FOOD EXPRESSIONS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS FROM a CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

To unscramble the miscellaneous food expressions in English for Vietnamese EFL learners, the present study aims to explore meanings and cultural aspects behind the idioms and seek possib

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY -

NGUYỄN VĂN TÁM

FOOD EXPRESSIONS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS FROM A CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

(THÀNH NGỮ LIÊN QUAN ĐẾN ĐỒ ĂN VÀ CÁCH DIỄN ĐẠT TƯƠNG

ĐƯƠNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT TỪ KHÍA CẠNH VĂN HÓA)

M.A THESIS Field: English Language Code: 8220201

Ha Noi, 2018

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY -

NGUYỄN VĂN TÁM

FOOD EXPRESSIONS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS FROM A CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

(THÀNH NGỮ LIÊN QUAN ĐẾN ĐỒ ĂN VÀ CÁCH DIỄN ĐẠT TƯƠNG

ĐƯƠNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT TỪ KHÍA CẠNH VĂN HÓA)

M.A THESIS Field: English Language

Code: 8220201

Supervisor: Assoc Prof, Dr Lê Văn Thanh

Ha Noi, 2018

During the period of my study, I have received generous help from quarters which I would like to put on this acknowledgement here with deep gratitude and pleasure First and foremost, I am grateful to my teacher- Associate Professor, Dr Hoang Tuyet Minh she spent her precious time on aiding me tremendously right from the beginning till the end of my internship I have no hesitation to say that I would probably fail to complete

in an appropriate manner without their constant support, encouragement and ways for the meaningful ending the work in a short duration Last but not least, I would like to

thank all my friends for their sincere co-operation and support

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 5

1.1 Rationale for the study 5

1.2 Aim and objectives 7

1.3 Research Question 7

1.4 Scope of the study 7

1.5 Significance of the study 7

1.6 Design of the study 8

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 9

2.1 Previous studies 9

2.2 Concepts of Idioms 12

2.3 Translation 14

2.3.1 Definitions 14

2.3.2 Types of translation 15

2.3.3 Principles of translation 16

2.3.4 Equivalence in translation 17

2.3.4.1 Definitions 17

2.3.4.2 Types of equivalence 18

2.4 Cultural Features 25

2.4.1.Cultural Features in English idioms 25

2.4.2 Cultural Features in Vietnamese idioms 25

2.4.3 Cultural Features in English and Vietnamese idioms 26

2.5 Idiomatic expressions 29

2.5.4 Definitions 29

2.5.5 Classifications 29

2.6 Summary 30

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHOLODOGY 31

3.1 Research approach 31

3.2 Research Methods 31

3.3 Data collection and data analysis 31

3.4 Summary 33

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS 34

4.1 Cultural Perspectives behind the food Expressions 34

4.1.1 To express manner of an action 34

4.1.2 To express characteristics of a person 35

4.1.3 To express a description of something or someone 37

4.1.4 The Source Meanings 51

4.2 Comparison between Vietnamese Equivalence 67

4.3 Implication of using, translating and teaching drink and food idioms 70

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 74

5.1 Summary of Findings 74

5.1.1 Findings of cultural features 74

5.1.2 Findings of semantics 75

5.1.3 The findings of problem in use 76

5.2 Summary of the chapter 77

5.3 Limitations of the study 78

Abstract

Idioms are everyday words of the people that contain both the depth of thinking about production labor, social relations, human morality, aesthetic view To unscramble the miscellaneous food expressions in English for Vietnamese EFL learners, the present study aims to explore meanings and cultural aspects behind the idioms and seek possible Vietnamese equivalents With thirty-five selected food idiomatic expressions in English, retrieved from BBC World Service Learning English Forum and VOA English, the present study might shed light on this fascinating research theme into the role of translation study in practice.Descriptive qualitative research is used for this study in which Statistical and observational methods are also used to find out essential findings The introduction presents the rationale, the aims, research question, the scope, significance as well as the design of the study in which the theoretical background about the „food expression in English and Vietnamese equivalents is presented Moreover, the culture perspective from the idiomatic expressions containing the word „food‟ in English and Vietnamese is explored in the study The idioms in two languages showed people‟s thought, however they way the use language is different In addition, these idioms are analyzed to explore the literal meanings and the idiomatic meanings that show the relation between English and Vietnamese The findings are very interesting because cultural perspectives and semantic feature and source meaning behind the expressions help the teachers and learners understand languages deeply The study play an important role in helping the teacher know how to teach idioms, especially food idioms

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale for the study

Foods are elements in cultural aspects (Boniface, 2017) However, translating names of foods between languages is not an easy task (Terestyenyi, 2011) Also, in English food is used in idiomatic expressions in a very different way from Vietnamese, leading to EFL learners‟ inability to understand their meanings easily without any reference some cultural dimensions It is because L2 idiomatic expressions are “one of the most difficult aspects due to the fact they are conventionalized expressions peculiar

to a language community and they are usually frozen in form and often unpredictable

in meaning.” (Liu, 2017)

Idioms have a variety of philosophical perspectives that are diverse and rich, with views that bear the spirit of human life, not only linguistic but also cultural as stated in Newmark (1988) & Munday (2016) When analyzing idioms from the source language (SL) into the target language (TL), the learners needs various techniques and skills, as well as take into consideration many principles to achieve the goal such as retaining source meaning and get readers closer to the exact understanding of the texts

Understanding the linguistic patterns and cultural meanings of the dioms in the

SL to translate into the TL has been an interesting, but difficult job, which normally requires much linguistic and cultural experience (Terestyenyi, 2011)

In addition, many authors also studied and proposed some methods to improve the use of idioms for foreign language learners, (Thuy, 1996) methods of teaching idioms to foreign learners, (Ngan, 1996) The above results are significant for teaching

- learning foreign languages

All of this motivated the researcher to conduct this small-scale descriptive qualitative research to open highlights of translating English food idiomatic expressions which usually causes troubles to EFL teachers and learners

The analysis and comparison of equivalence of the idioms in the two languages

to find the cultural perspective and semantics of literal and figurative meaning It helps

identify the similarities and differences of the two languages and using cultural characteristics in two or more cultures to analyze the meaning of idioms in English and Vietnamese languages

