MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING TRAN THI PHUONG NHUNG PHENIKAA UNIVERSITY GRADUATION PAPER A STUDY ON TYPES OF COMPARISON IN “WUTHERING HEIGHTS” BY EMILY BRONTE AND THEIR VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS Student: Tran Thi Phuong Nhung ENGLISH LANGUAGE Student ID No: 19010277 Course: 2019 - 2023 Field: English Language Mode of study: Full-time Supervisor: M. Duong Hong Quan Ha Noi – 2023 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING PHENIKAA UNIVERSITY GRADUATION PAPER A STUDY ON TYPES OF COMPARISON IN “WUTHERING HEIGHTS” BY EMILY BRONTE AND THEIR VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ CÁC DẠNG THỨC SO SÁNH TRONG TÁC PHẨM “ĐỒI GIÓ HÚ” CỦA EMILY BRONTE VÀ TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT) Student: Tran Thi Phuong Nhung Student ID No: 19010277 Course: 2019-2023 Field: English Language Mode of study: Full-time Supervisor: M. Duong Hong Quan Ha Noi - 2023 i ABSTRACT Language serves as a fundamental medium for human interaction, allowing individuals to establish social bonds, cultivate economic connections, and convey various thoughts and ideas through both spoken and written means. To enhance the effectiveness and allure of communication and writing, the usage of comparisons is a commonly employed technique in the English language.
Yet, despite its prevalence, many individuals still struggle with distinguishing between the various comparative structures in English, sometimes leading to misguided expressions or a failure to convey intended meanings. This study endeavours to analyze the full spectrum of comparison types present in Emily Bronte's literary masterpiece, “Wuthering Heights,” with a specific focus on how these comparisons are translated into Vietnamese, and the changes in meaning that can arise as a result. The data sample comprises 170 comparison sentences extracted from “Wuthering Heights” and their corresponding Vietnamese translations featured in Manh Chuong's “Doi Gio Hu”. They are divided into three main degrees of comparison, namely positive, comparative, and superlative.
ii DECLARATION I, Tran Thi Phuong Nhung - 19010277, certificate that no part of the above report has been copied or reproduced by me from any other person’s work without acknowledgments and that the report is originally written by me under strict guidance of my supervisor. Hanoi, 15th June, 2023 Supervisor Student M. Duong Hong Quan Tran Thi Phuong Nhung iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, I would like to take this opportunity and express my gratitude to my supervisor M. Duong Hong Quan, for setting me on an interesting path and for helping me to clarify the issues, and for the insightful comments.
He followed up on my progress constantly and showed me how to write this report academically. Importantly, he continuously counseled me to make more determined endeavors and his encouragement made it possible for me to achieve the goal. I am also grateful to all the teachers in Faculty of English at Phenikaa University for their careful and precious guidance, which was extremely valuable for my theoretical and practical study. Last but not least, I would like to send my deepest thanks to my girlfriend and my family for their support and encouragement which has motivated me to improve and finish my internship report.
Sincerely, Phuong Nhung iv TABLES OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION. 1 1 Rationale for the study. 1 2 Aims and objectives of the study. 2 4 Scope of the study.
3 5 Method of the study. 3 6 Meaning of the study. 3 7 Design of the study. 4 CHATER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW.
AN OVERVIEW OF COMPARISON. Degrees of Comparison in English and Vietnamese .5 Special forms of comparison .1 Special forms of positive degree .2 Special forms of comparatives degree .6 Summary of the work “Wuthering Heights”. 18 CHAPTER 2: TYPES OF COMPARISON IN ORIGINAL WORK AND ANALYSIS ON THE TRANSLATION TO EXPLORE THE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES .1 Degrees of comparison in the original work “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte .1 Classification and Statistics of Comparison in “Wuthering Heights”21 2.2 Signs of the degrees of comparisons in Wuthering Heights .2 Analysis and some suggestions on the translation of Manh Chuong in “Wuthering Heights” .1 Positive degree of comparison and the Vietnamese translate by Manh Chuong .2 Comparative degree of comparison and the Vietnamese translate by Manh Chuong .3 Superlative degree of comparison and the Vietnamese translate by Manh Chuong .4 Special forms of comparison and the Vietnamese translate by Manh Chuong .3 The similarities and differences between types of comparisons in English and Vietnamese. 51 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .Results of the positive degree .2 Results of the comparative degree.3 Results of the superlatve degree .4 Results of special forms .5 The conclusion of the study .1 For English learners .2 For English teachers.
