Using English and Vietnamese metaphor for proper names

Part i introduction VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES SEMANTICS (Final assignment) Topic Using English and Vietnamese metaphor for proper names Instructor Dr Ha Cam Tam Student’s name Do Thi Phuong Thuy Hanoi, 2010 Content Part 1 Introduction 1 Rational 3 2 Aims of the study 3 3 Methods of the study 4 4 Scope of the study 4 5 Design of the study 4 Part II development 6 Chapter i 6 Theoretical background of metap.

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL

STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

SEMANTICS

(Final assignment)

Topic: Using English and Vietnamese

metaphor for proper names

Instructor: Dr Ha Cam Tam Student’s name: Do Thi Phuong Thuy

Hanoi, 2010

Content Part 1: Introduction

1 Rational……….……….3

2 Aims of the study……….……….3

3 Methods of the study……….………4

4 Scope of the study……….……….……… 4

5 Design of the study……….……….4

Part II: development……… 6

Chapter i:……….6

Theoretical background of metaphor IN ENGLISH I.1 What is metaphor? 6

I.2 Characteristic features……….6

I.3 Classification of metaphor………… ………6

Chapter Ii……… 11

A study on English metaphor related to the proper names II.1.1 Metaphor related to Boycott……… ………11

II.1.2 Metaphor related to hooligan……….11

II.1.3 Metaphor related to Pander……… ………11

II.1.4 Metaphor related to Tawdry……….……….11

II.1.5 Metaphor in English idioms, proverbs and sayings related to the proper names II.2.1 Metaphor related to the idioms “ happy as Larry”……… …………12

II.2.2 Metaphor related to the proverb: Rob Peter to pay Paul………

12 II.2.3 Metaphor related to the idiom: any Tom, Dick or Harry…… ………12

II.2.4 Metaphor related to “peeping Tom”……… ……… 12

II.2.5 Metaphor related to “ smart Alec”……… ………….12

II.3 Metaphor in English related to the characters in the literature…….………….12

II.3.1 Metaphor related to the character “Don Juan”……….13

II.3.2 Metaphor related to the character “ Hitle” ……… ………… 14

II.3.3 Metaphor related to the character “ Vandals”……… ………14

II.3.4 Metaphor related to “ a paint Jane”……… …………14

II.3.6 Metaphor relating to “Tarzan”……… ………14

chapter iii: metaphor related to proper names in English in comparison with Vietnamese III.1.Similarity in using proper names in Vietnamese……….16

III.2 Difficulties in understand and translating words related to proper names in English idioms and proverbs………

18 III.3 Suggestion to overcome difficulties……… ……….18

PART III: CONCLUSION……… ……

……… 20

References……….……….21

Part i: introduction

1 rational.

Nowadays, with the development of society and technologies, Englishhas been used the most widely in the world It not only plays animportant role in communication but it has many progressive effects inmany aspects of our life

There are plenty of similarities and differences between English andVietnamese cultures not only in Grammar, lexicology translation,phonetic but also in metaphorical meaning especially metaphor inliterature and idiom expressions Therefore, deep understanding aboutthe uses of metaphor in everyday language not only helps students ofEnglish increase vocabulary but also helps them understand new andoriginal metaphor when they hear or speak them

Everyone knows that idioms and proverbs are the genius of nationallanguage that is the key help learners know more about nation, as well ascustom and culture of each country all over the world When studyingVietnamese and English metaphor, what made me the most impressed isthat the proper names not only reflect the concepts bur also refer thecharacteristic of person and places

Importantly, metaphor help learners see the interest the beauties as well

as the culture color of language which help learners use and understandcorrectly and clearly I hope that learners will understand about metaphor

in English especially metaphor relating to the proper names that is alsothe main reason motivating me to carry out this research

2 Aims of the study.

My research aims are:

+ giving theoretical background of metaphor

+ giving some difficulties of Vietnamese learners of English with idioms

+ giving some suggested solutions to overcome these difficulties,

+ finding the metaphorical characteristic of factors related to the propernames in English idioms and literature

3 Methods of the study.

The study on metaphor in not only English idioms but also literaturerelated to the proper names is carried out with comparative methods with

a hope that learners could see the role of metaphor in using idioms andliterature from some linguists, typical examples and extracted fromvarious types of books Besides, idioms were collected from dictionary

to get valuable knowledge for this paper Furthermore, Informationrelated to the research paper from websites was also looked into in order

to complete this research successfully

4 Scope of the study.

During the study process, I have been attracted by metaphor - one of thefigures of speech as well as metaphor in English idioms and expressionabout the proper names

Because of time allowance and knowledge, I cannot cover all idioms andproverbs on these issues but only focus on idioms related to propernames, here is a sample of discussing on metaphor in English idioms:typical proper names in literature and idioms, in each kind of propernames, I introduce some outstanding idioms to illustrate for the research

5.Design of the study.

