DANG THI THANH HUONG MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNVERSITY AN INVESTIGATION INTO ENGLISH IDIOMS RELATING TO FRUIT WITH REFERENCE TO THE ENGLISH LINGUIAGE VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS ( NGHIÊN CỨU CÁC THÀNH NGỮ TIẾNG ANH VỀ TRÁI CÂY TRONG SỰ LIÊN HỆ TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG VỚI TIẾNG VIỆT ) DANG THI THANH HUONG 2013 - 2015 Hanoi, 2016 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNVERSITY M.A THESIS AN INVESTIGATION INTO ENGLISH IDIOMS RELATING TO FRUIT WITH REFERENCE TO THE VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS (NGHIÊN CỨU CÁC THÀNH NGỮ TIẾNG ANH VỀ TRÁI CÂY TRONG SỰ LIÊN HỆ TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG VỚI TIẾNG VIỆT ) DANG THI THANH HUONG Field: English Language Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Dr.Nguyen Thi Van Dong Hanoi, 2016 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled a study on English idioms relating to fruit 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, 2016 Dang Thi Thanh Huong Approved by SUPERVISOR (Signature and full name) Date:…………………… i 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 Nguyen Thi Van Dong 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 ii ABSTRACT Idioms are used regularly and naturally in everyday communication, however, the inner meaning of the concept of idioms is still unclear to a lot of people Therefore, the author thinks a study on the subject of idioms in Vietnamese and English is helpful for improving the knowledge of language learners, as well as the students learning English in general In the study the author finds out that a semantic and syntactic analysis of English and Vietnamese idioms relating to fruit has shown that English and Vietnamese idioms relating to fruit mention appearance, moods and feelings, love affairs and relationship, success or failure Besides that the use of English and Vietnamese idioms can be explained behavior, attitude, activity and action, advantageous or disadvantageous situation, poverty, geography Although idioms are classified in different groups in which the author chooses semantic and syntactic of English idioms relating to fruit with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents to be my subjects as they occupy a significant role and have special structure, is an appropriate subject for a study contrastive Besides that, the survey in the form of questionnaire carried out by 60 students in the First year students at University of Economics and Technical Industries is to find out the command mistakes in using Fruit idioms in English Finally, some implications for teaching and learning of English at University of Economics and Technical Industries were suggested iii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 4.1: Brief description of the semantic features of English and Vietnamese idioms relating to fruit Table 4.2.1: Syntactic features of idioms relating to fruit express appearance in English and Vietnamese Table 4.2.2: Syntactic features of idioms relating to fruit express moods and feelings in English and Vietnamese Table 4.2.3: Syntactic features of idioms relating to fruit express love affairs/ relationship in English and Vietnamese Table 4.2.4:Syntactic features of idioms relating to fruit express success/failure in English and Vietnamese Table 4.2.5: Syntactic features of idioms relating to fruit express behavior/ attitude/ activity/ action in English and Vietnamese Table 4.2.6:Syntactic features of idioms relating to fruit express advantageous/ disadvantageous situation in English and Vietnamese Table 4.2.7: Syntactic features of idioms relating to fruit express poverty in English and Vietnamese Table 4.2.8: Syntactic features of idioms relating to fruit