ABSTRACT
Because nowadays, more and more people understand English, so English has
become the most spoken language in over the world. As most of the businesses are
international so we need a common language to communicate in there, English
provides a medium for it. In the context of integration and globalization, English is
considered as the most popular language in the world. Therefore, this foreign
language plays a very important role in the current era of globalization. Human
relationships as well as cooperation and investment in any field from business,
commerce, transportation, technology, media and tourism to opportunities in
studying, working, expanding relationships for cooperation are not limited to
Vietnam but also to other countries in the world. English is one of the effective
tools, playing a great role in helping friends in Western understand the voice of
Vietnam in the period of international integration.
Also, literature provides essential knowledge for people. It describes the
phenomenal of daily life in the vivid manner. From this point of view, people could
imagine the whole world with the diversity aspect of life. In this study, I focus on
the daily life of insects who are very small and new. Unlike human, the appearance
of insects is emerged with different colors and shapes that make me really into it.
Thanks to the English version by Dang The Binh, the researcher and readers have
a chance expose to the book “Diary of a Cricket” in the other aspect. The study will
focus on the translation strategies on words describing appearance of character in
the book and give out some comments and suggestions to audience.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
In the processing of completing this graduate paper, I have received a great
support, advice and guidance from my teacher and friends.

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Ms. Nguyen Thi
Xuan Phuong, M.A. Without her all-round supervision, supportive and
encouragement, I could not complete this graduation paper over the last month. Her
insight and expertise in translation studies and research methodology have greatly
assisted me upon carrying out the study.
Besides, from bottom of my heart, I sincerely thanks to my family and friends for
their solid support during the process of my research. I would not have mustered
enough motivation to finish this study if I did not receive their mental and financial
assistance.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND TABLES
No.
1
2
3
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Abbreviations

Full words
TV
Television
V
Verb
O
Object
No.
Tables
The frequency of translation strategies

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Page
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15
15
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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Rationale.
When it comes to English, people immediately consider it as a global language,
which is currently the official language of more than 53 countries. Moreover,
English is used in a variety of fields from medicine, technology, services, education
to daily entertainments such as TV shows, comics and stories.

Be aware of the importance of English, Vietnamese authorities have promoted
and encouraged people to learn English, for example, the curriculum at all levels
has English as the main subject. The fact that children who study English have more
opportunities to get good jobs in the future such as interpreting, translating and
travelling. In this situation, translating is a difficult task, which requires the
diversity of knowledge and the smooth style of content.
Besides the aim of learning English for getting a job, English is also a way of
exchanging cultures by different means such as books, magazines and novels. Many
books translated from Vietnamese to English have drawn international’s attention so
far. Thanks to English versions, foreigners have more understand about Vietnamese
culture as well as the daily life of people in this country. Therefore, translating plays
a vital role in transferring deep messages to readers through each word.
Unlike interpreting, translating has its own standard of word expression with the
high accuracy of transference. Translators have to make it clear and faithful to the
original meaning.
However, it is say that Vietnam has a complex language system so when it
comes to translation the target language partly did not in conjunction with the
source language. In particularly, some sentences or paragraphs in the source
language are omitted when they are in the target language. That is the reason why
readers could misunderstand the author statements in his/her masterpiece.
To deal with this problem, there are some strategies for translating from source
language to target language in order to reduce the language barriers as much as
possible. Hence, I want to help people understand how translators convert
Vietnamese words to English words clearly without influencing the quality of
translation.
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Besides, To Hoai (1920-2014) is a famous Vietnamese writer, playwright,
screenwriter and journalist. His works and books mainly concentrating on five
following themes: Children, History and Present of Hanoi’ suburbs, Mountainous
areas, Resistance and the Formation of Socialism and Autobiographies, memoirs
and guides on creative writing, with about 150 works.
The most famous book for children and his best seller, “Dế mèn phiêu lưu ký”
1941 (Diary of a Cricket) has been translated in 37 languages and filmed. For many
years, one chapter of the book has continued to publish in textbook for elementary
students nationwide.
Under the excellent talent of To Hoai, a Cricket appears like a mischievous child
at first. After a load of challenges in his adventure, he has learnt precious lessons. A
Cricket represents younger Vietnamese people who want to take challenges and
explore the world.
Therefore, I decided to select my own childhood masterpiece “Diary of a
Cricket” by Dang The Binh, not only for researching deeply on translation strategies
but also for my interest in the story.
1.2 Previous studies.
1.2.1 “A study of the English translational versions of Trinh Cong Son’s in terms of
semantic and syntactic features” by Luong Van Nhan.
This study provides insights into the Vietnamese songs into English, especially
the translation strategies in handling the complication of semantic and syntactic
features of masterpiece written by Trinh Cong Son.
The study investigates the usage of translation procedure about the semantic
features of lexicon and the syntactic features of phrases and sentences in Trinh Cong
Son’s song taken from Trinh Cong Son – The collection of everlasting songs (1977)
In general, the study has already met its own aims which analysis effectively
translation strategies in the Trinh Cong Son’s song and answers the two-question:
“How were the semantic features in Trinh Cong Son’s collection of songs
translated into English?”
“How were the syntactic features in Trinh Cong Son’s collection of song

