Idioms containing the words denoting weather in english and their vietnamese equivalents

2018 – 2020 (1) MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY ENGLISH LANGUAGE M.A THESIS IDIOMS CONTAINING THE WORDS DENOTING WEATHER IN ENGLISH AND THEIR VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS (Thành ngữ chứa từ thời tiết tiếng Anh tương đương tiếng Việt) VŨ THỊ DUNG VŨ THỊ DUNG Field: English Language Code: 8.22.02.01 Hanoi – 2020 i MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M.A THESIS IDIOMS CONTAINING THE WORDS DENOTING WEATHER IN ENGLISH AND THEIR VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS (Thành ngữ chứa từ thời tiết tiếng Anh tương đương tiếng Việt) VŨ THỊ DUNG Field: English Language Code: 8.22.02.01 Assoc Prof Hoang Tuyet Minh Hanoi – 2020 ii CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled “Idioms containing the words denoting weather in English and their Vietnamese equivalents “submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Language Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis Hanoi, 2020 Vũ Thị Dung Approved by SUPERVISOR Assoc Prof Hoang Tuyet Minh Date:…………………… iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The thesis could not have been completed without the help and support from my supervisor, teachers and closest relatives First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Assoc Prof Hoang Tuyet Minh, 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 Many thanks go to my colleagues and many others whose support and encouragement help me to have this thesis accomplished Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family for their patience, endless love, and devotion Whatever choices I have made, they have always stood by me and believed in me I am immensely thankful for all the assistance they have given me It is the support of all of the above that has enabled the completion of this study, and for this I remain eternally grateful iv ABSTRACT This thesis conducts a study of syntactic, semantic and stylistic features of idioms containing the words denoting weather with reference to their Vietnamese equivalents Both descriptive and contrastive methods are used combined with the qualitative and quantitative approach In order to collect the data, a hand search approach of the dictionaries in both languages has been conducted, which helps to establish a corpus of 160 idioms containing the words denoting weather in English and 135 idioms in Vietnamese together with a numerous number of examples taken from various linguistics books, dictionaries, newspapers and from the Internet From the study’s results, the thesis gives a remarkably detailed description of semantic and syntactic features in English idioms containing the words denoting weather with reference to their Vietnamese equivalents and points out some similarities and differences between them The findings also aim at offering some practical implications for teaching and learning English and Vietnamese as a foreign language Finally, some suggestions for further studies are put forward v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Adj : Adjective Adj.P Adv Adv.P : Adjective phrase : Adverb : Adverbial Phrase N NP PP : Noun : Noun Phrase : Prepositional Phrase VP : Verb phrase vi LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 4.1 Syntactic features of idioms containing the words denoting weather in English……………………………………………………………………………32 Table 4.2 Syntactic features of idioms containing the words denoting weather in Vietnamese 34 Table 4.3: Frequency of semantic fields of English idioms containing the words denoting weather 38 Table 4.4: Frequency of semantic fields of Vietnamese idioms containing the words denoting weather 42 Table 4.5: Frequency of stylistic devices of English idioms containing the words denoting weather 45 Table 4.6: Frequency of stylistic devices of idioms containing the words denoting weather in Vietnamese 46 Table 4.7: A summary of idioms containing the words denoting weather in English and their Vietnamese equivalents in terms of syntactic features 47 Table 4.8: A summary of idioms containing the words denoting weather in English and their Vietnamese equivalents in terms of semantic features 50 Table 4.9: Frequency of stylistic devices of English and Vietnamese idioms containing the words denoting weather 53 vii TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv ABSTRACT v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vii TABLE OF CONTENTS i Chapter INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Methods of the study 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Significance of the study 1.7 Structure of the study Chapter LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Review of previous study 2.1.1 Previous research works on idioms in English 2.1.2 Previous research works on idioms in Vietnamese 2.2 Overview of Idioms 2.2.1 Definition 2.2.2 Typical features of idioms 12 2.2.3 Idioms and other language units 16 2.2.4 Overview of phrases 17 2.2.5 Connotation, denotation, and some types of stylistic devices 20 2.2.6 Weather definition 23 2.2.7 Summary ……….24 Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY 25 3.1 Research approach 25 3.2 Methods of the study 25 3.3 Data collection and data analysis 27 i 3.3.1 Data collection 27 3.2.2 Data analysis 28 3.3 Summary 29 Chapter 4: IDIOMS CONTAINING THE WORDS DENOTING WEATHER 31 IN ENGLISH AND THEIR VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS 31 4.1 Syntactic features of idioms containing the words denoting weather in English and in Vietnamese 31 4.1.1 Syntactic features of idioms containing the words denoting weather in English 31 4.1.2 Syntactic features of idioms containing the words denoting weather in Vietnamese 33 4.2 Semantic features of idioms containing the words denoting weather in English and in Vietnamese 35 4.2.1 Semantic features of idioms containing the words denoting weather in English 35 4.2.2 Semantic features of idioms containing the words denoting weather in Vietnamese 39 4.3 Stylistic devices of idioms containing the words denoting weather in English and Vietnamese 43 4.3.1 Stylistic devices of idioms containing the words denoting weather in English.43 4.3.2 Stylistic devices of idioms containing the words denoting weather in Vietnamese 45 4.4 Comparison between English idioms containing the words denoting weather and their Vietnamese equivalents in terms of syntactic, semantic and stylistic features 47 4.4.1 In terms of their syntactic features 47 4.4.2 In terms of their semantic features 49 4.4.3 In terms of their stylistic devices 53 4.5 Some implications for teaching and learning idioms containing the words denoting weather in English 54 4.6 Summary 56 Chapter 5: CONCLUSION 57 5.1 Recapitulation 57 5.2 Concluding remarks 58 ii 5.3 Limitation of the research 59 5.4 Suggestions for further research 59 REFERENCES 60 iii Chapter 5: CONCLUSION The ultimate purpose of this study was to point out the syntactic and semantic features of English idioms containing the words denoting weather and Vietnamese equivalents By doing this, we aim to find out the various meanings as well as the constructions possessed by idioms containing the words denoting weather and the way it is used properly in both languages In this chapter, I will present a brief review of what has been studied throughout the section of conclusion Then, the limitations of the study and some suggestions for further studies will be also mentioned 5.1 Recapitulation Chapter one presents the organization of the research It includes the rationale, aims, objectives and significance of the study as well as the scope of the study.Chapter two is the theories involved in this thesis under consideration which serve as the basic foundation of data analysis and finding discussion Chapter three is designed to describe research-governing orientation with research