Stupid as a coin meaning and rhyming similes in vietnamese

t also draws innovative parallels between Vietnamese rhyming similes and Cockney Rhyming Slang, Multisourced Neologization of the Phonetic Matching type, and English, talian and sraeli e

)nternational Journal of Language Studies )JLS , Vol , pp

-)nternational Studies University, China

Similes emphasise affinities between different objects, and they occur

in many cultures Vietnamese similes can be classified into two types: Meaning Similes and Rhyming Similes This paper analyses and compares their structure and their semantic and phonetic requirements )t also draws innovative parallels between Vietnamese rhyming similes and Cockney Rhyming Slang, Multisourced Neologization of the Phonetic Matching type, and English, )talian and )sraeli euphemisms

Keywords: Meaning Similes; Rhyming Similes; Vietnamese; Multisourced

Neologization; Euphemism; Phonetic Matching

1 Introduction

Many languages preserve a variety of proverbs Proverbs connecting similar characteristics in different objects are known as similes Similes are comparisons that set two ideas side by side to show how two different things

are similar in one important aspect cf Davidson, ; Read,

Vietnamese similes can be classified into two types: a Meaning Similes and

b Rhyming Similes Meaning similes depend on semantic connections and are used in formal writing Rhyming similes derive from similarity of sound especially with respect to the last syllable of two distinct words Rhyming similes are informal expressions used among young people and are not considered standard language This paper analyses the structures and the semantic and phonetic requirements prevalent in both types of simile

2 Meaning and Rhyming similes in Vietnamese

Comparison is common in colloquial speech as a vehicle for understanding

cf Dinh, , p According to (oang , p , the similarity between objects compared in a simile can be temporary and relative A Meaning simile, as its name suggests, focuses on the semantic connection between the two linked objects The following are two examples of meaning similes in Vietnamese:

Vợ chồng như đũa có đôi

)PA: /və: coŋ ɲɯ duə kɔ doi/

Lit: Wife husband as chopstick has pair

Trans: 'Wife and husband are like a pair of chopsticks.'

)n this example wife and husband are compared to a pair of chopsticks, using

the word như like )n Vietnam, chopsticks are essential eating utensils—as

forks, spoons and knives in the Western world—and must be used in pairs A mental image of a wife and a husband being compared to a pair of chopsticks would show that they ought to be together This would bring out the speaker

or writer s implication that although wife and husband and a pair of chopsticks belong to two different semantic domains, they share the same

characteristic i.e., the need to be in pairs

Cô ấy trông tươi như hoa

)PA: /ko: ei coŋ tɯi ɲɯ hwa/

Lit: She looks fresh as flower

Trans: 'She is as fresh as a flower' cf English fresh as a daisy

Rhyming similes, on the other hand, concentrate on the rhyme of the sentence There can be no obvious or related semantic similarity between the two objects Consider the following two examples:

Nghèo như con mèo

)PA: / ŋɛu ɲɯ kɔn mɛu/

Lit: Poor as cat

Trans: 'Poor as a cat' juxtapose with the English semantic simile poor as

a church mouse

Yêu quái con gà mái

)PA: /iəʊ waːɪ kɔn ga maːɪ/

Lit: Cunning a hen

Trans: 'Cunning as a hen' juxtapose with the English semantic simile

)n Example , ái /aːɪ/ appears in both quái cunning and mái hen , which

are semantically unrelated – as opposed to the English fox, which is

flowers, fairies or pictures, and ugliness is connected with monkeys, ghosts or crazy people )n other words, there is a tendency to choose common characteristics of the compared object or person

For example:

Cô ấy đẹp như tiên

)PA: / ko ei dep ɲɯ tien/

Lit: She beautiful as fairy

Trans: 'She is as beautiful as a fairy.'

)n Vietnamese culture, a fairy is a beautiful and kind hearted being On the other hand, animals such as dogs, monkeys, pigs, ghosts and ducks are considered bad Dinh, , p

For example:

Xấu như khỉ

Lit: Ugly as monkey

Trans: ugly as a monkey cf The English simile: ugly as sin

Ngu như lợn

Lit: Stupid as pig

Trans: Stupid as a pig cf The English simile: stupid as an ass

(ôi như c’

Lit: Smelly as owl

Trans: smelly as an owl cf The English simile: smelly as a skunk

Other examples of meaning similes are as follows:

Vietnamese

meaning similes Lit Translation Translation

Gầy như mèo hen Thin as cat sick Thin as a sick cat cf the English

simile thin as a bean pole

Nhanh như ngựa Fast as horse Fast as a horse cf the English

simile fast as lightning

Khóc như mưa Cry like rain Cry like rain cf the English

simile cry like a baby

Khóc như cha chết Cry as father dies Cry as when the father dies Xấu như khỉ Ugly as monkey Ugly as a monkey cf the

