VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION
GRADUATION PAPER
ADDITION AND OMISSION APPLIED BY LY LAN
IN TRANSLATING “HARRY POTTER AND THE
GOBLET OF FIRE” FROM THE PERSPECTIVES OF
FOURTH-YEAR STUDENTS OF INTERPRETING
AND TRANSLATION OF ULIS, VNU
HANOI, JUNE 2014
Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Thu Hang, M.A.
Student: Dong Thi Ngoc
Class: QH2010.F1.E21, K44
ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI
TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ
KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH
KHOÁ LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP
NGHIÊN CỨU PHƯƠNG PHÁP DỊCH THÊM VÀ
LƯỢC TỪ TRONG BẢN DỊCH "HARRY POTTER
VÀ QUẢ CẦU LỬA" CỦA LÝ LAN TỪ GÓC NHÌN
CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM TƯ NGÀNH BIÊN PHIÊN
DỊCH ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ, ĐHQGHN
HÀ NỘI, THÁNG 06 NĂM 2014
Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Nguyễn Thị Thu Hằng, M.A.
Sinh viên: Đồng Thị Ngọc
Lớp: QH2010.F1.E21, K44
I hereby state that I: Dong Thi Ngoc, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor
of Arts (TEFL) accept the requirements of the College relating to the retention and
use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library.
In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the
library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance

application of the two strategies in the translated text applied by Ly Lan. Online
and in person survey questionnaire for fourth-year students of IT of ULIS, VNU
and four semi-structured interviews with participants for further discussion provide
data to determine which strategy of translation is more favored by the participants:
addition or non-addition; omission or non-omission and explanations for their
perspectives. The findings show that addition is more preferred in translation than
omission. The most popular types of addition and omission are of noun/ noun
phrase and adjective. Regarding perspectives of students, nearly three fifths of the
participants favor the translated version of Ly Lan for its clarification, familiarity,
etc. However, two fifths of the participants disfavor the comprehension, necessity,
and evident-sufficiency of the translated version of Ly Lan. In short, the study
provided literature review and findings about the application of addition and
omission and perspectives of students majoring Interpreting and Translation in of
ULIS, VNU, which is a reference for further studies in the field.
Key words: addition, omission, perspectives, Harry Potter
ii
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements i
ABSTRACT ii
Table of Contents iii
List of figures iv
List of abbreviations iv
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 22
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 26
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 42
REFERENCES 44
APPENDIX 1 47
QUESTIONNAIRE ON ADDITION AND OMISSION STRATEGIES 47

silent in an abandoned world. Translation actually helps build the bridge of
knowledge all around the world. The necessity of upgrading translation skills to
more appropriately convey the ideas is realized by many specialists in the field. The
process of upgrading translation skills requires the translator to excellently apply
translation strategies. The choice of translation strategies shall decide the quality of
the translation. Sensible choice of translation strategies brings the correct and
natural sense of the text; imprudent one shows the translator’s bad taste and makes
the translation more inferior to the original text. Translators always strive for better
translation by applying better translation strategies. Among those strategies, the
researcher specifically favors the applications of addition and omission with
noticed benefits as well as problems. She decides to review a variety of previous
studies on the application of addition and omission and to examine the perspectives
of others on the subject. The examined work was the translation of “Harry Potter
and the Goblet of Fire” by a highly prestigious translator Ly Lan in the favor of her
arduous effort in forwarding the sense of the original text to the Vietnamese
audience and the application of various strategies including addition and omission.
The researcher’s own interest is the underlying motivation for the choice of the
work.
Besides, owing to the fact that few studies have been carried out to discuss
the application of addition and omission from the perspectives of fourth-year
students of Interpreting and Translation of ULIS, VNU, the researcher decides to
conduct the current study to provide more insights and analyze the applications of
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addition and omission based on the researcher’s own translating experience in
accordance with opinions and ideas obtained from the perspectives of the chosen
population. As a result, the study titled “Addition and Omission applied by Ly Lan
translating “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” from the perspectives of fourth-
year students of Interpreting and Translation of ULIS, VNU” is conducted.
1.2. Objectives and research questions of the study
1.2.1. Objectives of the study

