1
PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Mass media in general and newspapers in particular nowadays play a very important role
in our lives. Many people even say that living in the world without newspapers is like
living in an isolated island. Newspapers help us become informed citizens and make better
decision by providing a lot of facts. Hard news stories, vital statistics, weather, sports
stories and scores and even calendars are examples of items that help inform readers. Some
newspaper articles help interpret or explain the meaning of news to readers. Besides,
newspapers provide services to readers that is providing information help readers solve
business, home, recreation and daily living problems. Moreover, some items in newspapers
are designed to amuse or to provide enjoyment to readers such as feature stories, humor
columns, puzzles and comics.
Meanwhile headlines are considered to be one of the most important parts of newspaper
articles. According to Loic Hervouet (in Vu Quang Hao, 2001), headline is a decisive
factor to the fate of an article. An interesting article with a bad, unattractive headline will
cost half number of possible readers.
In addition, we are living in the world of mass media, mass communication with the
booming of internet. We have demands to know, communicate, and exchange news and
information beyond our own countries. But language difference is one of the barriers for
us. So the job of translating foreign newspaper articles, especially English newspaper
articles, is very important. Observing Vietnamese newspapers, especially online
newspapers, we can see that a large number of information is taken from foreign news
agencies such as Reuters, AP, AFP, and BBC… So that is why I carry out the “Study on
translating English newspaper headlines into Vietnamese newspaper headlines on Dantri
online newspaper”.
2. Scope of the study
The study focuses on the English headlines from some foreign news agencies’ articles and
their equivalent headlines on Dantri online newspaper (http://www.dantri.com.vn),
2
particularly focuses on language structures (forms) and functions of these newspaper
headlines.
3. Aims of the study
The study aims at:
-
Criticizing the translation of English newspaper headlines Vietnamese headlines on
Dantri online newspaper to find out translating rules and problems which a
translator may face in translating newspaper headlines
-
Giving some suggestions for improvement of the translation of newspaper
headlines
4. Methodology
The thesis follows Newmark’s (1988) comprehensive criticism of a translation to make
judgments on translation of 150 English headlines into Vietnamese headlines on Dantri
online newspaper. And the translation is seen under the light of Newmark’s (1988)
approaches which are semantic and communicative translations. Besides, Mårdh's (1980)
model and Loic Hervouet’s classification of newspaper headlines are used to analyze
English and Vietnamese headlines on Dantri online newspaper.
The data are collected on some popular foreign news agencies such as AP, Reuters, AFP,
BBC and Dantri online newspaper thanks to the help of my collogues who are working as
translators for Dantri online newspaper. They are asked to provide the English
articles/news stories for every translated articles/news stories on Dantri online newspaper
so that I can collect and make Tables of English news headlines and their translated
headlines in Vietnamese.
5. Design of the study
This paper is divided into 3 parts. The first part (Part A) is the introduction which shows
the reasons why the topic is chosen, what the study aims at as well as the limitation of the
study and some outlook on the methodology.
3
The second part (Part B), development, consists of 3 chapters. Chapter I discusses the
theoretical background of every matter mentioned in the title of the study related to
newspaper headlines and translation. Chapter II and III are analysis of the headlines
selected in order to make judgments on translation of English newspaper headlines into
Vietnamese. Besides, these chapters also include findings and investigation of problems
underlying the mistranslated headlines, their causes and suggested ways to improve the
translation of newspaper headlines.
The third part (Part C) is the conclusion which presents the results of the study with
suggestions for translators and for further researches.
4
PART B: DEVELOPMENT
Chapter I: Theoretical Background
1. Newspaper headlines
1.1.What is newspaper headline?
Conventionally, it is believed that newspapers have more readers than any other kind of
written text. According to Van Dijk (1986), "for most citizens, news is perhaps the type of
written discourse with which they are confronted most frequently" (p. 156). In the
newspaper it is the headline that has the highest readership. It summarizes the content of a
story, and entices an audience into reading the article. According to Ungerer (2000), "a
headline describes the essence of a complicated news story in a few words. It informs
quickly and accurately and arouses the reader's curiosity" (p. 48). Newspaper headlines are
particularly important for the way readers comprehend a news text, they are markers that
monitor attention, perception and the reading process (Van Dijk, 1988).
According to Danuta R. (1998), headline is a unique type of text. It has a range of
functions that specifically dictate its shape, content, and structure and it operates within a
range of restrictions that limited the freedom of the writer. In other words, headline should
encapsulate the story in minimum words, attract readers to the story.
Many students of English find that newspaper headlines are especially difficult to
understand. Obviously, it is not just a matter of vocabulary; even the style of writing is
different from any other text they have met in their studies. The language of headlines is
special and has its own characteristics on the lexical, syntactic, and rhetorical levels for its
brevity, attractiveness, and clarity (Danuta R., 1998). These language features pose a great
challenge to foreign learners of English when they begin to read English newspapers.
The key to ease the difficulty of this special genre lies in the comparison between foreign
and native languages (Connor, 1996). Thereby, the study is conducted to judge the
translation of English newspaper headlines into Vietnamese headlines.
5
1.2. Functions of newspaper headlines
According to Danuta R. (1998), a headline serves the following functions: It gets the
reader's attention; summarizes or tells about the article; helps organize the news on the
page and indicates the relative importance of a story. Therefore, “the reader can skim the
headlines and have an outline of the news of the day, and some ideas of its relative impact
and importance.” (Danuta R.: 14)
Danuta R. says that headline plays conflicting roles which is carrying information and
attracting readers’ attention. For carrying information, the headline should deliver some
details on what happened, who was involved, where it happened, what the circumstances
were which is simplified into what, who, where, how. However, to what extent headlines
perform what-where-who-how function depends on the certain circumstances.
Besides, according to Danuta R. (1998), headlines have a persuasive function when they
are to attract readers’ attention. However, they are also written to influence readers.
1. 3. Types of headlines in terms of functions
Based on the above functions of headlines, according to Loic Hervouet (in Vu Quang Hao,
2001), there are 3 main types of newspaper headlines, which are informative headlines,
stimulating headlines and the combination of informative and stimulating headlines.
-
Informative headlines: This type of headlines is to describe the main content of the
articles. It summarizes the whole articles, answers simply one of the basic questions
such as who, what, where, when, how and why.
-
Stimulating headlines: This type of headlines only contains some factors related to
the main content of articles. Their main goals are to make readers curious and want
to read the articles immediately.
-
Combined headlines: This type of headlines is the most popular. This type
combines both informative headline type and stimulating headline type, which is
both to provide main information and to stimulate readers’ curiosity.
6
1.4. Language structures of headlines
1.4.1. Some major studies on newspaper headlines
Headlines are obviously one of the striking features of modern newspapers. Therefore it is
not surprising that they have been studied quite extensively not only by journalists but also
by linguists. Some of the few existing linguistic studies of headlines will be reviewed
below.
Straumann's (1935) study of English headlines is pioneer work. His approach is to treat the
language of headlines as an autonomous language. He classifies headlines in terms of
neutrals, nominals, verbals and particles. The first section of his classification contains
words in their common forms. In the following sections he arranges them in “s” forms, and
in three variables, semivariables and invariables. Classification is further arranged in “d”
forms, “ing” forms, “ly”, “er” and “(e)st” forms.
The complexity of headlines has been investigated by Brisau (1969). He measures
complexity in terms of clauses, which are thus singled out from other units as a gauge of
complexity. In 3.000 headlines Brisau finds 264 examples of headlines containing two or
more clauses, which is less than 10% of the total number. Brisau concludes that more
complex structures than two very simple clauses linked together rarely occur in headlines.
He mentions, however, that the linguistic makeup of the headline could vary widely from
one newspaper to another.
Mårdh (1980) offers an exhaustive study of the characteristic features of the headlines of a
range of English newspapers. She identifies the following linguistic features as typical of
headlines in English newspapers:
-
The omission of articles;
-
The omission of verbs and of auxiliaries (the verb 'to be' for example);
-
Nominalisations;
-
The frequent use of complex noun phrases in subject position (in theme position);
-
Adverbial headlines, with the omission of both verb and subject;
-
The use of short words ('bid' instead of 'attempt');
-
The widespread use of puns, word play and alliteration;
7
-
The importance of word order, with the most important items placed first, even, in
some cases, a verb;
-
Independent 'wh' constructions not linked to a main clause (an example: Why the
French don't give a damn), a form not found in Standard English.
