English idioms and application of communicative translation method to translate them into vietnamese submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements of the degree of bachelor of arts in english

i HANOI PEADAGIGICAL UNIVERSITY NO 2 FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY DOAN VAN LONG ENGLISH IDIOMS AND APPLICATION OF COMMUNICATIVE TRANSLATION METHOD TO TRANSLATE THEM INTO VIETNAMESE SUBMI

i

HANOI PEADAGIGICAL UNIVERSITY NO 2

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY

DOAN VAN LONG

ENGLISH IDIOMS AND APPLICATION OF COMMUNICATIVE TRANSLATION METHOD TO TRANSLATE THEM INTO

VIETNAMESE

(SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELORS OF ARTS IN ENGLISH)

SUPERVISOR: DO TIEN DUC, M.A

Hanoi, 2016

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I owe my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Mr Do Tien Duc, for the continuous support of my study and research, for his patience, motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge in all four academic years I appreciate all his contributions of time, ideas, and funding to make my experience productive and stimulating, without whose valuable comments and guidance, my thesis would not have been accomplished

I wish to thank all the lecturers at Hanoi Pedagogical University Number

2, especially the lecturers in the Foreign Language Faculty for their dedicated instructions during years of university work and their participations in fullfiling

my questionnaire

I would like to express my deep love and appreciation to my parents, brothers and sisters, who always encouraged me with love and spiritually supported me throughout my life

Finally, I am particularly grateful to my close friends for their enthusiasm and kindness, to course 38 and 39 students of Foreign Language Faculty for helping me in doing the survey

iii

ABSTRACT

Idiom share cultural and historical information and broadens people’s understanding and manipulation of a language English idioms are not an exception They partially conveys British culture aspect on itself It is important

to understand idioms in another language whenever learning them

Due to the differences among languages, to translate an idiom into another language is not easy There are a number of translation method used to translate English idioms into Vietnamese However, not all methods are the ultimate one

to translate them Each method produce different translation versions and they all have their pros and cos

Therefore, this research work would like to contribute an investigation of English idioms and to prove the researcher’s view that communicative translation is the most suitable method for translating English idioms into Vietnamese

I certify that no part of the above report has been copied from any other

person’s work without acknowledgements and that the report is originally

written by me under the instructions of my supervisor

Date submitted: May 2016

Student

Doan Van Long

Supervisor

Do Tien Duc

v

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Chart 1: The propotion of participants in the group of students showing their

knowledge of English idioms

Chart 2 Choice of participants for best translation methods to translate English

idioms into Vietnamese

Table 1: The number and percentage of participants with their choices of

translation versions for the first English idiom

Table 2: The number and percentage of participants with their choices of

translation versions for the second English idiom

Table 3: The number and percentage of participants with their choices of

translation versions for the third English idiom

Table 4: The number and percentage of participants with their choices of

translation versions for the fourth English idiom

Table 5: The number and percentage of participants with their choices of

translation versions for the fifth English idiom

vi

TABLE OF CONTENT

PART ONE 1

INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Research significance 2

4 Scope of the study 2

5 Working methods 3

6 The hypothesis 3

7 Design of the research work 3

The study consists of three main parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion 3

CHAPTER 1 4

ENGLISH IDIOMS AND THEIR COMPARISONS TO VIETNAMESE ONES 4

1.1 Definition of idiom 4

1.2 Essential features of idioms 6

1.2.1 Figurativeness 6

1.2.2 Stability of use 7

1.2.3 Stability of lexicology 7

1.2.4 Stability of grammatical structure 8

1.3 Idioms in relation to free phrases and proverbs 9

1.3.1 Idioms and free phrases 9

1.3.2 Idioms in relation to proverbs .10

1.3.2.1 Definition of proverbs 10

vii

1.3.2.2 Similarities between idioms and proverbs 10

1.3.2.3 Differences between idioms and proverbs 11

1.3.2.4 Conclusion 12

1.4 Classification of English idioms .13

1.4.1 Lexicology-based classification .13

1.4.1.1 Phraseological fusions 13

1.4.1.2 Phraseological unities 14

1.4.1.3 Phraseological combinations 15

1.4.2 Structure-based classification 15

1.4.2.1 Phrase idioms 15

1.4.2.2 Clause idioms 15

1.4.2.3 Sentence idioms 16

1.5 English and Vietnamese idioms in contrast 16

1.5.1 Similarities 16

1.5.1.1 Idioms involving plant/ fruits/ vegetables .17

1.5.1.2 Idioms involving parts of body .18

1.5.1.3 Idioms involving animals .18

1.5.2 Differences 20

CHAPTER 2 24

GENERALIZATION ABOUT TRANSLATION METHODS AND ENGLISH IDIOMS TRANSLATION 24

2.1 Definition oof translation .24

2.2 Translation process 25

2.3 How translation is conducted 28

viii

2.4 Methods of translation 29

2.4.1 Some approaches to translation .29

2.4.2 Some translation methods 30

2.4.2.1 Comments on the methods 30

2.4.2.2 Equivalent effect 32

2.4.3 Communicative translation 34

2.4.3.1 What does communicative translation mean? 34

2.4.3.2 The merit of communicative translation 35

2.4.3.3 Communicative and semantic translation .36

2.5 English idioms translation 38

2.5.1 The nature of English idiom translation 38

2.5.2 Requirements of satisfactory translation of English idioms 39

2.5.3 Some methods for translating English idioms into Vietnamese 40

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS 42

3.1 – Methodology 42

3.1.1 Purpose of the survey 42

3.1.2 Population of the survey 42

3.1.3 Type of the survey 43

3.4 Construction of the survey 43

3.1.5 Administration of the try-out 44

3.1.5.1 Preparation of the try-out 44

3.1.5.2 Try-out 44

3.1.6 Method of data analysis 44

3.2 Results of the survey 45

ix

3.2.1 Result from the group of English major students 45

3.2.2 Result from the group of teachers of English .57

After being collected, the questionnaires from the second group of participants ( the teachers of English in FLF, HPU2) have been analyzed with the following results .57

