An investigation into translation procedures of similes and ellipsis in english translational ver

THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ TUYẾT NGÂN AN INVESTIGATION INTO TRANSLATION PROCEDURES OF SIMILES AND ELLIPSIS IN ENGLISH TRANSLATIONAL VERS

THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG

UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDIES

PHẠM THỊ TUYẾT NGÂN

AN INVESTIGATION INTO TRANSLATION PROCEDURES

OF SIMILES AND ELLIPSIS IN ENGLISH

TRANSLATIONAL VERSIONS FROM

THEIR VIETNAMESE SHORT STORIES

Major: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

Code: 8220201

MASTER THESIS IN LINGUISTICS AND CULTURAL STUDIES OF

FOREIGN COUNTRIES (A SUMMARY)

Da Nang, 2021

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The thesis has been completed at University of

Foreign Language Studies, The University of Da Nang

Supervisor: LÊ TẤN THI, Ph.D

Examiner 1: Assoc.Prof.Dr Phạm Thị Hồng Nhung

This thesis is available for purpose of reference at:

- Library of University of Foreign Languages Studies, The

University of Da Nang

- The Center for Learning Information Resources and Communication – The University of Da Nang

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Chapter One INTRODUCTION

1.1 RATIONALE

An anthology of contemporary prose - Love After War titled

in English It was published by Curbstone, America and released worldwide through the Internet, then the San Francisco Chronicle reports voted as one of the 100 best books of 2003 This is the first time Vietnam's literature introduces himself to the world with the most confident way In this anthology, we recognize the big names

of contemporary prose from Vietnam While reading Vietnamese short stories and their English translational equivalents in “Love After War”, it is noticed that many stylistic devices are used such as simile, ellipsis etc They seem to be very effective in bringing miracles to Vietnamese short stories Due to these rhetorical devices, the language is peeled off, wearing a new cloak which is more beautiful, more charming and of course meaningful

In order to create favorable conditions for those who want to understand more about how Vietnamese stylistic devices are translated into English in the translational version “Love After War”,

I decided to choose the topic entitled “An Investigation into

Translation Procedures of Similes and Ellipsis in English Translational Versions from Vietnamese Short Stories‟

1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

1.2.1 Aims

1.2.2 Objectives

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1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1 What are procedures for translating simile

in Vietnamese short stories into English in

“Love After War”?

2 What are procedures for translating ellipsis

in Vietnamese short stories into English in

“Love After War”?

3 What are the occurrence frequencies of procedures for translating simile and ellipsis in Vietnamese short stories into English in “Love After War”

1.4 SCOPE OF STUDY

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Chapter Two LITERARURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACK GROUND

2.1 PREVIOUS STUDIES

In Vietnamese as well as in English language, some researches on stylistic devices and translation of stylistic devices include “ 99 phương tiện và biện pháp tu từ tiếng Việt” by Đinh Trọng Lạc (1996), “ Stylistics” by Galperin, I R (1977), “A Text book of translation ” by Newmark, P (1988) In reference with the dissertations, some theses related to the research are referred to

All of these studies could be used as the valuable reference for my research However, there has been so far no research into the

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stylistic devices, i.e simile and ellipsis used in Vietnamese short stories and their English translational equivalents in “Love After War” This is the reason why I have decided on the research

2.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.2.1 Stylistic Devices

Stylistics studies the special media of language which are called stylistic devices and expressive means Expressive means and stylistic devices form three large groups of phonetic, lexical, syntactical means and devices Each group is further subdivided according to the principle, purpose and function of a mean or a device in an utterance

2.2.2 Translation procedures

The following are the different translation procedures that are proposed by Newmark (1988b: 83, 114) and the examples are

quoted from Nguyen Thi Hong Ha (2018) They include synonymy,

shifts or transpositions, compensation, reduction, paraphrase, literal, expansion, explanation

2.2.3 Syntactic Structures related to the Translation of Vietnamese Simile and Ellipsis into English

Like other units of language in both languages, the translation of simile as well as ellipsis as stylistic devices in Vietnamese into English can be transformed by means of syntactic structures The English structural equivalents of Vietnamese simile and ellipsis can be a syntactic category or a phrase, such as a noun, adjective or verb phrases; or a sentence, i.e simple, complex or compound in positive, negative or interrogative forms in active or

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even passive Thanks to decoding the meaning of English translational equivalents of Vietnamese simile and ellipsis in such syntactic constructions, translation procedures can be identified

2.2.4 Overview of Co-translators and the Book

In these sections, we mention the brief bibliographies of the co-translators Wayne Karlin and Hồ Anh Thái, the translational version itself „Love after War‟ and especially opinions of some authors about the translational version „Love After War‟

