-1- Chapter I INTRODUCTION 1.1 RATIONALE In everyday communication, language is used as a device to express any happening or state in real life or in an imaginary world in people's mind Language is the most effective means of communication through which we convey our ideas, our thought and our desire Language helps us to clarify what we mean Each language in the world has its own linguistic devices to express the ways in which the action is carried out Circumstances of Manner are some of those devices Beside Participants and Processes, Circumstances in general and Circumstances of Manner in particular, syntactically, are considered to be an optional part of the clause, they can be omitted without changing grammatical structure of the clause However, semantically, their functions are more important; they are used to make clauses fully and thoroughly by adding information about how the action happens and feeling of the agent who does the action as well Manner Circumstances are illustrated as follows: (1) He looked at her with a soft smile on his lips [49, p 26] (2) His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon the living and the dead (3) Như ngựa bứt khỏi yên cương Phóng điên cuồng tơi bời thảo nguyên Anh thét lên sung mãn: Anh - yêu - em Em có nghe không? [48, p.156] -2- Như dòng sông từ bỏ đại ngàn Lao thẳng miền em khô khát Anh gầm lên sôi sục: Anh - yêu - em Em có nghe không? ( Ngo Mai Phong ) [44, p 153] Therefore, we should note that there will be no communication about how action happens, how the people’s feelings during the description are without the appearance of Circumstances of Manner For that importance, circumstances of manner are always encouraged in using to convey meaning of the clause more completely Manner Circumstances play a variety of semantic and syntactic roles, however, they are least studied For that reason, what I would like to in my research paper is to help Vietnamese learners of English have a clear view of common linguistic features of English Circumstances of Manner versus Vietnamese ones in the light of functional grammar 1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1.2.1 Aims The study is expected to present a contrastive analysis of the Manner circumstances used in English and in Vietnamese context, through this analysis, the study aims to give a description of syntactic and semantic features of Manner circs in both languages Theoretically, the thesis is intended to identify the similarities and differences of Manner circs in the two languages semantically and syntactically In practice, the study aims to supply not only a theoretical insight into the Manner circs in English and in Vietnamese for learners of English but also some implications in language -3- teaching and learning so that they can use them effectively in writing and in speaking English as well 1.2.2 Objectives - Based on the view of functional grammar, the study aims to identify, describe and compare semantic, syntactic features of Circumstances of manner as well as find out their similarities and differences in English and in Vietnamese - Providing a theoretical insight into Circumstances of Manner used in English so that students can recognize this potential element in the clause -The final objective is to make some implications for using Circumstances of Manner in written and spoken speech in both languages 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS What are common syntactic and semantic features of the Circumstances of manner in English and in Vietnam? What are the main differences and similarities between English circumstances of manner and Vietnamese ones? What are implications for teaching and learning circumstances of manner? 1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY The study focuses on Semantic and Syntactic features of Circs of manner in English and in Vietnamese novels, short stories, newspapers, academic prose and poetry Due to time and reference source constraints, in this study, many attempts have been made to focus on some certain syntactic and semantic features of three subtypes of Manner Circumstances – Means and Quality and Comparison -4- 1.5 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY The study consists of chapters: Chapter is the general introduction of this paper, including the rationale, aims and objectives, literature review, research method, research questions Scope of the study Chapter is concerned with the Theoretical background In this chapter, the notions of circumstances are defined Concepts and terms of them are presented All types of English and Vietnamese circumstances are introduced General view of Circumstances as well as Circumstances of manner in English and in Vietnamese In this chapter, Manner Circumstances in both languages are presented simultaneously Chapter focuses on the Research Methodology and Procedure including the research design and the steps to collect and analyze data Chapter will concentrate on the contrast and analysis of semantic and syntactic features of Manner circumstances In this chapter, English circumstances are discussed fully and thoroughly in comparison