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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

UNIVERSITY OF DANANG

NGUYỄN HỒ NGỌC ANH TUẤN

Email: anhtuannguyenho@gmail.com

AN INVESTIGATION INTO BUDDHISM MEDITATION

WORKS AND THEIR VIETNAMESE TRANSLATED
VERSIONS

MASTER THESIS IN

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

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Danang, 2016
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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

UNIVERSITY OF DANANG

NGUYỄN HỒ NGỌC ANH TUẤN

AN INVESTIGATION INTO BUDDHISM MEDITATION

WORKS AND THEIR VIETNAMESE TRANSLATED
VERSIONS

Field Study: THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Code: 60 22 02 01

MASTER THESIS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Supervisor: TRẦN QUANG HẢI Ph.D.

Danang, 2016
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ABSTRACT

This thesis investigated the most common types of Strategies for

Translating Religion-specific terminologies used in the translation of
Vietnamese words. This aims at assisting learners of English in classifying
meanings of English meditation terminologies as well as their equivalents in
Vietnamese in order to use them appropriately in especially translation. We are
interested in dealing with the loss of meaning in the translation of Buddhism
meditation works from English to Vietnamese versions in Buddhist documents.
We normally have difficulties in understanding Buddhist terminologies in
English. So doing research on the strategies and procedures that may apply to
the translation of Vietnamese, cultural words must be useful for our students
and us to improve their skills of reading English Buddhism documents. The
researcher used a contrastive analysis to complete this study. The researcher
took this method from the statement by (Goetz, J. P., and LeCompte, M. D.,
1985, p. 87). The data extracted from the book “Three pillars of Zen” and the
Vietnamese versions entitled “Ba trụ thiền”. There are 300 utterances in each
version of the Buddhism meditation work, English and Vietnamese version to
find out the phenomena of loss and gain take place regularly in the translational
version the book” Three pillars of Zen” in the present thesis. We can see that it
is very difficult to translate religious texts. Finding out the loss of meaning in
the translation of Buddhism meditation works from English to Vietnamese
versions has been concerned as well. This is for helping readers of English
apply in language skills as well as translation of English religious contexts into
Vietnamese and vice versa
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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis
contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole, or in part from
a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or
diploma.

No other person's work has been used without due acknowledgment in the
thesis.

This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma
in any other tertiary institution.

Danang, 2016

Nguyễn Hồ Ngọc Anh Tuấn

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................... i

TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................... iii

ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................ vi

LISTS OF TABLES ...................................................................................... vii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................... 9

1.1. RATIONALE ......................................................................................... 9

1.2. AIMS OF THE STUDY ...................................................................... 10

1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS ................................................................. 11

1.4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY ....................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ....... Error! Bookmark not defined.

1.6. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY .... Error! Bookmark not defined.

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL

BACKGROUND ............................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.1. LITERATURE REVIEW .................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND .... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.2.1. Definition of translation .................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.2.2. Theories of translation ..................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.3. FACTORS AFFECTING RELIGIOUS TRANSLATION ....... Error!

Bookmark not defined.

2.3.1. Losses and gains in translation ........ Error! Bookmark not defined.
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2.3.2. Meaning ........................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.3.3. The Definition of Associative Meaning ......... Error! Bookmark not

defined.

2.3.3.1. Connotative Meaning ................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.3.3.2. Stylistic Meaning.......................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.3.3.3. Affective Meaning........................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.3.3.4. Reflected Meaning ....................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.3.3.5. Collocative Meaning .................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.3.4. Thematic meaning ........................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.3.5. Conceptual meaning ........................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.4. BUDDHISM MEDITATION WORKS AND TRANSLATION

Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.5. SUMMARY .......................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ............... Error! Bookmark not defined.

3.1. RESEARCH METHODS.................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

3.3. DATA COLLECTION ........................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

3.4. DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURE .... Error! Bookmark not defined.

CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ......... Error! Bookmark not

defined.

4.1. LOSS OF MEANING IN TRANSLATION ..... Error! Bookmark not

defined.

4.1.1. Loss of conceptual meaning ............ Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.1.2. Loss of associative meaning ............ Error! Bookmark not defined.

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4.1.2.1. Loss of connotative meaning ....... Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.1.2.2. Loss of stylistic meaning .............. Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.1.2.3. Loss of affective meaning ............ Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.1.2.4. Loss of reflective meaning ........... Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.1.2.5. Loss of collocative meaning......... Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.2.3. Loss of thematic meaning............... Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.2. GAIN OF MEANING IN TRANSLATION..... Error! Bookmark not

defined.

4.2.1. Gain of stylistic meaning .................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.2.2. Gain of Affective Meaning ................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.3. STRATEGIC METHODS OF TRANSLATION OCCUR IN

VIETNAMESE VERSION........................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION ...................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

5.1. SUMMARY OF THE STUDY ........... Error! Bookmark not defined.

5.2. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY ..... Error! Bookmark not defined.

5.3. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH .. Error! Bookmark

not defined.

