A study on translation of expression used in some vietnamese dishes into English

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC DÂN LẬP HẢI PHÒNG ------------------------------- ISO 9001 : 2008 KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP NGÀNH NGOẠI NGỮ HẢI PHÒNG - 2010 HAIPHONG PRIVATE UNIVESITY FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT ----------------------------------- GRADUATION PAPER A STUDY ON TRANSLATION OF EXPRESSION USED IN SOME VIETNAMESE DISHES INTO ENGLISH By: NGUYỄN THỊ TRANG Class: NA1004 Supervisor: NGUYỄN THỊ QUỲNH HOA, M.A HAI PHONG - 2010 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC DÂN LẬP HẢI PHÒNG -------------------------------------- Nhiệm vụ đề tài tốt nghiệp Sinh viên: ............................................................Mã số: ............................ Lớp: .............................Ngành:.................................................................... Tên đề tài: ................................................................................................. .................................................................................................. ................................................................................................. .................................................................................................. Nhiệm vụ đề tài 1. Nội dung và các yêu cầu cần giải quyết trong nhiệm vụ đề tài tốt nghiệp ( về lý luận, thực tiễn, các số liệu cần tính toán và các bản vẽ). .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 2. Các số liệu cần thiết để thiết kế, tính toán. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 3. Địa điểm thực tập tốt nghiệp. .. .. .. CÁN BỘ HƯỚNG DẪN ĐỀ TÀI Người hướng dẫn thứ nhất: Họ và tên: ............................................................................................. Học hàm, học vị: ................................................................................... Cơ quan công tác:................................................................................. Nội dung hướng dẫn:............................................................................ Người hướng dẫn thứ hai: Họ và tên:............................................................................................. Học hàm, học vị:................................................................................... Cơ quan công tác:................................................................................. Nội dung hướng dẫn:............................................................................ Đề tài tốt nghiệp được giao ngày 12 tháng 04 năm 2010 Yêu cầu phải hoàn thành xong trước ngày 10 tháng 07 năm 2010 Đã nhận nhiệm vụ ĐTTN Đã giao nhiệm vụ ĐTTN Sinh viên Người hướng dẫn Hải Phòng, ngày tháng năm 2010 HIỆU TRƯỞNG GS.TS.NGƯT Trần Hữu Nghị PHẦN NHẬN XÉT TÓM TẮT CỦA CÁN BỘ HƯỚNG DẪN 1. Tinh thần thái độ của sinh viên trong quá trình làm đề tài tốt nghiệp: .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 2. Đánh giá chất lượng của khóa luận (so với nội dung yêu cầu đã đề ra trong nhiệm vụ Đ.T. T.N trên các mặt lý luận, thực tiễn, tính toán số liệu): .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 3. Cho điểm của cán bộ hướng dẫn (ghi bằng cả số và chữ): .. .. .. Hải Phòng, ngày .. tháng .. năm 2010 Cán bộ hướng dẫn (họ tên và chữ ký) NHẬN XÉT ĐÁNH GIÁ CỦA NGƯỜI CHẤM PHẢN BIỆN ĐỀ TÀI TỐT NGHIỆP 1. Đánh giá chất lượng đề tài tốt nghiệp về các mặt thu thập và phân tích tài liệu, số liệu ban đầu, giá trị lí luận và thực tiễn của đề tài. 2. Cho điểm của người chấm phản biện : (Điểm ghi bằng số và chữ) Ngày.......... tháng......... năm 2010 Người chấm phản biện ACKNOWLEDGEMENT In the process of completing this Graduation Paper, I have received a great deal of help, guidance and encouragement from my teachers and friends. I would first and foremost like to express my thanks to my supervisor Miss. Nguyen Thi Quynh Hoa, M.A for helping me through this challenging process. I would also like to express my special thanks to other teachers of Foreign Language Department for their supportive lectures during four years that have provided me with a good background to do effectively my Graduation Paper. Finally, I would like to thank my family, my friend who have offered continuous support, encouraged and helped me to complete this paper. Hai phong, June 2010 Student Nguyen Thi Trang TABLE OF CONTENTS. PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale. 2. Scope of the study. 3. Aims of the study. 4. Research methods applied in the study. 5. Design of the study. PART II: DEVELOPMENT Chapter one: Theoretical background of translation. 