with Vietnamese ones in order to draw out the similarities and differences of the circumstances in both languages The study closes with Chapter This chapter is the final conclusion of the whole work that is carried out Some implications and suggestions for the teaching and learning are discussed in this chapter Some suggested ideas are mentioned for further research -5- Chapter THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW Up to now, the Circumstances of Manner have been paid greater attention by some linguistic researchers However, these elements have been referred to by the researchers under the terms ‘Manner adverbs’ ‘Manner adjuncts’ or Circumstance adverbials of manner’…These terms are involved in the cover term Circumstances of Manner which are used to indicate their functions in the clauses A number of classifications of manner adverbs have been proposed in the literature, among them, those are of Bartsch (1976), Dik (1989), and Quirk et al.(1985) These classifications although all based on semantic and syntactic factors, differ in many ways Quirk et al identify a subcategory of a verbal modifiers that they call process adjuncts They define process adjunct as adjuncts that restrict in some way the process denoted by a verb They distinguish manner adjuncts from other process adjuncts such as means modifiers (independently, pictorially, etc.) and instrument modifiers (with a knife, by hand) Manner adjuncts are those process adjuncts that specify the way of manner in which the process denoted by the verb occurs Quirk et al, offer a number of syntactic diagnostics for distinguishing manner adverbs from other types of process adjuncts For example, they can serve as the focus of clause comparison and can be premodified by how, so and however (5) They sprayed tears gas indiscriminately on the protesters [32, p 221] (6) She replied to question with great courtesy [32, p 221] (7) He spoke in a way that reminded me of his father [32, p 221] (8) You should write as I tell you [32, p.221] -6- (9) How independently Jill published her novel [32, p.221] Bartsch identifies five subcategories of Manner adverbs based on their semantic and syntactic behavior, including those that characterize the process denoted by verb, those that characterize the agent of the process and those that compare the process to some other things like a plan according to plan or expectation (as expected) Dik identifies three subcategories, which he ties, at least in part to a semantic subcategorizations of verbs: controller oriented, soa (state of affair) oriented and the goal oriented In addition, Julia B St John in the research “ On the Semantics of English Manner Adverbs” investigates the semantic properties of English manner adverbs and subject modifiers and the verbs they modify The purpose of the study is to determine which of these semantic properties are relevant to manner adverb modification and to enable a comparison of those properties to the semantic properties relevant to the syntactic phenomenon of argument realization and to other semantic phenomena such as the temporal and aspectual properties of verbs Besides, Angela Downing and Philip Lock (1992) also express their concerns about the classifications and positions of adverbs in general and adverbs of manner in particular In the book “A University Course in English Grammar” (1992:572), adverbs of manner, according to them are highly expected to use in literature description (1992:553) Furthermore, T.Givon has also touched on the matter in the book “A Functional based Introduction - Volume 1” During the discourse he suppose that adverbs is the least homogeneous class and the hardest to define (1993:71) And this heterogeneity is deeply reflected through the complexity of adverbs of manner in syntax, semantics and morphology Clearly, he argues that “the semantic range of adverbs of manner is wide and -7- heterogeneous and depends on the specific meaning of the verb” (1993:71) What about syntactic construction , “the syntactic heterogeneity of manner adverbs also is evident in the flexibility of their positioning the clause” (1993:72) From their explanation, a closely related conclusion has been reached in order to consider adverbs of manner in a range of semanticsyntactic diversity in English grammar system In Vietnamese, in the book “Thành phần câu Tiếng Việt” Nguyễn Minh Thuyết and Nguyễn Văn Hiệp (p.288) have the research on elements of sentences and kinds of adverbs in Vietnamese They categorize types of adverbs from the point of view of semantic function such as time, place, manner purpose, constrain, limit According to the scholars, adverbs of manner can be further described in terms of various functional roles such as means, quality, comparison, concession and agentive adverbs: (10) Hắn thừ mặt ra, kẻ phải đày, buổi chiều âm thầm kia, ngồi khói nặng u buồn mà nhớ quê hương (Manner: Comparison) [9, p.320)] (11) Chính qua tâm hồn ta, ta hiểu tâm hồn người (Manner: Means) [9, p.320] (12) Tuy biết vậy, cố làm vui vẻ (Manner: Concession) [9, p.320] (13) Chùa xây từ thời cách nghìn sáu trăm năm nhà sư Ấn Độ ( Manner: Agent) [9, p.320] Furthermore, Hoàng Văn Vân in “Ngữ Pháp Kinh Nghiệm Cú tiếng Việt mô tả theo Quan niệm Chức Năng Hệ Thống”, uses the term ‘ chuyển tác chu cảnh’ to indicate the circumstantial transitivity in Vietnamese transitivity system In his research, Circumstances in general and Manner -8- Circumstances (Manner Circs) in particular are mentioned sufficiently and thoroughly According to the researcher, Vietnamese circumstantial transitivity can be subclassified into eight subtypes Those are Extent (Spatial & Temporal), Location Manner (Means, Quality, Comparison), Cause, Accompaniment, Matter, Role and Angle Besides, he offers a number of semantic and syntactic diagnostics for distinguishing Manner Circs from other circumstances Manner Circs are illustrated as bellow: (14) Chú phải xe Volga đen (Manner: Means) [10, p.429] (15) Tôi đọc kỹ sách ( Manner : Quality) [10, p178] (16) Máy bay bay vun vút én, bầu trời.(Manner: Quality; Comparison) [11, p.177] Factually, the notions of manner circumstances are understood differently by grammarians Those can be realized in classification of these elements, hence, there are some overlaps in distinguishing between subtypes of manner circs In addition, in Vietnamese, researches on grammar lack in formality criteria to identify adverbs and distinguish them from other components of a sentence Therefore, Hallidayan’s theory as well as his terms are used as a guideline into investigate Manner Circumstances For that reason, we propose that the research on Manner circumstances (Manner circs) should be a contrastive analysis of English and Vietnamese to yield more fruitful information for Vietnamese learners of English 2.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND In this section, the fundamental theoretical background relating to Circumstances in general and Manner circs in particular will be referred -9- 2.2.1 Semantics and Semantic field Questions of 'semantics' are an important part of the study of linguistic structure They encompass several different investigations: how each language provides words and idioms for fundamental concepts and ideas (lexical semantics), how the parts of a sentence are integrated into the basis for understanding its meaning (compositional semantics), and how our assessment of what someone means on a particular occasion depends not only on what is actually said but also on aspects of the context of its saying and an assessment of the information and beliefs we share with the speaker In the book “Semantics: A Coursebook” Hurford, J.R and HeasleyB gave the definition of semantics: “Semantics is the study of Meaning in Language” Then this question will natuarally come up What is meaning? The word “meaning” and corresponding verb “mean” were once focus of a great deal of discussion among linguists interested in semantics 2.2.1.1 Sense An element of the meaning of a word; a description of the characteristic feature of what the word refers to E.g the sense of grasshopper is ‘an insect which can jump high and make a sharp noisy by rubbing its legs against its body’ In some cases, the same word can have more than one sense (17) I have an account at the Bank of Scotland [27, p.29] (18) We steer the raft to the other bank of the river (19) The DC-10 banked sharply to avoid a crash (20) I bank the furnace up with coke last night The word bank here has at least different senses However, we talk about not only the sense of word, but also of longer expression such as phrases and sentences - 10 - The following pairs mean the same thing: (21) Harriet wrote the answer down (22) Harriet wrote down the answer (23 ) Bachelors prefer redheads (24) Girl with red hair are preferred by un married men [27, p28] On the relationship between sense and reference: reference of an expression is often a thing or a person in the world; whereas the sense of an expression is not a thing at all 2.2.1.2 Word Meaning One point all linguists probably agree on is the centrality of words to language All aspects of language are tied in some ways or other to words Words have two aspects, their forms and their meanings, actually we'll only be considering words in one category, those words that refer to things in the world How people use words to refer is just one aspect of the question of what it means, which turns out to be an enormously complicated topic, one where linguists and other cognitive scientists still have a long way to go But the idea of meaning is at the heart of what language is, so we can't really put it off Even just scratching the surface of this topic, as I'll in this chapter, will lead us to look at notions that seem to be beyond language: how people categorize objects in the world and how people use one kind of situation to help them understand another kind of situation But to say anything at all about the meanings of words seems to require an account of where those meanings come from and what good they are for us - 69 - (275) Chỉ sợ đứng lại thêm vài giây cô kìm giữ câu nói nặng nề thô bạo muốn hắt hắt bát nước bẩn vào người đần độn, vô ý [39, p 262] + Finite clauses như, thể, giống như, + finite clause (276 ) Tay cầm sợi dây, ông