The study consists of three parts

Part 1 is introduction, including rationale, aims of the study, methods ofthe study, scope of the study, and design of the study

Part 2 is development that is divided into three chapters

Chapter 1 is background knowledge on the study It supplies thedefinition characteristic, classification and definition

Chapter 2 is an analysis of metaphor in English related to proper names.Chapter 3 is metaphor related to proper names is English comparisonwith Vietnamese

Part 3 is a conclusion which gives a summary of the whole studymentioned in the previous parts

Part II: development Chapter i:

Theoretical background of metaphor IN ENGLISH.

I.1 What is metaphor?

According to Oxford Advance Learner’s dictionary: metaphor is a word

or phrase used to describe somebody or something else, in a way that isdifferent from its normal use, in order to show that two things have thesame qualities and to make the description more powerful

Ex: She has a heart of stone.

Ex: She is a fox.

The following sentences illustrate how the metaphorical understanding

of anger-as-fire is expressed:

Your insincere apology just added fuel to the fire.

After the argument, Dave was smoldering for days.

Boy, am I burned up!

I.2 Characteristic features.

I.2.1Similarity of shape.

Take the example:

Neck of the bottleMouth of the cave

Truong (1993:80)

In these examples, looking at metaphorical expression the “neck” is not aneck-part of the human body, but it is the narrow part at the top of thebottle, also the word “mouth” in the last one is a part of the body that issmall and round Mouth is also used as a metaphor to refer the entrance

of a cave and the other example such as:

The head of a cabbageThe teeth of a saw

Truong (1993:80)

Finding many meaning of metaphors, the metaphorical expressions arebased on the identification of shape.

I.2.2Similarity of size

Look at the example:

Their daughter is quite plump but their son is positively elephantine

English –Vietnamese –Dictionary (1993:559)

The image of “elephantine” is used metaphorically make hidden

comparison with a big person

I.2.3 Similarity of position

Look at the following example:

The foot of a mountainThe heart of the country

Truong (1993:79)Such expression as “foot of the mountain” is described as a similarity ofposition “foot” is the lowest part of the body and it is usedmetaphorically to refer to the foot mountain, the metaphor is stimulated

by the identification of the mountain Further one, “heart” is usedmetaphorically because; it is an important part of the body and in thecenter position In such way “leg of the table” or “tail of the procession”and so on, we is also considered metaphors basing on the similarity ofposition

I.2.4 Similarity of movement

Look at the example:

They had to worm their way through the narrow tunnel

The river snaked away into the distanceThe image of “worm” is an animal with a soft rounded or flattened body

It is put in the real context with function as a verb to compare with a

twisting movement of a person like a worm The other example, the verb

“snake” is used as a metaphor based on the identification of movement

I.2.5 Similarity of function

Basing on the similarity of function, these examples:

Key to the mysteryHead of the classHand of the clock

I.2.6 Similarity of color

E.g

The rose of clouds at down

An orange lightThe words “rose” and “orange” are described as similarity of colour,

“the rose of clouds at down” is a kind of flower and it is used as ametaphor to refer to the clouds that has rose of clouds And the secondone “an orange light”, the word “orange” is a kind of fruit and it is as ametaphor to refer to the lights that has orange color Therefore, themetaphorical expressions are based on the identification of color

I.2.7 Similarity of behavior and character

Look at the following example

He is a fox

He is an Othello

Truong (1993:80)

The word “fox” here is a name of animal that indicates a big animalwhich is very wise and clever Fox is used metaphorically with thenegative meaning to refer to a person cunning character or if we say “he

is an Othello”, it refers to a person who is very jealous, that are used asmetaphor based on the similarity of character and behavior

I.3 Classification of metaphor

I.3.1 Living metaphor

Living metaphor that can be called active metaphor is one whichrelatively new and has not become part of everyday linguistic usage It iscreated and used by individuals Living metaphor, according to HoangTat Truong (1993:81): “When a word has an unusual metaphorical sense

or the metaphor is created and used by an individual"

E.g:

You are my sun

Perelman (1999:88)

I.3.2 Fade metaphor

According to Hoang Tat Truong (1993:81) “fade (trite) metaphor is onethat has lost its freshness due to long and traditional use" And it isnecessary to note that the meanings of faded metaphor are registered indictionaries since they are of common use We can take the followingmetaphor for example:

E.g:

Her voice is sweetShe is a snack

Truong (1993:81)

I.3.3 Dead metaphor

According to Hoang Tat Truong (1993:81) “Dead metaphor is ametaphor which is no longer felt as a metaphor because the direct

meaning of the word has been completely last" we can look at followingexample for a highlight.

