A study on structural and semantic features of english idioms denoting anger with reference to the vietnamese equivalents

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY NGUYỄN THỊ LAN PHƯƠNG A STUDY ON STRUCTURAL AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF ENGLISH IDIOMS DENOTING “ANGER” WITH REFERENCE TO THE VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS (NGHIÊN CỨU ĐẶC ĐIỂM CẤU TRÚC VÀ NGỮ NGHĨA CỦA THÀNH NGỮ TIẾNG ANH NÓI VỀ “GIẬN” TRONG SỰ LIÊN HỆ VỚI TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG TIẾNG VIỆT) M.A THESIS Field: English Language Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Nguyễn Thị Thanh Hương, Ph.D Hanoi, 2015 NGUYEN THI LAN PHUONG Front hard paper cover Back hard paper cover FIELD: ENGLISH LANGUAGE 2013-2015 27 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled “A study on structural and semantic meaning of English Idioms denoting anger with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Linguistics Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis Hanoi, 2015 Nguyen Thi Lan Phuong Approved by SUPERVISOR Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong Date:…………………… i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support from a number of people First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong PhD, my supervisor, who has patiently and constantly supported me through the stages of the study, and whose stimulating ideas, expertise, and suggestions have inspired me greatly through my growth as an academic researcher My special word of thanks goes to all the lecturers at the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies - Ha Noi Open University for their interesting lectures and useful advice I would also like to thank my colleagues and friends for idea sharing and encouragement It would never have been possible for me to have this thesis accomplished without all of these valuable supports Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family for the sacrifice they have devoted to the fulfillment of this academic work ii ABSTRACT Idioms play an important role in all natural languages including English and Vietnamese They enrich the language They help speakers and writers to emphasise their ideas and make our observations, judgments, and explanations more lively and interesting They are also very useful tools for communicating a great deal of meaning in a few words Effective communication cannot be achieved successfully without idioms Idioms are considered not only to be able to enrich the language, by helping speakers and writers to emphasise their ideas, make their judgments, and explanations more lively and interesting, but also to be very useful tools for communicating meaningful ideas in a condensed expressions Effective communication cannot be achieved successfully without idioms; therefore, they are worth studying Idioms, a very important aspect of language, add colour to the language, helping us to emphasise meaning and to make our observations, judgments, and explanations lively and interesting They are also very useful tools for communicating a great deal of meaning in just a few words The aim of this thesis is to contribute a comprehensive account of structural and semantic features of English Idioms denoting “anger” with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents Finally, some suggestions are put forward for English idiom denoting “anger” for teaching and learning iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS N : Noun V : Verb Adj : Adjective Adv : Adverb Prep : Preposition NP : Noun Phrase VP : Verb Phrase Adj.P : Adjective phrase Adv.P : Adverbial Phrase PP : Prepositional Phrase iv LIST OF TABLES Table 1: English and Vietnamese idioms denoting “anger” in terms of structural features 32 Table 2.Comparison of English and Vietnamese idioms denoting “anger” in terms of semantic features 48 v TABLE OF CONTENTS Certificate of originality i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii List of abbreviations iv List of tables and figures V Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale for the research 1.2 Aims of the research 1.3 Objectives of the research 1.4 Scope of the research 1.5 Significance of the research 1.6 Structural organization of the thesis Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Review of previous studies 2.1.1 Previous studies overseas 2.1.2 Previous studies in Vietnam 2.2 Review of theoretical background 2.2.1 Theoretical framework 2.2.2 Theoretical background 2.2.2.1 Definitions of idioms 10 2.2.2 Idioms versus proverbs, sayings, conventional phrases and 11 phrase verbs 2.2.2.3 Features of