approach, criteria for intended data Besides that, the methods are also raised to give the best ways in solving problems in chapter four Chapter four focuses on analyzing the syntactic, semantic and stylistic features of the study Through the analysis of two aspects, the similarities and differences of the linguistic features are also discussed and shown In the syntactic aspects, idioms containing the words denoting weather in English and Vietnamese in the both languages are formed in the phrase structures The phrase structures are classified into noun phrases, verb phrases, adjective phrases and prepositional phrases In semantic aspects, through the process of investigation, we have also discovered the most idioms contain two simultaneous meanings at the same time literal meaning and figurative meaning The figurative meaning of idioms is usually conveyed through the expressive meanings In terms of stylistic devices, means of stylistic devices have been discovered such as metaphor, simile, metonymy, personalization or hyperbole with the aim of demonstrating abstract ideas from simple and specific images of daily life More interestingly, some English idioms have the Vietnamese equivalents, which prove speakers of English and speakers of Vietnamese, to a certain extent, sometimes recognize the world in the same way However, the images selected to refer to the same matters are different in two languages From the discussion, we 57 can recognize that every country has its own way in using idioms and by using them, we also understand more about the life, geography, living habits, culture, customs of the peoples who speak English and Vietnamese 5.2 Concluding remarks Firstly, in terms of syntax, weather idioms in the two languages can be expressed in different kinds of phrases: noun phrases: in English, in Vietnamese; verb phrases: in English, in Vietnamese; adjective phrases: in English, in Vietnamese; prepositional phrases: in English, no one in Vietnamese Among them, most structures of English idioms in both English and Vietnamese not resemble, except phrasal constructions (V+ NP + PP, V + N/NP+PP; Comparative form+ N/ NP) In the limit of the collected corpus, the number of verb phrases is the most popular in use in the total of English idioms whereas noun phrases occupy the biggest number in Vietnamese What is more, most of Vietnamese idioms often including four words tend to be in parallel structures The words in Vietnamese also have a tendency of being repeated and split Secondly, in terms of semantics, the total of 14 groups of semantic fields in both languages is categorized After being analyzed, the similarities and differences of various meanings of idioms containing the words denoting weather are revealed Furthermore, idioms containing the words denoting weather of the two languages approach to the same topics illustrating different phenomenon of life such as Weather Conditions, Behaviour, Circumstances, Human Actions, Physical States, Psychological States, Speed, Bad-Fortunes and Disadvantages However, idioms about Dangers and Challenges, Human Character, Opportunities and Advantages, States of Life, Virginity and Immorality which only exist in the corpus of Vietnamese not appear in English; on the contrary, in the limit of the corpus, English possesses idioms referring to Directions but Vietnamese does not In terms of stylistic devices, most of the idioms possess opacity, to some extent, which partly stems from applying stylistic devices such as metaphor, metonymy, simile, hyperbole or personalization in which metaphor has the largest numbers in both languages More interestingly, some English idioms have the Vietnamese equivalents, which prove speakers of English and speakers of Vietnamese, to a certain extent, sometimes recognize the world in the same way Some terms in both languages are similar in every constituent and in structure 58 but different in sense By examining the words in Vietnamese idioms containing