LEXICAL AMBIGUITY IN ENGLISH POEMS WITH REFERENCE TO VIETNAMESE

2.3.2.2 Polysemy 14 2.3.2.3 Criteria used to distinguish homonymy and polysemy 17 2.4 English and Vietnamese poetry in the twentieth century 18 2.4.2 Typical types of English and Vietnam

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

M.A THESIS

LEXICAL AMBIGUITY IN ENGLISH POEMS WITH

REFERENCE TO VIETNAMESE

(HIỆN TƯỢNG MƠ HỒ TỪ VỰNG TRONG THƠ TIẾNG ANH LIÊN

HỆ VỚI TIẾNG VIỆT)

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.3.2.2 Polysemy 14 2.3.2.3 Criteria used to distinguish homonymy and polysemy 17 2.4 English and Vietnamese poetry in the twentieth century 18

2.4.2 Typical types of English and Vietnamese poems 19

2.4.3 Characteristics of poetry in the twentieth century 21 2.4.3.1 Characteristics of English poetry in the twentieth century 21 2.4.3.2 Characteristics of Vietnamese poetry in the twentieth century 22

Chapter 3: LEXICAL AMBIGUITY IN ENGLISH POEMS WITH REFERENCE TO VIETNAMESE

3.1 Lexical ambiguity in English and Vietnamese poems 24

3.2 Comparison of lexical ambiguity in English poems with reference to

4.1.2 The test and interview 43

4.2 Common errors of lexical ambiguity made by learners at Sao Do University 45 4.3 Causes of committing errors made by learners at Sao Do University 49 4.4 Suggestions for disambiguating when teaching and learning English 51

Chapter 5: CONCLUSION

REFERENCES 60

APPENDIX 1 64

APPENDIX 2 69

APPENDIX 3 76

APPENDIX 4 82

APPENDIX 5 83

APPENDIX 6 83

APPENDIX 7 84

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale of the study

The need to meet the demand for expressing new objects, new conceptions,

so a huge number of new words appear If more and more new words are created, the system of language might become overburdened, and then prevent people communicating successfully Due to this reason, there is an existence of linguistic ambiguity while people use one word or phrase to implicit different meanings

Involving English ambiguity, there are various types such as lexical, structural, non-lexical ambiguity regarded as major ambiguity and the others as metaphorical and intonation referred to minor ones Structural and lexical ambiguity has been mostly investigated by linguistic scholars Some authors pay attention to aspects of ambiguity in creating jokes, irony or puns and et cetera Bucaria, C (2004) investigates some forms of ambiguity in English newspaper headlines Semiz, O (2014) tests the comprehension of linguistic ambiguity in language-based jokes Others focus on conversational contexts which are created by linguistic ambiguity David, E.M (1976) tests the given hypothesis to recognize the ambiguous words in certain contexts

To English learners, vocabulary is so crucial that it helps the learners express their own ideas and understand others In addition, vocabulary does not only help learners comprehend the meanings of spoken English but it also aids learners in perceiving written English Wilkins, D.A (1972) states that “…while without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” However, lexical ambiguity often causes misunderstanding or embarrassing circumstances for both native speakers and the learners of English Homonymy and polysemy are considered as sources of English ambiguity Without any cognition of the ambiguity in lexicon, learners could get trouble with English in communicating

or in reading and writing all texts related to this language

In addition, the phenomenon of lexical ambiguity is permeated in almost all languages, and it rises up strongly in Vietnamese Vietnamese has a large number of jokes, irony, humorous headlines or puns and et cetera created based on the ambiguity Thus, funny stories or newspaper headlines have become the main topics

in Vietnamese related to English ambiguity Nguyen Dieu Linh (2010) study on both lexical and structural ambiguity in the story named “Treasure Island” Nguyen Thi Anh Nguyet (2011) focuses on humorous headlines in English electronic newspapers based on lexical and syntactic ambiguity

However, a study on lexical ambiguity in English poems with reference to Vietnamese has not been dealt with yet Especially, the main sources including polysemy and homonymy have been still studied in English only For these above mentioned reasons, a study on lexical ambiguity in English poems with reference to Vietnamese is chosen to investigate in order that both teachers and learners could master the main sources of lexical ambiguity as well as disambiguate it

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study

The study aims at identifying the lexical ambiguity, finding the typical similarities and differences of lexical ambiguity in English poems with reference to Vietnamese in order to help teachers of English and learners disambiguate when teaching and learning English

To fulfill the aims above, the study pursues the following objectives:

1 To investigate main sources of lexical ambiguity in English poems with reference

2 How is lexical ambiguity in English poems similar and different from Vietnamese ones?

3 What are possible suggestions for teachers and learners to avoid lexical ambiguity?

1.4 Methods of the study

The research uses the main methods as qualitative, quantitative and contrastive approaches for the most part which aim at identifying lexical ambiguities found in English poems with reference to Vietnamese Descriptive method is used to describe the characteristics of lexical ambiguity in English poems Contrastive approach is utilized to find out the similarities and differences of lexical ambiguity in English poems with reference to Vietnamese

On the other hand, the analytical and synthetic methods are used as supporting methods in order to dissect the important issues related to lexical ambiguity such as word meaning, homonymy, polysemy A typical number of examples are going to be given and analyzed both in these two languages

1.5 Scope of the study

The study only concentrates on lexical ambiguity in spite of various types of linguistic ambiguity In the case of lexical ambiguity, homonymy and polysemy are investigated Moreover, the study draws attention to English and Vietnamese poetry

in the twentieth century

1.6 Significance of the study

Theoretically, if the study would be successfully, it would be able to bring the additional understanding of lexical ambiguity as well as homonymy and polysemy The study also gives some pivotal characteristics to distinguish homonymy and polysemy

Practically, this study will also be beneficial to the students and teachers in their classroom setting Importantly, the study will contribute to improving teaching skills of teachers It can help teachers choose more suitable ways of teaching English In addition, the study can assist learners have a thorough grasp of homonymy and polysemy, recognize lexical ambiguity and disambiguate them when learning English

1.7 Design of the study

The study consists of five parts organized as follows:

Chapter 1 entitled “Introduction” concisely introducing the rationale of the study, the aims of the study, scope of the study and methods of the study

Chapter 2 named “Literature Review” introduces some significant previous studies related to linguistic ambiguity, present an overview of lexical ambiguity, concepts, descriptions of homonymy and polysemy Concepts of poem and typical characteristics of English and Vietnamese poetry in the twentieth century are additionally discussed

Chapter 3, with the title of “Lexical ambiguity in English poems with reference to Vietnamese”, brings a comparison of lexical ambiguity in English poems with reference to Vietnamese that is carried out in terms of homonymy and polysemy found both in English and Vietnamese poems

Chapter 4 - titled “Lexical ambiguity errors made by learners of English” that is designed to provide common errors made by students in Sao Do University, common causes and solutions for teachers and learners to disambiguate when learning English

Chapter 5 - “Conclusion” provides concluding remarks, limitations of the study and suggestions for further study

Concerning the distinction of lexical ambiguity, Weinreich’s (1964) distinction between contrastive lexical ambiguity and complementary ambiguity is illustrative to this point Geeraerts, D (1993) puts emphasis to the importance of context when determining the predictions of each of his tests, as he demonstrates that context alters the senses of the words found in it This emphasis on context is common to all lexical ambiguity studies Ravin, Y and Leacock, C (2000) present the theoretical and computational problems of polysemy as well as lexical ambiguity Several previous studies concerning lexical ambiguity focus on verbs rather than nouns Bucaria, C (2004) analyzes some forms of linguistic ambiguity

in English newspaper headlines The author focuses on examples of lexical and syntactic ambiguity that result in sources of voluntary or involuntary humor Kaplan, J (2014) exploits the lexical ambiguities of random in the statistics classroom and provides preliminary results that indicate that such classroom interventions can be successful at helping students make sense of ambiguous words

In Vietnamese, Nguyen Thi Kim Phuong (2012) considers lexical ambiguity

as one of the typical linguistic factors causing laughter in British funny stories The study focuses on British funny stories and their linguistic characteristics with reference to cultural perspective to point out main factors causing laughter Nguyen Hai Ha (2012) pays attention to linguistic ambiguity which is regarded as a source

of constructing funniness in English verbal jokes Tran Thuy Vinh (2015) presents the types of jokes in view of language ambiguity illustrated by Vietnamese and English language

However, a study on lexical ambiguity, especially lexical ambiguity in English poems and Vietnamese one has not been dealt with yet Finding out the similarities and differences of lexical ambiguity both in English and Vietnamese and ways of disambiguating make the study dissimilar from others

2.2 Semantics in linguistics

2.2.1 Definition of words

In English, the definitions of a word from different perspectives are proposed

by many linguists Orthographically, a word is defined as any sequence of letters which is bound on either side by space In the grammatical perspective, words are

defined as having the criteria of “positional mobility” and “internal stability”

Semantically, Carter, K (1992) defines that a word can be regarded as the smallest meaningful unit of language Since there is still no reasonable definition of what meaning is, Carter’s definition is not reliable enough In Bloomfield’s definition, a word is a minimal free form Mc Carthy, M (1994) argues that a word, as a free meaningful unit of language, must contain at least one potentially freestanding morpheme From Mc Carthy’s view, a word may be derived that a word is a combination of morphemes that involve a certain unit suitable for the formation of higher level units

In Vietnamese, Nguyen Hoa (2004) regards word as the smallest indivisible meaningful unit of a language which can operate independently Do Huu Chau (2001: 8) defines that words are the smallest unit used to produce meaningful sentences or utterances Nguyen Thien Giap (2008: 191) identifies words as a fundamental unit of lexicon and a language

2.2.2 Word meaning

2.2.2.1 Components of word meaning

Lyons, J (1995: 52) states that a lexeme may have different word-forms and

these word-forms will generally differ in meaning

Word meaning consists of components such as denotative, connotative, structural and categorical meaning Denotative meaning includes conceptual and referential meaning For example, a woman may be defined as an adult female

human Connotative meaning includes stylistic, affective, evaluative and intensifying, is the pragmatic communicative value the words acquires by virtue of where, when, how and by whom, for what purpose and in what context it is Structural meaning contains reflected, collocative, associative and thematic meaning Categorial meaning is a part of grammatical meaning that words derive from being a member of one category rather than another

Every word combines a lexical meaning and grammatical meaning The lexical meaning of the word means the individual and reflective meaning of the word; whereas the grammatical meaning can be defined as relationships between words based on contrastive features of arrangements in which they occur

states a witch has magic powers and does evil things In target domain, that woman

is considered to be ugly and cruel Metaphor could be classified into:

• living metaphor is a word used in unusual, novel meaning and

metaphor is fell as such For example: She lent wings to his

Secondly, metonymy is the substitution of one word for another with which

it is associated For example: Tom often runs after the skirt In this sentence, the

skirt refers to a woman or a girl Cases of metonymy including:

• name of container instead of the thing contained

• parts of human body as symbols

• the concrete instead of the abstract

• materials instead of the things made of the materials

• name of the author instead of his works

It is sometimes not easy to distinguish metaphor to metonymy Thus, to realize these transferred meanings, it is necessary to focus on that metaphor is based

on similarity while metonymy is based on contiguity

Other types of semantic change involve hyperbole, litotes, irony and euphemism Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement not meant to be comprehended literally Next, litotes is an understatement that is defined as expressing something

in the affirmative by the negative of its contrary Irony, moreover, expresses meaning by words of the opposite sense Lastly, euphemism involves the use of a milder expression for something unpleasant

2.2.3 Definition of linguistic ambiguity

The terms ambiguity and ambiguous have been generally used when a word

has multiple meanings

Crystal, D (1980) regards linguistic ambiguity as words, phrases or sentences that express more than one meaning Kennedy, C (2011) describes ambiguity as a phenomenon that operates at all linguistic levels in which one single phonological or written string is associated to more than one meaning Stewart, T

W and Vaillet, N (2001) define ambiguity is the state in which a word, phrase or the whole sentence has more than one possible interpretation/ meaning

Nguyen Duc Dan (1993) describes ambiguity is that a sentence has at least two ways to understand He argues that ambiguity implies a state that cannot be clearly distinguished the essence of the mentioned matter Bui Thuy Linh (2008) presents ambiguous expressions have more than one distinct meaning; vague expressions have a single meaning that cannot be characterized precisely Nguyen Thi Van Lam (2006) discusses that ambiguity describes the linguistic phenomenon whereby expressions are potentially understood in two or more ways: an ambiguous expression has more than one interpretation in its context

2.2.4 Types of linguistic ambiguity

Samson, M (2011) presents five types of ambiguity in which the major types

of ambiguity named lexical, structural and non-lexical ambiguity and minor types such as intonation and metaphorical ambiguity Bucaria, C (2014) states three kinds

of linguistic ambiguity including lexical, syntactic and phonological ambiguity Kennedy, C (2011) classifies linguistic ambiguity into five subcategories including lexical, structural, phonological, transformational and scope ambiguity

Pham Thi Lan (2005) claims that there are two types of ambiguity titled useful and injurious ambiguity When sentences are used purposely, they are named useful ambiguity In literacy, for instance, authors use sentences with many ways to understand such as play words or satire In business texts, people utilize ambiguous expressions to obtain better results Occasionally, ambiguity becomes one of effective strategies in human life On the contrary, injurious ambiguity is created beyond person’s control

2.3 An overview of lexical ambiguity

2.3.1 Definition of lexical ambiguity

Although the concept of lexical ambiguity has been complex to address, linguists have made an effort in order to define and institute its categories

According to Quiroge-clare, C (2003), “Something is ambiguous when it can be understood in two or more possible senses or ways If the ambiguity is in a single word, it is called lexical ambiguity In a sentence or clause, it is structural ambiguity.” Attardo et al (1994: 34) claims that lexical ambiguity often depends on

