A study on idiomatic expressions containing words denoting food and drink in English and their Vietnamese equivalents from Cultural Perspective

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ---- NGUYỄN THI ̣ THÀNH A STUDY ON IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS CON

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES



NGUYỄN THI ̣ THÀNH

A STUDY ON IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS CONTAINING WORDS DENOTING FOOD AND DRINK IN ENGLISH AND THEIR VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS FROM CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

(NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ NHỮNG THÀNH NGỮ CÓ CHỨA CÁC TỪ CHỈ THỨC ĂN VÀ ĐỒ UỐNG TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG CỦA CHÚNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT NHÌN TỪ GÓC ĐỘ VĂN HÓA)

MA MINOR THESIS

Field: English Linguistics Code: 60 22 02 01

NGUYỄN THI ̣ THÀNH

A STUDY ON IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS CONTAINING WORDS DENOTING FOOD AND DRINK IN ENGLISH AND THEIR VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS FROM CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

(NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ NHỮNG THÀNH NGỮ CÓ CHỨA CÁC TỪ CHỈ THỨC ĂN VÀ ĐỒ UỐNG TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG CỦA CHÚNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT NHÌN TỪ GÓC ĐỘ VĂN HÓA)

MA MINOR THESIS

Field: English Linguistics Code: 60 22 02 01

Supervisor: Assoc Prof., Dr Nguyễn Xuân Thơm

Hanoi – 2014

DECLARATION

I certify that the content of this thesis is the result of my own work and that all the material and sources collected in preparing this study have been identified and acknowledged The thesis has not, wholly or in part, been submitted for any degree

to any other universities or institutions or for any other purposes

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

On the completion of this thesis, I am grateful to many people

First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor,

Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Xuan Thom for his enthusiastic guidance and valuable

advice and help, without which, this thesis could not be completed

I also wish to thank all my lecturers of Post Graduate Department, College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University for their helpful instruction during

my whole course of studying

In addition, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my family, friends and colleagues, whose encouragement and assistance play an important part in my doing this thesis

Finally, I am all too aware that despite all the helpful advice and assistance, the project is far from perfect Therefore, I have sole and full responsibility for any inadequacies and shortcomings that the thesis may be considered to have

Hanoi, October 2013

Nguyễn Thị Thành

ABSTRACT

One of the most effective and colourful ways to transfer culture is the use of idioms which, however, causes many troubles for English learners because of their confusing meanings To help learners have a better understanding of idioms, particularly idioms containing food and drink this paper conducts “A study on idiomatic expressions containing words denoting food and drink in English and their Vietnamese equivalents from cultural perspective” The idioms studied of both languages are analyzed and compared in terms of their syntactic, semantic, pragmatic and cultural features The equivalence those idioms of the two languages

is also analyzed On this basis, it also offers some educational implications for

English teachers and learners to make their teaching and learning more effective

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii

ABSTRACT iii

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale to the study 1

2 Research aims and research questions 1

3 Objectives of the research 2

4 Scope of the research 2

5 Methods of the study 3

6 Significance of the research 4

7 Design of the research 4

PART II: DEVELOPMENT Chapter I: Literature Review 5

Chapter II: Theoretical background 6

2.1 Overview of Idioms 6

2.1.1 Definition of idioms 6

2.1.2 Typical features of idioms 7

2.1.3 Idioms and other similar language units 9

2.2 The relationship of Language and Culture 12

2.2.1 Concept of Culture 12

2.2.2.The inseparable Relationship between Language and Culture 12

2.2.3 The Relationship between Idioms and Culture 12

Chapter III: METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURE 14

3.1 Research design 14

3.2 Research methodology 14

3.3 Data collection 14

a What is food? 14

b What is drink? 16

c Choosing idioms containing food and drink 16

3.4 Data analysis 16

3.5 Reliability and validity 17

Chapter IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 17

4.1 Syntactic features of idioms containing food and drink in English and Vietnamese 17

4.1.1 Phrase Structures 17

4.1.2 Sentence Structures 20

4.2 Semantic features of idioms containing food and drink in English and Vietnamese 21

4.2.1 Idioms having human implications 21

4.2.2 Idioms having non-human implications 25

4.3 Similarities and differences in syntactic and semantic features of idioms containing food and drink in English and Vietnamese 26

4.3.1 Similarities 27

4.3.2 Differences 28

4.4 The equivalence of the English and Vietnamese idioms containing food and drink 31

4.4.1 Idiomatic equivalence 31

4.4.2 Conceptual equivalence 32

4.4.3 Lexical equivalence 33

4.4.4 Semantic and pragmatic equivalence 37

4.5 Cultural characteristics of English and Vietnamese idioms containing food and drink 37

4.6 Implications for teaching and learning idioms containing food and drink39 PART III: CONCLUSION 1 Conclusion 40

2 Limitations of the thesis and further study 40

3 Suggestions for further study 41 REFERENCES 42 APPENDIXES I

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale to the study

Mastering a foreign language is a strong desire of all learners However, it is not an easy task because of many obstacles that learners face during their learning Moreover, their final target of learning a foreign language is the ability to

communicate A successful communication can only be reached when both the

speakers and the listeners have a common understanding of each other However, the differences in many aspects of the languages and cultures cause various problems for learners in the process of mastering a foreign language

One of the most effective and colourful ways to transfer culture is the use of idioms Because idioms imply culture, we cannot understand idioms correctly without the cultural context Besides, according to Cambridge International dictionary of Idioms (1998), on the one hand “… it is often impossible to guess the meaning of an idiom from the words it contains”; on the other hand “Idioms may also suggest a particular attitude of the person using them, for example disapproval, humour, exasperation or admiration ” Therefore, idioms are among the most interesting English aspects but it has never been easy to learn as well

Thus, a good understanding of idioms is the key for learners to know more about the target language as well as its culture and to avoid culture shocks during communication

Making comparisons between English idioms and Vietnamese ones can help Vietnamese learners comprehend the similarities and differences of the two languages and cultures, which in turn help them improve their English

