Pun in English & Vietnamese

1 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 RATIONALE There is a very interesting phenomenon in linguistics called the pun Classified as a device in stylistics, the pun is widely used in most of verbal communicative forms It attracts various sections of the population, especially the republic of letters Based on word playing, the pun is a highly intelligent form of humor revealing not only the punster's intelligence and sense of humor but also his/her expertise at the language Perhaps for this reason, a lot of great writers of all the ages including William Shakespeare, who created 1,062 plays on words as computed by F.A.Bather [40], have employed the pun into their works The pun in English has been studied by a lot of native speakers, especially British and American authors Accessing web pages of wellknown publication distributors, we can find out numerous works on the English pun on sale Web pages relating to it are also very abundant on the Internet The number of punsters has continuously increased, and new variations on the pun are always being invented In Vietnam, since the Feudal age the pun, considered a nobly intellectual pleasure, has been greatly popular among the republic of letters in particular and various strata of society in general Possibly say that almost any man of letters in Vietnam ever exploits the art of punning for different rhetorical effects In his work "Đố tục - giảng giai thoại chữ nghĩa”, Nguyen Trong Bau (2003) mentioned such great names as Nguyen Du, Cao Ba Quat, Ho Xuan Huong, Nguyen Khuyen, Phan Boi Chau [3] They are, however, just among a great number of Vietnamese intellectuals who ever practised punning President Ho Chi Minh was also a master of this art The pun serves various communicative purposes including irony, satire, criticism, equivocality and innuendo But most of all, the pun is used for humorous effect, so it is highly entertaining In addition, through the pun – a product of human intelligence – we can know more about the attitudes, behaviors and even the culture of a society Last but not least, since the pun relates to word playing which is part of a language, it brings about interesting discoveries of the language From all the things mentioned above we can come to the conclusion that the pun is a "specialty" of every language including English and Vietnamese A comparison of the expressive means of the pun in the two languages to find out their similarities and dissimilarities must be very interesting and useful for those who are interested in the field of contrastive analysis of the two languages in particular and linguistics in general 1.2 THE JUSTIFICATION FOR THE STUDY Since the pun is a fact in English and Vietnamese, a study like this thesis is quite feasible However, up to now there has been no research done on this topic Moreover, despite being studied a lot, the pun in English has not been well known to most of Vietnamese learners of English mainly because works on it have not reached them yet In fact, in spite of being put in the curricula, the English pun is only briefly introduced in stylistics course books as one stylistic device among the others In addition, it is very hard to find out stylistics course books in Vietnam, not to mention the pun As a result, this study should be considered because it will provide Vietnamese learners of English with good knowledge of the expressive means of the pun in English which they can not gain from the current curricular in the country Simultaneously, the results of the study can be applied in designing related teaching materials, which will make certain contributions to the current practice of teaching and learning English in the country 1.3 THE SCOPE OF THE STUDY Like all the other linguistic phenomena, the pun can be examined in different aspects Moreover, as a verbal product of human intelligence, it is very abundant and diversified So, surely there will be innumerable things about punning to be discussed Nevertheless, in this thesis I focus only on the expressive means of puns in English and Vietnamese which have been popular so far In addition, since the pun can be used for different communicative purposes, but often with humorous effect, the majority of the illustrative examples in this thesis come from joke puns in the two languages The examples from other literary sources will also be