A study on english idioms denoting fear with reference to the vietnamese equivalents

However, there has been hardly any research into the idioms expressing fear in English and Vietnamese in terms of culture and semantic features.. Aims of the research The thesis aims at

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNVERSITY

NGUYỄN THỊ THANH MAI

A STUDY ON ENGLISH IDIOMS DENOTING

"FEAR” WITH REFERENCE TO THE

VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS

NỖI SỢ HÃI TRONG SỰ LIÊN HỆ TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG VỚI TIẾNG VIỆT)

Field: English Language Code: 60220201

Hanoi, 2015

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNVERSITY

NGUYỄN THỊ THANH MAI

A STUDY ON ENGLISH IDIOMS DENOTING

“FEAR” WITH REFERENCE TO THE

VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS

NỖI SỢ HÃI TRONG SỰ LIÊN HỆ TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG VỚI TIẾNG VIỆT)

M.A THESIS

Field: English Language Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Dr Trần Thị Thu Hiền

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report

entitled A study on English idioms denoting “FEAR” with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of Master in English Language 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 Thanh Mai

Approved by SUPERVISOR

(Signature and full name)

Date:………

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all those who gave me the possibility to complete this thesis

First of all, I am deeply indebted to my beloved supervisor, Dr Trần

Thị Thu Hiền for the invaluable support, enthusiastic guidance, and

encouragement he gave me throughout my research I am truly grateful to her for his advice and suggestions right from the beginning when this study was only in its formative stage Without her untiring patience in reading the manuscript and clarifying my ideas, the thesis would have never been in the current shape

Secondly, I would like to give our thanks to all lectures of Postgraduate Faculty at Hanoi Open University for their valuable teaching and tremendous assistance that have enlightened my study path

Thirdly, I am also indebted to the field workers who were kind enough to tolerate the painstaking task of collecting the data Then my thanks also sent to my classmates at the Master Course Class who have taken time and trouble to alert me to errors in my thesis and provided me with useful data on which this thesis is based

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to family members whose support and encouragements have greatly contributed to the completion of

my study For my little experience and knowledge, I would like to receive more useful comments from lectures and others

of English idioms denoting fear has shown that English idioms denoting

fear mentions death, a number of others mention life/ live/living in expressing fear Besides that the use of white colour in English idioms can

be explained by their climate with cold weather and white snow Clearly, the climate not only helps build English people personality but also affect their language, particularly idioms denoting fear While in Vietnamese, fear appears more colourful with colours related to our daily life and planting agriculture Second, the comparison between English and Vietnamese idioms in terms of semantics has proposed that English

idioms use coldness as the main domain to denote fear while

Vietnamese ones use soul and spirit as the key domain together with agricultural country so daily images are used in idioms And the author also think s that the idiom is not only a particular semantic item - an important part of the language but also reflects the cultural characteristics

of each ethnic group Idioms are classified in different groups in which the

author chooses idioms of English idiomatic expressions denoting

“FEAR” to be my subjects as they occupy a significant role and have special structure, is an appropriate subject for a study contrastive

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 2.1 A Selection of Lists of “Basic” Emotion

Table 4.1: Brief description of the semantic features of English and

Vietnamese idioms denoting fear of human feelings

TABLE CONTENTS

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES iv

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale for the research 1

1.2 Aims of the research 2

1.3 Objectives of research 3

1.4 Scope of the research 3

1.5 Significance of the research 3

1.6 Structural organization of the thesis 4

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 Review of previous studies 6

2.2 Review of theoretical background 7

2.2.1 Theoretical framework 7

2.1.2 Theoretical background 8

2.1.2.1 Idioms 8

2.1.2.2 Idioms and other languages units 18

2.2.2.2 Human Emotions 22

2.3 Summary 26

Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY 27

3.1 Research-governing orientations 27

3.1.1 Research questions 27

3.1.2 Research setting 27

3.1.3 Research approaches 28

3.1.4 Criteria for intended data collection and data analysis 28

3.2 Research methods 29

3.2.1 Major methods versus supporting methods 29

3.2.2 Data collection techniques 29

3.2.3 Data analysis techniques 30

3.3 Summary 31

Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 33

4.1 Semantic features of English idioms denoting Fear with reference to Vietnamese equivalents 33

Table 4.1: Brief description of the semantic features of English and Vietnamese idioms denoting fear of human feelings 34

