A study on syntactic and semantic features of idioms denoting SADNESS in english with reference to the vietnamese equivalent

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M.A THESIS A STUDY ON SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF IDIOMS DENOTING SADNESS IN ENGLISH WITH REFERENCE TO THE VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS (NGHIÊN CỨU ĐẶC ĐIỂM CÚ PHÁP VÀ NGỮ NGHĨA CỦA THÀNH NGỮ TIẾNG ANH BIỂU THỊ CẢM XÚC BUỒN TRONG SỰ LIÊN HỆ TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG VỚI TIẾNG VIỆT) NGUYỄN THỊ VINH Hanoi, 2016 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M.A THESIS A STUDY ON SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF IDIOMS DENOTING SADNESS IN ENGLISH WITH REFERENCES TO THE VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS (NGHIÊN CỨU ĐẶC ĐIỂM CÚ PHÁP VÀ NGỮ NGHĨA CỦA THÀNH NGỮ TIẾNG ANH BIỂU THỊ CẢM XÚC BUỒN TRONG SỰ LIÊN HỆ TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG VỚI TIẾNG VIỆT) NGUYỄN THỊ VINH Field: English Language Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Phan Văn Quế Hanoi, 2016 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled “A study on syntactic and semantic features of idioms denoting SADNESS in English 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 Nguyễn Thị Vinh SUPERVISOR Assoc Prof Dr Phan Văn Quế Date: …………………… i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the first place, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Phan Văn Quế, for his patient guidance, helpful suggestions, encouragement and constructive supervision in writing of this report His enlightening suggestions and detailed comments have shaped this dissertation largely Without his help, this field study report would have been impossible A special word of thanks goes to all my lecturers at Ha Noi Open University and many others, without whose support and encouragement it would never have been possible for me to have this thesis accomplished Thanks are also due to all other staff members of English Department at Hung Yen Medical College who have been of great help I am indebted to all those who have kindly advised and helped me towards the completion of my study report Last but not least, my sincere thanks go to my family whose love and encouragement have been equally important to my educational endeavors, especially my husband and my children who encouraged and helped me to carry out the thesis ii ABSTRACT This study investigates syntactic and semantic features of idioms denoting SADNESS in English with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents Basing on the description and analysis of distinguishing features, the similarities and differences of idioms in the two languages are presented The data includes236 samples in English and Vietnamese, from various linguistic books, dictionaries and from the internet and they are analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively The findings show that idioms relating denoting SADNESS have remarkable syntactic and semantic features in the two languages such as phrases, and structures are identical to some extent In the semantic aspect, the occurrence fields are almost same in English and Vietnamese There is only one feature difference These findings lead to some implications for the language learning and teaching It is hoped that the study will be useful to those who teach and study English as well as ones who are interested in idioms denoting SADNESS iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS A: Adjunct Adj: Adjective Adj P: Adjective Phrase Adv: Adverb Adv.P: Adverb Phrase App: Appositive Art: Article C: Complement Cadj: Complement of Adjective Cprep: Complement N: Noun NP: Noun Phrase of preposition Num: Number Prep : Preposition Prep P: Preposition Phrase S: Subject V: Verb VP: Verb Phrase iv LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Similarities and differences between proverbs and idioms 24 Table 4.1 A summary of idioms denoting SADNESS in English with 55 reference to the Vietnamese