extracted but in a smaller extent Besides the focus mentioned above, other possible issues related to the pun are hardly included in this study 1.4 AIM AND OBJECTIVES 1.4.1 Aim This study aims at analyzing the expressive means of the pun in English and Vietnamese to discover their similarities and differences 1.4.2 Objectives The study is planned to ƒ Describe and compare the pun in English and Vietnamese ƒ Identify the similarities and differences of the expressive means of the pun in the two languages ƒ Find out possible explanations for these similarities and differences ƒ Suggest some applications of the English pun to teaching and learning English in Vietnam 1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS To achieve the objectives mentioned above, we seek the answers for the following questions: ƒ Are there any similarities among the expressive means of the pun in English and Vietnamese? If yes, what are they? ƒ What are the differences in terms of the expressive means of the pun in the two languages? ƒ What are the possible explanations for these similarities and differences? ƒ What are the possible applications of the English pun to teaching and learning English in Vietnam? 1.6 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY The study is divided into chapters as follows: ƒ Chapter One, Introduction, deals with the reason for choosing the topic, the justification for the study, the aims and objectives of the study, research questions and the scope of the study Some related definition terms such as stylistics, stylistic device, ambiguity, pun will also be given ƒ Chapter Two, Review of Literature, is a summary of previous works related to the pun in English and Vietnamese Also included in this chapter is the theoretical knowledge which shows various pun types in English and Vietnamese as well as the relations between the pun and stylistics, the pun and ambiguity ƒ Chapter Three, Methods and Procedures, presents research design and research method, procedures of data collection and analysis as well as reliability and validity of the study ƒ Chapter Four, Findings and Discussions, answers the most important question of the study, viz what similarities and differences are between the expressive means of the pun in English and Vietnamese Some possible explanations for these similarities and differences are presented as well ƒ Chapter Five, Conclusions and Recommendations, draws the conclusions related to the study Some implications of the study for the practice of teaching and learning English in Vietnam are suggested So are some related and follow-up studies that might be conducted in the future to advance knowledge in the field 1.7 DEFINITIONS 1.7.1 Stylistics Since the pun is recognized as a stylistic device, it is necessary to know what stylistics is Stylistics, as defined by I.R.Galperin, is a branch of General Linguistics which studies the nature, functions and structure of stylistic devices, on the one hand, and, on the other, each style of language (which may be the belles-lettrers style, the publicistic style, the newspaper style, the scientific prose style and the style of official documents), i.e its aim, its structure, its characteristic features and the effect it produces, as well as its interrelation with other styles of language [20, p.21] 1.7.2 Stylistic device A stylistic device is “a conscious and intentional literary use of some of the facts of the language (including expressive means) in which the most essential features (both structural and semantic) of the language forms are raised to a generalized level and thereby present a generative model.” [20, p.26] A number of stylistic devices are built on the interplay of the types of lexical meanings Among them is the pun which is based on the interaction of the two following meanings: primary and derivative logical meanings 1.7.3 Primary logical meaning Primary logical meaning is “the precise naming of a feature of the idea, phenomenon or object, the name by which we recognize the whole of the concept” [20, p.56] It is also called the direct, basic, literal meaning The primary logical meaning of the word heart is, for example, "a hollow, muscular organ, a center hidden part of the body, which, by contracting rhythmically, keeps up the circulation of the blood" [49] 1.7.4 Derivative logical meaning Derivative logical meaning is the meaning that was