English Idioms 12 vi 2.2.2.4 Classification of English idioms 15 2.2.2.5 Idioms of anger 18 2.2.2.6 Summary 21 Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research-governing orientations 23 3.1.1 Research questions 23 3.1.2 Research setting 23 3.1.3 Research approach 24 3.1.4 Criteria for intended data collection and data analysis 24 3.2 24 Research methods 3.2.1 Major methods versus supporting methods 25 3.2.2 Data collection techniques 25 3.2.3 Data analysis techniques 26 3.3 Summary 26 Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 28 4.1 Structures features of English idioms denoting “anger” with 28 reference to the Vietnamese equivalents 4.1.1 Similarities 28 4.1.1.1 Idioms patterns 28 4.1.1.2 Simile 30 4.1.2 31 Differences 4.1.2.1 Idioms patterns 31 4.1.2.2 Fixedness of form 33 4.2 Semantic features of English idioms denoting “anger” with 39 reference to the Vietnamese equivalents 4.2.1 Similarities 39 vii 4.2.1.1 Lexical variability 39 4.2.1.2 Metaphors and metonymies 40 4.2.2 51 Differences 4.2.2.1 Metaphors and metonymies 51 4.2.2.2 Third suffering 53 4.2.2.3 Cultural origin of idioms 54 4.3 55 Implication for teaching and learning English idioms denoting “anger “ 4.3.1 Structural features of idioms 56 4.3.2 Semantic features of idioms 56 4.3.3 Using games 59 4.4 Summary 60 Chapter 5: CONCLUSION 61 5.1 Recapitulation 61 5.2 Concluding remarks 61 5.3 Limitations of the research and suggestions for further studies 62 REFERENCES 63 APPENDICES 67 viii An awareness of the source and the lexical area to which an idiom belongs can illumine its non-literal meaning and instill in the learner that analytical meaning-deciphering approach when having to confront other unknown idioms Another way in which the meaning of idioms can be considered is through a contrastive analysis with our mother-tongue This is because one can discuss the origin of the idiom and how different languages may express the same idea in similar ways Mother tongue has traditionally been discouraged in the foreign language classroom, but it is important to recognize the value of discussing and comparing the same linguistic aspect in the two languages To give an equivalent translation of an idiomatic expression where possible saves time, energy and is undoubtedly more effective in bringing home the full meaning to learners Moreover, it can be encouraging for learners to see that Vietnamese and English idiomatic equivalents can even have syntactic structures that are more or less congruent In the examples that follow, the English and Vietnamese languages have idiomatic equivalents within the lexical area with equivalent meanings being conveyed by syntactic constructions that are more or less similar: add fuel to the fire and đổ thêm dầu vào lửa, the son of bitch and đồ chó đẻ, wring one’s neck and vặn cổ, make one’s blood boil and tức sôi máu Some less similar syntactic constructions account for idiomatic pairs such as tight-lipped and mắm môi mắm lợi While in English, the idiom is 58 an adjective, in Vietnamese, it is a verb The similarities and differences in expressions between one language and the other are again explicable in terms of the history and the life of the people whose language they belong to and exposing them can be a way of raising learners’ confidence in dealing with such elements usually considered as being remote from their own linguistic tradition This is because one can discuss the origin of the idiom and how different languages may express the same idea in similar ways Thirdly, to exploit all the semantic analyses carried out on formulaic language by presenting learners with idioms that belong to similar or even contrasting categories of meaning could also be a pedagogical advantage For instance, idioms such as be up in arms, raise hell to say somebody angrily complain about something; bite one’s head off, cut somebody down to size, give somebody a rocket, tear somebody off a strip to say a person angrily criticizes or insults somebody; let/blow off steam, vent your spleen to express a person says or does a lot because he is angry…all denote some form of involvement and interest; drawing attention to relations such as these accompanied by information that distinguishes one type of involvement from another should certainly help learners to fix form-meaning patterns where idioms are concerned 4.3.3 Using games After a teacher’s presentation on structure, semantic features and functions of idioms, practice using them is very important Playing games proves to be very effective in teaching and learning idioms There are many games which can be used to teach idioms, one of which is this