Analyzing lexical features applied in translation of legal texts, with special reference to commercial contracts

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF LAW DIVISION OF LEGAL ENGLISH GRADUATION THESIS B.A DEGREE IN ENGLISH Major: Legal English ANALYZING LEXICAL FEATURES APPLIED IN TRANSLATION OF LEGAL TEXTS, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS Supervisor: LL.M Pham Thi Phuong Anh Student: Do Phuong Dung Student ID: 1352202010003 Class: LE38 Ho Chi Minh City, 2017 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, it is a genuine pleasure to express the deepest appreciation to my instructor, Ms Pham Thi Phuong Anh for her continuous assistance of my undergraduate thesis and for her guidance, patience, understanding as well as her vast knowledge and skill in many specialized areas Without her support and dedicated participation throughout every step throughout the process, this paper would never have been accomplished In addition to my instructor, I would like to thank other members of my thesis committee: Ms Phan Le Chi, Mr Nguyen Thai Son and Ms Tran Ngoc Luong Tuyen for their encouragement, tough questions and insightful comments on my thesis My sincere thanks also go to Hung Anh Ltd., Co as well as Baker & McKenzie (Vietnam) Ltd., Co., for offering me internship opportunities in their companies, and permitting me to work on diverse and exciting projects, especially legal translations They have contributed invaluable practical knowledge and memorable experiences, allowing me to gain skills in what I hope will be my future career Additionally, getting through my thesis required more than just academic support I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my friends who supported me and provided me with strength and encouragement, as well as their valuable friendship which helped me get through many long nights during the difficult process of research, writing and rewriting Most importantly, obviously none of this could have happened without my family I am forever grateful to my parents for supporting me spiritually throughout my life Their love and constant encouragement has helped me overcome all the stresses during these last three months TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 The Urgency of the Thesis Literature Review Research Objectives Research Subjects Scopes of Research 6 Research Methodologies Research Structures CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW ON LEXICAL FEATURES IN LEGAL TEXTS Overview on lexical features The importance of lexical features in legal texts CHAPTER 2: LEXICAL FEATURES IN COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS AND RELEVANT PROBLEMS UPON TRANSLATING COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS 12 Technical terms 12 1.1 Purely technical terms 13 1.2 Semi – technical terms or common words with uncommon meanings 14 Archaic words 16 Use of “such”, “the same” and “said” 20 Foreign or borrowed words 23 4.1 Latin words 24 4.2 Borrowed words from French 27 Use of the modal verbs of “shall” and “may” 30 5.1 Use of the modal verb “shall” 30 5.2 Use of the modal verb “may” 32 Lexical repetition 35 Synonyms 36 CONCLUSION 43 INTRODUCTION The Urgency of the Thesis Globalization is increasing and as a result Vietnam has become more and more engaged in the global economy, especially with its participation in the World Trade Organization (WTO) However, for Vietnam to remain competitive it is necessary for us to interact and communicate with other countries of the world by using a common means It is obvious that English is the most popular and thus the preferred language used in international business Therefore, the capacity for English comprehension is a must when practicing in the international environment Furthermore, when we usually have to enter into international contracts, the majority will utilize the English language, especially in commercial contracts It is noted that commercial contracts are becoming more and more necessary worldwide and for Vietnam in particular However, due to the fact that Vietnamese lawyers are usually just familiar with Vietnamese legal systems as well as drafting legal documents mainly in the Vietnamese style, it is difficult for them to read and clearly understand documents, contracts, etc in English It should be noted that according to Article 70 of the Amended Law on Lawyers Vietnam No 20/2012/QH13 dated 20 November 2012, issued by the National Assembly foreign lawyers are not allowed to be involved in court proceedings in Vietnam, but are still allowed to provide legal consultation services, including drafting commercial documents and contracts for clients when required Thus, in order to solve international legal problems, lawyers must depend on translators to help them express their words precisely This creates a great opportunity for translators, especially legal translators who possess good knowledge of both English and legal English To obtain this specialized legal