4.1.1 Similarities 35

4.1.1.1 Fear in the nature of coldness 36

4.1.1.2 Fear in using parts of body 37

4.1.2 Differences 38

4.1.2.1 Fear is soul and spirit leaving the body 39

4.1.2.2 Fear is a part of body 40

4.1.2.3 Fear in the feature of country 40

4.1.2.4 Fear is facing the death 41

4.1.2.5 Fear is mind-absence 41

4.2 Cultural features of English idioms denoting fear with reference to Vietnamese equivalents 42

4.2.1 Similarities 42

4.2.1.1 The reflection of religion 42

4.2.1.2 The reflection of social background 43

4.2.2 Differences 45

4.2.2.1 The point of view 45

4.1.1.2 The use of colour 45

4.3 Implications 47

4.3.1 General suggestions on teaching idioms 47

4.3.1.2 Word order in idioms 49

4.3.1.3 Idioms and sound patterns 49

4.3.2 A model lesson 50

4.3.2.1 Activity 1: Find someone who is afraid 50

4.3.2.2 Activity 2: Combining language and living skills 52

4.3.2.3 Longer lessons: Integrated skills 54

4.3 Summary 65

Chapter 5: CONCLUSIONS 66

5.1 Recapitulation 66

5.2 Concluding remarks 66

5.3 Limitations of the current research 67

5.4 Recommendations and suggestions for a further research 68

5.4.1 Recommendations 68

5.4.2 Suggestions for a further research 68

REFERENCES 69

BIBLIOGRAPHY 72

APPENDIX 1 73

APPENDIX 2 79

Chapter 1:

INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale for the research

Idioms have always attracted attention of linguists, although they were not given enough recognition in the past The new trends in English syntactic and semantic studies, however, have thrown a completely different light on these multi-word units with more or less unpredictable meanings Being regarded as something inherently linked with a successful acquisition

of a foreign language, idioms are of great importance in any language system With different levels of figurativeness they represent indispensable semantic elements that help any foreign language speaker sound more native and proficient It is obvious that different languages will have different idioms, both in structure and meaning Also the repertoire of idioms will vary from one person to another, depending on their social or intellectual background

Human feelings are very complicated as Fernando (1997; 12)

said “Emotions are internal and formless, language, in this case primarily

idioms signifying internal states through images, gives emotions from and

so empowers the language users to concretize the amorphous by bringing

use various means of language to express their different feelings such as joy, grief, sorrow, fear, anger … The idiom is one of the most popular means

used to express these human feelings in daily communication especially fear such as “hết hồn hết vía, sợ sái mất thần tài, nổi cả gai ốc” There have been some studies of fear by Nguyễn Thị Thủy (2010), of human

Hòa Bình (2005) However, there has been hardly any research into the

idioms expressing fear in English and Vietnamese in terms of culture and semantic features Let’s take the case of the idiom “chattering teeth” In

English, this idiom cannot be translated literally words by words into Vietnamese Meanwhile, this idiom is equivalent to such Vietnamese idiom

as “sợ run cầm cập” or longer explanation as “sợ răng va vào nhau cầm

difficulties and problems for learners of English and Vietnamese as a foreign language

In the process of learning and then teaching English as a foreign language, the author of this paper herself, has made mistakes some time when using English idiomatic expressions and translating them from English into Vietnamese In spite of the fact that there are various types of English idiomatic expressions denoting human being physical and mental conditions, those relating to emotion and feelings seem to be the most difficult and interesting However, it is due to the limitation of time

and requirement of a master thesis, just “A study on English idioms

denoting “FEAR ” with reference to the Vietnamese and equivalents”

could be taken into consideration

1.2 Aims of the research

The thesis aims at investigating the culture and semantic features of English idioms denoting FEAR with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents, thus suggesting some possible implications for learning English

- To find out similarities and differences in cultural features of English idioms denoting fear with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents

- To propose some implications for teaching and learning English idioms denoting fear

1.4 Scope of the research

There are a variety of English idiomatic expressions denoting human feelings However, due to the time allowance and limited knowledge, it is impossible to carry out a comprehensive study of all kinds of English idiomatic expressions Within the framework of a mater graduation thesis, English idiomatic expressions denoting fear with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents could be put under investigation of this thesis

This thesis mainly focuses on semantic features and cultural features

of English idioms denoting fears and their Vietnamese equivalents Other aspects are out of the scope of this study They, although can be found somewhere in this paper, are only meant to support of illustrate some arguments of the author

1.5 Significance of the research

The research is expected to contribute an in-depth description of

semantic features with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents, thus making

a certain contribution to help Vietnamese EFL learners to overcome difficulty in dealing with idioms denoting fear in particular and idioms in general

1.6 Structural organization of the thesis

The study is organized into five chapters: Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Findings and Discussion, and Conclusion

Chapter 1 - Introduction: presents the rationale to the study, aims and

objectives of the research, scope of the research, significance of the study and structure of the thesis

Chapter 2 - Literature Review: provides the readers with the

literature review of the research, which attempts to present the theoretical background including general understanding about language learning

process, an overview of English idiomatic expressions denoting “FEAR”

and Vietnamese and their equivalents

Chapter 3 - Methodology: describes the research methodology in

details and comprises the information of the subjects, instruments of data collection and methods of data analysis