Because of different cultural perspectives between language communities, Vietnamese EFL learners might find it difficult to express idiomatic expressions

denoting the word food in English Understanding these idioms could facilitate not only

the communication but also teaching and learning idiomatic expressions

There are two cultures in the world that make up the great differences of West culture However, in the end, each people has its own characteristics of geography, history, material life, spirit, customs That is a particular culture and are reflected clearly in language, especially in the vocabulary of each people

East-When idioms are understood by reflecting those cultures into foreign languages, there are many difficulties and troubles for the learners because the target language is not available Such cultural features do not have the corresponding words Only in Vietnam, the articles, research works on this topic, with the opposite direction has a lot However, the comparison of language has only received much attention in recent times The practice has brought to urgent requirements, requiring researchers to focus

on solving

The present study hence might throw a light on this research theme by stating and supplying possible Vietnamese equivalence of idomatic expressions denoting the

word food However, the meaning of these idioms are studied and analysis in context

of cultures and use

There are some research relating idioms are carried out in Vietnam, especially, there are few food idioms studied Thus the studying and learning idioms in English classes face some troubles Therefore, it is very reasonable to explore food idioms

1.2 Aim and objectives

The aim of the study is to investigate the cultural semantic features of English food expressions and their Vietnamese equivalents in order to help the Vietnamese learners use and translate these expressions in English effectively

The objectives of the study are

To discribe the cultural semantic features of English food expressions

To make a comparison between English food expressions and their Vietnamese equivalents

To give implications for using and translating English food expressions into Vietnamese effectively

1.3 Research Question

(1) What are the cultural semantic features of English food expressions

(2) What are the similarities and differences between English food expressions and their Vietnamese equivalents

(3) What are implications for using and translating English food expressions into Vietnamese effectively

1.4 Scope of the study

The study was done in 2018, Researcher chooses 35 idioms of food by chance This study examines how English food expression is translated into Vietnamese in terms of product rather than process That is, this study focuses on the equivalents rather than what the translator thought and how she made decisions when translating an English idioms into Vietnamese

1.5 Significance of the study

Theoretically, the study has presented roles of idioms in general and food idioms in particular that help learners and other researchers understand the way people use their language to express their ideas, thought and feeling

Practically, the findings of this research are able to strengthen understanding of food expression in English with reference in Vietnamese for the learners Some

pedagogical solutions are suggested, introducing translation issues in the idiomatic expression Those suggestions will help to develop better translation of idioms so that they can use English more effectively in their personal and career life

The researcher hopes that from the findings of the study, many teachers of English can exploit food expression in helping students to acquaint with and upgrade their English Moreover, the author want to shares understanding about this interesting and useful translation and equivalence of idioms in English and Vietnamese with colleagues who have the same enjoyment of English‟s expression

1.6 Design of the study

There are four chapters in the study

Chapter 1 is the Introduction that raises the problem for the study Moreover, the aim of study is presented in which main goals and objectives are showed in details

Chapter 2 is literature review that discusses for the theoretical background of the study There are two main theories including translation and idiomatic expression In translation theories, there are definition, types of translation, principles of translation and equivalents Therefore, idiomatic expression theories raise definition and classification

Chapter 3 presents methodology of the study in which there are some main points discussed including research design, research instrument, data collection and analysis for the findings

Chapter 4, in this chapter finds the results of the study by analyzing and contrasting the idioms of the two languages in terms of semantics and culture Therefore, we can find out the distinctive features of English and Vietnamese cultures about the “food” lying behind the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms containing the word “ food” The Conclusion summaries the issues discussed in the thesis

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Previous studies

It can be said that in recent years, idioms have been studied extensively and from different angles Especially, if we talk about comparative studies, it can be said that the tune of some "European languages" has been compared in comparison with Vietnamese Master's degree at the University of Foreign Languages - Hanoi National University since the master's degree course (1992), it can be seen in a series of dissertations study comparative idioms, such as: only Russian animals in comparison with English and Vietnamese (Ngo Minh Thuy, 1996), idioms from the human part of the body in Russian and Vietnamese (Do Hoang Nana, 1996), Russian idioms have natural counterparts from comparable idioms in English and Vietnamese; Idioms with the word "hand" in Russian, comparative with Vietnamese language (Nguyen Thi Thu, 1997);

Dao Thanh Tu studied Idiomatic Expressions Containing the Word „Dog‟ in English and Vietnamese in 2015 The study discovered the symbol of “dog” in English cultures They consider “dog” as the symbol of night, darkness and afterlife In many myths, dogs or dog-like beings protect the underworld from unwary guests as they live However, in the spiritual life of Vietnam, dogs must guard against evils In Vietnamese culture, the dog or lion's cry is one of the pure relics of Vietnam, created to protect the house as well as the spiritual life of the Vietnamese, while in the background British culture, the dog is considered the guardian of death, not the existence (Tu, 2015)

The word “dog” and the idiomatic meaning of phrases and sentences is studied literally that contain the word 'dog' can help the author find similarities and differences

in how English and Vietnamese perceive images of animals Picture of this animal It is seen that there are many expressions related to the word 'dog' in that their negative meaning is more than positive

Due to limited time and knowledge, in this task, the study is focused only on idioms “dog” in English and Vietnamese Therefore, It can be seen the specific cultural

characteristics of each language community in the use of phrases and sentences related

to the word “dog”

The author Pham Gia Doan studied the topic “Idioms in English” in 2004 in Van Lang University The research presents that the idioms in English appear under familiar words Some of the idioms are verb conjugations, such as work out, turn in, get away with, get up A large number of similarities are nouns or phrases from, for instance, cat, bull in china shop The word acts as an adjective, for example, pepper and salt, in his hair is pepper and salt Other adjectives may be adverbs, such as like a breeze - easy, not difficult - He takes care of the hot dog like a breeze, or hammer and tongs- violently- She runs after him hammer and tongs (Doan, 2004)

Besides, idioms are also nationalistic: color and thinking The same concept, two different languages will use different idioms to express that concept The term bread and butter refers to the normal needs of life - food, clothing, and habitat If in the English language (he would surely be the librarian), perhaps the concept of butter and bread is typical of the normal needs of life, the equivalent of the concept of rice In Vietnamese, or as a tiger, it will become eat like a horse in English However, sometimes the expression is of similar value, but the value of the content is different, for example, as hot as fire in Vietnamese refers to temperament, but in English used to talk about temperature

In short, idioms as a unit of language, a semantic structure This body has all the qualities, colors of cultural thought, and the nation With those qualities, a careful study

of the idioms will lead to positive results in the learning and teaching of the language, especially in a language that is as obtuse as English

The author Pham Thi Tuoi studied the thesis of “A Study on English and Vietnamese Idioms which Contain Words Denoting Time” in 2012 There are obvious differences between English and Vietnamese in conformity with parallel structure and noun phrases In conformity with the features of syntax, idioms in both of English and Vietnamese are sundered into seven types of noun phrases, verb phrases, adjective

phrases, preposition phrases, adverb phrases, sentence structures and parallel structures (Tuoi, 2012)

On afterthought, the study discovered that no conflict between the mentioned definitions of idioms is the findings Irrespective of the clear difference in expression that cross at a time: Idioms are a meaningful fixed expressed that cannot be made by combining the literal meanings of individual words Language props play an important role in improving language skills The learners find it difficult to describe their ideas and feel that they cannot speak fluently or write an absolute essay

In spite of my limited knowledge as well as the study time stopping here, the research hopes that it will be more deeply analyzed by tracking those who are interested in expressions containing expressions of time Some suggestions for further studies for researchers interested in topics related to this topic: (1) A study on the cultural characteristics of English and Vietnamese idioms containing the words indicates time; (2) A study of Vietnamese and English idioms on expressions of time

The author Hoang Tuyet Minh studied the topic “Culture Features in Idiomatic Equal Comparisons in English with Vietnamese” in 2014 Through the above analysis, the comparative idiomatic expressions have given us a vivid picture of the ethnic cultural traits in English and Vietnamese The cultural characteristics of human-to-human relationships, the social community, and self are expressed through the choice

of the use of images in Idiomatic Equal Comparisons in English with Vietnamese The characteristics of ethnic culture associated with the geographical characteristics, weather, climate, living conditions, customs, tools and means of ethnic minorities are different Vietnamese language courses utilize richer, more refined and distinctive images that portray all aspects of life with the characteristics of wet rice civilization, expressing the spirit and essence of a peace-loving people always live in harmony with nature, just as Prof Dr Nguyen Thien Giap has recognized "more than any other language field, Vietnamese expressions express bold characteristics of national culture Vietnam" (Minh, 2014)

It can be said that the research works have contributed significantly in the study

of idioms in general and comparative study of tambourine in particular The results of the comparison of the morphological structure of the tombstone in these works have pointed out the differences and differences in the morphological structure between the Vietnamese tombstone and the idioms of other languages

Comparative meaning of the idioms of idioms in different languages also provides a valuable result that analyzes and explains the meaning of a large number of idioms, find idioms equivalent between two

In addition, many authors have researched and produced some "lifting methods" The ability to use idioms for foreign language learners (Ngo Minh Thuy, Pham The Minh), teaching methods for foreign language learners (Do Hoang Ngan, To Thi Ngan Anh, Dinh Trong Nghia, Nguyen Van Hoa) The above results are significant in teaching - learning foreign languages, with the translation as well as with the compilation of bilingual dictionary

2.2 Concepts of Idioms

Idioms are types of vocabulary that exist in every language To study the idioms and idioms of comparisons, we find it necessary to clarify the connotation of idioms, because there are different understandings of this name in the world, (Mäntylä, 2004)

Idiom is one of the basic units of language in the system of language units It is

a specific type of linguistic unit, in which the essence of the culture of a people is expressed in a genuine and extremely rich world view, different cultures, (Wardhaugh, 2006) Therefore, the study of tufa, especially the study of the comparison of pairs of idioms of two or more languages, will find unique features in the culture of each nation, co-found have the similarities and differences between one culture and another

The idiomatic term has two contents The first is the particular type of unit that lies within the linguistic system, namely the general vocabulary of a nation, a country,

or even a region, (Krauss, Columbia University) Secondly, in terms of syntax, idiom is

a phrase whose meaning is not simply a "plus" that simply means the words of a

member This shows that we can know the meaning of each word, but when they are combined, they are very angry or meaningless For example, the give way, give up With these idioms, we are only allowed to understand their meaning in terms of the whole phrase Give way is to compromise, give up, discount, or give up is to quit something, (Riehemann, 2001)

In addition to basic functions like words, idioms are more likely to contain language-cultural values, although its physical size is not large V Mokienko said: The idiom unit, along with its phonetics, is the main source of language for the background knowledge of a people and also capable of accumulating information outside of language, (Markus, 2013)

English is the most widely used language in the world and in Vietnam today In the trend of integration and cross-cultural, it is necessary for learners and users to use foreign languages, to master their mother tongue, and to have certain theoretical knowledge of the foreign language they are using, (Brink, 2007) That translates to two

or more foreign languages Studying this topic, we wish to clarify some of the issues of the characteristics of the English comparative idiom, in comparison with the Vietnamese idiom, to improve the ability to use idioms It is more effective in communicating, serving the teaching and learning Vietnamese for foreigners at high level, (Hien, 2017)

Historically, like words in language, idioms are available units, coming gradually from many sources, at different times and widely used in the life of the commune Assembly The results of the study have confirmed that the elements that make up the idioms are proprietary words, which are meaningful units of lexical meaning and have a stable syntactic function, (Liontas, 2001) In the idiomatic system

of languages, however, it is not easy to perceive the meaning of the elements in the idiomatic view, therefore, the consideration of idiomatic meanings, as well as the search for origins It is also becoming more difficult

Starting from the point of view of capital from the system of identification units, Hoang Van Hanh distinguishes the original (or level 1) identifier unit from the derived identifier unit (or level 2), (Markus, 2013) The original identifier (monosyllabic) is the morphological, literal, minimalist term used as the basis for the creation of other identifying units - the idiom is a subtype Derivative units are born to meet the needs of human identity Derivative identifiers are units that are morphologically more complex than the original, symbolic (in metaphorical or metaphorical form) Derivative identifiers are created in two ways: (1) By the semantic path, it is possible to multiply the original identifier (s); (2) By way of morphology - syntax, it is possible to create a series of identification units with different morphological and structural features, including the process of making words based on the original unit copying, graffiti, etc., and idiom, (Brink, 2007)

