MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M.A THESIS A STUDY OF SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF IDIOMS CONTAINING THE WORDS “EAR”, “EYE”, “LIP”, “NOSE” “MOUTH” WITH REFERENCE TO THEIR VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS (NGHIÊN CỨU ĐẶC ĐIỂM CÚ PHÁP VÀ NGỮ NGHĨA CỦA THÀNH NGỮ TIẾNG ANH CHỨA CÁC TỪ ― TAI‖, ―MẮT‖, ―MÔI‖, ―MŨI‖ VÀ ―MIỆNG‖ TRONG SỰ LIÊN HỆ VỚI TƢƠNG ĐƢƠNG TIẾNG VIỆT) ĐẶNG THÙY LINH Hanoi, 2016 Front hard cover Back hard cover ĐẶNG THÙY LINH ENGLISH LANGUAGE 2014 - 2016 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M.A THESIS A STUDY OF SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF IDIOMS CONTAINING THE WORDS “EAR”, “EYE”, “LIP”, “NOSE” “MOUTH” WITH REFERENCE TO THEIR VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS (NGHIÊN CỨU ĐẶC ĐIỂM CÚ PHÁP VÀ NGỮ NGHĨA CỦA THÀNH NGỮ TIẾNG ANH CHỨA CÁC TỪ ― TAI‖, ―MẮT‖, ―MÔI‖, ―MŨI‖ VÀ ―MIỆNG‖ TRONG SỰ LIÊN HỆ VỚI TƢƠNG ĐƢƠNG TIẾNG VIỆT) ĐẶNG THÙY LINH Field: English Language Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Assoc.Prof.Dr Phan Van Que Hanoi, 2016 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled ―A study of syntactic and semantic features of idioms containing the words: ―Ear‖, ―Eye‖, ―Lip‖, ―Nose‖ , ―Mouth‖, with reference to their Vietnamese equivalents‖ submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Linguistics Except where the reference is indicated, no other person‘s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis Hanoi, 2016 Đặng Thùy Linh Approved by SUPERVISOR Phan Văn Quế Date………………………… … i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support from a number of people First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Assoc.Prof.Dr Phan Van Que, my supervisor, who has patiently and constantly supported me through the stages of the study, and whose stimulating ideas, expertise, and suggestions have inspired me greatly through my growth as an academic researcher My special word of thanks goes to all the lecturers at the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies - Ha Noi Open University for their interesting lectures and useful advice I would also like to thank my colleagues and friends for idea sharing and encouragement It would never have been possible for me to have this thesis accomplished without all of these valuable supports Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family for the sacrifice they have devoted to the fulfillment of this academic work ii ABSTRACT One of the most effective and colourful ways to transfer culture is the use of idioms which, howerver, cause several troubles for English leaners because of their confusing meanings To help learers have a better understanding of idioms, particularly idioms containing the words Ear, Eye, Lip, Nose and Mouth This thesis conducts a study of syntactic and semantic features of idioms containing the words: ―Ear‖, ―Eye‖, ―Lip‖, ―Nose‖, ―Mouth‖, with reference to their Vietnamese equivalents Both descriptive and contrastive methods are used combined with the qualitative and quantitative approach The findings of this study are presented based on a collection of 320 idioms in English and Vietnamese together with a numerous number of examples taken from various linguistics books, dictionaries, newspapers and from the Internet From the study‘s results, the thesis gives a remarkably detailed description of semantic and syntactic features in English idioms containing the words Ear, Eye, Lip, Mouth and Nose with reference to their Vietnamese equivalents and points out some similarities and differences between them The findings also aim at offering some practical implications for teaching and learning English and Vietnamese as a foreign language Finally, some suggestions for further studies are put forward iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS N : Noun V : Verb Adj : Adjective Adv : Adverb Prep : Preposition NP : Noun Phrase VP : Verb Phrase Adj.P : Adjective phrase Adv.P : Adverbial Phrase PP : Prepositional Phrase EELM&N : Ear, Eye, Lip, Mouth and Nose iv LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1: A summary of idioms conatning the words EELM&N in English and their Vietnamese equivalents in terms of syntactic………………… 34 Table 4.2: A statistical summary of syntactic features of idioms