translated into English?”
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The study researched the reality and practice of translating words and phrases
from Vietnamese into English in published translated Trinh Cong Son’s songs. It
finds all the methods suggested by Barker and Peter employed, and they overlapped
each other in translating words and phrases from Vietnamese into English. It also
shows that depending on concrete intention, the number of translation methods can
be combined or not.
Besides, it is a chance to enrich skills of music translation and facilitate
vocabulary learning along with developing their English vocabulary. Moreover, they
can know how to choose words or phrases to go with musical melodies and sound
beats.
It can be seen from the study that researcher has completed analyses the
effective of translating strategies in the 14-song from the collection of Trinh Cong
Son. The study sorts out data into different strategies along with explaining the
effective of using translation strategies for each word. After analyzing the effective
of strategies, musical features are the main reason impacting on the decision of
choosing translated words. Thanks to its influence, the sound beats of English
version songs become more understand and rhythm.
However, the study also has some limitations. Because the wide range of Trinh
Cong Son’s songs, the study cannot cover all the words and sentences in the
collection. It only presents the typical words and sentences which illustrated the
translation strategies clearly.
Among the kind of semantic features classified by Newmark and Baker, the
study only focus on researching the word-classes then translating these words from
Vietnamese into English. Regarding to syntactic features, the study paid attention to

four types of translation shifts classified by Catford who suggested strategies only
focus on grammatical structure. Hence, it can prevent us from revealing the transfer
of patterns of experience in translating clauses or sentences if this part of the study
had been conducted from the perspective of the systemic-functional grammar.
1.2.2 “A study on translation of Vietnamese education terms into English” by Ngo Thi
Ngoc Lan.

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The study on translation of education terms aims to figure out an overview on
translation strategies and procedures commonly employed in translation of
education terms in general. In particularly, it collects and provides education terms
in Vietnamese and English in the equivalence or expression words, as well as
analysis translation strategies and also provides a draft and short reference in
education and corresponding.
Overall, the study has provided definitions and terms relating translation fully
such as the translation strategies of Peter Newmark, equivalence in translation and
ESP in translation. Moreover, it also shows various data of education terms in
Vietnamese and English.
Regarding to education programs, researcher has provided a wide range of
education terms in both language from education programs (pre-graduation
programs, graduation programs, post-graduation programs and cooperative
education programs), education standards to types of education organizations (in
Vietnam, Singapore, United Kingdom and Canada). Totally, it has provided over 50
education terms and 4 figures to illustrate the education system in different
countries.
Besides, the study gave some comments on each translation strategies of education

terms from Vietnamese into English and its difficulties along with some
suggestions. It presented some equivalence of subjects, majors and levels in
education system and non-equivalence of qualification systems in Australia and
Vietnam.
Thanks to the detail of translating education terms in both language, it helps
people can figure out how to using education terms in particular context and
differentiate the education system of Vietnam to other countries. In term of subjects
and majors, education system of Vietnam has the basic features with other education
systems such as math, literature, history and so on in subjects and economic,
science, technology in majors. However, Vietnam also has its distinct characteristics
in academic title. If primary in Vietnam has 5 years, the same level can be up to 6
years in Australia and so on.