born in the context It is more abstract than the primary logical meaning but still retains “some semantic ties with the primary meaning” and is “strongly associated with it” [20, p.145] The word heart, for example, bears its derivative logical meaning as "the source of life and motion in any organization; the chief or vital portion" [49] such as in the following sentence: “The Central is the heart of the country” The meaning of the word heart here is obviously more abstract than its primary logical meaning but still retains some semantic ties with the primary meaning and is strongly associated with it, viz "the part most hidden and within; the inmost or most essential part of any body or system" [49] 1.7.5 Pun Linguists and scholars often define the pun from the two aspects of polysemous and homonymous words For instance, I.R.Galperin defined the word "pun" as a stylistic device based on the interaction of two well-known meanings of a word or phrase: primary and derivative logical meaning [20, p.146] Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defines the pun as an amusing use of a word or phrase that has meanings, or of words having the same sound but different meanings [48] Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary gives a similar definition: The humorous use of a word or of words which are formed or sound alike but have different meanings, in such a way as to play on two or more of the possible applications, a play on words [49] Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics defines the pun as a figure of speech depending upon a similarity of sound and a disparity of meaning [55] Yuan Chuandao gave a very good definition of the pun which says: A pun is a clever use of a polysemous word or a homonym, a rhetorical way of expression in which people use, subjectively or objectively, the polysemous, homonymous and logical relations of the language to cause a word, a sentence or a discourse to involve two things or two meanings in transmitting messages [32] I not deny all the definitions mentioned above but just want to extend it because collecting and examining the data, I find that in fact, punsters practise punning based on not only the meaning but on also the sound and even the spelling of a word, phrase or sentence As a result, I would like to present the following definition of the pun, a broad definition which covers all the pun types that I deal with in this thesis: The pun is a form of wordplay based on the meaning, sound, or spelling of a word, phrase or sentence for rhetorical effect, often humorous This definition will reflect the lively reality of punning practice as well as create a wider implication of the pun for teaching and learning English 1.7.6 Rhetorical effect Rhetorical effect is concerned with effect or style of speaking and writing well, elegantly and effectively, especially in order to persuade or influence others 1.7.7 Polysemy A case of polysemy is one where a word has several very closely related senses [25, p.123] Drive (a car vs a nail) is a case of polysemy The two meanings in this example are clearly related by the concept of causing something to move in a particular direction 1.7.8 Homonymy A case of homonymy is one of an ambiguous word, whose different senses are far apart from each other and not obviously related to each other in any way [25, p.123] Bank (the edge of a river vs a financial institution) makes a good example of homonymy So does the word Ba in Vietnamese, which suggests both “father” and “three” 1.7.9 Homophony Homophony is a case where words which sound the same but are written differently and often have different meanings Son/sun; meet/meat; check/cheque are some of innumerous examples of homophony 1.7.10 Synonymy Synonymy is the relation of sameness of meaning In “They are going to buy/purchase a new car”, for instance, the words printed in bold are synonyms Chó and cầy in Vietnamese, for instance, both mean “dog” 1.7.11 Antonymy Antonymy is the relation of opposite meanings Easy/difficult; single/married; below/above are some examples of antonymy 1.7.12 Ambiguity Ambiguity occurs when a word or phrase has two (or more) synonyms that are not themselves synonyms of each other [25, p.122] The word pen, for example, is synonymous with “handwriting instrument using ink” and with “enclosure”, but these two meanings are not synonymous of each other, so the word