A study on the vietnamese translation of english non finite clauses

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH GRADUATION THESIS B.A DEGREE IN ENGLISH STUDIES A STUDY ON THE VIETNAMESETRANSLATION OF ENGLISH NON-FINITE CLAUSES Supervisor: Vu Tuan Anh, M.A Student: Doan Thi Thanh Hien Date of birth: 28/02/1994 Course: K19A06 (2012-2016) Hanoi - 2016 Graduation Paper Title:A STUDY ON THE VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION OF ENGLISH NON-FINITE CLAUSES I certify that no part of the above report has been copied or reproduced by me from any other’s work without acknowledgement and that the report is originally written by me under the strict guidance of my supervisor Hanoi…… May 2016 Student Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 Supervisor Graduation Paper ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The graduation paper is written under the supervisor of Mr Vu Tuan Anh, MA of the Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University In the process of completing this Graduation Paper, I also have received a great deal of help, guidance and encouragement from my teachers and friends I would first and foremost like to express my thanks to my supervisor Mr Vu Tuan Anh, M.A for his precious advice, suggestion, and inspiration Secondly, my sincere thanks go to all my teachers in the Faculty of English for their lectures and instructions which definitely are useful for my research I also would like to express my gratefulness to my peers, my friends for their encouragement and help to complete the graduation paper Finally, my heartfelt thanks are to my family for their unconditional support and love Hanoi .…/……….2016 Doan Thi Thanh Hien Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 Graduation Paper TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TABLE OF CONTENTS PART A: INTRODUCTION 01 Rationale 01 Aims and objectives of the study 02 2.1 Aims 02 2.2 Objectives 02 Scope of the study 02 Research questions 03 Methods of the study 03 Design of the study 03 PART B: DEVELOPMENT 05 CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 05 1.1 Definition of translation 05 1.2 Translation methods 06 1.3 Definition of non-finite clauses 07 1.4 Forms of non-finite clauses 08 1.4.1 The infinitive 08 1.4.2 The gerund 11 1.4.3 The participle clauses 12 1.5 Syntactic features of non-finite clauses 13 1.5.1 The present participle clause 13 1.5.2 The past participle clause 14 1.5.3 The full infinitive clause 14 Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 Graduation Paper 1.6 Functions of non-finite clauses 15 1.7 Position of non-finite clauses 15 1.8 Semantic meanings of non-finite clauses 17 1.8.1 Extension 18 1.8.2 Enhancement 18 1.8.3 Elaborating 19 CHAPTER 2: METHODS AND PROCEDURES 20 2.1 Overview 20 2.2 Research design 20 2.3 Research questions, method for collecting data and data analysis 20 2.3.1 Decision on the research questions 20 2.3.2 Decision on method for collecting data 20 2.3.3 Method for data analysis 20 2.4 Study procedures 21 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 22 3.1 Ways of translating infinitive clauses 22 3.1.1 In the form of a verb when they are subjects, complements, objects and attributives 22 3.1.2 In the form of a noun when they are subjects, objects and adverbs 25 3.1.3 In the form of an adverb when they are subjects and adverbs 26 3.1.4 In the form of a finite clause when they are subjects, objects and adverbs 27 3.2 Ways of translating participle clauses 28 3.2.1 In the form of a verb when they are complements, attributives and adverbs 28 3.2.1.1 In the form of a noun 30 Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 Graduation Paper 3.2.1.2 In the form of an adverb 31 3.2.1.3 In the form of a finite clause 31 3.3 Ways of translating of gerund clauses 33 3.3.1 In the form of a verb to denote actions when they are subjects, objects and complements 33 3.3.2 In the form of a noun when they are subjects, complements and objects 34 3.3.3 In the form of an adverb to denote time when they are subjects and objects 35 3.3.4 In the form of a finite clause when they are objects 35 PART C: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 37 General summary of the study 37 Conclusion 38 Recommendations 38 3.1 Recommendations for the learners 38 3.2 Recommendations for the further researches 39 Limitations of the study 40 REFERENCES 41 Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 Graduation Paper LIST OF TABLES Table 1: The summary of the ways of translating Infinitive clauses 27 Table 2: The summary of the ways of translating Participle clauses 32 Table 3: The summary of the ways of translating Gerund clauses 35 Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 Graduation Paper A STUDY ON THE VIETNAMESETRANSLATION