2.3 Translation

2.3.1 Definitions

Newmark (1988) defined translation in his book, entitled A Textbook of

Translation, as the act of transferring written text in one language into another This

definition is the simplest; however, Newmark (1988) stressed that the act of translation includes many tensions, namely sound and sense, naturalness, emphasis, the figurative and the literal, neatness and comprehensiveness, concision and accuracy Translation is also related to the transmission of cultures that the languages belong to

Translation is restated in Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics as “the process of rendering written language that was produced in one language (the source language) into another (the target language), or the target language version that results from this process.” (Richards & Schmidt, 2002)

According to Munday (2016), the term translation is currently understood in

three different ways It can be a general school subject It can also be the product It can be the process of changing original written text in a source language into another language

2.3.2 Types of translation

Jakobson (1959) stated that there are three types of translation: (a) intralingual, (b) interlingual, and (c) intersemiotic translation The first type deals with the act of rewording verbal signs in the same language The second refers to “an interpretation of verbal signs by means of some other language.” The third is concerned with “an interpretation of verbal signs by means of signs of non-verbal sign systems.”

Newmark (1988) reported different types of translation, derived from various methods used for translation These types are as follows

+Word-for-word translation: the interlinear, context-free translation in which a

single pattern in a source language is directly translated into a target language

+Literal translation: the SL grammatical pattern is converted into an equivalent

form in the TL; however, lexical patterns are also translated in a context-free manner

+Faithful translation: the reproduction of grammatical and lexical patterns in

the SL into those of the TL, with a respect to faithful meanings and cultural values

+Semantic translation: quite similar to faithful translation, but it does not adopt

any cultural values between two languages It takes a neutral cultural value to translate

texts aesthetically

+Adaptation: the freest form of translation which appears in play, comedies,

poems, or dramas, etc

+Free translation: the free rendering of written language, without much

consideration into the original forms of the SL

+Idiomatic translation: the reproduction of written texts from the SL into the

TL, but there is a slight difference because the TL translation has distorted or changed the originality by using different colloquialism or expressions

+Communicative translation: the translation that is based on contextual

meanings for the sake of more effective comprehension in both the SL and the TL

All translation types have its own pros and cons However, Newham (1988)

stressed that semantic and communicative translation could complete all requirements

of actual translation as they all could deal with: “stock and dead metaphor, normal collocations, technical terms, slang, colloquialisms, standard notices, phaticisms, and

ordinary language.” In such kinds the act of translation tends to borrow a neutral or

third cultural value between languages

Richards & Schmidt (2002) added a type of translation in contemporary

language teaching and learning- Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT)

Third, the cohesive level should be judged, comprising of the cohesive structures and mood The former is shown via conjunctions, enumerations, reiterations, definite article, general words, referential synonyms, and punctuation marks These are

used to connect known information (theme) to new one (rheme)- proposition,

opposition, continuation, reiteration, conclusion, or thesis, antithesis, and synthesis The latter is presented via the use of nouns, adjectives, or any qualities to indicate feelings or tone: positive, negative, or neutral

Fourth, the level of naturalness should be taken into consideration This feature

is grounded from not only grammatical levels but also lexical ones and connectives The translator has to determine the level of formality or informality of a translation in terms of their contexts

Newham (1988) also recommended that there should be a combination of all four principles into the act of translation Meanwhile, the actual translation remains

most difficulties in the translation of lexis- “words, collocations, and fixed phrases or

idioms” It is because all those lexis are related to “neologisms and unfindable words.”

Under such circumstances, the act of lexis translation could deal with four types

of meanings: (1) physical or material, (2) figurative, (3) technical, and (4) colloquial Therefore, the translation of words or expressions in English to Vietnamese, for

instance, may be problematic because of its own colloquial and cultural features

2.3.4 Equivalence in translation

2.3.4.1 Definitions

Translation equivalence refers to “the degree to which linguistic units can be

translated into another language without loss of meanings.” (Richards & Schmidt, 2002)

This definition is in accord with Newham (1988) who considered equivalence in

translation as an effect that creates a close connection between readers in the TL and ones in the SL These should pertain the same understanding from the text

Equivalence is an important criterion because the translation needs to express full

meanings from the SL to the TL Nevertheless, there are normally some cases when the cultural values in the SL could not be easily transmitted into the TL Hence, equivalent patterns in the TL should be employed to fulfill the translation task

Translational equivalence is the similarity between a word or expression in one language and its translation in another This similarity results from overlapping ranges

of reference

Meetham and Hudson (1969) give more details on equivalence: "Texts in different languages can be equivalent to each other at varying degrees (absolute or partial equivalence), on different presentation levels (contextual, semantic, vocabulary, vocabulary, function, number, etc.) and at different levels (words with words, sentences with sentences and language with language)

However, Whorf (1956) states that no two languages can see a reality in the same way In addition, reality is largely unconsciously formed from the group's

language habits Two languages are never sufficiently similar to be considered to reflect the same social reality Nida (1984) has the same view and affirms that there is

no absolute equivalent in translation

Obviously, every nation has a culture with its own characteristics The way of looking at and evaluating the objective world of each nation is different Therefore, when translating a text from source language into target language, sometimes there is

no absolute equivalence For example, the translator certainly cannot find the English words that are equivalent to "thắng cố" (a popular dish of upland ethnic people in Vietnam)

As is known, translating a text from one language into another is not a simple because it requires the translator to have not only knowledge of the languages but also the knowledge of cultures Translators will find it difficult to translate Vietnamese folk songs, proverbs, and idioms into English In a nutshell, translation requires a translator

to be skilled in text analysis, and to have specialized knowledge, and cultural understanding of the source language and target language communities

2.3.4.2 Types of equivalence

Equivalence in translation has been studied by many scholars Using a quantitative approach, Munday (2001a) suggests four types of equivalents

The first type is one-to-one equivalence, in which a single expression in the TL is

equivalent to a single expression in the SL

For example, information technology” is equivalent to “công nghệ thông tin”

The second type is one-to-many equivalence In this case, more than one TL

expression is equivalent to a single SL expression

For example, ”bamboo” is equivalent to “tre”, “nứa”, “trúc”, “mai”, and “vầu”

