Comparing the cultural and linguistic analysis of the English word “meal” and words relating to it in contrast with Vietnamese equivalents.

Comparing the cultural and linguistic analysis of the English word “meal” and words relating to it in contrast with Vietnamese equivalents.

PART A

1 Rationale

People’s life is changing day by day Exchange and learning each other are essential culture demand of human beings One of the methods to satisfy this demand is studying foreign language There are thousands of different languages to chose, but holding the top list is English As it appears every corner all over the world and people adapt it as their first or second language Thanks to English the space between people and countries become shorter and shorter

Finding the importance of English most people nowadays learn English However, few of them deeply understand this language as well as its cultural characteristics through meaning of word(s) As they do not realize that behind a word there are many things to discuss So, sometimes they are surprised by the diversity in the meaning of the word in communication.

As Vietnamese students who are learning English, we would like to research English culture in the light of linguistic view of word “meal” and its contrast with Vietnamese equivalents Actually, we chose this word as we think that behind the word there must be many interesting things, especially cultural field Moreover, people say that to understand culture of a country s/he should look into eating and drinking style of that country because they themselves reflect cultural elements

We hope that after the graduation paper in print, it will help learners as well as readers understand more clearly about English and Vietnamese culture through the word “meal”.

2 Aims of the study

We write this graduation paper is not out of the aims to:

_ Help learners / readers understand about field of word meal “ ” _ Help learners / readers understand about the culture and linguist of

the word “meal” in English and its Vietnamese equivalents “tên các bữa ăn ,”

đồ uống , dụng cụ ăn uống , nơi ăn uống , nghi thức

_ Compare the cultural and linguistic analysis of the English word “meal” and words relating to it in contrast with Vietnamese equivalents.

3 Scope of the study

Because of space and time, the graduation paper cannot cover the whole cultural meaning of the word “meal” in English as well as in Vietnamese equivalents Thus, we only focus on researching some aspects as follows:

_ Definitions of word and meaning.

_ Some information about lexical and semantic field of word, lexical meaning, cultural meaning.

_ Cultural and linguistic analysis in English word “meal and its

Vietnamese equivalents: “tên các bữa ăn , đồ uống , dụng cụ ăn uống , ” “ ” “ ”

nơi ăn uống , nghi thức

_ Comparison between the cultural and linguistic analysis of the English word “meal” and words relating to it in contrast with Vietnamese equivalents.

4 Methods of the study

To complete this study, we base on some methods as follow: _ Definiting word and meaning

_ Introducing lexical and semantic field of word.

_ Analyzing the culture and linguist of the word “meal” in English and in Vietnamese equivalents.

_ Comparing the cultural and linguistic analysis of the English word “meal” and words relating to it in contrast with Vietnamese equivalents.

5 Design of the study

The graduation paper is divided into 3 parts: Part A Introduction

Part B Investigation

Chapter I Theoretical background - Definition of word and meaning - Lexical meaning

- Cultural meaning

- Lexical and semantic field of words

Chapter II Field of word “meal” in English and words relating to it (in contrast with Vietnamese equivalents)

- Definition of word “meal”

- Field of word “meal” in English and in Vietnamese equivalents

- Cultural and linguistic analysis of the English word “meal”

Chapter III Cultural and linguistic analysis of Vietnamese equivalents relating to the English word “meal”

Chapter IV Comparison of the English word “meal” and words relating to it (in contrast with Vietnamese equivalents)

Part C: Conclusion

PART B INVESTIGATION

CHAPTER I THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1 What is the word?

It is said that to give out the definition of every basic notion is not easy task as each person has their own point of view about the thing they want to definite In fact, the definition of a word is one of the most difficult ones because each word has many different aspects It has a sound form as it is a certain arrangement of phonemes Also, it has morphological structure However, being used in current speech, it may appear in different word forms and signal various meanings

Many scholars have attempted to define the word as a linguistic phenomenon as well as collected the variants of definitions according to their aims and interests.

According to Tomas Hobbes (1588- 1679), one of the great English philosophers, words are not mere sound but name of matter Three centuries later, the great Russian physiologist I.P.Pavlov (1849- 1936) examined the

word in connection with his studies of the second signal system, and defined it as a universal sign that can substitute any other signal from the environment in evoking a respond in a human organism.

Another point is that in the scope of linguistic the word, structurally, possesses several characteristics basing on distinguishing between the external and the internal structures of the word.

External structure of the word means its morphological structure For

example, in the word “post- impressionists” the following morpheme can bedistinguished: the prefixes “post-, im” , the root “press”, the noun-formingsuffixes “-ion , -ist” “ ”, and the grammatical suffix of plurality “-s” All themorpheme constitute the external structure of the word post- impressionists“ ” The structure of words, and also typical word-information patterns, are studied in the section on word-building.

The internal structure of the word, or its meaning, nowadays, commonly referred to the word’s semantic structure.

Another structural aspect of the word is its unity The word possessed both external (or formal) unity and semantic unity Formal unity of the word is not, strictly speaking, indivisible Yet, its component morphemes are permanently linked together in opposition to word-groups, both free and with contexts, whose components possess a certain structural freedom, for example

“bright light”.

The formal unity of the word can be best illustrated by comparing a word and a word-group comprising identical constituents The difference

between “a blackbird” and “a black bird” is best explained by their

relationship with the grammatical system of the language The word

“blackbird”, which is characterized by unity, possesses a single grammaticalframing: “blackbirds” The first constituent “black ” is not subject to any

grammatical changes In the word-group “a black bird”, each constituent canacquire grammatical forms of its own: “the blackest bird I ve ever seen.’ ” Other words can be inserted between the components which is impossible so

far as the word is concerned as it would violate its unity “a black night bird”.

The same example may be used to illustrate what we mean by semantic

unity In the word-group “a black bird” each of the meaningful wordsconveys a separate concept: bird“ ”- a kind of living creature; black“ ”- a color.