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However, there are some limitations existing in the study. The study only
concentrates on giving out some examples without indicating obviously the
effective of each strategy or the translating education terms. In comparison of
education systems between countries, the study presents hierarchy of education
systems but does not indicate the difference of naming in the same level among
countries. The terms in education are very popular in society but very difficult to
catch the concepts so sometimes these terms make people confused.
1.2.3 “An analysis on translation procedures from Vietnamese to English for names of
higher education institutions in Vietnam.” By Dang Hong Thu.
The objective of research is identified the procedures in translating the current
names of Vietnamese HEIs into English. Therefore, analysis and discussion of
translation procedures are implemented to draw out several implication in

translating of names of HEIs in Vietnam. The study looks answers for the following
question below:
“What translation procedures are currently used in translating names of higher
education institutes of Vietnam into English?”
The research conducted in 3 phases through qualitative and quantitative
approach based on the theoretical framework of translation procedures proposed by
Newmark (1988).
Phase 1: Analysis the collected data according to Newmark’s frame to identify
translation procedures.
Phase 2: A comprehensive table of translation procedure generated the trend and the
distribution of name translation of HEIs.
Phase 3: Discussion on the trend of translation procedures and the comparison with
names of HEIs in the US in order to draw out the implications of the findings.
In general, the study showed the translations of names of Vietnamese HEIs and
also compared translation products to English-speaking ones represented by United
State. Regarding to the adopted purposive sampling, almost of 122 HEIs are chosen
as sample for researching. The source data including original names and their
current English translation, is collected mainly from different official websites of

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Vietnamese institutions and categorized into three groups following their types of
institution.
The comparison of names showed various dissimilarities which is reflected in
the attributes. Firstly, the whole translation of names of Vietnamese HEIs objects to
fulfill the criteria of similarity to target language’s readers. As the result, the study
has to minimize the distinctions in name structures and concepts of HEI types in

countries. In addition, the researcher also notices two major problems of variation in
translating science and proper name constitutions in English version of Vietnamese
HEIs name. The discussion anticipates notifying the room for improvement in the
field of institutional translation based on the findings of this study.
The finding of the study is considered as a beneficial reference for all translators
in order to improve the translation quality of names of HEIs. Translators are
suggested to have a thorough reference from different reliable sources. Moreover, it
also helps foreigners access to Vietnamese HEIs easily, as well as improves
reputation of Vietnamese HEIs and presents to other countries all over the world.
However, there are some disadvantages indicated in the study. The researcher
only investigates HEIs and generalizes the implications for other English-speaking
countries. But the educational system of countries may be different which could
cause the differences in their name structures of HEIs. Therefore, it is impossible to
achieve absolute equivalence name structure for all HEIs because of subtle allusions
hidden in proper names or specific aspects in the languages. Even though the
framework of Newmark has provided clear classification of translation procedures
already, qualitative discussion on the findings of the study relies upon subjective
analysis of the researcher.
1.3 Aims of the study.
In general, this study concentrates on analyzing which strategies has used for
converting source language into target language and the effective of its in
expressing the author’s implication.
In detail, my graduation paper aims at collecting and presenting some
Vietnamese words describing appearance. In general, these words are adjective.
Besides, the study also concentrate on providing the equivalent English words
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which used by the translator. Because “Diary of a Cricket” is a bilingual version of
Vietnamese and English, it has had available descriptive words of appearance
already. In addition, I do indicate and analysis translation strategies which have
been used in the translation from Vietnamese to English. Finally, evaluating the
effective of these translation strategies and giving some possible suggestions for
better translation strategies.
I hope that my graduation could provide readers with overall comprehension
about how to use these strategies for translating in the most effective manner, as
well as enhance the quality of messenger transmission.
1.4 Research Subjects.
The graduation paper is going on researching strategies for translating
descriptive word relating to appearance, almost of them are adjective, which come
from different characters in “Diary of a Cricket” by Dang The Binh. Characters in
the stories are several insects, thus, words describing appearance are a little bit
strange and misunderstanding unlike human being.
Moreover, Vietnamese words are flexible, diverse and even vague in some
cases, especially the words describing appearance depict facial expression and body
language almost are non-equivalent the in target language. Hence, it is difficult to
translate those words into English. For these reasons, I want to study which
strategies are used to translate those words in each concrete situation.
1.5 Scope of the study.
In the context of study, I limit the scope of the study in the book called “The
dairy of a Cricket” by Dang The Binh. The book wrote about the adventure of a
Cricket who, together with his friends, travels throughout the world, in nine
chapters. Because the version of “Diary of a Cricket” by Dang The Binh is bilingual
(Vietnamese and English) so that Vietnamese and international readers of the book
will gain insights into the character easily by comparing the sentences between two
version of Vietnamese and English.
In general, the translator has tried to make the story clearer by enriching it with
more details. However, it also curtains some details to make the story becomes


