TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG TRONG CÁCH DỊCH các từ có yếu tổ văn hóa TRONG CUỐN SÁCH “WANDERING THROUGH VIETNAMESE

College of Foreign Languages (VHUN)

Postgraduate Studies



BẠCH ÁNH HỒNG

EQUIVALENCE IN THE TRANSLATION OF

VIETNAMESE CULTURAL WORDS IN THE BOOK

“WANDERING THROUGH VIETNAMESE CULTURE”

BY HUU NGOC

(TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG TRONG CÁCH DỊCH CÁC TỪ CÓ YẾU TỔ

VĂN HÓA TRONG CUỐN SÁCH “WANDERING THROUGH

VIETNAMESE CULTURE” CỦA HỮU NGỌC)

Field: English Linguistics

Code: 602215

Course: K13

M.A. Minor Thesis

Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lê Hùng Tiến

- Hanoi, July 2007 -

Abstract

This paper is a linguistic study on equivalences and the translation methods rendered to

achieve the equivalent effects in a book written by the writer and translator, Huu Ngoc.

More specifically, the chosen subject of investigation is the translation of Vietnamese

cultural words in the book “Wandering through Vietnamese culture”. The reasons for this

choice are both linguistic and practical.

Linguistically, the translation of culture-related words has never been seen as an easy task,

especially between such two distant cultures as Vietnam and English. The challenges may

originate from cultural differences, the cultural knowledge of the translator etc. However,

the hardest problems may be attached to non- equivalence which consists of the concepts

unknown to target language readers, the non-lexicalization of the concepts, the lack of

super ordinates of hyponyms etc. The main contribution of this paper is to draw out the

main ways of dealing with the hurdles by investigating how an experienced translator and a

famous Vietnamese cultural expert overcome the difficulty in his book.

Practically, I hope that the lessons drawn from the study of his work could effectively

assist me in my practical job at my university, where a Vietnamese Studies Department is

to be opened with an aim to train new generation of youngsters who will narrow down the

culture gaps between Vietnam and other countries.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

On the completion of this thesis, I am indebted to many people.

First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Assoc.

Prof. Dr. Le Hung Tien for his valuable and prompt advice and helps, without which, this

thesis could not come into being.

My thanks also go to all my lecturers and officers from Post Graduate Department,

College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University, who have facilitated me with

the best possible conditions during my whole course of studying.

Last but not least, let my gratitude go to my family and friends, whose encouragement and

assistance are of extreme importance during the course of my writing this thesis.

Hanoi, July 2007

Bach Anh Hong

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS.......................................................................4

PART A: INTRODUCTION.................................................................5

1. Rationale...........................................................................................5

2. Scope of the study..............................................................................5

3. Aims of the study...............................................................................6

4. Methodology......................................................................................6

5. Design of the study............................................................................7

Chapter 1: Theoretical background.....................................................8

1.1. Translation theory...........................................................................8

1.1.1. Definition of translation...............................................................8

1.1.2. Translation equivalence...............................................................8

1.1.2.1. The nature of equivalence in translation................................9

1.1.2.2. Types of equivalence in translation.........................................9

1.1.3. Common problems of non-equivalence....................................11

1.2. Notion of culture in translation....................................................13

1.3. Cultural categories........................................................................14

1.4. Translation methods.....................................................................15

1.5. Conclusion.....................................................................................17

Chapter 2: Vietnamese cultural words and their equivalences.......18

2.1. The most common types of cultural words.................................18

2.2. The most common types of equivalence......................................18

2.2.1. Nil equivalence:..........................................................................20

2.2.2 Other types of equivalence.........................................................28

2.2.2.1 One-to-part-of one equivalence...............................................28

2.2.2.3 One-to-one equivalence............................................................34

PART C: CONCLUSION....................................................................36

REFERENCES.....................................................................................41