lầm lũi đi, giống người vừa chăn trâu [41, 294] (277) Có việc cần nhờ bạn, chạy đến nhà họ anh mắt tròn mắt dẹt thằng ăn cắp bị đuổi [39, p 287] (278) Hai người nằm nghiêng úp mặt vào hai người bạn tri kỷ truyện trò, tay anh ôm ngang lưng bạn, bạn gác chân bị thương qua người anh [39, p 166] Studying all the above mentioned examples, (from 267 to 278 ) we can recognize that in this subtypes of manner –comparison- adverbs, adverbial groups, prepositional phrases and clauses are used as means to compare the way something is done with the way something or someone else does it In sum, in this part of findings, about 300 contextual cases of English Manner Circs have been presented and described in a contrast with the Vietnamese ones Table 4.1 and 4.2 summarize all the syntactic and semantic features of Manner Circs From the examples illustrated above we can realize that there are some similarities and differences in syntactic and semantic features of Manner Circs in English and in Vietnamese Those differences and similarities will be discussed more in the next part - 70 - Table 4.1 Summary of Syntactic and Semantic features of English Manner Circumstances Semantic Syntactic subcategories Quality realizations Single adverbs Examples You can run fast but not here He listened politely Means Adverbial groups The tears gathered more thickly in his eyes Prepositional I had to choose my word with care phrases Can’t we discuss this in a sensible way? Single adverbs He decided to treat the patient surgically Prepositional He goes to work by bus phrases Lift a load by means of a crane By making mistakes, we all learn something Instrument PPs They polluted the water with chemicals Agent PPs He was killed by a bullet Comparison Adverbs But I knew differently PPs The lip curled like a snail’s foot Finite Clause Her face was unruffled as if it had been made of steel Non Finite Clauses The priest nodded as if in understanding - 71 - Table 4.2 Summary of Syntactic and Semantic features of Vietnamese Manner Circumstances Semantic subcategories Syntactic realizations -Monosyllabic Adv -Multisyllabic Adv -Adverbial groups -Nominal groups Quality -Prepositional phrases -Non-finite clauses Means Instrument Comparison Examples Tôi gạt mắng Trũi Một đàn cá sắt rầm rập kéo tới Tất gia đình anh đón chờ nhìn cô đầy trìu mến Nó tiến bước dài đường nghệ thuật Từ sống với tình cảm thông thường đàn bà Ăn xong ngồi xỉa nhanh nhách, há mồm vẹo mặt để thò ngón tay vào cậy thứ mắc kẹt kẽ Nominal groups Hắn rón chân không lại Prepositional phrases Khách đến xe Volga đen Nhờ có đê tiện, ông chiếm xí nghiệp xà phòng lớn Prepositional phrases Hoài chí đoán biết cụ run rẩy viết nét bút chì Adverb Prepositional phrases Finite – Clauses Non-finite Clauses Tôi nghĩ khác Từ chẳng dám cãi nửa lời, cúi mặt xuống, đứa trẻ Trên kia, giăng nhởn nhơ cô gái non vừa có nhân tình Cái cử khiến anh cảm động tin vào tin vào lời thề - 72 - 4.3 SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES OF MANNER CIRCS IN ENGLISH AND IN VIETNAMESE By comparison of all the samples illustrated above, it can be seen that there are some similarities and differences regarding syntactic and semantic features of English and Vietnamese Manner Circs 4.3.1 Similarities Firstly, on syntactic aspect, both English Vietnamese Manner Circs are viewed as an optional part of a clause, they can be omitted without changing the grammatical structure of the clause + In English (279) Jim put his arm around her and comforted her in his manlike way [49, p 68] (280 ) He looked at us in something akin to frenzy, and John gestured with his head [40, p 293] (279’) Jim put his arm around her and comforted her (280’) He looked at us , and John gestured + In Vietnamese (281) Hơi tí cười toe toét, tít mắt lại, má hây hây [34, p.45] (282) Chị ngồi ngất ngưởng xe Anh tay ghi đông, tay yên, gò người đẩy xe ngược dòng nước cao đến bụng [37, p 256] (281’) Hơi tí cười , má hây hây (282’) Chị ngồi xe Anh đẩy xe ngược dòng nước cao đến bụng Clearly, there is no change in syntactic structures of the sentences (279’ , 280’) in English and (281’,282’) in Vietnamese in compare with their original sentences although the Manner Circs in them are left out - 73 - Secondly, both English and Vietnamese Manner Circs are realized by Single adverbs, Adverbial groups, Nominal groups, Prepositional phrases and Clauses Table 4.3 Syntactic realizations of English and Vietnamese Manner Circs Syntactic realizations Adv AdvGs NGs PPs Finite Non-finite English + + + + + + Vietnamese + + + + + + Thirdly, on the ground of position, from the samples illustrated above, we can easily find out that Manner Circs in both languages can be flexible with their positions in a clause: final, middle and initial one Short manner adverbs in English ( fast, well, hard, late…), monosyllabic adverbs in Vietnamese (nhanh, chậm, giỏi, tốt, hay, dở, tệ ) and prepositional phrases in both languages commonly favor the final position (283) He was good at getting people to come to work on time and to work hard [51, p.67] (284) Johnsy lay very still under the bedclothes, with her face toward the window [49, p.16] (285) Và