AN ANALYSIS OF THE SUGGESTED TRANSLATION OF CHAPTER 1 FROM THE BOOK “MURDER AT THE MAYFAIR HOTEL” BY c j ARCHER, 2020

TR AN XU AN VY – GR AD UA TI ON PA PE R IN EN GL IS H LI NG UIS TI CS 202 DUY TAN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH TRAN XUAN VY AN ANALYSIS OF THE SUGGESTED TRANSLATION OF CHAPTER FROM THE BOOK “MURDER AT THE MAYFAIR HOTEL” BY C.J ARCHER, 2020 GRADUATION PAPER IN ENGLISH LINGUISTICS DA NANG, 2022 Graduation Paper Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A DUY TAN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH GRADUATION PAPER AN ANALYSIS OF THE SUGGESTED TRANSLATION OF CHAPTER FROM THE BOOK “MURDER AT THE MAYFAIR HOTEL” BY C.J ARCHER, 2020 Major : English for Translation – Interpretation SUPERVISOR : NGUYEN THI DIEU TRAM, M.A STUDENT : TRAN XUAN VY CLASS : K24NAB1 STUDENT CODE : 24203114904 DA NANG , 2022 Student: Trần Xuân Vy Class: K24NAB1 Code 24203114904 Graduation Paper Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This graduation paper could not have been completed without the invaluable help, guidance and encouragement of my dear teachers, friends and family First of all, I would like to thank my teacher Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, who went ahead and supported, helped and provided me with necessary documents I consider myself extremely lucky to have her as my supervisor She always answered my questions in a frank and timely manner, so that I could successfully complete this graduation report Next, I would like to express my sincerest thanks to the teachers of the English Department of Duy Tan University, who have provided me with invaluable knowledge during my years of study at the school, allowing me to be independent believe in the future In addition, I would also like to thank all of my classmates for supporting and sharing experiences with me during my years at university Finally, I would like to thank my family, who have always supported and guided me, and most importantly, have always been by my side, supporting me to complete my graduation report on time I wish you good health and great success! Yours sincerely, TRAN XUAN VY Student: Trần Xuân Vy Class: K24NAB1 Code 24203114904 Graduation Paper Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in the whole or in part from a thesis by which have qualified for or been awarded another or diploma No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the thesis This thesis has not been submitted for award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution Danang, May 9th , 2022 TRAN XUAN VY Student: Trần Xuân Vy Class: K24NAB1 Code 24203114904 Graduation Paper Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A ABSTRACT This graduation thesis mentions about the Vietnamese translation of the report “MURDER AT THE MAYFAIR HOTEL” written by C.J ARCHER in the series Cleopatra Fox Mysteries The book was published on 1st December, 2020 The graduation thesis includes the theoretical background, the original version, the suggested translation, and the analysis of many difficult vocabularies and structures in the translation process Besides, in the end of the graduation thesis, I also list some difficulties and offer some solutions for students to better translate Student: Trần Xuân Vy Class: K24NAB1 Code 24203114904 Graduation Paper Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A ABBREVIATIONS A : Adverb Adj : Adjective C : Complement O : Object S : Subject SL : Source language TL : Target language V : Verb Student: Trần Xuân Vy Class: K24NAB1 Code 24203114904 Graduation Paper Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A Table of Contents Student: Trần Xuân Vy Class: K24NAB1 Code 24203114904 Graduation Paper Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale The books are the spiritual and material values that are indispensable for humanity The books contain information, knowledge, experience, creativity, imagination, of each individual in particular and the whole of humanity in general For many generations, the books are still stored and retains its value in life A writer once said: “In books lies the soul of the whole past time.” Indeed, each book is a long journey of research full of effort from the writer to the readers The value of the book is further confirmed when it is translated into many different languages around the world as a way to exchange and learn about culture, history, and customs between countries The book that I am translating is a combination of horror, fiction, family culture, and romance The story begins with a horror title, but the more you read it, , the more warm and poetic romance you will feel This is also the author's unique writing style I hope that through the suggested version, I can convey all the messages the author wants to convey, making readers find sympathy in every page of the book that I have translated 1.2 Aims and Objectives 1.2.1 Aims Though the graduation thesis, I would like to bring the following aims at: - To upgrade translating and analysing ability - To summarize the knowledge I learned in during years of college - To people know further the fields of culture of the other country - To have a suggested translation for students studying with a major in English for translation and interpretation to read and refer 1.2.2 Objectives I'd like to accomplish the following objectives with my graduation thesis: - To translate text fluently and naturally - To know how to use words and sentences which are acceptable to each specific situations - To know concepts and conventionalities of the cultural field through the analysis of vocabulary and sentence structures - To give some implications and solutions in the process of translation as 1.3 well as avoid basic faults Scope of the Study Student: Trần Xuân Vy Class: K24NAB1 Code 24203114904 Graduation Paper Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A To fully understand the issues, we need to go through the 15 chapters of the book However, In this graduation thesis, I would like to present a suggested translation from the source language in English to the target language in Vietnamese of Chapter with 4,567 words I will also point out difficulties I face in the translation process as well as suggest how to analyze English grammar, syntax structure and semantics of sentences as well as words in this book 1.3.1 Text Features This book includes 15 chapters I decided to translate and analyze chapter 01 of the book “Murder at the Mayfair hotel” This chapter introduces the story's environment as well as the characters' distinct personalities In addition, we also understand a bit more about the customs that appear in the story 1.3.2 Text Length The chapter have 25 pages with 6703 words but the time is limited so I have translated 4,567 words in length 1.3.3 Text Source The chapter comes from the book “ Murder at the Mayfair hotel ” written by C.J Archer and published in 2020 This book is available on the internet and can be easily accessed to read and refer via the following link https://cjarcher.com/cjsbooks/cleopatra-fox-mysteries/murder-at-the-mayfair-hotel/ 1.4 Method of the Study During my years at university, I have been fully trained to have a wealth of useful knowledge and experience in the English field This graduation thesis was done to support you in developing my vocabulary and knowledge of structures that I have learnt This was also a chance for me to display my general understanding of social and cultural issues I applied to the following method : - Selecting the work to be studied; - Recording all relevant information about the work - Checking the recorded information - Conducting in-depth analysis - Contrasting with theory - Discussing with advisors and friends Student: Trần Xuân Vy Class: K24NAB1 Code 24203114904 10 Graduation Paper Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A CHAPTER THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 Translation Theory 2.1.1 Definition The definition of translation is always diverse and innovative In fact, depending on the point of view and knowledge of each author, many concepts of translation appear Here are a few translation concepts given by famous linguists around the world: “Translation is a process of conveying messages across linguistic and cultural barriers” (Tudor Ian, Dr (1965) About translation theory Cambridge) “Translation, as the process of conveying message 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” (Allan Duff (1989) Translation) “Translation is the replacement of textual material in one language (source language) by equivalent textual material in another language (target language)” (Catford, J.C (1965) A Linguistic Theory of Translation Oxford) 2.1.2 Types of Translation J C Catford said that: “Translation equivalences may be set up, and translations performed, between any pair of languages or dialects - “related” or “unrelated” and with any kind of spatial, temporal, social or other relationship between them” [1], in the book “A Linguistic Theory of Translation” (1965:20) According to J C Catford (1965:20), in the book “A Linguistic Theory of Translation”, there are many types to translation defined in many different criteria, such as: in terms of extent, levels, rank of translation.; then I decided to quote the source of some of books to clarify Translation According to Extent Based on the extent, J C Catford classified translation into Full Translation 2.1.2.1 and Partial Translation: * Full translation: it is a type of translation in which the entire source language text is reproduced by the target language text materials E.g : Student: Trần Xuân Vy Class: K24NAB1 Code 24203114904 57 Graduation Paper Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A This sentence type can be a bit confusing to identify since compound-complex sentences are pretty long However, this type of sentence gives writers many ways to create sentences Example 19: “ It certainly is of no consequence to me that I wasn’t expected until tomorrow, but I feel awful that your staff have been put out.” [P11] It certainly is of no consequence to me / that I wasn’t expected until Independent clause Noun clause tomorrow, but / I feel awful /that your staff have been put out Coordinator Noun clause Independent clause In the above compoun–complex sentence example, the two independent clauses are connected by coordinator “but” The independent clause is “It certainly is of no consequence to me that I wasn’t expected until tomorrow” The independent clause is “I feel awful that your staff have been put out.” In independent clause 1, there is a dependent clauses (noun clause) functioning as object Similarly, there is a dependent clauses (noun clause) in independent clause functioning as object Suggested version: “Chắc chắn tơi khơng tơi khơng chờ nỗi ngày mai, cảm thấy áy náy nhân viên anh bị đuổi.” Example 20: [ The spark also briefly left her eyes, but it quickly returned again as she cast aside whatever bothered her.] [P24] The spark also briefly left her eyes, but it quickly returned again / as she cast Independent clause Independent clause Adverbial clause aside / whatever bothered her Noun clause In this compound - complex sentence structure, “The spark also briefly left her eyes” and “it quickly returned again as she cast aside whatever bothered her” are two independent clause that combined by coordinator “but” And in the second clause, there are two independent clause The first dependent clause is “as she cast aside” (adverbial clause) The second dependent clause is “whatever bothered her” (noun clause) functioning as object for verb “cast” Suggested version: “Ánh mắt cô tóe lửa thể liệt, nhanh chóng gạt thứ làm phiền sang bên.” Student: Trần Xuân Vy Class: K24NAB1 Code 24203114904 58 Graduation Paper Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A Example 21: “He meant that my uncle wanted me to be met at the station because I was representing his family now, and a Bainbridge lady shouldn’t have to catch a hackney cab from the station and organize such mundane things like porters herself.” [P16] He meant / that my uncle wanted me to be met at the station / because I was Noun clause /Adverbial clause of reason representing his family now, / Independent clause and a Bainbridge lady shouldn’t have to catch a hackney cab from the station and organize such mundane things like porters herself Independent clause In this above sentence, there are two independent clauses connected by coordination “ and” The first independent clause: “ He meant…family now” The second independent clause: “a Bainbridge lady …porters herself.” Besides, there are dependent clauses in the first independent clause The first dependent clause: “that my uncle wanted me to be met at the station” (Noun clause), functioning as object for verb “meant” The second dependent clause: “because I was representing his family now” (Adverbial clause of reason) Suggested version: “Ý ông dượng muốn gặp nhà ga tơi người đại diện cho gia đình dượng, phụ nữ nhà Bainbridge khơng cần phải bắt taxi từ nhà ga tự làm việc nhỏ nhặt khuân vác” Example 22: “You have my brother’s coloring and he takes after mother, so I suspect you must take after your mother.” [P21] You / have / my brother’s coloring / and / he / takes after / mother, so S1 V1 C1 S2 V2 O2 I / suspect / you/ must take after/ your mother S3 V3 (that) S4 V4 O4 Noun Clause The structure of the above compound-complex sentence In the above example, the three independent clauses are connected by the coordinator “and”, and “so” And one dependent clause (noun clause) is “you must take after your mother” Suggested version: “Cơ có nét giống anh trai tơi anh giống mẹ, tơi nghĩ phải giống mẹ cô” Student: Trần Xuân Vy Class: K24NAB1 Code 24203114904 59 Graduation Paper Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A Dummy Subjects with “There” and “It” A dummy subject is a sentence used in the case it is not clear who caused the 4.2.4 action or to emphasize an action in the sentence In dummy subject sentences, The two common dummy subjects are “it” and “there” “There” is used to indicate the existence of things, people in specific circumstances, situations, and places “It” is used as a dummy subject in references to time, weather, and dates, etc and be used to refer to a real subject that appears later in the sentence Example 23: “There was a measure of trepidation mixed with the grief, too.” [P21] There / was / a measure of trepidation mixed with the grief, too S(F) V S(R) A In this sentence, the dummy subject “There” is a fake subject used to emphasize the real subject “a measure of trepidation mixed with the grief” Suggested version: “Cũng có thước đo cho sợ hãi xen lẫn đau buồn.” Example 24: “It was easy when one was born into luxury as she had been.” [P18] It / was / easy / when one was born into luxury / as she had S(F) V Adj S(R) Adverbial Clause been The real subject in this sentence is “when one was born into luxury” We could also say, “when one was born into luxury was easy as she had been ” but that would sound oddly formal Suggested version: “Thật dễ dàng người sinh có sống xa hoa có” Student: Trần Xn Vy Class: K24NAB1 Code 24203114904 60 Graduation Paper Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A CHAPTER DIFFICULTIES AND SOLUTIONS 5.1 Difficulties Over the course of my years at Duy Tan university, I have acquired many translation skills through theory as well as practical subjects This graduation thesis was a good opportunity for me to apply skills learned and gain new knowledge Through my graduation thesis, I also caught many difficulties in the translation process Firstly, despite being studied deeply in translation theory and dialogue practices, sometimes I could not understand and translate some senses correctly In the translation process, there were many conversations which the speaker used obscure slang or idioms that made it difficult for me to grasp the meaning of the statement Furthermore, the text length was too short for me to comprehend more of the story's details There were several short lines of characters in the original language that I didn't know if they mean positive or negative Next, I also faced a lot of difficulty analyzing the sentence structure There were complex structures that combined by many types of structures which were very hard to identify and analyze it Besides, the author used various long sentences to describe the scene, which also made pressure on me to convey the true content so that the reader could visualize and understand the story's development Finally, the diversity in language usage was an essential factor to consider Vietnamese has many words that describe what the relationship between the characters is or how close they are to each other But in English it is very limited I was very confused when choosing which words in target language so that it would properly described the attitudes of the characters towards each other, and the roles of the characters And it must also be consistent with the customs of using language of the reader 5.2 Solutions Student: Trần Xuân Vy Class: K24NAB1 Code 24203114904 61 Graduation Paper Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A To overcome the obstacles in the translation process, I have used the skills and experiences that I had acquired at Duy Tan university, as well as sought help from my supervisor Firstly, Because the text lenght was limited, I read whole the original text to comprehend the story's content and growth Then I would concentrate on the chapter which I would continue with the translation and analysis I attentively read and noted new terms and phrases that I had never heard before After that, I used dictionaries such as Oxford Learner's Dictionary, Cambridge Dictionary, Collins Dictionary and vtudien