Idioms of comparison in vietnamese and english

Studying similarities and differences between idioms of comparison in English and Vietnamese is liable to help the researcher to affirm that.. In addition, making comparisons between Eng

Running head: Idioms of comparison

Idioms of comparison in Vietnamese and English

A Contrastive Analysis Trịnh Thị Phương Trang University of Education

Contrastive Analysis

Mr Nguyễn Ngọc Vũ December 30, 2010

Abstract Language is a system of communication of a nation Every nation has their own

historical, civilized, cultural, climatic characteristics, so every nation has their own language However, different nations have similarities and differences in expressing their ideas Studying similarities and differences between idioms of comparison in English and Vietnamese is liable to help the researcher to affirm that Moreover, making some comparisons is a good way to

memorize English idioms of comparison effectively and enjoyably Hence, translation skill can

be improved thanks to more knowledge about idioms In addition, making comparisons between English and Vietnamese idioms can help the researcher to understand more about cultures of both of countries since similarities and differences in culture reflect coincidences and

dissimilarities in ways of thinking and looking at the world of English and Vietnamese people

Idioms of comparison in Vietnamese and English

A Contrastive Analysis

Introduction

Idioms of comparison are applied frequently in literature and in daily life It serves as a tool to make the language more graphic However, every language has differences in ways of expressing the same idea using idioms of comparison

The goal of the study is to discover some common types of comparison used in English and Vietnamese idioms In addition, the study chiefly aims at finding out some similarities and differences between comparison idioms in both English and Vietnamese

Because there are so many comparison idioms in both languages, it is impossible to include all of them in the study The study can just explore comparison idiomatic expressions which play an important part in the purpose of the study

Theoretical Framework Theoretical background of idioms in English

Definition of idioms in English

The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines idioms as: “A group of words whose meaning is different from the meanings of the individual words” (Hornby, 2006, p.740)

The viewpoint is supported in A Dictionary of Linguistics & Phonetics The author

regards an idiom as “a term used in grammar and lexicography to refer to a sequence of words which us semantically and often syntactically restricted, so that they function as

a single unit” (Crystal, 1985, p.225).

According to A Dictionary of Linguistics, an idiom is “any expression peculiar to a language, conveying a distinct meaning, not necessarily explicable by, occasionally even

contrary to, the general accepted grammatical rules” (Pei & Gaynor, 1954, p.95)

Feature of English idioms

When mentioning semantic features of idioms, we had better focus on the figurative meaning of idioms It is the most important characteristic of idioms to know whether an expression is an idiom or not According to Collins Cobuild English Language Dictionary:

A idiom is a group of words which, when they are used together in a particular

combination, has a different meaning from the one they would have if you took the meaning of the individual words in the group (Sinclair, 1987, p.718)

Smiley & Goldtein (1998) also suggest that “idioms are certainly more than the sums of their parts” (p.76) That means the meaning of components of an idiom is different from the meaning of the whole idiom That we can guess the meaning of an idiom or not depends on open or closed classes As Yong and Peng (2007) suggest:

In open class combinations, individual components are freely recombination and are used

in a common literal sense As co-occurrence of individual components is expected of this class of combinations, both their meaning and structures are predictable amenable to analysis (p.178)

For instance, we can guess the meaning of the idiom “turn over a new leaf” “Turn over” means to “make something change position so that the other side is facing towards the outside or the top” and “a new leaf” is a leaf which is more beautiful, more perfect

Therefore, the meaning of the idioms can be guessed as “to change your way of life to become a better, more responsible person”

However, in close class combinations, we cannot guess the meaning of idioms That is because “they are characterized by semantic opaqueness, syntactic restrictions and structural stability” (Yong & Peng, 2007, p.178) For example, the idioms “spread oneself too thin” or

“for the birds”

Idioms have “a fixed form – that usually cannot be changed” (Heacock, 2003, p.ix) However, Heacock (2003) also claims:

Not all fixed phrases are idioms For example, “close your eyes” is a common fixed phrase, but not an idiom because each word in it is used in its standard meaning The phrase “keep your skirt” is an idiom, however, because the phrase does not mean “do not take off your skirt” – it means “stay calm” (p.ix)

Idioms can be divided into six different forms or structures:

+ Idioms located at noun entries such as “in addition to’”, “for the birds”…

+ Idioms located at verb entries such as “look forward to”, “take off”, “hear about”… + Idioms located at adjectival entries such as “in short”, “hot under the collar”…

