A study on English translation of Vietnamese traditional medicine texts

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ MINH CHIÊN M.A MINOR THESIS A STUDY ON ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF VIETNAMESE TRADITIONAL MEDICINE TEXTS (Nghiên cứu việc dịch tài liệu Y học Cổ truyền tiếng Việt sang tiếng Anh) Field : English Linguistics Code : 60.22.15 Hanoi, 2010 iv ABBREVIATIONS Vietnamese Traditional Medicine VTM Source language SL Target language TL v TABLE OF CONTENT PART 1: INTRODUCTION Background The rationale of study The aims of the study Scope of the study Methods of the study The structure of the study PART 2: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Literature review 1.1 Translation definition 1.2 Translation equivalence 1.2.1 Study of Jakobson (1959) 1.2.2 Study of Nida (1964) 1.2.3 Study of Baker (1992) 1.2.4 Study of Vinay and Darbelnet (1995) 1.2.5 Study of Catford (1996) 1.3 Translation methods and procedures 1.3.1 Word – for – word translation 1.3.2 Literal translation 1.3.3 Free translation 1.3.4 Idiomatic translation 1.3.5 Abbreviations 1.3.6 Loan word translation 1.4 Translation strategies: Domestication and Foreignization Chapter 2: Current situation of VTM translation and characteristics of language and English translation of VTM 10 2.1 Brief introduction of VTM 10 2.2 Necessities of VTM translation 11 2.2.1 For the integration of Western scientific medicine and VTM 11 vi 2.2.2 For the modernization of VTM 12 2.3 Existing problems of English translation of VTM 13 2.3.1 Problems in translating VTM technological terms 13 2.3.2 Problems in translating classics of VTM 16 2.4 Reasons for problems 17 2.4.1 Objective reasons 17 2.4.1.1 Great differences between VTM and Western medicine 17 2.4.1.2 Cultural barriers 20 2.4.1.3 Language barriers 22 2.4.2 Subjective reasons 23 2.5 The characteristics of the language of VTM 25 2.5.1 The Chinese influence on VTM 25 2.5.2 The integration of VTM and ancient philosophy 26 2.5.3 The blending of concepts of VTM and western medicine 26 2.5.4 The incompatibility of the terminology of VTM with that of Western medicine 27 2.6 The characteristics of the English translation of VTM 27 2.6.1 Using word – for - word translation 27 2.6.2 Using literal translation 27 2.6.3 Using free translation 29 2.6.4 Using idiomatic translation 30 2.6.5 Using abbreviation 31 2.6.6 Using loan word translation 32 Chapter 3: Solutions for English translation of VTM and standardization of English translation of VTM 33 3.1 Solutions for English translation of VTM 33 3.1.1 Approaches applied to translate VTM 33 3.1.1.1 Literal translation or free translation 33 3.1.1.2 Domestication or Foreignization 33 3.1.2 Techniques to translate VTM 34 3.1.2.1 Using loan-word translation for unique basic terms in VTM 34 3.1.2.2 Using literal translation for VTM terms and expressions 35 3.1.2.3 Careful selection in word-for-word translation 36 3.1.2.4 Minimizing number of equivalents for one word 36 3.2 The solutions for standardization of English translation of VTM 37 vii 3.2.1 Measures concerning the translators 37 3.2.2 Measures concerning the government 37 3.2.2.1 Establishing systematic translating theory 38 3.2.2.2 Formulating standard source terminology 38 3.2.2.3 Standardizing core concepts of VTM 39 3.2.2.4 Building up standardized reference database 39 PART 3: CONCLUSION 40 Summary and results of the study 40 Limitations of the study 41 Suggestions for further study 41 REFERENCES 43 APPENDIX APPENDIX 1: Terms and phrases causing difficulties for English translation of VTM APPENDIX 2: Methods used in translating VTM texts APPENDIX 3: Glossaries Glossary of acupuncture and moxibusion Glossary of herbs and prescriptions Glossary of ancient works PART 1: INTRODUCTION Background Vietnamese Traditional Medicine (VTM) is regarded as one shining pearl of the greatest cultural heritages of Vietnamese ancient civilization It is a comprehensive and unique scientific system with remarkable curative effects and few side effects during the several thousand years of medical practice and has proved to be an extremely useful method to prevent and treat diseases Because of the characteristics of VTM, World Health Organization recommended it as useful experience to the world and more and more people in the world began to realize its importance Actually, since the implementation of reform and opening policy in Vietnam, VTM has developed rapidly together with our country‟s economic property and it has gained worldwide attention through its amazing achievement In spite of the great popularity in the world over last several decades and great amount of translation work done in the field of the English translation of VTM, there are still many obstacles lay ahead for the personnel of VTM in the field of medicine and foreign academic exchanges To a great degree, this is due to many historical and cultural factors, such