CC BY
18
Nguyen Thi Cuc
Hanoi University of Mining and Geology,
Vietnam
PROCEDURES FOR ENGLISH - VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION OF TYPICAL GRAMMATICAL AND LEXICAL
FEATURES IN GEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS
Abstract
The article studies English - Vietnamese translation of some grammatical and lexical features in English geology texts, namely, geological terminologies, nominalizations, the passives, the relative clauses, and empty subject It because of their highly frequent occurrence in investigated geology texts. Major findings of the study are discovered: First, transposition is the main procedure applied to translate geology terminologies and nominalizations. Next, modulation and transposition stand out to be the two main translation procedures in translating the passive sentences and the empty subject It. In the third place, transposition, omission, and addition are three popular translation procedures applied in translation of the relative clauses. Furthermore, the article gives some recommendations to better apply these procedures to translate the above-mentioned features in order to achieve better translations.
Key word
translation procedures, modulation, transposition, omission, addition, geological documents, geological terminologies, nominalizations, the passives, the relative clauses, empty subject It.
1. Introduction
Technical translation from English into Vietnamese in general and translation of geological texts in particular often cause many difficulties to translators. Through a study on theories of translation methods and procedures, together with an investigation into both English geological texts and their equivalent Vietnamese ones, the author managed to find out appropriate translation procedures to deal with English -Vietnamese translation of noticeable grammatical and lexical features of geological documents.
2. Theoretical basis
Translation is a process in which the translator applies certain translation methods/procedures to formulate equivalence for the purpose of transferring elements of meaning from the source language (SL) to target language (TL) (Dagmara Ptonska, 2014). While translation methods deal with whole texts, translation procedures are applied for sentences or smaller units of language.
Translation methods can be divided into 02 main groups: direct/literal translation which includes 03 procedures, namely, borrowing, calque, and literal translation and indirect/oblique translation that consists of such 04 procedures as transposition, modulation, equivalence and adaptation (Dagmara Ptonska, 2014). In addition, other authors like Nida and Delisle proposed other translation procedures, for example: additions, subtractions and alterations (Nida, 1969), addition vs. omission, paraphrase and discursive creation (Delisle, 1999).
Peter Newmark as cited in Sinaga (2015) defined transposition as a procedure involving a change in the grammar or part of speech from SL to TL, for instance, (i) change from singular to plural, (ii) the change required when a specific SL structure does not exist in the TL, (iii) change of an SL verb to a TL noun, change of an SL noun group to a TL verb and so forth. In other words, transposition also means the replacing of one word-class by another without changing the meaning of the message.
Modulation is a variation in the message when it is translated into a target language due to a change in the point of view, seeing something in a different light (i.e., one part to another, passive to active and vice
versa, abstract to concrete and vice versa, and double-negative to positive). Thus, modulation occurs when the translator reproduces the message of the original text in the TL text in conformity with the current norms of the TL, since the SL and the TL may appear dissimilar in terms of perspective (Newmark, 1988).
Addition is a type of grammatical transformation which can be used formal inexpressiveness of grammatical or semantic components of the original texts. Addition means to give the meaning with the use of another word adding to a context (Delisle, 1999). Nida (1969) mentioned various contexts that might oblige the translator to make an addition: to clarify an elliptic expression, to avoid ambiguity in the target language, to change a grammatical category, or to amplify implicit elements to add connectors.
Omission is a grammatical redundancy of certain forms in two languages. Whenever we do translation, we are certain to meet some speech omitted or supposed to be (Vinay & Darbelnet, 1995). There are four situations where the translator should use omission procedure, in addition to when it is required by the TL: unnecessary repetition, specified references, conjunctions and adverbs (Nida, 1969).
In the research carried out in 2016, the author found out five remarkable obstacles in English -Vietnamese translation of geology texts: geological terminologies, nominalizations, the passives, the relative clauses, and empty subject It (Nguyen Thi Cuc, 2016). In this paper, the author tried to figure out translation procedures with which these features are translated, accompanied with some recommendations to successfully apply these procedures for English-Vietnamese translation of typical features in geological texts.
