Deliberate mistranslation into Vietnamese of USA’ name.

by tonytran2015 (Melbourne, Australia).

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(Blog No.118).

#mistranslation, #deliberate mistranslation, #name of USA, #Hợp Chủng Quốc, #propaganda,

Deliberate mistranslation into Vietnamese of USA’ name.
The full name of USA is The United States of America. It meaning is obvious and fits well with the history of the Nation. When the name enters Vietnamese language, it has changed into many different forms, one of which is intriguing.

This is an intriguing mistranslation on the par of the word “democratic” in front of the names of defunct non-democratic (Democratic Republic of XYZ) communist countries.

1. Various names for USA in Vietnamese.

In Vietnamese, the USA has many names.

a. The first (old) name is “Hoa Kỳ”, meaning “(a country having) Flag with Flowers (flowers mean many stars on the top left corner)”. This name came from old Chinese literature (for example “Sâm Hoa Kỳ”).

b. The second name is “Mỹ Quốc”. The meaning is Beauty Country. “Mỹ” is a beautified phonetization of the sound “aMErica” (“Mé” is a better phonetization in Vietnamese but does not have a beautiful meaning to be used as the name of a country). This name came from old Chinese literature.

c. The third name is “Liên Bang Mỹ”, meaning the (nation formed from) united States with the name America. (“Bang” means States).

d. The fourth name is “Hợp Chủng Quốc Mỹ” meaning The Nation of Combined Races with the name America. This name is only used by the Propaganda arms of the USA (VOA and US funded publicity organizations).

2. The sign at the front of the Embassy of USA.

The sign in front of the USA Embassy in Vietnam is “Tổng Lãnh Sự Mỹ” in Vietnamese. This seems to reaffirm “Mỹ Quốc” as the officially approved (self-chosen} name of USA in Vietnamese.

3. Conclusion

The name “Hợp Chủng Quốc Mỹ ” is not an official diplomatic name, and is used only by the Propaganda arms of the USA (VOA and US funded publicity organizations). But why the real name of USA has to be changed in their communications to Vietnamese? Or is it a distinctive sign for respondents to know that a Propagandist of USA is talking to them?

Having a deliberate mistranslation in foreign affairs does give a bad impression on any good faith by the translator [1].