METONYMY IN ENGLISH AND IN VIETNAMESE

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES METONYMY IN ENGLISH AND IN VIETNAMESE SUBJECT SEMANTICS (END TERM ASSIGNMENT) Student Bùi Thị Ánh Ngọc Course M A 18 Supervisor Hà Cẩm Tâm, Ph D Deadline June 28th, 2010 Hanoi, June 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS PART 1 RATIONALE 3 PART 2 DEVELOPMENT 4 2 1 Transference of meaning 4 2 2 Metonymy in English 4 2 3 Metonymy in Vietnamese 8 2 4 Comparison.

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

METONYMY IN ENGLISH AND IN VIETNAMESE

SUBJECT: SEMANTICS

(END-TERM ASSIGNMENT)

Student: Bùi Thị Ánh Ngọc Course: M.A.18

Supervisor: Hà Cẩm Tâm, Ph.D Deadline: June 28th, 2010

Hanoi, June 2010

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART 1: RATIONALE -3

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT -4

2.1 Transference of meaning -4

2.2 Metonymy in English -4

2.3 Metonymy in Vietnamese -8

2.4 Comparison between metonymy in English and in Vietnamese

2.4.1 Similarities -10

2.4.2 Differences -12

2.5 Implications for teaching vocabulary for Vietnamese learners -12

PART 3: CONCLUSION -14 REFERENCES

PART 1: RATIONALE

There is an intimate connection between each language and its culture

A language cannot be studied separately from the cultural traditions of its speakers The origin of language is still argued When time passes by, language has been enriched and changed Semantic change is a change in one of the meanings of a word Every word has a variety of senses and connotations which can be added, removed or altered The transference of meaning results from both linguistic and extra linguistic causes In the process of cognition of the world and in the process of using language effectively and creatively, human beings try to use one linguistic element to refer to different things Beside, when the new or the professional concepts come into life, language needs to be changed accordingly

There are various ways of transferring a word meaning into the new ones Due to time limitation, this study is only focused on Metonymy Metonymy is an important way of expressing ideas It is the substitution of one word for another with which it is associated A metonymic description

of a subject is an essential part of any language; thus metonymic thought can be considered as an element of the cultural identity of a person

When learning English, some students feel very confused and spend a lot of time finding the Vietnamese equivalents for the expression of English like:

The ham sandwich has asked for the bill.

The main reason rooted from their unawareness of the term metonymy and the similarities as well as differences between metonymy in English and in Vietnamese

Therefore, metonymy is chosen as the topic of my study in the hope that the researcher will get thorough and sound understanding of the field that it is envisioned

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT 2.1 Transference of meaning

The transference of meaning, as defined by Nguyen Hoa (2001:64), refers to a situation when one object is named and understood in terms of another In other words, one word can extend its meaning or narrow its meaning to refer to another object

There are some types of transference of meaning, such as metaphor, metonymy, hyperbole, irony, etc In the next parts, one among those types called Metonymy will be discussed in detail

2.2 Metonymy in English

2.2.1 Definition

According to Nguyen Hoa, metonymy is the transference of meaning from one object to another based on contiguity of notions, i.e instead of the name of one object or notion we use the name of another because these objects are associated and closely related

Metonymy, therefore, is the substitution of one word for another with which it is associated In other words, instead of the name of one objector notion, we use the name of another because these objects are associated and closely related

For example:

The White House announced a press conference for four o’clock Sunday.

The White House means the people in the White House

Moreover, the metonym is a kind of “local” word perceived in a system of beliefs that is available only to a sub-section of the community For example:

The white jersey was very nice.

2.2.2 Basis of the transference

The transference is based on material, causal or conceptual relation.

2.2.2.1 Object – for – possessor

Example:

The Crown in fact has little power.

The “Crown” is used to indicate the Monarchy

2.2.2.2 Part – for – whole

Example:

We don’t employ long hairs.

“Long hairs” mean girls with long hairs.

2.2.2.3 Place – for – event

Example:

Pearl Harbor was a sad event in America’s history.

“Pearl Harbor” is a place-for-event metonymy: it refers to the battle at

Pearl Harbor in December 7th, 1941

2.2.2.4 Place – for – institution

Example:

The Pentagon announced its new policy yesterday.

