A contrastive study of structural and semantic features of english yes no questions and their vietnamese equivalents

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M.A THESIS A CONTRASTIVE STUDY OF STRUCTURAL AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF ENGLISH YES-NO QUESTIONS AND THEIR VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS NGHIÊN CỨU ĐỐI CHIẾU ĐẶC ĐIỂM CẤU TRÚC VÀ NGỮ NGHĨA CỦA CÂU HỎI NGHI VẤN TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ SỰ LIÊN HỆ TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG VỚI TIẾNG VIỆT NGUYỄN THỊ LINH Hanoi, 2016 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled :“A contrastive study of structural and semantic features of English Yes-No questions and their Vietnamese equivalent” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Language Except for the indicated reference, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis Hanoi, 2016 Nguyen Thi Linh Approved by SUPERVISOR Date:…………………… ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support from a number of people I would like, hereby, to extend my profound gratitude to my supervisor Nguyen Dang Suu 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 Also, I am very grateful to all the teachers at the Faculty of Postgraduate Studies of Hanoi Open University for their interesting and useful lectures which have built in me a firm foundation with immense ideas for the fulfillment of this paper In particular, my special thanks go to my parents who have, as it always goes, encouraged and supported me so much in all respects Last but not least, I should also express my heartfelt thanks to my dear friends who have shared with me a lot during my studies and my research work as well ABSTRACT The study is aimed at characteristics of English Yes- No questions and equivalent questions in Vietnamese by using Contrastive Analysis as the major method This contrastive analysis is mainly based on different research into Yes- No questions by many English and Vietnamese linguists In the study, English and Vietnamese Yes- No questions are analyzed in terms of its form and features to find out the similarities and differences between the questions in the two languages These similarities and differences are clearly shown by the contrastive analysis of forms which include intonation, inversion and question particles, features of Yes/No Question content, and features of Yes/No Question in English and Vietnamese under some linguists’ points of view It is put the focus on defining the Yes/No questions which are classified in this thesis In the last chapter, based on the work “An Ideal Husband” by Oscar Wilder and its Vietnamese version translated by Hoàng Nguyên which contain Yes/No questions, characteristics of English and Vietnamese yes – no questions are emphasized Furthermore, some mistakes are listed and classified Additionally, some suggested possible solutions for the translating of English and Vietnamese Yes/No Question are withdrawn to gain an insight into how to understand the question for the daily communication and translating work LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BG Bố già CC Chuyện cười DC David Copperfild tiếng anh ĐĐ Đỏ đen FS Funny Stories GF The God Father IH Ideal Husband JE Jane Eyre/ Jen Ero tiếng anh MNC Một người chồng lý tưởng NCP Những phiêu lưu Slerlock Holmes R The Red and the Black TABLE OF CONTENTS Certificate of originality i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii List of abbreviations iv Table of contents v Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Objectives of the study 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Methods of the study 1.6 Design of the study Chapter LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Review of previous studies 2.2 Review of theoretical background 2.2.1 What is contrastive linguistics 2.2.2 Overview of questions 2.2.2.1 Yes – no question 2.2.2.2 Wh – question 2.2.2.3 Alternative questions 2.2.1.4 Tag questions 2.3 Characteristics of English Yes – No question 2.3.1 Structural characteristics of English Yes – No question 2.3.1.1 Tag question 2.3.1.2 Genuine Yes – No question 10 2.3.1.3 Glide up declarative question 10 2.3.1.4 Rhetorical question 11 2.3.2 Semantic