one: the teacher divides the class into two teams In front of the classroom, the teacher posts 36 cards in six rows of six The cards are all clearly numbered through 36 Half of the cards have idioms written on the back while the other half has the meanings The goal is to match an idiom with its meaning With only one 59 student choosing at a time, the teams take turns trying to choose two cards that match When a match is made, the person who made the correct match must use that term in a complete sentence If that person fails, a person in the other team will take the turn Whichever team gets the correct answer gets a point It is found that when the person who makes the correct match is allowed to be helped by the entire team to form a correct sentence, it creates an immediate bond among members of the team and inhibitions are overcome Students are then more willing to take chances and make mistakes; a glorious moment for any language teacher who may have a shy student 4.4 Summary In short, applying these devices for teaching idioms of anger is very effective, so teacher can follow the above formula whenever possible For learners of English to perceive patterns and relations regarding the meaning, the structure and the function of English idioms, it is necessary to underline once again the importance of making learners active participants in the learning process It has been suggested here that learners, provided with the full array of instruments of analysis retrieved through years of theoretical research in the field of idiomatic expressions, can adopt the right attitude to handle such complex signs The exposure to a full grammar of idioms should, in fact, consent learners to acquire a more curious and analytical approach: the only real key to a better passive and active knowledge of idioms 60 Chapter CONCLUSION 5.1 Recapitulation This graduation thesis has presented the overview English idioms with their basic features and some previous studies relating to the research area Basing on the theoretical background and the data collection, an investigation into structural and semantic meaning of English Idioms denoting anger with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents has been conducted to give a detailed description of those English idioms After having a comparative analysis of structural and semamtic features of English idioms denoting “anger” to the Vietnamese equivalents the same time, a several similar and different ways of expression have been pointed out to help suggesting some possible implications for teaching and learning English idioms It is hoped that the content of the thesis, to some extent, could be practical and useful learning material for lecturers and learners, who start making acquaintance with English idioms, especially those anger-related idioms 5.2 Conclusion marks The previous chapters have presented and discussed some features of English idioms as well as different ways of classifying idioms in general and those of anger in particular Many similarities and differences in structure and meaning are drawn out after a long investigation of many idioms Here are some of the findings: - In terms of structure, there is something in common between English and Vietnamese idiom patterns The two languages have noun, adjective and verb phrases and sentence idioms What is more, simile is also used in idioms of both languages, which makes the language more alive and easier to 61 understand However, the way to divide English verb phrases is more detailed than that of Vietnamese ones Furthermore, while English idioms take morphology and some other changes as well as modification within idioms, Vietnamese ones not But it is the order of idiom components and rhymes that make Vietnamese idioms unique and interesting Structurally, the fixity of Vietnamese idioms is stronger than that of English; however, the order of components in Vietnamese idioms is much more flexible - In terms of semantic features, the two languages take lexical variability, but the most striking feature is that they bear some similarities when English and Vietnamese conceptualise the world in the same way The people in the two cultures see anger as hot fluid in a container, an explosion, fire and heat, etc There are some differences at the same time in metaphors and metonymies such as angry people are nonhuman animals, angry criticism is discharge of firearms or artillery, etc as they belong to the two different cultures and language systems 5.3 Limitation and suggestions for further studies This thesis has investigated English and Vietnamese idioms of anger in terms of structure and semantic features