Luận văn towards better understanding and using english proverbs

Differences in using melaphor in English and Vietnamese proverbs 11.2.1, English and Vietnamese amimal system in proverbs in comparison Page Ø1... Ball- Conversational English Lndersta

TT VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND ENTERNATIONAL STUDEES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYEN THI BICH TRANG

TOWARDS BETTER UNDERSTANDING AND USING

ENGLISH PROVERBS

IIVONG TOI VIEC DIEU VA SU DUNG TUC NGU TIENG ANIT

TOT IION

M.A thesis — program I

Field: english linguistics

Code: 602215

TIanoi, 2008

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

M.A thesis — program I

Field: english linguistics

Code: 602215

Supervisor: Assoc.Prof.Dr Phan Van Qué

Hanoi, 2008

THE TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

2 Objectives of the study

3 Scope of the study

4, Methods of the study

1.22 The definition of proverbs in the literature

2.1, An open or implied denial of the possibility of defining proverbs

2 A proverb is identical with its text

3 More complex definitions

3 A proposed definition

2.3.1, The necessary and sufficient conditions of a proverb definition

2.3.2 The proposed definition

1.24 The main types of proverbs

12.5 A note on the content of proverbs

1.3 Differences between proverbs and other related terms

1.3.1 Differenocs between proverbs and idioms

ILL Difference in culture

ILL.1, Definitions of culture

IL1.2, Differences between English culture and Victnamese culture

11.2 Differences in using melaphor in English and Vietnamese proverbs

11.2.1, English and Vietnamese amimal system in proverbs in comparison

Page Ø1

1.2.1.1, Animal components in English

1.2.1.2 Aninal componenis in Vietame

112.13 Aninal components in Vietamnese and English in common

1.2.1.4 Animal components existing only in English

12.1.5 Animal components existing only in Vietnamese

1L3 Difference in rhythm and rhyme

113.1 Rhythm

A Rhythm of English proverbs

1 Factors creating rhythm

2 Types of rhythm

3 Function of rhythm

B Rhythm of Vietnamese proverbs

1 Factors creating rhythm

1 Factors creating rhyme 1.1 ‘the repetition phenomena

Chapter ITT: Imptications towards better proverb translation

TT How to wanslaic English proverbs ilo Viclnamesc ones

successfully

TIL2 Victnamese equivalent can be found

TIL3 Vielnamnesc equivalent cannot be found

11.3.1 We ear add or omit words to create thyme ( rhyme in suscession,

thyme in separation, relative rhyme or perfect rhyme)

III.3.2 Creazing rhyme by repeating »

TIL3.3 The proverb can be transialed ilo a Vietruamese six-cight meter

11.3.4 Creating two equal, parallel clause

11.3.5 Making tone symmetrical

PART A:

INTRODUCTION

1, Rationale

English has become an intemational language That is the truth that cannot

be denied As people all over the world wish (o gel closer and closer, English has

shown its great function as a great bridge of communication Mastering English means not only the ability lo speak English Muently but alse the necessity of

having a full and perfect knowledge of Fnglish culmme, history, lifestyle the

shortes! way Lo access and gain hese knowledge, surely, is to gel to know

English proverbs As clearly known, proverb is one of the most ancient kinds of

Folklore which contain many distinguishing fealures of cach nation in lhe world

In Vietnamese, “proverbs are the sayings of people, a treasure of various and ‘‘Tive’”’ expressing forms that the labor class as well as many other different classes in society use to express their attract ideas, their deep thoughts of life (Chu Xuan Dien- Victnamese proverbs)

In English, “Proverbs are so much the common property of all Hnglish men that in conversation, it is often enough to repeat just the beginning of a proverb, the rest is easily supplied by the other calculators’ (\W.1 Ball- Conversational English)

Lnderstanding Unglish proverbs, therefore, helps us understand more clearly about a nation, about its culture, history furthermore, exploring, comparing and contrasting proverbs in native as well as in target language will surely bring about a treasure of valuable knowledge and a more convenient condition for foreign language learning process

Ilowever, understanding and using Inglish proverbs effectively is very difficult for many reasons: differences in culture and history, poor background imowledge of learners, techniques and strategies in studying, proverbs

These ideas give me a tremendous impetus to implement the study

“Towards better understanding and using English proverbs’* This study is

an investigation inte factors leading to difficulties in understanding and using

English proverbs As an investigation, it brings insights into some of the most

common [actors which, Lo some extents, hinder learners from tastering English

proverbs Hopefully, this study will bring considerable effective contributions to

better understanding and using Hnglish proverbs In my view, the sooner learners can start to enjoy Unglish proverbs in their new language, the better

2 Objectives of the study

The objective of this study is to find out some common factors leading to difficulties in understanding and using Linglish proverbs

