Luận văn a study on translation of environmental terms from english into vietnamese

I myself , sometimes , get trouble in translation of technical terms , so hoping that it is likely to accumulate translation skill both in foreign language and mothertounge, forming a c

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KHOA LUAN TOT NGHIEP

NGANH:

HAI PHONG - 2010

IIAIPIIONG PRIVATE UNIVESITY FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT

_BO GIAO DUC VABAOTAO

TRUONG ĐẠI HỌC DAN LẬP HẢI PHÒNG

Nhiém vu dé tai

1 Nội dung va các yêu câu cần giải quyết trong nhiệm vụ để tải tốt nghiệp

( về lý luận, thực tiễn, các số liệu cần linh toán và áo bản vỡ)

2 Các số liệu cẦn thiết để thiết kề, tính toán

3 Địn diểm thực tập tốt nghiệp

CÁN BỘ HƯỚNG DẪN ĐẺ TÀI Người hướng dẫn thứ nhất:

Hoe ham, hoe vi:

Học hảm, học vỊ:

Nội dung hướng đẫn

Dề tài tốt nghiệp được giao ngày 12 tháng 04 năm 2010

Yêu gầu phãi hoàn thành xong lrước ngày 10 tháng 07 năm 2010

Dã nhận nhiệm vụ DTTN Dã giao nhiệm vụ DTTN

Hải Phòng, ngày thủng năm 2010

HIỆU TRƯỞNG

GS.TS.NGUYT Trần Hữa Nghị

PIIAN NIIAN XET TOM TAT CUA CAN BỘ HƯỚNG DẪN

1 Tỉnh thân thái độ của sinh viên trong quá trình làm đề tài tắt nghiệp:

2 Đánh giá chất lượng của khóa luận (so với nội dung y yêu cầu đã để ra trong

luận, thực tiễn, tính toán số

NHẬN XÉT ĐÁNHI GIÁ

CUA NGUOI CHAM PHAN BIEN DE TAI TOT NGHIEP

1 Đánh giá chất lượng dé tài tốt nghiệp về các mặt thu thập và phân tích tải liệu,

số liệu ban đầu, giá trị lí luận vả thực tiễn của để tài

2 Cho điểm của người chấm phản biện :

(Điền ghỉ bằng số và chữ)

Ngày thang, nam 2010

Người chấm phản biện

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

In the process of implementing this graduation paper, 1 have received great deal of helps, guidance and encouragements from teachers and friends

First of all, I would like lo express my deepest thanks lo Mrs Dao Lan Iluong —

my supervior lor her cncouragement and guidance During my sludy process , she

has willingly and readily suggested and given me valuable advice and detail

comments about my study

Next, I would like to express my gralitude to all tcachers in foreign language

department for their lectures during 4 years which help me much in completing this

paper

Last but not least, I would like to thank my family and my friends who have

always cncouraged, supporled and helped me to complete this paper

Hai Phong, 2010

Student

Hoang Thi Thu Huong

2 Scopes of the siudy

3 Methods of the study - - 12

4 Design of the study ce ens HH iy su 2

PART H: DEVELOPMEXT 14 CHAPERI: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND - 14

IL ‘Translation of environmental terms - 20

IL.1 Translation of ESP

111.2 1ypes of ESP

1.2 Enviromental ESP translations - - 23

11.2.1 Definition of technical translation - - 23

TL2.2 Translation in the case of environmental field

CIIAPER II: A STUDY ON TIIE TRANSLATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL TERMS FROM ENGLISH 10 VIETNAMESE

TIL Popular Stratogics and Procedures appicd in the translation of environmental

TIL 1 The related terms in air pollution

TIL2 Related terms in water pollution - - 40

TIL.3 Related terms ím soil poliution

PART 1 INTRODUCTION

1.Reason of the study

In the rcccnt years, English is more and more widely used as well as gradually

proves itself in all fields in society.In Viet Nam, in the process of integration and development , especially after joining in WTO, English is considered as the golden

key to make us access to the world’s civilization ‘Thanks to translation texts , we

can quickly update technical and scientific achievements, international laws , daily

news , works of art , literatures , films and conversely , exchange mlormation ,

culture and trade to other countries in the world Hence , it is affirmed that the

works of translation also acts as a bridge not only to connect people all over the

world but also to convey knowledge between cultures and civilizalions in the world

