Stupid as a coin meaning and rhyming similes in vietnamese

Stupid as a Coin: Meaning and rhyming similes in Vietnamese Thuy Nga Nguyen, The University of Queensland, Australia Ghil ad Zuckermann, University of Adelaide, Australia & Shanghai )nternational Studies University, China Similes emphasise affinities between different objects, and they occur in many cultures Vietnamese similes can be classified into two types: Meaning Similes and Rhyming Similes This paper analyses and compares their structure and their semantic and phonetic requirements )t also draws innovative parallels between Vietnamese rhyming similes and Cockney Rhyming Slang, Multisourced Neologization of the Phonetic Matching type, and English, )talian and )sraeli euphemisms Keywords: Meaning Similes; Rhyming Similes; Vietnamese; Multisourced Neologization; Euphemism; Phonetic Matching Introduction Many languages preserve a variety of proverbs Proverbs connecting similar characteristics in different objects are known as similes Similes are comparisons that set two ideas side by side to show how two different things are similar in one important aspect cf Davidson, ; Read, Vietnamese similes can be classified into two types: a Meaning Similes and b Rhyming Similes Meaning similes depend on semantic connections and are used in formal writing Rhyming similes derive from similarity of sound especially with respect to the last syllable of two distinct words Rhyming similes are informal expressions used among young people and are not considered standard language This paper analyses the structures and the semantic and phonetic requirements prevalent in both types of simile Meaning and Rhyming similes in Vietnamese Comparison is common in colloquial speech as a vehicle for understanding cf Dinh, , p According to (oang , p , the similarity between objects compared in a simile can be temporary and relative A Meaning simile, as its name suggests, focuses on the semantic connection between the two linked objects The following are two examples of meaning similes in Vietnamese: )PA: Vợ chồng đũa có đơi /və: coŋ ɲɯ duə kɔ doi/ )nternational Journal of Language Studies )JLS , Vol , pp - | Thuy Nga Nguyen & Ghil ad Zuckermann Lit: Wife husband as chopstick has pair Trans: 'Wife and husband are like a pair of chopsticks.' )n this example wife and husband are compared to a pair of chopsticks, using the word like )n Vietnam, chopsticks are essential eating utensils—as forks, spoons and knives in the Western world—and must be used in pairs A mental image of a wife and a husband being compared to a pair of chopsticks would show that they ought to be together This would bring out the speaker or writer s implication that although wife and husband and a pair of chopsticks belong to two different semantic domains, they share the same characteristic i.e., the need to be in pairs Cô trông tươi hoa )PA: /ko: ei coŋ tɯi ɲɯ hwa/ Lit: She looks fresh as flower Trans: 'She is as fresh as a flower' cf English fresh as a daisy Rhyming similes, on the other hand, concentrate on the rhyme of the sentence There can be no obvious or related semantic similarity between the two objects Consider the following two examples: Nghèo mèo )PA: / ŋɛu ɲɯ kɔn mɛu/ Lit: Poor as cat Trans: 'Poor as a cat' juxtapose with the English semantic simile poor as a church mouse Yêu quái gà mái )PA: /iəʊ waːɪ kɔn ga maːɪ/ Lit: Cunning a hen Trans: 'Cunning as a hen' juxtapose with the English semantic simile cunning as a fox )n Example , the rhyme èo /ɛu/ appears in both nghèo poor and mèo cat There is no semantic tradition in Vietnamese according to which cats are poor This is in contradistinction to the English semantic simile poor as a church mouse )n Example , /aːɪ/ appears in both quái cunning and mái hen , which are semantically unrelated – as opposed to the English fox, which is considered cunning 2.1 Analysis of Meaning Similes 2.1.1 Meaning choice Vietnamese people use similes not only in poetry but also in everyday life They tend to choose established, recognizable characteristics of the comparing and compared objects For example, beauty can be compared with )nternational Journal of Language Studies )JLS , Vol , | flowers, fairies or