Chapter 4 - Findings and Discussion: presents syntactic and semantic

features of English idiomatic expressions denoting FEAR with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents The features are accompanied by statistical results and the analysis of the data shown in the tables The later part of chapter 4 works with some implications for teaching and learning English idioms denoting fear

Chapter 5 - Conclusions: summarizes the thesis with concluding

remarks Also, the limitations of the study are presented with suggestions for further studies

Chapter 2:

LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Review of previous studies

So far, there have been some studies conducts to find out features and related aspects of idioms For example, in her research paper, Nguyen Thi Thu Hien (2013) studies syntactic and semantic features of idioms expressing anger in English and Vietnamese She analyses 400 idioms denoting

indicate the distinction between idioms meanings by native speakers of English and Vietnamese Syntactically, the classification of the data is mainly based on the different structural categories, namely: noun phrases, verb phrases, adjective phrases, prepositional phrases and adverbial phrases… The study focuses on “the basis of typical semantic and syntactic features of idioms expressing anger in both languages” (Nguyen Thi Thu Hien, 2013) With regard to the semantic results, the data reveal that the

meanings of all the collected anger idioms in English and Vietnamese could

be expressed through such means as metaphor, metonymy and symmetry Based on the functional grammar viewpoint, the author has investigated each semantic field based on superficial grammatical structures In the light

of this approach, idioms are analyzed in forms of phrasal structures and clause structures in relation to their semantic features The phrasal structures could be categorized into noun phrases, verb phrases, prepositional phrases and adverbial phrases Besides, idioms are also structured by clauses

Besides, Tran Ngoc Que Chau (2011) compares and contrasts idioms denoting family in English and Vietnamese in terms of syntax and semantics In the syntactic aspects, idioms in English and Vietnamese are analyzed under phrasal structures These structures are categorized into

noun phrases, verb phrases, adjective phrases and prepositional phrases Semantically, English and Vietnamese idioms denoting family in her study express their meaning through such means as metaphor, metonymy, hyperbole and symmetry

The author of this study finds that examining on idioms denoting fear

is interesting and worth-doing She, however, does not study the structural aspect of idioms but desires to look at idioms denoting fear in English and their Vietnamese equivalents in terms of their meaning and its cultural aspect She does hope that she can find out their similarities and differences

in semantic and cultural features, then on that basis propose some implications for teaching and learning idioms denoting fear in particular and English idioms in general

2.2 Review of theoretical background

2.2.1 Theoretical framework

There have been a number of writers making investigations into idioms with different points of view and objectives In English, there are some

famous ones being collected and written by researchers such as “The

the meaning, usage and appropriate contexts for each idiomatic phrase Nguyễn Lực, Lương Văn Đang (2009) are two authors who made a significant contribution in the field of Vietnamese idioms They

wrote “Thành ngữ Tiếng Việt” which is a collection of Vietnamese idioms

arranged in alphabetical order with clear explanations and examples extracted from Vietnamese novels, newspapers and magazines Moreover,

explains meanings of the most common idioms and proverbs in such simple, clear ways that learners can use this book for consulting and reference purposes

After that, it is the appearance of “Từ điển thành ngữ tục ngữ Việt

Nam” by Đặng Hồng Chương (2007), “1575 Thành ngữ - Tục ngữ cần bàn

various aspects of idioms have been carried out by Vietnamese researchers

Among the important approaches that look into the study of diverse idioms definition, distinctive features of English idioms, distinction between idioms, proverbs and some other terms: sayings, phrasal verbs, colloquialisms and so on These approaches give insights into understanding how certain English idiomatic expressions denoting FEAR with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents could be put under an investigation

According to the definition of Vietnamese Dictionary (Linguistics

Institute -1977) “ Thành ngữ là tập hợp những từ cố định quen dung mà

nghĩa của nó thường không thể giải thích được một cách đơn giản bằng

nghĩa của các từ tạo nên nó ” (An idiom is a set of expression whose

Examples: Rán sành ra mỡ

Sợ run như cầy sấy

Đâm ba chẻ củ

“An idiom, as Jonathan Crowth (1995) defines, is a phrase whose meaning

is difficult or sometimes impossible to guess by looking at the individual

Or an idiom can be defined as a number of words which when taken together, have a different meaning from the individual meaning of each word

Jackson, Amvela and Palmer(2000, p.66), share the similar viewpoint

on idiom definition, “an idiom may be defined as a phrase the meaning of

which cannot be predicted from the individual meanings of the morphemes

meaning cannot be inferred from the meanings of its parts It can be seen that there are two visible points in their statements First, an idiom is a phrase; second, its meaning is not simply the meanings of constituents making up the phrase Having the same point of view is Seidle and Mordie