and problems. More knowledge on the field is provided to consequently better the
translating skill of the audience. Secondly, the analysis of the applications of
addition and omission in the translated version by Ly Lan verifies and examines
previous literature and assesses the quality of the translation based on the literature
review. Thirdly, the study provides audience some valuable insights about the
perspectives of fourth-year students of ULIS majoring in IT to further study the
applications of addition and omission. In other words, the study helps understand
the perspectives of audience on a translated version applying addition and
omission, which is helpful in evaluating the quality of the translation.
1.4. Scope of the study
The researcher primarily focuses on studying the translation strategies of
addition and omission applied by Ly Lan in translating “Harry Potter and the
Goblet of Fire” from the perspectives of fourth-year students of Interpreting and
Translation of ULIS, VNU in order to more clearly study the usage of addition and
omission. Being acutely aware of the difficulties faced including limited time and
experience of the researcher, the scope of the study is set. Based on the
convenience of time and content, only the first and seventh chapters of the novel
were randomly chosen to be studied. These two chapters have particular
illustrations of addition and omission. Regarding participants of the study, only
fourth-year students of Interpreting and Translation of ULIS, VNU were examined
because they have obtained advanced knowledge in the translation skills and
certain experience in translating. They were expected to present critical opinions
and valuable insights on the issue to contribute to the confidence of the thesis.
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1.5. Organization
The main text of the study consists of 5 chapters, reference, and appendix.
Chapter 1: Introduction
This chapter will introduce briefly the theoretical background including the
statement of the problem, the rationale, the objectives, two research questions,
significance, the scope as well as the organization of the study.

researcher whose ideas were highly appreciated by its profoundness also expressed
his idea. According to Eco (2003), when translating, the translator faced a clear
breakdown of the quality of the translation. He was aware that the translated
version was always inferior to the original one in terms of forms, author’s identity,
etc.
As it transfers the messages of knowledge and cultures worldwide to target
audience, the indispensability of translation is widely recognized. In the example of
the translation of the Bible, according to the research by Wycliffe Global Alliance
in 2013, the Bible has already had versions of over 2,800 languages; therefore,
people speaking these languages have the ability to understand the messages of
knowledge and cultures taught in the Scripture. More than 2,000 active translation
projects in nearly 2,000 languages are currently carried out. Hence, translation is an
endlessly necessary activity all around the world.
Overall, translation is the process of conveying the messages from one
language to another with the serious attempt of a translator or translators to remain
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the sense of naturalness, fullness, and the identity of the author as much as possible
in the light of the inferiority of the translated text. Obviously, translation plays an
important role in the borderless communication.
2.2. Translation Strategies
In the practice of translation, the translator has to make a choice of
translation strategies or methods to apply for translated texts. Translation strategies
mean “the basic tasks of choosing the foreign text to be translated and developing a
method to translate it” (Venuti, 1998, p. 240). The right choice of the strategies
may decide the quality of the translation. Yet, there exists no best or perfect
strategies. The important factor that matters is the skillfulness and flexibility of the
translator in using the strategies.
This study looks carefully at the classification of translation strategies
mentioned in the paper of Wing Bo Tso. In his study, Tso (2010) has provided his
organizational explanation of the strategies with examples of English-Chinese

change; some do not.
(2) Omission
The second type of strategy is omission. Compared with addition in
translation, omission is less preferred. The obvious disadvantage is that part of the
information or message of the source text has been left out. Maybe the source text
just does not have an equal expression. Omission is applied in the example below.
English source text: Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled a wide kingdom
living in a palace. He lived with his queen and his princess with peerless beauty.
Vietnamese translation with omission: Ngày xửa ngàyxưa, có một vị vua nọ cai
quản cả một vương quốc rộng lớn. Vị vua sống với hoàng hậu cùng nàng công chúa
xinh đẹp.
Back-translation: Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled a wide kingdom.
He lived with his queen and his beautiful princess.
The omission parts in the Vietnamese translation are “living in a palace” and “with
peerless beauty”. The aim of the omission is to delete unnecessary expressions in
the source text. However, certain information is lost that can lead to change in
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meaning. The part “with peerless beauty” is left out, which leads to change in
meaning when the author emphasizes that the princess is be the most beautiful one.
(3) Explicitation
Klaudy (1998) mentioned explicitation with the description of “the technique of
making explicit in the target text information that is implicit in the source text” (p.
80). Explicitation is applied in the example below.
English source text: “He’s gone,” groaned Liz.
Vietnamese translation with omission: “Vậy là anh ấy đã ra đi,” Liz than thở.
Back-translation: “So he’s gone,” groaned Liz.
The explicitation parts in the Vietnamese translation are “So” or “Vậy là”. The
explicitation is “the connection between the event described by that sentence and a
previous one in the text is made more explicit in the translation.”
(4) Implicitation