as VTM‟s long history, its unique theoretical system and so on; all those cause difficulties in translating VTM into English The rationale of study English translation of VTM serves as a bridge for VTM to integrate into the world and help improve the treatment and prevention of diseases The accurate and standardized English translation of VTM has become more and more important Both the Vietnamese scholars who want to introduce VTM to the outside world and the enthusiastic foreign learners who want to draw the essence of VTM are calling for the standardization of the English translation of VTM, hence the trend of going standardize is becoming obvious and urgent As an English major teacher, who has been teaching in Military Institute of Traditional Medicine for years, and has the opportunities to attend many lectures and courses given by the famous scholars in the field of VTM and has the experiences of doing some English translation of VTM, the writer of this thesis will make a systematic explosion on the English translation of VTM on the basis of her own practical experiences and the valuable experiences of other translators and scholars The aims of the study The study is implemented with the following aims: - To identify common problems in translation of VTM and the main causes - To clarify typical characteristics of the language and English translation of VTM - To find an angle from which to approach the translation - To make some recommendations to translate VTM and some solutions for standardization of English translation of VTM The research questions These above aims of the study are supposed to be fulfilled by answering the four following questions: What are the recommendations for English translation of VTM? Which translation approach/ strategy to adopted in translating VTM? What are the characteristics of language and English translation of VTM? What causes difficulties for translators in translating VTM? Why? Scope of the study Medical translation is a huge field, each branch has its own characteristics, and therefore, the translator working on any branch of medical translation has to try his best to fulfill the job The translation of VTM texts is not an exception Within the scope of this study, a study on English translation of VTM texts is very exclusive to talk about However, due to the limitation of time and lack of experience, my minor thesis is only limited to dealing with some problems, characteristics, methods, strategies and recommendations in translating VTM texts Methods of the study Comparative analysis, quality analysis and conductive approach are used in this research Comparative analysis and quality analysis are employed in data collection and analysis while conductive approach is used in making conclusion: from theoretical background, previous relevant studies, analysis of collected data and personal observations the author comes to the conclusion The structure of the study The main body of this thesis is divided into three chapters, excluding introduction and conclusion Chapter 1: Literature review Part deals with translation definition of Nida, Cartford, Bell, Hatim & Mason and Newmark Each has different dimension and emphasis but they come to a common target: Equivalence Part lists Translation Equivalence studies of Jacobson, Nida, Baker, Vinay & Barbelnet and Catford in accordance of the time they were published to see that Catford is reasonable to define equivalence as cultural and linguistic equivalents Four studies prior Catford (Jakobson, Nida, Baker, and Vinay & Darbelnet) could be divided into two groups The first group included Jakobson's, and Vinay & Darbelnet's that mainly defined and focused on linguistic aspects of equivalence The second group consisted of Nida's and Baker's that emphasized on the cultural dimensions of equivalence Part introduces two basic translation strategies, Domestication and foreignization through studies of Linfors and Vennuti Chapter 2: Current situation of VTM translation and characteristics of language and English translation of VTM Part introduces briefly VTM, then the necessity of English translation of VTM English translation of VTM is very essential for the integration of Western scientific medicine and VTM and for the modernization of VTM in the age of globalization Part identifies the existing problems and the reasons in the process of translating VTM then analyzes the characteristics of language and English translation of VTM Chapter 3: Solutions for English translation of VTM and standardization of English translation of VTM Part suggestions literal vs free translation and domestication vs foreignization strategies to translate VTM Then, four techniques are proposed as the solution for translating VTM They are using loan – word translation for unique VTM terms, literal translation for VTM terms, carefully selecting words while using word – for – word translation