An investigation into english idioms of comparison and their vietnamese translation equivalents

DECLARATION I hereby declare that no part of the enclosed Master Thesis has been copied or reproduced by me from any other’s work without acknowledgement and that the thesis is originally written by me under strict guidance of my supervisor Hanoi, 28, November 2013 Candidate DUONG YEN CHINH i Acknowledgements The completion of this thesis will not have been possible without the invaluable help and assistance I received from my supervisor So, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Assoc Prof Dr Lê Hùng Tiến who guided this research and has been so generous in devoting his time and knowledge to me as well as gave me benefit of his expert knowledge in translation together with his constant encouragement from the beginning stage of carrying out the research proposal to the final stage of completing the thesis I thank him for his precious advice, suggestions, understanding and encouragements I also wish to convey my heartfelt thanks to all lecturers in Faculty of Post Graduate Studies at Hanoi Open University for their useful lectures during my M.A course Finally, I would also like to thank my family who has been a constant source of encouragement, support, love and care during the course of my writing ii TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study Aims of the study Research questions Scope of the study Significance of the study Methods of the study Design of the study PART II: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Literature Review 1.1 Idioms 1.1.1 Definition of idioms 1.1.2 Sources of idioms 1.1.3 Types of idioms 12 1.1.3.1 Idioms of encoding 12 1.1.4 Functions of idiom 14 1.1.5 Idioms and other language units 18 1.1.6 Main features of idioms in English and in Vietnamese 23 1.2 Idioms of comparison in English and Vietnamese 26 1.3 Identifications of idiom of comparision in English and Vietnamese 27 1.3.1 Based on component word and phrase 27 1.3.2 Based on grammatical structure 28 1.3.3 Structural characteristics of comparative idioms 29 1.4 Translation 30 iii CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 33 2.1 Sources of data 33 2.2 Method of the study 33 2.3 Collection Procedure 34 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 35 3.1 An investigation into EICs and their Vietnamese translation equivalents 35 3.1.1 Metaphor 35 3.1.2 Simile 36 3.1.3 Similes and metaphors in idioms 38 3.2 Pragmatic analyses on English idioms of comparison and their translation Vietnamese 40 3.3.1 Animal – related 40 3.3.2 Activity 41 3.3.3 Character and Appearance 42 3.3.4 Psychological state 42 3.3 Contrastive analyses of EICs and their Vietnamese equivalents 44 3.3.1 The cognitive similarities 44 3.3.1.1 Same expressions – Same meanings 44 3.3.2 Possible causes for the differences between EICs and their Vietnamese equivalents 47 3.3.2.1 Differences resulted from lifestyle and living condition 48 3.3.2.2 The same components have different meanings 50 3.3.2.3 The same animal components have different meanings 51 3.3.2.4 Differences in human – related components 52 PART III: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATION 54 4.1 Conclusion 54 iv 4.2 Implication for translation and language teaching 54 4.2.1 Implications for English language teaching to Vietnamese learners 54 4.2.1.1 Difficulties in understanding 55 4.2.1.2 Problems in memorizing 56 4.2.2 Implications for English – Vietnamese translation 60 REFERENCES 66 APPENDIX I LIST OF ENGLISH IDIOMS OF COMPARISON v PART I: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study International communication is becoming more popular than ever before This is due to the swift process of international integration arising from the interchange of points of view, products, ideas, and other aspects of culture, called globalization phenomenon This kind of phenomenon has been one of the most prominent helps trigger the need of profound studies about issues of a global language which, obviously, cannot be any other language but symbolic English In Vietnam, English has long been considered as a tool of international communication, and together with its rising importance, being proficient in using English as a second language is of extreme importance, however, Vietnamese learners usually face a lot of difficulties that prevent them from gaining successful conversations One of the reasons for these problems lies in the way people perceive and use idioms, especially English idioms of comparison (EIC) compared with their Vietnamese translation equivalents Two countries with different cultures will surely have numerous dissimilarities in language and that does not except idioms, especially EIC which play a crucial part in language Investigating and explaining some similarities and differences between EIC and Vietnamese helps to strongly enhance cultural understanding of Vietnamese and English people These idioms have a great extent use in everyday language, and their frequent, spontaneous and appropriate use is usually a mark of good English which stands a very strong motive for many researchers to conduct studies on They tried to analyze, compare and contrast almost EIC and their Vietnamese equivalents However, to some extent, they fail to achieve their aims comprehensively This is due to the