Van Dijk (1988) analyzes a five-decker from the New York Times. He sees the journalistic
process as beginning with a headline and working through lead to body copy. He analyzes
over 400 headlines in the Dutch press reporting the 1985 Tamil panic, an occasion of racial
tensions between the Dutch and immigrant groups. He finds that the authorities dominate
first position in the headline, with active verbs. When the disadvantaged Tamils are
mentioned first, the verb tends to be passive.
Kniffka's (in Bell, 1991) detailed comparison of leads and headlines finds a high level of
structural correspondence between the two. The subeditor tends to reproduce the syntactic
patterns of the lead in the headline. Kniffka (1980) finds that the presence of active or
passive voice in the lead is carried over to the headline.
According to Kniffka, headline structures appear to be very regular across languages. He
confirms his analysis of both German and American English news texts, finding their leads
and headlines structurally identical. The regularity is so consistent that he concludes there
is a shared international grammar of lead and headline writing.
Mouillaud and Tétu (in Develotte & Rechniewski, 2000), analyzing Le Monde, suggest the
following features as typical of headlines:
-
The suppression of spatial and particularly temporal markers;
-
The use of the present tense of verbs (where they are used) as opposed to or in
place of any other tenses;
-
The replacement of verbs by nominalisations;
-
The suppression of declarative verbs and the disappearance of signs of speech
(quotation marks; personal pronouns).
Scollon (2000), in his study of five days of three editions of the same newspaper in its
Chinese and English editions, argues that the English headlines, following on general
8
western journalistic practice put the main point right in the headline in what has also been
called a deductive rhetorical mode. The Chinese editions, on the other hand, use the
headlines to establish the setting but do not provide any further information about the
content of the talks, which is the inductive ordering of the topics elsewhere found in
contrast between Chinese and English language news stories. In other words, the major
difference lies in whether the headline focuses directly on the central topic found within
the body of the story or the setting.
1.4.2. Language structures of English newspaper headlines
In order to get an overall picture of the structures of English and Vietnamese headlines,
Mårdh's model (1980) is chosen. Following Mårdh's model, the corpus is divided into three
basic groups: verbal, nominal and adverbial headlines.
1.4.2.1. Verbal headlines
A verbal headline contains a verb phrase or a part of a verb phrase that is not dominated by
a noun phrase (Mårdh, 1980). In the sample headlines, the main structural types of verbal
headlines are distinguished according to finite verb phrases, nonfinite verb phrases,
headlines with omitted auxiliaries, subject complement (SC) headlines, and subject
adverbial (SA) headlines.
- Finite verb phrases contain a finite verb form which may be either an operator or a simple
present or a past form (Quirk et al., 1985).
Australian Opposition Leader Quits
- Nonfinite verb phrases consist of a participle or infinitive which may be followed by an
object or an adverbial (Spears, 1976).
Getting a Small Audience for Bad News
- Subject adverbial headlines have no verb, but a form of the copula be can be inserted
between the noun phrase and the adverb in English sentences (Mårdh, 1980).
Bush ø in Baghdad
9
- Subject complement phrases or omission of copula type consist of a noun phrase as
subject and a noun phrase as subject complement. In English structures, a form of the verb
“be” may be inserted between the subject noun phrase and the noun phrase functioning as
subject complement (Mårdh, 1980; Quirk et al., 1985).
Supreme Court opinions ø Not Private Enough
- Verbal headlines with omitted auxiliary are headlines in which the verb is nonfinite and
in which forms of 'be' are left out before the verb (Mårdh, 1980).
Six Spanish Intel Officers ø Killed in Iraq
1.4.2.2. Nominal headlines
A nominal phrase is an expression headed by a noun (Radford, 1997). In order to examine
syntactic variation within the noun phrases across the two languages, the structural types of
nominal
headlines
are
analyzed
according
to
unmodification,
premodification,
postmodification and pre [+] post modification.
- Unmodification: Structure in which the head of the noun phrase is not modified by any
other items is referred to as unmodified structure (Quirk et al., 1985; Spears, 1976).
Chief
- Premodification: A premodifier is a modifier that precedes the word it modifies (Quirk et
al., 1985; Spears, 1976).
Artificial Sweeteners
- Postmodification: A postmodifier is a modifier or quantifier that follows the constituent it
modifies (Quirk et al., 1985; Spears, 1976).
The Future of Data Storage
- Pre [+] post Modifications: Structures which have both pre and post modifiers are
referred to as pre [+] post modified headlines
10
The Solar System that Neptune Built
1.4.2.3. Adverbial headlines
An adverbial clause (headline) is an expression headed by a word, phrase, or clause that is
equivalent in its structural role to an adverb (Fallahi, 1991).
Before You Babysit
1.4.2.4. Complexity in headlines
The classification of headlines is done in terms of simple, compound and complex
sentences.
A simple headline contains only one predicate.
Bush Focuses on Raising Campaign Funds
A complex headline contains one or more dependent clauses, in addition to its
independent, or main clause.
DNA tests say Lindbergh fathered three children in Germany
A compound headline contains two or more independent clauses which are joined by
coordination.
Report: Teen Admits Subway Slay
Following Mårdh's model (1980), headlines which consist of more than one clause are
divided into two types: edited quotation and unedited quotation.
- Edited quotations:
In edited quotations the items that would occur in direct speech are left out.
Report: Tiger Woods ø Engaged
- Unedited quotations:
11
In contrast to edited quotations, unedited quotations do not differ from what may actually
be heard in speech.
Judge to Babs: You Are Dismissed
1.4.3. Language structures of Vietnamese newspaper headlines
Vu Quang Hao (2001) has made a survey on Vietnamese newspaper headlines (particularly
Nhan dan Chu nha 1992) and found out their structures as follow:
-
One-word-headline: E.g.: Mốt, Kẹt, Lòng tin, Sốt rét or proper names: Thúy Đạt,
Cửa Lò. According to Vu Quang Hao (2001) this kind of headline is rarely used
(making about 1. 6% of nearly 2.000 headlines surveyed).
-
Phrasal headline: This is the most popular headline, composed of more than 50% of
the total surveyed headlines. Phrasal headlines include verb phrase headlines, noun
phrase headlines and adverb phrase headlines. Among them, noun phrase is the
most widely used. (E.g.: Lời nguyền của dòng sông, Một bệnh lạ ở cá, Những kỷ
niệm nhỏ về thầy Đặng Thai Mai). Verb phrase is less widely used than noun
phrase (E.g.: Phát hiện thêm hai trống đồng cổ, Gửi lòng theo khói hương bay, Gặp
tác giả của bài hát 19-8). Meanwhile adverb phrase is rarely used. (E.g.: Mạnh
khỏe nhờ hoa, Mượt mà giọng hát Tố Uyên).
-
A sentence headline: This kind of headline is to inform. E.g. Italy tăng cường các
biện pháp bảo vệ môi trường, Người gửi tiền là chủ nhân, người vay tiền là ân
nhân…
-
Headline that is idiom, proverb or folk song: According to Vu Quang Hao, this kind
of headline is not widely used but it is very emotionally effective.
2. General introduction to online newspapers and Dantri online newspaper
2.1. General introduction
Internet or online newspapers appeared in the early 1990. As Rigley (1998) points out that,
only half dozen major newspapers in the USA and about a dozen smaller papers had
significant newspaper products or interactive/online papers on the internet provider in the
12
early time. By the mid 1990s, online newspaper offerings appeared almost daily and
practically. The number of online newspapers has been increased rapidly nearly the past 20
years.
As far as online newspapers in Vietnam are concerned, on November 19th 1997, our
country officially took part in the global information network. In February of 1998 the
internet version of “Que huong” became the first Vietnamese online newspaper. Since
then, Vietnam has witnessed the blooming of hundred of online newspapers and online
news
websites
such
as
http://www.vnexpress.net,
http://www.dantri.com.vn
(Dantri
http://www.vietnamnet.com.vn,
http://www.tuoitre.com.vn,
online
newspaper).
http://www.24h.com.vn,
http://www.thanhnien.com.vn
,
http://www.tienphongonline.com.vn …
2.2. Characteristics of online newspapers
2.2.1. Hypertextuality
Hypertext creates a delivery system for separate closed units – a system which allows only
embedded links pointing outward” (Nelson, 1999). Texts, interconnected through links,
hyperlinks, can be referred internally (to other texts within text’s domain) or externally (to
texts located elsewhere on the internet).