and minimizing the number of equivalents for one word Part makes suggestions to standardize English translation of VTM on measures of translators and government PART 2: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Literature review 1.1 Translation definition Translation has a very wide range of connotations (Tien, L.H, 2006) It may even cover interpretation and machine translation 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 (1976) 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 (1996) sees translation as “the replacement of a text in one language (SL) by an equivalent text in another language (TL) Equivalent text in Bell‟s translation definition (1991) is defined more detailed “translation is the expression in another language (or TL) of what has been expressed in another, SL, preserving semantic and stylistic equivalences” Hatim & Masonn (1990), however, focuses 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 (1975): “Translating consists of producing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent to the message of the SL, first in meaning and secondly in style” More simply, Newmark (1988) defines translation as “the rendering of a written text into another language in the way the author intended in the text” In spite of differences in the expressions, the above definitions share common feature, which is to find equivalents that best preserve features of the original by the choice of appropriate TL‟s semantic, lexical, grammatical structures, cultural context or even communication situation 1.2 Translation equivalence Translation defined by many scholars from different notions of view Some of translation scholars defined their theories a source-oriented theory, others regarded the target-oriented theories There are also theorists who chose a place in between; 30 2.6.4 Using idiomatic translation VTM is a medical system peculiar to Vietnam, which is different from western medicine both in theories and practice For example, ô phong nội chướng, ô luận xích vựng, sa kinh phong are three expressions to describe the pathological changes of the eyes If they are translated literally, it will certainly be very difficult to understand Such kind of expressions should be translated according to their real meanings; the above-mentioned three expressions can be translated into glaucoma, ciliary hyperemia, infatile convusion with cyanosis respectively in the light of their meanings However, in the present English translation of VTM, some translators still often translate such kind of expressions literally The most typical examples of this kind of literal translations are: Bạch hổ lịch tiết white tiger joint running Hạc tất phong crane‟s knee wind Thiên hành xích nhãn heaven-current red eye Thiên trụ cốt celestial pillar The above English versions have very similar structures and literal meanings with the original expressions, but it is very difficult for the readers to catch their true meanings In fact, thiên trụ cốt is the cervical vertebra and flaccidity of neck Another example is thiên hành, which actually means epidemic When translated into English, it is not necessarily to give the equivalent word because the corresponding terminology itself includes this meaning For instance, thiên hành phát ban sang, thiên hành xích nhãn, thiên thành ơn dịch can be translated into smallpox, acute contaginous conjunctivitis and pestilence respectively Take pestilence for example, its basic meaning is a disease that causes death and spreads quickly to large numbers of people (especially bubonic plague).In fact, Bạch hổ lịch tiết actually is acute arthritis, so the translation of white tiger joint running is extremely difficult to understand For the cases mentioned above, many translators choose to translate confusing VTM terms in accordance with their real meanings in order not to perplex the readers as the following examples Bạch tiêu phong seborrheic Bạch hãn ngư lân keratohelcosis Bạch mạc xâm tình phlyctenular keratitis Yêu triền hoả đan herpes zoster around the waist Giác cung phản trướng opisthotonos 31 The meaning of these original words and expressions are sufficiently expressed through idiomatic translation but there will be difficulties in understanding in case of literal translation 2.6.5 Using abbreviation The words thương hàn, ôn bệnh, châm cứu, or YHCT prequently appear in VTM texts They are usually translated as: Thương hàn exogenous febrile disease Ôn bệnh seasonal febrile disease Châm cứu acupuncture and moxibustion YHCT Vietnamese Traditional Medicine and their abbreviated forms are commonly accepted For instance, acupuncture and moxibustion is acumox through putting their prefixes together, exogenous febrile disease, and seasonal febrile disease are EFD, SFD respectively through initializing the expressions In practices, this kind of abbreviation has been commonly used in medical English, such as: SARS Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CT Computer Tomography DNA Deocyribonucleic Acid AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome RNA Ribonucleic Acid (WHO) These abbreviated forms are used widely while their original words and expressions are seldom used There are many ways to have a shortened word or phrase Âm dương is another for example, they are usually translated by using Chinese Pinyin as yin, and yang, so they can be verbalized and translated tư âm tiềm dương as reyin(ing) and deyang(ing), dưỡng âm nhiệt as reyin(ing) and deheat(ing),and phù âm ức dương as reyang(ing) and deyin(ing) They are also be used as transitive verbs to be followed by objects, such as reyang(ing) the spleen for tư dương can thận and reyang(ing) the kidney for phù tỳ dương Take derivation for example, hàn gia is translated as sweater and vong huyết gia as hemorrhager, which are more concise than sweating patient and bleeding (hemorrhagic) patient and thus keep the original linguistic style 32 2.6.6 Using loan word translation As a result of the prominent difference between the Vietnamese culture and the western culture and that between VTM and western medicine, many concept peculiar to the theories of VTM lack equivalents in English in translation At the same time, it is impossible and impractical to reproduce the connotations of the original words in literal translation or free translation because these words or expressions bear the typical characteristics of culture So, sometimes, Chinese Pinyin (not Vietnamese, because, TCM leaves deep effect on VTM in theory, practice and language) is used, for example: Khí qi Âm yin Dương yang Khí cơng qi gong We have discussed the characteristics of using word – for – word translation, literal translation, free translation, loan word translation, idiomatic translation and abbreviation for translating VTM in the above section In the translation practice, the six above-mentioned functional translating methods can be used separately, but in many cases they are used in a combined way and also with other commonly used translation methods 33 Chapter 3: Solutions for English translation of VTM and standardization of English translation of VTM 3.1 Solutions for English translation of VTM 3.1.1 Approaches applied to translate VTM 3.1.1.1 Literal translation or free translation Translators have been long aware of two poles in translation: fairly literal translation keeps close original and carries over all the cultural-specific ideas of the SL Such a method of translation tends to require footnotes to supplement the reader‟s knowledge of the SL culture and to prevent misunderstandings where literal equivalents have misleading connotation in the TL (e.g., if the Vietnamese word tâm is translated literally as heart, it sometimes has to be pointed out that it connotes mind as well as the seat of the emotions) Free translation, on the other hand, chooses words in the TL that produce the same impact on the speaker (e.g., translating tâm in certain context as mind) It is generally agreed that literal approach tends to move the audience toward the author while free translation move the author toward the receiving audience For example: when khí, traditionally understood as a subtle form of matter is rendered as energy, or vital activity, we not have a translation, but a transposition of the concept into an alien modern frame of reference When tiếp, a needling manipulation designed to treat stagnation of qi, is translated as not literally draining but as sedating, we have an English term that only makes sense when qi is understood as energy, since its implication of settling are in direct conflict with those of draining (a calming, settling influence of qi would increase, not reduce, stagnation) The translator who permits himself this degress of latitude may be guilty of ignorance, arrogance, or both What no translation theorist would contest, however, is that the destruction of the culture-specific concept of qi, which is of key importance to the Vietnamese conceptually system, deprives the student of knowledge 3.1.1.2 Domestication or Foreignization Phong hoả nhãn is a common disease in VTM When it is translated as acute conjunctivitis rather than wind-Fire eye, Western learners are indeed easy to know the disease However, translator ignores the fact that VTM is a completely different 34 conceptual frame from Western medicine Acute conjunctivitis has no reference to the cause of the disease that is in VTM generally induced by the two evil qi – wind and Fire Therefore if we adopt the strategy of domestication in this case, it might mislead to imply that Vietnamese medicine identifies the conjunctiva as an anatomical entity On the other hand, a literal translation of the term, wind-fire eye, supplies useful information about the concept and draw the student into the conceptual world of Vietnamese medicine By