pictures, and ugliness is connected with monkeys, ghosts or crazy people )n other words, there is a tendency to choose common characteristics of the compared object or person For example: Cô đẹp tiên )PA: / ko ei dep ɲɯ tien/ Lit: She beautiful as fairy Trans: 'She is as beautiful as a fairy.' )n Vietnamese culture, a fairy is a beautiful and kind hearted being On the other hand, animals such as dogs, monkeys, pigs, ghosts and ducks are considered bad Dinh, , p For example: Xấu khỉ Lit: Ugly as monkey Trans: ugly as a monkey cf The English simile: ugly as sin Ngu lợn Lit: Stupid as pig Trans: Stupid as a pig cf The English simile: stupid as an ass (ôi c’ Lit: Smelly as owl Trans: smelly as an owl cf The English simile: smelly as a skunk Other examples of meaning similes are as follows: Vietnamese Lit Translation Translation meaning similes Thin as a sick cat cf the English Gầy mèo hen Thin as cat sick simile thin as a bean pole Fast as a horse cf the English Nhanh ngựa Fast as horse simile fast as lightning Cry like rain cf the English Khóc mưa Cry like rain simile cry like a baby Khóc cha chết Cry as father dies Cry as when the father dies Ugly as a monkey cf the Xấu khỉ Ugly as monkey English simile ugly as sin Black as ink cf the actual Tối đen mực Dark black like ink English simile black as ink | Thuy Nga Nguyen & Ghil ad Zuckermann Users can create new similes based on a pre-existent one provided that the comparing and compared objects have obvious or established similar semantic characteristics For example, to describe beauty, they can invent new similes such as the following: Đẹp tiên Trans: Beautiful as a fairy can have various versions such as: Đẹp hoa Trans: Beautiful as a flower Đẹp tranh Trans: Beautiful as a painting Gầy trơ xương Lit: thin showing bones Trans: Thin as a skeleton cf The English simile: thin as a rake ; this can be the model for other meaning similes such as: Gầy mèo hen sick cat Thin as quỷ devil ma đói starving ghost 2.1.2 Structure Full structure Comparison structure normally includes the compared and the comparing object, as well as the similarity in quality or characteristic between the two objects Therefore, the full comparison structure should include the following: the compared object the comparing object which is usually placed after the connecting word the element that shows the similar characteristic or quality between compared and comparing object Nguyen, , p Consider Cô xinh hoa Lit: She is beautiful as a flower )n this example, Cô She is the compared object, hoa flower is the comparing object standing after the connecting word as , and xinh beautiful is the element showing the common characteristic Grammatical structures )n terms of grammar, meaning similes can be analysed as follows: (ọc Verb V dốt adv as bò Object O )nternational Journal of Language Studies )JLS , Vol Trans: Study stupidly like a cow Xinh Adjective Adj as Trans: Beautiful as a flower Ăn V as Trans: Eats like a tiger | hoa O hổ O Đời người Noun Phrase NP as Trans: One s life is like a candle nến O Gái có chồng sơng Subject S V O as S Trans: A woman has a husband like a river has water Như diều As S Trans: As a kite has wind , gặp V có V nước O gió O From the above examples, we can draw deduce that the possible grammatical structures are as follows: V Adj V+adv NP S-V-O General structure as/like as/like as/like as/like as/like as/Like O O O O S-V-O S-V The focus of the sentence is the Object O composed by a Noun Phrase NP or a Clause Cl henceforth, B placed after as or like This Object has the quality described in the subject/verb/adjective/adverb or a clause henceforth, A , which is mentioned before the connecting word as or like Furthermore, B itself may include the image that helps the readers understand the meaning of the sentence Thus, the general structure of a meaning simile is as follows: | Thuy Nga Nguyen & Ghil ad Zuckermann A as/like B B has the characteristic or quality described in A For example: Đen A as/ like Trans: Black as ink mực B 2.1.3 Elements Meaning similes normally consist of three or more elements, as shown in the following examples: Three Elements: Khóc mưa Trans: Cry like rain cf The English simile: cry like a baby Ngáy sấm