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more understand. Thus, it could be confusing in several paragraphs that exist in
Vietnamese but appear in English version.
1.6 Research methodology.
There are so many research methodologies. In this study, however, I mainly use
research methodology of material collection and contrastive analysis on words
describing appearance in “The diary of a Cricket” following to 3 phases.
In the first phase, I collected and selected the words describing appearance in the
book “Diary of a Cricket” in both Vietnamese and English version. The book has
totally ten chapters with many insect characters.
Next, analyzing these data on the translation strategies used in each context in
order to help readers more understand how to use translation strategies and its
effective in description appearance of characters. I sorted these words out into
different translation strategies and then ranking these words from the best to the
worst of translation strategies.
After the second phase, giving other better translation strategies of words
describing appearance if it is necessary. As I mentioned, better words are suggested
to replace the worst one following the translation strategies respectively. Finally,
make comments on the effective of translation strategies.
Besides, I focus on describing the process collection the data, kinds of data
collected, the number of data collected from translated words in Vietnamese and
English versions of “Diary of a Cricket”. Therefore, the study procedures are clearly
mentioned, which have a good foundation to carry out research in the proper
direction.
1.7 Organization of the study.

According to the objective of the study, as well as the research methodology, the
graduation paper is divided into four chapters:
Chapter 1: AN OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY: States rationale, previous studies,
aim of study, research subjects, scope of study, research methodology and
organization of study.
Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW: Presenting some definitions, terms and
theoretical background relating to translation and description words.
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Chapter 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS: Providing Vietnamese words and its English
words describing appearance and analyzing the strategies used in the story,
presenting some difficulties and explanation.
Chapter 4: RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS: Summarizing the study
mentioned above, presenting some limitations of the study and providing some
possible suggestions.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Translation definitions.
There are so many concepts of translation which are developed by different
linguistics of translation. The simplest way is the transfer of text from source
language into target language. Yet, going through the time, the definition of
translation has become wider and wider depending on the position of study.

Thereupon, to be details, I believe that the following translation definitions below
are useful for my study:
(1) Translation is a craft consisting in the attempt to replace a written message and/or
statements in one language by the same message and/or statement in another
language by Peter Newmark (1981:7). In a book called “Translation Theory”,
Translation is rendering a written text into another language in the way that the
author intended the text. Translators are concerned with the written word. They
render written texts from one language into another. They are also required to
undertake assignments which range from simple items to more complex written
material.
(2) Translation is the replacement of textual material in one language (source language)
by equivalent textual material in another language (target language) by Catford
(1965)
(3) Translation is a transfer process, which aims at the transformation of a written SL
text into an optimally equivalent TL text, and which requires the syntactic, the
semantic and the pragmatic understanding and analytical processing of the SL.
(Wilss - 1982: 3)
According to the objective of my study, I consider the definition of translation in
by Newmark (1981:7) as a main direction. In order to ensure the cohesion and
coherence, the study is almost based on from definitions, theories to strategies of
Newmark mainly. Besides, the definition of Catford is also used in the study, thus,
the study sometimes could research forward to Catford’s definition as well.