contaning the words EELM&N in English and their Vietnamese equivalents……………35 Table 4.3 A summary of for English and Vietnamese containing the words Ear, Eye, Lip, Mouth and Nose…………………………………………… 53 Table 4.4 Frequency of semantic features of idioms containing the word Ear Eye, Lip, Mouth and Nose in English and Vietnamese…………………… 53 i v TABLE CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS LIST OF TABLES CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale for the research 1.2 Aims of the research 1.3 Objectives of the research 1.4 Scope of the research 1.4.1 Academic scope 1.4.2 Social scope 1.5 Significance of the research 1.6 Structural organization of the research CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Review of previous studies 2.2 Review of theoretical background 2.2.1 Theoretical framework 2.2.1.1 Theory of syntax 2.2.1.2 Theory of semantics 10 2.2.2 Theoretical background 11 2.2.2.1 Definition of idioms 11 2.2.2.2 Idioms containing Ear, Eye, Lip, Nose, and Mouth 13 2.2.2.3 Typical Features of idioms 14 2.2.2.4 Idioms and Other language Units 18 2.2.2.5 Overview of Phrase Structure 20 2.2.2.6 Language and Culture Relationship 21 2.2.3 Summary 22 CHAPTER METHODOLOLY 23 3.1 Research-governing orientations 23 i 3.1.1 Research questions 23 3.1.2 Research setting 23 3.1.3 Research approach 23 3.1.4 Criteria for intended data collection and data analysis 25 3.2 Research methods 25 3.2.1 Major methods vs supporting methods 25 3.2.2 Data collection techniques 26 3.2.3 Data analysis techniques 27 3.3 Summary 28 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 29 4.1 Syntactic features of idioms containing the words: Ear, Eye, Lip, Mouth, and Nose in English 29 4.1.1 Phrase Structures 29 4.1.1.1 Noun Phrases 29 4.1.1.2 Verb Phrases 30 4.1.1.3 Adjective Phrase 32 4.1.1.4 Prepositional Phrases 33 4.1.2 Similarities and differences of idioms containing the words EELM&N in English and their Vietnamese equivalents in terms of syntactic features 36 4.1.2.1 Similarities 36 4.1.2.2 Differences 37 4.2 Semantic features of idioms containing the words: Ear, Eye, Lip, Mouth, and Nose in English 39 4.2.1 Meanings of Ear, Eye, Lip, Mouth, and Nose in idioms 40 4.2.1.1 Meanings of Ear in idioms 40 4.2.1.2 Meaning of Eye in idioms 41 4.2.1.3 Meanings of Lip in idioms 43 4.2.1.4 Meanings of Mouth in idioms 44 4.2.1.5 Meaning of Nose in idioms 45 i APPENDIX ENGLISH IDIOMS OF IDIOMS CONTANING THE WORDS EAR, EYE, LIP, MOUTH AND NOSE I EAR A tin ear: If someone has a tin ear, they not have a natural ability to understand or enjoy music Be all ears: To be vey eager to hear what someone is going to say Be up to your ears/eyes in sth: To have too much of something, especially work Bend one’s ear: To talk to someone for a long time, usually about something boring Box one’s ears: To hit someone, usually as a punishment Can’t believe one’s ears: If you can‘t believe your ears, you are very surprised at something that someone tells you Easy on the ear: If music is easy on the ear, it has a pleasant and relaxing sound Fall on a deaf ear: To be ignored or not noticed by the other people Go in one ear and out the other: If information goes in one ear and out the other, the person who is told it forgets it immediately because they not listen carefully enough 10 Grin/smile from ear to ear: To look extremely happy 11 Have a word in sb’s ear: To talk to someone privately, especially in order to give them advice or a warning 12 Have an ear for something: If someone has an ear for music, poetry, or languages, they are good at hearingor understanding these sounds 13 Have half an ear on sth: To listen to something without giving it all your attention 14 Have one’s ear: If someone has the ear of an important and powerful person, that person is willing to listen to their ideas 68 15 Keep an/your ear to the ground: To watch and listen carefully to what is happening around you so that you know about everything 16 Lend an ear: To listen carefully and in a friendly way to someone, especially someone who is telling you about a problem 17.Music to one’s ears: If something that you hear is music to your ears, it makes you very happy 18.One’s ears must be burning: Something that you say to someone who is being talked about 19 Play it by ear: To decide how to deal with a situation as it develops