The word “black bird” conveys only one concept the type of bird This is one

of the main features of any word: it always conveys one concept, no matter how many component morphemes it may have in its external structure.

A further structural feature of the word is its susceptibility to grammatical employment In speech, most words can be used in different grammatical forms in which their interrelation is realized.

The last point of view about definition of the word is given out by S.Potter, who writes that not similar to a phoneme or a syllable, a word is not a linguistic unit at all

All the above views are basic definitions of the word However, the linguistics have not pointed out the relationship in communication between a speaker and a listener in which the speaker’s mental process is converted into sound groups called “words” and the listener’s brain converts the acoustic phenomena into notion and ideas In other words, it is a two- way process of communication.

To sum up, all of different definitions and views of the word can be conclusioned as follow: the word is a speech unit used for the purposes of human communication, materially representing a group of sounds, possessing a meaning, susceptible to grammatical employment and characterized by formal and semantic unity.

2 What is the meaning?

So far many linguistics have tried their best to put forward a definition of meaning Each of them has a view about the meaning according to their own way.

According to J.Fitzgerald in “From word and meaning”, he wrote“language is the amber in which a thousand precious and subtle thoughts

have been safely embedded and preserved” It proves that the every function

of the word as a unit of communication is made possible by its possessing a meaning And among the word’s various characteristics, meaning is certainly the most important.

In English, the philosopher Wittgenstein said in Words and their“

meaning” that “the meaning of the word is its use in the language”

Also according to B Russell “a word has a meaning, more or less

vague, but the meaning is only to be discovered by observing its use, the usecome first, and the meaning is distilled out of it ”

Generally speaking, meaning can be more or less described as a component of the word through which a concept is communicated, in this way endowing the word with the ability of denoting, qualities, actions and abstract notions The complex and somewhat mysterious relationship between referent

(object, etc denoted by the word), concept and word can be explained: there is no immediate relation between word and referent: it is established only through the concept (concept is thought or referent).

On the other hand, there is a hypothesis that concepts can only find their realization through words It seems that thought is dormant till the word wakens it up It is only when we hear a spoken word or read a printed word that the corresponding concept springs into mind.

The branch of linguistics which specializes in the study of meaning is called “semantic” As with many terms, the term “semantic” is ambiguous for it can stand, as well, for the expressive aspect of language in general and for the meaning of one particular word in all its varied aspects and nuances It means that the semantics of a word is not different from the meaning(s) of a word.

Thus, according to M Pei puts it in “The study of language”, semantic

is “language” in its broadest, most inclusive aspect Sounds, words, grammatical forms, syntactical constructions are the tools of language Semantic is language’s avowed purpose.

3 Lexical meaning

Though people who study lexical meaning have pointed out definitions about it; however, they all share a common view that lexical meaning is the realization or naming of a notion, emotion or object by means of a definite language system

Notion denotes the reflection in the mind of real object and phenomena in their essential features and relation in words Each notion is characterized by its scope and content The scope of the notion is determined by all the objects it refers to The content of the notion is made up of all the features that distinguish it from other notions The distinction between the scope and the content of a notion lies at the basis of such terms as the identifying (demonstrative) and significative functions of the word The identifying function may be interpreted as denoting the objects covered by the scope of the notion expressed in the word, and the significative function is the function of expressing the content of the respective notion The function of rendering an emotion or an attitude is termed the expressive function In other words, the emotional content of a word is itself can evoke intentional or affective connotations of word.

Basing on two functions above, there may be two types of denotation

meaning: significant and demonstrative meaning In the example “Now the

night has gone away (Air Supply)” significant meaning is quite clear Every word evokes a general idea, a notion without directly referring to any particular element of reality, the significant meaning and that of the notion coincide

When a word refers to name, the demonstrative meaning is the

individual existing objects of reality “There was a fine old rocking chair that

his father used to sit in, a desk where he wrote letter, a nest of small table,and a dark imposing bookcase ”

The meaning of many words is subjected to complex association originating in habitual contents, verbal or situation, of which the speaker and the listener are aware, and which form the connotational component of meaning In some words the realization of meaning is accompanied by the speaker’s state of mind and his attitude to what or who he is speaking about.

Within the affection connotational of a word we can distinguish its capacity to evoke or directly express

_ Emotion: dad – father father

_ Evaluation: good – father excellent

_ Intensity: adore – father love

_ Stylistic colour (social sphere): slay – father kill

In conclusion, lexical meaning consists of denotational meaning and connotational meaning in which denotational meaning comprises significative and demonstrative meaning, connotational meaning includes speaker’s emotion, evaluation, intensify and social sphere.

4 Cultural meaning

Say language means we are saying pride, identity, roots, communication and all the things that stir the heart According to President

M Scares of Portugal, “My country is my language ” (Lawday,1990, p.30) Each nation has its own language as long as they borrow or adapt another language as their second language All the language (native and foreign languages), always convey cultural characteristics It is the basic cultural factor that distinguishes this country from other In other words, we can

realize this country from other via understanding and using cultural meaning of words.

Consider the word “xe đạp” or “bicycle” in Vietnamese and English as

an example we will know the different cultural meaning between them

Generally speaking, the Vietnamese word “xe đạp” and the Englishword bicycle“ ” are the same meaning which refer to a vehicle using human strength to move However, in the terms of culture, the words in two languages are not the same.

First is the cultural meaning, to the Vietnamese “xe đạp”, which was

imported first from France, is a quite new vehicle So, whenever think about it,

they imagine a vehicle used by feet movements so-called “xe đạp”.Meanwhile, the English name it is “bicycle” according to its feature (“bi”means “hai”, “cycle” means “bánh xe”).

