a study of english idioms relating to “ love “ with reference to the vietnamese equivalent

THESIS A STUDY OF ENGLISH IDIOMS RELATING TO “ LOVE “ WITH REFERENCE TO THE VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENT NGHIÊN CỨU THÀNH NGỮ VỀ “YÊU” TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ ĐỐI CHIẾU TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG TRONG TIẾNG V

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNVERSITY

M.A THESIS

A STUDY OF ENGLISH IDIOMS RELATING

TO “ LOVE “ WITH REFERENCE TO THE

VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENT

(NGHIÊN CỨU THÀNH NGỮ VỀ “YÊU” TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ

ĐỐI CHIẾU TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT)

CHU THI MINH HUONG

Hanoi, 2016

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNVERSITY

M.A THESIS

A STUDY OF ENGLISH IDIOMS RELATING

TO “ LOVE “ WITH REFERENCE TO THE

VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENT

(NGHIÊN CỨU THÀNH NGỮ VỀ “YÊU” TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ ĐỐI

CHIẾU TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT)

CHU THI MINH HUONG

Field: English Language Code: 60220201

Supervisor: Dr Nguyen Thi Thu Huong

Hanoi, 2016

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled “A STUDY OF ENGLISH IDIOMS RELATING TO “ LOVE “ WITH REFERENCE TO THE VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENT”

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

Approved by Hanoi, 2016

Chu Thi Minh Huong

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This document contains my master thesis, the final document for my master English language at Hanoi Open University It describes the results of my research on the potential of crowd sourcing applications in organizational the content The last few months have proven to be challenging months, both personally and organizationally Finishing this research project means

a lot to me and could not have been possible without the help of many people

I would like to start by thanking my supervisors from the Trade Union University, Dr Nguyen Thi Thu Huong Thank you for her whole-hearted guidance and precious instruction for this graduation paper from the beginning to the completion Without her assistance, encouragement and valuable adjustment, this study could not be fulfilled

Secondly, my heartfelt acknowledgement also belongs to all of my lecturers and teachers in Ministry of Education and Training, Hanoi Open University for helping, assisting and advising during my research Assoc Prof Hoang Tuyet Minh, Dr Le Van Thanh, Dr Nguyen Thi Van Dong, Dr Dang Ngoc Huong, their feedback for my master thesis proposal outline were always valuable

Of course, this acknowledgement would not be complete without thanking

my parents and family, who supported me throughout my entire study and encouraged my activities Thanks to be loved, support and faith of my parents, I was able to finish my study and make it a great time to look back

on

Last but not least, I am proud of expressing thanks to friends and acquaintances who have supported and given a hand during the completion

of my study

I hope you will enjoy reading my master thesis about the english idioms relating to " LOVE " with reference to the Vietnamese equivalent I know it

is not the best thesis about this topic, but if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me

Chu Thi Minh Huong

2016

ABSTRACT

To become proficient at English, one of the important and essential steps for learners is clearly to know how to use fluently English idioms as well as understand it in native language In a simple term, it is useful and favorable for learners to make use of succinct style of language to express meaningful thinking such as human feelings, traditional quotes and sayings, specific contexts and so on In both of Western and Eastern literature, Love is probably the most ideal emotion for using idioms to define The purposes of this study are to examine in which methods and conditions are used to express the feeling “love” as well as to make some evaluations and comparisons between Vietnamese and English idioms To achieve the purposes above, sources and information are carefully gathered and selected through searching a varied of studies and scholar journals about idioms, both in English and Vietnamese After analyzing and evaluating for more apparent views of the thesis’s aspects, the result will indicate that there are both similarities and disimilarities between English idioms and Vietnamese ones in terms of syntactic and semantic features

CONTENTS

ABSTRACT 6

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 7

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 10

1.1 Rationale for the research 10

1.2 Aim of the research 11

1.3 Objective of the research 11

1.4 Scope of the research 11

1.5 Significance of the research 12

1.6 Structural organization of the thesis 12

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 13

2.1 Review of the previous studies 13

2.2 Review of the theoretical background 14

2.2.1 Theory of syntax 14

2.2.2 Theories of semantics 15

2.3 An overview of idioms 16

2.3.1 Definition of idioms 16

2.3.2 Features of idioms 17

2.3.3 Classification of idioms 21

2.3.4 An overview of phrases, clause and sentence structures 29

2.4 Idiom relating to Love 34

Idiom relating to love can be described clearly in concept of love with following examples: 34

