A comparative study on idioms containing the word “water” in english and “nước” in vietnamese

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M.A THESIS A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON IDIOMS CONTAINING THE WORD “WATER” IN ENGLISH AND “NƯỚC” IN VIETNAMESE (Nghiên cứu so sánh thành ngữ có chứa từ “water” tiếng Anh “nước” tiếng Việt) ĐINH THI ̣ THƠM Field: English Language Code: 60220201 Hanoi, 2017 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON IDIOMS CONTAINING THE WORD “WATER” IN ENGLISH AND “NƯỚC” IN VIETNAMESE 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, 2017 Đinh Thị Thơm Approved by SUPERVISOR Đỗ Kim Phương ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support from a number of people First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mrs Do Kim Phuong, my supervisor, who has patiently and constantly supported me through the stages of the study, and whose stimulating ideas, expertise, and suggestions have inspired me greatly through my growth as an academic researcher A special word of thanks goes to my best friends and my colleagues, without whose support and encouragement it would never have been possible for me to have this thesis accomplished Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family, my husband for the sacrifice they have devoted to the fulfillment of this academic work ABSTRACT This thesis aims to study the syntactic and semantic features of idioms containing the words "Water" in English and "nước" in Vietnamese Both quantitative and quantitative analyzes are used through 160 idioms in English and Vietnamese, along with numerous examples from different language books, short stories and other sources on the internet The findings show that idiomatic expressions containing the word "water" in English and "nước" in Vietnamese have special syntactic and semantic features The study also points out some similarities and differences between idioms containing the words "Water" in English and "nước" in Vietnamese at some points Through analysis of forms of idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” in English and Vietnamese, it is deduced that idioms are really important in communication Idioms are used to express ideas in figurative styles They bring the vividness and richness to the speakers' speeches This is the reason why the more skillfully a person uses idioms in his conversations, the more effectively he can establish his communicative relationshipAt the same time, the study also mentions the implications for teaching and learning idioms as well as for further research ABBREVIATIONS Adj : Adjective Adj.P : Adjective Phrase Adv : Adverb Adv.P : Adverb Phrase NP : Noun Phrase Prep : Preposition S : Subject V : Verb VP : Verb Phrase % : Percent LIST OF TABLES Number of tables Name of tables Page 4.1 Verb phrase structures of idioms containing the word “water” in English and “Nước” in Vietnamese 34 4.2 Noun phrase structures idioms containing the word “water” in English and “Nước” in Vietnamese 42 4.3 Adjective phrase structures idioms containing the word “water” in English and “Nước” in Vietnamese 46 4.4 Prepositional phrase structures of idioms containing the word “water” in English and “Nước” in Vietnamese 48 4.5 Sentence Structures of idioms containing the word “water” in English and “Nước” in Vietnamese 51 4.6 A Summary of idioms containing the word “water” in English and “Nước” in Vietnamese in Grammatical Patterns 54 4.7 Statistical Summary of Syntactic Features of idioms containing the word “water” in English and “Nước” in Vietnamese 56 4.8 Frequency of Semantic Fields of idioms containing the word “water” in English and “Nước” in Vietnamese 71 CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Rational .3 Aims and objectives 2.1 Aims 2.2 Objectives Research questions .5 Methods of the study………………………………………………………… 5 Scope of the study .5 Significance of the study Organization of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Literature review 2.2 Theoretical background 2.2.1 Culture and the relationship between language and culture 2.2.2 Concepts of semantic field 21 2.2.3 Difinition of idioms 176 2.2.4 Main feature of idioms 17 2.2.5 Idioms containing the word “water” .20 2.2.6 Idioms and other 15 2.3 Summary 25 CHAPTER 3: A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON IDIOMS CONTAINING THE WORD “WATER” IN ENGLISH AND “NƯỚC” IN VIETNAMESE .26 3.1 Syntactic feature of iddoms containing the word “water” in English and “nước” in Vietnamese .26 3.1.1 Phrase structures 26 3.1.2 Sentence Structures 43 3.1.3 Similarities and Differences in Syntactic Features of