Second is the usage If the English travel by bicycle or horse, they say

“you ride (on) a bicycle” or “you ride (on) a horse” Obviously, Englishpeople take for granted that there is no difference between the action “ride on

a bicycle” and “ride on a horse” To Vietnamese on their part “xe đạp” is also

a transport means used to carry (đèo, lai) men or goods People call bicycle is“xe đạp thồ” or “xe thồ” if it is used to carry goods And, of course, the wordride (đi or đạp) does not go with this vehicle but the word push“ ”.

Third is structure The English regard bicycle as an entertainment or practice means, so it is made for one user and light luggage In contrast, Vietnamese people pay attention to endurability than style.

In conclusion, understanding the word “xe đạp” or “bicycle” in

Vietnamese and English is rather different because it bases on some words

“đạp, đi (ride); đèo, lai, thồ (carry), đẩy (push)” Through the example, it is

states that people can communicate with each other not only via literal meaning but also hidden- intention meaning Thus, it is necessary to deeply understand cultural meaning of speech, words to communicate well.

5 Lexical and semantic field of words

Many linguists have given out their own definition about lexical and

semantic field of words, and J Trier is one of them He defines that “fields

are linguistic realities existing between single words and the totalvocabulary; they are parts of a whole and resemble words in that theycombine into some higher unit, and the vocabulary in that they resolvethemselves into smaller units” However, Trier’s most important shortcoming

is his idealistic methodology He regards language as a super-individual cultural product shaping concepts and the whole knowledge of the world His idea about the influence of language upon thought, and the existence of an “intermediate universe” of concepts interposed between man and the universe, is wholly untenable

Over the time, linguists have shown that a lexical field of words or lexical and semantic field of words is the whole words can be classified into sets according to their meaning.

The following set of words is a lexical field, because all the words in the set refer to emotional states:

Angry, sad, happy, exuberant, depressed, afraid.

In a lexical field, not all lexical items necessarily have the same status Consider the following sets, which together form the lexical field of color terms (of course there are other terms in the same field)

(a) Blue, red, yellow, green, black, purple

(b) Indigo, saffron, royal blue, aquamarine, bisque.

The colors referred to by the words of set (a) are more usual than those described in set (b) These colors are said to be less marked than the second set; therefore the words in set (a) are less marked members of the lexical field will usually be easier to learn and remember than more marked members,

people learn the term “blue” before they learn the terms “indigo, royal blue or

aquamarine” Typically, a less marked word consists of only one morpheme,

in contrast to more marked words (contrast “blue” and “royal blue”) The less

marked member of a lexical field cannot be described by using the name of another member of the same field, while more marked members can be thus

described ( indigo“ ” is a kind of “purple”) Less marked terms also tend to beused more frequently than more marked terms; “blue”, for example, occursconsiderably more frequently in conversation and writing than either “indigo”or “aquamarine” Less marked terms also are often broader in meaning thanmore marked terms; “blue” describes a broader range of colors than “indigo”or “aquamarine” Finally, less marked words are not the result of the

metaphorical usage of the name of another object or concept, whereas more

marked words often are (for example, “saffron” is the color of a spice that

gave its name to the color).

CHAPTER II CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC

1 Definition

In order to be analysed under the lexical or linguistic view, every word

itself has to satisfy existential condition of a word first a word is an“

independent unit of language which embodies a notion in all its forms andmeaning taken as a whole” And the word “meal” is not an exception The

word “meal” is a unit of language used for the purpose of human communication (under the linguist and culture point), possessing a meaning.

There are several definitions of the word “meal” According to Oxford Word Powder Dictionary “meal” means “a certain time when you eat or the food that is eaten at that time”.

Similar to Oxford Word Powder Dictionary, Dai Tu Dien Vietnam (Vietnamese great dictionary) defines that “meal” is the whole food is eaten in one time.

In Oxford Advanced Learner Dictionary, “meal” is the portion of food taken or provided at one time to satisfy appetite.

Also, according to KP BCKA E in“5 everyday topics in English” in Russia “we partake of food several times a day This partaking of food at a certain time is called meal”.

Generally speaking, all the above definitions define quite clearly about the word “meal” However, in this graduation paper, we would like to use the word “meal” in accordance with the definition in Oxford Word Powder

Dictionary and Vietnamese Great Dictionary Besides, we would like to analyse the word “meal” and elements relating to it such as eating and drinking in which each element has sub-elements relating to it:

(a) eating: meals, meal time, food, table ware, eating place…(b) drinking: tea, alcohol, beer, pubs, bars….

All these elements connected with the notion of “meal” are called field of word “meal”.

In our opinion, field of word “meal” is all the words relating to it mainly including eating and drinking They are parts of the word “meal” and resemble words in that they combine together To illustrate in an easy way, we would like to list field of word “meal” in English and Vietnamese equivalents according to its meaning and function as follow:

2 Field of word meal in English and words relating to it (in“ ”

contrast with Vietnamese equivalents)

2.1 Tªn c¸c b÷a ¨n (name of meals)

2.1.1 B÷a (¨n) s¸ng, b÷a ®iÓm t©m

2.4.2 Food and drink containers: plates, wine-glasses

2.4.3 Ingredients: the salt-cellar, the pepper-box, mustard-pot

2.4.4 Cooker : pan of soup

2.4.5 Other means: table, table cloth, napkin / serviette

(table ware):

Đũa cả (đũa cái) (biggest chopsticks)

Đũa cá nhân (small chopsticks) Muôi múc canh (spoon for taking soup)

2.4.2 Vật dụng đựng thức ăn đồ uống(food and drink containers):

Bát ăn cơm (bowl for rice) Bát canh (bowl for soup)

Bát nớc mắm (small bowl for fish

Chanh, muối, ớt, hạt tiêu, nớc mắm, dấm, mắm tôm (lemon, salt, chili pepper, fish sauce, vinegar, shrimp paste)

2.4.4 Dụng cụ nấu nớng (cookers)

Nồi cơm, nồi canh, nồi thức ăn (pan for rice/ soup/ meat/ fish)