(1978, p.8) who consider “an idiom is a number of words which, taken

shares the similar idea To take the definition by Collins (1995) to consider, an idiom is a special kind of phrase It is a group of words

have if the meaning of each word were taken individually […] idioms are typical metaphorical: they are effectively metaphors which have become

“fixed‟ or “fossilized‟ In his definition, there are two noticeable terms,

“typical metaphorical” and “fossilized” used to describe idioms

“Metaphorical‟ could be referred to figurative and non-literal characteristics

of idioms In the meanwhile, “fossilized” implies unchangeable property of idioms It can be seen from the definitions mentioned above; the linguists have defined idioms just in terms of their semantics and syntax

Idioms, like proverbs, are common sayings However, they usually do not make sense at first sight and do not offer any advice: “to blow one’s own trumpet”, which means, to praise oneself or boast…

So that, idioms are fixed expressions that are commonly used They are not complete sentences but words- An idiom is equal to a phrase

Idioms do not give comments, experience, a moral lesson, advice that made idiom aesthetic not educated, that is the reason why an idiom does not become a literary work- idioms belong to the language

An example of a Vietnamese idiom “ mặt xanh nanh vàng” or “mặt hoa

comment or advice or criticism Even though an idiom can be ornate and flowery (aesthetic function): so idioms do not bring about the full understanding about life and any lesson of the people’s relationship in the society (function of education and function of comprehension)

To sum up, an idiom is a phrase where the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definition of the individual words, which can make idiom hard for English learners to understand

b Distinctive features of English idioms

Analysis of the idioms in terms of definition simultaneously demonstrates some features of idioms Idioms should be treated as a special kind of every language They separate themselves from regular rules compared with other sorts of a language In other words, only in idioms the unacceptability in both meaning and form of a language could exist If a

sentence “she puts her money where her mouth is” immediately indicates the meaning via its words, it could be changed into passive voice “her

the same form of every form that could be changed into passive voice Agent – Action – Recipient, the form mentioned above must not be

employed in passive voice, otherwise, it looks odd Because, in fact “put

to be known as a fixed unit which does not permit any rearrangement of its elements Another aspect of idioms should be put into consideration is

semantics Whether the sentence he loses his wallet should be treated as having a meaning directly through words or an idiom denoting “losing a

That means idioms deal with pragmatics

b.1 Semantic features of English idioms

It is undoubted that meaning is the most important factor when talking about semantic feature of idioms Figurative meaning is the basic characteristic of idioms which helps to decide whether a fixed expression is

an idiom or not Here is an idiom to exemplify: “to take one’s medicine” (to accept something unpleasant, for instance, punishment, without protesting

or complaining) in Vietnamese we have “thuốc đắng dã tật, sự thật mất

However, the meaning of these idioms can be guessed from the meaning of their components The meaning of an idiom is either partly or completely different from the meaning of all components In case of any partial difference, their figurative meaning is not different from the literal

one The partly different ones are such as kill two birds with one stone, to

Besides, idioms can convey positive, neutral, or negative meanings For the first group, conveying positive meaning we have some examples

such as a fair godmother (a person who helps you unexpectedly when you most need help), the fruit(s) of something (the good result of an activity or a situation), be (all) plain sailing (be simple and free from trouble) The second group, examples of idioms expressing neutral meaning we have take

tell you in an indirect way), in somebody’s shoes (be in somebody’s position), bring something home to somebody (make somebody realize how

important, difficult or serious something is) And in the last group typical

examples of idioms with negative meanings are monkey business (dishonest

or silly behavior), a mummy’s boy (a boy or man who is thought to be too weak because he is influenced and controlled by his mother), a fair-

them, and stops being a friend when you are in trouble)

According to Johnson-Laird (1993: vii), idioms are illogical and

frustrating features of discourse since their meanings do not depend on

English idioms are not only extraordinary in terms of their syntax as analyzed but their semantics also

While Philip (2007) believes that the ease with which an idiom can

be interpreted is based on its level of semantic transparency as well as truth conditions and other contextual cues As regards the level of semantic transparency, an idiom varies from opacity to transparence An idiom is transparent if the expression is straightforwardly connected to its meaning,

without much semantic re-elaboration, for example mind/ watch your

in order not to upset or offend someone” at first sight At the contrary level

to transparence is opacity when there is arbitrariness between the idiom’s

expression and its meaning, for example, “call the shots” has nothing to

do with “be in control” since the relationship between them is unmotivated and the product of conventionalization In the view of Gill Philip, it is not easy to decide whether the idiom is transparent or not, as “it

is affected by the individual’s real-world knowledge, awareness of cultural norms, and general familiarity with the phrase”

Sharing the same points of view with Philip (1996), but Fernando makes it more concrete by classifying idioms and bringing out necessary

criteria accompanied with According to Fernando, in her book Idioms

classification of idioms into pure idioms, semi-idioms and literal idioms as follows:

Pure idioms are non-literal and conventionalized, therefore invariant, which means that the meaning is completely figurative The only way

to deduce the meaning of a pure idiom is to learn and memorize

For instance:

do a bunk means do a bunk with somebody"

It resists interruption by other words whether they are semantically compatible or not

Semi-idioms have at least one literal constituent sense and at least one non-literal constituent sense Thus invariance or permission of restricted variance in the structure occurs in this kind of idioms There will be a part of the idiom whose meaning can be referred Consider:

be accepted because it brings some benefit) “necessary” is the part that have the literal meaning “must be”

done by women, such as cleaning, cooking and taking care of the children)

Literal idioms have non-literal element in their meaning, are hence less complicated than pure idioms and semi-idioms, which means that the meaning will immediately be deduced from the meanings of every word Invariance and restriction on variance are found in literal idioms

For example:

Most English idioms are based on conceptual metaphor or metonymy, which is another salient feature of idioms and known as metaphoricity This feature explains for the case why the idiom is difficult

to be controlled and mastered The idiom cock-and-bull story is based on

metaphor, denoting a story that is unlikely to be true but is used as an explanation or excuse Sense of “a/ per head” is based on the metonymy, denoting “for each person”

In short, idioms can be motivated, partially – motivated and non –motivated Also, idiomatic expressions can convey positive, neutral, or negative meanings

b.2 Cultural features of idioms

Culture and language are means of collective co-existence and social practice kept in the memory of the society that is created by the people during the centuries Cultural awareness helps people to become more understanding and tolerant of behaviors which are different from their own

Difference between cultures causes some misunderstandings in the interactive communications between a foreigner and a native-speaker Millions of people travel around the world and they all need to communicate in some way They need to acquire not only linguistic competence but cultural awareness as well Cross-cultural investigations can provide materials that assist language learners to deal with the problems of unknown environments The native speaker puts in language his world vision, mentality, and the relation to other people in cross-cultural dialogue, and the non-native speaker receives that vision “It is clear that there is a difference between the native and the non-native speakers’ focus when they evaluate an oral discourse The former focuses on the vocabulary related to the cultural and social factors On the other hand, the latter lacks the ability

to consider such factors This is one of the major problems of the non-native

speakers both at production and comprehension level (Kenan Dikilitaş, 2012)

Language and culture exist in each individual person That individual

is a thinker, a creator, a transmitter of the culture, he is the part of the society, and he uses the language for communication with other members of this society where he is supposed to be understood as they belong to the same community But the indispensable condition of realization of any communication is that a speaker and a listener should have a mutual knowledge of realities or the background knowledge as a basis of a language interaction to understand each other A “Language world picture” gives a non-native speaker the opportunity to realize the implicit meaning of the vocabulary through explicit meaning, to understand cumulated unconscious cultural information via background knowledge, to investigate cultural values via communicative process, to synthesize interrelation and interaction of the culture and the language

Special interest should be drawn to idioms which are the most difficult items of language If one can use them correctly in the communication, like native speakers, we say definitely that one’s English is fluent The lingua-cultural approach in teaching phraseology aspires to be approached to reality; it is focused on the maximum explication of processes which occur in the reproduction and perception of the English idioms

It can be stated that idioms should be viewed as a cultural-based language unit Obviously, an idiom most often reflects the national specificity of the people It is a figurative interpretation of reality and an emotional model of communication Idioms are highly interactive items They are strong and colorful examples of cross-cultural relations The source of their origin is sometimes difficult to ascertain They are firmly

assimilated in various languages and have become part and the whole of these cultures The main difficulty is whether an idiom is appropriate in the given context when a non-native speaker tries to translate an idiom from his native language into English It may confuse a listener The problem is often one of collocation, which is a central characteristic of the language in use The way native speakers use English in the real world is largely idiomatic and it assumes that a fluent non-native speaker should be similarly idiomatic When even very good learners of the language speak or write English, the effect is slightly odd Since idioms evaluate the whole narrative summarizing the main events or opinion, a native speakers’ unconscious knowledge of collocation is an essential component of their idiomatic and fluent language use and is, therefore, an important part of their communicative competence

A large number of idioms are of folk origin; however, there are huge numbers of the biblical, mythological and author-specific idioms Knowing culture, literature and traditions of different nationalities will help the language learner to communicate with a native speaker adequately In this way, an idiom is the key, which enables people to open the gate of the national culture, history, traditions and beliefs of different people

Prodromoure (2003: 42) marks that the love of puns and wordplay, often based on idiomatic sayings, is a common feature of a native speaker:

“What is striking about informal uses of English is not only how common the idiom principle is, but just how common creativity with idioms is among native-speakers” Indeed, the need for greater idiomatic competence is precisely what linguists propose for the non-native speaker