“Pentagon” is a metonymy: institution refers to persons in charge It refers

to chiefs of staff at the Pentagon - the Unites States Department of Defense

2.2.2.5 Thing – for – perception

Example:

There goes my knee (The pain in my knee)

2.2.3 Cases of metonymy

2.2.3.1 Name of container instead of the thing contained

Examples:

The kettle is boiling (1)

He drank the whole cup (2)

It is obvious that the “kettle” cannot boil and the man cannot swallow the “cup” It is not the kettle but water in that kettle is boiling Also, the man drank some beer or water in the cup, not the cup itself In other words, the words “kettle” and “cup” in those examples are used to refer to other things, which are contained in those kinds of containers

2.2.3.2 Parts of human body as symbols

Sometimes, names of parts of human body are used to be the symbol for characteristics of a kind of person

Examples:

I was moved by his kind heart (3)

John has a clever head (4)

Metonymic sense

3

Kind heart It’s a symbol of a kind person.

4

Clever head It’s a symbol of an intelligent person.

2.2.3.3 The concrete instead of the abstract

Concrete is what we can see or feel, whereas abstract is something existing in thought or an idea but not having a physical or practical existence It is not easy to express something abstract, so people tend to use the concrete to visualize the abstract

For example:

5

From the

cradle to the

grave

- cradle: a small bed for

a baby which can be pushed gently from side

to side

- grave: a place in the

ground where a dead

A way of referring to the whole of a person's life, from birth until death

person is buried 6

Roll up

your sleeves

Roll up a part of a piece

of clothing that covers all or part of your arm

To prepare to work or fight

2.2.3.4 Materials instead of the things made of the materials

In many cases, the name of materials is taken to name their products Let’s take some examples:

“Put it on the plastic”, the bank officer said.

“Plastic” is a metonymy: the material, instead of the object made - the credit card, is used

He got Gold in the Winter Olympics.

“Gold” is a metonymy: the material, instead of the object made - the gold medal, is used

2.2.3.5 Name of the author instead of his works

Author and his works share a very close relation and his name can normally not be separated from his works Hence, the authors’ names are transferred to denote their works For example:

She likes to read Poe.

“Poe” is a metonymy: the works of Edgar Allan Poe

He’s got a Picasso.

“Picasso” is a metonymy: it is a Picasso’s work

2.2.3.6 Part for the whole

Example:

We live in the same roof.

“Roof” is the structure that covers or forms the top of a building It means the house/building

He’s always running after the skirt

“Skirt” is a piece of clothing for a woman or girl that hangs from the waist.

It is used as a metonymy to mean “the girl”

2.2.3.7 Name of places and name of products made there

Example:

He used to smoke Havanas.

“Havana” is the capital of Cuba It is used as a metonymy to denote “the cigar”

2.2.3.8 Others

Beside above cases, there are some more can be found in English including: spatial relation (1), causal relation (2), functional relation (3) and geographical relation (4) Illustrations are shown in the following table.

1 the chair the position of being in

charge of a meeting or a committee

the person who hold the position of being in charge

of a meeting or a committee

2 fear fer (danger) in Old

English

the bad feeling that you have when you are in danger

3 pen an instrument used for

writing with ink

to pen: to write something

2.3 Metonymy in Vietnamese

In Vietnamese, there is a system of metonymic relations which can help to transfer the meaning of many words Some most common cases from the theories of Diep Quang Ban (1999) and Dinh Trong Lac (1997) are listed as follow

2.3.1 Name of container instead of the thing contained

The relation between container and things contained is used with

almost of containers such as “Ăn ba bát” (eat up three bowls), uống vài

chén (drink some cups), etc

The term “container” has more general sense like in the following examples:

Cả hội trường đổ ra xem.

“Vì sao trái đất nặng ân tình

Nhắc mãi tên người Hồ Chí Minh.”

(Tố Hữu)

Original use Metonymic sense

trái đất the Earth people on the Earth

2.3.2 The concrete instead of the abstract

In Vietnamese, especially in poems, we can find some cases using working tools to refer the result of labor For instance:

“Bàn tay ta làm nên tất cả

Có sức người sỏi đá cũng thành cơm.”

The result of an action which is normally visible sometimes used to refer to that long lasting action:

“Mồ hôi mà đổ xuống đồng

Lúa mọc trùng trùng sáng cả đồi nương.”

With the use of the word “mồ hôi” (sweat), we can imagine how hard farmers work in order to have a good crop

2.3.3 Name of the author instead of his works

“(…) Người ta nói đọc Nguyễn Tuân phải đọc lúc nhàn rỗi là vì

thế…”

(Nguyễn Đăng Mạnh)

In this example, Nguyễn Tuân refers to Nguyễn Tuân’s works

2.3.4 Part - for - whole and whole - for - part

Any object has its part which can be taken to substitute to the whole or

to convey extra meaning For instance:

“Đầu xanh có tội tình gì

Má hồng đến quá nửa thì chưa thôi.”

