Isolating Intensification in English Literary Discourse into Vietnamese

Intensification is a category of language much discussed by a lot of linguistics, however, this category is specifically identified just in the position of Martin and White (2005). This is, it is divided into two infused and isolated lexical-grammatical classes, of which isolating intensification is known as the markers which raise or lower the level of intensity of a certain individual item as qualities or processes. How isolating intensification is explored through the lens of translation is still left untouched. This paper aims to find out the encoding of meaning embodied in isolating intensification. Or rather, it explores how the nuance of meaning of isolating intensifiers and maximisers is when being rendered into Vietnamese. The study was operated using qualitative method and basing on 400 samples extracted from four literary works in English namely Wuthering Heights by Bronté, The Man of Property by Galsworthy, The Moon and Sixpence by Maugham and Vanity Fair by Thackeray, and their equivalents in Vietnamese. The research results show that there are adjustments of up-scaling and down-scaling, or losses of level of intensity when these intensifiers are translated into Vietnamese. The findings help learners and translators be aware of the changes occurring in the process of translation so that they can apply them to learning and using this point of language effectively.