OF ENGLISH NON-FINITE CLAUSES PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale English usage is a subject as wide as the English language itself It is not difficult for native speakers of English to use However, there are sometimes certain problems for learners of English as a foreign language, in its constructions as well as they not have deeply understanding about translation from English language into Vietnamese language or vice versa Particularly, translation is an activity of increasingly vital importance in the educational, political, economic and cultural fields of human endeavors Moreover, in fact, we usually use non-finite clauses, which often occurs in translation Hence, in my study, I would like to choose this topic: “A Study on the Vietnamese Translation of English Non-finite Clauses.” In linguistics, a non-finite clause is a dependent clause or subordinate clause whose verb is non-finite Its form and meaning are various and diverse Therefore, it is very difficult to use accurately and practice for the learners, especially Vietnamese learners of English at the levels of elementary and preintermediate Some of them often fail to recognize kinds of non-finite clauses and get confused how to translate into target language In addition, there are a number of problems, which are remarkable ones occur in translating non-finite clauses All of the students, who use non-finite clauses; however, they not concern about the meanings of non-finite clauses in translating For instance, to translate the follow English sentence into Vietnamese: “It took me a long time to learn where she came from.”, many students translated it Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 Graduation Paper as follow: “Nó lấy thời gian dài để biết em đến từ đâu” In a simple way, we just only say: “Phải lâu biết em từ đâu đến.” Aims and objectives of the study 2.1 Aims The above-mentioned background shows that the status of non-finite clauses in English needs more detailed study not only in their structure and forms but also in uses as well That is the aim of the study Moreover, it is also helping Vietnamese learners, who are learning English have a deeply understanding about English non-finite clauses and provide students with knowledge of the translation of English non-finite clauses 2.2 Objectives - Describe English non-finite and how to translate them into Vietnamese - Improve skills in translation -Suggest some recommendations to have the effective way in EnglishVietnamese translation of English non-finite clauses Scope of the study In this thesis, I would like to concentrate on translating English non-finite clauses, because of the time-limited and my ability I will study on the Vietnamese equivalents, which are used to compare and analyze to English nonfinite clauses After that, there will be some recommendations in EnglishVietnamese translation Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 Graduation Paper To clear thesis, there will be some samples sentences, which are non-finite clauses taken from bilingual non-literary and literary works for analysis Research questions 1, How many ways of translating non-finite clauses? What are they? 2, What are the suggestions for learning and translating non-finite clauses? Methods of the study Being a student of Foreign Language Department, after years of learning English, studying translation, I was equipped with many skills or techniques for translation This graduation paper is carried out with the view to help learners have general understanding about translation and translation of English nonfinite clauses To successfully complete this topic, I will carry out a number of methods: - Consult my supervisor, my friends - Method for collecting data to search documents and the sources of information such as on internet, TV, reference books, newspapers, universities, etc… - Method for data analysis Design of the study My graduation paper is divided into three parts and the second,naturally, is the most important part Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 Graduation Paper d)In the form of an adverb to express - As subjects time - As adverbs e)In the form of an adverb to express - As subjects condition - As adverbs f) In the form of an adverb to express concession - As adverbs 4.In the form of a finite clause - As subjects - As objects - As adverbs 3.2 Ways of translating participle clauses 3.2.1 In the form of a verb when they are complements, attributives and adverbs * Functioning as complements, attributives and adverbs, participle clauses are used to express actions Semantic translation is applied for translating: For example: +) But the little prince, having now completed his preparations for departure, had no wish to grieve the old monarch (The Little