VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ XUÂN PHƯƠNG
VIETNAMESE – ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF
VIETNAMESE CULTURAL WORDS IN THE BOOK
“HANOI’S ANCIENT FEATURES”
BY TRAN MANH THUONG

(CÁCH DỊCH TỪ TIẾNG VIỆT SANG TIẾNG ANH CÁC TỪ NGỮ
VĂN HÓA TRONG TÁC PHẨM “NÉT XƯA HÀ NỘI”
CỦA TRẦN MẠNH THƯỜNG)

M.A. Minor Thesis

English Linguistics
602215
Hanoi, 2011 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration
Acknowledgement
Abstract
Table of contents
PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale 1
2. Scope of the study 2
3. Aims of the study 2
4. Methodology 2
5. Design of the study 3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.1. Translation Theory 5
1.1.1. Definition of translation 5
1.1.2. Translation equivalence 6
1.1.2.1. The concept of translation equivalence 6
1.1.2.2. Types of equivalence in translation 8
1.1.3. The problem of non – equivalence 10
1.2. The concept of culture in translation 13
1.3. Cultural categories 14
1.4. Translation methods 15
CHAPTER 2: THE MOST COMMON TYPE OF CULTURAL WORDS

PART A – INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Language is the carrier of the culture. For one thing, language is a part of culture
and plays an important role in it. Thus it reflects culture. For another, as a mirror of
culture, language is strongly influenced and shaped by culture. Culture and
intercultural competence and awareness that rise out of experience of culture, are far
more complex phenomena than it may seem to the translator. The more a translator
is aware of complexities of differences between cultures, the better a translator s/he
will be. It is probably right to say that there has never been a time when the
community of translators was unaware of cultural differences and their significance
for translation. Translation theorists have been cognizant of the problems attendant
upon cultural knowledge and cultural differences at least since ancient Rome.
Cultural knowledge and cultural differences have been a major focus of translator
training and translation theory for as long as either has been in existence. The main
concern has traditionally been with words and phrases that are so heavily and
exclusively grounded in one culture that they are almost impossible to translate into
the terms – verbal or otherwise – of another. Long debate have been held over when
to paraphrase, when to use the nearest local equivalent, when to coin a new word by
translating literally, and when to transcribe. All these “untranslatable” cultural-
bound words and phrases continued to fascinate translators and translation theorists.
As hard as it may seem, the translation of Vietnamese cultural words is now an

4.1. Research questions
The thesis seeks answers for the following research questions:
a. What is the most typical type of equivalence used in the translation of
cultural words in the book “Hanoi’s Ancient Features”?
b. What are the most common problems in translating Vietnamese cultural
words into English that can be seen in the book?
c. What are the common methods used in the translation of Vietnamese cultural
words? 4.2. Research methods
On the completion of the thesis, the researcher went through the following steps:
 Building up a theoretical background by reviewing translation and
terminology
 Collecting and grouping Vietnamese cultural words in the book and their
English equivalents for description, analysis and induction
 Finding out the similarities and differences and draw out the translation used
in the translation of cultural words.
 The main method is contrastive analysis.
4.3. Data collection
The Vietnamese cultural words studied are taken from the book “Hanoi’s Ancient
Features” and their equivalents are picked out from the translation by the
Vietnamese translator Tran Manh Thuong.
5. Design of the study
The study consists of three main parts, references and appendices as follows:
PART A – INTRODUCTION
The introduction gives rationale for the study. It also outlines the aims and the
methods of the study.
PART B – DEVELOPMENT
The development comprises two chapters.
PART B – DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.1. Translation Theory
1.1.1. Definition of translation
Kelly, L.G - a prominent figure in linguistics stated “Without translation, there is no
history of the world.” What is a basis for him to make such a strong claim? What is
translation that is of great importance as implied by Kelly? Translation, traditionally
and controversially seen with its status as an art or a science, has been viewed
differently through times and thus defined variously. Thus, in this section, the writer
cites some definitions proposed by Catford, Larson, Newmark and Bell in order to
have a clear concept about translation.
General definition of translation has been set by Catford (1965:20) in “A Linguistic
Theory of Translation”, he defines translation as “the replacement of textual
material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language
(TL)”. He tried to emphasize the translation is the process of substituting the
equivalent of lexical items ‘textual material’. It means that the process of
substituting a text cannot be regarded as a translation if the message of the TL text
is not comparable to the message of the SL text.

