Semantic and pragmatic similarities

4.5. SOME REMARKS FROM THE CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF

4.5.2. Semantic and pragmatic similarities

We have discussed the matters of metonymy in English and Vietnamese under the framework if cognitive view where by metonymic expression serves as a reference point which affords mental access to the desired target. We have presented the metonymic patterns showing the mapping of conceptual relations between the source domain and the target domain. The selection of a metonymic expression as metonymic reference point is made using certain principles of cognitive salience in the analysis of the instances of metonymic expressions in both English and Vietnamese.

We have found that both English and Vietnamese share almost all the ICMs which reflect the way in which the addressers and addressees in speech communities perceive and conceptualize the world. Through the the two broad categories of source-in-target and target-in-source we can find that the speakers of the two languages can share in common a lot of ICMs. Examples of the semantic similarities can be illustrated in table 4.14.below

Table 4.14. Common metonymic mapping patterns in English and Vietnamese: BODY PART-FOR-PERSON

Types of Source Target Example mapping Subdomain Matrix domain

BEARDS/HAIR

FOR PERSON Three graybeards một chòm tóc bạc

The 3 persons who wear graybeards

persons who wear grayhair

Three graybeards and one younger man, a member of the rising generation

Cái hàng rào sĩ tử có đủ các hạng tuổi từ một cái đầu xanh mặt trắng cho đến một chòm tóc bạc, một lớp da mồi đã bị xé thủng

HEAD FOR

PERSON the hoary heads the hoary heads

Person who possessed the hoary heads Person who possessed the heads

Turning his veiled face from one group to another, he paid due reverence to the hoary heads

Anh Đề ạ, cái đầu anh thật kiêu hãnh, thật đáng giá

EYES FOR

PERSON All eyes

All eyes

All the persons who were looking the country lad with their eyes

All the persons who were looking at Tin

All eyes were now turned on the country lad, standing at the door

Bao nhiêu cặp mắt đều nhìn vào nhiêu Tỉn đang lõm bỏm bưng cái vò bước lên bờ ao

FACE FOR

PERSON my face

face

the speaker who weared the face

persons who wear the face

Thanks to you, and to my other friends, have at last met my kinsman, and he will scarce desire to see my face again

Một người khôn ngoan chỉ bóp đến nửa chừng (…) Và cũng phải tuỳ mặt nữa

HAND FOR

PERSON Strong and ready hands hand

Persons who possess hands

Strong and ready hands turned him around and pushed him in salience and haste to the side-walk Rõ thật bọn chúng nó giết nhau, nào c phải cần tay người khác đâu

Table 4.15. Common metonymic mapping patterns in English and Vietnamese: PLACE-FOR-PERSON

Types of Source Target mapping Matrix

domain

Subdomain

Example

HOUSE FOR

PERSON the sea một nhà

persons who live in this house

Broadicea, aged twenty, was the eldest daughter of the house

Người ta ngỡ đây là hai vợ chồng trong một nhà đông anh em ở bên kia dốc Lùng Chùng

TOWN FOR

PERSON the whole town cả phố

persons who live in this town

Our whole town went to her funeral.

Những đêm sáng trăng mùa hạ, cả phố bắc chõng ngồi ngoài đường vì trong nhà nào cũng nóng như một cái lò và hàng vạn con muỗi vo ve

VILLAGE FOR

PERSON the West Vu Dai village

all the villager of Milford

Vu Dai villager

The next day, the whole village of Milford talked of little else than Parson Hooper's black veil

Cả làng Vũ Đại nhao lên. Họ bàn tán rất nhiều vụ án không ngờ ấy

SPECIFIC CITY

FOR PERSON New York Hanoi

Persons who live in New York

Persons who live in Hanoi

A man gets dull in New York. But the West makes him sharp

Rồi Hà Nội giàu lên rất nhanh

DISTRICT STREET FOR PERSON

District street

persons who live in this district street

The district was one that closed up early

Trời trắng trong. Nắng bừng bừng. Cả phố huyện say nắng

Table 4.16. Common metonymic mapping patterns in English and Vietnamese: PLACE OF WORK-FOR-PERSON

Types of Source Target Mapping Matrix

domain

Subdomain

Example

OFFICE FOR

PERSON office persons who serve in the

office Some mornings he went to the phone box at the terminus down at the bay and called his office to say he was sick

Nhưng vào lúc phòng tổ chức Ban Thương Binh xã hội đang ngầm gởi lý lịch ông để sửa soạn sẵn một bài điếu văn thật xứng đáng với cuộc đời hết sức đẹp đẽ của ông, thì có tin từ bệnh viện bay về

HOSPITAL

FOR PERSON a hospital hospital

persons who serve in the hospital

He left most of his money to a hospital and some scientists who work there

PRESS FOR

PERSON Press persons who serve in the press

persons who serve in the press

Are you from the press?

Phía báo đμi đang dòm ngó. Một bữa, họ ập vμo, quay phim, chop h×nh bóa la

In terms of pragmatics, it can be said that the addresser’s purpose to actualize his/her descripted entity in the domain and de-actualize the metonymic referent can be recognize in the use of metonymic expressions. In doing so, he/she can bring more attention to the description of the entity in the source domain and at the same time help the addressee to avoice the distraction by decoding the supposed actualized entity in the target domain.

This pragmatic characteristic can be seen in the examples for the illustration in table below

(122) John stared round at the rows of grinning faces. [68]

(123) Dưới cái màn trời triền miên những kinh động ngờ ngợ ánh sáng tối và ẩm ướt của rừng tị nạn đổ xuống một cái đầu xanh đang ngậm chùm tóc vừa tơ mà đã nhuộm màu tang. [37, p.113]

Table 4.17. The information status of the explicit entity and implicit entity in English and Vietnamese

Metonymic expression and the desired referent

grinning faces

một cái đầu xanh đang ngậm chùm tóc vừa tơ

persons with grinning faces the person with young hair

Domain Source domain target domain

Explicitness Explicit implicit

Information status new/asserted given/presupposed

Grounding Foregrounded Backgrounded

Specificity more specific less specific

As for the louctionary act of a speech act, we can find a similarity in the act of uttering a sentence from a language like English and Vietnamese.

As a description of what a speaker says in the act of using a referring expression and a predicating expression to express a proposition, it can be note that speakers/writers in English and Vietnamese often apply to non- locutionary act. This similarity can be seen in the illustrative examples in table 4.18. below

Table 4.18. Literal and Non-literal Locution in English and Vietnamese

Example Literal reading Non-literal reading Gillian walked out of the

theater to where his taxi was waiting

Quan án Trần cũng vì bị kích động, xúc cảm mạnh quá mà chết. Cô Chiêu Tần, thuyền cướp mang đi

the taxi itself was waiting (absurd)

the boat itself took Lady Chieu Tan away (absurd)

the driver in the taxi was waiting (intended message)

the people on the boat took Lady Chieu Tan away (intended message)

Breathing laboriously she tried to explain to me what I should do with the Mozart

Túng Séng Sụi làm lễ truy điệu Chẩn Hồ xong thực sự vào mùa trồng cây

I should do with Mozard himself (absurd)

Túng Séng Sụi itseself observed the memorial service for Chan Ho

I should do with the musical peice of work by Mozard oney (intended message)

The villagers in Túng Séng Sụi observed the memorial service for Chan Ho (intended message)

Syntactic patterns of NPs as metonymic expressions

The basic conceptual functions of metonymy