Paul (1995) explains how hyperlinks can enrich the users’ online journey by adding
background information and providing more contexts to a developing news story. Adding
hyperlinks also give readers more options for personalization. By inserting hyperlinks into
online texts, readers can access archived stories, read original source materials, read the
other relevant stories or read stories of the same interested topic.
2.2.2. Multimediality
Technology gives reporters more freedom in terms of presentation style. Moving images,
sound, and links to more information could be blended within a same story. All of these
factors facilitate the process of conveying information in the online news environment.
Moreover, multimediality helps create attractiveness of an internet newspaper.
2.2.3. Interactivity
13
Online newspapers offer readers opportunities to give comments, replies, and feedbacks.
They can even contact authors or reporters of news stories to discuss more posted issues.
Recent new media consumption research by Sundar (2000) reveals that the more
interactive opportunities websites give to users, the more involved the users will feel about
the websites.
2.3. Functions of online newspaper headlines
A 1997 study by Jakob Nielsen and John Morkes (in Nguyen Thi Viet Nga, 2007) finds
that people rarely read web pages word by word. They scan the page picking out individual
words and sentences. Nielsen and Morkes report that 79% of their test users always scan
any new pages they come across; only 16% read word-by-word. Researchers find out that
the readers’ eyes initially go to the text after interaction within online news, not to photos
or graphics as many people might expect.
By scanning many readers simply read the headlines to get their news. Headlines for news
stories/articles in general are important, headlines for news stories/articles on online
newspapers are much more important. They perform the following two functions:
- As a communication device: Headline is the most concise summary of the whole news
stories/articles. By looking at headlines, readers can understand the main content and the
main information of news stories/articles.
- As a navigation device: As can be seen, not any full text of news stories is displayed on
screen at first. Therefore, it is possible to say that the headline is the bridge leading online
readers to the full story. It puts the first impression on readers and encourages them to click
for more information.
In order to successfully accomplish these two functions, headlines of online news
stories/articles are always paid much attention to. Hence, headlines of online news
stories/articles are always in bold, large font size to attract readers’ attention.
2.4. General introduction to Dantri online newspaper
Dantri online newspaper is the online version of Khuyen hoc & Dan tri (Promoting
education and people’s intellect) newspaper. The main goals of the newspaper, as can be
14
seen from its name, are to help readers access to news/information as widely and quickly
as possible. From providing readers with information it will help, in some ways, promoting
education and people’s intellectual standards.
According to http://www.alexa.com (the website calculating the number of hits accessing
to websites) Dantri online newspaper is one of the most popular websites in Vietnam.
Dantri online newspaper continuously updates information from all the aspects of our lives
such as politics, economics, society, lifestyles, education, entertainment, science,
technology, cars and odds news etc. to meet the demand of not only readers in Vietnam but
also readers overseas. According to our survey, most of our readers are of young age (from
teenagers to forties), so the information/news is always youth-oriented.
There are two kinds of news stories on Dantri online newspaper which are made by
reporters and bought from other newspapers. And there is a large number of news stories
bought or taken freely from foreign newspapers, especially English newspapers which
needs to be translated into Vietnamese. For Dantri online newspaper the process of
translating English news stories into Vietnamese is sometimes considered similar to
creating total new stories in terms of styles and forms. So there is a number of rules for
translated news stories.
2.4.1. Rules for translated news stories on Dantri online newspaper
In general, criteria for translated news stories on Dantri online newspaper should not be
different from the other types of news stories. They are treated as news stories made by
reporters because there is only one kind of news stories to readers. As readers, they do not
concern about how the news stories are created. The thing they concerned is information.
Therefore, final products of translated news stories on Dantri online newspaper must be no
trace of translated news which means they must be Vietnamesized. And the final products
must be edited appropriately to Vietnamese readers.
2.4.2. Criteria of a good news story on Dantri online newspaper
According to lesson plans made by chief of online Dantri online newspaper Duong Minh
Viet who usually holds training sections for reporters and editors working for Dantri online
newspaper, there are 9 criteria for a good news story on Dantri online newspaper as follow:
15
-
News stories must be about something just happening
-
News has been known/announced before
-
News is close to readers in terms of geography
-
News is important to life and conception of readers
-
Event opens up an issue/a problem
-
Event is unusual
-
News about famous personalities
-
Event has not been ended yet
-
News is only on Dantri online newspaper
It is noted that news stories are considered to be good if they meet one of the above
criteria.
2.4.3. Criteria of a good headline on Dantri online newspaper
During training sections for reporters and editors working for Dantri online newspaper
Duong Minh Viet lists 4 criteria of a good headline on Dantri online newspaper. First,
headlines must be clear and easy to understand. More specifically, abstract words and
abbreviations which are difficult to understand, words for specific purposes and words
which is on the break of misunderstanding are rarely used. Second, headlines must be
dynamic and brief. For example: using active voice instead of passive voice; omitting
unneeded elements. Third, headlines must be specific and accurate. And last, headlines
must be appropriate and proper which do not overstate main content of articles to attract
readers.
3. Translation theory related to the study
3.1. What is translation?
Translation, a phenomenon traditionally considered an “art”, has been accessed from a
more technical point of view recently. The question “what is translation” has been
approached by many linguists.
Cartford (1965) defines translation as “The replacement of textual material in on language
(SL) by equivalent textual material in another language (TL)”
16
Hartman and Stork (1972) (in Bell, 1991) believe that translation is the replacement of a
representation of a text in one language by a representation of an equivalent text in a
second language.
Marrlone (1988) (in Bell, 1991) claims that translation is the expression in another
language (target language) of what has been expressed in another source language,
preserving semantic and stylistic equivalence.
It is noticed that the above definitions, stemming at different times from different contexts,
include two factors: the text element and the quality of equivalence. Treatments of the two
text properties, form and meaning, as well as the focus on a particular requirement of
equivalence are the main distinction between the two main types of translation: semantic
translation and communicative translation.
3.2.
Approaches to headline translation
The central problem of translating has always been whether to translate literally or freely.
The argument has been going on since at least the first century BC. Up to the beginning of
the 19th century, many writers favored some kinds of “free” translation: the spirit, not the
letter, the sense, not the word; the message rather than the form; the matter not the manner.
This was the revolutionary slogan of writers who wanted the truth to be read and
understood. At the turn of the 19th century, when the study of cultural anthropology
suggested that the linguistic barriers were insuperable and that language was entirely the
product of culture, the view that translation was impossible to gain some currency, and
with it that, if attempted at all, it must be as literal as possible.
The argument was theoretical: the purposes of the translation, the nature of the readership,
the type of text were not discussed. Too often, writers, translators and readers were
implicitly identified with each other. Now the context has changed, but the basic problem
remains. Peter Newark puts the methods in the forms of a flattened V diagram (1995, 45)
17
SL emphasis
TL emphasis
Word-for-word-translation
Adaptation
Literal translation
Faithful translation
Semantic translation
Free translation
Idiomatic translation
Communicative translation
Among the methods mentioned above, Newmark (1995, 47) considers semantic and
communicative translation the only methods that fulfill the two main aims of translation,
which are accuracy and economy. Communicative translation attempts to produce on its
readers an effect as close as possible or “equivalence effect” to that obtained on the readers
of the original. Semantic translation attempts to render, as closely as the semantic and the
syntactic structures of the second language allow, the exact contextual meaning of the
original.
Looking back the functions of newspaper headlines and criteria of good headlines in
general and on Dantri online newspaper in particular, it is said that these functions and
criteria are based on Newmark’s approaches to translation. Newspaper headlines serves
informative and stimulating functions, it also means that the meanings and the effect of the
newspaper headlines on readers should be taken into consideration during the process of
translation. Besides, for every newspaper, the accuracy is always put as the first and
foremost priority. Meanwhile, the attraction to readers is considered one of the most
important factors because readers are those who make the decision on the fate of a
newspaper agency. And for Dantri online newspaper, as mentioned above, translated
headlines should be clear and accessible to readers. So it is better to see the translation of
English headlines into Vietnamese through both semantic and communicative approaches
in which both meanings and effectiveness of headlines are rendered.