Trans: Snoring like thunder cf The English simile: snore like sawing logs Chậm r‘a Trans: Slow as a tortoise cf The English similes: slow as a snail, slow as a tortoise Four elements: Ồn chợ vỡ Trans: Noisy as a market cf The English simile: noisy as crows Nói cháo chảy Trans: Fluent as pouring soup Chạy ma đuổi Trans: Run like being chased by a ghost cf The English simile: run as fast as a wind )nternational Journal of Language Studies )JLS , Vol , | Five elements: Nói chó cắn ma Trans: Speak like a dog bites the ghost Six elements: Khổ giữ đóm đêm mưa Trans: Difficult as keeping the torch under the rain Cơm với cá mạ với Trans: Rice and fish are like mother and child Nháo nhác gà lạc mẹ Trans: Panic like chickens without their mom cf the English expression like a headless chicken, which imagistically conveys panic More than six elements: Người không học ngọc không mài Trans: A person who does not study is like a ruby that is not polished Gái có bồ hịn có rễ Trans: A woman who has a child is like a soapberry that has roots 2.1.4 Connecting words Meaning similes are divided into two main parts with the following connecting words linking them: , , tựa , which mean as / like meaning -er than không , chẳng , không tày , chẳng tày , which mean less than For example: Gầy que củi Trans: Thin as a branch of a tree | Thuy Nga Nguyen & Ghil ad Zuckermann Niềm vui ngắn chẳng tày gang Trans: (appiness is shorter than the measure of the hand Lời chào cao mâm cỗ Trans: Greeting is highly appreciated than inviting for a meal 2.2 Analysis of Rhyming similes 2.2.1 Meaning choice As aforementioned, the comparison made in a rhyming simile can be unusual semantically )nstead of saying: Xinh tiên )PA: /siŋ ɲɯ tien/ Lit: Beautiful as fairy Trans: Beautiful as a fairy One can say Xinh tinh tinh )PA: / siŋ ɲɯ tiŋ tiŋ/ Lit: Beautiful as gorilla Trans: Beautiful as a gorilla Vietnamese people usually associate beauty with flowers or fairies Monkeys and gorillas, on the other hand, are considered ugly and naughty That said, rhyming similes can easily violate these semantic norms Thus, tinh tinh gorilla is compared to xinh beautiful merely because of the rhyming Other examples of rhyming similes with arbitrary comparison are as follows: Méo kéo )PA: / meu ɲɯ kai keu/ Lit: Unrounded as scissors Trans: Unrounded as scissors Scissors often symbolize sharpness rather than unrounded shape But the Vietnamese word for scissors rhymes with unrounded, hence the lexical selection Such a phonetic consideration—in this case involving the first syllable or the last—might have been present in the English expressions bite the bullet, as dead as a doornail, snug as a bug and could have also been an additional factor other than extinction in as dead as a Dodo or as follows: )nternational Journal of Language Studies )JLS , Vol , | Sát thủ đu đủ )PA: /sat tu kwa du du/ Lit: Assassin as papaya Trans: Assassin as a papaya' The following are other rhyming similes: Vietnamese rhyming similes Keo heo Buồn chuồn chuồn Kiêu niêu Ngất quất Lit Translation Mean as pig Sad as dragon fly Proud as cooking pan Faint as mandarin orange Translation Mean as a pig Sad as a dragon fly Proud as a peacock Faint as a mandarin orange The lack of semantic restriction is a virgin soil for new, often funny and thought-provoking similes Compare this flexibility with that of Phonetic Matching, as follows 2.2.1.1 Phonetic Matching Phonetic matching Zuckermann, , pp is a kind of multisourced neologization that makes use of pre-existent lexical item in the target language selected to replace a word in a source language because of a shared coincidental sound We define phonetic matching as etymythological etymological+mythological nativization in which the target language material is originally related to the source language lexical item phonetically but not semantically )n other words, phonetic matching is a camouflaged borrowing that marries a Source Language lexical item with a phonetically similar pre-existent autochthonous lexeme/root which is semantically unrelated to the Source Language lexical item )n the process of neologization, the Target Language material adopts the meaning of the source language word A simple example