Chapter Three METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURES

3.2 DATA COLLECTION

Among 50 Vietnamese short stories and their English

translational equivalents in “Love After War”, 13 Vietnamese short stories and their translated versions were chosen at random for our

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research because they are among the short stories that could be downloaded from the internet

In terms of sampling, 86 samples were totally collected from

13 Vietnamese short stories mentioned above and 86 English translational versions of theirs Among these samples, there were 35 samples related to the simile in the source language and the same number in the target language and 51 samples in association with Vietnamese ellipsis and the equivalent quantity in English translational version

3.3 DATA ANALYSIS

Data analysis was carried out based on the theories of stylistic devices and the theories of translation The collected data were identified and grouped into categories depending on the

stylistic devices, i.e simile and ellipsis found in Vietnamese short

stories and their English translational equivalents in “Love After War”

3.4 RESEARCH PROCEDURES

(i) collecting samples of simile and ellipsis as stylistic

devices in 13 Vietnamese short stories and finding their English translational equivalents in “Love After War”

(ii) classifying, comparing, analyzing, discussing and finding

the results of simile and ellipsis in the source language as well in the

target one in terms of both quantity and quality and in order to find the procedures for rending these stylistic devices into English

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(iii) giving some suggestion for translating, teaching and learning

3.5 RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY

On the basis of methodology and procedures, the research result is significant, highly practical and really valid

CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 TRANSLATION PROCEDURES OF VIETNAMESE SIMILE INTO ENGLISH

4.1.1 Translation Procedures of Vietnamese Simile with Marker ‘như’ into English

4.1.1.1 Literal

Literal translation ranges from one word to one word through

group to group, collocation to collocation, clause to clause, to

sentence to sentence

Syntactically, the structure of Vietnamese or English similes can be constructed as the simile device plus the immediately preceding or following components that form a syntactic structure or sentence element of complete meaning

Properly, the Vietnamese simile device „như‟ is preceded by

an adjective and followed by a noun or noun phrase In terms of translation procedure, the structure of Vietnamese simile device

„như‟ is literally rendered into English

(a1) Adj + như + N(P) => Adj + as + N(P)

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The Vietnamese simile như in my research is rendered into

English by means of the English simile as For example:

[4.1a] “Tối hôm qua lưỡi hai đứa lại ngọt như kẹo và môi rất dính

Tôi đã không gỡ môi ra để nhắc chuyện cưới xin, tôi biết đấy là lần hôn cuối.” (Phạm Thị Hoài:6)

[4.1b] Last night our tongues had again been sweet as honey candy

and our lips matched fine I didn‟t free my lips to talk about marriage I knew it would be our last kiss (Wayne Karlin and Hồ Anh Thái:362)

Syntactically, the preposition of simile as in English is

followed by noun or noun equivalents, i.e noun phrases or gerund Table 4.1 Procedures of Translating Vietnamese Simile with Marker

„như‟ into English

Vietnamese Simile English

Equivalents

Translation Procedures Adj + như + N(P) Adj + as + N(P)

Adj + như + Pro That + Adj

N + như + Pro That‟s + N(P)

(V/ Cl) + như + Cl as if + elliptical Cl

Reduction

V/ Adj + như + v (V/ Adj) + Ø

như + N như + N + Adv

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Vietnamese Simile English

Equivalents

Translation Procedures

V + như + Cl V [V-ing Cl]+ as if + Cl

Expansion

Adj + như + N(P)/ Cl as + Adj + as + N(P)/Cl

Synonym Verb/Adj + như + Cl Adj + as if + Cl

V + như + Cl V + as + Cl + Adv

Paraphrase

In consequence, the translation procedures in English that can be employed to render the structure of Vietnamese simile device

„như‟ into English include: literal, shift, reduction, explanation,

synonym and paraphrase

4.1.2 Translation Procedures of Vietnamese Simile with Marker ‘hơn’ into English

(c1) V + hơn => V + more than + [NP]

[4.31a] Trên một vạt đát bằng phảng người ta dựng lên ba dãy lớp học làm bằng gianh tre nứa lá có phẩn nào giống một trại nuôi bò Khu nhà giáo viên gán kề ngay đó lợp ngói, vách trát “toocsi” nhưng

khi mưa xuống dột còn nhiều hơn (Nguyễn Huy Thiệp:3)

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[4.31b] They looked like stables In those days the neighboring teacher‟s quarters had tile roofs and plaster walls, but when the rain

fell they leaked more than the thatched buildings (Wayne Karlin

and Hồ Anh Thái:475)

