a study on the translation of business administrative management texts between english and vietnamese = nghiên cứu việc dịch văn bản quản lý hành chính giữa tiếng anh và tiếng việt

15 CHAPTER III: A STUDY ON TRANSLATION OF GENERAL LEXICAL AND STRUCTURAL FEATURES IN GUIDING OFFICIAL LETTERS BETWEEN VIETNAMESE AND ENGLISH 1.. - Analyzing Vietnamese Administrative Ma

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN THỊ HỒNG NHUNG

A STUDY ON THE TRANSLATION OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT TEXTS BETWEEN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE

Nghiên cứu việc dịch văn bản quản lý hành chính giữa tiếng Anh và tiếng Việt

M.A Minor Thesis

Field: English Linguistics Code: 602215

HA NOI, 2010

NGUYỄN THỊ HỒNG NHUNG

A STUDY ON THE TRANSLATION OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT TEXTS BETWEEN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE

Nghiên cứu việc dịch văn bản quản lý hành chính giữa tiếng Anh và tiếng Việt

M.A Minor Thesis

Field: English Linguistics Code: 602215

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Lê Hùng Tiến (PhD)

HA NOI, 2010

TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale 1

2 Aim of the study 2

3 Scope of the study 2

4 Method of the study 2

5 Design of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1 Translation theories 4

2 Equivalence in Translation 5

3 Translation methods 7

4 What is a good translation 9

5 Administrative management texts review 11

CHAPTER II: GENERAL FEATURES AND REQUIREMENTS IN VIETNAMESE ADMINISTRATIVE TEXTS 1 Reason for Guiding Official Letters 13

2 Features of formal-legal text style 14

3 General features of language and structure 15

CHAPTER III: A STUDY ON TRANSLATION OF GENERAL LEXICAL AND STRUCTURAL FEATURES IN GUIDING OFFICIAL LETTERS BETWEEN VIETNAMESE AND ENGLISH 1 General content layout and lexical features 17

1.1 Translation of lexical features in Beginning part 17

1.2 Translation of lexical features in Developing part 20

1.3 Translation of lexical features in Ending part 23

2 Translation of typical structural features 24

2.1 Nominalization and extended nominal groups 24

2.2 The use of Passive voice 27

2.3 Parallel structures 28

2.4 Run-together sentences and Stringy Sentences 30

PART C: CONCLUSION 1 Conclusion 33

2 Recommendation 34

REFERENCES 36 APPENDICES

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

The development of translation study goes hand in hand with the rapid growth of globalization, international business, cross cultural communication, science and technology The need of translation for multi-purposes such as business, tourist, official documents (contracts, treaties, correspondence, textbooks…), the exponential increase in technology - patents, specifications, documentation -, the attempt to bring and transfer new technology to developing countries… require written translation rather than oral translation, in other words, interpretation Obviously, translation has made great contributions in International communication and played a vital role in human society

In current economic background when Vietnam enters WTO with chances and challenges, with opening mechanism and preferential policies, our country is a potential and healthy investment environment attracting more and more foreign groups, multinational companies and organizations In coordination with foreign investors, we would make full use of their advance in technology and strong finance, our young generations would have chance to gain experience and work in high challenging environment Their business activities would create more jobs to our Labor resource with high earnings for better life The most importance, their investment is a great contribution to our development, our national economic growth However, foreign investors must understand thoroughly and obey our laws and regulations, mechanism and policies to operate business effectively and legally

In this case, Administrative management text is an indispensable tool in guiding foreign investors doing business legally In order to meet the demand of the globalization trend, there require skilled, professional translators Translators are intermediates between foreign companies and our Governmental agencies and authorities

If there is available translation of administrative management texts, the promulgation of laws and regulations is much easier; however, if there is no available translation, the translator role would be of great importance In many cases, when foreign companies need express their opinions, proposals and suggestions to high levels but they do not have their separate administrative department, the translator has to do two tasks at the same time - composing and translating administrative texts In order to have an effective and persuasive administrative text to address administrative procedures conveniently and quickly, the translator must use their administrative text composing skill and professional

translation skill However, most translators face with serious problem that they have no comparison between Vietnamese Administrative management texts and English original administrative management texts They manage to translate Administrative management texts by themselves according to previous translated ones This means more thorough studies on this matter are necessary Such studies would find out similarities, differences and typical features in translation of those kinds of texts and would improve translation quality

2 Aim of the study

The study aims at presenting some typical features of Administrative management texts in terms of lexical, structures and requirements of composing content These findings would

be helpful in translation of those kinds of texts from Vietnamese to English and vice versa Hopefully, this study then would be used as a ground for further suggestions, if any, to improve translation quality

3 Scope of the Study

Administrative management texts involve in all activities in human lives from politics, education, economy, culture… These texts, therefore, vary in forms, functions and purposes One common feature of these texts is to help our Government manage and control human activities to work and live in freedom but under the legal-frame, current standard and Vietnamese Laws and regulations

