Strategies for translating English isolating intensifiers from Wuthering Heights by Bronté into Vietnamese

The findings show that translation strategies for English isolating intensifiers into Vietnamese discovered are mainly literal translation, explicitation and implicitation, and the paper will also clarify shifts in the Vietnamese translation of isolating intensifiers. The study brings some implications for English learning, teaching and for the practice of translation.

ISOLATING INTENSIFIERS FROM WUTHERING HEIGHTS BY BRONTÉ INTO VIETNAMESE

Đoàn Phan Anh Trúc 1

Abstract: Isolating intensifiers are regarded as markers of the lexical-grammatical

class denoting graduation This category of language performs up-scaling or down-scaling of isolated and individual item solely so as to convey the level of intensity (Martin

& White, 2005) The paper aims at exploring how isolating intensifiers are rendered into Vietnamese and figuring out what strategies are applied to the process of translation The study was conducted using qualitative method and based on 170 samples extracted from the English literary work namely Wuthering Heights by Bronté The findings show that translation strategies for English isolating intensifiers into Vietnamese discovered are mainly literal translation, explicitation and implicitation, and the paper will also clarify shifts in the Vietnamese translation of isolating intensifiers The study brings some implications for English learning, teaching and for the practice of translation.

Key words: Translation strategies; Isolating intensifiers; Literal translation;

explicitation; Implicitation.

1 Introduction

Intensifiers are a category of language discussed by a variety of linguists According to Quirk et al (1972; 1985, pp 259-261, 439), intensifiers are referred to not only intensifying adverbs but also intensifying adjectives; some noun phrases and a few prepositional phrases which indicate not only an intensification but also a point on the intensity scale which may be high or low They have a heightening or lowering effect on some unit in the sentence or on the force of the predicate in part or in whole (Quirk et al., 1972); and they can modify a variety of wordclasses, not only adjectives and adverbs but also verbs, nouns, pronouns, prepositions and indefinite articles In the authors’ view, intensifiers are both inside gradability (Quirk et al, 1985) and outside the gradability as

the case of emphasizers (Quirk et al, 1972) Diệp Quang Ban (1989) labels intensifiers

as adverbs of degree such as rất, hơi, khí and quá Nguyễn Anh Quế (1988) divides adverbs of degree into two groups: downgraders (hơi, khá) and upgraders (rất, lắm)

When combined with adjectives or when reduplicated, downgraders become weaker and

upgraders become stronger The concepts of intensifiers by the authors intersect at a point

where intensification is realized by adverbs which modify another word class Quirk et

al (1972, 1985), however, approve of the unlimitedness of indicating an intensification Martin and White (2005) refer Intensification to the axis of graduation showing scalability, that of grading based on intensity whose nature is the assessment of degree of

1 ThS., Khoa Ngoại ngữ - Trường ĐH Quảng Nam

intensity and process Intensification is realized via markers of the lexical-grammatical

class called isolating intensifiers which increase or decrease the level of intensity of a

certain individual item Additionally, intensification is also seen via any single

lexical-grammatical item which can convey a meaning of the scaling called infusing intensifiers,

unlike insolating intensifiers which modify certain one of function words The concept of infusing intensifiers is stated that “there is no separate lexical form conveying the sense

of up-scaling or down-scaling”, i.e any single term itself can convey a meaning of the

scaling (Martin & White, 2005, p 143) It is obvious that Martin and White (2005) bring

a new lens of intensifiers from the view of language in evaluation

Investigating isolating intensifiers in English literary discourse is still an issue left untouched, especially a consideration into strategies of their Vietnamese translation is a thing of novelty The paper helps find out how the category of language is rendered into Vietnamese; what strategies are used for translating them into Vietnamese Hopefully, it would provide a better understanding of isolating intensifiers by language teachers and learners for language using, literary writing and for the practice of translation

2 Content

2.1 Categorization of Isolating Intensifiers

Isolating intensifiers are seen as adverbs which modify adjectives, adverbs and verbs; as inflections to adjectives in comparatives and superlatives They are categorised

as follows

2.2.1 Up/Down-scaling of Qualities

Isolating intensifiers determining the scale of qualities are divided into three groups

