MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M.A THESIS A STUDY OF IDIOMS BY ANIMALS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE FROM COMPONENT PERSPECTIVE (NGHIÊN CỨU THÀNH NGỮ THUỘC CHỦ ĐỀ ĐỘNG VẬT TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀTIẾNG VIỆT TỪ BÌNH DIỆN HỢP PHẦN) TRẦN THỊ NGA Field: English Language Code: 60220201 Hanoi, 2017 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M.A THESIS A STUDY OF IDIOMS BY ANIMALS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE FROM COMPONENT PERSPECTIVE (NGHIÊN CỨU THÀNH NGỮ THUỘC CHỦ ĐỀ ĐỘNG VẬT TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀTIẾNG VIỆT TỪ BÌNH DIỆN HỢP PHẦN) TRẦN THỊ NGA Field: English Language Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Dang Nguyen Giang, Ph D Hanoi, 2017 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY Except where reference has been made in the text, this thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person I hereby state that this thesis is the result of my own research and the substance of the thesis has not, wholly or in part, been submitted for any degrees to any other universities or institutions Student’s Signature Tran Thi Nga Approved by SUPERVISOR Dang Nguyen Giang, Ph D Date:…………………… i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support from several people First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dang Nguyen Giang, Ph D, 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 Many thanks go to my colleagues and many others whose support and encouragement help me to have this thesis accomplished Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family for their patience, endless love, and devotion Whatever choices I have made, they have always stood by me and believed in me I am immensely thankful for all the assistance they have given me ii ABSTRACT An investigation of idioms by animals in English and Vietnamese in terms of structural and semantic components is carried out in the present study Componential analysis, describing, comparing and contrasting, and experimental research are regarded as the main methods used in the present thesis The findings of the study are concerned with the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms by animals in terms of structural and semantic components In order to collect the data, a hand search approach of the dictionaries in both languages has been conducted, which helps to establish a corpus of 180 idioms by animals in English and 186 idioms by animals in Vietnamese In the present study, a common theoretical framework on idioms is applied to both English and Vietnamese The structural and semantic components involve three types of idioms existing in our data: symmetrical, similized, and non-symmetrical (Hoàng Văn Hành (2008)) The structural components of each idiom type are realized, described and analyzed according to grammatical rules suggested by Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, & Svartvik (1985) The semantic components of each idiom type involve the motivation degrees (transparent, semi-transparent, semi-opaque, and opaque) (Fernando & Flavell (1981), Fernando (1996)) The findings of the current study also reveal that most of the idioms in both English and Vietnamese are analyzable and have meanings that are at least partly motivated The main findings are also applied to idiom teaching and learning at Nguyen Huu Tien High School in Ha Nam iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aim(s) and Objectives of the Research 1.3 Research Questions 1.4 Methods of the Research 1.4.1 Major Methods 1.4.2 Data Collection Techniques 1.4.3 Data Analysis Techniques 1.5 Scope of the Research 1.6 Significance of the Research 1.7 Design of the Research CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Previous Research 2.1.1 Previous Research Works on Idioms in English 2.1.2 Previous Research Works on Idioms in Vietnamese 2.2 Theoretical Background 12 2.2.1 Idioms Defined 12 2.2.2 Idioms from Traditional, Cognitive and Perspective Component Views 14 2.2.3 Idioms and other language units 17 2.3 Summary 20 CHAPTER 3: STRUCTURAL AND SEMANTIC COMPONENTS OF IDIOMS BY ANIMALS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE 21 3.1 Structural Components of