knowledge requires translators to engage in years of study Unfortunately, the teaching of legal English is still limited in colleges and universities in Vietnam As a result, the number of Vietnamese translators who have met the proper professional qualifications is humble Smith (1995) explains that: Three prerequisites exist for successful translation of legal text First, translators must acquire a basic knowledge of the legal systems, both of the source as well as of the target languages Second, they must possess familiarity with the relevant terminology Third, legal translators must be competent in the target language’s specific legal writing style (p.181) In fact, although other features of the legal language such as syntax, pragmatics and style all play an important role in legal texts, lexicon of the particular written or spoken communication is the most visible and important feature of legal language This is something that a translator should pay much attention to because it helps the translator easily decode the source texts and translate them into actual, less ambiguous words and phrases, thus making it easier for receivers to access the target language For the reasons above, the topic: “Analyzing lexical features applied in translation of legal texts, with special reference to commercial contracts” is chosen as the title of this thesis Literature Review Throughout the world, many scholars have studied the lexical features of legal English For instance, Peter Goodrich (1987) once mentioned lexical features He claimed that: Legal vocabulary is primary symbolic lexicon which places great stress upon the legal signifier or legal word as an entity in itself It is a vocabulary of possibilities purportedly comprising a comprehensive system of meanings that are internal or latent within the lexicon itself (p.177) In fact, he concentrated on the relationship between lexicon and syntax, not each element separately Therefore, it can be somewhat difficult for legal translators to differentiate between the two elements Tiersma (1999) is among the scholars who have written the most informative and detailed clarification of lexical features in his book “Legal Language” He divided each feature and put them into appropriate categories, which helps translators take an easier approach He even evaluated these features in legal text and provided solutions for the problems of each lexical feature His work contributed to the thorough and comprehensive understanding that translators have when they deal with various types of contracts Mellinkoff (2004) who first systematically studied legal English, showed his appreciation of the significance of the language of law as well as the history of legal language, and incorporated them into practice In his work, he also noted some characteristics of the language of the law, but he focused on the use of the specialized jargon that distinguishes lawyers from non-lawyers Meanwhile, Alcaraz and Hughes (2014) with their book named “Legal Translation Explained” have provided more knowledge of “the identification and solution of problems that actually arise in this area of translation” The authors have indicated the problems that translators may come across concerning various types of lexical features This book is particularly valuable for any translators struggling with legal translation in respect to contract understanding and ways to deal with problematic matters in practice Though their work also separates and analyzes each feature, it is still not clear to easily recognize and distinguish which feature is lexical Cao (2016), who has been involved in translating legal concepts for a significant amount of time, has researched, gathered data and then analyzed the subject matter It is noteworthy that she has built a bridge of understanding between languages by illustrating the difficulties in translating private legal documents Chapter in her book “Translating Law” is dedicated to “linguistics features of major private legal documents in English are examined with regard to translation” (p.6) In the section on lexical features the author’s main concern is just one feature of legal English, that is, word strings (the use of redundant synonyms) In her work, Ms Cao clarified the use, history and problems regarding the translation of word strings The lexical features here are incorporated into word strings with an explanation to aid in the understanding of the style of English legal documents as they convey the meaning of all-inclusiveness However, despite her work and the information provided in this section, it may still be difficult to distinguish different lexical features Additionally, there have been a variety of articles written in international journals on the study of lexical features of legal English Although many of the authors are linguistics experts and not legal experts, their works generally furnish an understanding of lexical features, providing practical illustrations by studying the differences between