3.3 CONCLUSION 58

CHAPTER 4: 60

THE APPLICATION OF COMMUNICATIVE TRANSLATION METHOD IN TRANSLATING ENGLISH IDIOMS INTO VIETNAMESE 60

4.1 Introduction 60

4.2 Scope of the application .60

4.3 The application of communicative translation in translating English idioms into Vietnamese .61

4.3.1 Translating phraseological fusions 61

4.3.2 Translating phraseological unities and phraseological combinations 66

4.3.2.1 Modification 67

4.3.2.2 Substitution 69

4.4 Notes for the application of communicative translation in translating English idioms into Vietnamese 74

I Review of the study 77

II Suggestions for futher studies 78

REFERENCE 79

APPENDIX 82

1

PART ONE INTRODUCTION

Part one introduced the rationale, the aims, the research questions, the significance, the scope and the design of the study

1 Rationale

In the modern world today, globalization has brought in a range of developmental opportunities in different areas from economy, politic to culture and society Among 5,000 to 6,000 living languages, it is truly known that English has become a means of international communication in the aspects of business, commerce, education and so on

The majority of information in the internet comes in English language Therefore, the prerequisite factor of individual’s success mostly depends on the ability to seek in the internet It is certainly right to say that if you want to gain that needed information, you have to know English In reality, there is remarkably a limitation in interpretation of English among Vietnamese people Peter Newmark (1988) argued that a translation is something that has to be discussed In too many schools and universities, it is still being imposes as an exercise in felicitous English style, where the wart of the original are ignored The teacher more or less imposes a fair copy which is a “model” of his own English rather than proposing a version for discussion and criticism by students, some of whom will be brighter than he is

Many translation services are labeled with the title “disaster” Although there are many barriers like custom and geographic factors being deep-seated in culture in each nation, translational mistake should be in acceptable level which can not impute the blame for these objective factors Especially in idiomatic translation, there are several approaches to deal with them Because idioms take root in a nation’s customs, history, religion, and even geography, they may become case-specific and their literal definitions seem, oftentimes, nonsensical

2

It can not be denied that Vietnamese students rarely use English idioms in communication If there’s any, that is not be employed in proper way in most of time Students commonly don’t want express English idiom with the reason of precision Therefore, there are always fear of what the idiom actually means or which situation they can be used This has given me the desire to conduct a study to find out the ultimate method to translate idioms in English into Vietnamese

2 Aims of the study

 Reviewing translation theories and translation methods established by famous authors as well as commenting on communicative translation

 Providing an overview of idioms, the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms and commenting on English idioms translation

 Applying communicative translation to translate English idioms into Vietnamese

 The ultimate aim of the study is to prove the researcher’s view that communicative translation is the most suitable method for translating English idioms into Vietnamese

3 Research significance

The result of the study is expected to be useful input not only for the researcher but also for the English learner With regard to the researcher, it is the valued contribution of researcher for studying on translation and learning English in general In terms of learners, it may be a truly method for them to approach English translation and help them address some difficulties in English – Vietnamese translation in a finest way

4 Scope of the study

This paper focuses on communicative translation and its application in translating English idioms into Vietnamese It does not mention the application

3

of other methods or the application of communicative translation in translating other issues

5 Working methods

In this study, the author uses the following methods:

o Synthesizing theoretical documents on translation and idioms

o Analyzing available translation materials in books and newspapers

o Consulting experienced people on the matters concerned

6 The hypothesis

This hypothesis is conducted on the thesis that communicative translation

is the most suitable method to translate English idioms into Vietnamese

7 Design of the research work

The study consists of three main parts: Introduction, Development and

Conclusion

Part I: INTRODUCTION outlines the rationale, the aim, the scope, the method,

the significance and the design of the study

Part II: DEVELOPMENT consists of four chapters

 Chapter One: touches upon idioms in English as well as

present their comparisons to Vietnamese idioms

 Chapter Two: shows the overall knowledge of translation

such as translation theories, methods and techniques, and suggests some methods for translating English idioms in to Vietnamese

 Chapter Three: result shows the detailed results and analysis

on the data collected from survey questionnaires

 Chapter Four: is the key chapter of the thesis which

demonstrates the application of communicative translation in translating English idioms into Vietnamese

Part III: gives a conclusion of all the major issues discussed in the thesis, along with putting forward some suggestions for further studies

4

CHAPTER 1

ENGLISH IDIOMS AND THEIR COMPARISONS TO VIETNAMESE ONES

1.1 Definition of idiom

In an issue of The Modern Language Journal (1960: 293 - 294), Pike

describes language as “ a structural part of a larger whole part of life’s total behavioral action and structure, intimately linked to social interaction” As an effective means of communication and expression, language is under constant change, reflecting changing in reality; therefore it is considered “ a living thing”

It is observed that in the need of denoting new things, concepts, new words, collocation, structures are formed on the basic of available ones However, on the one hand, human beings usually try to achieve economy in using language i.e to accurately express ideas, emotion, etc with fewest word;

on the other hand, they seek new forms of expression, which are figurative, vivid and easy to remember Consequently, various figurative structures come

to appearance, many of which are considered idioms Idioms constitute essential part of any language; they reflect the development of language – a living thing

Like other things, idioms have many definitions In Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (Hornby & Whehmeier, 1992), English idioms have two

definitions: the first is “ a phrase or sentence whose meaning is not clear from

the meaning of its individual and which must be learnt as a whole unit”, e.g.: a storm in a teacup, burn the candle at both ends, make ends meet …; the second

is “ a language or dialect of a people or country, use of language that is typical

of or natural to speaker of a particular language, use of language peculiar to a

period or an individual” In their book “English idioms and how to use”, Seidl

and Mordie (1982) provide a similar definition: “ An idiom is a number of words which, taken together, mean something different from the individual words of the idiom when they stand alone” (1982: 14-15) These definitions are