3. Research methods and research data
In this study, sentences with five grammatical and lexical features of geological terminologies, passives, relative clauses, empty subject It and nominalizations were extracted from an English geological textbook named"Applied Hydrogeology"by C.W. Fetter and their equivalent Vietnamese ones from the translated book "Dja chat Thuy van ftng dung" by experts and teachers at Water Resources University - Nguyen Uyen, Pham Thanh Hien & Pham Htfu Sy. These books are now being exploited by lecturers and students as study materials at Hanoi University of Mining and Geology and Water Resources University, in Vietnam.
The main methods of this descriptive and qualitative study were book observation and data analysis. These methods were aimed at analyzing and pinpointing suitable translation procedures used to translate 5 outstanding features of English geological texts into Vietnamese.
4. Findings and discussions
4.1. Translation of geological terminologies with transposition
The extracted geology terms are mainly divided into two groups: single terms and compound terms, which are nouns and compounds, respectively. The prominent translation procedure applied to translate these geological terms is transposition which involves automatic change of word order in components of nouns or compounds.
4.1.1. Translation of single geological terms with transposition
The single terms, mainly in the form of single nouns, not only bear their specialized meanings but also have a more general meanings such as aquiclude (lop cach ntfoc), hydrology (thuy van hoc), evaporation (stf boc hoi), transpiration (stf thoat hoi ntfoc), aquifuge (lop khong tham), aquifer (tang chfta ntfoc), precipitation (mtfa), weir (dap tran), evapotranspiration (stf boc - thoat hoi ntfoc), etc. Noticeably, most of them are formed with blending process: aquifer = aqua (Latin: water) + - ferre (Latin: bear) = tang chfta ntfoc, geohydrology = geology + hydrology = dja chat thuy van, evapotranspiration = evaporation + transpiration = stf boc-thoat hoi ntfoc.
" Other examples are words made from derivation: hydrology = hydro- (water) + -ology (study, science) = thuy van hoc, precipitation = precipitate (rain) + -ation (suffix) = mtfa.
The transposition procedure is applied to translate these above single terms, in which the word order in components of nouns is automatically changed backwards from English to Vietnamese. In some cases,
highly technical terms may require explanations for the readers to fully understand the concepts, then, the SL words are put in brackets:
Under some conditions water can flow laterally in the vadose zone, a process known as interflow. [& mot so dieu kien, nw&c co the chay ngang trong d&i khong khi, goi la dong hoi lwu (interflow).]
4.1.2. Translation of compound geological terms with transposition
The investigated compound terms are compounds which can be formed by two components: noun + noun (e.g., gravity drainage - thoat ntfoc trong ltfc, water table - mtfc ntfoc ngam), adjective + noun (e.g., adiabatic expansion - gian na doan nhiet, hydrologic equation - phtfang trinh thuy van), V-ed + noun (e.g., confined aquifer - tang chfta ntfoc bj chan, perched aquifer - tang chfta ntfoc treo) or V-ing + noun (e.g., gaining stream - dong chay nhan ntfoc, wilting point - diem heo). Only some compounds have three components, such as ground - water basin - ltfu vtfc ntfoc ngam, ground-water divide - dtfong phan chia ntfoc ngam. The four - component compounds like stage - discharge rating curve (dtfong cong quan he ltfu ltfong - cap do sau) rarely appear in the studied data.
The last word in the compound explains what the thing is while the preceding word or word group or the classifier describes the thing. Since the word order in English compounds and Vietnamese ones are opposite, compound terms are translated backwards with means of transposition: storm hydrograph = hydrograph dedicated to storm = bieu do thuy ltfong bao, dew point = point of dew = diem stfang, magmatic water = water having magma = ntfoc macma.
Some SL compound terms are placed in brackets in translation, especially with highly geology -specialized terms such as overland flow (dong qua tham):
Some of the rain or melting snow will drain across the land to a stream channel. This is termed overland flow.
Mot phan nw&c mwa va tuyet tan chay lan tren mat dat vao cac song suoi, la dong chay tran hay dong qua tham (overland flow).
4.2. Translation of the passives with modulation and transposition
4.2.1. Translation of the passives with modulation
The most common translation procedure applied in translating English passive sentences is modulation, a change from English passive sentences into Vietnamese active structures, as follows:
The creation and distribution of precipitation is heavily influenced by the presence of mountain ranges.
Cac day nui anh hwang rat nhieu den viec tao mwa va phan bo mwa.