2.4.5 Dụng cụ làm vệ sinh sau khi ăn(cleaning means after eating)

2.5 Nơi ăn uống (eating places)

2.5.1 Ăn trong nhà (in- door) 2.5.1.1 Nhà bếp (kitchen)

2.5.1.2 Phòng khách (living room)

2.5.2.2 Pubs and bars

2.5.2.3 Take-away/ fast food

2.5.2.4 Quán bar (pubs and bars)

2.6 Etiquette2.6 Nghi thức ăn uống (etiquette)

2.6.1 Trớc khi ăn (pre-eating) 2.6.1 Trong khi ăn (while-eating) 2.6.3 Sau khi ăn (post-eating)

3 Cultural and linguistic analysis of the English word meal“ ”

3.1 Name of meals

Descended from nomad culture, the English life mainly attaches to meadow and cattle And their food source is almost meat Meat is a dispensable dish on eating table though it is made under any form Therefore, the English not only call “meal” food that is eaten at a certain time, but also “meat course” We can illustrate an English meal as follow:

Meal = meat course = meat + other dishes.

3.1.1 Breakfast

Not similar to many countries, the English like drinking tea so much that they take tea time as a landmark to divide a day into three meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner and other sub-meals.

Breakfast refers to a meal which takes place in the morning In terms of word creation, word “breakfast” actually is a combination between two separated verb “break” and “fast” “Break” means “phá vỡ” or “làm gãy” “Fast” means “nhịn ăn” or “ăn kiêng” Not knowing when these verbs were combined into one word with the meaning “phá vỡ sự ăn kiêng” or “chặt đứt sự ăn kiêng” or “ăn sáng”or “bữa điểm tâm”, but today this word is used to call name of a meal in the morning

To the English, breakfast is the most important meal in a day because it provides energy for the body to start a new day Therefore, English breakfast is generally bigger meal than others.

The breakfast is usually eaten between 7and 9 a.m Many English people eat toast with butter or butter and jam (often strawberry, raspberry, apricot or black currant jam), marmalade (a type of jam made from oranges).

Others eat a bowl of cereal; for example cornflakes or muesli with milk, or porridge (a mixture of oats, hot milk and sugar)

English people have two tendencies to breakfast: a traditional breakfast and a continental breakfast

Twenty years ago half the population still ate a cooked breakfast or a fry-up everyday called traditional breakfast Now less than 20% does so A traditional English breakfast may contain food such as meat, kippers (herring-a type of fish- which h(herring-as been covered in s(herring-alt (herring-and smoked, pot(herring-atoes, flour,

butter and eggs) "Harry s mouth fell open The dishes in front of him were’

now piled with food He had never seen so many things he likes to eat on thetable: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, yorkshirepudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup…”(Rowling, 2003, p.121) Besides,

English people have continental breakfast which is a small meal and easy to prepare: a bread roll or croissant with cheese or ham and a cup of coffee And the most common drinks at this time of day are orange juice or a cup of breakfast tea or coffee

Most people at home do not have a full breakfast according to traditional

breakfast as well as conditional breakfast They often have cereal or porridge,

egg and bacon followed by toast and marmalade and coffee and tea or they may just have a toast and marmalade and coffee and tea

*Elevenses - brunch

Elevenses is a slang term used for a mid- morning (around 11 o’clock) snack of coffee or tea and biscuit or perhaps a scone and butter In fact, people drink tea or coffee whenever they feel like it If a meal is eaten in the late

morning instead of both breakfast and lunch it is called brunch“ ” (technique of creating new words called “portmanteau”).

3.1.2 Lunch (sometimes called more formally luncheon )“ ”

Lunch (b÷a tra) is a meal eaten in the middle of the day between 12 and 2p.m Many people eat sandwiches (also known as a butty or sarine in some parts of the UK) or cakes, fruit, coffee and tea Some people have a simple meal such as cheese and biscuits or soup and bread

In countryside, a ploughman’s lunch is a traditional lunch for farmers: a bread roll, Cheddar cheese, Branston pickle and salad, perhaps with a pork pie It is also traditional fro people to go to pubs with some friends for a pub lunch and a drink

Many people who work in London have to make arrangements for their midday meal as they work far from home Most large companies have a canteen in which food served is plain but adequate for their employees The workers can find a lunch for themselves A meal in canteen is inexpensive and may consist of soup, fish and chips or meat and two vegetables with fruit or a pudding of some sort as dessert The employees can choice whatever they like If they do not want they can have a lunch in a numerous cafes and restaurants Depending on the restaurants and food chosen, a meal may cost anything from a modest sum to quite a few pounds Furthermore, people can get a meal or a snack in a pub or in cafe In many cafes, there are no waiters or waitress and instead the customers help themselves and pay at cash- desks before going to the tables.

Some people do not bother to go out to lunch They will have a “packed lunch”- this typically consists of a packet of crips, a piece of fruit and a drink and with which they also have a cup of tea or coffee, probably made in the office The “packed lunch” is kept in a plastic container This way is not only cheap but also convenient than getting to a restaurant and queuing up there In summer, park and public squares are popular places where people sit on bench or on ground, eating their lunch, giving the crumbs to the sparrow and pigeons.

3.1.3 Tea time

Drinking tea is English traditional custom It is said that seven cups of“

it wake you up in the morning, nine cups will put you to sleep at night ” So, the English have much time in a day to enjoy tea For instance, right waking up, they have a cup of tea with biscuit in bed It is called early morning tea.

Tea time is the time used to drink tea It often starts about 3.00.

3.1.3.1 High tea

High time (b÷a ¨n mÆn) originated as a Britain working class tradition.

“ ” refers to the way it was taken, sitting on top stools in a tea shop or standing at a counter or buffet table (“Sunflower”, 2002) High tea traditionally takes place at 4 o’clock tea At that time people often have a meal with sandwiches, scones, butter and jam and cake with a pot of tea.

