Vietnamese-Chinese Translation Report Based On Vinay&Darbelnet’s Translation Model

The book Characteristics of Vietnamnese Military Culture was compiled by the Vietnam Academy of Military Humanities and Social Sciences,with Senior Colonel Duong Quoc Dung,Associate Professor and Doctor,as the chief editor,published by the Vietnam People’s Army Publishing House in 2020.Compared with other books,this book is highly concise and authoritative,reflecting the mainstream thinking of the Vietnamese military and academia on military culture,and has high reference value.This translation takes the second chapter as the source text,which discusses the characteristics of Vietnamnese military culture from three aspects: the nature,source of power and combat style of Vietnamese military organizations and military activities,and analyzes the characteristics of Vietnamnese military culture from the perspective of history.The chapter helps us understand the perception of Vietnamnese people about their military culture,and can provide a basis for us in the research of how to better conduct cognitive domain operations against Vietnam in the context of geopolitical competition in the great power game.According to the type and characteristics of the source text and translation purpose,and guided by the translation theory of Vinay&Darbelnet’s Translation Model,this report discusses how to solve translation problems through the aspects of vocabulary,syntactic structure and context with specific translation strategies and methods.The report consists of five chapters:Chapter 1 presents the translation task and its background,introduces and analyzes the source text,and explains the translation value and significance of the text;Chapter 2 presents the translation process,namely the process before,during and after translation;Chapter 3 lays out the theoretical framework,introduces Vinay&Darbelnet’s Translation Model,and explains why the theory is more applicable to this translation practice;Chapter 4 selects representative cases and carries out case study under the guidance of the Vinay&Darbelnet’s Translation Model;Chapter 5 summarizes the gains and shortcomings of this translation practice.Under the guidance of Vinay&Darbelnet’s Translation Model,the translation of the relevant chapter of Characteristics of Vietnamnese Military Culture mainly adpots borrowing and literal translation in direct translation strategy,transposition,modulation and equivalence in oblique translation strategy,as well as other common methods like amplification/omission,loss,gain and compensation,explicitation and generalization.Through this translation practice,the author believes that Vinay&Darbelnet’s Translation Model can provide guidance in Vietnamese-Chinese translation,helping translators process the text flexibly while faithfully.Borrowing can be used in the translation of words and phrases with Vietnamese national features;literal translation can be used in translating Chinese-Vietnamese words and words with the same semantic and grammatical functions,or simple sentences;transposition can be used when the target language has no corresponding syntactic structure to the source language,or when the syntax after translation is too complex;modulation can be used to make necessary adjustment accordingly when the source language cannot be translated directly into the target language;equivalence can be used in translating idioms,colloquialisms and proverbs;amplification/omission can be used to fit grammatical rules of the target language;loss,gain and compensation can be used when the semantics and syntactic structure of the source text cannot be fully presented in the translation,resulting in the loss of certain information;explicitation can be used when ambiguous grammar,semantics and discourse in the source text need to be clarified;generalization can be used when there is no need to explain specific information.In addition,in view of the special relationship between Chinese and Vietnamese languages and cultures,a special strategy that is not mentioned in Vinay&Darbelnet’s Translation Model is also adopted when it comes to the translation of ancient Vietnamese names,place names,major historical events and quotations from ancient texts,i.e.,looking into Vietnamnese ancient texts written in Chinese and Demotic script(Ancient Vietnamese script)to find out the "original text" which the "source text" are originated from in order to ensure the accuracy of the "translation".Through this translation practice,the author has leanred some techniques in translating Vietnamese-Chinese military texts,improved the ability to apply Vinay&Darbelnet’s Translation Model,and deepened the understanding of Vietnamese-Chinese translation.The author believes that a qualified translator should have a solid lingual foundation in both languages,keep broadening his or her knowledge,and make proper decisions in choosing and applying translation theories.Hopefully this translation practice can provide a reference for the translation of similar texts as well as a reference for academia to conduct research in Vietnamese military culture.Finally,it should be solemnly stated that the translation represents only the views and positions of the Vietnamese military and academic community,not that of the translator,and the translator does not agree with what it says about China.The translation however is supposed to be as faithful as possible to the original text,so that domestic academic community can better understand the views and positions of the Vietnamese side.