CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGY, DATA, AND GENERAL FINDINGS
3.3. Comparing Logico-semantic Relation of Projection in English and
3.3.3. Realization of Projection in English and Vietnamese Clause Complexes 3.3.1.1. Projecting Clauses
a. Functions of Projecting Clauses
Similarity: Projecting clauses in both English and Vietnamese clause complexes function the same way in the clause complex: (i) showing that the other clause(s) are locution(s) / idea(s) projected, and (ii) adding some contextual elements to support the content of the projected locution(s) / idea(s). There is, as observed, no difference in the functions of projecting clauses in the two languages
b. Projecting Processes
Similarities: In both English and Vietnamese, projecting processes enclose projecting verbs as the nuclei. The verbs used to project are verbs of saying, verbs of cognition, and verbs of behaviour.
Differences: The difference between the realization of English and Vietnamese clause complexes of projection is: in Vietnamese, not only the verbs can be used as the nuclei of the projecting processes, adjectives denoting manners of saying or thinking,
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attitudes, emotion, and evaluation can also be used to project, especially to quote, not to report. This is specific to Vietnamese, and there is no equivalence in English. In such a case, the projecting verb is considered to be hidden and can easily be recovered based on the mood and the content of the projected clauses.
c. Positions of Projecting Clauses
Similarities: The feature that English and Vietnamese clause complexes of projection share is the initial position of projecting clauses in the complex seems to be the most accepted and the most used. The projecting clause can be used to start clause complexes of both quoting and reporting, and can be used with projected clauses in any kind of clause mood.
Differences: As regards the middle and final positions of projecting clauses in English, such positions are popular in quoting, and in reporting propositions, but not in reporting non-finite proposals. In Vietnamese, these positions are used only in quoting, the placement of reporting clause in the middle or at the end of the reporting clause complex is quite rare, and if found, this placement is in the translated version of some foreign language texts.
d. Subject - Verb Inversion in English Projecting Clauses
Subject - Verb inversion is an outstanding distinction in the realization of projecting clauses between English and Vietnamese because the inversion of subject and verb does exist in Vietnamese, especially in poetry with the existential processes, but not with verbal and mental processes in projecting clause at all; while in English, subject-verb inversion is used in interrogative and exclamative mood, and with the accompany of some negative forms and certain words like may, as, than, so and in projecting clauses. In a Vietnamese clause, except in certain cases in poetry, the verb usually follows the subject of actor in the sentence, the inversion of subject–verb in Vietnamese projecting clauses will change the meaning of the clause in that the actor of the process is changed into the goal of the process. The illustration can be found in the inversion of the clause “Nam tự tin trả lời” into “tự tin trả lời Nam” as follows:
130a. ―Mình sẽ thành một bác sỹ giỏi,‖|| Nam tự tin trả lời, || ―mình sẽ giúp nhiều người lành bệnh.‖ (205_13)
130b. ―Mình sẽ thành một bác sỹ giỏi,‖|| tự tin trả lời Nam, || ―mình sẽ giúp nhiều người lành bệnh.‖
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In 130a “Nam” is the actor of the verbal process “trả lời” but in 130b, “Nam” is the goal of the process and the reader / hearer will wonder about the omitted actor of the projecting process “ai trả lời Nam?” to understand the complete meaning of the sentence.
Without adding the new actor of the projecting process, sentence 18b makes no sense.
3.3.1.2. Projected Clauses a. Functions of Projected Clauses
In both English and Vietnamese clause complexes of projection, the functions of projected clauses are locutions and ideas in the second-order use, which are realized in the form of propositions and proposals.
b. Moods of Projected Clauses
Similarities: In English and Vietnamese clause complexes of quoting and paratactic reporting, the projected clauses can be of all kinds of clause moods and these clause moods of projected clauses are preserved as in the original locutions / ideas.
Differences: In English clause complexes, through the process of hypotactic reporting, just the declarative mood and imperative mood of the original locutions / ideas are retained in the projected clauses, interrogative and exclamative moods of the original locutions / ideas are changed into declarative mood in projected clauses. In Vietnamese clause complexes of reporting, however, all the moods of the original locutions / ideas are preserved in the projected clauses though there might be some changes to the wordings.
Also, the projected clauses in English can be either finite or nonfinite while in Vietnamese, there is no concept of finiteness, the same structure of clauses are used in all cases of projecting.
3.3.1.3. Projecting and Projected Clauses Paratactically Related
Similarities: In both English and Vietnamese paratactic clause complexes of Projection, the constituent clauses are combined using the independency markers which include: adjacency, quotation marks, punctuation marks (colon, comma, dash, or zero punctuation) in written texts.