chị bước nhanh vào, mưa ạt tới Cửa xe đóng mạnh [37, p.305] (286) Đừng có làm diều bay lên mây dây thằng khác [38, p.245] English manner adverbs ending in ‘ly’ and multi-syllabic manner adverbs in Vietnamese like vội vàng, nhanh nhẹn, cẩn thận, ngon lành can appear in three positions of a clause + English (287) “I wish you would tell it to someone in the poolroom,” replied Bryson sourly (288)And then she nervously and quickly pinned it up again [49, p.97] [48,p.472] - 74 - + Vietnamese (289) Về nhà lăn ngủ anh vục mặt vào bàn uỳnh uỵch viết [38, p.79] (290) Sấp ngửa chị chạy vào cổng, quảng rổ, mẹt, mê nón xuống sân, vội vàng, chị vào nhà [34, p.168] For the Manner Circs realized by PPs, in both English and Vietnamese clause, their positions are mostly initial and final ones + English (291) She tried to restrain her emotion with great effort but she failed [50, p.386] (292) Now, without warning, she was gone, as completely absent as if she had never existed [49, p.8] + Vietnamese (293) Bằng lời nói đánh lừa ý nghĩ lòng anh nhà quê, lại làm cho cô gái sành sỏi Hà Nội cảm động [39, p.195] (294) Chỉ có việc cần nhắc nhở sai khiến, cô nói với chồng với người khác [39, p.264] On semantic aspect, both English and Vietnamese Manner Circs are divided into three subcategories Each of these subcategories has its own devices to realize However, the typical type of those devices in both languages is Prepositional phrase with prepositions ‘with, in, on’ in English and in Vietnamese ‘bằng, với, qua, bởi, trong, theo’ These PPs are used to express Means and Quality as well Semantically, therefore, it is difficult to draw a sharp line between these subtypes which expressed by the PPs in both languages - 75 - Table 4.4 The Semantic subcategories of Manner Circumstances in English & Vietnamese English Vietnamese Quality Phong cách Chất lượng Means Phong cách Phương tiện Comparison Phong cách so sánh + Quality Quality in both English and Vietnamese is used to indicate the manner in which the action is carried out and the feeling of the agent while doing it (295) “Six,” said Johnsy, almost in a whisper [49, p.21] (296) But she held them tightly at last was able to look up with red eyes, to smile and say [49, p.69] (297) Đội Tảo không cần kín đáo nói toang toang chợ, trước mặt người [34, p.63] (298) Phú Thăng nói giọng méo mó Ông ngồi lọt ghế xa lông [38, p.265] + Means Both English and Vietnamese use this subtype to indicate the means and Instruments which the agent use to carry out the action (299) Jimmy took it with a weary hand [49, p.86] (300 ) With your good nursing, you’ll win the battle, I think [49, p.32] (301) British cinema must grow up, but it can only so by building on everything it has already created, even when that includes silly Hollywood ripoffs [SundayVietnam News24/7/04 p.6] (302) Bằng lời nói đánh lừa ý nghĩ lòng anh nhà quê lại làm cho cô gái sành sỏi Hà Nội cảm động [39, p 294] - 76 - (303) Điền nghĩ đến người đàn bà nhàn hạ, vừa tắm thứ nước thơm tho, mặc áo lụa xanh, ngả thân mềm xích đu đưa đẩy đôi chân thưỡn thẹo [34, p 87] In order to express Means and Quality, PPs with preposition ‘with,’ in English is used as the typical means, its equivalent in Vietnamese is ‘ bằng, với’ + Comparison Comparison in both English and Vietnamese can be realized by adverbs This is adverb differently in English and in Vietnamese, its equivalent is khác, which are used to indicate the differences of ways in which the process is carried out (304) Then she asked me why we treated social services staff differently from everyone else [39, p 275] The simile in both languages is expressed by PPs with prepositions like, as and clauses with subordinators as if, as though in English and in Vietnamese their equivalents are như, giống dường như, thể (305) As if unsure of where she was , she hesitated and looked around [47, p 534] (306 ) Ghé đít vào thành giường, đặt tay lên trán vợ y kiểu thầy thuốc thăm bệnh an ủi… In general, studying [39, p.264] all the examples mentioned above from a contrastive view, we can see that there is almost no syntatic difference between the English and Vietnamese Manner circs Semantically, in both languages Manner Circs can be classified in three main subcategories, and the means that are used to express the semantic features of Manner Circs between two languages mostly are the same However, beside the similarities that have been mentioned above, there are some differences which will be concerned below - 77 - 4.3.2 Differences As stated above, Manner Circs in English and in Vietnamese have many similarities in this regard However, we should not make a conclusion that there is no difference between two languages The major and most typical difference between English and Vietnamese Manner adverbs is their morphosyntactic features In English, most manner adverbs involve the suffix ‘ly’ Hence, there often is fairly straightforward formal contrast between adjectival and adverbial In Vietnamese, on the other hand, there is no morphological difference between manner adverbs and adjectives, for example, the word hay in the following sentences: (307) Cô bé hát hay (Manner Adverbs) (308) Cô bé có giọng hát hay.