HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY N°2 FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY
TRAN THI THU PHUONG
APPLICATION OF FORMAL AND DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE TO THE TRANSLATION OF “BI”AND “DUQC” INTO ENGLISH (SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE
DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS IN ENGLISH)
SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN VAN DEN, M.A
Hanoi, 2013
Trang 2ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I would like to take this chance to express my greatest gratitude to Mr Nguyen Van Den, M.A., my supervisor, for invaluable support and masterful guidance as well as indispensable suggestions throughout the process of writing the thesis
Besides, I wish to thank all the lectures at Hanoi Pedagogical University Number 2, especially the lecturers in the Foreign Language Faculty for their dedicated instructions during my years of university work
I also wish to thank my brother, who is Dinh Van Diep, for his materials in relation to Vietnamese passives and my close friends for their enthusiasm and kindness in helping me collect valuable reference documents and conducting the
survey
Last, I owe a debt of gratitude to my beloved family, for their whole — hearted encouragement and endless support
Trang 3ASBTRACT
It is understandable that words in Vietnamese shoulder diversity of semantics as well as of syntactic structures One word can possess more than one meaning and can serve more than one grammatical function This is absolutely true for the case of bj and duoc In different contexts, these words may have different functions and meanings, thus making it possible for speakers to express different meanings in different syntactic roles As a consequence, learners tend to make errors concerned with translation of bj and duoc into English
Therefore, this research work entails studying the functions and meanings of bi and duoc and structures formed by bj and duoc as well as conducting a survey for error analysis Besides, it is essential to find out the application of formal and dynamic equivalence to get clear methods in translation of bj and digc in certain types of structures
Trang 4STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
Title: Application of Formal and Dynamic Equivalence to the Translation of “Bi” and “Dugc” into English
(Graduation paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the Degree of Bachelor of Arts in English)
I certify that no part of this report has been copied or reproduced by me from any other person’s work without acknowledgements and that the report is originally written by me under strict guidance from my supervisor
Date submitted: May 2013
Student Supervisor
Tran Thi Thu Phuong Nguyen Van Den, M.A
Trang 5TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTTS Án HH HT HH HH trên 1 ABSTRACT ii STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP - 5 6S SE nghe, iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Án n HT TT nàng HH 1V PART ONE INTRODUCTION 8c an 1 H Research presupposÏfion - <1 SH nh TH HH ng nh, 2 HH Research obj€CfÏV€S Án TH HH kh 2 In.) 43 3 V Research tasks 3
Vi Research methods 0 ccc cece cee ce cee ceeseeeeaeeesseeeeassaeseeseaeeaeseeseaeeaeeea 3 VII Significance of the proposed research .eccceeceeseceeeeeteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeae 4 VIII Design of the research Work 00.0.0 cceceecceseceseeeececeseceeeeaeeceeeeeaeeeeeeeneeeeas 4
PART TWO DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER ONE: OVERVIEW OF TRANSLATION THEORY
1.1 Literature review in ĐrÏ€f Ác S4 HH HH HH HH ke, 6 1.2 Overview of translafion (he0rFY - - csscnxnx vn HH ng re 7 1.2.1 Translation definition 0 nh 7 1.2.2 Translation methods and procedures 0 :cccceseesseseeeeeeeeeseeseeeeeeseeseeeeeeneeaeeaes 8 1.2.2.1 Word — for — word tranSÏa{IOTI «x1 SH ng re 8 1.2.2.2 Literal trannsÏafÏOTI - -¿- ¿<6 1 1 1 91 51 1 210101121 1g Hà HH Hư 8
I0 ác on cece 8
Trang 61.2.3 TransÏafion SfTa(€Ø1€S «sọ TH Thu TH TH nh nu nh 9 1.2.4 Translafion equ1VaÏ€IIC€ - - (c4 1 1 2 vn TH ng HT nhàng gưy 10 1.2.4.1 Dynamic tranSÏafÏOTI - - 5 + 3113353111 11 111119 1 9 ri 11 1.2.4.1 Formal translation 00.0 eceeeeesceeeeeeseeseeesaeeeceesaeeeeeeseseeeeseeeaeeaseeseeeeeetees 12
1.2.4.3 Modification of dynamic equivalence and formal correspondence 13
CHAPTER TWO: GRAMMATICAL FEATURES AND MEANINGS OF BI AND DUOC II.1 Verbs in Vietnamese ĩ5 SH HH HH ng hư 14 IL.1.1 Dependent and independent verbs - + 5+ + ++s*+***+**t£+sxxseeerxeexse 14 II.1.2 Transitive and intranSitIVe V€TDS . -¿- «<1 k HH Hiện 15 II.2 Grammatical features of Di and ược 5 Ă «Sky 15 11.2.1 Bi and duoc play a necessary role in forming passive constructions 16
II.2.2 8 and được act as reaÏ Vers - 22 22 1111122222311 11 11123331111 tren 19 11.2.3 Bi and được act as modal verbs . - 225cc << £ + +++++seeeeeeszzx 20 T1.3 Meanings of Bi and Qu - Án 1n HT HH 21 CHAPTER THREE: COMMON ERRORS IN THE TRANSLATION OF BI AND DUOC INTO ENGLISH TEDL Survey 24
ID ii oi 2n 24
I0 ii 0i 0á 1i, 25
II, 9á 12
IIH.1.4 Construction of the test
IH.1.5 Preparation of the survey III.1.5.1 Tesfs items
Trang 7IIH.1.§ Results Of the SUTV€Y - HH ng TH ri 27 IIHI.2 Common errors and €aS€S - - S5 11kg 28 III.2.1 Common errors in the translation of sentences in which bj and duoc act as Teal VETDS oo h 28 III.2.2 Common errors in the translation of sentences in which bij and duoc act as MOAI VETDS 29 III.2.3 Common errors in the translation of sentences in which the word duoc R06 1 30 IIIL2.4 Common errors in the translation of sentences in which bij and duoc act as b5 900a2-i 10107 31 III.2.5 Common errors in the translation of sentences in which bj and dwoc appear in special expressions CHAPTER FOUR
APPLICATION OF FORMAL AND DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE TO THE TRANSLATION OF BJ AND DUOC INTO ENGLISH
IV.1 Application of formal equivalence to the translation of bj and duwgc into 7.141.000 33 IV.1.1 Application of formal equivalence to the translation of sentences in which bị and được act as functional words in passive construcfIOns - 33 IV.1.2 Application of formal equivalence to the translation of sentences in which [7ể.u1 0.71250101106104.) 10777 35 IV.2 Application of dynamic equivalence to the translation of bi and dugc Fto Emghish 801 37 IV.2.1 Application of dynamic equivalence to the translation of sentences in which bj and duoc act as function words in passive constructions 37 IV.2.2 Application of dynamic equivalence to the translation of sentences in which bj and dwoc act as real Verbs .ccccccecsccsesscceessceeeesseeessseeeeeseeesses 40