Idioms by Animals in English and Vietnamese 21 3.1.1 Symmetrical Idioms by Animals 21 3.1.2 Similized Idioms by Animals 24 3.1.3 Non-Symmetrical Idioms by Animals 28 3.2 Semantic components of idioms by animals in English and in Vietnamese 33 3.2.1 Motivation Degrees of Symmetrical Idioms by Animals 34 3.2.2 Motivation Degrees of Similized Idioms by Animals 35 3.2.3 Motivation Degrees of Non-symmetrical Idioms by Animals 37 3.3 Comparison between English and Vietnamese Idioms by Animals 40 iv 3.3.1 In terms of structural components 40 3.3.2 In terms of semantic components 41 CHAPTER 4: IDIOM TECHING AND LEARNING THROUGH TRUCTURAL AND SEMANTIC COMPONENT ANALYSIS 44 4.1 Idioms and their Importance for English Language Learners 44 4.2 Reality of Idiom Teaching and Learning at Nguyen Huu Tien High School 46 4.3 Idiom Teaching and Learning through Componential Analysis 48 4.3.1 Participants 48 4.3.2 Data Collection 48 4.3.3 Findings and Discussion 51 4.4 Summary 53 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 55 5.1 Recapitulation 55 5.2 Concluding Remarks 55 5.3 Limitations of the Study 56 5.4 Implications for Idiom teaching 56 5.5 Suggestions for Further Studies 57 REFERENCES 58 APPENDIX 1: A CORPUS OF 180 IDIOMS BY ANIMALS IN ENGLISH .I APPENDIX 2: A CORPUS OF 186 IDIOMS BY ANIMALS IN VIETNAMESE VIII v CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale English has long been regarded as a tool of international communication, and together with its rising importance, the need of learning English is becoming more and more urgent It cannot be denied that all foreign learners in general and Vietnamese learners in particular desire to master English as the native speakers; however, they usually face a lot of difficulties that prevent them from gaining successful conversations One of the reasons for these problems lies in the way they perceive and use idioms Each nation's language lies in itself similar and different concepts on many fields of life such as humane values, ways of thinking, behavior standards, religious beliefs, customs and traditions, social conventions, etc Words and expressions including idioms have formed the vocabulary system of a language Idioms are regarded as special factors of a language's vocabulary system because they reflect cultural specific characteristics of each nation, including material and spiritual values Therefore, a lot of researchers have long shown their concerns for idioms Structurally, English and Vietnamese are very different English is regarded as a semi- inflectional language (Crystal 1997) while Vietnamese is completely isolating It is interesting, nevertheless, that several idioms in English have the same structural patterns as those in Vietnamese For example, like water off a duck’s back in English and nước đổ đầu vịt in Vietnamese are both prepositional phrases It is more interesting that the idiomatic meanings of the two idioms are also similar, and they both mean ‘have no effect’ In terms of structural components, these idioms have both similarities and differences They are similized idioms introduced by prepositions as the first component parts (like in English and in Vietnamese) The differences lie in the rest of component parts forming the idioms The component parts after like in English together form a noun phrase whereas those after in Vietnamese together form a clause To the best of my knowledge, the structural components of idioms in both English and Vietnamese have not yet been investigated in this way Although the component parts forming idioms expressing the same concepts in English and Vietnamese are usually different, they have some features in common The idioms in both languages appear from totally transparent to the totally opaque The four degrees of motivation are transparent, i.e all the components are explicit; semi-transparent, i.e some components are explicit (the meaning focused) and the other are implicit; semi-opaque, i.e all the components are implicit but possibly interpretable; and opaque, i.e all the components are implicit (Fernando & Flavell 1981; Fernando 1996) However, investigating semantic components of idioms based on these semantic criteria in both English and Vietnamese is still the gap For the reasons presented above, we state