2.1.2.2 Idioms and other languages units

a Idioms and proverbs

The boundary between idioms and proverbs is sometimes ambiguous and a perfect solution is hardly possible In general, we could put them in separate groups as follows:

- Proverbs are a short saying expressing popular wisdom, a truth or a moral lesson in a concise and imaginary way,

E.g He laughs best who laughs last

Two heads are better than one

Proverbs have largely originated from the traditional and collective wisdom of mandkind, by way of examples

experience of woodcutters in olden times

housewives in mending clothes

Many English proverbs owe their origin to the Bible, e.g: A soft answer

turned away wrath

In addition to the Bible, several proverbs are believed to have their origin in the works of William Shakespeare, it is difficult to be certain whether these proverbs were truly invented by Shakespeare or they were already in existence before or around his time Some examples follow:

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet (from Romeo and Juliet)

Some English proverbs have their origin in other languages like French, Latin and Spanish The English versions may have developed in

parallel, or been borrowed from other languages For instance: “he gives twice

proverbs, have not been translated and are even today more popular in their original form, they can be readily recognized to have been borrowed from another language

Take a look at some examples:

Like English proverbs, Vietnamese proverbs are also created naturally through the peasants’ life They are transferred from generation to generation

by the oral way Some proverbs were written by intellectuals, writers, poets, and famous men Because of particular reasons, proverbs were widely

propagated in the community, examples: “ngày vui ngắn chẳng tày gang”,

“có tài mà cậy chi tài, chữ tài liền với chữ tai một vần”… They are in the

Kiều story by Nguyễn Du, are widely used as proverbs Some proverbs are

borrowed from other countries like Chinese proverb: “họ hàng xa không bằng

láng giềng gần” (viễn thân bất như cận lân), French: “mèo đi rồi chuột nhảy múa”(le chat parti les souris dansent), Rusian: “mèo vắng nhà chuột tự do” (кошки даром мыши), German: “phần đầu xuôi thì phần đuôi mới lọt”

Proverbs are also set expressions because their lexical components are constant and stable Their meanings are usually figurative and they are ready-made as well Proverbs, therefore, must be studied together with other set expressions

the fact that their meaning cannot easily be deduced from their components

b Idioms and collocations

The term collocation is defined as sequences of lexical items which habitually co-occur, which are nonetheless fully transparent in the sense that each lexical constituent is also a semantic constituent

The term collocation in linguistics is used to refer to sequences of lexical items which habitually co-occur, but which are nonetheless fully transparent in the sense that each lexical constituent is also a semantic constituent Such expressions as fine weather, torrential rain, high winds are examples of collocations Collocations are different form idioms; nonetheless, they do have a kind of semantic cohesion – the constituents elements are, to varying degrees, mutually selective The semantic integrity

or cohesion of a collocation is the more marked if the meaning carried by one (or more) of its constituent elements is highly restricted contextually, and different from its meaning in more neutral contexts Consider the case

of heavy in heavy drinker This sense of heavy requires fairly narrowly defined contextual conditions: one may speak of a heavy smoker, or a heavy drug-user, a car may be heavy on petrol, etc For this sense of heavy

to be selected, the notion of "consumption" as the immediate environment seems to be a prerequisite Collocations like foot the bill, whose constituents do not like to be separated, may be termed bound collocations Although they display some of the characteristic properties of idioms, bound collocations are nevertheless lexically complex

However, the borderline between collocations and idioms is not truly clear because they are both syntactic phrases that collocate habitually and exhibit a high degree of fixedness and they have some features in common

c Idioms and clichés

Cliché refers to an expression that has been overused to the extent that

it loses its original meaning or novelty A cliché may also refer to actions and events which are predictable because of some previous events

All examples of Cliché are expressions that were once new and fresh They won popularity in public and hence have been used so extensively that such expressions now sound boring and at times irritable due to the fact that

they have lost their original color For instance, the phrase “as red as a

rose” must have been a fresh and innovative expression at some point in time but today it is considered universally as a cliché and does not sound good to be used in everyday formal writing

Clichés are quotations or sayings that are so frequently used that they have become hackneyed and stable As they are constantly and mechanically repeated they have lost their expressiveness and are therefore better avoided

Take an example: Stand shoulder to shoulder with

Having dealt with the terms above it can be noted “sayings and expressions units are general terms”

2.2.2.2 Human Emotions

a Concepts of human emotions

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (7th edition) proposes that

Thus, finding out the definition of human feelings means exploration of human emotions In fact, it is not easy to define emotion specifically since emotion is the synthesis of many aspects in which the changes in body state is the biggest obstacle as one has his own personal state

Encyclopedia online views that “the emotions are generally understood as

representing a synthesis of subjective experience, expressive behavior, and

detailed by giving the criteria The author proposes that “a complete

definition of emotion must take into account all three of these aspects or components: (i) the experience or conscious feeling of emotion, (ii) the processes that occur in the brain and nervous system, and (iii) the