rather than planning how you are going to react 20 Ring in one’s ear: To make you feel that you can still hear something 21 Send somebody away with a flea in their ear: To angrily tell someone to go away 22 Turn a deaf ear: To ignore someone when they complain or ask for something 23 Walls have ears: Something that you say in order to warn someone to be careful what they say because someone may be listening 24.Wet behind the ears: To be young and not very experienced II EYE A bird’s eye view: A view from a very high place which allows you to see a large area A feast for the eyes: An especially attractive, pleasing, and/or remarkable sight or visual experience A red eye: A flight that leaves late at night and arrives early the next morning A roving eye: If someone has a roving eye, they are sexually attracted to people other than their partner 69 A sight for sore eyes: If someone or something is a sight for sore eyes, you feel happy to see them A worm’s eye view: If you have a worm‘s eye view of something, you only know or understand a part of it, usually the worst or least important part All eyes are on sb/sth: If all eyes are on someone or something, everyone is watching that person or thing and waiting to see what will happen An eye for an eye: Something that you say which means if someone does something wrong, they should be punished by having the same thing done to them Be all eyes: To watch something or someone with a lot of interest 10 Be one in the eye for sb: If something that someone does is one in the eye for someone else, it will annoy that person because they did not want it to happen or did not think it could happen 11 Be up to your ears/ eyes in sth: To have too much of something, especially work 12 Bedroom eyes: If someone has bedroom eyes, they look as if they are interested in sex 13 Brighted- eyed and bushy tailed: full of interest and enthusiasm 14 Can’t take/keep one’s eyes off sb/sth: If you can‘t take your eyes off someone or something, you are unable to stop looking at them because they are so attractive or interesting 15 Cast/run one’s/an eye over sth: To look at something quickly without looking at the details 16 Catch one’s eyes: To be noticed by someone because you are looking at them 17 Close/shut one’s eyes to sth: To pretend that something bad does not exist because you not want to deal with it 70 18 Couldn’t believe one’s eyes: If you say that you couldn‘t believe your eyes when you saw something, you mean that you were very surprised by it 19 Cry one’s eyes out: To cry a lot and for a long time 20 Dollar signs in one’s eyes:If someone has dollar signs in their eyes, they are thinking about the money they could get 21 Eagle eyes: To watch someone or something very closely and carefully 22 Easy on the eye: To have an attractive appearance 23 Feast your eyes on sth:To look at something with a lot of pleasure 24 Get one’s eye in: To become very good at a sport or aother activity by practicing it 25 Give one’s eye teeth for sth: If you would give your eye teeth for something, you would very much like to have or be that thing 26 Give sb the evil eye: To look at someone in an angry or unpleasant way 27 Give sb the glad eye: To look at someone in a way that makes it obvious that you are sexually attracted to them 28 Have an eye for sth: To be good at noticing a particular type of thing 29 Have eyes in the back of one’s head: To know everything that is happening around you 30 Have eyes like a hawk: If someone has eyes like a hawk, they notice everything 31 Have one’s eye on sth: To have seen something that you want and that you intend to get 32 Have/keep half an eye on sth/sb: To watch something or someone without giving them all your attention 71 33 Hit sb (right) between the eyes: If something hits someone between the eyes, it shocks them 34 In a pig’s eye: Something that you say which means you think there is no chance that something is true or that something will happen 35 In one’s eyes: In someone‘s opinion 36 In the blink of an eye: Extremely quickly 37 In the eye of the storm: To be very much involved in an argument or problem that affects a lot people 38 In the public eye: If someone is in the public eye, they are famous and are written about in newspapers and magazines and seen on television 39 In the twinkling of an eye: If something happens