Rationale for the study
Water is essential for life and for human kind, and it is crucial for sustainable socio - economic development As a matter of fact, 22 March of each year is declared as the World Water Day (WWD) by the United Nations in December 2003 Water is not only a physical resource but in every cultural context, it is closely linked to social, spiritual, political and environmental meanings Both English and Vietnamese are rich in idiomatic expressions of which idioms denoting water are abundant Idiomatic expressions are largely used in our daily communication conveying the common - sense wisdom and experience of a certain cultural group Mass media, textbooks and everyday language embody rich sources of idiomatic expressions It is believed that English idioms are even difficult for English native speakers and naturally more problematic for ESL/EFL learners because the figurative meanings of English idioms cannot be predicted through an analysis of their individual word meanings Apparently, teaching EFL learners to use English idioms is considerably critical for EFL teachers Learning idioms adds a lot to understand the British culture and people because language is the bearer of culture, and idioms consistently have their roots in a particular culture The purpose of identifying how the image of water is reflected in idioms metaphorically and literally and what cultural context underlines it urges me to investigate into the theme: “A comparative study of water relating idioms in Vietnamese and English”.
Aims and objectives of the study
This thesis is conducted as an attempt to:
- Explore the English and Vietnamese idioms relating to water with the main focus on the cultural viewpoint
- Point out the similarities and differences between the two languages in terms of idioms relating to water
The objectives of this study are to:
- Investigate English and Vietnamese idioms relating to water
- Clarify the cultural differences and similarities
- Provide some suggestions for teaching, learning and translating English idioms denoting water
The study tries to answer the following questions:
- What are the general syntactic, semantic and cultural features of English and Vietnamese water relating idioms?
- What are similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese water relating idioms from cultural viewpoint?
Scope of the study
In this research, both English and Vietnamese idioms relating to water are discussed in terms of syntactic, semantic and cultural features All English and Vietnamese idioms are collected from two dictionaries: “ Vietnamese
Dictionary of Idioms and Proverbs ” (2010) by Nguyễn Lân and “ The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms ” (2004) by Oxford University Press.
Theoretical and practical significance of the study
of English Thus, once completed, its outcome may offer significant benefits to Vietnamese learners and teachers of English In addition, the findings of this study will familiarize Vietnamese teachers of English with meanings of idioms that their students may use in class and that they might consider as errors or mistakes Furthermore, in regard to Vietnamese learners, the research may provide them with deep and comprehensive insight into water relating idioms Last but not least, researchers of the related fields can use this study for reference and carry out further and deeper investigation.
Methodology
In this study, the major methods applied are descriptive, comparative and contrastive analysis It is carried out on carefully collected materials from two dictionaries The first dictionary is “ Vietnamese Dictionary of Idioms and
Proverbs ” by Nguyễn Lân (Literature Publishing House in 2010) The second one is “ The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms ” (Second Edition) by Oxford University Press in 2004 The data are analyzed and synthesized to find out the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese water relating idioms.
Organization of the study
- Part One is an Introduction to the study and includes rationale, aims, the research questions, objectives, scope, significance and the design of the whole paper
- Part Two is the Development which is composed of three chapters Chapter One, as implied in the title “Idioms: theoretical background for the study”, presents the theoretical background related to the issue Chapter Two is concerned with “Water relating idioms in English and Vietnamese” covers the syntactic and semantic study of water relating idioms in English and Vietnamese Chapter Three deals with “Findings and Discussions” (i.e analysis of data, results)
- Part Three is the Conclusion which summarizes significant findings of the investigation, elaborates contributions of the research, puts forward practical suggestions for future research as well as addresses notable limitations.