Of the ideas of emotion, one that briefly indicates that "the word emotion includes a broad repertoire of perceptions, expressions of feelings and

bodily changes." (Library.thinkquest.org) is easily acceptable

b Classifications of human emotions

Human emotion is an abstract field, complex and cannot be made specific as it is concerned with human state; it is thus not easy to be defined That explains for the fact that the theorists of psychology have met a great deal of difficulty to have an exact classification of

human emotions into categories Each psychologist proposes a different classification of human emotions when he considers human emotions from different perspectives Parrot (2001) classifies emotions into primary emotion, secondary emotion and tertiary emotion Noticeably, the primary emotions are subdivided into six ones Ekman, Friesen, and Ellsworth (1982) base on face expressions that are similar across cultures in order to classify human emotions into six basic ones Plutchik (1980), emotions can

be classified into eight basic human emotions which have their opposite emotion and grouped into four pairs of opposites James (1884) classifies emotions into four ones which are based on the physiological response to the event While, as for Watson (1936) proposes three fundamental emotions of humans

These classifications are shown in the bel ow table by Ortony and Turner (1990), which demonstrates the theorists and their classification of the basic human emotions It can be seen from the following table:

Reference Fundamental Emotions

Arnold(1960)

Anger, aversion, courage, dejection,

desire, despair, fear, hate, hope, love,

sadness Ekman, Friesen, & Ellsworth

(1982)

Anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness,

surprise Frijda (personal communication,

Anger, contempt, disgust, distress,

fear, guilt, interest, joy, shame, surprise

James (1884) Fear, grief, love, rage

McDougall (1926) Anger, disgust, elation, fear,

subjection, tender-emotion, wonder

Oatley and Johnson-Laird

(1987)

Anger, disgust, anxiety, happiness,

sadness Panksepp (1982) Expectancy, fear, rage, panic

Plutchik (1980)

Acceptance, anger, anticipation,

disgust, joy, fear, sadness, surprise

Tomkins (1984)

Anger, interest, contempt, disgust,

distress, fear, joy, shame, surprise

Watson (1930) Fear, love, rage

Weiner and Graham (1984) Happiness, sadness

Table 2.1: List of “basic” emotions

c Concept of fear

Fear is an emotion induced by a threat perceived by living entities,

which causes a change in brain and organ function and ultimately a change

in behavior, such as running away, hiding or freezing from traumatic events Fear may occur in response to a specific stimulus happening in the present,

or to a future situation, which is perceived as risk to health or life, status, power, security, or, in the case of humans, wealth or anything held valuable The fear response arises from the perception of danger leading to confrontation with or escape from/avoiding the threat (also known as the fight-or-flight response), which in extreme cases of fear (horror and terror) can be a freeze response or paralysis

In humans and animals, fear is modulated by the process

of cognition and learning Thus fear is judged as rational or appropriate and irrational or inappropriate An irrational fear is called a phobia

Psychologists such as John B Watson, Robert Plutchik, and Paul Ekman (1982) have suggested that there is only a small set of basic or innate emotions and that fear is one of them This hypothesized set includes such emotions as joy, sadness, fright, dread, horror, panic, anxiety, acute stress reaction and anger

Fear is closely related to, but should be distinguished from, the emotion "anxiety", which occurs as the result of threats that are perceived to

be uncontrollable or unavoidable

The fear response serves survival by generating appropriate behavioral responses, so it has been preserved throughout evolution

2.3 Summary

In brief, this chapter has reviewed previous studies relating to the research area and theoretical background that is employed for conducting the whole graduation thesis Regarding the theoretical framework, the theory relating to semantic and culture has been used as a foundation for analyzing semantic and culture features of English idioms denoting fear with reference

to the Vietnamese equivalents In terms of theoretical background, all aspects relating to idioms such as definition, features, classification have been indicated After the data collection had been done, all idioms denoting fear were classified according to the categories of meanings created exclusively for the thesis The following chapters will provide a more detailed description

of the methodology used for the idioms denoting fear analysis so as to point out specific semantic and cultural features of English idioms denoting fear with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents Though they are different in the number of categories, both have own specific forms

The review of literature dealt with so far holds a significant importance in terms of providing the solid theoretical background for as well as setting up the analytical framework for the data collection procedure

in the following part of thesis

Chapter 3:

METHODOLOGY

This chapter is done to show the orientations and methods that are employed to conduct the whole research It comprises of two main parts: (i) research-governing orientations and (ii) research methods

3.1 Research-governing orientations

3.1.1 Research questions

As it has been stated, the thesis was carried out in order to gain insights into the semantic and syntactic features of English idioms denoting FEAR with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents It was designed in an attempt

to seek answers to the following questions:

- What are the similarities and differences in terms of semantic aspects

of English idioms denoting fear with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents?