+ Idioms located at adverbial entries such as “once again, “worse off” …

+ Idioms located at pronominal entries such as “give it up”, “come to nothing”…

+ Idioms located at numeral entries such as “give a hundred percent”, “one by one”… It’s really important to know that modifying any components and functional words can lose the idiomatic meaning (Yong & Peng, 2007)

Theoretical background of idioms in Vietnamese

Definition of idioms in Vietnamese

According to Từ Điển Thành Ngữ và Tục Ngữ Việt Nam:

Thành ngữ Tiếng Việt là những tổ hợp từ ngữ cố định có cấu trúc từ hoặc câu nhưng hoàn toàn thuộc phạm trù cấp từ, được mã hóa hầu hết đều có tính chất cách điệu nghệ thuật,

và chỉ làm một thành phần trong câu nói (Nguyễn, 2010, p.5)

As Nguyễn (2007) has noted in his book, “thành ngữ là tập hợp từ cố định đã quen dùng

mà nghĩa của nó thường không thể giải thích được một cách đơn giản bằng nghĩa của các từ tạo nên nó” (p 8)

Features of Vietnamese idioms

Idioms are characterized by figurative and metaphorical meanings Therefore, it’s too difficult to comprehend although we know the meanings of all their components For example,

“lấy thúng úp voi”, “gà để gà cục tác”, “đi guốc trong bụng”… Especially idioms are originated

from fairy tales, folk tales…such as “ba que xỏ lá”, “thằng chết cãi thằng khiêng”, “nợ như chúa Chổm”, “sư tử Hà Đông”… (Nguyễn, Nguyễn & Phan, 2009)

Idioms usually consist of more than 3 components whose counterpoint, alliteration and rhyme are combined with each other in many different ways There are some idioms of

comparison such as “nóng như lửa”, “khóc như mưa”, “nhanh như chớp”… Also, there are some

idioms which are created according to counterpoint, alliteration such as “tai to mặt lớn”, “miệng hùm gan sứa”, “cùng hội cùng thuyền”, “ong bướm lả lơi”… Besides, some idioms are originally spoken words in everyday speech which are usually used again and again for a long time and then develop figurative meanings to become idioms, for instance “chở củi về rừng”, “theo voi hít

bã mía”, “nước chảy chỗ trũng”, “đi guốc trong bụng”… (Nguyễn et al, 2009)

Theoretical background of English idioms of comparison

At first, we should find out the definition of idioms of comparison which are also called similes There are a lot of definitions of simile According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, “simile is a word or phrase that compares sth to sth else, using the words “like”

or “as”, for example “a face like a mask” or “as white as snow”; the use of such words and phrases” (Hornby, 2006, p.1369)

An idiom of comparison is also defined as:

the comparison of two nouns with different meanings, using the words like or as to make the connection Friendship is like ice cream, fear moved like lighting, and leaves feel as slippery as fish are examples of similes” (Tucker, 2002, p.41)

There is also a similar but shorter definition in The Challenge of Effective Speaking: “A simile is a direct comparison of dissimilar things using the word “like” or “as”” (Verderber, Verderber & Sellnow, 2008, p.197)

The meanings of similes are figurative Take the simile “as tall as a tree” as an example When you say: “Minh is as stubborn as a mule”, you mean Minh is so stubborn, not Minh is as stubborn as a mule Therefore, the simile “as stubborn as a mule” is considered figurative Learners can sometimes be confused between similes and metaphors but they are really different:

A metaphor, like a simile, is a comparison between two essentially unlike things In contrast to a simile, however, where an explicit comparison is made (The eye is like a lamp for the body), the metaphor makes an implicit comparison (The eye is lamp of the body) (Robert H Stein 15)

Huff (2004) asserts that “the only difference between simile and metaphor is that

metaphor does not use the words “like” or “as” to make the comparison” (p.98) In other words, two distinctly different things in a simile are connected by “like” or “as” while a metaphor “is an implied but in many ways even more direct than comparison because the reader is expected to identify the comparison without the word “like” or “as”” (Osborne, 1997, p.124) However,

“because similes merely join two disparate ideas or images, they are generally less fertile than metaphors, which can evoke additional and fresh shades of meaning” (Ehrenhaft, 2008, p.145)

Theoretical background of Vietnamese idioms of comparison

In Vietnamese, there are 2 kinds of idioms of comparison: one employs the word “như”,

