a study on english and vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities from cultural perspective = tục ngữ tiếng anh và tiếng việt với ý nghĩa giáo dục phấm chất đạo đức - nghiên cứu dưới góc độ văn hóa

Table of contents Declaration ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter one: Theoretical Background 5 1.1.2 Proverbs about educating moral qualities 6 1.2 Some characterist

Vietnam National University College of foreign languages Department of Post- graduate studies

(Tục ngữ tiếng Anh và Tiếng Việt với ý nghĩa giáo dục phẩm chất

đaọ đức - Nghiên cứu dưới góc độ văn hoá)

Minor thesis

Field: English Linguistics

Code: 60 22 15

Hanoi, 2009

Vietnam National University College of foreign languages Department of Post- graduate studies

-* * * - PHẠM THỊ MINH

A study on English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities from

cultural perspective

(Tục ngữ tiếng Anh và Tiếng Việt với ý nghĩa giáo dục phẩm chất

đaọ đức - Nghiên cứu dưới góc độ văn hoá)

Minor thesis

Field: English Linguistics

Code: 60 22 15

Supervisor : Prof Dr Hoàng Văn Vân

Hanoi, 2009

Table of contents

Declaration ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter one: Theoretical Background 5

1.1.2 Proverbs about educating moral qualities 6

1.2 Some characteristics of English/ Vietnamese people and culture 10

1.2.1 The relationship between language and culture 10

1.2.2 Characteristics of English people and culture 11

1.2.3 Characteristics of Vietnamese people and culture 13

1.3 Summary 14

Chapter Two: Comparison of syntactic and semantic features between English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities

Chapter three: Comparison of cultural

features between English and Vietnamese

proverbs about Educating Moral Qualities

23

3.2.3 Moral qualities in the husband-wife relationship 29 3.2.4 The duty of the children towards their parents 30

3.3.1 Moral qualities in friendship and neighborhood 31 3.3.2 The attitudes towards the elderly people and the teachers 32

Introduction

1 Rationale

It is clear that communicators in their own native language environment find it natural to speak in the way they normally speak and behave according to their presupposed social norms and conventions However, in our cross-cultural communication, that is communication between individuals from different cultural backgrounds, many difficulties may arise Each nation’s language lies in itself similar and different cultural concepts on many fields of life such as humane values, behaviour standards, religious beliefs, etc Therefore, it would be difficult for foreign language learners to communicate successfully with native speakers if they have poor understanding of the language itself and the language in relation with culture

Among many favorite languages such as French, Chinese etc, English has still played its decisive role in international communication and has been learned by a large number of people in the world All foreign learners of English desire to master English as the native speakers but they usually face many difficulties that prevent them from gaining successful conversations One of the reasons for these problems lies in the way people perceive and use proverbs

For many years, English proverbs have often been neglected in learning and teaching because it is a difficult area of English, but nobody can deny that proverbs are

really important in communication, “a proverbs in the hand is often worth a thousand

words” (Horace Reynolds, 1959)

Firstly, proverbs as traditional wisdom are never absent from our daily speech They are a main part of each nation’s culture, which reflects all aspects of the life People epitomize their way of thinking and their ideas through proverbs We can use them to solve our daily conflicts or support our arguments Proverbs are the mirrors that reflect

human culture As Dr Malik Elzaki (2002) states: “If we want to understand the culture in

a given society, we have to study its proverbs as any nation has its own characteristics that reflect their lives and environmental surroundings” Hence, it can be said that

proverbs can help learners know more about social and cultural characteristics of that language

Secondly, proverbs are used to express ideas in figurative way It brings the vividness and richness for the speaker’s speech Anyone who much concerns proverbs owns a very attractive manner of speaking Especially, they can do provide users with a whole new way of expressing concepts linguistically Without them, it can be stated that English might lose its color and vitality

Studying English proverbs in comparison with Vietnamese ones, we can find the similarities and differences in two languages and cultures, which therefore, help learners

of English to understand and have a better use of English proverbs and Vietnamese ones This can also help learners to have better communication in the cross-cultural communication

Professor Denis Brutus (Pittsburgh University, America, 1995) stated the practical effect of learning proverbs: “Through proverbs I know your points of view, the attitudes

of your ancestors Each time I know a new Vietnamese proverb, I become Vietnamese a little I believe when we know all proverbs of each other, we are brothers”

Being interested in proverbs for a long time, I choose proverbs as my thesis topic

as both English and Vietnamese are especially rich in proverbs Many of them are corresponding in meaning or close enough to make comparison interesting and rewarding However, due to the limited time and knowledge, I just focus on a small part

of the huge proverbial treasure “A study on English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities from cultural perspective”

Hopefully, the study may be an interesting and helpful material for learners, teachers of English and for people who are interested in cultural pattern in communication and cross-cultural communication

2 Aims of the study

The study aims to:

 Investigate the general syntactic, semantic and especially cultural features

of English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities

 Explore the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese

proverbs about educating moral qualities from the cultural perspective

 Provide some suggestions for the teaching/learning and translation of the English proverbs about educating moral qualities in particular

