nghiên cứu đối chiếu động từ go trong tiếng anh với động từ đi trong tiếng việt áp dụng tính hiện thân trong ngôn ngữ học tri nhận

HA THIHONG A CONTRASTIVE STUDY OF THE VERB GO' IN ENGLISH AND DV IN VIETNAMESE: A PERSPECTIVE OF EMBODIMENT IN COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS Nghien ciiii doi chieu dong tu 'go' trong tieng An

HA THIHONG

A CONTRASTIVE STUDY OF THE VERB GO' IN ENGLISH

AND DV IN VIETNAMESE: A PERSPECTIVE OF EMBODIMENT

IN COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS

(Nghien ciiii doi chieu dong tu 'go' trong tieng Anh v6i dong tu 'di'

trong tieng Viet: Ap dung tinh hien than trong Ngon ngu hoc Tri nhan)

M.A MINOR THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS CODE: 60 22 15

SUPERVISOR: Assoc Prof Dr Tran Huu Manh

m

ABBREVIATION Contrastive Analysis (CA)

Cognitive Linguistics (CL)

2 Aims of the study 1

3 Scope of the study 1

4 Research question 2

5 Method of the study 2

6 Design of the study 2

Part II: DEVELOPMENT 4

CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 4

L Cognitive linguistics 4

1.1 Introduction 4 1.2 Definitions of terms 4

1.2.1 Cognitive science 4 1.2.2 Cognitive linguistics 4 1.2.3 Cognitive semantics 5 1.2.4 Embodiment 5 1.2.5 Perspectives 5 1.3 Cognition and linguistics 6 1.4 Cognitive linguistics 6 1.5 Major Principles of CL 6

1.5.1 Embodiment in CL 6 1.5.2 Grammar and meaning 6 1.5.3 Embodiment and lexicalization in CL 7

1.6 Perspecli\es 9

1.6.1 A clarification of the term 'perspective' 9 1.6.2 Theoretical framework on perspective 10 L7 Perspective and prototype 10

2 An overview of verbs and contrastive analysis 10

2,1 An Overview of Verbs 10

2.LL Verbs in English 10 2.1.2 Verbs in Vietnamese 10 2.L3 Types of meanings H 2.L4 Synonyms 13 2.2 An Overview of Contrastive Analysis 14

2.2 L Definitions 14 2.2.2 Guiding Principles for contrastive study 15

Chapter II A CONTRASTIVE STUDY OF THE VERB *GO' IN ENGLISH

\ AND 'DV IN VIETNAMESE: A PERSPECTIVE OF EMBODIMENT IN

COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS

3,1 A contrastive study of the verb 'go' in English and 'di" in Vietnamese 16

3.1.1 An Investigation of the verb 'go' in English 16

3.1.1.1 Grammatical features 16

3.1.1.1.1 Syntactic features 16 3.1.1.1.2 Morphological Features 17

3.1.1.2 Semantic Features 17

3.LI.2.1 General features 18 3.1.1.2.2 Synonyms of "go" 19 3.1.L3 Embodiment in 'go' 20 3.1.1.4 Lexicalization of'go' 23 3.1.2 An Investigation of the verb 'di' in Vietnamese 25

3.1.2.1 Grammatical features 25

3.1.2.1.1 Syntactic features 25 3.1.2.1.2 Morphological Features -6

3.1.2.2 Semantic Features 27

3.1.2.2.1 General features 27 3.1.2.2.3 Synonyms of'di" 28 3.1.2.3 Embodiment in'di' 29 3.1.2.4 Lexicalization of'di' ^0 3.1,3 Findings ^^

3.1.3.1 In Terms of Grammatical Features 31

3.1.3.1.1 Similarities 31 3.1.3.1.2 Differences 31 3.1.3.2 In terms of Semantic Features 32

3.1.3.2.1 Similarities 32 3.1.3.2.2 Differences 34 3.1.3.3 Lexemes 'go' and 'di' in contrast 35

Part III: CONCLUSION 38

Part I INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

Language is an effective and irreplaceable tool of expressing mind, thought saying, etc The verb 'go' in English has a variety of meanings and its usages in contexts and there has the same in Vietnamese counterpart However, they sometimes do not sh are the equipvalent in meanings Therefore, we can see some similarities and differences in terms of grammatical and semantic features by contrastive analysis between the verb 'go in English and 'di' in Vietnamese Particulartly, we can see how people perceive the action/activity through the two verbs in their OWTI languages