The first group functions as the pre-modification of adjectives such as a bit, somewhat,

relatively, fairly, rather, very, extremely, utterly The second group functions as the

pre-modification of adverbs namely slightly, somewhat, fairly, quite, rather, very Obviously, intensifiers such as very, rather, fairly, somewhat can be the pre-modification of both

adjectives and adverbs The last are mophemes as suffixes to adjectives in comparatives (hotter, warmer, wetter, colder, cooler) and superlatives (saddest, happiest); and as pre-modifiers to adjectives in comparatives and superlatives (more miserable; most miserable)

2.2.2 Up/Down-scaling of Verbal Processes

Isolating intensifiers determining up/down-scaling of verbal processes are identified

based on the concept suggested by Halliday (2004) and Martin and White (2005) In the position of Halliday (2004), processes consist, in principle, of three components:

(i) a process unfolding through time, (ii) the participants involved in the process, (iii)

circumstances associated with the process Process can be realized by verbal groups, thus

intensifiers like slightly, a bit, somewhat or greatly determining the scale of verbal processes adverbially modify verbal groups such as This upset me slightly / a bit / somewhat (Martin

& White, 2005, p.144)

2.2.3 Up/down-scaling of modalities

According to Martin and White (2005), modality refers to the degree of certainty or uncertainty of what is being said so as to determine the subjectivity of the speaker or the writer From this point of view, it can be seen that isolating intensifiers denoting the scale

of modalities either upwards or downwards are often realised by such grammatical items

as just, somewhat, quite, very as in just / somewhat / quite / very possible or reasonably /

quite / very / extremely often

2.2.4 Maximisers

Isolating intensifiers as maximisers seen are adverbs indicating the scale of the

highest possible intensity such as utterly, totally, thoroughtly, absolutely, completely and

perfectly (Martin and White, 2005, p 142) As for Quirk et al (1985), the authors add

some items such as altogether, entirely, extremely, fully, quite, thoroughly to this type As

a result, isolating intensifiers as maximisers are recognized via such adverbs as utterly,

totally, thoroughtly, absolutely, completely, perfectly, altogether, entirely, extremely, fully, quite, wholly, dead, awfully and frightfully.

Covering all the cases of intensification is an impossible answer in the paper,

so the researcher decided to exclude cases of isolating intensifiers which are seen as inflections to adjectives; to be more precise, they are the cases of morphemes as suffixes

to adjectives, and pre-modifiers to adjectives/adverbs in comparatives What is more, isolating intensifiers as maximisers will be limited in case of morphemes being suffixes to adjectives/adverbs and pre-modifiers to adjectives/adverbs in superlatives

2.2 Translation strategies

Discussing translation strategies, a variety of translation theorists present their own points of view Newmark (1988, pp 45-47) shows that translation theory’s main concern is to introduce applicable translation methods to the widest possible range of

texts or text-categories He builds eight methods of translation namely (i) Word-for-word

translation; (ii) Literal translation; (iii) Faithful translation; (iv) Semantic translation;

(v) Adaptation; (vi) Free translation; (vii) Idiomatic translation; (viii) Communicative

translation As for Vinay and Darbelnet (2004, pp 85-92), two main translation strategies

are stated involving direct (literal) translation, and oblique translation comprising seven procedures, of which direct translation covers borrowing, calque and literal

translation while oblique translation covers the four remaining ones - transposition, modulation, equivalence and adaptation Although the authors categorise translation

strategies differently, it is certain that they share a certain point The first three strategies

by Newmark (1988) are known as direct (literal) translation by Vinay and Darbelnet

(2004) These authors agree literal translation as a popular strategy, which converts the

source language (SL) grammatical constructions to their nearest target language (TL) equivalents but renders the lexical words singly, out of context by Newmark (1988); which is the direct transfer of a SL text into a grammatically and idiomatically appropriate

TL text by Vinay and Darbelnet (2004)

Baker (1996), however, suggests some strategies of translation which are considered

as universals of translation namely Explicitation, Simplification, Normalization/

conservatism, Leveling out Explicitation is understood as ‘an overall tendency to spell

things out rather than leave them implicit’ (ibid., p.180), described as ‘extra information’

while Vinay and Darbelnet (1995, p.170) consider it ‘gain of information’, which is

defined as a “stylistic translation technique which consists of making explicit in the target language what remains implicit in the source language because it is apparent

from either the context or the situation” (ibid., p.342) Simplification is regarded as