discrepancy and disparity of this kind of idiom in the two languages in terms of structure, form and meaning The matter above has not been comprehensively answered in any studies about idioms before This is the reason why I decided to make a further study on this topic The thesis, “an investigation into English idioms of comparison and their Vietnamese translation equivalents”, is expected to be an interesting and helpful material for foreign language teachers and learners and for people who are interested in idioms in both English and Vietnamese Aims of the study The study aims at - Gaining an insightful look at symbolic and semantic features of EIC and their equivalents in translation into Vietnamese - Working out the similarities and differences between EIC and their equivalents in translation into Vietnamese in terms of idiomatic variants and synonymous idioms Research questions In order to achieve the above aims, there are three research questions need to be answered What are the most common features of English comparative idioms and their Vietnamese translation counterparts? What are the differences and similarities between EIC and their Vietnamese translation equivalents? What can be possible causes for differences between EIC and their Vietnamese translation equivalents? Scope of the study The study is conducted upon comparative analyses of EIC and their Vietnamese translation equivalents In this study, the crosscultural differences view from culture, history, religion and geography etc EIC are comprehensively compared with Vietnamese translation ones Significance of the study The significance of this study can be perceived from two major perspectives: Theoretical significance: By comprehensively comparative analyses on main features of EIC and their Vietnamese translation equivalents and the differences and similarities between them, the study contributes to the linguistic theory in general and the pragmatic theory in particular Practical significance This study is expected to have a huge contribution to different domains of applied linguistics such aspects as to be able to provide Vietnamese learners of English with better mastering in English translation and English teaching and how to apply this kind of idioms in sensible ways, how to thoroughly understand, effectively and naturally use them in receptive and productive skills Methods of the study Since EIC and their different features, their Vietnamese translation equivalents could not be found in a unique studies, I have utilized several sources of books, investigation reports and other materials about EIC and Vietnamese equivalents in translation researches in linguistics, in different deixis, in either Vietnamese or English Most of EIC which are used in this study are collected from different sources including books and website of using English such as the book “English idioms and how to use them” of Jennifer Seldi and W McMordie or “American English idiomatic expressions in 52 weeks” of John Holleman, and the website www.usingenglish.com with a wide range of idiom categories, their meanings and when to use them Meanwhile, EIC’s translation equivalents in Vietnamese are collected from Vietnamese researchers including “tuyển tập thành ngữ - tục ngữ - ca dao” of Nguyen Dinh Hung or “Vietnamese idioms and proverbs” of Bui Hanh Can, Nguyen Bich Hang or “Selected Vietnamese idioms and proverbs, Vietnamese – English bilingual version” by Viet AnhTran Quang Man for example I have also included idiomatic similes and some common idiomatic sayings and proverbs in the analysis The study consists of two major parts, the theoretical framework and pragmatic, contrastive analyses of EIC in comparison with their Vietnamese translation ones In the first part, I begin with the term “idiom” as defined in OED and compare the definition given there with its applications by different scholars namely Mahmoud (2000; Ghazala (1995); Baker (1992) which is followed by the development of idioms sources, types, functions etc In accordance with idioms collected together with different classification methods from different scholars such as “Idiom and Idiomaticity” of Fernando Chitra (1996), I classify idioms into two major types due to lexemic variety The second part is deployed through the comparative approach of EIC and Vietnamese translation equivalents I first bring different dexies using EIC, followed by analyzing each of them by examining EIC and Vietnamese equivalents in translation respectively, compare each couple of Vietnamese – English comparative idioms and how English users choose the right idioms for the right situation After detailed analyses of pragmatic situations, I continue with contrastive analyses on similarities and differences by comparing elements of an idiom, both in English and Vietnamese such as images of comparison (eg hot cake – tôm tươi in “đắt tơm tươi – like hot cake), adjectives or verbs used etc I analyze EIC as a special and challenging element of English translation into Vietnamese which is not only determined through its structure, but which also shows a specific type of behavior in English use By examining these uses and supported by pragmatic analyses, I hope to create a pragmatic model for EIC and thus provide solution for difficulties in translation of EIC into Vietnamese Design of the study Part I: Introduction Rationale of the study Aims of the study Research questions Scope of the study Significance of the study Method of the study in the chapter of theoretical background, a complete new aspect of idioms can be discovered: though structured like phrases, they function like words That is, based on grammatical function; idioms can be classified into five mains types: idioms functioning like nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and prepositions Consider idioms as words will sur elyhelp learners memorize them more easily Last but not least, it is advisable for learners to find equivalent Vietnamese idioms of the English ones In this way, they can install the relation between the two languages; thus, can put them into their longterm memory It is obvious that there are few absolute coincidences between idiom systems of different languages; nevertheless, there are still many items that can convey the same ideas For instance: English idioms Vietnamese equivalents As fierce as a tiger Dữ cọp As light as feather Nhẹ tựa lông hồng As wet as drowned rat Ướt nhưchuột lột As still as a log Trơ khúc gỗ 4.2.2 Implications for English – Vietnamese translation Translation has been typically defined as the process of transferring words or text from one language into another The aim of translation is to communicate the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text But sometimes the difference between an Source Language (SL) and a Target Language (TL) and the variation in their cultures can challenge the process of translation 60 Among the problematic factors involved in translation such as form, meaning, style, proverbs, idioms, etc., the present paper concentrates on translating idioms in general and on the strategies of translating idioms in particular When a translator recognizes an idiom and distinguishes it from nonidiomatic expressions, the next step is to select the suitable strategy to translate it Of course in the beginning of his work, he will face some difficulties and problems He should investigate which strategy is more appropriate in dealing with the translation of the source idiom into the target language Most of the time, a source language idiom has no equivalent in the target language This can be a very important factor a translator should notice Different languages express different concepts and realities in a different way which is particular to that language Therefore, sometimes a same concept or idea is referred to distinctly in two different languages Of course it does not mean that because the idiom has not its equivalent in the TL it should not be translated The way an idiom is to be translated depends on the context in which it is used We have different and various translation strategies but the translator should see the use of which kind of these strategies can help the target language readers to better comprehend the meaning of the idioms When translating a source idiom the translator should be conscious of the sense He may change some aspects of the idiom to preserve the sense and to transfer it to the TL readers In the case that the original idiom does not have its equivalent in another language, the translator should not delete that idiom from his text but he should clarify more on it to let the readers understand its meaning better 61 Fernando and Flavell express that there is “strong unconscious urge in most translators to search hard for an idiom in the receptor language, however inappropriate it may be” (1981, p.82) The strategies which are used in this article are those proposed by Mona Baker (1992) They are going to be illustrated more by using some examples of idiomatic expressions in both English and Vietnamese as the source and target languages Strategy 1: Using an Idiom of Similar Meaning and Form By using this strategy, the translator tries to find an idiom in the target language which is equivalent to the source language both in terms of meaning as well as lexical items This strategy is hardly achieved because languages differ radically in the way they identify a single concept However, it is regarded as the ideal strategy for translating idioms In the example of • as timid as a rabbit - nhát thỏ đế • as slow as a tortoise - chậm rùa • as pretty as a picture – đẹp tranh • as white as snow – trắng tuyết We keep both the meaning and the form of the source language idiom and have an exact equivalent for it Here the lexical items are remained the same and the sense is not lost at all Strategy 2: Using an Idiom of Similar Meaning but Dissimilar Form In this case the meaning of the target idiom is the same as that of the original idiom but the lexical items are different Here you are provided with some examples • as strong as a horse - khỏe trâu/voi 62 • as mute as a fish - câm hến • as naked as a jay bird – trần nhộng • to drink like a fish – uống thuồng luồng In the examples above, in order to represent the same meaning, we make use of different lexical items They have the same idiomatic meanings with different animals in English compared with ones in Vietnamese Specifically, horse - trâu/voi (not ngựa); fish – hến (not cá); jay bird – nhộng (not chim giẻ cùi) and fish – thuồng luồng Strategy 3: Translation by Paraphrase This strategy is most commonly used in the process of translating idioms in the cases that the translator