"the central problem of translation-practice is that of finding TL equivalents. A
central task of translation theory is that of defining the nature and conditions of
translation equivalence." (Catford 1965:21) Actually, since the fifties of the
twentieth century, many translation theorists have involved and elaborated
translation equivalence in their respective theories. First of all, it is necessary for us
to understand exactly the meaning of the word "equivalence" itself. According to
Mary Snell-Hornby (1988:17), for the last 150 years, the word "equivalence" in
English has been used as a technical term in different kinds of exact sciences to
refer to a number of scientific phenomena or processes. For instance, in
mathematics, it indicates a relationship of absolute equality that involves guaranteed reversibility. At the same time, however, it can also be used as a common word in
the general vocabulary of English, and, in this sense, it means "of similar
significance". In other words, the word "equivalence" is used in the English
language both as a scientific term and as a common word. As a central concept in
translation theory, "equivalence" cannot be interpreted in its scientific sense. It can
only be understood in its common sense as a general word. As J.R Firth points out
in his writing on translation, it was in the common sense and as an item of the
general language that the word "equivalence" was originally used in English
translation theory.(Snell-Hornby 1988:17)
Philosophically speaking, there are no things that are absolutely identical. Nida
expresses this view as follows:
There are no two stones alike, no flowers the same, and no two
people who are identical. Although the structures of the DNA in
the nucleus of their cells may be the same, such persons
nevertheless differ as the result of certain developmental factors.
No two sounds are ever exactly alike, and even the same person
pronouncing the same words will never utter it in an absolutely
identical manner. (Nida 1986: 60)

 One-to-many equivalence: There is more than one expression in the TL for
a single SL one.
 Many-to-one equivalence: There is more than one expression in the SL, but
there is only a single expression in the TL that is equivalent to them.
 One-to-part-of-one equivalence: A TL expression is only equivalent to part
of the concept designated by a single expression in the SL, or the
equivalent in the TL has a broader meaning than the concept in the SL.
 Nil equivalence: There is no expression in the TL for a single expression
in the SL
b. Meaning-based equivalence
Under Koller (1979)’s view, there are five types of equivalence:  Denotative equivalence: The SL and the TL words refer to the same thing
in the real world.
 Connotative equivalence: This type of equivalence provides additional
values besides denotative value and is achieved by the translator’s choice
of synonymous words or expressions.
 Text-normative equivalence: The SL and the TL words are used in the
same or similar context in their respective languages.
 Pragmatic equivalence: With readership orientation, the SL and TL words
have the same effect on their respective readers.
 Formal equivalence: This type of equivalence produces an analogy of
form in the translation by their exploiting formal possibilities of TL, or
creating new forms in TL.
c. Form-based equivalence
Baker (1992) proposes five levels of equivalence: equivalence at word level,
equivalence above word level, grammatical equivalence, textual equivalence,
pragmatic equivalence. Firstly, equivalence at word level is taken into
consideration. Baker defines the term “word” and notes that word sometimes

