CHAPTER 1: TRANSLATION AND TRANSLATION THEORY

A. What is translation?
Translation is the replacement of textual material in one language (Source language)
by equivalent textual material in another language (Target language). (JC Catford)
Translation is the process of conveying messages across linguistic and cultural
barriers. (lan Tudor)
Translation is rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that
the author intended the text. (Peter Newmark)

B. The translation approach

There are two approaches:
- You start translating sentence by sentence.
- You read the whole text two or three times, analyze it and start translating it
when you understand it.
If you take the first approach, you may spend time revising your translation. If you
choose the second, you may inhibit your intuition. You may prefer the first approach for an
easy text, the second for a harder one.
LESSON 1: THE ANALYSIS OF A TEXT
Translation theory suggests some criteria and priorities for analyzing a text.
A. The intention of a text
The intention means attitude to the subject matter (what we want). The translator
who has to be faithful to the author has to bear the intention of the original in mind
throughout his or her work.
Ex: A woman hit him >< He was hit.
Ex: It is interesting to watch this film >< We are interested to watch this film.
B. The intention of the translator
Usually, the translator must comply with the intention of the author of the Source
Language text.
C. The reader / listener and the setting
+ The translator asks himself/herself:
- Who is the reader/listener?
- Where would the text be found in the Target Language?
- Where will the translation be read?
- What is the Target Language equivalent of the Source Language in
periodical, newspaper, textbook, legal document, etc?
D. Stylistic scales
The degrees of formality are classified:
Phong cách hàn lâm (officialese)
Phong cách nghiêm túc (official)
Phong cách lịch sự (formal)
Phong cách trung lập (neutral)
Phong cách giản dị (informal)
Phong cách hội thoại (colloquial)
Phong cách tiếng lóng (slang)
Phong cách cấm kỵ (taboo)
Ex: The consumption of any nutriments whatsoever is categorically prohibited in this
establishment.
 Ex: Sự tiêu thụ bất cứ chủng loại thực phẩm nào bị tuyệt đối nghiêm cấm trong cơ
sở này. hàn lâm (officialese)
Ex: The consumption of nutrients is prohibited.
Ex: Việc tiêu thụ thực phẩm bị cấm. nghiêm túc (official)
Ex: You are requested not to consume food in this establishment.
Ex: Yêu cầu quý vị không tiêu thụ thực phẩm trong cơ quan này.lịch sự (formal)
Ex: Eating is not allowed here.
Ex: Cấm ăn uống ở đây. trung lập (neutral)
Ex: Please don't eat here.
Ex:Xin đừng ăn uống ở đây. giản dị (informal)
Ex: You can't feed your face here.
Ex:Cấm không ăn uống tại đây. hội thoại (colloquial)
Ex: Lay off the nosh.
Ex:Cấm không ăn uống, hút sách ở đây. tiếng lóng (slang)
Ex: Lay off the fucking nosh.
Ex: Cấm tiệt chớ có đớp hít gì đấy nhé. cấm kỵ (taboo)
E. Attitude
Degrees of feeling: positive, neutral or negative. The translator has to assess the
standards of the writer.
Ex: slim / slender - thin - bony / skinny
Ex: plump - fat - obese
F. The quality of the writing and the authority of the text
The text (Source Language) may be good or bad.
- Good text > closely translating (Target Language) (matching)
- Bad text > transferring the meaning
- Good writer > good authority
- Bad writer > flexible translation
A good translator has to correct bad texts (Source Language). A translator is
responsible for his/her Target Language text.
G. Text functions and text categories
- Three functions: expressive (I), informative (It), vocative (You).
- Text-categories: serious literature (belle lettres), authoritative statements (speeches
or declarations) and personal or intimate writing; Journalism, reporting, scientific and
technical papers, general textbooks, most non-literary works; advertising,
propaganda, polemical works, popular literature.
- Most texts include all three functions, with an emphasis on one of the three.
H. Connotation and denotation
Connotation is the meaning which is wider than the core meaning.
Denotation is the core meaning.
Connotative meanings refer to the additional meanings that a word or phrase has
beyond its central meaning (= denotative meaning), these meanings show people's
emotions and attitudes towards what the word or phrase refers to.
Ex: dragon: an imaginary animal (core meaning); symbol of a king (wider meaning)
LESSON 2: THE TRANSLATION METHODS
There are 8 translation methods and they are listed below:
Source Language emphasis Target Language emphasis
 Word-for-word translation Adaptation