that studying idioms by animals from structural and semantic component perspective in both English and Vietnamese in order to fill in the gap in research is necessary 1.2 Aim(s) and Objectives of the Research The study is conducted to improve the English teaching and learning in general and idiom teaching and learning in particular The findings of the study, to some extent, help the teachers and the learners have a better understanding of English and Vietnamese languages through the idioms by animals In order to achieve the aim, the study is expected to reach the following objectives: - to uncover how idioms by animals are organized structurally and semantically in English and Vietnamese; - to find out the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms by animals in terms of structural and semantic components; - to give some implications for idiom teaching and learning from the main findings 1.3 Research Questions The objectives of the study can be elaborated into the research questions as follow: - How are idioms by animals organized structurally and semantically in English and Vietnamese? - What are the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms by animals in terms of structural and semantic components? - What is the effectiveness of the main findings applied to idiom teaching and learning at Nguyen Huu Tien High School? 1.4 Methods of the Research 1.4.1 Major Methods Due to the main aims and objectives of the study, description, componential analysis, contrastive exploitation and experimental method have been chosen as major ones Firstly, the description, componential analysis are utilized in order to give a full account of the structural and semantic components of English and Vietnamese idioms by animals Secondly, the contrastive method is applied to identify the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms by animals Finally, the experimental method is used to uncover the effectiveness of idiom componential analysis applied to idiom teaching at Nguyen Huu Tien High School In conducting the research thesis, last but not least, setting up a regular consultancy with supervisor for a guidance and academic exchange is a critical technique to find out a right direction for doing the research successfully 1.4.2 Data Collection Techniques The monolingual and bilingual dictionaries of idioms in two languages are useful instruments to collect data Google search should be accounted because a large number of relevant journals, newspapers, reference materials have been taken thanks to this tool Hence, to select an appropriate collection of English and Vietnamese idioms by animals with illustrating examples, the following APPENDIX 1: A CORPUS OF 180 IDIOMS BY ANIMALS IN ENGLISH Symmetrical Idioms: 8/180 – 0.4 % Semi-opaque: 8/8 – 100% if wishes were horses, beggars would ride if you fly with the crows, you get shot with the crows if you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas monkey see, monkey neither fish nor fowl pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered run with the hare and hunt with the hounds small dog, tall weeds Similized Idioms: 56/180 – 31% Semi-transparent: 39/56 – 70 % angry as a bear angry as a bull as mad as a wrongly shot hog as rare as hen's teeth blind as a bat busy as a beaver busy as a bee cool as a cat crooked as a dog's hind leg 10 cute as a bug 11 drink like a fish 12 drop like flies 13 eat like a bird 14 eat like a horse I 15 eat like a pig 16 full as a tick 17 grin like a Cheshire cat 18 healthy as a horse 19 hungry as a bear 20 mad as a badger 21 mad as a cut snake 22 mad as a hornet 23 mad as a March hare 24 mad as a wet hen 25 memory like an elephant 26 proud as a peacock 27 quiet as a cat 28 quiet as a mouse 29 rain like cats and dogs 30 sick as a dog 31 sick as a parrot 32 sing like a canary 33 sly as a fox 34 snug as a bug in a rug 35 strong as an ox 36 stubborn as a mule 37 sweat like a pig 38 watching like a hawk 39 work like a dog Semi-opaque: 17/56 – 30 % as the crow flies like a bat out of hell II like a beached whale like a bear with a sore head like a bull at a gate like a cat on hot bricks like a cat that got the cream like a dog with two tails like a duck to water 10 like a fish needs a bicycle 11 like a fish out of water 