1. Concepts of translation 2. Types of translation 2.1. Literal translation 2.2. Word-for-word translation 2.3. Literal translation 2.4. Faithful translation 2.5. Semantic translation 2.6. Adaptation translation 2.7. Idiomatic translation 2.8. Communicative translation 2.9. Other translations 3. Equivalence in translation 3.1. Definition of equivalence 3.2. Types of equivalence 3.2.1. According to Koller (1979). Denotative equivalence Connotative equivalence Pragmatic equivalence Formal equivalence 3.2.2. According to Baker. Equivalence Equivalence Grammatical equivalence Textual equivalence Pragmatic equivalence 4. ESP in translation 4.1. Concepts of ESP 4.2. Types of ESP English for Science and Technology (EST) English for Business and Economics (EBE) English for Social Studies (ESS) 5. Procedure of translation 5.1. Borrowing 5.2. Calque 5.3. Literal translation 5.4. Transposition 5.5. Modulation 5.6. Total syntagmatic changeAdaptation Chapter two: Translation of some popular Vietnamese dishes into English 1. General introduction of popular Vietnamese dishes 2. How to translate them into English. 2.1. Bánh bèo 2.2. Bánh chay 2.3. Bánh chưng 2.4. Bánh cốm 2.5. Bánh cuốn 2.6. Bánh đa 2.7. Bánh đúc 2.8. Bánh giầy 2.9. Bánh giò 2.10. Bánh khoái 2.11. Bánh rán 2.12. Bánh phu thê 2.13. Bánh trôi 2.14. Bì cuốn 2.15. Bún bò 2.16. Bún chả 2.17. Cà pháo muối 2.18. Cá kho 2.19. Canh cua 2.20. Chả cá 2.21. Chả giò 2.22. Cháo lòng 2.23. Chạo tôm 2.24. Gỏi 2.25. Giả cầy 2.26. Muối vừng 2.27. Nem chua 2.28. Nước mắm 2.29. Phở 2.30. Thịt chó 2.31. Thịt đông 2.32. Tiết canh 2.33. Tương 2.34. Ruốc bông 2.35. Xôi Chapter three: Implication 1. Implications 2. Suggestions for the further study. PART THREE: CONCLUSION REFERRENCE APPENDIX: SOME KINDS OF HERB USED TO FLAVOR THE DISHES. PART I: INTRODUCTION. 1. Rationale of the study. Vietnamese cuisine is a style of cooking associated with fish sauce, soy sauce, rice, fresh herbs and vegetables. Traditional recipes of Vietnamese people use various herbs such as lemongrass, mint, basil, coriander, and popular meats are pork, chicken, and fish. Thus, food Vietnam is increasingly preferred by the fresh ingredients and delicious recipes for health benefits. A foreign expert on cuisine said Vietnam should become a kitchen of the world. This shows that Vietnamese food is highly appreciated in the eyes of international friends. Unlike other Chinese dishes with recipes with the oil, that of British with butter and sugar, Vietnamese food is admired by the more frugal, less fat and rich nutrition food, especially the popular food. The popular dishes of Vietnamese are formed from very ancient times, even in their difficult life. Therefore the dishes are made simple, easy but very delicate and Vietnamese national nature. Vietnam is a tropical country, year-round hot and humid rainy weather changing over the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. So, the dishes are different along with per season. This difference creates diversity of Vietnamese cuisine. Therefore, the translated name of the dishes is very necessary and important. It not only promotes the brand of Vietnamese dishes but that also helps friends in the world to understand more about Vietnamese culture, people and country. However, the translation of the name of popular Vietnamese dishes into English is not simple. It requires people to really study hard and have certain knowledge in this field. 2. Aims of the study. The study is constructed basing on the following aims: Collecting, classifying and analyzing the found documents in order to find out the way in translating name of popular Vietnamese dishes into English. Providing knowledge with dear arrangement and attractive illustration. 3. Scope of the study. The translation of popular Vietnamese dishes into English is an interesting issue in. Surprisingly, no many documents refer to it, so it is not easy for the writer to collect relevant materials for the thesis. Moreover, due to the limitation of time and knowledge, the study could not cover all the dishes but some most familiar ones in several textbooks, magazines and on internet. 4. Research methods applied in the study. Normally, there are many methods used for the thesis studying such as quantitative, qualitative, data and comparative analysis and interpreter method. However, the most effective and suitable method for the thesis is qualitative analysis. Firstly, data are collected from various sources, such as textbooks, magazines, internet even from the writer‟s teachers and friends. Then, from the collected data the writer analyze their features to find the suitable procedures used to translate them. The writer also asks the supervisor to collect and supplement the lacunas in the graduation paper. 