English numerical set expressions with reference to vietnamese

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study This study aims to investigate the linguistic features and cultural characteristics of English numerical set expressions with reference to Vietnamese

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

NGUYỄN THU HƯỜNG

ENGLISH NUMERICAL SET EXPRESSIONS WITH REFERENCE TO VIETNAMESE

(NGỮ CỐ ĐỊNH CHỨA SỐ TRONG TIẾNG ANH TRONG SỰ LIÊN HỆ VỚI TIẾNG VIỆT)

M.A Thesis

Field: English Language Code: 8220201

Hanoi, 2018

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

NGUYỄN THU HƯỜNG

ENGLISH NUMERICAL SET EXPRESSIONS WITH REFERENCE TO VIETNAMESE

(NGỮ CỐ ĐỊNH CHỨA SỐ TRONG TIẾNG ANH TRONG SỰ LIÊN HỆ VỚI TIẾNG VIỆT)

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled ENGLISH NUMERICAL SET EXPRESSIONS WITH REFEENCE TO VIETNAMESE (NGHIÊN CỨU NGỮ CỐ ĐỊNH CHỨA SỐ TRONG TIẾNG ANH TRONG SỰ LIÊN HỆ VỚI TIẾNG VIỆT) submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Language Except where the reference is indicated, no other person‟s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis

Hanoi, 2018

Nguyen Thu Huong

Approved by SUPERVISOR

Assoc Prof Dr Ho Ngoc Trung Date: ………

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Ho Ngoc Trung for his inspiring and invaluable guidance, advice and encouragement throughout this study

I would also thank the organizers of this master course My sincere thanks go

to the whole lecturers and the staff of the Faculty of Graduate Studies at Hanoi Open University for their useful lectures, assistance, enthusiasm and advice during

of linguistic features of set expressions containing numbers in English and focus on the meanings of English set expressions containing numbers in English and a comparative analysis with Vietnamese ones Hopefully, the study may help learners, teachers, and translators of English avoid difficulties in realizing and translating English numerical set expressions into Vietnamese

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii

LIST OF TABLES AND OF FIGURES viii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale for the study 1

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 2

1.3 Research questions 2

1.4 Methods of the study 2

1.5 Scope of the study 3

1.6 Significance of the study 3

1.7 Design of the study 3

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

2.1 Previous studies 4

2.1.1 Previous Studies of English set expressions in Foreign Countries 4

2.1.2 Previous Studies of English and Vietnamese Idioms in Vietnam 4

2.2 Theoretical background 5

2.2.1 Syntax theories 5

2.2.2 Semantic theories 5

2.2.3 An overview of Phrase, Clause and Sentence structures 6

2.2.4 Culture and language 10

2.2.5 Translation theories 11

2.3 Theoretical framework 12

2.3.1 Definition of set expressions 12

2.3.2 Classification of set expressions 12

2.3.3 Syntactic features 14

2.3.4 Semantic features 18

2.3.5 Cultural features 21

2.3.6 Numbers in English 23

2.4 Summary 23

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 25

3.1 Research design 25

3.2 Instruments 25

3.3 Procedure 25

3.4 Statistical Analysis 26

3.5 Summary 26

CHAPTER IV: ENGLISH SET EXPRESSIONS CONTAINING NUMBERS WITH REFERENCE TO VIETNAMESE 27

4.1 Syntactic features of English set expressions containing numbers with reference to Vietnamese 27

4.1.1 Phrase Structures 27

4.1.2 Clause Structures 32

4.1.3 Similarities and Differences in Syntactic Features of English and Vietnamese SEN 34

4.2 Semantic features of English set expressions containing numbers with reference to Vietnamese 35

4.2.1 Semantic classification 35

4.2.2 Semantic Fields of English set expressions containing numbers with reference to Vietnamese 38

4.2.3 Similarities and Differences in Semantic Features of English and Vietnamese SEN 44

4.3 Cultural features of English set expressions containing numbers with reference to Vietnamese 46

4.3.1 Cultural features of English set expression containing numbers 46

4.3.2 Cultural features of Vietnamese set expression containing numbers 47

4.3.3 Similarities and Differences in Cultural Features of English and Vietnamese SEN 49

4.4 Implications for teaching and learning 50

4.4.1 Implications for English language learning 50

4.4.2 Implications for English language teaching 51

4.5 Summary 52

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION 53

5.1 Concluding remarks 53

5.2 Limitation of the study 54

5.3 Suggestions for further study 54

REFERENCES i

APPENDIX 1: LIST OF ENGLISH SET EXPRESSIONS CONTAINING NUMBERS iii

APPENDIX 2: LIST OF VIETNAMESE SET EXPRESSIONS CONTAINING NUMBERS xv

LIST OF TABLES AND OF FIGURES

Table 4.1 Statistical Summary of Syntactic Features of English and Vietnamese 33 Set Expressions Containing Numbers 33 Table 4.2 Statistical Summary of Semantic Classification of English and Vietnamese Set Expressions Containing Numbers 38 Table 4.3 Statistical Summary of Semantic Fields of English and Vietnamese Set Expressions Containing Numbers 43

Chart 4.1 Rate of Syntactic Features of English and Vietnamese Set Expressions ContainingNumbers 34 Chart 4.2 Rate of Syntactic Semantic Classification of English and Vietnamese Set Expressions Containing Numbers 38 Chart 4.3 Rate of Semantic Fields of English and Vietnamese Set Expressions

