a contrastive analysis of performative verbs in english and vietnamese = phân tích đối chiếu động từ ngữ vi trong tiếng anh và tiếng việt

A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH DIRECTIVE PERFORMATIVE VERBS AND THEIR VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS .... A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH DIRECTIVE PERFORMATIVE VERBS AND THEIR VIETNAMESE E

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

………o0o………

TRẦN THỊ THU HIỀN

A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF PERFORMATIVE VERBS IN

ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE

(PHÂN TÍCH ĐỐI CHIẾU ĐỘNG TỪ NGỮ VI TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Linguistics Code: 60 22 15

HANOI - 2011

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

………o0o………

TRẦN THỊ THU HIỀN

A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF PERFORMATIVE VERBS IN

ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE

(PHÂN TÍCH ĐỐI CHIẾU ĐỘNG TỪ NGỮ VI TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Linguistics Code: 60 22 15

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Võ Đại Quang

HANOI - 2011

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT i

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

ABBREVIATIONS vi

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale of the study 1

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 1

1.2.1 Aims 1

1.2.2 Objectives 2

1.2.3 Research questions 2

1.3 Scope of the study 2

1.4 Method of the study 2

1.5 Organization of the study 3

CHAPTER TWO THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 4

2.1 Speech Act Theory 4

2.1.1 Definition of speech acts 4

2.1.2 Components of speech acts 4

2.1.3 Speech Act Classification 5

2.1.4 Illocutionary force indicating device 6

2.1.5 Felicity conditions 7

2.1.6 The relationship between speech acts and speech act verbs 8

2.1.7 Property of speech act verbs 9

2.2 Performatives 9

2.2.1 Performatives versus Constatives 9

2.2.2 Definition of Performatives 10

2.2.3 Types of performatives 10

2.2.3.1 Explicit performative 10

2.2.3.2 Implicit performative 11

2.3 Performative verbs 12

2.3.1 Definition of performative verbs which 12

2.3.2 The function of performative verbs 12

2.3.3 Classification of performative verbs 13

2.3.3.1 Meta-linguistic performative verbs 13

2.3.3.2 Ritual performative verbs 13

2.3.3.3 Collaborate performative verbs 13

2.4 Summary 14

CHAPTER THREE A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH DIRECTIVE PERFORMATIVE VERBS AND THEIR VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS 15

3.1 Syntactic features of directive PVs 15

3.1.1 Directive PVs in English 15

3.1.2 Directive PVs in Vietnamese 17

3.1.3 Similarities and differences of directive PVs in English and Vietnamese in terms of syntactic features 19

3.1.3.1 Similarities 19

3.1.3.2 Differences 19

3.2 Semantic features of directive PVs 21

3.2.1 Directive PVs in English 21

3.2.2 Directive PVs in Vietnamese 28

3.2.3 Similarities and differences of directive PVs in English and Vietnamese in terms of semantic features 31

3.2.3.1 Similarities 31

3.2.3.2 Differences 32

CHAPTER FOUR CONCLUSION 34

4.1 Recapitulation 34

4.2 Concluding remarks 34

4.2.1 Concluding remarks on objective 1 34

4.2.2 Concluding remarks on objective 2 35

4.2.3 Concluding remarks on objective 3 35

4.3 Limitation of the study 36

4.4 Suggestions for further study 36

REFERENCES vii

APPENDIX ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CANDIDATE‟S STATEMENT i