The author has subjectively drawn out some findings about the way and reasons English and Vietnamese express their anger The author has made a lot of efforts in this research project and also got much help from the supervisor, my teachers, friends and family However, for such a large topic as this, it requires much more effort, time and knowledge to cover; therefore, the study cannot avoid imperfection and limitation Though, for further research, the author hopes this study will be a useful reference material The following topics may be for further research: - A cross-cultural study on idioms of mood and feelings - A study on the application and adaptation of idioms on the mass media - A study on the creative use of idioms in advertising 62 REFERENCES In English 1) Cowie, A P., Mackin, R., McCaig, I R, 1994, Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms, Oxford University Press (Sd) 2) Carita Lundmark, 2002, The Creative Use of Idioms in Advertising, Lulea University of Technology 3) Collins Cobuild, 1995, Dictionary of Idioms 4) Della Summers, Karen Stern, 1998, Longman Dictionary of English Idioms, Longman 5) 6) Dictionary of Idioms, 1996, London: Longman Group Limited Fernando, C., 1998, Idioms and Idiomaticity Oxford: Oxford University 7) Hornby, A S., 1995, Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 8) Hornby, A S., Ashby, M., & Wehmeier, 2005, Oxford advanced learner's dictionary of current English (7th ed.) Oxford, [U.K.]: Oxford University Press (OALD) 9) Halliday, M A K, 1985, An Introduction to Functional Grammar London: Edward Arnold 10) Ilona Bilkova, 2000, Czech and English Idioms of Body Parts: A View from Cognitive Semantics, University of Glasgow 11) Jennifer Seidl and W McMordie, 1978, English Idioms and how to use them (4th edited), Oxford University Press 12) Johnson, Mark, 1987, The Body in the Mind: the Bodily Basis of Meaning, Imagination and 13) Reason Chicago: U of Chicago P 14) Lakoff, George, and Mark Johnson, 1980, Metaphors We Live By Chicago: U of Chicago P 63 15) Lakoff, George, 1993, “The Contemporary Theory of Metaphor”, Metaphor and Thought Ed A Ortony, 2nd ed Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 202-251 16) Maili Lei, 2006, Cultural Similarities and Differences Between English Idioms and Chinese Ones, US-China Foreign Language, ISS, July 2006, volume 4, No.7 (Serial No.34) 17) McCarthy, M and Walter, E., 1998, Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms, 18) Cambridge: Cambridge UP 19) McCarthy, M., O'Dell, F., 2003, English Idioms in Use, Cambridge 20) Moon, Rosamund, 1998, Fixed Expressions and Idioms in English, Oxford Clarendon Press 21) Nathalie Colin, 2005, English and Swedish Animal Idioms: A Study of Correspondence and Variation in Content and Expression 22) Seidl, Jennifer and McMordie, 2002, English Idioms, Fifth Edition, Oxford University Press, 1998.Kovecses, Z “Anger: Metaphor: a Practical Introduction Oxford: Oxford UP 23) Shie Jian-shiung, 2005, English Idioms of Anger: A Case study of Metaphor and Metonymy, Da-yeh University, Sun Yat-sen Journal of Humanities 20 24) Soukhanov, A H., 2000, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Boston: houghton Miffilin 25) Tim Ifill, 2002, Seeking the Nature of Idioms: A Study in Idiomatic Structure, Haverford College 26) Ye Jin, 2005, A Corpus – Based Study of Idioms in “Friends”, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan 40074, P.R.China 27) White Moon, R., 1998, ‘Vocabulary Connections: Multi-Word Items in English’, in N Schmitt and M J McCarthy (eds), Vocabulary: 64 Description, Acquisition and Pedagogy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press In Vietnamese 28) Hoàng Phê (chủ biên), 1994, Từ điển Tiếng việt Trung tâm từ điển học – Nhà xuất Khoa học xã hội 29) Hoàng Văn Hành, 1998, Kể chuyện thành ngữ, tục ngữ, Viện Ngôn ngữ học-Ủy ban KHXH, Nhà xuất khoa học xã hội 30) Lê Gia, -Từ điển thành ngữ Anh- Việt, NXB Khoa học Kỹ Thuật 31) Nguyễn Lực & Lương Văn Đang (1978) Thành ngữ Tiếng Việt Nxb Khoa học xã hội, Hà Nội 30) Nguyễn Như Ý (chủ biên), 1995, Từ điển giải thích thành ngữ tiếng việt, Viện ngơn ngữ học – TT KH xã hội nhân văn quốc gia, Nhà xuất giáo dục 31) Nguyễn Đức Tồn, 2000, Tìm hiểu đặc trưng ngơn ngữ văn hố tư người Việt, Đại học Quốc Gia 32) Trần Ngọc Thêm, 1999, Cơ sở văn hoá Việt Nam, Nhà xuất Giáo dục 33) Hội nhà văn Việt Nam, 2001, Giải thưởng Hồ Chí Minh- nhà văn, tác phẩm Internet web sites 34) http://doghause.com/idioms.asp 35) http://www.idiomconnection.com 36)http://www.noblepath.info/idioms_and_expressions/idioms_and_expressi ons.pdf 65 37) http://www.vi.wikiquote.org 38) http://www.tudienthanhngu.com 