express geography in English and Vietnamese Table 4.2.9: Statistical summary of syntactic features of idioms in English and Vietnamese iv Table of Contents CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES iv Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale for the research 1.2 Aims of the research 1.3 Objectives of research 1.4 Scope of the research 1.5 Significance of the research 1.6 Structural organization of the thesis Chapter LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Review of previous studies 2.2 Review of theoretical background 2.2.1 Theoretical framework 2.1.2 Theoretical background 2.1.2.1.Idioms a Concept of idioms b Distinctive features of English idioms 10 2.1.2.2 Idioms and other languages units 18 a Idioms and proverbs 18 b Idioms and collocations 20 v c Idioms and clichés 21 d Idioms Relating to Fruit 22 2.3 Overview of phrase structures 22 2.3.1 Verb Phrases 22 2.3.2 Noun Phrases 23 2.3.3 Prepositional Phrases 23 2.3.4 Adjective Phrases 23 2.4 Summary 23 Chapter 3: 25 METHODOLOGY 25 3.1 Research-governing orientations 25 3.1.1 Research questions 25 3.1.2 Research setting 26 3.1.3 Research approaches 26 3.1.4 Criteria for intended data collection and data analysis 27 3.2 Research methods 27 3.2.1 Major methods versus supporting methods 27 3.2.2 Data collection techniques 28 3.2.3 Data analysis techniques 28 3.3 Summary 29 Chapter 4: 31 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 31 4.1 Semantic features of idioms relating to fruit in English and in Vietnamese 31 4.1.1 Similarities 35 4.1.1 Differences 36 vi 4.2 Syntactic features of idioms relating to fruit in English and in Vietnamese 41 4.2.1 Syntactic features of idioms relating to fruit express appearance in English and Vietnamese 41 4.2.2 Syntactic features of idioms relating to fruit express moods and feelings 41 4.2.3 Syntactic features of idioms relating to fruit express love affairs/ relationship 42 4.2.4 Syntactic features of idioms relating to fruit express success/ failure 43 4.2.5 Syntactic features of idioms relating to fruit expressing behavior/ attitude/ activity/ action 43 4.2.6 Syntactic features of idioms relating to fruit expressing advantageous/ disadvantageous situation……………………………………………………44 4.2.7 Syntactic features of idioms relating to fruit express poverty 44 4.2.8 Syntactic features of idioms relating to fruit express geography 45 4.2.9 A statistic summary of syntactic features of idioms relating to fruit in English and Vietnamese 45 4.3 Similarities and differences in syntactic features of idioms relating to fruit 46 4.3.1 Similarities 46 4.3.2 Differences 47 4.4 Implications 48 4.4.1 General suggestions on teaching idioms 48 4.4.1.1 Cultural differences 50 4.4.1.2 Word order in idioms 50 4.4.1.3 Idioms and sound patterns 51 vii 4.5 Summary 51 Chapter 5: 53 CONCLUSIONS 53 5.1 Recapitulation 53 5.2 Concluding remarks 53 5.3 Limitations of the current research 54 5.4 Recommendations and suggestions for a further research 55 5.4.1 Recommendations 55 5.4.2 Suggestions for a further research 56 BIOGRAPHY 60 APPENDIX 61 viii poverty, geography Moreover, the meaning of all idioms in data collection is expressed through semantic transfer devices such as metaphor and simile - In term of syntax, English and Vietnamese Idioms relating to fruit are analyzed under phrasal structures such as noun phrase, verb phrase, adjective phrase, adverb phrase and prepositional phrase In the limit of collected corpus, the number of noun phrases is the most popular in the total of English Idioms relating to fruit whereas verb phrases occupy the biggest number in Vietnamese Idioms relating to fruit Besides, English and Vietnamese Idioms relating to fruit tend to be in symmetry structures, comparative structures and metaphorically descriptive