Differences: in English, no verbal conjunctives are needed to connect the constituent clauses in paratactic clause complexes of projection. In Vietnamese, however, the binders “rằng”, “là” are still used just before the punctuation marks without adding any thing to the meaning of the whole complexes.
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3.3.1.4. Projecting and Projected Clauses Hypotactically Related
Similarities: In both English and Vietnamese clause complexes of projection, the constituent clauses are hypotactically related by dependency markers including:
adjacency, binders, punctuation marks (comma, dash, or zero punctuation) in written texts.
The binders are only used when the reporting clause initiate the complex.
Differences: In English clause complexes, the binder that always initiates the reported clause while in Vietnamese hypotactic clause complexes of projection, the binders rằng, là to connect reporting and reported clauses are attached to the reporting clause rather than the reported clause; it always finishes the reporting clause if this clause initiate the clause complex.
3.3.2. Operation of Projection in English and Vietnamese Clause Complexes 3.3.2.1. Operation of Quoting in English and Vietnamese Clause
Complexes
Similarities: In clause complexes in both languages, there is independent relationship between the two clauses, i.e. both clauses are free clauses and they do not structurally affect the other. In both languages, almost all kinds of projecting processes can be used in quoting, except processes with verbs which are too semantically complex like imply, insinuate, hypothesize, deny, ám chỉ, ngụ ý, giả định, phủ nhận.
Differences: In Vietnamese clause complexes of quoting, there seems to be more semantic influence of the quoted clause on the quoting clause, i.e. quoted clause of interrogative mood does have certain constraints on the quoting process. While in English, the general verb say is used in all cases of quoting, i.e. all kinds of quoted clauses can be projected by the verb say, in Vietnamese, however, projection of interrogative mood clauses requires specific verbs for the function of asking.
3.3.2.2. Operation of Hypotactic Reporting in English and Vietnamese Clause Complexes
Similarities: in hypotactic clause complexes of reporting in both languages, the relationship between constituent clauses are interdependent in both structure and meaning.
The reported clauses affect the reporting clauses in that the choices of reporting verbs reporters‘ attitudes and evaluation on what is being reported. In return, the wordings of the
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reported clauses are affected by the reporting clauses, that is, the system of deictic expressions in the reported clauses change to fit the deictic center in the reporting clauses.
Differences: in English clause complexes, all kinds of deitic expressions:
personal, temporal, and spatial are shifted to fit the new deitic center in the reporting clauses, but in Vietnamese, the amendments happen mainly to personal deictic expressions, not much, even no modification to the temporal and spatial deictic expressions at all. As regards personal deictic expressions, the specific case in Vietnamese is the use of the pronoun mình as personal deictic expression: the pronoun never transformed into another deictic expression however changes are made to the deictic center.
3.3.2.3. Operation of Paratactic Reporting in English and Vietnamese Clause Complexes
Similarities: in both English and Vietnamese clause complexes of paratactic reporting, the reported clauses retain the same clause moods as the original locutions / ideas.
Differences: in English clause complexes, though the clause mood is kept, the systems of deictic expressions in paratactically reported clauses are modified to fit the deictic center in the reporting clauses. In Vietnamese clause complexes, no change is made to the wordings of the paratactically reported clauses, just like the quoted clauses without quotation marks. Even the end-of-clause punctuation marks to demonstrate the mood are also preserved if the reported clauses are at the final position in the complexes. With such features, the paratactically reported clauses in English tend to initiate the complex, while the paratactically reported clauses tend to finish the complex.
3.3.2.4. Projection in Relation with other Linguistic Phenomena in English and Vietnamese Clause Complexes
a. Ellipsis
In both English and Vietnamese clause complexes with two or more projecting and projected clauses, ellipsis of projecting clauses is possible because the logico-semantic relation of projection helps to recover the hidden projecting clauses. Therefore, even when a projecting clause is clipped away from the complex, no loss of meaning is made to the complex.
135 b. Substitution
Similarities: the substitution of projected clauses by pro-forms in both English and Vietnamese clause complexes is possible because the logico-semantic relation of projection helps to categorize the pro-forms following the projecting clauses as projected locutions / ideas, whose full forms can be traced backwards or forwards through the process of endophoric reference.
Differences: In English, the choices of pro-forms for substituting locutions and for substituting ideas are not identical. The choices of pro-forms for substitution in English clause complexes can even inform about the reporters‘ degree of certainty on the content of the projected locutions / ideas. In Vietnamese, pro-forms for substituting locutions / ideas are the same in all cases of projection.