( adjectival complement) Therefore, it is very difficult even for Vietnamese native speakers not specializing in semantics to identify whether hay is adjectival or adverbial in Vietnamese In these cases we have to base on the syntactic structure As we have mentioned above, manner adverbs are optional elements Hence, they can be left out without changing syntactic structure of the clause or the basic meaning of the clause (307’) Cô bé hát In the sentence (307’) the word hay has been left out but the basic meaning and grammar of the clause remains, hence, hay is a manner adverb and in the second sentence it is not, it must be an adjective ? Cô bé có giọng hát Another difference in syntactic features between English and Vietnamese is the positions of Manner Circs expressed by manner adverbs In English, their position has to strictly depend on the length of the object of - 78 - the clause Meanwhile, Vietnamese adverbs of manner ( multisyllabic) are always unchanged They seem to be more stable than English ones They tend to be placed right before the verbs or at the end of the sentence with ‘một cách’ added More clearly, consider the following examples: (309) Mọi người hối thu dọn [37, p.378] The manner adverb ‘hối hả’ placed before the verb ‘thu dọn’ can be moved to final position with the addition ‘một cách’ as follows: ( 309’) Mọi người thu dọn cách hối In English clauses with the appearance of long object, manner adverbs are always placed in the middle position rather than in the final one (310) He watched sleepily the flakes, silver and dark, falling obliquely against lamplight [49, p.113] In the same cases, Vietnamese multisyllabic manner adverbs, which are modifiers of intransitive verbs, can be placed freely either in middle or final position Whereas, in English, manner adverbs ending in ‘ly’ can not occur in the middle position (311) Pha nước kéo ghế ngồi, khép nép dịu dàng cô trả lời câu hỏi công việc, sức khoẻ, đời sống [39, p 247] (312) Anh cúi xuống bên máy nước, lấy hai tay vục vào nước súc ùng ục [37, p.197] (313) The day passed slowly (314) Lawyer Tolman repeated solemnly, “ and here is the money” [49, p.31] [49, p.39] On the whole, the differences and similarities between English and Vietnamese Manner Circs, which we have mentioned above are of course not complete enough However, to some extent, it is useful to identify and clarify one of the most heterogeneous class in both languages - 79 - Chapter CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 5.1 CONCLUSION As mentioned in the previous chapters, the purpose of the thesis is descriptive and contrastive analysis of the Manner circs in both languagesEnglish and Vietnamese- on syntactic and semantic aspects On the principles of contrastive linguistics and in the light of functional grammar, the study has tried to identify and interpret Manner circs to find out their similarities and differences To begin with, in the chapter One, the study presents the introduction with an overview of the problem under investigation In chapter Two, the review of previous studies related to Manner circs and general, fundamental and essential theoretical concepts concerning the subject under consideration are presented The definitions of terms are given in order to deal with general notion of Manner circs in the two languages In the light of the researches of many linguists in English like Bartsch, Dik, Quirk et al., Julia B and St John, Downing, T.Givon and M.A.K Halliday, and in Vietnamese like Cao Xuan Hao, Diep Quang Ban, Nguyen Minh Thuyet, Nguyen Van Hiep and Hoang Van Van, we built up the study on syntactic and semantic features of Manner circs with the hope of showing the general picture of Manner circs in the two languages As far as methodology is concerned, a contrastive analysis is used as an important method to point out the similarities and differences of English and Vietnamese Manner circs Based on the theoretical basis, the data collected are classified into specific categories in semantic and syntactic aspects In the part of findings and discussion in chapter 4, according to semantic features, Manner circs are divided into major subtypes as Means, Quality and - 80 - Comparison and they are realized by some typical linguistic units in syntactic aspect such as adverbs, adverbial groups, nominal groups, prepositional phrases and clauses Factually, data studied show that each subtypes of Manner circs has its own typical syntactic realizations to express its functions, for example: the typical linguistic units are used to express Means are PPs, Quality can be realized by AdvGs and PPs, and the typical realizations of the Comparison are Clauses In some cases, we can choose some linguistic units to indicate one semantic function of Manner circs (as in sentences (163) & (164)), however, in certain cases, the use of linguistic units are considered to be obligatory ( as in (153) & (154)) Besides, through the data, I realized that there are not many differences in expression of Manner circs in the two languages syntactically and semantically as well It means that to express a Manner