structures - Idioms arrests linguistics’ attention not only in semantic and syntactic features but also in implied cultural characteristics of English and Vietnamese Idioms relating to fruit based on the similarities and differences of semantic and syntactic features of Idioms relating to fruit in both languages - It is recommended that in teaching English idioms in general and idioms relating to fruit in particular, teachers should mind the cultural differences, word order in idioms and idioms and their sound patterns 5.3 Limitations of the current research The study has investigated idioms of fruit in terms of its linguistic aspect However, the application of the findings into teaching and translation has not given Besides, there is possibly shortage of idioms in the process of collecting data This may result in some mistakes in the study 54 Due to the time and knowledge constraints, the thesis cannot deal with all aspects and all fields of idioms relating to fruit in English and Vietnamese in more details In spite of the fact that the author has tried her best to search for necessary materials, there could leave the possibility that the following shortcomings cannot be avoidable Moreover, the sources of samples are limited in specific aim of the thesis Besides, due to the limited sources of examples serving as the data for the study, some parts of the study have not accomplished a satisfactory depth as they should For these reasons, this study cannot cover all features of idioms relating to fruit such as the pragmatic features of these idioms 5.4 Recommendations and suggestions for a further research 5.4.1 Recommendations Other researchers who also delve into the English language on Idioms may further look into the issue from different angles First of all, if time allows, other kinds of idioms in many fields related to idioms relating to fruit may be investigated in this study Secondly, an obvious limitation of this study is the lack of idiom sources A total of 90 idioms in Vietnamese and English idioms in my survey did not provide enough data to compare to the English demographic Future researchers should make an effort to gather more data from many different sources and compare the two demographics Finally, this study has been completed only in terms of linguistics field Besides, designing tasks and exercises based on forms and meanings 55 of idioms relating to fruit to teach is necessary, which isn’t involved in methodology field 5.4.2 Suggestions for a further research This thesis has focused only on studying the semantic and syntactic features of idioms relating to fruit in English and Vietnamese Through the time of carrying out the study, there are also some proposals for next studies Therefore, there are still some aspects related to this problem left for further researches: - Study semantic and syntactic features of proverbs relating to fruit in English and Vietnamese - Study pragmatic features of idioms relating to fruit in English and Vietnamese 56 REFERENCES VIETNAMESE Đặng Hồng Chương, (2007), Từ điển thành ngữ tục ngữ Việt Nam, Nxb Văn hóa thơng tin , Hà Nội Đặng Hồng Quân, (2016), Thành Ngữ Tục Ngữ Việt Nam Chọn Lọc, Nxb Hội nhà văn, Hà Nội Lã Thành , (1995),Từ Điển Thành Ngữ Anh Việt, Nxb Khoa học Kỹ thuật, Hà Nội Lê Gia ,(2009), 1575 Thành ngữ - Tục ngữ cần bàn thêm, Nxb Văn nghệ Mai Ngọc Chừ, Vũ Đức Nghiệu & Hồng Trọng Phiến ,(1997), Cơ sở ngơn ngữ học tiếng Việt, NXB Giáo dục Nguyễn Như Ý , ( 1996) , Từ điển thành ngữ học sinh, NXB Giáo dục Nguyễn Thiện Giáp, (1985), Từ vựng học tiếng Việt, Nxb Đại học Trung tâm Khoa học Xã hội Nhân văn Quốc gia Nguyễn Trần Trụ , (2008), Thành ngữ tục ngữ lược giải, Nxb Văn hóa thơng tin , Hà Nội Phan Ngọc, (2002), Thử xét văn hóa - văn học ngôn ngữ học, Trung tâm Khoa học Xã hội