Containing Numbers 44

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale for the study

Numbers are in the things Numbers are objective properties of the things and it means that they are secret essence of all things Only names of numbers (or the form) and their symbols (or hidden meaning) are created In the process of communication, sometimes we come across some expressions containing numbers that we can‟t understand although we can comprehend the meaning of every single word in them “Language is a source of misunderstandings” (Antoine de Saint Exupery)

The main reason why we fail to understand what these sentences are all about lies in the low level of linguistic competence of English set expressions Idioms, proverbs and sayings are often defined as a group of words which have a different meaning when used together from the one it would have if the meaning of each word were taken individually Numbers are widely used to form idioms such

as “on cloud nine” (very happy), “slip me five” (shake my hand) In these examples, the numbers have lost their surface meaning and have to be understood non-literally Therefore, in order to understand as well as translate set expressions from

a language into another one, knowledge of not only linguistic aspects but also of cultural reality has to be involved

There have been so far a lot of studies and investigations into idioms concerning family, animals, colors, food, weather ect These studies mainly concentrate on investigating semantic features such as transfer of meaning: metaphor, hyperbole and simile Nevertheless, hardly any study of set expressions containing numbers has been carried out especially in semantic categories and culture features This is the reason why we would like to carry out this thesis

entitled “English numerical set expressions with reference to Vietnamese”.

Hopefully, the result of this study will help Vietnamese teachers and learners of English teach, study and use the idioms, proverbs and sayings involving numbers effectively

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study

This study aims to investigate the linguistic features and cultural characteristics of English numerical set expressions with reference to Vietnamese in order to find out the similarities and differences in English and Vietnamese set

expressions containing numbers

The study is to fulfill the following objectives:

- To investigate the syntactic features of English set expressions containing numbers with reference to Vietnamese

- To investigate the semantic features of English set expressions containing numbers with reference to Vietnamese

- To find out the cultural characteristics of English set expressions containing numbers with reference to Vietnamese

1.4 Methods of the study

In order to achieve the aim given, the major method to be employed in the study is a descriptive one The descriptive method is used to describe in details the syntactic and semantic features through the examples of idioms and proverbs containing numbers collected from reference books, dictionaries and Internet websites Moreover, analysis method is used to find out the similarities and differences between English set expressions and Vietnamese ones

Therefore, the considerations, remarks, consumptions, comments and conclusions in the thesis are mainly based on data analysis

1.5 Scope of the study

The study focuses on syntactic features, semantic features and cultural characteristics of English set expressions containing numbers Any English set expressions that contain cardinal and ordinal numbers are subject to study

1.6 Significance of the study

The analysis of syntactic features, semantic features and cultural characteristics of English set expressions containing numbers has provided a profound and convincing explanation to manifest the viewpoints of the native speakers more logically, vividly and clearly The systematic contrastive analysis

of the language and cultures of the two communities has demonstrated the similarities and differences in English and Vietnamese set expressions containing numbers

1.7 Design of the study

The thesis consists of 5 main chapters, excluding the appendixes and references

Chapter 1: Introduction, consists of the rationale, the problem statement

and justification of the research project, the aims and objectives, the research questions, the methods of the study, the scope of the study, the significance of the study and the design of the study

Chapter 2: Literature review, consists of previous studies, theoretical

background and theoretical framework

Chapter 3: Methodology and procedures, consist of research design,

instrumentation, procedure and statistical analysis

Chapter 4: English set expressions containing numbers with reference to Vietnamese, consist of 1) Syntactic features of English set expressions containing

numbers with reference to Vietnamese, 2) Semantic features of English set expressions containing numbers with reference to Vietnamese, 3) Culture features

of English set expressions containing numbers with reference to Vietnamese, 4) The

pedagogical implication of the study

Chapter 5:Conclution, consists of concluding remarks, limitation of the study and recommendations/suggestions for further study

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Previous studies

2.1.1 Previous Studies of English set expressions in Foreign Countries

Idiomatic expressions have become an interest of a great number of researchers in the world in different languages In fact, many writers and linguists started studying English idioms at the beginning of the twentieth century Some authors have made great contributions to the collections of English Idioms M.C Mode (1909) with “English Idioms and How to Use them”

is considered among the first authors to study on this field Idioms take up a

large proportion of both monolingual and bilingual dictionaries such as: “Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms” by Cowie, A.P et al (1993) [6], Fenado, C with

“Idioms and Idiomaticity” (1996) [10], “English Idioms in Use” by McCarthy,

M & O‟Dell, F (2002) [18], Ayton, J (2006) [4] In addition, there are some more collections of idioms Palmer, F.R (1990) [19], who defined idioms as sequences of words whose meaning cannot be predicted from the meaning of the words themselves

2.1.2 Previous Studies of English and Vietnamese Idioms in Vietnam

Vietnamese idioms and proverbs also prove significant in Vietnamese language, and several native linguists have been trying to collect them and to

detect their special peculiarities, Hoang Van Hahn (2004) [27] with “A study on Vietnamese Idioms” had spent a lot of time and energy on this research The

author analyzed idioms based on different aspects, synchronically and diachronically, on the view of functional and structural system as well as from cultural, social and psychological perspectives The research also introduced a systematic collection of Vietnamese idioms in forms of three main types Phan Xuan Thanh produced an important and useful book “Từ điển thành ngữ Việt Nam” (1993) [32] More interestingly, there have been many contrastive studies

on idioms and proverbs in Vietnamese by Vu Dung (2000) [25], Nguyen Lan(1989)[30].