The word "perspective' in cognitive linguistics embraces more than one meaning

and have subnotion hanging with it this word used in the title way result in

misunderstanding The meaning of the word "perspective' in the study the author wishes to express is that of "view point'., "standpoinf More than that, the author wishes lo bring a metaphor of the word "perspective' to the title, hoping lo create a profound and thoughtful

meaning of the title of the dissertation

2 Aims of the study

The study aims to provide a critical analysis of theoretical approaches of cognition

of explaining language phenomena More particularly, a perspective of embodiment in cognitive linguistics will be critically explored lo help looking at this language phenomenon The study aims at presenting another way of anahsis the verb '^a', based on cognitive linguistics in general and in cognitive semantics in particular will be displayed

Through the analysis of the verb 'go' in English and 'di' in Vietnamese, the

researcher attempts lo present another \iewpoint of linguistic exploration, i.e to interpret ihe use of language from the understanding of our cognition

3 Scope of the study

As staled pre\'iousl\' one of the aims of the research is lo present my understanding

of cognitive linguistics; theretbre, the focus is on displa\ing major notions of this school of

linguistics In particular, the study confines itself lo the notions o{ perspective,

embodiment in CL

It should be noted that it is not possible to apply one notion of Cognitive CL, such

as perspective and metaphor, in analyzing of all kinds of the \crb 'go' in Ivnglish and 'di

in Vietnainese

The questions that the study will investigate will be as follows

Question 1 What are the grammatical and semantic features of the verb 'go' in English

and 'di' in Vietnamese and how are they similar and different in terms of these features?

Question 2: What are their synonyms? What are some idioms with them?

Question 3: How are the verb 'go' and "di^ seen from the perspective of

embodiment in CL?

5 Method of the study

The study has been carried out based on a combination of different methods as follows

- synthesizing

- contrasting and analyzing

The procedure of the study is:

to synthesize meanings of "go' and 't//' from different diclionaries

to collect synonyms of each verb

to analyze and contrast each verb respectively to make clear the similarities and differences between them

6 Design of the study

The study consists of three parts Part I entitled 'INTRODUCTION' outlines the background of the study in which a brief account of rele\ant information such as the rationale, aims, scope, methods and design of the study

Part II, with the title 'DEVELOPMENT' is subdivided into two chapters Chapter I presents a thorough review of literature about CL such as different terms embodiment, perspective and major principles of CL, The theoretical framework based on major notions

of CL is established, providing foundation for the discussion and analysis of the \erb 'go'

and 'J/' from the light of embodiment in CL

The second part of the chapter is that of verbs in English and Vietnamese, a theoretical concept necessary and rele\ant to the scope of the study, covering a series of concepts

ranging from Contrastive Analysis (CA), guiding principles for CA, including definition,

grammatical features, semantic features and classification, and s>non\ms

Chapter II discusses the grammatical and semantic features of the two verbs and the Contrastive study of the verb 'go' in English and 'di' in Vietnamese from the perspective

of embodiment in CL

Part III is CONCLUSION, which provides recapitulation, implications of language teaching and learning, and English - Vietnamese translation and vice versa and some recommendations for further research The study ends with the REFERENCES and APPENDIX

1 Cognitive linguistics

1.1 Introduction

In this study, cognitive semantics is the main interest which provides gateways for

the understanding and analysis of linguistic expressions, especially perspective of

embodiment in cognitive linguistics which is the object of study in this research This chapter is committed to cognitive linguistics, thus enabling me lo provide a thorough theoretical framework/background for the study The focus of the chapter is the notions of

cognitive linguistics which will be implemented in explaining and discussing the verb 'go'

in English and ' J / ' in Vietnamese

L2 Definitions of terms

1.2.L Cognitive Science

It is impossible to be sure of a definition of what cognitive science, since different

scholars, e.g Thagard, Trask, or dictionaries, e.g The Oxford dictionary of Computing, The Macmillan Dictionary of Psychology, have slightly different definitions In my

understanding, cognitive science is a new branch that studies the human mind A wide range of sub-branches of cognitive science have been put into research, e.g perception, acquisition of knowledge, artificial intelligence, linguistics, etc More importantly, the purpose of cognitive science is to provide an understanding of the phenomena of thinking

L2.2 Cognitive Linguistics

Cognitive Linguistics (CL) is an approach lo language that is based on our experience of the world and the way we percei\'e and conceptualize it (Ungerer & J-Schmid, 1996: x.)