12 like a hawk 13 like a headless chicken 14 like a moth to a flame 15 like a rat deserting a sinking ship 16 like lambs to the slaughter 17 Like shooting fish in a barrel Non-symmetrical Idioms : 116/180 – 65 % Semi-opaque: 108/116 – 93 % albatross around your neck ants in your pants back the wrong horse bats in the belfry be on the pig's back beard the lion in his own den beating a dead horse bee in your bonnet 10 bell the cat 11 between you and me and the cat's whiskers 12 bigger fish to fry III 13 bird in the hand is worth two in the bush 14 bird's eye view 15 break the back of the beast 16 calf lick 17 call the dogs off 18 cast pearls before swine 19 cast sheep's eyes at 20 cat among the pigeons 21 cat and dog life 22 cat fur and kitty britches 23 cat got your tongue? 24 cat's lick 25 cloud cuckoo land 26 cock and bull story 27 cock in the henhouse 28 cock of the walk 29 constitution of an ox 30 cook someone's goose 31 crocodile tears 32 cuckoo in the nest 33 curiosity killed the cat 34 deer in the headlights 35 dog and pony show 36 don't catch your chickens before they're hatched 37 duck to water 38 eagle eyes 39 early bird catches the worm 39 even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while IV 40 every ass likes to hear himself bray 41 fish out of water 42 fit as a butcher's dog 43 flogging a dead horse 44 fly in the ointment 45 from the horse's mouth 46 get your ducks in a row 47 get the monkey off your back 48 go tell it to birds 49 gone to the dogs 50 grab the bull by its horns 51 hanged for a sheep as a lamb 52 hay is for horses 53 herding cats 54 horse of a different color 55 keep the wolf at bay 56 keep the wolf from the door 57 kill the goose that lays the golden egg 58 kill two birds with one stone 59 leopard can't change its spots 60 let sleeping dogs lie 61 live high off the hog 62 lock the stable door after the horse has bolted 63 look what the cat dragged in 64 lower than a snake's belly in a wagon rut 65 mess with a bull, you get the horns 66 more than one way to skin a cat 67 not enough room to swing a cat V 68 on your high horse 69 open a can of worms 70 other fish to fry 71 pet peeve 72 pick of the litter 73 pull a rabbit out of your hat 74 putting the cart before the horse 75 raining cats and dogs 76 swim with the fishes 77 take the bull by its horns 78 talk the hind legs off a donkey 79 the cat's meow 80 the lion’s share 81 the world is your oyster 82 there are many ways to skin a cat 83 there's a dead cat on the line 84 throw a monkey wrench into the works 85 throw pearls to the pigs 86 till the cows come home 87 ugly duckling 88 until the last dog is shot 89 up with the lark 90 water off a duck's back 91 what can you expect from a hog but a grunt? 92 what's good for the goose is good for the gander 93 when pigs fly 94 when the chickens come home to roost 95 which came first the chicken or the egg? VI 96 while the cat's away, the mouse will play 97 why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free 98 why keep a dog and bark yourself? 99 wild goose chase 100 wolf in sheep's clothing 101 world is your oyster 102 worm information 103 worm's eye view 104 you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar 105 you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink 106 you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear 107 you can't teach an old dog new tricks 108 you not get a dog and bark yourself Opaque : 8/116 – % big fish in a small pond birds of a feather flock together bull in a China shop butterflies in your stomach change horses in midstream don't look a gift horse in the mouth high on the hog no spring chicken VII APPENDIX 2: A CORPUS OF 186 IDIOMS BY ANIMALS IN VIETNAMESE Symmetrical Idioms : 37/186 – 20 % Semi – transparent : 10/37 – 27 % ăn cá bỏ lờ ăn chó lơng, ăn hồng hột ăn cơm nhà vác ngà voi ăn ốc nói mò chửi mèo quèo chó đá mèo quoèo chó đầu bò đầu bướu kẻ ăn ốc người đổ vỏ nói rơi nói chuột/nói hươu nói vượn 10 tán hươu tán vượn Semi – opaque : 23 / 37 – 62 % bụng trâu bụng bò làm bụt tòa gà dám mổ mắt cá bể chim trời/rừng cá chậu chim lồng chặt đầu cá vá đầu tôm chó ăn đá gà ăn sỏi chó khơ mèo lạc đầu cua tai nheo/ếch/đỉa đầu trâu mặt ngựa 10 điều ong tiếng ve 11 đục nước béo cò 12 đầu voi đòi đầu ngựa 13 giận cá chém thớt VIII 