LV (Syntactic and semantic features of collocations in advertising)

1.3 PURPOSES OF THE STUDY The study is to find out the syntactic and semantic features of collocations used in advertising skincare products in English and Vietnamese to point out the si

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 RATIONALE

Communicating is an essential part in our daily life People have a great variety of ways to exchange their thoughts, which may be made through language, signs, gestures, body language, and so on However, language proves to be the most effective means, for it is capable of conveying all what you want while the others might sometimes be impossible Advertising is among the many ways of conveying ideas in which language plays a very important role

Whenever you speak or write something, you make phrases and sentences in such a way that it makes sense to the listener(s) or the reader(s), though you may not be aware of this And this is the role of syntax - studying the structures of phrases and sentences In addition, “part of the business of semantics is to deal with ways in which syntactic structures can be interpreted Some scholars assume that for each syntactic rule determining how two or more constituents are put together, there is a corresponding semantic rule determining how the receptive meanings are to be composed” [14, p.27- 28]

Knowing well the semantic and syntactic rules of a language does not necessarily mean having mastered its uses In some situation, a sentence someone makes can be unnatural or unacceptable though it is grammatically correct This is the matter of collocations “Collocation is the way words combine in a language to produce natural-sounding speech and writing” Collocation runs through the whole of the English language, as in any other languages No piece of naturally spoken or written English is totally free of collocation Choosing the right collocation will make the speech and writing more natural and more native-like [19] For instance, in English you say

strong wind but heavy rain” [19, vii], though strong and heavy here both mean a lot You may say strong rain and can be understood but of course it

does not sound natural and sometimes your speech provokes a smile

Similarly, we often see in some advertisements such collocations as smooth hair / smooth skin in English but in Vietnamese mái tóc suông/ làn da mịn màng not làn da suông This may not be a matter at all to native speakers

How a word goes with another is of no question to them because they are living in the language environment and their language competence is the result of what they have acquired since their very early ages They are even unaware of the fact that they are using collocations On the contrary, learners

of English find it troublesome because there is no rule for them to know which goes with which And this creates a lot of difficulties for every language learner

Advertising is crucial in our modern society It is designed to promote the sale of a product or service Since advertising is catchy and persuasive, advertisers tend to vary their ways and language so as to draw the attention of the potential consumers This leads to the use of many different collocations

in advertising the same product or service For these practical reasons, I decide to do a research on the syntactic and semantic features of collocations

in advertising in English and Vietnamese

1.2 JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY

Collocation runs through the whole of the English language No piece

of natural spoken or written English is totally free of collocation Choosing the right collocation will make the speech and writing more natural and more native-like [19] A study of syntactic and semantic features of collocations will be a contribution to the understanding and using collocations of the learners

1.3 PURPOSES OF THE STUDY

The study is to find out the syntactic and semantic features of collocations used in advertising skincare products in English and Vietnamese

to point out the similarities and differences between them Some suggestions

in the way of forming collocations will be made based on the analysis of the findings so as to help the English learners with their collocation using

- To point out the similarities and differences in collocations used in advertising skincare products between these two languages

- To make some suggestions on using collocations effectively for the English learners

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study mainly focuses on collocations of “skin” used in advertising skincare products in written form collected from advertisements in newspapers, magazines, the Internet etc…both in English and Vietnamese and

is limited in analyzing and discussing the syntactic and semantic features of these collocations

1.7 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

1.7.1 Syntactic Features

“Syntactic features are the features involving the rules governing the structure of a language such as the form of words, the structure of phrases, clauses and sentences, word order, collocation ”

1.7.2 Semantic Features

Semantic features are the features that are used to define the meanings

of a word [14] or to differentiate individual lexemes in a particular domain from one another in terms of meaning [27] These features used to indicate the sense relation between lexical units such as hyponyms, synonyms and antonyms, semantic fields…

1.7.3 Collocation

In Oxford Collocations Dictionary (2003), collocation is defined as the way words combine in a language to produce natural-sounding speech and writing [19] or a particular combination of words used in this way

“The term collocation refers to combinations of two lexical items each

of which makes a distinct semantic contribution” (Stephan Gramley and Kurt –Michael Patzold, 2002) [10]

1.8 ORGANISATION OF THE STUDY

There are five chapters included in the thesis

Chapter 1 consists of the rationale, the justification, the purposes, the objectives, the research questions, the scope of the study, some definitions of terms used in the thesis and the organization of the study

Chapter 2 is the theoretical background which includes the literature review, and some general features of syntax and semantics of English and Vietnamese

Chapter 3 is the one in which the methods of collecting, analyzing data and describing data are presented

Chapter 4 focuses on analyzing and discussing the syntactic and semantic features of collocations of the words “skin”, “da” and their proper adjectives and the equivalents based on the findings

Chapter 5 is the conclusion of what has been found and discussed It is the summary of the syntactic and semantic features of collocations of “skin” and “da” in advertising in English and Vietnamese and the implication of the thesis

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 PRIOR RESEARCH

A review of literature on previous studies relating to collocations and language of advertising is presented in this section

Anna Braasch and Sussi Olsen (2005), in their paper “Formalised Representation of Collocations in a Danish Computational Lexicon”, have focused on a specific collocation type and dealt with a formalised, pattern-based description of collocations for a Danish computational lexicon They have analyzed a selection of frequent collocations found in the corpus and discussed a few selected morphological and syntactic constraints that apply to verbal collocations

English collocations have been studied and discussed in a variety of books Collocations have been listed in such a way that they are called “word collocations” in Oxford Collocations Dictionary (2003)