of phonetic matching is the English word mayday, which nativizes French m’aider to help me! according to the Radio Telegraph Convention in ; Oxford English Dictionary [OED] or Dialectal/Colloquial French m’aidez help me! in contrast to Standard French aidez moi or French venez m’aider come to help me! cf OED The meaning of the preexistent English lexical items May and day have nothing to with help Note that the currently common calls for help in French are au secours help!, | Thuy Nga Nguyen & Ghil ad Zuckermann assist! and aidez moi help me! Similarly, the first Spanish sailors who encountered the Nahuatl Aztec word ahuakatl, Persea gratissima, avocado lit testicle , adapted it phonetically as aguacate this is the current Spanish word for avocado and may have been influenced by Spanish agua water (owever, in some places this adaptation was matched phonetically with Old Spanish avocado, lit advocate cf Contemporary Spanish abogado advocate , cf Spanish evocado recalled, evoked, invoked , although of course, advocate had nothing to with the large testicle-shaped fruit For example, we not think that advocates were considered men with big testicles Note that the Spanish word avocado entered English in the late seventeenth century as alligator (pear), again a phonetic matching Phonetic matching is widespread in immigrant societies Consider the American )talian words bimbo child beam , giuro ) swear Jew , and grasso fat, greasy gas Livingston, , p )n Texas we have heard Austin Waco the names of two Texan cities for Hasta luego see you; bye lit until later 2.2.1.2 Euphemisms Vietnamese rhyming similes can be considered partial phonetic matches that are performed within the same language Consider the following intra-English euphemisms: gosh! documented , OED for God! documented , OED darn! documented , OED for damn! documented , OED frig cf frig you! , OED for fuck; frigging hell! for fuckin’ hell! (What the) dickens! documented , OED for devil! heck documented , OED for hell blooming cf Oh, you blooming idiot! , OED for bloody blinking (documented , OED, cf bleeding, bally and ruddy) for bloody shoot! documented , OED or sugar! for shit! documented , OED )ntra-)talian euphemisms are cavolo! lit cabbage for cazzo! lit dick but used in the same way as the English exclamation shit! , incavolarsi get shirty, get angry but less vulgar that the following for incazzarsi get angry , mercoledì! lit Wednesday for merda! shit , and the rare porca mattina lit pig morning for the highly rude porca Madonna piggy Madonna Consider also the )sraeli expression ‫ כ ס ס‬kos sóda, lit a glass of sodawater , for the Colloquial )sraeli curses of Arabic origin ‫ כ ס אחתכּ‬kus ókhtak, lit )nternational Journal of Language Studies )JLS , Vol , | your sister s cunt or ‫ כ ס אמכּ‬kus émak, lit your mother s cunt 2.2.1.3 Cockney Rhyming Slang The same technique characterizes Cockney Rhyming Slang, in which a lexical item is replaced by words usually a conjunction of two which preserve the sound of the last syllable of the original lexical item, hence the modifier rhyming Consider the following: Adam & Eve – believe Jelly Bone – telephone Sharp & Blunt – cunt Donald Duck – fuck / luck Tea Leaf – thief Buckle My Shoe – Jew (owever, sometimes the coiners or the utterers of the Cockney Rhyming slangism see a link sometimes jocular between the expression and its referent Therefore, it might be considered phono-semantic matching see Zuckermann, , § or at least semanticized phonetic matching Zuckermann, , § , rather than a phonetic matching tout court Consider the following cases: Trouble & Strife or the alliterative Struggle & Strife – wife Sorry & Sad – bad Sorrowful Tale – jail Edward Heath – teeth the former British Prime Minister s teeth were subject to caricature; cf the consequent ellipsis Edwards, with the meaning of teeth Ten to Two / Four by Two – Jew the latter once said unkindly to be the average size of a Jewish nose, in inches presumably , [cf Puxley, , ] Note that Four by Two noun has been army parlance for the regulation piece of cloth, measuring "x ", used for internal cleaning of the barrel of a rifle Raphael Loewe, personal communication )t looks as if, unlike these Cockney