pen is ambiguous 10 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 2.1 REVIEW OF THE PREVIOUS STUDY As I mentioned in Chapter One, the pun has been studied a lot so far H.T.Davis (1954) regarded the pun as the fine art of using the language I.R.Galperin (1971) considered the pun a stylistic device based on the interaction of primary and derivative logical meanings L.G.Kelly (1971) sought to answer two questions: how does the pun in its unilingual forms fit into a particular language system, and what can an analysis of punning give to semantic theory? L.G.Heller (1974) elucidated the structure and suggested a basis which includes such criteria as the correlation(s) between the manifesting mark and the function(s); the retention versus the non-retention of the original correlation(s) between the manifesting mark and the function(s) Michel Monnot (1981) collected and analyzed puns from the world of advertising Walter Redfern (1984) considered puns and punning from a variety of different perspectives such as how puns work on the written page, in our minds, and how they function differently for their deliverers (i.e., writers and speakers) and receivers (i.e., readers and listeners); why we pun; what place or function puns serve in our lives He considered the pun in a number of different languages and cultures as well Robert Oliver Shipman (1991) studied the humorous aspect of the pun in English In her graduation thesis Hoa, N.T.Q (1992) studied some lexical means creating humor in English jokes, among which is the pun Yuan Chuandao (2005) classified the English pun into five kinds, three types more than the classification from the academic circle at present (which will be mentioned later in this study) Besides the works mentioned above, surfing 137 I lay, as I emanate, go to sleep, mad ones on docks – air is hot Entrap, net, nine men in party raid - all if it is in a crab-pot room, an itemised, under-lit, nullified old log den – I’m sure voles made it rot in knot Tubas we see far off lack limit A cat on still or tall upward paws to no dog is an ample hot-dog, ergo nastier if tastier, eh? We, raw amid a conman, a mama in a mask, corpse et al., err Octuple tracks at a son’s eyelash side distressed a tall eye doctor, a tall ace, rigger of a vote: got put in egress; odd, abased, is ebbed, as I am, Amy, asinine lot! Nine lots! Don’t six rams live? Don’t six exist? Alfred, nuts or fool gigolo, trod never if gold locks all in a flap on a red rose; made nine or ten stops I heed never, I’m Daisy, a prod never, I terrorise viler starfish To me suitors, no lemons, came rowing Is a sin a mania? Rot! Sit! I fix a looted amp or delay more, hasten not A baser if snug stool, wonkier, if not - Alf says - super, a ballet to no devil, is a stool too Ban it, actor, race to no tune May names I wrote wrong (Is no man in it, a long old log?) sit in row, sign irate Goths; I dare drop it At felon’s eye I peer, fast open – I’m nosey, esteem eyes All upset, ample hogs resume totting Is sad nabob tired? Roots don’t evade liver in Alf’s gob Deers I held right; oblong, apt enamel or tile rifle on gun spot to get a man – aim is all I rogate, minister Feeble gnats, alas late, prosaic, a canine pet is not to consume hot 138 Loo, wet, issues old idiot; evading, I sneer, obey a deer, gall a deer, gain alpine dragnet for egg I’d net to ram in a pan I made to help master Rags I held, arcane poet, arcane poetic error, all odd; I bottle fine panacean lust I’d nag elks I ride if editor toted a minor I fog a natural life Roses, or level dumb ones – rows in a mown, ample, hewn acre Wolfsbane made it a garden in May, a garden indeed Nine mates, nine tons I must save now on time – editor raps a late man G.I.s edit also, too Do over if tests in a task radiate Rob ran; I, too, fled “Omega” – list in alphabet A gander, a line of live ducks, irk cubs A wart, set at a cast on knee, snug as spots A poor denim for a janitor, racer, armed aide, solid idler – rabid; I’d elastic in a pot, tons to sew Tubes or axes went in a clam, in an oyster Free booze – lap it all up Pity, my apple hot, so I’d a root stew God, a stew! Tip it at feline! Posies, a cat’s altar often, no baron packs A monk caps dog – I meddle here – hot? Pull its leg! A bee was a hoot, eh? No, it is opposite Yaks I rode wore hats, albeit on deity’s orders Rats age more held in a trap, nip and I know it – set no