyms of SL in comparison with TL. However,
the synonyms are those of the context in which the are operating. Another problem is that some translators
did not realize the linking meaning of word units. It is obvious that these units link together to create a larger
unit of meaning in a given text to be translated. The linking meaning itself does not exist in separate word
units but in the link of the units constituting the whole text.

5.1.2. Structural errors

Each language has its own division of lexicon into classes such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc.
It is not always possible to translate a SL noun with a noun in TL. In English, there is a tendency of using
more nominal structures while verbal structures are used more in Vietnamese. Some translators keep the
same structures when translating, leading to vagueness in TL texts. For example, “Thank you for your pretty
present.” was translated as “Cám ơn anh vì món quà đáng yêu.” instead of “Cám ơn anh đã tặng em món
quà đáng yêu.” In addition, there is also a tendency of using more passive constructions in English than in
Vietnamese. For instance, “The USA is said to be a powerful country.” was translated as “Mỹ được nói là
một cường quốc.” instead of “Người ta nói rằng Mỹ là một cường quốc.” The following examples of
structural errors were made by some of translators.

33
 1. The Vietnamese Airlines has coped with difficulties due to the regional financial crisis.
(Hàng không Việt Nam gặp phải những khó khăn do cuộc khủng hoảng tài chính vùng trầm
trọng.)

2. Schools teach mathematics because of its very important roles.

(Trường học dạy toán vì tầm quan trọng của nó.)

3. Thank you for your letter.

(Cám ơn lá thư của em.)

4. Hue was recognized as the world’s cultural heritage by UNESCO in 1994.

(Huế được xem là Di sản Văn hóa thế giới bởi UNESCO vào năm 1994.)

5. I was rewarded with a trip to Nha Trang by my parents after a year of hard work.
(Tôi đã được thưởng một chuyến đi đến Nha Trang bởi bố mẹ tôi sau một năm làm việc vất vả.)

The abovementioned translations do not sound Vietnamese, lacking the coherence and smoothness,
not conveying the desired meaning of the SL sentences. It would be more idiomatic to translate as follows.

1. Do ảnh hưởng của cuộc khủng hoảng tài chính trầm trọng trong khu vực, nên Hãng Hàng không
VN phải đương đầu với những khó khăn.

2. Trường học dạy Toán vì Toán học đóng vai trò rất quan trọng.

3. Cảm ơn em đã viết thư cho em.

4. UNESCO đã công nhận Huế là Di sản Văn hóa thế giới vào năm 1994.

5. Sau một năm học hành chăm chỉ, bố mẹ đã thưởng cho tôi một chuyến du lịch đến thành phố
Nha Trang.

As can be seen from the examples mentioned above, some translators focused on the structures of SL
so much that they fail to convey all the implicit meaning of TL. In fact, it is not necessary to keep the form at
all. The most important thing is that the translations must be done on the basis of the TL grammar that is
familiar to the readers. This principle suggests that the translator should not depend largely on the structures
of the SL but break them, conveying the meaning as much as possible in an appropriate structures in the TL.
Another problem is that some translators was not aware of the relationship between form and function
of language. It is commonly known that in some languages, on function is expressed by many forms and vice
versa. For example, in English the way of giving an advice could be expressed by a number of structures :
“Why don’t you..?”, “You should/ ought to..”, “If I were you, I’d..”, “You’d better” or “I advise you to.”. In
addition, some translators did not realize the conversational implicature understood implicitly as follows.

1. What’s the time? (Why are you so late?)

2. Are you my teacher? (You want to teach me.)
3. Why don’t we go to the cinema? (a suggestion)
34
 4. Why did you say so? (You should not have said so)
5. Unless he has done the work to my satisfaction, I will not pay him for this.
(If he has not done.)
Those sentences should be translated as follows.

1. Có biết mấy giờ rồi không?

2. Mày đòi làm thầy của tao à?

3. Chúng ta đi xem phim hè?

4. Lẽ ra anh không nên nói như vậy!

5. Nếu hắn không làm việc vừa ý tôi, thì đừng hòng tôi trả lương cho hắn.
As mentioned in the previous part, the structural difference between the SL and the TL is likely to
make it difficult for the translators. The translators were not aware of dividing or combining the sentences
within a text to be translated. If they try to keep the same punctuation of the SL text, the correspondent TL
text will have clumsy, run-together, long and complex sentences. It is much better to divide long sentences
into short ones aiming at creating coherence, attraction for readers in the translations. These are the
translated sentences with their structural errors made by some of inexperienced translators.
1. “The dividing gap between the rich and the poor as well as corruption and social unrest caused by
the relocation of people in industrialized areas, have made many people hesitate in further changes.”

(Khoảng cách lớn giữa người giàu và người nghèo cũng như sự tham nhũng và tình trạng bất an
của xã hội gây ra do sự phân bố lại dân cư ở các khu công nghiệp đã làm cho nhiều người phải
do dự khi chấp nhận những thay đổi lớn.)
2. “It is also necessary to invest in increasing capability of battery production establishments to meet the
demand for automobile and motorbike manufacturing and assembling in accordance with the
localization program.”

(Nó cũng rất cần thiết để đầu tư vào việc tăng năng suất của những cơ sở sản xuất ắc qui để
đáp ứng nhu cầu dây chuyền sản xuất vào việc chế tạo ô tô và xe máy phù hợp với chương trình
ở trong nước.)
3. “It takes much time to deliver goods to remote areas by backward means of transport.”

(Nó lấy nhiều thời gian để phân phối hàng hóa đến các vùng xa xôi bằng các phương tiện giao
thông lạc hậu.)