- What are the similarities and differences in terms of cultural aspects

of English idioms denoting fear with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents?

- What are the implications for teaching and learning English idioms denoting fear?

3.1.2 Research setting

English idioms can be made anytime or any situations not only in direct conversation, but also indirect ones The feeling and emotion are that they can represent anything It is a stand-in for what we make when dealing

working as a teacher of English, the author found that the learners there have

to meet big difficulty in using English, especially when they use idioms in English, they find it hard to use them correctly

In this paper, English idioms related fear are treated as “idioms

including books, dictionaries, websites and some other literature works After being collected, these idioms are reviewed, selected and categorized literally and figuratively to serve the tasks of analyzing and comparing in the later part

of the thesis

3.1.3 Research approaches

The research describes and compare the semantic and cultural features of idioms denoting fear in English and their Vietnamese equivalents In order to achieve the aims and objectives of the study, the descriptive and comparative methods are employed accompanied with both qualitative and quantitative approaches Besides, in the particular case of this thesis, English idioms denoting fear and its Vietnamese equivalents can also be approached from the point of translating idioms in literary text (translation approach)

It should be noted that in the contrastive approach, idioms collected

in English are compared with its equivalents in Vietnamese with the focus being placed on the mutual equivalence and language interference

3.1.4 Criteria for intended data collection and data analysis

The selective material related to making mistakes in conversations plays a crucial role in terms of supplement data for the research The English

idioms denoting fear for the research have been collected from the most trusted sources

Firstly, the following books and dictionaries which are concerned with idioms are collected and studied to gather necessary knowledge Main materials are Oxford Idioms (2010), Từ Điển Thành Ngữ Anh- Anh-Việt (2004), Thành Ngữ Tiếng Việt (2009), Từ Điển Thành Ngữ và Tục Ngữ Việt Nam (2008), Từ Điển Thành Ngữ và Tục Ngữ Việt Nam (2006)

Moreover, prestigious and reliable websites with a huge source of idioms are also made use of including En.wikipedia.org, News.google.com, Books.google.com and www.learn-english-today.com

Last but not least, previous theses in linguistics and literature words which are involved in the content of the study are also collected to grab related information

3.2 Research methods

3.2.1 Major methods versus supporting methods

As mentioned above, the study is an effort to describe the semantic and cultural features of English idioms denoting fear thus descriptive method seems to be the most suitable methodology for the study In addition, such methods as analytic, comparative and contrastive are also utilized to describe and analyze, to compare and contrast the database so as to bring out the causes of making mistakes when using idioms in conversations

3.2.2 Data collection techniques

As mentioned previously, idioms, after being collected from

alphabetical order to be followed with ease Data from some stories and novels are also an input

Details of data collection procedures and analysis are as follows:

- Collecting English idioms denoting fear and their Vietnamese equivalents from stated sources

- Selecting these idioms and equivalents literally, figuratively and organized them in alphabetical order

- Analyzing and finding out cultural features of English idioms denoting fear and their Vietnamese equivalents

- Analyzing and finding out semantic features of English idioms denoting fear and their Vietnamese equivalents

- Identifying similarities and differences between English idioms denoting fear and their Vietnamese equivalents with regard to culture and semantic features

3.2.3 Data analysis techniques

After being collected, the data was analyzed using descriptive method The findings were mainly based on frequency distribution The overview of results in each datum was recorded in table containing numbers of idioms in English and the equivalent percentage The results were transcribed into, tables and figures Afterwards, the researcher analyzed, compared and contrasted the English idioms and Vietnamese equivalents so as to find out why there are mistakes in using idioms in communication on this site

Last of all, with the collected data, the researcher analyzed and synthesized all the data to find out the answer for the three research questions Some considerations about free access and privacy matters should be taken into account Although the access of these sites is free, no

authentic private information is published in the examples provided in this study Private personal information in the study has been modified, but keeping similarities with the original as a proof of the authenticity of the written words

The steps of data analysis include:

- Placing information into arrays

- Creating matrices of categories

- Creating flow charts

- Tabulating frequency of events

- Looking at the data in many different ways to avoid premature conclusions

- Dividing the data by type across all cases investigated

- Treating the evidence fairly to produce analytic conclusions answering the research questions

3.3 Summary

The purpose of this chapter is to describe the research methodology of this study, explain the sample selection, describe the procedure used in collecting data and provide an explanation of the statistical procedures used

to analyze the data Besides, major methods, supporting methods and techniques used in this study have been presented

In term of reliability, the data collected for this study were chosen from reliable sources In addition, any information quoted in this study is exactly the same as the original materials with clear references of its author(s), the name of publishers, the time and place of publication as well

as the page numbers where the information is extracted Moreover, the