The study would focus on Guiding Official Letters which normally used in Business activity as part of administrative management texts The data are collected randomly to increase the objectivity and accuracy of those findings

4 Method of the study

The main research method of this study is Comparative Analysis with the following activities:

- Collecting Vietnamese Administrative Management texts in which Guiding Official Letters account for a large proportion, supporting data and its available translations issued and translated by reliable sources such as Governmental Ministries,

agencies, local authorities… which have similar features to form the database for analysis with high accuracy and clarity in content and structure

- Analyzing Vietnamese Administrative Management texts to find out difficulties and typical features in translation process between English and Vietnamese and vice verse

- Analyzing available translated texts to find out relevant features

- Consulting linguistic theories, professional opinions and applying relevant theories for analysis and comparison

- Basing on analysis and comparison of such data to point out similarities, differences and typical findings between the two languages

- Basing on appropriate findings to conclude and make suggestions for further research on translation quality

5 Design of the Study

The study takes the following arrangement as its framework

Part A: Introduction

Part B: Development

Chapter 1: Theoretical Background

Chapter 2: General features and requirements in Vietnamese Administrative management texts

Chapter 3: A Study on Translation of general lexical and structural features in Guiding Official Letters between Vietnamese and English

Part C: Conclusion

References

Appendices

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1 Translation theories

What is translation? There has not been a comprehensive definition for the term of translation so far Translation theories have been put on hot debates over a long period of time Translation is a complex process combining knowledge in linguistics, socio-culture, philosophy… Hence, translation is considered as both a science and an art Major concepts

on translation has been variously defined and developed by different perspectives from

famous linguists and scholars In the book titled Translation and translating published in

1989, Bell states the notion of Translation as ‘the expression in another language (or target language) of what has been expressed in another, source language, preserving semantic and stylistic equivalences (1989:5) Other definition of translation also presented in his book is

‘the replacement of a representation of a text in one language by a representation of an equivalent text in a second language’ (1989:6) The common feature of the two definitions

is in terms of equivalence

From a famous linguist’s viewpoint, Newmark defines that “translation is rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that the author intended the text.” (1995: 5) By ‘the author intended the text’ he means by using another language, translator

is pretending to be someone he or she is not

In addition, Newmark points out matters of concern in translation theory are ‘first, to identify and define a translation problem (no problem – no translation theory); second, to indicate all the factors that have to be taken into account in solving the problem; third, to list all the possible translation procedures; finally, to recommend the most suitable translation procedure, plus the appropriate translation.’ (1995: 9)

Despite different perspectives, Bell points out common features shared by translation definitions: the notion of movement of some sort between languages, content of some kind and the obligation to find ‘equivalents’ which ‘preserve’ features of the original (1989:6) The question need to be uncovered is to what extent the requirement of preserving

‘equivalence’ can be reached in translation process

2 Equivalence in Translation

In comparison of original texts and its translated texts, the central problem of most attentions is equivalence in terms of content and style

In The Pragmatics of Translation, Hickey cited Wilson & Sperber’s statement as “The

translator will design her translation in such a way that it resembles (the original) closely enough in relevant respect.” (1998: 46) Closely enough in this case is similar to Bassnett’s view point ‘so as to ensure that 1) the surface meaning of the two will be approximately similar, and 2) the structure of the SL will be preserved as closely as possible but not so closely that the TL structures will be seriously distorted’ (2002:11) As for Jakobson, the central problem in translation is ‘while messages may serve as adequate interpretations of code units or messages, there is ordinarily no full equivalence through translation.’ (Bassnett 2002: 22) By ‘no full equivalence’ he means each unit contains within itself a set of non-transferable associations and connotations Bell finds out that “Texts in different languages can be equivalent in different degrees (fully or partially equivalent), in respect of different levels of presentation (equivalent in respect of context, of semantics, of grammar,

of lexis …) and at different ranks (word-for-word, phrase-for-phrase, sentence) (1989: 6)

sentence-for-Koller, in his study on Equivalence in translation theory, points out several types of equivalence such as content equivalence (content invariance), stylistic equivalence, formal equivalence, functional equivalence, textual equivalence, communication equivalence, pragmatic equivalence, equivalence of effect… (Chesterman 1989: 100)

Also, in Readings in translation theory, the author introduces Koller’s five factors which can be argued to play a relevant role in the specification of equivalence types:

- The extralinguistic content: denotative equivalence

- The connotations: means of the word choice (especially between synonymous expressions), with respect to level of style (register), the social and geographical dimension, frequency… this is the connotative equivalence (stylistic equivalence)

- The text and language norms (usage norms): deals with text-type specific features – text-normative equivalence (stylistic equivalence)

- The pragmatic equivalence: the receiver of the text and the person to whom the translation is “tuned” in order to e.g to achieve a given effect (communicative equivalence)