IDIOMS - THEORETICAL BACKGROUND FOR THE STUDY
Idioms and meanings of idioms
In the Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture , idiom is defined as “a fixed phrase that has its own special meaning It’s often impossible to guess the meaning of the whole phrase from the meanings of the separate words that it is formed from” The Collins Cobuild Dictionary of Idioms (2002) explains it as “a special kind of phrase It is a group of words which have a different meaning when used together from the one it would have if the meaning of each word were taken individually Idioms are typically metaphorical: they are effectively metaphors which have become
“fixed” or “fossilized” Martin H Manser (1997) states in his Dictionary of Everyday Idioms : “Idioms are fairly fixed phrases that consist of more than one word, with a meaning that cannot be understood from putting together the meanings of the individual words”
From the above given definitions of idioms, it is clear that although there are some differences among the definitions of idiom, all idioms share 3 main characteristics in common:
Firstly, idioms are basically fixed expressions in terms of words, their orders, and their grammatical forms These expressions are phrases of two or more words and belong to both spoken and written English
Secondly, the meaning of an idiom is metaphorical rather than literal
Thirdly, an idiom is more or less invariable and fixed in wording and in certain grammatical way; it can not be changed or varied whether in speech or writing
It is rather difficult to make distinction between idioms and proverbs
However, some significant points below help clarify their distinctions clearly
A proverb is a simple and concrete saying, popularly known and repeated, that expresses a truth based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity They are often metaphorical Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary gives the definition of a proverb as “a well - known phrase or sentence that gives advice or says something that is generally true”
(p 1062) Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture considers a proverb as “a short well - known, supposedly wise, saying usually in simple language” (p 1058)
An idiom is an expression that can be understood only as a whole and not by analysing its constituent parts For example, if you know what “kick”,
“the” and “bucket” mean, that won’t help you understand that “kick the bucket” means “die”
Idioms and proverbs share something in common Firstly, both of them are fixed expressions that we can not add, omit, or replace any components of them without making them lose their figurative meanings or become meaningless Secondly, the meanings of idioms and proverbs are metaphorical That is why we can not look them up in an ordinary dictionary
Finally, both of them are created through the processes of labour, discovery and learning They are the results of human’s thinking, cultures and experiences
However, idioms and proverbs have their own typical features
Specifically, proverbs give advice, make an observation, express the truth based on a common sense or practicality, present a teaching in a brief and memorable way For example, the proverb “Don’t cry over spilled milk” indicates “Don’t get upset over something that has already been done
It’s too late to worry about it now, just get on with your life.” Idioms, on the other hands, function as naming, depicting things, properties or various phenomena The idiom “By the skin of your teeth” means that something was successful, but only just barely In term of grammatical structures, idioms often serve as parts of sentences (e.g “In hot water”, “A keen worker”) whereas, proverbs are complete phrases or sentences that can pass on the whole idea (e.g “Spare the rod, spoil the child”)
Not all idioms are proverbs but all proverbs are idioms
“ Long man Dictionary of English Idioms ” (1979) divides idioms into
Traditional idioms : Most of these idioms are full sentences of which only subjects are added to make full sentences of the verb phrases like “spill the beans” Other types of idiomatic expression act as particular parts of speech
For example, the idiomatic noun phrase the salt of the earth is used as a complement in the sentence he is the salt of the earth
Idioms in which actions stand for emotions or feelings : These idioms mention actions that are culture - specific which create misunderstanding for beginning learners of English Consider the idiom throw up one’s hands/ arms in the sentence I threw up my hands when I heard how much money he heard The action in this idiom means that the speaker is annoyed, or impatient, or not glad with what happened The meaning in these idioms is often specific in English - speaking countries These idiomatic expressions should be carefully learnt and translated
Pairs of words : These idioms are peculiar parts of speech joined by and or or