‘the tendency to simplify the language used in translation’ (Baker, 1996, p.181), and Normalization/conservatism - glossed as a ‘tendency to exaggerate features of the target language and to conform to its typical patterns’ (ibid., p.183) Leveling out described

as ‘the tendency of translated text to gravitate towards the centre of a continuum’ (ibid.,

p.184) Additionally, mentioning translation universals, Toury (2004, p.21) regards

explicitation, implicitation, simplicitation, complexification, ect as kinds of shifts in

translation, of which explicitation and simplification are considered as up-rank shift

and down-rank shift respectively by Le (2014); implicitation is described as a “stylistic

translation technique which consists of making what is explicit in the source language implicit in the target language, relying on the context or the situation for conveying the meaning” (Vinay & Darbelnet, 1995, p 344)

Regarding implicitiation and explicitation, Klaudy and Károly (2005) present some criteria to distinguish between them as displayed in Table 2.1

Table 2.1 Criteria to distinguish Implicitation from Explicitation (Klaudy & Károly, 2005)

1 SL unit with a specific meaning replaced

by a TL unit with a more general meaning SL unit with a more general meaning replaced by a TL unit with a more

specific meaning

2 meanings of several SL words combined

in one TL word the meaning of a SL unit distributed over several units in the TL

3 meaningful lexical elements of the SL

text dropped in the TL text new meaningful elements appeared in the TL text

4 two or more sentences in the ST

conjoined into one sentence in the target

text (TT)

one sentence in the ST divided into two or several sentences in the TT

5 ST clauses reduced to phrases in the TT SL phrases extended or ‘raised’ to

clause level in the TT

2.3 Methods and Materials

The study was conducted using qualitative methods in order to analyse materials and analyse the data collected The data include 170 samples extracted from an English literary work namely Wuthering Heights by Bronté and their Vietnamese translations

from Đỉnh Gió Hú by Nguyễn Vân Hà The data were chosen and narrowed based on

the concept of isolating intensifiers by Martin and White (2005) The data were analysed based on the Theoretical Framework of Translation Strategies by Baker (1996); Vinay and Darbelnet (2004); Klaudy and Károly (2005) First, the data of isolating intensifiers collected were examined and described in comparison with the Vietnamese translations

so as to discover, recognise, then sort out into strategies Next, they were grouped in literal translation, implicitation and explicitation Then, a quantalitive calculation of the translation strategies used was carried out so as to depict a general picture of frequencies Last, each strategy of translation was described into details to draw conclusions

2.4 Findings

It is undeniable that English and Vietnamese are not always identical in language type as well as language structure because English is an inflectional language and tends

to move closer to analytic languages whereas Vietnamese is an isolating one, finding one-to-one formal correspondent in translating isolating intensifiers is not always an evident thing Therefore, changes or shifts in the process of rendering isolating intensifiers from English to Vietnamese will be possible and understandable It is obvious that to operate the process of translation requires translators to flexibly apply strategies of translation such as literal translation, implicitation and explicitation From the data analysed, it can

be seen that the majority of the cases recorded were literal translation accounting for the largest rate (61%), followed by implicitation reaching the second highest (27%) while explicitation occupied at a very low rate (12%)

2.4.1 Literal

Via literal translation, English isolating intensifiers are found in Verb Phrases (VP) which are rendered into VP in the Vietnamese equivalent translations All of the cases are isolating intensifiers as maximisers denoting the scale of the highest intensity and that determining up/down-scaling of verbal processes as illustrated in Table 2.2 Such

intensifiers as completely, extremely, perfectly, entirely and absolutely can be put before or after verbs, and rendered their meanings into Vietnamese such as hoàn toàn, hẳn, quá, rất,

luôn Due to the language type, they are flexibly placed at positions in Vietnamese verb

phrases To be more specific, the case of hoàn toàn which is translated from completely

or entirely can be put at the positions both before and after verbs as in [1],[2]&[3] (hoàn

toàn bỏ cuộc // bỏ cuộc hoàn toàn); however, it can not put after the verb as the case in

