Abstract
The paper is about how to identify the attributes closely related to the two notions named Subject and Đề, the latter including the Topic and the Range Topic, as well as to find out how to translate the Vietnamese sentences the basic structure of which is the Topic-Comment structure into the English sentences the basic structure of which is the Subject-Predicate structure. The paper starts with a selected Vietnamese declarative which in its typical <i>Topic-Comment structure</i> with a succession of three Range Topics in the initial position in order to show the time and space in which whatever presented in the Comment occurs. The paper then presents, one after another, the two suggested translated versions in English: the former requires a Subject which doubles as Topic, which is ‘you’ in this case, in order to play the semantic role of “the Actor”; the latter is an inverted sentence in English, which is definitely equivalent in sense and better reflects the very Topic-Comment structure as well. Considerable attention has been paid to the distinction between the Topic and the Range Topic in the Vietnamese sentences in question. Such a distinction is crucial not only to widely perceiving what is called “meaning” but also to producing well-formed translated versions, either from English into Vietnamese or vice versa. After the theoretical points that are based basically on Functional Grammar are some notes for translating Vietnamese and English sentences. Hopefully, this contributes to drawing the attention of those who have practiced translating, and hopefully professional translators as well, to sophisticated issues in translation, both from and into the English language, which is part of the whole process of language learning.
Highlights
IntroductionIt is still observed that students whose major is English at a university in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, have translated the following Vietnamese declarative which begins with two or more Range Topics [1] into an English sentence without any Subject: Nowadays, having the green trees, the flavor of flowers, the sweet of fruits in all the country and... ; Nowadays, all over the country wherever saw the green trees, smell of flowers and of
While the given Vietnamese declarative is in its typical Topic-Comment structure with a succession of three Range Topics in the initial position in order to show the time and space in which whatever presented in the Comment occurs, its equivalent English sentence requires a Subject which doubles as Topic [1], which is ‘you’ in this case, in order to play the semantic role of “the Actor”
1 Notes: ⊥ is the boundary between the Topic (T) and the Comment (C); # is the boundary between the subtopic and the minor comment minorC; | is the boundary between the Subject which doubles as the Topic (Subject/T) and the Predicate which doubles as the Comment (Predicate/C); ∅ means “empty”
Summary
It is still observed that students whose major is English at a university in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, have translated the following Vietnamese declarative which begins with two or more Range Topics [1] into an English sentence without any Subject: Nowadays, having the green trees, the flavor of flowers, the sweet of fruits in all the country and... ; Nowadays, all over the country wherever saw the green trees, smell of flowers and of. It is still observed that students whose major is English at a university in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, have translated the following Vietnamese declarative which begins with two or more Range Topics [1] into an English sentence without any Subject: Nowadays, having the green trees, the flavor of flowers, the sweet of fruits in all the country and... The over-mentioned suggested key fails to indicate the Topic-Comment structure of the original Vietnamese sentence in question and the teacher who has created the key did apply an intentional change and/ or unnecessary transposition instead of using the English inverted sentence, which is definitely equivalent in sense and better reflects the very Topic-Comment structure as well. From the issues in my teaching practice at higher education in Vietnam, I have tried my best to enter the field
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