ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE CONVERSATION
2.2.1. Subjective Personal Pronouns and Objective Personal Pronouns
For Quirk et. al. (1972) and also for other grammarians, personal pronouns of English are classified into two sets of forms: subjective personal pronouns and objective personal pronouns. This classification is based on the role each personal form plays in the sentence: either as the subject or as the object. The former includes I, You, We, He, She, It, They, and the latter consists of me, you, us, him, her, it, them.
In addition, together with two categories of number: singular and plural, personal pronouns are traditionally further classified into three categories of person, namely first person (I/me, singular and we/us, plural), second person (You/ you, the name form for both singular and plural), and third person (He/She/It, singular and they/them, plural)
Subjective personal pronouns
Objective personal pronouns
First person singular I me
plural We us
Second person singular & plural You you
Third person singular
He She
It
him her it
plural They them
Table 2: English personal pronouns
As can be seen from mentioned-above personal pronouns, the third person pronouns obviously carry cohesive force as any use of them always requires the listener or reader to look backwards (i.e. anaphoric) in order to retrieve what has gone before. Thus, the third person pronouns are seen as one of the main cohesive devices used for the creation of discourse. Further more, my study centres around only common substitute words as cohesive devices in conversation discourse and because it is not a study of personal pronouns, I am going to work on only on the third person ones.
In the set of the third person forms, he/him and she/her are used to substitute for persons while it/it for things. They/them replace both persons and things. Let us consider the following examples:
[2:1] The policeman twirled his club and took a step or two.
"I'll be on my way. Hope your friend comes around all right. Going to call time on him sharp?
"I should say not!" said the other. "I'll give him half an hour at least. If Jimmy is alive on earth he'll be here by that time. So long, officer."
"Good-night, sir," said the policeman, passing on along his beat, trying doors as he went.
(HEO, AFY, 1994:2)
Viên cảnh sát quay bước về phía câu lạc bộ và bước thêm một hai bước.
“... hy vọng người bạn của ông sẽ tới. Ông có nói thời gian cụ thể với ông ấy chưa?
“...Tôi sẽ chờ ông ấy ít nhất nửa giờ. Nếu Jimmy còn sống, ông ấy sẽ có mặt ở đây không thể muộn hơn.
[2:2] ‗But have you got the robber‘s description?‘ asked Stuart.
‗In the first place, he is no robber at all,‘ returned Ralph, positively.
‗What! a fellow who makes off with fifty-five thousand pounds, no robber?‘
‗No.‘
‗Perhaps he‘s a manufacturer, then.‘
‗The Daily Telegraph says that he is a gentleman.‘ (CMM: 1996:125)
“Nhưng mà anh có nhận dạng được tên trộm không?‖ Stuart hỏi
―Ban đầu hắn ta không hẳn là một tên trộm‘ Ralph đáp lại với thái độ tích cực
‗Sao cơ? Một kẻ chuồn đi với 55 nghìn bảng Anh không phải là một tên trộm sao?
„...‘
[2:3] Girl: Is the book in this bag for Mum, then? I didn‘t think she was particularly interested in flowers.
Father: I thought she‘d like it – to give her some good ideas for the garden. And even if she never reads it – it‘s got some lovely photos.
Girl: I thought you were going to get those gloves I showed you in that shop last Saturday. They match the scarf I‘ve bought her. (PET 3, 2003)
Cô gái: Cuốn sách trong túi này có phải tặng mẹ không bố? Con không nghĩ mẹ lại đặc biệt thích hoa.
Bố: Bố lại nghĩ mẹ con sẽ thích nó ………và thậm chí nếu như mẹ không bao giờ đọc nó thì nó cũng có một số bức ảnh rất tuyệt.
Cô gái: Con lại nghĩ bố sẽ mua đôi găng tay (mà) con đã chỉ cho bố ở cửa hàng đó thứ bảy trước cơ. Chúng rất hợp với chiếc khăn quàng cổ con đã mua tặng mẹ.
[2:4] Woman: Have you seen my new passport photographs? I put them on the bookshelf.
Oh here they are, with your coffee cups. I hope they aren‘t dirty.
Man: Oh sorry, I was showing them to Pat. He says they make you look like that newsreader on the television. (PET 3, 2003: 126) (they/ them ~ my new passport photographs)
Người phụ nữ: Anh có thấy mấy bức ảnh hộ chiếu mới chụp của em không? Em đã để chúng ở trên giá sách mà. Ồ chúng đây rồi, cạnh mấy tách cà phê. Em hy vọng chúng không làm sao.
Người đàn ông: Ôi anh xin lỗi, anh vừa cho Pat xem chúng. Cậu ấy nói trông em cứ như phát thanh viên trên truyền hình.
In those above examples, it is not very difficult to take note of that he in [2:1]
substitutes for your friend, he in [2:2] for the robber, it in [2:3] for the book in this bag, they for those gloves I showed you in that shop and they for my new passport photographs in [2:4]. In most cases, we do not have any problems in the use of English personal pronouns.
However, it is worth noting that their Vietnamese equivalents are much more complex. Their complexity is caused by many restrictions imposed on their use. As shown in [2:1], the Vietnamese equivalent of he/him could be ông (ta). In Vietnamese the word ông is used to address a man with respect, perhaps because he is an elderly one or has high status. In addition, a man with high social status may also be politely addressed as ngài, as seen in the following example:
[2:5] “Poor Mr. Edward! He ejaculated, ―I little thought ever to have seen it. Some say it was just judgment on him for keeping his first marriage secret, and wanting to take another wife while he had one living: but I pity him, for my part‖.
―You said he was alive?‖ I exclaimed
―Yes, yes: he is alive, but many think he had better be dead‖.
……….What agony was this! And the man seemed resolved to protract it.
“He is stone-blind,‖ he said at last. ―Yes – he is stone-blind – is Mr. Edward.”
(WJB – 1958)
“Ngài Edward đáng thương làm sao! Anh ta thốt lên, ―……… ………Một số người cho rằng đó chính là sự trừng phạt ngài về việc giữ bí mật cuộc hôn nhân đầu tiên
và muốn lấy một người đàn bà khác trong khi đã có vợ. Nhưng về phần mình tôi thấy thật tột nghiệp ngài.‖
“Anh nói ngài ấy còn sống sao?‖ Tôi thốt lên
―Vâng, vâng, ngài ấy còn sống nhưng nhiều người lại nghĩ ngài ấy chết có lẽ còn tốt hơn.
Here, Ngài substitutes for Ngài Edward. In other less formal cases, the Vietnamese equivalents of he/him may be chàng (for loveable young man), anh (ta), hắn (ta) or nó (especially for young male person or one who is not respected):
[2:6] Bottlebie would not work at all. Then why should he stay on his job? I decided to let him go (NGT, 1996:44) (he/him ~ Bottlebie)
Bottlebie sẽ không làm việc. Thế thì tại sao anh ta lại ở vị trí này. Tôi quyết định để anh ta đi.
[2:7] Male: Have there been any calls for me this morning?
Female: Yes, Mrs. Emma rang about the computer.
Male: Oh, what time was that?
Female: About nine thirty. Can you ring her at two o‘clock this afternoon?
(DSG, 2001: 360)
Nam: Có cuộc gọi nào cho tôi sáng nay không?
Nữ: Thưa có. Bà Emma có gọi bàn về máy tính.
Nam: Ồ, lúc đó là mấy giờ vậy?
Nữ: Khoảng 9h30. Ông có thể gọi cho bà ấy vào 2 giờ chiều nay không?
As for she/her, their Vietnamese equivalent could be bà due to the family relationship. Besides, like ông, bà can also be used to substitute respectfully for an elderly woman, or one who has high social status. Some other Vietnamese equivalents of she/her are chị (ta), cô (ta) (usually for a young female person), thị, mụ (ta) (usually for a contemptible woman) and nó (usually for a young girl or one who is not respected):
[2:8] “A young girl—Miss Vashner—Miss Eloise Vashner—do you remember such a one among your lodgers? She would be singing on the stage, most likely. A fair girl, of medium height and slender, with reddish, gold hair and a dark mole near her left eyebrow.‖
―No, I don't remember the name. Them stage people has names they change as often as their rooms. They come and they go. No, I don't call that one to mind.‖ (HEO, 1994)
"Một cô gái trẻ, cô Vashner, cô Eloise Vashner- anh có nhớ một ai như thế trong số những người ở trọ? Nhiều khả năng cô ta sẽ hát trên sân khấu, Một cô gái có chiều cao trung bình thanh mảnh, với mái tóc màu vàng hơi đỏ và một nốt ruồi đen gần lông mày trái.‖
"Không, tôi không nhớ tên. Những người theo nghiệp sân khấu có bao nhiêu là tên và họ thay đổi thường xuyên như phòng trọ của họ. Họ đến và họ đi. Không, tôi không có nhớ một ai đó như thế. "
Regarding the case of It/it, I find that in most cases, Vietnamese takes nó as its equivalent (see [2:3]). Nevertheless, whereas it mainly substitutes for things, nó can be used to replace both humans and things. Also, as can be seen in [2:3], the Vietnamese equivalent of they/them could be họ or in the other cases chúng, or chúng nó. It should be noted that chúng or chúng nó substitute for both humans and things, but họ can substitute for only the former.
We can compare họ in [2:9] with chúng in [2:3] & [2:4].
[2:9] “Do you have many theatrical people rooming here?‖ asked the young man.
―They come and go. A good proportion of my lodgers is connected with the theatres. Yes, sir, this is the theatrical district. Actor people never stays long anywhere. I get my share.
Yes, they comes and they goes.‖(HEO, 1994)
“Có nhiều diễn viên sân khấu thuê phòng ở đây không?‖ chàng thanh niên trẻ hỏi
―Có chứ, họ đến rồi lại đi. Một tỉ lệ lớn những khách trọ của tôi có liên quan đến sân khấu.
Thưa cậu, chỗ này là khu vực sân khấu mà. Người diễn viên không bao giờ ở lại lâu ở bất cứ một nơi nào. Đó là chia sẻ của tôi. Vâng, họ đến và họ đi. "
More noticeable is perhaps the case in which the third person pronoun he/him used to substitute for some thing or animal we love, not for singular male person:
[2:10] Linda looked at the little dog and she asked,
―Does your dog like people?‖
―Oh, he is very friendly.‖
Linda wanted to give him one of her biscuits so she asked,
―Does your dog like biscuits?‖
―They are his favourite food,‖ said the old woman. (GWL, 1999:36) Linda đã nhìn xuống chú chó nhỏ và hỏi,
―Chú chó có quý người không bà?‖
―Ồ, nó rất thân thiện‖
Linda muốn cho nó ăn bánh quy của cô vì thế lại hỏi,
―Nó có thích bánh quy không bà?‖
―Chúng là thứ khoái khẩu của nó‖ bà cụ đáp lời. (nó ~ chú chó)
I have up to now tried to bring out some of the common Vietnamese equivalents of the English personal pronouns used in conversations. Nevertheless, as we may notice, this
list is by no means adequate. Thus, it could lead us to the brief that Vietnamese has more personal pronouns than English. In fact, it turns out that Vietnamese has very few basic personal pronouns, namely tao, ta, mày, nó, hắn (the last two are the third person pronouns).
Unfortunately, all these pronouns possess a very high degree of informality and are, therefore, not suitable in situations where formality is demanded. Apparently, in conversation we treat our participants either formally or informally, depending on a number of factors like age, sex, social, job, family relation etc,
It follows that in order to meet the demand of formality, in Vietnamese lexical items of other parts of speech (e.g. nouns, adjectives) may be borrowed or pronominalized or borrowed lexical items are listed here as follows: nàng, chàng, cụ, ông, bà, bác, chú, anh, chị, lão, thị, y, chúng. It should also be noted that some of the lexical items which take over the role the third person pronouns can be used in other persons (the first and the second person). Besides, to substitute for the third person, we sometimes use such combinations of words as ông ta, anh ta, ông ấy, bà ấy, and the like. This is very common in Vietnamese discourse as well as Vietnamese conversation.
To sum up this subsection, I would like to go over several points which are taken into account with regard to the English third person pronouns and their Vietnamese counterparts:
Vietnamese has more pronouns and pronominalized lexical items to address the third person as compared with English, and as a result these Vietnamese equivalents have more restrictions on their use.
The Vietnamese equivalents of the English third person pronouns are governed by the so-called principle of formality in conversation. They reflect not only the relationship between the addressor and the person he/she is talking about, the education background of the addressor, or his/ her attitude towards he person/ thing being talked about, but also his/
her character. Therefore, we can say that pronouns used in Vietnamese conversation are deeply expressive.
English has two separate forms for the objective and subjective cases, but Vietnamese has a single form for both cases.
The following table is that of the English third person pronouns and their Vietnamese equivalents:
English3rdperson pronouns subjective and objective
Vietnamese Equivalents
He/him Ông, ngài, cậu, anh, nó, chàng, hắn, y
She/her
human Bà, nàng, cô, chị, thị, nó non - human
nó personalization
It/it nó
They/them họ, chúng, chúng nó