CL emphasizes that the study of language is the study of language use (Fauconnier

2000) because language is an integral part of cognition which reflects the interaction of

social, cultural, psychological, communicative and functional cognili\e de\elopmeni and

mental processing, which can only be understood in the context of a realistic \iew of

acquisition

1.2.3 Cognitive semantics

Cognitive semantics is a branch of CL It rejects the formal traditions of attributing linguistics to phonology, syntax, pragmatics, etc, and states that meaning is independent from syntax On the other hand, cognitive semantics states that meanings come from our mind; or rather, meanings are in the head (Gardenfors, 1994.)

Moreover, meanings are not independent from syntax; but semantics is primary to syntax and partly determines it, and syntax cannot be described independently of semantics (Gardenfors, 1994.) In other words, meanings cannot stand apart from the people who use and create them because all linguistic expressions must come from and be activated by our mind and brains In short, cognitive semantics studies the relationship between language and experience and embodied cognition

L2.4 Embodiment

Cognitive semantics claims that the meanings of language is embodied, which means that it is the speaker's bodily experience that triggers the linguistic expressions that carry the mcaning(s) to the hearer(s) In other words, we perceive things in ihc world differently; each of us has different perceptions on even one c\cnl or situation As a result, language used by us to describe the world must undergo changes through speaker's or writer's perception, resulting in a fact that language is not the description of the real word (nor any possible world), but rather a description of human perception of reality' (Janda, ibid.) Take for example; looking at a given event, different people have different \iewpoinls on it The difference in realizing that given event results from the difference in their perception, which in turn yields different linguistic expressions These expressions actualh display their perception on the given event, not the description of the real world

1.2.5 Perspectives

Perspectives relate to the issue of point of \iew taken by the speaker wjiier in communication Perspectives include several more major notions, such as orientation vantage point, directionality, subjectivity, etc Reality (of the world out there) is perceived differently by different people due to the differences in their perspective \ iewpoint

Once the event/situation described is seen from different standpoints, different concepts are created in the perceivers thus resulting in different construal which lead to dilTerent linguistic expressions

of cognition proposed include the study of mind and intelligence, the acquisition of knowledge through perception and experience, and the organization of knowledge into mental activities and processes Moreover, cognition relates to our mind, rather than our thought, which relates to the conscious or unconscious processing of knowledge via mental operations In short, cognitive science is concerned with major functions of human beings, such as thinking, reasoning, remembering, etc (c.f Thagard 1996; Bechtel et al., 1998; Jensen, 2004)

1.4 Cognitive linguistics

CL is the scientific study of human languages in relationship to human cognition

In other words, it is concerned with investigating the relationship between our (human) language, our mind and our socio-physical experiences CL concerned the relationship between the way we communicate with each other and the way we think Or as Fauconnier (2005) states it is the study of language, conceptual systems, human cognition, and general meaning construction

L5 Major principles of CL

L5.L Embodiment in CL

People experience the real world and examine what they perceive; then it is their perception that filters the experience And it is a fact that no one is alike: thus their perception about the world ditTers, resulting in the difference in their description of what they experience 'Therefore, when we examine meaning, our goal is not to find a correspondence between utterances (real or othenvise) but rather to explore they ways in which meaning is motivated by human perceptual and conceptual capacities (Janda 2000)

L5.2 Grammar and meaning

The theory of linguistic meaning is the second fundamental principle of CL According to cognitive linguists, "meanings do not 'exist' independently from the people who create and use them" (Barcelona, 1997: 9 referred from Rcddy 1993.) Meanings 'reside' (Barcelona: ibid.) in our mind and our brains; linguistic expressions just activate

them Since meanings result from people's real life experience, collectively and individually, the meaning complex

Activated in one's mind does not necessarily need to be the same as the one activated in someone else's by an utterance with the same linguistic form

Let us take an example in the Vietnamese language to show the relationship between grammar and meaning

In English: - Where did you go this morning?