In the sentence It is rainning cats and dogs (= It was raining heavily), the noun phrase cats and dogs function as an adverb
Idioms with “it”: It is considered as a fixed part of the idiom The pronoun does not refer to a word coming before it as it usually does The verb phrase live it up (= to have an exciting and happy time) is an example for this type
Allusions : These idiomatic expressions have specific meaning in English society and their meanings are not normally defined in ordinary dictionaries
For example, Whitehall is not only understood as a place in London but means “the government” or “the civil service”
Sayings : These are often complete sentences such as “Blood is thicker than water” (Family royalties are stronger than other relationships)
Typical conversational phrases : The meanings in those conversational phrases are not literal and difficult to understand, e.g how do you do, so to speak, etc
Similes : These idioms compare a quality, condition, action, etc., with a noun such as (as) dead as a doornail (= truly dead), (as) easy as pie (= very easy)
Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English (1971) indicates 4 main types of idioms:
Pure idioms : These idioms are through constant re - use, then undergo figurative extension and finally fossilize in meanings They in the strict sense comprise only one Two typical examples for this type are blow the gaff (= to tell sth secret, especially by mistake) and kick the bucket (= die)
Figurative idioms : The literal senses of these idiomatic expressions do not exist alongside their figurative ones in normal, everyday use Variation in these idioms is rarely found and pronoun substitution unlikely, e.g a narrow shave (= a situation where something unpleasant or dangerous nearly happened)
Restricted collocations : These idioms are referred to as semi- idioms and idiom- like They are considered as semi- idioms in the case that one word (in the case of two- word expressions) has a figurative sense not found outside that limited context The other element emerges in a familiar, literal sense (e.g a blind alley) And some idioms allow a degree of lexical variation (e.g a virtue) In other respects, restricted collocations are idiom- like For example, chequered is limited to collocations with career and history
Open collocations : In open collocations, each element is used in a common literal sense and both elements (verb and object, or adjective and noun) are freely recombinable, e.g fill, empty, drain the sink and fill the sink, basin, and bucket
According to Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English , idioms are classified under two general headings- phrase idioms and clause idioms
The most common clause patterns covered by idioms are the following:
Idioms as verb phrase : pour (or throw) cold water on (be discourging or negative about a plan or suggestion): I really do not want to pour cold water on your plan but I don’t think it will work
Idioms as noun phrase : a bargain basement (part of a shop where goods are sold at reduced price): It's not bargain basement but will brighten up a special room
Culture and the relationship between language and culture
1.2.1 Culture and some characteristics of culture
The word “culture” that hails from the Latin word, “cultura” derived from
“colere” (to cultivate) Samovar & Porter (2003) defines culture as “the deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving” (Samovar
Levine and Adelman (1993: XVII) considers culture as “a shared background (for example, national, ethnic, religious) resulting from a common language and communication style, customs, beliefs, attitudes and values”
Porter, Samovar and McDaniel (2007: 21-30) submit six features of culture as follows:
In the first place, culture is learned We learn unconsciously culture from families, peers, institutions, and media We live in a certain group of people in a society and share certain ideals and shape our lives The ideals we base our lives on is a part of culture Cultural values are transfered from one generation to another The language, the literature and the art forms pass across generations Culture is learned, understood and adopted by the younger generations of society
Secondly, culture is shared It is easy for us to act in appropriate ways as well as predict how others will act as a result of sharing our culture to other members in our group Customs, beliefs, traditions, values are all shared by man in a social situation and adopted by all equally
Thirdly, culture is transmitted Culture is capable of transmitted from one generation to the next Parents pass cultural traits to their children and in return they pass to their children and so on It is transmitted through language
Language is a means to pass cultural traits on to future generations