Prince) Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 28 Graduation Paper → Nhưng ơng hồng nhỏ, chuẩn bị xong, khơng muốn làm phiền lịng vị vua già +) The big black dog called Duke, having panted long enough to establish a kind of right to the air, began to poke about the room (The Quiet American by Graham Greene) → Con chó to mang tên Dich, sau thở hổn hển đủ lâu để đoạt lấy hết khơng khí hít thở được, lại chạy quăng phòng +) For those visiting the inn, he willingly tells the story of theinvisible man →Đối với người khách đến quán trọ, nhiệt tình kể lại câu chuyện người tàng hình +) The two children went up the snow – covered street and, leaving the village, adventured along the open road → Hai đứa nhỏ bước đường ngập tuyết, chúng khỏi làng, bước liền đường rộng mênh mông +) “They seem to sniff the battle like war-horses,” he went on exultantly, paying no attention to words he didn’t like (The Quiet American by Graham Greene) → Họ ngựa chiến ngửi thấy mùi thuốc súng - Jo tiếp tục say sưa nói, khơng để ý đến ý kiến làm khơng hài lịng +) A small oil lamp burned on the floor and two men crouched against the wall, watching me (The Quiet American by Graham Greene) Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 29 Graduation Paper →Một đèn dầu thắp để sàn hai người dựa vào tường, theo dõi +) “Good God, no Let it be.” It was dark enough now to stumble, looking for the ladder (The Quiet American by Graham Greene) → Trời đất! Xin đừng động đến Đêm xuống đến mức vẫp tìm thang lên lầu +) …I sat, trying to catch my breath, not looking up or even out onto the ice, where Dartmouth outmanned us →…Tôi ngồi xuống thở lấy hơi, khơng thèm ngẩn đầu lên, dù ñể nhìn xuống sân nơi ñội Dartmouth bây giờđã mạnh số lượng +) I came up out of the floor, talking to reassure them, telling them that my car was outside, that I had run out of petrol (The Quiet American by Graham Greene) → Tôi vừa nhô hẳn người lên sàn, vừa nói để họ yên tâm Tôi giảng cho họ hiểu xe ngồi tơi hết xăng May họ có để lại cho tơi 3.2.1.1 In the form of a noun +) The communicative translation is used in order to translate English participle clauses into Vietnamese in the form of a noun, in case of participle Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 30 Graduation Paper clauses have functions of attributives However, this type of translation is not popular For example: +) He would go to bed after dinner but he could hear the orchestra playing until three in the morning → Ngài muốn ngủ sau bữa ăn, phải chịu đựng tiếng ồn ban nhạc đến tận ba sáng +) The finished product did not seem to be worth the time and effort invested in it → Sự đầu tư thời gian công sức vào sản phẩm cuối dường không đáng giá 3.2.1.2 In the form of an adverb To express time, cause, condition, concession, result and purpose, English Participle clauses are translated into Vietnamese in the form of an adverb and the method of translation is communicative, which is a popular method for most situations 3.2.1.3 In the form of a finite clause In the functions of adverbs, participle clausesare translated in the form of a finite clause For example: +)Stepping onto the beach, I stood away from the trail to view the final moments of the sun’s descent Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 31 Graduation Paper →Tôi bước xuống bãi biển đứng cách xa đường mòn để quan sát khoảnh khắc cuối mặt trời lặn +) Arriving at the party, we saw Ruth standing along → Chúng đến bữa tiệc thấy Ruth đứng +) Working on a newspaper one does not learn the way to break bad news, and even now I had to think of my paper and to ask her → Tôi làm việc cho tờ báo, điều mà không dạy gượng nhẹ cần có báo tin buồn, chí lúc tơi phải nghĩ đến công việc tờ báo hỏi Phượng Table 2: The summary of the ways of translating Participle clauses Classification Functions 1.In the form of a verb to - As complements express actions - As attributives - As adverbs 2.In the form of a noun -As attributives / As Complements 3.In the form of an adverb a) In the form of an adverb to express - As adverbs time Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 32 Graduation Paper b) In the form of an adverb to express - As adverbs cause c) In the form of an adverb to express - As adverbs condition d) In the form of an adverb to express - As adverbs concession e) In the form of an adverb to express - As adverbs result f) In the form of an adverb to express - As adverbs purpose 4.In the form of a finite clause - As adverbs 3.3 Ways of translating of gerund clauses 3.3.1 In the form of a verb to express actions when they are subjects, objects and complements Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 33 Graduation Paper Functioning as subjects, objects and complements, the gerund clauses are translated in the form of a verb Semantic translation is used widely