With its miportance, nowadays, learnmg and teaching English m environmental

terms is facing new challenges As the matter of fact , this field has recently

become more and more popular and the amount of leamers gocs up much more

than it has ever One recognizable feature of environmental terms is that its

translation is much different [rom literature translation owing Lo Lhe exaction and

fidelity Students certamly have to face with contusion when they begin their

specialist translation , especially , with various environmental terms Besides , at

present cnvironmental specialist English study is informed in many kinds of

broadcast such as : internet , newpapers Teaching and learning environmental

Tnglish are not standardized I myself , sometimes , get trouble in translation of

technical terms , so hoping that it is likely to accumulate translation skill both in

foreign language and mothertounge, forming a capacity of consciously distinguist

technical terms with cultural ones Therefore , il is necessary lo figure oul some

problems in transaltion techniques in general and translations of environmental

terms in particular This will help leammers not only translate terms effectively but

also master the mformation frum wriltcn texts and [rom visual forms of

presentation relates to this field

2 Scopes of the study

Technical Lerms are divided imto many fields with different vocabularies and own

features In case of environmental terms , readers must devote time and attempt ta

collect , discover or update new words , new vocabularies in different section of

environment Because the knowledge changes everyday or everytime the

accumulation of specialist information is considered urgent This study shows more challenges arising during research process as well as patience from learners

im environmental field with such a broad scale ]Jue to limitted knowledge and comprehension , all environmental terms can not be mentioned here

3 Methods of study

Documents for environmental terms study are found out from several soures such

as: linguistic books , specialist books which are used in universilies , and inlemet

Moreover, a lot of examples or illustrations are given out in each part , the exact or

sincereness is certainly ensured because all of them are chosen and selected from

believable sources

4 Design of stady

My graduation paper is divided into three parts , in which the second, naturally , is

the most important part

ePart I is the INTRODUCTION in which reason of the study ,scopes of’ study , design of study are presented

«Part 0 is the DEVELOPMENT that includes 3 chapters:

Chapter I is Theoretical background which focuses on the definition methods procedures of translation in general and ESP translation technical

translation

Chapter II is definition of term , general feature of term and popular strategies

and procedures applied in the translation of environmental terms

Chapter TIL is Implication including difficulties in translation of

cnvironmental terms and some tips for environmental translation

® Part LiL is the CONCLUSION

PART IT: DEVELOPMENT CHAPER I] : THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

I Translation theory

1.1 Definitions

Translation has cxisted in every corner of our life IL is considered an indispenable

part in the fields of not only literature , culture and religion but also commercial

advertisement ,popular entertaimment , public administration, intemational,

diplomacy, scientific, roscarch publication, judiciary, procedure, immigration and

education ect Thus, definitions of translation are numerous , and a lagre

number of writers have written about this subject In this paper , same various

concepts of translation have been collected as follows

-Iranslation is the interpretation of the meaning of a text and one language ( the

source text ) and the production , in another language of equivalent text ( the target

text ) that communicates the same message (Wikpodia)

- Translation is made possible by an cquivalont of thought that lies bchind as

different verbal expressions ( Savory ,1968:10)

-IranslaHon is the transformation of a text origimally in one language into an equivalent in the content of the message and the formal features and the roles of

original text (Bell, 1991-7)

-Translation is the studying (he lexicon , grammatical structure , communication

-‘lyanslation is producing in the target language , the closet natural equivalent of

the source language message , firstly with respect to meaning and secondly with respeul ty style (E.A Nida, 1959:8)

-Newmark (1988 : 9) : Translation is rendering the meaning of a lext into another

language in the way that author intended the text

-lDuff : ‘Translation , as the process of conveying messages across the linguistic and

cultural barriers , is an eminently communicative activity, one whose use could be

well considered in a wider range of teaching siluation than may currently be the

case ( Tudor , cites in Duff, 1989-5)