Fourthly, culture is based on symbols A symbol is something that stands for something else Symbols such as gestures, objects, flags or religious icons vary cross-culturally They only have meaning when people in a culture agree on their use Language is the most important symbolic component of culture
Fifthly, culture is integrated One must learn about all of aspects of a culture because all of them are related The development of culture is the intergration of its various parts For example, values system is interlinked with morality, customs, beliefs and religion
Finally, culture is dynamic This simply means that cultures interact and change Because most cultures are in contact with other cultures, they exchange ideas and symbols All cultures change, otherwise, they would have problems adapting to changing environments And because cultures are integrated, if one component in the system changes, it is likely that the entire system must adjust
1.2.2 Relationship between language and culture
In his book “ Language ”, Sapir emphasises that “Languages may spread far beyond their original home, invading the territory of new races and of new culture spheres A language may even die out in its primary area and live on among peoples violently hostile to the persons of its original speakers
Further, the accidents of history are constantly rearranged the borders of culture areas without necessary effacing the existing linguistic cleavages (Sapir, 1921: 208)
According to Fishman (1985, 1991, and 1996), there are three links between language and culture:
Language as a part of culture
Language as an index of culture
Language as symbols of culture
In his first point of view, language is “an inevitable part”, “a major part” of culture He emphasizes that language is a part of its “associated” culture, but culture is also a part of its “associated” language To explain for the second point “language as an index of culture”, he describes “languages reveal the way of thinking or of organizing experience that are common in the associated cultures” In the third point on the relationship between language and culture, Fishman explains that “language movements and language conflicts utilize languages as symbols to mobilize populations to defend (or attack) and to foster (or reject) the cultures associated with them”
English is a language rich in idiomatic expressions The idiom is a kind of special speech form that is particular in meaning, grammatical structure and usage Idioms are shaped after a long period’s living and working of the local people As it is said above, it is impossible to explain the idiom from the literal meaning of the individual words Using idioms when speaking is a usual way for the local people to express their ideas clearly and vividly.Therefore, the differences on geography, history, custom and living habits result in the word-usage in idioms Little knowledge about the history and the culture behind these idioms makes it hard for people to understand them in a right way The cultural context occupies a very important position in idioms learning Learners must understand the specific cultural context of the idioms, and then they can understand the idioms
As we all know, language is closely related to culture and can be said as a part of culture From a dynamic view, language and culture intermingle with each other and shape each other Language is the bearer of culture which in turn is the content of language Idioms as a special form of language exist in both of them and carry a large amount of cultural information such as history, geography, and religion, custom, nationality psychology, thought pattern, etc and therefore are closely related to culture As a result, we can widen our knowledge of culture through studying idioms and on the other hand get better understanding of idioms by examining the cultural background behind them For example, Vietnam is a large agricultural country with the great help of buffalos in the fields It is easy to catch the image of buffalos in Vietnamese idioms like “Trâu chậm uống nước đục”, whereas with similar meaning the English people would say “First come, first served” or “The early bird catches the worm”
1.2.4 The image of water in Vietnamese culture
Vietnam has a long history Over 3000 years ago, Vietnamese ancestors lived inside many limestone caves in the Northeast and Northwest of Vietnam These areas were their first home Time by time, their groups became so big that there were not enough space and food for them Finding new areas for living was urgent In the end, they decided to move down the mountains to a delta (the Red River delta at the moment) Available rivers, lakes, ponds made it easy for them to find lots of fish for food Besides, flat topography with full of water is good for planting different crops especially wet rice It was also the time Vietnam Water Culture and the Red River civilization or wet rice civilization being formed Since then, the Vietnamese people have learnt how to live with water and succeeded in conquering it, using it and taking full advantages of it for their life Water affects their daily life activities from traffic to livelihood However, Vietnamese people took the advantage of water to defend their country The two famous victories were on