According to Newmark (1995), semantic translation is closer, more literal; it gives the
highest priority to the meaning and form of the original. Meanwhile, communicative
translation is freer, and gives priority to the effectiveness of the message to be
communicated. It focuses on factors such as readability and naturalness. So it can be seen
18
that under the light of semantic translation the informative function of headline is
conveyed while under the light of communicative translation the stimulating function of
headline is transferred.
In theory, there are certain differences between the two methods. Communicative
translation addresses itself to the second reader, who does not anticipate difficulties or
obscurities, and would expect a generous transfer of foreign elements into his own culture
as well as his language where necessary. But even here the translator still has to respect
and work on the form of the source language text as the only material basis for his work.
Semantic translation remains within the original culture and assists the reader only in its
connotations if they constitute the essential human message of the text. One basic
difference between the two methods is that where there is a conflict, the communicative
must emphasize the “force” rather than the content of the message. Generally, a
communication translation is likely to be smoother, simpler, clearer, more direct, more
conventional, conforming to a particular register of language, tending to under-translate. A
semantic translation tends to be more complex, more awkward, more detailed, more
concentrated, and pursues the thought-process rather than the intention of the transmitter. It
tends to be over-translated, to be more specific than the original, to include more meanings
in its search for on nuance of meaning. A semantic translation is likely to be shorter than a
communication translation – it is devoid of redundancy, stylistic aids and joins.
Therefore, Newmark (1995) makes a comparison of semantic and communication
translation as follow:
19
Parameter
Semantic translation
Communicative
translation
Transmitter/Addressee
Focus
on
the
thought Subjective,
focus
process of the transmitter as focused, oriented towards a
an individual; should only specific
help
TT
reader
TT
reader
language
and
with culture
connotations if they are a
crucial part of message
Culture
Remains
within
the SL Transfer foreign elements
culture
Time and origin
into the TL culture
Not fixed in any time or Ephemeral and rooted in its
local
space;
translation own contemporary context
needs to be done anew with
every generation
Relation to ST
Always “inferior” to ST; May be “better” than the
“loss” of meaning
ST, “gain” of force and
clarity even
if loss
of
semantic content
Use of form of ST
If
ST
language
norms Respect for the form of the
deviate; then this must be SL, but overriding “loyalty”
replicated in TT; “loyalty” to TL norms
to ST author
20
Appropriateness
For
serious
literature, For the vast majority of
autobiography,
“personal texts,
effusion”,
important writing,
any
e.g.
non-literary
technical
and
political (or other) statement informative text, publicity,
standardized types, popular
fiction
Criterion for evaluation
Accuracy of reproduction of Accuracy of communication
the significance of ST
of ST message in TT.
Communicative and semantic translation may coincide, in particular, where text conveys a
general rather than a culturally bound message and where the matter is as important as the
manner. Moreover, in one text, there are often sections that must be translated
communicatively and other sections that must be translated semantically. There is neither
one communicative nor one semantic method of translating a text – these are in fact widely
overlapping bands of methods. It is especially true in the case of translating newspaper
headlines. As mentioned above, Loic Hervouet (in Vu Quang Hao, 2001) points out that
combined headline (headline serves both informative and stimulating functions) is the most
popular type of headline in news story/article. So it is very difficult to apply only one
approach (either semantic translation or communicative translation) to translating
newspaper headline.
Newmark (1991:10-12) also writes of a continuum existing between "semantic" and
"communicative" translation. Any translation can be "more, or less semantic—more, or
less, communicative—even a particular section or sentence can be treated more
communicatively or less semantically." Both seek an "equivalent effect."
3.3. Equivalence in translation
The comparison of texts in different languages inevitably involves a theory of equivalence.
Equivalence can be said to be the central issue in translation although its definition,
21
relevance, and applicability within the field of translation theory have caused heated
controversy, and many different theories of the concept of equivalence have been
elaborated within this field in the past fifty years.
The theory of equivalence is interpreted by some of the most innovative theorists such as
Vinay and Darbelnet, Jakobson, Nida and Taber, Catford, House, and finally Baker. These
theorists have studied equivalence in relation to the translation process, using different
approaches. In general, their theories can be substantially divided into three main groups.
In the first there are those translation scholars who are in favour of a linguistic approach to
translation and who seem to forget that translation itself is not merely a matter of
linguistics. In fact, when a message is transferred from the SL to TL, the translator is also
dealing with two different cultures at the same time. This particular aspect seems to have
been taken into consideration by the second group of theorists who regard translation
equivalence as being essentially a transfer of the message from the SC to the TC and a
pragmatic/semantic or functionally oriented approach to translation. The most famous
theorists of this group are Nida and Tabler. Finally, there are other translation scholars who
seem to stand in the middle, for instance Baker who claims that equivalence is used “for
the sake of convenience - because most translators are used to it rather than because it has
any theoretical status” (p.201).
It is found that the second group seems to meet the demand of translation approaches to
newspaper headlines which can convey both informative and stimulating functions of
headlines. Moreover, the description of communicative translation by Newmark resembles
Nida’s dynamic equivalence in the effect it is trying to create on the TT readers, while
semantic translation has similarities to Nida’s formal equivalence.
Nida argued that there are two different types of equivalence, namely formal
equivalence—which in the second edition by Nida and Taber (1982) is referred to as
formal correspondence—and dynamic equivalence. Formal correspondence focuses
attention on the message itself, in both form and content, unlike dynamic equivalence
which is based upon the principle of equivalent effect. In the second edition (1982) the two
theorists provide a more detailed explanation of each type of equivalence.
22
Formal correspondence consists of a TL item which represents the closest equivalent of a
SL word or phrase. Nida and Taber make it clear that there are not always formal
equivalents between language pairs. They therefore suggest that these formal equivalents
should be used wherever possible if the translation aims at achieving formal rather than
dynamic equivalence. The use of formal equivalents might at times have serious
implications in the TT since the translation will not be easily understood by the target
audience. Nida and Taber themselves assert that “Typically, formal correspondence
distorts the grammatical and stylistic patterns of the receptor language, and hence distorts
the message, so as to cause the receptor to misunderstand or to labor unduly hard” (p.201).
Dynamic equivalence is defined as a translation principle according to which a translator
seeks to translate the meaning of the original in such a way that the TL wording will
trigger the same impact on the TC audience as the original wording did upon the ST
audience. They argue that “Frequently, the form of the original text is changed; but as long
as the change follows the rules of back transformation in the source language, of
contextual consistency in the transfer, and of transformation in the receptor language, the
message is preserved and the translation is faithful” (Nida and Taber, 1982:200).
One can easily see that Nida is in favour of the application of dynamic equivalence, as a
more effective translation procedure. This is perfectly understandable if we take into
account the context of the situation in which Nida was dealing with the translation
phenomenon, that is to say, his translation of the Bible. Thus, the product of the translation
process, that is the text in the TL, must have the same impact on the different readers it was
addressing. Only in Nida and Taber's edition is it clearly stated that “dynamic equivalence
in translation is far more than mere correct communication of information” (p.25).
Despite using a linguistic approach to translation, Nida is much more interested in the
message of the text or, in other words, in its semantic quality. He therefore strives to make
sure that this message remains clear in the target text.
3.4. Method of Translation criticism
According to Newmark (1995), a translator has to cover five procedures to criticize a text:
1. Analyze the SL text stressing its intention and its functional aspects; 2. Interpret the SL
23
text’s purpose; 3. Make a detailed comparison of the translation with the original; 4.
Evaluate the translation: in the translation’s terms and in the critic’s terms; 5. Assess the
translation in the target language culture or discipline. For studying translation of English
newspaper headlines into Vietnamese there is no exception but following these five
procedures.
Text Analysis
When you analyze the text as a translator, you may include a statement of the author’s
purpose and type of readership. You assess the quality of the language to determine the
translator’s degree of license.
The Translator’s purpose
As you attempt to see the text from the point of view of this translator, you may decide that
the translator has misinterpreted the author by omitting certain sections of the text. You
will have to decide whether the translator has attempted to counteract by over-translating.
In interpreting the translator’s intention and procedures, you attempt to understand why he
has used these procedures. Your job as a critic is not to correct deliberately, but suggest the
reasons of your corrections.
Comparing the translation with the original
The critic’s job is to consider how the translator has solved the particular problems of the
SL text and also discuss the translation problems.