-1 went to the English club

In Vietnamese: - Sang nay em di ddu the?

- Em di den cdu lac ho tieng Anh

Usually in English we must use the past tense in both the question and answer in the example above, in contrast, the verb 'di' (go) in Vietnamese does not change its form To show the tense in Vietnamese this case, we can use 'da' although it is not usually to do so

as the speaker(s) and hearer(s) understand the time in the question and answer

L5.3 Embodiment and lexicalization in CL

(1) Figure and Ground

The term Figure and Ground were taken from Gestalt psychology, but Talmy (1972) gave them a distinct semantic interpretation that is continued here The Figure is a moving or conceptually movable object whose path or site is at issue The Ground is a reference frame, or a reference object stationarj' within a reference frame, with respect to which the Figure's path or site is characterized

Look at these examples below

Motion Manner

(a) Mar>' w^ent out at 9 o'clock

(b) Mary went from the living room to the kitchen

(c) Mary went into the kitchen

In all three sentences, Mary functions as the Figure and the kitchen, the living room

as the Ground Out from to, into express Paths (respectively, a path and a site) The

verb in (a), (b), (c) express motion In addition to these states of Motion, a Manner is expressed in 'WENT'

(2) The Pattern in Representation of Event Structure

According to Talmy (2000), in a motion sentence pattern characteristic of one group of languages, the verb expresses at once both the fact of Motion and a Co-Event, usually either the manner or the cause of the Motion Here is the Pattern in Representation

of Event Structure

(Figure Motion Path Ground)Mouon Event Rjelation (Event)co.Evcnt

MOVE BELOCATION

^ Precursion Enablement Cause

Manner ^

Concomitance Subsequence^

Verb(s) roots

(3) The Pattern Underlying Co-Event Conflation

We can indicate the type of conflation pattern in\olved here with a construction that represents the separate semantic component individually - that is, that decomposes or 'unpack' the sentences The Manner motion conflated in the verb is then best represented

by a separate subordinate clause standing for a Co- Event In this construction, the relation that the Co-Event bears to the main Motion event is then indicated by a form like WITH -THE- MANNER OF Such a form represents a deep or mid-level morpheme that functions semantically like the subordinating preposition or conjunction of a complex sentence And the fomi GO is used to represent self-agentive motion

(a) Mary w^ent out at 9 o'clock = fMary> WENT out] with the Manner of (Mary move)

(b) Mary went into the kitchen =fMary WEST into the kitchenjwith the Manner of (Mary move)

(4) Path

According to Talm\' (2000) the fundamental Figure schema appear first - here alwa\s as 'a point' A fundamental Ground schema - a member of a \er\' small set- follows the Vector Each fomiula is exemplified with a sentence whose more specific spatial reference is based on tlie fomiula We will discuss in more details in the latter of the stud)'

1.6 Perspectives

1.6.1 A clarification of the term 'perspective'

Regarding the title of the study, the term 'perspective' means point of view or

viewpoint, standpoint, or angle, from which the passive voice is seen However, the term

^perspective' in this study goes beyond the meaning of viewpoint The term perspective in

semantics means viewpoint, but it spreads its significance to other concepts: orientation, directionality, vantage points and subjectivity/ objectivity

1.6.2 Theoretical framework on perspective

Perspective or sometimes-called perspective taking is an issue of point of view from interlocutors Looking at an object, or more generally at an event or an issue different people may have different points of view expressing their views about the issue or event being discussed In cognitive linguistics, 'the meaning associated with a linguistic symbol refers to a particular mental representation termed a concept Concepts in turn derive from percepts' (Evans & Green, 2006.) (bold in original.) Figure 1 below, cited from Evans & Green, 2006, further illustrates this point This figure indicates that human beings perceive events in the reality which will then be conceptualized into our brain, from which linguistic expressions are produced to describe the situation

1.7 Perspective and prototype

We perceive the real world based on what we experience Our understanding of the world is stored in our mind, which cognitive linguists called concepts Once a concept is formed, it is stored in our mind However, it is impossible for us to form as many concepts for things as the number of things in the real world Therefore, we store in our mind the most typical member of the same category, called -prototype" and the 'prototype provides

us with essential information on the concept' (Antovic 2003)