their native language and English, and offer suggestions if any problem arises What they accomplished is also one of the objectives I want to achieve through this thesis Nevertheless, in Vietnam, there is little material or references regarding legal translation, as this field is relatively new, regardless of its necessary for society The study of legal translation is conducted mostly by language experts and their work usually is in the form of journals, theses, or personal experiences shared on the internet Specifically, Tran Huu Hai (2010), who has analyzed the issues encountered in the translation of legal texts between English and Vietnamese He highlighted these problems and difficulties in legal translation and compared legal terms in Vietnam with their English language counterparts Although he only makes a limited approach to translation practice, his article in fact contributed to a field of research that has been neglected by Vietnamese translators Additionally, Nguyen Phuoc Vinh Co (2013) and a group of authors: Tran Phuoc Phuong Uyen, Cap Thi Van and Ho Thi Ngan instructed by Nguyen Phuoc Vinh Co (2016) have studied about characteristics of legal English: linguistics challenges in translation Their work provided a variety of specific examples of each characteristic and they provided the Vietnamese translation for each example However, their work seems mainly focused on listing those characteristics regarding legal translation without digging deeper and just scrapes the surface of legal English In this respect, they are among the very few linguists studying features of legal English and the challenges translators face when applied in Vietnam’s environment Basically, the authors all point out different lexical features in legal text or contracts Some even describe the problems arising out of such features, while the Vietnamese authors focused on the problems in translation between English and Vietnamese Nevertheless, while the foreign authors just note a general overview of lexical features in one area, in contrast the Vietnamese authors list all of the specific problems Due to the fact that their intentions are to give a brief analysis of each feature, unfortunately there is not much information provided in their works Research Objectives The aim of this work is: (i) to clarify lexical features applied in translation of commercial contracts; (ii) to provide a practical approach to commercial contract translation from English to Vietnamese; and (iii) to deal with the translation problems of such lexical features The above listed tasks will hopefully facilitate translators in Vietnam when translating commercial contracts Research Subjects Research subjects in this thesis are some main lexical features in commercial contracts including technical terms, archaic words, foreign or borrowed words, use of the modal verbs of “shall” and “may”, use of “such”, “the same” and “said”, lexical repetition, as well as synonyms Additionally, the application of these features in commercial contract translation from English to Vietnamese will be discussed by analyzing numerous examples Scopes of Research Due to the limitations of accessible materials and the time frame fixed for this research, I will narrow the thesis as follows: First, this thesis does not analyze all, but only some of the main lexical features of legal English in commercial contracts; Second, the translations mentioned in this thesis are from English to Vietnamese and this thesis suggests some approaches to translate the studied lexical features, and thus tries to make a helpful contribution by giving recommendations to improve the quality of legal translation work for Vietnamese translators Research Methodologies The main methods that are applied in this thesis include: contextual analysis, synthesis as well as comparative and contrastive methods Contextual analysis helps to choose the right meaning for a certain term or phrase without changing the texts; it also avoids any misunderstanding or ambiguity of meanings Synthesis method is used to provide a general knowledge by combining many foreign authors’ works, the reference sources and practical experience Meanwhile, comparative and contrastive methods contribute to the semantic analysis in general and the analysis of similarities and dissimilarities in legal terms in respect of the semantic field in order to decide the appropriate translation strategy In brief, the aforementioned methods are at times combined to make the readers familiarized with the thesis as well as serving to make it more organized Research Structures This thesis is divided into two chapters Chapter 1: Overview on lexical features in legal texts Chapter 2: Lexical features in commercial contracts and relevant problems upon translating commercial contracts The Buyer may pay the Rental on and/or before the Effective Date (Bên Mua trả Tiền Thuê vào trước Ngày Hiệu Lực) In this example, the Buyer may choose to pay the Rental on whichever day but the