VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ****** NGUYỄN THỊ HUYÊN A STUDY OF ENGLISH-VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION OF JOURNAL-ARTICLE ABSTRACTS Nghiên cứu việc dịch phần tóm tắt của một số bài báo khoa học chuyên ngành từ tiếng Anh sang tiếng Việt M. Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 Hanoi – 2015 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ****** NGUYỄN THỊ HUYÊN A STUDY OF ENGLISH-VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION OF JOURNAL-ARTICLE ABSTRACTS Nghiên cứu việc dịch phần tóm tắt của một số bài báo khoa học chuyên ngành từ tiếng Anh sang tiếng Việt M. Minor Programme Thesis Field : English Linguistics Code : 60220201 Supervisor : Assoc. Trần Xuân Điệp Hanoi – 2015 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I , Nguyễn Thị Huyên, hereby certify that the minor thesis entitled “A study of English-Vietnamese Translation of Journal-Article Abstracts”is the study of my own research to fulfill the M.A Degree at Faculty of Post Graduate Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies.The substance of this research has not been submitted for a degree to any other university or institution.
Hanoi, 2015 Signature Nguyễn Thị Huyên i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my thanks to all my lecturers at the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies, for their lectures and valuable supports during the process of doing this paper. To my supervisor, Associate Professor Doctor. Trần Xuân Điệp, I owe a special debt of gratitude for his guidance, his valuable advice, suggestions, comments and criticism. I would also like to show my sincere thanks for his patience and interest in this paper.
I also would like to take this opportunity to thank my friends and colleagues for their suggestions, and assistance, during the process of preparing and finding materials for this research. Finally, I would like to show my deep gratitude to my parents, my husband and my little twins for their love, support and encouragement during the time I carried out this study. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT This paper is intended to look at the theories of translation and the theories of translation and the existing translation of scientific texts, and in a more detailed manner, of journal-article abstracts which belong to this text type. The knowledge, skills and experiences gained is then employed to deal with their English- Vietnamese translation of journal-article abstracts.
iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS SL: Source language TL: Target language ST: Source text TT: Target text iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENS DECLARATION. iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. iv TABLE OF CONTENS .Rationale of the study. Scope of the study.
Aims of the study. Methods of the study. Organization of the study ……………. 5 CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND .What is translation?.
Translation procedures and strategies. Shifts or transpositions. Definitions of technical translation. Translation method of technical terms.
Translation of Neologisms. Definition of Neologisms. Types of Neologisms and the translation. Old words with new senses.
The translation of non-equivalence at word level. 10 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Definition and common problems of non- equivalence at word level. The SL concept is not lexicalized in the TL .The SL is semantically complex .Differences in form.
Strategies for non – equivalence by professional translators. Loan word without an explanation. Definition of terminology. Creation of terminology.
The distinction between terms and words. Journal-article abstracts……………………………………………. 20 TERMINOLOGY IN THE TRANSLATION OF SELECTED JOURNAL–ARTICLE ABSTRACTS. Classification of terminology in the translation of selected journal-article abstracts.
One-word terms and Neologisms. One-word terms in the form of verbs. One-word terms in the form of nouns. 25 SOME STRATEGIES IN THE TRANSLATION OF THE SECLECTED JOURNAL- ARTICLE ABSTRACTS.
25 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Calque / Loan translation. Shift or Transposition. Implications of the study …………………………………………………….
Limitations of the study………………………. Suggestions for further study. I vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A - INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of the study Translation nowadays plays a more and more important role as a bridge shortening the gaps between two or more languages.
Whether for daily interaction to entertainment or academic purposes, it is undeniable that bi-lingual text/speech is essential. As an introduction and vital part of a research article, journal-article abstract and its translation and the translation of scientific texts in general is a guide to academic readers before the articles itself. However, the study of this kind of translation is still limited to individual researches. Moreover, in an introductory summary as abstract, many of the concepts, or in other words, terminology cannot be fully explained, therefore, a study into how the translators deal with this matter would be worth looking at.
This present study has made an attempt to study English-Vietnamese translation of journal-article abstracts which embraces its most important aspects, namely, the translation method of the terminology. The study starts with some related concepts in translation to lay the foundation for the research, particularly, the translation methods, procedures and equivalence are of great importance. Then, in the main part, the study comes to investigate the translation of selected journal-article abstracts with focus on their terminology and translation strategies. The main part deals with the strategies of the translation of scientific texts in general and journal-article abstracts in particular.
For these listed reasons, the study is focused to study English-Vietnamese- translation of journal-article abstracts for this MA thesis with the expectation of that the study can contribute to translation theory in general view and translation of journal-article abstracts in particular. 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Scope of the study The study is limited to the revisit of theories of translation, especially those of scientific texts and the application of them to look at the translation of journal- article abstracts. Five abstracts are collected to support for the research.
