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A STUDY ON METHODS TO TRANSLATE MEDICAL

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A STUDY ON METHODS TO TRANSLATE MEDICAL
TERMS IN THE TEXTBOOK “ENGLISH IN
MEDICINE” FOR THE THIRD-YEAR STUDENTS AT
HAIPHONG MEDICAL UNIVERSITY

Nghiên cứu phương pháp dịch thuật ngữ ngành y khoa trong giáo trình
“English in Medicine” cho sinh viên năm thứ 3, trường
Đại học Y Hải Phòng M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Throughout the process of accomplishing the thesis, I have received the
support and encouragement of teachers, family and friends.
First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my
supervisor, Associate Professor, Doctor Le Hung Tien who gave me
benefits of his wisdom and his expert knowledge in translation as well
as his constant encouragement from the beginning stage of working out
the research proposal to the final stage of writing up the thesis. Without
his critical comments and valuable suggestions, this study could not be
completed.
My special thanks go to all my lecturers in Faculty of Post-graduate
Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam
National University, Hanoi for their useful lectures during my M.A
course.
I also take this opportunity to thank all of my colleagues at Faculty of
English, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam
National University, Hanoi for their various kinds of help and supports.
Last but not least, I would like to express my thankfulness to my family
and friends for their endless love, significant help and encouragement.



iv

ABBREVIATIONS

English for Specific Purposes ESP
English for Medical Purposes EMP
Target language TL
Source language SL
Target text TT

1.4.3. Nida 10
2. Terminology and Medical terminology 11
2.1. Terminology 11
2.2. Medical terms and Characteristics 12
Chapter 2: Translation methods and procedures of Medical terms 16
1. Translation of medical terms 16
1.1. Using Transference 16
1.1.1. Eponyms that derive from person 16
1.1.2. Eponyms that derive from objects 17
1.1.3. Medical acronyms 17
1.1.4. Terms referring to modern concepts that are not technically
lexicalized in Vietnamese 18
1.1.5. Terms referring to modern concepts that are technically
lexicalized in Vietnamese 19
1.2. Using Naturalization 20
1.3. Using Transposition 20
1.4. Using Through-Translation 22
1.5. Using the omission of the preposition „of‟ 23
1.6. Using Sino-Vietnamese elements 24
2. Problems in the translation of medical terms 25
3. Suggested solutions for the Translation of medical terms 26
PART C: CONCLUSION 28
1. Conclusion 28
2. Suggestions for teaching and translation of medical terms 29
3. Limitations 30
4. Suggestions for further studies 30
REFERENCE 31
APPENDIXES I



University”. In this study, some main characteristics of medical terms
are given with methods as well as procedures applied to translate these
terms in the textbook. From that, the study will support translators and
readers a lot of interesting materials for translation in EMP.
2. Objectives of the study
The study consists of the following objectives:
- Investigating medical terms with their characteristics.
- Identifying methods and procedures used in translating medical terms.
- Drawing out some problems and solutions for English medical terms
translation as well as giving some suggestions for teaching and
studying EMP.
3. Research questions
The above objectives will be achieved through the following questions:
- What are the characteristics of medical terms?
- What are the methods and procedures applied for medical terms
translation?
- What causes difficulties for translators in translating medical terms?
4. Scopes of the study
The study is conducted on Medical terms in the textbook “English in
Medicine” for third-year students at Haiphong Medical University.
5. Significance of the study
This study will give readers general views about methods of translation.
In addition, it will also support EMP teachers and learners knowledge
of medical terms with solutions for translating medical terms.
6. Methods of the study
First of all, Descriptive method is used for describing characteristics of
medical terms as well as methods and procedures applied in translating
3


Definitions of Translation
Translation has been approached from a scientific point of view by
linguists through times, so it has been defined variously. The following
are some typical definitions:
 The term translation itself has several meanings: it can refer to the
general subject field, the product (the text that has been translated) or
the process (the act of producing the translation, otherwise known a
translating). The process of translation between two different written
languages involves the translator changing an original written text (the
source language or SL) into a written text (the target text or TT) in a
different verbal language (the target language or TL) (Jakobson
1959/2000:114)
 Translating is rendering the meaning of a text into one language in the
way the author intended the text (Newmark).
 Translating is the replacement of textual material in one language (SL)
by equivalent textual material in another language (TL) (Catford).
 Translating is an art that involves the re-creation of a work in another
language for readers with a different background. (Cowley)
In summary, translation is a challenging task that requires a strong
knowledge of language, good writing skills and knowledge of a specific
subject. The texts are changed into another language, but translators do
not change the content, tone or style of the massage in those texts. 5

1.2. Methods of Translation
1.2.1. Larson
According to Larson (1984:15) translation is divided into two
categories. They are from-based or literal translation and meaning

word-for-word, literal, faithful, semantic, communicative, idiomatic,
free, and adaptation that divided into two scopes – the methods closest
to the source language or literal translation and the methods closest to
the target language or communicative translation.
(1) The methods closest to the source language - Literal translation:
 Word-for-word Translation: The Source Language is translated word
by word.
 Literal Translation: The SL grammatical forms are converted to their
nearest target language equivalent. However, the lexical words are
translated out of context.
 Faithful Translation: This method tries to reproduce the precise
contextual meaning of the original within the constraint of the TL
grammatical structures. It transfers cultural words and faithfully
follows the SL grammatical forms.
 Semantic Translation: This method concerns the aesthetic value-that is
the beautiful and natural sound-of the SL text. In addition, the method
compromises on an appropriate meaning. So, that no assonance, or
repetition jars in the translation.
(2) The methods closest to the target language - Communicative
translation
7