Nhân văn Quốc gia 10 Phan Thi My Hanh ( 2011) A study on English and VietNamese idioms relating to spiritual life Retrieved from http://text.xemtailieu.com/tai-lieu/astudy-on-english-and-vietnamese-idioms-relating-to-spiritual-life-548477 11 Tran Ngoc Que Chau( 2011) A study of idioms relating family in English and Vietnamese Retrieved from http://f.123doc.org/794776-a-study-ofidioms-relating-family-in-english-and-vietnamese 12 Vĩnh Bá, (2005), Từ Điển Thành Ngữ Tiếng Anh, Nxb Từ điển Bách Khoa, Hà Nội 57 ENGLISH Collins, H (2000) Collins Cobuild Dictionary of Idioms Harper Collins Publishers, London Cowie A, P., Mackin R and McCaig I, R (1975) Oxford dictionary of current idiomatic English Oxford University Press, London Di Sciullo A M and Williams , E (1987) On the definition of word The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA Fernando, C (1997) Idioms and Idiomaticity Oxford University Press, Oxford Glucksberg , S (2001) Understanding Figurative Language Oxford University Press, Oxford Gourou, P ( 1951) Insects as Human Food: A Chapter of the Ecology of Man Hewpew University ,Jerusaleym Jackson, H and Amvela, E (2000, p.66) An Introduction to Modern English Lexicology Howard Jackson,Etienne Zé Amvela Jackson, H and Amvela E, Z (2000) Words, Meanings and Vocabulary London Cassell, London Johnson, L (1993) Bilingual Figurative Language Processing Cambridge University Press, New York 10.Kenan Dikilitaş (2012) Lingua-cultural approach to teaching english idioms to georgian students Available at http://www.nebrija.com/revistalinguistica/lingua-cultural-approach-to-teaching-english-idioms-togeorgian-students 11 Kovecses, Z (2003) Metaphor and emotion: language, culture, and body in human feeling Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 58 12 Ortony, A and Turner T J (1990) What's basic about basic emotions? Psychological Review Retrieved from En.wikipedia.org 13 Oxford University Press (2006) Oxford Idioms London 14 Palmer, C (1990) Defining New Idioms and Alternative Forms of Expression, Eckhard Breitinger 15 Quirk, R S and Svartvik.(1985) A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language London 16 Seidl, J and Mordie W Mc (1978) English idioms and how to use them Oxford University Press, Oxford 17 Seidle, J.and Mordie, Mc (1978) English Idioms Oxford University Press, London 18 Turnbull et al Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary: International Student’s Edition Oxford University Press, Oxford 59 BIBLIOGRAPHY Oxford Dictionary of Idioms(2010), Từ Điển Thành Ngữ Anh-Anh-Việt (2004), Thành Ngữ Tiếng Việt (2009), Từ Điển Thành Ngữ Tục Ngữ Việt Nam (2008), Từ Điển Thành Ngữ Tục Ngữ Việt Nam (2006); En.wikipedia.org, News.google.com Books.google.com www.learn-english-today.com 60 APPENDIX ENGLISH IDIOMS OF FRUIT A banana republic A bite of the cherry A fig leaf A real peach A second bite at the cherry A tough nut to crack Adam apple An apple polisher Apple never fall far from tree 10 Apple of discord 11 Apple of one’s eyes 12 Apple of Sodom 13 As American as apple pie 14 As red as cherry 15 As round as an apple 16 As round as an orange, 17 As sure as God made little apples 18 Bad apple 19 Be a huckleberry above a persimmon 20 Be a peach 21 Be worth a fig 61 22 Bear fruit 23 Belt the grape 24 Big apple 25 Blow a raspberry 26 Blow a strawberry 27 Bowl of cherries 28 Bust a nut 29 Buy a lemon 30 Cherry on top 31 Cherry-pick something chon ki 32 Compare apples and oranges 33 Cut your peaches 34 Dead sea apple 35 Desert cherry 36 Do me a lemon 37 Down to chili and beans 38 Employ a steam engine to crack a nut 39 Fig leaf 40 Forbidden fruit 41 Forbidden fruit is the sweetest 42 Fruit of (one's) loins 43 Fruit of the poisonous tree 44 Fruit of the union 45 Fruit salad 62 46 Fruitcake nguoi ham 47 