3 Scope of the study

Proverbs about educating moral qualities are a large part in both English and Vietnamese proverbs, so it is impossible for the author to carry out an exhaustive study

on them; just from the cultural perspective

In this study, syntactic and semantic features of English proverbs about educating moral qualities are discussed briefly; cultural features are extensively analyzed and discussed when English proverbs are compared with Vietnamese ones

All English and Vietnamese proverbs are collected from dictionaries and books,

so this research may not cover all proverbs about educating moral qualities; just those of

common use

4 Methods of the study

The study uses the two methods: quantitative and qualitative By virtue of the quantitative method, the study has collected data for the study, including both English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities The qualitative method is employed to describe and analyze the data of the study The steps of the study are in the order as follows:

 Collect English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities

from several dictionaries and books (e.g., English proverbs and sayings, The Oxford

Dictionary of concise Proverbs; Từ điển Thành ngữ và tục ngữ Việt Nam by Nguyễn Lân,

Từ điển Tục ngữ Việt-Anh, Anh-Việt thông dụng by Vũ Thế Ngọc, Tục ngữ so sánh (838 Tục Ngữ Việt-3000 Tục ngữ Anh-Pháp- Espanto) by Phạm Văn Vĩnh, Tục ngữ Ca dao

Dân ca Việt Nam by Vũ Ngọc Phan… and then sort them out

 Investigate and analyze the syntactic, semantic and cultural features of English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities

 Compare and find the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese about educating moral qualities

5 Design of the study

The study consists of three parts The first part “INTRODUCTION” outlines the background of the study In this part, a brief account of relevant information is provided about the rationale, aims, scopes, method, and design of the study

The main part of the study comprises three chapters

Chapter one, as implied by the title: “Theoretical Background”, covers a series of

proverb-related concepts ranging from definitions of proverbs, features of proverbs, types

of proverbs, proverbs in comparison with idioms Chapters two and three make up the more specifically focused part of the study Chapter two is concerned with a

“Comparison of syntactic and semantic features of English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities” whereas chapter three deals with a

“Comparison of cultural features of English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities”

The final part is the “CONCLUSION”, which provides the recapitulation, implications for the EFL teaching and learning and for the translation, and suggestions for further studies The study ends with the “REFERENCES”

“Many men, many minds”, “Experience is the mother of wisdom”, “Poverty is no sin”,

etc are usually described as proverbs, so “What is a proverb?”

According to The New Oxford Dictionary (1996), a proverb is “a short, pithy saying in

general use, stating a general truth or a piece of advice” This definition is developed in

the Oxford English Dictionary (2001, on-line) which defines a proverb as “a short, pithy

saying in common and recognized use; a concise sentence, often metaphorical or alliterative in form, which is held to express some truth ascertained by experience or observation and familiar to all”

Some proverbs in themselves are people’s definitions of a proverbs, like “proverbs are

the wisdom of the street”, “proverbs are the children of experience”, “All the good sense

of the world runs into proverbs”

Wolfgang Mieder defines a proverb as “a concise statement of an apparent truth

which has currency among the people” Mieder performed an interesting survey, asking

55 non-academics to write their definitions of a proverb He found that from 4 to 20 times

in the collected definitions, a proverb is “a phrase, saying, truth, morals, experience,

lessons, and advice concerning life and which has been handed from generation to generation (Proverbs are never out of season, 1993)

Vu Ngoc Phan (2000:39) considered proverbs as “a complete saying in which it

expresses one idea of comment, experience, morality, justice or criticism”

Many other scholars continue to find their own definitions of proverbs, but it is difficult to give one exact definition Archer Taylor (1931) defined a proverb in more than 200 pages, and he concluded that it was impossible to give a meaningful definition

of it Taylor noted that “…an incommunicable quality tells us this sentence is proverbial

and that one is not” (1931:3)

To conclude, there are different ways of defining a proverb However, most of the definitions meet at a common point that they find out some features to realize a proverb which are a short pithy saying in common, stating a general truth or giving lessons or advice

1.1.2 Proverbs about educating moral qualities

According to Oxford dictionary, “moral” refers to principles of right or wrong behaviour,

based on one’s sense of what is right and just, not on legal rights and obligations

From time to time, the definition of moral quality changes by the benevolence of

public opinion and depends also on the point of view According to Stephen N “Moral

quality is not just a cultural and social behaviours of acting and reacting …Moral quality should be understood as human behaviour which holds that man should concern himself with the welfare of all humans and never seek to destroy” (In the Book American

Hypocrisy: American Diplomacy, American Stragedy, 2007)

Thus by “proverbs about educating moral qualities” here is meant proverbs that

may be used to express a lesson about principles of behaviour

1.3 Some typical features of proverbs

1.3.1 Semantic features

 In terms of semantic peculiarities, a great number of proverbs are metaphors So each of them has one literal meaning and one or more extended meanings

in the figurative sense For example, “Dog does not eat dog” can literally mean that even

a dog does not eat another dog; whereas, the figurative meaning refers to the loyalty between companions: A person must not attack, try to injure, or try to make profit out of

a person of his own set However, once a reader or hearer realizes that a given expression

is a proverb, even if they are not sure of its exact meaning, they will automatically discard the literal meaning of the expression, and seek a figurative meaning Furthermore, the context in which the proverb occurs also plays an important role in the reduction of the potential ambiguity of the proverb

