THE SYNTACTIC CONSTRUCTION EXPRESSING THE IMPERFECTIVE ASPECT IN MODERN JAPANESE AND ITS TRANSLATION INTO VIETNAMESE

Abstract

The article focuses on three representative syntactic constructions that encode the imperfective aspect in modern Japanese and examines how they are translated into Vietnamese. Drawing on two main methodological approaches, descriptive and contrastive, and supported by descriptive statistics, the study analyzes data extracted from two novels by Kawabata Yasunari together with their corresponding Vietnamese translations. The findings indicate that the construction [-tsutsuaru] is identified as a type of progressive aspect, expressing ongoingness that inherently involves transition, in which time is conceptualized as an oriented axis moving forward and the situation is construed as a complex of multiple phases evolving along this temporal axis. The construction [-yotosuru] has as its core meaning the expression of a situation that has not yet occurred but toward which the subject is oriented or which the subject is already in the process of carrying out, thereby foregrounding projection and intentionality. The construction [-tokoroda] is treated as a “temporal marker” that pinpoints a specific moment within the temporal flow of the situation. From a translational perspective, the analysis shows that aspectual equivalence is not always prioritized. Translators tend to adopt flexible strategies and select alternative expressions in order to secure naturalness, pragmatic appropriateness, and stylistic congruence in Vietnamese.