3.1.3.2 Afternoon tea

The tradition of afternoon tea goes many years to the late 1700s In England at that time, there were two main daily meals, breakfast and dinner Dinner was served very late in the evening, so it was a very long time between meals The Duchess of Bedford (1788-1861) complained about “sinking feeling” in the late afternoon Afternoon tea was her invention to keep her going until dinner She would invite friends to join her tea at 5p.m Other hostess quickly copied her idea Food at tea included such things as thin crustless, sandwiches, shrimp or fish pate, toasted breads with jams and regional pasties such as scones and crumpets (Riddell, 1995, p.221).

Now afternoon tea is used broadly in England, but most British families do not have time for afternoon tea at home They often have it on pub or bar

Actually, English people enjoy tea time as it is civilized thing to do The tradition of afternoon tea offers a pleasant break in the day, a chance for conversation, relaxation and, of course, a good cup of tea.

3.1.4 Dinner

Dinner (bữa tối) refers to the main meal of the day taking in the evening about 7-10 p.m It usually consists of soup or hors d’oeuvres, fish, meat and vegetables, dessert, cheese, biscuits and tea or coffee Sometimes, people call dinner is lunch or supper if it is the main meal that is taken place in the midday.

In many homes, dinner may be the only time everyone gets together and shares the day’s experience It is also an occasion for inviting friends.

3.1.5 Supper

Supper means “bữa ăn đêm” or “bữa ăn nhẹ vào buổi tối” is the most common name for a light snack taken before going to bed People often drink a glass of mild and a sandwich.

3.1.6 Parts of meal

Basically, English meals and meal time are quite clear Even name of courses are also: starter, main course/ meat course and dessert Actually, English name of courses are affected strongly by nomad culture in which the English life is inclined to movement than sereneness Especially, in the terms of cognition and community, they are on the side of analysis thought and personality It is the reason why a meal is divided into three courses and each person has their own portion.

Starter (mãn khai vÞ) known as soup or hors d’oeuvre is a meal that is often severed at the beginning of a meal in order to stimulate appetite of eaters And people enjoy it before the next courses.

Next to starter is main course (mãn chÝnh) There are dishes served one

after one English people sometimes call main course is meat course“ ” (mãn

¨n víi thÞt lµ chñ yÕu) “Meat course” itself shows that meat takes an

important role in English meal because Western countries in general and England in particular descended from pastoral civilizations in which meat is their staple So, main course is named after meat A typical main course or meat course often has some dishes as follow: roast beef, roast chicken with sausages, roast pork with apple sauce, steak and kidney peas or roast lamb with mint sauce.

The last course of a meal is dessert (mãn tr¸ng miÖng) Dessert are fruit, sweet, cake, cheese, tea or coffee which are eaten to wash away food

smell As majority editable things in dessert are sweets, so it is called “sweet

course” Moreover, English country is famous for many kinds of pudding

cakes: rice pudding, bread and butter pudding, steamed pudding, suet pudding

and Christmas pudding May be it is the reason why the word pudding“ ” is referred to dessert course

3.2 Drinks

It is natural that eating is a vital part to human beings But eating without drinking will not satisfy men’s demand In this part we would like to introduce what the English often drink.

3.2.1 Tea

There is a saying that “the British like a nice cup of tea in the morning

and a nice cup of tea at night And at half past seven, their idea of heaven is anice cup of tea They like a nice cup of tea with their dinner and a nice cup oftea with their tea, and before they go to bed” (“Weaving it together 3”, 2000).

It seems that no one likes tea quite as much as the British do

As, in fact, tea is popular in countries around the world Each country has its own ritual and custom for drinking tea and so do the British The British like to be formal and well-mannered when they serve tea The people here favor the black tea of India and Ceylon served in china cups with handles and matching saucers In Britain, tea is made in a pot, using one teaspoonful of tea leaves for each cup plus one extra teaspoonful for the pot Boiling water

is poured into the pot and the tea is left for about five minutes before the host serves the guest Even there are the adages from the side of the Victorian about making tea:

Those who love good tea

Must please remember me Be sure allow the water to boil Then the tea you will not spoil”.

Or Do not drain the pot dry and then fill it up again, fill half the cups at a“

time and replace in the teapot the water you have taken from it, always withboiling water ”

Drinking tea is an important part of daily life in England The average number of cups of tea each day is 3.6, though some people drink as many as 10 cups a day (“Life in Britain”, 1990) To English drinking tea is a way to relax and entertain Sharing a cup of tea with guests provides an opportunity for conversation and a quiet moment away from the normal hustle and bustle.

3.2.2 Alcohol/wine

Both alcohol and wine are excited drinks in which alcohol (in full ethyl alcohol) is a colourless volatile inflammable liquid forming the intoxicating element in wine, beer, spirit, and wine is a fermented drink made from other fruits.

Besides, spirit is known as a kind of intoxicated drinks but its concentration is very high Although alcohol, wine and spirit are little different from each other, people often call them alcohol Even the words

“drink” and “drinking” also refer to alcohol For example, “She drinks too

much”, means “She drinks more alcohol than she can” Or “He has a drink problem”, means “that he can’t give up drinking alcohol than is good for him”.

Drinking wine is favourite in England, so the consumption increases every year Sometimes, the quantity produced is never likely to satisfy the growing British thirst Thus, most of the wine drunk in Britain is imported from France, Spain, Italy and Germany Although the high taxes make wine and spirits expensive, the British drink twice as much as they did Whisky is the most favorite of the spirits in Britain It is, of course, the national drink of Scotland, and “Scotch” is exported to the rest of the world

3.2.3 Other drinks

As well as large amounts of hot drinks such as tea, coffee and coca-cola, British people especially children drink squash (a sweeter fruit concentrate that has to be diluted with water) and brand- name soft (non-alcoholic) drinks They also expect to be able to drink water straight from the tap

Beer has been the favorite drink of the British since the early 1600s Most beer is done in pubs Traditionally, beer is drawn from the cellar up to the bar of the pub to be served to the customer as draught beer Draught beer

is “still”, which means that it is fizzy

A sweeter, darker version of bitter is “mild” These beers have a

comparatively low alcohol content This is one reason why people are able to drink so much of them In most pubs, several kinds of bottled beer, usually

known as ales“ ” are also available.

