Semantic features of weather proverbs in English and Vietnamese Vũ Thị Yến Hồng Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ Luận văn Thạc sĩ ngành: English Linguistics; Mã số: 60 22 15 Người hướng dẫn: M.A. Đào Thị Thu Trang Năm bảo vệ: 2012 Abstract. Everyone understands the importance that proverbs have in every language. In the form of short, easily memorable phrases, the proverbs contain a great treasure of folk wisdom, and through use of a short proverb, it is often easier to express an idea better and more convincingly, than with a long speech. Knowledge of proverbs is necessary for perfect knowledge of a language. Yet, proverbs in general and weather proverbs in particular are units of language full of problems especially to second language learners. Therefore, the thesis makes an effort to deal with a small part of proverbs: semantic features of English and Vietnamese weather proverbs. Along with the investigation is the qualitative and quantitative analysis in English and Vietnamese proverbs collected from reliable books, dictionaries and websites. The key target the investigation wants to reach is to discover the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese weather proverbs in terms of semantics by means of contrastive analysis. A long with this discovery, the researcher reveals some weather proverbs in both English and Vietnamese that are not reliable in specific contexts. Last, the study also puts forward some suggestions for teaching and learning proverbs in general and weather proverbs in particular. Keywords. Tiếng Anh; Tiếng Việt; Ngữ nghĩa; Tục ngữ Content 1. Rationale for the research Every language has proverbs. Learning and understanding them is an important aspect of the mastery of language. English language is no exception as it contains a large number of proverbs, which are extensively used as the wisdom of people. English language learners, often struggling with a limited vocabulary, find these memorable proverbs easy to learn and fun to use. Proverbs add familiarity and comfort to an often strange and stressful situation for older English learners. Proverbs can capture a point of view in vivid words. We learn proverbs our entire lives - from our relatives, our teachers, our friends, the media, and our literature. These classic sayings contain folk wisdom gathered through time and experience. They often capture a common human experience across cultures and languages. Hence, using proverbs in the language teaching not only provides learners with rich vocabulary but also equips them with a good basis of cultural knowledge reflected in the proverbs themselves. Through their keen observation of the world, hundreds of human generations have created proverbs and used them. The condensed nature of proverbs allows them to be interpreted repeatedly, across time and in different situations. They are interesting because they not only tap into universal themes in the human condition, such as the physiological rhythms of the human life cycle, but they also vary in ways that appear to reflect specific cultural differences. In the home and in other community settings alike, proverbs are used to pass on rich cultural traditions, to transmit folklore, and to communicate expected codes of behavior. (Matthew S. Kaplan, PhD, 2002, p.1). So far, there have been a large number of researches conducted to investigate different features of proverbs as well as their applicability in language teaching. Yet, most of the studies deal with proverbs in general. In this paper, the researcher would like to focus only on the English weather proverbs, put them in the comparison and contrast with Vietnamese ones in terms of semantic features. Weather, as we know, has been closely associated with us since we appeared in the world. Our life, our work, our feelings are often influenced by weather. In the past, before modern scientific weather forecasts existed, people whose lives and livelihood depended on the weather relied on weather proverbs to predict weather changes. Nowadays, even with our access to sophisticated weather prediction techniques (such as satellites, weather balloons, super computers, Doppler radar, and a complex communications network) for production of reasonably accurate daily weather forecasts, many people still utilize common knowledge of the weather through weather proverbs because it is a simple way for them to predict the weather conditions by themselves. The reason for the researcher’s choosing weather proverbs is that more than any other kind of proverbs, they illustrate the process human beings explore the natural world and form their world-view as well as gain experience in dealing with nature, serving their need of economic