latest day is the Effective Date, which means although the Buyer has the right to choose the date to pay under above circumstance and “may” is translated into possibility, it is the obligation for the Buyer to pay the Rental and he cannot deny this obligation due to the use of “may” in the sentence In practice, “may” is commonly translated into Vietnamese as “có thể” This will create some difficulties for readers to clarify what “có thể” means Therefore, we should bear in mind the meaning of “may” as clarified above Here are some examples of the modal verb “may” used in contracts: The Mortgagee may, without notice or publication, adjourn any private or public sale or cause the same to be adjourned from time to time by announcement at the time and place fixed for the sale, and such sale may be made at any time or place to which the sale may be so adjourned; (Bên Nhận Thế Chấp hỗn lại, mà khơng cần phải thông báo công bố, giao dịch mua bán theo thỏa thuận riêng công khai cho phép giao dịch bán theo thỏa thuận riêng cơng khai nêu hỗn lại thời điểm cách bố cáo thời điểm địa điểm ấn định cho giao dịch mua bán nêu trên, giao dịch mua bán thực thời điểm địa điểm mà giao dịch mua bán hỗn lại đến thời điểm địa điểm đó;) 33 The Mortgagor waives any consent rights that it may have in respect of the transfer to any third party of any part of the Secured Asset in exercise of the Mortgagee’s rights, powers, remedies and privileges under this Agreement (Bên Thế Chấp từ bỏ quyền đồng ý mà có việc chuyển nhượng cho bên thứ ba phần Tài Sản Bảo Đảm thực thi quyền, quyền hạn, biện pháp khắc phục đặc quyền Bên Nhận Thế Chấp theo Hợp Đồng này.) Another the significant meaning of “may” is that it will carry the meaning of prohibition in legal texts when used with negative element like “may not” For example, The Guarantor may not assign any of its rights or obligations under this Agreement (Bên Bảo Lãnh không chuyển giao quyền nghĩa vụ theo Hợp Đồng này.) Generally speaking, what the translator should when encountering modal verbs is to think wisely and cautiously when dealing with those words to have the best choices which reflect the complete meaning of the provision Here is some advice that may be helpful: First, read carefully and not be fooled by the legalese that the drafter uses in the contract Feel free to ask what it means or if it can be rewritten so that the layperson can understand Second, look for forms of the words “shall” and “may” written in the contract’s obligations and rights The rights or obligations or the parties’ intent could help you one way or another in deciding whether it is mandatory or permissive Third, the context is very important Finally, not hesitate to ask for rewording for the purpose of avoiding any ambiguity 34 that may occur and for the benefit of the readers This depends on the translator’s professional knowledge of both linguistics and legal matters Lexical repetition In English language contracts, it is easy to realize that the repetition of words is widely used by the drafter In fact, the use of an anaphoric device is avoided by repeating the noun instead of using personal pronouns (he, she, it, etc.), and demonstrative pronouns (this, that, etc.) in the sentence as usual The main reason for this is because the structure used in legal texts is long and complicated, while the exactness and correctness of legal words in legal texts are obligatory Repetition of words can better assist the reader in making clear certain pronoun the text refers to As a result, it will prevent any ambiguity when interpreting the text For example, The Lessee shall make full payment to the Lessor at the head office of the Lessor If we use the possessive pronoun “his” instead of “the Lessor,” it may cause confusion and ambiguity to determine whether the head office is the one of Lesser or Lessor As a result, such an alternative may impose an unwanted misunderstanding in the lexical aspect and the intention of the drafter is not fully rendered This repetition will facilitate the translator to deal with the meaning of legal text in a most exact way It also helps to reduce ambiguity and makes the legal text easier to approach It is noted that the redundancy should remain the same as the original text when being translated due to the principle of fidelity For practices in Vietnam in respect to repetition, the translators not only retain the repetition of the original version but also in some cases add additional words to better clarify the legal text These cases usually only happen when the English version uses possessive terms, such as “the same”, or other terms to shorten the sentence 35 Here is example to clarify the above: If any dispute arises between the Parties relating to this Agreement, including without limitation, its execution, performance, termination or expiration, which cannot be settled amicably by mutual agreement within thirty (30) days from the date of a notice of such dispute from one Party to another, such dispute shall be