Beer which has gas in it and is closer to continental varieties is known

as “lager” During the 1980s strong lager became common among young

people Because these people were used to drink weaker traditional beer, they sometimes drank too much of it and became aggressive and even violent.

They thus became known as “lager louts” (O’dricoll, 1985, p 187)

In some pubs, cider is available on draught and in some parts of Britain Shandy is half beer and half fizzy lemonade It has the reputation of being very good for quenching the thirst.

3.3 Table ware

In the dawn of time, people used fingers to transport food to mouth This action must not have changed if people had not invented devices eating so-called table ware (dông cô ¨n uèng) including knife, fork and spoon.

Knife (dao) is a hand tool for cutting things into pieces or scorting in something without actually cutting through it.

Fork (nÜa) is also a hand tool used for transporting things Small forks are used to move other things, to break-up clods of soil or to rake weed Here, I would like to deal mostly with the small, food-moving kind

Spoon is a utensil consisting of an oval or round bowl and a handle for conveying food to the mouth and for stirring.

Actually, English people use knife during their meals as majority food like meat, potatoes… are often cooked in big pieces So, they have to cut them are often cooked in big pieces So, they have to cut them into small pieces while eating A long with knife is fork which is an imitative form of a working tool called “bå cµo” or rake And spoon is used to spoon soup or transport food to the mouth.

It is not clear to predict in what year or where this table ware was invented But people say that the first Northern of Italy used it to eat their famous noodle Then this set was brought to France and was quick introduced to English No matter what where it was from, these utensils are estimated as a product of analytical mind, a represent of the nomad culture in which people are inclined to invention, analysis and role of personality May be it is the reason why each term has its own separated function

3.4 Out- door eating

For English people ultimate in easy eating is eating out and the English do that everyday.

3.4.1 Restaurants

Though it is not common than it used to be, going to a restaurant is not a usual habit of most people here As majority English original restaurants are very expensive; especially, food is a real problem there However, the English like going to restaurants owned by Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian or French immigrants because there are strange dishes that they are never served These restaurants range from inexpensive fast-food places, to exotic ethic restaurants, to expensive, formal places that serve elegant food in elegant setting Thus, for many English, ethic dinning means fun since these places serve immigrants who want their own native cuisine, but they also serve English looking for a dining adventure.

3.4.2 Pubs and bars

Pubs and bars are common places for English people They come there to drink, to talk and to relax

The word pub“ ” is an abbreviation of public house“ ” It is the only indoor place where any stranger can come in and chat to a few local friends.

As with so many other aspects of English life, pubs have become a bit less distinctive in the last quarter of the twentieth century They used to serve almost nothing but beer and spirit These days, people can get wine, coffee and some hot food at most of them as well This has helped to widen their appeal At one time, it was unusually for women to go to pubs Now a few pubs exit where it is surprising for a woman to walk in.

There are some features of pubs are time and the difference between pubs and bars The first is that pubs have strictly limited hours of opening,

which vary in length in different areas, each local government authority having power to fix its own “licensing hours” as they are called Roughly one person may expect to find a pub open between 11.30 a.m and 2.30 p.m and again from 5.30 p.m until 10.30 p.m Thus, it is impossible to get strong drink in English in the early morning, in the middle of the afternoon or at midnight or later The second is that most pubs are divided into at least two separated bars: public bar and the saloon bar The English like showing off when they go out for a drink and whereas the poorest customers go into the public bar, they go into the saloon bar The differences between the two are that the saloon bar is less uncomfortable, it has chairs and linoleum, in contrast the public bar has wooden benches and perhaps a floor sprinkled with sawdust and the beer costs a penny or two more in the saloon bar than the public bars.

3.4.3 Take-away / fast food outlet

Apart from pubs and bars, there are two types which are quite cheap One is used during the day, most typically by manual workers, and therefore

sometimes is described as a workman s cafes“ ’ ” But it is used by anybody who wants a filling meal, likes the informal atmosphere and is not over-worried about cleanliness It offers chiefly fried food of the “English

breakfast” and it is called humorously as a “greasy spoon” Majority of themare “transport cafes” at the sides of main roads The other type is

“take-away” (with ready made- foods) as well as fast food outlets The most

common take- away foods are fish, chips, hamburgers and some other light dishes People often buy hot food from take- away to eat at home, at right there or in the street.

3.5 Etiquette of eating

Etiquette is the conventional rules of social behaviour which requires

everybody to obey In the terms of history, the word “etiquette” was not

original word in English language, it came into this language via that “grand monarque” Louis XVI During his reign three centuries ago the functions held at the French Court were so extremely elaborate that each of the King’s guest

had to be issued with an “etiquette ,” or ticket, on which all the details of the Court’s various ceremonies were written (Kirillova, 1980) Since then etiquette rigid rules have been adhered to.

Being conventional rules, it is used in many fields including eating In Britain, even today, people are judged by their eating etiquette or eating

manners There is a popular saying in the UK is manners make the man “ ” At the dining time, diners usually sit round a table with an individual plate, a knife and a spoon on the right hand side and a fork on the left placed before each them Besides, the wine glasses are on the right, the salt cellar, the pepper box and mustard pot are in the middle of the table.

