A seasoned Vietnamese translator has shared his experience while joining dozens of his colleagues in an unprecedented process to translate the Britannica Concise Encyclopedia into Vietnamese in observance of the stringent international benchmarks.

The Vietnamese version of the Britannica Concise Encyclopedia has been available on the local market since January.

The encyclopedia is 3,060 pages thick (including two volumes) and features more than 2,500 illustrations and 25,000 entries.

Apart from the core content, which provides a wide range of knowledge in 51 different areas including art, literature, science and technology, the Vietnamese version also boasts nearly 250 entries about Vietnam compiled by local scholars and approved by U.S.-based Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

According to Pham Quoc Cuong, the rendering project overseer, 54 local translators and 62 experts and contributors in various fields, including eight prominent dictionary pundits, joined the rendering, editing and appraising process.

Insiders’ stories

In early 2007, veteran translator Nguyen Viet Long and dozens of other contributors were brought together by the Vietnam Education Publishing House to embark on a mammoth project to render the Britannica Concise Encyclopedia into Vietnamese.

Around six months earlier, after eight months of negotiating, the Vietnamese publisher had inked a deal with Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. to produce the Vietnamese version in the spirit of authority, precision and impartiality. 

The original book is a large-sized, 2,114-page tome which boasts approximately 28,000 entries and 2,500 illustrations and maps.

It is the concise version of the 32-volume Britannica Encyclopedia, which was first published in 1768 in Edinburgh, Scotland and has seen numerous revisions since.

The tome is the oldest and most prestigious English-language encyclopedia, which has been used as reference in many schools, homes, libraries and offices around the world.

There was thrilled coverage of the rendering in Vietnamese media in 2007, and the translated version was expected to come out in early 2008, Long, the translator, recalled.

However, the publication date was delayed for six years due to overwhelming hurdles.

He added the translators were paid a mere VND18,000 (US$0.8 now) apiece for all entries, irrespective of their length. The English entries are between 50 and 1,000 words long.

With such meager pay, pundits, translators, lexicographers, foreign language lecturers from major Vietnamese universities and professors in many fields were involved in the rendering process mostly out of their eagerness to contribute to the country’s academic growth, Long stressed.

A revered professor on the project’s editing board exclaimed that having his name inscribed in the tome is more worthwhile than being conferred with dozens of medals.

The translators submitted their works on a monthly basis to the Vietnam Education Publishing House and Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., which vetted them meticulously in order to ensure not only the quality, accuracy and objectivity of the book, but also the brand of the U.S. firm.

Overwhelming challenges

The rendering process was also eliminative, as some had difficulties with their English command, while several quit halfway for different reasons, Long added.

Besides the translators’ subjective difficulties, the inadequate and disconnected Vietnamese terminology also posed tremendous hurdles.

“The same English terms can yield a few Vietnamese renderings in different fields or areas. Many concepts were yet to exist in the Vietnamese language, which forced the translators to coin new words or phrases supposed to be short and precise,” Long elaborated.

For instance, regarding biology, the translators were often boggled by the English names of various animal varieties, many of which are not indigenous to Vietnam, such as “scorpion fish,” “angelfish,” “cassowary” and “avocet.”

“The inadequacy underscored a fact that almost no Vietnamese biologist has comprehensive knowledge of classifying or naming animal varieties,” Long pointed out.

Another daunting task was rendering the proper Chinese names and nouns into the Chinese-rooted Vietnamese lexicology, and ensuring that such translated terms are cohesively used during the tome’s entire length to facilitate readers’ crosschecking among different entries.

The Vietnamese translators also detected a number of blunders in the original encyclopedia and suggested they should be rectified.

They also reconciled the differences between a number of European and North American concepts and those in Vietnam. An example is the different timing of seasons between the countries in the entry for “season.”

Cuong, the project overseer, added that differing opinions regarding political concepts and sensitive issues also posed formidable challenges to the translation process.

The Vietnamese translators and experts had to amend or rewrite the content reflecting differing outlooks on such concepts as socialism, communism, fascism and the former Soviet Union, so that the word columns go well with Vietnam’s political orientation and perspectives, which was also approved by the U.S. side.

Issues which the two sides failed to reach a consensus on had to be removed.

Typical examples included the two entries on Hoang Sa and Truong Sa, which are identified as the Paracel and Spratly Islands, respectively, in the original English version.

The Vietnamese and U.S. sides were divided on the concepts, as the U.S. side was insistent on calling the two archipelagoes disputed areas.

The split opinions resulted in the removal of the two columns.

Entries on Vietnam 

Long, the seasoned translator, observed that the entries featuring Vietnam in the original Britannica Concise Encyclopedia version published in 2007 number a mere 25 out of the 28,000 entries in total, excluding those related to countries other than Vietnam.

The only eight Vietnamese dignitaries mentioned in the original are all revered political and military leaders whose columns are arranged in alphabetical order.

The notables include Bao Dai, Vietnam’s last king; late Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh; and legendary General Vo Nguyen Giap, who passed away in 2013.

Ten Vietnamese geographical entries encompass Vietnam, Hanoi, Da Nang, Hai Phong, Hue and Ho Chi Minh City, which are the country’s capital, major cities and well-loved tourist attractions.

Seven remaining entries cover the country’s ancient Dong Son culture; the Nguyen Dynasty, Vietnam’s last monarchy; the Vietnamese language; and the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a strategic wartime supply route.

Twenty other entries closely related to Vietnam highlight the Hong (Red) River, which meanders through the north of Vietnam; the Mekong River, Indochina War, Battle of Dien Bien Phu and the American war in Vietnam.

The nearly 250 lexical items on Vietnam which were added to the rendered version by the Vietnamese translators and pundits focus on the country’s architectural and cultural icons, such as Ben Thanh Market located in downtown Ho Chi Minh City and “ao dai” (traditional long gowns).

The Vietnamese entries already available in the original are complemented with loads of information, making them considerably longer than the translated entries on foreign icons and cities.

Lexical items on Vietnamese personalities are also notably longer and more informative than the foreign ones of the same category.

During the translation process until late 2013, when the drafts were finalized, the rendering was constantly updated with geographical and historical changes, new social trends and dignitaries’ status.

“The translation is a huge success. Still, the disheartening difficulties faced by the local translators and experts have spoken volumes about our serious shortage of accomplished authorities in different fields, including composing encyclopedias,” Long remarked.