3 Scope of the study

As there so many factors leading to difficulties in understanding and using English proverbs, the study by no means investigates all factors concemed Some

of factors are not included in this study They are omitted simply because of limitations of time, necessary, qualified and reliable resources, and of course the imowledge of mine Furthermore, exploring and mastermg English proverbs is

quite a large field, I, therefore, limit my study in a smaller one “Towards better

understanding and using English proverbs’ My study only looks for some

very main and common factors leading to difficulties in understanding and using English proverbs In addition, the study is confined to the context of understanding and using English proverbs iti Vietnam The problems discussed in

the study may be irrelevant or inappropriate in other contexts

4 Methods of the study

Dunng the implementation of the study “Tawards better understanding

and using English proverbs’’, throc main [ollowing kinds of methods were

employed: strategic methods, tackling methods and supporting methods Lel’s

have a look at those inothods respectively

4.2 Tackling methods

On the way to realize and decide the objectives of the study, 1 also employed a number of tackling methods namely description, classification, statistics, analysis and syntheses of data l'acts, figures and also examples illustrated for English proverbs were fully described and classified and then I put them directly into the analyzing and synthesizing process The results of the data analysis, synthesis and findings have helped me draw some factors leading to difficulties in understanding and using [nglish proverbs

L1 Origin of proverbs

“Where do proverbs come from?” is a question which is certainly still in

the forefront of debate today, yet, it remains comtroversial and no one can answer for sure ‘hus, it is no easy task to clearly point out the origin of proverbs L, therefore, propose accepting what many researchers in some most well- researched books agree

According to Vietnamese authors, there are two theories about the occurrence of proverbs

«© The first theory: Proverbs were composed by poets

+ The second theory: Proverbs were created by unknown folk authors

We can see clearly that the mumber of proverbs oreated by folk authors outweighs the number of proverbs composed by poets if these two theories are

© The third theory generally: Proverbs began that we stipulate the act of daily

life from our experience and proverbs are useful to each of culture and

definition of proverbs will be dealt with and some notes on the main types and

content of proverbs will be presented

12.2 The definition of proverbs in the literature

In the corresponding papers many definitions can be found Professor

Mieder in one of his papers with admilled overslatement- puts that “We can almost state that there are more definition attempts than there are proverbs”

(Mieder 1989, p.13.)

In the 12" century, Mathieu de Vend«me (quoted by Bautier 1984) wrote

“A proverb is a papular phrase, accredited by custom accepted by the general opinion, expressing a truth that has been proved genuine”

In 1932, Bertlett Jere Whiting gave the following description: “4 proverd

an expression which, owing its birth to people, testifies its origin in form and phrase It expresses what is apparently a fundamental truth, - that is a truism- in homely language, often adorned, however, with alliteration and rhyme It is usually short, but need not to he; i is usually true but need not to be Some proverbs have both literal and figurative meaning, either of which makes perfect

sense; but more often they have but one of the two .A proverb must be venerable;

it must bear the sign of antiquity, and, since such signs may he counterfeited by a

clever literary man, it should be attested in different places and different times.”

(Whiting 1932, p 302)

Many previous definitions are sted in Whiting’s mentioned paper, in the

book of Lutz Rohrich and Wolfgang Mieder (Robrich-Mieder £972) 55

“popular” definitions have been collected by Wolfgang Mieder in 1985 and the

recent paper of Peter Barta should also be mentioned in this context (Barta 1995)

Tf a classification of the proverb definitions is attempted, the [ollowing

main calegories can be distinguished

12.2.1 An open or implied denial of the possibility of defining proverbs

Archer Taylor slates that, “The definition of a proverh is too difficult to

repay the undertaking an incommunicable quality tells us this sentence is

proverbial and that other is noi” (Taylor 1931)

Needless to say, such an incommunicable quality docs not exist In 1996, during a discussion of the Tokyo InlernaGional Proverb Forum, professor Mieder mentioned that Archer Taylor has probably considered it a joke Unfortunately, it has been taken seriously and 1s quoted over and over again, as it was done in Tokyo too It might be enough to mention that not a mysterious

“incommunicable quality”, but among other- the curreney decides that a sentence is a proverb or not Lf we change only one word, e.g, the word “gold” in the English proverb “All that glitters is not gold” to diamond, then it is not an Lnglish proverb any more, although all the so-called “makers” would indicate it

as such Its currency is zero, it is not told so in this form

Matti Kuusi’s well-known statement that the proverbs are “documenta humana” belongs to the same category: Thus the proverbs are defined by an undefined term, implying the possibility of defining proverbs

Malcolm Jones openly proposes a tautology involving an implied possibility of definition: “y shall take refuge in the tautology that a proverb is an expression we recognize as a proverbial”

2.2.2 A proverb is identical with its text

Some examples

«© “A proverb isa short sontence of wisdom” (quoted by Mieder 1989 p15)