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

ABBREVIATIONS vi

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale of the study 1

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 1

1.2.1 Aims 1

1.2.2 Objectives 2

1.2.3 Research questions 2

1.3 Scope of the study 2

1.4 Method of the study 2

1.5 Organization of the study 3

CHAPTER TWO THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 4

2.1 Speech Act Theory 4

2.1.1 Definition of speech acts 4

2.1.2 Components of speech acts 4

2.1.3 Speech Act Classification 5

2.1.4 Illocutionary force indicating device 6

2.1.5 Felicity conditions 7

2.1.6 The relationship between speech acts and speech act verbs 8

2.1.7 Property of speech act verbs 9

2.2 Performatives 9

2.2.1 Performatives versus Constatives 9

2.2.2 Definition of Performatives 10

2.2.3 Types of performatives 10

2.2.3.1 Explicit performative 10

2.2.3.2 Implicit performative 11

2.3 Performative verbs 12

2.3.1 Definition of performative verbs which 12

2.3.2 The function of performative verbs 12

2.3.3 Classification of performative verbs 13

2.3.3.1 Meta-linguistic performative verbs 13

2.3.3.2 Ritual performative verbs 13

2.3.3.3 Collaborate performative verbs 13

2.4 Summary 14

CHAPTER THREE A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH DIRECTIVE PERFORMATIVE VERBS AND THEIR VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS 15

3.1 Syntactic features of directive PVs 15

3.1.1 Directive PVs in English 15

3.1.2 Directive PVs in Vietnamese 17

3.1.3 Similarities and differences of directive PVs in English and Vietnamese in terms of syntactic features 19

3.1.3.1 Similarities 19

3.1.3.2 Differences 19

3.2 Semantic features of directive PVs 21

3.2.1 Directive PVs in English 21

3.2.2 Directive PVs in Vietnamese 28

3.2.3 Similarities and differences of directive PVs in English and Vietnamese in terms of semantic features 31

3.2.3.1 Similarities 31

3.2.3.2 Differences 32

CHAPTER FOUR CONCLUSION 34

4.1 Recapitulation 34

4.2 Concluding remarks 34

4.2.1 Concluding remarks on objective 1 34

4.2.2 Concluding remarks on objective 2 35

4.2.3 Concluding remarks on objective 3 35

4.3 Limitation of the study 36

4.4 Suggestions for further study 36

REFERENCES vii

APPENDIX ix

ABBREVIATIONS

A: Action

CA: Contrastive analysis

EPV: English Performative Verb

EPVs: English Performative Verbs

EPs: Explicit Performatives

H: Hearer

IF: Illocutionary Force

IFIDs: Illocutionary Force Indicating Devices

IPs: Implicit Performatives

PV: Performative Verb

S: Speaker

SA: Speech act

SAs: Speech acts

U: Utterance

Us: Utterances

VPV: Vietnamese Performative Verb

VPVs: Vietnamese Performative Verbs

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study

Language is an inseparable part in people‟s life because it is employed to transmit information, to state facts, to express thoughts and to get so many things done It is true that verbs referring to speech constitute one of the most important areas of the vocabulary

of any language Every day, we use the verbs of ask, tell, require, apologize, promise,

thank and so on to communicate together Moreover, we try to interpret what kinds of

speech acts they are performing, that is, when someone says something, we have to categorize their utterances as this or that kind of speech acts For instance, is this an advice? is this a suggestion? is this a request? or is this a warning? Among speech act verbs, PVs are crucially importance to the way we interpret what other people are saying because PVs signal the performance of acts

PVs play a very esential role in communication, so learners of foreign language should pay much attention to PVs However, there is a fact that leaners of English have not been well equipped with a all-sided knowledge of EPVs and the meanings of PVs have never been systematically investigated For example, learners of English often make confusion about

the meanings of the verbs “request” and “demand”, “suggest” and “propose”, “beg” and

“entreat”, etc As a result, they do not often make proper uses of EPVs in communication

and even may break their real communication

Recognizing the importance of PVs in communication and the problems learners may face

in using PVs, I decide to carry out a contrastive analysis of English and Vietnamese directive PVs in terms of syntactic and semantic features With this peculiar function, PVs that play an essential role in performing speech acts need being further studied to serve better communication

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study

1.2.1 Aims

The study is aimed at:

- raising Vietnamese learner‟s awareness of how to realize the meanings of EPVs and use them appropriately in order to achieve communicative purposes

- providing teachers of English with useful materials about the knowledge of PVs

1.2.2 Objectives

To achieve these aims, the research tries to:

- present and describe the structures and the meanings of directive PVs in English and Vietnamese

- point out the similarities and differences of directive EPVs and their Vietnamese equivalents in terms of syntax and semantics

- suggest some implications for learning and teaching English directive PVs

1.2.3 Research questions

The objectives are elaborated into the following research questions:

- What are the structures and meanings of directive PVs in English and Vietnamese ?