The evaluation of the translation
You assess the referential and pragmatic accuracy of the translation by the translation
standards. If the translation is not a clear version of the original, you consider first whether
the essential “invariant” element of the text is adequately represented.
If the purpose of the text is to persuade, to sell something, then this purpose is the keystone
of the invariance, which changes from text to text.
24
After considering whether the translation is successful in its own terms, you evaluate it by
your own standards of referential and pragmatic accuracy. You have to avoid criticizing
the translator for ignoring translation principles that were not established when he was
translating. You assess the translation also as a piece of writing, independently of its
original.
In principle, it should be easier to assess a translation than an original text, since it is an
imitation. The difficulty lies not so much in knowing or recognizing what a good
translation is, as in generalizing with trite definitions that are little short of truisms, since
there are as many types of translations as there are of texts.
So the next analysis and judgments on translation of 150 English headlines into
Vietnamese headlines follow the above five procedures. 150 collected English headlines
are analyzed and divided into functional groups including informative, stimulating and
combined headlines and syntactic structure groups which are verbal headlines, nominal
headlines, adverbial headlines, simple sentence headlines, complex sentence headlines and
compound sentence headlines. Then 150 translated headlines are seen under the
supposition that the translators follow both semantic and communicative translation
approaches as mentioned in the previous part. That means the translation is analyzed in the
way that how informative function and stimulating functions are conveyed. After that there
is an analysis on how translators have solved some basic questions such as what, how,
who, where, when and why of the English headlines. And finally, the evaluation of
translation is made in the ways stated above.
25
Chapter II:
Analysis on translating English headlines into Vietnamese headlines
in terms of functions
As mentioned above, a newspaper headline plays an essential role in news story.
According to Danuta R. (2002), a headline serves the following functions: It gets the
reader's attention; summarizes or tells about the article; helps organize the news on the
page and indicates the relative importance of a story. Therefore, “the reader can skim the
headlines and have an outline of the news of the day, and some ideas of its relative impact
and importance.” (Danuta R.: 14)
Moreover, headline is a unique type of text. It has a range of functions that specifically
dictates its shape, content, and structure and it operates within a range of restrictions that
limited the freedom of the writer. In other words, headline should encapsulate the story in
minimum words, attract readers to the story. For example, on Dantri online newspaper
headlines should contain less than 15 words.
Therefore it is reasonable to base on Newmark’s (1995) approaches of semantic and
communicative translation to study on translating English newspaper headlines into
Vietnamese newspaper headlines. And the equivalence between English headlines and
Vietnamese headlines are seen through Nida and Taber’s (1982) notions.
Under the light of Newmark’s (1995) semantic and communicative approaches, 150
English headlines chosen are divided into three groups which are informative headlines,
stimulating headlines and combined headlines (Loic Hervouet cited in Vu Quang Hao,
2001). These groups are shown on Table 1, Table 2 and Table 3. Table 1 is group of
English headlines which serve informative function only and their translated headlines,
while Table 2 is group of English headlines serving stimulating function only and their
translated headlines. Similarly, Table 3 is group of English headlines functioning as both
informative and stimulating and their translated Vietnamese headlines.
However there is one thing that should be noted is that the classification of studied
headlines into groups such as informative headline, stimulating headline and combined
headlines is only of relative nature because in fact there is no headline which serves
26
informative function only or stimulating function only. And which function(s) a headline
serves sometimes depend on subjective judgments of readers (Vu Quang Hao, 2001).
Of about 150 English headlines collected randomly one third of them serves informative
functions only while there is a large number of headlines serving both informative and
stimulating functions. There are limited headlines serving stimulating function only. That
is the reason why this part only focuses on two kinds of headlines which are informative
headlines and combined headlines.
1. Informative headlines
Loic Hervouet (in Vu Quang Hao, 2001) points out that informative headlines describe the
main contents of the articles. They summarize the whole articles, answer simply one of the
basic questions such as “who”, “what”, “where”, “when”, “how” and “why”.
In this part, the study focuses on how English informative headlines are translated into
Vietnamese headlines in terms of formal correspondence, or in other words, formal
equivalence, (Nida and Taber, 1982). More specifically, it judges how the main content of
the article and basic questions such as “who”, “what”, “where”, “when”, “how” and “why”
(Loic Hervouet cited in Vu Quang Hao, 2001) of the ST (English) headlines are translated
into TT (Vietnamese) headlines.
Findings: It is surveyed that of 51 informative headlines in English (see Table 1 in
Appendix), the main content and basis questions are rendered in targeted headlines
(Vietnamese headlines). There are only 7 of them are translated slightly differently into
Vietnamese headlines. The differences are mainly lined on “how” and “who” questions
which are more or less specific. For example, English headline Ancient graves found in
Greece is translated into Phát hiện 1.000 ngôi mộ cổ ở Hi Lạp or English headline India
surgery on many-limed girl is translated into Ấn Độ phẫu thuật cho bé gái 4 chân, 4 tay.
As can be seen, translated headlines provide more information for on how many “ancient
graves” or how many limbs the girl has, which means translated headline is more specific.
However, the English headline Aussie magazine apologies for Prince Harry story is
translated less specifically into Tạp chí Úc xin lỗi Hoàng tử Harry. We can see that Aussie
27
magazine is generalized into Australian magazine. Or in the headline Ralph Nader to run
for president, the name of the person who is to run for president is not translated into
Vietnamese news headlines. Instead, it is translated less specifically into thêm một gương
mặt mới which means another person. Similarly, in the headlines Plane hits building near
Vancouver airport, 1 dead and Remains of monsters duck-billed dinasour found in Utah
geography names such as Vancouver and Utah are translated into bigger geographic areas
Canada and the United States.
So the question is if these translations are reasonable enough. To answer we should place
them under the light of Newmark’s (1995) communicative approach which is also reflected
in the criteria for a Vietnamese good headline in general and a good headline on Dantri
online newspaper in particular. As being said before, a good Vietnamese headline should
be simple, clear, and unambiguous and personal names should only be used when these
persons are really famous. So if we treat Ralph Nader and Aussie magazine in above
examples as infamous names it is said that the translations are reasonable. Similarly, the
translation of ancient graves into 1.000 ngôi mộ cổ is reasonable in terms of clearness
criterion.
Conclusion: From studying the translating 51 English informative headlines into
Vietnamese headlines, it is conveyed that most translation transfers successfully the
informative function of the original headlines into targeted headlines. In a broader sense,
these headlines are translated successfully in terms of formal equivalence (Nida, 1982).
However, in some cases there is no formal equivalence between English headlines and
Vietnamese headlines. For example, the “how” question is translated more specifically,
more clearly into Vietnamese headlines, while the “who” and “where” questions are
translated more generally when the “who” and “where” are not famous for Vietnamese
readers. This reflects that communicative translation is applied by translators and
communicative translation wins over semantic translation.
2. Combined headlines
Based on Loic Hervouet’s (in Vu Quang Hao, 2001) viewpoint, this type of headlines is
the most popular. This type combines both informative headline type and stimulating
28
headline type, which is both to provide main information and to stimulate readers’
curiosity.
Therefore, the study focuses on how combined headlines are translated in terms of both
formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence. Specifically it is taken into consideration to
how the main content or basis question (Loic Hervouet’s cited in Vu Quang Hao, 2001) of
English articles are translated and whether the effect (here the curiosity creation/attraction)
of English headlines on source readers differs from the curiosity/attraction of targeted
headlines on targeted readers.
Similar to the part analyzing informative headlines, the basic questions can render main
content of
article
are
“how”,
“who”,
“what”,
“when”...
For
analyzing the
attraction/curiosity creation, the study is based on Project on Developing World Column on
Dantri online newspaper in which a survey on what kind of information is more attractive
to Vietnamese readers is carried out. According to the survey, Vietnamese like to read
world news information about well-known politicians like US President Bush, Russia
President, German Chancellor or information about Vietnamese overseas, information
about new findings or the space (space exploration and space incidents).
Findings: Most of more than 100 English combined headlines (see Table 3 in Appendix)
are successfully translated into Vietnamese headlines in terms of providing main contents
of articles (answering some basis questions) and attracting readers.