5

not different from that in Vietnamese Dictionary, which describes an idioms as

“ a fixed word-group of habitual use, the meaning of which can not be deduced from the meaning of the words forming the idioms” It can be deduced that there

is virtually no difference among these definitions

According to Hornby (2003), an idiom is an expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its separate words but that has a separate meaning of its own

The definition of idiom in Wikipedia is “ a word or phrase which means something different from its literal meaning Here, it can be seen that idioms are common phrases or terms whose meaning are not real, but can be understood by their popular use

Because idioms can mean something different from what the words which constitute them mean, it is difficult for someone who is not a native speaker of a language to use them properly Some idioms are only used by some

groups of people or at certain times The idiom shape up or ship out, which means improve your behavior or leave if you don't, might be said by an

employer or supervisor to an employee, but not to other people

The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms defines an idiom as: “A form of

expression or a phrase peculiar to a language and approved by the usage of that language[…] this includes a wide range of expressions that have become in a sense fossilized within the language and are used in as fixed or semi-fixed way without reference to the literal meaning of their component words (Speake, 1999)” Baker (1992)’s definition of idioms is similar to those mentioned above She notes that idioms “carry meanings which cannot be deduced from their individual components.”

Besides, there exist many other definitions of idiom Some linguists consider phrasal verbs, which others phrases by the others, as idioms However,

it should be noted that though there are different definitions of idioms, almost all linguists agree that an idiom is a phrase whose meaning is difficult and

etc by repeatedly – used style with plain words, structures What they desire is

to use their language flexibly, vividly, wittily, and figuratively That results in the occurrence of new expressive and figurative structures In addition, when denoting or describing something, people sometimes do not use simple adjectives, adverbs, nouns, or structures but often compare it with something else Thus, people, things and phenomena in daily life are often used in idioms, someone or something As a result, in many circumstances, when trying

to achieve their aim of communication, speakers and writers often do so without knowing that they actually are metaphors or similes, making their language more vivid and colorful In fact, many idioms exist in the form of metaphors and similes, by which, they appear to be figurative and expressive

As stated above, people always desire to use language flexibly, vividly, wittily and figuratively Sometimes they choose phrases or sentences instead of

an available word to express their ideas For instance, one may choose to live in

a fantasy world rather than to be impractical when talking about someone Such

choice seems insensible because the expression would be wordy However, by using phrases or structures, the speaker or writer can make up for what he loses

in economy with what he gains in figurativeness, vividness Idioms are effective means to achieve that aim However, they should be aware that the degree of

1.2.2 Stability of use

In 1.1, the author point out that almost all linguists agree that an idiom exists in the form of a ready-made structure Idioms are fixed word-groups that people use habitually This results in the stability of use of idioms They can not

be created or altered due to one’s desire; and one should not attempt to use

grammatical rules to determine whether an idiom is correct or not For example, half the world know the other half lives is an idiom formed and used without connection with grammatical rules (here the verb know is in plural form while lives is in singular form although they follow the same subject half the world)

Consequently, speakers or writers can only choose idioms suitable for certain circumstances, not create them for their own purpose For example, in order to refer to a person’s arrogance as he keeps teaching others about what they

already do well, one may use to teach grandmother to suck eggs (in English) or trứng khôn hơn vịt (in Vietnamese) However, it should be remembered that

idioms are considered double-edged means of expression On one hand, they are expressive, figurative and vivid On the other hand, they are only apt for certain situations Any misuse of idioms can distort the intended meaning and even cause counter-effect

1.2.3 Stability of lexicology

Stability of lexicology of idioms is the stability of their components Components of idioms remain stable and not substitutional, i.e they can not be altered or substituted; otherwise the meaning of the whole expression would

change For example, a red herring is an idiom that does not refer to a herring

but to a fact, an argument, etc leading attention away from the matter being

argument, etc, as a red herring does

However, it is recognized that components of some idioms are sometimes substituted by other words but the meaning of the idioms remain intact In

English to put somebody under an obligation is not different from to place somebody under an obligation Similarly, in Vietnamese two idioms tiu nghỉu như mèo cắt tai and tiu ngỉu như mèo mất tai have the same meaning

Nevertheless, it is noticeable that such cases stem from the fact that language usage varies from particular groups of people to others, from areas to areas; people may not choose a word but a synonym, or another word close in meaning and their choice is acceptable Therefore, that a component of a particular idiom can be substituted by another word without changing the meaning of the unit as

a whole is understandable, but such cases are not typical

In short, despite some exceptions, the stability of lexicology is still considered an essential feature of idioms

1.2.4 Stability of grammatical structure

Stability of use and stability of lexicology result in stability of grammatical structure of idioms As discussed in 1.2.3, if the components of idioms are substituted or the word order is changed, the meaning will be altered

As to grammatical structure, even though all components and word-order are preserved, the meaning of idioms still change if plurals are turned into singulars

( and vice versa) John kicked the bucket can mean 1) Joln kicked a bucket, 2)

John died Here the intended meaning can be worked out in a given context But

John kicked the buckets only means John kicked some buckets with the verb kick merely denoting a physical action by one’s foot By putting bucket in plural

9

form, the “idiom” no longer has its original meaning Obviously, a change in grammatical structure of the idiom results in its meaning distortion

1.3 Idioms in relation to free phrases and proverbs

1.3.1 Idioms and free phrases

So far there has been a concept of “set-expressions” denoting ready-made word-groups, structures, etc characterized by figurativeness, stability of use, stability of lexicology, and stability of grammatical structures Having such characteristics, idioms certainly belong to the category of ”set-expressions” In the author’s viewpoint, idioms should necessarily be considered a particular kind of “set-expressions” to be distinguished from “free phrases”