Despite abundant researches on idiomatic expression, it seems that idiomatic expressions containing numbers have been left underexplored in English as well as

2.2.2 Semantic theories

Semantics has quite a long history going back thousands of years It is indeed true to say that it is as old as the history of linguistics However, the word

“semantics” made is earliest entry into the Old English Dictionary only in 1890s, interpreted as the study of meaning

J Lyons (1995) and Frawley (1992) use the same term “linguistic semantics” stating in different terms about its coverage And the term does not necessarily cover the same ground That is what Lyons (1995, 12) says about linguistic semantics: “… and linguistic semantics is the study of meaning in so far as it is systematically encoded in the vocabulary and grammar of natural languages” Meaning for Lyons would include that which is traditionally dealt with in semantics (literal meaning) and that which is within pragmatics (nonliteral meaning) Thus, the author may be said to take a rather broad view of meaning Frawley on the other hand defines in obvious terms linguistic semantics as the study of literal, decontextualized, grammatical meaning

One of the most interesting and central questions in linguistics is understanding how syntax and semantics interact (i.e interface) “Basically, syntax studies the structure of well-formed phrases and sentences; part of the business of semantics deals with the way syntactic structures are interpreted Traditionally, problems like word order, agreement, case marking and the like are within the domain of syntax whereas things like the meaningfulness of a well formed structures are seen as a part of semantics” [13]

2.2.3 An overview of Phrase, Clause and Sentence structures

2.2.3.1 Phrase

“A phrase is a small group of words that forms a meaningful unit within a clause” (The Oxford English Dictionary, 1998 by John Simpson)

There are several different types, as follows:

Noun phrase: A noun phrase is built around a single noun

E.g A vase of roses stood on the table

She was reading a book about the emancipation of women

Verb phrase: A verb phrase is the verbal part of a clause

E.g She had been living in London

I will be going to college next year

Adjective phrase: An adjective phrase is built around an adjective

E.g He‟s led a very interesting life

A lot of the kids are really keen on football

Adverbial phrase: An adverbial phrase is built round an adverb by adding

words before and/ or after it

E.g The economy recovered very slowly

They wanted to leave the country as far as possible

Prepositional phrase: In a prepositional phrase the preposition always

comes at the beginning

E.g I longed to live near the sea

The dog was hiding under the kitchen table

Of course, we also use the word phrase to refer to a short group of words that

have a particular meaning when they are used together, such as rain cats and dogs, play

for time, or a square meal This type of phrase is often referred to as an idiom

“A phrase is a small group of words that adds meaning to a sentence A phrase is not a sentence because it is not a complete idea with a subject, verb and a predicate

In English there are five different kinds of phrases, one of each of the main parts of speech In a phrase, the main word, or the word that is what the phrase is

about, is called the head The other words in the phrase do the work of changing or

modifying the head.” (https://simple.m.wikipedia.org)

In a Noun phrase, one or more words work together to give more

information about a noun

E.g all my dear children

the information age

seventeen hungry lions in the rocks

In a Verb phrase, one or more words work together to give more meaning to

a verb In English, the verb phrase is very complex The Verb phrase in English has

a noticeably different structure, since the information it carries about mood, tense, modality, aspect, and voice is quite different from the information carried by a noun phrase The Verb phrase has two functional parts,

the auxiliary, a grammatical morpheme carrying information about mood,

tense, modality, and voice

the main verb, a lexical morpheme carrying its lexical information and,

usually, an inflection

E.g Be more patient!

This house was built last year

We are going to finish our work

Philosophers of language, like H.P Grice, have done some of the most interesting linguistics of recent years, explicating the meanings of the indicative mood in English by examining how people use language in conversation After studying a series of conversations in different contexts, he developed the following generalizations or “rules of conversation” that help explain much about how we interpret our language in the indicative mood Grice (1975) point out the participants in a conversation expect each other to be cooperative, to say something true and to the point, and not to be withholding any relevant information

In an Adjective phrase, one or more words work together to give more

information about an adjective

E.g so very sweet

earnest in her desire

very happy with his work

In an Adverb phrase, one or more words work together to give more information about an adverb

E.g especially softly

formerly of the city of Perth

much too quickly to see clearly

In a Prepositional phrase, one or more words works together to give information about time, location, or condition The preposition always appears at the front of the phrase

E.g after a very long walk

behind the old building

for all the hungry children

2.2.3.2 Clause

A clause is a group of words that contains a verb (and usually other components too) A clause may form part of a sentence or it may be a complete sentence in itself [14]

E.g He was eating a bacon sandwich [clause]

She had a long career but she is remembered mainly for one early work [clause] [clause]

Main clause

Every sentence contains at least one main clause A main clause may form part

of a compound sentence or a complex sentence, but it also makes sense on its own Subordinate clause

A subordinate clause depends on a main clause for its meaning Together with a main clause, a subordinate clause forms part of a complex sentence

E.g After we had had lunch, we went back to work

[subordinate clause] [main clause]

In according with Wikipedia (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clause): “A typical clause in English contains minimally a subject and a predicate In other languages, the subject is often omitted if it is retrievable from context A simple sentence usually consists of a single finite clause with a finite verb that is independent More complex sentences may contain multiple clauses Main clauses (matrix clauses, independent clauses) are those that could stand alone as

a sentence Subordinate clauses (embedded clauses, dependent clauses) are those that would be awkward or incomplete if they were alone.”