examples, in Vietnamese the additional rhyme in the rhyming similes is semantically unrelated to the adjective with which it tries to rhyme Consider the following example: Dốt tốt )PA: /zɔt ɲɯ kɔn tɔt/ Lit: Silly as pawn chess piece Trans: 'Silly as a pawn' | Thuy Nga Nguyen & Ghil ad Zuckermann )n this example, dốt and tốt are compared only because they share the similar sound /ɔt/ That said, note the extensive use of animals in Vietnamese rhyming similes see e.g., § )n other words, there seem to be semantic domains which are more common in rhyming similes than others 2.2.2 Structure The structure of the Vietnamese rhyming simile is: A as/like B Rhyming/sound in A is the same as in B From the structure above, one can make many rhyming similes For example: Ngu /ŋu/ /ŋɯ/ đồng xu / dɔŋ su/ Xe lu /se lu/ Mua thu / muə tu/ The u in ngu is repeated in xu , lu and thu Therefore, the user can choose from these three options because they all match the rhyming requirement The compared object does not need to have a common semantic characteristic described in the adjective or the verb placed before the connecting word as Full structure: Like meaning similes, rhyming similes have a full structure that includes the compared, the comparing object, the connecting word as/like , and the shared characteristic )n the example Nó buồn chuồn chuồn Trans: S/he is sad as a dragonfly , Nó s/he is the compared object, buồn sad is the characteristic, chuồn chuồn dragonfly is the comparing object, and as is the connecting word Grammatical structures: Rhyming similes have two types of grammatical structure: )nternational Journal of Language Studies )JLS , Vol Thua Verb V Trans: Lose as a crab Gầy Adj Trans: Thin as a dog , | cua Object O cầy Object O General structure: The general structure of a rhyming simile can be described as follows: A as/like B B is the Object of the comparison structure which has similar sound with A the verb or the adjective used before as/like For example: Nhanh bát canh A as B Trans: quick as a bowl of soup, cf The English simile: quick as a wink 2.2.3 The elements of rhyming similes Unlike meaning similes, rhyming similes cannot have less than three and more than six elements in their sentences Rather, they must have either four, five or six elements Sometimes five elements can be reduced to four by omitting the word as/like , for example buồn chuồn chuồn Lit: Sad as a dragon fly can be abbreviated to buồn chuồn chuồn , omitting as Consider the following: Four elements: Keo heo Trans: Mean as a pig Nhỏ thỏ Trans: Small as a rabbit Xấu gấu Trans: Ugly as a bear | Thuy Nga Nguyen & Ghil ad Zuckermann Five elements: Thô bỉ khỉ Trans: Rude as a monkey Lông công Trans: Amateur as a peacock Nhỏ nhoi voi Trans: Tiny as an elephant note the paradox Six elements: Thông minh tinh tinh Trans: Clever as a gorilla (ồn nhiên chó điên Trans: Nạve as a rabid dog Kêu gào chào mào Trans: Shouting as a red-whiskered bulbul 2.2.4 Connecting words Unlike in the meaning similes, the only connecting word used in rhyming simile is , which means as or like For example: Cao dao Trans: (igh as a knife Đá cá Trans: Kick like a fish Meaning versus rhyming similes Other than the presence of semantic similarity in the semantic simile but not in the rhyming one, there are several structural differences between the two types of simile The first and most obvious difference is that rhyming similes not have the secondary factor, which consists of a clause S-V )f we compare the meaning similes with the rhyming similes we can see that the Object in the meaning simile can be a clause S-V whereas the Object in the rhyming simile can only be the Noun phrase NP : The meaning similes have a secondary factor S-V For example: Nói tép nhảy V as SV Trans: Talk like a little prawn jumping Bám đỉa đói V as SV Trans: Stick like a hungry leech )nternational Journal of Language Studies )JLS , Vol , | )n contrast, rhyming similes not have a secondary factor S-V , only a Noun Phrase NP For example: Khóc đống V as O Trans: Cry like a rice pile thóc NP Khổ Adj as O Trans: Unhappy as a tiger hổ NP Bình thường Adj as Trans: Simple as a road O đường NP The second difference is that in meaning similes, if the compared