A study on english substitutions of synonym with reference to the vietnamese equivalents

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M.A THESIS A STUDY ON ENGLISH SUBSTITUTIONS OF SYNONYM WITH REFERENCE TO THE VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS (NGHIÊN CỨU THAY THỂ TỪ ĐỒNG NGHĨA TRONG TIẾNG ANH ĐỐI CHIẾU VỚI TIẾNG VIỆT) TRẦN HÀ ANH Hanoi, 2016 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M.A THESIS A STUDY ON ENGLISH SUBSTITUTIONS OF SYNONYM WITH REFERENCE TO THE VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS (NGHIÊN CỨU THAY THỂ TỪ ĐỒNG NGHĨA TRONG TIẾNG ANH ĐỐI CHIẾU VỚI TIẾNG VIỆT) TRẦN HÀ ANH Field: English Language Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Lê Văn Thanh Hanoi, 2016 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled A STUDY ON ENGLISH SUBSTITUTIONS OF SYNONYM 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 Trần Hà Anh Approved by SUPERVISOR Assoc Prof Le Van Thanh, Ph.D Date:…………………… i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support from a number of people Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Assoc Prof Dr Lê Văn Thanh for the continuous support of my M.A study and research, for his patience, motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge His guidance helped me in all the time of research and writing of this thesis I could not have imagined having a better advisor and mentor for my M.A study A special word of thanks goes to all my lecturers in Postgraduate Department of Hanoi Open University and my classmates, without whose support and encouragement it would never have been possible for me to have this thesis accomplished Last but not the least, I would like to thank my family: my parents, for the sacrifice they have devoted to the fulfillment of this academic work ii ABSTRACT This article is an attempt to identify substitution of synonym in both English and Vietnamese as a discourse cohesive device Both quantitative and qualitative approaches are used in the thesis Besides, the thesis is carried out based on the research methods such as statistical research, methodology description, analysis and synthesis methods, comparing and contrasting methods With the corpora from stories and novels, the study classifies substitution of synonym in English and Vietnamese into three types: dictionary substitution of synonym, temporary substitution of synonym and descriptive substitution of synonym Then, the study explores the linguistic features of these types of substitution of synonym in English and Vietnamese in term of syntax and semantics This aims to help learners to identify the type of vocabulary and semantics common synonyms used in rather a synonym, at the same time learners can have a better use of synonyms as a way of forming cohesion The findings of the study show frequency and diversity in the relationship of the emergence of substitute synonyms in English and Vietnamese In addition, on the basic of the findings, some suggestion are put forward to help Vietnamese teachers and learners of English master substitution of synonym iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ESS English Substitutions of Synonym SI(s) Substitute Item(s) SS Substitutions of Synonym VSS Vietnamese Substitutions of Synonym iv TABLE OF CONTENT CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .1 1.1 RATIONALE 1.2 AIM AND OBJECTIVES 1.2.1 Aims 1.2.2 Objectives 1.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1.5 SIGNIFICANCA OF THE STUDY 1.6 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS 1.7 PRGANIZATION OF THE STUDY CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 PREVIOUS STUDY 2.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 10 2.2.1 Discourse and Text 10 2.2.2 Cohesion and Coherence 12 2.2.3 Reference 17 2.2.4 Substitution of synonym 19 2.2.5 Types of meaning 30 2.3 SUMMARY 33 CHAPTER 3: METHODS AND PROCEDURES 34 3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN 34 3.2 RESEARCH METHOD 34 3.3 SAMPLING 34 3.4 DATA COLLECTION 35 v 3.5 DATA ANALYSIS 36 3.6 PROCEDURES 36 3.7 RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY 37 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSTION 38 4.1 TYPES ON SUBSTITUTION OF SYNONYM 38 4.1.1 Dictionary Substitution of synonym (Type 1) 38 4.1.2 Temporary Substitution of synonym (Type 2) 40 4.1.3 Descriptive Substitution of synonym (Type 3) 42 4.2 SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF SS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE 44 4.2.1 Syntactic Features 44 4.2.2 Semantic Features 56 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 