in terms of syntactic features Table 4.2 A Statistical Summary of syntactic features of idioms 56 denoting SADNESS in English with reference to the Vietnamese Table 4.3 A Statistical Summary of Semantic Features of idioms 63 denoting SADNESS in English with reference to the Vietnamese v TABLE OF CONTENTS Certificate of originality i Acknowledgements i Abstract iii List of abbreviations iv List of table v CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the research 1.2 Aims of the research 1.3 Objectives of the study .3 1.4 Scope of the study .3 1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 Structural organization of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Review of previous studies 2.2 Review of theoretical background 2.2.1 Theoretical framework 2.2.1.1 Theory of syntax 2.2.1.2 Theory of semantics 2.2.2 Overview of English and Vietnamese idioms 10 2.2.2.1 Definition of English idioms 10 2.2.2.2 Features of English idioms 12 2.2.2.3 Features of Vietnamese idioms .19 2.2.3 Classification of idioms 22 2.2.3.1 Idioms and Proverbs .22 2.2.3.2 Idioms and phrases .25 2.2.4 Overview of SADNESS 26 2.2.4.1 Definition of Sadness 26 2.2.4.2 Idioms denoting Sadness .27 2.5 Summary .27 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY .28 3.1 Research-governing orientations 28 3.1.1 Research questions 28 3.1.2 Research setting .29 3.1.3 Research approach 29 3.1.4 Criteria for intended data collection and data analysis 30 3.2 Research methods .31 3.2.1 Major methods vs supporting methods 31 3.2.2 Data collection techniques .32 3.2.3 Data analyses techniques 32 3.3 Summary .33 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .35 Overview 35 4.1 Syntactic and semantic features of idioms denoting SADNESS in English .35 4.1.1 Syntactic features .35 4.1.2 Semantic features 40 4.2 Similarities and Differences of idioms denoting SADNESS in English with references to the Vietnamese equivalents in terms of their syntactic and semantic features 46 4.2.1 In term of their syntactic features 46 4.2.1.1 Similarities 46 4.2.1.2 Differences 48 4.2.2 In terms of their semantic features 60 4.2.2.1 Similarities 60 4.2.2.2 Differences 63 4.3 Possible implications 66 4.4 Summary .68 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 70 Overview 70 5.1 Recapitulation .70 5.2 Concluding remarks 71 5.3 Limitations of the research 72 5.4 Suggestion for future research 72 REFERENCE 73 APPENDIX: IDIOMS DENOTING SADNESS IN ENGLISH AND IDIOMS DENOTING SADNESS IN VIETNAMESE 77 in particular Then these teachers can help the learners with effective ways of learning idioms Second, teachers of English like us should not ignore cultural gaps between source language and the target language because inter lingual errors are originated from the deficiency of cultural knowledge The best way to solve it is to supply our students with background knowledge of history, culture, traditions and customs, related to idioms in general and English idioms denoting SADNESS particular Once the learners understand the context in which English idioms denoting SADNESS exist, their language acquisition will be raised considerably Third, remembering a set of various idioms is not always an easy task for many students To eliminate this limitation teacher should categorize idioms in sub-groups according to topics so that the students can take advantage of connecting similar lexical units in the process of memorizing and they can remember idioms denoting SADNESS more easily Last, while teaching idioms, teacher should not isolate them from cultural context because any forms of language, including idioms are affected by cultural factors such as norms, customs, prejudices, notions, belief A harmonious combination between language context and cultural context is the key to success in teaching and learning idioms in general Thus, a clear explanation of the meaning transfer should be given to make our student feel the hidden beauty of the idioms This profound understanding will get the learners to be involved in learning actively and enthusiastically