characteristics of English Yes – no question 12 2.4 13 Characteristics of Vietnamese Yes – no question 2.4.1 Structural characteristics of Vietnamese Yes – no question 13 2.4.1.1 Tag question 13 2.4.1.2 Genuine Yes – No question 15 2.4.1.3 Glide up declarative question 16 2.4.1.4 Rhetorical question 16 2.4.2 Semantic characteristices of Vietnamese Yes – no question 17 2.5 17 The classification of yes- no questions in this study 2.5.1 The classification of English yes- no questions in this study 17 2.5.1.1 Affirmative yes – no questions 18 2.5.1.2 Negative Yes-No questions 21 2.5.2 The classification of Vietnamese yes- no questions in this study 22 Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY 23 3.1 23 Research-governing orientations 3.1.1 Research questions 23 3.1.2 Research setting 24 3.1.3 Research approach 24 3.1.4 Principles/criteria for intended data collection and data analysis 24 3.2 25 Research Methods 3.2.1 Major method 25 3.2.2 Data collection 25 3.2.3 Data analysis 26 Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 27 4.1 27 Contrastive analysis of English and Vietnamese Yes/No Questions 4.2 Contrastive analysis of yes – no questions in “An Ideal 49 Husband” “Một người chồng lý tưởng” 4.3 Similarities and differences of Yes/No questions in English and 56 Vietnamese 4.4 Show some mistakes in translating and suggested solutions 57 4.4.1 Mistakes in form transfer 57 4.4.2 Mistakes in meaning transfer 58 4.5 Implication on teaching Yes/No questions 60 Chapter 5: CONCLUSION 62 REFERENCES 63 APPENDICES 65 CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION 1.1.Rationale Questions had been divided into types whose Yes/No Question is considered popular in languages including English and Vietnamese However, characteristics of Yes/No question are not clearly understood by almost language learners, especially, it is rather difficult for Vietnamese learners to translate English (Vietnamese) Yes/No question correctly into the target language This sometimes causes mistakes in translation The thesis provides the general look into definition and characteristics of English and Vietnamese Yes/No questions as well as analyzes contrastively English and Vietnamese Yes-No questions Based on the analysis, factors causing common mistakes of Vietnamese learners in translating Yes/No questions, as well as the similarities and differences of yes-no questions in the two languages, are going to be shown 1.2 Aims of the study The research aims at finding out the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese Yes/No questions Furthermore, Yes/No questions in the bilingual novel will be selected and mistakes in translation found out for proper solutions The research results will help Vietnamese students of English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners translate the Yes/No questions from English into VietNamese in an effective way 1.3 Objectives of the study To achieve the aims mentioned above, following objectives are put forward: (i) Describing the features of Yes/No questions in English and Vietnamesse (ii) Finding out the similarities and differences between Yes/No question in English and Vietnamese in terms of its form and meaning (iii) Suggesting some solutions to the mistakes in translating Yes/No questions from English into Vietnamese 1.4 Scope of the study The scope of this study is defined as an investigation into Yes/No question in English and Vietnamese Therefore, the study is limited to this type of question, not other kinds The extracted texts in the work: An Ideal Husband” by OscarWilder and its Vietnamese version “Một người chồng lý tưởng” translated by Hoàng Nguyên going to include in the analysis to not only demonstrate the similarities and differences of Yes/No questions in English and Vietnamese but also find out mistakes in the questions’ form and meaning between the two books 1.5 Methods of the study The study mainly uses the contrastive method to analyze forms, contents and other features of Yes/No questions, , and to contrastively analyze English -Vietnamese Yes/No questions in translated version 1.6 Design of the study The thesis is divided into three parts which are listed as Introduction, Development, and Conclusion Among which, part – Development comprises