 Many proverbs from different culture correspond in meaning because they

all share the universal human experience and wisdom to deal with the same problems and difficulties in human life Even when they are expressed in different ways, the meanings still are the same because they share the same experience For example, we all know that children have to be taught and are taught best at an early age; the Vietnamese say “The

young bamboo is easy to bend” (Tre non dễ uốn) while English-speaking people say,

“The hot iron is easy to strike” There are many common proverbs all over the world in

general and in English in particular, for examples:

- Out of sight, out of mind (Xa mặt cách lòng )

- Walls have ears ( Tường vách có tai)

- Cheapest is he dearest ( hám rẻ mua đắt)

- There is no smoke without fire (Không có lửa làm sao có khói)

 Paradox proverbs: As the proverbs are often so pithy and short, some proverbs only states or imply one side of the issue The contrastive proverbs are considered as the exception for the general or normal moral lessons Another explanation for this phenomenon in proverbs is that because the life is so various, complicated, it also has paradoxes, good points and bad points Thus, in each specific situation people must have the suitable behavior We cannot follow only one model of behavior We can find many paradox proverbs both in English and Vietnamese, for examples:

- Necessity is the mother of invention (Cái khó ló cái khôn)

And - Poverty obstructs the road to virtue (Cái khó bó cái khôn)

1.3.2 Syntactic features

According to Vu The Ngoc (2000), brevity is an essential formal characteristic of proverbs of any country The common purpose is to make them easier to memorize So often, their popularity has been enhanced by the use of such devices as rhythm, rhyme, assonance, alliteration and antithesis

Proverbs must have the clause or sentence structure (not word) to express one idea of comment, morality or criticism Sometimes subject or predicate can be hidden in

proverbs such as: “To fish in troubled waers”, “Uống nước nhớ nguồn”…

All the components of a proverb are very important and interdependent As a rule,

a proverbs does not contain long and complicated constructions, homogeneous parts, more than one subordinate clause, and such components as might be omitted without affecting the meaning of the proverbs All these characteristics contribute to the brevity

of proverbs

Proverbs are not ad hoc pieces of language, but are formulated and fabricated generalized statements They are therefore unalterable in their style and structure As such, they may neither need to be adapted to a given textual context nor do they require a specific textual surrounding to be comprehensible

pre-1.4 Classification of proverbs

It is claimed that the exercise of categorizing the proverb genre is just difficult as defining it Despite the foregoing constraint, scholars have attempted to classify he

proverbs There exists many different ways of proverb classification among linguists who

have based on different categories as origin, meaning, function…

S impson/ Speake in the Oxford Concise Dictionary of Proverbs (1998) postulate

in its introductory remarks the classification of Proverbs They states that proverbs can be divided into three main categories Those of the first type take the form of abstract

statements expressing general truths, such as Absence makes the heart grow fonder…

Proverbs of the second type, which include many of the more colourful examples, use specific observations from everyday experience to make a point which is general; for

instance, “You can take a horse to water, but you can‟t make him drink” and “Don‟t put

all your eggs in one basket” The third type of proverb comprises sayings from particular

areas of traditional wisdom and folklore In this category are found, for example, the

health proverbs After dinner rest a while, after supper walk a mile…In addition, there are traditional country proverbs which relate to husbandry, the seasons, and the weather…

From my point of view, this way of classifying the proverbs is not clear and difficult for learners to analyze As this study mainly aims at analyzing and comparing the English and Vietnamese cultural characteristics, I find that analyzing the proverbs according to the classification based on the sub-topic is very an effective and interesting way When comparing the system of sub-topics of proverbs, it is easy to find the

similarities and differences between social and cultural aspects of the English and Vietnamese communities This kind of classification is the very popular often used in

many books For examples, Dictionary of proverbs by Fergusson (6000 proverbs, 188 subjects) and Tuc ngu Viet Nam (Hanoi, 1993) by Chu Xuan Dien (4100 proverbs, 73

subjects)

1.5 Proverbs and idioms

It is affirmed that all languages have systems of proverbs However, besides proverbs there also have idioms, which share many things in common with proverbs For better understanding proverbs, setting distinction between proverbs and idioms is highly essential

According to Hornby (1995) in his Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, an

idiom is “a phrase or sentence whose meaning is not clear from the meaning of its

individual words and which must be learnt as a whole unit” Idiom is a fixed group of

words which is firm in terms of structure, complete and figurative in terms of meaning, and is widely used in daily speaking (Hoang Van Hanh, 1994:21) Some examples of

idioms are: “bury the hatcher”, “come up smelling like a rose”, “have second thoughts”,

“let the cat out of the bad”…

It is easy to find that proverbs and idioms have many in common and it comes as

no surprise that they are traditionally studied together The first one is that both proverbs and idioms are ready-made They are products of people, culture and process of hard working and learning They are mainly orally handed down from generation to generation and naturally accepted in daily life Secondly, any substitution in any component of a proverb or an idiom may result in unacceptable changes in the meaning of the whole group as both proverbs and idioms are se-expressions with stable and insubstituted components Apart from this, most proverbs and idioms use language in a metaphorical and figurative meaning So we cannot discover their meanings by looking up the individual words in a dictionary; their meanings must be understood metaphorically