Because of the reasons above, I have wished to conduct some studies on English idioms and Vietnamese equivalent ones However, due to the limitation of the graduation paper’s scope and time, I would like to focus on English idioms containing food and drink and their equivalents in Vietnamese which have attracted

me most for a long time in view of their variety in English idiom treasure

2 Research aims and research questions

This research has four main aims as the followings:

1 To investigate syntactic and semantic features of English and Vietnamese idioms related to food and drink, from which explore the cultural values underlying the literal words

2 To find out the similarities and differences in the cultures of the two countries which are reflected through their idioms containing food and drink

3 To equip both those learning English and those learning Vietnamese as their foreign language with rich knowledge on both English and Vietnamese idioms

in general and on food and drink in particular Moreover, to help teachers, learners and translators avoid difficulties in translating English idioms into Vietnamese and vice versa

4 To supply some suggested implications for teaching and learning method, which contribute to improve ability of using English idioms in general, idioms related to food and drink in particular

To achieve the above aims, the following research questions are put forward:

1 What syntactic and semantic features are reflected in the food and drink idioms in both English and Vietnamese?

2 What are the similarities and differences between Vietnamese and English cultures through idioms related to food and drink? What factors lead to such differences?

3 Objectives of the research

My study is carried out with the aim to help Vietnamese learners have a better understanding of English and Vietnamese idioms related to food and drink, which would encourage them to use idioms more confidently not only in receptive skills like listening and reading but also on productive skills like speaking and writing and avoid communication breakdown

4 Scope of the research

I have found idioms such an interesting English aspect that I decide to choose them as my thesis topic However, due to the limited time and knowledge, I

just focus on a small part of English idioms, “A study on idiomatic expressions

containing words denoting food and drink in English and their Vietnamese equivalents from Cultural Perspective” I also call them “idioms containing food and drink” or “idioms of food and drink” for short

Food and drink play a very important role in many cultures including English culture and Vietnamese culture Idioms containing food and drink account for a considerable large portion of idioms in English as well as in Vietnamese, between which there are some outstanding similarities and differences A comparison between them can help Vietnamese teachers as well as learners deal with idioms much more easily For this reason, this paper aims at analyzing the similarities and differences of idioms containing food and drink in English and Vietnamese from cultural perspectives On this basis, it also offers some educational implications for English teachers and learners to make their teaching and learning idioms more effective

5 Methods of the study

The study utilizes descriptive and comparative methods combined with the qualitative and quantitative ones

In reference with quantitative method, the study has collected data for the study including both English and Vietnamese idioms containing food and drink from various reliable sources (referent books, stories, novels, dictionaries and Internet websites)

The qualitative method is employed to describe and analyze the data of the study The steps of the study are conducted in the order as follows:

- Collect English and Vietnamese idioms containing food and drink from several sources and then categorize them

- Investigate and analyze the syntactic and semantic features of English and Vietnamese idioms containing food and drink

- Analyze the cultural features of English and Vietnamese hidden behind those idioms

- Compare and find the differences and similarities between English and Vietnamese idioms containing food and drink from cultural perspective

The descriptive method is used to describe the syntactic, semantic and cultural features of idioms containing food and drink in English and Vietnamese

The comparative method is used to identify the similarities and differences in their syntactic, semantic and cultural features

6 Significance of the research

(i) Theoretical significance: The study supplies Vietnamese teachers and

learners with a deeper understanding of idioms in general and idioms containing food and drink in particular in term of their syntactic, semantic, and cultural features

(ii) Practical significance: The study provides Vietnamese learners with

suggestions to improve their language skills when using idioms containing food and drink, particularly communicative skill and avoid culture shock

7 Design of the research

This thesis consists of three main parts

Part one is the Introduction, which consists of the rationale, the aims and research question, the objectives, the scope, the methods, the significance and the design of the study

Part two is the Development, which is the main part of the study dealing with English idioms containing food and drink and their equivalents in Vietnamese This part is divided into four chapters:

Chapter I: Literature Review

Chapter II: Theoretical background including Overview of idioms, The Relationship of Language and Culture, Idioms and Culture

Chapter III: Methodology and procedure

Chapter IV: Findings and discussion as well as some implications for

teaching and learning

The last part is the Conclusion of the study and suggestions for further studies

The References and Appendixes are at the end of the thesis

PART II: DEVELOPMENT Chapter I: Literature Review

Possibly, owing to the difficulty and inconsistency in defining idioms, not until the 1970s have English studies regarding idiomatic expressions become more and more numerous Idioms have been looked at from various points of view

A lot of books and dictionaries have brought us with great benefits in which idioms are carefully collected and categorized into alphabetical arrangement Moreover, their meanings and examples of usage in English are also mentioned and explained

For English idioms, there have been many books which are of much benefit

to learners such as “Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms” by Cowie, Mackin & McCaig, “Oxford Dictionary of Current idiomatic English” by A.P Cowie, R Mackin & I.R McCaig (1983), “Collins COBUILD Dictionary of Idioms” (2002),

“Longman Dictionary of English Idioms” (1979), “Longman Dictionary of Idioms” (1998), “CHAMBERS Dictionary of Idioms” (1996) and “Idioms for Everyday Use” by Broukal and Milada (1994)

Besides, Vietnamese researchers have also paid a lot of attention to idioms There have been many authors carrying out studies on idioms namely “Tƣ̀ điển Thành ngữ tục ngữ Việt-Anh” (2006), “Thành ngƣ̃ Tu ̣c ngƣ̃ Tiếng Anh” (2008), “Kể chuyê ̣n thành ngƣ̃ tiếng Anh” (2006), “Tuyển tâ ̣p Thành ngƣ̃ Tu ̣c ngƣ̃ Ca dao Viê ̣t Anh thông du ̣ng” (2007)…

Chapter II: Theoretical background 2.1 Overview of Idioms

Felicity O’Dell and Michael McCarthy in English Idioms in Use Advanced:

Idioms are fixed combinations of words whose meaning is often difficult to guess from the meaning of each individual word (2010:6)

The Longman Dictionary of English Idioms (1979): An idiom is a group of

words with a special different meaning from the meanings of the separate words

The Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics

regards an idiom as “an expression which functions as a single unit and whose

meaning can not be worked out from its separate parts” (2010: 270)

The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English (Oxford

University Press - 1995) defines idiom as “a phrase or sentence whose meaning is

not clear from the meaning of its individual words and which must be learnt as a whole unit.” (1995: 67)

Chambers English Dictionary of Idioms (1996:5): The term „idiom‟ is not an

easily defined one – it can refer to many kinds of words and phrases The traditional definition of an idiom is „a group of words which has a different meaning from the sum of its parts‟

In short, there are different ways of defining an idiom In general, most of the linguists share the same point that an idiom is a fixed expression whose meaning can not be worked out by looking at the meaning of its individual words To put it another way, the actual meaning of an idiom is not the total of the meanings of its

components Moreover, idioms may also carry a particular attitude of the person using them, so learners must use them with a lot of care

2.1.2 Typical features of idioms

2.1.2.1 Syntactic features

Mona Baker (1992) in her book titled In Other Words states that idioms are

frozen patterns of language which allow little or no variation in form and often carry meanings which cannot be deduced from their individual components From that definition five conditions for idioms are introduced as follow:

1 The order of the words in an idioms cannot be changed The way the words are put together is fixed and they can not change their place

2 The words in an idiom cannot be omitted We as the users of the language are not permitted to delete some of the words of a particular element

3 There are no extra words that might be added to an idiom

4 No words in an idiom can be replaced by another word

5 The grammatical structures of an idiom cannot be changed

Let us see a well-known phrase “spill the beans” Its meaning is to reveal

something; make something known which is quite different from the literal

meanings of the words in the phrase We cannot often substitute words that are

close in meaning in these phrases For example, the substitution “spill the peas”

will make the phrase turn to usual meaning and lose the idiomatic meaning Furthermore, idioms are barely changed into passive voice As in this example, it

would be unnatural to say “the beans are spilt”

In fact, there are some idioms which have two or more alternative forms, without any change in meaning These different forms sometimes reflect differences

between British and American English: for example, banana skin and banana peel (an embarrassing mistake made by someone in a public position) or a slice/share of

the cake and a slice/share of the pie (a share of the available money or benefits that

you believe you have a right to) In many cases, there are several different verbs

which can be used in an idiom: for example, Go/sell like hot cakes (to be bought or taken quickly, e.g because of being very popular or cheap) or Have/put all one‟s

eggs into one basket (to rely on one particular course of action for success rather

than giving yourself several different possibilities) Similarly, prepositions can vary:

for example, A bite at/of a cherry (an opportunity to do something) or Have egg

on/all over one‟s face (to be made to look foolish)

Moreover, idioms may take a variety of forms or structures They may be

noun phrases such as a piece of cake (a thing that is very easy to do), pie in the sky (an event that sb talks about that seems very unlikely to happen), etc.; verb phrases

such as know one‟s onions (to have experience), do porridge (to spend time in

prison), etc There is also one more thing which should be taken into consideration that an idiom can have regular, irregular or even incorrect grammatical structure

Go bananas is an example of grammatical irregularity The idiom is formed by a verb of movement + direct object In English, this structure can normally not be

accepted because a verb of movement does not usually come with an object without

a preposition

2.1.2.2 Semantic features

Idioms are, in a very broad sense, metaphorical rather than literal Most of

English idioms share this characteristic Idioms often contain images, which result from metaphor, in themselves These hidden images can be either easy or difficult for readers to imagine Therefore, the surface structure has a little role to play in understanding the meaning of the whole expression It is the figurativeness of idioms that makes the expressions lively, impressive and deep in the meaning

In some cases it is possible to have a guess at the meaning of an idiom,

because the image created is already quite obvious, e.g “as sour as vinegar” (very sour) Its equivalent in Vietmamese is “chua như giấm /chua như mẻ” However, in

other cases it is nearly impossible to do so The meaning of idioms must sometimes

be explained by referring to historical and cultural knowledge, which is one of the reasons that make it difficult to learn and understand idioms thoroughly

According to A.V Kunin, the meaning of an idiom is either partly or

completely different from the meanings of all components “as red as beetroot” (đỏ như gấc ) or “cheap as chips” (rẻ như bèo ) are some examples of partly different

ones whose meanings can be guessed while the totally different ones like “hot

potato” (vấn đề nan giải , khó giải quyết ) or “from soup to nuts” (từ đầu đến cu ối)

cannot be guessed All these idioms are embodied with metaphorical expressions and they must be understood metaphorically

Idioms are also said to have positive, negative and neutral meaning Some

idioms like “the apple of someone‟s eye” (người/vâ ̣t được yêu thích hơn cả ) or “the

salt of the earth” (người tử tế ) have positive meaning Some idioms convey

negative meaning such as “not be one cup‟s of tea” (không phải người/vâ ̣t được yêu thích) or “teach your grandmother to suck eggs” (trứng khôn hơn vi ̣t ) “as like as

two peas in the pod” (Giống nhau như hai gio ̣t nước /Giống nhau như đúc ), “the carrot and (the) stick” (thưởng và pha ̣t) are idioms of neutral meaning

Furthermore, among many idioms including one same word there is often one dominant image If we take the numerous idioms that include the term BREAD, the overriding metaphoric image is that of bread being the symbol of survival For

example, bread and butter (someone’s main source of income - miếng ăn, kế sinh nhai / thu nhập chính ), someone‟s daily bread (the basic things that you need to

live, especially food - thức ăn hoă ̣c tiền cần để sống)

2.1.3 Idioms and other similar language units

Idioms share some common syntactic and semantic features with other phraseology units in the language, which makes it difficult for learners to tell them apart The confusion often occurs between idioms and metaphors, proverbs and fixed expressions