circ in English , we can easily find an equivalent in Vietnamese, and vice versa, except for some special cases That is quite convenient for learners of English in choosing an appropriate linguistic unit to express the manner in which the action is carried out or the feeling of the agent who does the action as well To sum up, Manner circs are regarded as an interesting element of the clause So, an investigation into Manner circs in English and in Vietnamese is very helpful for learners in language usage Although the study is quite small, we should think that the result of this study is still modest We hope, however, this research work would be more or less beneficial for the Vietnamese teachers and learners of English and all of those who are concerned about applying effectively the Circumstances of Manner in their English writing and speaking - 81 - 5.2 IMPLICATIONS FOR LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING In written and spoken English and Vietnamese, the use of manner adverbs has much sense, with its help, an action, an event or feeling of people have been described much more colorfully and thoroughly In addition, Manner Circs are used to emphasize the way in which the action is carried out, for example, the groups and phrases like ‘work hard’ ‘ write carelessly’ ‘ reply with great courtesy’ ‘ walked in single file’ are more precise than single verbs ‘ work, write, reply, walked’ However, in comparison with others elements of the clause like verbs and nouns, adverbs in general and adverb of manner in particular seem to be paid less attention and used not often in during the writing and speaking process As in English, in Vietnamese, writers try to find out the most interesting verbs or well chosen nouns for their descriptions, whereas, the use of adverbs seems to be forgotten For that reason, the contrast analysis of the Manner Circs in English and in Vietnamese may be useful for teachers and learners of English One of the aims of this contrastive analysis is that teachers should use the results of the study in their teaching The differences as well as the similarities pointed out in the study will, to some extent , help the teachers to predict those areas of English manner circumstances which will cause some problems for Vietnamese learners They also help them to diagnose errors by pinpointing the sources of errors that have been committed by the learners when learning The contrastive analysis may provide the teachers with understanding of the nature of the mother tongue and the foreign language and it will enable him to find ways to deal with any problem raised by the nature of the differences and similarities and to take them into account when teaching - 82 - When teaching English Manner Circs , together with teaching three subtypes of them, teachers should also point out the differences and the similarities in syntactics and semantics between English Manner Circumstances and their Vietnamese equivalents This will help the learners avoid committing intra-lingual errors in translating from English to Vietnamese and vice versa For example, the English preposition with has two equivalents in Vietnamese, those are and với Prepositional phrases headed by with are used as a device to indicate quality (or manner) in which a process is carried out or instruments that agent uses to perform the action The teachers should also help the learners avoid committing developmental errors by pointing out the diverse of Manner Circs in their position so that students can place this element of the clause correctly In addition, the teachers should help students recognize the usefulness of manner Circs in their written and spoken speech, and encourage them to use these elements effectively in the way that produce more Manner Circs (as they become more advanced), and become aware of how Manner Circs operate differently in different registers 5.3 LIMITATIONS Due to the limitation of time and sources of materials relating to the problem investigated -Circumstances of Manner, the study has some limitations though we have tried our best Firstly, because the study covers a whole range in both syntactic and semantic features of Manner Circs, hence it has not been presented and analyzed thoroughly enough Secondly, because of different terms used by grammarians especially Vietnamese ones, the writer of the thesis has great difficulty in dealing with Vietnamese terminology - 83 - Thirdly, the thesis mostly focuses on written speech rather than on spoken one, for example, speech from the tapes and films has not been studied sufficiently in this research Finally, there have not been many reference books and documents relating to Vietnamese Manner Circs and the writer’s knowledge in this field is very limited as well Therefore, the intention of the writer in the field of English and Vietnamese contrastive analysis, in a certain extent, can not be fully achieved, and the chapter four of the thesis has not accomplished a satisfactory depth as it should 5.4 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH The study has just described and analyzed the semantic and syntactic features of Manner Circs based on Functional grammar This constituent of the clause covers a broad domain Thus, there are some interesting points that need deeper research : - Pragmatic features of Manner Circs in English and in Vietnamese - Association between position and semantic categories of Manner Circs - Distinguishing between Manner Circs and Attribute in English and in Vietnamese [...]