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2.2 Translation Strategies.
2.2.1 What is strategy?

The word “strategy” is used in many context of fields. In business, “strategy”
refer to help the company determines the direction and scope of an organization
over the long term, and it should determine how resources should be configured to
meet the needs of markets and stakeholders (Gerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes in
Exploring Corporate Strategy). Unlike business strategy, in translation studies,
many theorists have used the term translation strategies widely but with some
considerable differences in the meaning and the perspective from which they look
at. A list of more general definitions of the word strategy is given below:
(1) A systematic plan, consciously adapted and mentioned, to improve one’s learning
performance (Instruction Curriculum Reading Glossary n.d)
(2) A strategy is a planned, deliberated, goal-oriented (has an identifiable outcome)
procedure achieved with a sequence of steps subject to monitoring and modification
(Curriculum Learning Literate-Futures Glossary n.d).
(3) A set of explicit mental and behavioral steps used to a specific outcome (Deep
Trance n.d).
I choose the definition of Curriculum Learning Literate-Futures Glossary
because it provides a good point of view of translation strategy.
2.2.2 Translation strategies.
Strategy 1: How to deal with non-equivalence of word level.
a. Translation by a more specific word.
In some cases, it may be appropriate or necessary to use a more specific word to
translate source language word into target language word. This usually involves
choosing among several different words, as there may be many Vietnamese words
that correspond to the general category or meaning expressed by the English terms.
There are so many words is not enough to determine the appropriate in another
language when translating, and it is necessary to examine the English context in
deciding which target language word is to be used.

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b. Translation by a more general word.
This is one of the commonest strategies for dealing with many types of nonequivalence, particularly in propositional meaning. In other cases, it may be
appropriate to use a more general word to translate an English word with no specific
Vietnamese equivalent and vice versa. Due to the complex of Vietnamese, it does
not work well in expressing meaning of English version.
c. Translation by cultural substitution.
This strategy involves replacing a culture-specific item or expression with one of
different meaning but similar impact in the translated text. Because of their selfdescribed “respect” for the original text, most Vietnamese translators object to this
strategy and tend to translate directly, even when it may be highly inappropriate.
Though some translations argue that it is not the responsibility of the translators to
change the text in this way, the translators is in fact an important role here.
Translators should be encouraged to question the appropriateness of the document
they are translating and suggest change to make them more culturally appropriate.
d. Translation using a loan word plus explanation.
There is some resistance to this strategy in Vietnam, as many translators prefer
to create new Vietnamese words rather than borrow English words. However, this
strategy can be useful when dealing with concepts or ideas that are new to Vietnam,
cultural specific items, and proper names of diseases or medicines that are widely
known by their English names. Following the loan words with an explanation is
very useful when the word in questions repeated many times in the content. When
explained the loan word can be used on its own; the reader can understand it as well
as not distracted by further explanation.
e. Translation by paraphrase.
This strategy can be used when translating an English word or concept that does
not exist in Vietnamese, or when Vietnamese term for it does not include all the
meanings conveyed by the English term for the same concept. There are two types
of translation by paraphrase.

The first one is using a related word. This strategy tends to be used when the
concept expressed by the source item is lexicalized in the target language but in a
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different form. Besides, the frequency with a certain form is considerable higher
than would be natural in the target language.
In contrast, using unrelated words when the source item is not lexicalized at all
in the target language. However, this strategy can still be used in several contexts. It
may be based on modifying the superordinate or simply on unpacking the meaning
of the source item.
f. Translation by omission.
Though some translators maybe reject this strategy as too drastic, it is
appropriate to omit words or phrase that is not essential to the meaning or impact of
the text. This is especially true for words that would need lengthy explanations,
awkward paraphrases, or literal and unnatural translations, which would interrupt
the flow the text could distract the reader from overall meaning.
These words like “physically” cannot easily express the slight emphasis implied here
by the author and would not do so by emphasizing the physicality of the sentence.
g. Translation by illustration:
If the word lacks an equivalent in the target language, this strategy is a useful option
to deal with it. The strategy refers to a physical entity which can be illustrated,
particularly if there are restrictions on space or the text has to remain short and
concise.
Strategy 2: How to deal with idioms and fixed expressions.
a. Using an idiom or fixed expression of similar meaning and form.
It is sometimes possible to find a Vietnamese idiom or examples with a similar
meaning to an English idiom or expression, which is expressed in the same way.