However, proverbs and idioms also have some typical features that distinguish one from the other The first and most obvious difference lies in the grammar Proverbs are considered as complete sentences or phrases expressing the whole idea and can stand

alone Meanwhile, idioms are phrases which are parts of a sentence and thus, they are equivalent to words only Moreover proverbs and idioms are also different in terms of functions Proverbs are short well-known sentences or phrases that express a judgment, state a general truth about life or advice; they are claimed to contain three main literature

functions which are perceptive function, aesthetic function and education function

For example, the proverb “Money is the root of all evil” demonstrates a remark as well as

a criticism about the negative side of money in the society Its perceptive function is to make people aware of the bad effect of money which can lead people to the evil road The educational function is to criticize the negative of money and urges people to be aware of its ill effect And its aesthetic function is to exaggerate in a picturesque way to help readers understand the proverb easily In contrast, idioms do not have functions of

perception and education but only the aesthetic function For example, the idiom “a dirty

pig” merely describes somebody who is dirty in his or her personal or domestic habits in

figurative and imaginary way and does not point out any educational lesson or knowledge

of life

To conclude, beside some common things, proverbs and idioms also have differences in their structure and functions

1.2 Language and Culture

1.2.1 The relationship between language and culture

In any culture or region, language is much more than semantics, much more than what the written or the system word can contain It has been seen that language of a community is a part of or a manifestation of its culture Culture and language are closely related and interact between themselves This specially becomes clear when studying a foreign language and learning the ways of a particular culture According to Kramsch (2003:3), language is the principle means whereby we conduct our social lives When it is used in contexts of communication, it is bound up with culture in multiple and complex ways

Kramsch argued that the word people utter express facts, ideas or events that are communicable Words also reflect their authors’ attitudes and beliefs, their points of view

that are also those of others In both cases, language expresses cultural reality

In addition, we find that language embodies cultural reality through all its verbal

and nonverbal aspects The way in which people use the spoken, written or visual medium itself creates meanings that are understandable to the group they belong to, for example, through a speaker’s tone of voice, accent, conversational style, gestures and expressions

Finally, language is a system of signs that is seen as having itself a cultural value Speakers identify themselves and others through their use of language as a symbol of their social identity The prohibition of its use is often perceived by its speakers as a

rejection of their social group and their culture Thus, we can say that language

symbolizes cultural identity

Especially, in Sapir’s view (1970, p.207), “language doesn‟t exist apart from

culture, that is from the socially inherited assemblage of practices and beliefs that determines the texture of our lives” In other words, he defines culture as “what society

does and thinks” and language is “a particular how of thought” A culture’s language contains everything its speakers can think about and every way they have of thinking about thing

To sum up, it is clear that language and culture always exist together and reinforce each other The relationship between them is so inextricable that we could not understand or appreciate the one without the knowledge of the other Anyone studying a foreign language has to be bicultural as well as bilingual to speak the new language in a way that it is not disparaging to the culture and its origin

1.2.2 General characteristics of Vietnamese people and culture

Vietnam boasts an age-long and special culture Originated from the Southeast Asian culture, the Vietnamese river-imprinted culture deeply affects the whole spiritual

as well as material life of Vietnamese people The culture has existed and developed in close interaction with other cultures in Asia, particularly with Chinese culture due to the era of Chinese domination, which lasted for almost 1000 years of the country’s early history As a result, the Viet people and culture were subject to constant Chinese influence and significant attempts of assimilation

In fact, Vietnam has found itself entangled in wars against foreign powers (China, France and American) more than any other country in the region On the positive side, the history of war has helped shape the Vietnamese characters Long years of fighting against foreign intruders have served to unify the country, fostering a sense of nationalism, patriotism and pride

The Vietnamese culture is said to be an agricultural one which was characterized

by the village community with many of its primitive vestiges retained Farmers’ thoughts penetrated deeply into the Vietnamese agricultural society and had many positive aspects that made up the typical features of the traditional Vietnamese Living mostly on farm created democracy and hierarchy, unity, collective spirit and independent spirit in Vietnamese people

Vietnamese people are greatly affected by Yin and Yang philosophy, clearly expressed in harmony tendency between people with people and with the nature The village culture highly valued emotional ties and attachment to relatives and community as well as help extended to each other especially to the less fortunate members In this way,

it fostered the sense of collectivism

In addition, Vietnamese life was also profoundly influenced by the practice of ancestor worship as well as native animism Most Vietnamese people, regardless o f religious denomination, practise ancestor worship and have an ancestor altar at their home or business, a testament to the emphasis Vietnamese culture places on filial duty

