Translation of English passive structures int- 123docz.net

Chapter 3: Findings and discussion 3.1. Translation of geological terminologies with transposition procedure

3.2. Translation of the passives with modulation and transposition

3.2.2. Translation of English passive structures into Vietnamese passive ones

Another translation procedure to deal with SL passives is transposition which involves change in word class when a SL passive is translated by a TL passive structure. While in English, the passive voice is reflected in verb form (Ven), in Vietnamese, the passive meaning is expressed by two passive words được, bị which precede the verb of the sentence (Bùi Thị Diên, 2005: 36-42). It is worth noticing that in Vietnamese, the passive structures contain both positive and negative meanings, which are respectively conveyed by two different words được and bị, so it is advisable to read the sentences carefully to determine the meanings of the sentences to translate them in a proper way.

Vapors can be detected by gas-monitoring wells, which are simply wells that terminate in the unsaturated zone.

Hơi có thể được phát hiện bằng các giếng giám sát khí là các giếng đơn giản đào trong đới không khí.

UNIVERSITY.OF.LANGUAGES.AND.INTERNATIONAL.STUDIES.VNUUNIVERSITY.OF.LANGUAGES.AND.INTERNATIONAL.STUDIES.VNUUNIVERSITY.OF.LANGUAGES.AND.INTERNATIONAL.STUDIES.VNUUNIVERSITY.OF.LANGUAGES.AND.INTERNATIONAL.STUDIES.VNUUNIVERSITY.OF.LANGUAGES.AND.INTERNATIONAL.STUDIES.VNUUNIVERSITY.OF.LANGUAGES.AND.INTERNATIONAL.STUDIES.VNUUNIVERSITY.OF.LANGUAGES.AND.INTERNATIONAL.STUDIES.VNUUNIVERSITY.OF.LANGUAGES.AND.INTERNATIONAL.STUDIES.VNUUNIVERSITY.OF.LANGUAGES.AND.INTERNATIONAL.STUDIES.VNUUNIVERSITY.OF.LANGUAGES.AND.INTERNATIONAL.STUDIES.VNUUNIVERSITY.OF.LANGUAGES.AND.INTERNATIONAL.STUDIES.VNUUNIVERSITY.OF.LANGUAGES.AND.INTERNATIONAL.STUDIES.VNUUNIVERSITY.OF.LANGUAGES.AND.INTERNATIONAL.STUDIES.VNUUNIVERSITY.OF.LANGUAGES.AND.INTERNATIONAL.STUDIES.VNUUNIVERSITY.OF.LANGUAGES.AND.INTERNATIONAL.STUDIES.VNUUNIVERSITY.OF.LANGUAGES.AND.INTERNATIONAL.STUDIES.VNU

Excess vadose water is pulled downward by gravity.

Khi nước ẩm của đất dư thừa thì bị kéo xuống dưới do trọng lực.

It can be seen that the SL passive structure of N 2 + to be + Ven + by N 1 (1) is transferred to corresponding Vietnamese passive structure of N 2 + được/bị + V + (bởi/bằng/của/do + N 1 (2). As a matter of fact, in Vietnamese, one passive structure can have more than one ways of expression with some small changes. Consider the following sentence and its possible translations for more details:

Excess vadose water is pulled downward by gravity.

Nước ẩm của đất dư thừa bị trọng lực kéo xuống dưới.

N 2 + được/bị + N 1 + V. (3)

Nước ẩm của đất dư thừa do trọng lực kéo xuống dưới.

N 2 + do + N 1 + V. (4)

These two passive structures (3) and (4) which can be considered as derivations of (2) are also as common as (2) in the Vietnamese language. Though different in word choice, they share the same intention of referring to the agent of the action, which could be a person, a device, a phenomenon, etc. Though the passive structure (2) is the only one present in the investigated data, it is suggested that the combination of the three (2), (3), and (4) should be applied to create the variety of the sentence structures in TL.

Typically, the TL passives are often used to inform the rheme or the new information of the sentence and to create an objective order in a sentence. Consider the following sentence and its possible translations:

The catch of precipitation gauges is affected by high winds. (5) Việc hứng mưa bị ảnh hưởng của gió mạnh. (6)

Gió mạnh ảnh hưởng tới việc hứng mưa. (7)

If we use an active structure (7) to translate the sentence (5), the given information

“việc hứng mưa” is in the rheme; then, this will contradict the theory on information structure proposed by Halliday (1967:200) (i.e. old/given information in the theme and new information in the rheme). Therefore, it is more suitable for this old information to occur in the theme of the sentence by using a passive structure (6).

Using a TL passive structure to translate a SL one not only ensures the old-before- new principle but also explains the fact that in technical texts, the English authors prefer to put the long or heavy structures at the end of the sentence to focus readers’

attention on new information, which is known as the principle of “end-weight” or

“end-focus”. That is the reason why passive structures are frequently used in technical writings in general and in geology documents in particular. Therefore, in order to translate SL passive sentences with long and heavy ending parts, it is advisable that the translators use corresponding passive structures in TL like the following examples:

Vapors can be detected by gas-monitoring wells, which are simply wells that terminate in the unsaturated zone.

Hơi có thể được phát hiện bằng các giếng giám sát khí là các giếng đơn giản đào trong đới không khí.

Leaks can potentially be detected by monitoring the water in the vadose (unsaturated) zone.

Rò rỉ được phát hiện bằng cách giám sát nước trong đới không khí (đới không bão hòa).

It can be seen that transposition procedure can help to assure the structural, sematic and pragmatic equivalence between SL and TL though it creates some changes in the sentence structure as one SL passive sentence N 2 + to be + Ven + by N 1 can be transferred into three different TL passive structures: N 2 + được/bị + V + (bởi/bằng/của/do + N 1 , N 2 + được/bị + N 1 + V, N 2 + do + N 1 + V. This method is especially suitable to the SL passive sentences with long and heavy rheme. The use and form of passive voice in both English and Vietnamese, however, should be

carefully investigated in order to achieve proper equivalence in translation.

Syntactic and semantic role of bị and được in Vietnamese should be considered to avoid mistakes between passive structures and non-passive structures.

Translation of English passive structures into Vietnamese passive ones

Translation of compound geological terms with transposition

Translation of the relative clauses with addition