-Spivak (1992:5) : Considering translation as the most mtimate act of reading (p.398) writes that “ unless the translator has eared the right to become an intimate

reader , she can nol surrender to the next , can not respond to the special call the

text ( p.400) ”’ In general , what seem to be understood as translation as Bassett

(1994) writes , includes rendering an SL text to TL text so as to ensure that 1)

surface meaning of the two will be approximately similar and 2) the structure of

the SL will be preserved as closely as possible but no so closely that the TL structures will be seriously distorted

Although these delinihons arc different in expression , they share common features

about finding the closest equivalence m meaning by the choice of appreciate target

Janguages lexical and grammatical structures , communication situation , and

cultural content Some sort of movement from ane language to anather also depends on translation types that will be shown in the next part

1.2 Translation types

‘Lhe translation types are often categorized by the number of areas of specialization

Each specialization has its own strategies and difficulties Some translation types

arc list as [ollowing

-Word — for- word translation : The SL word order is preseved and the words are

tanslated by their most common meanings Cultural words are translated literally

The main use of this method is cither to understand the mevhanies of source

language or to construc a difficult text as pro- translation process

-Literal translation : Literal translation is a broader form of translation , each SL

word has a corresponding TL word , but their primary meanings may differ The

SL grammatical constructions arc converted 1 their nearest TL equivalents but

the lexical items are again translated out of the context Literal translation is

considered the basic translation step , both in communicative and semantic

translation , in thal translation starts from there As pre- ianslalion process , il

indicates problems to be solved

-Faithful translation : It attempts to reproduce the precise contextual meaning of the original within the constraint of the TL grammatical structures It transfers

cultural words and preserves the degree of grammatical and lexical deviation from

SL norms It attempts to be completely faithful to the intentions and the text

Tealization of the SL writer

-Semantic translation : It differs from faithful translation only im as far as it must

take more account of the acsthetic valuc of the ST ext , compromising on moaning

where appropriate so that no assonance , word play or repetition jars in the finished

version It dues no rely on cultural equivalence and makes very small concessions

to the readership while faithful translation is dogmatic , semantic translation is

more flexible Newmark (1982:22) says that “ semantic translating where the

translator attempts , within the hase syntactic and scmantic constraints of the TT

to reproduce the precise contextual meaning of the author ˆ

-Adaptation : This is the freest from of translation mainly used for plays and poetry

theme , characters , plots preserved , SL culture converted to TL culture and text

is rewritten Dung Vu (2004) points out that : “ Adaptation has a property of

lending the ideas of the original to create a new text used by a new language more than to be faithful to the original The creation in adaptation is completely

objective in content as well as form ””

-Free translation : means the translation isn’t close to the original , but the

translator just transmits meanings of the SL in his own words It reproduces the

matter without the manner or the content without the form of the original Usually

it is a paraphrase much longer than the original ‘Therefore , the text in TI, sounds

more natural On the contrary , translating is too casual to understand the original

because of its freedom

-Idiomatic translation : Idiomatic translation is used for colloquialism and idioms

whose literalism of the original , uses the translation of colloquialism and idioms

-Communicalive translation : It attempts to reader the exact contextual meaning of

the original m such a way that both language and content are readily acceptable and comprehensible to readership “ but even here the translation still has to

respect and work on the form of the source language (cxl as the only material basic

for his work ” ( Peter Newmark ,1982:39)

-lranslation by using a loan word is particularly common in dealing with culure

specific ilems , modem concepls and buzz words Using a loan word is

dramatically strong mcthod applied for the word which have [orcign origin or have

no equivalence in TL

-Shift or transposition translation : A “shift” Catford term or “ transposition” ( Vinay & Darbelnct } is a translation procedure involving a chance in (he grammar from SL to ‘I'L One type , the change in the world order is named “ Automatic

translation * and offers translator no choice

1.3 Translation equivalence

The comparison of texts in different languages inevitably involves a theory of

equivalenes Equivalenec can be said to be the central issue in translation allhough

its definition , relevance , and applicability within the field of translation theory

have caused heated controversy , and many different theories of the concept of

equivalence have been claborated within this past Lifty years Pym (19920 has

pointed to its circularity equivalence is supposed to define translation , in turn , defines cquivalence Here are some claboraic approavhes (o translation

equivalence

‘lranslational equivalence is the similarity between a word ( and expression ) in one language and its translation in another This similarity results from

overlapping ranges ol relerence

Translational cquivalonee is 4 corresponding word or expression in another

Janguage ( Lingualinks library , Version 5.0 published on CL) — ROM by SL

Intemational , 2603 )