For starters, the difference between “set expressions” and free phrases lies in figurativeness and stability As to free phrases, their meaning can be straightly guessed from the meaning of the individual words whereas the

meaning of “set-expressions” can hardly be guessed from those of their components Hit the cow/elephant on the head certainly refers to a stuck on an animal (here it may be a bull, a cow, or an elephant) But hit the nail on the head does not refer to a struck on a nail; it indicates that someone guesses something exactly Similarly, hit the ceiling and hit the roof have the same meaning that can not be deduced from hit, roof or ceiling Therefore, in certain

circumstances, one can build the right free phrases for the aim of

communication but he can not create idioms For instance, he may say it is raining very heavily or it is pouring with rain If he wants to express the same idea by idioms, he can only choose ready-made structures like it is raining buckets or it is raining cats and dogs Obviously, free phrases can be created by

one’s need while idioms can not Furthermore, considering lexicological and grammatical features, “set-expressions” and free phrases differ a lot A change

in or a substitution of a component in free phrases never leads to a change in meaning of the whole group while in “set-expressions” even a minor change can

cause meaning distortion For example, a green flower and a red flower are

10

different but they both refer to a flower Meanwhile, a black sheep and a white sheep are totally different, as the former refers to a bad person in a family while

the latter only refers to an animal (here, a sheep which is white)

Obviously, as idioms belong to the category of “set expressions”, they can be distinguished from free phrases by the degree of the figurativeness, stability of use, lexicology and grammatical structures But it is noticeable that

“set-expressions” do not comprise only idioms but also proverbs As a result, when considering idioms, it is necessary to review them in relation to proverbs

1.3.2 Idioms in relation to proverbs

1.3.2.1 Definition of proverbs

According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Encyclopedic Dictionary, a

proverb is a “short well-known saying that states a general truth or gives

advice” Vietnamese Dictionary defines proverb as “short, rhythmic saying

expressing knowledge, life experience and morality of people” Hoang Tat Truong, a Vietnamese linguist, gives another definition: “ A proverb is a short saying expressing people’s wisdom, a truth or a moral lesson in a concise and imaginary way” Thus proverbs could be considered not only treasures of a nation but also valuable materials for various branches of science According to the analysis of proverbs in folklove it can be said that through proverbs, historians can find far-off traces and proof; lawyers consider them as a people’s law; ethnographers discover lost manners and customs; philosophers could thoroughly understand the popular ideology” Thus, proverb can be considered socially standardlized lifestyles and commonly accepted behaviors which are drawn out from people’s knowledge and experiences in life

1.3.2.2 Similarities between idioms and proverbs

As discussed in 1.3.1, “set-expressions” comprise not only idioms but also proverbs That is, both idioms and proverbs exist in the form of ready-made structures These two forms of expression can not be created by the writer’s or

of their components For example, Every dog has its day is rather figurative It

certainly does not refer to a dog Behind this expression exists an a meaning

denoting something like: Never be pessimistic, everyone is not always unlucky, he/she certainly will have opportunities In Vietnamese, there is an equivalent for this proverb: Sông có khúc, người có lúc

Considering idioms and proverbs, one can realize that they sometimes overlap, making it difficult to figure out whether an expression is an idiom or a proverbs According to Nguyen Van Hang (1999:68), in fact, there exist idioms

in many circumstances (e.g cốc mò cò xơi or giật gấu vá vai) Furthermore, it is noticeable that idioms can form the basis of proverbs Black sheep, an idiom indicating a person in a family who is disliked, forms the basis of every family has a black sheep, a proverb showing a general truth: Everything can not be equal A rolling stone and a rolling stone gathers no moss can also serve as

good examples

In short, belonging to “set-expressions”, idioms and proverbs share some features, namely figurativeness, stability of use, lexicology and grammatical structure The similarities of idioms and proverbs sometimes pose a challenge to working out whether an expression is an idiom or a proverb Therefore, it is advisable to point out the differences between these two types of “set-expressions”

1.3.2.3 Differences between idioms and proverbs

Described as “set-expressions”, both idioms and proverbs exist in the form of ready-made structures However, they do not have the same forms A proverb is a full sentence and acts as an independent one An idiom, on the

12

contrary, in some cases may have the form of a sentence but can only work as a component of a sentence

In examining of idioms, Nguyen (1999: 65 - 66) states that an idiom

“often function as a component of sentence” In Vietnamese, such idioms as

Chuột sa chĩnh gạo or gà trống nuôi con have structures of sentences, but may

serve as adjective (e.g anh ta sống trong cảnh gà trống nuôi con từ đó tới giờ)

From the definition of proverb, it can be seen that they often express a general truth, transmit life experiences or convey moral lessons Therefore, according to Pham (1996:11), a proverb can be considered a perfect “literary work” as it has three basic function: cognitive function, aesthetic function, and educational function Such functions can be recognized when a proverb is

analyzed For example: The early bird catches the worm This proverb shows

life experience and perception of people in reality: the bird that comes before others can catch the worm first, and that is always true In addition, by transmitting life experience (or a general truth), the proverb gives a moral lesson: Do not delay to do anything, the sooner the better, fulfilling its educational function Finally, it is undeniable that the proverb has its own

aesthetic value; since bird and worm here are used to refer to human: here they

can be considered metaphors and make the expression more figurative, more

likely to exert certain influence on the recipients

Like proverbs, idioms are figurative as they often contain metaphors and similes Thus they have aesthetic function However, idioms do not reflect people’s experience, a general truth or convey moral lesson; They mainly work

as means to achieve people’s aim in communication To kick the bucket is

certainly a vivid expression but it does not show people’s perception or give an advice or a moral lesson Without cognitive and educational function, idioms are obviously different from proverbs