All above translated sentences should be corrected as follows.

1. “The dividing gap between the rich and the poor as well as corruption and social unrest caused by
the relocation of people in industrialized areas, have made many people hesitate in further changes.”
(Sự thay đổi chỗ ở tại các vùng công nghiệp hóa đã làm cho khoảng cách giữa người giàu và
người nghèo cũng như sự tham nhũng và tình trạng bất an của xã hội ngày càng lớn. Chính điều
này đã làm cho nhiều người phải miễn cưỡng những thay đổi lớn hơn nữa.)
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 2. “It is also necessary to invest in increasing capability of battery production establishments to meet the
demand for automobile and motorbike manufacturing and assembling in accordance with the
localization program.”
(Đầu tư vào việc tăng năng suất của những cơ sở sản xuất ắc qui để đáp ứng nhu cầu dây chuyền
sản xuất vào việc chế tạo ô tô và xe máy phù hợp với chương trình ở trong nước là rất cần thiết.)
3. “It takes much time to deliver goods to remote areas by backward means of transport.”
(Phải mất nhiều thời gian để phân phối hàng hóa đến các vùng xa xôi bằng các phương tiện giao
thông lạc hậu.)
In order to overcome this type of structural errors, the most effective way for translators is to master the
structures of bot languages. It is clear that a translator who is proficient in English cannot help being good at
Vietnamese and vice versa.

5.2. Style errors

Styles play an important role informal translation and strongly affect the second language meaning. Due
to the context, text-type and audience, the levels of language in translation can be different - the informal
language used in informal situations; colloquials used in spoken language; familiar language used among
friends, relatives, members in a family; formal language used in formal texts such as speeches in conference,
legal documents, business letter & documents, research papers. The examples given below clearly indicate
that the same massage could be expressed in different styles.
 Drop me a line. (informal language)
 Remember to write me a letter. (neutral)
 I look forward to your letter. (informal language)
 They can escape from family suprvision. (formal)
 Their parents can‟t keep an eye on them. (colloquial)
 They are completely armed. (formal)
 They are armed to teeth. (colloquial)
Style error is an acute problem to the translators. There are translators did not master the difference
when using various styles such as conversational, academic, scientific, literary styles. Many translators failed
when coming across the unfamiliar styles due to being unaware of degrees of formality (informal or formal
style), usage of vocabulary (informal, colloquial, formal). These are some style errors taken out from some
Vietnamese-English translations.

1. Nếu chúng tôi đặt hàng với số lượng lớn, liệu doanh nghiệp anh có bán với giá rẻ không?
(If we place substantial orders, can your enterprise get us with soft price?)
It is impossible to use informal style in a business letter. Instead of using “soft price”, the translator
should use “cheaper price”.

2. Thời tiết ở Huế không thích hợp cho người già. Mùa hè trời nóng như thiêu đốt, trong khi mùa

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 đông lạnh đến xương tủy.
(The weather in Hue is favorable for the old. It is burning hot in summer while it chills to the bones
in winter.)
It is impossible to use informal style to tanslate a formal text. Instead of using “burning hot”, the
translator should use “exceedingly hot”.

5.3. Cultural errors

Culture could be understood as the total set of beliefs, attitude, customs, behaviour, social habits etc. of
the member of a particular society. In the broad sense, it includes mode of production, production activities,
community organization, spiritural life, knowledge of nature and society, emotions, and moral conceptions.
Language is regarded as both a component of a culture and network through which other elements of culture
operate. Language, therefore uses almost all other cultural elements so as to perfect its universal and self-
sufficient nature. It could be said that we will not translate from this to that language perfectly unless we know
its relation to its culture. It is common ly known that “ao dai” is a traditional costume of the Vietnamese
women and we never find an equivalent word in English to translate “ao dai”. However, some translators
translated mechanically “ao dai” into “a dress”. How funny it is! It would be preferred to writing down “ao
dai” to express the cultural feature to making foreign people misunderstand “ao dai” as “a dress”. “Trang
phục truyền thống của người phụ nữ Việt Nam là chiếc áo dài tượng trưng cho sự duyên dáng.” should
be translated as “The traditional costume of the Vietnamese women is “ao dai” which symbolises the grace.
Translation is a kind of activity which inevitably involves at least two languages and two cultural
traditions. As this statement implies, translators are permanently faced with the problem of how to treat the
cultural aspects implicit in a source text (ST) and of finding the most appropriate technique of successfully
conveying these aspects in the target language (TL). These problems may vary in scope depending on the
cultural and linguistic gap between the two (or more) languages concerned. The cultural implications for
translation may take several forms ranging from lexical content and syntax to ideologies and ways of life in a
given culture. The translator also has to decide on the importance given to certain cultural aspects and to
what extent it is necessary or desirable to translate them into the TL. The aims of the ST will also have
implications for translation as well as the intended readership for both the ST and the target text (TT).
Considering the cultural implications for a translated text implies recognising all of these problems and
taking into account several possibilities before deciding on the solution which appears the most appropriate
in each specific case. Before applying these methods to the chosen text, this essay will examine the
importance of culture in translation through a literature review. The different general procedures of treating
the cultural implications for translation will be examined as well as analysing the ST and the aims of the
author. The translation process will also be treated using specific examples found in the ST before discussing
the success of aforementioned theoretical methods applied to the TT. Although corresponding to cultural
categories examined, the title will be considered separately in order to determine the pertinence of
conserving, highlighting, or excluding certain aspects. Due to these considerations, the title will be considered
after the other aspects as all other cultural implications need to be examined before reaching relevant
conclusions.

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