VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN THỊ HƢƠNG A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON MEANINGS OF WATER RELATING IDIOMS IN VIETNAMESE AND ENGLISH (Nghiên cứu so sánh về nghĩa của các thành ngữ có liên quan đến nƣớc trong Tiếng Việt và Tiếng Anh) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 Hanoi, 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN THỊ HƢƠNG A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON MEANINGS OF WATER RELATING IDIOMS IN VIETNAMESE AND ENGLISH (Nghiên cứu so sánh về nghĩa của các thành ngữ có liên quan đến nƣớc trong Tiếng Việt và Tiếng Anh) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Dr. Ngô Tự Lập Hanoi, 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I, Trần Thị Hương, hereby declare that the work contained in this thesis is the result of my own research.
It is recognized that, should this declaration be found to be false, disciplinary action could be taken and penalties imposed in accordance with the University policy and rules. Ha noi, 2014 Trần Thị Hương i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I offer my sincere gratitude to the faculty, staff and my fellow students at Hai Duong College, who have inspired me to continue my work in this field. I owe particular thanks to my Thesis Supervisor, Dr. Ngô Tự Lập and his colleagues of the faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Viet Nam National University, Ha Noi, all of whom have had an impact on my work in one way or another.
The direction and support of a knowledgeable and diverse group, such as this, is what makes interdisciplinary endeavours possible. Finally, my special thanks go to my mother, my husband and my children for their love and support throughout this project. Without their encouragement I could not have completed this thesis. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT Idioms, a special form of language use, are shaped in the daily lives of people.
Idioms can also be considered as a reliable measure of the proficiency of foreign languages in general and English in particular. It is the semantic and grammatical problems that cause difficulties for learners to grasp meanings of idioms. With the aim of providing in - depth information about English and Vietnamese idioms, we have tried to work out some syntactic and semantic features of idioms relating to water in English and Vietnamese. Moreover, some cultural contexts hidden behind these idioms are mentioned and analyzed in this thesis.
The study also puts forwards some implications for teaching and learning idioms. We believe that they are helpful to teachers and students as well as translators of English. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale for the study.
Aims and objectives of the study. Scope of the study. Theoretical and practical significance of the study. Organization of the study.
3 PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: IDIOMS - THEORETICAL BACKGROUND FOR THE STUDY 1.Idioms and meanings of idioms .Definition of idioms. Idioms and proverbs. Typology of idioms. Meaning of idioms .Culture and the relationship between language and culture .Culture and some characteristics of culture .Relationship between language and culture.
Culture in idioms. The image of water in Vietnamese culture. The image of water in English culture. 14 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Previous studies related to the theme of this thesis. 15 CHAPTER 2: “WATER” RELATING IDIOMS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE 2. A quantitative survey of water relating idioms in English and Vietnamese. Syntactic study of water relating idioms in English and Vietnamese.
Semantic study of water relating idioms in English and Vietnamese .21 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 3. Similarities and differences of English and Vietnamese water relating idioms in terms of syntactic features. Similarities and differences of English and Vietnamese water relating idioms in terms of semantic features.Limitations and suggestions for further studies. 35 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1.
Rationale for the study Water is essential for life and for human kind, and it is crucial for sustainable socio - economic development. As a matter of fact, 22 March of each year is declared as the World Water Day (WWD) by the United Nations in December 2003. Water is not only a physical resource but in every cultural context, it is closely linked to social, spiritual, political and environmental meanings. Both English and Vietnamese are rich in idiomatic expressions of which idioms denoting water are abundant.
Idiomatic expressions are largely used in our daily communication conveying the common - sense wisdom and experience of a certain cultural group. Mass media, textbooks and everyday language embody rich sources of idiomatic expressions. It is believed that English idioms are even difficult for English native speakers and naturally more problematic for ESL/EFL learners because the figurative meanings of English idioms cannot be predicted through an analysis of their individual word meanings. Apparently, teaching EFL learners to use English idioms is considerably critical for EFL teachers.
Learning idioms adds a lot to understand the British culture and people because language is the bearer of culture, and idioms consistently have their roots in a particular culture. The purpose of identifying how the image of water is reflected in idioms metaphorically and literally and what cultural context underlines it urges me to investigate into the theme: “A comparative study of water relating idioms in Vietnamese and English”. Aims and objectives of the study 2. Aims of the study This thesis is conducted as an attempt to: - Explore the English and Vietnamese idioms relating to water with the main focus on the cultural viewpoint.