- Formal equivalence: certain formal-aesthetic features of the source language text including word play, metalinguistic aspects, individual stylistic features – kind of equivalence that relates to textual characteristics (1989: 100)

From the view point of a famous translation theorist and practitioner whose translation of Bible is well-known worldwide, Nida distinguishes two types of equivalence: Formal and dynamic (Hatim & Mason 1990:7)

- “Formal equivalence ‘focuses attention on closet possible match of form and content between source text and target text Formal equivalence is, in other words, a means of providing some degree of insight into the lexical, grammatical or structural form of a source text Nida calls ‘a gloss translation’ which aims to allow reader to understand as much of the source language context as possible

- Dynamic equivalence: based on the principle of equivalence of effect on reader of translated text Newmark prefers the terms semantic and communicative translation Semantic translation – attempting to render, as closely as the semantic and syntactic structures of the second language allow, the exact contextual meaning of the original

Another important issue in ‘no full equivalence’ is untranslatability Catford distinguishes two types of untranslatability: linguistic and cultural untranslatability (Bassnet 2002: 37)

- Linguistic level: untranslatability occurs when there is no lexical or syntactical substitute in the target language for a source language item

- Cultural untranslatability: the absence in the TL culture of a relevant situational feature for the SL text

However, Catford’s cultural untranslatability is considered as problematic Because of the

“dynamic nature of language and culture, if culture is perceived as dynamic, then the terminology of social structuring must be dynamic also.” (Bassnett 2002: 39)

On the contrary, Popovic also defines untranslatability without making a separation between the linguistic and the cultural:

- A situation in which the linguistic elements of the original cannot be replaced adequately in structural, linear, functional or semantic terms in consequence of a lack of denotation or connotation

- A situation where the relation of expressing the meaning, i.e the relation between the creative subject and its linguistic expression in the original does not find an adequate linguistic expression in the translation

Obviously, there is no identical culture, habits, customs, historical background…; therefore, there exist no sameness between two versions in different language of the same text However, there exist equivalence between an original text and a translated text if the original text’s content, style, function… are preserved as much as possible

3 Translation methods

In translating process, before deciding which method of translation would be applied, translator has to take a number of questions into consideration such as text types, the subject/content of the text, the addressees or the target readers of the text, the purpose of the text, the tone of the text - formal or informal, literal or free translation… Basing on these questions, translators then decide and apply the most appropriate translation methods

In A textbook of translation, Newmark provides various and popular translation methods as

the following flattered V diagrams: (1995:45)

Source language text – analysis – transfer – restructuring – translation

Word for word translation

This is often demonstrated as interlinear translation, with the TL immediately below the SL words The SL word-order is preserved and the words translated singly by their most common meanings, out of context The main use of word-for-word translation is either to understand the mechanics of the source language or to construe a difficult text as a pre-translation process

Literal translation

The source language grammatical constructions are converted to their nearest target language equivalents but the lexical words are again translated singly, out of context As a translation process, this indicates the problems to be solved

Faithful translation

A faithful translation attempts to reproduce the precise contextual meaning of the original within the constraints of the target language grammatical structures It ‘transfer’ cultural words and preserves the degree of grammatical and lexical ‘abnormality’ (deviation from source language norms) in the translation It attempts to be completely faithful to the intentions and the text-realization of the source language writer

Semantic translation

Semantic translation differs from ‘faithful translation’ only in as far as it must take more account of the aesthetic value (that is, the beautiful and natural sound) of the source language text, compromising on meaning where appropriate so that no assonance, word-play or repetition jars in the finished version The distinction between semantic translation and faithful translation is that the first is uncompromising and dogmatic while the second is more flexible, admits the creative exception to 100% fidelity and allows for the translator’s intuitive empathy with the original

Adaptation

This is the freest form of translation It is used mainly for plays (comedies) and poetry; the themes, characters, plots are usually preserved, the source language culture converted to the target language culture and the text rewritten The deplorable practice of having a play

or poem literally translated and then rewritten by an established dramatist or poet has produced many poor adaptations, but other adaptations have ‘rescued’ period plays

Free translation

Free translation reproduces the matter without the manner, or the content without the form

of the original Usually it is a paraphrase much longer than …

Idiomatic translation

Idiomatic translation reproduces the ‘message’ of the original but tends to distort nuances

of meaning by preferring colloquialism and idioms where these do not exist in the original

Communicative translation

Communicative translation attempts to render the exact contextual meaning of the original

in such a way that both content and language are readily acceptable and comprehensible to the readership

Other different types of translation provided by Catford (Hoang Van 2005: 17):

- Full and partial translation: full translation refers to the translation of the whole text while partial translation refers to the translation of only part of the text

- Total and restricted translation: total translation refers to the translation at all levels

of language while restricted translation refers to the translation in which only one linguistic level is translated

- Unbounded and rank-bounded translation: unbounded translation means the translation which involves translation shift of the source language and target language equivalence shunt up and down the rank scale whereas rank-bounded translation consists of a deliberate selection of translation equivalents as corresponding levels