Trang 9PART ONE INTRODUCTION
I RATIONALE
People’s life is changing day by day Exchange and learning from each other are essential culture demands of human beings One of the methods to satisfy these demands is studying foreign languages There are thousands of different languages
to choose from, but at the top of the list is English As it is spoken all over the world and people learn it as their first or second language Thanks to English the
distance between people and countries is becoming shorter and shorter
Realizing the importance of English most people nowadays have been learning English However, few of them deeply understand this language as well as its cultural characteristics through the meaning of words As they do not realize that behind a word there are many things to discuss So, sometimes they are surprised by the diversity in the meaning of a word in communication and academic writing
It is certain that one of the most effective ways to understand the expression in one language of what has been expressed in another is translation Thus through
translation, highly advanced international communities can be created despite their differences or similarities in culture and their level of civilization and superiority
Trang 10Nam bị một con hai Nam was received a two
Furthermore, as a prospective translator, I would like to make a contribution to English translation in Vietnam For the reasons above, this study is conducted which focuses on common errors in the translation of bj and dirgc into English and the application of formal and dynamic equivalence to translation of 5ÿ and được into English
II RESEARCH PRESUPPOSITION
With regard to the error quoted above, the problem is with translation The correct versions could be:
Nam got a two [for his math]
Some questions are raised:
1 What are the semantic and syntactic structures that the words j and được possess?
2 What kinds of errors in translating bj and dwoc into English are made by the third — year English majors at Hanoi Pedagogical University N°2?
3 What is the application of formal and dynamic equivalence to the translation of bi and duoc into English?
Il RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The study is aimed at the following goals:
1 To find out the semantic and syntactic structures that the words bj and duoc possess
2 To find out the kinds of errors in translating bj and duoc in Vietnamese into English made by the third — year English majors at Hanoi Pedagogical University
N°2
Trang 114 To find out the application of formal and dynamic equivalence to the translation of bj and digc into English
IV RESEARCH SCOPE
The general research area of this study is translation
The phenomenon is the application of formal and dynamic equivalence to
the translation of bj and duwgc in Vietnamese into English The errors in translating
bị and được in Vietnamese into English made by the third — year English majors at Hanoi Pedagogical University N°2 are also briefly mentioned
The population involved in the study is 60 students of K36A at Hanoi Pedagogical University N°2
V RESEARCH TASKS
The study involves fulfilling the following tasks
1 To study the semantic and syntactic structures that the words bij and duoc
possess
2 To conduct a survey to find out the error types and causes On the basis of the findings, possible solutions to the problems are sought to minimize the students’
errors
3 To find out the application of formal and dynamic equivalence to the translation of bj and duoc into English
VI RESEARCH METHODS
To achieve the objectives of the study, the following methods have been applied:
Trang 12VII SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH
Translation is the replacement of a text in one language with an equivalent text in another language However, this process is not an easy one Therefore, it is essential for translators to have better treatment to anticipate errors After the research, it is hoped that the result will be helpful to provide:
1 Input for learners of English in order to minimize their errors in translating bj
and được into English
2 Input for translators with information on error types and solutions to the problems so that they can have good methods of translating bj and duoc into English
3 Application of formal and dynamic equivalence to the translation of bj and duoc into English is also presented
This study is also beneficial to anyone who is interested in Vietnamese — English
translation
VIII DESIGN OF THE RESEARCH WORK
The research work has three main parts, namely Introduction, Development, and Conclusion The part “Development” consists of four sections Chapter one is entitled “Overview of translation theory” It consists of two sections Section one review literature in brief The second one deals with things related to translation theory such as translation definition, translation equivalence, translation methods and procedures
Chapter two is named “Grammatical features and meanings of bj and dugc’’ This chapter has two sections Verbs in Vietnamese is the section one Section two explains the grammatical features of the words bj and duoc Section three presents the meanings of the words bj and duoc
Trang 13Application of formal and dynamic equivalence to the translation of bj and
Trang 14PART TWO DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER ONE: OVERVIEW OF TRANSLATION THEORY
1.1 LITERATURE REVIEW IN BRIEF
As components in the Vietnamese grammatical system, j and được have
various functions in sentences They have sufficient properties of a normal verb
and possess all the features of a verb They also act as modalities or auxiliaries in passive constructions Due to the diversity of semantic and syntactic structures that the words bj and duoc possess, there are a great number of researchers who have been concerned about the components bj and dwgc Generally, they focus their attention on the lexical meaning and grammatical status of the words bi and duoc Some others concentrate on translating one kind of structure which contains bi and duoc (passive voice)
In the book Ngữ Pháp Viét Nam, Ban (2009) offers a formula for Vietnamese passive constructions in which he considers bj and duoc as elements forming passive structures However, he also states that bi and doc also can act as modalities and ordinary verbs
Cén and Dién (2004) in the article Dang bi déng va van dé câu bị động
trong tiéng Viét state that the affected patient in passive sentences is the agent in the active counterpart; and the verb in active counterparts becomes the verb of passives with an addition of the auxiliaries bj and được They also claim that, in different contexts, these words may have different functions, thus making it possible for speakers to express different meanings in different syntactic roles