E.g:

To ponderAll theoretical background mentioned above aim to provide atheoretically fundamental basis that is a key which helps me get moreknowledge and experience in studying metaphors about proper names inmany aspects and expressions that will be referred to in the next chapter

Chapter Ii

A study on English metaphor related to the proper names

II.1.1 Metaphor related to Boycott.

The words “boycott” here is used to metaphorically to refer to refuse to

deal with or a refusal to deal with in order to see the mean of boycott

clearly, look at the following example:

E g:

The anarchist speaker urged all citizens to boycott the elections

O’ Dell (1995:30)The word “boycott” named after a land lord in Ireland who made himselfunpopular by his treatment of his tenants and was socially isolated

II.1.2 Metaphor related to hooligan

The word “hooligan” is used to metaphorically refer a rough, lawless

youth which named from the Irish family name hooligan

E g:

Acts of vandalism committed by football hooligans

O’ Dell (1995:30)

II.1.3 Metaphor related to Pander

The word “pander” named from Pandaros, a procurer or pimp in

Ancient Greek mythology So as to further understand the meaning andthe using of the word “pander”, look at the following example:

E g:

Newspaper pandering to the public love of scandal.

O’ Dell (1995:30)

The word “pander” in this case refers to indulge someone’s desire

II.1 4 Metaphor related to Tawdry.

The word “tawdry” is used to metaphorically refer to cheap and

E g:

He is only a tawdry person

O’ Dell (1995:30)

The word “tawdry” named from ST Audrey, at whose cheap gaudy

scarves wore sold

II.1.5 Metaphor in English idioms, proverbs and sayings related to the proper names

II.2.1 Metaphor related to the idioms “ happy as Larry”.

The idioms “happy as Larry” here is used to metaphorically to refer to

extremly happy Look at the example:

E g:

She is happy as Larry

This mean the degree of emotion “great happy” the word “Larry” wasnamed after in Australia or New Zealand and dated from around 1875 Ithas been suggested that it comes from the name of the Australia boxerLarry Foley though why he was particularly happy no one seems toknow he won a lot of contests

II.2.2 Metaphor related to the proverb: Rob Peter to pay Paul.

The idiom “Rob Peter to pay Paul” is used to metaphorically referring

to taking away from one person in order to give to another Look at the

II.2.3 Metaphor related to the idiom: any Tom, Dick or Harry.

The list has included other names down the centuries such as Jack andWill- Shakespeare has Tom, Dick and Francis in Henry IV

E g:

He won’t talk to any Tom, Dick or Harry

B J Thomas (2002:114)This mean is person is a real snob; he’s only interested in people who arerich or famous

II.2.4 Metaphor related to “peeping Tom”

Eg:

They are some peeping Tom

Someone who spies on the other people, especially by looking through

their windows, is called a peeping Tom.

Don Juan is a character who has bad behaviour and always flirt beautiful

girls anywhere he went Therefore Don Juan became a love of many

women, or lady-killer

E g:

He is a Don Juan

Truong (1993:80)

The word “Hitle”is named of the shogun who very cruel He killed a lot

of people in the second World War, therefore the word “ Hitle”

indicates the person who is cruel

E g

He is a Hitle

Thu (2006:12)

II.3.3 Metaphor related to the character “ Vandals”

The word “vandal” was formed by in a story, the character is vandal who always destroyed anything and the word “Vandal” indicates the

person who is destructive people

II.3.5 Metaphor related to “ painted Jezebel”

Jezebel was the wife of Ahab, king of Israel, whom she introduced to the

worship of Baal, the god of the Phoenicians, while persecuting theprophets of the Hebrew god, Jehovah and drawing down upon herself thedenunciation of Elijah In II Kings, 9, she is referred to in connectionwith whored one’s and witchcrafts and her use of cosmetics (verse 30)has given risen to the expression a painted Jezebel for a woman whoflaunts herself provocatively

E g:

She is a painted Jezebel

www.usingenglish.com

This means shameless, immoral, scheming woman.

II.3.6 Metaphor relating to “Tarzan”

Look at the example

Eg:

He looks like Tarzan

B J Thomas (2002:114)Tarzan is name of character in story of Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan isused to metaphorically refer to a body-builder and weight-lifter

In summary, there are a large number of Metaphors related to the propernames However, due to the scope of my study, I only focus on severalEnglish idioms on typical proper names, characters in literature and soforth I hope that this study will help learners of English understand moreabout metaphorical expressions in English idioms