“homophones, homonyms, or polysemes where sounds remain the same and the ambiguity lies in the lexical unit or lexeme” Oaks, D D (1994: 378) defines lexical ambiguity as conveyed by “a word with more than one possible meaning in a context” Crystal, D (1980) argues that the one produced by the possible alternative meanings derived from an individual lexical item Lexical ambiguity is the result of

a particular word that has more than one meaning (Richards et al., 1985)

Similarly, in Vietnamese, Nguyen Hoa sees homonymy as a source of ambiguity (2004: 70) Pham Thi Lan (2005) claims that a sentence in which a word

is either understood by more than one way or replaced by another homonymic word, that sentence contains lexical ambiguity Especially, the author states that it is homonymy and polysemy that mainly cause lexical ambiguity

2.3.2 Typical sources of lexical ambiguity

2.3.2.1 Homonymy

In modern English, the phenomenon of homonymy is widely developed Hurford, J R and Heasley, B (1983: 30) describe the ambiguous word whose different sense are far apart from each other and are not obviously related to each other in any way is called homonymy Crystal, D (1980) defines homonymy as case where two or more different lexemes have the same shape Lyons, J (1982) identifies homonyms as a term used in semantics for lexical items that are identical

in spelling and pronunciation but have different meanings In Vietnamese, Mai Ngoc Chu, et al (2008) and Do Huu Chau (2012) present that homonymy are lexical items that are formally identical in phonetically but different in meanings For example:

• đường 1 (đường tàu Thống Nhất) vs đường 1 (mua một cân đường)

(Mai Ngoc Chu, et al., 2008: 188)

Đường 1 and đường 2 are called homonyms because they are identical in

pronunciation but dissimilar in meanings Đường 1 means “a road” while đường 2

denotes “sugar” Beside the identical phonetics, Nguyen Van Khang (2007) adds

more detailed conception that homonymy has different lexical and grammatical meanings Bui Minh Toan (1999) expresses that homonymy are those words that have different meanings, even different in the aspects of grammatical nature, communicative function and personal styles

In addition to have various concepts of homonymy, there are different ideas

of the classification of English homonymy According to Professor Smirnitsky, A I (1955), there are two large classes of homonyms which are full homonyms and partial ones Full lexical homonyms are words which represent the same category

of parts of speech and have the same paradigm For example:

She lighted another match 1 to keep her body warm vs They’re going to the

stadium to see an important football match 2

Both match 1 and match 2 are nouns that are pronounced /mætʃ/ Match 1

implies a short piece of wood used for lighting a fire while match 2 means a sport event where people or teams compete against each other

Partial homonyms are subdivided into three subgroups:

Firstly, simple lexico-grammatical partial homonyms are words which belong to the same category of parts of speech Their paradigms have one identical form, but it is never the same form, as will be seen in the examples:

• To found 1 a company in US, people follow those complex instructions

• My son has found 2 his glasses in his rucksack

Found 1 and found 2 are both articulated /faʊnd/ Found 1 is an infinitive verb that indicates to start something such as an organization or institution, especially by providing money whereas found2 is the past participle form of “to find” which

signifies to discover something or somebody unexpectedly

Secondly, complex lexico-grammatical partial homonyms are words of different categories of parts of speech that have one identical form in their paradigms For example:

• There is a rose 1 bush in my grandfather’s garden

• Sales rose 2 from one million to three million dollars in six months

Rose 1 and rose 2 are voiced the similarly /rəʊz/ but do not come from the same category of part of speech Rose 1 is a noun, means a flower with a sweet smell

that grows on a bush with thorns, but rose 2 is a past simple form of “to rise”,

signifies an increase in an amount, a number or a level

Thirdly, partial lexical homonyms are words of the same category of parts of

speech which are identical only in their corresponding forms For example: to hang (hung, hung) and to hang (hanged, hanged)

In this study, Lyons’s classification is accepted among various categorizations The author presents the notions of absolute and partial homonym Absolute homonymy should satisfy the following conditions First, they will be unrelated in meaning Second, all their forms will be identical Third, the identical forms will be grammatically equivalent See the following examples:

• Ha Long Bay 1 is one of the most amazing nature wonders

• Her son is riding a big bay 2

Both bay 1 and bay 2 are nouns and they are pronounced /beɪ/, so their forms are identical and grammatically equivalent However, bay 1 indicates a part of the

sea or of a large lake, partly surrounded by a wide curve of the land whereas bay 2

signifies a horse of a dark brown color Bay 1 and bay 2 satisfy the above three

conditions mentioned, so they are called absolute homonymy The two words dove (a noun) and dove (past tense form of dive) are considered as partial homonymy

because they only share the first above condition

Lyons, J (1995) also classifies homonyms into three types The first type is full homonyms which are identical in both pronunciation and spelling For example:

• She can 1 play the guitar vs My brother needs a can 2 of Coke

Can 1 and can 2 are full homonyms because they are identical in both

pronunciation and spelling Can 1 and can 2 are both articulated /kæn/ Can 1 is a modal verb used to say that it is possible for someone or something to do

something, or for something to happen Can 2 denotes a metal container in which food and drink is sold

Next, homophones are identical in pronunciation only Write and right offer

an example: She’s going to write a report Vs She’s right about Thomas having a new house

Although write and right are not identical in spelling, they pronounced /raɪt/

In these sentences, write implies to make letters or numbers on a surface, especially using a pen or a pencil while right means correct in your opinion whereas right

means correct in your opinion or judgement

Lastly, homographs are words that identical in spelling only Look these following sentences:

• My little daughter feeds her dove 1 every day

• He dove 2 into the sea

Dove 1 and dove 2 are identical in spelling, even though they are pronounced

differently Dove 1 is a noun that means a kind of bird voiced /dʌv/ and dove 2 is a

noun uttered /dəʊv/ and it is the past form of verb dive

In his study, Arnold, I V (1986) agrees with Lyons’s sort of homonyms However, the author calls these types by different names as homonyms proper, homophones and homographs The first type is homonyms proper which are the same in sound and spelling The second type of homonyms is homophones that are the same in sound but different in spelling Homophones are the most common type

of homonyms

Due to the difference in language typology, English is inflectional language while Vietnamese is isolating language in details; homonyms’ classification in Vietnamese differs from English Mai Ngoc Chu, et al (2008) provide two types of homonym that are homonym among words and homonym among words and syllables Firstly, homonym among words has two subclasses: Lexical homonyms are those words belonging to the same word-class For example:

• Chồng 1 giận thì vợ làm lành

Miệng cười chúm chím: thưa anh giận gì?