According to the survey made on Dantri online newspaper, the “who” question in the
headline sometimes plays as a factor to attract readers. So it can be said that some
headlines have the nature of attraction themselves. Besides, to make readers curious, the
translators usually pay much attention to the “how” question which is usually translated
more lively and more picturesquely. They use some certain methods to render the “how”
question as follow:
- Using Metonymy like cảnh người lớn for sexual scence; vác bụng for being pregnant
- Using idioms/phrases like cắt cổ for too expensive; hái ra tiền for booming business; giá
ngất ngưởng for high price; đùa với lửa for playing with fire
29
- Using metaphor: Khách sạn bay for A380 airplane; khẩu chiến for clash in crucial
debate
And it is noted that personal names (the “who” question) in English headlines are
translated slightly different into Vietnamese under some circumstances. If personal names
are famous enough to Vietnamese readers (see Project on Developing World Column on
Dantri online newspaper) such as Putin (who was the Russia President at the time the news
reported), Bush (President of the United States), Merkel (German Chancellor) they are
translated the same as they are in the English headlines.
However, if the personal names are not popular enough to Vietnamese readers, titles
should be added. In other words, the personal names should be translated more
specifically. For example, William into Hoàng tử William; Sarkozy into Tổng thống Pháp;
Thaksin into Cựu Thủ tướng Thaksin.
Conclusion: From the above findings, it is found that translators apply communicative
approach to translating English headlines into Vietnamese because the targeted headlines
seem to be simpler, clearer, more direct, more conventional (Newmark, 1995). To achieve
the dynamic equivalence, translators usually focus on the “how” question. They use
metonymy, phrases/idioms and metaphor to trigger the same impact on the TT audience as
the original wording did upon the ST audience. Besides, whether the “who” question is
translated communicatively or semantically depends on TT audience. If the “who”
question is unfamiliar to TT audience, the “who” question should be translated in
communicative approach.
In some cases the “how” question in TT headlines does not trigger the same impact on the
TT audience as the ST headlines does on the ST audience. For example the English
headline North Korea offers rare thanks to U.S for help is translated into Bình Nhưỡng
cảm ơn Washington. As can be seen, the attraction to readers is “rare thanks”. But it is not
translated successfully into Vietnamese. So it is better to translate the above English
headline into Bình Nhưỡng gửi lời cảm ơn hiếm hoi tới Washington.
Similarily, the English headline Russia expels three Georgian diplomats in tit-for-tat move
is translated into Quan hệ ngoại giao Nga – Gruzia bên bờ vực thẳm. As can be seen the
30
translated headline is too vague and unspecific. The “how” and “why” questions in the
English headline are not translated into the Vietnamese headline. Besides the thing which
makes readers curious (tit-for-tat move) does not exist in the Vietnamese headline. So it is
better to translate the above English headline into Nga trục xuất 3 nhà ngoại giao Gruzia
để “trả miếng”.
31
Chapter III:
Analysis on translating English headlines into Vietnamese headlines
in terms of syntactic structures
This part analyzes how English headlines are translated into Vietnamese in terms of formal
equivalence, specifically syntactic structures or forms. Mårdh's model (1980) is chosen to
categorize syntactic structures of ST headlines. 150 collected headlines are divided into
groups such as verbal headlines, nominal headlines, adverbial headlines, simple sentence
headlines, complex sentence headlines and compound sentence headlines. These groups
are shown on Table 4, Table 5, Table 6, Table 7, Table 8 and Table 9 in Appendix 2 and
Appendix 3.
However, after surveying on 150 English headlines, it is found that most of them are
verbal, simple sentence, complex sentence and compound sentence headlines. The number
of nominal headlines or the adverbial headlines is too small to make good judgments. So
the following part only concentrates on analyzing verbal headlines, simple sentence,
complex sentence and compound sentence headlines and their translated headlines into
Vietnamese.
1. Verbal headlines
According to Mårdh (1980) a verbal headline contains a verb phrase or a part of a verb
phrase that is not dominated by a noun phrase. And the main structural types of verbal
headlines are distinguished according to finite verb phrases, nonfinite verb phrases,
headlines with omitted auxiliary, subject complement (SC) headlines and subject adverbial
(SA) headlines.
Findings: After studying 40 English verbal headlines and their translated versions (see
Table 4 in Appendix 2), it is found that most of them are headlines with omitted auxiliary.
Some of them are SA headlines and SC headlines. And most of them are usually translated
into Vietnamese simple sentence headlines. For example:
Southern Russia TV boss shot dead is translated into Giám đốc một đài truyền hình Nga bị
bắn chết
32
Bush and Putin to meet next week is translated into Tuần tới, Bush và Putin bàn về hệ
thống lá chắn tên lửa
Hu Jintao re-elected as China president is translated into Chủ tịch Trung Quốc Hồ Cẩm
Đào tái đắc cử nhiệm kỳ hai
UK’s Prince William on secret Afghan trip is translated into Hoàng tử William bí mật lái
máy bay tới Afghanistan
But when subjects of the English headlines are not specific or unknown, the headlines with
omitted auxiliary are translated into finite verb phrases. For example, in the English
headline Ancient graves found in Greece, the subject who found the ancient graves is not
mentioned, so the headline is translated into finite verb phrase Phát hiện 1.000 ngôi mộ cổ
ở Hi Lạp. Similarly in the headline Ralph Nader to run for president the subject is not
well-known to Vietnamese readers, so the translated headline is finite verb phrase Thêm
một gương mặt mới ra tranh cử tổng thống Mỹ.
The rule can be seen as follows:
All trapped miners rescued in South Africa and Giải cứu thành công 3.200 công nhân mắc
kẹt dưới mỏ vàng
Remains of monster duck-billed dinosaur found in Utah and Phát hiện loài khủng long mỏ
vịt “quái vật”
Conclusion: Under the light of formal correspondence it is found that the equivalence on
forms between ST headlines and TT headlines is drawn out follows: when ST headlines are
headlines with omitted auxiliaries, they are usually translated into simple sentence
headlines. But when subjects of the ST headlines are not specific or unknown to ST
audience communicative translation is applied. Then the subjects are omitted in TT
headlines and TT headlines are finite verb phrases.
2. Simple sentence headlines
Findings: Simple sentence headline contains only one predicate. Of about 150 English
headlines surveyed there are 89 simple sentence headlines (see Table 6 in Appendix 3). So
33
it is said that there are a large number of simple sentence headlines in English newspapers,
especially online newspapers. And most of these simple sentence headlines (more than
60%) are translated into simple sentence in Vietnamese. Some of them are translated into
complex headlines which contain one or more dependent clauses in addition to main or
independent clauses when the answers to “how”, “why” and “for what” questions focused.
In TT headlines these questions usually begin with “vì”.
For example, the English headline Robed Obama picture ignites row is translated into
complex headline: Tranh cãi vì ảnh Obama mặc trang phục châu Phi. Similarly, the
headline Mexican lawmaker takes heat for film striptease is translated into complex
sentence with the answer to “why” question: Nghị sỹ Mỹ bị chỉ trích vì đóng vai vũ nữ
thoát y.
Besides, some of the simple sentence ST headlines are translated into compound headlines
as following examples:
English headlines
Translated headlines
China 'fireworks' blast kills 22
Trung Quốc: Nổ pháo hoa, 22 người
thiệt mạng
Rat ‘Import’ Arrives in Veggie Pack
Hàn Quốc: Lại phát hiện xác chuột
trong rau đông lạnh
Father drowns 3 children in Baltimore
Mỹ: Cha dìm chết 3 con trong bồn
hotel bathtub
tắm
As can be seen, Vietnamese headlines place more emphasis on the “where” question. So it
is common that the first clause of compound headline is the answer to the “where”
question and the second or the third clause usually describes the situation or what happens.
So when just looking at the Vietnamese headlines, readers easily know where the incident
happens.
34
Conclusion: It is found that there is relative equivalence in forms between simple sentence
ST headlines and TT headlines. But this equivalence does not exist when translators apply
communicative approach to translating ST headlines into TT headlines. For instance,
translators want to create more effect of the “how” and “why” questions on TT audience,
simple sentence TT headlines are translated into complex sentence headlines. Meanwhile,
when translators want to create greater effect of “where” question, simple sentence ST
headlines are translated into compound ST headlines with one clause of sentence being the
answer to the “where” question while the other being the answer to the “how” question. In
general, communicative approach is also reflected through the equivalence in forms of
headlines when forms are used as the way to create some certain effect on TT audience.
3. Complex sentence headlines
Following Mårdh's model, a complex headline contains one or more dependent clauses, in
addition to its independent, or main clause.
Findings: It is found that most of 12 studied English complex sentence headlines (see
Table 7 in Appendix 3) are translated successfully into Vietnamese in terms of dynamic
equivalence. It means that most of translated headlines carry basic questions such as
“how”, “who”, “where” and “when”. And they also carry elements that create
curiosity/attraction to TT readers. However, in terms of structure or formal equivalence,
English complex sentence headlines are translated into Vietnamese compound headlines of
quotation such as:
Putin: Thế giới đơn cực đang đe dọa nước Nga
Phó tướng al-Qaeda: Bush đang che giấu thất bại ở Iraq
It is found that when the English headlines are of “who says something” structures they are
translated into edited quotation headlines. However, when the “who” is not specific, it is
usually omitted in targeted headlines. For instance, the English headline Deputy fired 3
shots from rifle in killing 6, officials say is translated into Vietnamese complex sentence
Nhân viên cảnh sát xả súng, giết chết 6 người.
35
When translators want to focus more on the place where the event/situation happens, the
TT headlines are compound sentences with two independent clauses. One clause describes
the place the event/situation happens while the other clause describes how or what
happens.
For example:
Trung Quốc: Hai tàu hỏa đâm nhau, 66 người thiệt mạng, hang trăm người bị thương
Mỹ: Cá đuối nhảy lên tàu, giết chết một phụ nữ
Conclusion: Again it is found that communicative approach by Newmark (1995) is applied
when translators want to create emphasis on the “who” and the “where” questions on TT
audience. Then the equivalence in forms is as follow: English complex sentence headlines
are usually translated into TT compound headlines of quotation type with one clause being
the source(s) providing information of the other. The source(s) are usually important
person/people who give more strength to the information provided. But when the source(s)
are too general or too vague, they are not often mentioned in the TT headlines and the TT
headlines are compound sentences of “place” stressed type. It means one clause of the
compound sentence names the place where the event/situation happens in the other.
4. Compound sentence headlines
According to Mårdh, a compound headline contains two or more independent clauses
which are joined by a coordinator.
Findings: After studying 19 English compound sentence headlines and their translated
versions (see Table 8 in Appendix 3), it is said that most of English compound sentence
headlines, which is edited quotations, are translated into complex or simple sentence
headlines. The clauses after or before colon such as “report”, “diplomats”, “official(s)”,
“police” and “Afghan intel” which describe sources providing information are usually
omitted in the translated Vietnamese headlines. It can be seen that the omitted sources are
too general. Besides, they are also the official sources such as “Putin” “diplomats”,
“officials”, “police” and “Afghan intel” which are considered as reliable source to readers.
36
However, when the information is provided by a specific source and only describes
personal idea of a person or a specific group of people, the source is not omitted in
translated headline.
For example:
General: South Korea defenses lacking is translated into Tướng Mỹ: Seoul không đủ khả
năng quân sự đối phó với Bình Nhưỡng.
But when the specific source providing the information is omitted the translated headline
ends with a question mark which means the information has not been proved or not reliable
enough.
For example:
Diana: Charles wanted rid if Camila – so that he could marry Tiggy! translated into Tiggy
– Người phụ nữ thứ ba của Thái tử Charles?
Conclusion: Again it is found that translators apply communicative approach to translating
compound ST headlines into TT headlines. Forms in some way are the method to convey
some certain effect on TT audience. When translators want not to create effect on TT
audience about the “who” question (or the source providing information), the compound
TT headlines are translated into complex or simple sentence TT headlines. However, when
translators want to focus on the “who” question, there is a relative equivalence between
forms of ST headlines and TT headlines. More specifically, whether source(s) providing
information can be omitted in TT headlines or not depends on the reliability of sources. If
they are reliable and official enough they are not translated into TT headlines. But if the
sources are personal or unreliable, they need to be mentioned in TT headlines.
37
PART C: CONCLUSION
1. Summary of findings
In general, most of the English headlines surveyed are translated successfully into
Vietnamese on Dantri online newspaper under the light of semantic and communicative
approaches. The TT headlines provide the main contents of news stories for TT readers.
They answer some basic questions such as “how”, “who”, “what”, “where”, “when” and
“why”. Besides, the TT headlines also create similar effect, sometimes greater effect on TT
audience than the ST headlines create on ST audience. Following communicative approach
to translation, the “how” question in English headline is translated more specifically, more
clearly into Vietnamese while the “who” and “where” questions are translated more
generally, in case the “who” and “where” are not famous for TT readers. Personal names
which are unpopular to TT readers should be translated more specifically with titles of the
persons. It is also found out that idioms, phrases, metaphors and metonymies are usually
used to create the dynamic equivalence on TT audience.
It is found that there is no perfect equivalence in syntactic structures between English
headlines and the translated headlines. Specifically, the English headlines with omitted
auxiliaries are usually translated into simple sentence headlines. But when subjects of the
English headlines are not specific or unknown, the TT headlines are usually finite verb
phrases. And when basic questions such as “why”, “how” and “for what” are emphasized,
English simple sentence headlines are usually translated into complex sentence headlines
with the dependent clause starting with the connective “vì”. Meanwhile, when the “where”
question is placed more emphasis, English simple sentence headlines are usually translated
into compound sentence headlines. The first clause of the compound headline is the answer
to “where” question while the second (and third) clause describes the situation.
For English complex sentence headlines, they are usually translated into two types of
Vietnamese compound headlines. First, the TT compound headline is of quotation type
with one clause being the source(s) providing information of the other. The source(s) are
usually important person/people who give more strength to the information provided. But
when the source(s) are not specific or too vague, they are not often mentioned in the TT
headlines and the TT headlines are usually of verbal type. Second, the TT compound
38
headline is of “place” stressed type. It means one clause of the compound headline
describes the place where the event/situation happens in the other.
For English compound sentence headlines, whether source(s) providing information can be
omitted in TT headlines or not depends on their reliability and formality. If the sources are
reliable and formal enough they do not need to be mentioned in translated headlines. But if
the sources are personal or unreliable they need to be mentioned in TT headlines.
2. Implication for translators
Translating news stories/articles is a challenging job for translators working for
Vietnamese newspapers in general and for translators working for Dantri online
newspapers in particular. However, translating the headlines of the news stories/article is
much more challenging because the headlines, according to Vu Quang Hao (2001), affect
the fate of the whole news stories/articles. From the findings above, some suggested rules
can be drawn out for translators as follow:
1.
- Communicative translation wins when the “where” and “who” questions are paid great
focus to create greater effect on TT readers/audience.
- Whether the “who” question is translated communicatively or semantically also depends
on the TT readers/audience. Communicative translation is applied when the
“who” question is unfamiliar to TT readers/audience.
- Communicative translation approach (using metonymy, phrases/idioms/ and metaphor) to
the “how” question is more preferred in order to trigger stimulating impact on TT
readers/audience.
The suggested rules can be drawn out as table below:
Basic questions
English headlines
Translated
Applied
headlines
Approach
39
How
Less specific
More specific
Communicative
translation
Where
Small
geographical Larger geographical Communicative
area
Who
Unpopular
area
translation
personal More
names
specific, Communicative
adding titles
translation
2.
English headlines
Translated headlines
Phrasal verbs with omitted Simple sentences
Applied Approach
Semantic translation
auxiliaries
With omitted auxiliaries
Finite verb phrases
Communicative
translation
“who” question not specific or
unknown
Simple sentence
Simple sentence
Simple sentence
Complex
sentence
dependent
clause
“why”, “how” or “for what”
Semantic translation
with Communicative
starting translation
with “vì”
questions emphasized
Simple sentence
Compound sentence with the Communicative
40
“Where” question emphasized
model:
translation
Clause 1 (where): Clause 2
(and Clause 3)
Complex sentence
Compound sentence (edited Communicative
quotation type)
Source(s)
information
translation
providing
are
reliable, Source:
Situation/Even
important
happening
Complex sentence
Verbal (finite verb) headline Communicative
with omission of source(s)
translation
Complex sentence
Compound sentence
Communicative
“where” question emphasized
Where:
Source(s) not specific
translation
Situation/Event
happening
Compound
sentence (edited Complex or simple sentence Communicative
quotation)
with omission of source(s)
translation
Reliable, formal source(s)
Compound
sentence (edited Compound sentence (edited Communicative
quotation)
quotation)
translation
Reliable, informal source(s)
Compound
quotation)
sentence (edited Omission of source(s)
Communicative
translation
41
Reliable, informal source(s)
42
3. Suggested further studies
This thesis only focuses on the translating of English headlines into Vietnamese headlines
on Dantri online newspaper; studies on other Vietnamese newspapers remain untouched.