More specially, the study focuses on terminology translation; the equivalence archieved and the process employed in translation of journal-article abstracts. The equivalence for terminology examined in this paper is limited to word level only. Research questions The objectives above will be achieved through answering the following questions: - What are the common types of equivalence used in the translation of the chosen journal-article abstracts? - What are the strategies employed to achieve these types of equivalence? 4. Aims of the study The study is aimed at: - Revisiting translation study, especially translation theory of scientific text and terminology to avoid the confuse at meaning of terms on word level only; - Looking at the procedure and equivalence of terminology translation of terminology of the chosen journal-article abstracts from English into Vietnamese; - Providing some suggestions for translating term in journal-article abstract to achieve an accurate, unambiguous translation based on the results of the Study.
Methods of the study In order to achieve the goal of the study, the main method is quantitative data analysis. The source of data is documented gathered then analyzed to ensure both qualitative and quantitive properties of the study. Data is categorized into patterns as the primary basis for organizing and reporting results. Qualitative data analysis allows the researcher to study terms clearly.
It also enables multiple analytic strategies. 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Firstly, the study goes through a number of theories on translation to build up a theoretical background for the paper. Then, as it was stated in the aims and scope of the study, ít development bases on clarifying and analyzing journal-article abtracts in particular and scientific in general. Therefore, to accomplish the thesis, a flexible combination of methods is employed, which embraces reference to publications, and description of results.
Organization of the study The study consists of three main parts: Part A - Introduction The rationale of the study is given in this part. It also explains the scope, aims, method and organization of the study. Part B – Development Chapter I: Theoretical background This chapter forms the theoretical background of the study, which looks at the theory of translation, terminology and translation equivalence, translation method and procedures to study English-Vietnamese translation of journal-article abstracts. Chapter II: Terminology achieved in English-Vietnamese translation of journal-article abstracts This chapter provides details of terminology achieved during the translation of English-Vietnamese of journal-article abstracts.
Chapter III: Some strategies employed for the translation of English- Vietnamese of journal-article abstracts. This chapter looks at some strategies professional translators employ to translate the selected English-Vietnamese journal-article abstracts. This chapter looks at some strategies professional translators employ to translate the selected English-Vietnamese journal-article abstracts. Part C – Conclusion 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com This part summarizes the study, its theoretical background, data analysis and findings.
Moreover, the limitations of the study and suggestions for further research to tackle these limitations are also provided. 4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B - DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1. What is translation? Although the theory of traslation has been discussed by different authors under different studies, agreement still exists in the following viewpoints. Both Tudor, as cited in Duff (1989:5), and Hatim & Mason (1990) consider translation as a communicative activity which “convey[s] messages across linguistic and cultural barriers” (Tudor) and “takes place within a social context” (Hatim & Mason).
In a more detailed manner, Catford (1967), in his book A Linguistic Theory of Translation, defines translation as “the placement of textual material in one language (source language) by equivalent textual material in another language (target language).” Holding the same opinion, Wills (1982a: 112) argues, “Translation is a procedure which leads from a written source language text (SLT) to an optimally equivalent target language text (TLT).” Those definitions above though differ from their expressions, they all share the same essence of translation which lies in the preservation of semantic, pragmatic, and textual aspects of meaning across two different languages. Translation procedures and strategies According to Newmark (1988), translation procedures are used for the translation of sentences and the smaller units of language. The followings are the translation strategies and procedures proposed by Newmark: - Transference - Naturalization - Cultural equivalent - Descriptive equivalent - Synonymy - Through-translation - Shifts or transpositions 5 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com - Modulation - Recognized translation - Translation label - Compensation - Componential analysis - Reduction and expansion - Paraphrase - Other procedures - Couplets Some of these procedures are often employed in the translation of terminology. Transference Transference is the process of transferring a SL word to a TL text.
The translators have to decide whether or not to transfer a word unfamiliar in TL, which in principle should be a SL cultural word. Words and expression that are normally transferred are cultural concepts or objects to give local color, to attract reader, to give a sense of intimate between the text and the reader. Most of the acronyms and eponyms investigated in the text book are translated by transference, for example: „EPS‟ (Electrical Power system), „PTC2‟ (Power transmission Company 2), „HMMs‟ (Hidden Markov Models), „VQ‟ (Vector Quantization),„PES‟ (Potential energy surfaces), „ISO‟ (International Standard Organization). Shifts or transpositions “Shifts” is the term proposed by Catford, whereas “transpositions” by Vinay & Darbelnet (1958) is the procedure which is applied when the translation involves a change in grammar from SL to TL.
There are four types of shifts: - The change from singular to plural or in the position of the adjective; 6 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.