referred to and settled by a relevant Vietnamese court (Nếu có tranh chấp phát sinh Bên liên quan đến Hợp Đồng này, bao gồm không giới hạn việc ký kết, thực hiện, chấm dứt hết hạn Hợp Đồng này, mà giải cách hữu nghị thỏa thuận chung vòng ba mươi (30) ngày kể từ ngày Bên thông báo với Bên tranh chấp đó, tranh chấp đưa giải tịa án có thẩm quyền hữu quan Việt Nam.) In general, legal repetition and redundancy is a good tool for translators to use as it helps with having the legal text translated precisely especially in respect to the pronouns referred to in legal texts However, translators should add or repeat words that they may think helps avoid any ambiguity that may arise Synonyms Friedrich Nietzsche said that it is good to express a matter in two ways simultaneously so as to give it both a right foot and a left Truth can stand on one leg, to be sure; but with two it can walk and get about Attorneys often use a type of legal jargon commonly called legalese Legalese can be defined as formalized legal words in which a layperson has little or no understanding While this practice is steeped in tradition and is somewhat expected, to an experienced legal translator legalese is not particularly challenging However, what is challenging is the use of word strings Simply put, word strings are the use of redundant synonyms While word strings may provide a 36 document with added legalese and thus make it sound more officious, in actuality it can make a document appear more verbose Word strings are not confined to nouns or verbs They can be used in essentially any phrase, and at any time Despite sometimes having a negative connotation, word strings can be useful as they remove uncertainty in a document due to their redundancy, which attempts to be inclusive of all foreseen and unforeseen circumstances Lawyers have a tendency to be extremely careful regarding legal documents because those documents are legally binding As a result, there should be no doubt about the document's intentions It is believed that the practice of utilizing word strings dates back to the time of the Anglo-Saxons and Germanic nations Interestingly, when it came to matter of the law the Germanic nations traditionally maintained more of an oral tradition as opposed to a textual one The Germanic laws were never written down except by strangers Charlemagne, for example, who needed law-texts to govern Germans other than his fellow Franks, ordered collections of their laws written down Otherwise, the Germans kept their laws by customary observation and oral memory, preserved in poetic verses and accompanied by their own ritual forms The laws were kept so tenaciously in memory by such means that we have dozens of legal formulas imbedded in our Germanic language of English The pioneer folklorist Jacob Grimm initiated the joint study of Germanic oral poetry and law with his essay "Von der Poesie im Recht" in 1816 For example, "by hook and by crook" (meaning "by any means possible") is an old way of referring to a limited right to gather fuel in a lord's woodlot; the peasant could not cut live wood with an axe, but could gather any twigs or dead wood lying, hanging, or standing, that could be secured with a pruning hook or a drover's crook "To have and to hold" survives in the formulas for acquiring possession of land or of a spouse, and so does the French translation aver 37 et tener Dramatic procedures like the moot or "meeting", wedding with a ring, and the oath; and customary rights like thoroughfare, often retain Germanic names (William, 2013) The Anglo-Saxons would often use alliteration, which is when the same letter or sound is used in contiguous words in a sentence This practice was used in their legal discourse, and is a practice that is still used today In addition to the Anglo-Saxons, this practice can also be found in Law French Law French is an archaic language originally based on Old Norman and AngloNorman, but increasingly influenced by Parisian French and, later, English It was used in the law courts of England, beginning with the Norman Conquest by William the Conqueror Its use continued for several centuries in the courts of England and Ireland Although Law French as a narrative legal language is obsolete, many individual Law French terms continue to be used by lawyers and judges in common law jurisdictions The lawyers of England after the Conquest dealt mostly with the French-speaking aristocracy, and they practiced their profession in French But as time and political change separated the aristocracy further and further from their Norman and French past, they used English more and more for daily use, and their formal and legal French kept getting less and less like the language spoken in Paris Strange as Law French became, it served the purpose of all jargon, protecting the exclusive professional franchise and information from outsiders Pleading in French was sternly forbidden by the Statute of Pleadings in 1327, which required oral English and written Latin