[4] (hoàn toàn chẳng ưa but not chẳng ưa hoàn toàn) The cases of luôn and rất which can translated from perfectly and absolutely respectively can stand just before verbs as

in [5] and [6] (luôn im thin thít but not im thin thít luôn; rất muốn biết but not muốn biết

rất What is more, in some other cases such isolating intensifiers as completely, perfectly, extremely and entirely as in [7],[8],[9]&[10] are translated into hẳn, quá, luôn which are

just after the verbs in this type of language (bỏ cuộc hẳn but not hẳn bỏ cuộc;khỏi hẳn but not hẳn khỏi; cấu tôi đau quá but not quá cấu tôi đau; đi khỏi đây luôn but not luôn

đi khỏi đây;)

Table 2.2 Isolating Intensifiers as Maximisers and that in Verbal Processes via Literal

[1] They had completely given me up: everybody conjectured that I perished

last night

Họ kêu ầm ầm lên rằng đã hoàn toàn

bỏ cuộc vì đoán tôi bỏ mạng tối qua.

[2] What were the use of my creation, if I

were entirely contained here? Tôi sinh ra để làm gì, nếu hoàn toàn bị bó buộc trong thể xác này? [3] The acquaintance must be dropped

entirely Mối quan hệ này phải hoàn toàn chấm dứt.

[4] His pri-vate feelings entirely

disapproved of the exterior of his new

abode

Bụng nó hoàn toàn chẳng ưa bề

ngoài chỗ ở mới

[5] the poor thing remained perfectly quiet

wherever I chose to put him Chính vì thế thằng bé tội nghiệp luôn im thin thít trốn ở bất cứ nơi nào tôi

giấu nó

[6] ; and I absolutely REQUIRE to know

which you choose , và anh rất muốn biết em chọn ai.

[8] She beguiled Hareton, who had perfectly

recovered from his accident Tay đã khỏi hẳn sau vụ tai nạn. [9] She hurt me extremely Cô cấu tôi đau quá.

[10] if you really have a regard for her, you’ll shun crossing her way again: you’ll

move out of this country entirely;

Nếu thực lòng quan tâm đến mợ ấy, cậu đừng có xuất hiện nữa: không, cậu nên đi khỏi đây luôn

In addition, English isolating intensifiers determining the scale of qualities as pre-modifiers of adjectives and adverbs are converted to the Vietnamese equivalents in the structure of adjective phrases They are rendered their lexical meanings singly, out of the context as seen in Table 2.3 Their Vietnamese equivalents are the very intensifiers in

Vietnamese as the case of very - rất, vô cùng; quite and perpectly - hoàn toàn; rather -

khá, hơi; extremely - cực kì

Table 2.3 Isolating Intensifiers as Pre-modifiers of Adjectives and Adverbs via Literal

No SOURCE LANGUAGE TARGET LANGUAGE

[11] The following evening was very wet Chiều hôm sau trời vô cùng ẩm ướt [12] his health is very precarious và hiện sức khỏe nó rất yếu.

[13] He did not forget me; for he had a kind

heart, though he was rather severe

sometimes

ông chủ không quên tôi, vì ông vốn

tử tế dù đôi khi cũng khá nghiêm khắc.

[15] He was quite strong and healthy Hắn hoàn toàn khỏe mạnh, cường

tráng.

[16] Linton’s looks and move-ments were

very languid, and his form extremely

slight

Linton thì cử chỉ chậm chạp, thân

hình cực kì mảnh dẻ.

[17] ‘Perfectly right; if people be right to

marry only for the present Hoàn toàn đúng, nếu người ta cưới nhau chỉ vì hiện tại

[18] She consented, rather unwillingly Con bé đồng ý, dù tôi nghĩ nó khá

miễn cưỡng.

2.4.2 Implicitation

It can be found that the strategy of implicitation used in the Vietnamese translation

of isolating intensifiers accounted for the highest number at 69% in the case where meaningful lexical elements of the SL text are dropped in the TL text Implicitation occurs when one TL word is created from combining the meanings of several SL words occupying a relatively low proportion of representation at 20% The case of implicitation

in which SL unit with a specific meaning is replaced by a TL unit with a more general meaning made up the lowest percentage at 11% The following are the typical examples

(i) Meaningful lexical elements of the SL text dropped in the TL text

[19] you have no scruples in completely ruining all hopes of her perfect restoration.