REFERENCES .............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

ENGLISH BOOKS ....................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

VIETNAMESE BOOKS............................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

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ABBREVIATIONS

SL : Source language

TL : Target language

ST : Source text

RL : Receptor language
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LISTS OF TABLES

Table 4. 1 Examples of loss of conceptual meaning ...... Error! Bookmark not

defined.

Table 4. 2 Examples of loss of connotative meaning ... Error! Bookmark not

defined.

Table 4. 3: Examples of loss of stylistic meaning ......... Error! Bookmark not

defined.

Table 4. 4: Examples of loss of effective meaning ........ Error! Bookmark not

defined.

Table 4. 5: Examples of loss of reflective meaning ....... Error! Bookmark not

defined.

Table 4. 6: Examples of loss of collocative meaning .... Error! Bookmark not

defined.

Table 4. 7: Examples of loss of thematic meaning ........ Error! Bookmark not

defined.

Table 4. 8 Examples of gain stylistic meaning Error! Bookmark not defined.

Table 4. 9 Examples of gain of affective meaning ........ Error! Bookmark not

defined.

Table 4. 10 Transliteration from Chinese or Sanskrit to Vietnamese...... Error!

Bookmark not defined.
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Table 4. 11 Transliteration from Chinese or Sanskrit to Vietnamese ...... Error!

Bookmark not defined.
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LISTS OF FIGURES, AND CHARTS

Figure 4. 1 Leech’s seven types division of meaning .... Error! Bookmark not
defined.

Figure 4. 2 Classification of associative meanings based on Leech’s theory

......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

Figure 4. 3 Loss and gain in meaning ............. Error! Bookmark not defined.

Chart 4. 1 The proportion of loss associative meaning in “Ba trụ thiền” Error!
Bookmark not defined.

Chart 4. 2 Distribution of loss of meanings .... Error! Bookmark not defined.

Chart 4. 3 Distribution of gain of meaning ..... Error! Bookmark not defined.

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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

1.1. RATIONALE

With the rise of globalization and the proliferation of electronic media, intercultural
communications, together with a translation, has taken on an important role the
international community not only in terms of accessing information but also in
forming a basis for understanding between cultures. Through translation, we can
deeply understand embedded religious and cultural values understood. Becuse there
is an undeniable connection between language and way of life. A translator of
religious texts, especially from English Buddhism into Vietnamese, must take into
account several factors when translating 'sensitive' texts. Translating English
Buddhism texts involves not only problems at a linguistic level, including lexical
and syntactic manipulation and the reformulation of concepts but also ideational
hurdles that need mediating between the source text producer and reader. The
objective of this thesis is to apply certain theoretical principles established in the
field of Translation to the translation of the English Buddhism text.

According to traditional accounts of Vietnam, in 580, an Indian monk named

Vinītaruci (Vietnamese: Tì-ni-đa-lưu-chi) traveled to Vietnam to teach meditation
for everyone. However, at that time, Meditation methods were introduced to monks
or nuns only. Until recently, when living in filled busy and stress life, many people
have paid more attention to seeking ways to improve the quality of spiritual life.
Besides Yoga, Meditation is now more concerned thanks to some scientific
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researchers shown that meditation is a way to get rid of misery, to overcome

problems.

There are now many Meditation Books written in English that needs translating into
Vietnamese so that everyone can easily read. We have to need the help of translation.
However, Translating from one language into another is a very difficult job even for
the most experienced translators. The translation, which involves the transposition
of thoughts expressed in one language by one social group into the appropriate
expression of another group, entails a process of cultural decoding, recoding, and
encoding. However, the process of transmitting religious texts is a complicated and
vital task. Translation of religious texts has been a key element in disseminating the
divine message throughout history. BEING employed also for teaching converts the
basics of religion and for mirroring the beauty of faith and morality around the globe.
As a powerful instrument for missionary purposes, it should be as accurate and
precise as possible and must be in accord with sound belief. The more disparities
that exist between any two languages, the greater the loss of meaning in the
translation is

I found it interesting to have a thesis in this field so I decide to research on the topic
“An investigation into Buddhism Meditation Works and their Vietnamese translated
versions”.

1.2. AIMS OF THE STUDY

1.2.1. Aims

This study aims at:

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 Examining Buddhism Meditation Works and their Vietnamese

translated versions. Especially in the book “Three pillars of Zen” and
its Vietnamese version.
 Finding out the loss and gain of meaning the translation of “Three
pillars of Zen”.
 Discovering some popular procedures in the process of translation
based on the theory of translation.

1.2.2. Objectives

To achieve this aim, the study will have the following specific objectives:

 To draw out the strategies and procedures that may apply to the translation
of Buddhist works especially in “Three pillars of Zen” and its Vietnamese
version “Ba Trụ thiền”.
 To find out the loss and gain in the meaning of the translation from English
to Vietnamese.
 To put suggestions to the Vietnamese translators as well as for those who
take care about meditation language in English and Vietnamese at a high
level.

1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

On this ground, the study seeks to answer the detailed research questions:
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 What is the loss and gain of meaning in the Vietnamese translation of

Meditation works?

 What are the strategies and procedures that may apply to the translation of
Buddhist works in the version “Ba trụ thiền” by Đỗ Đình Đồng?