4 What is a good translation?

Evaluation of a good translation bases on various factors Newmark states that ‘a satisfactory translation is always possible, but a good translator is never satisfied with it It can usually be improved There is no such thing as a perfect, ideal or ‘correct’ translation.’ (1995: 6)

In Discourse and the translator, Hatim and Mason provide Tytler’s contribution to

Translation with three general laws and basic requirements of translation by Nida as follows:

Three general ‘laws’ or ‘rules’ of translation pointed out by Tytler:

- That the translation should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work

- That the style and manner of writing should be of the same character with that of the original

- That the translation should have all the ease of the original composition

Basic requirements found by Nida:

- Making sense;

- Conveying the spirit and manner of the original;

- Having a natural and easy form of expression;

- Producing a similar response

(1990: 16)

In another book titled Approaches to Translation, Newmark provide the principles on

translation set up by Savory:

- a translation must give the words of the original

- a translation must give the ideas of the original

- a translation should read like an original work

- a translation should read like a translation

- a translation should reflect the style of the original

- a translation should possess the style of the translation

- a translation should read as a contemporary of the original

- a translation should read as a contemporary of the translation

- a translation may add to or omit from the original

- a translation may never add to or omit from the original

- a translation of verse should be in prose

- a translation of verse should be in verse

(1988: 38)

Other judgment on well written text and badly written text is also made by Newmark

if the text is well written, i.e., the manner is as important as the matter, the right words are in the right places, with a minimum of redundancy, you have to regard every nuance of the author’s meaning If a text is well written, the syntax will reflect the writer’s personality – complex syntax will reflect subtlety (Proust, Mann) – plain syntax, simplicity Words will be freshly used with unusual connotations A badly written text will be cluttered with stereotyped phrases; recently fashionable general words and probably poorly structured

(1995: 16) Bassnett introduces five principles for the translator published by one of the first writers to formulate a theory of translation - the French humanist Dolet:

- The translator must fully understand the sense and meaning of the original author, although he is at liberty to clarify obscurities

- The translator should have a perfect knowledge of both source language and target language

- The translator should avoid word-for-word renderings

- The translator should use forms of speech in common use

- The translator should choose and order words appropriately to produce the correct tone

(2002:58) Hatim and Mason state that

Translation is a useful test case for examining the whole issue of the role of language in social life… translators are inevitably acting under the pressure of their own social conditioning while at the same time trying to assist in the negotiation of meaning between the producer of the source-language texts and the reader of the target-language text, both of whom exist within their own, different social frameworks

(1990: 1)

To conclude, I shall present Tytle’s opinions on good translation as

I would therefore describe a good translation to be, that in which the merit of the original work is so completely transfused into another language, as to be as distinctly apprehended, and as strongly felt, by a native of the country to which that language belongs, as it is by those who speak the language of the original work

(Munday 2001: 26) Translation is an intelligent activity requiring creative problem-solving in novel, textual, social, and cultural conditions Evaluation of translation should base on the source text and its culture and also base on target texts and its culture

5 Administrative management text review

Administrative management text is an indispensable tool of governmental agencies and state authorities in propagating information, laws and regulations, in managing activities of all business scopes To produce effective and persuasive administrative management texts with high enforcement or legality, the composer must thoroughly understand types of administrative text together with its features of language and structures The book titled

“Soạn thảo và xử lý văn bản trong công tác của cán bộ lãnh đạo và quản lý” by Nguyen

Van Tham and the book titled “Hướng dẫn soạn thảo văn bản quản lý hành chính nhà nước” by Luu Kiem Thanh written in Vietnamese language are very useful sources for administrative officials The two books point out the core role of administrative management texts in management function of governmental bodies, define and distinguish various types of administrative texts and its specific functions, concerns with language and structures used in administrative management style, provide available text forms for convenient composing State management texts defined as ‘các văn bản quản lý do cơ quan, công chức nhà nước có thẩm quyền ban hành nhằm chuyển đạt các thông tin, các quyết định trong quản lý nhà nước theo thẩm quyền, hình thức, trình tự, hình thức nhất định, mang tính quyền lực đơn phương làm phát sinh các hệ quả pháp lý cụ thể trong quan

hệ nội bộ nhà nước, hoặc trong quan hệ nhà nước với các tổ chức và công dân.’ (Luu Kiem Thanh 2003: 14) is considered to be the correct definition and agreed by most authors One main problem in present economic background in which we create favourable conditions and healthy investment environment for foreign groups, companies, individual investors… is the promulgation of such regulations, policies conveyed in administrative management texts to foreign companies There are translations of such texts provided by official agencies or prepared by company’s own translator However, research on translation quality of administrative management texts between the two languages - English and Vietnamese - has taken less concern An unpublished research by Le Hung Tien from Hanoi National University, Post Graduated Dept on Vietnamese Law language and its application in Translation should be taken into consideration as his research concerns with general lexical, structural and textual features in Vietnamese legal texts which share some common features with administrative management texts Another unpublished research by Nguyen The Trang as his M.A thesis on comparison of discourse features between the US and Vietnamese executive decisions as part of public administrative register is also helpful in translation Such researches would be very helpful for translators in both composing and translating process as they have to analyze, compare typical features and finally to re-produce a good translation of administrative management texts between the two languages