Another feature of no less importance is the personalism in Vietnamese culture, which is opposite with individualism in western culture Vietnamese people are those of various and diversified relationship and strongly controlled by such complicated relationships In the Viet community, to a person’s children, he is a father; to his wife, he

is a husband; to his grandparents, he is a nephew; and to his neighbors, he is also a family’s child and a member of a larger family Especially, the distinguishing features when talking about Vietnamese cultural identity is the durable relationship between individuals and their family, between families and village, and to a broader term, the Motherland Generally speaking, Vietnamese people are those of duty and responsibility;

and we can frequently hear such phrases as “lá lành đùm lá rách”, “Bán anh em xa mua

láng giềng gần”, “Sớm lửa tối đèn có nhau”…

In general, Vietnamese people are said to be very hard-working, brave and faithful in their living and behaviors Vietnamese culture is an undetachable part of Southeast Asian culture space with typical features of a wet-rice civilization Many of the values and customs are sill up help in the Vietnamese society today, although not in its original strict and absolute forms

1.2.3 Characteristics of British culture and people

British customs and traditions are famous all over the world There is a considerable diversity of culture among British people However, The English culture is

often considered a representative and often used to refer to the entire country’s culture of Britain Especially it cannot be denied that the dominant culture of Britain today is specifically English

Britain, the largest island of the British Isles, includes the countries of England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland Being an island has affected the British people’s characteristics British people still have an island mentally: independent, separate and on the edge of things British families are often criticized for the way they do things

separately, though many believe that it is good for children to learn to be independent

According to James O’Driscoll (2000), family identity is rather week in Britain, especially in England, in comparison with most other places in the world In Britain, the family unit definitely means the nuclear family Compared to the culture value of Vietnam, the members of a family in Britain usually do not share the same roof There is little sense of extended family identity, except among some racial minorities It is unusual for adults of different generations within the family to live together Especially, newly married couples rarely live with their in-laws Elderly parents either live alone for as long

as they are able or enter a home for the aged An adult child would oversee such an arrangement but does not feel an obligation to take the parent into his own home

Unlike Vietnam, Britain has a strong history of colonizing many areas of the world Perhaps because of the long tradition of a clear separation between individual and the state, English people are not normally actively patriotic although many of them feel proud to be English When the community value is concerned, it is rare to find people

who have lived all their lives in one community As a result, the British also have no the same community value as the Vietnamese do

It is probably true that the British, especially the English, tend to be more reserved than the people of many other countries It means that they don’t show their emotion very much They do not quickly share their deeper feelings They find it comparatively difficult to indicate friendship by open displays of affection They are said to be people who often keep certain distance to strangers, do not talk much about themselves, do not show much emotion and seldom get excited This fact tends to give their communicators the impression of coldness The English also favour individualism rather than group orientation

The English people specially like privacy “An Englishman‟s house is his castle”,

This old saying sums up a fairly widespread tendency In addition, certain information is thought of as private The information is normally about personal details; e.g older people would probably still not like being asked a direct question about their age It is not acceptable to ask a childless couple why they have no children People do not like to be asked how much money they earn, etc

Moreover, sportsmanship is highly valued in Britain with rules showing generosity to one’s opponent and good temper in defeat It is also an ideal that is applied

to life in general This is proved by the number of sporting terms used in ordinary speech

One of the most element rules of life is “never hit a man when he‟s down”- in other

words, never take advantage of another misfortune

In short, English culture belongs to the Western one It is world –wide agreed that British people are independent, separate and reserve In addition, individualism is also the main ego in British culture The English people and culture are very different from Vietnamese ones in some ways and this makes the comparison between English and Vietnamese culture rewarding

1.3 Summary

This chapter provides us with a basic view on proverbs in general, definitions, types and noticeable features Besides, chapter one also makes comparison between proverbs and idioms The relationship between language and culture, some characteristics of British and Vietnamese cultures are also mentioned in this chapter

Chapter 2 Comparison of syntactic and semantic features of English and Vietnamese proverbs

about educating moral qualities

2.1 Comparison of syntactic features

2.1.1 Similarities

In terms of structural organization, English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities have features in common Firstly, both English and Vietnamese proverbs are usually recognized by the fixed, often short form and is therefore quite easy

to memorize and easily retrievable from memory Moreover, rhetorical figures such as alliteration, rhythm… frequently occur For examples:

Alliteration: - He laughs best who laughs last

- Nói hay hơn hay nói

Rhythm: - Waste not, want not

- Long absent, soon forgotten

- Ăn đến nơi, làm đến chốn

On the other hand, both English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities also share some typical constructions

 Parallel construction This kind is very popular in English and Vietnamese proverbs About 4% of English proverbs and more than 27% of Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities belong to this kind The proverbs of this kind often omit conjunctions, but there still

exists the meaningful relationship between two clauses “And” or “But” in English proverbs and “Thì” “Là” in Vietnamese proverbs are omitted Instead, alliteration and

rhythm are used to make the sentences be well-proportioned For examples:

- Harm set, harm get

- Ill gotten, ill spent

- Cáo chết để da, người (ta) chết để tiếng

- Chú cũng như cha, dì cũng như mẹ

 Sentence structures omitted the subject Both English and Vietnamese proverbs in general and English-Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities in particular use this form of sentence structure to express the general aspects or qualities that can belong to a general person or anyone Doing so, the proverbs seem to stress common sense and wisdom, which have some permanent truth applicable to all periods of time with their timeless character Thanks to this form, the proverbs carry the general meanings Here are some examples:

- Think today and speak tomorrow

- It‟s easy to bear the misfortunes of others

- Cut your coat according to your cloth

- Sống đục sao bằng thác trong

- Ăn có nhai, nói có nghĩ…

This kind of proverbs is more popular in Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities than in English, 45% Vietnamese proverbs and 28% English proverbs belong to this form

 S-V construction

In English proverbs about educating moral qualities, the verbs “to be, to have, to make”

were often used as the main verbs in the model of S-V construction The meanings of such those verbs are of multiple ones The English of this type often have the Vietnamese equivalent ones in the form of parallel construction For examples:

Haste makes waste (Dục tốc, bất đat)

Even reckoning make long friends (Ăn cho đều, kêu cho sòng)

Every man is his own worst enemy (trách người một, trách ta mười)

40 % Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities is of the form S-V

construction For examples: “Thuyền theo lái gái theo chồng”, “Chữ trinh đáng giá ngàn

vàng”, “Chó cậy gần nhà, gà cậy gần chuồng”…

 On the other hand, in our daily speech, both the English and

Vietnamese people often break the form of ready-made proverbs to have more effectiveness in their speech For examples:

- “I mean, bringing sinners to repentance is all right, but there are limits And

does the leopard ever change his spots?” (Hoàng Đình Tứ, 100 Tục ngữ Tiếng Anh

thông dụng, p36 )

- Này chị Pha, tôi nói cho mà biết, có về bảo anh ấy đổi tên thằng bé, không có chẳng ra gì với tôi đâu.”

Ừ đấy, cứ đặt thế đấy, nghĩa là sinh sự thì sự sinh, chứ bụt trên toà gà nào dám mổ

mắt”.(Nguyễn Công Hoan, Bước đường cùng)

- Thôi ông cứ yên tâm… Một người lấy tây cả họ được nhờ” (Vũ Trọng Phụng, Kỹ

nghệ lấy Tây)

In those examples, four proverbs were structurally broken:

- Leopard cannot change his spot

- Sinh sự thì sự sinh

- Bụt trên toà, gà nào mổ mắt

- Một người làm quan cả họ được nhờ

- Diamond cut diamond

- He laughs best who laughs last

However, Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities have the pun of inversion, changing from active to passive voice, for examples:

- Hại nhân nhân hại

- Chê chồng chẳng bõ chồng chê

- Khôn ăn người, dại người ăn

Another difference between English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities in terms of syntactic features is that rhyme is more popularly used in Vietnamese proverbs than in English ones as Vietnamese is of monosyllabic language meanwhile initial alliteration is more often used in English proverbs, for examples:

- Nothing for nothing

- Handsome is as handsome does

According to Nguyen Van Muoi (1996), rhyme has never been important in the English literature Even most of the famous poems are without rhyme So it is easy to understand why rhyme is not popular in English proverbs either

Rhyme in Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities usually appears in the form of compound sentences such as:

- Thuận vợ thuận chồng, tát biển Đông cũng cạn

- Không ai giàu ba họ, không ai khó ba đời

- Đói cho sạch, rách cho thơm

It also exists inside the form of proverbs with one clause such as: “Một giọt máu đào hơn

ao nước lã”

Furthermore, Vietnamese proverbs in general and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities in particular differ English ones in a way that they can be formed by

adding some words from idioms For examples, we have the Vietnamese idioms: “có đi

có lại”, “bình chân như vại”, “hữu thuỷ vô chung”…and by adding some words

Vietnamese people could create new proverbs:

Có đi có lại mới toại lòng nhau

Cháy nhà hàng xóm bình chân như vại

Những người hữu thuỷ vô chung, là người tệ bạc tin dùng làm chi…

2.2 Comparison of semantic features

2.2.1 Similarities

 Universal proverbs

Many proverbs about educating moral qualities from English and Vietnamese cultures correspond in meaning because they all share the universal human experience and wisdom to teach the next generations how to behave in human life Even when they

are expressed in different ways, the meanings still are the same because they advise the same moral qualities For examples:

- A honeyed tongue, a heart of gall (Khẩu Phật, tâm xà)

Both proverbs refer to someone who is warm and accommodating in speech but harsh and ruthless in action These proverbs also criticize this kind of characteristics

- Harm set, harm get (Ác giả ác báo)

The proverbs warn the people who start wrong or violent actions will suffer the same violent consequence of their actions

 Paradox proverbs

Through this study, it is found that English-Vietnamese proverbs in general and English- Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities in particular appear some proverbs which advised people to behave quite contrastively For examples:

“Look before you leap” and “He who hesitates is lost”

(“Trâu chậm uống nước đục” and “Cẩn tắc vô ưu”)

-“Silence is the best policy” and “Outspoken is the best policy”

As the proverbs are often so pithy and short, some proverbs only states or imply one side

of the issue The contrastive proverbs about educating moral qualities are considered as the exception for the general or normal moral lessons From my point of view, there is another explanation for this phenomenon in proverbs Because life is so various, complicated, it also has paradoxes, good points and bad points Thus, in each specific situation people must have the suitable behavior We cannot follow only one model of

behavior Vietnamese proverbs also taught people about this way of behavior: “Ăn theo

thuả, ở theo thời” or “Đáo giang tuỳ khúc”

