After being studied deeply, some similarities in term of grammar between the two verbs have been found.
They both can occur as a part of a predicator of a sentence. For example:
- Ông ngã dúi, mặt úp xuống đất bị đạn cày nát, khẩu cạc bin cầm trong tay
văng ra bên cạnh. (20:142)
- Gã Bọ Muỗm kia đã đánh ngã mấy địch thủ nhép hôm qua, đương nhơn nhơn
ra vẻ. (22:70)
- Potter would have fallen if they had not caught him and eased him to the
round (13:112)
They can both function as subjects, objects, or complements in a sentence.
- Falling is a major cause of personal injury, especially for the elderly. (27) - Ngã như thế chắc đau lắm nhỉ.
- By this time large drops of rain had started to fall. (8:36) - Chắc chắn không ai thích ngã giống như anh ấy đâu.
- He found it difficult to fall asleep on the train, shaking from side to side. (12:29) - Chị Dậu du được bên địch ngã kềnh xuống đất, rồi chi, chạy ra cửa và đứng tựa
lưng vào tường để giữ thế thủ. (16:157)
In terms of morphological features, both the verb “fall‟ and the verb „ngã‟ are monosyllabic words. They can combine with the so-call prepositions in English and „giới từ‟ in Vietnamese (Diep Quang Ban: 2005) to form a great number of phrase verbs such as „fall across; fall back;
fall down; fall into; fall over; fall on; fall onto; fall off; fall under; etc and „ngã xuống; ngã vào;
ngã lên; ngã ra; etc.
2.1.3.1.2. Differences
Besides the similarities above, the two verbs have some differences in terms of grammar.
First, „fall‟ carries markers of grammatical categories such as tense, aspect, person, number, etc when „ngã‟ does not. For example:
- One of the kids fell into the river.
- Một đứa trong bọn trẻ đã ngã xuống sông.
- Look! The girl is falling down.
- Nhìn kìa! Đứa bé đang ngã.
Nothing changes to „ngã‟ in any tense, aspect, with any number or person while „fall‟ has to change in accordance with different tenses, aspects, numbers and person. Too indicate tenses in Vietnamese, people use such particles as „đã‟, „đang‟, „sẽ‟, „mới‟, „sắp sửa‟, „rồi‟, ect and auxiliaries like „bị‟, „được‟ to refer to aspects.
Second, on the ground of morphological features, the differences are found as follows:
One outstanding morphological feature of Vietnamese words is that they only have one form, and „fall‟ is not an exception. However, English words are different. Like other verbs,
„fall‟ has five forms: the base, the s-form, the past form, the past participle and the –ing participle.
Similarly, „ngã‟ has no derivates whereas by means of derivation, „fall‟ has such derivates as fallible, falling, fallen, faller ect. However, the ability to combine with nouns to create compounds of „ngã‟ is greater than „fall‟. In Vietnamese, we have „ngã bệnh‟, „ngã giá‟, „ngã ngũ‟, „ngã nước‟, „ngã ngựa‟ as verbs formed from „ngã‟. In addition, „ngã‟ is more flexible than „fall‟ when combining with adverbs. For example, „fall‟ is often followed with „heavily‟,
„steadily‟, „fast‟, „quickly‟ect. while „ngã‟ is quite diversified with „ngã giúi giụi‟, „ngã lăn lông lốc‟, „ngã lăn quay‟, „ngã lăn lộn‟, „ngã chổng kềnh‟, „ngã nhào‟, „ngã dúi‟, „ngã khuỵu‟,
„ngã bổ ngửa‟, „ngã bổ chửng‟, „ngã oành oạch‟, „ngã sõng soài‟ etc.
2.1.3.2. In terms of Semantics features 2.1.3.2.1. Similarities
Generally, both „fall‟ and „ngã‟ are verbs. Thus, they all have common semantic features of a verb, that is, both refer to an action, a state, an activity or a progress.
They both refer to the action of human and animals losing balance, stop walking, standing or running and tumbling.
- She fell down at school today.
- Hôm nay nó bị ngã ở trường.
- The unfortunate hiker fell into a crevasse"
- Người leo núi xấu số ngã xuống kẽ nứt của tảng băng.
- His dog fell into the lake yesterday.
Two verbs can be used to describe trees, shadow and the sun.
- The sun fell on the corner of the garden.
- Mặt trời ngã (ngả) xuống góc của khu vườn.
They both mean dying in battle or at war.
- His father fell in battlefield in 1954.
- Bố của anh đã ngã xuống trên mặt trận năm 1954.
The verb „fall‟ and „ngã‟ can be used to indicate the situation when someone lose heart or do something wrong.
- He was tempted but did not fall.
- Anh ấy không bị ngã trước cám dỗ.
In some idioms, „ngã‟ and „fall‟ may have some meanings to coincide. Most of the time, what the idioms actually indicate hides behind their appearances. Sometimes, we can find a Vietnamese‟s idiom equivalent for one in English and vice versa. For example:
- Fall ill/sick = ngã bệnh
- Pride comes/goes before a fall hay pride will have a fall: trèo cao ngã đau/ trèo cao té nặng.
- The higher up, the greater the fall: trèo cao ngã đau
- As a tree falls, so shall it lie: nghiêng chiều nào, cây ngã chiều ấy.