2.1.3.1 Idioms and Metaphors

King (2000:216) defines metaphors as „describing something by using an

analogy with something quite different‟

The Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary defines metaphor as a word or

phrase used to describe somebody or something else, in a way that is different from its normal use, in order to show that the two things have the same qualities and to make the description more powerful For example, „She has a heart of stone‟ is

metaphor that expresses the similarly between the heart and stone which means a

person who does not show others sympathy or pity

King (2000:216) states that metaphors are beautiful thanks to their capability

of explain a complex vague expression and to make it more understandable and clear According to Maalej (2005), both idioms and metaphors cannot be understood

by their literal meanings

2.1.3.2 Idioms and Proverbs

Definition of Proverb:

According to the Dictionary of Proverbs (2007), “A proverb is a saying,

usually short, that expresses a general truth about life Proverbs give advice, make

an observation, or present a teaching in a succinct and memorable way”

Mieder (1993:5) gives another definition: A proverb is a short, generally

known sentence of the folk which contains wisdom, truth, morals, and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed and memorizable form and which is handed down from generation to generation”

“Don‟t put all your eggs in one basket” (spread your risks or investments so

that if one enterprise fails you will not lose everything) or “Alcohol will preserve

anything but a secret” (people have a tendency to talk too freely and become

indiscreet when they are drunk) or An apple a day keeps the doctor away (Fruit is

an important part of a healthy diet) are some examples of proverbs

Similarities:

From their definitions we can find that idioms and proverbs have many in common and that they are often put side by side to study is not a surprise Firstly, the components of idioms and proverbs are stable and not able to be substituted In addition, the meaning of most idioms and proverbs is understood metaphorically

rather than literally We can not usually discover their meanings by looking up the individual words in a normal dictionary

Secondly, in many cases idioms are part of proverbs; for example the

proverb “the rotten apple spoils the barrel” is formed from the idiom “rotten

apple” (one bad person who has a bad effect on others in a group); or the case of

the idiom “forbidden fruit” (things that you must not have or do are always the

most desirable) and the proverb “forbidden fruit is sweet”

Differences:

In terms of syntactic structures, idioms are phrases which are parts of sentences; so, they are equivalent to words In contrast, proverbs are complete sentences or phrases which can express the whole idea by themselves

In terms of functions, proverbs express the whole idea of judgment, general truth about life, advice or moral lessons They contain three main literature functions namely perceptive, aesthetic and educational functions For example, the

proverb “Alcohol will preserve anything but a secret” demonstrates a remark as

well as a criticism about the negative side of alcohol Its perceptive function is to make people aware of the bad effect of alcohol which can reveal secrets The educational function is to criticize the negative side of alcohol and urges people to

be aware of that ill effect And its aesthetic function lies in the way to use the phrase

“preserve anything” which has a positive meaning to show a more striking contrast with the actual meaning of the statement – “preserve nothing”

On the contrary, idioms do not express judgments, give advice or state general truth about life, which means they do not have functions of perception and

education but only aesthetic function For example, the idiom “go bananas” merely

describes the anger and does not point out any moral lesson or experience of life

In conclusion, idioms and proverbs share quite a lot of similarities which makes learners confused However, they are quite different from structure and function

2.1.3.3 Idioms and Fixed Expressions

Fixed expressions are distinguished from idioms by the fact that they have

almost transparent meanings Thus, the meaning of ladies and gentlemen for

example, can easily be inferred from the meanings of its constituents, in contrast to

idioms like in a pickle or jam tomorrow where the meaning of the whole expression

is different from the meaning of its parts However, the meaning of both fixed expression and idiom are not just the sum meanings of its components and they allow little or no variation in form Fixed expressions may bring up in the mind of the reader all the aspects of experience associated with the certain contexts in which the expression is used This characteristic seems to be the cause of the widespread use of fixed and semi-fixed expressions in any language (Baker, 1992:64)

2.2 The relationship of Language and Culture

2.2.1 Concept of Culture

“Culture in its broadest sense, is what makes you a stranger when you are away from home It includes all those beliefs and expectations about how people should speak and act which have become a kind of second nature to you as a result

of social learning.”(Brock, 1970)

2.2.2 The inseparable Relationship between Language and Culture

According to Claire Kramsch, concerning culture language performs 3 functions: expressing cultural reality, embodying cultural reality, symbolizing cultural reality

Professor Tran Ngoc Them in “Vietnam, the issues of language and culture” supposes that language is the origin of every culture If language, along with working, creates human being, it is language, along with working, that is the origin

of every culture

In conclusion, language and culture are inseparable They interact with each

other and shape each other Language is part and the carrier of culture which in turn

is the content of language We can find out cultural features from language and explain language phenomena with culture

2.2.3 The Relationship between Idioms and Culture

Culture has a great influence on the origin and development of language This is the reason why content of language is closely connected to culture Apart from words and expressions, idioms are regarded as special language units which reflect cultural characteristics of different countries

Idioms, like language in general, are strongly influenced by culture

According to Gluckberg “learning idiom provides learners with a good opportunity

to acquire information about a language‟s culture” As a part of language, idioms

transfer cultural values and daily life features of the people who speak that language They are the heritage of history and product of cultural evolvement Consequently, we know much about culture through studying idioms and in turn get better understanding of idioms by learning the cultural background behind them There are great differences between English and Vietnamese idioms as the result of respective geographic environment, national experience, cultural inheritance and formation of thinking Many English idioms connect with ocean as the result of the

oceanic culture (e.g drink like a fish, neither fish nor fowl, red herring…), some

with the traditions of Britain, which traditionally belongs to commercial and marine

economy (bring home the bacon, cast one's bread upon the waters, the world is

one‟s oyster…) while Vietnamese idioms with agricultural economy (cơm tẻ me ̣ ruột, ăn một bát cháo chạy ba quãng đồng…)