© “A proverb is a standard statement of moral and colloquial imperatives in fixed metaphorical paradigmatic form, it deals with fundamental logical relationships” (Barley 1972 p.741)

« “A proverb is a general statement or judgement, explaining, classifying or assessing a silualion” (Harald Burger, quoted by W Micder 1877 p.2)

« “A traditional propositional statement consisting of at least one descriptive element consisting of a topic and a comment” (Dundes 1975)

© “Proverbs are popular fixed sentences expressing a nile of conduct or a wisdom in a vivid, short form” (Rohrich-Mieder 1977 p.2)

Tt has, however, been pointed out repeatedly that eg “two major ingredients traditionality and currency should be part of any definition” (Mieder 1996 p.597) The importance of the implied general meaning (general idea) was stressed by Matti Kuusi (Kuusi 1996) and Vilmos Voigt (Voigt 1970)

‘The implied scope and limitation of application has been mentioned before (Paczolay 1996 p.282)

2.2.3 More complex definitions

In addition to the definition of Whiting given previously, as examples some definitions are mentioned that include several, sometimes frequent, but not absolutely necessary characteristics, like poetic form, while important ones, like currency or the absence of a known author are missing Some examples: “A short pithy saying in common and recognized use a concise sentence often metaphorical or alliterative in form, which is held to express some truth ascertained by experience or observation familiar to all, an adage, a wise saw” (Whiting 1932)

« “A proverb is a popular set phrase having no author, known mostly in different languages, expressing in one sentence a principle, advice, a genuine

or assumed truth in a general, concise form, its basic idea being of general validity, or at least its user considers it as such” (O Nagy 1979 p.645)

“A proverb is a stereotype linguistic entity expressing a fixed idea On the

Tinguistic level i 3s an arlislic picture, on the level of ideas a judgement As a

work of art of folklore it belongs to the secondary semiotic systems It is a

commumicalion sysiom with @ double code, a carer of information at the level of language, but at the same Lime the mformalion carries another content

too, becoming an instrument of poctic expression” (Voa 1989)

“Proverbs are short, generally known sentences of the folk that contain wisdom, truths, morals, and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed and memorizable form and that are handed down orally from generation to

generation” (Mieder 1996 p.597 )

“A short well-known sentence or phrase that states a general truth about life

or gives advice” (A S Homby- Oxford Advanced Leaer’s Dictionary of

current English- Oxford University Press- 1995)

*A proverb is a short sentence that people often quote and that gives advice or tells you something about human life and problems in general” (Collins

Cobuild- English Language Dictionary- Collins Landon & Glasgow- 1988)

“Proverb: a short, well-known, supposedly wise, saying usually in simple language” (Longman Dictionary of Hnglish Language and Culture- Addison

are very ancient” (‘The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literature ‘Terms- Chris

Baldick- Oxford University Press- 1991)

“Proverb is a short sentence thal people often quole, which gives advice or comments on hfe” (BBC English Dicuonary- Harper Colhns Pubhshers

1992}

“Proverb: a short and memorable saying which expresses a piece of experience, often in vivid language” (A Student's Dictionary of Language

and Linguistics- R L Trask 1997- Oxford University Press Inc.}

*Tậc ng: Lụ nh:ng cØa nài ngăm, gân, 2ä ý nghĩa bị

„do mhôn đ@n T

qua raiÖu thÕ kế.” (§inh Gia Kh,nh ¿ Chu Xuẽn

Won hac dđ_ gian- NXB $?i hac vp trung

nghidp- 1987)

Literally translated: Proverbs are short sayings, rich in meaning,

created by working people and passed down from generation to

"Tộc ng+ lp mheng cOu cue kx benh db, ch&c abeh ron

đội, berg nhtng @idu luđr í sđU sa Acfe tưng Ot

Literally translated: Proverbs are sonple sentences thal may be either

teachings about life with profound ethics ur briefly-swnmarized

experiences about jobs

ng: lp mếi c9u rói nga can, c& oahu Lrốc Lăng

ch di6n đt phộng kOt tri thec, kinh rghiệm sộrg vp @to đức cũa mộc

điện lL

(I® §ec Urang- tố @16n gifi LhÝnh LhuẾU

ngt ngựa nạz hãz— NXH Ihùinh phé WA ChÝ Minh— 1993)

Literally translated: Proverbs are short sayings with quite stable

structsre and overtoned way of expression through whích a nation's

intellect, morality and view toward life are revealed

Unil now, there has not been any defmition of proverbs, which is considered to be the most standard arul accurate

1.2.3 A proposed definition

1.2.3.1 The necessary and sufficient conditions of a proverb definition

According to the theory of definitions, any definition should include the

“genus proximum” and the “differentia spevifiea”, i c it should refer to the set

including the item to be defined and to its special characteristics ‘he conditions should be necessary and sufficient ones