2 An Overview of Verbs and Contrastive Analysis

2.1 An Overview of Verbs

2.1.1 Verbs in English

Verb is considered to be the king of all parts of speech in English At the heart of every sentence is a verb, an action word that is generally indicates what someone or something is doing or perhaps merely indicates being The shortest sentence can be formed with one word such as 'Stop!' or 'Go'

According to Jack C Richards at al (1992:398) in English, a word is a verb when it satisfies these following criteria:

Occurs as part of the predicate of a sentence

Carries makers of grammatical categories such as tense, aspect, person, number, and mood; and

Refers to an action or state

Almost all verbs in English change in form in accordance with tense, mood, person,

etc For example; 'She eats apple'; 'I like eating cookies with milk \

The classification of English verbs can be as follows

The first one is stative verbs and dynamic verb Dynamic verbs (sometimes referred

to as 'action verb') usually describe actions we can take, or things that happen such as 'eat', 'go', 'drink'; stative verb usually refer to a state or condition which is not changing

or likely to change, for example: 'love', 'hate', 'like', etc

Another way is action verbs such as 'think", 'drive', 'grow"; linking verbs like 'be", 'feel', 'smeir, etc.; and auxiliary verbs, sometimes called helping verbs, for example:

*can', 'may', 'might', 'should', etc

Verbs can also be classified into transitive \erbs (ones cannot stand alone, they

need objects) such as "buy\ "giye\ 'telP etc; and intransiti\e \erbs (ones can stand alone without objects) like "sleep\ "cry\ "rain', etc This way of classification is useful when

we want to compare a verb in English and that in Vietnamese

2.1.2 Verbs in Vietnamese

Like nouns, verbs are one of two fundamental parts of speech in Vietnamese and they play an important role in Vietnamese vocabular>' as well as in forming sentences Grammatical features of verbs remain complicated

With auxiliary components before verbs (so called 'thanh t6 phu chi tinh thai' in

Vietnamese) to indicate scope of the action or activity such as "cung\ "deu',"cu\ etc To indicate continuation like 'con', 'van', etc; to indicate tense, aspect such as "sap, dang, se,

da, etc; to refer to negative meaning, for example: "chua khong, chdng' etc.; to indicate advice or prohibit such as "hay cha dirng and so on

Let us see the nouns This is the most popular combinations of \'erb For example:

viet thu doc sdch, an cam, ect

With other auxiliary components of other parts of speech as in: 'thi do, hoc gidi, an ngon, etc

Verbs in Vietnamese can have different functions in a sentence The most popular

and outstanding one is predicator For example: Hoa na Toi an toL etc Verbs can also be subjects of a sentence as in Day tot, hoc tot la nhiem vu cua thdy vd tro trong nhd truoiig chung ta, etc They can be complements, for example: Be tap an cam, Nguyen c6 gang hodn thdnh cong vice tricac khi trai toL

Diep Quang Ban and Hoang Van Thung classify' Vietnamese \'erbs into two kinds: transitive verbs and intransitive verbs Intransitive verbs are ones that can stand alone with

complete meaning without help from other words, for example: Lit tre dang an: Trai mica:

Co dy hat etc Transitive \erbs, in contrast, can not stand alone the\' need help from other words to complete their meaning as in: Toi tra sdch Can bo time thu time kinh doanh etc

2.1.3 Types of meanings

Word-meaning has been a great concern of many linguists The theories of meaning and its types can be found in the literature (Leech 1974, Lyon 1977 1995 Palmer 1981, Crystal 1995) There are two types of meanings: grammatical meaning and lexical meaning

According to Lyons (1995:52) a lexeme may have different word-forms which will

generally differ in meaning For example, the forms of 'teacher' and teachers^ differ in

respect of their grammatical meaning 'Teacher' is singular form (of a noun of a particular

class), and "teachers' is plural form (of a noun of particular class); and the difference

between singular forms and plural form is semantically relevant: it affects sentence

meaning The meaning of a sentence is determined partly by the meaning of the words of

which it consists and partly by its grammatical meaning

Leech, G (1981:23) classified lexical meaning into seven types shown in the

3 Social/stylistic meaning

4 Affected

5 Reflected meaning

Definition Logical, cognitive or denotative content

What is communicated by

virtue of what language refers to

What is communicated of the

social circumstances

of language use What is communicated of the

feelines and attitudes

of the speakers/writers

What is communicated

through association with other sense of the same expression

Examples Alphabet =A set of letters which are used to write a language

Female =soft earring, likely to cry

cooking

abode-home;