contrast, measles is acceptable for ma chẩn on one hand because the term has long been used by the lay and has no technical connotation in Western medicine and on the other hand because the literal translation of the Vietnamese term herp rash provides no technical Vietnamese medical information that we might wish to preserve in translation The examples above clearly demonstrate the fact that VTM terminology translation is not an absolute one, but has some specific conditions It is impossible for a translator to translate a piece of writing or a book by using only one translation strategy and every version is in fact s result of seeking a balance between the two translation strategies Either the advocacy of foreignization as the sole strategy or the advocacy of domestication as the sole strategy is unavoidably one-side and dangerous All translations have to make a comprise between the two basic methods of translation Whether the translator chooses one or the other depends on various factors: the purpose of translation, intended readers, text types and so on To evaluate which methods is better one should take into account all these factors 3.1.2 Techniques to translate VTM 3.1.2.1 Using loan-word translation for unique basic terms in VTM As mention above, some of VTM are unique and very important concepts in VTM Different translators still have different opinions on how to translate them, which has led to the inconsistence of VTM translation to some extent The author holds that these terms should be rendered by loan word The translation of VTM aims to dissimilate and develop VTM in Western countries If the translator tries to avoid translating these terms whenever it appear just because no equivalence is found in the TL, the term will finally looses in the English text This is not beneficial the dissemination and development of VTM in Western countries And most seriously, if this happened, and independent system of VTM in the Western cultural would never be set up 35 Qi in VTM has various explanations such as: air, breath, energy, etc., which must be translated accordingly under certain circumstances Thus, it is better to adopt verbal translation to avoid misleading the target readers, which is qi However, according to Wiseman and Zmiewski‟s opinion about qi, when studying TCM, is that: “Historically, though even the core Chinese concept of ch’i bears no resemblance to the Western concept of energy (regardless of whether the latter borrowed from the physical science or from colloquial usage)” Take Đắc khí (obtaining qi) for example: it also called châm cảm, which refers to special feeling included by manipulation or retention of the needle inserted into acupoints The normal feeling induced by needling is characterized by sourness (toan), tingling (tê), distending (chướng) and painful (thống) In English, sourness is a kind of taste, but in Vietnamese, it refers to both taste and feeling When it is used to describe a kind of feeling, it is something like ache in English Đắc khí is often translated as obtaining of qi, getting qi or arrival of qi Châm cảm is usually translated into needling feeling and needling sensation As a matter of fact, those unique VTM terms rendered with transliteration, most of them represent important concepts, have been accepted and used widely in the world 3.1.2.2 Using literal translation for VTM terms and expressions Very occasionally, when no correspondence exists in the TL, and equivalent has been devised on the basis of definition alone For example, the term hiếp denote the lateral area of the ribcage Since English has no word for this region, we can coin a compound term rib-side Other examples are can huyết (liver blood), huyết hư (blood deficiency), hoạt huyết hoá ứ (activating blood to resolve stasis) In English there are terms of liver, blood, deficiency, but no concept of liver blood, blood deficiency, activating blood to resolve stasis The technique of literal translation is just used to borrow the related words from English to express the concepts unique to Vietnamese while inputting VTM culture Here are some other translations about qi which assorted according to Five Elements: - Kim khí (Metal-qi), mộc khí (Wood-qi), thuỷ khí (Water-qi), hoả khí (Fire-qi), thổ khí (Earth-qi) - Hàn khí (cold-qi), thử khí (summer-qi), táo khí (dryness-qi/ dry-qi), thấp khí (dampqi), phong khí (wind-qi) - Tâm khí (Heart-qi), can khí (liver-qi), tỳ khí (spleen-qi), phế khí (lung-qi), thận khí (kidney-qi) 36 - Xuân khí (Spring-qi), hạ khí (summer-qi), thu khí (autumn-qi), đơng khí (winter-qi), Trưởng hạ (late summer-qi) - Hố khí (transforming-qi), sinh khí (generating-qi/ ảtinging-qi), trường khí (growing-qi/ long-qi) 3.1.2.3 Careful selection in word-for-word translation Many translators tend to render VTM terms with Western medical equivalents wherever such exist, and translating terms literally when no Western medical term exist For