Trang 15In the article Các Phương thức Chuyển dịch Câu bị động tiếng Anh sang tiếng Việt (Diên, 2005) shows some common modes of translating English passive sentences into Vietnamese She also shows some equivalent structures in English to those which include bi and được in Vietnamese
In short, much research has been done on the semantic and syntactic structures that bj and duoc possess However, translating bj and được 1n Vietnamese into English is a new aspect Therefore, it is essential to have a comprehensive study of the application of formal and dynamic equivalence to the translation of bj and dwoc in Vietnamese into English
1.2 OVERVIEW OF TRANSLATION THEORY 1.2.1 Translation definition
Translation has a very wide range of connotations Different linguists have put the definition in various ways And obviously, it is a real challenge to give a precise one The difficulty is not the fact that they are conflicting but as Nida (1982) who is recognizably the leading scholar of translation, says that their focuses are different In order to have the relatively overall picture of translation, outstanding figures’ names in translation studies should be put forward Cartford (1965) sees translation as “the replacement of a text in one language (Source Language) (SL) by an equivalent text in another language (Target Language) (TL) Equivalent text is defined in greater detail “translation is the expression in another language (or TL) of what has been expressed in another, SL, preserving semantic and stylistic equivalence” Hatim & Mason (1990), however, focus more on the communication purpose of translation rather than the semantic and stylistic features: Translation is a communicative process which takes place within a social context” Meaning is the emphasis in Nida’s definition (1964): “Translating consists of producing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent to the message of the SL, first in meaning and second in style.”
Trang 16original by the choice of appropriate TL’s semantic, lexical, grammatical structures, cultural context or even communication situations
1.2.2 Translation methods and procedures
The central problem of translating has always been whether to translate literally of freely Newmark (1988) points out that the differences in the emphasis (SL or TL) have resulted in a variety of translation methods and procedures
Due to the time constraint and within the framework of the thesis, the author presents only translation methods, procedures and strategies that match the content of the study, or can serve as a firm foundation for the research according the study of Newmark (1988)
1.2.2.1 Word — for — word translation
This is often demonstrated as interlinear translation, with the TL immediately below the SL words The SL word — order is preserved and the words
translated singly by the most common meanings, out of context Cultural words are translated literally The main use of word — for — word translation is either to understand the mechanics of the SL or to construe a difficult text as a pre — translation process
1.2.2.2 Literal translation
The SL grammatical constructions are converted to the nearest TL equivalents but the lexical words are again translated singly, out of context As a
pre — translation process, this indicates the problems to be solved
1.2.2.3 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
1.2.2.4 Idiomatic translation
Idiomatic translation reproduces the ‘message’ of the original but tends to distort nuances of the meaning by preferring colloquialisms and idioms where
Trang 171.2.2.5 Abbreviations
Abbreviations have always been a common type of pseudo — neologism 1.2.2.6 Loan word translation
Loan word translation is the process of transferring a SL word to TL text as a translation process
1.2.3 Translation strategies: Domestication and Foreignization
In translation studies the two basic strategies are domestication and foreignization, which are in practice exclusive Domestication refers to the target — culture oriented translation strategy by which unusual expressions to the TL are abandoned and turned into some familiar ones so as to make the translated text intelligible and easy for the target readers Foreignization is a source — culture oriented translation strategy that strives to preserve the foreign flavor as much as possible in order to transfer SL and source culture into the target ones
The selection of translation strategies is not decided by which one is superior but by various factors operating at different levels where both strategies have their respective advantages They respectively serve different translation purposes and meet the needs of different types and readerships Therefore, given different factors influencing the translator’s selection of translation strategies, the objective existence of cultural and linguistic differences and indispensable role respectively played by either domestication or foreignization in cultural communication and exchange, a dialectical and complementary relationship should be established between domestication and foreignization
1.2.4 Translation equivalence
The term equivalence in translation has been discussed for a long time It has sometimes been said that the overriding purpose of any translation should be to achieve equivalent effects, i.e to produce the same effect on the readership of the translation as was obtained on the readership of the original
Trang 18between; however, all translation theories are related to the notion of equivalence in one way or another Hence, equivalence plays a crucial role in translation
Jackobson (1959) makes a contribution to the theoretical analysis of translation He introduces the concept of equivalence in difference He suggests three kinds of equivalence known as:
- Intralingual ( within one language, i.e rewording or paraphrase) - Interlingual ( between two languages)
- Intersemiotic ( between sign systems)
Baker (1992) defines four kinds of equivalents as follows:
- Equivalence that can appear at word level and above word level, when 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
Nida (1964) argues that there are two different types of equivalence, namely formal equivalence — which in the second edition by Nida is referred to as formal correspondence and dynamic equivalence Formal correspondence focuses
attention on the message itself, in both form and content, unlike dynamic