(on http://www.thivien.net)

• Chồng 2 bát còn có khi xô

Chồng 1 and chồng 2 are called lexical homonyms because they are both

nouns Chồng 1 means “husband” but chồng 2 shows “a pile”

Another subclass is lexical-grammatical homonyms That means those words

are homonyms belonging to different word-class Take “cá” as an example:

• Tôi cá 1 với bạn là cậu ta thích Lâm

• Đi câu cá 2 cuối tuần thú vị thật

Although the word “cá” is similarly pronounced, cá 1 is a verb that indicates

“bet someone something” and cá 2 is a noun that points out “fish” that lives in water,

breathes through gills, and uses fins and a tail for swimming”

Secondly, homonyms among words and syllables are those words not belonging to the same level of lexicon For example:

Sầu 1 riêng ai khéo đặt tên,

Ai sầu 2 không biết, riêng em không sầu 3 !

(on http://khotangcadao.com)

in “sầu riêng” is homonymous with sầu 2 and sầu 3

2.3.2.2 Polysemy

Polysemy is one of the major subjects interested by linguists who prefer to

refer to it as ambiguity Polysemy comes from Greek “poly” (many) and “semy” (to

do with meaning as in semantics) Falkum, I L (2011) defines that a single word form can be associated with several different meanings is a well known fact about language (2011: 9) This phenomenon is described as polysemy, and it proliferates

in natural languages Lyons, J (1995) expresses that polysemy designates a situation in which a single word has a set of related meanings Kreidler, C W

(1998) also presents that a polysemous lexeme has several related meanings

See examples:

• He gave 1 me a ruler

• He gave 2 me a strange look

• He gave 3 me a hearing test

• He gave 4 me hell (Lyons, J.:1995)

Give 1 refers to a procedure in which possession of an object changed from

“he” to “me” as the result of an action on the part of “he” Give 2 refers to another

kind of action, in which no change of possession is involved and the “object” is of

an abstract kind Give 3 is synonymous with “administer” In give 4 the “object

transferred” is of a completely abstract, metaphorical, nature and the expression in

which give is used has become idiomatic

As shown in Lakoff’s study, the meanings of polysemous words are associated with a systematic and natural way structuring radial categories where one

or more senses are more prototypical while others are less prototypical

In Vietnamese, polysemy is defined that a word is used to express other denotative and connotative meanings except the primary denotation and

connotation (Do Huu Chau, 2012: 35) For example: “Chân” could be indicated:

Similar to homonymy, polysemy is classified into various types from different perspectives Based on the category preserving and changing, Pustejovsky,

J (1995) states that there are two types of polysemy including logical and complementary polysemy Words are called logical polysemy if there is no change

in lexical category and the multiple senses of the words have overlapped, dependent and shared meanings The first and the second meanings are in the same category Complementary is different from logical in category changing The lexical category

of word A in its first meaning and the second meaning is dissimilar Both Lakoff, G

M (1980) and Cruse, D.A (1986) state two types of polysemy that includes metaphorical and metonymic polysemy In metaphorical polysemy, a relation of analogy is assumed to hold between the senses of the word The basic sense of metaphorical polysemy is literal, whereas its secondary sense is figurative As in:

• Janes is a snake

This sentence does not mean a snake is not named Janes What the person said this sentence means that Janes is a dangerous and hidden person

In metonymy, the relation that is assumed to hold between the senses of the word is that of contiguity or connectedness For example:

• My sister and his brother live under the same roof

In this sentence, “roof” as a part of the house is refer to the whole house

Lakoff’s framework of polysemy as well as its types presented is additionally utilized for this study

In Vietnamese, there exists different ways to classify polysemy Nguyen Thien Giap (2008) presents four ways to sort polysemy based on different criteria such as the relations among words with its referent, between one word with other words in language system They are named:

- Direct and indirect meaning

- Ordinary meaning and terminological meaning

- Non-figurative meaning and figurative meaning

- Principal meaning and secondary meaning

- Original meaning and derivational meaning

Like English language, Mai Ngoc Chu, et al (2008) and many other Vietnamese linguists present that a word may have both a literal meaning and one

or more transferred meaning, which is create polysemy; the result is therefore lexical ambiguity One kind of transferred meaning is metonymy, the transference

of meaning from one object to another based on the association of contiguity of notions Another kind of is named metaphor where the transference from one object

to another based on the association of similarity between these two objects

For example:

• Người cha mái tóc bạc

Đốt lửa cho anh nằm

(Đêm nay Bác không ngủ-Minh Huệ-Adapted from http://www.thivien.net) The literal meaning of “người cha” is a male parent of a child who is acting

as the father to a child Beside literal meaning, it has transferred meaning The

author calls “người cha” instead of Ho Chi Minh It is metaphorical polysemy

Look at another example:

• Áo chàm đưa buổi phân ly

Cầm tay nhau biết nói gì hôm nay (Adapted from http://www.thivien.net)

“Áo chàm” in the above line is Viet Bac people’s typical clothes It is

metonymic polysemy because the author utilizes the materials which are used for the things made of the materials

In this study, the polysemous categories from Mai Ngoc Chu, et al shares with Lakoff, G & M.’s idea that is also accepted

2.3.2.3 Criteria used to distinguish homonymy and polysemy

Homonymy and polysemy both indicate vague, unclear and ambiguous senses, thus they are so similar It is not always possible to differentiate polysemy from homonymy, and whenever this distinction is made, subjectivity prevails The lexicographer's knowledge of the etymological development of the lexical items is

of vital importance In fact, the lexicographer shows the distinction made by entering homonyms separately in the dictionary, for example as two or more different lexical items even though the lexical items have the same spelling and/or pronunciation, while a polysemous lexical item is entered as one lexical item with its definition showing all its multiple meanings, for example two or more meanings attached to one lexical item

According to Lyons, J., lexicographers generally apply two important criteria

to lexemes when deciding polysemy and homoymy One is the “historical derivation of words” (Lyons, J., 1977: 550) and the other “in drawing the distinction between homonymy and polysemy is unrelatedness vs relatedness of meaning” (Lyons, J., 1977: 551) For example:

• One of her heels felt too loosen for her foot1

• The hotel is at the foot2 of the mountains

• The village is located along the both banks1 of the river

• My father invested money into different banks2

Foot1 and foot2 are related meanings, so they are polysemy Foot1 means the

lowest part of the leg, below the ankle, on which a person or an animal stands Foot2

is transferred the meaning from a part of body into the lowest part of a mountain

Bank1 and bank2 are homonymy because of unrelated meanings Bank1 means the

side of the river and bank2 implies a financial institution Nevertheless, etymologically related words drift apart over time and the semantic value changes

in relation to the original meaning The problem of ambiguity arises too, “the distinction is between those aspects of meaning that correspond to multiple senses

of a word versus those aspects that are manifestations of a single sense.” (Ravin, Y

• The etymological criterion will help the lexicographer to determine the relatedness of the lexical items for inclusion in the dictionary according

to their historical connection

2.4 English and Vietnamese poetry in the twentieth century

2.4.2 Typical types of English and Vietnamese poems

2.4.2.1 Typical types of English poems

Poetry has a long history With passing years, it is thought to have different kinds of poetry In their study, Lethbridge, E and Mildorf, J (2004: 144) describe three kinds of poetry including lyric poetry, narrative poetry, descriptive and didactic poetry

A lyric poem is described as a comparatively short, non-narrative poem in which a single speaker gives a state of mind or an emotion Lyric poems include elegy, ode, sonnet and dramatic monologue

Narrative poetry gives a verbal representation, in verse, of a series of

attached events; it impels characters through a plot

Both lyric and narrative poetry can contain lengthy and detailed descriptions

or scenes in direct speech Furthermore, the purpose of a didactic poem is principally to educate something

These lyric and narrative types are subdivided into the following:

POETRY

Lyric poetry

Ballad Mock-epic Epics

Sonnet Ode Elegy

Dramatic monologue Descriptive

& didactic

Narrative Poetry

In depth, elegy is an official lament for the death of an individual An ode is

a long lyric poem with a serious subject written in an elevated style The sonnet’s

original from a love poem that dealt with the lover’s sufferings and hopefulness In

a dramatic monologue, a speaker makes a speech to a silent auditor in a specific circumstance and at a critical moment

Sub-categories of narrative poetry are for example epic, mock-epic and

ballad Epics regularly activate on a large scale, both in length and subject matter The mock-epic produces use of epic conventions, like the elevated style and the

assumption that the issue is of immense significance, to deal with completely

insignificant occurrences A ballad is a song, originally transmitted in words, which

tells a story It is an essential form of folk poetry which was adapted for literary uses from the sixteenth century The ballad stanza is frequently a four-line stanza, alternating tetrameter and trimester

2.4.2.2 Typical types of Vietnamese poems

In the author’s work, Tran Van Trong (2017) summarizes that there are various types of poems including Luc Bat poems, Song That Luc Bat, four/ five/ six/ seven/ eight-syllable poems, Tang poems, and free poems Luc bat consists of a verse of six words or syllables followed by a verse of eight words or syllables The luc bat is a Vietnamese poetic form that means “six-eight.” In fact, the poem consists of alternating lines of six and eight syllables This poem is interesting in its rhyme scheme that renews at the end of every eight-syllable line and rhymes on the sixth syllable of both lines

Song That Luc Bat is the double-seven six-eight quatrain It consists of a stanza of four verses, the first two having seven words each, followed by a six-word verse and ending in an eight-word verse

Besides, some other types of poems are also used much by poets Four-word verse is written as its name implies, measuring the number of words per line rather than syllables The five-word metrical line is a short verse that is regarded as to be easy to write and has only end rhymes The seven-word metrical line is written with seemingly more flexible tonal pattern than most Viet verse with the exception of when an end word is flat, the third word must be sharp and when the end word is sharp, the third word in the line must be flat The seven-word metrical line, popular

among the antebellum intelligentsia, is a challenging verse form Two varieties exist

of the heptameter, named the Tu Tuyet heptameter quatrain and the Duong Luat,

which consists of eight heptameters

The short variety consists of a stanza of four seven-syllable verses, known as

the Tu Tuyet heptameter quatrain Terse and concise, this configuration forces the

poet to express images, sounds, and feelings in just four heptameters It is the preferred style for posting on rocky surfaces and walls, or for decorating dinnerware and vases

The eight-word verse preferred by younger generations, the octameter was

also extensively used in drama, especially during the decades of 1940-1960 The octameter still enjoys great popularity along with the hexameter-octameter couplet

and other verse forms

In their continuing quest for new methods of expression Vietnamese poets have adopted a number of ideas from the West and Asia The Japanese three-verse haiku along with other Western verse forms from the United States, the United Kingdom and France have all been tried in their experiment This is the domain of

the blank verse and the free verse

2.4.3 Characteristics of poetry in the twentieth century

2.4.3.1 Characteristics of English poetry in the twentieth century

In the years from 1900, the English scene turns into horribly chaotic due to the fact that in modern time no 1iterary tradition is respected all On the contrary, all emphasis is made to fall on individualism, for whatever it may be worth Corcoran, N., (2007) presents three periods of English poetry in twentieth century

In the first place, the Edwardian Period is named for King Edward VII and spans the time from Queen Victoria's death (1901) to the beginning of World War I (1914) Four fifths of the English population lived in squalor The writings of the Edwardian Period reflect and comment on these social conditions Writers such as George Bernard Shaw and H.G Wells attacked social injustice and the selfishness

of the upper classes Other writers of the time include William Butler Yeats, Joseph

Conrad, Rudyard Kipling, Henry James, and E.M Forster The works still contain

traces of the Victorian style and were not quite as modernized as future works

Secondly, the Modern Period applies to British literature written around the turn of the twentieth century and went roughly through 1965 The authors of the Modern Period have experimented with subject matter, form, and style and have produced achievements in all literary genres This period is marked by experimentation and individualism It turns from society to explore the individual sometimes recording the workings of the mind, usually the dark workings Poets of the period include Yeats, T.S Eliot, Dylan Thomas, and Seamus Heaney Novelists include James Joyce, D.H Lawrence, and Virginia Woolf Dramatists include Noel Coward and Samuel Beckett

Following World War II (1939-1945), the Postmodern Period of British Literature developed The author claimed that “If the era of “postmodernity” is increasingly seen as “a socio-economic mode that has intensified and surpassed modernity itself” then poetry produced under this new “socio-economic mode” might rightly be dismissed as another form of “postmodern” candyfloss neatly packaged for our quick or therapeutic consumption” (Corcoran, N., 2007: 42)

Postmodernism blends literary genres and styles and attempts to break free of

modernist forms While the British literary scene at the turn of the new millennium

is crowded and varied, the authors still fall into the categories of modernism and postmodernism However, with the passage of time the Modern era may be

reorganized and expanded

2.4.3.2 Characteristics of Vietnamese poetry in the twentieth century

Phan Cu De (2005) indicates that Vietnamese poetry in the twentieth century basically divided into three phases

Phase 1 - before 1945: This phase of poetry known as the New Poetry Movement, it was spawned mainly by contact with Western literary The new verse forms and stylistic techniques were introduced, new ways of expression, new ideas, and a totally new artistic tradition were being established that were to change the direction and tenor of Vietnamese poetry forever Breaking out of the mold of traditionalism, and imbued with Western ideas, Vietnamese poets of the first four

decades of the twentieth century staged their revolution with fervor and enthusiasm fueled further by a multitude of thematic orientations Emotions, ideas, and thoughts

of all kinds, romantic, pedagogic, cultural, philosophic, historic, and even political, dominated the creative process, riding effortlessly and spontaneously on novel stylistic and prosodic forms

Phase 2-from 1945 to 1975: This phase is named Revolutionary poetry, due

to the influence of the war in Vietnam against American troops The poetry in this period continues the patriotic and revolutionary poetry 1945 on the fundamental of modernization poetry success in the previous time Poems from 1945 to 1975 have contributed to the process of Vietnamese modern poetry Poems concentrate on praising patriotism and expressing hatred the imperial America

Phase 3 - after 1975, fighting for independence was successful and Vietnam seized the peace Poetry after 1975 takes attention to summarize the war, praise the past, and affirm the revolution’s results Forms of poems are innovated and have variety, for example, satirical meanings have been increased in Luc bat Free verses are utilized much more popular than the previous time

2.5 Summary

In brief, previous studies investigated by linguists from all over the world that related to ambiguous matter are firstly reviewed in this chapter Issues of linguistic semantics as definition of word, ambiguity, lexical ambiguity, poetry in English and Vietnamese are also discussed This chapter presents sources of ambiguity and lexical ambiguity Homonymy and polysemy are undeniably major causes of lexical ambiguity The study focuses on types of homonymy and polysemy in English and Vietnamese Besides, typical sorts of poems and their characteristics in twentieth century are given The next chapter will provide more detailed cases of lexical ambiguity caused by homonymy and polysemy in English poems with reference to Vietnamese

Chapter 3

LEXICAL AMBIGUITY IN ENGLISH POEMS WITH

REFERENCE TO VIETNAMESE

3.1 Lexical ambiguity in English and Vietnamese poems

This chapter gives attention to investigate and analyze all cases of lexical ambiguity in all selected data caused by homonymy and polysemy based on the

theoretical frameworks presented in chapter two namely “Literature review”

3.1.1 Homonymy in English and Vietnamese poems

3.1.1.1 Homonymy in English poems

Lexical ambiguity can be often caused by the existence of homonymy Of six famous English poems, investigated lexical ambiguity can firstly be well illustrated through three types of homonymy with 87 found cases as shown in the table 3.1:

Table 3 1: List of homonymic cases in English poems

a Full homonyms

To begin, the first type of homonymy called full homonym which are used

much in poetic works In the poem “A drinking song” (see appendix 1: 66), “I lift

the glass to my mouth” could be misunderstood The ambiguous unit in this line lies

in the word “lift” In this line, “lift” is a verb that based on other words in the line such as “glass” and “to” This “lift” is articulated /lift/ and is identical in both pronunciation and spelling with “lift” which regarded as a noun The word “lift” in the line of the poem “A drinking song” means to raise somebody/ something or be

raised to a higher position or level However, it could be misunderstood as a machine that carries people or goods up and down to different levels in a building or

a mine because of its similarity to the word “lift” seen as a noun

In the poem “Fern hill” written by Dylan Thomas (see appendix 1: 66), there

are totally 13 cases of full homonymic words which could be caused confused

readers “Grass” is one of these words that belong to this type of homonymy This

word appears in the second line of the poem: About the lilting house and happy as

the grass was green “Grass” in the poem is a noun and means a common wild plant

with narrow green leaves This word is identical in pronunciation and spelling with

“grass” which carries the meaning of an area of ground covered with grass Both

these word are pronounced /ɡrɑːs/ Due to this similarity, the line could be

understood to be either the wild plant or an area of ground was green Accurately,

“grass” means “the wild plant” because it is attached and compared with the phrase

in the same line “lilting house and happy”

In the poem “If I could tell you” (see appendix 1: 68), there are 5 cases of fully homonymic words including “weep”, “show”, “clown”, “price” and “brook”

In “Morning at the window” (see appendix 1: 69), only four fully homonymic words found which are regarded to be ambiguous, consist of “tear”,

“plates”, “fog” and “level” For instance, “tear” in “And tear from a passer-by with muddy skirts” made the line ambiguous Truthfully, the word “tear” is a noun and

takes the meaning of a drop of liquid that comes out of your eye when crying which

implies “a passer-by with muddy skirts is crying” This “tear” is could be confused because it is pronounced /teə(r)/ that has the same pronunciation and spelling with

“tear” that identify as a verb that means to damage something by pulling it apart or into pieces or by cutting it on something sharp; to become damaged in this way The

word “tear” in the line of Eliot’s poem is also understood by a hole that has been

made in something by tearing because of the same pronunciation and spelling with

other “tear”

In Valediction, the type titled full homonym could be vague in three cases of

these words “tartan”, “sound” and “strand” (see appendix 1: 70) Take “tartan” as

an example This word could be used to describe the clothes originally from

Scotland but “tartan” also has other meaning of “a small ship”

b Homophones

Secondly, the shown English poems are also lexically ambiguous because of homophones On a total, 55 words which are different in spelling but identical in pronunciation could be caused misunderstood (see the table 1) Nine cases of the

totality are found in “A drinking song” (see appendix 1: 66) The poem becomes

confusing if it is written as:

Whine comes inn at the mouth

And love comes inn at the I

That’s awl wee shall no for truth

Before wee grow old and dye

Eye lift the glass two my mouth

Eye look at us and eye sigh

Apparently, “wine” and “whine” are both pronounced /waɪn/ but “wine”

means an alcoholic drink made from the juice of grapes that has been left to ferment

whereas “whine” denotes to complain in an annoying, crying voice Related to the title of the poem, “wine” is acceptable “Whine” cannot be chosen due to the appearance of “in at the mouth” standing at the end of the line

The homophones are used most in the poem “Fern hill” (see appendix 1: 66)

written by Dylan Thomas with 17 cases It is also the longest poetic work in the number of chosen English poems It is supposed to have a correlation between the

number of homophones and the length of the poems “See” and “sea” are very common homophones in English language which are not only found in “Fern hill” but these are also exploited in “Valediction” (see appendix 1: 70) and “the North ship” (see appendix 1: 69) This pair causes lexical ambiguity because they are both pronounced /si:/ but the meanings are not similar “Sea” is a noun which denotes the

salt water that covers most of the earth’s surface and surrounds its continents and

islands while “see” is a verb that presents “to become aware of somebody/something

by using your eyes”

c Homographs

Thirdly, of six English poems, there is only one homograph found in “The North ship” It is the word “wind” which identical in written form but different in

pronunciation See the line:

And the wind rose in the morning sky

(see appendix 1: 69)

“Wind” in the line is a noun standing for “air that moves quickly as a result

of natural forces” It is pronounced /wɪnd/ and easy to be confused with “wind” that

is also a noun but articulated /waɪnd/ and presents “an act of turning, wrapping or

twisting something around itself or in a circle”

3.1.1.2 Homonymy in Vietnamese poems

Lexical ambiguity is often caused by homonymy Many Vietnamese linguists divide homonymy into three types named lexical homonyms, lexical - grammatical homonyms and homonyms among words and syllables 63 cases of homonymy found in Vietnamese poetic works (see the table 2)

Poem Lexical homonyms

grammatical homonyms

Lexical-Homonyms among words and syllables

a Lexical homonyms

To start, lexical ambiguity is originated from lexical homonyms There are

28 cases of this sort sought out in Vietnamese poems The words at the same part of speech cause confusing

