Luận văn a contrastive analysis of proverbs and idioms relating to animals in english and vietnamese equivalents

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSTTY, IANOI UNIVERSITY LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES HAN VAN MAI A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF PROVERBS AND IDIOMS RELATING T

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSTTY, IANOI UNIVERSITY LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

HAN VAN MAI

A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF PROVERBS AND IDIOMS RELATING TO ANIMALS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE

EQUIVALENTS

{Phân tích đối chiếu các câu tục ngữ, thành ngữ liên quan đến các động vật

trong tiếng Anh và cách biểu đạt tương đương trong tiếng Việt)

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field: English Linguistics Code: 60 22 15

HANOI - 20811

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, IIANOI UNLVERSLTY LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDLES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUBLES

HAN VAN MAT

A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF PROVERBS AND IDIOMS

RELATING TO ANIMALS IN ENGLISH AND

VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS

(Phân tích đối chiếu các cầu tục ngữ, thành ngữ liên quan đến các động vật trong tiếng Anh và cách biểu đạt tương đương trong tiếng Việt)

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field: English Linguistics Code: 60 22 15

HANOL- 2011

TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION

2 Aims of the study

3 Scope of the study

4 Methndalogy

5 Design of the study

PARI B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1 : THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Relationship between language and culture

1.2 Literal meanings and idiomatic meanings

CITAPTER 2

SOME FEATURES OF ENGLISH VIETNAMESE PROVERB AND IDIOM

2.2 Comparison between English and Vietnamese proverbs and 16 iđioms vicwed from cultural iÄcnfities

2.3 Animal images in proverbs and idioms

2.3.1 Animal images in Vietnamese proverbs and idioms 25 2.3.2 Animal images in English proverbs and idioms 27

CHAPTER 3 ACONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS GF ENGLISL PROVERD AND IDIOM RELATED TO ANIMALS VERSUS TIIE ONES IN VIETNAMESE

idioms about human characteristics through the images of animals

PARTA TNTRODUCTION

1 Rationale Nowadays, English has been widely used in Vietnam, It is also a compulsory subject in high schools

in Vietmam, English has long been regarded as a toot of international communication, and together with its rising importance, the need of learning English is becoming more and more urgent, It can’t be denied that all forcign teamers in general and Vietnamese Icamers in particular desire to master English as the native speakers However, they usually face a lot of difficutties that prevent thom from gaining successftd conversations One of the reasons for

these problems lies in the way people perceive and use idioms and proverbs

English and Vietnamese are two different languages, that is, each of them embodies in itself the cultural factors which characterize one culture from the others

Therefore, it is unquestionable that to learn a forcign language also means to gain benefits from its great stock of proverbs and idioms in which most cultural values are

reflected However, most Vickun

¢ learners arc laugh English mairty wilh the know

of language, not culturally appropriate factors embedded in the teaching language They speak English without the understanding of English commmmication manner They write nglish with lie knowledge of Englsh cullural background Cơnsequenly, iL causos misunderstanding or even communicative breakdown Clearly, without cultural appropriateness, learning English in general and learning English proverbs and idioms in particular scom lo be a challenging pro

and translate English proverbs and idioms into Vietnamese

Lach nation’s language has its own similar and different concepts on many fields of

ILis really a risky road for learnsrs to undorstand

ifs such as humane valucs, ways of thinking, behavior standards, religious beliefs, customs and traditions, social convention, etc, Words and expressions including idioms and proverbs have formed the vocabulary system of a language Idioms and proverbs are regarded as special factors of a language’s vocabulary system because they reficct cultural specific

characteristics af each nation, including material and spiritual vahiss Therefors, many researchers have long shown theix concems for idioms and proverbs,