Fruit of one's labor 48 Full of prunes 49 Give someone the raspberry noi tho lo 50 Give someone the strawberry 51 Go a lemon 52 Go banana 53 Go gathering orange blossoms 54 Go to the pineapple 55 Grape shot 56 Grow a pair 57 Have a plum in one’s mouth 58 Hen fruit 59 Hold out the olive branch 60 How like them apple 61 I’m your huckleberry 62 In apple –pie order 63 Lemon law 64 Low hanging fruit 65 Make like a banana and split 66 Mix apples and oranges 67 Moldy fig 68 Offer the olive branch 69 On the grapevine 63 70 On the grapevine 71 On the grapevine- mood 72 One banana problem 73 Peach fuzz 74 Peaches and cream 75 Polish an apple 76 Pop cherry 77 Prunes and prism 78 Rotten apple 79 Sour grape 80 Suck a lemon mood 81 Sure as god make little green apple 82 Take one’s cherry 83 Talk like a nut 84 The bitter fruit 85 The dead of fruit 86 The fruit of my loin 87 Tough egg to crack 88 Upset the apple card 89 Will be apple 90 You're a peach 64 VIETNAMESE IDIOMS OF FRUIT Ai ưa dưa khú bầu già Ăn mít bỏ xơ Ăn chẳng nhớ kẻ trồng Ăn vả trả sung Ăn sung trả ngài Ăn táo trả hạt, Ấp úng ngậm hột thị Béo tròn hạt mít, Bn bưởi bán bòng, 10 Bn bưởi bán bòng, 11 Cà cuống chết đến đít cay 12 Cà khẳng cà kheo 13 Cay đắng ngậm bồ hòn, 14 Cay ớt 15 Chanh chua khế chua 16 Chanh khế lòng, bưởi bòng 17 Chấy rận sung 18 Chê cam sành gặp quýt hôi 19 Chợ trưa dưa héo 20 Choại vỏ dưa, vỏ dừa phải tránh 21 Có cam phụ quýt 22 Có cam phụ quýt 23 Có khế ế chanh 65 24 Cơm hẩm cà meo 25 Cơm hẩm cà thiu 26 Cơm sung cháo dền 27 Đãi cứt sáo lấy hạt đa 28 đắng bồ 29 Đạp vỏ dưa thấy vỏ dừa sợ 30 Đầu trái ké 31 Đẻ dày sung 32 Đừng ăn táo mà rào sung 33 Được mùa cau, đau mùa lúa 34 Được mùa lúa, úa mùa cau 35 Đút chuối vào miệng voi, 36 Gái có bồ có rễ 37 Giáp cà 38 Há miệng chờ sung 39 Hoài hồng ngâm cho chuột vọc, hoài hạt ngọc cho ngâu vầy 40 Khen chanh chanh ngọt, chê hồng hồng chua 41 Lơ láo bù nhìn giữ dưa 42 Lớn chuối hột 43 Lòng vả lòng sung 44 Măm trước cau, năm sau lúa 45 Mắng tháng tám, rám bưởi 46 Mắng tốt dưa, mưa tốt lúa 47 Mạt cưa mướp đắng 48 Mắt đen hạt nhãn 66 49 Mặt đỏ gấc 50 Mắt ốc nhồi môi chuối mắn 51 Mắt ốc nhồi môi chuối mắn, 52 Mẹ già chuối chín 53 Mũi cà chua, 54 Mướp đắng có mạt cưa 55 Ngậm bồ làm ngọt, 56 Người tròn hạt mít 57 Như ngậm bồ 58 Như ngậm hột thị 59 Ơm bầu mang tiếng thị phi 60 Ớt ớt chẳng cay 61 Quạ ăn dưa, bắt cò dãi nắng 62 Qua ruộng dưa đừng cúi sửa giày 63 Quả táo lành khơng lìa cành rơi xuống 64 Quả xanh gặp nanh sắc 65 Răng chuối tiêu lưỡi núc nác 66 Răng chuối tiêu lưỡi núc nác 67 Rầu dưa 68 Rơi sung rụng 69 Rốn lồi quýt, 70 Rụng sung 71 Sinh hoa kết 72 Số giàu trồng lau hố mía, số nghèo trồng củ tía bồ nâu 67 73 Sung ngái, mái mây 74 Sung ngái lòng, bưởi bòng 75 Thả vỏ quýt, ăn mắm ngấu 76 Tháng hai trồng cà, tháng ba trồng đỗ 77 To chuối hột chẳng bày cỗ 78 Tóc trái đào, 79 Tránh vỏ dưa, gặp vỏ dừa 80 Trầu héo cau ơi, 81 Tròn hạt mít 82 Trồng bí, thí tre 83 Trồng chua ăn chua, trồng ăn 84 Trồng có ngày ăn 85 Trồng dưa dưa trồng cà ñược cà 86 Vắt chanh bỏ vỏ 87 Vỏ quýt dày có móng tay nhọn 88 Vú thõng dưa gang 89 Xót muối, rầu dưa 90 Yêu củ ấu tròn, ghét bồ méo 68 ... English idioms relating to fruit with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents - To find out similarities and differences in syntactic features of English idioms relating to fruit with reference to the. .. meaning of a particular expression The appointed reason is the condition of my theme choice I would like to choose An investigation into English idioms relating to fruit with reference to the Vietnamese. .. EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNVERSITY M.A THESIS AN INVESTIGATION INTO ENGLISH IDIOMS RELATING TO FRUIT WITH REFERENCE TO THE VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS (NGHIÊN CỨU CÁC THÀNH NGỮ TIẾNG ANH VỀ