“Đầu xanh” – a part of human body is used to refer to a young

person “Má hồng” indicates a girl or a young woman

“Những mái nhà lụp xụp đứng chen lấn nhau trong cái ngõ nhỏ tồi

tàn.”

“Mái nhà” here (roofs) means houses.

In other cases, the whole is used to replace the part as in the following example:

“Bao nhiêu năm đã qua, đầu đã muối tiêu mà hắn vẫn còn cái tính

trăng hoa ấy.”

The word “đầu” (head) refers to “tóc” (hair)

2.3.5 Object - for - possessor

“Áo chàm đưa buổi phân ly

Cầm tay nhau biết nói gì hôm nay.”

(Tố Hữu)

“Áo chàm”, a kind of clothes of the minority in the North East of Vietnam is used to substitute for people there

2.4 Comparison between metonymy in English and in Vietnamese

2.4.1 Similarities

As it can be seen, English people and Vietnamese people utilize some same relations as the means of metonymy, such as part – whole, container – things contained, concrete – abstract, author’s name – his works, etc

English Vietnamese

Part – whole We live in the same

roof.

Chúng tôi sống chung

dưới một mái nhà Container – things

contained

He’s just eaten three

bowls.

Anh ấy vừa ăn 3 bát.

Concrete – abstract He rolls up his sleeves

to meet the deadline

Anh ta xắn tay áo lên

cho kịp thời hạn đã định

Author’s name – his

works

She used to read Sidney

Sheldon before

bed time

Trước đây, cô ấy

thường đọc Sidney Sheldon trước khi đi

ngủ

From those examples, we can realize that metonymy in both English and Vietnamese share some common in the use of particular words

“Head”, “hand” are usually used to substitute for “Person”; “bowl” refers

to things contained, etc

2.4.2 Differences

First, to name a thing, Vietnamese people and English people use the name of different things For example:

In English: He is always running after the skirt.

In Vietnamese: Hắn luôn chạy theo những bóng hồng/áo dài.

It can be explained that the image of woman in Western in general has

a close association with the image of a “skirt”, whereas not many Vietnamese women wear skirts Whenever people talk about Vietnamese women, they often think of a traditional long dress

Furthermore, some cases of metonymy which are popular in English are rarely used in Vietnamese For example:

Word Metonymic sense in English Vietnamese equivalent

Rubber eraser tẩy

This is because the concepts “cốc, tẩy” came to life and had a fixed idea in Vietnamese people’s mind before the appearance of those objects which are made of or from

2.5 Implications for teaching vocabulary for Vietnamese learners

Metonymy is not just a figure of speech, but reflects an important part

of the way people conceptualize themselves, events and the everyday world Metonymy also helps structure various aspects of inference generation in discourse, as well as people’s understanding and use of contextual expression, indirect speech acts, common gestures, and colloquial tautologies

Therefore, in teaching English in general and in teaching vocabulary

in particular, teaching metonymy is essential Learning metonymy will help students enrich their vocabulary so as to make their communication successful and effective

Teachers should help students find the link between the word’s original use and metonymic sense, i.e provide them some relations which can help students to understand metonymic sense without the help of their teacher

Moreover, one of the best ways to realize the matter and avoid any mistakes in using language and translation is to make a comparison between the two languages A simple grid can be useful as follows:

use

Metonymic sense

use

Metonymic sense

……

As a result, students will have their own collection of vocabulary as well as their metonymic senses

Students need some more practice on metonymy so that teachers should provide students with time in class With a little time together, students can show their friends what they have know about metonymy and share with one another their collection All students then also try to use their vocabulary with some metonymic senses to make up a joke, for example

Moreover, teachers can ask students to create some situations which are normally funny in form of a small role-play This activity will bring a lot of fun to the whole class as well as helps them to remember the vocabulary and the metonymic senses in a meaningful way

PART 3: CONCLUSION

This small study provides readers with a systematic and clear view on metonymy in English and in Vietnamese The most common cases of metonymy have been presented and then compared to find out the similarities as well as differences between the two languages First, in both English and Vietnamese, words are used creatively and metonymy is one of the most popular means to transfer meanings of words Second, metonymy

is both based on some similar relations, such as part-whole, concrete-abstract, container-contained, etc On the other hand, because each country,