Bach Dang river in 938 and 1288 when the Vietnamese fought against Nam Han and Song (Chinese), won independence and freedom after 1000 year domination
Agriculture is an important part in Vietnam’s economic structure even today It makes a considerable contribution to export turnover, GDP and creates the largest amount of jobs, and is the main source of the poor’s income Main products of Vietnamese agriculture are rice, coffee, tea, rubber, sugar and cashew nut Vietnam is one of the top rice exporting countries in the world Natural conditions in Vietnam have some advantages for agricultural development especially two vast, rich, and flat deltas: Red River Delta and Mekong River Delta which consequently base the two largest cities in the country - Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City When residents in the Red River Delta and Mekong Delta start learning to walk, they also begin to play with water The childhood memories are imprinted with the sight of water, bathing in the river or launching paper boats That is why water is friendly to people and people are not afraid of it Water brings people a great deal of free services Daily activities such as: growing rice, fruit and vegetables, raising poultry, fish and shrimps, etc take place with water There are, however, some certain disadvantages to agriculture brought about by natural factors Rice production is often the main source of incomes for majority of rural population Therefore, people are happy and society is peaceful when rice crops are good Unstable weather with frequent drought or flood has bad impacts on agricultural production The mingling of land, water and human beings for centuries runs deep in the veins of the Vietnamese people so that the name for their country stands for “land” and “water” (đất nước) Invaluable life experiences passed on to future generations through folk sayings, such as “Flowing water will wear away stone” (Nước chảy đá mòn) Such proverbs carry philosophical meanings and educate people about self - discipline, treatment of others as well as nature
1.2.5 The image of water in English culture
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political name of the country which is made up of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland (also known as Ulster) In prehistoric times most of UK was covered by oak, ash, birch and beech trees As the population began to grow, forests were cut down to clear the land for farming, for use as fuel, and for the building of homes and building of ships By the time of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century vast areas of forests had been cleared The United Kingdom has the third largest economy in Europe
Today, the majority of the UK's economy is within the service and industrial sectors but there is also small amount of agriculture
Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanised, producing about 60% of food needs with only 1% of the labour force It contributes around 2% of GDP
Around two thirds of production is devoted to livestock, one third to arable crops Agricultural products mainly are arable land, wheat, barley, and sheep As a result of its industrial history, the United Kingdom has an extensive system of canals, mostly built in the early years of the Industrial Revolution, before the rise of competition from the railways
WATER” RELATING IDIOMS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE 2 1 A quantitative survey of water relating idioms in English and
2 1 A quantitative survey of water relating idioms in English and Vietnamese
As we stated earlier, idioms relating to water are collected from two typical dictionaries: “ Dictionary of Vietnamese idioms and proverbs ” by Nguyễn Lân and “ The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms ” There are more than
9000 idioms and proverbs in the dictionary by Nguyễn Lân and over 5000 idioms in the “ Oxford Dictionary of Idioms ” From what we have collected, we can come to conclusion that of 9000 Vietnamese idioms and proverbs, there are 140 idioms relating to water, whereas, of 5000 English idioms, only 23 ones Here is the statistical summary:
As seen from the table, the percentage of water relating idioms in Vietnamese is more triple than that of English (1,6 vs 0,5), which probably implies that water plays more important part in Vietnamese culture
2 2 Syntactic study of water relating idioms in English and Vietnamese 2.2.1 Phrase structures
In this section, idioms denoting water will be analyzed in terms of phrases