Family eating etiquette is not too much difficult The oldest or the husband of the family sits at the head of the table and others sit in descending order according to age or wherever they like The meal starts when everyone has their own portion However, if there are guests or in formal occasions, then everything around the eating table is different Guests’ seating order is a way to show the host(ess)’s respect Normally, the male guest of honor sits on the hostess’s right The next most important man sits on her left Likewise, the female guest of honor sits on the host’s right and the second most important woman sits on the host’s left There is no discrimination between men and women, so they are alternately seated If there are couples, they will be parted as their close probably affect to people around In addition, an action is highly appreciated is that males seat and rise when females leave and return to the table

Actually, knowing how to use table ware and understand and what should be avoided is a way to show respect to the host(ess) Napkin or serviette (a piece of material or paper) helps diners clean up any mess that might occur during the course of the meal Of course, this is its original use, and at an informal occasion such as a barbeque, it still performs this service But the more formal the event, the more vestigial the presence of the napkin is, because the purpose of table manners is to preserve cleanliness and proper appearance As soon as the meal is served, the diners remove the napkin from their place setting, unfold it and put it in their laps When the diners leave the table at the end of the meal, they place napkin loosely next to their plates It should not be crumpled or twisted, which would reveal untidiness or nervousness, nor should it be folded, because it might be seen as an implication that the diners think the host(ess) might reuse it without washing The napkin also must not be left on the chair It is say that a diner who leaves the napkin on his chair will never sit at that table again, but other, it might seem as if the diner has dirty napkin to hide or that the diners are trying to run off with the table linens.

During the eating process, the English are little word ones In other words, they do not talk much while eating So, making noise is not good behavior Eaters should chew with their mouth close and eat fairly slowly Also, bowling hot food, shoveling food into mouth and making noise from fork, spoon, knife is regarded as impoliteness

Because each table ware has its own function; thus, do not use a spoon for what can be eaten with a fork or no use a knife to cut bread… are often cooked in big pieces So, they have to cut them Besides, using fingers to eat is forbidden except some dishes are allowed such as pizza, chicken… are often cooked in big pieces So, they have to cut them Bread is common on eating table The diners can take it by fingers, but they cannot use fork to haspoon At the end of the meal, fork and knife should put side by side in the middle of the plate Soup spoons, coffee spoons and dessert spoons should be placed on the side plate or saucer, never leave them in the bowl, cup, etc The diners also should not push their plates away or stack their dishes; however, the host(ess)’s friends can do.

All in all dinning etiquette or eating manner is regarded as strict rule for diner Without it, people are in trouble to contact and communicate with each other on the eating table So are the English.

Furthermore, the posture and word around eating table should be careful To stretch over the table for something is considered as a discourteous

action The diners should politely ask the neighbour to help “pass me the salt,

please” or “I ll trouble your passing bread-plate’ ”.The neighbour also responds courteously “certainly” Before leaving eating table the diner always

shows his laud to the cooker or the host or hostess “it s an outstanding meal’ ”

or “you ve dined me handsomely ’ ”

3.6 Summary

In the nutshell, in the chapter II we have given out some definitions of the word “meal” and remark about it We have also listed field of word “meal” in English and words relating to it in contrast with Vietnamese equivalents according to meaning and function From that we have deeply analysed and made clearly some fields of word “meal” in the light of language and culture For instance, why the English call “meal” is “meat course” or “dessert” is “sweet course”/ “pudding” Based on the analysis we realize that the original words and their meaning more or less have shown features of the land and people here Moreover, in this chapter we have given out some ways to approach English culture and people through eating and drinking

CHAPTER III CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF VIETNAMESE equivalents relating to the

English word “meal”

1 name of meals

Descended from wet rice agriculture, Vietnam as well as other neighbouring countries takes rice as the staple product And “cơm” (cooked rice) is always the main dish in during meals

On the way of calling, Vietnamese people have several ways to express the word “meal” It may be “bữa cơm” or “cơm” (which is named after the staple dish), “(bữa ăn” (the time of eating and food) Even though “bữa rau” or “bữa cháo” is used to express “meal” (“bữa rau”, “bữa cháo” mean very simple meals) For convenient the word “cơm” is almost used to replace “meal”(bữa ăn):

Meal = cơm = cơm +other dishes

However, in daily life the word “com” is understood not only as real “cơm” (cooked rice) but also other dishes In other words, “cơm” is used to refer completely to other dishes though someone does not eat “cơm”.

1.1 Breakfast

The Vietnamese attach the utmost importance eating, so there is a

saying that “Có thực mới vực đợc đạo ” It literally means that before doing something a person needs food to eat because eating will provide energy to him In other words, the belly is not filled fair words Hence, people will start a new day by a breakfast and next ones are lunch and dinner

Breakfast means a small/ light meal that a person eats in the morning It is called “bữa sáng” or “bữa điểm tâm”.

In previous years, there was no definition of breakfast as a light meal in Vietnam because breakfast was regarded as one of the main meal

In rural areas, labour productivity is very important so many people have main meal at 4 or 5 a.m to go to field When the sun goes down, darkness covers the air, they just have the second meal and then go home and have an early sleep without eating Some people have afternoon meal (lunch) at 2 or 3 p.m and their dinner are sweet potatoes or cassava or nothing Recently, in several rural areas, breakfast has been thought as sub-meal Breakfast food is quite simple just a little cold rice (left over yesterday) or

some boiling sweet potatoes or corns All these things go with fish sauce (níc m¾m) salt or pickle.

In the city, due to the Westernization process, Vietnamese meals have some changes Breakfast is legitimated and becomes official sub-meal (except in remote areas) It is usually eaten between 6 or 7 a.m It may consist of sticky rice called “x«i” or rice gruel called “ch¸o” French baguettes are baked early and these are filled with Vietnamese sausage salad, onion, spicy and pork fat One of the favourite dishes for breakfast is rice noodle with pork, chicken or beef called “phë” “Phë” is usually eaten as a kind of soup rather than “dry” like spaghetti.