cage now It’s eta; no, it’s a beta – Tsar of Tonga rates isles Mad Ed is all upset at cider, is Ed? Is a madam too? Snip? I’d snip, spot a fine position, snip nine more cinemas Do ogres sell in a mall? Yes, on a barge so rats row tubs 139 Wall last canes up or Eros, an imp, lives to irk, rasp or dam all tides sent I won’t – I was no Roman – even I saw tired row – a sore He lives on “No!” we yell Up, now! Wards are in nurses’ sole care I, peer, fed, am too fat? Oh, not I, test no dined ruby ale; dote not on salad it’s in – I am sad Locks I rifle so troops atone re war Only rebel or a crofter animates so cottage beheld arcades, so trees are sold, abased I redo, rehang, I err – a wasted act; nests I’d – as an owl – laid A boot’s raw foot, even if a foot to master, germs (ah!) can evil Pan is tune-pipe – so hot notes, paths up to honeydew Odd locks, a maddened (I was aware) macaw on top, spot no seen knots, rifts or fan, I saw Are maces a baton, madam? Oodles, madam? Rare laptops are too late – got too lit up Nits rub – snip now, I’ll abate, not snip, nits I held Nubile Danish tomboys I led to old loser as no melons I held; no fish to my name Nod lower, I dare? No, one nods a hairy snipe (Edit: one hairy snipe, eh?) See silliness, else we’ll ask cornish to obey deity’s or god’s item I, God, damn it! I was in it! To Hades, acne trap, sad loser! As warts pop, a dosser I – we – vile rat, sack! Same row, oh woe! Macaroni, rats, as a hoot, tie I vomit on rats 140 APPENDIX 7: SELECTION OF PANGRAMS A large fawn jumped quickly over white zinc boxes A very bad quack might jinx zippy fowls Blowzy red vixens fight for a quick jump Brick quiz whangs jumpy veldt fox Cozy sphinx waves quart jug of bad milk Dr Jekyll vows to finish zapping quixotic bum Dub waltz, nymph, for quick jigs vex Exquisite farm wench gives body jolt to prize stinker Five big quacking zephyrs jolt my wax bed Fox nymphs grab quick jived waltz Glum Q Schwarzkopf jinxed by TV Hick Jed wins quiz for extra blimp voyage His graceful bisque vase whizzed past my taxi - no joke! I have quickly spotted the four women dozing in the jury box I jump quickly, shaving two dozen fox bare Jack believed we quiz sphinx from Egypt Jumpy wizard quit having black foxes Knowledge of zymurgy and Bacchus justly pleases a quiet vixen Lazy movers quit hard packing of jewelry boxes Lazy movers quit hard-packing of papier-mache jewelry boxes Mr Jock, TV quiz PhD, bags few lynx Now is the time for all brown dogs to jump quickly over the lazy lynx On the boardwalk grave playful lizards quickly jump and exercise Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs Quick waxy bugs jump the frozen veldt Quiz explained for TV show by Mick Jagger Raving zibet chewed calyx of pipsqueak major Six of the women quietly gave back prizes to the judge Sixty zippers were quickly picked from the woven jute bag Two joyful vixens squirt milk upon the caged zebra Up at the zoo a roving ox was quickly fed bug jam Victors flank gyp who mixed job quiz Victors flank gypsy who mixed up on job quiz William Rex quickly caught five dozen Republicans Woven silk pyjamas exchanged for blue quartz Xavier picked bright yellow jonquils for Mitzi Zelda quickly wove eight nubby flax jumpers 141 APPENDIX 8: SELECTION OF SPOONERISMS Spooner's Spoonerisms fighting a liar lighting a fire you hissed my mystery lecture you missed my history lecture cattle ships and bruisers battle ships and cruisers nosey little cook cosy little nook a blushing crow a crushing blow tons of soil sons of toil our queer old Dean our dear old Queen we'll have the hags flung out we'll have the flags out you've tasted two worms you've wasted two terms our shoving leopard our loving shepherd a half-warmed fish a half-formed wish is the bean dizzy? is the Dean busy? More Funny Spoonerisms know your blows blow your nose go and shake a tower go and take a shower tease my ears ease my tears nicking your pose picking your nose you have very mad banners you have very bad manners lack of pies pack of lies it's roaring with pain it's pouring with rain sealing the hick healing the sick go help me sod so help me God pit nicking nit picking foul beast bowel feast I'm a damp stealer I'm a stamp dealer hypodemic nurdle hypodermic needle wave the sails save the whales chipping the flannel on TV flipping the channel on TV mad bunny bad money I'm shout of the hour I'm out of the shower 