It is ideal if such a match can be found, but this kind of correspondence is not
common, and it is usually necessary to use other strategies in dealing with idioms
and fixed expressions.
b. Using an idioms or fixed expression of similar meaning but dissimilar form.
It is also possible, and usually easier to find a Vietnamese idiom with a similar
meaning to an English idiom, but which is expressed differently.
The meaning is clearly the same but idioms – to bring something to a place that
already has abundance of that thing – but the way in which each language expresses
it is bound to culture of that language.
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c. Translation by paraphrase.
When Vietnamese equivalents cannot be found, paraphrasing may be the best
way to deal with an idiom or fixed expression. It would be difficult to re-state
concisely in English.
d. Translation by omission.
As with single words, whole phrases may be omitted if they are not essential to
the meaning or impact of the text. This may be done with phrase that would require
lengthy explanations, awkward paraphrase, or literal and unnatural translations. This
may also be done when a phrase has two meanings, and one of the meanings must
be sacrificed for the other.
Strategy 3: How to deal with voice, number and person.
a. Voice.
The passive voice is used very frequently in English and poses some problems for
translation into Vietnamese. Passive voice can be translated from English into
Vietnamese and vice versa in the following ways:
English

A to be done (by B)

Vietnamese
1.
Positive meaning:
A được + động từ + (bị B)
A được/do + B + động từ
2.
Negative meaning:
A bị + động từ (bị B) negative meaning
A bị + (B) + động từ

English
A to be done

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Vietnamese
1. Positive meaning:
A được + động từ
2. Negative meaning:
A bị + động từ
Người/ai đó + động từ + A

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The positive and negative connotation is not often conveyed. It can be difficult
to know which verb to use in the Vietnamese.
On the other hand, when the positive or negative connotation of the sentence is

clear, it is more appropriate to retain the passive voice in the Vietnamese.
b. Number.
Though both languages have similar notions of number and counting, each
language expresses this in very different ways. In Vietnamese, number is often not
expressed at all while in English, number is expressed as a grammatical category.
There are different grammatical forms for the singular and plural nouns. In
Vietnamese, however, no such distinction is made grammatical.
In Vietnam, the number for counting, order and frequency are the same name.
But in English, counting refers to one, two, three and go on; first, second, third for
order and once, twice for frequency. Therefore, translating number from Vietnamese
into English, translators should take into consider whether number expressed for.
In Vietnamese, some plural markers such as “các, những, tất cả, mọi, mỗi” can
be used in addition to the noun. It is clear from the English context which of these
plural markers should be used in the Vietnamese, then the translator should chose
accordingly.
c. Person.
Participant roles and forms of address are expressed in Vietnamese through a
very complicated system of personal pronouns based largely on kinship terms.
Unlike their English counterparts, Vietnamese pronouns convey many different
distinctions, depending on relationship within the family, familiarity, social status,
and even one’s particular mood or attitude in a given situation.
These distinctions are not always clear in English and can usually be determined
by the context, if at all. If it is not possible should be based on consideration of tone
and overall purpose of the document.
Strategy 4: How to deal with proper names.
Geographical terms: either translated into another word in target language or
translated phonologically (“s” becomes “x”) or remained unchanged.