- What are the similarities and differences of directive PVs in English and Vietnamese?

- What are the possible recommendations for learning and teaching English directive PVs?

1.3 Scope of the study

Due to the limited time and the scale of the minor thesis, the study is focused on directive PVs which are most frequently used in written discourse in English and Vietnamese

1.4 Method of the study

The main method in the study is the contrastive analysis (CA) of directive PVs in English

and Vietnamese The term CA is defined by James, C (1980:3) as “a linguistic enterprise

aimed at producing inverted (i.e contrastive, not comparative) two-valued typologies (a

CA is always concerned with a pair of languages), and founded on the assumption that language can be compared.” According to Richard, J.C et al (1992), CA is “the comparison of the linguistic systems of two languages” As far as I know, CA is the

systematic study of a pair of languages with a view to identifying the differences and similarities It is considered as a device for predicting and explaining difficult points and some errors that learners will make in learning a target language

The author uses the following principles in order to achieve the aims and objectives of the study:

+ Collecting data containing directive PVs

+ Choosing data sources from ebook

+ Choosing type of data: original texts in English and Vietnamese translation equivalents

+ Choosing instrumental languages: English is selected as the source language and Vietnamese as the target language

Important techniques which are employed in the study include:

+ observing data on translation texts

+systematizing and categorizing data

1.5 Organization of the study

Chapter one: Introduction

This part presents the rationale, aims, objectives, scope and method of the study

Chapter two: Theoretical Background

This chapter provides the theoretical concepts and terms that are necessary and relevant to directive PVs

Chapter three: A contrastive analysis of directive PVs in English and in Vietnamese

This chapter is focused on exploring the structures and meanings of directive EPVs and their Vietnamese equivalents Then, some similarities and differences are drawn out to illustrate the contrastive analysis of the two languages Last but not least, some recommendations for learning and teaching will be suggested

Chapter four: Conclusion

This is the last part of the thesis which summarizes main points, gives concluding remarks

on objectives as well as suggestions for further study

CHAPTER TWO THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

This chapter is aimed at giving a general framework for analysing directive PVs later Firstly, the theory of speech acts including the notion, components, classification and felicity conditions is explored Secondly, the important matters referring to performative verbs are presented in order to pave the way for an investigation of directive PVs in chapter 2 where the forms and meanings of PVs will be examined in terms of syntactic and semantic features

2.1 Speech Act Theory

2.1.1 Definition of speech acts

According to an American language philosopher J.R Searle, speaking a language is performing speech acts, acts such as making statements, asking questions, giving command

or making promises Yule, G (1996, p.47) views that speech acts are actions that are performed via utterances to serve a function in communication Speech acts are also

defined as “the basic or minimal units of linguistic communication” (Searle, 1969, p.16)

In English, there are specific labels of speech acts such as compliment, apology, request, complaint, invitation, advice and so on

For example:

When a speaker makes an utterance: “I‟ll take you to the cinema tomorrow” The speaker

makes a promise (a speech act that commits the speaker to do something in the future)

2.1.2 Components of speech acts

The matter of speech acts was pioneered by American language philosopher J.L Austin In

the book “How to do things with words” by Austin (1962), there are three related acts in the action of performing an utterance, including locutionary, illocutionary and

perlocutionary acts Firstly, locutionary act can be viewed as a mere uttering of some

words in certain language, while the illocutionary and perlocutinary acts convey a more complicated message for the hearer Secondly, illocutionary act communicates the speaker‟s intentions behind the locution Thirdly, perlocutionary act reveals the effect of

the utterance on the listeners

Example: Give me an apple

+ Locutionary act: the utterance is an imperative

+ Illocutionary act: Request from the part of the speaker

+ Perlocutionary act: Hearer passes Speaker an apple

Among three acts, the illocutionary act/force appears to be the most crucial and predominant one The illocutionary act is performed via the communicative force of an

utterance which is known as the illocutionary force of the utterance The illocutionary

force of the utterance is what it “count as” The same locutionary act can have different illocutionary forces

Example:

I‟ll see you later (= A) (Yule, 1996:49)

→ [ I predict that] A

→ [ I promise you that] A

→ [ I warn you that] A

In this example, illocutionary forces can count as a prediction, a promise or a warning

2.1.3 Speech Act Classification

On the basis of Searle‟s theory, a general classification system includes five types of functions performed by speech acts: representatives, directives, commissives, expressives and declarations

Representatives are those kinds of speech acts that state what the speaker believes to be

the case or not In using a representative, the speaker makes words fit the world They may

be statements of fact, assertions, conclusions and descriptions

E.g:

The earth is flat (Yule, 1996:53)

It was a warm sunny day (Yule, 1996:53)

Directives are those kinds of speech act that the speaker uses to get the hearer to do

something They express what the speaker wants They are orders, commands, requests, suggestions

E.g:

Don‟t touch that (Yule, 1996:54)

Could you lend me a pen, please? (Yule, 1996:54)

Commissives are those kinds of speech acts that the speaker uses to commit themselves to

some future action They express what the speaker intends They are promises, threats, refusals, pledges

E.g:

I‟ll be back (Yule, 1996:54)

I‟m going to get it right next time (Yule, 1996:54)

Expressives are those kinds of speech acts that state what the speaker feels They express

psychological states and are about the speaker‟s experience They are apologies, congratulations, thanks

E.g:

I‟m really sorry! (Yule, 1996:53)

What a great day! (Hoa, 2004:73)

Declarations are those kinds of speech acts that change the world via their utterance

When the speaker performs declarations appropriately, he has to have a special institutional role, in a specific context They are christening, declaration, naming

E.g:

Priest: I now pronounce you husband and wife (Yule, 1996:53)

I declare the meeting open (Hoa, 2004:73)

2.1.4 Illocutionary force indicating device

The most obvious device for indicating the illocutionary force (the illocutionary force indicating device or IFID) is a piece of language that signals what kind of speech act is being performed

Some useful IFIDs are mood, word order, lexicon (modal, expletive, function words), stress, intonation, tone of voice and performative verbs Among them, PVs are always the prominent signals and alone can imply the intended communicative force

Look at the telephone conversation between a man trying to contact Mary and Mary‟s friend: (Yule, 1996:50)

Him: Can I talk to Mary?

Her: No, she‟s not here

Him: I‟m asking you – can I talk to her?

Her: And I‟m telling you – SHE‟S NOT HERE!

In this scenario, each speaker has described and drawn attention to the illocutionary force („ask‟ and „tell‟) of their utterances PVs „ask‟ and „tell‟ are clear IFIDs

Other type of IFID which can facilitate the hearer recognize the intended illocutionary force are felicity conditions

2.1.5 Felicity conditions

Austin (1962:14-15) defines the felicity conditions as follows:

- There must exist an accepted conventional procedure having a certain conventional effect, that procedure to include the uttering of certain words by certain persons in certain circumstances

- The particular persons and circumstances in a given case must be appropriate for the invocation of the particular procedure invoked

- The procedure must be executed by all participants both correctly and completely

- Where, as often, the procedure is designed for use by persons having certain thoughts or feelings, or for the inauguration of certain consequential conduct on the part of any participant, then a person participating in and so invoking the procedure must intend so to conduct themselves, and further must actually so conduct themselves subsequently

According to Yule (1996:50), felicity conditions cover certain expected or appropriate circumstances for the performance of a speech act to be recognized as intended Basing on the original Searle‟s assumption, Yule (1996:50) proposes a classification of felicity

conditions into five classes: general condtions, content conditions, preparatory conditions,

sincerity conditions and essential conditions He defines that general conditions

presuppose the participant‟s knowledge of the language being used and his non-playacting,

content conditions concern the appropriate content of an utterance, preparatory conditions

deal with differences of various illocutionary acts, sincerity conditions count with speaker‟s intention to carry out the future action and finally, essential condition “combines

with a specification of what must be in the utterance content, the context, and the speaker‟s intentions, in order for a specific speech act to be appropriately (felicitously) performed” (Yule, 1996:51)

For example, in order to felicitously perform the speech act of promising, the following conditions have to be met:

 Propositional content: the speaker said he would perform a future action

- He thinks the addressee want him to do it (rather than not to do it)

- He intendents to place himself underan obligation so to it by uttering U

 Essential condition: The utterance U contains some IFID which is not only properly

uttered if all of the appropriate conditions obtain

- Both speaker and addressee comprehend U

- They are both conscious, normal human beings

- They are both in normal circumstances – not e.g acting in a play

- The uttering U contains some IFID which is only properly uttered if all the appropriate conditions obtain

2.1.6 The relationship between speech acts and speech act verbs

According to Searle (1979), illocutionary acts are “natural conceptual kinds” “The

illocutionary acts carried out by the speaker making utterances are the acts viewed in terms of the utterance‟s significance within a conventional system of social interaction.”

(James, 1983:244) As Wittgenstein (1953) mentions, there are countless kinds of speech acts For example, the following three utterances illustrate three different kinds of speech acts:

Why don‟t you do X?

Why not do X?

How about doing X?

Speech act verbs such as apologize, thank, congratulate, request, beg, promise, etc reflect

the certain interpretation of the world of human action and interaction In other words, speech act verbs are the importance to the way we perceive the world we live in – the world of human relationships and human interaction

In the scope of thesis, the directive acts are invesitgated Directive acts are illocutionary acts which essentially involve the speaker trying to get the hearer to behave in some required way

2.1.7 Property of speech act verbs

It is pointed out that many speech act verbs can be used “performatively”, i.e that they can

be used in the first person, present tense to indicate the nature (or the so-called

“illocutionary force”) of the utterance in which they occur Performative verbs are particular cases of speech act verbs in indicating the illocutionary forces

For example, while an “order” can be performed by means of a bare imperative (e.g “Stop

it!”), it can also be performed using the formula “I order you” (e.g “I order you to stop it”.)

2.2 Performatives

2.2.1 Performatives versus Constatives

Considering the utterances such as: “I pledge my absolute support for the new President”

or “I promise to meet him” (Hoa, 2004:234), we find that they seem to be doing something,

rather than merely saying something Such sentences Austin dubbes performatives in contrast to constatives

Austin(1962) posits that constatives are utterances employed to make true or false statements or assertions meanwhile performatives are utterances used to change the world Performatives are ordinary declarative sentences which are, not truth-evaluable, but instead

'happy' or 'unhappy' not used with any intention of making true or false statements, so they

are not true or false

2.2.2 Definition of Performatives

Austin defines a performative as an utterance which contains a special type of verb (a

performative verb) by force of which it performs an action Or “a performative utterance is

one that actually describes the act that it performs” (James, 1983:235)

For example, when Peter says "I promise to do the dishes" in an appropriate context then

he thereby does not just say something, and in particular he does not just describe what he

is doing; rather, in making the utterance he performs the promise Since promising is an illocutionary act, the utterance is thus a performative utterance

In order for an utterance to be explicit, Austin (1975:32) explains, it has to “begin with or

include some highly significant and unambiguous expression such as „I bet‟, „I promise‟, „I bequeath‟” An explicit performative utterance “makes explicit both that the utterance is performative, and which act it is that is being performed” (1975:62); in performing an

illocutionary act by means of an explicit performative

In English, explicit performatives are marked by performative verbs The explicit performative has the following normal form:

I + Vp + (you) + (that) + U

E.g: I warn you the bull will charge (Levinson, 1983:235)

I thank you for being here (Hoa, 2004:227)

The explicit performatives are those which take the following characteristics:

- They tend to begin with a verb in simple present tense and the subject of this verb is in

the first person: I order, I promise, I advise, I warn, I declare, etc

- The main verb belongs to a special class describing verbal activities, for example:

promise, declare, warn, order, etc

- Generally, the performative nature can be emphasized by inserting the adverb “hereby”, for example: I hereby advise you to leave from the country

2.2.3.2 Implicit performative

We regularly meet these utterances like those below:

a I‟ll meet him (Hoa, 2004:234)

b You must report your supervisor next Tuesday at 10 a.m (Hoa, 2004:233)

We can provide these sentences above with the corresponding explicit performatives as below:

A I promise to meet him (Hoa, 2004:234)

B I order you to report to your supervisor next Tuesday at 10 a.m (Hoa, 2004:233)

It seems reasonable to say that these sentences (a) and (b) could be uttered to perform the same speech acts as those in (A) and (B) In fact, none of special characteristics of performative utterances is indispensable to their performance The utterances (a) and (b)

are called implicit performatives Implicit performatives do not make explicit the

illocutionary act performed in making the utterance Further examples of implicit

performatives are “Go!” (Austin, 1975:32) (ordering someone to go), as well as “Turn

right!” (Austin 1975:58) (ordering someone to turn right)

There are various linguistic means by which more implicit performatives could be marked,

like the mood of the verb, as in “shut it”, instead of “I order you to shut it”; or an adverb as

in “I will be there without fail” instead of “I promise I will be there”, or particle like

“therefore” instead of “I conclude that X”

According to Levinson (1983), the imperative, interrogative or declarative sentences are implicit performatives which can be changed into explicit performatives with the explicit

performative prefixes such as “I order you to…”, “I ask you whether …”, or “I declare

you that …” The explicit performatives in declarative form, have the force associated with

the overt performative verb in each case

2.3 Performative verbs

2.3.1 Definition of performative verbs which

James R.Hurford (1983:237) defines that “a performative verb is one, when used in a

simple positive present tense sentence, with a 1 st person singular subject, can make the utterance of that sentence performative.”

In the book “Đại cương ngôn ngữ học: tập 2 – ngữ dụng học”, (2006:97) GS.TS Đỗ Hữu

Châu gives the notion of performative verbs: “Động từ ngữ vi là những động từ mà khi

phát âm chúng ra cùng với biểu thức ngữ vi (có khi không cần có biểu thức ngữ vi đi kèm)

là người nói thực hiện luôn cái hành vi ở lời do chúng biểu thị”

E.g:

I sentence you to be hanged by the neck (James, 1983:237)

I punish you (James, 1983:237)

Sentence is a PV because it appears in a performative utterance Punish is not a PV

because “I punish you” is not a performative utterance

2.3.2 The function of performative verbs

In speech act theory, utterances have two kinds of meaning including propositional meaning and illocutionary meaning

Propositional meaning, known as locutionary meaning, is the basic literal meaning of the

utterance which is conveyed by the particular words and structures which the utterances contain

Illocutionary meaning, also known as illocutionary force, is the effect the utterance has on

the hearer

All utterances, in addition to meaning whatever they mean, perform special actions (or do things) through having specific force The same utterance can potentially have quite different illocutionary forces

Example: The sentence “I will see you later” can count as a promise, a warning, or a

prediction in the following cases:

I promise you that I will see you later

I warn you that I will see you later

I predict that I will see you later

PVs identify a particular kind of speech act that can be performed by virtue of uttering a sentence containing the verb The function of PVs is to make explicit and precise the illocutionary force of the utterances of the sentences containing them

2.3.3 Classification of performative verbs

Performative verbs appear in explicit performatives and do not exist in implict performatives Based on the relations of utterances, Performative verbs can be classified into three types as follows:

2.3.3.1 Meta-linguistic performative verbs

Metalinguistc performatives are verbs that help hearers realize what kind of speech act is uttered and help perform meta-linguistic functions through self-referential way (the verb refers to what the speaker of the utterance is doing) The structure of utterances containing meta-linguistic performative verbs is:

Meta-linguistic per formative verbs + primary performative clause

Meta-linguistic PVs include say, speak, tell, protest, object, apologize, reject, etc

E.g:

I say it is the rising sun (Hoa, 2004:184 )

I hereby tell you that work was done by Elain and myself (James, 1983:53)

I apologize to you for buming into you (Palmer, 1990:148)

2.3.3.2 Ritual performative verbs

Ritual performatives do not explain actions but express the performance of actions This

kind of verb often appears in declarative sentences, such as name, baptize, sentence

Absolve, pronounce, appoint, etc

E.g:

I sentence you to ten years of hard labor (Levinson, 1983:228)

I now pronounce you man and wife (James, 1983:53 )