sayings, therefore, not preferred. Instead, the more familiar, reader-friendly domesticated
one should be “Trâu chậm uống nước đục.”
(7) Formality Change
According to Heylighen and Dewaele (1999), surface formality “is characterized by
attention to form for the sake of convention or form itself” (p. 3) in such occurrence of
weddings or funerals. Deep formality was defined as “avoidance of ambiguity by
minimizing the context-dependence and fuzziness of expressions” (Heylighen and
Dewaele, 1999, p. 1).
The change of formality can be recognized through the example of the researcher.
Considering the following sentences:
(1) He will meet her at the station.
(2) Michael will meet Jane at the station.
Both sentences convey the same amount of information. However, when reading
sentence (1), readers cannot understand the content immediately without context. Sentence
(2) provides enough information for readers to know the subject. Therefore, sentence (2) is
a formalized description of sentence (1) applying deep formality.
(8) Speech Act Change
Austin (1962) termed ‘locutionary act’, ‘illocutionary act’ and ‘perlocutionary act’,
which later on become common terms in the study of speech acts. Locutionary act is the
utterance itself being said. Illocutionary act is the act performed in producing an utterance
usually consisting of the performative verbs. Bach and Harnish (1979) classified four most
important categories of illocutionary act with constatives, directives, commissives and
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acknowledgements. Perlocutionary act is the expected act of the hearer after listening to
the utterance, sometimes the perlocutionary act and the results are the same. Sometimes,
they are not.
Speech act change is applied in the example below.
English source text: Mary, would you please close the door?
Locutionary act: The utterance of saying “Mary, would you please close the door?”
Illocutionay act: The request of closing the door

“addition” with no further explanation. Studying more detailed discussions on the
subject, generally, there exist two opposite sides when defining addition in
translation. In the positive way, addition is a technique; in the negative way,
addition is a translator’s mistake.
Sharing the positive point of view, Klaudy (2003) defined addition as a
strategy of translators adding more information to the original version when
translating. This explanation reveals the core of addition which is to put “new
meaningful elements” (Klaudy, 2003) in the targeted text to make the targeted
audience understand the message of the author more clearly. At this point,
additions provided the target text with more explicit meanings to make the target
text clearer to comprehend.
For a negative perspective on addition, addition is not encouraged by some
researchers. In their opinion, by addition, “the important and meaningful reticence
or ambiguity in the ST might be lost” (Tso, 2010, p.26). Eco (2003, p.51) stated
that, “One should never try to make the source text literally ‘better’. Even bad
style, clumsiness, careless repetitions must be respected.” It is to say sometimes,
addition can distract the original intention of the author. Ly Lan, the translator of
Harry Potter series into Vietnamese once shared that she could not stand any
changes of the without permission (Ly Lan, 2007/2014). In a nutshell, she
suggested having a conversation with the author and discussed changes, including
addition to be made as a mark of respect to the author (Ly Lan, 2007/2014).
Addition is studied by different researchers and they have divided addition
into different categories. In the part of classifications of addition, two
classifications of addition are mentioned which also suggest the use of addition for
different contexts of the translation.
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2.4. Classifications of addition
Classifications of addition were introduced by Klaudy and Milhac.
Regarding the first classification, Klaudy (2003) invested his study on outlining the
classification of addition in the English-Hungarian translation. He affirmed that