b For learning Firstly students should equip themselves with broad knowledge of 68 history, culture and customs relating to the idioms in the process of practicing with English idioms denoting SADNESS Secondly, students should be offered the context to enhance interpretation of idioms Learning idioms denoting SADNESS in meaningful contexts is more effective than learning isolated items through memorization and drilling 4.4 Summary The main conclusions of this chapter are as follows: Firstly, some phrasal structures of idioms denoting SADNESS in English and their Vietnamese equivalents are analyzed in turns to draw some typical features of idioms in terms of syntax in the two languages Secondly, a statistical summary of syntactic features of idioms denoting SADNESS in English and their Vietnamese equivalents has been shown Thirdly, this chapter also illustrates semantic fields of SADNESS in both languages which are also handled to help us understand more about the meaning transfer of natural language like idioms Fourthly, the similarities and differences of idioms denoting SADNESS in English and their Vietnamese equivalents have been proposed to provide an overall understanding about the idioms in two languages Lastly, some possible implications are also suggested for teachers and learners who interest in this field 69 CHAPTER CONCLUSION Overview This chapter is a brief review of what has been studied in this thesis First, I would like to suggest some concluding remarks Then, the limitations of the study are given and finally, some suggestions for further researches will be also mentioned 5.1 Recapitulation This research, “A study on idioms denoting SADNESS in English with reference the Vietnamese equivalents” is carried out to examine the syntactic and semantic features of English and Vietnamese idioms denoting SADNESS in order to find out the similarities and differences in meanings as well as syntax in both languages Syntactically, both English and Vietnamese idioms denoting SADNESS are formed in the phrasal structures The phrasal structures are classified into noun phrases, verb phrases, adjective phrases and prepositional phrases In the collected corpus, Both English and Vietnamese people tend to use Verb phrases in communication most However, English also use prepositional phrases, there is not any one appearing in Vietnamese idioms Semantically, through the process of investigation we have also discovered that most idioms contain two simultaneous meanings at the same time They are literal meaning and figurative meaning That is the reason why sometimes we find it difficult to understand the idioms at the first sight Basically, the figurative meaning of idioms is usually conveyed through the 70 expressive means More interesting, some idioms denoting SADNESS in Vietnamese have no equivalence in English and vice versa because of the cultural differences between two countries 5.2 Concluding remarks Chapter one presents the organization of the research It includes the rationale, aims, objectives, significance of the study and the scope of the study Chapter two is the theories involved in this thesis under consideration which serve as the basic foundation of data analysis and finding discussion Chapter three is designed to describe research-governing orientation with research question, research setting, research approach and criteria for intended data Besides, the methods are also raised to give the best ways in solving problems in chapter four Chapter four deals the findings and discussion of the research in terms of the syntactic and semantic features between idioms denoting SADNESS in English and Vietnamese In the syntactic aspects, idioms denoting SADNESS in English and Vietnamese in the both languages are formed in the phrase structures The phrase structures are classified into noun phrases, verb phrases, adjective phrases and prepositional phrases Idioms denoting SADNESS in English has four types, but idioms denoting SADNESS in Vietnamese has three types They are NP, VP, and Adj P In