idioms containing the word “water” in English and “Nước” in Vietnamese 46 3.2 Semantic feature of idioms contining the word “water” in English and “nước” in Vietnamese 47 3.2.1 Semantic fields of idioms containingthe word “water” in English and “Nước” in Vietnamese………………………………………………………… 3.2.1.1 Transference of meaning of idioms containing the word “water” in English and “Nước” in Vietnamese 47 3.2.1.2 Semantic fields of idioms containingthe word “water” in English and “Nước” in Vietnamese Error! Bookmark not defined 3.2.2 Similarities and Differences in Semantic Features of idioms containing the word “water” in English and “Nước” in Vietnamese 58 CHAPTER 4: APPLICATION FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING IDIOMS 60 4.1 Findings and Discussion .60 4.2 Results Pertaining to the Second Question of the Research .65 4.3 Results Pertaining to the Third Question of the Research 67 4.4 Conclusion 67 CHAPTER 69 CONCLUSIONS .69 5.1 Conclusions .69 5.2 Limitations and suggestions for further research 70 REFERENCES 72 IN ENGLISH 72 IN VIETNAMESE 74 APPENDICE CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Rationale Each nation has its own language People naturally speak the language spoken by their forefathers However, English has had worldwide recognition for ages and becomes the most popular language Especially, in open-door period and the trend towards internationalization, English has become an essential tool in international communication and integration Therefore, the need for learning English is increasing not only in quantity but also in quality Apart from learning practical English for daily communication, for future jobs, for professional advancement, or for knowledge about England - its people, customs and culture – learners study the theory of its language to get a thorough insight into the language Thanks to this language, we can belong to the world as well as to our own country, and especially using idioms is very important in everyday communication for the following reasons Firstly, idioms play an important part in a language both in written and spoken forms The most effective and interesting way in communication is using idioms because they contain not only the literal meanings but the figurative and expensive meaning as well They are an integral part of a language and they make the language more beautiful and dynamic In English the demand for using idioms is becoming higher because it is spoken all over the world Secondly, idioms cause us many difficulties in communication Though idioms help speakers and writers communicate more effectively and make the language more interesting, they are not easy at all for everyone to use and master idioms appropriately Listeners and readers also find it really hard to understand idioms because their meanings cannot often be deduced from the individual components Idioms are used both in written and spoken language to emphasize meanings and make our observation, judgment and explanations more lively and interesting, so they have aesthetic function In other words, they are really useful tools for communicating a great deal of meaning in just a few words For example, to express a difficult situation that is hard to deal with the English people often say “to be in deep water” or to be critical of a plan that others thought was exciting or great they would like to say “to pour cold water on something” If we want to indicate that someone feels awkward or uncomfortable because he is in a situation which he has not experienced before, we use the idioms “To be like a fish out of water” If we want to talk about floating life, the Vietnamese say “bọt nước cánh bèo” We are attracted by the questions how and why idioms differ from each other between English and Vietnamese in case of idiomatic containing the word “water” For these reasons above, the research entitled “A comparative study on idioms containing the word “water” in English and “nước” in Vietnamese” is carried out with the hope to help learners to achieve proper comprehension and usage of English idiomatic containing the word “water” in English and” nước” in Vietnamese Aims and objectives 2.1 Aims The study is aimed at finding out the syntactic and semantic characteristics of idioms containing the word “water” in English and” nước” in Vietnamese More importantly, it provides Vietnamese learners of English with a basic knowledge of the field and enables them to deeply understand, effectively and naturally, use idiomatic expressions in listening, speaking, reading and writing To some extent, they can be better aware of the beauty of English Explore the English and