object is a clause, users can omit the verb, adjective or adverb before the connecting word as The meaning of the sentence can be understood by that clause because of the metaphor conveyed On the other hand, the describing factor verb, adjective in the rhyming simile cannot be omitted as it would affect the rhyming requirement The only word that sometimes can be deleted is the connecting word as Consider the following meaning simile: Mạnh hổ thêm vây Lit: Strong as the tiger with the wing can be abbreviated to Như hổ thêm vây , omitting the adjective mạnh strong Consider another example: Lên diều gặp gió Lit: in good situation as the kite has the wind can be reduced into Như diều gặp gió , where the verb lên is omitted From these two examples, the metaphors can be understood as: As a tiger with wings stronger, more powerful As the kite that has the wind has opportunity, has good luck Rhyming similes will not have meaning if users omit the compared word )n order to convey the meaning, they must consist of the full sentence For example: Ngu đồng xu Trans: Stupid as a coin | Thuy Nga Nguyen & Ghil ad Zuckermann )f we omit the compared word ngu stupid , the simile will be đồng xu as a coin Consequently, the sentence would not make sense This is in contradistinction to the aforementioned Cockney Rhyming Slang, where sometimes only the first part of the conjunction eventually remains in use and so the rhyme is lost Consider me Germans are cold meaning my hands are cold , German being the first part of the couplet German bands, which matches hands Sometimes the couplet is completely forgotten, for instance the widespread English colloquialism berk fool derives from the Cockney Rhyming slangism Berkeley Hunt or Berkshire Hunt, which stands for cunt as in you silly cunt The connecting word as is omittable in rhyming similes: Nhục tr‘ng trục Lit: Being insulted as an oyster can become Nhục trùng trục Similarly, Ồn cào cào Lit: Noisy as a pest can be abbreviated to Ồn cào cào (owever, in most cases, users tend to keep the connecting word as Another difference is the number of elements in each type of simile Moreover, the only connecting word in rhyming similes is as whereas meaning similes have a number of options such as , , tựa which mean as / like , meaning -er than or không , chẳng , không tày , chẳng tày , which mean less than Borrowings in meaning and rhyming similes When cultures come into contact, borrowing takes place primarily in the realm of lexical items Anderson, , p Borrowings may occur for a linguistic reason: a semantic gap or a lexical lacuna, i.e., the lack of a native term for a concept cf (augen, , p ; Poplack, et al., ; MyersScotton, , p ; (uffines, , p ; Bavinm, , pp ff; (augen, , p ; Grosjean, , p ; Karttunen & Lockhart, , pp ff , or because of sociolinguistic factors such as speaker identity, cultural dominance of the donor language, education and politics cf (ill & (ill, , pp ; Katamba, , pp ; Trask, , p ; Watson, , pp - ; Mougeon & Beniak, , pp ; Gal, , p ; Mertz, , p ; Thomason & Kaufman, , pp ff; Grosjean, , pp , or from convenience and for the purposes of better understanding Barvin, , p ; (augen, , p ; (offmann, , pp ; Grosjean, , pp Words which travel between languages are called borrowings or loanwords although it is more like a kind of stealing (augen, ; or copied rather than borrowed in the strict sense of the word Aitchison, ; cf Trask, ; Zuckermann, because the borrowed are never returned to the donor language Naturally, when two languages coexist – due to social, )nternational Journal of Language Studies )JLS , Vol , | cultural, political or geographical reasons – they influence each other Lexical borrowing is the attempted reproduction in one language of patterns previously found in another (augen, , p or the incorporation of foreign elements into the speakers native language Thomason & Kaufman, , p As a result of language contact, a great number of words are imported into Vietnamese lexis in general, and into Vietnamese similes in particular Now and then borrowings are employed in meaning similes; most of the names in meaning similes have a relation to a legend in history For example: Lẩy bẩy Cao Biền dậy non )PA: /lei bei