Nida argued that there are two different types of Wanslation equivalence , namely

formal equivalence which in the second edition by Nida and ‘Taber (1982) is teferred to as formal correspondence and dynamic equivalence Formal

correspondence “ focuses altcntion on the message itself’, in both form and content

™ it unlike dynamic equivalence which is based upon “ the principle of equivalent effect ” (1964 :159) In the second edition (1982) or their work , the two theorists

provide a more detailed explanation of cach type of cquivalonce

Formal correspondence consists of a TI item which represents the closest

equivalence of a SL word or phrase Nida and Taber make it clear that there are

not always formal cquivalents between language pairs They therefore suggest that

these formal equivalents should be used wherever possible if the translation aims at

achieving formal rather than dynamic equivalence The use of formal rather than

dynamic equivalence The use of formal equivalents might at times have serious implications im the ‘Il since the translation will not be easily understand hy the

target audience (lawcett,1997) Nida and Taber themselves assert that “ Typically

fromal correspondence distorts the grammatical and stylistic patterns of the receptor language and hence distorts the message so as to cause the receptor to

misunderstand or lo labor unduly hard” (ibid ‘201)

-Dynamic equivanlence is defined as a translation principle according to which a

translator seeks to translate the meaning of original in such a way that the TÌ,

wording will trigger the same impact on the TC audience as the original wording

did upon the ST audience They argue that “ Frequenntly , the form of original

text is changed , but as long as the change follows the rules of back transformation

m the source language , of contextual consisumcy in the Wansfer , and of

transformation in the receptor language , the message is preserved and the

translation is faithful” (Nida and Taber, 1982:200)

-Newmark (1988) defined that : “ ‘Che overriding purpose of any translation should

be to achieve * equivalence effect lo produce the same effect on the readership of

translation as was oblamed on the readership of the onginal” He alsa sces equivalcnee ctfect as the desirable result rather than the aim of any translation

except for two cases (a) if the purpose of the SL text is to effect and the TL

translation is to inform or vice verse , (b) if there is a pronounced cultural gap between the SL and the text

Koller (1979) considers five types of equivalence

-Denotative equivalence : ‘Lhe SL and the ‘l'L words refer to the same thing in the

real world Ibis an equivalence of the extra linguislie content of a text

-Comnotalive equivalence : This lype of equivalence provides addiional value and

is achieved by the translators’s choice of synonymous words or expressiuns

-Text — normative equivalence © The SL and the ‘I words are used in the same or

sumilar context in their respective readers

-Formal equivalence : This type of equivalence produces an analogy of form in the translation by either exploiting formal possibilities of the TL , or creating new

forms in ‘TL

Although equivalence translation is defined with different point of view of

theorists it is the same effective equivalence between SL and TL

1.4 Conclusion

All status mentioned above have obviously shown characteristics as well as types

of equivalence in traslation In order to discover the similarity between words in

SL and ones in ‘IL learners need spend a lot of time researching and seeking reference documents from various sources , then analysis evidence only when they

have good understanding about this scetion The chanllenges which need to be

solved by translators are that what translators will do when there is no word in the

TL to express the same meaning as the source language word or when a problem

arises from lack of equivalence at word level or about word level In general not

all words can be analysed with correspponding equivalence in different

languages,translators , however , have to find oul a resonable expression for

explaining terms or translation toxls so that readers may get a near approach wilh

contents which are included in the texts

Il Translation of environmental terms

TI.1 Translation of ESP

11.1.1 Definition of KSP

English for specific purpose (ESP) is a worldwide subject Hutchinson and Waters (1987) note that two key historical periods breathed life into LSP First , the end of

the second World War brought with it an “ Ape of cnormous and

unprecedented expansion in scientific , technical and economic activity on an international scale for various reasons , most notably the economic power of the