English simile ugly as sin

Tối đen như mực Dark black like ink Black as ink cf the actual

English simile black as ink

Users can create new similes based on a pre-existent one provided that the comparing and compared objects have obvious or established similar semantic characteristics For example, to describe beauty, they can invent new similes such as the following:

Đẹp như tiên Trans: Beautiful as a fairy can have various

versions such as:

Đẹp như hoa Trans: Beautiful as a flower

Đẹp như tranh Trans: Beautiful as a painting

Gầy trơ xương

Lit: thin showing bones

Trans: Thin as a skeleton cf The English simile: thin as a rake ; this can

be the model for other meaning similes such as:

Gầy như mèo hen sick cat

Thin as quỷ devil

ma đói starving ghost

the comparing object which is usually placed after the connecting word the element that shows the similar characteristic or quality between compared and comparing object Nguyen, , p

Consider Cô ấy xinh như hoa Lit: She is beautiful as a flower )n this example, Cô ấy She is the compared object, hoa flower is the comparing object standing after the connecting word như as , and xinh beautiful is the element showing the common characteristic

Trans: Study stupidly like a cow

Trans: As a kite has wind

From the above examples, we can draw deduce that the possible grammatical structures are as follows:

The focus of the sentence is the Object O composed by a Noun Phrase NP

or a Clause Cl henceforth, B placed after as or like This Object has the quality described in the subject/verb/adjective/adverb or a clause henceforth, A , which is mentioned before the connecting word as or like Furthermore, B itself may include the image that helps the readers understand the meaning of the sentence

Thus, the general structure of a meaning simile is as follows:

Nói như cháo chảy

Trans: Fluent as pouring soup

Chạy như ma đuổi

Trans: Run like being chased by a ghost cf The English simile: run as fast

Khổ như giữ đóm đêm mưa

Trans: Difficult as keeping the torch under the rain

Cơm với cá như mạ với con

Trans: Rice and fish are like mother and child

Nháo nhác như gà lạc mẹ

Trans: Panic like chickens without their mom cf the English expression

More than six elements:

Người không học như ngọc không mài

Trans: A person who does not study is like a ruby that is not polished

Gái có con như bồ hòn có rễ

Trans: A woman who has a child is like a soapberry that has roots

2.1.4 Connecting words

Meaning similes are divided into two main parts with the following connecting words linking them:

‚ như như thể , bằng , tựa như , which mean as / like

‚ hơn meaning -er than

‚ không bằng , chẳng bằng , không tày , chẳng tày , which mean less than For example:

Gầy như que củi

Trans: Thin as a branch of a tree

Niềm vui ngắn chẳng tày gang

Trans: (appiness is shorter than the measure of the hand

Lời chào cao hơn mâm cỗ

Trans: Greeting is highly appreciated than inviting for a meal

Xinh như tiên

)PA: /siŋ ɲɯ tien/

Lit: Beautiful as fairy

Trans: Beautiful as a fairy

One can say

Xinh như tinh tinh

)PA: / siŋ ɲɯ tiŋ tiŋ/

Lit: Beautiful as gorilla

Trans: Beautiful as a gorilla

Vietnamese people usually associate beauty with flowers or fairies Monkeys and gorillas, on the other hand, are considered ugly and naughty That said, rhyming similes can easily violate these semantic norms Thus, tinh tinh gorilla is compared to xinh beautiful merely because of the rhyming Other examples of rhyming similes with arbitrary comparison are as follows: Méo như cái kéo

)PA: / meu ɲɯ kai keu/

Lit: Unrounded as scissors

Trans: Unrounded as scissors

Scissors often symbolize sharpness rather than unrounded shape But the Vietnamese word for scissors rhymes with unrounded, hence the lexical selection Such a phonetic consideration—in this case involving the first

syllable or the last—might have been present in the English expressions bite

additional factor other than extinction in as dead as a Dodo or as follows:

Sát thủ như quả đu đủ

)PA: /sat tu kwa du du/

Lit: Assassin as papaya

Trans: Assassin as a papaya'

The following are other rhyming similes:

Vietnamese rhyming similes Lit Translation Translation

Keo như con heo Mean as pig Mean as a pig

Buồn như con chuồn chuồn Sad as dragon fly Sad as a dragon fly

Kiêu như cái niêu Proud as cooking pan Proud as a peacock

Ngất như quả quất Faint as mandarin orange Faint as a mandarin

orange

The lack of semantic restriction is a virgin soil for new, often funny and thought-provoking similes Compare this flexibility with that of Phonetic Matching, as follows