Next is one-to-part-of-one equivalence In this kind of equivalence, a TL expression is

equivalent to part of a concept in the SL

The last type is nil equivalence In this kind of equivalence, no TL expression is

equivalent to a SL expression, and hence loaned/borrowed equivalents should be used

For example, “the Internet” is equivalent to “mạng Internet”

Koller (1979) offers five types of translation equivalents: (a) Denotative equivalence: Equivalence relations are considered to be directed towards realism beyond language; (b) Connotative equivalence: This equivalence is related to categories such as style, geography, society; (c) Text-normative equivalence: Words in the target language are used in the same context as are the words in the source language; (d) Pragmatic equivalence: Equivalence involves the recipient of the text; (e) Formal equivalence: related to the form and aesthetics of the text, includes word plays and the individual stylistic features of the ST

Formal equivalence is source-oriented, which is designated to reveal as much as possible the form and content of the original message, that is, to match as closely as possible the formal elements like grammatical units, consistency in word usage, meanings in terms of the source context, just to name some

The problem with this form of translation is that it assumes a moderate degree of familiarity with the subject matter on the part of the reader

Dynamic equivalence

A dynamic equivalence is

to reproduce "in the receptor language the

Linguistic restrictions, cultural restrictions and diglot publication that

closest natural equivalence

of the source-language message…", deviating from the traditional source text-centered theories

make a more literal translation difficult to understand

The reader encounters the text with most of the decisions already made and must assume that the work of the translators is not prejudicial

2 Newmark

(1981)

Semantic translation

Semantic translation attempts to render, as closely as the semantic and syntactic structures of the second language allow, the exact contextual meaning of the original

It remains within the original culture and language as much as possible

Semantic translation is individual, follows one single person (the author of the original text)

It tends to be more complex, more detailed, and more awkward and

it tends to over translate The translator is denied this freedom

Communicative translation

Communicative translation attempts to produce on its readers an effect as close as possible to that obtained on the readers of the original semantic translation is basically focused on the writer of the source language text and follows his thought – processes

It tends to under translate,

to be smoother, more direct, more idiomatic and easier

to read

Communicative translation

is social, concentrates on the message and the main force of the text and serves

a large readership

Communicative translation addresses itself solely to readers in the target language, who

do not anticipate difficulties or obscurities and would expect a general transfer of foreign elements into his own culture and

language where necessary

a communicative translation badly or inaccurately written passages should be corrected

3 Koller

(1989)

Denotative equivalence

The equivalent elements in the SL and TL refer to the same thing in the real world

Translational equivalence as an argument against theories of general untranslatability (cf all-embracing debates about linguistic relativity or language universals)

Connotative equivalence

The equivalent elements in

SL and the TL trigger the same associations in the minds of the speakers of

both languages Since translational

equivalence was seen as existing on the level of translation as language use (parole), it was not reducible to formal correspondences or differences between language systems The theories that were so lost

in language systems that they failed to see the actual pragmatics of translation

Text-normative equivalence

The equivalent elements in the SL and the TL are used

in same or similar contexts

in their respective languages

Pragmatic equivalence

The equivalent elements in the SL and the TL create the same effect on their respective readers and Formal

equivalence

the equivalent elements in the SL and the TL have the same orthographic and phonological Features

4 Baker

(1992)

Grammatical equivalence

Grammatical equivalence refers to the diversity of grammatical categories across languages, focusing

on five categories the translators often encounters problems, they are number, gender, person, tense and aspect, and voice

Grammatical rules across languages may differ, which lead to some problems in finding a direct correspondence in the

TL

Textual equivalence

It refers to the equivalence between a SL text and a TL text regarding information and cohesion

The cohesive relations between TL and SL should be maintained depends on three main

factors, that is, the target audience, the purpose of the translation and the text type

Pragmatic equivalent

Pragmatic equivalence looks at how texts are used

in communicating situations that involve variables such

as writers, reader, and cultural context It refers to implication of the TL text

Translator is recognizing the implied meaning of

SL text, and then reproducing it in a way that readers of the TL can comprehend clearly without any

misunderstanding culturally

Table 2 1: The types of equivalents that have been suggested by researchers

There are many kinds of equivalent for researcher to use In which, Formal equivalence tries to remain as close to the original text as possible, without adding the translator‟s ideas and thoughts into the translation Thus, the more literal the translation

is, the less danger there is of corrupting the original message

However, dynamic equivalence is an approach to translation in which the original language is translated “thought for thought” rather than “word for word” as in formal equivalence Dynamic equivalence involves taking each sentence (or thought) from the original text and rendering it into a sentence in the target language that conveys the same meaning, but does not necessarily use the exact phrasing or idioms of the original

Because dynamic equivalence sacrifices some faithfulness to the original text to achieve a more natural translation, it is designed to be used when the readability of the translation is more important than preserving the original wording The more the source language differs from the target language, the more difficult it may be to

understand a literal translation on the other hand, formal equivalence can sometimes allow readers familiar with the source language to see how meaning was expressed in the original text, preserving un translated idioms, rhetorical devices (such as chiastic structure in the Hebrew Bible)

Most texts require communicative rather than semantic translation, since the number of informative and vocative texts far exceeds that of expressive texts Most non – literary writings comprise material suitable for communicative translation

On the other hand, original expression, where the manner is as important as the matter, whether it is philosophical, political, technical or literary, needs to be translated semantically Autobiography, private correspondence and any other personal effusion also require a semantic translation, since the original is more important than the effect

on the reader It is not thoughtful to say that a text requires a completely semantic or communicative translation

In a literary text there may be a sentence, a paragraph or a section that requires communicative translation In a literary text there may be a sentence, a paragraph or a section that requires communicative translation

For instance, when a figurative usage can‟t be transferred or if transferred the form will be quite misleading or incomprehensible to the reader, and then it must be translated communicatively

On the other hand, there may be part of non – literary writing that requires a semantic translation It is impossible to apply only one method to a text The two methods are usually taken into use alternatively with varying focuses And there are times when the two methods can‟t be distinguished from each other They actually become one Thus, the equivalence of two authors Nida (1964) and Newmark (1981) are used in the study