in most cases For example: +) “Would you mind identifying him? I’m sorry It’s a routine, not a very nice routine.” Anh nhận dạng chút có phiền khơng? Xin lỗi Thủ tục thơi Một thủ tục khơng có thú vị (The Quiet American by Graham Greene) 3.3.2 In the form of a noun when they are subjects, complements and objects Communicative translation is used in order to translate the gerund Clauses when they have functions as subjects, complements and objects In this case, the gerund clauses are translated in the form of a noun Some link words are: “việc”, “cuộc”, “cái” are added For example: +) Working on a newspaper one does not learn the way to break bad news, and even now I had to think of my paper and to ask her, “Do you mind stopping at the cable office?” I left her in the street and sent my wire and came back to her → Tôi làm việc cho tờ báo, điều mà không dạy gượng nhẹ cần có báo tin buồn, chí lúc tơi phải nghĩ đến công việc tờ báo hỏi Phượng -Việc tơi vào phịng điện tín lát có làm phiền khơng? Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 34 Graduation Paper Tơi để ngồi phố, gửi điện tìm +) I was surprised at losing the race → Tôi ngạc nhiên thua họ đua +) Charlie dislikes sitting all day → Charlie khơng thích việc ngồi ngày 3.3.3 In the form of an adverb to denote time when they are subjects and objects In order to express time, the gerund clauses in the functions of subjects and objects are used The tendency for translation is communicative 3.3.4 In the form of a finite clause when they are objects The communicative translation is most proper method used, which is used to translate the gerund clauses into the form of a finite in order to emphasize the agent of the action For example: +)You can fulfill your destiny by helping others → Cháu hồn thành sứ mệnh cháu giúp đỡ người khác Table 3: The summary of the ways of translating Gerund clauses Classification 1.In the form of a verb to Functions - As subjects Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 35 Graduation Paper express actions - As complements - As objects of verbs - As objects of prepositions 2.In the form of a noun - As subjects - As objects of verbs - As objects of prepositions - As complements 3.In the form of an adverb - As subjects - As objects 4.In the form of a finite clause - As objects of verbs - As objects of prepositions Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 36 Graduation Paper PART C: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS General summary of the study The study” A Study on the Vietnamese Translation of English Nonfinite Clausesand Its Application in Vietnamese English Translation.”, was conducted to help the English learners understand and translate non-finite clauses easily and correctly Two research questions need to be solved: How many ways of translating non-finite clauses? What are they? And What are the suggestions for learning and translating non-finite clauses?The study has provided an overview of different ways regarding translation of English nonfinite clauses in particular and their Vietnamese English translation through a number of sample sentences, which were collected from novels, newspapers or grammar books, short stories The study concentrates on three parts Part I focuses on the introduction with an overview of the objectives to be investigated Part II is the most important part of the study In this part, there will be some the review of previous studies related to the objectives and some linguists’ theoretical viewpoints about the translation, and describes the Methods and Procedures as well as analyze with Findings and Discussions, including presentations of the ways of Vietnamese translation of English non-finite clauses Finally, from the results, I give some comments on the translation of English non-finite clauses English non-finite clauses can be translated into various forms such as in the form of a verb, a noun, an adverb and a finite clause They have different Vietnamese equivalents depending on different sentencestructures For example, Infinitive Clauses can be translated in the form of a verb to denote actions, future Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 37 Graduation Paper Likewise, Participle clauses and Gerund Clauses can also be translated in the form of verb, a noun, an adverb or a finite clause However, Gerund Clauses canbe translated in the form of verb, a noun, or a finite clausebecause the grammatical function of gerund is considered as a noun and a verb Therefore, the Vietnamese equivalents of non-finite clauses are enormous For example, in the translating process, according to the context, the link words in order to have a natural translation such as “khi, khi, lúc” are added to express the time, “để” is to express purpose And a number of words are added if the