Idioms and proverbs are used to express ideas in figurative styles ‘They bring the vividness and richness to the speakers’ speeches, ‘This is the reason why the more skillfully a person usc idioms and proverbs in his conversations, the more effectively he can establish his communicative relationship One more important thing is that the general present tendencies are towards proverbial and idiomatic usage; therefore, knowing how to use idioms and proverbs effectively in the right situations is becoming essential, Morcover, the most distinguished advantage of idioms and proverbs is that they do provide users with a whole new way of expressing concepts linguistically Tl can by said that idiorns and proverbs ara the color and vitality of'a language

We all know that language is the most important means of communication in the world, However, only when both the

about cach other , can they communicate cfitctively Actually, the culture and the language

eakers and the listeners have a common understanding

are considered the two sides of a paper, both are inseparable ftom each other and from the social context In commmunication as well as in language leaching, the cults clements are getting more and more important, Knowing the taret language’s cultwe helps second language learners comprehend the knowledge of that language more effectively

IL can be scen thal proverbs and idioms arc the windows on a nation’s identities, If the window bghtly closed, we would fail to decode the real message of a language in particular and of a culture in general, This idea offfers me a strong impetus to study proverbs and idioms

of English and Vicinarn of culiiwal identities of cach nation

cquivaleris in the v

Being interested in idioms and proverbs for long timne, I choose idioms and proverbs as

my thesis topic, Due to the limited time and knowledge, | just focus on a very small part of the

huge idiomatic and proverbial treasure, ‘ A cuntrastive analysiv of proverbs and idioms

relating to animals in English and Vietnamese equivalents’, With the aim of presenting an overview of proverbs and idioms in general and a contrastive analysis of proverbs and idioms

rclating to animals in English and Victnamesz in particular, I hope it will partly hofp leamers

and translators avoid difficulties in realizing and translating Fnglish proverbs and idioms into

‘Vietnamese and vice versa

2, Aims of the study

The aims of the study are

- To discover cultural values through proverbs and idioms

- To investigate the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms denoting human charactctistics through images animals

- To help the Vietnamese leamer of English be more aware of English and Vietnamese

proverbs and idioms and how lo use them in appropriate and intoresting way

- Provide some suggestions for the teaching/learning and translation of the English proverbs and idioms relating to animals

3 Scope of the study

- Proverbs and idioms are Jarge parts in both English and Vietnamese; thus it is irmpossiblo for the author lo carry ont a comprohensive study on thorn, thus, he just foonses on some proverbs and idioms relating to animals

- In this study the cross-cultural differences view from customs, religion are extensively discussed, English idioms denoting human characteristics through the images of animals are compared with Vietnamese ones

- All English and Vietnamese proverbs and idioms are collected from dictionaries;

‘hones, this research may not cover all proverbs and idioms relating to animals, just those of

analysis is designed to point ont the similarities and đifferencas betwezn Dnglish proverbs and

idioms relating to animals and Vietnamese ones

5 Design of the study

The study consists of three parts The first parl “Infroduction” outlines the background of the study In this part, a brief account of relevant information is provided such as rationale, aims, scopes, methods, and design of the study

The main part of the study comprises three chapters, Chapter one, as implied by the file * theoretical background” for the study It consists of relationship between Janguage and culture, the literal meanings and idiarnatic meanings,

proverbs in relation to idioms, Chapter two is concerned with “Comparison of cultural features between English Vietnamese proverbs and Idioms” , whereas chapter three deals with “A comtrastive analysis of Vietnamese proverbs and idioms relating to animals versus the ones in English”

‘The final part is “Conclusion” , which provides the recapitulation, implications for the FFL toaching and loarsing and for the translation, and suggestions for the

fiuther studies The study ends with the “References”

4.1 Relationship between language and culture

It is said that language is the highest and the most amazing achievement of man mind Most linguists curently regard the faculty of language as “ a defining characteristic of being human” because it is what best distinguishes man from ogres and other animals