Only some typical representatives are listed, the full list is supplied in Appendix
2.2.1.1 Water relating idioms with noun phrase structure
A fish out of water Ao sâu nước cả
Hewers of wood and drawers of water Cá nước chim trời
Milk and water Cánh bèo mặt nước
Oil and water Cơm trời, nước giếng
Water under the bridge Non xanh nước biếc
2.2.1.2 Water relating idioms with verb phrase structure
Be blown out of the water Chọc trời quấy nước Pour (or throw) cold water on Còn nước, còn tát Take to something like a duck to water Ăn cỗ đi trước, lội nước theo sau
Fish in troubled water Lên cạn xuống nước
Come hell or high water Nói như nước đổ đầu vịt
2.2.1.3 Water relating idioms with adjective phrase structure
Dead in the water Nhạt như nước ốc
Like water off a duck’s back Lạ nước lạ cái
Búng ra nước Của như nước Đắt chè hơn rẻ nước
2.2.1.4 Water relating idioms with prepositional phrase structure English Vietnamese
In deep water (or waters) Vietnamese idioms realating to water have no contribition to prepositional phrase structure
In deep water (or water)
2.2.2 Water ralting idioms with sentence structure
Blood is thicker than water Cá gặp nước, rồng gặp mây
Still water runs deep Trâu chậm uống nước đục
Giọt máu đào hơn ao nước lã
Sờ nồi không gạo, sờ gáo không nước Nước chảy xuôi, bè kéo ngược
After analyzing 23 English and 140 Vietnamese given idioms, all the syntactic features in English and Vietnamese idioms relating to water are summarized in the following table:
In general, in terms of phrases and sentence structures, both English and Vietnamese have the patterns in form of noun phrases, verb phrases, adjective phrases and sentence structures
Out of which those structures in both languages, noun phrases and verb phrases occupy the largest number Prepositional phrases do not emerge in Vietnamese while account for 18% in English
Another similarity between English and Vietnamese water relating idioms is that comparative structures are used in both languages with comparative markers “like” “than” in English and “như” and “hơn” in Vietnamese For example:
Của nhƣ nước Mắng nhƣ tát nước vào mặt Nói nhƣ nước đổ đầu vịt Đắt chè hơn rẻ nước Giọt máu đào hơn ao nước lã
Like water of a duck’s back
Blood is thicker than water
One more similarity between English and Vietnamese water relating idioms is that there are some variations of words in the same semantic field, provided that these changes of words or structures do not change the original meaning of the idioms “Pour (or throw) cold water on” and “Uống nước nhớ nguồn” (Uống nước nhớ kẻ đào giếng) are examples of those changes
Beside the similarities, there are also some differences between English and Vietnamese water relating idioms
The first difference is that English idioms occur in the structure of verb phrases more often than the two other phrases (44%), whereas, noun phrases are used more in Vietnamese than those in English (34%)
Moreover, the parallel construction is more numerous in Vietnamese idioms than in English ones Many words with the same grammatical category are repeated For instance, the repetition of same part of speech in “Cơm bưng, nước rót” in which “cơm” and “nước” are in the same part of speech of noun, “bưng” and “rót” are in the same grammatical category of verb Or in
“Cá gặp nước, rồng gặp mây” “Con thì mạ, cá thì nước”, the repetition of key words “gặp” and “thì” in the parallel structure make Vietnamese idioms easy to remember with rhythm
Also, most of Vietnamese idioms denoting water have the structure of two symmetrical parts like “Ao sâu, nước cả”, “Cơm trời, nước giếng”,
“Nước dẫy, sóng dồi” Some of them have rhymes, mainly interior rhymes such as “Lặn ngòi, ngoi nước”, “Êm như cát, mát như nước”, “Nước chè tàu, giầu cơi thiếc” The arrangement of tones, especially prosody makes
Vietnames idioms more poetic, more musical and easier to use in everyday life
2 3 Semantic study of water relating idioms in English and Vietnamese
According to the theory of semantic fields, words are grouped together into fields on the basis of an element of shared meaning The words in a field share a common “semantic component” A semantic field contains words that belong to a defined area of meaning (Jackson and Amvela, 2000: 92, 111)
Below, we will clarify and analyze English and Vietnamese water relating idioms basing on the topics they express as follows:
Fish in trouble water Dead in water
Like water off a duck’s back
Chọc trời khuấy nước Lội nước còn sợ ướt chân Mềm như lạt, mát như nước Nước chảy đá mòn
Nhạt như nước ao bèo Nước đến chân mới nhảy
So kè hết nước Uống nước không chừa cặn Uống nước nhớ nguồn (Uống nước nhớ kẻ đào giếng) (Uống nước song nhớ mạch suối)
Vắt cổ chày ra nước
2.3.2 Bad fortunes and disadvantages English Vietnamese
In deep water (or waters)
In hot water Hewers of wood and drawers of water