three chapters: Chapter 1, Introduction: opening the window? (having a request) From lessons to real life, students can achieve their learning effectively CHAPTER V : CONCLUSION The thesis has revised the definition of question, yes – no question in languages in general and in English and Vietnamese in particular It has also confirmed the features of yes – no questions in both of two languages in terms of forms and meaning Characteristics of yes – no question form include intonation, word-inversion and question particles The questions’ meaning features are studied under the views of many scholars such as William Bright who researched yes – no questions in terms of structure and semantics, David Crystal, and Randolph Quirk who indicated that yes – no questions is firstly used to display information shortage of certain thing and usually request a reply in words from the hearer, etc Then the classification of English and Vietnamese yes – no questions is defined in the study To achieve this goal, the thesis has summarized different views around the ways to categorize yes-no questions in English Besides, the thesis also summarized views of Vietnamese authors to classify yes – no questions in this language As a result, Le Dong’s opinion (1996) of the type of yes – no questions which are used to ask for a certain information shortage (so-called “true questions”) is chosen to be studied in the thesis The two authors’ views are considered the grounds for the analysis in the thesis The contrastive analysis between English yes – no questions and the Vietnamese ones in the thesis is in two areas: forms and meaning REFERENCES English : Bright.W, (1992), International Encyclopedia of Linguistics, Oxford University Press Crystal, David, (2008) , “A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics” 6th edition, Blackwell publisher, UK Downing A and Locke.P, (2002) “A university course in English Grammar”, Psychology Press Dik, Simon C (1997), Theory of Functional Grammar, Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin, Newyork Duff, Alan (1998), Translation, Resource Books for teachers, O.U.P Greenbaum, Sidney (1996), The Oxford English Grammar, O.U.P, Newyork Hurhord, James R & Heasley, Brendan (1985), Semantics : A coursebook, C.U.P, London Nida, E.A And Taber, C (1974), The Theory and Practice of Translation, Brill, Leyden Peter Newmark (1984),Approaches to Translation, Pergamon Press, New York 10 Svanrtvik A (1972), A Grammar of Contemporary of English , London Longman 11 Searle, J.R (1969), Speech Acts, Cambridge, C.U.P 12 Wilder, Oscar (1993), An Ideal Husband, Methuen Drama Vietnamese Diệp Quang Ban (1998), Ngữ pháp Tiếng Việt, tập 2, Nxb Giáo dục Lê Đông (1996), Câu trả lời câu đáp câu hỏi, Tạp chí ngơn ngữ số Hồng Ngun (1998), Một người chồng lý tưởng, Nxb.Thế giới Hồ Lê ( 1976), Tìm hiểu nội dung câu hỏi cách thức thể câu hỏi Tiếng Việt đại, Tạp chí Ngôn ngữ số Nguyễn Bản (1999), Truyện cười song ngữ Anh Việt, Nxb.Công an nhân dân Nguyễn Đăng Sửu (2000), Đối chiếu ngữ nghĩa câu hỏi có từ nghi vấn tiếng Anh tiếng Việt, Hội nghị quốc tế lần thứ ngôn ngữ học liên Á 16-17 tháng 11 Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh Nguyễn Đăng Sửu (2010), Đặc điểm câu hỏi Tiếng Anh đối chiếu với Tiếng Việt, Nxb.Khoa học xã hội Phạm Văn Bình, (1996), Vietnamese Funny Stories, Nxb.Hải Phòng Võ Đại Quang (2000), So sánh đối chiếu câu hỏi danh Tiếng Anh Tiếng Việt bình diện ngữ nghĩa – ngữ dụng, Luận án Tiến Sĩ APPENDICES Examples of yes – no questions in the novel “Một người chồng lý tưởng” (by Hoàng Nguyên) translated from the original novel “An Ideal Husband” (by Oscarwilder) N An Ideal Husband And were you interested? 24 Vậy bà có thích thú khơng? Good Chào Sinton phu nhân! Không 25 evening, Page Một người chồng lý tưởng Lady 24 Chiltern! Has my good- biết cậu vơ tích tơi for-nothing young son có tới khơng? Page 25 been here? Do they say that here? 32 Ở người ta nói à? You prefer to be natural? 