2.4 Cultural Features

2.4.1 Cultural Features in English idioms

Idioms are the groups of words that best reflects the cultural characteristics and features of each nation's language So studying idiom and applying research results to the practice of language teaching and learning will help learners master their target language and improve communication efficiency In addition to linguistic, phonetic, structural, vocabulary, and expressive expressions, idioms and proverbs in languages have many similarities in terms of deep meaning Idioms also reflect the social life, the people of the nations, and the laws of nature, the environment and society

Idiom is an important, highly symbolic linguistic unit, containing in it the values that are associated with the cultural life of a people So to understand the idiom is not easy with not only foreigners but also native speakers Learning foreign languages will

be more effective and easier when people understand the cultural characteristics of the nation, as well as the understanding of the language of a people will bring people closer to the cultural life of that nation

There must be a certain relationship between the voice of a people and the culture of that nation As language directly reflects the perception and worldview of the national community, the national culture cannot but be related to that perception and thought, (Spencer-Oatey, 2012) Indeed, the relationship between idioms and cultures has long been a particular concern of linguists around the world In Europe, there is W Humboldt (1767 - 1835) with the famous notions of the idiom and soul of the nation, the inner form of the word; Especially F de Saussure (1857 - 1913), when he said that the customs of a people influences the language, and, on the other hand, in a rather important way, the very language that makes up the nation, (McElvenny, 2017) All theories on the relationship between idioms and culture have enabled peoples to discover the uniqueness of culture through their everyday language Up to now, there have been a number of researchers in the English languages who are interested in this issue and initially have brought about remarkable results, (Al-Issa, 2005)

2.4.2 Cultural Features in Vietnamese idioms

Language reflects objective reality through subjective lens of man Thus, it is the "universal key" that helps people open the door to discovering nature, society and ourselves An important part of language is idiom "Idioms are a complex, stable, structured, complete, shiny form of meaning that is widely used in everyday communication, especially in oral

Vietnamese idioms are not only large numbers but also rich in content The study of this idiomatic group based on an integrated view of the theory of three linguistic dimensions (grammar, semantics, and vocabulary), has suggested that we seek a deeper understanding of the relationship between language and culture

Vietnamese idioms are not only large numbers but also rich in content The study of this idiomatic group based on an integrated view of the theory of three linguistic dimensions (grammar, semantics, and vocabulary), has suggested that we seek a deeper understanding of the relationship between language and culture

2.4.3 Cultural Features in English and Vietnamese idioms

Idioms are the groups of words that best reflects the cultural characteristics and features of each nation's language So studying idiom and applying research results to the practice of language teaching and learning will help learners master their target language and improve communication efficiency

In addition to linguistic, phonetic, structural, vocabulary, and expressive expressions, idioms and proverbs in languages have many similarities in terms of deep meaning Idioms also reflect the social life, the people of the nations, and the laws of nature, the environment and society

In the comparative idioms of English and Vietnamese, the cultural characteristics of the language and the thought of the nation are reflected quite clearly,

by comparison is the way to identify things, phenomena in the live and to operate them

Idiom is an important, highly symbolic linguistic unit, containing in it the values that are associated with the cultural life of a people So to understand the idiom is not easy with not only foreigners but also native speakers

Learning foreign languages will be more effective and easier when people understand the cultural characteristics of the nation, as well as the understanding of the language of a people will bring people closer to the cultural life of that nation There must be a certain relationship between the voice of a people and the culture of that nation As language directly reflects the perception and worldview of the national community, the national culture cannot but be related to that perception and thought, (Spencer-Oatey, 2012)

Indeed, the relationship between idioms and cultures has long been a particular concern of linguists around the world In Europe, there is W Humboldt (1767 - 1835) with the famous notions of the idiom and soul of the nation, the inner form of the word; Especially F de Saussure (1857 - 1913), when he said that the customs of a people influences the language, and, on the other hand, in a rather important way, the very language that makes up the nation, (McElvenny, 2017)

All theories on the relationship between idioms and culture have enabled peoples to discover the uniqueness of culture through their everyday language Up to now, there have been a number of researchers in the English and Vietnamese languages who are interested in this issue and initially have brought about remarkable results, (Al-Issa, 2005)

Idioms are a common language used in everyday life for so many years This is

an interesting phenomenon, attracting a lot of research Up to now, English and Vietnamese idioms have been exploited in many ways: structure, functions, semantics, origins, comparisons with idioms in other languages, (Dmitrij and Elisabet, 2005) But the idiomatic study of linguistics Cultural education still needs to go deeper Language

is a special aspect of culture and idioms that specifically reflect the influence of culture

on language

Language serves human social activities and idioms are almost a mirror of life There are many cultural images in idioms, although they are not the nucleus of the idiomatic structure, but rather the nucleus in the idiomatic sense Languages cannot exist without being a constituent element of culture, (Le, 2015) As part of the language, idioms contain quotes, proverbs characterized by pluralistic expressions, meaningful expressions and images related to geography, history, religious beliefs, and episodes "(Li Ruihua, 1996)

Idioms are not only the voice of the mind, but also the treasures of precious life experiences In the idiomatic archives always contain the culture of communication, cultural behavior, education, religion and belief of each nation, (Xin and Gao-feng, 2017) The strong relationship between language, culture, and symbolic branch of language, specifically idioms, requires special attention in language studying as it seems to have incomplete study

The aspects of culture are presented by symbolic language with the rhetoric in idiom, or metaphor It is expected that language learners will certainly encounter and communicate idioms as part of language learning and they should strive to build their knowledge of the idioms in case they want to exist in the actual communicating environment, (Boers, Eyckmans and Demecheleer, 2014)

Notwithstanding, special idiomatic expression is largely acknowledged as an obstacle (Al-Issa, 2005) in the take-over of languages; Although they are generally acknowledged as inappropriate, sometimes incorrectly grammatical and not easy to find and resist translation to language learners and their contribution to cultural and cognitive abilities are acknowledged both theoretically and empirically (Boers et al, 2004; Kovecses and Szabo, 1996; Lin, 2012; Littlemore and Low 2006; Martinez and Schmitt, 2012) Languages are full of idiomatic expressions, so learning these expressions creates the spirit of language (Elkilic, 2008), and idioms play a significant role in languages

2.5 Idiomatic expressions

2.5.4 Definitions

According to Richards & Schmidt (2002), an idiomatic expression refers to “an

expression which functions as a single unit and whose meaning cannot be worked out from its separate parts.”

