Các phương thức dịch cụm danh từ tiếng Anh sang tiếng Việt trong các văn bản công nghệ thông tin và truyền thông)

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

TRINH THI THU HUYEN

PROCEDURES FOR ENGLISH – VIETNAMESE NOMINAL

GROUPS TRANSLATION IN INFORMATION AND

COMMUNUCATIONS TECHNOLOGY DOCUMENTS

(Các phương thức dịch cụm danh từ từ tiếng Anh sang tiếng Việt

trong các văn bản công nghệ thông tin và truyền thông)

M.A. THESIS

Field: English Linguistics

Code: 8220201

THAI NGUYEN – 2019

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

TRINH THI THU HUYEN

PROCEDURES FOR ENGLISH – VIETNAMESE NOMINAL

GROUPS TRANSLATION IN INFORMATION AND

COMMUNUCATIONS TECHNOLOGY DOCUMENTS

(Các phương thức dịch cụm danh từ từ tiếng Anh sang tiếng Việt

trong các văn bản công nghệ thông tin và truyền thông)

M.A. THESIS

(APPLICATION ORIENTATION)

Field: English Linguistics

Code: 8220201

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Van

THAI NGUYEN – 2020

i

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby certify that the research paper entitled “Procedures for English –

Vietnamese nominal groups translation in information and communications

technology documents” constitutes my own product, that where the language of

others is set forth, quotation marks so indicate, and that appropriate credit is given

where I have used the language, ideas, expressions or writings of another. This work

has not been and will not be submitted for any other degree at any other institution of

higher education.

Author’s signature

Trịnh Thị Thu Huyền

Approved by

SUPERVISOR

Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Van

Date: October, 2019

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the special and important

persons who have contributed to different aspects of this study. They have all made

it possible for me to commence and complete this paper. I would like to acknowledge

and commend them for their help that has worked towards the success of this study.

First and foremost, this research could not have been completed without the help

of my supervisor, Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Van. I am deeply grateful to him for his keen

interest in me at every stage of this research. His prompt inspirations, timely

suggestions with kindness, enthusiasm and dynamism have enabled me to complete

the study.

I also wish to thank profusely all the lecturers at the Department of Post￾Graduate Studies, School of Foreign Langues, Thai Nguyen University for the

variable knowledge they have provided me and for their help so that I can get over

many difficulties for the past two years.

Last but not least, from the bottom of my heart, I am extremely thankful to my

beloved families and other friends for their constant encouragement throughout my

research period.

Once again, I thank all those who have encouraged and helped me to complete

this study.

iii

ABSTRACT

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the appropriate application of

translation procedures to handle NGs of high frequency in the chosen ICT documents.

In order to achieve that aim, the basic theory of translation along with the general

information regarding the definition, structure and classification of NGs are

discussed. Besides, several translation procedures employed to deal with the

predominant types of NGs in the selected text are analyzed. The findings reveal that

eight main translation procedures are used to translate NGs of the source texts from

English into Vietnamese including transposition, expansion, literal translation,

recognized translation, paraphrase, reduction, transference and naturalization. To

specify how and why the translation procedures are applied, each procedure is

explained with typical examples extracted from the chosen documents. Furthermore,

in particular cases, the combination of translation procedures is required to produce

desired translated versions. To conclude the study, some implications, unpreventable

limitations and suggestions for future studies are proposed for further improvement

of NGs translation practice.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ..........................................................................i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......................................................................................ii

ABSTRACT............................................................................................................. iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS.........................................................................................iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS..................................................................................vi

LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................vii

LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................. viii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION............................................................................1

1.1. Rationale of the study....................................................................................1

1.2. Aims of the study...........................................................................................2

1.3. Research questions ........................................................................................2

1.4. Significance of the study ...............................................................................3

1.5. Scope of the study..........................................................................................3

1.6. Design of the study........................................................................................3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................5