development. If you know many proverbs, and have a little understanding of how weather systems work, you may conclude that proverbs tell you much about the weather. Even if the proverbs are not ideally accurate, they will remind us about a weather system and help us learn and remember how weather system works. More importantly, weather proverbs make us much more aware of our environment so we can observe and appreciate the many wonderful and intricate things going on in our natural surroundings. Proverbs can help us understand and table out various weather situations. In addition, studying English weather proverbs (EWP) and Vietnamese weather proverbs (VWP) plays an important role in interpreting and using this type of proverbs. All the points mentioned above are fundamental impetuses that stimulate the researcher to conduct this study. 2. Research aims and research questions 2.1. Research aims First of all, through the investigation into the semantic features of weather proverbs, the researcher aims at discovering linguistic values underlying the literal words. Secondly, the study is to compare and contrast semantic features of weather proverbs in English and in Vietnamese. Thirdly, the study is to equip learners with rich knowledge on Vietnamese proverbs and English proverbs in general and on weather proverbs in particular. In addition, some suggestions for teaching and learning English proverbs are also mentioned. 2.2. Research questions 1. What are the semantic features of EWP and EWP? 2. What are the similarities and differences between EWP and EWP in terms of their semantic features? 3. Scope of the research As proverb is a very broad topic, under the constraint of time, experience and shortage of materials, the researcher cannot cover all kinds of proverbs but focus on weather proverbs only. In addition, the researcher only concentrates on semantic features although the study would be of greater success if it deals with other linguistic and non-linguistic features of weather proverbs such as pragmatics, culture and syntax. However, some aspects of culture are used to explain some different elements between two languages when it is necessary. 4. Significance of the research It is obvious that proverbs occupy a large part in almost every language. It is hoped that along with the understanding of the semantic features of proverbs in general and those of weather proverbs in particular, the findings of the study can help learners employ weather proverbs more regularly, spontaneously and effectively. Language learners can exploit them as a source of language units to enrich and color their writing and speaking in both academic and daily settings. As regards the teaching process, this thesis can also provide such a great reference source in the subject of semantics. It can help to improve teachers’ awareness of the importance of proverbs as an inseparable unit of the linguistic system and the need to include them into the curriculum. 5. Structure of the research The study is composed of three parts: Part A, Introduction, includes the rationale, aims, research questions, scope of the research, significance of the research, and structure of the research. Part B, Development, includes three chapters. Chapter 1, Literature Review, reviews some publications on weather proverbs and previous studies as well as establishes the theoretical background for the study as the firm foundation with definitions of proverbs and weather proverbs. The distinctive and remarkable characteristics of these phenomena will also be unearthed in order to provide a clear concept from the beginning. Chapter 2, Research Methodology, deals with the research design and procedures. In this chapter, description of the sampling, instruments, the procedure of data collection and analysis for implementing the thesis are mentioned. Chapter 3, Major Findings and Discussions, is the main part of the research, which includes a generalization about the semantic features of weather proverbs in both languages - English and Vietnamese - and in what ways they are similar to or different from each other. The latter discusses some weather proverbs that are not reliable in both languages. Part C, Conclusions, summarizes the main content of the research and draws out conclusions. This part also gives implications for teaching and learning PDW. Moreover, a statement of limitations and suggestions for further research are also indicated in this chapter. Apart from that, references and appendices are enclosed for those who are interested in studying the same issues. References ENGLISH 1. Abbas Lutfi (2008), Weather Proverbs: Outstanding Socio-cultural Traits, Alustath, retrieved August 12, 2012 from http://www.iasj.net/iasj?func=fulltext&aId=43350. 