In the poem “Tràng giang” (see appendix 2: 73), seven lexically homonymic

words are found that are considered to be easily misunderstood For instance, the

verb “nối” in the line is type of lexical homonym that contains two senses The first

sense shows binding something together whereas the second ones indicates

something is succeeded For example: Nối đường dây liên lạc vs Nối bước cha ông The word “nối” in the line “Bèo dạt về đâu hàng nối hàng” contains the second sense The word “đùn” in “Lớp lớp mây cao đùn núi bạc” also belongs to lexical

homonyms because both words are verbs but they have different meaning The first ones show something is pushed up from below while the second ones presents to

shift the responsibility to other people The word “đùn” in this poem could be

ambiguously understood to mean shift responsibility on to do something In fact,

“đùn” in the line of this poem accurately means to push something up because the relationship exists among other words in the line as “lớp lớp” and “cao”

In “Từ Cu Ba” written by To Huu (see appendix 2: 74), a numerous number

of lexical homonyms are hunted for the lexical ambiguity with the entirety of 10

cases The word “đường”, for example, appears three times but it easily becomes

an ambiguous word because of its own various meanings In Vietnamese dictionary,

“đường” could be either a noun or an adjective and contains two meanings:

Đường1 contains two meanings:

- sugar - a sweet substance, often in the form of white or brown crystals, made from

the canes or juices of various plants: Ngọt như đường

- sweet: Cam đường

Đường 2 includes nine meanings They are:

- a road/ a path: Đi đường mới biết gian lao

- an aspect in person’s life: Đường công danh

- organs like gut/ respiratory: Đường ruột

- track made by something or someone moves: Đường cày

- space need to cross from one to another place: Tiếng dữ đồn xa ba ngày đường

- a shape created by a point moves continuously: Đường thẳng/ đường cong

- a way to reach the aims: Tìm đường tẩu thoát

- an object to link two places in transportation or to move things: đường ống dẫn dầu, đường dây điện thoại

- a zone in relationship with another opposite zone in space: đường ngược

These words in “Từ Cu Ba” (see appendix 2: 74) are pronounced and written

similarly, so it is not easy for readers to realize when understanding the senses of

the words and the meaning of the poem Of which these senses, the word “đường”

in “Em ạ, Cu Ba ngọt lịm đường” belongs to lexical homonymy that indicates

“sugar” It differs from the word “đường” that means a road in these lines: “Ong lạc đường hoa rộn bốn phương” and “Anh đi quanh phố dọc đường dài” Without other words in the poem’s line as “ngọt lịm”, it is not simple to appreciate “đường” In addition, “đường” becomes easier to understand due to the word before “lạc” It is

“đường” what is called lexical ambiguity created by lexical homonyms “Đường” is also found in another poem titled “Tây Tiến” which implies “a road” such as in

“Đường lên thăm thẳm một chia phôi”

Besides “Tràng giang” and “Từ Cu-Ba”, others poems except “Tương tư”

also are lexically ambiguous due to the presence of lexical homonyms Specifically,

the number of lexical homonyms consist of 2 cases in “Từ ấy”, 2 cases in “Viếng lăng Bác” and 7 cases in “Tây Tiến”

b Lexical - grammatical homonyms

Next, lexical-grammatical ambiguity, on the whole, can be also found in the given poems with 34 cases In Viếng Lăng Bác written by Viễn Phương with the

whole of four cases including “kết”, “hàng”, “quanh” and “trong” Take the word

“kết” in the line “Kết tràng hoa dâng bảy mươi chín mùa xuân” (see appendix 2: 77)

as an example If the line doesn’t contain the phrase “tràng hoa”, “kết” becomes

extremely vague due to the fact that this word has two following meanings

Kết1 consists of one sense that means a type of hat: Mũ kết

Kết2 contains six meanings including:

- Plait in a long piece Cổng chào kết bằng lá dừa

- Bind together: Kết thành khối

- Intimate together: Kết bạn

- Develop into fruits or tubers from flowers: Đơm hoa kết quả

- Be placed in a nice fengshui: ngôi mộ kết

- Stick together: Đất bụi kết lẫn mồ hôi

- To end after a long period: Kết thúc bài diễn văn

The word “kết” could be fuzzy, unless “tràng hoa” appeared after In the line

of Viễn Phương’s poem, “kết” means to plait This case is named

lexical-grammatical homonyms in Vietnamese In addition, some similar cases are found

such as “lạc” and “tiếp” Vietnamese dictionary states that “lạc” has 3 meanings

Lạc1 has one meaning: a nut that grows underground in a thin shell: Lạc rang Lạc2 has two meanings:

- lose one’s direction: Lạc đường

- can’t find out the way to come back: Chim lạc đàn

Lạc3 only contains one meaning: a small bell around a horse’s neck

In the line “Củi một cành khô lạc mấy dòng”, “lạc” carries the second sense that indicates losing one’s direction This sense is also the meaning of “lạc” in the line of Tố Hữu’s poem: “Ong lạc đường hoa rộn bốn phương” The relationship among “lạc” with other words in the line as “mấy dòng” or “đường” helps readers understand the meaning of this word accurately Differing from “lạc”, “tiếp” has

five senses which could be either a noun or a dialect:

- have a border with: Phía đông tiếp biển

- adjoin one thing to another: Ngày nọ tiếp ngày kia

- provide more to guarantee that something is going to be carried out: Tiếp sức

- Receive information: Tiếp thư

- greet someone and talk to him: Tiếp khách

“Tiếp” in the line “Lặng lẽ bờ xanh tiếp bãi vàng” could be understood by the way of the second meaning: “Bờ xanh” adjoins the “bãi vàng” that implies an

enormous space without human’s life

Lexical ambiguity comes from lexical grammatical homonyms could be found in Trang Giang written by Huy Can with 10 cases This is the poem contains

the most cases of 6 poems on lexical-grammatical level For example, “cồn” in the poem could cause confusing In the dictionary, “cồn” includes three meanings:

Cồn1 contains three meanings If “cồn1” is a noun, it indicates a small hill of

sand formed by the wind Example: Cồn cát When “cồn 1” is a verb, it could mean

either rise in waves or be disturbed Example: Mặt biển cồn lên những con sóng lớn

or ăn nhiều chua bị cồn ruột

Cồn2 is a type of the clear liquid that is found in drinks such as beer or and is

used in medicines or cleaning products: Cồn xoa bóp

Cồn3 means a type of adhesive used to mix with water for sticking

The word “cồn” in the line “Lơ thơ cồn nhỏ gió đìu hiu” follows the meaning

of “cồn” that shows a small hill The meaning of the word is identified based on other words in the same line as “lơ thơ” and “nhỏ” “Cồn” is an ambiguous word produced from lexical-grammatical homonyms “Cồn” also belongs to the same type of homonyms in the poem “Tây Tiến” Besides “cồn”, there are other three

cases of lexical-grammatical homonyms found

c Homonyms among words and syllables

Finally, some homonyms among words and syllables cause ambiguous found

only one case in the poem “Từ ấy” written by To Huu In the poem “Từ ấy”, the

word “trang trải” in the line “Để tình trang trải với trăm nơi” (see appendix 2: 73)

is an ambiguous word The readers could understand this word to be either try to

pay off In case of this poem, “trang trải” is denoted by broadening something Like other phrases in Vietnamese as “lúa má”, “gà qué”, “cá mú”, the author adds