Cánh bèo mặt nước Cây khô xuống nước cũng khô, phận nghèo đi tới chỗ mô cũng nghèo Đồng chua nước mặn Đồng trắng nước trong Lặn ngòi, ngoi nước Lên cạn xuống nước Mặt nước cánh bèo Nước chảy hoa trôi
Sờ nồi không gạo, sờ gáo không nước Thân con gái 12 bến nước
Nước chảy bèo trôi Nước trôi hoa rụng
In hot water Ma thiêng nước độc
Mưa như xối nước Nước lớn đò đầy Nước mưa là cưa giời Nước sôi, lửa bỏng Rừng thiêng, nước độc Sông sâu, nước cả
Ao tù, nước đọng Bùn lầy nước đọng Nước dẫy, sóng dồi
2.3.4 Virginity and immorality English Vietnamese
No idioms express virginity and immorality Đục nước béo cò Kiếm ăn xa, độc nước Nhạt như nước ao bèo Nước có nguồn, cây có gốc Nước lụt, chó nhảy bàn độc Nước mắt cá sấu
Nước suối có bao giờ đục Nước trong mà giếng hôi phèn Nước trước bẻ hoa
Tiếc thay cái chậu nước trong, để cho bèo tấm bèo ong dạt vào
Water under the bridge Ao tù nước đọng
Bùn lầy nước đọng Cơm liêu nước lọ Cơm trời nước giếng Đồng trắng nước trong Gạo chợ, nước sông Gạo trắng nước trong
Ma thiêng nước độc Nước khe, chè núi Sông sâu, nước cả Nước chảy ngược lên đường Nước chảy xuôi, bè kéo ngược
Nước đã đánh phèn Nước đục, bụi trong Nước gạo tắm cho voi Nước lên rồi nước lại ròng
Sờ nồi không gạo, sờ gáo không nước Trăm dơ lấy nước làm sạch
Trâu chậm uống nước đục Trâu chậm uống nước dơ, trâu ngơ ăn cỏ béo Uống nước lã cầm hơi
Tread water Test the water
Mắng như tát nước vào mặt Nói như dao chém nước Nói như tát nước bè Ngồi trên giếng mà khát nước Nước giữa dòng chê trong chê đục, vũng trâu đầm hì hục khen ngon Vớt trăng dưới nước, mò kim giữa duềnh
Nước chè tàu, giầu cơi thiếc Nước còn cuốn cát làm doi, huống chi ta chẳng tài bồi cho nhau Sông bao nhiêu nước cũng vừa, trai bao nhiêu vợ cũng chưa vừa lòng Trên đời gì rẻ bằng bèo, đến khi nước lụt bèo trèo lên sen
Milk and water Búng ra nước
Khác lọ cùng nước Sắc như nước Sắc nước hương trời
Make someone’s mouth water Oil and water
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Similarities and differences of English and Vietnamese water relating
Similarities and differences of English and Vietnamese water relating
As was mentioned in Chapter 2, English and Vietnamese water relating idioms share 10 semantic fields namely: opportunities and advantages, circumstances, behaviour, psychological states, physical states, human actions, state of life, danger and challenges, bad fortunes and disadvantages, human character
Also, both English and Vietnamese mention figurative meanings of those idioms The image of water appears vividly and closely in daily life and plays an essential part “Blood is thicker than water”, “Giọt máu đào hơn ao nước lã”, or “Like water off a duck’s back”, “Nói như nước đổ đầu vịt”, etc
By summarizing water aspects facing up with in daily life, English and Vietnamese cover them with the image of idioms
Moreover, advantages and disadvantages of water to their life are revealed through idioms When analyzing semantic features of water relating idioms, we can acknowledge that lots of idioms contain appalling issues of water such as bad water conditions (In hot water: in a situation of difficulty, trouble, or disgrace, Nước dẫy, sóng dồi: circumstances when lots of dificulties come at once), bad behaviour (Fish in trouble water: make a profit out of trouble, Đục nước béo cò: make profit from others’ conflict), bad fortunes (A fish out of water: a person who is in a completely unsuitable situation, Cánh bèo mặt nước: adrift and anxious lives of women in the feudal society) Clearly, English and Vietnamese people share the same opinions of severe effects of water to their life and reflect through idioms
As a result of cultural differences, water relating idioms show the dissimilarities in terms of semantic fields
First of all, it is easy to find the image of betel and areca which is connected to the antique legend of betel and areca “Nước chè tàu, giầu cơi thiếc” At any wedding ceremony in Vietnam, there must be a dish of betel and areca nut During festivals or Tet Holidays, betel and areca nut are used for inviting visitors and making acquaintances Sharing a quid of betel with an old friend is like expressing gratitude for the relationship The custom of chewing betel and drinking tea remains popular in some Vietnamese villages and among the old
Secondly, as said earlier, agriculture is an important part in Vietnam economic structure Therefore, the traits of agricultural life are clearly seen in Vietnamese idioms from food to simple life in the countryside “Cơm trời nước giếng”, “Gạo trắng nước trong”, “Gạo chợ nước sông”, “Non xanh, nước biếc”
Another difference is related to the habitual way of working in the field Vietnamese used the buffalos to plough the field before modernized agriculture was developed, while English did with a horse Consequently, Vietnamese say “Trâu chậm uống nước đục” whereas English people say
“First come, first served” or “The early bird catches the worm”