Language is a croative product of human kind that helps to distinguish ther from ofher creatures on the earth and that serves the main purpose of communication Language is not occurring in isolation because human beings are not separate islands in the world of social

activities

It is shown that the word ‘culturc’ is used frequently in our daily life but ‘culture’ is not easily defined, nor is there a consensus among scholars, philosophers and politicians (nor, probably, among » rest of us) as ta what exactly the concept should includes, Despite a century

of efforts to detine culture adequately, there was in the early 1990's no agreement among

anthropologists regarding its nature

Another common way of understanding cullurs is secing ii as consisting of thres elements; values, norms, artifacts Values comprise ideas about what in life seems important

“They guide the rest of the culture Norms consist of expectations of how people will behave in differnt situations Fach culture has different methods, called sanctions, af enforcing its nous, Sanctions vary with the importance of the norm; noums that a society enforces formally have the status of laws Artifacts-things or material culture-derive from the culture’s values and norms

Culture, in this study, like in Nguyen Quang (1998:3), is not “high culture” (traditionally the milieu of arts, music of sciences and so on) but “tefers to the informal and often hidden

pattcrns of human interactions, oxpressions, and vicwpoints that pcople in anc culture share”

“No culture is good or had, just different!” And there is a famous quote of Mahatma

Ganda “Ne cadiure can live, if it attempis to be exclusive” Nguyen Quang (1998.3) also

emphasizes “it is best not to overemphasize either ouftwre differences or cultural similarities

‘Those who says, “We are all alike: we're all human” deny the shape and flavor that cultures

conirihutes to individual development Those who say, “We're so different that we must stay separate” create harmful barriers by closing their eyes to what is common to every human

being”

Cultue docs not belong to any single person but to all people Nguyen Quang in

“Intercultural Communication” (1998-3) describes “culture” as " a share background {for

example, national, ethnic, religious) resulting from a common language and communication

sivle, customs, beliefs, attitudes, and values”

What we can derive from these points of view is that the language of a community is a part

of a manifestation of its culture as Goodenogh’s word “ the relationship of language to culture

is that of part to whole” Language and cornmunication modality (verbal, gesture, written) arc

examples of elements that form and shape a culture Kramch-Troike (1998-3) clarifies the correlation between language and cullure by emphasizing three functions of language related

to culture They are “expressing cultural reality, embodviny cdtural reality and symbolizing

cultural reality’

Tn ils tums, cuftere influences the way in which language is used Culumes is the final arbiter of meaning or linguistic meaning 1s entirely determined by the cultural context in which the language occurs

1.3 Literal meanings and idiomatic meanings

According to Dr Duong Ky Duc (2003), the meanings of a word are not only the literal meaning, but also the figurative meaning ‘hese meanings of the word do not exist separately but together as a perfect whole In this sense the literal meaning is the center and the figurative meaning is tha extension, which shows the cultural distinction of using the wort etween this commodity and others, However, we focus much on idioms relating to animals, therefore, besides the literal meanings of the words containing ‘animals’, we mainly study the figwative mcanings of thesc idioms whidli arc, in the study, valled the idiomatic meanings 12.1 Literal meaning

‘The Hiloral moaning of a word is the strict dictionary meaning of a word, the ‘dictionary definition’ For example, if you look up the word ‘snake’ ina dictionary, you will discover that ons of its literal meanings is ‘any of merous scaly, legless, sometines venous reptiles having a tong tapering cylindrical body and found in most tropical anil temperate regions?

Obviously, idiom has its idiomatic meaning, Many idioms, however, can also have both the literal and idiomatic meanings In the study, the author does not focus on the literal incanings of all the idiomatic expressions conlaining the words rolaling to “animals* bul ones

of the words relating to ‘animals’, which are, somehow, related to the idiomatic meanings of

‘the idiomatic expressions containing the words relating to ‘animals’

Idiom regularly has a stronger meaning than non-idicmatic phrases, For instance, “look daggers at someone” has more highlighting meaning than look angrily at someone, although

they signify the similar thing.