Other studies on more Vietnamese newspapers are highly appreciated because there will be
more solutions to translating headlines.
Besides, the study only focuses on some features of syntactic structures of headlines, the
others important structures such as nominal headlines, adverbial headlines and functional
types of headlines (statement, question, command and exclamation) need studying.
Last but not least, due to the constraint of ability and knowledge, the writer of the thesis
cannot help making mistakes. Therefore, the writer would warmly welcome any
recommendations and comments on the thesis for the sake of better future studies.
43
REFERENCES
Vietnamese
1. Vũ Quang Hào. (2001). Ngôn ngữ báo chí. Hà Nội: Nhà xuất bản quốc gia Hà Nội.
2. Dương Minh Việt. (2005). Bài giảng kỹ năng báo chí. Báo Khuyến học & Dân trí .
3. Báo Điện tử Dân trí. (2006). Dự án phát triển mục Thế giới – Báo Điện tử Dân trí.
Báo Khuyến học & Dân trí.
English
4. Bell, A. (1991). The language of news media. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
5. Brisau, A. (1969). Complex sentence structure in headlines. English Studies, 50(1),
3138.
6. Catford, J.C (1965). A linguistic Theory of Translation. Oxford: OUP.
7. Connor, U. (1996). Contrastive rhetoric: cross cultural aspects of second language
writing. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
8. Develotte, C., & Rechniewski, E. (2000). Discourse analysis of newspaper
headlines: A methodological framework for research into national representations.
Retrieved January 10, 2002, from http://wgfms.ncl.ac.uk/titles.htm.
9. Fallahi, M. (1991). Contrastive linguistics and analysis of errors, Vol. 1: The
Linguistics Journal Volume 2 Issue 1 125 grammatical structure of English and
Persian. Tehran: Iran University Press.
10. Farzaneh Khodabandeh, 2007. A Contrastive Analysis of English and Persian
Newspaper Headlines. British Virgin Islands: Linguistics Journal Press 2007.
Retrieved April, 5, 2008 from http://www.linguisticsjournal.com
11. Mårdh, I. (1980). Headlines: On the grammar of English front page headlines.
Lund: Gleerup. Linguistics Journal Volume 2 Issue 1 126
44
12. McLoughlin, L. (2000). The language of magazines. London: Routledge.
13. Morkes, J., and Nielsen, J. (1997). Concise, SCANNABLE, and Objective: How to
Write for the Web. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html and
http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/writing.html
14. Nelson, T. 1999. Xanalogical media: Needed now more than ever. ACM
Computing Surveys paper, at
http://www.xanadu.com/XANASTRUX/XuSum99.html
15. Newmark, P. (1991). About Translation. Multilingual Matters LTD
16. Newmark, P. (1988) Approach to Translation. London: Prentica Hall
17. Newmark, P. (1995). A Textbook of Translation. Library of Congress Catalogingin-Publication Data.
18. Nguyen Thi Viet Nga. (2007). A contrastive analysis of international news’
discourse properties on English and Vietnamese internet newspapers. M.A. Thesis.
College of Foreign Languages. Hanoi National University.
19. Paul, N. (1995). Content: A re-visioning. Production in the electronic products
newsroom. Paper presented at Speech to Interactive Newspapers ’95. Retrieved
July 26, 2008 from http://poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=5684
20. Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., & Svatvik, J. (1985). A comprehensive
grammar of the English language, London: Longman.
21. Radford, A. (1997). Syntax: a minimalist introduction. N.K.: Cambridge University
Press.
22. Reah, D. (1998). The language of newspapers. London and New York: Routledge.
23. Rigley, P. (1998). The Case of Online Newspapers and the Web. University of
Southern California, America.
24. Scollon, R. (2000). Generic variability in news stories in Chinese and English: A
contrastive discourse study of five days' newspapers. Journal of Pragmatics, 32,
761791.
45
25. Spears, R. (1976). NTC's dictionary of grammar terminology. Illinois: National
Test Book Company.
26. Straumann, H. (1935). Newspaper headlines. A study in Linguistic method. London.
SulletNylander,
27. Sundar, S. (2000). The internet – multimedia effects on processing and perception
of online news: A Study of picture, audio, and video downloads. Journalism
Quarterly, volume 77, number 3, pp. 480-499.
28. Sundar, S. (2000). The Internet- multimedia effects on processing and perception of
online news: A study of picture, audio, and video downloads. Journalism Quarterly,
volume 77, number 3, pp. 408-499
29. Ungerer, F. (Ed.). (2000). English media texts past and present language and
textual structure. Philadelphia PA: John Benjamins.
30. Van Dijk, T. A. (1986). News schemata. New York: Dans Cooper and Greenbaum.
31. Van Dijk, T. A. (1988). News as discourse. Hillsdale, NJ.: Lawrence Erlbaum.
32. http:///www.dantri.com.vn
33. http:///www.bbc.co.uk
34. http:///www.reuters.com
35. http:///www.ap.com
36. http:///www.afp.com
37. http://news.yahoo.com/
46
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART A: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1
1.
Rationale............................................................................................................... 1
2.
Scope of the study ................................................................................................ 1
3.
Aims of the study ................................................................................................. 2
4.
Methodology ........................................................................................................ 2
5.
Design of the study ............................................................................................... 2
PART B: DEVELOPMENT .......................................................................................... 4
Chapter I: Theoretical Background .............................................................................. 4
1.
Newspaper headlines ........................................................................................ 4
1.1.
What is newspaper headline? ................................................................... 4
1.2. Functions of newspaper headlines ................................................................. 5
1. 3. Types of headlines in terms of functions ..................................................... 5
1.4. Language structures of headlines .................................................................. 6
1.4.1. Some major studies on newspaper headlines ......................................... 6
1.4.2. Language structures of English newspaper headlines ............................ 8
1.4.2.1. Verbal headlines .............................................................................. 8
1.4.2.2. Nominal headlines ........................................................................... 9
1.4.2.3. Adverbial headlines ....................................................................... 10
1.4.2.4. Complexity in headlines ................................................................ 10
1.4.3. Language structures of Vietnamese newspaper headlines ................... 11
47
2. General introduction to online newspapers and Dantri online newspaper ......... 11
2.1. General introduction .................................................................................... 11
2.2. Characteristics of online newspapers .......................................................... 12
2.2.1. Hypertextuality ..................................................................................... 12
2.2.2. Multimediality ...................................................................................... 12
2.2.3. Interactivity .......................................................................................... 12
2.3. Functions of online newspaper headlines .................................................... 13
2.4. General introduction to Dantri online newspaper ....................................... 13
2.4.1. Rules for translated news stories on Dantri online newspaper ............. 14
2.4.2. Criteria of a good news story on Dantri online newspaper .................. 14
2.4.3. Criteria of a good headline on Dantri online newspaper ...................... 15
3. Translation theory related to the study ............................................................... 15
3.1. What is translation? ..................................................................................... 15
3.2.
Approaches to headline translation ........................................................ 16
3.3. Equivalence in translation ........................................................................... 20
Chapter II: .................................................................................................................. 25
Analysis on translating English headlines into Vietnamese headlines in terms of
functions ..................................................................................................................... 25
1. Informative headlines ......................................................................................... 26
2. Combined headlines ........................................................................................... 27
Chapter III: ................................................................................................................. 31
48
Analysis on translating English headlines into Vietnamese headlines in terms of
syntactic structures ..................................................................................................... 31
1. Verbal headlines ................................................................................................. 31
2.
Simple sentence headlines .............................................................................. 32
3. Complex sentence headlines .............................................................................. 34
4. Compound sentence headlines ........................................................................... 35
PART C: CONCLUSION ............................................................................................ 37
1. Summary of findings .............................................................................................. 37
2. Implication for translators ...................................................................................... 38
3. Suggested further studies ....................................................................................... 42
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................. 43