13

7 Thematic meaning

6 Collocative meaning

What is communicated

through association with words which tend to occur in the environment of another word

What is communicated by the

way in which the message is organized

in terms of order and emphasis

Heav7 smoker, rain, fine, pretty vs handsome

She donated the first

2.1.4 Synonyms

Meaning of a word can only be understood and learnt in relationship with other words in a language Synonymy is a kind of sense relation or more specifically, one of the substitutional tense relations

Jack C Richards et al (1992: 368) defined synonym as a word which has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word It should be noticed that two words which are synonymous must belong to the same part of speech

Lyon (1995: 60) divides synonyms into three kinds: absolute synonyms, near synonyms, and partial synonyms However, some linguists such as Jack C Richards et al (1992:368, Palmer (1981:88) argue that no two words have exactly the same meaning (denotational and connotational meanings.) Absolute synonyms, according to Lyon (1995: 61), must satisfy three conditions:

(i) all their meaning are identical

(ii) they are synonymous in all contexts

(iii) They are semantically equivalent (i.e their meaning(s) are identical) on all

dimensions of meaning, descriptive and non-descriptive) Actually, absolute synonyms of this type are almost non-existent in English Therefore, the study only focus on partial synonyms (descriptive, cognitive, or

prepositional synonyms) when dealing with synonyms of 'go' However, absolute synonyms can be found in Vietnamese as in 'bong da' and "ttic cdu', sdn bay' and 'phi tru&ng', etc

Another classification of synonyms, according to Hoang Tat Truong (1993: 73) is semantic synonyms (words differ in shade of meaning e.g., "big'- 'large"); stylistic synonyms (words differ in stylistic aspect such as 'father"-^dad'/daddy); semantico-stylistics synonyms (words differ both in shade of meaning and stylistic aspect, for

example: to dismiss - to sack; to fire - to lay- off): phraseological synonyms (words differ

in their collocation such as 'to do- 'to make'); and territorial synonyms (words belong to different countries such as 'autumn' - 'fall", 'mobile phone" - cell phone')

In brief, synonyms are paramount importance in sense relation both in English and in Vietnamese We will see how diversified and interesting they are when we deal with

synonyms of'go' and "di' in the latter parts

2.2 An Over> iew on Contrastive Analysis

2.2.1 Deflnition

Contrasti\'e Analysis (CA) has been viewed as a systematic comparati\e study in which differences and similarities among languages (usuall\ between two languages) are

clearly recognized The term "Contrastive linguistics' was suggested by Whorf (1941), lor

comparative study which is giving emphasis on linguistic differences meanwhile

contrastive linguistics has been redefined as "a sub discipline of linguistics concerned with the cotnparison of tMO or more languages or subsystetns of languages in order to determine both the differences and similarities between them' (Fisiak 1981:1)

The real beginning of modem applied contrastive linguistics was marked with the

publication of 'Linguistics across Cultures' by Robert Lados in 1957 later, Contrastive

Analysis' is used as an alternative for contrasti\c linguistics

According to Richard, J C et al (1992), CA is 'the comparison of the linguistic S)\stem oftMO languages, for example the sound system or the grammatical system

15

Carl James (180:2) confirmed that CA is neither generalist nor particularist It stands somewhere intermediate on a scale between the two extremes It is more interested in differences between languages than in their likeness and it is viewed as diachronic rather

than synchronic in orientation He defined CA as 'a linguistic enterprise aimed at producing inverted (i.e contrastive, not comparative) two values typologies (a CA is always concerned with a pair of languages), and founded on the assumption that languages can be compared,