2.1. Previous studies...........................................................................................12

2.2. Translation theory..........................................................................................5

2.2.1. Definition of translation..........................................................................5

2.2.2. An overview of technical translation......................................................5

2.3. English NGs and procedures to translate English NGs.................................6

2.3.1. English NGs............................................................................................6

2.3.2. Procedures to translate English NGs ......................................................8

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY.........................................................................14

3.1. Method of the study.....................................................................................14

3.1.1. Definition of content analysis...............................................................14

3.1.2. Rationale for choosing content analysis...............................................15

3.2. Data collection.............................................................................................15

3.2.1. Data of the study...................................................................................15

3.2.2. Data collection procedure .....................................................................18

v

3.3. Data analysis................................................................................................19

CHAPTER 4. DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ......................................21

4.1. Introduction of the selected documents.......Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.2. Data analysis................................................................................................21

4.2.1. Classification of English NGs according to structure ..........................21

4.2.2. Classification of English NGs according to translation procedures.....22

4.3. Applied translation procedures....................................................................24

4.3.1. Shift or transposition.............................................................................24

4.3.2. Expansion..............................................................................................31

4.3.3. Literal translation..................................................................................35

4.3.4. Recognized translation..........................................................................39

4.3.5. Paraphrase .............................................................................................40

4.3.6. Reduction ..............................................................................................42

4.3.7. Transference..........................................................................................44

4.3.8. Naturalization........................................................................................46

4.3.9. Combination of different translation procedures..................................46

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION...............................................................................48

5.1. Summary of the findings .............................................................................48

5.2. Implications for translators..........................................................................49

5.3. Limitations of the study...............................................................................50

5.4. Suggestions for further research..................................................................50

REFERENCE ..........................................................................................................51

APPENDICE ...........................................................................................................53

vi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ICT: Information and communications technology

NGs: Nominal groups

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1: Examples of NGs post-modifiers...............................................................8

Table 4.1: Examples of NGs by converting plural into singular ..............................25

Table 4.2: Examples of using transposition of nouns...............................................27

Table 4.3: Examples of using transposition of adjectives.........................................28

Table 4.4: Examples of using transposition of participle..........................................28

Table 4.5: Examples of using transposition of ‘s genitive........................................29

Table 4.6: Examples of using transposition of complex pre-modifiers....................30

Table 4.7: Examples of using the combination of two transposition types ..............31

Table 4.8: Examples of using expansion with NGs consisting of only a noun ........32

Table 4.9: Examples of using expansion with NGs consisting of an adjective, a

noun or participle as pre-modifiers...........................................................................33

Table 4.10: Example of using expansion with NGs consisting of complex

elements.....................................................................................................................35

Table 4.11: Examples of using literal translation with NGs consisting of a single

noun...........................................................................................................................36

Table 4.12: Examples of using literal translation with NGs consisting of one noun

as post modifiers .......................................................................................................37

Table 4.13: Examples of using literal translation with NPs have prepositional

phrases consisting of complex elements as post modifiers.......................................38

Table 4.14: Examples of using recognized translation .............................................39

Table 4.15: Examples of using paraphrase ...............................................................41

Table 4.16: Examples of using reduction..................................................................43

Table 4.17: Examples of using transference .............................................................45

viii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 4.1: Distribution of NGs structures found in the chosen English texts.........21

Figure 4.2: Distribution of translation procedures applied to translate NGs in the

chosen English texts..................................................................................................23

1

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

This chaper provides an insight into why the current research focuses on the

translation procedures of different NGs’ constructions, the proposed aims and

research questions which serve as the backbone for the thorough investigation

process. Besides, the significance and scope of the study are also highlighted. Then,

the way in which the entire research is built is given with general description for each

chapter.