2.2.3.3 Sentence

According to https://en.oxforddictionaries.com, A sentence is a group of words that makes complete sense, contains a main verb, and begins with a capital letter Sentences are used:

 to make statements:

E.g I took some money out of the bank

The shop stays open until 9 p.m

 to ask questions or make requests:

E.g Can I help you?

Could you open the door?

 to give orders:

E.g Stop arguing!

Come here at once!

A compound sentence contains two or more clauses of equal status (or main

clause), which are normally joined by a conjunction such as and or but

E.g Joe became bored with teaching and he looked for a new career

[main clause] [conjunction] [main clause]

Boxers can be very friendly dogs but they need to be trained

[main clause] [conjunction] [main clause]

Complex sentence

A complex sentence is also made up of clauses, but in this case the clauses are not equal balanced They contain a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses E.g The story would make headlines if it ever became public

[main clause] [subordinate clause]

He took up the project again as soon as he felt well enough

[main clause] [subordinate clause]

2.2.4 Culture and language

2.2.4.1 Concepts of culture

Culture comes in many shapes and sizes It includes areas such as polictics, history, faith, mentality, behavior and lifestyle There are many definitions of the words “Culture” According to Edward Taylor (1958) “Culture

is a complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom and other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”

“Culture is a complex whole that consists of all the way we think and do and everything we have as members of society” (Robert Bierstadt, 1974)

Geert Hofstede (1991) defines culture as “the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one categogy of people from another”

Culture is not only the way we do things It is also our attitudes, thoughts, expectations, goals and values It is the rulers of our society- the norms that tell

us what is and what is not acceptable in the society

2.2.4.2 Culture in language

Culture is formed by creative activities of human being It is obvious that relying on language, we can find the specific cultural features of a nation Language is an integral part of culture, at the same time, it is also a carrier of culture The transmission of culture inevitably achieves with the benefit of language Language is influenced by culture, which in turn exerts influence on culture (Wang, 2007) Language reflects the characteristics of a nation, which not only contains the cultural history and cultural background of a nation, but also contains the thoughts, lifestyle and the mode of thinking of the people in life (Deng & Liu, 1989) Idiomatic expressions have deep cultural connotations They have history origins, map out the psychology of disfferent nationalities and imply certain customs of life

2.2.5 Translation theories

According to Roger T Bell (1991) “Translation is the expression in another language (or target language) of what has been expressed in another, source language, preserving semantic and stylistic equivalences”

The content and style of the original text should be preserved as far as possible in the translated text The aim of converting information from one language or language variety into another is to reproduce as accurately as possible all grammatical and lexical features of the “source language” original

by finding equivalents in the “target language” At the same time all factual information contained in the original text must be retained in the translation

2.3 Theoretical framework

2.3.1 Definition of set expressions

According to www.thefreedictionary.com, set expressions are the expressions whose meaning cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that make it up In other words, set expressions are types of informal language that have meanings different from the meaning of the words in the expression

Set expressions include idiom, proverb, phrasal idiom, set phrase, phrase, phrase, locution, saying, ect In English and Vietnamese language, idioms and proverbs are widely used We will focus more on idioms and proverbs

2.3.2 Classification of set expressions

2.3.2.1 Idioms

In linguistics, idiom is defined more narrowly as a complex lexical item which is longer than a word form, but shorter than a sentence, and which has a meaning that cannot be derived, inferred from knowledge of its component parts

Idioms are difficult to define accurately They are also set expression, short sayings usually characterized by the fact that their meaning cannot easily

be deduced from their comonents

An idiom is a “lexical complex which is semantically simple” [8, p.37], or one can say that idioms show unitary meaning Hornby (1995) argued in his Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary, an idiom is “a phrase or sentence whose meaning is not clear from the meaning of its individual words and which must be learnt as a whole unit” It can be seen that idioms can mean something different

from what the word mean For instance, the collocation of kick and the bucket forms

an idiom meaning die, which is not systematically determinable from the meanings

of kick and the bucket This idiom or phrasal lexeme is formally identical with the phrase kick the bucket

According to Wikipedia http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiom, “An idiom is a word or phrase which means something from what is says-it is usually

a metaphor Idioms are common phrases or terms whose meaning are not real, but can be understood by their popular use.”

Vietnamese linguistic researchers have given out a number of definition of idioms Hoang Van Hanh defines “An idiom is a fixed group of words which is firm in terms of structure, complete and figurative in terms of meaning, and is

widely used in daily speaking” (Thành ngữ là những cụm từ cố định có hình thái cấu trúc bền vững, có tính bóng bẩy về ý nghĩa và được sử dụng rộng rãi trong giao tiếp) [27, p.21]

As can be seen from the above definitions, there are different ways of defining an idiom In general, most of the linguists share the same point that an idiom is a fixed expression whose meaning cannot be worked out by looking at the meaning of its individual words

Idioms pose a number of structures and semantic problems The meaning

of idioms is considered to be one of the most important difficulties, in that the meaning of the whole cannot always be determined from the meaning of their

constitutive parts For example, an idiom, such as spill the beans (“give away

information, deliberately or unintentionally”, [5, p.514] has a special meaning which is attached to the whole expression

Definition by Vũ Ngọc Phan (2000) stated that a proverb as “a complete saying expressing one idea of comment, experience, morality, justice or criticism”