142 lead of spite speed of light this is the pun fart this is the fun part I hit my bunny phone I hit my funny bone flutter by butterfly bedding wells wedding bells I must mend the sail I must send the mail cop porn popcorn it crawls through the fax it falls through the cracks my zips are lipped my lips are zipped flat battery bat flattery would you like a nasal hut? would you like a hazel nut? puke on coupon jelly beans belly jeans eye ball bye all fight in your race right in your face ready as a stock steady as a rock no tails toe nails listen here hiss and lear soul of ballad bowl of salad Cack of Pards Spoonerisms Two of Hearts 2♥ Eight of Hearts 8♥ Ten of Hearts 10♥ Ace of Spades A♠ Four of Spades 4♠ Eight of Spades 8♠ Four of 4♦ Diamonds Five of 5♦ Diamonds Six of Diamonds 6♦ Two of Clubs 2♣ Five of Clubs 5♣ Who of tarts? Hate of Arts Hen of tarts Space of aids Spore of fades Spate of AIDS Door of fireman's Dive of fireman's Dicks of Simon's Clue of tubs Clive of Fubbs 143 APPENDIX 9: SELECTION OF TOM SWIFTIES -A- -M- 9B 25B "I like modern painting," said Tom "The average frequency of my voice abstractly is 160 Hz," said Tom in measured 10B "This salad dressing has too much tones 1B vinegar," said Tom acidly "There's no need for silence," Tom "I have to fix the car," said Tom mechanically 12B "We'll need a higher price at allowed "I compliment the company that auction," Tom said morbidly 13B makes the Macintosh computer," "The sun is rising," Tom mourned said Tom applauding "You have the right to remain silent," said Tom arrestingly -B14B "Give me a haircut," Tom said barbarously "I'm losing my hair," Tom bawled N"That's nothing!" said Tom naughtily "That just doesn't add up," said Tom, nonplussed "What's the value of a dollar bill?" asked Tom noteworthily 144 "Why shouldn't I stir my coffee with a ballpoint pen?" Tom bickered "I need a pencil sharpener," said Tom bluntly -O"Do you buy and sell stolen goods?" asked Tom offensively "The door's ajar," said Tom openly "I think I'll use a different font," said Tom boldly "My bicycle wheel is damaged," said Tom outspokenly -C- -P- 15B "I've been to a film festival in Southern France," said Tom cannily "I don't work here on a regular basis," said Tom casually "Pretend we were in the days before railways," Tom coached "Another plate of seafood for me!" Tom clamored "I had an accident in the kitchen," said Tom with panache "I'm waiting to see the doctor," said Tom patiently "Has my magazine arrived?" Tom asked periodically "My pencil is blunt," said Tom pointlessly -D16B "I can no longer hear anything," said -Q- 145 Tom deftly "Are you homosexual?" Tom queried "There must be a power cut," said gaily Tom delightedly "This is the fastest way to get drunk," "Congratulations; you graduated," said Tom quixotically said Tom diplomatically "Whenever I put on my scuba gear, I get pins and needles," said Tom divertingly -R"A dog bit me," said Tom rabidly "I can see because I have actual visual organs," Tom realized -E17B "I couldn't believe there were "I'm shocked," said Tom electrically 527,986 bees in the swarm!" Tom "Elvis is dead," said Tom expressly recounted "I got in through the window after "OK, you can borrow it again," Tom opening it with a crowbar," said Tom relented enterprisingly "I have to check the score on this -F- exam again," Tom remarked 18B "The policeman charged me twenty bucks for speeding," said Tom "I've an urgent appointment," said Tom in Russian 146 finally -S26B "There's a high charge for "So only one person arrived at the 27B supporters travelling by coach," said party before I did?" Tom secondTom with considerable fanfare guessed "We have no oranges," Tom said "I won't tell you anything about my 28B fruitlessly salivary glands," said Tom "I'm about to hit the golf ball," Tom secretively forewarned "I just bought a woollen sweater," 29B said Tom sheepishly -G19B "Once upon a time there was a "I can take photographs if I want to!" 30B beautiful princess," Tom began Tom snapped grimly "Don't you know my name?" asked "It's become much bigger," said Tom Tom swiftly with a groan -T31B "It's just gold leaf," said Tom "I work at a bank," said Tom guiltily tellingly -H20B "I have no idea," said Tom 147 "I've still got two fingers left," said thoughtlessly Tom handsomely "I was adopted," said Tom "I've gained thirty pounds," said Tom transparently heavily -U32B "I can't