The SL passive structure of N2 + be + Vp2 + by N1 is transferred to corresponding TL active structure of N1 + V + N2, in which N1 is agent, N2 is agentless, V is the main verb and Vp2 is the past participle of the main verb.
If the agent cannot be identified, the translators need to add the agent like chung toi, chung ta, ngtf&i ta, ho to the corresponding Vietnamese active structures.
To solve the problem, three close precipitation stations with full records that are evenly spaced around tine station with a missing record are used.
De' giai quyet van de nay, ngtf&i ta du"a vao ba tram co so lieu day du a gan hoac cach gan tram thieu so lieu.
Sometimes, the agents chung toi, chung ta, ngtf&i ta, ho are intentionally omitted, like the following example:
In drawing the isohyets, such factors as known influence of topography on precipitation can be taken into account.
Khi ve cac dwong dong m&c mwa phai xem xet cac nhan to anh hwang cua dia hinh den lwong mwa.
Modulation can ensure semantic equivalence and can create translation versions that are more natural, easier to understand, and more appropriate with Vietnamese ways of thinking.
4.2.2. Translation of the passives with transposition
Another procedure to translate the passive is transposition which involves change in word class when a SL passive is translated by a TL passive structure.
Excess vadose water is pulled downward by gravity.
Khi nwac am cua dat dw thUa thi bi keo xuong dwai do trong lyc.
With the transposition, English passive structure of N2 + be + Vp2 + by N1 is transferred to corresponding Vietnamese passive structure of N2 + dtf&c/bi + V + (b&i/bang/cua/do + N1, in which N1 is agent, N2 is agentless, V is the main verb and Vp2 is the past participle of the main verb.
It can be seen that transposition procedure can help to assure the structural, semantic and pragmatic equivalence between SL and TL, 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 bj and dtfoc in Vietnamese should be considered to avoid mistakes between passive structures and non-passive structures.
4.3. Translation of the relative clauses with transposition, omission, and addition
4.3.1. Translation of the relative clauses with transposition
When the noun of the main clause serves as the object of the verb in the relative clause, the linking word ma is adopted to create cohesion in the translated sentence.
The start of the baseflow recession was considered to be the day when the annual discharge dropped below 3500ft3/s.
Thai diem bat dau cua sy suy giam dong co so la ngay ma Iwang mwa hang nam dwai ft3/s.
The use of ma can make the ideas of the whole sentence go smoothly and ensure the semantic relation denoted by the relative clause with other parts of the sentence. Moreover, the linking word ma often appears when the noun of the main clause expresses the time or space at/ in which the event in the relative clause takes place, and the relative clause is introduced by relative adverbs like when and where. In TL sentences, ma will follow some other words like fr nhfrng nffi, trong nhfrng thang to act as linking devices to replace the relative pronouns and make the sentences coherent.
4.3.2. Translation of the relative clauses with omission
The word ma can be omitted just like the way in which relative pronouns in English are omitted, especially, when relative clauses starting with that and which. The relative pronouns like which and that can be essential in the SL texts since they often precede the verbs and act as the subject of the relative clause; however, they become non-essential and can be ignored with omission when transferred into TL.
Research has shown that the manner in which precipitation is measured can affect the amount of evaporation that is calculated at an evaporation station.
Cac nghien c&u cho thay rang cach do Iwang mwa co anh hwong den Iwang boc hoi tinh dwac tU mot tram boc hoi.
In this case, the TL texts seem to sound more concise, less lengthy and complex, which helps to ensure the accuracy of the technical documents, and the brevity and coherence of the translation. This phenomenon is especially popular with phrases in the in legend of the figures present in the study data where the translators tend to omit all the linking devices in TL to make short and accurate phrases for explanation:
Cross section of a gaining stream, which is typical of humid regions, where ground water recharges streams.
Mat cat ngang mot dong chay nhan nwac dien hinh cho cac vung am - nwac ngam do vao dong chay.
4.3.3. Translation of the relative clauses with addition
Remarkably, there are so many long and complex relative clauses with too much information in investigated geology texts. When translated, these long and complex sentences are divided into two sentences to avoid the ambiguity in the translation. This procedure can be seen as a type of addition in translation.
Water that infiltrates into the soil on a slope can move downslope as lateral unsaturated flow in the soil zone, called through flow. [Nwac tham vao dat o mai doc co the chay xuoi doc nhw the dong chay o ben khong bao hoa o trong dai dat. Co ngwai goi do la dong chay xuyen (through flow).]
In addition, apposition, symmetrical positions of two nouns equal in terms of grammar category, is also adopted as a variation of addition to translate relative clauses particularly when the use of linking devices such as & nffi ma, ngay ma, & day, tai day, khi is impossible and the relative pronoun means the subject of the non-restrictive relative clause, then the relative pronoun is realized through the meaning of the noun it modifies regardless of the role of that noun in the previous clause of the same sentence.
Lusczynski (1961) introduced the concept of point-water head, which is the water level in a well filled with water .... (Lusczynski (1961) dwa ra khai niem cot nwac - diem (point - water head), no la myc nwac trong gieng ch&a day nwac...)
The apposition can be expressed by hyphenate or a linking word like do la, t&c la, no la or by both to distinguish the main clause and the relative clause in TL.
4.4. Translation of the empty subject It with transposition and modulation
Generally, there are two structures for the empty subject It present in the geological documents: It + be + Vp2 + that clause and It + be + adjective + to V.
4.4.1. Translation of It + be + Vp2 + that clause with transposition and modulation
The structure It + be + V + that clause is a special type of the passive sentences in SL when the subject of the passive verbs is the empty subject It and most of the verbs in the passive form are reporting verbs such as note, assume, think, report, etc. Therefore, there are two translation procedures for this structure: modulation (using a Vietnamese active structure but with hidden agents) and transposition (using a Vietnamese passive structure), like the two following examples, respectively:
..., it is commonly assumed that 1 ppm is equal to 1 mg/L. (...-nen thtf&ng gia thiet la 1 ppm bang 1 mg/L.)
...., it is assumed that hydrodynamic dispersion... (No con dtfffc gia thiet la do phan tan thuy dong
lyc...)
4.4.2. Translation of It + be + adjective + to V with modulation
The structure It + be + adjective + to Vcan be translated by modulation by a Vietnamese corresponding sentence when the subject of the TL sentence is the real subject of the sentence:
It is difficult to change the aquifer geometry and hydraulic characteristics built into a model. (Viec thay doi hinh dang tang ch&a nwac va dwa cac dac trwng thuy lyc vao mo hinh thwang kho khan.)
It should be concluded that in order to gain comprehensive translation versions of the empty subject It, it is necessary for the translators to clearly define the structure of the whole sentence and then have an appropriate translation procedure to translate the sentence with empty subject It.
4.5. Translation of nominalizations with transposition
Nominalization (i.e., nouns or noun phrases) is often used to ensure the objectivity, avoid the subjectivity of the technical writings, create formality, clarity, and precision for the texts. While English language uses mainly noun phrases (NPs), Vietnamese language uses mainly verbs phrases (VPs). Thus, there is a tendency that the NPs are turned into VPs when translating from English into Vietnamese with transposition in which one word-class (NPs) is replaced with another (VPs).
Noun phases in the following SL sentences are transferred into TL verb phrases:
Fresh-water heads can then be calculated and used for the determination of hydraulic gradients and flow directions. (Sau do co the xac dinh cac cot nw&c ngot va dung de xac dinh gradient thuy lyc va hw&ng dong tham.)
Nominalizations tend to be translated with corresponding TL noun phrases in three contexts: (1) definition sentences, (2) independent phrases which can be separated from other parts of sentences with commas and (3) sentences with empty subject There, like the following sentences, respectively:
The force potential is the driving impetus behind ground-water flow, and is equal to the product of hydraulic head and the acceleration of gravity. (The lyc la nguon lyc cua dong nw&c ngam va bang tich cua cot nw&c thuy lyc va gia toc trong lyc.) (1)
A flow net is especially useful in isotropic media; however, with certain transformations, it can be used with anisotropic aquifers. (Lw&i tham dac biet h&u dung trong moi trw&ng dang hw&ng. Tuy nhien, v&i mot so bien doi nhat dinh, no co the dung cho cac tang ch&a nw&c di hw&ng.) (2)
If there is the steady movement of ground water in a confined aquifer, there will be gradient or slope to the potentiometric surface of the aquifer. (Neu trong tang ch&a nw&c bi chan co chuyen dong cua nw&c ngam on dinh thi co gradient hay do doc mat the cua tang ch&a nw&c.)