Idiom may also imply a particular attitude of the person using them, for example,

disapproval, hmmor, ixritation or adiniration

Words do not just come individually, they also come in expressions — in-group idioms are among the most common of these expressions (Wright, 2002)

Idioms itself have grammar, Some idiomatic expressions are fixed and cannol be changed such as :

Bvo head are better than ane

ta anh thợ gia bằng Gia Cat Lirgng)

However, in most cases, we can change the tense and the pronoun such as J a/She is/We are all at sixes and sevens

According to Wrighl, idiom is an expression with following features Fastly, idiom

is fixed and is reangnizad by native spozkers We cannot make up our own idioms The second feature is that idiom uses language in a non-literal-metaphor-way Take these idioms

as examples

Tin is up 10 his eves in work now

At the meeting, I felt a bit out of my depth

Lwas over the moon when L heard she'd had twins

It broke my mother’s heart lo soc her howe burnt to the ground

TẾ you are up to your eyes, you are very busy When a person is out of her or his depth, he/she might he in the sea but he/she is more likely to be in a circumstance that

he cannot cormprehond far some reasons If you are aver the maon, you arc extremely joyfid about something If something breaks your heart, you are very gloomy about it

In these examples, it is clear that the idiom is a whole expression This is the

traditional view of idioms

We are familiar with the idea of heavy rain causing a stream to overflow and flood the surrounding area; crowds are often described as water and the same verb flood is used ‘The literal meaning of @ hot potato, itis not for cating, il micins a controversial issue Idkigrns are very important because they are commonly used in daily life It is neatly impossible to speak, read or listen to English without meeting idioms ‘he next reason is the metaphorical use of a

word is more common today than its literal meaning Ulowsver, it is important to know its literal meaning because it creates a pictwe in ow mind and this picture enables us to understand other meanings mare easily ‘The last reason why idioms are so important is that they are fim fo leam and to use If the language you want to leam is more colorful and interesting, there is more chance that we will remember il ctzarly Qur English will sound

figurative fimetion, not educational function Kor example, in Viemamese we say “mdr hoa

da phd” This idiom only brings us a picture of a beautiful and charming woman but not

Most of idioms are formed ftom ineamplete meaning words; they cannot stand alone but in a senlence Vietnamese idioms are oflsn used in proverhs, folk songs, or literatnre works That makes idioms meaningful only when they are in sentences, Take this as an example, “cong dé tring”, at least, it has to be in sentence: “đứng là công đố tràng” or

“chuyện anh làm chỉ là công dé trang” instead of expressing an idea literally, people tend

the idea of a person who sometimes works, sometime does not, we use this idiom “fide ta di làm bữa Âm bia cát”

to use idiom Lo make their spcech more beautifully or Gummer For example, lo expre:

Idioms usc brief expressions based on stotics, folk tales, or classic refercnces, which happened a long time ago Now we encounter similar situation, thus by hearing those idioms, ths listener knows exactly what the speaker means Many Vietnamese idioms are

1.2.2.2 Sama features of tdiamn

It is asserted that language follows rules If it did not, its users would not be able to

make sense of the random utterances they zead or heard and they would not be able to

communicate meaningfully themselves Idiom, however, breaks the normal rules ‘Ihe word

‘idiom’ comes from the Greck “dio”, ‘one’s own, pounliar, strange’ Hence, idiom is considered anomalies of language, mavericks of the linguistic world; and most of the linguists when studying features of idiom have focused on these animalities of idiom Idiom may be charactorized by several features; but they may be summarized under two main headings

semantic and syntactic peculiarities

In ters of semantic peculianitigs, Jackson and Amvela (2006:67) indicate that idiom has “ambiguity”, it means that idiom may have either a literal or an idiomatic meaning For example,