Considering the proverbs, any definition should distinguish them from other

“similar items”, like quotations and aphorism, having single authors, standard expressions of special fields and simple sentences

Any definition must include the following recognized and necessary characteristics of proverbs Proverbs appear in the form of short sentences, having a standard text, allowing sometimes some standard variants too, where the orders of words may be changed or some of the words may be replaced by others that can be considered synonyms in that particular context Sometimes additions and omissions also appear Being short, it exchides the possibility of inchiding

explicitly the scope and limitation of validity found in scholarly statements

Proverbs have — in common knowledge — no known author or literacy

source Proper research can and does discover that a considerable part of the

well-known proverbs may be traced back e.g in Europe to Greco-Roman olassics and the Hebrew and Greek Bible, (Taylor 1931 p.52-65 ) e.g “One swallow does not make a summer” to Aristotle, “He that sows the wind, will reap the

whirlwind” to the book of Hosea in the old Testament, “Time iv money” was

coined by Benjamin Franklin in 1748 In the Far-Rast the literary sources are mamily the Chimesc classies, ihe Historteal Records (Shi Ji), the Book of Zhuang,

7a ard the Confucian Analecls (Lum Yu), and in part 1o some Sanskril classic, like the Panchatanira, the Nirvana Sutra ete (Paczolay 1994 p.135) In the process of folktorivation the sources have fallen tito oblivion and in duc lime-

sometimes in a slightly changed form- the quotations became genuine proverbs.

Proverbs have a currency; they are known and often quoted in a small or large region in one or several linguistic communities or in a part of such a community ‘They may be known in several languages and continents, i e they are intemationally disseminated as Mieder put it (Mieder 1991 p.155.) but sometimes they can be found only in one region or dialect of a linguistic community According to the size of the area where a proverb is known, we may distinguish universal, regional (e g regional Luropean, I'ar Mastem or L3lack- African) and local proverbs (Pactrolay 1996)

Proverbs have a history; they “come and go” (Mielder 1991 p.155) Their

existerice is related to a certain period of time (Al), starting with the first known

use or recording In historical terms, itis a “terminus ante quem” if no auther ean

be detected, ¢ g if the first recording includes the remark: “ as the well-known

proverb puts it.” Part of the Biblical ones also belong to this category It may also

be, however, thal it is a “lerminus post quem” if it is a [olklorized quotation, like

“Time is money” On the other hand it 1s also well known that several once popular proverbs have fallen inlo oblivion or their use became restricted to one region of the linguistic community

On the level of abstraction (A) proverbs (pv) reprosont an abstract meaning

or abstract idea (AI) known to the users In the case of metaphoric proverbs this

is implied K g in case of proverb “De not look at a gift horse in the mouth” it may be “One should not criticize a present” or at a higher level of abstraction:

“In return for good will do not retum an offence” In case of maxim-type proverbs this abstract idea is identical with the text of the proverb, like “De as you would be done by” or “Every beginning is hard”

Due to the ignorance of the implied meaning (abstract idea), those who kmow the text only, may misunderstand a proverb LÍ g a Llungarian proverb puts that “It is better to fear than to be frightened (by surprise) — Jobh fDlni, mint megijedni- the meaning of which is the same as that of the linglish proverb

“Forewarned, forearmed” Once somebody whe knew only the text of the proverb maintained that it is a bad proverb, as it is a bad thing to fear

In same cases, there is no doubt about the meaning of a proverb, like “Ail

that glitters is not gold” but on the other hand in Zurope the proverb “To close the stable/barn door after the horse has been stolen”- dating back to Medieval Latin- indicates a belated, futile action The implied meaning of the

comesponding 2000 years old Chinese, Korean and Japanese proverb "To mend the pen after the sheep was losi/stolen” is that “It is not late to repair the fold

even after some of the sheep have been found lost/stolen (Paczolay 1994

p.28/2.5), i.e “Better late than never”

A proverb may refer to some typical general, or typical rare field of human conditions, attitudes or actions, like “4s you make your bed so you must lie on it”

or “4 bad shooter may sometimes hit the mark” Proverbs of special fields, arts and trade, like agriculture, weather etc are exchided, but they may become genuine “general” proverbs if they acquire a general meaning related to human conditions, like “Let the shoemaker stick to his last” Beside the implied meaning there is the equally important implied scope and limitation of the

validity (area b) known to the users They well know e g when one or the other

of the “contradictmg proverbs” is valid, corresponding to the concrete conditions (Clothes make the man — Clothes do not make ihe man — Strike the ion till it ws hot — Everything comes to him who waits — etc.) (Paczolay 1996) In a few cases

the scope and limitation is not implied, but if is included in the text, e.g “Ail

that glitters is not gold” includes the possibility that something that glitters is in fact gold

12.3.2 The proposed definition

The proposed definiliow A proverb (pv) is a shorl, slandard, spoken,

written or stored slalement (somelimes allowing for one or a few slandard

variants (oo and somelimes in a poctic form), having an evidert or implied

general meaning (or general idea) (GT) related (o a particular (ypieal mon or

typical rare fisld of general human conditions (he), alutudes or aclious, with

implied proper scope and limitation of validity The reference to the general meaning/idea may be direct (maxim-type proverb) or implicd (metaphoric proverb) Tthas 4 currency (er), i.e itis well known and offen quoted in a period

of time (At) in a certain small or large language community (Ic) (or in a part of the community), sometimes in a short form (the rest being implied) In common Jmowledge it has no known author or literary souroe,

A short form of the definition: a proverb is a shart standard statement, having on evident or implied general meaning, related to a certain typical field of general human conditions, attitudes or actions, where it is valid with implied limitations It is known and often quoted in a period of time in a certain language community, sometimes in a short form (the rest being implied) In common Imowledge it has no Imown author or literary source

A formal description:

pv = (short, standard statement) cn 44 » + (implied general meaning) +

(implied field of validity) + {x0 known source)

» Note: If the definition is intended to inchide “special”, like agricultural, weather, legal, medical ete proverbs too, then the text should read: general or special human conditions, attitudes or actions, or other conditions

12.4, The main types of proverbs

TL was mentioned previously that the proverbs may be melaphoric and

maxim type ones, to which proverbial phrases or comparisons oan be added

The mental process taking place dising the application of metaphone proverbs (concreic-abstract-comercle), maxim-lype proverbs (coneretc-abstract)

and proverbial comparisons where the general idea is replaced by a general characterise (GC) like “of little value” (Not worth a straw), “Bat” (Flat as a pancake) “Only a little part is revealed” (A fip of iceberg) can he represented as

bi=conerete case by=eonerete case bisomething flat

by= pv= Do not look ata gift GIEpy=Doasyouwould — bạ=pv=

horse in the mouth be done by Elat as a pancake

GI= One should not criticise a present GC= flat

1.2.5 A note on the content of proverbs

As the basic experience of mankind on human behaviour is the same from time immemorial, a considerable part of proverbs even in independent cultures express the same basic ideas Some examples: reciprocity and the lack of it, cause and effect relationship, appearance and reality, related and unrelated phenomena, human errors and virtues ete The number of common proverbs is greatly increased by cultural contacts, involving the appearance of loan-proverbs.

In Europe, 106 proverbs were found to exist in 28 to 54 languages of the continent, being present in all its main geographic regions In Chinese, Korean and Japanese so far 169 common proverbs were found, some of them having, close equivalents in Vietnamese, Thai and Malay too Some European proverbs like “ime is money” have since made their way into lar-liastem languages too L3 Differences between proverbs and other related terms

Vor “better understanding and using Hnglish proverbs”, differences between proverbs, idioms and “ca dao” are also mentioned because in proverbs

“there is a part consisting of the ambiguous sentences”, very similar/close to both idioms and “ea dao”, <Quoted from Dictionary of Literary Tomms- T6 @10n

thuEt ngs vn haéc- L? 3, Hon (enti bitn)- Natioal

Universi

Puclishing Hcuse- i99/>

L3.1 Differences between proverbs and idioms

Nowadays, the problem of how to distinguish proverbs from idioms is still

on hot debate Basing on definitions of proverbs mentioned above and through the process of collecting and analyzing, I distinguish proverbs from idioms according to two main criteria: content and function

3.1.1 Content

Proverbs are complete sentences, with adequate meanings, which express a

remark: a prediction, an experience or a moral while idioms are “only a part of a

sentence, or a phrase, quite stable Idioms do not express a complete meaning or

a remark like proverbs, they show a concept with interesting and attracting

forms” <Dictionary of Literary Terms- 2? 8, H,n- Lanoi National University Publishing House- 1997,

We can see this difference clearly through the following examples:

1 Tn Vietnamese, the idiom “SA oh- 14 %9” (As beautiful as a Cairy) simply generalizes a nature but the proverb “$ÑÐ nh- tí ”n khang tiên công 6” (As beautiful as a fairy but having no money is worthless) generalizes the law of life

2 In English, the idiom “Birds of a feather” only tells a fact, while, the proverb “Birds of a feather flock together” generalizes a certain law of life: those who share the same opinions, the same characteristics will easily become close friends

13.1.2 Function

Proverbs have the informing and educating fimotion <bring people

knowledge, a lesson in life> but idioms do not have this function They only

show an event Let’s have a quick look at the example below to understand more clearly about this difference

The idiom “Yo put all one’s eggs in one basket” only tells an action while the proverb “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” contains an advice