84 5.1 CONCLUSIONS 84 5.2 IMLICATIONS 86 5.3 LIMITATIONS 88 5.4 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESREACH 88 vi LIST OF TABLE Table 4.1 Classification of SS 44 Table 4.2 Distribution of substitute items as subtypes of nouns in SS 47 Table 4.3 Distribution of substitute items as noun phrase in SS 49 Table 4.4 below: Relative frequency of substitute items in ESS and VSS in syntactic feature 54 Table 4.5 Relative frequency of substitute items in ESS and VSS in semantic feature 80 vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 RATIONALE Communication, which is considered a “bridge” to bring people closer and closer, always plays an important role in human life People use language as a vital means to communicative with each other Thanks to language, the most important means of communication in human society, people can exchange information, ideas and feelings In order to communicative successfully and effectively, people have to make use of language properly Thai is not merely by putting one sentence after another to mean something, but that people should use cohesive devices seems to be one of the suitable ways The substitution via synonyms that can be also called substitution of synonym (SS) is one of those cohesive means (Halliday & Hasan, 1976) During the process of writing or speaking, over repetition of a lexical item may cause the boredom to the reader/hearer and may not convey the writer’s/ speaker’s message effectively In contrast, the use of synonym to replace some items of vocabulary can better than this That means the employment of synonyms not only helps to avoid over repetition, but also contribute to the effective expression of different shades of meaning Here are some examples: (1.1) Swetman, much awed and surprised, returned the articles to the closet, and went downstairs pondering Of his surmise he said nothing to his daughters, merely saying to them that the gentleman was gone; and never saying that he had been an eye-witness of the unpleasant scene in the orchard that was the immediate cause of departure (1.2) Swetman, much awed and surprised, returned the articles to the closet, and went downstairs pondering Of his surmise he said nothing to his daughters, merely declaring to them that the gentleman was semantic features, it can be seen that cohesion in discourse can be expressed under the forms of pure lexical cohesion (cohesion made by the identical meaning on synonyms), anaphoric cohesion and cataphoric cohesion This will be shown in table 4.5 79 Table 4.5 Relative frequency of substitute items in ESS and VSS in semantic feature Sis as Pure Lexical Cohesion ESS Semantic synonyms 27 Stylistic Synonyms 13 Per 67.5 % 32.5 % VSS 16 33 Per Anaphoric Cohesion ESS Per VSS 56.3 5.6% 13 27 38% Descriptive Synonyms % Per % 49 VSS 67.3 General Terms 33.3 Per % 40 40 ESS 32.7 Superordinates Total Per Cataphoric Cohesion 40.8 % 71 80 % 59.2 % 18 32 63 28.6 % 20.6 % 50.8 % 52.2 % 44.4 % 22.2 % 33.3 1 12.5 % 12.5 % 75% 7.5% 6.7% % Table 4.5 shows that pure lexical cohesion is created via semantic synonyms and stylistic synonyms Meanwhile, anaphoric cohesion and cataphoric cohesion are made via superordinates, general terms and descriptive synonyms In table 4.5, we can also see that there exist differences in the distribution of ESS and VSS in term of semantics As regards the frequency of cohesive forms in SS, it can be seen that both English and Vietnamese writers usually employ anaphoric cohesion, which outnumbers the cataphoric one (71 turns versus turns in English; 63 turns versu turns in Vietnamese) The pure lexical cohesion takes a relatively moderate numbers of samples, which is neither high nor very low (44 samples in English and 49 samples in Vietnamese) Specifically, it can be said that the dominant preference in using synonyms which create pure lexical cohesion in English is for semantic synonyms (67.5%); meanwhile, in Vietnamese this is for stylistic synonyms (67.3%) In the fields of anaphoric cohesion, superordinates in English is the most dominate with 56.3%, but in Vietnamese it is descriptive synonyms with 50.8% With respect to cataphoric cohesion, the distribution is similar That means the most dominant in English is also superordinates (44.4%) and in Vietnamese is descriptive synonyms (75%) In term of anaphoric cohesion and cataphoric cohesion, general terms has the lowest frequency in English as well as in Vietnamese Generally, English writers prefer using superordinates in SS (44 samples of all 120 samples), whereas Vietnamese writers prefer using descriptive synonyms (38 samples of all 120 samples) 4.2.2.7 Similarities and Differences between ESS and VSS in Terms of Semantic Features 81 Some similarities and differences of ESS and VSS in semantic features will be summarized as follows: a Similarities - English and Vietnamese employ the same semantic categories (kinds of synonyms) to encode SS for cohesive effect They can be divided into the following kinds: semantic synonyms, stylistic synonyms, superordinates general words and descriptive synonyms - Both English and Vietnamese writers prefer using the substitute items creating pure lexical tie and anaphoric cohesion to using substitute items creating cataphoric cohesion in their writing - General words regarded as synonyms in broad sense takes the lowest rate of frequency in SS in both English and Vietnamese b Differences - In English discourse, anaphoric cohesion appears more frequently than in Vietnamese discourse In contrast, the occurrence of pure lexical tie in Vietnamese discourse is more often - SS by superordinates appears more regularly in English than in Vietnamese Whereas, SS by descriptive synonyms appears more frequently in Vietnamese than in English - English writer rarely use general words in SS while Vietnamese occasionally In conclusion, this chapter present the different kind of SS such as dictionary substitution of synonym (thế đồng nghĩa từ điển), temporary substitution of synonym (thế đồng nghĩa lâm thời) and descriptive substitution of synonym (thế 82 đồng nghĩa miêu tả) Further more, analyzing the form of substitute items; specially, some lexical categories of substitute items will be describes In this thesis, the lexical items such as Noun, Noun Phrase, Verb, Verb Phrase, Adjective and Adverb will be concentrated on 83 CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 5.1 CONCLUSIONS Substitution of synonyms, one of the cohesive devices in discourse, has been produced during the process of communication It has been regarded as a lexical cohesive device via synonyms The function of SS is to make discourse related, clear and briefer, to avoid tedious repetition Hence, it is the topic worth being investigated and very beneficial to learners of language in general, and those of English in particular In this thesis, 240 examples have been collected from novels and stories in English and Vietnamese Based on those samples, I have identified and analyzed different kinds of SS, then have found out some linguistic features of SS in terms or morphology and semantics Hence, learners can distinguish SS from other cohesive devices and make use of it in writing and speaking with the aim of achieving a truly communicative result Within the sphere of the study, I have discovered and classified SS into three kinds depending on the features of cohesive elements as main items and substitute items; they are dictionary substitution of synonym (30.8% vs 40.8%), temporary substitution of synonym (44.2% vs 28.3%), and descriptive substitution of synonym (25% vs 30.8%) Then, some linguistic features of SS in term of syntax and semantics have been dealt with 84 In terms of syntactic features, some lexical categories of substitute items are noun, noun phrase, verb, verb phrase, adjective and adverb I realize that the percentage of Noun is of the highest frequency lexical item with 51.7% (ESS) and 34.2% (VSS), Verb with 15.8% (ESS) and 32.5% (VSS), Verb Phrase with 5% (ESS) and 7.5% (VSS), Noun Phrase (23.3%) and Adjective (2.5%) with the same rate in English and Vietnamese, and finally Adverb with 1.7% (ESS) and 0% (VSS), Here, substitute items as the form of Noun appears more frequently in English than in Vietnamese; whereas, substitute items as the form of Verb appears more frequently in Vietnamese than in English Moreover, the Adverb form of substitute items in SS sometimes appears in English discourse, but it does not exist in Vietnamese discourse In term of semantic features, some cohesive forms as well as some aspects of meaning are analyzed through substitute items as different kinds of synonyms In this thesis, five types of synonyms are investigated including semantic synonyms, stylistic synonyms (synonyms in narrow sense), superordinates, general words and descriptive synonyms (synonyms in broad sense) Among of those kinds, English prefer to use superordinates but Vietnamese prefer to use descriptive synonyms and general words takes the lowest rate of frequency in SS in both English and Vietnamese In SS, substitute items are used as words or phrases that are synonymous with the preceding/ forward lexical items or specific referent ES and VSS can create pure lexical