If someone “beats a dead horse” they may in fact be in the process of striking the

carcass of an animal (litcral meaning), or they may be wasting time discussing a mattcr that

has already been closed (idiomatic meaning) Similarly, “Ye sit on the fence” can literally ancan thal onc is silng ơn # fence “7 sat on the fence and watched the game”, whereas ils

idiomatic meaning that one is not making clear choice regarding some issue “The politicion

sat on the fence and would not give his apinion about the tax issue” \lowever, once a teader

or hearer realizes thal a given expression is idiom, cvon if they arc nol sure of ils exact

meaning, they will automatically discard the literal meaning of the expression, and seek an idiomatic meaning Furthermore, the context in which the idiom occurs also play an important rote in the reduction of this potential ambiguity

Another noticeable semantic featwe of idiom is aitirmed by Cruse (1986; 37-38):

“although idiom consists of more than one word, it displays to some extent the sort of intemal coltesion thal we expeet of single words” Tn order words, idiom may be charanlerizert as “a Jexical complex, which is semantically simplex”, And this semantic integrity of idiom leads to its lexical integrity It means that idiom has a number of syntactic (grammatical) constraints:

« ‘The first constraints are on replacements or substitutions Kernando (1996:43-45) shows that an idiom may be varied in lerms of manber and tense (inflcelional changes)

or the replacement of one structure word like an article by another or by zero Tle gives some axaumples:

+ He smelt a rat and he kept mum” (past tense, past time)

(‘The Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English 1983)

vou the windavw™

“Bveryhody smefls a rat in a doclored obituary,

(Present tense indicating a timeless truth)

( The Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English £983)

However, these replacements can be only applicd to a small number of idioms In general, most idioms are indivisible units whose components can’t be varied Some do not permit pluratization like in “kick the huckets” (kick the bucket) or “smell the rats” (xmell a rat), some do not permit singularization such as “iwiddle one's dnanb” (iwidile one’s thanbs) or “ raining a cat and a dog” (raining cats and dogs) in addition, replacement of characteristic lexis in idiom isn’t possible even synonymous words For example, in “we look

ee” of “watch” Honec, “we

Sorvard to meeting you”, “look” can not be replaced by

seefwatch forward to meeting you" is not idiomatic Similarly, in “wash one's dirty linen in

public’, ‘linen’ can nol ba replaced by ‘sacks’, noilher can ‘thought’ be taplaced by ‘idea’ in

"have second thoughts?

«Idiom also resists re-ordering of its parts, We consider “ Jofu: kicked the bucket” Tn the literal sense, this expression has a passive variant, “ The bucket was kicked by John” Bul in its idiowatic use, ie when “kicked the bucket” mems “died”, the expression does not allow the use of the corresponding passive altemative Other

ges of the order of the words like in “The short and the long af it’ (The long and the short) or in “What Peter pulled was his sister's leg” What Peter did was pull his sister's leg) arc impossible

«Additions and dgletions aro also nol normally parmitted within idiom Thus, wo can’l say “To pull someone's left leg” and “To kick the large bucket” , they have no nomal idiomatic interpretation because of the addition of ‘Jeft’ and Yarge’ , whereas ‘straight from horse's mouth’ and ‘turn @ new leaf’ ac boil unacceplable because ‘the’ and

‘over’ have been omitted.

Such constraints make idiom fixed or invariant and separate them from non-idiom, Cruse (1986.38) recognizes another feature of idiom which shows its status as phrases ina way that

‘Gf idiom may be inflected, the inflectional affixes are carried by the grammatically appropriate elements within the idiom, whether or not they are semantic constituents; that is to say, the coments of idiom retain at least some of their grammatical identity

“ Johns has a bee in his bonnet about many things” (John lun ban tém về mọi thú)

(#Iohn has bees-in-his bonnets about many things)”, this expression is wrong because the grammatical appropriate cloments “ Auve a bee i one’s about something” is invariant, it does not permit phuralization

4.2.2.3 Types of Idiom

Fernando (1996.35-36) states that idiom can be divided into three sub-classes; pure idiom, semi-idiom, and literal idiom