The idiom

proverb “Ch y nhụ hùng xdm bxnh ch@n nh- v?i" meansa

criticism and a reminder

Briefly, content and function are two main criteria to distinguish proverbs

from idioms

L3.2 Differences between “proverbs” and “ca dao”

In Linglish, there exists no kind of I'olklore as “ca dao” Llowever, in

Vietnamese, sometimes it is very difficult to identify the “hond” of proverbs and

“ca đao”

We can easily realize a proverb when it is a short and succinct sentence and

it lies on one line

Š sao cho véa lBng ng-Si

But when the proverbs exist under the forms of the six-eight meters (a poem

in which the lines are altematively of six and eight feet), the distinction is generally very difficult as the characteristics of proverbs decrease muoh and the

characteristics of “ca dao” increase much (According to NguyOn Thi Hou-

- € sao che véa go ng-8i

ê réng ng-@i c & hẴn ng-êi

Nowadays, the criteria that many people base on to distinguish the “bond”

belween proverbs and “ca dao” are:

- Proverbs are melined to reason, “ca dao” are inclined to emotion

- Proverbs are tied with daily sayings of people, “ca dao” are ticd with

“didn z-ing” <they are recited to express the feelings the emotion

of the singers Moreover, to distmguish them accurately and clearly, we have to put them

in the concrete contexts When they are recited to express the feelings of the singers, they are considered “ca dao” but when they are mentioned to tell about

an experience, a remark or the objective reason, they are exactly proverbs

1.4 Characteristics of proverbs

The characteristics of proverbs will be analysed through three main points

4.1 Forms:

© Proverbs are short utterances (short sayings or phrases) Most of the

proverbs have rhyme (only a small amount of proverbs do not have rhyme) On average, a proverb often contains four to ten words

For example Better late than never Blood is thicker than water

<Muén cBr hon kheng> <Mét giat mju @po fon

For example

© Aman is as old as he feels and a woman is as old as she looks

<$yn «ng giv Tp do cfm gq’ jc, ®un by aip hiÖn tz°n nÐt nếc

* si?ng @i t,t, nh,ơ ®i c6@u, mucn che ®ĐỢy btu

thx ®i nhñí,

cm gu t,t n-ic, m@y kBo

* Moy kDo xuôi

bờ

cƠm cuce ph,

ng

ôNo English equivalents>

Llowever short or long it may be, each proverb is a sentence

Proverbs have a quite stable structure They hardly change under any circumstance,

Proverbs are not only pithy but also poetical (they have rhyme and avertoned way af expression)

L4.2 Content:

Proverbs appear to have adequate meaning (through which people’s Imowledge, predictions, advice are experimentalized in such a plain but meaningful way of saying)

Proverbs have informative function (they tell us about a certain fact of

life, a remark or a prediction)

Vor example:

In English proverbs:

> A certain fact of life:

ôThe more, the merrier

opng wui>

jung đôene,

eA man can die once

<86i ag-#{ caỉ chết một lCn>

in Vietnamese proverbs:

> A certain fact of life:

eY'u n?n tot, ghÐt ntn xÊu

aults are thick where love is thin>

ecY thim, chang ch.n

«Hasty love 1s soon hot and soon cold>

In English proverbs:

> A remark:

« Measure for measure

<:n miÖng, trĩ miỂng>

« There is life in the cold dog vet

<Geng cpng gip cung cay>

Int Vietnamese proverbs:

© He who laughs best is last

ng-8i hen ter hem sau ng~êi

81>

* Diamond cuts diamond

<VÁ quýt chy cA mang cay nhan>

<Tasy come, easy go>

Proverbs also have educational function (they give out ethics, advice or morals)

For example

i thiy s.ng mi ngi tụ vụng

<All is not gold that glitters>

- Besides, proverbs are traditiona

CHAPTER I:

FACTORS LEADING TO DIFFICULTIES

IN UNDERSTANDING AND USING ENGLISH PROVERBS

TL1 Difference in culture

11.1.1 Definitions af culture

The word “cwifrre” has various meanings

According lo “The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary”, cullure means art, literature, music and other expression of a particular society or time,

Richard in Dictionary of Language + Teaching and Applicd Linguistic, Longman (1996; p 94) has gone “culture is the total set of beliefs, attitudes, customs, behaviours, social, habits, ete

In Lludson’s opinion, “culture is the term used differently by different anthropologists but always refers to some property of a community, especially those, which might distinguish it from other communities”

L White in “he Science of Culture” considered “culture” a scientific category indicating a special field of activity, which exists only in societies of human beings and its own rules of development”

Above all, T*Cn Ngào Th?m“s definition (in Vietnamese Culure - 1999) is believed to be the most complete one TLis an organic system of material and spiritual values crealed and stored up by human beings during the process of practical activities in the contact between thew and their own natural as welll as

social enviroment

It should be mentioned that there is a close relationship between proverbs and culture, maintaining they were inextricably related so that you could not understand or appropriate the one without knowledge of the other