ɲɯ kao bien dei non/ Lit: Tremble as Cao Bien stand the mountain Trans: Tremble as Cao Bien standing on land Cao Biền is the name of a person from China The simile derives from a story about a man who had special magic powers to create soldiers from beans; however, part of the spell was missing, the soldiers were unable to stand probably The simile lẩy bẩy Cao Biền dậy non sends the message that if you are not careful about your actions, you will not achieve your ambitions The following is another example: Nét Sony )PA: /net ɲɯ so ni/ Trans: 'Clear as Sony' Sony is the brand name of a Japanese company that produces televisions and other products and has a good reputation in Vietnam Therefore, a comparison with Sony implies good qualities Rhyming similes also use borrowings in composing the comparison, to meet the requirement of rhyming similes, the Object after as will have the same rhyme with the word describing the quality Some of the loanwords that sound similar to the compared objects are anthroponyms The original foreign pronunciation of borrowed words tends to undergo adaptation or nativization The resulting loan form frequently conforms to the native phonology of the recipient language, as well as bearing as much similarity to the source form as possible For example: | Thuy Nga Nguyen & Ghil ad Zuckermann Dzin Putin )PA: /zin ɲɯ pu tin/ Lit: Fresh as Putin Chất Ních ki bất Nicky Butt )PA: /cʌt ɲɯ nik ki bʌt/ Lit: Stylish as Nicki Butt Xăm Béc căm Beckham )PA: /sʌm ɲɯ bek kʌm/ Lit: Tattooed like Beckham Sếc –xi sexy gà ri )PA: / sek si kɔn ga ri/ Lit: Sexy as a Ri hen a type of hen in Vietnam Concluding remarks Similes emphasise affinities between different objects, and occur in many cultures Vietnamese similes can be classified into two types: Meaning Similes and Rhyming Similes Table analyses and compares their structure and their semantic and phonetic requirements Table Summarizing Meaning and Rhyming Similes Characteristics Meaning similes Focus on the semantic Meaning affinity between two things Structure A as/like B Number of elements in Three or more the simile như, thể, bằng, tựa như, Connecting words hơn, không bằng, chẳng bằng, không tày, chẳng tày Elements after Noun Phrase, Clause connecting word Elements that can be Elements before as if the omitted Object is composed by a Clause Borrowings Anthroponyms possible Rhyming similes Do not depend on semantic affinities A as/like B Four to six Noun Phrase Connecting word as/like can sometimes be omitted Anthroponyms possible )nternational Journal of Language Studies )JLS , Vol , | There are fascinating and multifacted parallels between Vietnamese rhyming similes and Cockney Rhyming Slang, Multisourced Neologization of the Phonetic Matching type, and English, )talian and )sraeli euphemisms The Authors Thuy Nga Nguyen Email: thuynga.nguyen@uqconnect.edu.au is a PhD student of School of Languages and Cultural Comparative Studies, The University of Queensland, Australia She conducts research on language contact, lexical expansion, language development, and borrowings in the Vietnamese language Ghil ad Zuckermann Email: ghilad.zuckermann@adelaide.edu.au is Professor of Linguistics and Chair of Endangered Languages at the University of Adelaide, Australia (e is the founder of Revival Linguistics and expert of contact linguistics, lexicology, borrowing, hybridity and the study of language, culture and identity (e is Distinguished Visiting Professor and Oriental Scholar at Shanghai )nternational Studies University, China, and Visiting Professorial Scientist at the Weizmann )nstitute of Science, )srael (e serves as Editorial Board member of the Journal of Language Contact Professor Zuckermann is a well known author and has published numerous books and papers in various languages including English, )sraeli (ebrew , )talian, Yiddish, Spanish, German, Russian, Esperanto and Chinese (e has published groundbreaking articles in various refereed journals and has been referee for Yale University Press YUP , Cambridge University Press CUP , Oxford University Press OUP , and numerous scholarly journals References Aitchison, J Language Change Progress or decay? Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Anderson, J M Longman Structural Aspects of Language Change London: Bavin, L E Some lexical and morphological changes in Warlpiri )n N C Dorian Ed , Investigating obsolescence Studies in language contraction and death, pp Cambridge: Cambridge University Press | Thuy Nga Nguyen & Ghil ad Zuckermann Davidson, D pp Gal, S - What Metaphors Mean )n S Sacks Ed , On Metaphor, Chicago: University of Chicago Press Lexical innovation and loss: The use and value of restricted (ungarian )n N C Dorian Ed , Investigating obsolescence: Studies in language contraction and death, pp Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Grosjean, F Life with two language: An introduction to bilingualism Cambridge, Mass: (avard University Press (augen, E The analysis of linguistic borrowing Language 26, - (augen, E The Norwegian Language in America: A study in bilingual behaviour Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press (augen, E The rise and fall of an immigrant language: Norwegian in America )n N C Dorian Ed , Investigating obsolescence: Studies in language contraction and death, pp - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (ill, J (., & Kenneth, C ( Speaking Mexicano: Dynamics of syncretic language in central Mexico Tucson: University of Arizona Press (anh, ( V Tuyển tập Ngôn Ngữ Học Collection of Linguistics Nhà xuất Khoa (ọc Xã (ội Social Science Publishing (ouse (offman, C An introduction to bilingualism New York, N.Y.: Longman Katamba, F Morphology New York: St Martin s Press (uffiness, L M Case usage among the Pennsylvania German sectarians and non-sectarians )n N C Dorian Ed , Investigating obsolescence Studies in language contraction and death, pp Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Karttunen, E F., & Lockhart, J Nahuatl in the middle years: Language )nternational Journal of Language Studies )JLS , Vol , | contact phenomena in Texts of the Colonial Period Berkeley: University of California Press Livingston, A La Merica Sanemagogna The Romanic Review, 9, – Mertz, E Sociolinguistic creativity: Cape Breton Gaelic s linguistic tip )n N C Dorian Ed , Investigating obsolescence Studies in language contraction and death, pp Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Mougeon, R., & Beniak, E Language contaction and linguistic change: The case of Welland French N C Dorian Ed , )n Investigating obsolescence Studies in language contraction and death, pp Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Myers-Scotton, C Duelling languages: Grammatical structure in code switching New York: Oxford University Press Nguyen, Van ( Thành ngữ bốn yếu tố Tiếng Việt đại Four element proverbs in modern Vietnamese) NXB Khoa (ọc Xã (ội Social Science Publishing (ouse Dinh, T L Phong cách học Tiếng Việt Vietnamese learning style NXB Giáo dục Education Publishing (ouse Poplack, S., Sankoff, D., & Miller, C The social correlates and linguistic processes of lexical borrowing and assimilation Linguistics, 26, Puxley, R Cockney rabbit: A dick’n’arry of rhyming slang London: Robson Books Read, ( Trask, R L English Prose Style Boston: Beacon Historical linguistics London Arnold | Thuy Nga Nguyen & Ghil ad Zuckermann Thomason, S., & Kaufman, T Language contact, creolization and genetic linguistics Berkeley: University of California Press Watson, S Scottish and )rish Gaelic, the giant s bedfellows )n N C Dorian Ed , Investigating obsolescence: Studies in language contraction and death, pp - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Zuckermann, G Language contact and lexical enrichment in Israeli Hebrew London/New York: Palgrave Macmillan  ... Translation Mean as pig Sad as dragon fly Proud as cooking pan Faint as mandarin orange Translation Mean as a pig Sad as a dragon fly Proud as a peacock Faint as a mandarin orange The lack of semantic... /sat tu kwa du du/ Lit: Assassin as papaya Trans: Assassin as a papaya' The following are other rhyming similes: Vietnamese rhyming similes Keo heo Buồn chuồn chuồn Kiêu niêu Ngất quất Lit Translation... examples of meaning similes are as follows: Vietnamese Lit Translation Translation meaning similes Thin as a sick cat cf the English Gầy mèo hen Thin as cat sick simile thin as a bean pole Fast