VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
POST-GRADUATE DEPARTMENT
**0** ĐÀO MAI LAN TRANSLATION AS CULTURAL TRANSFER: THE CASE
OF TRANSLATING IDIOMS OF FOOD AND DRINK

(DỊCH THUẬT NHƯ SỰ CHUYỂN ĐỔI VỀ VĂN HÓA:
ỨNG DỤNG TRONG VIỆC DỊCH THÀNH NGỮ VỀ ĐỒ ĂN THỨC UỐNG) M.A. MINOR THESIS

Field: English Linguistics
Code: 60 22 15
HANOI - 2010


iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale……………………………………………………………………………….
1
2. Aims of the study………………………………………………………………………
1
3. Limitation of the stuy………………………………………………………………….
1
4. Method of the study……………………………………………………………………
2
5. Design of the study……………………………………………………………………
2
DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1. LANGUAGE ANDCULTURE……………………………………………………
3
1.1. Definition of language and culture………………………………………………….
3
1.2. The relation between language and culture…………………………………………
4
2. TRANSLATION…………………………………………………………………….
6
2.1. Definition of translation……………………………………………………………
6

2.3. Lexical equivalence………………………………………………………………….
28
2.4. Semantic and pragmatic equivalence……………………………………………….
30
3. Suggestions of some strategies in translating idioms of food and drink…………
31
CONCLUSION

1. Review of the study……………………………………………………………………
35
2. Suggestions for further studies……………………………………………………….
36
REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………
37 1
INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Since human’s society developed, there has been a trend of integration between people
and nations. People living together in the world need to help each other to gain economic
development, political stabilization and equality. That, the need of understanding between
people and nations has increased. Translation constitutes an essential tool for better
communication, better understanding each other.
Of all the translation work, translating idioms seems to be the most challenging since it
is a meaning-based translation which makes every effort to communicate the meaning of
the source language ( SL) text in the natural forms of the target language (TL). To deal
with translating idioms, one must have good cultural background of not only the SL but
also of the TL. Therefore, mastering translation theory in general and strategies of
translating idioms in particular is very important to learners and translators.

the translation.

5. Design of the study

Apart from Introduction and Conclusion, the study is organized around two chapters.
Chapter one attempts to look into the nature of culture, culture in relation with language
and translation. Later, the chapter presents an overview of translation theories developed
by well-known authors with certain basic theoretical items such as definition of translation,
the process, and methods of translation. The chapter ends by taking idioms into
consideration: the definition of idioms, the interpretation of idioms, idioms versus
proverbs, culture in idioms and its relation to the transfer in translation.
Chapter two deals with the translation of idioms of food and drink. Firstly, how cultural
transfer occurs through idioms translation is studied by looking for stylistic equivalence,
conceptual equivalence, lexical equivalence, semantic and pragmatic equivalence. After
that, the chapter mentions some of the translation strategies for translating idioms of food
and drink.

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CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1. Language and culture
1.1. Definition of language and culture
Language is a factor that distinguishes man from other animals. For existence, human
being must work hard to produce goods, food, clothes, machines and other materials…
Through out the duration of working, people need to exchange goods, the experience of
producing and also the information of all fields of the life. That’s why language appeared.
Language is a means of communication and it is the best way for human to express their

and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups…
the essential core of culture consists of traditional ideas and especially their attached
values; culture systems may, on the other hand, be considered as products of action, and
on the other as conditioning elements of further action”

Another definition by Byram (1998) runs as follows:

“A society’s culture consists of whatever it is one has to know or believes in order
to operate in a manner acceptable to its members. Culture is not a natural phenomenon; it
does not consist of things, people’s behaviour or emotions. It is rather an organization of
these things. It is the form of things that people have in mind, their models of perceiving,
relating and otherwise interpreting them”

I believe that these definitions are broad enough to include most of the major territory
of culture. However, for the goals of this paper, I think my conclusion is good enough that
“Culture is the people’s ways of thinking, behaving, talking, valuing things and working”

1.2. The relation between language and culture

Language and culture are said to be interwoven. Language is a part of culture and
culture is a part of language. It is difficult to separate one from the other. If it were
desirable to separate the two, the significance of either language or culture would be lost.
That’s why two individuals taking part in the communication must have a shared
knowledge of both culture and language. Misunderstanding may occur if we violate a
grammatical rule of language. But it is more serious if we violate a social usage.