On the one hand, language reflects thought; on the other hand it has obvious effect on thought “Culture is really integral part of the interaction between language and thought Cultural patterns, customs and ways of life are expressed in language; cultural specific world views are reflected in language” (Brown, 1986:45)

Language, thoughts or culture are three separate things, but none can survive without the others Idioms belong to language and also reflect much of the thoughts and the culture In other words, they are considered a mirror reflecting thoughts and culture in the most reliable ways

In conclusion, there is a close relationship between culture and idioms Idioms are the transfer of the cultural values and beliefs

Chapter III: METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURE 3.1 Research design

The research design has been made with the aim of providing guidelines for systematic data gathering and finding the diversity of idioms containing food and drink in English and Vietnamese It further helps discover the typical underlying cultural features of idioms containing food and drink

3.2 Research methodology

The study describes and compare the syntactic, semantic and cultural features of idioms containing food and drink in English and their equivalents in Vietnamese In order to achieve the aims and objectives of the study, the descriptive and comparative methods are utilized combined with the qualitative and quantitative approaches

The descriptive method is used to describe in details the syntactic, semantic and cultural features of idioms containing food and drink collected from referent books, stories, novels, dictionaries and Internet websites

In addition, the comparative method is used to identify the similarities and differences in the syntactic, semantic and cultural features of idioms containing food and drink in English versus Vietnamese

Other animal foods, such as eggs and milk, are produced by animals over their lifetimes Also, cheese is made from milk, so it is an animal food too Other dairy products are butter, cream and yoghurt

Other foods come from plants, including rice, wheat, fruit, beans and vegetables

Plant and animal foods are used to make other foods, such as bread and cheese Fruit is one of the many foods we get from plants Other parts of plants we use for food include:

 Leaves and stems – celery, lettuce, silver beet

 Roots – potatoes, carrots, beetroot

 Seeds – wheat, rice, legumes, ground nuts (peanuts), tree nuts (walnuts, almonds)

Most cakes are made from flour Other foods made from wheat include: bread, pastry, biscuits, pasta, and noodles

However, there are also some exceptions of foods that are neither from animal nor plant sources, such as edible fungi, especially mushrooms Additionally, inorganic substances such as salt often eaten as a flavoring or preservative, baking soda used to preserve or chemically alter an ingredient and water play an important part of human diet

One more thing, some agricultural and food products are distinguished from one another by certain characteristics, qualities or reputations resulting especially from their geographical origin This differentiation can be attributed to the unique local features of the product, its history or its distinctive character linked to natural

or human factors such as soil, climate, local know-how and traditions Therefore, most traditions have a recognizable cuisine, a specific set of cooking traditions, preferences, and practices, the study of which is known as gastronomy

Many cultures have diversified their foods by means of preparation, cooking methods and manufacturing Also, in many cultures, food has been associated with many other essential human experiences, such as ideas, virtue, conduct, sexual

desire, disposition, etc., due to its prominent importance in human survival and pleasure (Berrada, 2007)

c Choosing idioms containing food and drink

From those definitions of food and drink, I call all idioms related to any kind

of food and drink “idioms containing food and drink” or “idioms of food and drink” The idioms of food and drink may contain a certain kind of food or drink as

“butter and cheese”, “bad eggs”, or food and drink in general as “food” in “food for thought”, “cỗ” (party) in “ma ăn cỗ”, “lương” (food) in “cao lương mĩ vi ̣”…

In general, the researcher collected data from dictionaries, books, and the websites on the Internet of idioms After that, the researcher read and pick out all idioms containing food and drink literally and sort them out figuratively In order to select idioms easily and quickly while doing analysis, we put all the idioms collected in alphabetical order

3.4 Data analysis

After collecting 380 idioms including 190 English idioms and 190 Vietnamese idioms of food and drink from various sources, we categorize them into two main aspects: syntactic and semantic ones

Syntactically, the data are classified based on the different structural categories, such as noun phrases, verb phrases, adjective phrases and prepositional phrases

Semantically, the classification is carried out on the basis of typical semantic and pragmatic features of idioms of food and drink in both languages

The steps of data analysis will be involved:

- Collecting idioms containing food and drink in both languages from a variety of sources

- Analyzing the syntactic features of idioms containing food and drink in English and Vietnamese

- Analyzing the semantic features of idioms containing food and drink in English and Vietnamese

- Identifying the similarities and differences between the two languages containing food and drink with regard to syntactic and semantic features

- Analyzing the cultural features of idioms containing food and drink in English and Vietnamese

- Suggesting some implications for teaching and learning this popular kind of idioms in English and Vietnamese as a foreign language

3.5 Reliability and validity

The data were selected from English, American and Vietnamese books and dictionaries Most of linguistic and grammatical books are reliable

Chapter IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Syntactic features of idioms containing food and drink in English and Vietnamese

It can be seen that idioms in both languages are lexically fixed They vary in structure form: phrase structures and sentence structures

4.1.1 Phrase Structures

4.1.1.1 English and Vietnamese Idioms containing food and drink of verb phrases patterns:

o Verb + Noun/NP:

bear fruit, chew the fat, cook one‟s goose,

do porridge, go bananas, spill the beans bắt cá hai tay, nói nhát gừng

o Verb + Noun/NP + Prep.P:

can‟t do sth for toffee; cast one's bread

upon the waters; have a bun in the oven,

have a finger in every pie; rub salt into

one‟s wounds

ăn cơm gà gáy, cất binh nửa ngày; ăn muối còn hơn chuối chát ; giết gà bằng dao mổ trâu; rán sành ra mỡ

o Verb + Prep.P:

cry over spilt milk; drink like a fish;

eat like a horse; go/sell like hot

cakes; live off the fat of the land;

pick over the bones of someone;

speak with a plum in one‟s mouth

bóp chết từ trong trứng nước ; cãi nhau như chém chả; chửi như chó ăn vã mắm; mọc lên như nấm ; nâng như nâng trứng ; nhịn như nhịn cơm sống; nói như đổ mẻ vào mặt; rụng như sung; thuộc như cháo chảy

o Verb + Noun/NP + Noun:

serve someone the same sauce ăn cướp cơm chim; ăn nói cà riềng cà tỏi

o Verb + Noun/NP + Verb:

have a bone to pick (with someone); have

other/bigger fish to fry; keep one‟s breath to cool

one‟s porridge; teach one‟s grandmother to suck

eggs; use a sledgehammer to crack a nut

ngậm bồ hòn làm ngọt ; thừa nước đục thả câu

o Verb + (Noun/NP) + Sub.Clause:

kill the goose that lays the golden egg;

know how many beans make five; know

which side one‟s bread is buttered

không ưa thì dưa có giòi ; nguây nguẩy như mẹ quẩy tôm

o Verb + (Noun/NP) + Verb + Noun/NP:

 Ăn cá bỏ lờ ; Ăn mận trả đào ; Ăn ốc nói mò ; Bắc nước

chờ gạo người ; Bánh đúc bày sàng ; Đo lọ nước mắm đếm củ dưa hành ; Giật đầu cá vá đầu tôm ; Há miệng chờ sung; Treo đầu dê, bán thịt chó; Vắt chanh bỏ vỏ…

4.1.1.2 English and Vietnamese Idioms containing food and drink of Noun phrases patterns:

o (Article) + Adjective (Adj) + Noun (N):

a big cheese; a golden goose;; hot

potato; sour grapes; dead meat; easy

meat; red herring; small beer;

bé hạt tiêu; láu tôm láu cá; màu mỡ riêu cua; nhẵn củ tỏi

o (Article) + Past Participle + Noun (N):

o Noun + Noun:

apples and oranges; bread and

butter; cakes and ale; meat and

potatoes; milk and honey; sugar and

spice; tea and sympathy;

bờ xôi ruộng mật ; bữa rau bữa cháo ; chén chú chén anh ; cơm hàng cháo chợ ; cơm sung cháo dền ; hàng tôm hàng cá ; mạt cưa mướp đắng; nem công chả phượng…

o Noun/NP + Prep.P:

a piece of cake; another / a different kettle of

fish; apple of someone‟s eye; caviar to the

general; cherry on the cake; cream of the

crop; food for thought; the proof of the

pudding; the salt of the earth; money for jam

chuyện nở như ngô rang ; dây cà ra dây muống ; mặt đỏ như gấc ; mặt vàng như nghệ ; mặt tái/xám như gà cắt tiết

o Noun + Adj + Noun + Adj:

English idioms Vietnamese idioms



áo ấ m cơm no ; chén tạc chén thù ; cơm chẳng lành canh chẳng ngọt ; cơm đen vận túng ; cơm no rượu say ; cơm thừa canh cặn; mật ít ruồi nhiều

4.1.1.3 Examples of adjective phrases:

cheap as chips; (as) flat as a

pancake;full of beans; not worth a

bean; nutty as a fruitcake; (as)

warm as toast; worth your salt…

gắt như mắm tôm ; mạnh vì gạo bạo vì tiền ; màu mỡ riêu cua ; nát như tương ; ngọt như mía lùi; nhẵn củ tỏi; rách như xơ mướp; rối như canh hẹ; xấu từ trong trứng…

4.1.1.4 Examples of prepositional phrases:

from soup to nuts; in a pickle; in a stew (about/over

sth); in apple-pie order; in the pudding club; in the

soup; off one‟s nut; off one‟s oats; off one‟s onion



4.1.2 Sentence Structures

Apart from the above similarities, both languages also have sentence idioms They may be simple or complex sentences:

English idioms Vietnamese idioms

the world is one‟s oyster

; when the moon turns

green cheese ;butter

wouldn‟t melt in their

mouth

ai biế t đâu ma ăn cỗ ; cà cuống chết đến đít còn cay ; chuột sa chĩnh gạo ; dùi đục chấm (nước) (mắm) cáy; ăn mày đòi xôi gấc; chó già giữ xương; chuột chù nếm dấm; một nụ cười bằng mười thang thuốc bổ ;; hàng thịt nguýt hàng cá; húng mọc, tía tô cũng mọc ; kẻ ăn ốc người đổ vỏ; ông ăn chả, bà ăn nem; quýt làm cam chịu

The simile in idioms of food and drink of the two languages is another similarity Simile is an expression that describes something by comparing it with something else, using the words “as” or “like” (Longman Exam Dictionary: 1435)

Here are some common idioms of English and Vietnamese which are widely used in everyday life

as red as beetroot ; as brown as a berry; as

different as chalk and cheese; as cool as a

cucumber; as sure as eggs in eggs; as flat

as a pancake; as keen as mustard; as dead

as mutton; as like/alike as two peas in a

pod; as easy as pie; crammed/ packed like

sardines; as warm as toast

dễ như ăn gỏi ; đắng như ngậm bồ hòn; đắt như tôm tươi ; hiền như củ khoai; mềm như bún ; nát như tương ; rành rành như canh nấu hẹ

In these examples, “as” and “like” are used in English and “nhƣ” in Vietnamese to compare food to something

There is only one difference in the structure of the idioms of food and drink between the two languages that English idioms exist in prepositional phrases

whereas Vietnamese ones do not have this structure

4.2 Semantic features of idioms containing food and drink in English and Vietnamese

After a collection and detail analysis, idioms containing food and drink can

be organized into two categories:

+ Idioms having human implications

+ Idioms having non-human implications

4.2.1 Idioms having human implications

4.2.1.1 Idiom expressing honesty/dishonesty:

English idioms Vietnamese idioms

butter wouldn‟t melt in ai biết đâu ma ăn cỗ ; láu tôm láu cá ; mạt cưa mướp

their mouth; sour grapes đắng; mật ngọt chết ruồi; miệng thơn thớt, dạ ớt ngâm;

mười voi không được bát nước xáo; thêm dấm thêm ớt; thêm mắm thêm muối; treo đầu dê, bán thịt chó

4.2.1.2 Idiom expressing hunger and poverty

English idioms Vietnamese idioms

not have a bean; not to

have two beans to rub

together

ăn cháo cầm hơi ; bữa rau bữa cháo ; cơm niêu nước lọ; cơm sung cháo dền ; gạo chợ nước sông ; nghèo rớt mùng tơi

4.2.1.3 Idiom expressing advantageous / disadvantageous situations

a bite at/of a cherry; a dead duck; a

piece of cake; be toast; cherry on the

cake; cut the mustard; dead meat; eat

humble pie; golden goose; hot potato; in

a pickle; in the soup; make mincemeat of

sb; the rough end of the pineapple; the

world is one‟s oyster

Cá nằm trên thớt ; cơm đen vận túng ; giao trứng cho ác; lợn lành chữa thành lợn què; mạnh vì gạo bạo vì tiền ; mật ít ruồi nhiều ; như cá gặp nước ; tránh vỏ dưa gặp vỏ dừa ; trứng chọi với đá ; trứng để đầu đẳng/gậy

4.2.1.4 Idiom expressing human physical states

as dead as mutton; have a bun in the

oven; in the pudding club; off one‟s

oats; full of beans

chắc như cua gạch ; mặt tái/xám như gà cắt tiết ; mặt vàng như nghê ̣ ; xấu từ trong trứng

4.2.1.5 Idiom expressing human personality

a bad egg; a good egg; a rotten apple;

as cool as a cucumber; couch potato;

milk of human kindness; mutton dressed

as lamb; old trout; sugar and spice; tea

and sympathy; teach one‟s grandmother

ăn cháo đái bát ; ăn bơ làm biếng ; ăn mày đòi xôi gấc ; bắc nước chờ gạo người; bảo xôi ừ xôi , bảo thịt ừ thịt ; đo lọ nước mắm đếm củ dưa hành ; há miê ̣ng chờ sung ; hiền như củ khoai ;

to suck eggs; the salt of the earth;

tough/smart cookie; turn to jelly

húng mọc, tía tô cũng mọc ; láu tôm láu cá; miệng thơn thớt , dạ ớt ngâm ; nhát như cáy; rán sành ra mỡ

4.2.1.6 Idiom expressing human moods or psychological states

as keen as mustard; be/go nuts; do one‟s nut;

go bananas; go/turn beetroot; have egg on/all

over one‟s face; in a stew (about/over sth); like

the cat that‟s got the cream; make no bones

about; meat; off one‟s nut; off one‟s onion

nguây nguẩy như mẹ quẩy tôm ; như cá gặp nước ; như mèo thấy mỡ; rối như canh hẹ

4.2.1.7 Idiom expressing human behaviours, attitude, actions and activities

bring home the bacon; chew the fat; drink

like a fish; earn/make one‟s bread; eat like

a horse; kill the goose that lays the golden

egg; make a meal of/out of; not care beans;

not care/give a fig (for sb/sth); pick over

the bones of someone; play gooseberry; put

all your eggs in one basket; quarrel with

bread and butter; rub salt into one‟s

wounds; save one's bacon; separate/sort

out the wheat from the chaff

ăn bánh trả tiền ; ăn nói cà riềng cà tỏi; cãi nhau như chém chả ; giật đầu

cá vá đầu tôm ; lúng búng như ngậm hột thị ; mượn gió bẻ măng ; nhường cơm sẻ áo; nói nhát gừng; nói như đổ mẻ vào mặt; nửa nạc nửa mỡ; thả con săn sắt bắt con cá rô ; theo voi ăn bã mía; thừa nước đục thả câu

4.2.1.8 Idiom indicating human social status

a big cheese; sit above the salt; sit below

the salt; small beer; small potatoes; speak

with a plum in one‟s mouth; upper crust

ăn mày đòi xôi gấc; cá đối bằng đầu

cá mè một lứa ; cơm bưng nước rót ; cơm thừa canh cặn

4.2.1.9 Idiom implying human success and failure

a dead duck; bear fruit; lay an egg;

over-egg the pudding; the world is one‟s oyster

bóp chết từ trong trứng nước ; lợn lành chữa thành lợn què; trứng chọi với đá

4.2.1.10 Idiom implying human understanding, experience or skills

can‟t boil an egg; can‟t do sth for toffee; know

one‟s onions; know which side one‟s bread is

buttered; separate/sort out the wheat from the chaff;

someone‟s salad days; the proof of the pudding; use

one‟s loaf; wake up and smell the coffee

ăn ốc nói mò ; gừng càng già càng cay ; thuộc nh ư cháo chảy

4.2.1.11 Idiom implying human relationship

break bread (with); play

gooseberry; serve someone the

same sauce; teach one‟s

grandmother to suck eggs

ăn bánh trả tiền ; ăn mật trả gừng ; ăn miếng trả miếng; bạn bè xôi thịt ; hàng thịt nguýt hàng cá ; kẻ ăn ốc người đổ vỏ ; không ưa thì dưa có giòi ; ông mắt chân giò , bà thò chai rượu ; vắt chanh

bỏ vỏ; tiền trao cháo múc

4.2.1.12 Idiom implying endurance and adaptation to the environment

make an omelette without

breaking eggs; eat humble pie

đói ăn bánh vẽ; nằm gai nếm mật; ngậm bồ hòn làm ngọt ; ngậm đắng nuốt cay ; nhịn như nhịn cơm sống ; khát nước mới đào giếng ; không có

cá lấy rau má làm ngon; liê ̣u cơm gắp mắm

4.2.1.13 Idiom implying good luck and bad luck

hard/tough cheese; icing on the cake chuột sa chĩnh gạo ; cơm đen vận túng ;

mèo mù vớ cá rán

4.2.1.14 Idiom implying certainty/belief

as sure as eggs in eggs; take sth with a pinch

4.2.1.15 Idiom implying appearance

as brown as a berry; as like/alike as two

peas in a pod; as red as beetroot

màu mỡ riêu cua ; mặt đỏ như gấc ; mặt vàng như nghê ̣ ; nụ cà hoa mướp; xấu từ trong trứng