Vietnamese idioms containing to “water”, “nước” with the main focus on the cultural viewpoint Point out the similarities and differences between the two languages in terms of idioms containing to water 2.2 Objectives The study intends to: Fifth, the (EFL) students have showed a poor tendency to change their beliefs about the importance of idioms in their daily life usage That is, the (EFL) students consistently skip learning idioms or using them in spoken or written contexts The findings of this study invite those interested to further validate and verify them However, the following recommendations can be drawn for further research: First, since idiomatic expressions have been used on a daily basis by native speakers in different life styles, it is recommended that more of idiomatic expressions ought to be included in the (EFL) teaching materials and ought not to be neglected Second, since the (EFL) students who have shown a considerable weakness in the idioms test, it is recommended that (EFL) students ought to be exposed to more idioms through intensive communication with native English speakers Third, since most teachers avoid teaching idioms due to various reasons, it is recommended that the teachers should be involved in training workshops and courses that aim at presenting update methodologies and techniques of teaching idioms to the (EFL) students Fourth, since the (EFL) students have not been familiar with types, features, and usages of idioms in the English language, it is recommended that there should be a list of compulsory courses for the undergraduate level in the subjects of idioms and their functions in spoken and written contexts Fifthly, Since the (EFL) students are still in need to more exposure to idioms, it is recommended that they should be taught about the culture of English speakers and cultural differences also it is recommended that the differences in culturally-bound knowledge ought to be given notice in the English language classrooms Finally, since the study has only focused on the (EFL) students’ errors in idioms in a written form, it is recommended that the (EFL) students’ errors in a spoken form be investigated as well as detected due to the possibility of the emergence of such errors 68 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS 5.1 Conclusions Idioms beautify the language and help to establish the characteristics of each individual language As stated in the study, the purpose of this thesis is to study the semantic and syntactic features of idioms containing the word “water” in English and “nước” in Vietnamese and then find out the similarities as well as differences in Enghlish and Vietnamese We have started with 90 English Idioms and 110 Vietnamese ones Especially, after analyzing the syntactic and semantic features of idiomatic expressions both in English and Vietnamese, we give the data tables in order to infer what the common structures are used both in English and Vietnamese idiomatic expressions Throughout syntactic and semantic fields we find out the similarities and differences in English and Vietnamese idiomatic expressions Moreover, before inferring any conclusion, we analyze each of idioms carefully as well as carry out comparing and contrasting each English idiomatic expression and Vietnamese one From the discussion, we can recognize that every country has different ways in using idiomatic expressions in order to express what they want to say or communicate to the readers, and basing on using idiomatic expressions, learners can enrich their knowledge of the cultures of the other countries more easily and clearly By using idiomatic expressions, the sentences are more beautiful and meaningful 69 In this thesis, we aim at comparing and contrasting the syntactic and semantic features of English and Vietnamese idiomatic expressions throughout investigating the syntactic and semantic fields Syntactically, idioms containing the word “water” in ENglish and “nước” in Vietnamese analyzed are under the phrasal structures and sentence structures with the total of 22 patterns in English and 18 ones in Vietnamese The phrasal structures are categorized into noun phrases, verb phrases, adjective phrases, prepositional phrases Sentence structures are presented in simple and compound sentences Besides, we also mention the parallel structures of English and Vietnamese idiomatic expressions in form of noun phrases, verb phrases and adjective phrases Apart from these, a summary of the similarities and differences of syntactic features of English and Vietnamese idiomatic expressions is also provided Semantically, all idioms containing the word “water” in ENglish and “nước” in Vietnamese in this study express their meanings via semantic transfer means such as metaphor, hyperbole and simile Especially, metaphor is used as the main stylistic device in most of idiomatic expressions in English as well as in Vietnamese such as in deep water, in hot water and dội nước lạnh, đo lọ nước mắm đếm củ dưa hành, đục nước béo cò, cờ lâm nước bí, etc in Vietnamese Hyperbole is used in some idiomatic expressions such as spend money like water, could talk under water, etc in English and nước sôi lửa bỏng, sắc nước, nước chảy, nước mắt mưa, tiền (bạc) nước, etc in Vietnamese Simile appears in some idiomatic expressions such as like water off a duck's back, etc in English and dâng lên nước vỡ bờ, mắng tát nước, etc in Vietnamese.besides, these English and Vietnamese idioms are presented in seven fields namely thorny situation, power, personality, nature, emotion, taking advantage and living conditions Moreover, we can also find out some similarities as well as differences in terms of semantic features 5.2 Limitations and suggestions for further research 70 Due to the shortage of reference materials related to the thesis, the study has only covered a very small scope within a vast area of research and has not reached a satisfactory depth as it should For these reasons, there are some other aspects that need to be further investigated Some suggestions for the further research are: - An investigation into English Proverbs and“nước” inVietnamese Containing the Word “Water” - An investigation into Pragmatic and Cultural Aspects of Proverbs containing the Word “Water” in English and“nước” inVietnamese 71 REFERENCES IN ENGLISH [1] Asbury, A Dotlačil, J., Gehrke, B., & Nouwen, R (2008) Syntax and Semantics of Spatial Preposition, John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam / Philadelphia [2] Ayto, J (1999) From the horse’ mouth: Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms, Oxford University Press [3] Anord I.V (1986) The English Words, Higher Institues of Learning, Moscow [4] Brugman, C (1981) Story of Over: Polysemy, Semantics, and the Structure of the Lexicon, New York: Garland [5] Brinton, L.J (2000) The Structure of Modern English: A Linguistic Introduction, John 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Việt, Nxb Giáo dục [41] Đặng Hồng Chương (2007) Từ điển thành ngữ tục ngữ Việt Nam, Nxb Văn Hóa Thơng tin [42] Đinh Ngọc Hải (2005) Thành ngữ tiếng Anh cách dùng, Nxb.Văn nghệ [43] Cao Xuân Hạo (1991) Tiếng Việt,Sơ khảo ngữ pháp chứcnăng, NXB Giáodục [44] HoàngVăn Hành (1994) Kể chuyện thành ngữ,tục ngữ, NXB Khoahọc xãhội, HàNội [45] HoàngVăn Hành (1994) Kể chuyện thành ngữ,tục ngữ, NXBVăn hoá Sài Gòn [46] Viện Ngơn NgữHọc (2000) Từ điển Việt – Anh, Trung tâm KHXH Nhânvăn Quốc gia, NXB TPHồ Chí Minh [47] Nguyễn Lân (1997) Từ điển thành ngữtục ngữ Việt Nam, Nhà xuấtbản khoahọc xãhội, HàNội [48]Hồ Lê (1976) Vấn đềcấutạotừcủa tiếng Việt đại, Nhà xuấtbản khoahọc xãhội, HàNội [49] NguyễnLực (2009) Thành ngữ tiếng Việt, Nhà xuấtbản Thanh niên [50] NguyễnLực &LươngVăn Đang (1978) Thành ngữ tiếng Việt, Nhà xuất khoahọc xãhội, HàNội [51] Đái Xuân Ninh (1978) Hoạt độngcủatừ tiếng Việt, Nhà xuấtbản khoa học xãhội, HàNội [52] Bùi Phụng (1996) Từ điển thành ngữ -tục ngữ Việt Anhtường giải, Nhà xuấtbảnVăn hóa, TPHồ Chí Minh [53] Bùi Phụng (1996) Từ điển Tiếng Việt, Nhà XB ĐàNẵng, Trung tâmtừ 74 điểnhọc NXB.Giáodục [54] NguyễnHữu Quỳnh (1996) Tiếng Việt Hiện Đại, Trung tâm biên soạntừ điển Bách Khoa Việt Nam [55] Lã Thành (1988) Từ điển thành ngữ Anh – Việt, Nhà xuấtbản khoahọc xãhội, HàNội INTERNET [56] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/idioms [57] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simile [58] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hyperbole [59] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situation [60] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/power [61] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/nature [62] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water [63] http://grammar.about.com/od/il/g/idiomterm.htm [64] http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/water [65] http://ww.oxford dictionary of English idioms.com 75 APPENDIX ENGLISH IDIOMATIC CONTAINING THE WORD “WATER” a fish out of water as unstable as water as a duck takes to water at high water back water be dead in the water be in deep water be in hot water be in smooth water be like a fish out of water be water off a duck's back be water under the bridge big drink of water blood is thicker than water blow out of the water bread and water by water cast one's