The statute was ignored, and Law French continued to be used, sliding into sillier and stranger forms until Cromwell's Commonwealth passed a language reform act in 1650, which required both pleading and the record to be in English This reform also failed King George II tried again in 1731, and would likely have failed again, had it not been for the appearance in 1765 of Blackstone's Commentaries, the first authoritative English law book 38 written in English Law French has been considered antique ever since, and it is still in the process of disappearing Often times one word in the word string would be English while the other was in synonymic Law French, such as will and testament Originally this practice consisted mainly of doublets and triplets (two or three words) but now it is not uncommon to see this expanded into entire sentences An example of word strings would be as follows: “The involved party shall cease and desist.” Cease and desist are synonyms, meaning you cannot cease unless you desist and vice versa In other words, using both words are essentially unnecessary and superfluous, which is another example of a word string A longer, albeit incomplete, list of common legal word strings includes: deemed and considered; final and conclusive; full and complete; release and discharge; finish and complete; full force and effect; null and void; assign, transfer and set over; fees, costs, charges and expenses; obey, observe and comply with, etc Here are some examples for using synonyms in the contract: The guarantee under this Guarantee Agreement shall be a continuing guarantee and shall remain in full force and effect until all Guaranteed Indebtedness under the Loan Agreement have been paid in full, notwithstanding the insolvency, incapacity or change in the status of the Guarantor (Bảo lãnh theo Hợp Đồng Bảo Lãnh bảo lãnh liên tục tiếp tục có giá trị pháp lý hiệu lực thi hành đầy đủ toàn Nợ Được Bảo Lãnh theo Hợp Đồng Vay toán đầy đủ, Bên Bảo Lãnh bị khả toán, lực có thay đổi tình trạng.) 39 In the event any representation and/or warranty under this Clause is or proves to have been incorrect or in the event of any dispute arising with regard to these representations and/or warranties, the Mortgagor and the Mortgagor's Vietnam Subsidiary shall indemnify and/or shall procure any other Obligors to indemnify the Finance Parties against all claims, demands, liabilities, proceedings, costs, fees, charges, expenses and losses reasonably incurred by the Finance Parties in relation to or arising out of such incorrect representation and/or warranty or such dispute related thereto (Trong trường hợp có cam đoan và/hoặc bảo đảm theo Điều chứng minh không đúng, trường hợp có tranh chấp phát sinh liên quan đến cam đoan và/hoặc bảo đảm này, Bên Thế Chấp Cơng Ty Con Tại Việt Nam Của Bên Thế Chấp bồi hoàn và/hoặc bảo đảm Bên Có Nghĩa Vụ khác bồi hoàn cho Bên Cấp Vốn tất yêu cầu, đòi hỏi, trách nhiệm, thủ tục tố tụng, phí tổn, lệ phí, tiền phí, chi phí tổn thất phát sinh cách hợp lý cho Bên Cấp Vốn liên quan đến xuất phát từ cam đoan và/hoặc bảo đảm không nêu từ tranh chấp liên quan đến cam đoan và/hoặc bảo đảm nêu trên.) The Mortgagor and DH hereby waive any claim they may have or hereafter acquire against the Attorney-in-fact acting pursuant to this Irrevocable Power of Attorney and against any person acting on the instructions given by the Attorney-in-fact pursuant to this Irrevocable Power of Attorney The Mortgagor and DH hereby release and discharge and agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Attorney-in-fact or any person acting pursuant to this Irrevocable Power of Attorney (Bên Thế Chấp DH thông qua từ bỏ yêu cầu mà họ có sau có chống lại Bên Được Ủy Quyền hành động theo Giấy Ủy Quyền 40 Không Hủy Ngang này, chống lại người hành động theo thị Bên Được Ủy Quyền đưa theo Giấy Ủy Quyền Không Hủy Ngang Bên Thế Chấp DH thơng qua giải phóng, giải trừ thỏa thuận bồi hoàn giữ cho Bên Được Ủy Quyền người hành động theo Giấy Ủy Quyền Không Hủy Ngang chịu thiệt hại nào.) Word Strings, while not necessarily difficult to translate, can prove to be problematic in legal translations The target language may not have the equivalent word string An example of note is the English phrase null and void In the Chinese language, null and void are translated into one word “wuxiao” (no effect) as they not have two synonyms that correspond to the phrase null and void (Cao, 2016, p.90) This presents even more of a problem when the word string is significantly longer than a doublet or a triplet In Vietnamese, the words assign and transfer are translated into different words with different meanings For example: Party A shall procure that it shall not sell, dispose of, transfer, assign, lease or sub-lease, part with or mortgage or otherwise encumber the Project Site (Bên A bảo đảm Bên A không bán, định đoạt, chuyển nhượng, chuyển giao, cho thuê cho thuê lại, bỏ, chấp đem làm tài sản bảo đảm theo cách khác Địa Điểm Dự Án) According to Sarcevic (2000), legal