Gloss on words in the passage 'Once or twice a minute all summer' -- Harry Potter Vietnamese translation.
(Note: Vietnamese no longer uses Chinese characters. Characters are given only as an aid to understanding etymology.)
| một trong |
'one of' | |
| hai đứa | 'two' + classifier of children | |
| sinh đôi | 'twin' | |
| tỏ vẻ | 'to seem' | |
| ngạc nhiêṇ | （愕然） | 'surprised' |
| 'One of the two twins looked surprised' | ||
| anh |
'you' (literally elder brother) | |
| là | 'to be, is, are' | |
| huynh trưởng | 'prefect' (the translator appears to have created this word, which means 'elder (student) of the school'). E-V dictionaries suggest lớp trưởng as a translation. | |
| hả | sentence-final particle | |
| anh | 'elder brother' | |
| Percy | 'Percy' | |
| 'You are a prefect, elder brother Percy'. | ||
| lẽ ra | 'Why not' | |
| anh | 'you' | |
| phải | 'not' (short for không phải). With lẽ ra above means 'you should have done something'. | |
| nói | 'say' | |
| chớ | sentence-final particle 'aren't you, didn't you?' | |
| 'Why didn't you say?' = 'You should have told us' | ||
| tụi em | 'we' (younger person talking to older) | |
| chẳng | 'not yet' | |
| biết | 'know' | |
| gỉ̉ | 'something, anything' | |
| cà | 'all' | |
| 'We didn't know anything at all.' | ||
| có mà | 'yes, certainly' | |
| đứa | classifier for children | |
| thứ hai | 'second' | |
| sinh đôi | 'twin' | |
| nói chen | 'put in a word edgewise' | |
| 'Yes he did! the second twin interrupted'. | ||
| khoan | 'slow' or 'just a minute!' | |
| tao | 'I' (familiar, used between friends, etc. Also used by superiors to inferiors) | |
| nhớ | 'remember' | |
| có | 'there is' / 'to have' | |
| lần | 'time' | |
| ảnh | 'he' (Southern dialect) = anh ẩy | |
| có | 'to have', here has emphatic function ('did say something') | |
| nói | 'to say' | |
| gì đó | 'of something' | |
| về | 'concerning' | |
| vụ | 'matter, business, 'affair' | |
| huynh trưởng | 'prefect' (see above) | |
| 'Just a minute! I remember there was a time he did say something about (the matter of) a prefect'. | ||
| hình như | 'to seem, appear' | |
| có | 'there is' / 'to have' | |
| một | 'one' | |
| lần | 'time' | |
| 'Appears there was one time' | ||
| hổng chừng | 'maybe' (Southern dialect) | |
| hai | 'two' | |
| lần | 'time' | |
| 'Maybe two times' | ||
| để | 'let me' | |
| nhớ | 'to remember' | |
| coi | 'to see' = 'try' | |
| 'Let me try to remember' | ||
| hình như | 'to seem, to appear' | |
| nói | 'to say' | |
| suốt | 'entire' | |
| mùa hè | 'summer' | |
| 'Seems (he) said (it) all summer' | ||
| Anh Percy | 'brother Percy' | |
| huynh trưởng | 'prefect' | |
| bảo | 'to say' | |
| thôi | 'stop, cut it out!' (used with regard to discussing a subject). | |
| im | 'silence, quite' | |
| nào | sentence final particle (emphatic) | |
| Elder brother Percy Prefect says 'Stop, shutup!' | ||
Vietnamese word order is quite close to English and a word-for-word gloss generally manages to convey the meaning. One problem is the use of sentence-final particles in Vietnamese. These are quite rich and varied in meaning and usage. Whereas in English ending a sentence with a 'huh' or an 'eh' could sound familiar or disrespectful if used inappropriately, Vietnamese has sentence-final particles that indicate respect to the listener. It can be quite difficult representing the nuances of such particles in English.