 Cậu chả ngần ngại phá tan mọi cơ may để mợ phục hồi hẳn.

[20] and she would soon be entirely her former self

 rồi nàng sẽ sớm trở lại là mình khi xưa.

[21] He did not thoroughly comprehend the meaning of his father’s speech

 Nó chẳng hiểu lời bố nói.

It is obvious that completely, entirely, thoroughly and very are dropped in their TL

translations; in other words, these meaningful SL lexical elements are left out in the TL texts Although the isolating intensifiers are dropped their meanings in the TL texts, the strategy conveys the very content from the SL texts to TL texts and it does not cause ambiguity

(ii) Meanings of several SL words combined in one TL word

[22] but he rose when I appeared, asked me how I did, quite friendly, and offered

me a chair

 Thấy tôi vào, hắn thân mật đứng lên chào hỏi, rồi kéo ghế mời ngồi [AdvP

 A]

[23] He took her education entirely on him-self, and made it an amusement.

 ông một tay dạy dỗ con, và lấy đó làm vui [PP  N]

[24] My feet were thoroughly wetted; I was cross and low; exactly the humour

suited for mak-ing the most of these disagreeable things

 Chân ướt sũng, người mệt mỏi, quạu đeo, tôi thấy thật nực cười khi phải làm công việc khó chịu nhất trần đời này [VP  A]

[25] We were quarrelling like cats about you, Heathcliff; and I was fairly beaten in

protestations of devotion and admiration

 ; Em thua đứt cô ấy về khoản sùng kính, ngưỡng mộ anh (VP  V)

Via implicitation, phrases in SL texts are transfered to words in TL texts The adverb

phrase ‘quite friendly’ in [22] is translated into a Vietnamese adjective ‘thân mật’; the prepositional phrase ‘entirely on himself’ in [23] into a noun ‘một tay’; the verb phrases

‘thoroughly wetted’ in [24] and ‘fairly beaten’ in [25] into an adjective ‘ướt sũng’ and a verb ‘thua đứt’ respectively It can be realized that the isolating intensifiers via the strategy

of implicitation are converted into infusing intensifiers in Vietnamese

(iii) SL unit with a specific meaning replaced by a TL unit with a more general meaning

[26] I did remark, to be sure, that mounting the stairs made her breathe very quick;

 Nhưng tôi nhận thấy rõ ràng là mợ thở hổn hển vì chạy lên cầu thang;

[27] in the act of saying she thought she should be able to get up to-morrow, a fit of coughing took her a very slight one he raised her in his arms

 thì mợ bỗng húng hắng ho, cậu đỡ mợ dậy.

The specific meaning of a unit in the SL text is replaced by a more general meaning

in the TL text It can be found that the verb phrase ‘breath very quick’ is more specific because very is used to modify quick, to boost the meaning of quick which is combined with ‘very’ so as to be a complement of the verb ‘breathe’ Its Vietnamese equivalent is

a verb phrase but it manifests a more general meaning; hổn hển performs a very quick

degree

2.4.3 Explicitation

From the data, three forms of explicitation seen in the TL translations involve

(i) meaning of a SL unit distributed over several units in the TL, (ii) new meaningful

elements appeared in the TL text, (iii) SL unit with a more general meaning replaced by

a TL unit with a more specific meaning The first form can be understood as addition

which involves in the TL text of extra lexical elements, and the last is seen as specification which adds meaning(s) by using lexical elements that are semantically more informative (Kláudy & Karoly, 2005, p.15) They are specified in the following samples

(i) Meaning of a SL unit distributed over several units in the TL

[28] She looked very well, and very hand-some; yet, I think, not very happy.

 Nàng khỏe, rất xinh đẹp Nhưng tôi nghĩ, nàng không được vui vẻ cho lắm [29] I was fairly mad at him

 Em phát điên lên vì nó ấy chứ.

Here it can be seen that the isolating intensifiers ‘very’ as in [28] and ‘fairly’ as in

[29] are translated into Vietnamese with the addition of some extra elements such as được,

cho and lên considered as extra words We can have không vui vẻ lắm instead of being

không được vui vẻ cho lắm or phát điên instead of being phát điên lên The strategy is

applicable to make the translations much more explicit

(ii) New meaningful elements appeared in the TL text

[30] Oh, he’ll do very well

 ồ, thằng bé sẽ nhanh chóng quen thôi.

[31] Both par-ties were delayed very late.

 Cả 2 việc đều bị trì hoãn thành ra chậm trễ.

The explicitation process occurs because the new meaningful elements namely

nhanh chóng, thành ra appear in the Vietnamese translations as in [30] & [31].

(iii) SL unit with a more general meaning replaced by a TL unit with a more specific meaning

Transfering the isolating intensifiers in [32], [33] & [34] is counted to undergo the

explicitation process because more general meanings in the SL texts namely very ill, very

punctually and utterly impossible are established to replace by the TL units with more

special meanings We can have ốm nặng as in [32] which is involved by very, so it is likely

to exclude rất

[32] ‘My father is very ill,’

 Bố tôi quả thực ốm rất nặng.

[33] She obeyed his directions very punctually

 Nàng làm theo lời hắn, không chút chậm trễ.

[34] But it is utterly impossible I can ever be revenged.

 Nhưng rõ ràng làm gì có chuyện tôi trả thù được.

The findings show that the strategies applied to translating isolating intensifiers

extracted from the English literary work - Wuthering Heights into Vietnamese involve

literal, implicitation and explicitation, of which literal translation is the most popular It is

used for rendering isolating intensifiers as maximisers, that determining up/down-scaling

of verbal processes and isolating intensifiers as pre-modifiers of adjectives and adverbs into Vietnamese Via the strategy, the TL equivalents are closest to SL grammatical structures and the lexical words are rendered singly, far from the contexts Implicitation is relatively much used when putting the category of language into Vietnamese, especially when the meaning of isolating intensifiers drop in the Vietnamese translations Through implicitation, it is found that isolating intensifiers combine with adjectives, adverbs or verbs to create meaning of a lexical word such as noun, adjective or verb However, explicitation is seen via the Vietnamese translation of isolating intensifiers but it occupies quite a small number

2.4.4 Some implications

Investigating the strategies for translating English isolating intensifiers into Vietnamese leaves some implications for English learners and translators First of all, from the collected data, it makes clear to realize that English isolating intensifiers can be flexibly position such as before or after verbs, after objects, before adjectives and adverbs

as pre-modifiers, before noun phrases or prepositional phrases This helps learners perceive their flexibility and variety of positions as well as of funtions so as to use them in the effective language communication Secondly, via the lens of translation these intensifiers are rendered into Vietnamese by three various strategies such as literal, implicitation and explicitation Each forces to transform them into Vietnamese in such a way that their Vietnamese equivalents are accepted and convey the very message of the TL text Via these strategies of translation, isolating intensifiers are translated quite differently, and the

following case of very is a typical example By literal, very as pre-modifiers of adjectives and adverbs can be translated as rất, vô cùng, tuyệt By implicitation, it can be replaced

by a more general meaning in the TL text for example, breathe very quick  thở hổn

hển By explicitation, it can distribute over several units in the TL, for instance, not very happy  không được vui vẻ cho lắm; or it can create a new meaning in the TL text like do very well  nhanh chóng quen thôi Therefore, translators should comprehend this type

of language and strategies of translation applied to their rendering into Vietnamese so as

to bring exact translations Lastly, the paper clarifies the three strategies for translating English isolating intensifiers into Vietnamese This helps English learners and translators

be more confident and flexible in choosing applicable strategies to SL texts

3 Conclusion

By way of conclusion, isolating intensifiers are a language category enlightened

by Martin and White (2005) operating the theory of appraisal From the samples taken

from the English literary work - Wuthering Heights by Bronté, we can see how these intensifiers are translated into Vietnamese, at the same time finding out three strategies of translation involved in the process Literal is the most popular when rendering isolating intensifiers as maximisers, as pre-modifiers of adjectives/adverbs and isolating intensifiers