to search the meanings of them and select the appropriate meaning for the target language Secondly, During sentence parsing which required me to review all of the structures I have learnt in order to correctly identify sentence types and clauses especially, for sentences with many types of clauses, I have tried to recognize the signs of each type of clauses, since it would be easier for me to identify and analyze the sentence structure Last but not least, I received dedicated guidance from my supervisor Although I have researched a lot of words on the internet, there were still many words that I cannot fully translate fluently But thanks to my supervisor who has various experience in helping me find the most suitable meanings for the reader In addition, I asked a few other instructors and my friends what I could not found on internet They really helped me a lot during this work graduation thesis Student: Trần Xuân Vy Class: K24NAB1 Code 24203114904 62 Graduation Paper Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A CHAPTER CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS 6.1 Conclusion I got a lot of useful knowledge for myself as well as a lot of experiences during the process of doing my graduation thesis In addition, I also faced with obstacles in the translation process, I have used the skills and experience to resolve this issues This was a great chance for me to improve my shortcomings and expand my expertise The first was about my shortcomings I have realized that not only was my vocabulary still limited, but my ability express in Vietnamese also was not good Although there were many words that I could grasp the meaning, I couldn’t translate into Vietnamese with the meaning suitable for the reader This is due to a lack of vocabulary and experience on my side So I have believed that I need to read a lot of books and communicate in multiple languages Second, despite having a lot of problems with grammar But thanks to the guidance and especially the reference documents of the teachers of Duy Tan University, It really aided me in reviewing my knowledge and analyzing sentence structure Through this graduation thesis, I have clearly realized my ability including strengths as well as weaknesses I also found that I am quite enthusiastic about translation, particularly in the fields of literature, art, and society, etc Because I have gained new information and displayed my experiences as a result of this 6.2 Suggestions Through this graduation thesis, I would like to give some suggestions to the students of the Faculty of English in particular as well as the Faculty of English in general First of all, I think specialized knowledge is very important so I hope students must learn the basics Besides, pupils need to actively acquire knowledge and constantly expand their abilities You should gain new knowledge about various fields that you are studying you can acquire many important things that can benefit you later in the translation process Because practice is an indispensable element of translating and interpreting, students should actively participate in translation groups organized in the school or on social networking sites to have the opportunity Student: Trần Xuân Vy Class: K24NAB1 Code 24203114904 63 Graduation Paper Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A to interact with a lot of new knowledge thereby improve their translation capabilities Furthermore, I hope that the Faculty of English create many possibilities for students to develop their talents Such as organizing frequent translation competitions so that students to see their own strengths, weaknesses and promote their own learning potential In addition, Faculty of English should provide practical translation environments at enterprises so that students may gain a wealth of experience pertaining to their subject of study as well as life experience Finally, I extremely expect that Faculty of English will add some many practical classes related to the field of translation I very much expect students to be able to apply their specialized knowledge of English in many different jobs in the future Student: Trần Xuân Vy Class: K24NAB1 Code 24203114904 64 Graduation Paper Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A REFERENCES BOOK VIETNAMESE Trần Thị Thơ (2008) Basic English Grammar Department of Foreign Languages Duy Tan University ENGLISH Catford, J.C., (1965) A Linguistic Theory of Translation Oxford University Press Duff A., (1989) Translation, (Maley, A., Ed.), Oxford University Press Munday J., (2016) Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Applications (Fourth ed.) New York: Routledge NewMark P., (1989) A textbook of Translation Prentice-Hall Tudor Ian, Dr (1965) About translation theory Cambridge DICTIONARIES https://dictionary.cambridge.org/vi/ https://vtudien.com/ https://www.collinsdictionary.com/ https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-an-idiom-learn-how-to-use- idioms-in-writing#what-is-an-idiom https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/ https://www.thefreedictionary.com/ Student: Trần Xuân Vy Class: K24NAB1 Code 24203114904 65 Graduation Paper Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A SUPERVISOR’S COMMENTS Student: Trần Xuân Vy Class: K24NAB1 Code 24203114904 ... 2020 The graduation thesis includes the theoretical background, the original version, the suggested translation, and the analysis of many difficult vocabularies and structures in the translation. .. and semantics of sentences as well as words in this book 1. 3 .1 Text Features This book includes 15 chapters I decided to translate and analyze chapter 01 of the book “Murder at the Mayfair hotel”. .. Graduation Paper Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A DUY TAN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH GRADUATION PAPER AN ANALYSIS OF THE SUGGESTED TRANSLATION OF CHAPTER FROM THE BOOK “MURDER AT THE MAYFAIR