in the twinkling of an eye, it happens very quickly 40 Keep a weather eye on sth/sb: To watch something or someone carefully, because they may cause trouble or they may need help 41 Keep an eye on sth/sb: To watch or look after something or someone 42 Keep an eye out for sb/sth: To watch carefully for someone or something to appear 43 Keep one’s eye on the ball: To give your attention to what you‘re doing all the time 44 Keep your eyes peeled/skinned: To look carefully for st/sb 45 Lay/set eyes on sb/sth: To see someone or something for the first time 46 Look sb in the eye/eyes: To look directly st someone without fear or shame 47 Make eyes at sb: To look at someone in a way that shows them that you think they are sexually attractive 72 48 Make sheep’s eyes at sb: To look at someone in a way that shows that you love them or are attracted to them 49 Not a dry eye in the house: Something that you say which means that all the people in a particular place were very sad about what they had seen or heard and many of them were crying 50 One’s eyes are out on stalks: If someone‘s eyes are out on stalks, they are looking at someone or something in a way that shows that they think that person or thing is extremely surprising or attractive 51 Only have eyes for sb: To be interested in or attracted to only one person 52 Open one’s eyes to sth: To make someone understand something for the first time and know how difficult or unpleasant it is 53 Pull the wood over one’s eyes: To deceive someone in order to prevent them from knowing what you are really doing 54 Stars in one’s eyes: Someone who has stars in their eyes is very excited and hopeful about the future and imagines they are going to be very successful and famous 55 The apple of one’s eye: The person who someone loves most and is very proud of 56 The scales fall from one’s eyes: If the scales fall from someone‘s eyes, they are suddenly able to understand the truth 57 Turn a blind eye: To choose to ignore behaviour that you know is wrong 58 With an eye to sth: If you something with an eye to something else, you it for that reason 59 With one’s eyes closed/shut: If someone could something with their eyes shut, they can it very easily, usually because they have done it so many times before 73 60 With one’s eyes open: Knowing about all the problems there could be with something that you want to III LIP A stiff upper lip: an ability to stay calm and not show feelings of sadness or fear Bite one’s lip: To stop oneself from saying something or from showing emotion Curl your lip: to lift one side of your mouth in an expression which shows that you not like or respect something or someone Don’t give some one any of your lip! : Don‘t talk back! Give somebody some lip: To speak rudely or disrespectfully to someone; to sass someone Give/ pay lip service to sth: to say that you agree with and support an idea or plan but not anything to help it to succeed Have had enough of someone's lip: Can not stand someone‘s insolence Lick/smack one’s lips: To feel pleased and excited about something that is going to happen, usually because you think you will get something good from it My lips are sealed: something you say to let someone know that you will not tell anyone else what they have just told you 10 On everyone's lips: if a word or question is on everyone's lips, a lot of people are talking about it and interested in it 11 Read my lips: A slightly impolite way of telling someone to listen to what you are saying 12 There’s many a slip twixt cup and lip: something that you say in order to warn someone not to be too confident about the result of a plan, because many thingscan go wrong before it is completed 74 IV MOUTH A big mouth: If you have a big mouth, you talk too much, especially about things that should be secret A/ your smart mouth: If someone has a smart mouth, they speak in a way that is too clever and does not show enough respect for other people Bad-mouth sb/sth: to say unpleasant things about someone or something, especially in order to spoil other people‘s opinions of them Be all mouth: If someone is all mouth, they talk a lot about doing something but they never it Be born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth: To be the son or daughter of a very rich family Be speaking/talking out of both sides of one’s mouth: To