Literal translation Free translation

Faithful translation Idiomatic translation

Semantic translation Communicative translation

Word-for-word translation (dịch từ đối từ)

Word-for-word translation is often demonstrated as interlinear translation (dịch xen
hàng), with the Target Language immediately below the Source Language words. The
Source Language word-order is preserved and the words translated singly (riêng lẻ) by
their most common out of context.
Ex: I play the guitar every day.
Ex: Tôi chơi đàn guitar mỗi ngày.
Literal translation (dịch nguyên văn)
The Source Language grammatical constructions are converted to their nearest
Target Language equivalents but the lexical words are again translated singly, out of
context. As a pre-translation process, this indicates the problems to be solved.
Ex: He takes some medicine.
Ex: Anh ta lấy ít thuốc. (Anh ta uống thuốc)
Faithful translation (dịch trung thành)
A faithful translation attempts to reproduce the precise contextual meaning of the
original within the constraints of the Target Language grammatical structures. It 'transfers'
cultural words and preserves the degree of grammatical and lexical 'abnormality' (deviation
from Source Language norms) in the translation.
Adaptation (dịch chuyển thể)
This is the 'freest' form of translation. It is used mainly for plays (comedies) and
poetry: the themes, characters, plots are usually preserved, the Source Language culture
converted to the Target Language culture and the text rewritten by an established dramatist
or poet.
Free translation (dịch tự do)
Free translation 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
'intralingual translation'. Body language may be used for free translation.
Idiomatic translation
Idiomatic translation (dịch thành ngữ)
It reproduces the 'message' of the original but tends to distort nuances (bóp méo
sặc thái) of meaning by preferring colloquialisms and idioms where these do not exist in the
original.
Ex: As poor as mouse in the church
Ex: Nghèo rớt mồng tơi.
Communicative translation
Communicative translation attempts to render the exact contextual meaning of the
original in such a way that both content and language are readily acceptable and
comprehensible to the readership/listenership.
 Ex: 'I never hear or read the name of Yarmouth but I am reminded of a certain
Saturday on the beach...' (extracted from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens)
Ex: Cứ mỗi lần nghe hoặc đọc đến tên 'Yarmouth' thì tôi lại nhớ đến một sáng thứ
bảy nào đó trên bãi biển.
Semantic translation
This kind of translation tends to be dependent on the Source language, so it usually
sounds unnatural. It includes literal and faithful translation methods. Semantic translation
attempts to render, as closely as the semantic and syntactic structures of the source
language allow, the exact contextual meaning of the original.
Ex: 'I never hear or read the name of Yarmouth but I am reminded of a certain
Saturday on the beach...' (extracted from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens)
Ex: Tôi không bao giờ nghe hoặc đọc đến tên 'Yarmouth' (tên một thị trấn) mà tôi lại
không nhớ đến một sáng thứ bảy nào đó trên bãi biển…
LESSON 3: TRANSLATION PROCEDURE
A. TRANSFERENCE
This procedure includes transliteration which relates to the conversion of different
alphabets. Generally, proper names are translated via this procedure
