TTLV: Structure and semantics of Chinese terms in the field of Labor Law and how to translate them into Vietnamese

MASTER'S THESIS INFORMATION

1. Student's name: CAO JIA 2. Gender: Female

3. Date of birth: 05/07/1993

4. Place of birth: Yunnan, China

5. Decision on recognition of students No. 2750/QD-XHNV dated August 2, 2023 of the President of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

6. Changes in the training process:

7. Thesis topic: Structure and semantics of Chinese terms in the field of Labor Law and how to translate them into Vietnamese

8. Major: Vietnam Studies; Code: 8310630

9. Scientific advisor: Dr. Pham Thuy Chi, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

10. Summary of thesis results:

This study systematically compares Chinese-Vietnamese labor law terminology, based on the analysis of 144 Chinese terms (extracted from 5 legal documents) and 125 Vietnamese terms. The results show that: Chinese terms mainly use a four-syllable structure (“同工同酬”), are characterized by a central structure and have a clear tendency to nominalize; meanwhile, Vietnamese terms are usually 4-7 syllables long (“thanh tra lao dong”) and use a front-center structure. For translation difficulties, including: structural conflicts (the order of “dinh + trung” in Chinese compared to “dong + tan” in Vietnamese), cultural gaps (“住房公积金” has no corresponding word in Vietnamese), and legal system differences (“特殊工种” is not completely synonymous with the corresponding concept in Vietnamese), the study proposed three hierarchical adaptive translation strategies: literal translation with complete equivalent words (“劳动” → “lao lao”); adjusting the syntactic order or cultural internalization for partially equivalent words; applying phonetic translation with annotations or functional explanations for words without equivalent words. The research results have built the first bilingual database of Chinese-Vietnamese labor law terminology, providing a supporting foundation for legal translation work.

11. Practical application:

12. Further research directions:

13. Published works related to the thesis: None

INFORMATION ON MASTER'S THESIS

1. Full name: CAO JIA 2. Sex: Female

3. Date of birth: July 5, 1993 4. Place of birth: Yunnan, China

5. Admission decision number: 2750/QD-XHNV Dated August 2, 2023

6. Changes in academic process:

7. Official thesis title: The structure and semantics of Chinese terminology in the field of Labor Law and how to translate them into Vietnamese

8. Major: Vietnamese Studies 9. Code: 8310630

10. Supervisors: Dr. Pham Thuy Chi, VNU University of Social Sciences and Humanities

11. Summary of the findings of the thesis:

This scientific study compares Chinese and Vietnamese legal terms in the field of labor law, based on an analysis of 144 Chinese terms (extracted from five Chinese legal documents including the Labor Law) and 125 Vietnamese terms. The findings reveal that Chinese legal terms utilize four-character structures (“同工同酬”), feature a prominent modifier-head structure, and exhibit a high degree of nominalization. In contrast, Vietnamese legal terms typically range from 4 to 7 syllables in length (“labor inspector”) and follow a head-initial structure. In addressing translation challenges—including structural conflicts (the “modifier + head” order in Chinese versus the “verb + object” order in Vietnamese), cultural gaps (the absence of an equivalent term for “住房公积金”), and legal system differences (“特殊工种” not fully equivalent to the Vietnamese concept). The study proposes a three-tiered adaptive strategy: literal translation for fully equivalent terms (“劳动” → “labor” ); Word order adjustment or cultural localization for partially equivalent terms; Transliteration with annotation or functional paraphrasing for zero-equivalence terms. The outcome of this research includes the development of the first bilingual Chinese-Vietnamese labor law terminology database, providing a foundation to support legal translation. This contribution facilitates legal cooperation and sustainable development in the labor law domain between China and Vietnam.

12. Practical applicability

13. Further research directions:

14. Thesis-related publications: None