Similarly, the definition of idiomatic expressions used to be given by Weinch

(1969) as “a complex expression whose meaning cannot be derived from the meanings

of its elements.”

As stated in Borrow & Bell (1973), these expressions could not be literally understood by looking at its parts, but we could probably understand the whole meaning through cultural aspects of the source language

Thus, Liu (2017) summarized that the comprehension of idiomatic expressions

is not as simple as understanding literal textual meanings but is dependent on cultural dimensions

2.5.5 Classifications

As mentioned in Liu (2017), idiomatic expressions are classified in many different ways according to (a) their semantic fields (pure, semi-literal, and literal idioms), (b) their structures (idioms of invariance and idioms of restricted variance), and (c) their functions Hence, under different perspectives, idioms are classified into assorted categories

A pure idiom is „a type of conventionalized non-literal multiword expression‟ Pure idioms are always non literal, however they may be either invariable or may have little variation In addition, idioms are said to be opaque

A semi-idiom (or partial idiom, in Palmer‟s term) has one or more literal constituents and at least on with a non-literal sub-sense, usually special to that co-occurrence relation and no other Therefore, this type of idioms is considered partially opaque

Literal idioms, this sub-class of idioms are either invariable or allow little variation In addition, literal idioms are considered to be transparent as they can be interpreted on the basis of their parts, such as „on foot‟, „on the contrary‟ and others, meet the salient criterion for idioms: invariance and restricted variation, but their meanings can be deducible from the literal meanings of their constituents

2.6 Summary

Literature reviews are articles that research a given topic based on documents, reports and research done both locally and internationally This chapter presents a theoretical and experimental theoretical studies has been made

Literature review is not just about reviewing, gathering, listing information and ideas that are outlined in the literature available on a given topic but also analyzing, evaluating, comparing, aggregating Include these documents in relation to the objectives In which there are main parts discussed including translation and idiomatic expressions There are the theories of definition, types of translation, principles of translation and equivalence in translation in theories of translation Moreover, there are definition of idiomatic expressions and classifications are presented

This chapter is clear theories relating to the topic that helps readers reach full ideas of the study

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHOLODOGY 3.1 Research approach

This study follows both quantitative and qualitative research methods According to Aliaga and Gunderson (2000), Quantitative research is “Explaining phenomena by collecting numerical data analyzed using mathematically based methods (in particular statistics)” Empirical data such as statistics and numbers are collected to analyze for explanation of above objectives Qualitative method aims to develop measurement which cannot find in previous research Additionally, reports and reliable websites are also used to collect data Quantitative analysis evaluates the difficulties which learners encountered by learning and understanding the Food idioms These are primary data which describe the importance of studying the Food idioms for people who learn and use these idioms First, qualitative research helps explore and thoroughly understand Food idioms Second, this design allows the researcher to self-design research protocols via document analysis, interview, observation, or record of these idioms

3.2 Research Methods

This study employs descriptive method, as mentioned in Creswell (2012) The rationales behind this design are twofold The method is deployed to investigate the cultural features of idioms denoting the Food based on their source and semantic features, as well as comparison of their similarities and differences between Vietnamese and English

3.3 Data collection and data analysis

There will be assorted reading materials, retrieved from BBC World Service

Learning English at http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish, the Oxford

Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, by Smith (2004), and the Cambridge Dictionary

Some references will be made based on a current menu of Hiltons Hotel & Restaurant, the USA, on May 2013 (retrieved from http://www3.hilton.com)

These idioms contain the words relating to foods like vegetable, fruits, juice, dairy, produce… That implicates cultural features between English and Vietnamese

The present study will use document analysis to explore both forms and meanings of 35 English idioms concerning foods, with a reference to Vietnamese

Data collection will pay attention to the meanings of these food expressions in English and their Vietnamese equivalents

1) A piece of cake 18) Have bigger fish to try

2) A smart cookie 19) Put egg all over your face

3) A hill of beans 20) Have all your eggs in one basket

4) As cool as a cucumber 21) When life gives you lemons, make

lemonade

5) Butter somebody up 22) In a pickle

6) Butter wouldn‟t melt in somebody‟s

mouth 23) Like a cat that‟s got the cream

7) Buy a lemon 24) Meat and drink somebody

8) Chalk and cheese 25) Sell like hot cakes

9) Couch potato 26) Separate the wheat from the chaff 10) Drop like a sack of potatoes 27) Spill the beans

11) Eat humble pie 28) Take the bread out of somebody‟s

mouth 12) Egg someone on 29) That‟s the way the cookie crumbles 13) Food for thought 30) The cream of the crop

14) Forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest 31) The proof is in the pudding

15) Full of beans 32) There‟s no use crying over spilled

milk 16) Go bananas 33) To be paid peanuts

17) Go nuts 34) Like two peas in a pod

35) You cannot squeeze blood out of a turnip

The meanings of idioms are described and interpreted with means of descriptive method and a powerful source of dictionaries and document to study the characteristics

of cultures according to English and Vietnamese The idioms were collected and classified, the data were investigated, analyzed, and made comparison to know if there were the similarities and the differences in terms of source meaning, semantics and cultural features Statistical and observational methods are also used to find out essential findings Lastly, the study presents recommendations and suggestions for further researches

3.4 Summary

The role of theoretical research is to establish a theoretical basis for what previous studies have found around the topic of research The breadth and depth of this theoretical basis depends on the type of research and the characteristics of each sector The chapter on research theoretical foundations in the study will provide a huge amount of knowledge about research topics, with the breadth and depth at the highest level

The second role of theoretical research is to identify unconfirmed and contradictory conclusions that lead to a new study or to point out research design, research instruments, data collection, analysis and evaluation of data Explanatory research can provide theoretical foundations for explaining these conflicts and at the same time developing theories of idioms In addition, theoretical research may also provide recommendations for practical application and advocacy

This chapter help readers understand clearly the research methodology in which the methods are used to carry out the topic, the methods are used to collect and analyze data

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS 4.1 Cultural semantic features of English food expressions and their Vietnamese equivalents

4.1.1 To express manner of an action

1) A Piece of Cake

Piece of cake is a "cake" delicious and fragrant, easy to eat that means easy to do

People can use idioms in any case If they use the voice "sound" more fun

E.g A: Can you fix this computer for me?