A pure idiom is “a type of conventionalized non-literal multiword expression”; that is

to say the meaning of a pure idiom has nothing to do with the meaning of its constitucnts Hence, “spill the bears” has nothing to do with ‘beans’ In contrast to its literal counterpart incaning, “letting fall leguminous seeds”, a non-literal meaning is imposed on the idiom as a whole: “commnt an indiscretion”

A semi-idiom “has one or more literal constituents and at Least one with a non-literal sub sense, usually special to that co-occurrence relation and no olher™ Examples of semi-idiemn are “catch one’s breath” (check one's breath) or “foot the bill” ‘pay the bil) in whuch

“catch” and “foot” are non-literal constituents

Literal idioin (an foot, waste not, want not, on the conm

-y, @ happy birthday, a merry Christmas aid a happy New Year, etc.) “meet the salient criterion for idiom: invariance ot restricted variation They are, however, less semantically complex than purs and semi-idiom”

4.3 Proverb in relation to idiom:

13.1 Definitions of proverb

‘There have been many definitions of a proverb but there is no standard one that can be need to study all aspects of proverb Let’s consider some definitions of proverb that

Vicinan cand foreign r thers have made

- Proverbs can be defined as “a short saying or sentence that is generally known by

many people The saying usually contains words of wisdom, truth or morals that ave

based on common sense or practical experience." (www.Theidiomeanncction.com)

(English version by Bacft Anh Hong/Viện ngôn ngĩt học, 1992)

Although the above definitions are different in some ways, they still have similarities

a saying expressing a truth, moral instruction or giving advice

According to Hamby (1995), in his Oxford Advanced Leamer’s Dictionary, proverb is

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

particularly, Vu Ngoc Phan (2000:39) considered proverb as “a complete saying expressing one idea of camment, experience, morality, justice of criticism”

Mis casy to Gnd thal idiom and proverb have much in common and il comes as no surprise that they are traditionally studied together The first one is that both idiom and proverh are ready -made They ate products of human’s thought, cultures and processes of

‘hard working und fsarning They are mainly orally handed down (rom generalion lo genzrafion

and naturally accepted in daily life Secondly, both idiom and proverb are set-expressions with stable and components are not substituted ‘Therefore, their meanings can not be deduced from dividual words bul aust be undersiood as a whole Tl means that amy substitutions in any components of idiom or proverb may result in unacceptable changes in the meaning of whole

group, which make them nonsensical in metaphorical meaning Apart from this, most idiom

and proverb usc language in metaphorical way We cannot usually discover their meanings by

jooking up the individual words in a dictionary, their meanings must be understond metaphorioally

Beside those similarities, both of them still own typical features that distinguish one from the other ‘The first and most obvious difference Lies in their grammatical structures Idiom is a phrass which is a part of senfence, thus, il is cquivalenl to words only

Proverb is a complete sentence or a phrase expressing the whole idea, Moreover, idiom and proverb are also different in terms of thsir functions, Proverb is a short well-known sentence or phrase that expresses a judgment, state a general truth about lift or advice, it is told to contain three main literature fonctions which are perceptive fimction, aesthetic function, and educational function For example, the proverb “Money makes the mare go demonstrates a remark as well as a otiticism about the negative side of money Its parceptive fiction is to make people aware of the bad effect of money which can become the power dominating the socisty, even the most inanimate things The educational flunction is to criticize the negative side of moncy and urge to be aware of that ill effect, And its acsthctic function is

to exaggerate in a picturesque way to help readers understand the proverb easily in contrast, idiom docs not exprass judgments, give ailvice or stale goncral truth about life, which mouns it does not have functions of perception and education but only aesthetic function For example, the idiom “ta eat like a horse “ merely describes the ability of eating strongly of someone Đbecausc o[ growl hunger in figurative and imaginary way and docs not poini oul any educational lesson or knowledge of lite

in short, beside their common things, idiom is distinguished fom proverb by its

structures and functions,

CHAPTER 2 SOME FEATURES OF ENGLISH -VIETNAMESE PROVERB AND IDIOM

2.1 Proverb and Ldiom relation to Language and Culture

‘The gencral tendencies of present-day Fin

ish arc mostly towards proverbial and idiomatic usage Proverb and idiom are not separate parts of the language, which one can choose sither to use or omit, they form essential parts of the vocabulary of English and