It is easy to find that idioms and proverbs have many in common and it comes as no surprise that they are traditionally studied together Both idioms and proverbs are set expressions with stable and insubstituted components They are products of human‟s thought, cultures and processes of hard working and learning They are mainly orally handed down from generation to generation and naturally accepted in daily life However, both of them still own typical features that distinguish one from the other

The first and most abvious difference lies in their grammatical structures Idioms are phrases which are parts of sentences; thus, they are equivalent to words only Proverbs are complete sentences or phrases expressing the whole idea Moreover, idioms and proverbs are also different in terms of their function Proverbs are short well-known sentences or phrases that express a judgement, state a general truth about life or advice; they are told to contain three main literature functions which are perceptive function, aesthetic function and educational function

2.3.3 Syntactic features

The thesis is based on the viewpoint of Randolph Quirk in “A Grammar of Contemporary English”, “A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language” [20] and “A University Grammar of English” by Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum [21] on grammar for features of English structure

In traditional concepts, grammar consist of two parts of morphology and syntax Syntax deals with the combination of words to make larger units of language: phrase, clause and sentence [17, p.7]

Phrases: treating the combination of words into Noun phrase, Verb

phrase, Adjective phrase, Adverb phrase and Preposition phrases

Clauses: different kinds of clauses-main/superordinate clause (independent) and subordinate clauses (dependent)

Sentences:

- Simple sentences: sentence with one clause

- Compound sentences: these are sentences formed by two or more

independent clause joined by and, but, or and others [17, p.10]

I told him this but he didn’t believe me

S V O O S V O

1st indep.cl 2nd indep.cl

- Complex sentences: these are sentences joined by two or more

or more clauses of which one is the main clause and the other(s) – subordinate clause (s) being part (S, O, C or A) of the former [17, p.11)

What he likes isn‟t what I like

O S V _ O S V

S V C

According to Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum [20, p.42]

Highest unit: Sentences, which consist of one or more

Clauses, which consist of one or more Phrases, which consist of one or more Words, which consist of one or more Lowest unit: Morphemes

Phrase structures

 Noun phrases [17, p.19]

Determiners : 6 subclasses

a Article: indefinite a(n), definite the, zero article (an old man, the book, boy)

b Possessive: my, your, his, her, their (my brother, their discussion)

c Demonstrative: this, that, these, those (this book, these boys)

d Interrogative: whose, which, what (which color, whose book)

e Indefinite: some, any, every, each (some water, any car(s), every student, each book)

f Quantifier: much (much water, much hair)

In the basic Noun phrases, these words are central elements pre-modifiers

Pre-determiners (= words preceding Determiners):

a Inclusive: all, both, half (all the books)

b Multipliers: double, twice, three times (double salary)

c Fraction: one-third, two-fifths (one-third of this book)

Post- determiners (= words coming after Determiners) [17, p.20].

a Quantifiers

- Closed-system: many, little, few (many book, few apples)

- Open class: a lot of, good deal of, a great number of (a lot of books, a great deal of oil)

b Numerals

- Cardinal: one, two, three (one book, two books)

- Ordinal: first, second, third (first book, second book)

 Verb phrases [17 51]

a Finite VPs (V, V-s & V-ed1, etc)

have tense and mood of a certain type

They go there very often

He goes there twice a week

(Tense: present; mood: indicative)

We went there yesterday

(Tense: past; mood: indicative)

Non-finite VPs (to V, V-ing & V-ed2) do not have tense and mood

They want to go there then

She seemed to be innocent

He likes cooking

She enjoyed watching TV

(Can be used either with Present or Past tense)

b Finite VPs often have their own

subject

If she liked, she could go

S + V-ed1

 * Non-finite VPs may have but more often

do not have their S

 For him to go there is difficult

S + to infinitive

c Finite VPs often appear in the simple,

compound or complex sentence

(making up finite clauses)

 * Non-finite VPs often perform the function

of S, O, C or A of the main finite clause and make up the complete complex sentence

For more example:

They wanted us to become teachers

S V O C

Finite none-finite (subordinate clause)

(main clause)

 Adjective phrases [20, p.63]

Table 2.28c

modification Head

pleasant hot cold pleasant enough

to be enjoyable

 Adverb phrases [20, p.63]

Table 2.28d

modification Head

as

yesterday often severely clearly

indeed

as I could

 Prepositional phrases [17, p.84]

Preposition + Prepositional complement

duringthe resistance war according to these rulers

Clause structures [20, p.49]

Elements of clause structures:

Subject (S), Verb (V); Object (O), Complement (C), and Adverbial (A)

E.g Most people [S] consider [V] these books [O] rather expensive [C], actually [A]

The verb element (V) is the most “central” element, it is preceded by the subject (S) Following the verb there may be one or two objects (O), or a complement (C), which follows the object if one is present The most peripheral element is the adverbial (A), which can occur either initially (in front of the subject or finally (after the verb, and after the object or complement if one is present)

Sentence structures [17, p.90]

Sentences may be simple, compound or complex

All the three kind of sentence can be analyzed in terms of S, V, O, C and A

Simple sentence: He is a teacher of English

main/ superordinate clause

In English, there are seven sentence types [17, p 91]

a S + V intransitive: They were dancing

According to Wulff (2008, 11) “Idiomaticity is no longer a property of core idioms alone: both non-compositionality and formal fixedness can be presented to different degrees in a given multi-word expression.” So, Wulff (2008) presents idiomaticity as the notion which embraces both non-compositionality and fixedness Due to ambiguity of the notion of idiomaticity, this term will not be included in the description of idioms