 Free Translation: Free translation is the translation, which is not,
bonded structure and manner.
 Adaptation: This method is the freest form of translation. It is
frequently used for plays (comedies) and poetry.
 Idiomatic Translation: Idiomatic translation reproduces the message of
the source text but tend to distort nuances of meaning by preferring
colloquialisms and idioms.
 Communicative translation: This method attempts to render the exact

culture‟ (Vinay & Darbelnet 2004, p.134).
1.3.2. Newmark
The following are the different translation procedures that Newmark
(1988) proposes:
 Transference: it is the process of transferring an SL word to a TL text.
It includes transliteration and is the same as what Harvey (2000:5)
named "transcription."
 Naturalization: it adapts the SL word first to the normal pronunciation,
then to the normal morphology of the TL. (Newmark, 1988:82)
 Cultural equivalent: it means replacing a cultural word in the SL with a
TL one. however, "they are not accurate" (Newmark, 1988:83)
 Functional equivalent: it requires the use of a culture-neutral word.
(Newmark, 1988:83)
 Descriptive equivalent: in this procedure the meaning of the CBT is
explained in several words. (Newmark, 1988:83)
9

 Componential analysis: it means "comparing an SL word with a TL
word which has a similar meaning but is not an obvious one-to-one
equivalent, by demonstrating first their common and then their
differing sense components." (Newmark, 1988:114)
 Synonymy: it is a "near TL equivalent." Here economy trumps
accuracy. (Newmark, 1988:84)
 Through-translation: it is the literal translation of common
collocations, names of organizations and components of compounds. It
can also be called: calque or loan translation. (Newmark, 1988:84)
 Shifts or transpositions: it involves a change in the grammar from SL to
TL, for instance, (i) change from singular to plural, (ii) the change
required when a specific SL structure does not exist in the TL, (iii)
change of an SL verb to a TL word, change of an SL noun group to a

translating from one language into another.
- Grammatical equivalence, when referring to the diversity of
grammatical categories across languages.
- Textual equivalence when referring to the equivalence between a SL
text and a TL text in terms of information and cohesion.
- Pragmatic equivalence, when referring to imprimaturs and strategies of
avoidance during the translation process.
1.4.3. Nida
Nida's theory of translation is characterized by the distinction between two
types of equivalence: formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence. For
11

formal equivalence, the translator focuses on the message itself, that is,
its form and content, and there should be a close similarity between the
ST and the TT message (Nida, 1964).
Concerning dynamic equivalence, Nida mentions that this type is based
on "the principle of equivalent effect", in which "the relationship
between receptor and message should be substantially the same as
that which existed between the original receptor and the
message." (Nida, 1964: 159)
In summary, we have finished reviewing the theoretical background of
translation with translation methods, procedures, as well as equivalence
of translation. These important theories will be applied in the next parts
of the thesis.

2. Terminology and medical terminology
2.1. Terminology
In this part, some main knowledge of terminology in general and
medical terminology in particular will be given and discussed. First of
all, we will have a look at two concepts „terminology‟ and „term‟.

be clear and exact. In addition, it should not make the readers
misunderstand the concept it expresses with another. These terms often
have one-one relation to the concepts that they concern.
For examples,
 „pneumonia‟ (viêm phổi): is taken for one single meaning „a serious
illness affecting one or both lungs that makes breathing difficult.‟
 „allergy‟ (dị ứng): is an abnormally high sensitivity to certain
substances, such as food, drug, weather, etc.
13

Internationalism
Medical terminology is used all over the world. In other words, these
terms are used internationally. They are special words expressing
common scientific concepts to people of different languages. It gives
the concepts understood by speakers of different cultures. This feature
is an important property that helps distinguish terminology from other
layers of vocabulary such as slang, dialect, etc. The internationality is
also seen in the form of terms. Sometimes it is very interesting to know
that many terms used by different countries have similar phonetic form.
For example:

English
Vietnamese
French
Germany
stress
áp lực
stress
erpruch
shock

relating to medicine.
For example:
medical terms
medical
meaning
normal meaning
nervous
thuộc thần kinh
hồi hộp, lo lắng
tissue
mô
giấy mềm
spread
di căn
lan ra

Table 2: Systematic of medical terms
Popularity
Many medical terms are so popular that they are not considered as
terminology. In contrast, they become common words which are used
in daily life. It becomes easy to remember, easy to understand. It is very
easy to find out these words.
For instance,
English terms
Vietnamese
shock
sốc
stress
áp lực, căng thẳng
cancer

(heart)
peri-
(around)
-itis
(inflammation)
lymphopenia
(giảm limpho
bào)
lympho
(lymphoc
yte)

-penia
(lack,
decrease)
antibody
(kháng thể)
body
(body)
anti-
(against) Table 4: Characteristic of structure of medical terms
In summary, an understanding of the structure of medical terms, and an
ability to break down a medical term into its parts helps you get the
most out of using a medical dictionary, and makes dealing with medical
terminology less challenging than it first appears.
Bowman‟s capsule
bao Bowman

Table 5: Eponyms that derive from person
17

Usually, the readers are medical students or specialists, so they are
more familiar with these terms. So, the translators do not have to
translate these terms with detailed meaning because they can easily
understand the transferred eponyms with this translation procedure.
This makes the transferred terms shorter.
1.1.2. Eponyms that derive from objects
Besides the eponyms that derive from person, there are also some terms
that derive from objects. They can be brands, properties of devices,
materials or chemical elements, etc. They are often transferred and
coupled with a classifier to make the translation more understandable.
Here are some examples,

English
Vietnamese
lymphocyte
tế bào lim phô
collagen fibre
sợi collagen
protein metabolism
sự chuyển hóa protêin

Table 6: Eponyms that derive from objects
1.1.3. Medical acronyms
Acronym is a common feature of all non-literary texts in general and