CHAPTER 2: GENERAL FEATURES AND REQUIREMENTS IN VIETNAMESE

ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT TEXTS

1 Reason for Guiding Official Letters

This sub-section first intends to give explanation of the title of the study: Business and Management Administrative Texts There are many types of Administrative management texts from high levels to lower levels and vice versa High levels such as Decision, Ordinance, Decree, Circular… are mostly or related to Laws and regulations appointed to lower authorities for promulgation nationwide Texts or Documents from lower levels to high levels are mostly proposals, opinions or suggestions for administrative procedures and for amendments of some laws and regulations… Decisive factor in giving effective proposals from lower levels is not the translator It is the content and composer’s skills that would produce effective and persuasive proposals Other types of Business and Administrative management texts between organizations and companies are Business Letters which has draw most attention and researches so far In Business activities, foreign companies must operate their Business under Vietnamese Laws and regulations It is Administrative management texts that are instruments for promulgation of such policies and regulations Foreigners must know and study Vietnamese policies, mechanism carefully; otherwise, they could not have the right to invest and do business in Vietnam

To those kinds of texts, key factor helping Government in managing Business activities of foreign companies, promulgating information, and also helping foreign organizations and companies in running their Business legally is a translator The translator is the

intermediate between Vietnamese Texts and foreigners That is the meaning of the title a

study on the translation of Business Administrative Management texts; Business and

Administrative Management texts are closely related

In more details, Business activities mostly and directly work with Guiding Official Letters

or Dispatch from State agencies; these texts are detail replies or directions, guidelines to what foreign companies concern with Guiding Official Letters, as one type of administrative management texts, share some common features with other Administrative management texts; they are only different from each other in terms of content, functions, Place of issuance…; therefore, the study focus on Guiding Official Letters and its lexical, structural features as part of Administrative management texts

2 Features of formal-legal text style

All business activities require big volume of administrative management texts in daily communication and transactions Administrative management texts are interrelated with management quality

In common sense, administrative management text demonstrate decisions, requirements, orders… from state agencies to lower/ junior levels, concretize laws and regulations or support government bodies in performing such Laws and regulations conveniently, effectively and appropriately In composing and translating administrative management texts, these questions would be taken into consideration carefully: who have the right to issue the document, who is the receiver or the performer, what is the purpose of the text… The translator must keep in mind that in business activities, the receivers or the addresses

of administrative management texts are all well-educated with diverse backgrounds Therefore, composer and translator have to work with their product as carefully as possible There are many types of administrative management texts which are different from each other in terms of content, function, place of issuance…; however, all administrative management texts must ensure these following features, in other words, requirements in composing administrative management texts:

- The accuracy and clarity of information: information is the basic function of all texts In all activities, information is the decisive factor in policy making, special administrative decision making which solves internal matters as well as matters relating to legal rights and benefits of people… If the information is promulgated inaccurately and ambiguously, it would lead to serious consequences in all aspects

In order to gain accuracy and clarity, texts must be formed with coherence, neatness and use of proper words/ language

- The feasibility: all information must be suitable with reality, performers’ abilities and must obey Laws and regulations; then, the receivers or performers of administrative management texts would be able to perform such requirements, decision… effectively

- Universality and popularity: administrative management texts must be written in

an easy language; it should not be written in an academic style with difficult or rarely used words or overuse of terminology

- Objectivity and impersonality: the content shall be presented directly, impartially due to its features as the power voice of Our Country, Our Party; therefore emotive style, individual viewpoints or personal tone are unacceptable Objectivity and impersonality would create formality and high-principle; together with accurate basis, these features shall create high persuasion and effectiveness in management task

- Politeness and formality: administrative management text is the government’s voice; therefore, it should be expressed with high formality and solemnity Formality shows respect to readers, performers… and consolidate credits of the Place of issuance Formality reflects communication skills - “administrative civilization” of a modern democratic administration

- Conventionalization/ formalization: the texts shall be presented, arranged according

to conventionalized forms and stipulated style Conventionalization ensures the unity and scientific orientation Conventionalization is also presented in use of legal-administrative language such as: pursuant to…, in consideration of… or by use of available or conventionalized grammatical structures

3 General features of language and structures

Despite the difference in contents and functions, all administrative management texts must

be composed in compliance with formal legal text-style with conventionalized factors of language, expressions and forms The study would not go in details the layout of each type

or the general layout of all types but provide typical features of language and sentential structures to serve translation process The following features must be taken into consideration

Language features:

- use of appropriate words or expressions with the content

- avoidance of polysemantic or ambiguity

- Language of legal-administrative style

- Avoidance of spoken language, slang or jargon as it would result in informality, devaluation

- Use of appropriate and reasonable terminology/ technical terms: names of bodies, agencies, institutions… and legal terms

- Correct spelling

Structural features:

- Structure must be constructed with two main parts: Subject and Predicate

- Complex or long sentence must be separated correctly with punctuation or linking words or coordinators in right positions

- Statements are in major use In consequence, exclamation mark (!), question mark (?) and etc mark (…) are hardly used

- Sentences are connected also by repetition of words/ expressions and structures, substitution and transitional words

- Sentences must be in unity and coherence with theme, topic and must be well structured

CHAPTER 3: A STUDY ON TRANSLATION OF GENERAL LEXICAL AND STRUCTURAL FEATURES IN GUIDING OFFICIAL LETTER BETWEEN

VIETNAMESE AND ENGLISH

1 General content layout and lexical features

Guiding Official Letters, as mentioned before, are of different contents and aim at different business scope In order to find out general lexical features in translation study of all the Guiding Official Letters systematically, this sub-section focuses itself on translation of general lexical features in respect of content layout

The general layout of Guiding Official Letter’s content comprises the three main parts

1.1 Translation of lexical features in Beginning Part

The first part of Guiding Offcial Letters states the reason and the purpose of issuing that kind

of texts, generalizes matters of concern with name of the Document, number, date of issuance and place of issuance The first part normally comprise of two sentences

Consider the following extracts:

- Trả lời Công Văn số 19929/CT-KT1 ngày 17/11/2009 của Cục Thuế TP Hà Nội về việc áp dụng

- Bộ Xây Dựng nhận được Công văn số 2408/SXD-QLN ngày 05/11/2008 của Sở Xây Dựng thành phố Hà Nội đề nghị hướng dẫn giải quyết

(for futher reference of all extracts, please refer to Appendix)

In comparison of translation of all the beginning parts between Vietnamese and English,

most translations make full use of Preposition phrases such as ‘of’, ‘on’, ‘in’, ‘at’…

First consideration is the translation of date of issuance or date of submission - ‘ngày’ Normally, ‘ngày’ would be translated as ‘dated’

e.g

- Pursuant to Decree No.147-2004-ND-CP of the Government dated 23 July 2004

making detailed provisions…

- Pursuant to the Law on Amendment of and Addition to the Law… dated 17 June

2003…

However, ‘ngày’ is often also translated with the use of preposition ‘of’:

- In furtherance of the Prime Minister’s directing opinions in the Government

Office’s Official Letters No 502/VPCP-KTTH of January 20, 2009, and No 3045…

of June 11, 2009, guiding…

- Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No 118/2008/ND-CP of November 27, 2008, defining…

The two words could be changeably used

The next consideration is the translation of place of issuance or the origin of the text When

indicating the origin of the text, ‘ban hành’, ‘có’, ‘của’ are used mostly in Vietnamese version

‘Có’, ‘của’, ‘ban hành’…means such official documents are made and issued to propagate

information or instruction by Governmental or State Department/ Office; therefore, it can

be translated with the use of preposition ‘of’

e.g.:

- … Decision No 238/2005/QD-TTg of Prime Minister…

- Pursuant to Decree 86/2002/ND-CP of the Government… regulating the functions, tasks, powers…

Or the use of ‘s-genitive’:

- Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s opinions in the Government’s Official Dispatch…

Obviously, the use of preposition ‘of’ in the above extracts clearly show one of seven

functions, in other words, one of seven meanings of Genitive studied by Quirk & Greenbaum, i.e genitive of origin (1973: 95)

The third consideration in lexical features of the beginning part is to mention or generalize

matter of concern that need to be instructed When generalizing matter of concern, ‘về

việc’ is used mostly

choice (Quirk & Greenbaum 1973: 163)

e.g.:

- …the Agreements on avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion

with respect to taxes on income and property…

- …the Government’s Decree No 100/2008/ND-CP of September 8, 2008, detailing a

number of articles of the Law on Personal Income Tax…

The fourth consideration in the beginning part of Vietnamese Administrative management texts is the use of phrases which is the combination of preposition or verb and noun phrase such as:

- Xét đề nghị của Bộ Tài chính (công văn số 17520/BTC-QLCS ngày 26 tháng 12 năm 2007)

- Trả lời công văn số…

- Về vấn đề…

Most translations of such texts use prepositional phrases having its structure of Prep + N + Prep These prepositional phrases account for a large quantity in formal writing

- In furtherance of the Prime Minister’s directing opinions in the…

- In consideration of Ministry of Finance’s proposal on…

- With regard to the goods under the List of Goods and Tariff Rates issued in

conjunction with the Decree No

- In accordance with…

- In comply with…

1.2 Translation of lexical features in Developing Part

The Developing part is the most important part of Guiding Official Letter as it clearly state the origin, the content of policy, decision… required to instruct, analyze policy’s purpose, effectiveness and point out approaches or method for performance