“The meaning of an idiom is not the sum of the meanings of its

constituents” (Grant and Bauer, 2004) Nunberg et al (1992) points out that

conventionality is related to predictability of meaning He states that the meaning of an idiom cannot be predicted from the meanings of the words it consists of However, depending on the degree of semantic change, the degree of compasionality of an idiom may vary

Partly-compositional idioms are those which contain one component with

its current meaning and the other with transferred meaning, for example: to lose (keep) one’s temper, to fall in love (out of love), to stick to one’s word (promise), small talk

Literal idioms

Literal idioms (on foot, on the contrary, a very happy birthday, etc.) meet the essential criterion for idioms, which is invariability or restricted variation, they are less semantically complex than pure and semi-idioms

Thus, according to the semantic creation we can distinguish compositional, partly-compositional idioms and literal idioms (Grant and Bauer, 2004) In non-compositional idioms the semantic change affects the whole word

non-group and it is difficult to predict their meaning: to skate on thin ice (to put oneself in a dangerous position; to take risks); to wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve (to expose, so that everyone knows, one’s most intimate feelings); to have one’s heart in one’s boots (to be deeply depressed, anxious about something)

According to Grant and Bauer‟s (2004) definition of non-compositionality, it is easier to predict the meaning of partly-compositional idioms than the meaning of non-compositional idioms

The author Hoang Tat Truong [23, p.94-95], classifies set expressions based

on motivation:

 Phraseological fusions: are completely non-motivationed set expressions

They may be called “completely idiomatic” because the meaning of the whole unit

is not a mere sum of the meanings of its components In other words, phraseological fusions cannot be literally translated into other languages:

E.g a fine kettle of fish

to beat about the bush

to give sb the sack

 Phraseological unities: are partially motivated set expressions They can be

called “partially idiomatic” because the meaning of the whole unit is not the sum

of the meanings of its components but it is based on them We may deduce or guess the general meaning:

E.g fish in trouble water

to make one’s way in life all of a sudden

 Phraseological combinations: are clearly motivated set expressions “non- Idiomatic” They contain one component used in its direct meaning In

phraseological combinations words retain their complete semantic independence despite their being limited in combinative power

E.g as sweet as honey

as bold as brass

to win a victory

In fact, only phraseological fusions and unities are phraseological units proper while phraseological combinations are just phraseological collocations or traditional phrases They are included into lexicology since they are not quite free word groups but also limited in their combinative power and can be regarded as ready-made units

2.3.5 Cultural features

The numbers were endowed with one or more non-quantitative meanings Mossison (1998) mentions that number three is the most popular among English people, there is an evidence that English prefers number seven more

According to Ferber [11, p.142] seven is extremely important in western sense As seven is the number of days in the Hebrew week Also, there are seven visible planets The Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn which give their names to the days of the week in the Romance languages; Thus, being at the heart of cosmological ideas the sevenplanets, the seven days of a week

Number seven is associated with perfection and versatility Moreover, English writers like to use the symbolic number seven in their works For example: in 1986 English writer, a Nobel Prize Laureate, R, Kipling published a collection of poetry with the title “The seven sea” He highlighted the seven seas

of the world

According to the author Tran Thi Lam Thuy in her Doctoral dissertation

“Đặc điểm ngữ pháp và ngữ nghĩa của con số trong thành ngữ, tục ngữ, ca dao Việt Nam” [33, p.126-130]

i) Numbers represent the natural awareness

Man is a part of nature, “the product of nature” (F Enghen), Idioms, proverbs and sayings from the words of people with their linguistic characteristics and national cultural identity, therefore, these show the variety of relationship between humans and the natural world, the production experience, feelings and wishes…

Idiomatic expressions identify an overview icon of natural phenomenon

For example about the universe: Nhị thập bát tú ; the weather: tứ thời bát tiết; nhị thập tứ tiết; the space and geography: Bốn phương tám hướng; chín phương trời, mười phương đất ; the production experience: nhất thì nhì thục

Proverbs express experiences, knowledge about the world, society: Tam sơn, tứ hải, nhất phần điền; the weather experiences: Ba đen, ba đỏ, ai không rõ thì ăn cơm đèn; the experience of labor production: Chiêm ba giá, mùa ba mưa; Cày ruộng tháng năm, xem trăng rằm tháng tám; the experience in breeding: Chó khôn tứ túc huyền đề …

ii) Numbers represent the social awareness

The perception of society in idioms and proverbs expresses the concept of love, marriage, behavior in family and relatives; cultural behavior in the social community with its own reflection

In idioms, the social awareness accounts for a proportion, social

institutions: tam tòng tứ đức; tam cương ngũ thường; concepts of relationship:

tứ hải giai huynh đệ; bốn bể một nhà; behaviors in family and society: ăn ở hai lòng; hai nhà như một ; age: hai thứ tóc trên đầu; ba bảy đang thì; complex relationships in society: Ba bè bảy mảng; năm người mười làng; hai thớ ba dòng; ba cha bảy mẹ; The concepts of marriage: ba chốn bốn nơi; ba vợ chín nàng hầu…

In proverbs, concepts of behaviors in family and society express through lessons, learned experiences, deep morality For example, the concept of human:

Người năm bảy đống, trứng năm bảy loại (của một vạn loài); The value of human: Năm quan mua người, mười quan mua nết; behaving with someone who help us: Vay chín thì ta trả mười/ Phòng khi thiếu thốn có người cho vay; behaving with the enemy: Quân tử oán tam niên, tiểu nhân oán nhãn tiền; in words of speech: Một lời nói một đọi máu; behaviors in family: Mẹ chồng nói một, nàng dâu đối mười; ứng xử trong quan hệ nam nữ: Chớ nghe quân tử ỉ òn,

mà rồi có lúc ẵm con một mình …

iii) Numbers represent calculating methods and measurement methods

Counting involves temperal and cultural space of Vietnamese people, the way of counting, measuring and evaluating the value of Vietnamese‟s labor life expressed in set expressions

Numbers represent the way of counting time, space Therefore, all concepts, behaviors, feelings of human are the marks of time and space In idioms and proverbs, space and time expresses not only numbers indicating time and space but also time and space of culture with prominent expressions Many idiomatic expressions prompt to a day and night time with image For example:

năm canh sáu khắc (idiom)Đêm năm canh, ngày sáu khắc (proverb)

As we can see, time in idioms and proverbs is time of feeling, emotion, time of cultural expressions which contains bold love of Vietnamese In parallel

with the number of time, the number of space is also the cultural symbols: ba bề bốn bên; thiên nhân hợp nhất; bốn bể chin chu (idioms)

Numbers represent the way of calculating, measuring products and things

For example about the material value: ba bò chín trâu; Của giàu tám vạn nghìn

tư, hễ ai có phúc thì gặp; the value of morality: Chẳng tham nhà ngói ba tòa/ Tham

vì một nỗi mẹ cha anh hiền

Counting here is not a regular quantity counting but it contains high art fullness For example: cows (ba bò); buffaloes (chín trâu), pigs (lợn béo năm con)

2.3.6 Numbers in English

i) Cardinal numbers

Cardinal numbers say how many people or things there are

E.g There are five books on the desk

Ron is ten years old

ii) Ordinal Numbers

Ordinal numbers are mainly used for putting things in a sequence

E.g first (1st ), second (2nd ) ect

iii) Fractions and decimals

Use the ordinal number for the denominator:

E.g 1/3: one third

23/5: two and three fifths

mentioned, including noun phrase, verb phrase, adjective phrase, adverb phrase, preposition phrase and sentence Culture and language always exist together and translation theories are mentioned

The last part has presented an overview of theoretical framework including definition of set expressions, classification of set expressions, syntactic features, semantic fearures, cultural features and numbers in English

In short, this chapter has reviewed the previous related studies Moreover, this chapter has also presented general notions of set expressions as well as syntactic, semantic and cultural features which will be foundation for analysis in Chapter IV

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research design

This study is designed to analyze and describe syntactic and semantic features as well as some typical cultural characteristics of English and Vietnamese set expressions containing numbers

In this study, we have used descriptive method, analytical method and contrastive method

3.2 Instruments

The data used in the study were collected from English and Vietnamese books, dictionaries, Internet websites

Data collection methods: The main materials used in the study are collected

from the following major sources:

- The grammar books written by English and Vietnamese linguists

- The English – English dictionaries, English-Vietnamese and English dictionaries

Vietnamese-Data analysis: After collecting 375 (198 in English and 177 in Vietnamese)

set expressions containing numbers from English and Vietnamese books, dictionaries, Internet websites we categorize them into two main aspects: syntactic and semantic one

Syntactically, the classification of the data is mainly based on the different

structural categories, namely: noun phrases, verb phrases, adjective phrases, prepositional phrases, clauses and sentences

Semantically, the classification is carried out on the basis of typical semantic

features of set expression in both languages

3.3 Procedure

The steps will be based on:

- Collecting set expressions containing numbers in both English and Vietnamese from books, dictionaries, Internet and websites

- Analyzing English and Vietnamese set expressions containing numbers

- Finding the similarities and differences between syntactic, semantic features and cultural characteristics of English and Vietnamese set expressions containing numbers

3.4 Statistical Analysis

The data are analyzed on basis of syntactic and semantic perspectives

With such set criteria I collected English and Vietnamese idioms and proverbs containing numbers from many books, dictionaries, Internet websites When getting a list of idioms and proverbs, I was able to collect a total of 375 English and Vietnamese idioms and proverbs containing numbers for building up

my corpus which consists of 198 English numerical set expressions and 177 Vietnamese ones

3.5 Summary

This chapter gives an overview of how to carry out the research During the process of researching, major methods such as descriptive method, analytical method were used With different purposes at different stages, we collected and analyzed set expression containing numbers to find out the similarities and differences in syntactic, semantic and culture features between English set expressions and Vietnamese ones Idioms and proverbs for the study were collected and selected carefully from reliable sources to make the study reliable and valid The data were analyzed based on theoretical background and theoretical framework

presented in Chapter II

CHAPTER IV: ENGLISH SET EXPRESSIONS CONTAINING NUMBERS

WITH REFERENCE TO VIETNAMESE 4.1 Syntactic features of English set expressions containing numbers with reference to Vietnamese

Idioms and proverbs may take many different forms of phrases and clauses that are discussed in the previous chapter This thesis is conducted based

on Quirk R et al.‟s view on structures including Noun phrases, Verb phrases,

Adjective phrases, Adverb phrases, Prepositional phrases, Clauses and Sentences

4.1.1 Phrase Structures

4.1.1.1 Phrase Structures in English

 SEN in the form of Noun Phrase structure (84)