I appoint you chairman (Verschuren, 1999:52)

2.3.3.3 Collaborate performative verbs

Some performatives do not have felicity conditions in the sense that a specified person must utter the words in particular circumstances but nevertheless their success is not

guaranteed They require, for their success, the 'collaboration' or particular uptake of

another person Collaborate PVs may be bet, challenge, dare, force, compel, etc

E.g:

I bet you five pounds it‟ll rain tomorrow (Levinson, 1983:232)

I challenge you to prove your innocence (Partridge, 1982:92)

2.4 Summary

The chapter two has provided basic concepts and terms related to performative verbs in order to give better understanding of the rest of the study

CHAPTER THREE A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH DIRECTIVE PERFORMATIVE VERBS AND THEIR VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS

This chapter is focused on the forms and meanings of most frequently directive PVs which are employed in written discourse Basing on the Dictionary “English speech act verbs” (Wierzbicka, 1987), I will investigate the syntactic features and semantic features of directive PVs in both language in turn First of all, directive PVs in each language will be presented, and then similarity and difference between them will be pointed out

3.1 Syntactic features of directive PVs

3.1.1 Directive PVs in English

Directive PVs in English include ask, advise, beg, beseech, challenge, command, dare,

defy, demand, dictate, direct, forgive, implore, insist, order, petition, propose, recommend, request, require, tell, suggest, urge, warn

They normally occur in the constructions below:

I + Vp + (you) + that X or I + Vp + (you) + to Y

In which:

- Vp: is a PV in directive clause

- that X: is that-clause which contains a subjunctive or a modal like “should” “That” is a

conjunction and can be omitted

- to Y: is an infinitive clause or to infinitive

E.g:

- I suggest that you be there on time (Hoa, 2004:233)

Tôi đề nghị anh có mặt ở đó đúng giờ

- I recommend that you go to that restaurant (Hoa, 2004:233)

Tôi gợi ý anh đến nhà hàng đó

Directive PVs may be taken into the following classes:

 The “order” group

The “order” group consists of order, command, demand, direct, tell, require Commonly, these verbs belonging this group permit a non-indicative that clause and take to-infinitive E.g:

- I demand that you release me at once (Partridge, 1982:94)

Tôi yêu cầu anh thả tôi ngay lập tức

- I order you to wash the dishes (Levinson, 1983:224)

Tôi yêu cầu bạn rửa bát đĩa

- I tell you to turn on the heating I feel cold (Patterson, 1997:92)

Tôi bảo anh bật lò sưởi lên Tôi cảm thấy lạnh

- I hereby order you that you clean up this mess (Yule, 1996:51)

Tôi yêu cầu bạn dọn mớ bừa bộn này

However, it is necessary to notice the way of using some directive PVs when these verbs

go with an object as follows:

- “order” can take an action noun as its direct object meanwhile “command” does not precede an action noun One can say “The Prime Minister ordered a survey/an

investigation/a search” but not “The Prime Minister commanded a survey/an investigation/a search”(Wierzbicka, 1987:39)

- “Demand” takes a direct object when the object is something, not someone We can say

“he demanded money” or “he demanded an investigation”, etc One can say “He ordered/

commanded her to do it” rather “He demanded her to do it” (Wierzbicka, 1987:40)

 The ask1 group

This group includes ask, beg, beseech, entreat, request, suggest, recommend, warn Like

the “order” group, the “ask” group can go with a non-indicative clause or can take infinitive with or whithout the surface object “you”

to-E.g:

- I ask you to shut the door (Levinson, 1983:265)

Tôi nhờ anh đóng cửa lại

- I beg you to stay away from my daughter (Hoa, 2004:233)

Tôi xin anh tránh xa con gái tôi ra

- I entreat you to spare me (Partridge, 1982:96)

Tôi cầu xin anh tha thứ cho tôi

- I hereby request of you that you close the door (Yule, 1996:55)

Tôi đề nghị bạn đóng cửa lại

There are some special cases of using directive PVs as follows:

- The speaker does not request for something, instead he can ask or beg for something In other words, ask or beg permit a preposition “for” with a direct object