2. Adrienne Lehrer (1985), Semantic fields and lexical structure, Amsterdam, North Holland. 3. Barley, N. (1972), "A Structural Approach to the Proverb and Maxim with Special Reference to the Anglo-Saxon Corpus", Proverbium, (20), 737-750. 4. Brinton, Laurel J. (2000), The structure of modern English: a linguistic introduction, Illustrated edition, John Benjamins Publishing Company. 5. Cambridge Dictionaries (2008), Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Cambridge University Press. 6. Dunwoody, H.H.C. (2001), Weather Proverbs, University Press of the Pacific. 7. Đỗ Thị Minh Ngọc (2010), A Cross –Cultural Study on Weather Proverbs in English and Vietnamese, Graduation paper, National University, Hanoi. 8. Freier. G. D. (1992), Weather Proverbs: How 600 proverbs, sayings and poems accurately explain our weather, Fisher Books. 9. Geddes and Grosset (2001), Webster’s New Century Dictionary, Random HouseValue Publishing, Inc. 10. Guralnik D.B. and S. Solomon, S. (eds.) (1980), Webster’s New World Dictionary, 2 nd edition, William Collins Publishers, Cleveland. 11. Hornby A.S. (2010), Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 8 th Edition, Oxford University Press. 12. Humphreys, W.J (1923), Weather Proverbs and Paradoxes, Williams and Wilkins Company, Baltimore, MD. 13. Jack Richards, John Platt and Heidi Weber (1985), Longman dictionary of applied linguistics, Longman, Harlow. 14. Kuskovskaya, S. (1987), English Proverbs and Sayings, Vysheishaya Shkola Publishers. 15. Lyons, J. (1996), Linguistic Semantics. An Introduction, London Cambridge University Press. 16. Manser, M. (2006), Dictionary of Proverbs, Wordsworth Editions. 17. Matthew S.& Kaplan, Ph.D. (2002), “Using Proverbs to Explore Intergenerational Relations across Cultures”, Linking lifetimes: a global view of intergenerational exchange. New York: University Press of America, Inc. 18. Mertens, D. M. (2005), Research and Evaluation in Education and Psychology: Integrating Diversity with Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed method (2nd edition), SAGE Publications, London. 19. Mieder, Wolfgang (1993), Proverbs. A Handbook, Greenwood Press. 20. Norrick, N.R. (1985), How Proverbs Mean? Semantic Studies in English Proverbs, Mouton. 21. Peter Miller, Daryl V. Storrs (2004), Yankee Weather Proverbs. Silver Print Press, Inc. 22. Quirk, R. and Greenbaum, S. (1973), A University Grammar of English, Longman, Hong Kong. 23. Quirk, R. et al. (1985), A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, Longman, London and New York. 24. Richard Inwards (1893), Weather lore: a collection of proverbs, sayings, and rules concerning the weather. E. Stock in London. Retrieved July 19, 2012 from http://openlibrary.org 25. Simpson, J., Speake, J. (1998), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs, Oxford University Press. VIETNAMESE 26. Lê Gia (1994), Tâm Hồn Mẹ Việt Nam. NXB Văn Nghệ. 27. Ngọc Quang (2007), Tục ngữ Việt Nam, NXB Văn Hoá Thông Tin, Hà Nội. 28. Nguyễn Lân (2010), Từ điển thành ngữ và tục ngữ Việt Nam, NXB Văn học, Hà Nội 29. Nguyễn Đình Hùng (2003), Tuyển tập Thành ngữ - Tục ngữ - Ca dao Anh-Việt, NXB Đại học Quốc Gia, Hà Nội. 30. Thu Phương (2004), Ca dao tục ngữ Việt Nam, NXB Thanh niên, Hà Nội. 31. Thùy Linh (2006), Thành ngữ-tục ngữ Việt Nam, NXB Lao động-Xã hội, Hà Nội. 32. Trần Ngọc Ngải (1997), Tục Ngữ, Thành Ngữ Ca Dao và Dân Ca Việt Nam. Chicago, Illinois, USA. 33. Trung tâm Khoa học xã hội và nhân văn quốc gia (2002), Tổng tập Văn học dân gian người Việt tập 1: Tục Ngữ, NXB Khoa học xã hội, Hà Nội. 34. Vũ Dung, Vũ Thuý Anh, Vũ Quang Hào (2003), Từ điển thành ngữ tục ngữ Việt Nam, NXB Văn Hoá Thông Tin, Hà Nội. THE INTERNET 35. http://caribbean-pirates.com/Weather_Proverbs.php, retrieved May 12, 2012. 36. http://www.cmos.ca/weatherlore.html, retrieved July 20, 2012. 37. http://www.websters-dictionary-online.org, retrieved May 12, 2012. 38. http://flightline.highline.edu/iglozman/sciphy/sphinx/weather_proverbs.htm, retrieved May 12, 2012. 39. http://wilstar.com/skywatch.htm, retrieved May 12, 2012. 40. http://tailieuso.ud.edu.vn retrieved May 12, 2012 . with the understanding of the semantic features of proverbs in general and those of weather proverbs in particular, the findings of the study can help learners employ weather proverbs more regularly,. compare and contrast semantic features of weather proverbs in English and in Vietnamese. Thirdly, the study is to equip learners with rich knowledge on Vietnamese proverbs and English proverbs in. understand and table out various weather situations. In addition, studying English weather proverbs (EWP) and Vietnamese weather proverbs (VWP) plays an important role in interpreting and using