Ex: Tang (Chinese) > Đường
Ex: лЕНиН (Russian) > Lê Nin
Ex: Einstein (German) > Anhxtanh
Ex: Washington (English) > Oa sinh tơn
Ex: Napoleon (French) Na pô lê ông/ Nã Phá Luân
B. NATURALISATION
This procedure follows transference and adapts the Source Language word first to
the normal pronunciation, then to the normal morphology.
Ex: Sichuan (Chinese): Tứ Xuyên
Ex: Paris (French): Pa ri
Ex: London (English): Luân Đôn
Ex: MOCKBA (Russian): Mát xcơ va
Ex: Leipzid (German): Lai xít
C. CULTURAL EQUIVALENT
This is an approximate translation where a Source Language cultural word is
translated by a Target Language cultural word.
Ex: baccalauréat: bằng tú tài
Ex: Yard: thước
D. FUNCTIONAL EQUIVALENT
A similar procedure is used when a SL technical word has no Target Language
equivalent.
Ex: Logic (French): Lôgic
Ex: Tank (English): xe tăng
Ex: Chip (English): con chip
Ex: Dollar (English): đô la (USD) (USD 10 million)
Ex: Tsunami (Japanese): sóng thần
E. DESCRIPTIVE EQUIVALENT
There are no equivalent words, so we use the names of Source Language and
explain them to the listeners.
Ex: Boomerang (Australia): Weapon of aborigines
Ex: Kimono (Japan): Traditional Japanese dress
 Ex: Ao dai (Vietnam): Traditional Vietnamese dress
Ex: Gondola: A flat-bottom boat to sail on the canals of Venice
F. SYNONYMY
When there is no literal translation and no equivalent translation, we use near sense.
Ex: Blonde hair: tóc vàng > tóc vàng hoe
Ex: Slim: ốm > mảnh mai
G. THROUGH-TRANSLATION
It is known as loan translation. It is the literal translation of common collocations,
names of organizations, components of compounds, etc.
Ex: TOEFL, IELTS, TOEIC
Ex: UNICEF, WTO, WHO, UNESCO
Ex: Coup de l'amour
H. MODULATION
A variation through a change of viewpoint. The Target Language rejects literal
translation.
1. Generic word or phrase is translated into specific word or phrase
Ex: She feels ill, so she takes some medicine.
Ex: He made his ten of hearts.
Ex: He got to school by bus.
2. Specific word or phrase is translated into generic word or phrase
Ex: Our tea-break/coffee-break is at 8:30. (Chúng tôi giải lao lúc 8:30)
3. Reversal of terms
Ex: At the end of the game, the score was 2-1 against the homeside. (Khi trận
đấu kết thúc, tỉ số là 2-1 nghiêng về đội bạn)
Ex: I don't think you are right. (Tôi nghĩ là anh sai rồi)
Ex: He was not married until he was forty. (Mãi cho đến tuổi 40 anh ấy mới
lập gia đình)
4. The same word or phrase in different contexts may be different
Ex: The terns flew to the south, one after another. (lũ lượt)
Ex: The students in line come into the class, one after another. (lần lượt)
Ex: The IS oil trucks enter Turkey, one after another. (nối đuôi nhau)
5. Active to passive or vice versa
Ex: It is said that… (người ta nói rằng…)
Ex: It was rumored that… (người ta đồn rằng…)
Ex: It is suggested that…
Ex: The mouse was eaten by the cat. (con mèo ăn con chuột)
Ex: A car hit him. (anh ấy bị xe tông)
Ex: A dog bit her. (cô ấy bị chó cắn)
I. COUPLETS AND TRIPLETS
Combining two or three procedures in translation.
Ex: Kimono (Expansion and Naturalization)
J. NOTES, ADDITIONS, GLOSSES
- Notes at bottom of the page.
- Notes at the end of the chapter.
- Notes or glossary at the end of the book.
Ex: He lives in Phu Loc.
* A commune/village in between Da Nang and Hue.
 TRANSLATION PROCESS
(SL) TEXT → ANALYSIS → TRANSFER → RESTRUCTURING → TRANSLATION (TL)