36 Thế bà thích tự nhiên phải 37 33 khơng? You think science can 38 Thế bà có cho khoa học 39 not không nắm bắt vấn grapple with the problem of women? đề phụ nữ không? Or perhaps the question 38 Chết, hỏi có hớ 39 is indiscreet? hênh không? Did you know Baron 42 Vậy bà biết bá tước Anhem 43 Arnheim well? ư? My memory is under 44 Tơi làm chủ trí nhớ tơi 45 admirable control And Thế ơng sống độc are you still a bachelor? thân chứ? May I ask are you staying 44 Tôi xin phép hỏi bà có 45 10 in London long? London lâu không? You are not going to 44 Bà không định đẩy 45 plunge us into a Europe vào chiến tranh châu war, I hope? Âu chứ? 11 Have you missed me? 46 Cơ có thấy thiếu không? 12 Are the others very bad? 46 Thế nửa lại có xấu 47 47 khơng? 13 May I have the pleasure 48 Tơi có hân hạnh 49 of escorting you to the đưa sang phòng âm nhạc có music-room, khơng? Mademoiselle? 14 Are you here? 15 Yes, always to others, 52 Vâng, ln ln phải tìm đến 53 have we not? người khác, có phải 50 Ơng à? 51 không? 16 17 18 19 20 Do you really think that 54 Thế ơng có cho bà Sevely 55 is what Mrs Cheveley nói thật ý nghĩ bà ta meant? chưa? Is it morbid to have a 56 Thích ăn có phải bệnh 57 desire for food? hoạn không? Lord Goring, will you 56 Nam tước Goring à, ơng có cho 57 give me some supper? ăn bữa xúp không? May I have the honour of 58 Thưa bà công tước, xin bà cho 59 taking hân hạnh đưa bà xuống you down to supper, Comtesse? ăn súp? And are you going to any 60 Thế bà Sevely, bà có định 61 of our country houses nông thôn lâu trước rời before you leave khỏi Anh hay không? England, Mrs Cheveley? 21 May I show them to you? 64 Tơi giới thiệu chúng với 65 bà không? 22 23 24 25 26 Shall I call for you 78 Liệu ngày mai lại thăm bà 79 tomorrow? cóđược khơng? Don’t you think you 80 Ông có định lại để danh thiếp 80 might leave a card? nhà không? Will you see me down, 80 Ngài Robert, ngài 80 Sir Robert? gặp tơi? You saw whom Lady 84 Ơng có thấy người mà 85 Markby Macby phu nhân đưa lại tối brought here tonight? không? Robert, you are not going 86 Anh Robert, anh không ủng hộ 87 to lend your support to chuyện đầu Achentina chứ? this Argentine speculation? 27 28 Robert, are you telling 90 Robert, anh có nói với em tất 91 me the whole truth? thật không? Is there in your life any 94 Đời anh có bí mật đáng xấu 95 secret hổ hay không? dishonour or disgrace? 29 30 Must I write and tell her 94 Anh cần phải viết thư bảo bà 95 that? ta ư? Oh, love me always, 96 Gotorut, em yêu anh 97 Gertrude, mãi, mãi chứ? love me always! 31 Is Lady Chiltern as 98 Phải Sinton toàn thiện 99 perfect as all that? toàn mỹ đến thế? 32 May I try? 33 Arthur, you think that 102 Ơng Acto à, ơng có cho 103 what nearly người ta đưa chuyện eighteen years ago should làm gần 18 năm trước be brought up against me để chống lại tơi khơng? I 100 did Cho tơi thử có không? 101 now? 34 35 36 37 38 Do you think it fair that a 102 Ơng có cho tất 103 man’s career nghiệp người đổ should be ruined for a vỡ lỗi lầm mà người fault phạm phải lúc hầu whole done in one’s boyhood almost? đứa bé không? Did you ever suffer any 104 Ơng nói tơi nghe, có lúc 105 regret for what you had ông khổ tâm việc ơng done? làm hay khơng? Have you tried her with 114 Ông thử bà ta tiền 115 money? chưa? Is Mr Trafford in his 118 Ơng Trafford có buồng ơng 119 room? không? Good afternoon, Lady 120 Chiltern! Have you been Xin chào Sinton phu nhân Bà 121 vừa chơi công viên về? in the park? 39 40 41 You are not going, 124 Anh không đâu chứ, anh 125 Robert? Robert? You want to talk to me 124 Bà muốn nói chuyện với tơi 125 about Mrs Cheveley? bà Cheveley chăng? Don’t you agree with 124 Ơng có đồng ý với không? me? 125 42 Are you a Pessimist? 128 Ơng có phải người bi quan 129 không? 43 44 Will you ride tomorrow 130 Sáng mai ơng có cưỡi ngựa 131 morning? khơng? Could you let me have a 132 Bà có danh sách không? 133 list? 45 46 May I give you some tea, 148 Xin mời bà xơi chén trà, bà 149 Mrs Chevely? Sevely Can he deny it? 156 Xem ông có chối hay 157 khơng? 47 Does he dare to? 158 Xem ơng có dám chối hay 159 không? 48 You don’t, Phipps? 158 Anh không thấy à, anh Phíp? 159 49 Is it worth while, father? 172 Thưa ba, có cần khơng ạ? 174 50 Would you apply that 176 Bà có áp dụng quy luật cho 177 rule to everyone? tất người không? Am I to wait attendance 178 Tôi phải đứng đợi anh à? 51 179 on you? 52 Is Lord Goring not here? 180 Nam tước Goring có nhà 181 không? 53 Are you quite sure? 54 My dear father, if I am to 184 Thưa ba, phải lấy vợ 185 get married, surely you ba cho chọn thời will allow me to choose gian, địa điểm người ạ? the time, person? place, 180 and Anh có khơng? 