the root of the equivalent effects. He argues that formal translators who focus more
on forms are more likely to misinterpret the "intention of the author" and "distort
the meaning" (p. 191-192).
1.1.3. The problem of non-equivalence
The problem of non-equivalence has been drawing the attention of many
researchers. Jakobson claims that "there is ordinarily no full equivalence between
code units" (as cited in Munday, 2001). Jakobson also explains the differences
between structures, terminology, grammar and lexical forms of languages are
the main reasons of non-equivalence. Jacobson states that "equivalence in
difference is the cardinal problem of language and the pivotal concern of
linguistics." (as cited in Munday, 2001). In his theory, the general principle of
cross-language difference and the concept ‘semantic field’ has been established. Catford (1965) found that there are two factors which affected the equivalence
i.e. linguistic and cultural factors, leading to two kinds of equivalents i.e. linguistic
and cultural equivalents. This finding of Catford is very significant because it
consists of both important approaches toward equivalence, namely, linguistic
and cultural approaches. On the contrary, there were some arguments against
Catford theory. Snell-Hornby (1988:19-20) claims that textual equivalence
introduced by Catford is “circular” and his examples are “isolated and even
absurdly simplistic” . Furthermore, she criticizes equivalence in translation is an
illusion because there are many aspects, including textual, cultural and situational
ones, get involved in the equivalent degree of the translation. House (1977) also
agrees that not only functional but situation factor need to be taken into
consideration during the process of translation.
Equivalent effect, as judged by Newmark (1988:134), is “the desirable result, rather
than the aim of any translation”. Accordingly, the equivalent effect is a result which
all translators long to achieve. Further, Newmark (1988) argues that the text
may reach a 'broad equivalent effect' only if it is 'universal' that means cross

f. The target language lacks a specific term (hyponym)
More commonly, languages tend to have general words (superordinates) but lack
specific ones (hyponyms), since each language makes only those distinctions in
meaning which seem relevant to its particular environment.
g. Differences in physical or interpersonal perspective
Physical perspective may be of more importance in one language than it is in
another. Perspective may also include the relationship between participants in the
discourse (tenor).
h. Differences in expressive meaning
There may be a target-language word which has the same propositional meaning as
the source-language word, but it may have a different expressive meaning. i. Differences in form
There is often no equivalent in the target language for a particular form in the
source text. Certain suffixes and prefixes which convey propositional and other
types of meaning in English often have no direct equivalents in other languages.
j. Differences in frequency and purpose using specific forms
Even when a particular form does have a ready equivalent in the target language,
there may be a difference in the frequency with which it is used or the purpose for
which it is used.
k. The use of loan words in the source text
The use of loan words in the source text poses a special problem in translation.
Quite apart form their respective propositional meaning, loan words such as au fait,
chic, and alfresco in English are often used for their prestige value, because they
can add an air of sophistication to the text or its subject matter.
1.2. The concept of culture in translation

world which different labels attached” (Sapir 1958:69). Therefore, when translating,
it is important to consider not only the lexical impact on the TL reader, but also the
manner in which cultural aspects may be perceived and make translating decisions
accordingly.
1.3. Cultural categories
There exist many different classifications proposed by various authors. Newmark
(1988:95) talks about “cultural categories”, among which cultural words can be
classified:
a. Ecology including flora, fauna, types of winds and natural phenomena, etc.;
b. Material culture, related to the artificial products manufactured by a society,
like food, clothes, housing, cities, means of transport, etc.;
c. Social culture, including work and employment, and leisure;
d. Organizations, political, administrative, religious or artistic concepts,
activities or institutions;
e. Gestures and habits (often described in “non-verbal” language) Furthermore, there are other authors who introduce new factors and concepts in
their typologies of cultural references, such as Mallafre (1991), who deals with a
related factor: the opposition between tribe language (referring to private life) and
polis language (regarding public life). The first element would be related to the own
personal experience of an individual, and it would allude to his or her personal
relationships, his or her family, etc. In this group, there can be children’s plays,
traditional tales and stories, folk feasts and traditions. In contrast, polis language
would be intimately related to the social, political and working environment of an
individual as a community citizen, and it would refer to laws, conventions, rights,
organizations, etc.
Finally, Katan (1999:45) distinguishes five categories in his classification of
cultural words:
a. Environment.