5. Design of the study. The thesis is divided into three parts, in which the second one is the most important. Part one is the introduction in which rationale, aims, scope, methods and design are presented. Part two is the development that includes three parts: Chapter one is the theoretical background which focuses on the definitions, methods, procedures and equivalence of translation in general and ESP translation. Chapter two is the presentation of some popular Vietnamese dishes into English after collecting and analyzing. Chapter three is the implication that the writer gained through the process of studying on translation strategies to seek for English equivalence for the Vietnamese dishes, and some suggestions for the further study. Part three is conclusion which includes the summary of the study, experiences acquired PART II: DEVELOPMENT Chapter I: Theoretical background 1. Concepts of translation There are so many concepts of translation, which are developed by many famous linguistics of translation. Firstly, the writer would like to refer to definition of translation in Advanced Oxford Dictionary which presented that Translation is the process of changing something that is written or spoken into another language. More specifically, Wikipedia defined that translation is the interpreting of the meaning of a text and the subsequent production of an equivalent text, likewise called a "translation," that communicates the same message in another language. The text to be translated is called the "source text," and the language that it is to be translated into is called the "target language"; the final product is sometimes called the "target text." In a similar but more succinct way, David Frank (Wordpress.com) showed that translation is a text with qualities of equivalence to a prior text in another language, such that the new text is taken as a substitute for the original. However, according to Catford (1965), translation is the replacement of textual material in one language (source language) by equivalent textual material in another language (target language). Relating to equivalence of translation, Pinhhuck (1977) proved that translation is the process of finding a target language (TL) equivalent from a source language (SL) utterance. Translation is a craft consisting in the attempt to replace a written message and/or statements in one language by the same message and/or statement in another language in Newmark‟s opinion (1981). Specifically, Willss (1982) reckoned translation is a transfer process, which aims at the transformation of a written SL text into an optimally equivalent TL text, and which requires the syntactic, the semantic and the pragmatic understanding and analytical processing of the SL. Finally, translation is an act of communication which attempts to relay, across cultural and linguistic boundaries, another act of communication basing on Hatim and Masson‟s research written in 1997. These concepts support the idea that translation is a complex process. The write require theoretical knowledge as well as practical experiences. 2. Types of translation 2.1. Word-for-word translation This is often demonstrated as interlinear translation, with the TL immediately below the SL words. The SL word-order is preserved and the word translated singly by their most common meanings, out of context. Culture words are translated literally. The main use of word-for- word translation is either to understand the meaning of the SL or to construct a difficult text as a pre-translation process. For example: Source text: When my young sister was a child, she learned very well. Target text: Khi em gái tôi còn nhỏ, nó học rất giỏi. 2.2. Literal translation Literal translation is the translation of text from one language to another "word-for-word", rather than giving the sense of the original. For this reason, literal translations usually mis-translate idioms. The SL grammatical construction is converted to the nearest TL equivalences but the lexical words are again translated singly, out of context. For example: Source text: The project was implemented thank to the assistance of the United States. Target text: Dự án này được thực hiện nhờ sự giúp đỡ của Mỹ. 2.3. Faithful translation A faithful translation is used when translators want to reproduce the precise contextual meaning of the SL within the restriction of the TL grammatical structures. It converts cultural words but reserves the degree of grammatical and lexical “abnormality” in the translation. It attempts to be completely faithful to the intentions and text-realization of the SL writer. For example: Source text: Today the Vietnamese are, almost no exception, extremely friendly to Western visitors. Target text: Ngày nay, người Việt Nam, gần như không có ngoại lệ, đều rất thân thiện với khách du lịch người phương Tây. 2.4. Semantic translation Semantic translation differs from faithful translation only in as far as it must take more account of the aesthetic value of the SL text, compromising on “meaning” where appropriate so that no assonance, word-play