The word “culture” has a very broad meaning Ilere, we only analyse some aspects of it related to proverbs

11.1.2 Differences between English culturc and Vietnamese culture

All cultures have certain things in common, in other words, all cultures have similarities These similarities may deal with the material aspects of life, such as shelter or they may involve such non- material activities as maintaining a goverment or crcating myths In a recent study, Tr- ng Ngac Khanh in

“An investigation ou some cnliural differences on social contacts belween Vietnam and some countries il has relaons with” shows that clements comnient

to all cultures include: (1) technology, (2) institutions, (3) languages and (4) the

There are two main types of culture They are agricultural and nomadic cultures Though both the former, located in the East including Vietnam and the latter, belonging to the West, including England, are now no longer completely agricultural or nomadic; they still have a great impact on people’s socio- linguistic life

For example:

In agricultural regians, buffalo is the most common symbol We, therefore, can see tany proverbs appear this kind of cattle

Con tr@u tp Cu ơi nghiệya

<Lilerary translaled: Bullalo is the most valuable thing in he lamily>

fren chim uộng n-ic đục,

<The early birds catch the worm

While in the West, the culture of which is nomadic, horse is to govern this position, Followings are some examples

Zeal withent knowledge is a runaway horse

eNHIGL Larh mp kheng xiễn Lhøao Jax sh— ngùa BÉL

kham>

You can take a horse to the water but you can’t wait him drink

<Arh c& thé d&t ngtia zuéng n-ic na-ng kheng thd

bet nã uềng n-ic>

That's a horse of another colour

<§4 Lp shuyOn kh,c>

specially, there 1s one specific example of this difference ‘That is

“trOu bude ght Lea on”

We can see clearly that this proverb uses the symbol “buffalo” but its

English equivalent is “Tied horse hates free horse” The symbol “horse” has

taken the symbol “buffato”’s position

Thus, this difference between agricultural and nomadic culture is one of the

main factors leading to difficulties in understanding and using English proverbs

IL2 Differences in using metaphor in English and Vietnamese proverbs

Most proverbs (both Vietnamese and English proverbs) use metaphor

expression The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary defines “mclaphor” the

imaginalive use of a word or a phrase lo describe somebody or something as

another object in order o show Uhat Uhey have the same qualities and to make the

description more forceful

And Nguyen Hoa, in his “An Introduction to Semantics”, shows

“nelaphor” is the transference of meanmg name” from one object to another based on similarity between these two “objects” i, c we can call onc object by the name of another because we compare these objects and [ind sore common features between them, This is the association of similarity

Vor example, a cunning person is often referred to a fox; an aggressively and unpleasantly behaving woman is as a bitch- a female dog used with negative connotations

In short, in a metaphor, no function words are used; something is described

by stating another thing with which it can be compared,

It can be withdrawn from those mentioned above that in a metaphor, symbolism is the way ane thing (often concrete) is said to imply one other thing, Vox is just a symbol for one person’s characteristic instead of saying that person

is cunning, secretly tricky It is symbolism that makes metaphor a lively and beautiful art of expression by word

Hence, most proverbs choose metaphor expression Many animals and things exist in proverbs instead of human beings and their feelings Many proverbs of this kind can be seen:

In Vietnamese:

“‘Ng-u tom ng-u, ms tem m:”

Tt means thal those who share the same opinious, in lifestyles, will easily become fricnds

“Sống cung giun cùng s3

1t means the old are the most experienced

4 mu Que han ae n-ia ie"

It means brothers are always dearer and closer than friends and neighbours

Similarly, in English, we have

“Birds of a feather flock together”

<Victnamese cguivalent: Ng-u tOm ng-u, m- tem m->

“Every bird loves to hear himself sing”

valent: Won mh, vi ng-fi>

<Victnamese ey

It means, “People always consider them and theirs are the best”

In all the proverbs mentioned above, the symbol animal is used to show human beings

IL2.1 English and Vietnamese animal system in proverbs in comparison

12.1.1 Animal components in English

Many researchers have done the work to find out how many animal components used metaphorically in English and they have shown that there are seventy-five They are presented in alphabetical order as follows:

Ant, ape, ass

Bat, bear, beast, beaver, bee, beetle, bird, bitch, bug, bull, butterfly

Calf, camel, cat, chicken, cock, cow, coot, crocodile, craw

Devil, dog, donkey, dragon, dove, dick

Fagle, eel, elephant

Fish, fly, flea, fox, fowl, frog

Ghost, goat, goose

Hare, horse, hen, hawk, hound

Kitten

Lamb, lark, lion

Mare, mole, monkey, mouse, mule

Owl

Arrow, peacock, pig, pigeon

Rabbit, rat, rhinoceros

Sardine, sheep, snail, snake, stag, swan, swine

Tiger, turkey

Whale, wolf, and worm

1.2.1.2 Animal components in Victnamese:

Tt seems that Vietnamese animal components that are used metaphorically are richer than those of English with the doubled figure: 126 animal components