say different things about the same subject when you are with diferent people in order to always please the people you are with Butter wouldn’t melt in one’s mouth: Be used when someone looks as if they would never anything wrong, although you feel they might By word of mouth: In speech but not in writing Down in the mouth: To be sad 10 Foam at the mouth: Very angry 11 Forth at the mouth : To be viciously and uncontrollably angry or upset 12 From the horse’s mouth: If you get information about something from the horse‘s mouth, you get it from someone who is involved in it and knows a lot about it 13 Keep one’s mouth shut: To keep something secret 75 14 Leave a bad taste in one’s mouth: If an experience leaves a bad taste in your mouth, you have an unpleasant memory of it 15 Live (from) hand to mouth: To have just enough money to live on and nothing extra 16 Make one’s mouth water: If the smell or the sight of food makes your mouth water, it makes you want to eat it 17 Melt in the mouth: Something is soft and tastes very pleasant 18 Motor mouth: An incessant talker 19 One’s heart is in their mouth: If someone‘s heart is in their mouth, they feel extremely nervous 20 Put one’s foot in one’s mouth: To say something embarrassing or wrong 21 Put words in/ into sb’mouth: To tell someone what you think they mean or want to say 22 Run off at the mouth: To talk a lot without saying anything important 23 Shoot one’s mouth off: To talk too much, especially about something you should not talk about 24 Shut one’s face/gob/mouth/trap!: An impolite way of telling someone to stop talking 25 Speak with a plum in your mouth: If someone speaks with a plum in their mouth, they speak in a way that shows they are from a very high social group 26 Take the bread out of someone's mouth: Deprive someone of his or her livelihood 27 Take the words out of sb’ mouth: To say exactly what someone else was going to say or what they were thinking 28 Wash your mouth out!: Something that you say to someone who is younger than you when you‘re angry with them for swearing 76 V NOSE Be as plain as the nose on your face: To be very obvious Brown-nose: To try too hard to please someone, especially someone in a position of authority, in a way that other people find unpleasant Can’t see beyond/past the end of one’s nose: If you can‘t see beyond the end of your nose, you think so much about yourself and what affects you that you not see what is really important Cut off your nose to spite your face: To something because you are angry, even if it will cause trouble for you Follow your nose: To make decisions by thinking of how you feel about someone or something instead of finding out information about them Get up one’s nose: To annoy someone Give sb a bloody nose: To defeat or damage someone, but not permanently or seriously Have a nose (round): to look around a place Have a nose for sth: To be good at finding a particular kind of thing 10 Have one’s nose in st : Doing something and give it all your attention 11 Keep one’s nose clean: to avoid getting into trouble or doing any thing illegal 12 Keep one’s nose out of sth: to not become involved in other people‘s activities or relationships 13 Keep one’s nose to the grindstone: to continue to work very hard, without stopping 14 Lead sb by the nose: to control someone and make them exactly what you want them to 15 Look down one’s nose at sth/sb: to think that someone is less important than you or that something is not good enough for you 77 16 Nose to tail: One closely behind the other 17 On the nose: exactly right, often an exact amount of money the time 18 Pay through the nose: to pay too much for something 19 Poke/stick one’s nose into sth: to show too much interest in a situation that does not involve you 20 Powder one’s nose: If a woman says she is going to powder her nose, she mean she is going to go to the toilet 21 Put one’s nose in it: to upset or annoy someone 22 Put one’s nose out of joint: To offend or upset someone, especially by getting something that that person wanted for himself or herself 23 Turn your nose up: To not accept so something because you not think it is good enough for you 24 Thumb one’s nose at sth/sb: to show that you not respect rules, laws, or powerful people or organizations 25 Under sb’s nose: If something bad happens under your nose, it