or repetition jars in finished version. For example: Source text: We hope you will enjoy your staying with us. Target text: Chúng tôi hy vọng ngài sẽ có một kỳ nghỉ tuyệt vời tại khách sạn này. 2.5. Adaptation translation This seems to be the freest form of translation. It is used mainly for plays and poetry in which the themes, characters and plots are usually preserved, the SL culture converted to the TL culture and text rewritten by an established dramatist or poet has produced many poor adaptations but other adaptation has “rescued” period plays. For example: Source text: Thà một phút huy hoàng rồi chợt tắt Còn hơn buồn le lói suốt trăm năm (Xuân Diệu) Target text: It would rather the victorious brightness In an only moment the centenary twinkle 2.6. Free translation This reproduces the matter without the manner, or the content without the form of the original. Usually it is a paraphrase much longer than the original, a so-called “intralingua translation”, often prolix and pretentious and not translation at all. For example: Source text: To reduce fertility rate the present 3.7 children per woman to replacement level of 2. Target text: Tỉ lệ sinh hiện tại của phụ nữ giảm từ 3,7 xuống còn 2 trẻ. 2.7. Idiomatic translation Idiomatic translation reproduces the “message” of the original but tends to distort nuances of meaning by preferring colloquialisms and the idiom where these do not exists in the original. For example: Source text: Follow love and it will flee thee, flee love and it will follow thee. Target text: Theo tình thì tình chạy, trốn tình thì tình theo. 2.8. Communicative translation Communicative translation attempts to reader the exact contextual meaning of the original in such a way that both content and language are readily acceptable and comprehensible to the readership. For example: Source text: Good morning! Target text: bác đi đâu đấy ạ! 2.9. Other translations Besides the above common the types of translation, some of the following types are sometime used during translation process. They include: service translation, plum prose translation, information translation, cognitive translation, academic translation. 3. Equivalence in translation 3.1. Definition of equivalence The dictionary defines equivalence as being the same, similar or interchangeable with something else. In translation terms, equivalence is a term used to refer to the nature and extent of the relationship between SL and TL texts or smaller linguistic units. The problem of equivalence is one of the most important issues in the field of translating. It is a question of finding suitable counterparts in target language for expressions in the source language. The comparison of texts in different languages inevitably involves a theory of equivalence. According to Vanessa Leonardo “equivalence can be said to be the central issue in translation although its definition, relevance, and applicability within the field of translation theory have caused heated controversy, and many different theories of the concept of equivalence have been elaborated within this field in the past fifty years”. Here are some elaborate approaches to translation equivalence: • Translation equivalence is the similarity between a word (or expression) in one language and its translation in another. This similarity results from overlapping ranges of reference. • Translation equivalence is a corresponding word or expression in another language. Nida argued that there are two different types of equivalence, namely formal equivalence – which in the second edition by Nida and Taber (1982) is referred to as formal correspondence and dynamic equivalence. Formal correspondence “focuses attention on the message itself, in both form and content”, unlike dynamic equivalence which is based upon “the principle of equivalent effect” (1964:159), in the second edition (1982) or their work, the two theorists provide a more detailed explanation of each type of equivalence. Formal correspondence consists of a TL item which represents the closest equivalent of a SL word or phrase. Nida and Taber make it clear that there are not always formal equivalents between language pairs. They therefore suggest that these formal equivalents should be used wherever possible if the translation aims at achieving formal rather than dynamic equivalence. The use of formal equivalents might at times have serious implications in the TT since the translation will not be easily understood by the target audience (Fawcett, 1997). Nida and Taber themselves assert that “Typically, formal correspondence distorts the grammatical and stylistic patterns of the receptor language, and hence distorts the message, so as to cause the receptor to misunderstand or to labor unduly hard” (ibid:201). Dynamic equivalence is defined as a translation principle accor