2.2,2 Guiding Principles for CA

CA provide an objective and scientific base for second language teaching If the mother tongue of the learner and the target language both have significantly similar linguistic features on all the levels of their structures, there will not be many difficulties in learning the new language in a limited time To help contrastive studies bring into full play, Chatur\x'di (1973) suggests the following guiding principles for contrastive studies: (i) To analyze the mother tongue and the target language independently and

completely

(ii) To compare the two languages tem-wise-item at all levels of their structure

(iii) To arrive at the categories of:

b) similar features c) partially similar features d) dissimilar features

for the target language and

(iv) To arrive at principles of text preparation, test framing and target language

teaching in general These principles coincide with what Carl James presented in CA (1980:64) to some extent

Chapter II A CONTRASTIVE STUDY BETWEEN THE VERB *GO' IN

ENGLISH AND THE VERB 'DP IN VIETNAMESE:

A PERSPECTIVE OF EMBODIMENT IN COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS

3.1 An Investigation into the verb ^GO' in English and 'di^ in Vietnamese

3.1.1 An Investigation into the verb 'GO' in English

3.1.1.1 Grammatical features

3.1.1.1.1 Syntactic features

' G O ' is a typical verb, sharing the following syntactic function of a verb

(a) occurs as part of the predicate of a sentence

For example: He went to the cinema last night

They are all gone (1: 207) Princess, I am going out into the world (1: 212)

(b) Derivates of ' G O " can have different grammatical functions such as subject, object or complement, etc, as in:

Going to the theatre is my favourite pastime

Would you mind my going shopping today?

Her hobby is going to the cinema,

GO carries markers of grammatical categories such as tense, aspects, person, number and mood as in:

and instead of returning to school I went to work in Goldman's workshop (1: 208)

Pff They are all gone (1:208)

(d) "GO" is both a transiti\e and intransiti\'e verb This means "GO" can occur with or without objects

As an intransiti\'e xerb:

We will go by bus She went to Saigon Mary often goes shopping every Saturday afternoon Does your watch go well?

He went mad when he learned about the accident

the base ' G O ' I go;We go; They go; You go

the ' - s ' form: GOES She goes; He goes; It goes

the past form 'WENT' We went; They went: He went

the past participle: 'GONE' We've gone; She's gone

the -ing form: 'GOING' They're going; She's going

By means of derivation, it has 5 derivates as follows:

'GO' (GOES- plural): + a person's tum to move or play in game

Whose go is it?

It \s your go

+ Energy and enthusiasm (infonnal)

Be on the go (very active or bu.sy)

'GOER' (noun): a person who regularly goes or attends the specified place or c\cnt

Theatre goer(s)

'GOING' (adjective): a going concem (a business or activity that is making a profit and is expected to continue to do well)

'GOING' (noun): an act of leaving a place

We were all sad at her going 'GO" can be used in such compound adjectives as easy -going (happy to accept things without worrying or getting angry), heavy going (difficult or boring), going over/goings - over (an act of examining, cleaning or repairing something thorough!)), going on' goings-

on (unusual, surprising or morally undesirable happening or exents: There were some strange goings- on next door last night)

3.1.1.2 Semantic features

In this section, we will attempt to discuss different senses of 'GO" in general and

idioms as well as its synonyms Like many other lexical verbs, 'GO' refers to movement, position, activity, state and sound

She went into her room and shut the door behind her (7: 505)

DAI HOC QUOC GiA HA NOi TRUNG TAM T H 0 N £ T 1 N J ^ ^ ^

This dictionary goes on the top shelf (7: 505)

Did everything go smoothly? (7: 505)

- Her hair is going grey (7: 505)

How does that song go? (7: 505)

3.1.1.2.1 General meanings

According to Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, Lacviet MTD 2002-EVA Dictionary, tratu.vn and some other dictionaries, the verb 'GO' in English has the following basic meanings

(a) Movement

'GO" is the movement away from the place where the speaker/writer is or a place where they imagine themselves to be Its Vietnamese equivalent expression is 'DI' For example:

Would you go to the market for me?

She went lo her country cottage for the weekend

(b) Becoming/ turning

'GO' is similar to 'become/tum/get/tum' in some ways Its Vietnamese equi\alent is 'hoa

thanh , thanh, thanh ra' For example: He went mad when he learned about the accident

The milk went sour,

(c) Running (a machine)

'GO' can also be understood as to work, operate, run a machine, etc Its Vietnamese equivalent is 'chay (may moc) For example:

Does your watch go well?

The machine goes by electricity

I cannot get the engine to go properly

(d) Disappearance (without a trace), vanishing, evaporation or passing away

Its Vietnamese cquixalents are "bien mat, tieu tan, chani dirt ' as in:

All hope is gone Where has all the tnoney gone?

(e) Reaching, extending or leading to

The next meaning is to reach, lead to or extend In Vietnamese, it means "dan tcVi" For example:

Does this road go to (Oxford?

19

(f) Being appropriate/suitable with, going with or matching,

' G O ' also means lo be appropriate or suitable with Its Vietnamese equivalent is 'phu hop voi' See the following examples:

These colours don t go Red goes well with brown

3.1.1.2.2 Synonyms of ' G O '

Words are considered the tool in our creation of the world Therefore it is of paramount important to deal with synonyms of a word when we want to have a deep understanding of it Synonyms can be classified into five main kinds: semantic synonyms stylistic synonyms, semantico- stylistic synonyms, phraseological synonyms and territorial synonyms Here, we would like to focus on its semantic synonyms

Here we wish to figure out synonjTns of'GO' in relation with its basic meaning as follows (a) The first meaning of 'GO' is synonymous with 'move', 'leave', "travel", 'proceed', 'depart' and 'set off, etc These verbs are similar to the movement from the place where the speaker/writer is or a place where they imagine themselves to be

She went into her room and shut the door behind her (7: 505)

- Would you go to the market for me?

- She went to her country cottage for the weekend

(b) When understood as becoming/ turning/getting, 'GO" is synonymous with 'become', 'get', 'turn' or "grow'

'Joe went (mad/crazy/herserk) ' Joe went from ecstatic to dejected (and back again) in the space

of a few minutes

- The tnilk went sour

- The breadMcnt stale

- The meringue went angry

- This face went pale

( 7 : 5 1 1 )

(c) ' G O ' is synon\mous with 'work', "run", "operate", and 'perform'

Does your watch go well?

The machine goes by electricity

I cannot get the engine to go properly

(7: 505)

(d) Other synonyms of ' G O ' are 'to die' or 'pass away' (euphemism)

By the time the doctor arrived, Graham had gone

3.1.1.3 Embodiment of 'GO'

In this study, the author would like to mention the verb 'GO' in the light of

metaphor In Cognitive Grammar (1988), John R.Taylor says that an important theme in Jackkendoff s work has been some striking anologies between the ways in which different domains are structured, (see especially Jackendoff 1983 chapter 9 and 10 and Jackendoff

1990, chapter 1 and 2) Consider the following

(\) a I went from the hotel to the airport

b The inheritance went from George to Philip

c The light went from green to red

These expressions designate events in three different domains: motion in space transfer of ownership, and change in state Yet the same \'erb 'GO', is used in all three sentences, in association with the same prepositions, from and to

As Lakovian analysis, we might say that lb and Ic illustrate that change of ownership

and change of state are metaphorically constmed in temis of aji experiential 1\ more basic

domain, change of location TTius in Ic, tlie light "GOES' from one metaphorical location (the state of being green) to another metaphorical location (the state of being red) The conceptual metaphors motixating tlie spatial construals are the following:

(2) States are locations

A change of state is a change of location

Essentially, this involves a function [GO] which maps a [THING] and a [PATH] into an [EVEN Tj Jackendoff fomializes this as follows:

(3) [event GO ([thingX] PathY])]

An expansion of the [PATH] concept is more conveniently represented as in (4)

EVENT (4)

TO(Z)

(5) Joe went (mad/crazy/berserk)

Joe went from ecstatic to dejected (and back again) in the space of a few minutes

The milk went sour The bread went stale The meringue went angry This face went pale

The lights went (on/out) The phone went dead

(6) Joe went (sane/healthy unhappy ill )

She went pregnant The bread went baked The toast went burnt The meringue went crisp The lights went from on to out (and back again) The carpet went (stained dirty/clear)

The patient went dead John R Taylor indicates that 'The verb go' cannot he used productively to designate any change of state With respect to the Lakovian theory, we might suppose that the conceptual metaphor in (2) have been formulated at such a high level of schematicily that they fail to predict the range of possible instantiations (cf section 24.2-h and that they have therefore need to be supplemented by lower level metaphor, which do have greater predictive power At any rate, we would need to look more closely at the specific