 Using words denoting general people

English proverbs about educating moral qualities often have the general

determiners and predeterminers (such as: Every, each, every one, everything), the

pronounce One, and the relative pronounce Who to make the general meaning:

Everything comes to him who waits (Ai chờ người ấy được)

Everyone must bear his own cross (Trồng cây chua ăn quả chua, trồng cây ngọt ăn quả ngọt)

Vietnamese proverbs also use the words to denote the general people such

as: người, ai đứa, kẻ…For example: “Cười người hôm trước hôm sau người cười”, “Ai

giàu ba họ, ai khó ba đời”, “Giàu đâu đến kẻ ngủ trưa”…

2.2.2 Differences

When considering English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities, we only find few Vietnamese proverbs which are comparatively equivalent to

English ones both in meaning and structure, for examples: “A good name is better than

riches” (Tốt danh hơn lành áo) Nevertheless, it is obvious that most of English proverbs

have no Vietnamese equivalent ones in the use of words due to the differences between

English and Vietnamese cultural characteristics “The different concepts in seeing the

natural and social phenomena as well as the different ways of thinking are reflected in the different choices of using words in proverbs” (Nguyen Van Muoi,1996, p102) Look

at the following examples:

A rotten apple injures its neighbor (Con sâu làm rầu nồi canh)

Both the English and Vietnamese proverbs criticize an evil person can have a bad influence on those around him but each proverb uses a different metaphorical image The English proverbs use the image of one rotten apple that can spoil the whole basket while the Vietnamese one observes the phenomenon that one worm in the soup will spoil the whole pan

Another difference in semantic features between English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities is that Vietnamese ones often have hyperbole

In contrast, English proverbs rarely use hyperbole as they often express the meaning in serious and model way

Many Vietnamese proverbs use exaggerated images with a view to emphasize their figurative meaning This feature of Vietnamese proverbs reflected the common Vietnamese popular thoughts that were rich in imaginary and satire Some examples are:

- Chẳng phải dạy đĩ vén váy (Don‟t teach fishes to swim)

- Chồng người vì nước xông pha, chồng em ở nhà gà đá gãy chân

- Được voi, đòi tiên (Give him an inch and he‟ll take an ell)

Furthermore, according to Nguyen Van Muoi (1996:112), Vietnamese proverbs in general and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities differ English ones in a

way that they sometimes have “vulgar” words that people often avoid speaking out in

their daily conversation In fact, using this kind of Vietnamese proverb is very impressive and effective to the hearer For examples:

- Người dại cởi truồng, người khôn dấu mặt

- Làm đĩ không đắt mắng mồm vô duyên

- Thấy việc như đĩ thấy cha, thấy ăn lởn vởn như gà thấy ngô…

This kind of Vietnamese proverb was often used in the old Vietnamese society as the effective tools to criticize severely the bad habits or bad characteristics that were considered as the negative side of the old society However, there doesn’t exist this kind

of proverb in English

Especially, through this study we find that there is a clear difference in the way of using words denoting good moral qualities Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities often use the way of perceiving by noses Especially, Vietnamese proverbs use

the word “thơm” to indicate the good moral qualities Some typical examples are:

- Người lành như hoa ở đâu thơm đấy

- Có đỏ mà chẳng có thơm, như hoa dâm bụt nên cơm cháo gì

- Đói cho sạch, rách cho thơm

- Hoa thơm ai chẳng muốn đeo, người thơm ai chẳng nâng niu bên mình

Nguyen Van Muoi (1996) claims that using words denoting sense of smell to experience the life was one characteristic of Vietnamese language and people In the past, most Vietnamese people were farmers, who were familiar with the natural perfume of trees, flowers, fruits… in the fields or mountains In English proverbs, we only find the general

word “good” to express the right qualities, such as: “Good children bring glory to their

parents”, “ good dog deserves a good bone”, or “A good wife makes a good husband”,

A good anvil does not fear the hammer” …

Finally, in English, we cannot find any proverb that uses the borrowed words However, Vietnamese in general and Vietnamese proverbs in particular have borrowed many words from Chinese The Vietnamese language belongs to the Austro-Asiatic family, which is clearly separated from Chinese However, Chinese script was the only

written language in the ancient time; it became the universal written language not only for Vietnam but also for many other countries in East Asia Consequently, the Vietnamese language has many words borrowed from Chinese They are called Han-Viet

or Vietnamese More than half of current Vietnamese vocabulary is Vietnamese As a result, Vietnamese proverbs may be divided into two main classes: Vietnamese proverbs and Sino-Vietnamese proverbs Some examples of Sino-

Sino-Vietnamese proverbs are: “Ác giả ác báo”, “Thượng bất chính, hạ tắc loan”, “Bần tiện

bất năng di, uy vũ bất năng khuất”, “Dĩ hoà vi quý”…

2.3 Summary

Chapter two analyzes English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities both in terms of syntactic and semantic features Both English and Vietnamese proverbs share the general features of proverbs (fixed and short form with rhetorical figures such as alliteration, rhythm ) They also share some typical constructions However, due to the differences between a polysyllabic and monosyllabic, English and Vietnamese proverbs differ in the use of puns Rhyme is more popularly used in Vietnamese proverbs meanwhile initial alliteration is more often used in English proverbs In terms of semantic features, English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities have many similarities such as having universal proverbs, paradox proverbs and using the words denoting general people) Nevertheless, different metaphorical images are often used in each language Vietnamese proverbs often have

hyperbole and some “vulgar” words English proverbs do not use borrowed words but

Vietnamese proverbs have borrowed many words from Chinese (Sino-Vietnamese)

Chapter 3 Comparison of cultural features between English and Vietnamese proverbs about

educating moral qualities

Proverbs have evidently cultural features of specific countries When comparing the system of proverbial topics, it is easy to find the similarities and differences in cultural features among communities The cultural features do not lie in the literal meaning but directly relate to figurative one, the true meaning of the proverbs

3.1 Universal moral qualities

People all over the world often have some universal principles of behaviour; English and Vietnamese cultures are not the exception Especially, many principles of moral behaviour are clearly expressed through the English and Vietnamese proverbs Those are also the moral lessons for everyone to have successful communication in the contemporary society There are many universal moral qualities, in this part I only focused on the most popular qualities mentioned in the English and Vietnamese proverbs

 Kindness

In both cultures, kind people are always highly valued It is also thought that kind people will have a happy result; heaven will bless the people who are kind-hearted Any action will bring its evitable result Both English and Vietnamese proverbs educate

people should be kind and well-behave to each other There are 10 English and 12 Vietnamese proverbs about educating kindness Hereunder is some examples:

What comes from the heart comes to the heart (Ở hiền gặp lành)

To return like for like (Oán trả oán, ơn trả ơn)

To return good for evil (Lấy đức báo oán)

Those who do wrong or good will receive the same consequence of their action: “As you

sow, so shall you reap,“As you make your bed you must lie on it”, “As you brew, so you must drink”, “Gieo gió gặt bão”, “Ác giả ác báo”…

In both cultures, the proverbs imply that members of the same family share a stronger tie with each other than they do with others Hence, it is better to seek kindness from a

kinsman than from a stranger It is also advised that one should take care of one’s own

family, friends, or fellow citizens before helping other people

Charity begins at home Blood is thicker than water (Một giọt máu đào hơn ao nước lã)

 Hard-working Proverbs show hat both English and Vietnamese people are hard-working and

also love labor For common people, labor is the law of life, everyone has to work, even

the rich One Vietnamese proverb expresses: “Của đời ông ăn không cũng hết” When

considering English and Vietnamese proverbs about labour, we can find many proverbs which educate people to work hard, for examples:

- You cannot make an omelet without breaking eggs

- He that would eat the fruit must climb the tree

- Muốn ăn phải lăn vào bếp

- Muốn ăn cá phải thả câu…

Those proverbs all emphasize that one could not accomplish anything worthwhile without some sacrifices

Lazy people were also criticized through English and Vietnamese proverbs:

- By doing nothing, we will learn to do ill ( Nhàn cư vi bất thiện)

The proverbs imply that a person with nothing to do is more likely to be

tempted to do wrong, “the devil finds works for idle hands”

 Caution in Speech

In both cultures, people were advised to be moderate, careful and cautious in the speech to avoid regretful problems There are 11 English proverbs and 16 Vietnamese ones that advised about the speech Here are some examples:

- Be swift to hear, slow to speak

- Better to do well than to say well

- Ăn có nhai, nói có nghĩ

- Biết thì thưa thốt, ko biết thì dựa cột mà nghe…

English and Vietnamese proverbs even warned people about the danger of careless speech:

- Better the foot slip than the tongue slip (Vạ tay không bằng vạ mồm)

- He that talks much errs much (Năng nói năng lỗi)

These proverbs imply that a person who talks a great deal without much thought or knowledge will often make mistakes either by saying the wrong thing at the wrong time

or by saying things that are not correct

The difference between two cultures in speech is that English proverbs advise people

to moderate in speech in a different way English people attach much importance to

silence The English proverbs state: “Silence is wisdom” or “Silence is the best ornament

of a woman” This can be explained as due to the quiet nature of the English people

 Gratefulness

There are 6 English and 8 Vietnamese proverbs about the gratefulness The proverbs imply that people have to value and respect the one who helped them in the past Here are some examples:

- Don‟t put down the tree that gives you shade

- Never cast dirt into that fountain of which you have sometimes drunk

- Ăn quả nhớ kẻ trồng cây

- Uống nước nhớ kẻ đào giếng…

The Vietnamese proverbs also advise people to respect the ancestors: “uống nước nhớ

nguồn” In Vietnam, the most solid element that cements all the members of the vast

extended family is the cult of ancestors Even when their parents are still alive the pious children practice a veritable cult in their honor After their death, the parents and other ancestors who have died before them, receive from their descendants a pious cult This cult is observed by all Vietnamese regardless of their religions or social classes