2.5 Idioms denoting “love” 37

2.6 Summary 37

Chapter 3: Methodology 38

3.1 Research design 38

3.2 Research questions 38

3.3 Research methods 38

3.4 Research procedures 38

3.5 Description of the sample 39

3.6 Data collection 39

3.7 Reliability and Validity 40

3.8 Summary 40

4.1 Similarities and disimilarities between English and Vietnamese idioms denoting ‘love’ in term of syntactic features 42

4.1.1 Phrase Structures 42

4.1.2 Clause Structures (10) 45

4.1.3 Parallel Structures (8) 45

4.1.4 Comparative structures (8) 46

4.1.5 Similarities 48

4.1.6 Dissimilarities 49

4.2 Similarities and disimilarities between English and Vietnamese idioms denoting ‘love’ in term of semantic features 50

4.2.1 Similarities 56

4.2.2 Dissimilarities 57

4.3 Summary 57

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS 59

5.1 Summary of the study 59

5.2 IMPLICATIONS 60

5.3 LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 63

REFERENCE 64

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale for the research

With the tendency of globalnization nowadays, English by far has become

as one of the most popular and useful language in all over the worlds Many countries have chosen it to be the second national language for themselves, especially in developing countries such as Vietnam Learning English is applied in all schools and having a certificate of famous tests such as TOEIC and IELTS is one of the requirement for student’s graduation Despite the fact that it is neccessary to learn english, a large number of Vietnamese students often fail to master it, due to many issues and problems One of the difficulties is being familiar with idioms and being able to use them correctly in certain situations

Idiom is a special phrasing or a peculiar expression which performs metaphor or sometimes, literal meanings Every nation in the world has its idioms Some of them are particular and represent for the culture to which they belong On the contrary, a lot of idioms share the same meaning with others in many languages, denoting the needs of interfering different cultures and traditional customs in all over the world Having the ability to use idioms could help leaners to adapt the antiquities and customary habits

of certain culture or country, while mastering idioms will provide learners the self confident and encouragement to well communicate with both non-native and native speakers Idioms appear everywhere, from daily communication likes newspapers, magazines, television advertisements to more formal contexts such as books, novels, literature and studies

There have been many studies about idioms in varied aspects, with different oppinions and arguments I am pleased and honored to perform a study about the topic “A study of english idioms relating to "LOVE" with

reference to the Vietnamese equivalent” with the hope that the research will

be useful for every people who needs it, especialy English learners and humbly contribute to the effort of generalizing English in Vietnam

1.2 Aim of the research

The study is executed with the aim to look into the syntactic, semantic, characteristics of English idioms relating love in comparison with Vietnamese ones It also points out the differences and similarities between English idioms relating to love and Vietnamese ones in linguistic features

As a result, the study could be used for learning, teaching and translating English as well in other to motivate, encourage and submit certain solutions which could assist English learners to apply and use both English and Vietnamese idioms correctly

1.3 Objective of the research

 To explore and identify the syntactic, semantic, systematic and slylistic features of English idioms relating to love and Vietnamese ones

 To comprehend and make critical comparisons to findout the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms relating ‘love’ in term of syntactic and semantic features

 To motivate, encourage and submit certain solutions which could assist English learners to apply and use both English and Vietnamese idioms correctly

1.4 Scope of the research

This research is limited of English and Vietnamese idioms relating love in term of syntactic and semantic aspects In syntactic features, the study will perform the key characteristics such as phrase structure In the same way, an examination into love in English and Vietnamese idioms will be performed

to analyze the semantic aspect

1.5 Significance of the research

Following the aim, objective and the scope of performing a study of English idioms relating love with Vietnamese ones in term of syntantic and semantic features above, the study will support English users in Vietnam with the knowledge and suggest ideas to correctly and flexibly apply this sort of idioms without hesitation

1.6 Structural organization of the thesis

The paper is clearly designed into five chapters:

 Chapter 1 is the Introduction for the study with presenting the rationale, aim, objective, scope, significance and structural organization of the thesis

 Chapter 2 is entitled Literature Review which generally analyze the theoretical background of the study as well as the definition of the concept of idiom and love

 Chapter 3 is the Methodology of the study which are discussed to explain and promote the theoretical poit of the research

 Chapter 4 is Findings and discussion where invididuals oppinions of

me are demonstrated to support the concept of love idioms

 Chapter 5 is Conclusion with the overview about the result of the report and suggestions of solution for further researchs

Finally, references are respectably noted in the end of the study

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Review of the previous studies

There are a great number of studies and researches about all kinds of idiom and related matters such and linguistic, syntax and translation in both of English and Vietnamese The knowledge support of these researches have contributed to my paper and should be appreciated before going into the main part of the study

The approaches of linguists to idioms could be parted into five moments which expose the different trends of consideration of idioms: (Curry, 1994) (1)

 The structure of an idiom phrase and its distinction from 1960s to early 1970s

 The developing of idioms from late 1970 to 1980s

 The metaphor of idioms from 1980s to 1985s

 The activities of teaching, adapting and ackknowledging idioms from

In Vietnam, idioms are quitely interested by many linguists There are some valuable works which are famous and familiar with Vietnamese reader such

as “Từ vựng - Ngữ nghĩa tiếng Việt” (NXB Giáo dục, 1981) of Professor

Đỗ Hữu Châu who critically explained Vietnamese idioms and analyzed them into syntactic and semantic features In 2005, the linguist Nguyễn Lân has summarized most of Vietnamese idioms in the book “Từ điển thành ngữ, tục ngữ Việt Nam” (NXB Văn học, 2005) Last but not least, Professor Hoàng Văn Hành is also a well known linguistic speciallist in Vietnam with great contributions to the linguistic field (Mai Chau, 2006) (3)

2.2 Review of the theoretical background

2.2.1 Theory of syntax

The word syntax comes from Ancient Greek word: σύνταξις "coordination", which consists of σύν syn, "together," and τάξις táxis, "an ordering" In linguistic, In linguistics, syntax is a collection of rules, standards as well as methods which regulate the structure of sentences in a certain language, specifically order of words (Oxford University Press, 2016) (4)

The works on syntax had been written long before modern grammar official fixed and appeared In old times, syntax concept was ruled by a structure named by grammaire générale which was discovered by Antoine Arnauld in

“Grammaire Générale” in 1660 This framework states that human brain thinking processes will reflect straightly into language As a result “there is

a single, most natural way to express a thought” (Antoine, 1660) (5)

The framwork lasts until the 19th centery which been replaced by the development of linguistics and by the argument of progressive linguists They recognize that it is not true about the state “there is a single, most natural way to express a thought” because of the impact of internal and external environment on human thinking And so the logic base for studying language’s structure had been denied (Bickerton, 1990) (6)

It only became clear when linguists discovered and adapted modern theories

of syntax in the late 20th century The famous work “generative grammar”

of professor Noam Chomsky is considered as the most popular framework

to study and analyze about syntax with the main hypothesis that “language

is a configuration of the human mind” and “syntax is based upon the component structure of sentences”, following the concept that syntax fetures certainly focus on the arrangement of a sentence more than its communication purpose (Chomsky, 2002) (7)

2.2.2 Theories of semantics

Semantics is the study of meaning in language It primarily focus on the correlation between the symbolic constistuent of a sentence sush as words and phrases and what they demonstrate for, their references First discovered by French linguist Michel Breal, the word semantics relates series of awarenesses from normal using to higher application In simple meaning, it describe a range of understanding which could carry out the world choice The difference between semantics and syntax is syntax is just

an formal arrangement of constistuents of a language without their own meanings, while semantics requires the critical meaning for every use of words (M Breal, 1890) (8)

There are many theories of semantics which has been studied and analyzed for centuries and they could generally classified into three basic concepts:

 Model theoretic semantics: Discovered by Richard Montague in the late 1960s, this formal theory of ordinary languague semantics is about how and in which expressions reflect theirs relational meaning among themselves And more amazingly, the truth values of a sentence and its reasonable denotations to other sentence are analyzed

to a model (R Montague, 1960) (9)

 Truth conditional semantics: First mentioned by the linguist Donald Davidson, the theory tries to find the language connection with the reality which differenates it from model theoretic semantics Its result

shows that every components of a sentence must rely and reflect the truth conditions of themselves in order to carry out the true meaning

of the combination There is a simple example for this theory: “ Winter is cold” is true only when winter is cold, if two conditions of the meaning “winter” and “cold” are not logical with each other then the semantics could not be performed (D Davidson, 1973) (10)

 Lexical semantics: is the theory of context It states that the meaning

of a word is totally revealed by its situation Each component of the sentence must collaborate with others in term of meanings which could depend on their own level and form in order to carry out the meaning of the sentence As a result, it would be easier for the speakers to conveniently deliver their thoughts depending the current context (B Levin, 1991) (11)

2.3 An overview of idioms

2.3.1 Definition of idioms

The Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics stated that an idiom is “an expression which function as a single unit and whosemeaning can not be worked out from its separate parts” (Longman Dictionary, 1992) (12)

David Crystal announced that “idiom is a term in grammar and lexicography

to refer to a sequence of words which is semantically and often syntactically restricted, so that they function as a single unit” (D Crystal, 1995) (13) According to Hornby (1995), idioms is “a phrase or sentense whose meanng

is not clear from the meaning of its individual words and which must be leant as a whole unit” (Hornby, 1995) (14)

As the definition in Vietnamese Dictionary of The Linguistic Institution, Danang Publisher declared that idioms are fixed collection of words which

its meanings can not be simply performed by its components’ meaning (Vietnamese Dictionary, 2003) (15)

Professor Hoang Van Hanh stated in “Ke Chuyen Thanh Ngu, Tuc Ngu” (2002) that idioms are arranged expressions containing meaningful and complete words with often uses in communication and other purposes (16) These definitions above show that despite of the different country, culture and society, there is no argument about the definition of idioms Although the definitions could be interpreted in many ways, they always point out the same idea: an idiom is a fixed expresson with the meaning could not be carried out by gathering the bare meaning of its singular words

2.3.2 Features of idioms

2.3.2.1 Semantic feature

It is undebitable to say that meaning is probably the most important element when discussing about semantic feature of an idiom The key for linguists to separate a fixed impresson from an idiom is its figurative meaning To illustrate, there is an idiom “a hot potato”, which means speak of a problem (generally at the moment) that most of everyone is talking about and it is often uncertain It is easy to recognize that the meaning of the idiom’s components are quite far from the meaning of the whole idiom, which means it is kind of impossible to understand an idiom if we seperate each words causing it For this reason, it is significant that we had better understand an idiom in a figurative way than in a literal way (Jackendoff, 1990) (17)

On the contrary, the meaning of an idiom can be understood either relatively

or totally apart from the meaning of its whole constituents If the meaning of

an idiom is not completely different from the meaning of its all components,

it could be understood both of its figurative meaining and its literal one

There are many example like: easy come easy go, you get what you give, speak your mind and so on which the meaning of these idioms could be easily predicted by understanding the meaning of their constituents

In addition, there is another important semantic feature of an idiom is that it could have an active, unbiased or negative meanings For instance, idioms which come with an active meaining are give it a shot (encourage someone

to try to do something), cross your fingers (wish to have a good luck), see eye to eye (agree with someone about an issue On the other hand, idioms state for a negative meaning are give someone the cold shoulder (paying no attention to someone), wolf in sheep’s clothing (speaking about a person who makes up to be a good one but is not) and devil to pay (warning someone when their action could cause trouble or casualty) Last but not least is idioms with a neutral meaning For example : be in the same boat (to

be in someone’s situation), a grey area (speaking about something that is unclear or uncertain), have mixed feeling (when someone is unsure or confused about some thing), etc Because of its characteristic, idioms coming with positive meanings seem to be at the most

On the whole, the principal semantic features of idioms are their meanings could either reflect the meaning of their components or are totally different Besides, idioms can express an active, unbiased or negative meanings depending on the user

2.3.2.2 Syntactic features

As a discussion before, an idiom is a fixed expression For this reason, it is restricted to neither put in nor replace any constituents in an idiom To secure its own figurative meaning, an idiom can not be modified like the way normal sentence with literal meaning does, under any circumstances Futhermore, to change an idiom which had been used in a complete sentence into a passive sentence is not allow For example, “but a bug in his

ear”, which means that someone are suggesting new ideas to another, compares to a sentence “you but a bug in his ear then he will come up with new ideas” It is also abnormal to say that “his ear has been put a bug in” Therefore, there is no way to modify an idiom without misplace the original meaning of it Although normal sentences can be reworked by using grammatical tools, most of idioms miss the mark to be rephrased, due to the grammatical nature set of idioms (Gibbs, 1987) (18)

To be more precise, the configuration and manner of idioms are diversified and do not follow any rules at all Many idioms could be in a short form such as noun phrase, verb phrase or even adjective phrase For example,

“kettle of fish” (something is totally different from others), “a piece of cake

“ (something is very easy to do or achieve) “ an arm and a leg” (to describe something which is very expensive and costly), etc About the structure of idioms, it widely goes from regular form, irregular form or even failses in grammatical structure In the fisrt one, the structure is usually kind of normal but the meaning of each constituent could not express the whole meaning of an idiom To give an illustration, “hot dog” (Describe a person who perform an dangerous athletic action), “crocodile tears” (Describe a person who fake to be sorrowful), “the heat of the moment” (an accidental thought or action in a short time) are typical idioms for this form with the meanings are unable to identify unless having been heard before In the irregular form, the idioms often state in abnormal form, nevertheless, the meaning of its components can express the original meaning of the whole idiom In other words, the meaning of the idiom could be divined in the condition of knowing its individual constituents “First come – first serve” (the one who comes first will be served first) is a typical idiom for this form With the meaning above, the right sentence must be “ first come – first served “ with the “d” states for passive voice “first come – first serve”,

however, is still able to be perceived by the meaning of its components dispite of grammar failure In the last form, the idioms do not follow any structure rule of the refered language, neither the grammar nor the meaning

of the idioms It could make many confusion for English beginners to acquire these idioms as the meanings of their components do not involve anything to the whole expression, as well as the grammar is incorrect To illustrate, two idioms “pig out” (to mention a person who eats a lot), “go bananas” (describe someone who comes to angry) show that there is no combination meaning of the words and grammatical logic However, by means of idioms, they are recognized and accepted (C Leaney, 2005) (19)

To conclude, at first, as the definition of itself, idioms are fixed expressions which could not be modified without failing the original meaning Next, the forms of idiom are diversified and quite abnormal Finally, about grammatical structure, idioms may be expressed by three types That are regular form, irregular form and grammatically incorrect form

2.3.2.3 Culture features

Language is created and used for communication between humanity It plays an essential part of a nation’s culture and supports as well as development it Language is the delivery of a culture from generations to generations due to its everlasting life time As phenomena of language and their convenient characteristic, idioms reflect the historical, traditional and cultural features of a society or a country such as spiritual values, custom, trending and manners Therefore, with a deep understanding about the idioms of a country, it will be easier for foreigner to study and communicate with the native speaker, alongside adapting refering culture and knowledge

2.3.3 Classification of idioms

2.3.3.1 An overview of the classification of idioms in worldwide

It is important, espeacially for second language learners, to be able to identify and deeply understand idioms of the native speakers As a result, leaners tend to seek out for reliable supports when they encounter such hard and strange idioms Besides teachers and textbooks which can only provide finite knowlegde, one of the most dependable sources that leaners can take advantages of is dictionaries There are two popular dictionaries which give

a deep care about English idioms: Longman dictionary of English idioms and Oxford dictionary of Current Idiomatic English The discussion about these two dictionaries will be performed by examples and analysis for deeper understanding about the classification of idioms in worldwide

Longman Dictionary of English idioms:

Longman Dictionary of English idioms gives a state of idiom: “An idiom is

a fixed expression with a figurative meaning which separates itself from the meaning of its constituents” Idiom’s features are also noted along: idioms mostly have figurative meaning than literal one Besides, some idioms are more related to the definition of an idiom than others which are propably more related to their literal meaning In addition, Longman Dictionary also states that an idiom must contain more than, or at least, two words It could

be used in spoken language as well as written one However, the informal using is considered more popular than the formal using

According to Longman Dictionary, there are eight types of idioms which are listed below

 Traditional idioms: The idioms in this type are mostly full and complete sentences The way to use this idiom is just to add a subject to identify the purpose of the sentence They are usually

considered working as specific parts of sentences For example the verb phrase can work like a complement, subject or object of the given sentence “ keep an eye on somebody “ and “ cut to the chase

“ are typical examples for this type of idioms

 Idioms of actions which express feelings or emotions like “ hold one’s hourses” and “ found one’s feet “ are usually difficult and make trouble for users, espeacially non native speakers, to apply it The problem here is, the meaning of the related idiom is often figurative and not really literal while the action in the idiom means quite different from which it does in other languages As a result, the confusion between meaning and action makes it unpopular comparing to other idiom

 Sets of words such as “ days and nights ” A number idioms of this type belongs to the first grou, work as specific types of sentence which the order is often fixed

 Idioms which contain “ it “ like “ Coining it “ and “ Dog it “ “ it “ in this type of idioms does not relate to the constituents standing before it like it often does

 Insinuation like “brewski” This type of idioms is familiar and quite special in English society, which could be trouble with non native speaker since they do not perform a clear meaning

 Sayings: they could be proverbs such as “ A broken friendship may

be soldered but will never be sound “ or just informal sayings such

as “ You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink “

 Common phrases in communication or conversation such as “ How come “ and “ How do you do “ They often fail to express literal meanings

 Similes such as “ About as useful as a chocolate teapot “ Come down

on somebody like a ton of bricks “

And so, there are expressions in this dictionary which are not considered as idioms For example, most of insinuations do not have figurative meanings and, however, being treated as metonymy In the same way, sayings and common phrases do not have figurative meanings, despite the fact that they usually appear in the group of idiomatic languague, still are not idioms It is hard to recognize the disimilarities between common phrases which appear

in the dictionary and the ones which are not metioned in Another example, the idioms contain “ it “ such as “ coining it “ and “ Dog it “ are not really called idioms, they refer as phrasal verbs than complete idioms

Longman Dictionary does not provide any foundations to secure the expressions which contain “ it “ are whether idioms or not Despite the fact that Longman Dictionary based on signs and features of idiom (formal, informal, jargon and waggish) to categorize idioms, which is the same way

of other usual dictionaries apply to group idioms, it is essential to mention

as well as explain logical limitations for idioms in the aspect of framework, manners in order to achieve better understanding about idioms It is undeniable that the most important mission of a dictionary is to give definitions for the meanings of expressions, neither to guide nor to argue how to apply them in the way the users want to do However, as it is presented to serve and support for most of non native speakers who were not familiar with this language until recent time, it would have been more resonable to deliver a proper counseling for the concept of idioms than just define and classify them Of course, there are still advantages of idioms that English leaners can look for in Longman dictionary such as giving neat definitions and providing related instances as well

Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English :

Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English also agrees the same definition and features of an idiom It defines that an idiom is a group of more than two words which works together to perform a figurative meaning Besides, it also makes clear that with the semantic accord, an idiom could become a single syntactic component Futhermore, the dictionary also accesses that with their principle features as well as their unique types of structures, idioms have made themselves as the most typically English component in terms of vocabulary In addition, with a variety of idiomatic expressions collaborating with the capability to be used in many concepts of communication or daily conversation, idioms are considered as one of the most interesting and most useful grammatical elements in English The needs of idiom dictionaries are also concerned with due to their figurative meaning features as well as extraordinarily grammatical structures, espeacially for those who are not non native speakers and unfamiliar with the related language However, the concepts of idioms are only merely explained without proper evaluations and discussions Besides, Oxford Dictionary aims to cover a wide range of idiomatic expressions, which is extremely numerous, instead of focusing on idioms only

Generally speaking, Oxford Dictionary delivers a deeper and more concrete concept of idioms than Longman Dictionary It provides a neat definition, both figurative and literal meaning of idioms as well as attached examples The following categories are classified into five types:

 Clear idioms like “ nerves of steel “ and “ take cover “

 Figurative idioms like “ food for thought “ or “ take with a grain of salt “

 Controlled connections, also named as semi idioms, are idioms which one part expresses a literal or familiar meaning while other parts reveal figurative meanings in certain concepts For example : “ an apple of one’s eyes “ and “ darken someone’s door “

 Free connections are a group of words or phrases which combine together with their literal meanings and are free to connect like “ Actions speak louders than words “ and “keep one's feet on the ground “ The idioms in this type are mostly parted out of the dictionary because its authours and editors recognize that this type of idioms are usually not able to define as the exact characteristics of an idiom

 Unclear type : It is the facts that there are many cases which are impossible to make clear wheter they are idioms or just an idiomatic expressions

Oxford Dictionary of Current idiomatic English is the first dictionary which accept that it is sometimes difficult and mistaken to define whether a fixed expression is an idiom or just an idiomatic expression , due to its conventional definition and accustomed meaning from the old days Oxford really tries to define and classify idioms mostly basing on the syntactic features of idioms, which contain a variety and confusions both in grammatical structures and methods as well Therefore, a number of idiomatic expressions appearing in the dictionary is still classified as an idiom like “ I can tell you “ and “ God bless you “ Of course there are also mistaken like this in general dictionaries and even in major dictionaries and Oxford Dictionary of Current idiomatic English is still one of the most reliable dictionaries for studying and learning about idioms at the moment

On the whole, there are milions of idioms in all over the world and each idiom could be different in one language from another As a result, it makes

out a numerous way to classify types of idioms With a restricted knowledge

of this paper, idioms would be categorized into two ways as follows: idioms based on semantic structure and idioms based on syntactic structure

2.3.3.2 Based on semantic structure

Vinogradov, a specialist in linguistic field, has contributed great studies for linguistics around the world He states that there are three main kinds of idioms based on their semantic structure, they are phraseological fusions, phraseological unities and phraseological combinations (Vinogradov, 2004) (20)

 Phraseological fusions: Considered as the most combinating kind of idioms, It is hard to study this kind of idioms because of its special features Specifically, in this type of idioms, the meaning of a idiom could not be expressed by combinating the meaning of each components of the idiom On the other hand, the meanings of individual constituents of the idioms is way too far from the meaning

of the idiom, futhermore, their meanings are also not linked to each other to perform a certain description for the idiom As a result, it usually challenges linguists of two language to translate it while keeping both lireral and figurative meaning because its complicated feature, as well as it can cause misunderstand for users to effectively communicate to others due to its enigma To illustrate, there is an example idiom “cook someone’s goose” (to ruin, make someone trouble) which the meaning of the idiom does not relate to any word

of it and it is also the same in reserve

 Phraseological unities: While the phraseological fusions totally deny itself in term of meaning, the phraseological unities do assist the whole idiom by the meaning of its components Although it just partly combines the components in low level, the meaning of the

idiom could be understand by perceiving its constituents’ meanings It equals to the term “synonym” in normal sentences, which means a few words in the sentence could be replaced by other wordd while still keeping the sentence’s meaning As a result, the communication can achieve better performance while using this kind of idiom because it can be understood by normal and simple words For example, “look like a milions dollars” (a person who looks fabulous and attractive) can explain this kind of idioms A millions dollars, of course, is attractive to anyone and it could be replace by the word

“attractive” for a literal meaning without misplacing the original meaning of the given idiom

 Phraseological combinations: This is the most easiest kind of idioms

to understand because the literal meaning is mostly alike to a figurative one The meanings of its components are linked and supportive for each other while they also reflect the meaning of an idiom Although it delivers lower figurative meaning than other kinds

of idioms, it takes a main part in normal communications and daily life due to its convenient and easy-to-use features “practice makes perfect” (working hard to achieve good result) “in high spirit” (to be happy and joyful) are simple example to look at

2.3.3.3 Based on syntactic feature

Being sorted as forms of words, this part mainly focuses on the structure of idioms, from that the classification will be clearly explained into five kinds: idioms roling like nouns, idioms roling like verbs, idioms roling like adjectives, idioms roling like adverbs and at last, idioms roling like prepositions A table will be performed below for better presentation

Types of Idioms

based on Syntactic

features

Common structures Examples

N

N + N Ambulance chaser

N + Adj Business as usual

N + PP Cash in your chips

N + V Your heart sinks

N + NP Stars in your eyes

V

V + N Cry one's eyes out

V + Adv Chill out

Table 1 Types of Idioms based on Syntactic Features

2.3.4 An overview of phrases, clause and sentence structures

2.3.4.1 Phrase

A phrase, in the most simple definition, is a collection of words which operate as one part of the sentence and comprise neither a subject nor a verb It is a individual constituent of a sentence and , mostly , does not attempt to state any precise meanings For example, “ the girl next door has just borrowed me a piece of paper ” is cited out to explain the definition “ the girl next door ” is the phrase which could mean “ the neighbour girl who lives next to my house “ but it does not perform any action to contribute for the communication between two people, it just plays a subject role in the related sentence In like manner, “ a piece of paper “ could be easily defined but , as well, does not contribute for the communication if it was separated