60 vii LIST OF TABLES Number of Title of tables Page tables Table 1.1 Comparison of adjectives and adverbs example 7 Table 1.2 Irregular adjectives in the comparative 10 Table 1.3 Irregular adjectives in the superlative 13 Table 1.4 Irregular adjectives in comparatives and superlative 15 Table 1.5 Adjectives can be used in both comparative and superlative 16 Table 2.1 The translation of positive degree 27 Table 2.2 The translation of comparative degree 37 Table 2.3 The translation of superlative degree 45 Table 2.4 The translation of special forms 49 viii LIST OF CHARTS Number of Title of charts Page charts Chart 2.1 Comparison forms used in “Wuthering Heights” 21 Chart 2.2 Types of comparison 25 Chart 3.1 Positive degrees of comparison 53 Chart 3.2 Comparative degrees of comparison 54 Chart 3.3 Superlative degrees of comparison 55 Chart 3.4 Special forms of comparison 56 1 INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale for the study In a cutting-edge science and technology era, along with globalization at present, English plays a particularly important role in international trade, business, education, entertainment activities, and in almost all aspects of daily life. It becomes a bridge among countries and is considered useful means of communication to further relationships and create more mutual understanding among all the people around the world. In Vietnam, English has been a compulsory subject in high schools, colleges, and universities and for every major for many years.
Besides, Vietnamese students gradually have an awareness of the importance of English and the necessity of learning English to meet the needs of society. However, learning English, especially grammar is very difficult for Vietnamese students and students in English majors particularly. There is mounting evidence that English grammar is so complicated that students are not able to master it easily. In learning English, grammar is regarded as an important and necessary part.
Thanks to grammar, students learn about the structures of sentences, verb tenses, and many special theories. From that, students accomplish exercises more easily and become more accurate than in the past. It can be seen that English grammar consists of so many items that we have been learning for a long time. One of these items that students feel is the most difficult is the Comparison structure in English.
English becomes more interesting and impressive with some types of comparison although it is very complicated. In Vietnamese, comparison structure is popular in literature, poems, short stories, novels, and also in daily communication. In the process of learning English, some Vietnamese students misunderstand the degrees of comparison and make mistakes. For example, they write “Of the two, she is the most suitable candidate.” (More suitable candidate would be correct.) Instead of “She is the most suitable candidate.” (Reading this, we'd assume there were more than two candidates.
If there were just two, it should say “more suitable. However, mastering a degree of comparison is not easy for a learner but 2 it plays a significant role in learning and teaching English. It helps students to identify the similarities and differences in comparison structure in both English and Vietnamese. Therefore, with these purposes, “A study on types of comparison in “Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and their Vietnamese equivalents” is conducted.
Aims and Objectives 2.1 Aims This thesis mainly aims to provide English learners with a basic knowledge of comparison used in English and Vietnamese through the literature work “Wuthering Heights” to enable them to understand comparison structure more thoroughly. Moreover, it also encourages them to use comparison in speaking and writing to make their speeches and written papers more beautiful and extractive.2 Objectives This paper is designed to aim at the following objectives: - To identify the forms of comparison in the literary work “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte - To present forms of comparison used the literature work “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte and its Vietnamese translation by Manh Chuong - To explore the similarities and differences between the degrees of comparison in these literature works 3. Research question - What are the similarities and differences between types of comparisons in English and Vietnamese through the original English version of “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte and its Vietnamese translation by Mạnh Chương? 4. Scope of the study This study focuses on the analysis and findings features degrees of comparison used in English and Vietnamese through the literature work “Wuthering Heights” namely positive degree of comparison, comparative degrees of comparison, and superlative degrees of comparison.
Method of the study This study’s main method is descriptive, contrastive and comparative analysis. First, an overview of the comparison in English describes the definitions, types of comparison in English and Vietnamese, and how to use them. The content of the original English version of “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte and its Vietnamese translation by Manh Chuong will be compared to identify the differences and similarities in the use of comparisons in both languages. The analysis will be conducted on the following aspects: List samples use of comparison forms in Emily Bronte's original work Classify the types of comparisons Compare these types with the translation by Manh Chuong Analyze the comparative data to identify similarities and differences in both languages Suggest some implications for teaching and learning English in terms of this aspect 6.
Meaning of the study 6.1 Theoretical significance The research results of the thesis contribute to clarifying theoretical issues about types of comparison and equivalence analysis about three degrees of comparison in English and Vietnamese. At the same time, it also contributes to the study of comparative forms from foreign literary works to Vietnamese.2 Practical significance The research results are a reference for those who study types of comparison from foreign literary works and a useful reference source for teaching and learning English today. Moreover, the research results are also useful in the practical application of comparative forms to achieve the purpose of expressing thoughts and opinions in both communication and writing. Design of the study The thesis consists of three main chapters: Chapter 1 is the literature review, which presents an overview of the comparison.
General views of the degree of comparison and some fundamental theoretical background to the study will also be presented. Chapter 2 is going to list types of comparison in the original work and analysis of the translation by Manh Chuong to explore the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese. Chapter 3 is the result of three degrees and special forms of comparison, the conclusion of this study and some suggestions for teachers and learners. 5 CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW 1.
An overview of the comparison in English Comparison in English is a way of expressing the degree of difference between two or more things or people. It is used to compare qualities, characteristics, or attributes of these things or people and to show which one is superior, inferior, or equal to the other. Nayanshi (2023) indicates that there are three types of degrees of comparison: positive degree of comparison, comparative degree of comparison, and superlative degree of comparison. [1] Suhendri (2019) says that “We use it to compare two things or people that are similar.” [2] Here are common ways to express the positive degree.
For example, “Your smile is as bright as the sun” means that “your smile’’ and “the sun’’ are equally bright. This construction “As.