1.1. Rationale of the study

It is evident that information and communications technology (ICT) has held an

important and indispensable role in this integrated world. This field has a profound

effect on not only the development of the globe in general but also the

industrialization and modernization of Vietnam in particular. In order to be equipped

with the cutting-edge intelligence of human beings in ICT aspect, there is an urgent

need for Vietnamese to investigate the most advanced ICT materials which have

frequently been written in English. This paves the way for the flourishing demands

of ICT documents translated from English into Vietnamese.

Noticeably, the translation process which requires plenty of qualities poses a

number of challenges and obstacles on translators. Furthermore, technical translation

emphasizing on the accuracy of single details than other types of translation has

pushed communicators into difficulties in producing a translated version of high

quality. Byrne (2006) indicated that the responsibilities of translators in tackling a

technical document involve both adequate information transmission and the

guarantee that the data conveyed is exploited in an easy, precise and effective way by

readers.

Importantly, several impediments have been revealed for translators on the way

to fulfill the above missions. One among them is the distinctions of nominal groups

(NGs)’ structure between English and Vietnamese. It is observed that the rendering

of NGs which normally occur in a high frequency in technical texts encounters

hindrances partly due to the contrast in the grammatical structure of NGs between the

2

two languages. For illustration, in English NGs structure, an adjective comes before

the head noun whilst Vietnamese’s NGs constructions witness an opposite word

order. In addition, terminology demanding a grasp of specialized knowledge is

another factor leading to the confusion of communicators. For these reasons, NGs are

chosen as the subject for investigation of this study.

Thanks to the invaluable works of previous linguists, many translation

procedures were defined so as to solve the mentioned problems. Nonetheless, the

application of these procedures into a specific context varies from one to another and

entails a deep study into every particular case.

With the hope to contribute efforts to eliminate the above difficulties for the

translation community in general and for individuals who are interested in ICT

translation in particular, this thesis focuses on the application of translation

procedures in NGs translation from English into Vietnamese.

For the aforementioned reasons, relevant texts in the context of ICT has been

chosen for thorough research and analysis.

1.2. Aims of the study

The research is implemented to achieve the following aims:

 to examine the frequency and the diversity of NGs’ structures found in the

source texts;

 to review translation procedures unveiled by antecedent linguistic experts to

address NGs translation; and

 to study the proper application of translation procedures of translating English

nominal groups in ICT texts into Vietnamese.

Of the three aims, the third one is considered the focus of the research.

1.3. Research questions

The following questions are put forward for the research:

 What are the frequency and diversity of NG’s structures in the source texts?

 What are translation procedures applied to translating NGs’ structures of

English ICT texts into Vietnamese?

3

1.4. Significance of the study

Due to a variety of difficulties arisen in the translation process, this study is

hoped to be a referential document for those dealing with the pool of translation. The

analysis presented in the research may be used as a piece of consultative information

when struggling with NG translation from English into Vietnamese. By connecting

the translation procedures proposed by previous researchers and the actual NGs

occurring in the purposively chosen texts, the relationship between the two subjects

is highlighted. This is beneficial for the translation practice of linguistic students or

beginning translators. Additionally, this study is managed to contribute to the

translation community in the global scope in particular and in Vietnamese in general

by stimulating more investigations performed in this field.

1.5. Scope of the study

In terms of the subject, the research is aimed at discussing the translation of the

nominal groups in some articles whose content is about the industry of ICT. Within

the given period, the study is better to be conducted on such a scale so that the stated

aims can be obtained adequately and effectively.

Besides, the paper focuses on the translation process of the selected documents

from English into Vietnamese. This means other linguistic phenomena are out of the

scope of the study and are excluded. Added to this, the study gives priority to the way

in which NGs are rendered from the source language into the target one.

Consequently, only the translation procedures employed for NGs translation are

mentioned and investigated.

1.6. Design of the study

The paper contains four main parts:

• Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION includes the rationale, objectives, research

questions, significance and scope of the study; besides, a general structure of the

research is also mentioned.

• Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW provides information regarding

concerned paper conducted by previous scholars. In addition, the theory of translation