equivalence which is based upon the principle of the equivalence effect This part gives a critical review of Eugene.A Nida’s translation theory of dynamic equivalence and formal equivalence with special reference to the translation between English and Vietnamese, for the purpose of confirming the applicability of dynamic equivalence and formal equivalence to Vietnamese- English translation, to be more specific, in the translation of bj and dwgc into English
Trang 191.2.4.1 Dynamic Equivalence
A dynamic equivalence, as defined by Nida (1982), is to reproduce “in terms of the degree to which the receptors of the message in the receptor language respond to it in substantially the same manner as the receptor in the source language This response can never be identical, for the cultural and historical settings are too different, but there should be a high degree of equivalence of response ”
Nida (1982) thus categorizes the kernel sentences of a language into seven types, in other words, the surface structure of any language is the logic organization of those kernel sentences, which justifies the possibility of dynamic equivalence between different ways of expression within one language He, therefore, concludes that all languages have the same capability of expressing by saying: "Anything that can be said in one language can certainly be said in another language ", (Nida, 1982, p.64) with reasonable accuracy by establishing equivalent points of reference in the receptor's culture and matching his cognitive framework by restructuring the constitutive elements of the message
So it can be concluded that the essence of dynamic equivalence is the
receptor's response, in Nida's own term, "the degree to which the receptors of the message in the receptor language respond to it in substantially the same manner as the receptors in the source language" (Nida and Taber, 1982: 68) The reaction or response is based on the comprehensive reception of the message, not only understanding the meaning or content, but also feeling in the way the original readers do By laying stress on the receptor's response, he underlines the improvement to the source text by the receptor's subjectivity and aesthetic sense
In other words, the dynamic approach advocates a more readable approach that does not provide an exact rendering of the text, but rather focuses on communicating the meaning of the original It is a thought-for-thought, meaning driven translation that attempts to produce the same response in the contemporary reader that the original did on its audience Dynamic equivalence translations
Trang 20expressed in easy to understand phrases rather than complicated words (An example is using “set right with God” in place of ‘“justification.”) Dynamic equivalence translations do what the very earliest translators did, put the text into the “vernacular,” the common language of the reader
By far, the strongest argument against the dynamic equivalency approach relates to interpretation By definition, the translator using the dynamic approach
has to interpret the meaning of the original This can open the door to all sorts of errors, including misunderstanding, influence of the current culture and translator bias This last one often shows up in denominational bias
1.2.4.2 Formal Equivalence
Nida (1982) puts forward dynamic equivalence in opposition to formal
correspondence In speaking of naturalness, he is strongly against translations -
formal fidelity, with resulting unfaithfulness to the content and impact of the message Basically, a formal equivalence translation, as Nida (1982, p.165) states, is source-oriented, which is designated to reveal as much as possible the form and content of the original message, that is, to match as closely as possible the formal elements like grammatical units, consistency in word usage, meanings in terms of the source context, just to name some
A formal equivalence translation, strictly speaking, is impossible, because of the differences between linguistic structures and socio-cultures As Saussure points
out that there is no essential link between the signified and the signifier, and such
arbitrariness determines that languages, particularly those of different language families, differ greatly in form In many instances, certain formal elements of the source language, as mentioned by Nida (1982), cannot be reproduced, like puns, chiasmic orders of words, instances of assonance, or acrostic features of line-initial sounds
It is impossible to achieve equivalence on all formal levels — the absolute formal equivalence and, on usual occasions, semantic equivalence should be given priority while other levels, especially phonetic, lexical, morphological, syntactical equivalence, etc., are given attention only to achieve special translation effects
Trang 21In other words, using formal equivalence the translator attempts to render as literal a translation of the original text as possible A long sentence in the original will produce a long sentence in the translation As much as possible, the translator will retain the word order and grammatical structure as possible
Formal equivalency retains much of the writing style and beauty of the original scripture as well as retaining often difficult theological terminology While
some interpretation is always necessary, the formal equivalency approach minimizes the “commentary” or translator bias in the translated text However, the case against formal equivalency is simple The translation may be so literal that the rendered text does not truly communicate the meaning of source language to the reader
1.2.4.3 Modification of Dynamic Equivalence and Formal Correspondence Aware of the defects in his dynamic equivalence theory, Nida (1982) continues to modify and perfect his theories, including those concerning formal correspondence He acknowledges that any element in connection with receptor language text is meaningful, including the form: "For effective impact and appeal, form cannot be separated from content, since form itself carries so much meaning "(Nida, 1982, p.5) If form is sacrificed, meaning is damaged as well, so he cautions the translator not to easily change the form and asks them to achieve as much formal correspondence as possible, which marks a shift from total neglect of
form to attaching certain importance to formal elements
Trang 22CHAPTER TWO
GRAMMATICAL FEATURES AND MEANING OF BI AND DUOC
II.1 VERBS IN VIETNAMESE
The classification of verbs in Vietnamese is not agreed among linguists Under the influence of such languages as English, French, linguists have classified Vietnamese verbs into transitive and intransitive However, there are some verbs in the middle positions, such verbs as ‘hoc’, ‘khdc’ in the following pairs of sentences cannot be classified into intransitive or transitive verbs:
No hoc (intransitive) — No hoc toan (transitive) Cơ fa khĩc (intransitive) — C6 ta khoc ban (transitive)
Linguists have not agreed on the verb classification Based on the semantic and grammatical factors, Bién (1991) classifies Vietnamese verbs into two groups:
independent verbs and dependent verbs
Than (1977) in the book Déng tr trong tiéng Viét based on the verb influence on the object, classifies Vietnamese verbs into three types: namely, transitive verbs, middle verbs and intransitive verbs The difference in Than’s concept is the meaning of these labels compared to those in flectional languages Having the same term, the objects in his concepts include not only the ones changed by the verb but also the ones targeted by the verbs Some examples are con in tréng con (keep an eye on the baby), tién (money) in được tién (get money), cĩ tién (have money) and other examples
The following concepts are to be analyzed: independent — dependent verbs, transitive — intransitive verbs
II.1.1 Dependent and independent verbs
According to Bién (1998) in the book 7? loại tiéng Viét hién dai, stated that Vietnamese verbs can be classified into independent verbs and dependent verbs Independent verbs are the verbs having the meaning themselves Moreover, these verbs can stand independently without the support of other verbs The independent
Trang 23verbs are sub — classified into action verbs, receptive verbs, causative verbs, emotional verbs, verbs of movement, existential verbs and postural verbs
Dependent verbs, on the other hand, do not have full lexical meanings and these verbs are often accompanied by independent verbs Dependent verbs can include modal verbs and linking verbs Modal verbs include verbs showing necessity like “nén, cdn, cd thé” and “ khéng thé” (should, need, can, cannot) Verbs showing expect, hope like “dinh, toan, mong” (hope, intend) and verbs showing suffering “bi, phdai, duoc” (must, suffer) Linking verbs consist of comparative verbs “giéng, khdc, twa” (similar, different), transformational verbs
“hĩa ra, trở thành ” (turn out to be, become) II.1.2 Transitive — intransitive verbs
Another way of verb classification is based on the object — governing
capability This type of classification is influenced by western languages, which includes intransitive and transitive verbs
Intransitive verbs do not govern objects Meanwhile a transitive verb does govern at least one object Bién’s definitions somehow coinside with Léc’s (2000) Bién suggests transitive verbs do affect objects such as eat (an), write (viết), read (doc) These types of verbs always need objects Some examples are: dn banh (eat cake), doc thw (read letters)
Intransitive verbs do not influence any other objects Some examples are ngu (sleep), tam (have a bath), cười (smile)
In short, verb classification in Vietnamese is based on 2 categories: meaning and grammar These classifications somehow overlap with others
11.2 GRAMMATICAL FEATURES OF BJ AND DUOC
It is understandable that words in Vietnamese shoulder diversity of semantic
Trang 24functions, thus making it possible for speakers to express different meanings in
different syntactic roles
H.2.1 Bi and dwgc play a necessary role in forming passive constructions The first point of view is that bj and duoc play a necessary role in forming passive constructions Ban (2009) offers a formula for Vietnamese passive constructions in which he considers bj and duoc as elements forming passive
structures The formula of passive sentences has the following pattern:
Subject, | Auxiliary: bi / duoc Predicate (of the embedded clause)
(passive/ | Passive-forming Subject, Verb Object
patient) Element (active/agent) (transitive) The sentence “Thu duoc Giap gti cho Ti” is analyzed as follows:
Thu duoc Giap gửi cho Tí
Passive Subject, Predicator; Indirect object
Subject; | function word
Take others for example, in the sentence below, “con duong” (the road) plays the role of the patient, being affected by the verb “dao” (to dig):
1 a Con đường đĩ vừa bị đào lên (That road has just been dug up.) b Con duong do via duoc dao lén
(That road has been dug up.)
In the example, the agent that carries out the action is not present the patient, “the road” suffers from the action “dig”, it does nothing but is affected as a consequence of the action Bi and dwgc in these sentences indicate the presence of passive structures
Cén and Dién (2004) offer there formulas for passive structures in which bi and duoc play a necessary role on forming this type of construction:
Trang 252 a.N- được /bị - V (N: affected patient; V: verb)
b NỊ — được / bị - N2 — V (N1: affected patient; N2: agent; V: verb) c NI — dugc / bi - V— boi (by/ due to) — N2
Cén and Dién state that the affected patient in passive sentences is the agent in the active counterpart; and the verb in active counterparts becomes the verb of a passive with an addition of auxiliaries bj and duoc The subject of active sentences is often omitted in passive sentences, or is preceded by the preposition boi (due to, by)
Than (1977) suggests the following types of passive constructions including bi and được:
The first sentence construction is Subject + bi/ dwoc + noun For example: Anh ấy bị tù
(He was imprisoned.)
The second sentence type is Subject+ bi/ duoc+ intransitive verb For instance:
Nhật bị tan rã
(Japanese enemy has been destroyed.)
The third is Subject + bi/ duoc + transitive verb This is an example: Lang bị đĩi
(The village has been burnt.)
The fourth is Subject + bi/ duoc + verb + noun The following sentence acts as an example:
May bay bi hong may
(The air plane has its engine broken.)
The fifth is Subject + bi/ dwoc + subject — predicate relation For instance: Nĩ chưa được bồ nĩ yêu
(He is not loved by his father.)
Anh ấy được cơ quan bầu làm đội trưởng (He was voted the leader by his office members.) Tơi được Bộ cử đi học
Trang 26In some cases, the syntactic structures of passive sentences do not
significantly change if bj and dugc are omitted It is clear that the first feature of
Vietnamese passive structures should be that the subject (the patient) of the sentence is subject to being affected by a force As long as the patient is affected or suffers from an action caused by an agent other than the patient itself, the sentence can be said in passive voice, no matter whether there exists bj or được 1n the sentence or not The following examples illustrate the point:
3 a Con đường đĩ sửa rồi
(That road has been already repaired.) b Con đường đĩ được sửa rồi
(That road has been repaired.) c Con đường đĩ bị sửa rồi (That road has been repaired.)