“tựa”, “tày”, “bằng”, “tựa như” or “cũng như” and one doesn’t

Based on similarities of characteristics of 2 things, 2 phenomena, 2 actions, the Vietnamese create a large number of idioms which use A to name or to modify B

Eg: Mặt trái xoan: oval-shaped face

Star: a famous and talented person (usually in art, sport, culture)

(Nguyễn, 2010) The other kind of idioms of comparison includes the word “bằng”, “tày”, “tựa”, “sánh”,

“như” or “cũng như” which divides an idiom into 2 parts

Both of parts can be a noun, verb, phrase or clause The second part whose function is predicating and complementing the first part is counted from comparative word

Eg: In the idiom “tội tày đình”, “tày đình” is the complement of the noun “tội”.

In the idiom “chạy như bay”, “như bay” is the complement of the verb chạy

(Nguyễn, 2010)

A contrastive analysis of comparison idioms in English and Vietnamese

Quantity comparison

There are about 700 idioms of comparison in English, for example, “as warm as

sunbeam”, “to follow like a shadow”, “to work like a Trojan”,… There are a similarity in the number of idioms of comparison in English and Vietnamese Some examples of Vietnamese idioms of comparison are “lạnh như tiền”, “xanh như tàu lá”…

Similarities of idioms of comparison in English and Vietnamese

Although the culture of two nations is different, ways of thinking and looking at the world

of English and Vietnamese is somehow similar Hence, both Vietnamese and English express ideas and concepts in the same way In fact, a large number of Vietnamese idioms of comparison are similar with English idioms of comparison in terms of both concept and image to express

As changeable as the weather Hay thay đổi như thời tiết

As cunning as a fox Xảo quyệt như cáo

As good (valuable) as gold Quý như vàng

As heavy as an elephant Nặng như voi

As light as a feather Nhẹ tưa lông hồng

As pretty as a picture Đẹp như tranh

As quick as lightning Nhanh như ánh sáng

As swift as an arrow Nhanh như tên bắn

As timid as a rabbit/ hare Nhát như thỏ đế

As transparent as glass Trong suốt như thủy tinh

As wet as a drowned mouse Ướt như chuột lột

To fight like cat and dog Như chó với mèo

To stick like a leech Bám dai như đỉa

To stick like glue Dính như keo

To follow like a shadow Theo như hình với bóng

Differences of idioms of comparison in English and Vietnamese

The same content but different images to express

Images of idiomatic comparisons in twp nations are different result from differences in culture Vietnam has the cultural tradition of the wet rice production Therefore, animals have a strong attachment to Vietnamese daily life That’s why Vietnamese idioms of comparison consist

of images related to buffaloes which are an animal familiar with rice production agriculture Buffaloes pull ploughs, work very hard everyday to help farmers in their farming As a result, wanting to mention strength, people often refer to buffaloes In fact, to talk about someone very strong, the Vietnamese have the idiom “khỏe như trâu” while the English have the idiom “as strong as a horse” That’s because English people prefer horses to buffaloes Horses can not only pull ploughs but also transport and entertain They are really energetic and strong enough to help people in life

In spite of that, it doesn’t mean that English people don’t consider buffaloes strong animals or Vietnamese people don’t regard horses as strong animals That results just from the difference in culture

Also, dragons are a kind of animal which is very close in fertile imagination of

Vietnamese people Because of that, the image as a dragon appear in the Vietnamese idiom of comparison “ăn như rồng cuốn” to talk about eating large quantities of food while the image of a horse is used in the idiom “to eat like a horse”

Lamp, butter are so familiar with English life while sweet potatoes, pig are familiar with Vietnamese life, as a result there are differences in images to express their ideas of gentleness and fatness:

Besides, the differences in the ways of thinking and observing the world make differences

in the images of idiomatic comparisons Take some following examples to illustrate that:

As cheerful as the birds Vui như tết

As dark as midnight Tối như hũ nút

As black as a stack of black cats Đen như cột nhà cháy

As black as the ace of spades Đen như cú súng

What is more, the differences in human make differences between English and

Vietnamese idioms For example, in Vietnam, there is the idiom “ghen như Hoạn Thư” to refer to

a person who is dreadfully jealous However, in English, the idiom “as jealous as Othello” is used to talk about a one’s jealousy Another example is “sướng như tiên” and “as happy as a king” Indeed, Vietnamese people consider a fairy the happiest one while English people

consider a king the happiest one