cannot find any equivalents for the source idiom Earlier in the article, it was pointed out that when no equivalents exist, it is not a wise act to omit the whole idiom but to present more clarifications on it Because of the lexical or stylistic differences between the two languages, we will not always have correspondence We should elaborate more on the source idiom to transfer its meaning to the target language It is noted here that the given meaning would not be an exact equivalent or semantic equivalent of the source idiom Here are some idioms with the above characteristics: • When in Rome as the Romans (nhập gia tùy tục) • Life is just a bowl of cherries (cuộc ñời màu hồng) • as shy as the squirrel (xấu hổ sóc) • as poor as a church mouse (nghèo chuột nhà thờ) Of course by using this strategy we will face the danger of losing the 63 intended effect that the source language wanted to have on its audience It will also lose the cultural significance The target readers would not have the chance of getting more familiar with the culture of the source language Mona Baker defines paraphrasing as "translating a source language idiom by giving its meaning in the target language By using this strategy the impact of the idiom and its cultural significance will be lost (Baker, 1992) Strategy 4: Translation by Omission The time that there is no close match between the languages' items or the time that the translator cannot find any equivalents, this strategy is used to completely omit the idiom from the target text When the idiom is very difficult even for the translator, he tries to eliminate the whole or part of the idiom like the examples below: • as dead as the dodo ( chim cu lười) • (to be) like a dog with two tails (vui ñộ) • (To be) like a bull in a China shop ( nghe vịt nghe sấm) It is observed here that the translator has omitted some parts of the idioms and has changed an idiomatic expression into a non-idiomatic sentence So the significance of the words in the source idiom is not transferred by the way the translator has translated them Another strategy which is proposed by Baker (1992) is giving a literal translation of the target idiom Of course the literal version of the idiom should be acceptable by the target readers and it should be lexically modified In the case of not finding a proper equivalent, giving a literal translation is not always an easy task to Because the more literal a text is translated, the more confusion it brings to the 64 readers According to Newmark literal translation is translating an idiom by giving a word-for-word translation of the source language idiom, which most of the time results in unnatural or wrong rendering of idioms (1988) Translating “as stubborn as a mule” literally as “cứng ñầu la” is somehow obscure and won’t transfer the sense at all In order to avoid confusion, the correct way is to translate it as “than lừa ưa nặng” When translating an idiom into the target language the translator should be cautious of the original effects the writer intends to present He must be very careful not to lose the sense for his target readers In the case of giving a literal translation, the translator should choose those equivalents which carry the same cultural effects as that of the original 65 REFERENCES English Andreas Langlotz Idiomatic Creativity John Benjamins publishing company Chomsky, N 1968 Language and Mind New York: Harcourt, Brace and World Cowie,A.P.,R Mackin,LR McCaig (1983 ) Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English Oxford University Press Daphne M Gulland, David Hinds-Howell The Penguin dictionary of English idioms, second edition Penguin Books publisher Jennifer Seidl, W McMordie English idioms and how to use them Oxford University Press, 1978 Jeremy Munday Introducing translation studies theories and applications John Holleman American English idiomatic expressions in 52 weeks The Chinese University press Jurg Strassler Idioms in English, a pragmatic analysis Gunter Narr Verlag publisher Jurg Strassler Idioms in English: A pragmatic Analysis Gunter Narr Verlag Tubingen publisher 10 Kostamo, M 1995 Translating idioms: a piece of cace? Unpublished Pro Gradu Thesis Helsinki: University of Helsinki 11 Kramsch, C (2000) Language and Culture Oxford: Oxford University Press 12 Landers, C.E 2001 Literary translation A practical guide Clevedon: Multilingual Matters 66 13 Larson, M.L 1984 Meaning-based translation A guide to crosslanguage equivalence Lanham: University Press of America 14 Lefevere, A 1992 Translating literature Practice and theory in a comparative literature context New York: Modern Language Association of America 15 Leppihalme, R 1997 Culture Bumps An empirical approach to the translation of allusions Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd 16 Linda Flavell, Roger Flavell Dictionary of idioms and their origins Kyle Kathie publisher 17 Longman Dictionary of English Idioms (1979) Prentice Hall College Div; First Edition edition (June 1979) 18 Lyons, J.