2.2.1.1 Phonetic Matching

Phonetic matching Zuckermann, , pp - is a kind of multisourced neologization that makes use of pre-existent lexical item in the target language selected to replace a word in a source language because of a shared

coincidental sound We define phonetic matching as etymythological

etymological+mythological nativization in which the target language material is originally related to the source language lexical item phonetically but not semantically )n other words, phonetic matching is a camouflaged borrowing that marries a Source Language lexical item with a phonetically similar pre-existent autochthonous lexeme/root which is semantically unrelated to the Source Language lexical item )n the process of neologization, the Target Language material adopts the meaning of the source language word

A simple example of phonetic matching is the English word mayday, which nativizes French m’aider to help me! according to the Radio Telegraph

Convention in ; Oxford English Dictionary [OED] or Dialectal/Colloquial French m’aidez help me! in contrast to Standard French aidez moi or French venez m’aider come to help me! cf OED The meaning of the pre- existent English lexical items May and day have nothing to do with help Note that the currently common calls for help in French are au secours help!,

assist! and aidez moi help me!

Similarly, the first Spanish sailors who encountered the Nahuatl Aztec word

influenced by Spanish agua water (owever, in some places this adaptation was matched phonetically with Old Spanish avocado, lit advocate cf Contemporary Spanish abogado advocate , cf Spanish evocado recalled,

evoked, invoked , although of course, advocate had nothing to do with the large testicle-shaped fruit For example, we do not think that advocates were

considered men with big testicles Note that the Spanish word avocado entered English in the late seventeenth century as alligator (pear), again a

phonetic matching

Phonetic matching is widespread in immigrant societies Consider the

American )talian words bimbo child beam , giuro ) swear Jew , and

until later

2.2.1.2 Euphemisms

Vietnamese rhyming similes can be considered partial phonetic matches that

are performed within the same language Consider the following intra-English euphemisms:

‚ gosh! documented , OED for God! documented , OED

‚ darn! documented , OED for damn! documented , OED

‚ frig cf frig you! , OED for fuck; frigging hell! for fuckin’ hell!

‚ (What the) dickens! documented , OED for devil!

‚ heck documented , OED for hell

‚ blooming cf Oh, you blooming idiot! , OED for bloody

‚ blinking (documented , OED, cf bleeding, bally and ruddy) for bloody

‚ shoot! documented , OED or sugar! for shit! documented ,

)ntra-)talian euphemisms are cavolo! lit cabbage for cazzo! lit dick but used in the same way as the English exclamation shit! , incavolarsi get shirty, get angry but less vulgar that the following for incazzarsi get angry , mercoledì! lit Wednesday for merda! shit , and the rare porca

Madonna

Consider also the )sraeli expression ס ס כ kos sóda, lit a glass of water , for the Colloquial )sraeli curses of Arabic origin כּתחא ס כ kus ókhtak, lit

soda-your sister s cunt or כּמא ס כ kus émak, lit soda-your mother s cunt

2.2.1.3 Cockney Rhyming Slang

The same technique characterizes Cockney Rhyming Slang, in which a lexical item is replaced by words usually a conjunction of two which preserve the sound of the last syllable of the original lexical item, hence the modifier rhyming Consider the following:

‚ Adam & Eve – believe

‚ Jelly Bone – telephone

‚ Sharp & Blunt – cunt

‚ Donald Duck – fuck / luck

‚ Tea Leaf – thief

‚ Buckle My Shoe – Jew

(owever, sometimes the coiners or the utterers of the Cockney Rhyming slangism see a link sometimes jocular between the expression and its referent Therefore, it might be considered phono-semantic matching see Zuckermann, , § or at least semanticized phonetic matching Zuckermann, , § , rather than a phonetic matching tout court

Consider the following cases:

‚ Trouble & Strife or the alliterative Struggle & Strife – wife

‚ Sorry & Sad – bad

‚ Sorrowful Tale – jail

‚ Edward Heath – teeth the former British Prime Minister s teeth were

subject to caricature; cf the consequent ellipsis Edwards, with the

meaning of teeth

‚ Ten to Two / Four by Two – Jew the latter once said unkindly to be the

average size of a Jewish nose, in inches presumably , [cf Puxley, ,

] Note that Four by Two noun has been army parlance for the

regulation piece of cloth, measuring "x ", used for internal cleaning of the barrel of a rifle Raphael Loewe, personal communication

)t looks as if, unlike these Cockney examples, in Vietnamese the additional rhyme in the rhyming similes is semantically unrelated to the adjective with which it tries to rhyme Consider the following example:

Dốt như con tốt

)PA: /zɔt ɲɯ kɔn tɔt/

Lit: Silly as pawn chess piece

Trans: 'Silly as a pawn'