obtained on the readers of the original.
However, according to Peter Newmark (1988), there are only two methods of
translation that are appropriate to any texts. They are as follows.
1) Communicative translation
In this method, translators try to produce the same effect on the TL readers
as the original does on the SL readers
2) Semantic translation
Translators attempt to reproduce the exact contextual meaning of the author
with the constraints of the TL grammatical structures.
Adaptation
This is the ‘freest’ form of translation. It is used mainly for plays (comedies) and
poetry; the themes, characters, plots are usually preserved, the SL culture converted
to the TL culture and the text rewritten. The deplorable practice of having a play or
poem literally translated and then rewritten by an established dramatist or poet has
produced many poor adaptations have ‘rescued’ period plays.

Free translation
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’, often prolix and pretentious, and not translation
at all.
Idiomatic translation
Idiomatic translation reproduces the ‘message’ of the original but tends to distort
nuances of meaning by preferring colloquialisms and idioms where these do not
exist in the original.
1.5. Chapter conclusion
This part of study has fulfilled its task of gathering information about general

Quantity
Percentage
Physical cultural objects
172
41.3%
Others
244
58.7%

41.30%
58.70%
Physical cultural objects Others

2.2. The most common type of equivalence – Nil equivalence
As mentioned in Chapter 1, there exist many approaches to the classification of
equivalence in translation. However, Munday’s (2001) view of quantitative
equivalence including one-to-one equivalence, many-to-one equivalence, one-to-part-of-one equivalence and nil equivalence seems to be best suited the aim of this
thesis. We can hardly find the case of one-to-many equivalence, so this is not taken
into account.
The writer of the thesis has listed almost all the cultural words occurred in the book
and put them into the order of the most common types of equivalence to the least
common one. The data can be easily found in the table below:
Type of equivalence
Quantity
Rate (%)
Nil equivalence
211

two people who are identical.” let alone two cultures. It is widely accepted that with
the exactly same meaning, no one can be sure that two cultures could choose to
express it the same way no matter how close the two cultures are. Meanwhile,
English and Vietnamese cultures are widely known to be totally different when the
former represents Western culture and the latter characterizes Eastern. For example,
the Vietnamese would prefer to use the chicken in many idioms “Vắng chúa nhà, gà
vọc niêu tôm”, but English people would like to use “cat” and “mouse” as in “When
the cat is away, the mice will play”. An idiom “Run như cầy sấy” seems to be very
popular with Vietnamese people, but their English equivalent could be “As nervous
as a cat” or “As nervous as a mouse”. This is only the case when two cultures
express the exactly same meaning. Therefore, when coming into the area where
there are abundant of things in source language culture but there is no such things in
target language culture, one can easily see how difficult it is in that situation.
The difficulty presents itself when the Vietnamese word may express a concept
which is mostly unknown in the target language culture. Those words often relate to
many types of cultural objects. For example:
Điếu bát
Lư
Đỉnh
Câu đối
Nón
Bồng
Thư tịch
Nghiên
Sắc phong
The situation may result from geographical differences in the cultures of two
countries. Vietnam locates in Asia with a strong domination of China, the once
powerful empire in the world. Whereas, with the location in the West, English
culture is mainly under the flow of Western culture which, as one can say, is totally
different from the East.

Tuồng
Hát trống quân
In the prolonged culture of Vietnam, traditional games and entertainments also play
their part in diversifying the spiritual life of people and in creating distinct ethnical
and regional characteristics.
With the above mentioned groups, we are just roughly at the foot of the mountain of
Vietnamese cultural words which reflect the richness of the source language culture.
This obviously presents a huge challenge to the translator and the writer.

2.3. Strategies to deal with nil-equivalence
The translator’s task is not as simple as one might think. It is unacceptable for him
to omit all words that he finds difficult. So what should the translator do when he
confronts the translation of culture-specific concepts? Digging in the translation of
those nil equivalence words, one can clearly see that the first common translation
tool that is widely used is borrowings.