(1968) Introduction to theoretical linguistics Cambridge C.U.P 19 Martin Putz and Laura Sicola Cognitive Processing in second language acquisition John Benjamins Publishing Company 20 Mc Carthy & O‟del (2002) English Idioms in Use Cambridge: CUP 21 Newmark, P (1988) A textbook of translation Prentice Hall International 22 Newmark, P (1991) About translation Great Britain: Cromwell Press Ltd 23 Nguyen Thanh & Quoc Dat & Vu Tan Phong, English – Vietnamese Dictionary, Youth Publishing house 24 Peter Newmark A textbook of translation 25 Rosamund Moon Research on Data, Description and Idioms in Corpus Lexicography Cobuild & The University of Birmingham 26 The Collins Cobuild Dictionary of Idioms (1995), London, Glasgow HarperCollins 67 27 Weinreich, U 1969 Problems in the analysis of idioms In J Puhvel (ed.), Substance and structure of language Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 23-81 28 William Croft and D.Alan Cruse Cognitive Linguistics Cambridge University Press, 2004 29 Wills, W 1982 The science of translation: problems and methods Tubingen: Gunter Narr Verlag 30 Vicker, B (2000) Building competency with figurative language one idiom at a time [Online] Available: http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/irca/communication/figlanguage.html (February 12, 2010) II Vietnamese Bui Hanh Can, Nguyen Bich Hang, Viet Anh Vietnamese idioms and proverbs Van Hoa-Thong Tin publisher Dang, H P (2010) A study on metaphor and simile in English and Vietnamese equivalents Bachelor dissertation, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam Dinh, T.L (1995) “metaphor is the transference of meaning from one object to another based on similarity between these two objects.”(p.194) Language and Life, issues 125 – 134 Vietnam linguistics association Nguyen Dinh Hung Collection of Vietnamese – English idioms, proverbs and folk songs Nguyen Quoc Hung; Thanh ngu Anh – Viet; 1974 Phan, V N (2000) Vietnamese idioms and proverbs Hanoi Van hoc publisher 68 Tran Quang Man, Selected Vietnamese idioms and proverbs, Vietnamese – English bilingual version Young publisher Truong Dong San; Thanh ngu so sanh tieng viet, 1974, 10 Viet Chuong Dictionary of Vietnamese idioms, proverbs and folk- songs Dong Nai publisher 1995 69 APPENDIX I LIST OF ENGLISH IDIOMS OF COMPARISON A) COMPARISONS WITH ADJECTIVES as black as the Ace of as dark as pitch Spades / soot / coal as dead as a doornail as black as midnight as deaf as a post as blind as a bat / a beetle / a as different as chalk from mole cheese as bold as brass as bold as a lion as bright as silver / noonday / day as brown as a berry as busy as a bee as changeable as the weather / the moon as cheerful as a lark as clear as a bell as clear as crystal as clear as the nose on your face as cold as a frog, a stone as cold as ice as cool as a cucumber as cunning as a fox as drunk as a lord as dry as a bone as dry as dust as dry as a stick as dumb as a fish as easy as ABC as fair as a rose as fat as butter / a pig as fierce as a tiger as firm as a rock as flat as a board as free as (the) air / a bird as gay as a lark as gaudy as a peacok /a butterfly as good as gold as graceful as a as mad as a hatter swan / a March hare as grave as a judge as merry as a as greedy as a cricket wolf / a pig / a dog as mute as a fish as green as grass as obstinate as a as happy as a king mule as happy as the as old as the hills day is long as pale as a ghost / as hard as a stone / death nails as patient as Job / as harmless as a an ox dove / a kitten as plain as the the as hot as fire nose on your face as hot as pepper as playful as a as hungry as a kitten hunter as plump as a as innocent as a partridge dove as poor as a as keen as mustard church-mouse as large as life as pretty as a as light as a picture feather / air as proud as a as like as two peas peacock / Lucifer in a pod / two as quick as beans lightning as loud as thunder as quiet as a lamb / a mouse butter / oil as red as fire / as sound as a bell blood / a cherry / a as sour as vinegar rose as steady as a rock as regular as as timid as a rabbit clockwork as tough as leather as rich as Croesus as tricky as a as round as a monkey barrel / a globe / as ugly as a an apple scarecrow as sharp as a as vain as a needle / a razor peacock as silent as the as warm as toast stars as watchful as a as silly as a sheep hawk / a goose as wet as a as slippery as an drowned rat eel as white as snow as smooth as as white as a sheet velvet as wise as an owl / as smooth as Solomon B) COMPARISONS WITH VERBS to be off like a shot to drink like a fish to come down on to eat like a horse someone like a ton of to fight like cat and bricks dog to fit like a glove to smoke like a to get on like a house chimney on fire to spend money like to go like the wind water to live like fighting to spread like wildfire cocks to swear like a to run like a hare trooper to sing like a bird / to swim like a fish lark / nightingale to take to something to shake / tremble like a duck to water like a leaf to work like a Trojan to sleep like a log C) MISCELLANEOUS COMPARISON (to be) like a bull in a like an elephant china shop (to have) a memory (to be) like a bear like a sieve with a sore head (to be) like a red rag (to be) like a dog to a bull with two tails (to be) like water off (to have) eyes like a a duck’s back ferret (to have) as many (to be / feel) like a faces as the moon fish out of water (to go) at a snail’s (to have) a hide like a pace rhinoceros as the crow flies (to have) a memory to look as if / though one has been dragged like an oven through a hedge like a whirlwind backwards Source: English idioms and how to use them By Jennifer Seidi & W.Mac Mordie