‘Vietnamese language

in Richard’s terms “language is often desoribed of having three main fictions descriptive, oxprossive, and sovial” Proverb and idiom ars part of language and they have afl ñmetlons of a language, Provsrb not only has descriptive function, that is, the fiction of conveying factual information, but also has expressive fiinction ie to express people’s feelings, preferences, prejudices etc It implies many things such as advice astonishment, experince and morality Proverb also has social function because it reflects relations between people in society,

Language roilocls thoughl Language has obvious effool on thoughl, as clealy shown

in vocabutary

interaction between language and thought Cultural patterns, custom and weys of life are

stem and structure of language *Cudture is really an integral part of the

expressed in language; cultural specific world views are reflected in language’ (Brown, 1986, pas)

Language, thought or culture are not all the same thing, but none can survive without

2.2 Comparison between Engfish and Vietnamese proverbs and idioms viewed from

2.2.1 Based on principles af culmaral nypes

Southeast Asia in general and Vietnam in particular are considered some of the castiest

agricultural centers of mankind Vietnamese people live on land Vietnam soil has thick strata

and high fertility which provides very favorable conditions for the development of agriculture and foreshy Victharnese people's lives are closely linked with agrieuliure, or to be mors

exact, with the cultivation of water rice and other plants, not only weather but some cattle are also familiar with Vietnamese people Cow and buffalo are the most common animals to

Vietnamese peasants because they bring about meat and milk and, to some cxtent, means of

transportation Therefore, these two appear repeatedly in proverb and idiom Buffalo is consitlered as the biggest properly of a peasant family

“Con trân là đầu cơ nghiệp”

(A buffalo is the mast precious property of a peasant)

Tt is also the symbol of the water rice culture as the sentence’

“Con trâu dĩ trước, cải cày đi sau”

(Yo put the cart before the horse)

(A bidfalo is ploughing the field)

Buffaloes are commonly seen in most Viemamese villages Cows are also Vietnamese peasants’ goad fiends though they are nol as popular as buffilo Their appearance in the

idiom and proverb stock are fewer Some of them can be led in as:

“1441 bb moi lo lam chudng”

(Ul is to late to lock the stable when the horse is stolen)

implying that it is no usc applying any preventive measure after the loss

“da cơm thịt hò lo ngay ngây:

An com cay thi ngay oo”

(A great fortune is a great slavery)

( Rating vice with beef worries peasants while eating rice with crabs relaxes their minds) indicates thal richness docs not always tear happiness Richness can take other people envy

Living in the sichness, they are always under pressure, being poor but honest they will feel

peaceful ‘rhe image of buffaloes are also rendered to tell people about bad man’s characicrislics For examples,

“Trâu chết mặc trâu, bò chi mặc bồ, cũ tải dắt ly”

(it does nat matter to me whase cows or buffaloes die, I prepare to get my shares) inicatcs

the selfishness;

“ Trdu lank khong ai mie cả, trâu ngũ khối kẻ cm dao”

(when the buffato ix healthy, no one dares to do anything to harm it, but when it is in bad

fuck, many people are waiting to kill it)

refers to a bad person availing himself of other misfortune In another idiom,

tôm chết đề da, người ta chết đề tiễn (le that had an il name is half hanged) (it means when a buffalo dies, it leaves its skins behind, when aman dies, he leaves his name behind) the image af buffalo is used to advise people to behave nicely when they ate alive to Jeave good name after their death, The importance of a buffalo is also mentioned many times

im Vietnamese idiom as in:

“Làn ruộng phải có trấn, làn gitu phai co vo"

tbufRdo is important ta agriculture like women role in one’s family)