4.2.1.16 Idiom implying choice

have one‟s cake and eat it; have other/bigger

fish to fry; make fish of one and flesh of

another; put all your eggs in one basket;

ăn muối còn hơn chuối chát ; chê cam sành vớ phải quýt hôi ; kén cá chọn canh

4.2.1.17 Idiom implying useless things

cast one's bread upon the waters;

caviar to the general; cry over spilt

milk; keep one‟s breath to cool one‟s

porridge; make a meal of/out of; not

cost a bean; not worth a bean

ăn cơm nhà thổi tù và hàng tổng ; ăn cơm nhà vác ngà voi ; giết gà bằng dao mổ trâu; ăn một bát cháo chạy ba quãng đồng ; muối bỏ biển /bể; cố đấm ăn xôi; chê cam sành vớ phải quýt hôi ; lợn lành chữa thành lợn què

4.2.1.18 Idiom implying religion

4.2.1.19 Idiom implying human affairs and marriage

dầu ép mỡ ai nỡ ép duyên; ông ăn chả, bà ăn nem;

4.2.2 Idioms having non-human implications

4.2.2.1 Idioms expressing Quantity

a slice/share of the cake; the whole

enchilada

mọc lên như nấm ; nhẵn củ tỏi ; như (ăn) cơm bữa; rụng như sung

4.2.2.2 Idioms expressing Quality

caviar to the general; cherry

on the cake; milk and water

bình cũ rượu mới ; bờ xôi ruộng mật ; cao lương mĩ vị; cơm ngon/dẻo canh ngọt; củi quế gạo châu

4.2.2.3 Idioms implying things and their characteristics

as easy as pie; as nice as pie; as

sour as vinegar; as warm as

crammed/packed like sardines;

curate‟s egg; first fruit;

forbidden fruit; go pear-shaped;

golden goose; gravy train

cay như ớt; chán như cơm nếp nát ; đắt như tôm tươi; dây cà ra dây muống ; dễ như ăn gỏi; dùi đục chấm (nước) (mắm) cáy; mềm như bún; một

nụ cười bằng mười thang thuốc bổ ; nát như tương; ngọt như mía lùi ; nhạt như nước ốc ; quần nước sáo áo cháo lòng ; rượu ngon chẳng

nê ̣ (kể) be sành

4.2.2.4 Idioms expressing Frequency

When the moon turns green cheese Như (ăn) cơm bữa

4.3 Similarities and differences in syntactic and semantic features of idioms containing food and drink in English and Vietnamese

It is undeniable that idioms in general and English and Vietnamese idioms containing food and drink in particular always attract great attention of all linguists and readers as well However, each language has it profound cultural features related to its own physiology, convention, religious belief and so on From the study, we could see that both languages share similarities and differences in

semantic and syntactic features What is more, basing on this comparison, we can discover underlying cultural characteristics of English and Vietnamese idioms relating to food and drink

4.3.1 Similarities

4.3.1.1 Syntactic features:

From our study, we could see that both English and Vietnamese idioms containing food and drink share certain patterns in common in the form of Noun Phrase, Verb Phrase and Adjective Phrase

Firstly, in the form of Noun Phrase, both English and Vietnamese idioms containing food and drink are under the pattern of (Article) + Adjective (Adj) + Noun (N) ; Noun + Noun ; Noun/NP + Prep.P

Secondly, both languages share the similar patterns in the form of Verb Phrases: Verb + Noun/NP ; Verb + Noun/NP + Prep.P ; Verb + Prep.P ; Verb + Noun/NP + Noun ; Verb + Noun/NP + Verb ; Verb + (Noun/NP) + Sub.Clause

Thirdly, the simile in idioms of food and drink of the two languages is another similarity

4.3.1.2 Semantic features:

It can be seen clearly that apart from the semantic field of human affairs and

marriage, both English and Vietnamese idioms are employed for the same semantic

fields such as honesty/dishonesty, hunger and poverty, advantageous/ disadvantageous situations, human physical states, human personality, human moods or psychological states, human behaviours, attitude, action and activities, human social status, human success and failure, human understanding, experience

or skills, human relationship, love affairs and marriage, endurance and adaptation to the environment, good luck and bad luck, certainty/belief, appearance, choice and useless things

Furthermore, both languages use certain familiar images, daily events and phenomena to express the abstract sense thanks to the means of metaphor, simile

Metaphor is used in the two languages as idioms containing food and drink

of our corpus namely rotten apple, play gooseberry, sour grapes…in English and

cơm sung cháo dền , có cam phụ quýt , …in Vietnamese Metaphors help idioms

express their figurative meanings under the consideration of similar characteristics

of people or objects Let’s examine the following example to clarify the above

ideas Ông ăn chả, bà ăn nem does not really mean “he has cha, she has nem”, but

this idiom describes the situation when both the man and his wife commit adultery - extramarital affair between a married person and somebody who is not their husband or wife

In addition, simile as another way of meaning transfer is mainly employed in English and Vietnamese idioms containing food and drink Simile is a stylistic device which is used to make a comparison of two things based on one shared

quality by using the comparative words such as as, like or than in English and như,

bằng, không bằng in Vietnamese For example: as red as beetroot (đỏ như gấc), as sure as eggs in eggs (chắc như đinh đóng cột)

4.3.2 DIFFERENCES

4.3.2.1 Syntactic features:

Among the total samples studied, there are no cases of English idioms in the

pattern Verb + (Noun/NP) + Verb + Noun/NP of Verb Phrase and in the pattern Noun + Adj + Noun + Adj of Noun Phrase as well as there are no Vietnamese ones

in the pattern (Article) + Past Participle + Noun (N) of Noun Phrase and in prepositional phrases form

In English, an adjective is often used to modify for a noun and it usually stands before nouns but in Vietnamese it is vice versa