translators can be creative with language in parallel texts and still preserve the unity of the single instrument Since even slight changes in language may affect the substance, translators must always take into account the legal factors when making linguistic decisions Therefore, in practice, Vietnamese translators apply the same idea as Sarcevic’s, in that they tend to translate all of the terms individually Sometimes it is 41 challenging to translate synonyms into the target language by using different words, but still rendering similar meanings and in accordance with the words in the original text The translator has to be both a very good linguistic and legal scholar to discover the relationship of words and choose the best word for such cases without creating any unexpected misunderstanding which may occur when translating such synonyms Generally, synonyms can be translated into one word in the target language like the examples of Chinese used above, especially if the translator finds these words have the same linguistic meaning as well as the same cultural concept, they may choose to be cost-effective in translating them Translator may apply literal translation technique when translating synonyms, which will create repetition in translating some doublets Often it is difficult to find the word in the target language which is equivalent to the word in the original language In most of the examples presented, synonyms should remain consistent with the number of words in the target language even if this will result in redundancy Therefore, it is suggested that a literal translation be used and sometimes transposition be utilized when translating legal texts into Vietnamese as they are the best way to retain the meaning of the texts as well as the number of words 42 CONCLUSION The language of legal texts is complex and technical; therefore, it is challenging for the laymen to understand and the aim of the translator is to help make foreign legal texts easier to understand for text receivers with different legal backgrounds With regard to legal translations, translating legal texts is not an easy task “This is due to the fact that legal translation involves law, and such translation can and often does produce not just linguistic but also legal impact and consequence, and because of the special nature of law and legal language.” (Cao, 2016, p.8) In fact, legal translation is the most challenging and technically difficult type of translation when compared to other types of translations Apart from proficient language skills and rich knowledge of other social fields such as economy and trade, a profound understanding of the legal language features of the English contract is also obligatory, because of the accuracy and consistency of legal text Most of the contracts that we read today have the lexical features of technical terms such as the features analyzed above In light of the conclusions of this thesis, the following findings are provided: initially, this thesis discussed an overview of lexical features and the importance of lexical features, which is a complicated study demanding special skills, knowledge and experience from the translator to translate because it is an inter-lingual and cross-cultural communicative act Furthermore, the thesis provides a variety of common lexical examples in detail along with practical situations in Vietnam to illustrate as well as provide some basic information for translators Hopefully, this will make it easier to approach commercial contracts and thus their translation work will improve in quality Although there have been previously numerous essays that have studied legal translation, my thesis is one of the first to study it as it pertains to Vietnam, listing the lexical features with a view from a student whose major is legal English and who studies both law and legal English 43 From my own experience as a student whose major is legal English and my own practical experiences in legal translation, I believe that to study and to understand legal English is much more difficult than any other field relating to English Translators not only learn modern English, which is the language mainly used in contracts, but they also need a working knowledge of ancient English and the other features mentioned above in addition to having a good knowledge of Vietnamese law in order to render a legal document The challenges are obvious but the positive side of this is that translators may obtain better professional status because they have obtained the knowledge of both law and legal English, which allows them to work in the legal field in both the domestic and international environment My attitude for towards studying legal English in general as well as the lexicon of contracts in particular has always been “learn to improve” and “practice makes perfect.” I have completed this thesis with all of my passion, effort and enthusiasm Undoubtedly, due to the limitations of time and content, I cannot totally analyze