Even the way a man chooses his life-partner is also likened to that of a person when he

choose his buffalo:

“Mua tréu xem vo, lay vo xem noi”

(Know the breed, know the dog}

twhen buying a buffalo, take close look at its legs, when choosing wife, take her family race

lato consideration)

Tn conclusion, cow, buffalo are closely Hnkcd wih Vietrame:

culture

ives, with water rice

Different trom that of Vietnam, with dry and cold climate, England has a greater proportion grassland than any other countries And most of which is more suitable for breeding, especially sheep firming than for rice growing We can say that England economy

in the past depended much on sheep breeding for getting wool, milk and meat So sheep can

be considered as the most popular catile to the English The image of shesp appears much in proverb and idiom, however, the English attitudes toward this kind of animal arc vatious Lamb is not the animal of high respect

For English people, lamb is a mild animal as in:

“As mild as a tamb”

“Hiển nhụ một chủ cửu non) And because lamb is so mild, so naive and a little tool, it often revokes in people’s hearts the feeling of pity as -

“Like a lamb to the slaughter”

‘Niue cit nan đến (ò mỗi]

‘This idiom is used to describe the situation when you go somewhere dangerous without any protection probably because you do not realize that you are in danger Tis meaning can be illustrated clearly in following sentence

“When the war started, thousands of yame men went off to fight, like lambs to the

slaughter”,

( Khi cĩ chiến xây ra, hàng ngàn thanh nin lân đường nhập ngũ, nhút những cldi cửa non

(Câu đã gặp bà ra cha? Ci gia tn vdn cim non Phdi cd ai dé néi cho bà 1a biết là bà

Ây Áã 55 chút khơng phải 25 tuoi)

is also considered as the anitmal of healthy life as in:

“Fa go te bed with the lamb and rise with the lark bring me really good health”

(Ngủ sảm và đậy sảm nhang lại cho ta sức khĩe tổii

The image “hlack sheep of the family” refers lo a persam wha is considered to have don something, bad or to be a failure, by their family ơr by group to which they belong as in:

“Debbie is the black sheep of the family, having left home at seventeen to live with her

boyfriend”

(Đebbie là mật đứa can hủ' của gia đình, đã hả nhà dấ lúc 17 tuổi đỗ sống cùng bạn trá

Horse is another pøpular aniral in English pzoples lives Englishmen love horses so auch thal they spend many idioms and proverbs for this kind of herbivare Tlorses seem Lo he s

worthily reliable images as

“Straight from the horse's mouth” (Theo nguon tin ding tin cay)

Thmmcans you get the information from a reliable source

Horse Guards ac the cavalry brigade of British houschold troops, who protect British Royal families [his big animal is also considered as a little bit hottempered one as “to hold your horse” indicales some kind of aggr

sssive manner of speaking in discussion

“Llold your horse! We heave not finished the last question yet"

20

(Tay binh fink! Ching tdi chana xong câu hỏi cuối cùng mã)

Lorses are also admired for their strength and big size If someone is ‘as strong ax a

physical power as ‘wild horses’

“Wild horses could not drag me to that place again

{As strong as a wild horse could not force me to go there again)

(Khôe như những cơn ngựa hoang cũng không thể kéo tôi dén dé lin nita)

Someone who has a good appetits for meals is also compared to a horse:

“Bat like a horse"

(dn nbic md khodt)

Someone who could eat as great amount of food as a horse are in a state of extreme

hunger

“What is for dinner? £ could eat a horse!”

However, horses are seemingly a little bit stubbom:

“You can lead a horse to the water but you can not make it drink.”

(figurative meaning: You can give somebody the opportunity to do something but you can

not force them to do it if they do not want to)

‘Their images are also utilized to refer to men as in

“He is not the right kind of ambassador for Moscow Johnson would be much better It is

the questions of horses for courses

(it indicates the fact that peaple or things should anly he nsed for the purpose for which they are most suitable)”

or one’s opinion or stance as in :