First sentence of most Developing part starts with reference or bases itself on other Decision or official Documents

Consider the following extracts:

- Theo quy định của Luật Nhà ở và các Văn bản hướng dẫn thi hành nhà ở thuộc sở hữa nhà nước là…

- Theo quy định của Thông tư số 10/2006/TT-BTC ngày 14/2/2006 của Bộ Tài chính hướng dẫn về cấp mã số…

- Căn cứ Nghị định số 17/2006/NĐ-CP ngày 27/01/2006 của Chính phủ về sửa đổi,

bổ sung một số điều…

From the above extracts, the translation of ‘theo’ and ‘căn cứ’ must be distinguished from

each other in terms of their meaning

With the use of ‘pursuant to’:

- Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No 12/2006/ND-CP of January 23, 2006, detailing the implementation of…

- Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No 16/2009/QD-TTg of January 21,

2009, promulgating tax measures for…

With the use of ‘according to’:

- According to the laws of Vietnam, the following persons are regarded as residents

of Vietnam:

- … inspecting the quality of produced and processed petrol and oil according to

current standard and regulations specified in the Science and Technology …

The difference of ‘pursuant to’ and ‘according to’ is that ‘pursuant to’ has a nuance of formality and applied for certain laws and orders basis; ‘according to’ is applied not only

for opinions and general guiding instructions but also for general regulations and standard

as a whole

These phrases may have the meaning as in:

- Căn cứ các quy định nêu trên…

- Căn cứ theo hướng dẫn trên…

- Căn cứ ý kiến chỉ đạo của Thủ tướng Chính Phủ…

- Theo tinh thần chỉ đạo…

When indicating the exact position of applied article or provision as in:

- Theo quy định tại điểm 2, mục I, phần A, Thông tư số 05/2005/TT-BTC thì tổ chức

nước ngoài, cá nhân nước ngoài kinh doanh…

- Doanh nghiệp phải nộp thuế TNDN với thuế suất là 28% như hướng dẫn tại Điểm

1, Mục VI, Phần B, Thông tư số 128/2003/TT-BTC…

‘tại’ is translated with the use of preposition ‘in’ or ‘at’

- To issue late payment notices and notices of fines for late payment as stipulated in

clauses 2 and 3 of article 17 of the Law on Special Sales Tax…

- Tax finalization dossiers comply with the guidance at Point 2.3, Section II, Part D of the Finance Ministry’s Circular No 84/2008…

In Developing Content, due to the requirement of the accuracy of information, the translation of such texts must ensure the use of accurate words One typical feature in word-using is the use of verbs The decision in choosing accurate verbs is based on its meaning and function

Grammatically, according to Quirk and Greenbaum, verbs are divided into two main classes:

- Auxiliary verbs and

Consider the following extracts:

- Cơ quan thuế có trách nhiệm hướng dẫn và thực hiện cấp mã số thuế…

- Khi nộp hồ sơ đề nghị hoàn thuế GTGT cho cơ quan thuế, các chủ dự án phải có

văn bản giải trình cụ thể…

The above extracts show that ‘có trách nhiêm’, ‘phải’… are receivers’ and performers’ obligations In such case, the modal verbs ‘must’, ‘shall’ are used mostly in Official

Documents

e.g

- If… holds more than forty nine (49) per cent of the total listed shares, it must sell

shares to ensure its maximum percentage…

- If… receive divided profits, they shall pay personal income tax on capital

investment…

According to Quirk & Greenbaum, ‘must’ and ‘shall’ have the meaning of obligation, compulsion and legal and quasi-legal injunction Hence, when performers are prohibited from doing something, the negative structures of ‘must’ and ‘shall’ would be used

e.g

- The debit balance of mobilized capital… and the debit balance when…approved must

not exceed 30% of the annual domestic capital

- Pursuant to… despite increasing the selling prices of petrol and oil, any increase in

the selling prices of… shall not be permitted

May is sometimes used with meaning of permission or with less enforcement

- Doanh nghiệp tư nhân có thể chuyển đổi thành công ty TNHH theo quyết định của

chủ doanh nghiệp tư nhân…

- Petrol and oil procedures and processors may directly import, or entrust traders

with petrol and oil import and export business licenses…

In formal writing, there is no use of ‘will’ and ‘can’

Another important feature in choosing accurate words in developing part is to distinguish the use of ‘implement’, ‘perform’, ‘carry out’

- Trong quá trình triển khai thực hiện Luật thuế thu nhập cá nhân

- hướng dẫn thực hiện…

- các văn bản hướng dẫn thi hành…

The verb ‘implement’ is a formal word applied in case of making or doing a certain or

specific Document, Law, policy… as in:

- The Finance Ministry hereby guides the implementation of the fundamental contents

of the Agreements on avoidance of double taxation and prevention…

- Decree 164-2003-ND-CP of the Government… making detailed provisions for

implementation of the Law on Corporate Income Tax…

- Providing guidelines for implementation of Decree 156-2005-ND-CP…

‘Perform’ is applied for action of obligation or duty as in:

- The Ministry of Finance provides the following guidelines for performance of tax

obligations applicable to foreign organizations…

‘Carry out’ is applied for task in general as in:

- The finalization of income tax on high-income earners shall be carried out under the

Finance Ministry’s Circular No…

Other commonly used verbs in Vietnamese Administrative Management texts are ‘quy

định’, ‘nhắc đến’, ‘đề cập’ as in:

- tại các văn bản chi tiết Luật thuế… quy định:

These verbs are equivalent to ‘stipulate, prescribe, specify, state’ which is translated into English as in:

- …stated in their investment license…

- Good specified in Clause 1 of this Article which have enjoyed an extended tax

payment …

- Finalization dossiers include dossiers prescribed for each kind of income…

1.3 Translation of Lexical features in Ending Part

The Ending Part states requirements or informs relevant authorities and concerned companies to perform in appropriate with policies and under current Laws and regulations The Ending part normally consists of at least 1 sentence:

e.g

- Tổng cục Thuế thông báo để Cục thuế các địa phương biết và thực hiện

Or two sentences including

- Trong quá trình thực hiện nếu có vướng mắc đề nghị Cục Thuế báo cáo về Tổng cục thuế để hướng dẫn giải quyết kịp thời…

Translated version:

- Any problems arising in the course of implementation should be reported to the Ministry of Finance for consideration and settlement…

In comparison of the two languages, these sentences have no special features, in other words, there is no difficulty in translation of lexical feature There exists one typical structural feature which would be discussed in more details in the following sub-sections

In other types of administrative management texts such as Decision or Circular, the Ending part also state the valid day for implementation

- Có hiệu lực thi hành từ ngày… đến ngày…

This Circular shall be of full force and effect fifteen days after the date of its

publication… The provisions in Circular… which have not been amended shall remain

of full force and effect

Common phrases which express ‘có hiệu lực thi hành’ are: take effect, be in full force and

effect, come into force…

2 Translation of typical Structural Features

Official Documents as Administrative management texts require sentences in well structure and formal style Studying Guiding Official Letters as part of Administrative management texts shows that Structural features present in every sentence of every part; therefore, these sub-sections would be studied in whole not in part as the previous sub-sections This section would not study translation of grammar or structure in terms of sentence types or sentential elements in details such as complex, compound sentence or subject, object or complement; in contrast, this section would take investigation into Guiding Official Letters to find out typical structural features as part of Administrative management texts These typical structural features are nominalization and extended nominal groups, the use of passive voice, parallel structures and solutions to Run-together sentences and Stringy sentences

2.1 Nominalization and extended nominal groups

Long and complex sentences in Vietnamese Administrative Management texts account for

a large proportions These sentences are mainly in developing part as developing part focus

on analysis of policies, decisions… and point out approaches or methods for its implementation Despite its length and complex structure, these sentences ensure the requirement of accuracy, clarity and comprehensibility of the information conveyed e.g

- Để tạo thuận lợi cho người nộp thuế, đề nghị Cục Thuế chỉ đạo cơ quan thuế áp

dụng tính thuế theo mức thuế suất 2% tính trên giá chuyển nhượng bất động sản…

- …Trường hợp kê khai thuế phải nộp của tháng phát sinh giá trị gia tăng âm (-) thì không phải nộp thuế GTGT, giá trị gia tăng âm được kết chuyển để bù trừ vào GTGT của tháng phát sịnh tiếp sau để tính thuế GTGT phải nộp và quyết toán thuế cả năm nhưng không được kết chuyển phần GTGT của năm quyết toán thuế sang năm sau…

- Bộ Tài chính thông báo để các Cục Thuế biết và thực hiện; trong quá trình thực hiện, nếu có vướng mắc đề nghị Cục Thuế kịp thời báo cáo để Bộ Tài chính xem xét

giải quyết./

Obviously, the content of Guiding Official Letters is to instruct and point out requirements needed to fulfill in the futures; therefore, verbs are mainly used in these sentences Due to the requirements of accuracy, formality and clarity in composing Administrative management texts, translators must ensure its original content and such requirements In such case, the application of word by word translation, in other words, when translators still keep the original parts of speech in translated texts, the translation would sound strange, incoherent and receivers of the texts or performers would find themselves difficult

to understand When studying available English translations of such texts, the data show that these sentences make full use of nominalization and extended nominal groups

- The Ministry of Finance hereby notifies… imported liquor items (under Headings

No 2204, ) originating from Australia and the US shall be subject to the tax rate of 80% (eighty percent) as for imported liquor items originating from the EU

Basic Noun Phrase: head Noun

Closed system premodifiers + head Noun

Complex Noun Phrase: Premodification + Head Noun + Postmodification