United States in the post war world, the role international language fell to English”

Second, the oil crisis of the early 1970s resulted in western money and knowledge

flowing into the oil — rich countrics The language of this knowledge became

English

‘The second key reason cited as having a tremendous impact on the emergence of

ESF was a revolution in linguistics whereas traditional linguists set out to describe

the features of language , revolutionary pioneers in linguistics began to focus on

the ways in which language is used in real communication Hutchinson and

Waters (1987) point oul that one significant discovery was in the ways that spoken

and written English vary In other words , given the particular context in which

English is used , the variant of English will change This idea was taken one step

farther If language im difTerent situations varies , then tailormg language

msiruction to meet the needs of learners in specific contexts is also possible

Hence, in the lale 1960s and the carly 1970s there were many atlompts to describe

Finglish for science and technology (EST) Hutchinson and Waters (1987)

indentify Ewer and latorre , Swales , Selinker and Trimble as a few of the

prominent descriptive EST pioncers

The final reason Hutchinson and Walers (1987) cite as having influenced the

omergence of ESP has loss to do with linguistics and overything lo de psychology Rather than simply focus on the method of language delivery , more attention was

given to the ways in which learners acquire language and the differences in the

ways language is acquired Leamers were seen Lo employ different learning

strategies use different skills, enter with different learning schemata and be motivated by different needs became equally paramount as the methods employed

to disseminate linguistic knowledge Designing specific courses to better meet

these individual needs was a natural extension of this thinking To this day, the

catchward in ESL circles is learner centered or learning -centered

As for a broader definition of ESP , IIutchinson and Waters (1987) theorize , “ ESP

is an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and

method are based on the learner’s reason for learning” Anthony (1997) notes that

, it is not clean where ESP courses cnd and general English courses begin ,

numerous non- specialist ESL instructors use an ESP approach in that their syllable are based on analysis of learner needs and their own persoal specialist

knowledge of using Knglish for real communication

IL.1.2 Types of ESP

David Cater (1983) identities three types of FSP

-Rrglish as a restricted language

-English for academic and occupational purpose

-Hnglish with specific topics

The language used by air traffic contrallers ar by waiters are examples of English

as a restricted language Mackay and Mountford(1978) clearly illustrate as

“special” im the sense thal the repertoire required by the controller is strictly hmited

and can be accurately determined in situation as might be the linguistic needs of a

dining — room waiter or air- hostess [lowever, such restricted repertoires are not languages just as a lourist phrase book is nol grammar Knowing a restricted

“language” would not allow the speaker to communicate effectively in novel

siluations or in contexts outside the vocational environment (pp.4-S)

The second type of ESP identified by Caler (1983) is English or Academic and

Occupational Purpose In the “ree of KL'I” , ESP is broken down into three

branches

-English for Science and Technology (EST)

-English for Business and Economics (EBE)}

-English for Social Studies (ESS)

Each of these subject areas is further divided into two branches English for

Academic purpose (EAP) and English for Occupalional Purpose (EOP) An example of KOP for the EST branch is English for ‘Technician whereas an example

of ZAP for the EST branch is English for Medical Studies

Ilutchinson and Waters(1987) do note that there is not a clear cut distinction

between FAP and EOP : “poople can work and study simultancously , it is also

likely that in many cases the language learnt for immediate use in a study environment will be used later when the student takes up or returns to a job” Perhaps this explains Cater’s rationale for categorizing KAP and KOP under the

same type of ESP It appears that Cater is implying that the end purpose of both RAP and ROP are onc in the same employment However , despite the end purpose heing identical the means taken to achieve the end is very different indeed

I contend that EAP and EOP are diffirent in terms of focus on Cummins(1979)

notions of cognitive academic proficiency versus basic interpersonal skills ‘This is

examined in further detail below,

‘The third and final type of ESP identified by Cater (1983) is English with specific

topics Cater notes that it is only here where emphasis shifts from purpose to topic