It only plays a object role in the sentence above As a result, they can only have meaning when they are allowed to stand together in order to express a exact meaning for things and phenomena around (Finch, 2000) (21)

According to Oxford dictionary, “ a group of words, which make sense but not complete “ is stated as a Phrase and “ is a group of linking words without a Verb or a Subject” In daily and normal communication, there are five kinds of popular phrases which could be applied for: Noun Phrase, Verb Phrase, Adjective Phrase, Adverb Phrase and Prepositional Phrases

Noun Phrases

A noun phrase, also called “ Nominal phrase “ (NP) is a phrase containing a noun or an identify pronoun as the leading term of the phrase It could perform a variety of missions in a sentence Its syntactic features is related

as a normal phrase And so, noun phrases are favourably used in communication and they are probably the most common phrase which are used for most of contexts Noun phrases could play in four particular roles

 Noun phrase as a subject : That blue house is now for rent

 Noun phrase as a direct object : Paula really wants a pair of shoes

 Noun phrase as an object of preposition: there is a flash mob dance on

that red brigde

 Noun phrase as an indirect subject: Do you know that young lady?

Verb Phrases

In terms of linguistics, a Verb phrase is a grammatical element which combines more than one verb as a main part and other complements regarding to it As an example, “ Charlie wants the toy at the end of the line

“ contains a verb phrase “ wants the toy at the end of the line “ with the verb

“ wants “ and other complements “ the toy at the end of the line “ Verb phrases usually do not consist a subject inside For this reason, Verb phrases are frequently treated as a predicate in grammatical structures

Verb phrase could be commonly seperated into two kinds: one is finite and another is nonfinite Finite verb phrases have the begining of the phrase containing a finite verb On the contrary, nonfinite verb phrases have the begining of the phrase containing a non-finite verb such as gerunds (verbs with the suffix “ ing” after them), participle (verbs in their participle forms) and infinitive (bare verbs) Depending on the related contexts that Verb phrases could be used as a finite or non-finite type

 Verb phrase as a finite : The whole class has failed in the

examination

 Verb phrase as a non-finite : Being as a mature person, I must be responsible for myself

of an adjective phrase e.g I am better than you are Adjective phrases, as

well as adjectives, primarily work in two general roles in clauses, which are either prenominal or predicative In the prenominal role, the adjective phrases present inside a noun phrase and amend that noun phrase In much the same way, about the predicative way, the adjective phrases state beside

the noun phrase which they amend and generally tag along a linking verb

 An example for a prenominal adjective phrase : the footballer better

than you is now on the rival team

 An example for a predicative adjective phrase : I only want a small

and lovely house

 Adverb phrases amend for a noun: unluckily for us, someone has

stolen the car

 Abverb phrases amend for a verb: I always drive carefully

 Abverb phrases amend for an adjective: I found it extremely difficult

to complete the report

 Abverb phrases amend for a prepositional phrases: They were

utterly against that obligation

Prepositional Phrases

A common prepositional phrase often contains two parts: one is a preposition and the other is a complement There are three features of a preposition phrase which are post modifier of a noun, post modifier of an adjective and last, adverbial

 Prepositional phrases work like an adjective: The shoes on the

ground floor are biten by a cat

 Prepositional phrases work like an adverb: I watched the movie

before class

2.3.4.2 Clause

A clause is a group of words which consists an individiual subject and a founding part of a compound sentence In simple terms, it could be considered as a Phrase adding up a Subject and , sometimes , the subject could be lessened if it was mentioned before It is quite a simple and understandable sentence and often used in social life A complicated sentence can contain a number of clauses supporting its meaning There are two types of clauses: Main clause (matrix clause or independent clause) is clause which could present as a complete sentence by itself On the other hand, subsidiary clause, also known as dependent or assistant clause, is a