happens very close to you but you not notice it 26 With your nose in the air: Behaving as if you think you are better than other people and not want to speak to them 78 APPENDIX VIETNAMESE IDIOMS CONTANING THE WORD EAR, EYE, LIP, MOUTH AND NOSE I 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Mắt Ăn cắp quen tay, ngủ ngày quen mắt Bằng nửa mắt Bé ngƣời, to mắt Bƣng tai bịt mắt Che mắt gian Chúi mắt chúi mũi Chƣớng tai gai mắt Có mắt khơng tròng Có mắt nhƣ khơng Có mắt nhƣ mù Con mắt tinh đời Da ngà mắt phƣợng Đầu mày cuối mặt Gái trơng mòn mắt Giàu hai mắt khó hai bàn tay Khóc hết nƣớc mắt Liếc mắt đƣa tình Mắt bé nhƣ hạt đậu Mắt bồ câu Mắt cú da lƣơn Mắt cú vọ Mắt dơi mày chuột Mắt lỗ đáo Mắt lơ mày láo Mắt nhƣ mắt diều hâu Mắt nhƣ mắt lợn luộc Mắt nhƣ mắt rắn Mắt trán Mắt ốc nhồi môi chuối mắm Mắt quáng gà Mắt sắc nhƣ dao cau Mắt thánh tai hiền 31 Mắt tháo láo 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 Mắt trắng môi thâm Mắt trƣớc mắt sau Mắt xanh mỏ đỏ Mày ngài mắt phƣợng Mở mắt lành banh mắt béo Mong đỏ mắt Múa rìu qua mắt thợ Nghe tận tai, nhìn tận mắt Ngƣời trần mắt thịt Nhắm mắt cho qua Nhắm mắt đƣa chân Nhắm mắt làm ngơ Nhắm mắt làm ngơ Nhắm mắt nói liều Nhắm mắt xuôi tay Nƣớc mắt cá sâu Nƣớc mắt lƣng tròng Ni cò cò mổ mắt Ơng trời có mắt Sáng mắt chặt đầu gối Sáng mắt Tai nghe mắt thấy Ti hí mắt lƣơn Trắng mắt Trong nhát mắt Trong chớp mắt Trông ngƣời nửa mắt Trơ mắt ếch Vải thƣa che mắt thánh Vụng tay hay mắt 79 II Miệng Ăn chùa ngọng miệng 25 Mau miệng ăn, thƣa miệng nói Ăn lỗ miệng, tháo lỗ trơn 26 Mau mồm mau miệng Bán thân muôi miệng 27 Miệng ăn núi lở Bóp mồm bóp miệng 28 Miệng cắn chân đá Che miệng gian 29 Miệng hùm gan sứa Chép miệng, thở dài 30 Miệng hùm nọc rắn Cơm kề miệng chẳng ăn 31 Miệng kẻ sang có gang có thép Cơm vào dạ, vạ vào miệng 32 Miệng khấn tay vái Dại mồm dại miệng 33 Miệng mật lòng dao 10 Độc mồm độc miệng 34 Miệng nhƣ gầu dai 11 Đƣờng miệng 35 Miệng nói chân 12 Ếch chết lỗ miệng 36 Miệng nói tay làm 13 Già kề miệng lỗ 37 Miệng chê cƣời 14 Già mồm, già miệng 38 Miệng thơn thớt, ớt ngâm 15 Há miệng chờ sung 39 Miệng tƣơi nhƣ hoa nở 16 Há miệng mắc quai 40 Mỡ treo miệng mèo 17 Hay ho lỗ miệng 41 Mồm năm miệng mƣời 18 Khéo tay hay miệng 42 Ngàn năm bia miệng 19 Khóa mồm khóa miệng 43 Ngứa mồm, ngứa miệng 20 Khôn miệng, dại tay 44 Nhanh tay mau miệng 21 Kín mồm kín miệng 45 Nhịn miệng qua ngày 22 Lắm mồm miệng 46 Nhịn miệng thết khách 23 Lấy tiền lấp lỗ miệng 47 Oang oang lỗ miệng 24 Mặt măng miệng sữa 48 Sa vào miệng cọp 49 Thấp cổ bé miệng 50 Vào lỗ tai lỗ miệng 80 III Môi Khua môi múa mép Môi thâm mắt trắng Má phấn môi son Mỏng môi hay hớt Mắt ốc nhồi, môi chuối mắn Múa mép khua môi Mắt trắng môi thâm Nhƣ môi với Môi son má phấn 10 IV Cong môi hay hớt mỏng môi hay hờn Mồm Bóp mồm bóp miệng Có mồm cắp, có nắp đậy 10 Mồm sữa Dại mồm dại miệng 11 Mồm loa mép giải Đấm mồm đấm miệng 12 Độc mồm độc miệng 13 Mồm miệng đỡ chân tay Gái đĩ già mồm 14 Mồm năm miệng mƣời Già mồm, già miệng 15 Mồm nhƣ quạ Mồm cá ngão 16 Ngứa mồm, ngứa miệng V Mồm chó vó ngựa Mồm loa miệng chảo, mách lẻo đơi co Mũi Xỏ chân lỗ mũi Mọc mũi sủi tăm Cô ăn đầu, cậu ăn mũi Tối tăm mặt mũi Tối mắt tối mũi Vuốt mặt không nể mũi Ăn ngập mặt ngập mũi 81 VI Tai Bở tai 15 Mắt dơi tai chuột Bụng đói tai điếc 16 Mật rót vào tai Bƣng tai bịt mắt 17 Mắt thánh tai hiền Bƣng tai giả điếc 18 Mắt thấy tai nghe Chẳng phải đầu phải tai 19 Mệt bở tai Chƣớng tai gai mắt 20 Ngán đến mang tai Cƣa sừng xẻ tai 21 Nghe tận tai, nhìn tận mắt Đầu cua tai nheo 22 Nói để ngồi tai 10 Đầu gối tai 23 Nóng tay bắt lỗ tai 11 Đinh tai nhức óc 24 Ớn tận mang tai 12 Đỏ mặt tía tai 25 Tai nghe mắt thấy 13 Gãi đầu gãi tai 26 Tai to mặt lớn 14 Mặt đỏ tía tai 27 Tai vách mạch rừng 28 Trái tai gai mắt 82 ... learers have a better understanding of idioms, particularly idioms containing the words Ear, Eye, Lip, Nose and Mouth This thesis conducts a study of syntactic and semantic features of idioms containing. .. features of idioms containing words: Ear, Eye, Lip, Nose and Mouth have not been investigated so far There is a need to study some syntactic and semantic features of idioms containing these words. .. kinds of idioms containing humans body organs This study concentrates on major syntactic and semantic features of and idioms containing the words: Ear, Eye, Lip, Mouth and Nose with inllustration