march any more!" the soldier "The bank doesn't want me as a called haltingly customer," said Tom unaccountably -I21B "It's homemade soup," said Tom "I see," said Tom icily uncannily "I'm burning aromatic substances," "Henry the Eighth!" said Tom said Tom, incensed unthinkingly -V- "I like camping," said Tom intently 3B "I'm swimming in the middle of "I need an injection," Tom pleaded in Paris!" shouted Tom insanely vain -J- "I invested in a hi-tech startup," Tom 2B "The insect in William's hand is wearing a yarmulka!" said Tom ventured "Our local clergyman has a toothache," said Tom vicariously 148 jubilantly -W34B "I like ragged margins," said Tom "Eating garbage is a form of without justification recycling, but I can't eat any more" said Tom wastefully -K- "I visit my parents every Sunday," 23B "My parents are called Billy and Nanny," Tom kidded "I've run out of wool," said Tom, knitting his brow -L- said Tom weakly "I wouldn't like anything but just that," said Tom wantonly "Some you lose," said Tom winsomely 24B -X- "I think I've broken my leg ", reported Tom lamely "I have lost all my Hungarian sheet "Every last one of you is a wimp," said Tom xerophytically -Y- music," said Tom listlessly 35B "Is it true that some animals will eat "You've got to be egging me on," their own babies?" asked Tom yolked Tom literately 149 -Z36B "Zo, what you have for zale?" asked Tom zealously "I can't eat any more lemon peel," said Tom zestfully APPENDIX 10: SELECTION OF TONGUE TWISTERS A Ann and Andy's anniversary is in April B Bobby Bippy bought a bat Bobby Bippy bought a ball With his bat Bob banged the ball Banged it bump against the wall But so boldly Bobby banged it M Mary Mac's mother's making Mary Mac marry me My mother's making me marry Mary Mac Will I always be so Merry when Mary's taking care of me? Will I always be so merry when I marry Mary Mac? 150 That he burst his rubber ball ""Boo!"" cried Bobby Bad luck ball Bad luck Bobby, bad luck ball Now to drown his many troubles Bobby Bippy's blowing bubbles C How many cans can a canner can if a canner can can cans? A canner can can as many cans as a canner can if a canner can can cans Chester Cheetah chews a chunk of cheep cheddar cheese D Ken Dodd's dad's dog 's dead Did Doug dig Dick's garden or did Dick dig Doug's garden? When a doctor doctors a doctor, does the doctor doing the doctoring doctor as the doctor being doctored wants to be doctored or does the doctor doing the doctoring doctor as he wants to doctor? E Excited executioner exercising his excising powers excessively Elizabeth has eleven elves in her elm tree Each Easter Eddie eats eighty Easter eggs F Fresh French fried fly fritters Fresh fried fish, Fish fresh fried, Fried fish fresh, Fish fried fresh Five fuzzy French frogs Frolicked through the fields in France N No nose knows like a gnome's nose knows P Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked? R Richard's wretched ratchet wrench S I saw Susie sitting in a shoe shine shop Where she sits she shines, and where she shines she sits Seven slick and sexy sealskin ski suits slid slowly down the slope T thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday Three tree turtles took turns talking tongue twisters If three tree turtles took turns talking tongue twisters, where's the twisters the three tree turtles talked? W I wish to wish the wish you wish to wish, but if you wish the wish the witch wishes, I won't wish the wish you wish to wish 151 Five frantic frogs fled from fifty fierce fishes G Gobbling gorgoyles gobbled gobbling goblins The great Greek grape growers grow great Greek grapes H Her whole right hand really hurts I Extinct insects' instincts, extant insects' instincts L Luke's duck likes lakes Luke Luck licks lakes Luke's duck licks lakes Duck takes licks in lakes Luke Luck likes Luke Luck takes licks in lakes duck likes While we were walking, we were watching window washers wash Washington's windows with warm washing water Whether the weather be fine or whether the weather be not Whether the weather be cold or whether the weather be hot We'll weather the weather whether we like it or not [...]