cohesion (3.33% vs 40.8%), anaphoric cohesion (59.2% vs 52.5%) or cataphoric cohesion (7.5% vs 6.7%) The percentage shows that both English and Vietnamese are accommodative to pure lexical cohesion and anaphoric cohesion than cataphoric cohesion 85 To sum up, the study has made the nature of substitution of synonym in English and Vietnamese clear by analyzing different kinds of this device, investigating its linguistic features in terms of syntax and semantics Therefore, the study “English substitutions of synonym with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents" is, to some extent, a helpful device for Vietnamese teachers and learners of English in using language Although the study is comparatively narrow, it helps to enrich the existing knowledge of the field under study Finally, I hope that those who are interested in cohesion in discourse, especially substitution of synonym and discourse analysis can find my study useful in some ways 5.2 IMLICATIONS The notion of cohesion in discourse has been focused recently and the substitution of synonym is considered as a mean which creates cohesion in English and Vietnamese SS is a lexical cohesive device which aids writers/ speakers a lot in avoiding over-repetition, and at the same time adding some more linguistic meaning to the message Accompanying with other kinds of cohesion, SS occurs in a variety of texture The matter is how to help learners use SS as an important cohesive devices as the others and how to teach SS understandably and effectively To so, teachers require knowledge and skill in using language Along with their learners, teachers need to explore the nature of English language, to promote in their students as appreciation and an understanding of language and to develop their leaners’ writing and speaking abilities The following activities can be suggested for teaching and learning Teachers should: 86 - Point out the importance of cohesion and coherence in written and spoken language - Encourage learners to be familiar with textual patterns in which substitution of synonym is used; help then to find reference, antecedents by their realization in order to use synonymous substitutes suitably - Provide learners with the basic knowledge of English language such as phonology, syntax, lexis It is their acquisition which can enhance their receptive skills and productive skills - Prepare some types of exercises for learners to practice; at the same time indicate learner’s errors so that they can master the use of substitution of synonym and can avoid mistakes corrected by teachers - Help learners to identify different kinds of synonyms so that they can choose and use them suitably in each situation Learner should: - Raise their awareness of discourse cohesion as well as the role and the use of cohesive devices (e.g substitution of synonym) in writing and speaking in a foreign language - Widen their knowledge of grammatical structure at sentence level and accumulate vocabulary, especially vocabulary of synonyms Due to the lack of those, learners may face difficulties in cohesion, for example, in finding the referent for a pronoun or choosing suitable synonyms for substitution - Build up the habit of using cohesive devices (including substitution of synonym) via practice and drills in both spoken discourse and written discourse 87 5.3 LIMITATIONS Though a lot of efforts have been made to complete the study, it can not help having certain limitations Due to the limitation of time and materials, examples are not collected adequately from all genres and in both written discourse and spoken discourse to illustrate the use of substitution of synonym Although I learn that the use of synonyms owns a variety of nuances of feelings and attitudes, I have not paid much and deeply attention to this aspect In addition, the similarities and differences of substitution of synonym in English and Vietnamese may not be fully found 5.4 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESREACH Further research can be suggested as follows - Pragmatically feature of substitution of synonym in English and Vietnamese - A contrastive analysis of substitution of synonym in 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English and Vietnamese substitution of synonym as well as describing the features of their language syntax and semantics The study aims at helping Vietnamese leaners of English to be more aware... This study aims to help Vietnam''s English learners to be more aware of the role of alternative synonyms as a means of language Besides, the thesis is done to help Vietnam''s English learners to