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Name of organizations: translated into English or unchanged or only stable parts
are translated or omit the word.
It also using reverse order or adjective + noun or noun + preposition + noun.
Proper names in medical texts: Tests, symptoms, diseases, syndromes, part of
body are named after one “scientist” in one language community and a different
one, are given a more general term, in another.
Strategy 5: How to deal with non-subject sentences
In Vietnamese-written passage, some non-subject sentences come across. In this
case, it is possible to apply the following techniques of translation in many ways.
Number 1, it can use passive voices to translate non-subject sentences into other
languages. Instead of determining subject, the writer can switch object to subject
and omit the undefined subject.
Besides, the structure “It + to be +adjective + to do something” is also used
frequently to deal with this problem. The structure use for expressed the importance
of action.
“There is/are” is used for presenting something or somebody without
mentioning action.
Using the structure “V-ing (s) + V + O” mainly for expressed action of subject.
Finally, putting in the real subject that is often found in the previous sentence(s).
In case of the subject had mentioned in the previous, translator can add subject
directly to the sentence.
Strategy 6: How to deal with newspaper headlines.
Headlines serve to get reader’s attention so that it has to summarizes or tell
about the article. To deal with newspaper headlines, translators can use some main
characteristics of newspaper headlines. Remarkably, newspaper headlines,
sometimes, are not fully grammar, it could be omitted “to be” or “do/does”.
In English, newspaper headlines usually using “To + V” refer to future events,

using past tense for present events. Moreover, present participle will be converted
into event in progressive while past participle goes to future events. It means that
the translated sentence will be omitted “be”.

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In addition, some articles could only have nouns or verb nouns as long as the
nouns and verbs nouns transfer fully the content of newspaper meanwhile the article
“a, an, the”, adjective and date are hardly used in headlines.
In conclusion, because the subject research of my study is words describing
appearance, thus, I focused on dealing with the strategy 1 “How to deal with nonequivalence of word level” which has seven different types. However, in this study,
I only research on the first six translation of strategy 1. It is the most suitable
translation strategy that helps my study go further into researching words describing
appearance.
2.3 Words describing appearance.
Generally speaking, words describing appearance are words which provide the
detail and clear look of character without image. Through these words, readers
could imagine how the character looks like.
2.3.1 In English.
In English, the words describing appearance are existed under the form of
adjective. Because adjective is a word or phrase naming an attribute, added to or
grammatically related to a noun to modify or describe it.
It also make documents and speaking much more specific and a whole lot more
interesting. Besides, adjectives are used to identify or quantify individual people
and unique things, so they are usually located before noun and pronoun which they
support.
Adjective + noun

In particular, words describing appearance are attributive adjective words which
are mainly color, shape, size, opinion and facial expression. Similarly to other types
of adjective, attributive adjective words stand before noun and pronoun for
supporting meaning of sentence.
2.3.2 In Vietnamese.
Although Vietnamese words describing appearance are adjective, but there are
some differences in the usage and position of words describing appearance.
Dissimilarly to English, the position of Vietnamese adjective is behind noun or
pronoun. However, the function of adjective words still support meaning for noun
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or pronoun. In addition, Vietnamese adjective also attribute to verb positioned
behind verb as it does with noun and pronoun.
Noun + adjective
Verb + adjective
In general, Vietnamese words describing appearance are used for illustrating the
unique and feature status and look of person. Moreover, it also helps the speaker
and writer transfer his/ her message to listeners and readers in the most effectively
way. In some cases, they also use words describing appearance for addressing the
other such as call the outstanding features of body.

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CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS

3.1 Frequency of translation strategies.
By using the translation strategies in the book “Translation Theory”, I examined
the words describing appearance in “Diary of a Cricket” by Dang The Binh. After
examining the parallel corpus of Vietnamese and English version of “Diary of a
Cricket”, containing 45 words describing appearance were found. In this part, the
percentage table of each translation strategies will be presented:
Translation Strategies

Number

Percentage (%)

1

Translation by omission

15

34%

2

Translation by a general word

10

23%

3


Translation by paraphrase

10

23%

4

Translation by a specific word

7

16%

5

Translation
by
cultural 2
substitution
Translation by loan word plus 0
explanation
Total
44