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It is apparent that language is a means to describe culture it belongs to and parallelly,
culture’s development enriches language. For example, before the bicycle was introduced
to Vietnam, there was no word to express it. But when the Vietnamese got acquainted with

6
Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai languages, the greeting “where are you going?” is
appropriate instead of “Hello” “Good day”. However, it may be inappropriate in other
cultures like Western culture; it may be regarded as a curious question. So, if Vietnamese
people think in Vietnamese way and express themselves in their own cultural way while
communicating with native speakers of Western cultures they may annoy them. Therefore,
it is obvious that if we don’t pay attention to cultural differences while translating and
interpreting, the inevitable result of the translation is something of misunderstanding.

2. Translation
2.1. Definition of translation
Though the role and history of translation can be easily agreed upon, it is almost
impossible to find an undisputed definition of translation. From different directions, there
can be various definitions. Translation, by dictionary definition, consists of changing from
one form to another, to turn into one 'own or another' language (The Merriam - Webster
Dictionary, 1974). Some authors have given the following different definitions of
translation:
“Translation, as a process of conveying messages across linguistic and cultural
barriers, is an eminently communicative activity, one whose use could well be considered
in a wider range of teaching situations than may currently be the case” (Tudor, 1987)
“Translation is rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that
the author intended the text.” ( Newmark, 1988)
As implied in the definitions above, translation is basically a change of form (which is
usually referred to as the actual words, phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs etc, which
are spoken or written).
In translation the form of the source language (the language of the text that is to be
translated) is replaced by the form of the target language (the language of the translated
text). The purpose of translation is to transfer the meaning of the source language (SL) into
the target language (TL). This is done by going from the form of the first language to the
form of a second language by way of semantic structure. It is meaning which is being

However, translation is not an easy job. If language is just a classification for a set of
general or universal concepts, it will be of course very easy to translate from a source
language to a target language. But translation covers not only word for word translation but

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also many other factors. The concepts of one language may differ radically from those of
another. This is because each language articulates or organizes the word differently. The
bigger the gap between the SL and the TL, the more difficult the process of transfer will
be. The difference between the two languages and the difference in cultures makes the
process of translating a real challenge. The problematic factors include translation like
form,style,meaning,proverbs,idioms,etc.

The translating procedures can be divided into two groups:
 Technical procedure: This implies an analysis of the source and target languages
and a complete study of the SL text before translating it.
 Organizational procedure: This implies a constant re-evaluation of the translation
made. It also includes the comparison of the existing translation with the
translations of the same text by other translators. The organizational procedure also
checks the translated text's communicative effectiveness by getting the opinion of
the TL audience to evaluate its accuracy and effectiveness and studying their
reactions.
(http://www.thelanguagetranslation.com/translation-process.html)

Methods of Translation

According to Newmark (1988), some of the common methods of translation are as follows:
 Word-for-word translation: Here the source language word is translated into
another language by their most common meanings, which can also be out of
context at times, especially in idioms and proverbs.
 Literal Translation: Here the source language grammatical constructions are

target language. In many cases, it is necessary that the translator's knowledge of the target

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language is more important than his knowledge of the source language.

The following is the process that is usually followed by all to ensure a well written,
accurate translation:
 The document that is to be translated is assigned to a person who is well versed
with the native language is that which the document is being translated into.
 The document is edited by a person who is fluent in both the target and source
languages. Accuracy, grammar, spelling and writing style are all checked in the
editing stage.
 The document is proofread by a person who is fluent in both languages. It is also
necessary to check spelling and layout.
 Finally, before the document goes to the client , the document is further rechecked
to ensure that the translation is correct, there is no missing texts and the layout is
perfect.
(http://www.thelanguagetranslation.com/translation-process.html)
3. Idioms and translation
3.1. Definition of idioms
The English language is very rich in the use of idioms. They are used in formal style
and in slang. Idioms may appear in poetry, literature, in Shakespeare language and, even,
in Bible. What, then, is an idiom?
McMordiew (1983:4) in her book English Idioms and How to Use Them provides a
definition for the idiom:
“we can say that an idiom is a number of words which, taken together, mean something
different from the individual words of the idiom when they stand alone”.
Moon (1998:3) in her book Fixed Expressions and Idioms in English: a Corpus-Based
Approach defines idiom as “an ambiguous term, used in conflicting ways. In lay or