non-finite clauses are translated in the form of a noun such as as “việc, , , chuyện ” Conclusion It was found that most of Vietnamese learners of English often fail to recognize kinds of non-finite clauses and get confused on how to translate into target language To deal with these difficulties, the study has given some sample sentences collected from differ sources, which are non-finite clauses and describe the way to translate them into Vietnamese as I have mentioned in a number of previous chapters Moreover, they should practice translation skills and learn more about Vietnamese and English culture as well as English grammar in order to overcome the problem of non-equivalence between two languages Recommendations 3.1 Recommendations for the learners In fact, the understanding and using non-finite clause accurately is not easily English learners have to note to both combining word to make sentences and its structure In translation, except word-for-word method, the learners can Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 38 Graduation Paper use some methods to have successful translation Therefore, they need to have flexible in translation process in order to avoid the boring, simple or sometimes not accurate Hence, the first and foremost is that the learners should practice many exercises in order to improve the ability in the use of non-finite clauses and have deeply understanding of non-finite clauses Secondly, to improve and enhance translation skills, the learners should practice translation regularly, particularly practice using and translating nonfinite clauses in context Self-practicing is very important because if they stop translating in a period time, they may forget knowledge and the skills will not be competent Moreover, practicing translation in group is also very useful In fact, students can exchange their works after translating and then evaluate one another so that they are able to be more developed without any training course Besides that, students can practice with experience teachers who may have good way to help them improve their translation skills and express different ways of translating English non-finite clauses 3.2 Recommendations for the further researches The study concentrated on the ways of Vietnamese translation of English non-finite clauses and its application in Vietnamese English translation by collecting a number of samples of non-finite clauses from bilingual novels, short stories and newspaper, books Hence, there are some aspects of non-finite clauses need to be further studied such as: The ways of translating English nonfinite clauses in poems, in newspaper, or magazines or articles headlines Those recommendations are giving to help students overcome their difficulties and translate English non-finite clauses effectively I also give some recommendations to help further studies to dig more about this field Hopefully, Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 39 Graduation Paper readers of this thesis can find that it is useful in their work and study or at least use it as a reference Limitations of the study Although I have madea great effort in doing the research, there will be some shortcomings in this research, because the study lacks of the condition of time and ability Moreover, because of the limited data as in narrow rangereferent materials, the study still has inevitable restrictions Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 40 Graduation Paper REFERENCES English materials Nida, E., & Taber, C (1974) The Theory and Practice of Translation Leiden: Koninklijke English grammar: A University Approach, Angela Downing, Philip Locke, 2006 Downing, A (1995).A University Course in English Grammar London: Phoenix ELT Gethin, H (1983).Grammar in Context Edinburgh: Collins ELT Quirk, R (1972).A Grammar of Contemporary English New York: Longman Victoria, A.F (Eds) (2000).Linguistics: An introduction to Linguistic theory Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Inc 7.Yule, G (1998).Explaining English Grammar New York: Oxford University Press J.C.Catford ( 1965) A linguistic Theory of Translation Oxford University Press Peter Newmark (October, 1988).A Textbook of Translation New York: Prentice Hall 10 Douglas Robinson (1998) Becoming a Translator-An Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Translation (Second Edition) Routledge Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 41 Graduation Paper Vietnamese materials 11 Hoàng Văn Vân (2005) Translation: Theory and Practice Nhà xuất Giáo Dục 12 Nguyễn Quốc Hùng (2005) Hướng dẫn kỹ thuật dịch Anh-Việt Hanoi: Social Science Publishing House 13 Nguyễn Đăng Sửu, Đặng Quốc Tuấn, Nguyễn Thu Hường (2013) Translation-Advanced Level (For internal use) Hanoi Doan Thi Thanh Hien- K19A06- Course 2012-2016 42