bread upon the waters come hell or high water come on in, the water's fine! could talk under water couldn't pour water out of a boot cross the water cut water off dead in the water deep water and hot fire diamond of the first water dip your toes in the water draw[carry]water in a sieve dull as dishwater 76 fish in troubled water fish smth out of water flow like water fresh water college get head above water and have head above water go through fire and water have just one oar in the water high mountains and flowing water high-water mark hold water in deep water in hot water keep head above water like a fish out of water like water off a duck's back make mouth water make water mark a watershed milk and water mill cannot grind with water that is past muddy the water not hold water of the first water pass water play of moonlight on water pour cold water on pour oil on troubled water pump water out of a boat running water salt water and absence wash away love spend money like water still waters run deep swim between two water take to like a duck to water 77 take the water take in fresh water tall drink of water test the water through hell and high water throw cold water on throw out the baby with the bath water throw the baby out with the bath water tread water turn water into wine turn water off uncharted waters water down water over the dam water under the bridge watering hole won't hold water walking on water water a town water an animal water-cooler talk water down a blame water down milk water of forgetfulness water proof water table water the garden water wagon watery grave you can lead a horse to water you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink you never miss the water till the well runs dry 78 APPENDIX VIETNAMESE IDIOMATIC CONTAINING THE WORD “NƯỚC” ao tù nước đọng ăn cỗ trước lội nước sau ăn bát nước đầy ba voi không bát nước xáo bán nước hại dân bán nước buôn dân bán nước cầu vinh bắc nước chờ gạo người bầu dục chấm nước cáy dùi đục chấm mắm cáy bọt nước cánh bèo bùn lầy nước đọng ao tù nước đọng buôn dân bán nước cắm sào đợi nước chiềng làng chiềng nước chờ hết chờ nước đục thả câu chịu nước lép chuồn chuồn đạp nước chọc trời khuấy nước chửi tát nước vào mặt nước tát cờ lâmnước bí cơm bưng nước rót cơm giời nước sông cơm niêu nướclọ cười nướcmắt dân giàu nước mạnh nước thủy triều 79 dâng lên nước vỡ bờ dầu sôi lửa bỏng dội nướclạnh dùi đục chấm nước mắm cáy đem chuông đấm nước người nước chảy đolọ nướcmắm đếm củ dưa hành đo nước mắm bấm dưa hành đổ mồ hôi sôi nước mắt đông nước chảy đồng chua nước mặn đồng trắng nước đục nước béo cò đục nước thả câu đường nướcbước gạo chợ nước sông gạo trắng nước giống hai giọtnước hết ích nước lợi danh khát nước đào giếng khóc mắt lạ nước lạ lạ nước lạ non lạnh nước đá lạnh nhạt nước ốc lặn ngòi ngoi nước lửa bỏng nước sơi lệ làng phép nước ma thiêng nước độc mau nướcmắt mắng tát nước vàomắt mắt nước chân mây mồ hôi nướcmắt 80 mưa trút nước mười voi không bát nước xáo nghiêng nước nghiêng thành ngồi chơi xơi nước người dưng nước lã nhờ ông vãi húp nước bát nước đầy cá gặp nước cávới nước dội gáo nước lạnh nước vỡ bờ lửa với nước nước đổ đầu vịt nước đổ môn (khoai) nước thủy triều nước vỡ bờ nước với lửa nói hết non xanh nước biếc mây xanh nước biếc nước biếc non xanh nước chảy bèo trôi nước chảy chỗ trũng nước chảy đá mòn nước chảy hoa trôi nước đến chân nước đến chân nhảy nước đổ khoai nước độc ma thiêng nước độc rừng xanh nước lã sông nước mặn đồng chua nước mắt cá sấu nước mắt chảy quanh 81 nước mắt chảy xuôi nước mắt dài nước mắt ngắn nước mắt lưng tròng nước mắt mồ nước mắt mưa nước mắt vòng quanh nước nhà tan nước sôi lửa bỏng nước sông gạo chợ nước sông công lính nước thẳm non nước thẳm non xa phản dân hại nước nước cản sắc nước hương trời sắc nước té nước theo mưa thả nước đường thèm chảy nước miếng thù nhà nợ nước tiền (bạc) nước trâu chậm uống nước đục làng ngồi nước tuần chay có nước mắt vắt cổ chày nước vắt nước không lọt tay vượt ngòi ngoi nước xấu gỗ tốt nước sơn yêu nước thương nòi 82 ... Structures of idioms containing the word “water” in English and “Nước” in Vietnamese 51 4.6 A Summary of idioms containing the word “water” in English and “Nước” in Vietnamese in Grammatical Patterns... 3: A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON IDIOMS CONTAINING THE WORD “WATER” IN ENGLISH AND “NƯỚC” IN VIETNAMESE .26 3.1 Syntactic feature of iddoms containing the word “water” in English and “nước” in Vietnamese. .. A study on idioms containing the word “water” in English and “nước” in Vietnamese to investigate and to make a contrastive analysis about the syntactic and semantic features of idioms containing