... OF THE PUN IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE Through the ways of punning shown in items 2.2.5 and 2.2.6, we find that punning in both English and Vietnamese uses the following expressive means: 4.1.1 Expressive means based on sound A lot of ways of punning in English and Vietnamese are based on sound aspects of the languages Let us put sound similarity under consideration first The words tài and tai in example... to in the studies on Vietnamese folklore For example, Giao, N.V (1997) showed how puns are used in Vietnamese riddles Hoang Anh (2003) wrote an article about punning in the press Bau, N.T (2003) introduced and declaimed a series of anecdotes related to different forms of wordplay in the Vietnamese language In spite of being widely used in both English and Vietnamese, up to now a comparison of puns in. .. which developed in late 17th and early 18th century England to describe the common practice then of answering in a single syllable, made from longer words The term “pundigrion” itself is thought to have originated from “punctilious”, which derived from the Italian “puntiglio” (originally meaning "a fine point"), diminutive of “punto”, "point", from the Latin “punctus”, past participle of “pungere”, "to... literal meaning, but in "stood on her gentility" the word "stand" is used in its transferred meaning 2.2.5 English pun types On the basis of the traditional definition of the pun from the two aspects of polysemous and homonymous words by the academic circles combined with my own findings, in this thesis I classify the English pun into two groups: Group 1 includes the basic types of the English pun which... – beautiful flowers of spring in Vietnam In short, puns in both English and Vietnamese can be classified into two groups: Group 1 includes major types of the pun and Group 2 shows outstanding ones In addition, the concept of the pun should be considered in the relations with stylistics, ambiguity, paronomasia and zeugma in order to gain a comprehensive view of this interesting stylistic device 29 CHAPTER...11 on the Internet, we can access a lot of web pages majoring in the English pun which show a large number of interesting examples of the pun in this language Despite not being studied in such a great detail and scale as the one in English, the pun in Vietnamese is mentioned in most of the works related to Vietnamese stylistic devices such as 99 phương tiện... far in this section, there are still English joke puns based on word family and paradigm which will be clarified later in Chapter Four of this study 2.2.6 Puns in Vietnamese 2.2.6.1 Classification of the Vietnamese pun Based on Lac’s discoveries [13, p.176], I classify the Vietnamese pun into the following types: a Puns based on sound Sound is an expressive means widely used in the Vietnamese pun Let... study analyzing the expressive means of the pun in English and Vietnamese to determine their similarities and differences In order to achieve this purpose, a great number of puns in the two languages have been collected and treated differently at various times Since the central point of this study is to find out similarities and differences of the expressive means of the pun in English and Vietnamese, ... of the English pun Such a classification helps the study to be carried out conveniently, and simultaneously clarifies the fact that the English pun gets involved in a large number of forms of wordplay 2.2.5.1 Basic types of the English pun a Homographic puns: Homographic puns are puns exploiting multiple meanings from a single word form Example 6: One day, an English grammar teacher was looking ill... syllable), Vietnamese great poet Nguyen Du, the author of these verses, implied that misfortune would accompany the talented Example 19 shows a kind of pun relying on the repetition of sound Sound /n/ is used at the beginning of every word of the verses This way of punning is especially popular in Vietnamese comedy b Puns based on meaning A great number of Vietnamese puns are based on meaning relations ... majoring in the English pun which show a large number of interesting examples of the pun in this language Despite not being studied in such a great detail and scale as the one in English, the pun. .. punning shown in items 2.2.5 and 2.2.6, we find that punning in both English and Vietnamese uses the following expressive means: 4.1.1 Expressive means based on sound A lot of ways of punning in. .. (from đâm chuột) in Vietnamese are very entertaining, too The mentioned-above similar ways of employing sound in punning practice in both English and Vietnamese are really surprising because these