- Point out the similarities and differences between the two languages in terms of idioms relating to water. 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Objectives of the study The objectives of this study are to: - Investigate English and Vietnamese idioms relating to water. - Clarify the cultural differences and similarities.
- Provide some suggestions for teaching, learning and translating English idioms denoting water. Research questions The study tries to answer the following questions: - What are the general syntactic, semantic and cultural features of English and Vietnamese water relating idioms? - What are similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese water relating idioms from cultural viewpoint? 3. Scope of the study In this research, both English and Vietnamese idioms relating to water are discussed in terms of syntactic, semantic and cultural features. All English and Vietnamese idioms are collected from two dictionaries: “Vietnamese Dictionary of Idioms and Proverbs” (2010) by Nguyễn Lân and “The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms” (2004) by Oxford University Press.
Theoretical and practical significance of the study The study is an attempt to look into idioms for the Vietnamese postgraduates of English. Thus, once completed, its outcome may offer significant benefits to Vietnamese learners and teachers of English. In addition, the findings of this study will familiarize Vietnamese teachers of English with meanings of idioms that their students may use in class and that they might consider as errors or mistakes. Furthermore, in regard to Vietnamese learners, the research may provide them with deep and comprehensive insight into water relating idioms.
Last but not least, researchers of the related fields can use this study for reference and carry out further and deeper investigation. Methodology In this study, the major methods applied are descriptive, comparative and contrastive analysis. It is carried out on carefully collected materials from two 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. The first dictionary is “Vietnamese Dictionary of Idioms and Proverbs” by Nguyễn Lân (Literature Publishing House in 2010).
The second one is “The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms” (Second Edition) by Oxford University Press in 2004. The data are analyzed and synthesized to find out the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese water relating idioms. Organization of the study The thesis is divided into three main parts: - Part One is an Introduction to the study and includes rationale, aims, the research questions, objectives, scope, significance and the design of the whole paper. - Part Two is the Development which is composed of three chapters.
Chapter One, as implied in the title “Idioms: theoretical background for the study”, presents the theoretical background related to the issue. Chapter Two is concerned with “Water relating idioms in English and Vietnamese” covers the syntactic and semantic study of water relating idioms in English and Vietnamese. Chapter Three deals with “Findings and Discussions” (i. analysis of data, results) - Part Three is the Conclusion which summarizes significant findings of the investigation, elaborates contributions of the research, puts forward practical suggestions for future research as well as addresses notable limitations.
3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: IDIOMS - THEORETICAL BACKGROUND FOR THE STUDY 1. Idioms and meanings of idioms 1. Definition of idioms In the Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture, idiom is defined as “a fixed phrase that has its own special meaning. It’s often impossible to guess the meaning of the whole phrase from the meanings of the separate words that it is formed from”.
The Collins Cobuild Dictionary of Idioms (2002) explains it as “a special kind of phrase. It is a group of words which have a different meaning when used together from the one it would have if the meaning of each word were taken individually. Idioms are typically metaphorical: they are effectively metaphors which have become “fixed” or “fossilized”. Manser (1997) states in his Dictionary of Everyday Idioms: “Idioms are fairly fixed phrases that consist of more than one word, with a meaning that cannot be understood from putting together the meanings of the individual words”.
From the above given definitions of idioms, it is clear that although there are some differences among the definitions of idiom, all idioms share 3 main characteristics in common: Firstly, idioms are basically fixed expressions in terms of words, their orders, and their grammatical forms. These expressions are phrases of two or more words and belong to both spoken and written English. Secondly, the meaning of an idiom is metaphorical rather than literal. Thirdly, an idiom is more or less invariable and fixed in wording and in certain grammatical way; it can not be changed or varied whether in speech or writing.
Idioms and proverbs It is rather difficult to make distinction between idioms and proverbs. However, some significant points below help clarify their distinctions clearly. 4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com A proverb is a simple and concrete saying, popularly known and repeated, that expresses a truth based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical.
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary gives the definition of a proverb as “a well - known phrase or sentence that gives advice or says something that is generally true” (p. Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture considers a proverb as “a short well - known, supposedly wise, saying usually in simple language” (p. An idiom is an expression that can be understood only as a whole and not by analysing its constituent parts. For example, if you know what “kick”, “the” and “bucket” mean, that won’t help you understand that “kick the bucket” means “die”.
Idioms and proverbs share something in common. Firstly, both of them are fixed expressions that we can not add, omit, or replace any components of them without making them lose their figurative meanings or become meaningless. Secondly, the meanings of idioms and proverbs are metaphorical. That is why we can not look them up in an ordinary dictionary.