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Title

A Study on Translating Color Idioms from English into Vietnamese

2. Rationale
- Idioms may be culture bound and this may cause even greater problems
for the translators and foreign learners.
- Colors as one of the most powerful communication tools would have
entirely disparate meanings and symbols not only in different cultures but
also in different idioms
- It is possible that in translation of color idioms, translators intend to adopt
some colors or symbols to convey positive connotations but instead
audiences interpret them negatively.

3. History of the study

There are some studies directly relating to idioms and color idioms.

Bui Thi Huyen (2019), in her thesis with subject” A study on colours used
in idiomatic expressions in english and vietnamese equivalent” presents
an overview of idioms with color elements in Vietnamese and in English, the
reference close to the semantics of the color in idiomatic expressions English
idioms comparing with those in Vietnamese

Trần Vũ Thị Diễm Vy (2013) in “Cognitive linguistics features of idioms

related to the concept of “black”, “white” in english versus
vietnamese”focused on the features of English idioms and made a contrastive
analysis on black and white color-based comparison idioms in English and
Vietnamese counterparts.

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4. Aim and Objective of the study

- this thesis mainly aims at exploring the difficulties of the learners of

English in translating idioms related to colors from English into
Vietnamese.
- some suggested solutions will also be proposed to help them dealing with
these problems when translating color idioms from English into
Vietnamese.
- It is hoped that this study somehow would be a useful reference for
improving their knowledge and translation skill as well.

5. Sample of the study

Our study takes the Systematic sampling. From the list of 100 members of
the English Club, we choose 10 female students and 10 male sudents.

6. Scope of the study

Due to limitation of a bachelor thesis framework, this thesis, therefore,

could only be able to focus on the following issues:
- Theoretical background of color idioms and their translation
- Difficulties met by the members of English Club, who are students from
the age of 18 to 22, in translating idioms related to colors from English
into Vietnamese
7. Research question

This study, therefore, would try to answer the following questions:

- What are difficulties met by the members of English Club in translating
color idioms from English into Vietnamese?

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- What are solutions for them to overcome the difficulties?
8. Research hypothesis

- The difficulty arises from the problem of finding adequate target language
equivalents for terms conveying culture-sensitive notions and color
symbols notions in the source language as a result of the fact that the two
languages have different meaning subsystems and cultures
- In order to master idioms and get good results in idiom translation,
students need to have a deep knowledge of English and Vietnamese
cultures due to their effects on meaning of idioms. Moreover, students
should pay attention to appropriate situations and make use of idioms in
the proper contexts. Last but not least, Vietnamese learners should have
habits of using idioms as regularly as possible in daily communication.

9. Methods

In completing this study, we have used such methods of study as:

- The analysis method is based on the result of the members of English Club
in their translation of color idioms from English into Vietnamese
efficiently.
- The comparative method is used to indicate the similarities and differences
of color idioms between English and Vietnamese in order to transfer them
correctly.
- The descriptive method examines with a particular focus on knowledge of
idioms and translation.
- The quantity method is used to investigate materials about forms,
characteristics and meanings of color idioms from the result of translation
of the members of English Club.

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 - The statistical method is used to make a research about knowledge of
idioms of the members of English Club. On analyzing data in survey, the
author evaluates exactly the rate of error made by the members of English
Club in translation color idioms from English into Vietnamese.

10. Evidences

Definition of English idioms

- “An idiom is a group of words which has, as a whole, a different meaning

from the meaning of its constituents” (The Longman Pocket Dictionary, 2001).
In other words, the meaning if the idiomatic expression is not the sum of the
words taken individually.

- According to Baker (1992, p.63) idioms and fixed expressions are “at the
extreme end of the scale from collocations in one or both of these areas:
flexibility of patterning and transparency of meaning. They are frozen patterns of
language which allow little or no variation in form and, in the case of idioms,
often carry meanings which can not be deduced from their individual
components”.

Definition of translation

- According to Nida and Taber in The Theory and Practice of Translation,

“Translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural
equivalent of the source-language message, first in terms of meaning and
secondly in terms of style”.

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 - Newmark (1981, p.7) defines translation as "a craft consisting in the attempt
to replace a written message and/or statement in one language by the same
message and/or statement in another language”.