2) Drop like a sack of potatoes

Drop like a sack of potatoes aims to describe someone or something falls with fast

speed and very strong force

E.g Touch my package again robin and ill drop you like a fucking sack of potatoes!

As in the expression, "drop you like a bag of potatoes" said that the "bag" mentioned above contained "potatoes" that crashed at a greater speed then of a Swiss style never

Literal meaning of Drop like a sack of potatoes is rớt giống như bao khoai tây that

have no expression like this in Vietnamese Or we can hear “rớt cái bịt” that means someone or something falls with fast speed and very strong force

3) In a pickle

“In a pickle” means “To be in a difficult position, or in trouble”

E.g I was certainly in a pickle when my front tire blew out

English idioms are funny things, pulled out of the wordy hodgepodge of history, and "in a pickle" is one of the more obscure of the bunch

In Vietnamese, people say “bị sao quả tạ chiếu – be Shone by star-dumbbell” that

means be stuck in trouble, face bad luck The language use between are totally different “In a pickle” and “be Shone by star-dumbbell” Thus, there is difference

between English and Vietnamese because of cutural perspective

4.1.2 To express characteristics of a person

4) A smart cookie

The idiom means a clever person who makes good decisions

E.g He is a smart cookie, adjusting his songs to fit his audiences

You are one smart cookie

In vietnamese, they say directly “thiên tài or thần đồng – a gift or a prodigy” Thus, there is no difference between english and Vietnamese, even though English talk about

a gift indirectly, like cookie instead of a prodigy in Vietnamese

5) Butter would not melt in somebody's mouth

If someone does something wrong but is calm and unconcerned then others may say that he is like “butter would not melt in somebody's mouth”

E.g When I asked her about the missing money, she tried to look like butter

wouldn't melt in her mouth

(Khi tôi hỏi cô ta về số tiền bị mất, cô ta đã cố gắng làm ra vẻ không biết gì)

In Vietnamese, they say “màu mè - Be overly coy or demure; be insincere” The figurative meaning is the English expression It seems that “Butter would not melt in somebody's mouth - màu mè or làm màu – make color” to be negative meaning

In the past, when referring to the two words “màu mè”, many people often assume that this is the word used only those who like to color the form or any problem to prove

themselves Since then, their words or actions are often not true, creating aversion to the people around

Recently, in a video taken as a quick interview revolving around the theme of literal meaning “make color” many young people share this definition in interesting ways Video interviews were conducted on many subjects from students to those who went to work When asked about the phrase "make color" as a form of slang that many young people use, some think that this is a problem rather normal as not many people think

Mostly Make color is a way to make yourself more prominent in your own style, as

long as it is not "over" The use of clothing, clothing diversity, colorful, fashion accessories and stylish accessories are easy to understand, nothing is too much

6) The cream of the crop

The cream of the crop is the best part of the harvest

Cream means elite, essence, the best

E.g A: I feel so bad since he broke up with me!

B: Don't worry about you two breaking up, your the Cream of the Crop! Your the Best there is! You don't need him

Cream of the Crop is also the best of the best Being the cream of the crop is being the best of something, it ranges from sports to school, to just being awesome If someone says their cream of the crop, their better, smarter, sexier, more athletic, and just cooler than everyone else

It can be understood as “Tốt nhất trong tất cả - the best of all” In vietnamese, the Young often say “cực phẩm” that have two meaning as negative and positive With positive meaning, they mean the best but the worst in negative meaning This shows that Vietnamese is more complicated than English

7) The proof is in the pudding

The proof is in the pudding is A phrase that, when uttered, instantly identifies the

speaker as being incredibly stupid and illiterate

E.g I know you didn't think it was a very good product, but

just look at the fantastic sales figures That's the proof of the pudding

The idiom is usually stated the proof is in the pudding and means that the end result is the mark of the success or failure of one‟s efforts or planning

In Vietnamese, people say “lửa thử vàng, gian nan thử sức” which the same expression

as this idiom Thus, there is the same idea in the same expression between Vietnamese and English

4.1.3 To express a description of something or someone

8) A hill of beans

It means all the little things, all the trivial trivia

E.g He is a smart cookie, adjusting his songs to fit his audiences

You are one smart cookie

In vietnamese, they say “chuyện vặt - the little things” thus, there is similarity

betwenn english and Vietnamese

As cool as a cucumber means very calm or very calmly, especially when this is

surprising Actually this is a common idiom that the British use to compliment someone As cool as a cucumber means very calm especially when subjected to a lot of pressure

E.g 1 She walked in as cool as a cucumber, as if nothing had happened

2 Although he was driving at 110mph James Bond was as cool as a cucumber

In Vietnamese, they say “lạnh lùng như thạch sùng - as cold as lizard” The way to express this idea is not the same in English

In Vietnamese history, occasionally new phenomena occur, especially in oral language, especially in slang When these other things are done in spite of logic and rule, they become a challenge, a denial, or rather, a protest Normally, no one speaks the language Because everyone must use the language People just resist the false, stale, old and narrow in language or behind the language: culture, politics and society

10) To butter somebody up

To butter somebody up means to flatter someone so much, so much flattering to

achieve something It may be to instigate others to do something, to get something, some special benefit, for example

At times, we flatter our teachers, flatter our parents, or we can flatter our husbands, flatter their husbands We flatter, flatter a person to receive something It could be a hug, maybe a bit of money, maybe a vacation, a promotion, or a pay raise

E.g A: was very impressed with your presentation, Mrs Beany You are really

intelligent and perceptive and…

B: Don‟t waste your time buttering me up, Johnny I‟m not raising your salary anytime soon

The director was always ready to butter up Angelina Jolie He knew she was looking for her next role and he wanted her in his movie

In Vietnamese, they say “nịnh bợ - smarm”, the figurative meaning may be the same as English idiom However, “nịnh bợ - smarm” bears negative meaning instead of both

positive and negative meaning in English idiom “butter somebody up”

11) Buy a lemon