THE METHODS OF TRANSLATING VERBNOMINALIZING AFFIXES FROM JAPANESE INTO VIETNAMESE

Abstract

This article discusses the methods of translating verb-nominalizing affxes from Japanese into Vietnamese. The result of our survey of data from 06 Vietnamese versions of Japanese short stories indicates that several translation methods have been consistently applied to all nouns, adjectives and verbs as predicators involving verb-nominalization. To be more specifc, these include: (i) the nominalizing affix in Japanese is translated as an equivalent one in Vietnamese; (ii) the nominalizing affix in Japanese is translated as a generic noun; (iii) the combination “verb + nominalizing affix” in Japanese sentences is translated as a noun which is
derived from a verb in that combination; and finally, (iv) the nominalizing affix is left out in the translating process. All these methods of translation can be arranged in the following order from the least to the most common: (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv). Besides, when the nominalizing affixes arerendered with their equivalents in Vietnamese, no other lexemes are chosen apart from “việc”, a common nominal indicator that accompanies verbs.