... MANNER CIRCUMSTANCES IN ENGLISH AND IN VIETNAMESE 2.5.1 Definition of Manner Circumstances in English and in Vietnamese 2.5.1.1 Manner Circumstances in English Manner is a circumstantial role of a process that describes the manner in which the process' actualization is achieved Commonly realized by adverbs in English, although there are other possibilities, for example, within the current grammar, it is... reliable and valid - 33 - Chapter 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE MANNER CIRCS 4.1.1 Syntactic features of Manner Circs in English As we have mentioned in previous chapters, this study focuses on the Manner circs, which is used to convey the manner or circumstances of an event or situation The most common way of this expression is by using Adverbs of manner, ... II In this chapter, the general view of functional grammar, its metafunctions, experiential meaning, English and Vietnamese circumstances with their subtype- circumstances of manner- have been defined Due to the limitation of time and documents, my study tries to focus on the role of Manner Circs with their syntactic and semantic features Syntactic realizations of Manner Circs are expressed by single... frame of reference for interpreting our experience of what goes on 2.3.3.1 Processes and Process types According to Butt D (1994), processes are realized in the grammar by verbal groups Here verbal groups model the experience of event in Englishwhatever is happening, acting, doing, sensing, saying or simply being As with the nominal group, the verbal group may consist of one word or of group of word... written by English and Vietnamese linguists, - the English – Vietnamese and Vietnamese – English dictionaries, - the studies published in linguistic journals, - the academic writing such as linguistic research papers… - the internet sources Specifically, the data in English mainly taken from the novels Vanity fair by Thackeray W.M [52], The Life of Sharlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskell [47], and some... SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR 2.3.1 What is Systemic Functional Linguistics ? Systemic -Functional Linguistics is concerned with understanding how the ways in which language is used for different purposes and in different contexts and situations that shape its structure The key argument is that to understand linguistic meaning we have to appreciate the function of items in a structure The ways in which... noun or pronoun The Nominal groups function in providing additional elements of meaning, such as by identifying, classifying, quantifying, describing, and by relating the thing to the speaker in terms of proximity or attitude We may describe this function of the Nominal group as the expression of Experiential meaning We have seen also that nominal groups function as units within the clause as subjects,... phrases and Clauses Semantically, study tends to concentrate on three subtypes of Manner circumstances, those are Quality , Means and Comparison - 29 - Chapter 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 METHODOLOGY As I have noted in the previous chapter, the aim of the study is investigation into the semantic and syntactic features of Manner circs in English and in Vietnamese The methods that predominate in this... written in a similar way with prepositional phrase in the manner of: (68’) You could move with cat-like grace, but not move in the manner of cat (69’) He is a famous model He walked across the T platform in the manner of style ( performing) Therefore beside of using Adverbs of manner, Prepositional phrases or Noun phrases sometimes can be used to give more information about the manner or circumstances of. .. according to their syntactic functions expressed by linguistic units such as Nominal groups, Adverbial groups, Prepositional phrases and Clauses ( Nonfinite and Finite) and their semantic functions such as Means, Quality and Comparison used as Manner circs These two 500-sentence corpora have been used for the description and contrastive analysis of grammatical devices expressing manner circs in English and ... GENERAL VIEW OF MANNER CIRCUMSTANCES IN ENGLISH AND IN VIETNAMESE 2.5.1 Definition of Manner Circumstances in English and in Vietnamese 2.5.1.1 Manner Circumstances in English Manner is a circumstantial... syntactic and semantic features of the Circumstances of manner in English and in Vietnam? What are the main differences and similarities between English circumstances of manner and Vietnamese. .. Vietnamese learners of English have a clear view of common linguistic features of English Circumstances of Manner versus Vietnamese ones in the light of functional grammar 1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES