The thesis focuses on seeking and analyzing data in Hanoi’s public signs between English and Vietnamese at Noibai airport and at the temple of Literature based on the theoretical framework of Baker (2018). Basically, the thesis is to analyse lexical non equivalence problems in the translation of public signs. From which, strategies are proposed to deal with those issues. Eventually, a comparison of public signs is made among Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat and Cat Bi airports and find nonequivalence in certain signs.
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES TÔ THỊ THU HƢƠNG LEXICAL EQUIVALENCE THROUGH THE ENGLISHVIETNAMESE TRANSLATION OF PUBLIC SIGNS IN HANOI (Sự tƣơng đƣơng từ vựng qua dịch Anh –Việt biển báo công cộng Hà Nội) MINOR MASTER THESIS FIELD : ENGLISH LINGUISTICS CODE : 8220201.01 Hà Nội - Năm 2020 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES TÔ THỊ THU HƢƠNG LEXICAL EQUIVALENCE THROUGH THE ENGLISHVIETNAMESE TRANSLATION OF PUBLIC SIGNS IN HANOI (Sự tƣơng đƣơng từ vựng qua dịch Anh –Việt biển báo công cộng Hà Nội) MINOR MASTER THESIS FIELD : ENGLISH LINGUISTICS CODE : 8220201.01 SUPERVISOR : Asso Prof Dr Lê Hùng Tiến Hà Nội - Năm 2020 DECLARATION I, To Thi Thu Huong, hereby declare that the minor thesis, entitled ‘Lexical equivalence through the English-Vietnamese translation of public signs in Hanoi’ is the effort and result of my own research Should the declaration be untrue, disciplinary actions could be taken and penalties could be imposed in accordance with school rules Hanoi, August 2020 Tô Thị Thu Hương i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study would not have been able to be accomplished without the guidance and the support of my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Le Hung Tien Therefore, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to him He gave me a great deal of inspiration as well as spent time on instructing, suggesting and correcting my thesis Another person I would love to give my sincere thanks and gratitude is my family, who have always been by my side and have encouraged me to try more in the moments I thought I would have quited The last thanks would be sent to my friends for their kindness and willingness to help me out with their useful advice and motivating words ii ABSTRACT The fact that translation plays an essential role in every field of society can not be denied particularly in the periods of globalization Bilingual public signs at the airport are informative instructions that travelers would pay attention to and get some information The minor thesis is therefore into lexical equivalence through English - Vietnamese translation of words in public signs collected at the airport and The Temple of Literature in Hanoi More specifically, translation of those public signs are analyzed under Baker (2018)’s theory framework Through the collection and analysis of words between English and Vietnamese, non-equivalence at lexical level are found in several signs As a result, translators would identify and analyze equivalence problems in translation process of public signs to prevent readers from misunderstanding of the message that a bilingual sign conveys The contribution of the research is not only to boosting improvement of translation quality in the future’s bilingual public signs but becoming a precious reference document for the next researchers as well Recommendations are proposed with regards to effective strategies in the translated bilingual signs between English and Vietnamese Key words: translation, bilingual sign, communicative approach, public signs, equivalence, non-equivalence iii ABBREVIATIONS SL Source language TL Target Language TE Translation Equivalence RQ Research question TT Target text iv LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Non-Equivalence at word level 28 Table 2: Strategies dealing with non-equivalence problems by professionals 28 Table Contracted words for equivalence problems in pubic signs 38 Table Contracted strategies for dealing with non-equivalence 45 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure Newmark’s flattened V diagram of translation methods .15 Figure A public prohibition sign at Noi Bai international airport .17 Figure 22 x 14 x inch 56cm x 36cm x 23cm 29 Fifugure Trolley Return Nơi trả xe đẩy .30 Biển tên .30 Figure Paging board xe hợp đồng 31 Figure Private-hire vehicles Figure Staff only Lối dành cho nhân viên 32 Figure Không vượt hàng rào No entry .32 Figure No parking over minutes Figure 10 : Check-in Cấm dừng, đỗ phút .33 Thủ tục hàng không 34 Figure 11 Khơng đưa động vật vào di tích Do not bring animals into the vestige 34 Figure 12 Do not enter Figure 13 Restricted area Q khách vui lịng khơng vào lối 35 Khu vực hạn chế 36 Figure 14 Cấm taxi, xe hợp đồng đón khách Passenger pick-up prohibited for taxis and private-hire vehicles .37 Figure 15 The frequency of equivalence problems in public signs in Hanoi .38 Figure 16 Please use the next door v Đề nghị dùng cửa bên cạnh 41 Figure 17 Xin mời tiếp tục thăm quan v Please continue 43 Figure 18 Baggage claim v Nơi nhận hành lý 44 Figure 19 Check-in counter v Quầy thủ tục 45 Figure 20 The frequency of strategies for the problems of non-equivalence through English- Vietnamese translation .46 Figure 21 Ga đến nước (Tan Son Nhat) v Nội địa đến (Noi Bai) 48 Figure 22 Băng chuyền (Tan Son Nhat) v Nơi nhận hành lý (Noi Bai) 49 Figure 23 Oversized baggages chẹck (Catbi) / Oversized baggage (Noi bai) 50 Figure 24.Staff entrance (Catbi) v Staff only (Noibai) 50 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii ABBREVIATIONS iv LIST OF TABLES v LIST OF FIGURES .vi CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aim and objectives of the study 1.3 The scope of the study 1.4 The structure of the study CHAPTER REVIEW OF LITERATURE 2.1 Translation definition 2.2 Generalisation of Translation equivalence 2.3 Non-equivalence in Translation 2.4 Strategies in non-equivalence at word level 13 2.5.Translation methods 15 2.6 The Definition of Public Signs 16 2.7 Types of text in public signs 17 2.7.1 Informative Discourse 18 2.7 Vocative Discourse 19 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY .21 3.1 Data 21 3.2 Method .21 3.3 Research question .27 vii 3.4 Research design 27 3.5 Analytical Framework .27 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 29 4.1 Problems of non-equivalence between English and Vietnamese in public signs 29 4.1.1.Culture –specific concepts .29 4.1.2 The source language concept is not lexicalized in the target language 30 4.1.3.The Source language word is semantically complex 31 4.1.4 The source and target language make different distinctions in meaning 32 4.1.5 The target language lacks a superordinate term 33 4.1.6.The target language lacks a specific term (hyponym) 33 4.1.7 Differences in physical or interpersonal perspective 34 4.1.8 Differences in expressive meaning 35 4.1.9 Differences in form 36 4.1.10 Differences in frequency and purpose of using specific forms 37 4.1.11 The use of loan words in the source text 37 4.2.Strategies used by professional translators 39 4.2.1.Translation by a more general word (superordinate) 40 4.2.2.Translation by cultural substitution 40 4.2.3 Translation by a more neutral/less expressive word 41 4.2.4.Translation using a loan word or loan word plus explanation .41 4.2.5.Translation by paraphrase using a related word 42 4.2.6.Translation by paraphrase using unrelated words 42 4.2.7.Translation by omission 43 4.2.8.Translation by illustration 44 4.3 A comparison of public signs with other airports in VietNam 47 4.3.1 Public signs in Tan Son Nhat airport 47 viii strategies for lexical non-equivalence include translation by illustration and paraphrase, which are proposed by Baker (2018) In general, translation equivalence is always long to achieve as it relies on the text type, the translator, the context and the receptors It is a fact that no matter how competent the translator is, the translation might lose a certain degree of meaning relative to the original text Not only the linguistic but also the cultural gaps among languages create the possibility of lexical nonequivalence in translation Obviously, the bigger the gaps are, the tougher the translation process will be It is thus requisite for a translator to continuously extend his personal knowledge about life fields and cultures Despite the recommended strategies, the creativity of a translator seems to be rather important In fact, the common problem facing the translator is handling of a source text which can not be understood, or hard to be translated It means a correct translation not only depends on how a translator can transfer the meaning from SL to TL, but also how he is likley to produce his translation with acceptable naturalness Likewise, he must be aware of the situational text and the meanings expressed in the ST If one sense of meaning is lost in translation, the TT then is a failure Eventually, a good translator is assumed to be a lifelong learner seeking more linguistic and cultural knowledge, accumulating more experience of translation in types of texts including public signs in airports 5.2 Implications By comparing and contrasting translations between Vietnamese and English, the research initially makes a little contribution to studies of equivalence problems in the field of bilingual public signs translation, a part of applied linguistics in Vietnam and the world It is thus suggested in the future that there be more studies nationwide on bilingual signs-related 56 translation equivalence in many more public places such as tourist attractions, international hospitals and commercial complexes In addition, this study subsequently implies a necessity to improve a comprehensive system of bilingual public signs at domestic airports and in tourist attractions across Vietnam The research findings also have shown that non-equivalence is inevitable in the process of English-Vietnamese translation caused by the cultural gap and linguistic differences between Vietnamese and English Thus, it might be concluded that there is no such absolute equivalence in translation However, a certain level of lexical equivalence might be achieved The first solution is the skilled translator who needs to be aware of linguistic differences and cultural gaps between the source language and the target language Secondly, the text in public signs which must be precise, concise terms and expressions known to the target reader, so it shoud be translated towards communicative approach Together with which, the most optimal translation strategies for the public signs are by symbols and graphic illustrations Paraphase is the second effective to the language whose hyponyms are few in air technology Further, there is certain non- equivalence at word level between TTs which come from the same ST because the translators have different backgrounds, knowlege and experience Hence, they make their own word choices in the field This is acceptable as long as both translations still retain naturalness and convey the accurate meaning of the original text Eventually, the receptor of public signs and the English learner, at some point, is advised to achieve the second or foreign language acquisition by getting themselves updated about terms and expressions of public signs at airports and other places 57 5.3 Limitations and further research With regards to limitations, examples expressed in this paper merely represent a part of all real cases of translating equivalence at lexical level due to restrictions of time and finance The current study was then limited by the approach of Mona Baker’s (1992, 2011, 2018) theory, whereas there are still other approaches that a research on translation equivalence can use In addition, the research has not mentioned equivalence above word level, grammatical equivalence and textual equivalence , the role of which may be important as well When it comes to further research, there is a potential space for many more studies conducted by foreign and domestic translators to discover and exchange knowledge and experiences in the translation field Next, the future researchers may concentrate on different sources of data, and a larger sample of data in other public places within Vietnam to generalize the findings more accurately and they thus would recommend many possible strategies to help translators and learners of English find the most satisfactory and relevant lexical equivalents Last but 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The frequency of equivalence problems in public signs in Hanoi 38 The chart above has shown the number of problems of equivalence detected in translation of public signs between English and Vietnamese. .. to the time and the scope of the topic in the minor thesis, the number of collected signs is twenty-six pieces from the airport and four from the Temple 1.4 The structure of the study The thesis