‘This type of ESP is uniquely concerned with anticipated future English needs of

for examples scientists requiring Inglish for postgraduate reading studies, altending conferences or working in orcign mstilulions However, I argue thal this is not a separate type of KSP Rather it is an integral component of ESP

courses or programs which [ycus on situational language This situational language has been detcrmined based on the interpretation of results from necds

analysis of authentic language used in target workplace settings

IL2 Enviromental ESP translations

Environmental ESP belongs to technical language, so it is much different from descriptive language ESP deeply specializes on relevant Licld and the translators need have comprehension about this area to give out a literal translation which is

imporlant because most Fnvironmental documents are wrilten m English language

which needs to understand deeply And, it is impossible to contrast a complete

translation thal captures the universal mcanmg of the SL in the environmental yext

without the full understanding about Environmental terms which is an issue

relevant to technical translation Thus , this part of the study is based on the

theoretical background of technical translation

IL.2.1 Definition of technical translation

Technical translation is distinguished Lrom literary translation by Safer ( 1991) as

follow : “ ‘the main division in the translation field is between literary and

technical translation” According to him , literal translalion covers such areas as

fiction , poetry , drama and humanitics m general and is done by writers of the

same kind in the TL , or at least by translators with the required literary attitude

Moanwhile , technical translation is done by much grealer number of practitioners

and is ever-going and expanding with excellent with opportumtties

Newmark (1981) differently distinguishes technical translation from institutional

translation “Technical translation is one part of specialized translation ;

institutional translation ; the arca ol pohtics , commerce , finanee , government cet

is the other” He goes on to suggest that technical translation is potentially non- cultural and universal because the benefits of technology are not confined to one

speech community The terms in technical translation , therctore , should be

translated On the contrary , institutional translation is cultural , se in principle , the terms arc transferred unless they arc connected approaches to technical

translation , they both view it as specialized translation with its essential element

« specialized term”

IL2.2 Translation in dhe case of environmental field

Environmental terms are one of the popular specific fields, like other languages, ils terminologies can change over time If translators translate in the environmental

field, translators must find the correct terminology used in the translation Therefore , iL would be very helplul for our translation if we are constantly

updating glossaries related to the field as a whole , as well as specific

environmental topics Besides , translation of environmental lerms is quile

complex , we are required translational skills and domain knowledge to include the

fields of Environment Moreover , we need to know more deeply about its word

building , so the next term in Environmental field will show more in details

A term is a word or expression that has a parlicular meaning or is used in particular

activity , job , profession , ect (Longnan Dictionary of Contemporary English (981)

Term is the varialion of language in a specific condition (Peter Newmark) and he

stacd (hal the central difficulty in translation 1s usually the new terminology Even

then , the main problem is likely to be that of some terms in the source text which

are relatively context-[rcc , and appear only once If they are context-bound , you are more likely to understand them by gradually eliminating the less likely versions

The characteristics of terms

There is distinction between technical and descriptive terms The original SL

wriler may usc a duscriptive torm Lor a technical object for three reasons:

® ‘the objective is new and not yet has a name

œ The descriptive term is being used as a familiar alternative , to advoid

repetition

® ‘the descriptive term is being used to make a contrast with another one

Normally, ‘Iranslators should translate technical and descriptive terms by their

counterparts and , in particular , resist the temptation of translating a descriptive by

a technical torm for showwing off your knowledge , there by saerilicing the linguistic force of the SL descriptive term However , if the SL descriptive term is

being used either because of the SL writer’s ignorance or negligence , or because

the appropriate technical term docs not

Lain the SL, and m particular if an

object strange to the SL but not to the TL culture is being referred to , then

translators are justilicd in wanslaling # descriptive by a technical term,

CHAPER II: A STUDY ON THE TRANSLATION OF

Linguists have proposed up to hundred defimilion of terminclogy In “ Dictionary

of Linguistic Terminology” ( 1997) there are 15 different definitions of

terminclogy In the words of Nguyen Van Tu ( 1960: 176), “Terminology is a

word or combination of words that is used in science , technology politics ,

art and it has specific meaning , denotes precise concepts and names of the

above mentioned scientific areas” This definition shares some common features

im content with the definition given by Russian authors in “ Russian Encyclopedia”

(1976: 473 474) “ Terminology is a word or a combination of words that denotes the concept precisely and its relationship with other concept in a

specific area Terminology is a specialized and restricted expression on things

, phenomina , characteristics , and ihe relationships in a specific profession”

Many Vietnamese linguistics such as Do Huu Chau (1962) , Luu Van Lang (1979), also provided delinitions of terminology Yet , the newest and most informative

definition was the one by Nguyen ‘Thien Giap (1985: 308 — 309) He claimed that

terminclogy , which is understood as a specific linguistic unit of a language ,

consists of word and fixed phrase that provides precise defmitions and objectives

that belong to a particular scientific area

Through the above mentioned definitions it is clear that there are distinctive feature between terminology and a normal word or phrase First , terminology is

a specific linguistic unit andthe existence of terminology is in a close ties

with definitions and objectives in a professional area but not in normal use of

language If language can depiet a society , lerminology shows lhe development

of science , technical , and technology of that socety

As lorminology is special unit in the lexival systom of a languago , it has ils own

distinctive fcatures so as to satisfy certain criteria to be considered scientific

terminology In “ The conference on Building Terminology System held by the

Sate Commitice of Scicnee (1969, Ha Noi} goncral criteria of termimology were

discussed and then concluded that the following qualities should be in terminology

Accurateness , (2) systematism , (3) internationalism Based on these guiding

criteria cach language may require other principles according to its culture’s

specialities For instance , terminology in Vietnamese should be — scientific (accurate , systematic , short), nationalism (appropriate to Vietmamese culture and

language ), popular ( easy to understand , memorize , speak , write and read )

In the next section general features of terminology are going to be explored

TL.General feature of term

‘Yhe distinction between technical and descriptive term is unfarmiliar ‘Ibe original

may use a descriptive term for a technical object for three reasons :

-The object is new or it has not yet the name

-Descriptive term is used as farmiliar alternative to avoid repetition

-Descriptive term is used to make contrast with another one

Terminology in general and scientific terminology , as defined above , is a word or

a phrase uscd in a particular scientilic Licld lo denote a concept or object conerctely

and precisely ‘Thus , terminology is to express concepts in a specific science , dependent on the concept system of that science Termmology , as a result , is

difforent from normal vocabulary in a narrower scale of use ( ngoai dicen hicp) Tt

is , however , has a deeper sense of meaning as : the speaker's attitude , figurative sense , complement or criticism , ect .It was claimed in linguistics Journal (1977

vol) by Luu Van Lang that scientific termmeology should have at least three

following qualities : accurateness , systematicism , and intemationalism

TỊ.1.Accurateness

-Aoouralenoss 1s the Írst oritcrion oÏ ä seienHfe tcrm TL moans that a term should

express a scientific concept or definition concretely and precisely in order to avoid misunderstanding concept for another In a small system of a narrow professional

scale it is , therefore , necessary that cach concept have a typical term and a term

also denotes a concept in the system It is noted that a term;s meaning is not always is sum of its components’ meaning It is , however , the combination of

linguistic signals that produce new nuances of meanmg which arc considered sub

and non-basic meaning The basic nuclear meaning of linguistic signals ,

meanwhile , remains Take as an illustration , body in the combinationb well built

body has the nuance of meaning the main par as the basic nuclear meaning and sub

meaning as part of a human being When it is combined with clay in clay body ,

the term has the hasic nuclear meanmg and a new sub meaning as a frame structure

of a ceramic ware Luv Van Lang affirmed that each linguistic signal poses one basic nuclear meaning and vice versa a concept also has a typical linguistic signal

in a concrete situation Hased on this view when setting a term system ina field, it

1s advisable to take care of the homophene or synonymy which are often met in

while “than” , or “xuong” are considered typical ‘hey are , however , typical terms in art term as xuong dat in clay body and than may in technical term the

body of a machine It is the problem of determining the typical as well as nuclear

meaning of each term in a concrete situation and excluding extra sub meaning

that make a scientific term accurate and standardized

11.2 Systematism

Terminology is a part ofa language , which is 4 syslem of a linguislic signs Lach

language consists of a specific system , thus terminology in each language also

poses its own system Systematism in terminology , therefore , is considered one

of the most important Icature of termmology

Some Russian terminologist such as reformatski (1961:51) believed that the