example, febrile disease is a common translation for ôn bệnh since it is generally viewed as natural equivalent in English But for the concept of Five Elements, ôn has a different meaning in VTM It is better to adopt the literal translation warm disease because it has exactly the same connotations in English as has in Vietnamese and the idea behind this usage seems to be that the term ôn bệnh is actually a metaphor for fever Although exuberant fever is usually the main symptom in warm disease, there are certain patterns such as dampness winning and yang weakening in damp warmth diseases where fever does not occur at all From this point of view, warm disease is a better translation 3.1.2.4 Minimizing number of equivalents for one word Equivalents of one SL word should be kept to a minimum in all languages; words are used in difference senses, which often to be translated with different TL words A simple example of this is the Vietnamese word nhật, which is used in its original sense of sun and in the extended sense of day (a period of time characterized by the appearance of the sun) These distinct meanings of the Vietnamese word have to be rendered with different words in English In VTM, the word cấp, for example, is used in several different senses: tense (of the sinew), urgent (of the desire to urinate), acute (of illness), rapid (of breathing, channels), medial (of headache), right (qi) In each of these cases, different words have to be used in translation (as different words have to be used to explain the different senses of the Vietnamese) Nevertheless, the number of equivalents must be kept to a minimum for the convenience of the translator An English term that is pegged closely to the Vietnamese must be convenient for the translator to use If we establish a new term that we can expect translators to abide by, it should be a term that translators can use 37 with minal lookups in a glossary Also, hoạt is used in the senses of slipper (of the pulse), glossy (of the tongue), to slip (out of the body in uncontrollable fashion) 3.2 The solutions for standardization of English translation of VTM 3.2.1 Measures concerning the translators The translators are the main subjects of translation activities and need to face both Vietnamese and English Whether the translation is right or false all depends on the translators Therefore, first of all, the translators also should have the modest mind, VTM has been greatly developed in many other countries, during which a great deal of achievements have been fulfilled, the translators should never neglect those achievements but to learn from them Next, the translators should be rich in the sense of responsibility and the sense of mission because the task to achieve the standardization of the English translation of VTM will not be completed within a short time Thirdly, the translators should improve their own abilities diligently, the four kinds of English translators of VTM mentioned in 2.4.2 especially the first two kinds (people major in English and people major in VTM), are supposed to study mutually to make up for their own shortcomings and to exchange with each other Lastly, in the process of the English translation of VTM, the translators utilize the main methods for translating VTM like the literal translation, the free translation, translating with loan words, etc and positively explore the new effective methods to eliminate the diversified and inaccurate translations in the English translations of VTM 3.2.2 Measures concerning the government Our government should play an active role in the standardization of the English translation of VTM and take the positive measures to accomplish it as soon as possible, this is not a trivial matter which is just about the field of medicine, but a vital one which is about the international status of our whole country in the world stage If we have no authority in the field of the standardization of the English translation of VTM, it would be pointless to say spreading our national essence to the whole world and let the other nations benefit from VTM In my opinion, the government should evaluate the importance of VTM fairly and take the following measures to fulfill the tasks: Firstly, the government should lay preferential measures for the colleges and universities of VTM and other research centers and organizations of VTM, thus more 38 and more learners and scholars would feel guaranteed in their learning and study, which would further motivate them to devote themselves to the study of VTM Secondly, the government should ascribe more funds to the study of VTM We all know that the study can hardly make any progress without standardization More importantly, these following tasks should be put to the first consideration: 3.2.2.1 Establishing systematic translating theory It is well known that the theory instructs practices and the practice will be blind without