Generally, to Vietnamese breakfast is a snack if not they will feel uncomfortable with a full stomach early in the morning.

1.2 lunch

Vietnamese people start a new day early Lunch (“b÷a tra”, “b÷a c¬m tra”) begins around 11-11.30 a.m

Workers traditionally go home to eat with their family This is the first meal which is cooked to serve all the family members in a day Some people who are busy or do not like cooking remain in their office to have their meal at the canteen or eat a nearby street cafe Some prepare lunch from home and pack it or buy it from a street vendor The meal may comprise noodle soup or babercused meat and some pickled vegetables eaten with rice In fact, lunch dishes are not too complicated as people do not want to spend a great proportion of their time cooking They need relaxation; thus, they often buy ready-made food On going home, they only cook rice and soup and lunch is ready

1.3 Dinner

Dinner is the first time all the members of the family reunite and eat together Dinner is flexible, around 6-8 p.m even more late because each family has different schedule Basically, the meal is the same proportion and composition as lunch, comprising three parts: vegetables soup plus picking-brine (canh), a dish of fish, eggs, or meat and rice Besides, the house wives create appetite for all the family members by changing dishes in accordance with everyone’s taste and season; for example, crab plus onion and pickling-brine soup (canh cua) In summer, there is fish soup (canh c¸) as well as in winter Wealthier families will have additional dishes to compliment these.

Besides, there is supper (ăn đêm) in the late day Although it is Vietnamese original meal, people; especially dwellers in city, adapt it nowadays The favourite dishes for supper are sticky rice, “phở” which are bought buy food stalls by night.

All in all, like so many neighbouring countries, the Vietnamese have two main meals and one sub-meal: lunch, dinner and breakfast Meal time is not specific for everyone as well as every family.

1.4 Parts of meal

Unlike in Western countries a meal often consists of three courses: starter, main course and dessert, in Vietnamese only main course called “bữa cơm”.

A typical Vietnamese meal illustrates the tradition of a wet rice culture, so agricultural imprint is very strong There are many scholars in side and out side research for Vietnamese meal and they describe it in “Hanoi’gift” by Nguyen Thi Bay in Hanoi publisher as following:

According to professor Tu Giay: Vietnamese meal consists of things from V-A-C (vờn-ao-chuồng: Vờn is a place where vegetables are planted Ao means pond in which people breed fish Chuồng is a place where cattle and poultry are kept).

Also according to Japanese professor Fukui Hayao: a Indochina meal is Cơm-Rau-Mắm-Muối-Ot (rice, vegetables, sauce fish, chilli pepper).

No matter what a Vietnamese meal includes, it usually comprises rice, vegetables, aqua-products and meat.

For agricultural countries like Vietnamese, rice is the top list of food.

There are some old Vietnamese proverbs that say: Ng“ ời sống về gạo, cá bạovề nớc ” (a man lives thanks to rice, a fish thanks to water) or Đói thì thèm“

thịt thèm xôi, hễ no cơm tẻ thì thôi mọi bề ” (being hungry you need meat and sticky rice but being full with rice you ignore everything).

Second to rice in Vietnam is vegetables For the Vietnamese Đói ăn“

rau, đau uống thuốc” (eat vegetables if you are hungry, take medicine if you

are ill) is an all time truth Fresh aquatic plants are among the commonest in a

meal, and of them, water morning glory (rau muống) may be the most popularvegetable in Vietnam In an anthology uniting all kinds of folk literature, “rau

muống” appears as an evidence for what I have just said Trời còn đây đất“

còn đây, còn ao rau muống còn đầy chum tơng” (as long as heaven and earth

still last, there still is a pond of water morning glory and a full of soy sauce)

(Huard & Durand, 1999) In addition, “rau muống” expresses a longing forhome Anh đi anh nhớ quê nhà Nhớ canh rau muống nhớ cà dầm t“ ơng ” (Far away, I miss my homeland Water morning glory soup and egg-plants steeped in soy sauce) (“Heritage”, January /February 2002).

Third in Vietnamese meal and ranking first among foods of animal origin are aqua-products (fish) since Vietnam is near sea and has a lot of rivers A second to “rice with vegetable”, “rice with fish” is the most

commonest Có cá đổ vạ cho cơm Con cá đánh ngã bát cơm“ ” (a person can eat a lot of rice if there is fish).

From the aqua-products, the Vietnamese extracts an exclusively particular condiments for their meal “nớc mắm” (fish sauce) and “mắm” (paste) On the eating table, every dish will fail its delicacy if it is served without fish sauce So, there is always a bowl of fish sauce in the centre of food tray (mâm cơm) Together with “áo dài” (traditional Vietnamese long dress), fish sauce which is known as an international word has become the symbol of Vietnam.

Besides, meat is very popular in Vietnamese: chicken, pork, beef especially dog meat (thịt chó) Dog meat is a very common dish for Vietnamese (except vegetarians) but it is considered an excremental food by foreign visitor, so they never touched whenever form.

Dessert (món tráng miệng) actually, is not an official course in Vietnam as people do not take it as a strict thing They are very easy-going about fruit or sweets after a meal Over the time, due to the changes in life, being affected by Western style, Vietnamese people gradually adapt it as a course of a meal In fact, it is not necessary to have dessert after each meal This depends on everyone’s needs Dessert may be fresh fruits, cakes, sweet porridge event boiling roots All these things are planted or made by Vietnamese themselves.

Sometimes the order (main course, dessert) can be changed if a meal is served at a restaurant or wedding party The number of courses will increase to three: starter (a small a mount of food you eat before the main, called soup), main course, dessert Nobody knows the reason why, perhaps it is cultural interference In other words, eating habit is such as integral part of culture, which travels with people wherever they go.

Finally, each course conveys Vietnamese cultural characteristics: main course (rice, vegetables, aqua-products and meat) expresses rather specifically wet rice agricultural culture tradition While Western civilization accession is