The noun phrase „the thatched buildings‟ in English simile structure is used as the translation procedure compensation compared

with the structure of Vietnamese simile

Table 4.2 Procedures of Translating Vietnamese Simile with Marker

„hơn‟ into English

Vietnamese Simile English

Equivalents

Translation Procedures

Adj + hơn + (NP) Adj-er + (NP)

Literal

Adj + hơn + Pro more (Adv) than + Pro

N(P) + Adj + hơn more (Adj) + N(P)

V + hơn V + more than + [NP] Compensation

Consequently, the translation procedures literal, explanation and compensation are employed to translate the structure of

Vietnamese simile device „hơn‟ into English

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4.1.3 Translation Procedures of Vietnamese Simile with Marker ‘nhất’ into English

4.1.3.2 Expansion

(b1) Adj nhất => The most Adj & Adj

[4.35a] Mình phải hầu hạ chúng nó cả một đời, nay chúng nó phải hầu mình cũng chỉ vài năm chứ mấy Chả là cái tuổi của chúng tôi cũng sắp được hầu hạ các cụ tôi rồi"Tôi nghe ông anh rể nói chỉ

muốn bật kêu lên: "Anh ơi, anh là người đàn ông chung tình nhất

ước gì bọn em được tốt như các anh (Nguyễn Khải:5)

[4.35b] “We served our children all their lives; now they have to serve us It‟s only for a few years anyway; at our age we‟re nearly ready to go to the other world and serve our ancestors.” Hearing my

cousin-in law‟s words, I wanted to say: “My dear cousin; you are the

most faithful and generous man in the world I only wish I could be

like you.” (Wayne Karlin and Hồ Anh Thái:550)

In the above example, the adjective generous in the English

translational version <the most faithful and generous> is expanded in

comparison with the source language text

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Table 4.3 Procedures of Translating Vietnamese Simile with Marker

„nhất‟ into English

Vietnamese Simile English

Equivalents

Translation Procedures

Adj + nhất The most Adj

Literal

N + Adj + nhất The Adj-est + N

Adj + nhất The irregular

superlative

Adj nhất The most Adj & Adj Expansion

In consequence, in order to transfer the structure of

Vietnamese simile device „nhất‟ into English, in our research, the following three the translation procedures can be used; i.e literal,

reduction and expansion

Among English transferring equivalents of the Vietnamese similes in terms of syntactic structures, the Vietnamese simile device

như is most varied with 17 different structures in the source

language and the same number in the target language It shows the highest proportion of 63.1% The second is the Vietnamese simile

hơn with a rate of 22.3% (6 different structures) The lowest percentage is the Vietnamese simile nhất It makes up 14.6% with 4 different structures

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Table 4.4 The Occurrence Frequencies of Procedures of Translating

Vietnamese Simile into English

In respect to the English translational equivalents of the

structures of Vietnamese simile device như, hơn and nhất, various

translation procedures, i.e literal, shift, reduction, explanation,

synonym, compensation, expansion and paraphrase are used for the

effectiveness of translation It is thanks to the characteristics of syntactic structures as well as their meaning in both languages that translation procedures are applied for the analysis of the translation

As we have discussed, the translation procedures for English structural equivalents of the structures of Vietnamese similes are varied The Vietnamese simile structures that include the simile

devices như, hơn, nhất are structurally transferred into English so

that the meaning in the target language is as much identical with the source language as possible With regard to the occurrence

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frequencies of translation procedure are used to render the structure

of Vietnamese similes như, hơn and nhất into English, the literal

translation procedure accounts for the highest proportion of 28.6%

The second rank is reduction that has the rate of 20 % The procedures expansion and shift procedures are slightly lower than

reduction which makes up 17.2% and 14.3%, respectively The

translation procedure synonym amounts to 8.6% The procedure

paraphrase stands at just 5.7% The procedures explanation and compensation share the lowest percentage of 2.8%

It can be predicted that literal is one of the effective ways

that can be applied for transferring a Vietnamese ellipsis structure into English one As a result, the least favorable translation procedure which is employed in order to translate a Vietnamese

ellipsis structure into English could be compensation

4.2 TRANSLATION PROCEDURES OF VIETNAMESE ELLIPSIS INTO ENGLISH

4.2.1 Translation procedures of Vietnamese Adjective Phrases as Ellipsis into English

4.2.1.2 Paraphrase

(b1) Adj P => Simple sentence

Simple sentence is chosen as the English structural

equivalent of the Vietnamese adjective phrase as ellipsis, for