the words denoting weather and their meanings, we also understand more about the living conditions, habits, history, customs, religion, geography and culture of English and Vietnamese speakers 5.3 Limitation of the research Despite my significant efforts, certain limitations may be detected in this study due to time constraints and other unexpected factors That is the number of weather between English idioms and Vietnamese in the study is still relatively low compared to the large number of English and Vietnamese idioms However, I hope that serious work has served research questions as a contribution to the rich collection of previous studies in the same area Due to limited knowledge and time for my research to stop here, but I hope that it will be analyzed further by tracking people who are interested in idioms containing the words denoting weather Besides, this investigation into idioms containing words denoting weather can not satisfy all aspects It does not cover all the words denoting weather Some weather words are not included in the study such as drought, flood…; and it does not cover all the structures and meanings of the idioms 5.4 Suggestions for further research Some suggestions for more in-depth research for people interested in topics related to me: - Idioms are language units that act like words They can form sentences and have meanings of their own The role of idioms in sentence formation in English and Vietnamese has not been systematically studied We hope that this can be studied in the near future - Idioms are considered to be very special language units because they are different from words and idioms They are phrases whose words have different meanings from the dictionary definitions of the individual words Besides special meaning colors, idioms also have their own style of pictorial style After doing the research, some suggestions for further studies can be drawn as following: A pragmatic study of idioms containing words denoting weather in English and Vietnamese A study on the translation of English and Vietnamese idioms containing the words denoting weather 59 REFERENCES Foreign Authors Aristotle (1953) Aristotle’Poetics and Rhetoric.NewYork: Dent Aristotle (1954) Rhetoric.NewYork: Morden Library Cowie, A P., Mackin, R., & McCaig, I R (1993) Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms Oxford: Oxford University Press Crystal, D (1997) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language (2nd ed.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Collins, c (2005), Collins COBUILD Dictionary of the English Language, Collins Reference Cowie, A p et al (1994), Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms, Oxford University Press Collins V H (1958), A Book of English Idioms, Longman, England Fernando, C (1996) Idioms and Idiomaticity Oxford: Oxford University Press Jonathan, C (1995) Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English Oxford: Oxford University Press Join, W (2001) Oxford Student’s Dictionary of English, Oxford: Oxford University Pess Makkai, A (1972) Idiom Structure in English The Hague: Mouton Lakoff,G & Johnson, M (1980) Metaphors We Libe By Chicago and London: Chicago University Press Jonathan, C (1995) Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press Palmer, F (1981) Semantics Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Quirk,R.,Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., & Svartvik, J (1985) A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language London: Longman Taylor, J R (2002) Cognitive Grammar Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000) Houghton Mifflin: Boston Greenbaum, s (1996), The Oxford English Grammar, Oxford University Press Vietnamese Authors Phạm Văn Bình (1999) Tục ngữ nước Anh thành ngữ tiếng Anh giàu hình ảnh [English picturesque idioms] Hải Phòng: Nxb Hải Phòng 60 Đỗ Hữu Châu (1981/1999) Từ vựng-ngữ nghĩa tiếng Việt [Vietnamese lexicologysemantics] Hà Nội: Nxb Giáo dục