‘They are arranged alphabetically as followings :

Bam bữp, be, bự, pó neng, b&, ba chd, ba mis, ba

cua, cun eột, cudc, chic bfo,

De Leung, d?, dide NOu,

S€a, @om đóm, đ ụi vớ

Ma, mio, mugi

Nai, nụng Hữu

1.2.1.3 Animal components in Vietnamese and English in common:

From these two lists of animals in each culture mentioned above, it is very easy to withdraw the common animals existing in both clarified There are 53

animal components in common, a not too small figure Alphabetically, we have

nglish:

Ant, upe, ass

10a

Bai, bear, beast, bee, beetle, bird,

bitch, bug, bull, butterfly

Cat, chicken, cock, cow, crocodile ,

c, shu, crow

Devil, dog, donkey, dragon, duck

rang, vEt

Fel, elephant

Fish, fly, fox, frog

Ghost, goat, goose

Hawk, hen, horse, hound

Monkey, mouse

Owl

Parrot, peacock, pig, pigeon

Rabbit, rat, rhinoceros

Kidn, @-8i -si,

12.1.4, Animal components existing only in English:

‘Twenty-two is the exact number of metaphorically used animal components which exist in English Here are they, ordered alphabetically:

gue ¢c,i, cauét choi, con la>

Sardine, stag, swan, swine

ac-®in, h7¬u nai Gùc, thỉ°n nga, con Lin>

Turkey

<Gu LOy>

Whale

<Ú, VOI>

Some may doubt about this figure because almost all the animals above

exist in Vietnamese and some are very similar like: calf, cagle, fowl, killen, mole, swan, etc But this is the fact These animals are only used metaphorically in English If you do not believe, wy to find out some cxamples thal (hese anizals are used metaphorically

11.2.5 Animal components existing only in Vietnamese:

Seventy-five is the number of animals which are found used

metaphorically only in Vietnamese ‘hey surely do not exist in English, Let’s have a quick look at them:

Bem bo, ba cha, ba nlit, ba mit, o& ngus, ba ctp,

ba neng, b,o

As a result, the number of animal components used metaphorically that

found in each animal system outweighs that in common This can be explained

by many reasons, bul mostly are the differences in cullure While, metaphorically used animals in English represent a nomadic culture, animal system in

Vistnamese mostly meludes representatives of agricultural culture

The animal component structure also reveals the difference between the two

cullures Though ordinary animals (dog, fish, elephant, bird ), wild avimals

(ant, beaver, hare ) and on-land animals (dog, cat, bird, cow ) are found used metaphorically at high frequency in both (he two cultures, the rales of wild and

on-land ammals used im Vietnamese are much higher than those im English

Perhaps, this difference results fiom the difference in living condition,

geography, belicf, religion, cic of the two countries The Vicamese live more

closely to nature than the English and Victnamesc legend treasure is undoubtedly very abundant because the poupla’s imagination is quite rich Belief and religion

of the two cultures are also different, which leads to animal conceptualism ‘This difference is also a big problem for intermediate Vietnamese students of Linglish

in understanding and using English proverbs accurately For one thing, many of them are not sure about this main difference in the two cultures that is revealed clearly through proverbs with the metaphor expression l'or another thing, they may be confused when they see an English proverb with an animal and its Vietnamese equivalent with another animal

«© When the cat is away, the mice will play

Vietnamese ccuivalernt: Ving chi nhp, gp mic

@i tem

© Birds of a feather flock together

Vietnamese equivalent: Ng-u <¢m ng-u, m: t¢m

m

« Dag does not eal dog

Victmamese cquivalent: Gp cing mét mÑ chi

honi @$, nhau

«on tcownt your chickens before they are haiched

Vietnamese equivalent: §ong 26m cua trong

6

© Dogs that put up many hares kill none

Vietnamese equivalent: BYt ¢, hai tay

We, therefore, camnot link this Knglish proverb with its Vietnamese equivalent Sometimes, we come across a very familiar proverb in English but

we are not sure whether it has the same meaning as a proverb in Vietnamese The result is we do not dare to use that proverb in their writings or use wrongly, or they do not know how to understand it in that reading ‘This difference also results in the reason we hardly remember English proverbs and we also find it difficult to acquire English proverbs

1L3 Difference in rhythm and rhyme

One main factor that makes it difficult to understand and use English proverbs accurately is the difference in rhyme and rhythm between English proverbs and Vietnamese proverbs