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throat “nói chặn họng ai” , and food for thought “ điều đáng suy nghĩ”. They also include
expressions which seem ill-formed because they do not follow the grammatical rules of the
language, for example the powers that be “ kẻ nắm quyền thực sự, người có thực quyền”,
by and large “ nhìn chung, nói chung, rút cục”. Expressions which start with like (simile -
like structures) also tend to suggest that they should not be interpreted literally. These
include idioms such as like a bat out of hell (ba chân bốn cẳng) and like water off a duck's
back (nước đổ đầu vịt). Generally speaking, the more difficult an expression is to
understand and the less sense it makes in a given context, the more likely a translator will
recognize it as an idiom. Because they do not following text are easy to recognize as
idioms (assuming one is not already familiar with them).
Provided a translator has access to good references works and monolingual dictionaries
of idioms, or, better still, is able to consult native speakers of the language, opaque idioms
which do not make sense for one reason or another can actually be a blessing in disguise.
The very fact that s/he cannot make sense of an expression in a particular context will alert
the translator to the presence of an idiom of some sort.
There are two cases in which an idiom can be easily misinterpreted if one is not already
familiar with it.
a) Some idioms are 'misleading'; they seem transparent because they offer a reasonable
literal interpretation and their idiomatic meanings are not necessarily signaled in the
surrounding text. A large number of idioms in English, and probably all languages, have
both a literal and an idiomatic meaning, for example go out with ('have a romantic or
sexual relationship with someone') and take someone for a ride ('deceive or cheat someone
in some way'). Such idioms lend themselves easily to manipulation by speakers and writers
who will sometimes play on both their literal and idiomatic meanings. In this case, a
translator who is not familiar with the idiom in question may easily accept the literal
interpretation and miss the play on idiom.
b) An idiom in the SL may have a very close counterpart in the TL which looks similar on
the surface but has a totally or partially different meaning. For example, the idiomatic

A proverb is a sentence expressing a completed meaning of social relation, living
experience, moral lessons or criticism. Therefore, a proverb is regarded as a literature work

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containing three functions of literature: awareness, aesthetics and education. For example,
the Vietnamese have a proverb: “ thuận vợ thuận chồng, tát bể Đông cũng cạn” “ a burden
of one’s own choice is not felt” which expresses the power of solidarity, an experience of
working in group leading to good results, the morality of relationship between husband and
wife. The awareness function of this proverb is to express the equality between husband
and wife in family life. The educational function is to guide the relation between husband
and wife in particular and between people in general to equality and justice. Its aesthetics
function is the use of metaphor with illustrating image which persuades readers.
An idiom is a fixed phrase or other sequence of words. Syntactically, it’s not a sentence
but just a word. An idiom does not give any criticism, experience or morality, so it has
only aesthetics function. Without the awareness and education function, it is not a literature
work. For example, the Vietnamese idiom “ mặt hoa da phấn” just expresses the beauty of
the woman. It does not give any experience or criticism about social life, so it does not
have awareness and education functions.
Considering the content and the way of expressions we see that the content of idioms is
concept while that of proverbs is judgment. The relation between idioms and proverbs
reflects the relation between the forms of concept and judgment. For example, the concept
of “uổng công” “uselessness” must go through the process of generalization of “ nước đổ
lá khoai, nước đổ đầu vịt, dã tràng xe cát…”. As described, these are isolated phenomena
acquired through the senses. The aim of this awareness is to confirm the features of these
phenomena. The confirmation is presented as judgment: “ nước đổ đầu vịt thì nước lại trôi
đi hết, nước đổ lá khoai thì nước lại trôi đi hết hay dã tràng xe cát biển Đông, nhọc lòng mà
chẳng nên công cán gì”. So the similarity between idioms and proverbs is that they both
contain the people’s knowledge about the phenomena. The difference lies on the way we
express them. If that knowledge is generalized to concept, we have an idiom. If we explain
it in the way of a judgment, we have a proverb.

phenomena by words
↓
Linguistics phenomena
- Informing belonging to
awareness activities
↓
People’s cultural and social
phenomena

(Hùng, Nguyễn Đình, Tuyển tập Thành ngữ, tục ngữ ca dao Việt – Anh thông dụng.
http://www.ebook.edu.vn.)