181 55 And we men are so self- 186 Và nam giới xả thân 187 nd sacrificing that we never tới mức không use it, we, father? sử dụng lương tri, phải không hở ba? 56 You have heard nothing 188 Thế Viên trả lời điện thoại 189 ou from ông nào? Vienna yet, in answer to your wire? 57 May I ring for 188 Tôi xin phép bấm chuông gọi 189 something? thứ nhé? 58 Has she never in her life 190 Suốt đời phải bà nhà 191 a done some khơng làm điều dại folly-some indiscretion-that she dột-như tiết lộ điều gì, đến should not forgive your nỗi ngày bà tha sin? thứ tội lỗi ông? 59 Is your carriage here? 60 Robert, you don’t mind 194 Ơng Robot, ơng khơng lấy làm 195 my sending you away? phiền để ơng khỏi 192 Xe ơng có khơng? 193 chứ? 61 Do you give me your 194 Ông có lấy danh dự mà thề 195 word that there is no one bên khơng có không? there? 62 May I ask what you were 198 Xin lỗi bà bà làm 199 doing in my drawing- phòng khách tơi? room? 63 Doesn’t that sound rather 198 Nói khơng sợ quyến rũ 199 like thượng đế à? Providence? tempting 64 65 Have you got it with 200 Bà có mang theo thư 201 you? khơng? Are you really serious? 204 Bà có thật nghiêm túc khơng 205 đấy? 66 Do you think it is quite 206 Ông tưởng đối xử thô bạo với 207 charming of you to be so người đàn bà rude to a woman in your nhà ông hay sao? own house? 67 Won’t you shake hands? 210 Ơng có bắt tay không? 211 68 Won’t you wear it? 212 Bà có đeo khơng? 213 69 Will you help me on with 218 Ơng giúp tơi mặc áo khốc 219 my cloak? 70 Lady Chiltern not down 222 Sinton phu nhân chưa xuống à? 223 yet? 71 72 73 74 75 Would you kindly tell 222 Nhờ anh nói hộ với huân tước 223 him I’ve gone? khỏi nhé? Engaged to be married 224 Thế anh có cam kết lấy 225 yet? vợ hay không? Do you mean to say you 226 Anh nói có nghĩa 227 have not read The Times anh chưa đọc xã luận tờ leading article on Robert Thời báo nghiệp ông Chiltern’s career? Robert Sinton hả? Did…did Chiltern uphold 226 Thế…thế ơng Chiltern có ủng 227 the scheme? hộ kế hoạch khơng? And Lady Caversham’s 230 Thưa, mũ Cavosam phu 231 bonnets…are they at all nhân có đẹp trước không better? ạ? 76 Oh, are you here? 232 Ồ, ông à? 233 77 Is it a proposal? 234 Phải lời đề nghị? 235 78 The I suppose it is my 234 Vậy phải bổn phận 235 duty to remain with you? phải sống với ông? You didn’t accept him, I 236 Cô chưa nhận lời ông ta chứ? 79 237 hope? 80 Can’t you love me a little 236 Cô yêu đôi chút 237 in return? để đáp lại à? 81 Must you really? 82 Do you mean to say you 240 Anh muốn nói anh đến 241 didn’t khơng phải ngỏ lời với em ư? come 238 here Em phải thật ư? 239 expressly to propse to me? 83 May I it? 244 Tơi nói giúp có khơng? 84 Is he in the house now? 246 Ông ta lúc có nhà hay 247 245 khơng? 85 Oh, my love, Is this true? 86 Do you indeed trust me, 248 Em tin anh thật à, em cần anh 249 and want me? thật à? 248 Ôi em yêu, thật không? 249 87 Are you sure of this? 250 Em có khơng? 251 88 A seat in the Cabinet? 254 Một ghế nội à? 255 89 Will you kindly that, 256 Bà ngăn chứ, Sinton phu 257 Lady Chiltern? nhân? 90 Do you want to kill his 260 Vậy bà có muốn giết chết tình 261 love for you? yêu ông với bà không? 91 Shall I read it to you? 92 Do you really require me 266 Thế có thật ơng cần tơi nói ơng 267 to tell you? nghe không? Had I fallen so low in 270 Anh bị dơi xuống sâu 271 your you hay mà em lúc thought that even for a nghĩ anh hồi moment I could have nghi lòng tốt em? 93 eyes that 262 Anh đọc em nghe nhé? 263 doubted your goodness? 94 Aren’t you coming? 274 Anh có vào ănkhông? 275 95 Is it love you feel for me, 274 Em cảm thấy yêu hay 275 or is it pity merely? thương hại lxxxiv ... analyzes contrastively English and Vietnamese Yes- No questions Based on the analysis, factors causing common mistakes of Vietnamese learners in translating Yes/ No questions, as well as the similarities... fields of semantics and pragmatics in English and Vietnamese In the study, the author used both English and Vietnamese as source and target language in order to find out the similarities and differences... differences of semantic and pragmatic features of English and Vietnamese questions He also dealt with the contrast of different types of true questions as well aspragmatic means which is often seen