more understanding when it comes to institutional names a restaurant or a school.
Example:
English source text: Let’s go to Kyle tonight.
Vietnamese translation with addition: Tối nay cùng đi ăn ở nhà hàng Kyle nhé.
Back translation: Let’s go to the restaurant of Kyle tonight.
(Bold parts are additions in the case of institutional names.)
(4) Addition in the case of historical realia
Historical realia includes events, personalities, and historical garments.
Target audience could be familiar to those in the source text or not; therefore,
translators must assist them by adding explanation.
Example:
English source text: The people never forget 11-9 in the US.
Vietnamese translation with addition: Mọi người không bao giờ quên vụ khủng bố
ngày 11-9 tại Mỹ.
Back translation: The people never forget the terror attacks on 11-9 in the US.
(Bold parts are additions in the case of historical realia.)
(5) Addition of names of the parts of the body
Klaudy (2003) noted that “the only lexical addition, which [was] not
triggered by cultural differences but linguistic ones, [was] the addition of names of
parts of the body when in one language; parts of the body [were] used in the saying,
in another one, that would be redundant”.
Example:
English source text: He nods in agreement.
Vietnamese translation with addition: Anh ta gật đầu đồng ý.
Back translation: He nods his head in agreement.
(Bold parts are additions in the case of the body.)
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This classification pointed out a range of proper names’ addition. The
researcher supposes that the use of this one focuses on the culture-related texts or
so in which a lot of culture-specific proper nouns including places, people, food

- Addition of verb
English source expression: The enemy beat him.
Vietnamese translation: Kẻ thù đánh đập, tra tấn anh ấy.
Back translation: The enemy beat and tortured him.
- Addition of conjunction
English source expression: Who are you?
Vietnamese translation: Vậy anh là ai?
Back translation: So who are you?
This classification is more specific and closely related to all kinds of
translated texts as it mentions the most basic elements of a sentence namely noun,
adverb or adverbial phrase, interjection, particle, adjective or adjectival phrase,
verb, conjunction, and lexical sequence. Hence, the list of additions will be put into
a table with such those types for the data to be easily analyzed. However, one
question is raised by the researcher whether additions of the rest parts of speech in
English with pronoun, determiner, or even a whole sentence exist in general and in
the novels analyzed in particular. The question shall be answered to some extent in
the findings of the thesis. Besides, the additions of censorship and standardization
(dialect) are inferred by the researcher when the classification of omission does
include censorship, standardization (dialect, accent, style, and register).
Above are the definitions of addition and its classifications. Hence, the next
part introduces about the definitions of omission raised by different researchers of
the field. Each of them looked at omission in a different angle; yet, they shared
certain opinions.
2.5. Omission
Regarding omission, the situation of two contrasting ideas arises from
researchers’ angles. The positive way of judgment is that omission is a strategy
used by the translator as “a standard transfer operation whereby meaningful lexical
elements of the SL text are dropped” (Klaudy, 2003). Shapa (2009) also stated in
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her presentation that omission is “leaving out some important details for the sake of

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torturing the source text. Therefore, they must utilize omission considering a
variety of omission categories which are stated in the next part.
2.6. Classifications of omission
Similar to the classifications of addition, Klaudy presented his idea that the
reason of omission was “the difference in background knowledge in SL and TL
readers” (Klaudy, 2003). Depending on this criterion, Klaudy (2003) outlined seven
types of omission and provided explanation and examples of Englishp-Hungarian
translations. The researcher uses those examples as references and adds examples
of English-Vietnamese translation. Bold parts are applications of addition
strategies.
(1) Omission of brand names
Addition of brand names might give the explanation for readers to understand the
context. In contrast, sometimes, the explanation and the bizarre brand name can
confuse readers. Considering that, translators have to analyze to put the brand
names in the target text or not.
English source text: Two Edds, a kilo of Vio.
Vietnamese translation with addition: Hai gói kẹo và một cân chè.
Back translation: Two packs of candy, a kilo of tea.
(Bold parts are omission of brand names.)
(2) Omission of toponyms
Example:
English source text: I walked along the Thames River.
Vietnamese translation with addition: Tôi đi bộ dọc dòng sông.
Back translation: I walked along the river.
(Bold parts are omission of toponyms)
(3) Omission of toponyms and ethnonyms used in attributive function
The translator, often the times, omits toponyms and ethnonyms used in attributive
function such as names of countries, cities or nations used as attributes. The reason
is to avoid “negative connotation” (Klaudy, 2003).

Back translation: Let’s me introduce Peterson.
(Bold parts are omission of references to SL.)
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