“trang” before the main word “trải” in order to show that the author wants to be

closely intimate with other people

3.1.2 Polysemy in English and Vietnamese poems

3.1.2.1 Polysemy in English poems

Although there are different approaches to classify polysemy, this study just investigates metaphorical and metonymic types of polysemy Below is the table lists all the cases of lexical ambiguity related to metaphorical and metonymic polysemy

in selected English poems:

Table 3 3: List of polysemous cases in English poems

a Metaphorical polysemy

Of the chosen poems, those exploiting lexical ambiguity may firstly found by

metaphors Totally, there are 14 cases sought out in which have 3 cases in “Morning

at the window”, 4 cases in “Valediction” and “The North ship”, 2 cases in “Fern hill” and one case from “If I could tell you”

In “Morning at the window” (see appendix 1: 69), there are three cases of

lexical ambiguity which are related to metaphorical polysemy Take the title of the

poem as an example The image of “window” could be symbolic of a wall

separating reality from fantasy and social classes The author is visibly viewing the society because of the deep sorrow and pity he is expressing towards the words

“housemaids” with “damp souls”

In the poem “Fern hill” (see appendix 1: 66), Thomas also uses some words

cause misunderstanding for the readers Specifically, there are totally two cases

The line six of the first stanza, for instance, the word “prince” used as an expression

of metaphor which means it was the time and place in which the author felt princely- as though things were there to serve and please him and he can enjoy all the perks of royalty without the burden of responsibility In addition, in the line 9

“And as I was green and carefree, famous among the barns”, the author does not

mean he was physically green, but he implies his youth, happiness and his carefree

through the word “green”

Colors used in literature as a helpful device to expose the authors’ intends

Green is the symbol of youth which is exploited in “Fern hill” The fade leaves are also used as the case of color “green” In the fourth stanza of “If I could tell you” (see appendix 1: 68), the author observes the natural word-the “wind” and decaying

leaves The decaying of leaves relates to the cyclical nature of time and death It is unavoidable and a process happens again and again, shows the unrelenting nature of

time This stanza is ambiguous because of metonymic image Auden used when “the leaves decay” is transferred meaning to imply the death Both “decaying leaves” and “death” indicates to be close to the end of life

Similar to “The North ship”, “Valediction” (see appendix 1: 70) written by

Seamus Heaney also has the same number of metaphorical polysemy In

Valediction, the words “pitched” and “sound” in line eleven also add to the sea/ sailing metaphor because “pitched” can mean an abrupt lurch in seafaring speak and

a sound can be a large ocean inlet, not to mention the fact that sound is comprised

of waves Both words undoubtedly refer to the “voice” of line thirteen though

In the poetic work named “the North ship” (see appendix 1: 69), there are

four cases of metaphorical polysemy sought out which could be regarded to be

ambiguous to the readers The metaphorical image of “ship”, for instance, could

represent life's many paths based on the different choices the people make because each of the three ships chooses its own direction to sail Similar to the ship in the

poem, human beings have their own choices in their life These decisions could be led them to a happy life or not depending on the paths they chose In the poem, the

speaker watches as the first ship goes to the west, “carried to a rich country” The second ship moves to the east “to anchor in captivity” and the third ship travels to

the north The first two ships travel under a wind that is, respectively, helpful and violent The third ship going to the north and it travels without wind The

northbound ship, unlike the others, is “rigged for a long journey” It does not return,

as the others do “happily or unhappily” but instead journeys “far and wide/into an unforgiving sea”

Of these poems, there is only one case titled “A drinking song” (see appendix

1: 66) which does not contain metaphorical polysemy

“Morning at the window” is implied by another meaning Eliot uses “housemaids”

as a metonymic mean to describe the working class in the current society at that

time “Housemaids” is transferred of meaning based on the substitution of

“housemaids” with “working class”

3.1.2.2 Polysemy in Vietnamese poems

In Vietnamese poems, there are totally 40 cases of lexical ambiguity caused

by metaphorical and metonymic polysemy The following table shows all the cases

of both metaphorical and metonymic polysemy used in Vietnamese poems

To start with some significant examples of five cases in “Viếng lăng Bác”

(see appendix 2: 77) These lines in Viễn Phương’s poetic work are lexically

ambiguous due to the multiple meanings of the word “mặt trời”

Ngày ngày mặt trời 1 đi qua trên lăng

Thấy một mặt trời 2 trong lăng rất đỏ

“Mặt trời 1” has a literal meaning that indicates the star that shines in the sky during the day and gives the earth heat and light The meaning of the word is

guessed accurately because of the appearance of other words in the line as “ngày ngày” or “trên” However, “mặt trời 2” has a transferred meaning which is a metaphorical image of Uncle Ho’s life Vien Phuong takes the sun’s everlastingness

to contrast to Uncle Ho’s immortality

Using metaphor in Vietnamese literature became very popular in the

twentieth century “Mặt trời” also brings figurative meaning which is the cause of

the multiple meaning or a polysemous word; the result is thus lexical ambiguity such as:

Mặt trời 3 chân lý chói qua tim

Although mặt trời 3 has a transferred meaning that symbolizes the ideology of

Communist Party, it differs from mặt trời 2 in Vien Phuong’s poem To Huu considers the ideal of the Party as the sunshine and it lightens the communist’s mind

In Tây Tiến composed by Quang Dũng (see appendix 2: 71), 5 cases of metaphorical polysemy are found As in:

Áo bào thay chiếu anh về đất

The lexical ambiguity lies in the word “về” because this word can be comprehended by many ways However, in this case, “về” contains a transferred meaning “Về” implies the deaths of Tây Tiến soldiers in the war This word is dissimilar to “về” appeared in “Viếng lăng Bác”, “Từ Cu-Ba” or “Tràng giang”

They are:

Mai về miền Nam thương trào nước mắt

Mai về miền nam nhớ Bác khôn nguôi

(Viếng lăng Bác-Viễn Phương)

Anh về e lại nhớ Cu Ba

(Từ Cu-Ba-Tố Hữu)

Thuyền về nước lại sầu trăm ngả

(Tràng giang-Huy Cận)

“Về” in Vietnamese dictionary has seven meanings:

- return to a place: Về thăm quê

- move to a place where other people treat him/her well or he/she is closely

connected with others: Về thăm nhà bạn

- express the action’s direction: Quay về/ Lấy về/ Rút tay về

- go to the last place: Xe về bến./ Tàu chạy về vinh

- die (euphemism): Cụ đã về tối qua

- someone’s possession: Chính quyền về tay nhân dân

- in a special period of time: Trời đã về chiều

Evidently, “về” in the above lines including Viễn Phương, Tố Hữu and Huy

Cận’s lines shows the first meaning “return to a place/ birthplace” It differs from

“về” in Quang Dũng’s line which implies “Tây Tiến soldiers’ deaths” The author utilizes “về” as both a euphemism and a metaphor in order to praise the soldiers