Therefore, many passive sentences with inanimate patients do not require the presence of bj or được They are optional in these kinds of utterances when
speakers and hearers find it obvious in recognizing the meaning based on the
context and the grammatical relation between the patient and the verb in the
utterances
In reality, many utterances, in Vietnamese passive voice, bij and được not only act as passive indicators, but also as modalities expressing the attitude of the speaker to the state of being reported The following examples identify a few:
4 a Lan được khen thưởng trong hoc ki vita rồi
(Lan was honored for her high academic achievements last semester.) b Nam sẽ bị cơ giáo phạt nếu anh ấy khơng làm xong bài tập lần này (Nam will be punished by his teacher of his fails to complete his assignment again.)
In these cases, the utterances are produced without the presence of the agent So that bi or duoc show the unfavorable or favorable meanings of the passive voice
Trang 27To sum up, bj and dwoc function as auxiliaries, which are optional in the majority of cases Serving as auxiliaries, bi and dwoc can be used to express the speakers’ attitude towards the event being reported, positively or negatively
11.2.2 Bi and dwgc act as real verbs
Bi and duoc can serve as real verbs when the subject is the agent of the verb In other words, the subject of the whole sentence and the subject in the predicate are uniform Consider the following examples:
5 da Hơm qua tơi được một con 8 tốn (I got an 8 on my math test yesterday.)
b Hồi sáng tơi bị ướt vì khơng mang theo áo mưa
(I got wet this morning because I had not brought along my raincoat.) According to Ban (2009) when bi / dwoc serve as real verbs, these words cannot be omitted, and they play the function of a real verb in the sentence With the aptitude of being real verbs, j and được are able to have full semantic meanings In these cases, bi or duoc can become a predicate of the following construction:
The first sentence type is S + bi / được (S stands for “subject”) For example:
6 Đội bạn bị rồi / đội ta được
(Our competitor has got into trouble / our team won.)
The second sentence structure is S + bi / duoc + N/Np (N stands for “noun” and Np stands for “noun phrase”) For instance:
7 a Con tho bị dan
(The rabbit was hit by a bullet.) b Cau bé duoc cai but
(He received a nice pen.)
Trang 288 a Em nay bi bé mẹ mắt sớm
(Unluckily the parents of this child died very young.) b Ba ay được hai đứa con học giỏi
(Fortunately, both of her two sons are doing well at school.) H.2.3 Bi and dwgc act as modal verbs
As modal verbs, bi and dwoc can combine with verbs (effective or ineffective), adjectives, and prepositions as in the following examples:
Nĩ được đi xem kịch
(He is allowed to go to the theater.) Họ được để xe ở day
(They are allowed to park their cars here.) Anh cĩ được khỏe khơng?
(How are you?)
Tượng này mà được làm bằng đơng thì nĩ mới qui
(If this statue were made of copper, it would be so valuable.)
In passive constructions, the predicator is an embedded clause in which the
subject can be absent and the predicate must be a transitive verb The subject in the embedded clause and the subject of the passive sentence do not refer to the same object This requirement is to distinguish bij and duoc as content words in passive voice and bi, duoc as modal verbs
In conclusion, bij and dwoc are multi- meaning entries in Vietnamese In other words, in different contexts, these words function differently, resulting in a diversity of semantics They can serve as real verbs, modals or auxiliaries In passive sentences, bij and dwoc function as auxiliaries, which are optional in some cases Serving as auxiliaries, bj and duoc can be used to express the speaker’s attitude towards the event being reported, positively or negatively When bi and duoc act as real verbs they cannot be omitted
Trang 2911.3 MEANINGS OF BJ AND DUQC
According to Cén and Dién (2004), bi and dugc own the lexical meaning or play the role of a main verb in sentences does not prevent these two words from serving as auxiliaries in passive sentences They also add that even though bj and duoc still possess the meaning of having advantages and being suffered, they are subjectively expressed by the speaker since considering a situation or event as a favorable one or as an unfavorable one depending on the speaker
Semantically, Than (1977) states that “dwoc” refers to something that is positive and advantageous to the receiver whereas “bj” refers to the thing that is disadvantageous or even harmful to the receiver or it could be said to express an unlucky state of the logical subject
Let us take a look back at sentences:
3 b Con đường đĩ được sửa rồi (That road has been repaired.) c Con duong do bi stra roi (That road has been repaired.)
Bị and được In 3.b and 3.c respectively do no more than serve as modals expressing the speaker’s attitude in 3.b and 3.c The state is reported objectively in 3.a— Con đường đĩ sửa roi; however, when duoc is inserted as in 3.b, the speaker shows his/her positive attitude in the situation of the road being repaired The reflection of the road is something beneficial and favorable to the speaker, or at least to the community the speaker refers to
In contrast, bj in 3.c ironically displays the speaker’s frustration when the road is mended To the speaker, the road deserves to last longer There was something wrong in the construction of the road before, leading to a lower quality road which is unqualified according to the standard of the system Then the speaker ironically expresses his/ her dissatisfaction about the road
Trang 30speaker informs the hearer of the status of the road, warning the hearer not to use that road because it is being repaired
Duc (1986) offers more detailed explanations about the grammaticalization of bi and duoc and the relationships between their grammatical meaning of passiveness and their modal meanings: There is a group of Vietnamese verbs such as bi (suffer), duoc ( enjoy, get), etc, Which clearly have no meanings at all The lexical meanings of these verbs are very insignificant, they have been grammaticalized but they have not yet become true function words These words have very narrow intensions so their extensions should be broad — they are always accompanied by second constituents While expressing the meanings of passiveness, bij and duoc are used according to speakers’ attitudes towards and assessments of the realities These relations reflect the subjective consciousness: When we say, “76i duoc khen” (I was appraised.), or “Toi bi phat” (I was punished), the words bj and được are the grammatical markers of passiveness but the passive meaning here can be understood depending on the nuances of “good
luck” or “bad luck” Agreeing with this explanation, we think the fact that bi/ duoc
still keep their original lexical meanings while functioning as function words (passive markers) is quite a normal grammaticalization
Nghiéu (2002) indicates that bj and duoc share the meaning of “receiving”, which is positive and negative in value, respectively, as in the cases of “duoc an” (be given food) and “ bi don” ( be beaten) In the case of bi, it can replace phdi in “phai don” With reference to “dwgc”, it has two more meanings The first denotes results as in:
Mon nay an cting duoc
(This food is eatable/ rather tasty to eat.) The second expresses abilities as in:
Tơi ăn được cay (I can eat spicy food.)