2.1.3.2.2. Differences
In terms of denotational meanings, „ngã‟ and „fall‟ differ in some meanings. Generally, the verb „fall‟ is richer in meaning than the verb „ngã‟. For example, in English, people say „They fell to a long conversation‟ and if we translate this sentence word by word into Vietnamese, we may mislead like „Họ ngã vào một cuộc nói chuyện dài‟. In this case, the translators misunderstood the actual meaning of the verb „fall‟ here. It should be „Họ bắt đầu một cuộc nói chuyện dài‟. The example show how mother interference affects nonnative speakers and how CA really helps in this case.
When trying to clarify some senses that „fall‟ has but „ngã‟ does not, we discover at least fourteen meanings which are described in the following grid.
No „Fall‟s meaning Examples in English Possible Vietnamese equivalents.
1. Move downward (of objects)
- As the cardboard fell to the floor, Nancy peered inside
- Khi tấm bìa rơi xuống nền nhà, Nancy cố nhìn vào trong
(8:135) và khẽ kêu lên sung sướng.
2. Throw oneself to the ground.
- He fell on his knee and prayed.
- Anh ta quỳ xuống và cầu nguyện.
3. Decrease The price of gold fell slightly.
Giá vàng đã giảm nhẹ.
4. Become I don‟t think I‟d really fallen asleep. (10:74)
Tôi không nghĩ rằng tôi đã ngủ quên.
5. Be given by
assignment or distribution.
The most difficult task fell on the youngest member of the team.
Nhiệm vụ khó khăn nhất rơi vào/ được giao cho thành viên trẻ tuổi nhất trong nhóm 6. Belong to a group These subjects fall under the
general heading of
“zoology”.
Những chủ đền này được xếp vào đề mục tổng hợp của môn động vật học.
7. Start doing
something
He fell to musing about how it had happened
Anh ta bắt đầu suy nghĩ xem sự việc đã diễn ra như thế nào.
8. Hang down (of hair)
It fell like black satan curtains on either side of his broad face. (10:131)
Mái tóc buông xõa xuống giống như hai mảnh satanh mượt mà, đen huyền đang phủ đều hai bên má của Jacob.
9. Happen/ occur Chrismas falls on Saturday this year.
Năm nay Giáng Sinh rơi vào Thứ Bảy.
10. Move to a
particular direction (of eyes)
Light fell on her face. Ánh đèn chiếu/ rọi vào khuôn mặt cô ta.
11. Slope downwards -The hills around here fall towards the ocean
Những ngọn đồi xung quanh đây dốc thoai thoải về phía biển.
12. Lose power The government fell Chính quyền sụp đổ sau một
13. Be taken by the enemy
The city fell to the enemy. Thành phố rơi vào tay kẻ địch.
14. Cut They fell that tree yesterday. Họ chặt cái cây đó ngày hôm qua.
On the contrary, we only discover two senses that „ngã‟ can be used but „fall‟ cannot. The first case is when „ngã‟ means „To be clear about something‟.
- Sau khi xem xét xong mặt hàng cẩn thận, họ bắt đầu ngã giá.
- After examining the goods carefully, they began to agree on the price.
- ý kiến vẫn chưa ngã ngũ.
- The opinions have not bên settled yet.
The second case is when „ngã‟ means „be at/in somewhere‟.
- Tối qua mày ngã ở đâu vậy?
- Where on earth were you yesterday?
In terms of idioms derived from „fall‟ and „ngã‟, misinterpretation might be happened easily if we just only base on the nature of the mother tongue. Herein, we compare some idioms included „fall‟ and „ngã‟ to show interesting ways of using idioms with the studied verbs.
No Idioms/ proverbs with „fall‟ Suggested Vietnamese equivalents
1. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Con nhà tông, không giống lông thì giống cánh/ Cha nào con nấy.
2. Fall on evil days Bị sa cơ thất thế
3. United we stand, divided we fall Đoàn kết là sống, chia rẽ là chết 4. Better go round than fall into the ditch. Cẩn tắc vô ưu.
5. Everyone gives a push to a falling man Dậu đổ bìm leo 6. When the tree is fallen, everyone run to it
with his axe.
Dậu đổ bìm leo.
7. Hasty climbers have sudden fall Hấp tấp hay vấp phải dây.
8. He that never climbed never fell Nhân vô thập toàn 9. He that is down need fear no fall Củi không sợ lửa.
10. Between two stools, you‟ll fall to the ground. Bắt cá hai tay
No Idioms/ Proverbs with „ngã‟ Suggested English
1. Chớ thấy sóng cả mà ngã tay chèo It is all in the day's work.
OR Don't give up!; Never say die !
2. Ngã theo chiều gió To swim with the tide
3. Đau lại đã, ngã lại dậy In the end things will mend
4. Được ăn cả ngã về không All or nothing
Sink or swim
5. Chị ngã em nâng To be kind to one's siblings
6. Lôi thôi đấm voi ngã chết Still water run deep
7. Trượng phu không đánh kẻ ngã ngựa Don't hit a man when he's down.
8. Tránh ông cả ngã phải ông ba mươi Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Obviously, there are so many differences in the denotational idiomatic senses between the verb „fall‟ and „ngã‟. In the saying „I looked at the father, then at the son, and I thought, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree‟, if users cannot master the implication of the idiom „the apple doesn't fall far from the tree‟, they might translate it like „Tôi nhìn người cha rồi cậu con trai và nhận thấy đúng là táo không rụng quá xa cây‟. In fact, the translation is not too far from the point, but it should be translate like „Tôi nhìn người cha rồi cậu con trai và nhận thấy đúng là cha nào con lấy‟.
To some extent, the above comparisons may somehow help the users of both languages reduce the unnecessary irrelevances in interpreting when exchanging the verb „FALL‟ in English and the verb „NGÃ‟ in Vietnamese.