14 hang hùm miệng rắn 15 khỉ ho cò gáy 16 lên voi xuống chó 17 lên xe xuống ngựa 18 lòng chim cá/ Lòng cá chim 19 mật ong/ruồi nhiều 20 mẹ gà vịt 21 miệng cọp gan thỏ/ Miệng hùm gan sứa 22 treo đầu dê bán thịt chó 23 trói voi bỏ rọ Opaque : 4/37 – 11 % Bút sa gà chết chim sa cá lặn cưỡi ngựa xem hoa ngựa đau tàu bỏ cỏ Similized Idioms : 55 / 186 – 29.5 % Semi-transparent : 41/55 – 74.5 % ác hùm ăn hùm đổ ăn mèo ăn tằm ăn rỗi ăn rồng bám dai đỉa đói bẩn trâu đầm béo trâu trương/cun cút cãi mổ bò 10 cấm cẳn chó cắn ma 11 câm hến IX 12 chạy chuột 13 chạy vịt 14 chậm rùa/sên 15 dốt bò 16 cọp/hùm 17 đông đám gà chọi 18 đông kiến cỏ 19 gan cóc tía 20 gầy hạc/ve 21 học vẹt 22 kêu ó/vạc 23 khỏe trâu/hùm/voi 24 khỏe voi 25 lấm trâu đằm/vùi 26 len lét chuột ngày 27 lẩn chạch 28 lúng túng gà mắc tóc 29 mặt đỏ (mặt) gà chọi 30 mặt tái gà cắt tiết 31 ngu như/hơn bò/ ngu lợn 32 nhanh sóc 33 nhát thỏ 34 nhăn nhó khỉ ăn gừng 35 nhăn chuột kẹp 36 rối gà mắc đẻ 37 run chó phải bả/ run dẽ/ run gà bị cắt tiết/ run thằn lằn đứt đuôi 38 Te tái gà mái nhảy ổ/Te tái gà mắc đẻ X 39 thẳng ruột ngựa 40 Thì thụt chuột ngày 41 Tiu nghỉu chó cụp đi/ mèo bị cắt tai Semi-opaque: 14/55 – 25.5 % cá gặp nước cá với nước chim chích vào rừng chim sổ lồng chó cụp chó với mèo ếch ngồi đáy giếng gà mắc tóc hùm thêm cánh 10 mèo thấy mỡ 11 ngựa bất kham 12 nước đổ đầu vịt 13 ong vỡ tổ 14 rắn không/mất đầu Non – symmetrical Idioms : 94/186 – 50.5 % Semi – opaque : 81/94 – 86% ba hoa chích chòe bạn chấy cắn đơi bán bò tậu ếch ương bắt cá hai tay bìm bịp bắt gà sống thiến/Mèo mù vớ cá rán bọ chó múa bấc bọ ngựa chống xe bới bèo bọ/ bới đầu cá vạch đầu tơm XI cà cuống chết đến đít/ức cay 10 cá (đã) cắn câu 11 cá khơng ăn muối cá ươn 12 cá lớn nuốt cá bé 13 cá nằm chậu/nơm 14 cá nằm chốc thớt 15 cá treo mèo nhịn đói/ cám treo heo nhịn đói 16 cáo mượn oai hùm 17 châu chấu đá xe/voi 18 chim chích ghẹo bồ nơng 19 chó cắn áo rách 20 chó (daị) cắn càn 21 chó chê mèo lơng 22 chó cắn/rứt giậu 23 chó đen giữ mực 24 chó ghẻ có mỡ đằng 25 chó máy chim/săn mồi 26 chó nhảy bàn độc 27 gà tức tiếng gáy 28 cõng rắn cắn gà nhà 29 cú/ quạ đội lốt công 30 đánh chó khơng nể chủ 31 đếm cua hang/lỗ 32 đến đâu chết trâu chết bò/ đến 33 đút chuối vào miệng voi 34 đút mía cho voi 35 gà đói chê thóc lép 36 gà mẹ đá XII 37 gà què ăn quẩn cối xay 38 hăng máu/tiết vịt 39 hò voi bắn súng sậy 40 họ nhà tôm cứt lộn lên đầu 41 hổ phụ sinh hổ tử 42 khỉ chê khỉ đỏ đít 43 khơng có cá bắt cua làm trọng 44 khơng có chó bắt mèo ăn cứt 45 kiến bò bụng 46 kiến bò miệng chén 47 kiến tha lâu đầy tổ 48 lợn lành chữa lợn què/ Lợn lành thành lợn què 49 lươn gặm đấtt sét 50 lươn ngắn chê chạch dài 51 bò lo làm chuồng 52 mèo khen mèo dài đuôi 53 mèo mù vớ cá rán 54 mèo nhỏ bắt chuột nhỏ 55 mỡ để miệng mèo 56 mua mèo bị 57 mười voi không bát nước xáo 12 ngựa quen đường cũ 58 nhờn chó chó liếm mặt 59 nói kiến lỗ phải bò ra/ nói rắn lỗ phải bò 60 nước mắt cá sấu 61 quạ đội lốt công 62 rắn đổ nọc cho lươn 63 rồng đến nhà tôm XIII 64 rung nhát khỉ 65 rước voi giày mả tổ 66 thân cò thân chim 67 theo voi ăn bã mía 68 thề cá trê chui ống 69 thiếu voi phải dùng ngựa 70 thóc ni gà rừng 71 tránh lợn cỏ gặp gấu chó 72 tránh voi chẳng xấu mặt 73 trâu bò húc ruồi muỗi chết 74 trâu buộc ghét trâu ăn 75 trâu chậm uống nước đục 76 trâu lấm vẩy quàng 77 trâu ta ăn cỏ đồng ta 78 trông gà hóa cuốc 79 voi đú chó đú lợn sề hộc 80 vuốt râu hùm 81 vứt xương cho chó cắn Opaque: 13/94 – 14 % bò chết chẳng khỏi rơm cá mè lứa cháy nhà mặt chuột chó ngáp phải ruồi chó nhảy bàn độc chuột sa chĩnh gạo/lọ mỡ sâu bỏ dầu nồi canh đàn gẩy tai trâu đất lành chim đậu XIV 10 đất sỏi có chạch vàng 11 ngựa đau tàu bỏ cỏ 12 nuôi ong tay áo 13 thả hổ rừng XV ... divided into three main parts: structural components of idioms by animals in English and in Vietnamese, semantic components of idioms by animals in English and in Vietnamese and a comparison between... study also reveal that most of the idioms in both English and Vietnamese are analyzable and have meanings that are at least partly motivated The main findings are also applied to idiom teaching... teaching and learning in general and idiom teaching and learning in particular The findings of the study, to some extent, help the teachers and the learners have a better understanding of English and