each part of syntactic structures, there are particular structures and clear examples Semantically, through the process of investigation, we have also discovered the most idioms contain two simultaneous meanings at the same time literal meaning and figurative meaning Besides, the thesis examines 71 semantic fields in both languages through main aspects like displeasure, loneliness, unluckiness illness and poverty Moreover, because of the difference in culture, the idioms denoting SADNESS in Vietnamese has one more field: old age 5.3 Limitations of the research The thesis studys on syntactic and semantic features of idioms denoting SADNESS in English and their Vietnamese equivalents,but it has some limitations First, because of the limitation of time and the restriction of idioms denoting SADNESS, there are only 236 idioms in the two languages are collected Moreover, because of the limited knowledge and reference, the research can only examine some certain characteristics of idioms denoting SADNESS in English such as syntactic classes and semantic types so it has not reached the expected depth as it should Second, the study has not been analyzed from the point of view of culture and pragmatics English in this study is considered as source language and it has been presented relatively adequately but in term of Vietnamese equivalent, Vietnamese is considered as target language and it has not been completely studied yet Though great efforts have been made in this thesis to work out the best results, mistakes and limitations are unavoidable Therefore any your comments or corrections for our better work would by highly appreciated 5.4 Suggestion for future research This thesis has studied only on idioms denoting SADNESS in English 72 and their Vietnamese equivalents in terms of syntactic and semantic features to find out the similarities and differences between these kinds of idioms in two languages Therefore, there will still be some topics related to this problem left for further researches: An investigation into the cultural features of English and Vietnamese idioms denoting SADNESS An investigation into pragmatics of English and Vietnamese idioms denoting SADNESS 73 REFERENCES ENGLISH Alexander, L.G (1992), Longman English Grammar, Press, England Longman Group Limited Arthur, T (1986), Longman Lexicon of Contemporary English, Longman Carter, R (1985), Vocabulary: Applied Linguistics Perspectives (2nd edin) London and New York: Routledge Cobuild, C (2002), Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary, Happer Collins publishers Cowie, A,P Mackin, R and McCaig, I.R (1993) Oxford Dictinary of English Idioms, Oxford University Press Cruse, D.A(1986), Lexical Semantics, Camybridge University Press Fromkin, Rodman, Collins, Blair (1990), An Introduce to Language, Holt, Rinehart and Winston Grains, R & Redman, S (1986), Working with words, Cambridge University Press Greenbaum S, Quirk, R (1996), A Student’s Grammar of the English Language, Longman 10 Greenbaum, S (1996), The oxford English Grammar, Oxford University Press, USA 11 Hornby, A.S (1995), Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Oxford University Press 12 Judith Siefring, (2004), Oxford dictionary of idiom, Oxford University Press 13 Makkai,A (1972), Idioms Structure in English, Mouton Publisher 14 Nguyễn Hòa (1998), An Introduction to Semantics, Vietnam National 74 University, College of Foreign Language 15 Nguyễn Hoàng Nam (2012), An investigation into the use of conceptual metaphor in English and Vietnamese idioms denoting human feeling Master Thesis, Danang 16 Nguyen Thanh Binh (2001), Introduction to Linguistics and the English language, Master Thesis, Hue 17 Nguyến Thị Lâm (2010), Semantic features of English and Vietnamese idioms of happiness and sadness: A cognitive linguistic perspective, Greduatuon paper, Vinh 18 Nguyễn Thị Tân Bình(2011), A contrast study of grammartical and semantic features of words and idioms denoting unhappiness in English and Vietnamese,Master Thesis, Danang 19 Palmer F R (1981), Semantics, Cambridge