The magazine Văn Nghệ issues 1+2 of 2005 published an article titled “Incorrect Translations are Ruining the Vietnamese Language,” which highlighted several words that are commonly misused or misunderstood in Vietnamese. At the top of the list is the term “vi tính.”
Origins of the Term “Vi Tính”
The first digital computer powered by vacuum tubes was created in 1945 and had a long-winded name describing its main functions, abbreviated as ENIAC. The official term electronic computer was used shortly after and entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 1946, which we translate as máy tính điện tử. Before 1975, in Southern Vietnam, it was translated as máy điện toán.
Early electronic computers were as large as a house. Thanks to the invention of the transistor, which replaced vacuum tubes, computers became much smaller. The smallest of these is known as a minicomputer, which we translate as máy tính mini. The invention of silicon microchips allowed for even smaller computers to be produced in the early 1970s. These were called microcomputers, meaning extremely small computers.
In 1981, IBM introduced a new term: personal computer (PC), which we translate as máy tính cá nhân. Since then, the term microcomputer has gradually fallen out of use.
According to an overseas website, in 1975, a group of computer science translators (Vietnamese in Paris) published a specialized journal called Diễn đàn thuật ngữ. In each issue, they translated 100 terms into Vietnamese. This journal only had three issues. The term máy vi tính was created here to translate the word microcomputer.
Dr. Bùi Văn Thanh began working at the Institute of Computing Science and Control in 1975 and noticed that some colleagues started using the term máy vi tính to refer to microcomputers since late 1976. He stated: “I am allergic to the terms vi tính and tin học. I never use these two terms.”
In the Dictionary of Radio, Electronics, and Computing by Phạm Văn Bảy, published by the Science and Technology Publishing House in 1987, the term microcomputer is translated as máy tính kiểu micro. This shows that the dictionary’s author and the editorial team for the scientific and technical dictionary in Vietnam at that time still did not know what the term vi tính meant. In fact, this term had been vaguely present in the Vietnamese language for the previous ten years. The author’s book of the same name published in 1990 finally translated the term microcomputer as máy vi tính. Thus, the term máy vi tính entered the specialized dictionary in 1990. The term vi tính appeared in the Vietnamese Dictionary compiled by the Vietnam Linguistics Institute, led by Professor Hoàng Phê, in 1992 with a note that it is colloquial. Today, all dictionaries translate microcomputer as máy vi tính, most often accompanied by the phrase máy tính cực nhỏ.
A Spectacular Misunderstanding
Many people mistakenly believe that micro means “small” and computing refers to calculation, so microcomputing translates to vi tính without concern! Unfortunately, translation is not that simple. The goal of translation is to convey the original meaning found in the source term: microcomputer (extremely small computer), “because it is smaller than previous computers!”
The term máy vi tính, sadly, does not convey that meaning. I asked many educated people around me, including computer engineers, and they all responded: Máy vi tính is for calculating complex things, not for simple calculations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division). Even some authors and dictionary compilers believe this.
I noticed a newspaper, a magazine, and the main sections of some websites have taken the name vi tính. This indicates that vi tính is understood to mean computer in general, encompassing computing overall, rather than just referring to a type of microcomputer!
The term vi tính does not convey the meaning that should be translated into Vietnamese. Meanwhile, the original term has long fallen out of use, remaining only in dictionaries. We have inferred the meaning of vi tính through intuition and, unfortunately, this has led to the emergence of different types of machines.
The principle of main before subordinate in Vietnamese is as absolute as the rule of driving on the right side in Vietnamese traffic law. Even without studying grammar, people still speak with the main before subordinate, just as they drive on the right without studying traffic laws.
In fact, distinguishing between main and subordinate in Vietnamese can be quite complex. However, in the case of the compound term vi tính, everyone clearly understands which is which. Therefore, it cannot be said that the term vi tính is not incorrect in Vietnamese.
Spoken and written language are very different. However, in creative writing, people sometimes use colloquial expressions to add a humorous or whimsical touch. The Vietnamese Dictionary of the Vietnam Linguistics Institute, edited by Professor Hoàng Phê, records the term vi tính as colloquial, suggesting that it should be used only in spoken language, acknowledging that there is something amiss with its meaning; people say it out of habit. The official and accurate term should be máy tính, điện toán. If we accept the note in the Vietnamese Dictionary, then the case of the term vi tính is no longer an infiltration but a complete invasion of spoken language into written language.
The term máy vi tính was created to translate the name of the extremely small computer, but after a long time of use, it has come to be understood as encompassing even the extremely large computers. This is a funny story but also serves as a reminder for us about the use of the Vietnamese language.
BÙI BẮC