After collecting and classifying 198 English SEN and 177 Vietnamese ones, there is a surprising big number of patterns in Noun structure, both in English and Vietnamese SEN, 84 English SEN and 88 Vietnamese ones are found in the form of Noun phrases There are 7 patterns in English

i) (Art) + Numeral + N/NP (36)

E.g One-horse race, Third degree, A two-edged sword

ii) (Art) + N + (Art) + Numeral (4)

E.g A dime a dozen, A split second, Year one

iii) (Art) + N + Prep + Numeral (2)

E.g A bunch of five, Hold in one

iv) Numeral + Prep + (Art) + N/NP (16)

E.g One at a time, One for the (record) books, Two of a kind

v) All + Prep + Numeral + (N) (4)

E.g All-in-one, All in one breath, All in one piece

vi) Numeral + N/NP + Prep + (Art + Noun) (11)

E.g Four-square behind, One sandwich short of a picnic, One heck/hell

of a (sb or sth)

vii) Numeral + Prep/Conj + (Art) + Numeral + (N) (11)

E.g One over the eight, Nine-to-five job, Hundred and one

 SEN in the form of Verb Phrase Structures (53)

Verb phrase structures of English SEN account for a significant number of idioms and proverbs collected The number of English SEN in this structure is

53, accounting for 26.8 %, relatively numeral over Vietnamese one (12.5%) There are 8 patterns in English

i) V + (Art) + Numeral + N/NP (14)

E.g Cut two ways, Get the third degree, Have two left feet

ii) V + (Art) + Numeral (9)

E.g Take five, Bat a thousand, Catch -22

iii) V + Prep + Numeral + (Art) + N (8)

E.g Love at first sight, See with half an eye, Caught between two stools

iv) V + (Art) + Numeral + N + Prep (5)

E.g Give three cheers for (Sb), Have two strikes against (one), Not know the first thing about

v) V + like + (Art) + Numeral + N (3)

E.g Feel like a million bucks, Feel like a million dollars, Look like a million dollars

vi) V + Sb/Sth + (Prep) + Numeral + (N) (8)

E.g Give me five, Get Sth in one, Give (Sb or Sth) a second chance

vii) V + N/NP + Prep + (Art) + Numeral + N (3)

E.g Kill two birds with one stone, Put all your eggs in the one basket, Take care of number one

viii) V + (N) + Numeral + Prep + (N/NP) (3)

E.g Be all one to, Be one in the eye for Sb, Know a trick or two

 SEN with Adjective Phrase Structures (11)

There are not many Adjective phrase structures in both English and Vietnamese After collecting and classifying , 11 English SEN are found in the form of Adjective phrase with 6 patterns

i) Numeral + Adj (1)

E.g Half-hearted

ii) Adj + Prep + (Art) + Numeral + (N) (3)

E.g Dressed to the nines, Lesser of the two, Lesser of two evils

iii) Adj + Art + N + Prep + Numeral + N (1)

E.g Like a hen with one chick

iv) Adj + Numeral + NP (1)

E.g Like two peas in a pod

v) Adj + Numeral (2)

E.g Deep-six (Sb/Sth), Quick one

vi) As + Adj + as + (Art) + Numeral + N/NP (3)

E.g As busy as a one-armed paperhanger, As genuine as a three-dollar bill, As phony as a three-dollar bill

 SEN in the form of Adverb Phrase Structures (3)

The basic patterns in the Adverb phrase structures: Adv + Numeral, Adv + V + Numeral are found in the Adverb phrase structures of Vietnamese SEN whereas English ones only appear one pattern:

Adv + Prep + N/NP

E.g Once in a while, Nine times out of ten, Every once in a while

 SEN in the form of Prepositional Phrase Structure (23)

In 198 English SENs, 23 English ones are found in this pattern

i) Prep + (Art) + Numeral + N/NP (14)

E.g At the eleventh hour, Behind the eight ball, In one piece

ii) Prep + (Art) + Numeral (4)

E.g For one, Off on one, By the dozens

iii) Prep + Numeral + N + Prep + (NP) (2)

E.g In two mind about (Sth), In two shakes of a lamb’s tail)

iv) Prep + N + Prep + Numeral + N (1)

E.g In words of one syllable

v) Prep + N + Prep + Numeral + N (1)

E.g In words of one syllable

4.1.1.2 Phrase Structures in Vietnamese

 SEN in the form of Noun Phrase structure (88)

After collecting and classifying 177 Vietnamese SEN, 88 Vietnamese ones are found in this form There are 5 patterns in Vietnamese

i) Numeral + N/NP, Numeral + N/NP (60)

E.g Ba bà chín chuyện; Một lời nói , một đọi máu; Một nắng hai sương

ii) Numeral + V/ Numeral + V (8)

E.g Chín nhịn, mười ăn; Chín nhớ mười thương; Chín giận mười hờn

iii) Numeral + N + Adj/ Numeral + N+ Adj (6)

E.g Ba ngày béo bảy ngày gầy; Một sự bất tín, vạn sự không tin; Một nghề thì sống, đống nghề thì chết

iv) NP + Numeral + N/ N(NP) + Numeral + (N) (12)

E.g Chanh khế một lòng, bưởi bòng một dạ; Ếch tháng ba, gà tháng 7; Đêm năm canh, ngày sáu khắc

v) N/NP + Adj + Numeral (2)

E.g Của giàu tám vạn nghìn tư; Mười phân vẹn mười

 SEN in the form of Verb Phrase Structures (27)