University Press 20 Seiddli, J & Mcmordie, W (1998), English Idioms, Oxford University Press 21 Võ Thanh Quyên (2006), Acontrast analysisof idioms denoting human being in English and Vietnamese, Master Thesis, Danang VIETNAMESE 22 Dương Ngọc Dũng, Ninh Hùng (1992), Từ điển Thành ngữ Anh Việt,NXB Trẻ 23 Hoàng Tuyết Minh(2014), Thành ngữ so sánh ngang bằng, NXB Giáo dục Việt Nam 24 Hoàng Văn Hành (2002), Kể chuyện thành ngữ tục ngữ, NXB Khoa học Xã hội 25 Hoàng Văn Hành (2004), Thành ngữ học Tiếng Việt, NXB Khoa học Xã hội 75 26 Mai lan Hương, Nguyễn Thanh Loan, Lý Thanh Truc, Trần Lan Anh,Phan Thị Mai Hương, Hà Thanh Uyên (2008), Từ điển thành ngữ Anh Việt, NXB Đà Nẵng 27 Nguyễn Đình Hưng (2002), Tuyển tập thành ngữ, tục ngữ, ca dao Việt -Anh thông dụng, Nhà xuất Hồ Chí Minh 28 Nguyễn Thiện Giáp (1975),Về khái niệm thành ngữ tiếng Việt, Viện Ngôn ngữ 29 Nguyễn Thiện Giáp (1985), Từ vựng học tiếng Việt, Nxb Đại học Trung học chuyên nghiệp 30 Nguyễn Văn Mệnh (1971), Bước đầu tìm hiểu sắc thái tu từ thành ngữ tiếng Việt,Tạp chí Ngơn ngữ 31 Nguyễn Văn Tú (1976), Từ vốn từ tiếng Việt đại, Nxb Đại học Trung học chuyên nghiệp 32 Nguyễn Đức Dần (1986),Ngữ nghĩa thành ngữ tục ngữ, vận dụng, Tạp chí Ngơn ngữ 33 Nguyễn Hữu Dự, Nguyễn Thùy Dương (2003), Tục ngữ Anh - Việt,Việt -Anh, Nhà xuât Tổng hợp Đồng Nai 34 Nguyễn Lân (2015),Từ điểnThành ngữ tục ngữ Việt Nam, NXB Văn học 35 Trần hữu Mạnh(2007), Ngôn ngữ học đốichiếu: Cú pháp tiếng Anhtiếng Việt, NXB ĐHQG Hà Nội 36 Nguyễn Lực, Lương Văn Khang(2009), Thành ngữ Tiếng Việt, NXB Khoa Học Xã Hội 37 Nguyễn Như Ý (chủ biên) (2003), Từ điển giải thích thuật ngữ ngơn ngữ học, NXB Giáo dục, Hà Nội 38 Nguyễn Như Ý, Nguyễn Văn Khang, Phan Xuân Thành (1993), Từ điển Thành ngữ Việt Nam, NXB Văn hóa 39 Trần Quang Mân (2002), Thành ngữ & tục ngữ Việt Nam chọn lọc, NXB trẻ TP.Hồ Chí Minh 76 40 Trần Phong Giao(2010),Từ điển thành ngữ Anh Việt, NXBGiao Thông Vận tải 41 Viện Ngôn Ngữ Học(1993), Từ điển Anh Việt, NXB TP Hồ Chí Minh INTERNET 42 http://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/idiom 43 http://learn- english - today.com/idioms/idioms-categories/happinesssadness 44 http://123doc.org/document/-tai-lieu-cac-thanh-ngu-tieng-anh-tuongduong-trong-thanh-ngu-viet-nam-doc.htm 45 http:// dictionary.Cambridge.Org/grammar/adverb phrase 46 https://rongmotamhon.net/mainpage/thanhngu_anhviet 47 https://rongmotamhon.net/tu-dien_thanh-ngu-viet_none_rong-mo-tamhon.html 48 http://Vidic.com 77 APPENDIX: IDIOMS DENOTING SADNESS IN ENGLISH AND IDIOMS DENOTING SADNESS IN VIETNAMESE ENGLISH VIETNAMESE A black day Ăn gió nằm mưa A black heart Ăn gió nằm sương A black mood Buồn cha chết A face as long as wet week Buồn chấu cắn Aching heart Buồn đưa đám Add insult to injury Buồn gái đĩ già All tore up about sth Buồn xo buồn rụi As cheerless as the grave Buồn tình đĩ già As funny as crutch Cá chậu chim lồng 10 As miserable as a sin 10.Cắn rơm cắn cỏ 11 As poor as a church mouse 11.Chân tay rụng rời 12 As poor as a rat 12.Chau mày ủ mặt 13 As poor as Job's turkey 13.Chép miệng thở dài 14.As sad as night 14.Chết cay chết đắng 15 Be depressed lòng 16 Behind prison bar 15 Chết sống lại 17 Bitter pill to swollow 16 Chết dở sống dở 18.Black and blue 17 Chết đói chết khát 19 Bleed for something 18 Chuốc vạ vào thân 20 Break one’s heart 19 Thất lỡ vận 21 Break somebody’s heart 20 Chăn đơn gối 22 Burn sb’s down 21 Cơm liêu nước lọ 23 Burst into tears 22 Cười nước mắt 78 24 Burst out crying 23 Dãi gió dầm mưa 25 Crack under the train 24 Dãi gió dầm sương 26 Crocodile tear 25 Dãi nắng dầm mưa 27 Cry in one’s beer 26 Đắm chìm đau khổ 28 Cry one’s heart out 27 Đầm đìa nước mắt 29 Cry over spilt milk 28 Dầm mưa dãi nắng 30 Cry your eyes out 29 Đau lòng sót 31 Cut sb to the bone 30 Đau lòng sót ruột 32 Cut sb to the quick 31 Đau cắt 33 Cut up about sth/sb 32.