6

4%
0%
100%


Table 1: The frequency of translation strategies
According to the table, the strategy “translation by omission” appears 15 times
and get the highest percentage with 34% while two strategies “Translation by a
more general word” and “Translation by paraphrase” stand on the same rank which
is the second, with 23%. The third goes to “Translation by a specific word” with
16% for 7 data. Following that is “Translation by a cultural substitution” which has
2 words, accounts for 4%. Finally, “Translation by a loan plus explanation” does not
appear in this book.
It can be seen from the table that omission strategy is mostly used with 33%.
Besides, the frequency of using a more general word and paraphrase strategy are
equally which about 23%. The figure for translation by cultural substitution is only
2 words, ranked at the least percentage of the chart. However, there is no data of
translation strategy by a loan word plus explanation. In general, the first three

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strategies are used in regularly basic which could transfer the meaning of word
effectively.
3.2 Collection of words describing appearance.
3.2.1 Translation by omission.
This strategy deals with non-equivalent by full omission or partial omission.
However, I do not divide this section into two types of omission. The number of
words describing appearance in this strategy is 15 words which is the highest
quantity, at approximate 34%. There are some typical words which will be
presented in the following tables.
Example 1:

Source text
Target text
Back translation
(Sợi râu) dài, cong nhìn Long and martial-looking (sợi râu) nhìn dài và hùng
hùng dũng
antennae
dũng.
In source text, there has three adjective words: “dài” (long), “cong” (bendy), and
“hùng dũng” (martial) which all support for a noun “sợi râu” (antennae). By using
three adjective words, the author has depicted the appearance of main character “a
Cricket” who has stunning antennae. The antennae are described mainly on its
length and its outstanding feeling to audience. Readers of source text could imagine
the appearance of antennae which belongs to a strong hero in the good description
of author.
However, in the target text, there has only two adjective words left: “long” and
“martial-looking” supporting for antennae. The adjective word “cong” (bendy) was
omitted. When reading the full words describing antennae, I did not realize the too
difference of antennae looking. It is not necessary to convert the word “cong”
(bendy) into English version because readers could imagine that an antennae is long
definitely go along with curved. Thus, the intention of focusing on length and its
outstanding feeling to audience is still preserved which has features of a hero, but in
shorter sentence.
I suppose that the using of translation strategy by omission is reasonable for this
word. Because when translator translates the full adjective words of source text into
target text, the translation could be diffuse and unnecessary. Therefore, to make the
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meaning of target text brief and concise, it is reasonable to use strategy by omission
for “sợi râu dài, cong nhìn hùng dũng”.
Example 2:
Source text
Target text
Gầy lêu đêu cao, bé quắt Small

Back translation
Nhỏ

In source text, the adjective words are quite complex. To describe an appearance
of character, the author has used a load of adjective words such as “gầy lêu đêu cao”
(lanky) and “bé quắt” (lean/ skinny). The expression of these words brings to
audiences a deadly looking which has no energy, too small and weak.
Unlike the source text, the target text is only translated one word “small”. In the
comparison with “lanky”, “lean/ skinny”, the adjective “small” is not showed the
extremely awful looking of character. The adjective only describes the size of
character which expresses a neutral looking while the source text illustrates a severe
looking “too small”.
Therefore, I appreciate that this strategy by omission for the adjective words did
not work well. Because in the whole source text, the paraphrase focuses on
describing an appearance of one character, thus, translator should not omit too much
words in target text. To divide adjective relating to size ascending, “small” stand at
the bottom, following with “thin” and “skinny”. In term of “gầy lêu đêu cao”,
translator could use “lanky” directly into the target text. In conclusion, instead of
using the word “small”, it is reasonable to translate source text with the two
previous adjective words: “lanky and lean” for the English version.
Example 3:
Source text
Target text

Mặt tái nhợt, nghiêm Solemnly
xám

Back translation
Nghiêm nghị

This is an interesting sentence which describes a toad. In term of source text, the
author describes a toad with three adjective words “tái nhợt” (pale), “nghiêm”
(soleamnly) and xám” (grey). In heneral, the whole sentence illustrates an exhausted
face which has no energy to do anything and shows that the character could be fall
unconscious. On the whole, the author intended to two aspects, the first one is heath
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