all issues regarding lexical features as they pertain to legal texts My thesis mainly focuses on studying main lexical features of legal texts, with special reference to commercial contracts due to the fact that I believe the lexical features mentioned above will be useful to legal practitioners, legal scholars, and other relevant persons This thesis is expected to assist translators as legal matters are becoming more and more international and their relevant documents are mostly in legal English, since English is considered the international language Vietnam should realize, especially in the globalization trend, the necessities of legal English and legal translation in both the legal field and other social fields Thus, Vietnam should help facilitate these fields so that their practitioners are properly educated and are able to develop their skills on a continual basis I hope together we can help to contribute to the improvement of the legal translation field in Vietnam, and make this a priority 44 REFERENCES I BOOKS AND JOURNAL ARTICLES: Alcaraz, E and Hughes, B (2014) Legal Translation Explained, Manchester: St Jerome Publishing Baker, M (1992) In other words: A course book on translation London and New York: Routledge Cao, D (2016) Translating Law Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Company Crystal, D & Davy, D (1969) Investigating English Style London: Longman Group Limited Garner, B A (2002) The Elements of Legal Style (2nd ed.) Oxford: Oxford University Press Gibbons, J (2003) Forensic Linguistic Oxford: Backwell Publishing Ltd Gibová, K (2011) On Modality in EU Institutional-Legal Texts In A Kačmárová (Ed.), English Matter II Prešov: Prešovská univerzita., pp 6-12 Goodrich, P (1987) Legal Discourse: Studies in Linguistics, rhetoric and Legal Analysis London: Macmillan Publishers Limited Guangqi, Z (2014) A Comparative Analysis of Lexical Features of Contract English International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature (IJSELL), vol 2, No 9, 56-64 10 Haggard, R T and Kuney, W G (2007), Legal Drafting: Process, Techniques and Exercises (2nd ed.) The United State of America: Thomson/West 11 Hiltumen, R (1999) Chapters on Legal English Helsinki: Soumalainen Tiedeakatemia 12 Macmillan, L (2015) Law and Other Things Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 13 Mellinkoff, D (2004) The Language of the Law, Oregon: Wipf and Stock Publisher 14 Pollock, F and Maitland, W F (1989) The History of Language Law Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 15 Sarcevic, S (2000) New Approach to Legal Translation The Hague/London/Boston: Kluwer Law International 16 Schauer, F (1993) Law and Language New York: New York University Press 17 Smith, S A (1995) Culture Clash: Anglo-American Case Law and German Civil Law in Translation In M Morris (Ed.), Translation and the Law (pp 179-197) Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company 18 Tiersma, P M (1999) Legal Language: London, University of Chicago Press 19 Trần Hải Hựu (2010) The Problems and Difficulties Encountered in the Translation of Legal Texts between English and Vietnamese Journal of Foreign Language Studies, No 25, 76-85 II WEBSITES: http://www.englishpage.com/minitutorials/sosuch.html Nguyễn Phước Vĩnh Cố (2013, June 06) Một số vấn đề dịch hợp đồng thương mại tiếng Anh [Some Problems in the Translation of Commercial Contracts in English] Retrieved from https://nguyenphuocvinhco.com/2013/06/04/mot-so-van-de-trong-dichhop-dong-thuong-mai-tieng-anh-some-problems-in-the-translation-of-commercialcontracts-in-english-2 Trần Phước Phương Uyên, Cáp Thị Vân & Hồ Thị Ngân (2016, April 15) Đặc trưng tiếng Anh pháp lý: Những thách thức ngôn ngữ dịch thuật [Characteristics of Legal English: Linguistics Challenges in Translation] Retrieved from https://nguyenphuocvinhco.com/2016/04/15/dac-trung-cua-tieng-anh-phap-ly-nhungthach-thuc-ve-ngon-ngu-trong-dich-thuat-characteristics-of-legal-english-linguisticchallenges-in Williman, D (2013) Legal Terminology: An Historical Introduction the Technical Language of Law Retrieved 30 May 2017, from http://www.corsanoandwilliman.org/latin/work/legalterminology.htm III DICTIONARIES: Hornby, A S (2015) Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 9th Edition Oxford: Oxford University Press Garner, B (2007) Black’s Law Dictionary – Eighth Edition The United State of America: Law Prose, Inc ... the reasons above, the topic: ? ?Analyzing lexical features applied in translation of legal texts, with special reference to commercial contracts? ?? is chosen as the title of this thesis Literature... reasons above, lexical features of commercial contracts play an important role in translation of contracts because they reflect most of the intentions of the drafter and meaning of the contracts If... lexical features of legal texts, with special reference to commercial contracts due to the fact that I believe the lexical features mentioned above will be useful to legal practitioners, legal scholars,