In most cases SL nominalizations or noun phrases are translated into TL verb phrases with transposition to adapt to the common expressive ways of Vietnamese language (VPs rather than NPs). On the other hand, nominalizations can be transferred by adequate TL noun phrases, especially when these noun phrases appear in definitions, separate phrases and in the sentences with empty subject There. 5. Conclusions
Through a study on translation theories, accompanied with an investigation into both English geological texts and their equivalent Vietnamese ones, the author succeeded in finding out the appropriate translation procedures to deal with English - Vietnamese translation of some grammatical and lexical features in English geological texts, namely, geological terminologies, nominalizations, the passives, the relative clauses, and empty subject It in geological documents.
Concerning the translation of geological terms with transposition, the translators should automatically change word order in the components of SL terms, but try to ensure the same word choice when translating similarly - structured phrases (V-ed + N).
Regarding to the translation of the passives, the translators should apply two main translation procedures, modulation and transposition changeably with great care since each procedure can bring out different results. While modulation succeeds in creating translations which are more natural, easier to understand, and more appropriate with Vietnamese ways of thinking; transposition helps to assure the structural, semantic and pragmatic equivalence between SL and TL. However, syntactic and semantic role of bi and dtf&c in TL passive structures should be considered to avoid mistakes between passive structures and non-passive structures in Vietnamese language.
The same attention should be paid to translation procedures applied in translation of the relative clauses. Apposition is a good procedure particularly when the use of linking devices such as & nffi ma, ngay ma, & day, tai day, khi is impossible, omission applied in the relative clauses of that/which can help to make the TL texts more precise, less lengthy to ensure the brevity of the geology texts. While transposition is an easy procedure involving automatic change of word order from SL into TL, addition is a perfect answer to long and complex relative sentences which need cutting into smaller parts to avoid ambiguity of the texts. The translators must master the use of relative clauses and relative pronouns to avoid grammatical mistakes in translation.
In terms of translation of empty subject It, the translators should analyze the sentence structure carefully to determine an adequate translation procedure. It is suggested that both modulation and
transposition be applied to translate all the sentences with empty subject It to create the diversity of the sentence structures in TL.
In the studied geological texts, SL nominalizations are translated by TL verb phrases with transposition procedure, to adapt to the common expressive ways of Vietnamese language. The nominalizations are also transferred by adequate TL noun phrases, especially when these noun phrases appear in definitions, separate phrases and in the sentences with empty subject There.
Acknowledgements
This paper was supported by the Research Funding of Hanoi University of Mining and Geology (HUMG), Hanoi City, Vietnam, under grant number T23-19 (Decision No. 48/QD-MDC dated on 17 January 2023).
References
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3. Fetter, C.W. 2000. Applied Hydrogeology (4th Ed.). Prentice Hall, New York.
4. Fetter, C.W. 2000. Dja chat thuy van ftng dung 1, 2. (Translators: Nguyen Uyen, Pham Thanh Hien & Pham Httu Sy). Education Publisher, Hanoi.
5. Newmark, P. 1988. Approaches to Translation. Prentice Hall, Hertfordshire.
6. Nguyen Thi Cuc. 2016. Investigating English - Vietnamese translation of geology texts. Master's thesis, The University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
7. Nida, E. A. & Taber, C.R. 1969. The Theory and Practice of Translation. E. J. Brill, Leiden.
8. Sinaga, APS. 2015. Translation error in the student's translating an accounting text from English into Bahasa Indonesia. The Explorer Journal of English Language Teaching (ELT) and Linguistics volume 1 No. 3-6.
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©Nguyen Thi Cuc, 2023
УДК 81.822.01
Nurullozoda Firuza,
candidate of philological sciences, deputy chairman of the committee for work with women and
family under Tajikistan Government
FROM THE HISTORY OF SOME ARABIC-TAJIK (PERSIAN) BILINGUAL DICTIONARIES
Abstract
The given article dwells on the issue concerned with the history of some Arabic-Tajik (Persian) bilingual dictionaries. It is noted that among the first dictionaries known in Arabic language up to date is "Kitab-ul-ain" by Khalil ibn Ahmad Farahidi, which was written into Arabic and composed based on phonetic methods referring to the second half of II/VIII.
Keywords:
structure, dictionary, bilingual dictionaries, thematic dictionaries.