Trang 31Hoa (1985), from another angle, states that doc has the meaning of winning
Trang 32CHAPTER THREE
COMMON ERRORS IN THE TRANSLATION OF BJ AND DUOC INTO ENGLISH
This chapter presents the findings of the practical research with the third- year English majors at Hanoi Pedagogical University N°2 It falls into three sections Section one deals with the survey questionnaire, which was designed to map out some common errors made by the third- year English majors at Hanoi Pedagogical University N°2 Section two presents common errors and causes Section three provides students and teachers with some suggested solutions to minimize the errors in the translation of bj and duoc into English
IIL.1 SURVEY
As it was mentioned in chapter one, the study does not only help students of
English have a deep insight into the grammatical features and meanings of bj and duoc but also find out errors in translating them into English Due to the
framework of a thesis, to map out all the mistakes made by students at all educational levels is impossible Therefore, this thesis is only focused on common errors in the translation of bj and duoc into English by the third- year English majors at Hanoi Pedagogical University N°2 To find out the errors made by those students, a survey questionnaire was conducted
III.1.1 Purpose of the survey
The overall objectives of the survey questionnaire are to test students’ understanding of translation of bj and dwoc into English and find out common errors made by the third- year English majors at Hanoi Pedagogical University N°2 in the school year of 2012/2013
Trang 33TII.1.2 Population of the survey
The number of students participating in the survey questionnaire is 60 students of K36A They have to learn English as a compulsory subject Most of them have been learning English for ten years Therefore, the expected English level among them is advanced Naturally, they have been taught about methods of translation and some of them are really good at Vietnamese — English translation II1.1.3 Type of the survey
To collect data, a completion test was used It involves Vietnamese — English translation of bj and duoc It involves such activities as identifying the roles of bj and được in sentences and translating sentences which includes bi and duoc
III.1.4 Construction of the survey
The material in use in the test was taken from many Vietnamese grammar books concerned with grammatical features and meanings of bj and duoc The
survey is conducted to find out how the students have mastered the translation of bi
and duoc The survey is divided into two parts Part A, which consists of three sentences, is designed to get general information about informants and their translation competence Part B is conducted to find out how much the students have known and mastered the translation of bj and duoc into English This part has two exercises
1 Exercise 1: Identify the roles of bj and dwgc in the sentences below (real verbs, auxiliary verbs or modal verbs)
This exercise consists of ten items
Trang 34III.1.5 Preparation of the survey 1.1.5.1 Test items
There are many possible errors in the translation of bj and duoc into English Thus, it is necessary to predict possible errors and include them in the survey In this survey, possible errors were classified into the following categories
1 Errors in the translation of sentences in which bi and duoc act as real verbs 2 Errors in the translation of sentences in which bj and duoc act as auxiliary
verbs
3 Errors in the translation of sentences in which bi and duoc act as modal verbs
4 Errors in the translation of sentences in which the word duoc denotes results 5 Errors in the translation of sentences in which bj and duoc have special
expressions
XII.1.5.2 Arrangement of the survey
After being classified, the test items were arranged into the following numbers: Table 1: The test items Test items Numbers
1 Test on the translation of sentences in which bi and duoc act as real verbs
2 Test on the translation of sentences in which bj and duoc act as auxiliary verbs
3 Test on the translation of sentences in which bj and duoc act as modal verbs
4 Test on the translation of sentences in which the word duoc denotes results
Trang 35III.1.6 Administration of the try —-out 111.1.6.1 Preparation of the try —ouf
The students in charge of the class which were intended to do the survey questionnaire were asked for agreement before the try- out was carried out
110.1.6.2 Try- out
The try- out was conducted on April, 26" 2013 The time limited for 40
sentences was 90 minutes The students from K36A class were gathered in a room and asked to do the questionnaire as well as possible in compliance with their own ability They were instructed carefully before answering the questionnaire Importantly, they were reminded that the result of the questionnaire was to serve
the research and it had no influence on their study results Hence, they made their
effort to do the questionnaire without copying from the others TII.1.7 Methods of data analysis
The data was analyzed in five steps In the first step, the students’ self- assessment about their knowledge of the roles of bi and duoc in sentences was analyzed Errors in the translation of bj and được into English were found out in step two In the next step, the average percentage of errors at each level was calculated Then, the error levels were ranked from the highest to the lowest Based on this arrangement, the highest was considered as the major error in the translation of bj and duoc into English Students who made the most errors were identified in the last step
IV.1.8 Results of the survey
Trang 36be seen from the result of the survey that every third- year English major is able to translate from Vietnamese to English However, in the field of translating bi and duoc into English, most of them could not distinguish the roles of these words in sentences and translate them correctly
Also based on the survey analysis, the errors made by the third- year English majors in K36A class, Hanoi Pedagogical University N°2 were noted in the order from the highest to the lowest as follows:
Table 2: Results of the survey
Types of error Percentage
1 Errors in the translation of sentences in which bi and duoc 57,77%
act as real verbs (208/360)
2 Errors in the translation of sentences in which bi and duoc 41,33%
act as modal verbs (124/300)
3 Errors in the translation of sentences in which the word duoc 30,66%
denotes results (92/300)
4 Errors in the translation of sentences in which bij and duoc 22,03%
act as auxiliary verbs (119\540)
5 Errors in the translation of sentences in which bj and duoc 20,41%
have special expressions (49/240)
III.2 COMMON ERRORS AND CAUSES
IH.2.1 Errors in the translation of sentences in which bj and digc act as real verbs