1.3.2.4 Conclusion

13

Idioms and proverbs have much in common as well as differences The similarities and differences between these two types of set expression make it a difficult work to distinguish between them It still remains controversial among linguist to draw a line between idioms and proverbs That is the reasons why some idioms are used as proverbs and vice versa However, such a phenomenon does not mean idioms and proverb are not distinguishable; It only prove that language is a living thing In language, not everything is stable or invariable

1.4 Classification of English idioms

As discussed in 1.1, the need of denoting new things, concept or using vivid, flexible and fingurative forms of expression is one of the cause of the formation of idioms However, there are no concrete formula for forming idioms Consequently idioms vary greatly in their forms Therefore, linguists have various criteria to classify idioms: for example, they can base on figurativeness, structures, lexicology, function,

etc In this paper, the author would like to mention two methods for classifying idioms that are considered the most relevant to the translation of idioms One is based on lexicology, the other is based on structure

1.4.1 Lexicology-based classification

According to Nguyen Minh Trang (1998: 18-20), such famous Russian linguists as V.V Vinogradov, A.I Smirnitsky, A.V Koonin, N.N Amosova consider lexicological characters criteria for classifying idioms Adopting these criteria, they put idioms into three types: phraseological fusions, phraseological unities, and phraseological combinations

1.4.1.1 Phraseological fusions

Phraseological fusion is the highest stage of blending words together with complete stability of lexical components This type of idiom is considered completely non-motivated, for there is no connection between the meaning of the components and that of the unit as a whole In other words, it is impossible

to guess the meaning of the idiom from those of it components Fits and starts,

14

tit for tat, a red herring are examples of this type Any attempt to make sense of

such idioms by combining the meaning of their components would result in misinterpretation of the intended implication of the idiom Take the following

example: When John kicked the bucket, his children became rich

Suppose the one does not interpret kick the bucket as a unit, he would

perceive that “ John’s children became rich because he kicked the bucket (with

his feet), perhaps by kicking the bucket, John earns a lot of money Instead, kick the bucket should be treated as a unit, an idiom, so the given sentence can be interpreted as when John died, his children became rich That would be natural

and acceptable

From the example above, it can be concluded that phraseological fusion can not be interpreted based on literal meaning of its components Thus, they can not be translated literally

1.4.1.2 Phraseological unities

Phraseological unities differ from phraseological fusions mainly by their less stability lexical components As the former is completely non-motivated, the latter is consider partially non-motivated Sometimes meanings of the idiom’s components can give clues to grasping the meaning of the whole unit

(e.g strike one’s mind; make one’s mind; live in a fantasy world) This

characteristic, as a result, lead to another one: Synonymic substitution i.e certain components of idioms can be substituted by synonyms without changing the whole unit’s meaning Such a substitution is acceptable (as discussed in

1.2.3) Therefore, it is possible to use have both feet on the ground or keep both feet on the ground in the same situation

Dealing with phraseological unities, one should not ignore metaphoric meanings of whole unit apart from lexical meanings of its components The

individual words of have one foot in the grave can be interpreted literally but

the metaphoric meaning can only be perceived through the implication of the

to this characteristic, one can partially guess the meaning of an idiom from literal meaning of a component; figurative meaning would help him to do the

rest (For instance, change hands, in hand) As a result, the difference between

phraseological fusions, phraseological unites and phraseological combinations lies in the fact that figurative meaning of phraseological fusions and phraseological unities is created by the whole unit while in phraseological combinations it depends only on a component

1.4.2 Structure-based classification

According to Nguyen Ba Ngoc (2001:36-40), idioms can be classified into three categories based on structural features: Phrase idioms, clause idioms and sentence idioms In each category, idioms are divided into some types:

1.4.2.1 Phrase idioms

- Noun phrase idioms: e.g an old hand, a black sheep

- Adjective phrase idioms: e.g free and easy, safe and sound

- Adverbial phrase idioms: e.g as hungry as a horse

As poor as c church mouse

1.4.2.2 Clause idioms

- Verb + complement: e.g to come true

- Verb + direct object: e.g to make one’s mind

- Verb + direct object + object complement: e.g to paint the town red

- Verb + indirect object + direct object: e.g to give somebody a hand

- Verb + direct object + adjunct: e.g to tale something amiss

16

1.4.2.3 Sentence idioms

- Simple sentence idioms: e.g history repeat itself

- Compound sentence idioms: e.g see them come and see them go

- Complex sentence idioms: e.g when the cat is away, the mice will play

1.5 English and Vietnamese idioms in contrast

Defined as “idiom”, any these forms of expression in any languages would share many essential features Obviously, however, idioms are created in

a certain language under the influence of geographical, historic, political, social factors that vary with different degrees from countries to countries, peoples to peoples, etc Therefore, idioms of different language have both similarities and differences In this part of the paper, the author would like to take into account the similarities and differences of English and Vietnamese idioms

1.5.1 Similarities

It is certain that both English and Vietnamese idioms have essential features: figurativeness, stability of use, stability of lexicology, stability of grammatical structure However, one can realize more similarities between English and Vietnamese idioms if he considers metaphors, similes, functions of idioms in the two languages as well as the way people use them

Though English and Vietnamese differ, these two languages reflect people’s perception, attitude, etc., which may coincide in certain cases As a result, many idioms in English and Vietnamese reflecting people’s perception, experience or description of things, phenomena, etc have similar forms and use

the same metaphors or simile Like water off a duck’s back, as black as a coal,

as light as a feather are not different from nước đổ đầu vịt, đen như than, nhẹ như lông hồng respectively

Apart from this similarity, it is obvious that idioms, either in English or in Vietnamese, may function as components of proverbs, as discussed in 1.3.2.2

17

For instance, the idiom birds of a feather forms a proverb birds of a feather flock together The Vietnamese idiom “Bụt chùa nhà” forms “Bụt chùa nhà không thiêng”