3.4. Culture in idioms and its relation to the transfer in translation
As mentioned in the previous part, language is closely related to culture and can be
said as a part of culture. From a dynamic view, language and culture interact with each
other and shape each other. Language is the carrier of culture which in turn is the content
of language. We can find out cultural features from language and explain language
phenomena with culture. Idioms as a special form of language exist in both of them and

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carry a large amount of cultural information and rich in cultural connotation as they
represent the unique culture of the language, and therefore are closely related to culture.
They are the heritage of history and product of cultural evolvement. Consequently, we
know much about culture through studying idioms and in turn get better understanding of
idioms by learning the cultural background behind them. There are great differences
between English and Vietnamese idioms as the result of respective geographic
environment, national experience, cultural inheritance and formation of thinking. Many
English idioms connect with ocean as the result of the oceanic culture (e.g. drink like a
fish, on the rock, sea of troubles, rats leave a sinking ship…), some with the traditions of
Britain, which traditionally belongs to commercial and marine economy (e.g. sow the wind

make the extra effort that is required to unearth the full cultural meaning hidden in the
language. He must be alive to the two sociocultural systems with which he is working in
order to narrow the gap that separates them. It is definitely true for translators in translating
idioms.

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CHAPTER TWO: CULTURAL TRANSFER
THROUGH TRANSLATION OF IDIOMS OF FOOD AND DRINK

1. Idioms of food and drink
1.1. Criteria for idioms of food and drink
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, food is any substance, usually composed of
carbohydrates, fats, proteins and water, that can be eaten or drunk by an animal, including
humans, for nutrition or pleasure. Items considered food may be sourced from plants,
animals or other categories such as fungus or fermented products like alcohol. Although

muscle systems or from organs. Food products produced by animals include milk produced
by mammals, which in many cultures is drunk or processed into dairy products such as
cheese or butter. In addition birds and other animals lay eggs, which are often eaten, and
bees produce honey, a popular sweetener in many cultures. Some cultures consume blood,
some in the form of blood sausage, as a thickener for sauces, a cured salted form for times
of food scarcity, and others use blood in stews such as civet.
Drink is defined by the dictionary as any liquid suitable for drinking. It may be water,
tea, coffee, alcoholic drink, coca, fruit juice, etc…
From these definitions of food and drink, I consider all idioms related to any kind of food
and drink in their forms as “idioms of food and drink”. The idioms of food and drink may
relate to a certain kind of food or drink as “ butter and cheese”, “good egg”, “bad egg”,
“fish in troubled water”… or food and drink in general as food in “food for thought”, cỗ
(party) in “ma ăn cỗ”, lương (food) in “cao lương mĩ vị”….

1.2. Syntactical feature of idioms of food and drink
It can be seen that idioms in both languages are lexically fixed. Different types of idioms
of food and drink are found in both English and Vietnamese. They vary in size form and
structure from verb phrases or clause idioms as classified by Oxford Dictionary of English
idioms: noun phrases to adjective phrases or phrase idioms. In the two languages there
appear to be correspondent to each other in kind of phrases.
Examples of verb phrases:

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Bear fruit
Chew the cud
Chew the fat
Don’t cry over spilt milk
Eat humble pie
Go fry an egg
Separate the wheat from the chaff

Bread and butter
Salt of the earth
Bạn bè xôi thịt
Cao lương mĩ vị
Củi quế gạo châu
Vật quý báu phải giữ gìn nhất
Miếng ăn, kế sinh nhai
Người tử tế
Good-weather friends
Rich food, delicacy
High cost of living

Examples of adjective phrases:
Flat as a pancake
Full of beans
Worth your salt
Ngọt như mía lùi
Nhạt như nước ốc
Nhạt nhẽo, vô vị
Đầy năng lực, hăng hái, sôi nổi
Xứng đáng với tiền kiếm được
As sweet as honey
insipid

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Apart from the above similarities, both languages also have sentence idioms. They
may be simple or complex sentences.
Butter wouldn’t melt in their mouth
Half of loaf is better than no bread
You can not have your cake and eat it too

Lạnh như tiền
Rẻ như bèo
Dễ như bỡn
Giống nhau như hai giọt nước
As close as a clam
As dull as ditch-water
As sweet as honey

In these examples, “like” and “as” are used in English and “như” in Vietnamese to
compare food to something.
There is only one difference in the structure of the idioms of food and drink
between the two languages that English idioms exist in prepositional phrases whereas
Vietnamese ones don’t have this structure. 22
1.3. Cultural features of idioms of food and drink

Vietnamese idioms in particular and Vietnamese language in general base on the
agricultural civilization, experiences of the poverty together with the struggle for existence.
Therefore, Vietnamese idioms reflex the agricultural lifestyle of our nation. Rice is the
staple food of Vietnamese people. That’s easy to understand why there are so many idioms
related to rice. The examples are:
- Cơm tẻ mẹ ruột
- Cơm bưng nước rót
- Cơm chẳng lành, canh chẳng ngọt
- Cơm hàng cháo chợ
- Cơm ngang khách tạm
- Cơm trắng canh ngon
- Củi quế gạo châu