the instruction of the theories To make the English translation of VTM follow the step of spreading to the world in a short time, a complete theory system of the English translation of VTM should be established urgently The experts of VTM should organize the integrated VTM and western medicine and the English to prove, revise and perfect the existing theory system and gradually form translation criterion for the English translation of VTM 3.2.2.2 Formulating standard source terminology The advantage of a standardized, source-oriented target terminology should be quite clear Source-oriented provides the greatest safeguard against translators‟ personal tastes and favors in understanding and translating the original concepts Standardization spares TL readers‟ confusion and helps them to build up their understanding on a sound basis Such translation requires a greater effort from TL students because it introduces the Vietnamese conceptual framework in much greater details As it is mentioned above, the English translation of VTM lacks the standard Furthermore, there is no specific department or organization to guide and revise the English translation of VTM At present, it is essential to collect and compile the former research achievements and establish the standardized VTM terminology database with the help of the computer technology because the English translation can be basically consistent only after the understanding of VTM terminology itself is unified Otherwise, the confusing situation of the English translation of VTM is unable to be eliminated completely In addition, the process of translating VTM into English is also able to promote the advancement of the standardization research of the VTM terminology, and the use of Vietnamese and English in the academic exchanges of VTM can help VTM achieve its prosperity 39 3.2.2.3 Standardizing core concepts of VTM VTM includes tremendous amount of contents and it is impossible and impractical for the researchers of the English translation of VTM to cover all its contents at the same time The text books used in colleges and universities of traditional medicine should cover almost of all the core concepts of VTM The noun terminologies in them should be collected, and the first original version of VTM can be discussed and revised in domestic and international academic conferences and finally promulgated and executed in the whole country After the English translation of these core concepts and noun terminologies with extremely high frequency are established by usage, the researchers can be gradually expanded to the other contents of VTM Finally, Sino - Vietnamese – English Vietnamese Traditional Medicine by Trần Văn Kỳ, the only one dictionary on VTM published (but in a very small amount) should become more common reference book In this way the standardization of the English translation of VTM can achieved within a relatively short time 3.2.2.4 Building up standardized reference database The English translation of VTM is in such an inconsistent and inaccurate situation that it will certainly affect the further international dissemination and development of VTM This kind of unification does not necessarily refer to the entire VTM glossary, but it should cover the translation of glossary of acupuncture and moxibusion, the VTM herbs and prescriptions and the classical ancient books and so on besides the core concepts of the basic theories of VTM mentioned in the above In building up our standardized reference database, we need gradually expand the standardization scope in the fields of glossary of acupuncture and moxibustion, glossary of medical herbs and prescriptions and translations of ancient medical works 40 PART 3: CONCLUSION Summary and results of the study The transmission and the spread of VTM has not been quite satisfactory and the effect of VTM has not been universally accepted, on one hand, this is due to the dominance of western medicine, which is a fact that everyone should admit; on the other hand, this is because of the lack of standardization in the English translation of VTM, which is a bridge for the foreigners to learn and understand VTM In this study an endeavor has been made to highlight two major aspects: (1) the chaotic situation caused by the lack of accurate and standardized English translation of VTM and the subjective and objective reasons for that circumstance; (2) the characteristics of language and English translation of VTM The author finds that due to the cultural, linguistic barriers and the great differences between VTM and Western medicine, difficulties in VTM translation are extremely great Therefore, poor translation and misinterpreted information is commonly seen in the present English versions of VTM, which have been illustrated in a number of examples Four main characteristics of the language of VTM are clarified, namely, the Chinese influence on VTM, the integration