Nguyễn Đức Dân (1986) Ngữ nghĩa thành ngữ tục ngữ - vận dụng [Semantics of Vietnamese idioms and proverbs – application] Ngôn ngữ, 3, 8-10 Nguyễn Thiện Giáp (1985/2002) Từ vựng học tiếng Việt [Vietnamese lexicology] Hà Nội: Nxb Đại học Trung học chuyên nghiệp/Giáo dục Hoàng Văn Hành (1987) Thành ngữ tiếng Việt [Idioms in Vietnamese] Văn hoá dân gian, 1, 25-32 Nguyễn Lân (2003) Từ điển thành ngữ tục ngữ Việt Nam [A dictionary of Vietnamese idioms and proverbs] Hà Nội: Nxb Văn học Hồ Lê (1976) Vấn đề cấu tạo từ tiếng Việt đại [Word-forming of modern Vietnamese] Hà Nội: Nxb Khoa học Xã hội Nguyễn Văn Mệnh (1972) Về ranh giới thành ngữ tục ngữ [Idioms vs proverbs] Ngơn ngữ, Cù Đình Tú (1973) Góp ý kiến phân biệt thành ngữ với tục ngữ [Opinions on how to demarcate idioms and proverbs] Ngôn ngữ, 1, 39-43 Nguyễn Như Ý, et al (1998) Từ điển giải thích thành ngữ tiếng Việt [A dictionary of Vietnamese idioms] Hà Nội: Nxb Giáo dục 61 Appendix 1: ENGLISH IDIOMS CONTANING THE WORDS DENOTNG WEATHER Number English A fair-weather friend A lining rod A face like thunder A rain check A stormy petrel A stormy relationship A wet blank A rainy day fund A snowball’s chance 10 A pie in the sky 11 A straw in the wind 12 A place in the sun 13 Any port in a storm 14 A storm in a teacup 15 A breath of fresh air 16 A storm in a teacup 17 As cold as charity 18 As cool as marble 19 As cool as cucumber 20 As dry as a bone 21 As dry as a dust 22 As free as air 23 As quick as lightning 24 As right as rain 25 A cloud hangs over sb/sth 26 In full flood 27 Under the weather 28 Bleed dry 29 Blood and thunder 30 Billy wind 31 Brass monkey weather 32 Blue skies 33 Blow hot and cold 34 Bring storm about one’s/ someone’s ears 35 By thunder 36 Castle in the air 37 Cloud on the horizon 38 Cast a cloud over 39 Chill someone’s blood 40 Chill somebody to the marrow 41 Chase after rainbows 42 Clear the air 43 Come in from ( out of) the cold 44 Come rain or (come) shine/ rain or shine 45 Cold enough to freeze the ball off a brass monkey 46 Cool, calm and collected 47 Dance up a storm 48 Once in a blue moon 49 Eye of the hurricane 50 Eye of the storm 51 Feel the draught/ wind 52 Find which way the wind blew 53 Float/ walk on air 54 Full of hot air 55 Free as the wind 56 Get cold feet 57 Get one’s second wind 58 Get the wind up sb 59 Give the cold shoulder 60 Go cold all over 61 Go down a storm 62 Go up in the air 63 Home and dry 64 Hang in the wind 65 High and dry 66 Have your head in the clouds 67 In a breeze 68 In a cold sweat 69 In a fog 70 In cold blood 71 In the air 72 In the heat of the moment 73 In the teeth of the wind 74 In the wind 75 Into each life some rain must fall 76 In the eye of the storm 77 Jack Frost visit something 78 Keep a cool head 79 Keep one’s power dry 80 Keep one’s weather eye open 81 Know which way the wind blows 82 Look like thunder 83 Loose one’s cold 84 Like greased ( or streak of ) lightning 85 Three sheets to the wind 86 Make heavy weather of/ out of 87 Make someone’s blood run cool 88 Not dry behind the ears 89 Not have the foggiest idea 90 Break the ice 91 Not know enough to come in out of the rain 92 Open the flood 93 On cloud nine 94 Out in the cold 95 Out of a clear blue sky 96 Over the rainbow 97 Pour/ throw cold water over/ on 98 Put the chill on 99 Put the freeze on 100 Put the wind up 101 Rain cats and dog 102 Raise the wind 103 Rend the air 104 Ride out the storm 105 Ride out the whirlwind 106 Rise and shine 107 Sail close to the wind 108 Save (sth) for rainy day 109 Shoot the breeze 110 Show the wind and reap the whirlwind 111 Steal someone’s thunder 112 Sunshine one minute, rain the next 113 Snowed under 114 Seven sheets to the wind 115 Sound in the wind 116 Take a shine off/ out of 117 Take a shine to 118 Take sb/sth by storm 119 Take the heat out of 120 Take the wind out of sb’s sail 121 Talk up a storm 122 Throw caution to the winds 123 Trim one’s sails before the wind 124 Twist in the wind 125 The lull before the storm 126 Three sheets to the wind 127 The calm before the storm 128 Tempest in a teapot 129 The crock of gold at the end of the rainbow 130 Vanish into thin air 131 Under a cloud 132 Under the weather 133 Up in the air 134 Weather the storm 135 Wet on the whistle 136 Wet the baby’s head 137 White as driven snow 138 With one’s nose in the air 139 Walk on air 140 Break the ice 150 Cut no ice (with someone) 151 On thin ice 152 Put on ice 153 Tip of the iceberg 154 Lovely/Nice weather for ducks 155 Rain on your parade 156 Ride out the storm 157 Hit rough weather 158 Keep a weather eye open/out 159 Reap the whirlwind 160 Wait for a raindrop in the drought Appendix 2: VIETNAMESE IDIOMS CONTANING THE WORDS DENOTNG WEATHER Number Vietnamese Ăn đất nằm sương/ Ăn sương nằm đất Ăn đói mặc rét Ăn gió nằm mưa Ăn sóng nói gió Ăn tuyết nằm sương Ăn vụng chớp Ăn sương nằm tuyết Ấm lửa đỏ đèn Bão táp phong ba 10 Bão táp mưa sa 11 Bắn mưa 12 Bụng đói cật rét 13 Bắt gió chụp bóng 14 Chân trời góc bể 15 Cơm giời cá bể 16 Cơm giời nước sông 17 Cá gặp nước rồng gặp mây 18 Gió kép mưa đơn 19 Chửi bóng chửi gió 20 Cầu sương điếm cỏ 21 Da mồi tóc sương 22 Dầm mưa giãi gió 23 Dầm mưa dãi nắng 24 Dâng lên vũ bão 25 Dãi nắng dầm sương 26 Dạn gió dày sương 27 Đánh trống qua cửa nhà sấm 28 Đi mây gió 29 Đi mưa nắng 30 Đã mưa mưa cho khắp 31 Đầu sóng gió 32 Đèo heo hút gió 33 Đội mưa đội nắng 34 Hồn vía lên mây 35 Hai sương nắng 36 Gió chiều che chiều 37 Gió quét mưa sa 38 Gió dập sóng vùi 39 Gió táp mưa sa 40 Gió thảm mưa sầu 41 Gió trúc mưa mai 42 Ghen bóng ghen gió 43 Gối đất nằm sương 44 Gội gió tắm mưa 45 Góp gió thành bão 46 Cây cao gió 47 Gối đất nằm sương 48 Bắt ếch mưa rào 49 Gió mây gặp hội 50 Gió kép mưa đơn 51 Gió bể mưa ngàn 52 Chớp bể mua nguồn 53 Gió lặng sóng êm 54 Lời nói gió bay 55 Như diều gặp gió 56 Làm mưa làm gió 57 Lên diều gặp gió 58 Mưa dầm gió lạnh 59 Liệu gió phất cờ 60 Mưa to gió lớn 61 Mây bay gió 62 Mưa trút 63 Mưa dầm thấm lâu 64 Nắng lửa mưa dầu 65 Mưa bão chết cò 66 Mưa thuận gió hịa 67 Mưa bom bão đạn 68 Mưa thuận gió 69 Như sét đánh ngang tai 70 Mưa dãi mưa dầu 71 Nắng giữ mưa gìn 72 Mưa gào gió rống 73 Màn sương chiếu đất 74 Màn trời chiếu đất 75 Môi hở lạnh 76 Mưa Sở mây Tần 77 Nước mắt mưa 78 Mượn gió bẻ măng 79 Mạnh vũ bão 80 Một nắng hai sương/ Một sương hai nắng 81 Mưa dội 82 Mưa trút 83 Mưa dầm gió buốt 84 Mưa dầu nắng lửa 85 Màn sương chiếu đất 86 Ngả theo chiều gió 87 Nắng lửa mưa dầu 88 Nước mắt mưa 89 Nắng dãi mưa dầu/ dầm 90 Nắng giữ mưa gìn 91 Nói bóng nói gió 92 Nắng đổ/ dội lửa 93 Nắng thiêu đốt 94 Nắng không ưa, mưa không chịu 95 Nắng táp mưa sa 96 Nắng chiều che chiều 97 Nhanh chớp 98 Nhanh gió 99 Như buồm gặp gió 100 Như nắng hạn gặp mưa rào 101 Như hạn mong mưa 102 Nóng gan nóng phổi 103 Nóng chảy mỡ 104 Như đèn trước gió 105 Như rồng gặp mây 106 Như sét đánh 107 Như vịt nghe sấm 108 Như vũ bão 109 Nóng đốt 110 Nóng hịn than 111 Nóng hun 112 Nóng thiêu 113 Ngáy sấm 114 Nóng lửa đốt 115 Ruột nóng cào 116 Rồng gặp mây 117 Sấm rền chớp giật 118 Sợ bóng sợ gió 119 Sóng to gió lớn 120 Sóng yên bể lặng 121 Tai bay vạ gió 122 Tin sét đánh 123 Tan mây khói 124 Tát nước theo mưa 125 Trái gió trở trời 126 Trái nắng trở trời 127 Tràn cung mây 128 Thuận buồm xi gió 129 Trắng tuyết 130 Trơng gió bỏ buồm 131 Khóc gió than mây 132 Ướt chuột lội 133 Voi uống thuốc gió 134 Xem gió bỏ buồm 135 Khơ ngói ... IDIOMS CONTAINING THE WORDS DENOTING WEATHER 31 IN ENGLISH AND THEIR VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS 31 4.1 Syntactic features of idioms containing the words denoting weather in English and in Vietnamese. .. of idioms containing the words denoting weather in Vietnamese 46 Table 4.7: A summary of idioms containing the words denoting weather in English and their Vietnamese equivalents in. .. and stylistic features of English idioms containing the words denoting weather - To find out the similarities and differences between idioms containing words denoting weather in English and their