66 APPENDIX 100 ENGLISH IDIOMS OF ANGER FOR THE STUDY 1) 2) Add fuel to the fire Be beaten alive 51) 52) Point the finger at Pull/yank one’s chain 3) Be shot down in flame 53) Put/stick two fingers up at one 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) Bite one’s head off Blow a fuse Blow a gasket Blow/Flip one’s lid Breathe down one’s neck Breathe fire 10) Burst a blood vessel 11) Chew one’s ass 12) Climb the wall 54) Raise Cain 55) Raise one’s hackles 56) Reach boiling point 57) Rub one’s nose in it 58) Ruffle one’s feather 59) See red 60) Send one with away with a flea in one’s ear 61) Set one’s teeth on edge 62) Set/put the cat among the pigeons 63) Show one’s teeth 64) Smooth one’s ruffled feathers 65) Spit blood 66) Stick in one’s gullet/throat 67) Stroke one’s hair 68) Tear one off a strip 69) Throw up your arm 70) Touch/hit a nerve 71) Tread/step on one’s toes 72) Vent one’s spleen 73) Wash your mouth out 74) Wring one’s neck 13) Do a slow burn 14) Draw blood 15) Drive one mad 16) Drive one up the wall 17) Fan the flames 18) Foam at the mouth 19) Get all hot and bothered 20) Get in one’s hair 21) Get one’s goat 22) Get under one’s skin 23) Get up one’s nose 24) Give one hell 25) Give one the rough side of your tongue 26) Give/shoot one a dirty look 27) Gnash your teeth 28) Go ape 29) Go apeshit 30) Go ballistic 31) Go bananas 32) Go up in the air 75) A pain in the ass/butt/backside 76) 77) 78) 79) 80) 81) 82) A pain in the neck A rush of blood to the head A slap in the face A sore point/spot A storm/tempest in a teacup A tongue lashing Bad blood 67 33) Grate/get on one’s nerve 34) Have a bone to pick with one 35) Have a chip on one’s shoulder 36) Have a cow 37) Have a sharp tongue and a short fuse 38) Have kittens 39) Have/throw a fit 40) Hit the roof/ceiling 41) Jump down one’s throat 42) Kick one in the teeth 43) Let off steam 44) Look daggers at one 45) Look like thunder 46) Lose one’s head 47) Lose your temper 48) Make one’s blood boil 49) Make one’s hackles rise 50) Make sparks fly 83) 84) Hornet’s nest Smart-ass 85) Son of a bitch 86) The devil among the tailors 87) The devil to pay 88) 89) 90) 91) 92) 93) 94) 95) 96) 97) 98) 99) 100) Hot under the collar Tight-lipped At daggers drawn In the doghouse Like a bear with a sore head Like a red rag to a bull Like a tone of bricks Under one’s feet Up in arms If looks could kill One’s blood is up So-and-so’s name is mud The knives are out 68 APPENDIX VIETNAMESE IDIOMS OF ANGER FOR THE STUDY 1) 2) (Đồ) quỷ tha ma bắt Ăn tươi nuốt sống 3) Ăn xó mó niêu 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17) 18) 19) 20) 21) 22) 23) 24) 25) 26) 27) 28) 29) 30) 31) 32) 33) 34) Ba máu sáu Bầm gan nát ruột Bầm gan tím ruột Cạch mặt Cái gai mắt Căm gan tím ruột Cau cảu chó cắn ma Cau có nhà khó hết ăn Cáu gắt nhặng xị Cau mặt cau mày Cảu nhảu càu nhàu Cáu sườn Cáu tiết Cay ăn ớt Chặn họng Cháy ruột bầm gan Chọc tức Đá mèo quèo chó Đá thúng đụng nia Đâm bị thóc chọc bị gạo Đằng đằng sát khí Điên người Điên tiết Đồ ăn xó mó niêu Đồ ba que xỏ Đồ chó chết Đồ chó đẻ Đồ khốn kiếp Đồ mặt dày Đồ mặt mo Đồ mặt thớt 41) 42) 43) rấm 44) 45) 46) 47) 48) 49) 50) 51) 52) 53) 54) 55) 56) 57) 58) 59) 60) 61) 62) 63) 64) 65) 66) 67) 68) 69) 70) 71) 72) 73) 74) 69 Giận chồng đánh/mắng Giận chuột ném vỡ chum Giận bọ chó đốt đống Giận rận đốt áo Giận đằng đơng chém đằng gió Giận đắng giận cay Giận điên người Giận đông giận tây Giận lên giận xuống Giận tím mặt Lộn ruột, lộn gan Mắm mơi, mắm lợi Mắt dương mày nhíu Mặt nặng mày nhẹ Mặt xưng mày xỉa Miệng lưỡi cay đọc Nén giận Nghiến nghiến lợi Ngứa mắt Ngứa tai Ngứa tiết Nhìn đểu Nhổ vào mặt Nộ khí xung thiên Nói cho (giận) Nổi tam bành Nổi giận lơi đình Nóng Trương Phi Nuốt giận Phồng má trợn mày Phồng mang trợn mắt Sa mặt sầm mày Sôi máu Sôi tiết 35) 36) 37) 38) 39) 40) Đỏ mặt tía tai Đổ thêm dầu vào lửa Đồ/quân Gầm hổ đói Gắt mắm tơm Giận cá chém thớt 75) 76) 77) 78) 79) 80) 81) 70 Thâm gan tím ruột Thằng/đồ chó đẻ Tím gan Tím gan tím ruột Trêu ngươi/gan Trợn mắt nghiến Tức đấm ngực mà chết APPENDIX 29 CONSERVE IDIOMS IN VIETNAMESE 1- AXBY = BYAX Ăn tươi nuốt sống Bầm gan tím ruột Bầm gan rát ruột Đằng đằng sát khí Đỏ mặt tía tai Sa mặt sầm mày Tức ruột căm gan Thâm gan tím ruột Ba máu sáu 2- AXBY = AYBX Ăn tươi nuốt sống Bầm gan tím ruột Bầm gan rát ruột Phồng mang trợn mắt Mặt xưng mày xỉa Phồng má trợn mày Mặt nặng mày nhẹ Sa mặt sầm mày 3- AXAY = AYAX Cau mặt cau mày Giận đắng giận cay Giận lên giận xuống Nghiến nghiến lợi Giận đông giận tây Lộn ruột lộn gan Tím gan tím ruột Cháy ruột cháy gan 4- OTHERS Giận chồng đánh 71 Giận chồng mắng Đâm bị thóc chọc bị gạo Đá thúng đụng nia 72