of VTM and ancient philosophy, the blending of concepts of VTM and western medicine and the incompatibility of VTM with that of western medicine Through careful selection and thoughtful analysis of translation methods used in English versions of VTM, she puts English translation of VTM into six major categories: using word-for-word translation, using literal translation, using free translation, using idiomatic translation, using loan word translation and abbreviation There has been a discussion of what approaches to apply to translate VTM, and literal vs free translation and domestication vs foreignization approaches are offered Literal translation seems to make it possible to avoid misinterpretations of VTM, in that it ensures the minor risk of deviating from the original meaning Nevertheless, sometimes the literal translation does not seem to be sufficient to convey the original meaning in TL What translator can in cases like this is using free translation method, which tends to move towards the readers Both domestication and foreignization strategies are suggested to be used, which will be chosen depends on the purpose of translation, target reader, etc 41 Domestication refers to the translation strategy in which a transparent, fluent style is adopted to minimize the strangeness of the foreign text for TL readers, while foreignization designates the type of translation in which a target text deliberately breaks target conventions by retaining something of the foreignness of the original, it aims primarily to reproduce as much as „foreign elements‟ in the original Other suggested recommendations for English translation of VTM are reminders during translating process: using loan-word translation for unique terms and expression, using literal translation for VTM terms and expressions, carefully collecting words in word-forword translation and minimizing number of equivalents for one word The present study may, hopefully, provide some insights for translation theories of VTM, which is essentially, directed both Vietnamese and foreigners who are concerned with the English translation of VTM It intends to provide guidelines for the English translation of VTM and offers rational methods and strategies of translation Limitations of the study The thesis mainly focuses on the discussion of the nature of VTM translation and how to translate VTM text accurately by the suggested strategies and techniques, so its research scope is limited in mainly three aspects Firstly, although free vs literal approach and domestication vs foreignization are proposed to translate VTM text, the synchronic vs diachronic, etc approaches are not studied Secondly, due to the vastness of VTM terms, the terms being discussed in the thesis are limited Lastly, the thesis mainly discusses the standardization of the translated version of VTM, the standardization of VTM terms does not involve Because of the limitation of its authors and the limited materials available, the present thesis is but tentative attempt to contribute to the VTM translation study On the basis of this endeavor, hopefully, more theorists and practitioners of translation would be interested in the VTM translation, and more efforts would be sent on the study of this less explored field Suggestions for further study The English translation of VTM remains an open topic of discussion within translation studies It requires very deep knowledge of Vietnamese culture roots Thus, studying English translation of VTM from the perspective of Cultural equivalence is a fruitful topic 42 for the later researches The application of other approaches of Equivalence theory – formal equivalence, dynamic equivalence, functional equivalence, natural, pragmatic equivalence, etc in English translation of VTM is also suggested to study more The medical concepts represented by VTM terms are unique to Vietnamese culture, so how to integrate the terms into the word terminology system is another major task for VTM translators and scholars The study of translation of VTM terms should involve more people including both translators and scholars both at home and abroad so as to promote the standardization of the terms in practice In such way, VTM terms can be revised and improved continuously Besides, the standardization of VTM terms themselves need to be further studied because without the standardization of VTM terms the standardization of translation VTM terms can not be finally realized 43 REFERENCES Baker, M (1992) A Coursebook on Translation London: Routledge Bell, R (1991) Translation and Translating: Theory and Practic London: Longman Catford, J (1996) A Linguistic Theory of Translation London: Oxford University Press Changguo, W (2002) Basic Theoy of Traditional Chinese Medicine Publishing House of Shanghai University David Wang & Joseph F Audette (2008) Acupuncture in Pain 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