The errors in the translation of sentences in which bi and dwoc act as real verbs among third- year English majors at Hanoi Pedagogical University N°2 are the most common The errors of this type account for 57,77% According to the analysis, there were 4 students whose percentage of errors in the translation of sentences in which bj and duoc act as real verbs is 100%
Trang 37Students usually think that in Vietnamese, bj and dwoc always play a necessary role in forming passive constructions As a consequence, whenever they find bj and duoc in a Vietnamese sentence, they immediately translate it into an English passive sentence However, based on theory mentioned above, in the sentences in which bj and duoc act as real verbs, these words can be followed by a noun, a noun phrase or an embedded sentence (the subject of the passive construction is not affected by the predicator in the embedded clause) For example:
Vân bị một con hai trong giờ kiểm tra tốn Answer: Van was received a two for her math test Correct answer: Van got a two for her math test
It is assumed that the students made these mistakes since they failed to understand the roles of bij and diroc in sentences The students based themselves on the meanings of the sentences without concerning about the grammatical features which bj and duoc convey Moreover, Vietnamese grammatical structures are just as diverse as that of any other language, sometimes even more Most Vietnamese people can intuitively use these structures but fail to connect them with certain foreign structure, hence, cannot translate correctly
TiI.2.2 Errors in the translation of sentences in which bj and duwgc act as modal verbs
The errors linked with the translation of sentences in which bi and dwoc act as modal verbs make up 41, 33% No one whose percentage of errors in the translation of sentences in which bj and duoc act as modal verbs is 100% They rank second to the errors in the translation of bj and dwoc into English For instance:
(i) Các sinh viên bị bắt cĩ chủ ý (ii) Các sinh viên đã bị bắt
Trang 38Correct answer: (i) The students were arrested purposefully (ii) The students were arrested
According to Ban (2009), in passive constructions, the predicator is an embedded clause in which the subject can be absent and the predicate must a transitive verb The subject in the embedded clause and the subject of the passive sentence do not refer to the same object This requirement is to distinguish bj and dwoc as content words in passive voice and bi, duoc as modal verbs Even though the differences in grammatical features, bj and dwgc act as modal verbs and auxiliary verbs are usually translated into the same version in English However, in some special cases, the translators must focus on the attitude of the speakers on the state being reported
The cause is that the students failed to understand the emphasis on the information of the source language and how to express the speakers’ attitude in
translation It is also due to the inadequate cultural background In fact, this includes competent knowledge of almost all aspects, such as religions, traditional customs, social norms and historical awareness This kind of combined knowledge can be gained along with the process of learning English and learning translation Nevertheless, only a few learners are aware of this As a result, in universities teaching English and translation in Vietnam today, students know just a little about the English- speaking countries’ cultures and fail to express modalities in English III.2.3 Errors in the translations of sentences in which the word dugc denotes results
The errors involve translation of the sentences in which the word duoc denotes results were 30, 66% There were 5 students whose percentage of errors is
100% For example:
Cái bánh này ăn cũng được Answer: This cake can be eaten
Correct answer: This cake is eatable
Trang 39Denoting the results is one of the popular expression of the word được in Vietnamese spoken language However, many students understand it wrong and translate those sentences into English passive sentences As a result, the translation paper cannot reach the target of equivalence in translation
This error was caused by the lack of competence in both the source and the target languages (Vietnamese and English) It is easy to learn English but it is difficult to master it The more you learn, the more complicated the translator finds English is Almost Vietnamese — English translators are native Vietnamese, therefore it is difficult for them to have an expert- like English vocabulary as well as grammatical structures
11.2.4 Errors in the translation of sentences in which bj and duwgc act as auxiliary verbs
The percentage of errors in the translation of sentences in which bj and duoc act as auxiliary verbs is 22, 03% After analysis, it was obvious that most students have consciousness in the translation of Vietnamese passive sentences with “bi” and “duoc” into English in the same way as in the original text However, there are still some errors in identifying types of passive sentence For example:
Nĩ bị vỡ tan tanh roi ma Answer: It was broken
Correct answer: /t got smashed
Considering the above example, the right answer is the translation of bi vo tan tanh into got smashed In the researcher’s opinion, got smashed can preserve the emphasis on the serious damage that the writer of the source language text aims at In contrast, in the case of was broken, the intention of emphasis is lost
The cause was that insufficient knowledge of vocabulary and grammatical
Trang 40IH.2.5 Errors in the translation of sentences in which bj and dugc have special expressions
It can be seen from the analysis that the errors related to the translation of sentences in which bj and duoc have special expressions stand at 20, 41% There were no students whose percentage is 100% The highest percentage of errors is 80% Most of the students had difficulty identifying quite a number of interesting things with b7 and được For example:
Cai do nay hoi bi dep day
Answer: The blouse is considered to be beautiful Correct answer: The blouse is so nice
The cause was that the scope of bj and duoc is much larger than their usage in passive sentences In general, Vietnamese is known for its sophisticated
grammatical rules on which not all Vietnamese people hold knowledge of It is the
fact that only a few Vietnamese translators excel at their own mother tongue so it is confusing for them to translate it into another foreign language
To conclude this chapter, it is noteworthy that despite the many challenges when translating bj and được to English and despite the actual untranslatability, skilled translators still can, and must, find their own ways to overcome them to produce a high quality re-creation, not merely a rough domination of words