Finally, as flexibility constitutes one of language’s essential characteristics, it is common that in many cases, idioms are not used in original

forms i.e the writer or speaker may “break” structure of some idioms without any loss of meaning or word-use vividness For example, one may say “ Do not criticize John because he can not do well, he is a square peg” rather than “Do not criticize John because he can not do well, he is a square peg in a round hole”, but the recipient can still understand that John can not do well as he does

a job that is not suitable for him Likewise, in Vietnamese one can say đừng có tưởng là tay ấy hào phóng, hắn chỉ thả con săn sắt thôi Here the idiom thả con săn sắt, bắt con cá rô is not fully used but the recipients can still understand

what the speaker implies

In short, besides essential features, English and Vietnamese idioms have certain similarities These similarities can be worked out when metaphors, similes, function of English and Vietnamese idioms are taken into consideration

Furthermore, there are some idioms in the two languages which involve the same things, as follows:

1.5.1.1 Idioms involving plant/ fruits/ vegetables

As red as beet/ beetroot

( đỏ như củ cải đường)

Đỏ như gấc

As fresh as a daisy

(tươi như hoa cúc)

Tươi như hoa

These idioms have to be put into an appropriate context to make an

effective communication For example, the idioms “ as red as a beet” is not used to describe the color of a cloth or mean “ Môi đỏ như son” Instead, this

18

idiom is used to express an angry face Thus when we say: He was as red as a beet when seeing his car badly destroyed It means: anh ta giận mặt đỏ tía tai khi thấy chiếc xe ô tô của anh ta bị phá hủy nặng

1.5.1.2 Idioms involving parts of body

These idioms are derived from the observation of the functions and the characteristics of some parts of body For example, legs refer to the movement, head and ears are in the highest positions of a person’s body while heels are in the lowest one

1.5.1.3 Idioms involving animals

As long as your arm

( dài như cánh tay)

(tay) dài như tay vượn

As fast as your legs can carry you

(nhanh như chân có thể mang bạn đi)

(chạy) vắt chân lên cổ

To be over head and ear in Ngập lút đến đầu đến cổ

Ngập đến mang tai

19

These English idioms show that British people often stick the laboriousness to bee, freedom to bird, strenghth to horse, wisdom to fox, slowliness to turtle, weakness to kitten These are indicated by a range of

adjectives : busy, free, strong, cunning, slow, weak In Vietnamese, sometimes

we can find equivalent idioms to the above one We also have to use the

Vietnamese idioms involving typical animals in Vietnamese culture, like khỏe như trâu, oai như cóc In English, this animal has not been involved in any

idioms because it is only familiar to agricultural countries like Vietnam Also,

“cóc” (toad) is highly considered in Vietnamese culture ( Con cóc là cậu ông trời), but it is not considered at all in British culture

1.5.1.4 Idioms involving objects, materials, food and time

As slow as a turtle

As proud as a peacock

As bold as brass

As good as gold

As tough as old boots

As easy as pie

As safe as houses

20

The comparison between English and Vietnamese idioms here reveals the

differences in meaning However, the idioms “ as easy as pie” may be a bit

difficult for Vietnamese learners because it is connected closely to American costume and habit It is the fact that pie or apple pie is such a favorite dish of

American, even they have the idiom “ as American as an apple pie” As every

American is used to this dish and know how to make it, it is closely related to something nice and easy to do

As for the idiom “ as sound/ clear as a bell”, it is easy to be understood

for the Vietnamese as the sound of bell is very familiar to them as something they find sacred It should also be noted that the sound of bell in British culture has holy meaning for awakeness The sound is usually heard in every Sunday morning, at wedding ceremonies and festivals Thus, a common thing between the two cultures can be seen in this idiom

1.5.2 Differences

(mượt như lụa)

As solid as rock

As plain/ clear as a day

As straight as an arrow

As deaf as a post

As old as the hills

As pure as the driven snow

(tinh khiết như tuyết) Trắng như tuyết

21

Being created and used in two languages, English and Vietnamese idioms have distinct differences Metaphors and similes, which form a variety of idioms, are derived from things, activities and phenomena associated with people’s life As a result, in Vietnamese idioms there exists a wide range of words characterizing an agricultural civilization, which hardly occur in English idioms (and vice versa) In addition, English and Vietnamese have different concepts, values and conventions, etc; and even if people have the same perception of the same thing, they have their own way of thinking and therefore, of expressing themselves Thus, the English may wonder why the

Vietnam usually use đỉa, tôm, mồng tơi, (e.g dai như đỉa, nhát như cáy, đắt như tôm tươi, nghèo rớt mùng tơi) and the latter may find it difficult to explain why the former can compare dog or devil with people ( e.g as sick as a dog, be the devil, like the devil)

For example, due to cultural difference, some pair of idioms have close meaning with the same values of content but different images are used reflect different cognitive view For example, Vietnamese idioms use the images of

“bụng”, “dạ”, “lòng” (belly) and “ruột” (gut, bowel) to refer to aspects of one’s thought, emotion, feeling and even morality, while image of “heart”

mostly refers to these human aspects in English idioms

Measure others’ feet by one’s own last Suy bụng ta ra bụng người

Heart is a mystery

You can never see into another heart Lòng người khó dò

When the blood sheds, the heart aches Máu chảy ruột mềm

A honey tongue, the heart of gall Miệng nam mô, bụng một bồ dao găm Live a nasty taste in your mouth Đắng lòng

Other case in which different images are used can be seen as follows:

22

Learn by heart

From the bottom of my heart

Work one’s fingers to the bone

Học thuộc lòng

Từ tận đáy lòng mình Lao động cật lực, làm đổ mồ hôi, sôi nước mắt

Turn back on someone Trở mặt

Not harm/ touch a hair of one’s

head

Không đụng tới ngón chân của ai

Make my blood run cold Lạnh sống lưng

It’s not brain surgery Dễ như trở bàn tay

Turn your heart of your success Vênh mặt tự đắc

Also, due to the differences in history and literature, there are some idioms in the two languages involving different legends, stories, events and characters which makes them absolutely different from each other, as can seen below:

( vui như Larry)

As mad as a March hare

( khùng như thỏ rừng tháng ba) Điên khùng

23

Similarly, Don Juan is a typical character in Western literature who is very good at cheating young, beautiful and innocent girls Such a bad man can

be compared to Sở Khanh,a bad guy in Kieu’s story which is a famous literary

work in Vietnamese literature

There are five proper names in these idioms Croeus is a wealthy King of Lydia in 6th century Before Christ Punch is a character in the comedy named

“Punch and Judy” He was always happy all the time even when they committed

evils March hare is derived from the fact that the hare in Spring oddly jump up

and down in the large fields

In Vietnamese, never can we find the equivalent idioms to these idioms because these characters do not exist in Vietnamese culture The joy, cheer and pleasure in Vietnamese are described as Tet Because Tet is a very important event for Vietnamese It brings out the happiness of reunion, enjoyment and welcoming the New Year

In short, due to the differences between the two cultures, English and Vietnamese tend to show different things associated with lifestyle, customs, ways of thinking, etc Normally, idioms in a language can be said to result from people experience in life from time to time Therefore, it is clear that though English and Vietnamese idioms have something in common as has been mentioned above, they are somehow different since people in the two countries have had different experience in their life for ages

24

CHAPTER 2 GENERALIZATION ABOUT TRANSLATION METHODS

AND ENGLISH IDIOMS TRANSLATION 2.1 Definition of translation

It is common that there are always various concepts of the same thing Therefore, there exist different definitions of one thing viewed from different perspectives Translation would serve as a good example; it is differently defined in dictionary and by authors

The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Encyclopaedic Dictionary (Hornby et.al, 1993) defines translation as the work to express something spoken or especially written in another language or in simpler words, an as something that is translated Whereas, the Vietnamese Dictionary defines translation as the work

of expressing a message spoken or written in one language in another language

It can be deduced that the two dictionaries do not have the same definition of translation The former considers translation both as a process and a product when the latter describes if only as a process or an effort

Similarly, many famous translation theorists do not reach unanimity on the work of defining translation In his book “Approach to translation”, Newmark (1984) defines translation as a craft consisting an attempt to replace a written message and/or statement in one language by the same message and/or statement in another language Nida, another famous theorist, holds the view that translation is both an art, a skill and a science

Taking some definitions of translation into consideration, the author would like to prove that there are different definitions of translation, thus there are different way in which it is conducted However, the ultimate aim of translation is to produce the best version of a written or spoken message in another language Therefore, it involves activities, efforts, techniques and skills Besides, translation has something to do with art, as it requires creativeness as

25

well as imagination to make good choices of words, to fill the semantic gap between the two language and to tackle various cultural factors, etc

In conclusion, translation can be viewed both as a process and a product,

an art and a science That definition would not be a comprise among, but a good combination of the definition mentioned above

According to Pomonti (1998: 84-89), translation process is divided into three stages: 1) understanding the meaning of the text 2) Re-expressing the meaning in the target language 3) Correcting the target language text Hervey and Higgins (1992) state that translation process can be broken into two types of activities: Understanding a source language (SL) text and formulating a target language (TL) text They stress that these two types of activities do not occur successively but simultaneously and that one may not even realise that one has imperfectly understood the SL text until he comes up against a problem in formulating or evaluating a TL text In such a case, he may need to go back to square one, so as to reinterpret and reconstruct the SL text in the light of his new understanding of it Thus SL text interpretation and TL text formulation go hand

in hand But it is useful to think of them as different, mutually separate process

The interpretation process can help the translator to know the topic and the type of the SL text as well as the intention of the author in order to find the suitable translation method and identify particular and recurrent problems Interpretation process requires both general and close reading General reading

is essential for the translator to get the gist of the text Here he may have to read encyclopaedias, textbooks, or specialist papers to understand the subject and the

26

concepts mentioned Close reading helps the translator to grasp the meaning of the words both out of and in context The meaning of a given word is governed not only by the external object or idea that particular word is suppose to refer to, but also by the use of that particular word or phrase in a particular way, in a particular context, and to a particular effect Consequently, given different shades of meaning of the same words, a text can be understood with varying degrees of precision Therefore, the translator has to work out the meaning of words the author intended, to find out whether the whole or part of the text is straight (means what it says) or ironical (slightly or entirely opposite in meaning) or non-sensical The following example illustrates how a sentence can

be differently translated:

English version: She really likes him

She: cô ấy, cô ta, bà ấy, ả, thị, nàng

Him: anh ấy, anh ta, ông ấy, chàng, hắn, gã

Possible: Cô ấy/ cô ta rất thích anh ấy/ anh ta

Bà ấy rất thích ông ta

Thị/ ả rất quý (thích) gã/ hắn

Nàng mà lại thích hắn? ( the speaker raises his/her voice)

Cô ta ghét hắn lắm (the stress is put on him)

In short, that contextual meaning of the words in the SL text which reflects the author’s attitude and intention is always of importance and requires special efforts of the translator

In interpretation process, the translator attempts to get the gist of the text , the message of the author, but he may be faced with complex structures To tackle the problem, he can adopt intralingual paraphrasing The complex structures would be broken into components in the SL to clarify all obscurities This is an example:

“Indeed, in unveiling her 33-man cabinet – complete with a market friendly economic team and surprisingly few politicians – she delivered the

27

strongest message yet that she is intent not only on reinventing her own public persona, but on resurrecting Indonesia’s presidential system, weakened by her deposed predecessor, Abdurrahman Wahid”

(Far Eastern Economic Review 23.8.2001)

This sentence can be reduced to simpler sentences:

“Indeed, she unveiled her 33-man cabinet The cabinet is complete with a market-friendly economic team and surprisingly comprise few politicians Her act to unveil that cabinet delivered her strongest message The message is that she is intent not only on reinventing her public persona, but on resurrecting Indonesia’s presidential system The presidential system had been weaken by her deposed predecessor, Abdurrahman Wahid”

Intralingual paraphrasing may make the text of a component much longer However, it helps to remove obscurities in the text and improve the translator’s comprehension of the text

The SL interpretation and TL formulation process go hand in hand In the second stage, it is the work of the translator to re-express in the TL what he has got from the SL text In this stage the translator may focus on the search of TL

to find equivalents of concepts to be re-expressed However, according to Newmark (1988) , there exist two cases of rendering words or terms With text considered by Newmark as an amalgam of standardized language, there should

be only one correct equivalent, thus requiring the accuracy That is the science

of translation As for text considered to be on non-standardized language, there

is rarely only one correct equivalent , requiring the translator’s creativeness and imagination That is the art or craft of translation

The TL text formulation stage includes the correcting mistakes of the transferred text He can replace or remove what he considers to be absurd or unnatural to the readers

In conclusion, translation process comprises two intertwined stages: SL text interpretation and TL text formulation These two stages required the

28

translator’s intelligence, creativeness, mental efforts and linguistic skill, a close knowledge of the subject matter of the SL text, a careful examination and analysis of its content and significance, mastery of the TL

2.3 How translation is conducted

As Nida (1964) states, translation is both an art and a science It means translation involves both scientific and artistic activities However, Ludskanov (1975), a semiotist, considers translation as mere science He claims that translation could be done by machines or computers On the contrary,Nida and Malinowski (2003:79 - 80) state that translation could only be successful done

by human beings The dispute lies in whether translation can or cannot be done out of context, whether the problem of translation can be solved solely on the basis of lexical meaning of words in the text without the context to be considered

In effect, the rigorous developments in science and technology over the past decades, especially in information technology, have nourished many people’s hope of computerized translating machines There have been natural language-processing software and even website on the Internet offering translations of inserted sentences or texts The initial successes has led to increasing efforts to produce perfect translating machines that can translate any type of text

That seems, however, impossible or a too far future The software’s now can translate only simple sentences or structures and mainly deal with lexical meanings rather than contextual meanings They can hardly “understand” the text contextually, thus fail to discover the author’s intention, attitude, so as to distinguish between straight or ironical meanings Such software also fail to assess the reader’s knowledge and interest, which are important issues to be considered in translation process Furthermore, they cannot deal with idiomatic expressions, let alone to process cultural factors Therefore, when applied to

29

translating highly literary texts, these softwares would produce absurd translations full of exoticism strangeness

Then, it is possible to state that, as translation is both an art and a science,

it cannot be conducted by machines It is only the human beings that can do translation successfully

2.4 Methods of translation

2.4.1 Some approaches to translation

As the author points out in 2.1., there exist different definitions of translation, although its ultimate aim is to produce the best version of a message

in another language, thus there are different methods to achieve that aim

It should be noted that the translator does not spend much time thinking about which translation method he should use to process the text; translation method is more of habitual use As Hervey and Higgins (1992) state, the SL text interpretation and TL text formulation process occur simultaneously, so the translator would define translation mehthod as soon as he starts reading the text

Newmark (1984,1988) points out that the central problem has always been where to translator to translate literally or freely The argument has been going on since at least the first century BC Opinions swung between literal and free, faithful and beautiful, exact and natural translation, depending on whether the bias was in favour of the author or the reader, the SL or the TL of the text

Up to the nineteenth century, some writers favoured some kind of free translation, the spirit, not the letter; the sense not the words; the message rather than the form; the matter not the manner That is the revolutionary slogan of writers who wanted the truth to be read and understood Then at the turn of nineteenth century, when the study of culture anthropology suggested that the linguistic barriers were insuperable and that language was entirely the product

of culture, the view that translation is impossible gain some currency and with it that, if attempted at all, it must be as literal as possible Since the rise of modern linguistic, the general emphasis, supported by communication-theorists and

30

non-literature translators, has been placed on the reader, informing the reader effectively and appropriately In addition, the boom of mass media in the twentieth century has generated a huge volume of “informative” and “vocative” text Translation, as a means of communication, then focuses more on the reader In other words, translation emphasizes more on transferring the message, the contextual meaning of the text Consequently, although there are arguments among translators about translation methods, they now centre on communicative and semantic translation

2.4.2 Some translation methods

Newmark (1988) compare a text to be translated as an article in an electronic field It is attracted by the opposing forces of the two cultures and the norms of the two languages, the idiosyncrasy of one writer (who may infringe all the norms of his own language), and the different requirement of its readers, the prejudice of the translator and possibly it publisher Therefore, Peter Newmark states, translation methods could be grouped in two opposing categories: one emphasises the SL, the other TL He puts them in the following flattened V diagram:

Faithful translation

A faithful translation attempts to reproduce the contextual meaning of the original within the constraints of the TL grammatical structures It “transfers” cultural words and preserves the degree of grammatical and lexical

“abnormality” (deviation from the SL norms) in the translation It attempts to be completely faithful to the intentions and the text-realisation of the SL writer

Semantic translation

Semantic translation differs from “faithful translation” only in as far as it must take more account of aesthetic value (that is, the beautiful and natural sound) out the SL text, compromising on “meaning” where appropriate so that

no assonance, word-play or repetition jars on the finished version Further, it may translate less important cultural words by culturally neutral third or functional terms but not by cultural equivalents and it may make other small concessions to the readership The distinction between “faithful” and

“semantic” translation is that the first is compromising and dogmatic, when the second is more flexible Admits the creative exception to 100% fidelity and allows for the translator’s intuitive empathy with the original