Also, some other animals close to agricultural life such as cá, vịt, chim, cá sấu, cò can be picked up in “Cá gặp nước, rồng gặp mây”, “Nói như nước đổ đầu vịt”, “Cá nước, chim trời”, “Nước mắt cá sấu”, “Đục nước béo cò” In Vietnam, people think themselves are descendant of the Dragon Thus, some dragon-related idioms contain production experience of Vietnamese farmers such as “Rồng đen lấy nước thì nắng, rồng trắng lấy nước thì mưa” or some other farming experience is also found in “Phân tro không bằng no nước”,
“Nước, phân, cần, giống” In addition, people's attitude towards the dog is different In English-speaking countries, people think the dog is a faithful animal to human, such as "You're a lucky dog”, "Every dog has his day",
“Love me love my dog” On the contrary, the dog is a humble animal in Viet Nam “Nước lụt, chó nhảy bàn độc”
In addition, among the number of Vietnamese water relating idioms, fish is much more numerous “Cá nước duyên ưa”, “Cá sống về nước”, “Cá nước chim trời” and so on Some other words are closely linked to every day life of Vietnamese can be found in “Gạo chợ, nước sông”, “Cơm trời, nước giếng”, “Ao tù, nước đọng”, “Đồng chua nước mặn”, “Nước chảy bèo trôi”,
“Nước lớn, đò đầy”, “Sờ nồi không gạo, sờ gáo không nước” These images are so specific in Vietnamese agricultural and daily life
In spite of sharing 10 semantic fields including: opportunities and advantages, circumstances, behaviour, psychological states, physical states, human actions, state of life, danger and challenges, bad fortunes and disadvantages, human character, human’s thought, actions are not alike because idioms are culture specific
In this chapter we have made a comparison between English and Vietnamese water relating idioms in terms of syntactic, semantic and cultural fields It may come to suggestion as did Tran Quoc Vuong and Tran Ngoc Them that the difference between Western nomadic and Vietnamese agricultural cultures resulting in differences in syntactic and semantic features between English and Vietnamese idioms English idioms are analytical and based on specific observation whereas Vietnamese ones are expressive, and have symmetric structures as well as parallelism and rhymes Under agricultural culture, the number of idioms with the diligent farmers under serious nature are so numerous and vivid The English people depend less on natural conditions show their dynamic and optimistic ways
The primary purpose of this research is to collect English and Vietnamese water relating idioms and then to study the syntactic, semantic and cultural features To achieve these purposes, both comparative and contrastive methods were applied In terms of syntactic features, both English and Vietnamese idioms share three main types of phrases such as noun phrases, verb phrases, adjective phrases and sentence structures The meanings of these idioms are closely related to English and Vietnamese social life, history, custom and tradition The variations in cultural and social life create differences between them The most Vietnamese frequent idioms are often about farmers’ life under rice water culture Vietnamese idioms relating to water tend to concern more about the negative meanings than the positive meanings The percentage of Vietnamese water relating idioms collected outnumber significantly the English ones
To sum up, culture makes a society unique Nomadic and agricultual cultures create differences between English and Vietnamese idioms Each culture is shaped by people and cultural differences emerge from people’s different thought pattern, behaviour and action
This study provides teachers with some findings that help them teach idioms relating to water more effectively Idioms denoting water in particular should be a part of EFL teaching and learning Learners often have difficulties in dealing with idioms and are easily confused with the meanings of idioms in the context Therefore, the first step in teaching idioms is to provide some typical features of idioms The use of idioms in the teaching of English as a second or foreign language is important for students’ ability to communicate effectively “The accurate and appropriate use of English idioms is one distinguishing mark of a native command of the language and a reliable measure of proficiency of foreign learners” ( Oxford Dictionary of Current
Idiomatic English ) Both teachers and learners of English should bear in mind a close connection between idioms and cultures that creates figurative meanings rather than literal ones The cultural contexts like history, traditions, customs, and natural features, etc should be clarified to help students better understand and interpret idioms The comprehension of idioms in general and idioms relating to water in particular will help Vietnamese students successfully communicate both oral and written English
Moreover, idioms are usually fixed in their structures and contents