Đau đứt thit 34 Down in one's luck 33 Đau xé ruột 35 Down in tears of sorrow 34 Dở khóc dở cười 36 Down and out 35 Dở khóc dở mếu 37 Down in the sorrow 36 Dở sống dở chết 38 Down on one’s luck 37 Đơn hình độc bóng 39 Down one’s sorrow 38 Đứt gan cháy ruột 40 Down to the dumps 39 Đứt gan đứt ruột 41 Down to the mouth 40 Gan héo ruột sầu 42 Eat one’s heart out 41 Gạo chợ nứơc sông 43 Eyes swimming with tears 42 Gió thảm mưa sầu 44 Fall into misfortune 43 Giọt dài giọt ngắn 45 Feel low 44 Giọt ngắn giọt dài 46 Feeling blue 45 Gối chăn đơn 47 Expose to the sun 46 Gội gió nằm mưa 48 Get /have the blue 47 Héo gan héo ruột 49 Get over sth/ sb 48 Héo hon ruột tằm 50 Get sb down 49 Héo ruột héo gan 51 Live low 50 Ỉu xìu bánh bao chiều 79 52 Hang one’s head 53 Have a nervous breakdown 54 Have one’s head in one’s booths 55 Have one’s heart in one’s mouth 51 Ỉu xiù bánh đa nhúng nước 52 Khơ héo ruột gan 53 Khóc dở mếu dở 54 Khóc đứng khóc ngồi 55 Khóc gió than mây 56 Have one's heart in one's boot 56 Khóc mắt 57 Heart break 57 Khóc hổ người, cười 58 Heart broken nước mắt 59 Heart sick 58 Khóc cha chết 60 Hit sb so hard 59 Khóc gái nhà 61 In no mood for doing/to sth chồng 60 Khóc mưa 62 In the bad mood 61 Khóc ri 63 In the black 62 Lòng đau cắt 64 In the blue 63 Lực bất tòng tâm 65 Lament over one’s 64 Mang tủi đeo sầu misfortune 65 Mặt cau mày có 66 Lay sb low 66 Mặt mày ủ dột 67 Lead sb a dog's life 67 Mặt mày ủ ê 68.Live from hand to mouth 68 Mặt mày ủ rũ 69 Live hard 69 Mặt nặng chì 70 Live low 70 Mặt đưa đám 71 Lose heart 71 Mặt ủ mày chau 72 Lump in one's throat 72 Mặt ủ mày ê 73 Make long face 73 Mây sầu gió thảm 74 Make one’s heart sink 74 Miệng méo xệch 75 Make sb heart bleed 75 Mua sầu chuốc não 80 76 Make sombody's life a misery 76 Mn thảm nghìn sầu 77 One’s heart bleed for sb 77 M ặt chảy dài 78 One’s heart goes out to sb 78 Nát gan nát ruột 79 One’s word stick in one’s 79 Nát bùn throat 80 Nát đất bùn 80 One's face fall 81 Nát tương 81 One's heart sink 82 Nát ruột nát gan 82 Pain in the neck 83 Ngậm bồ làm 83 Poorly off 84 Ngậm đắng nuốt cay 84 Refrain one’s tears 85 Nghèo rớt mùng tơi 85 Rotten luck 86 Nhăn nhó khỉ ăn gừng 86 Rub salt in a wound 87 Nhăn nhó nhà khó hết 87 Rub someone in the wrong way ăn 88 Nhăn chuột kẹp 88 Sad sight 89 Nửa khóc nửa cười 89 Share sb’s pain/ sorrow 90 Nửa sống nủa chết 90 Shatter one's heart 91 Nước lọ cơm liêu 91 Shed /cry crocodile tear 92 Nước mắt đầm đìa 92 Sick at heart 93 Cơm đen vận túng 93 Singing the blue 94 Nước mắt mưa 94 Sink into despair 95 Nước mắt tuôn trào 95 Someone’s heart sink 96 Nước sông gạo chợ 96 Sorrow at misfortune 97 Phận hẩm duyên ôi 97.Sorrow at sb death 98 Rầu dưa 98 Sorrow over someone or 99 Rầu rĩ đĩ già something 100 Rầu rĩ khỉ chết 99 Sorrow's tear 101 Ruột đau cắt 100 Sorry (sad) to say 102 Sống dở chết dở 81 101 Tail between two legs 103 Tấm thân cô quạnh 102 The green eye monster 104 Tan gan nát ruột 103 To be down in health 105 Than mây khóc gió 104 To be in the blue 106 Than thân trách phận 105 To be in the doldrums 107 Thắt lưng buộc bụng 106 To be sick at heart 108 Thở ngắn than dài 107 To sorrow after (for) 109 Tiu nghĩu chó cụp someone 108 To sorrow at a misfortune 109 To expose to the sun đuôi 110 Tiu nghĩu mèo bị cắt tai 110 Tobe in a fix 111 Tiu nghĩu mèo tai 111 Tobe in low spirit 112 Tan vỡ trái tim 112 Weep one’s eyes out 113 Thất lỡ vận 113 Weep one's heart out 114 Trăng tủi hoa sầu 114 Weep out a farewell 115 Trời sầu đất thảm 115 Weigh on sb’s mind 116 Ủ dột nét hoa 116 With a long face 117 Ủ liễu đào phai 117 With heavy/ sinking heart 118 Xé ruột xé gan 119 Xót muối rầu dưa 82 ... dictionaries and from the internet and they are analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively The findings show that idioms relating denoting SADNESS have remarkable syntactic and semantic features. ..MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M .A THESIS A STUDY ON SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF IDIOMS DENOTING SADNESS IN ENGLISH WITH REFERENCES TO THE VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS... out the thesis ii ABSTRACT This study investigates syntactic and semantic features of idioms denoting SADNESS in English with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents Basing on the description and