Stephan Gramley and Kurt-Michael Patzold (2004) express their viewpoints on the meaning, word classes, range of collocations and the conditions and restrictions in collocations

Maria-Violeta Seretan (2006), in “Syntactic and Semantic Oriented Corpus Investigation for Collocation Extraction, Translation and Generation” proposed experiment and evaluate linguistically motivated methods for the treatment of collocations which will focus both on syntactic and semantic features, as indispensable dimensions of collocation treatment in addition to the traditionally, widely used statistical dimension and will be exploited for collocation processing applications, mainly for collocation extraction, translation and generation, by making an extensive use of the widely available mono- and multilingual digital text collections

In “The discourse of advertising” by Guy Cook (2003, 2nd edition), the author provided a framework for analysis of advertisements as a discursive genre Concepts from discourse analysis; stylistics and linguistics are applied

to examine the ads textual and contextual features in a bottom-up approach that allow identifying their interaction and combinations Also, in this book, the interaction between advertising messages, their substance and their surroundings are discussed and their influence on the effectiveness of the advertising is shown.”

There have been some researches done into language of advertising in

Vietnamese In “A Discussion Concerning Linguistic Units and Meaning in English Language advertisements” (1993) Dinh Gia Hung and Ho Si Thang

Kiet discussed the features of English linguistic units and semantic meaning used in advertisements Besides, from different views, some linguists approached advertising and advertising language, examining the linguistic usage on billboards and in advertisements, the correspondence between forms

and contents as well as the influence of cultural factors such as: “Về ngôn ngữ trong quảng cáo” (Trần Đình Vĩnh, Nguyễn Đức Toàn, 1993), “Ngôn ngữ quảng cáo-phương pháp sao phỏng” (Nguyễn Đức Dân, 1994), “Về lập luận trong quảng cáo” (Mai Xuân Huy, 1999)

2.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.2.1 Collocations and Syntax

Collocation is the way words go together to produce natural pieces of language And syntax concerns the combination of words into phrases and sentences In other words, when discussing collocations we cannot help talking about common syntactic features like words, phrases, sentences…

2.2.1.1 Phrases

A phrase may be one or more words long [4, p.177] That is to say, it consists of at least a head word and optional modifiers There are five phrase

types in both English and Vietnamese; however, Noun Phrase (NP) and Adjective Phrase are the ones investigated in the thesis for what is discussed within this paper is collocations of the word “skin”, “da” and their adjectives and the equivalents

a The Noun Phrase

The noun phrase always consists of at least a noun which is its center or head and optional modifiers [5]

Premodifier(s) + Head + Postmodifier(s)

(1) The beautiful picture on the wall

(2) Tất cả mấy cuốn sách này [27, p.68]

b The Adjective Phrase

The adjective phrase contains a head adjective and optional intensifier and complement in English

Intensifier + Head + Complement

(3) He is quite unaware of any wrongdoing [4, p.179]

And in Vietnamese The adjective phrase consists of a head adjective and optional modifiers

modifier(s) + Head + modifier(s)

(4) Em này còn trẻ quá [27, p.160]

2.2.1.2 Sentences

Generally, sentences are used as a means of exchanging ideas in people’s communication.[24] How to make sentences follows certain grammatical rules of a particular language though Practically, countless of sentences are made based on limited patterns

Sentences are classified in many different ways depending on different criteria Regarding to types of verbs, According to Gerald P Delahunty and James J Garvey (1994) there are 8 patterns while 20 patterns are described in Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2006) and 7 patterns according to

Quirk and Greenbaum (1976) This difference is up to different points of view

of linguists Besides, sentences can be divided into simple, compound, complex and compound complex for their complexity or declaratives, interrogatives, imperatives and exclamations in forms of affirmative and negative in terms of their purpose of discourse [31]

Commonly, in Vietnamese sentences are categorized into simple or complex based on the Subject – Predicate structure That a sentence is simple

or complex based on the number of the subject-predicate structures as the skeleton The one consisting of one subject – predicate structure is called simple and any other consisting of more than one such structure is named complex.[25, p.90]

(5) a Con cò lăn lội bờ sông [31, p.97]

b Ngày đi lúa chửa chia vè, [31, p.97]

Ngày về lúa đã đỏ hoe cánh đồng

(6) Vì trời mưa nên nó không đến được. [31, p.106]

In sentences 5a and 5b there is only one subject-predicate structure so they are simple while sentence 6 is a complex one for it contains two subject-predicate structures

In many cases, a sentence is simple though it contains more than one subject-predicate structure These are simple sentences contains complex parts These complex parts can be either basic sentence element like subject, predicate or other such as complement, object [31]

(8) [31, p.101]

[31, p.102]

Sentences 7, 8, 9 are all simple but their main parts are complex In sentence 7, the subject is made complex In sentence 8, the sentence part made complex is the predicate In sentence 9 both subject and predicate are subject – predicate structures That is to say, not all sentences which contain more than one subject-predicate structure are complex A sentence is considered complex on condition that it has more than one subject-predicate structure and these structures must be the skeleton of the sentence Besides, we can identify

complex sentences thanks to coordinators và, rồi, hay, hoặc, còn, mà…and subordinators vì, nếu, tuy, để…

(10) Anh ấy đã đi và căn phòng bỏ trống. [31, p.106]

(11) Vì trời mưa cho nên nó không đến được. [31, p.106]

2.2.2 Collocations and Semantics

Semantics is the study of the meaning of linguistic signs; words, expressions, and sentences [39] Collocations are, in fact, words combining into phrases and sentences Thus, they share all the features that semantics deals with such as semantic properties, sense, hyponym, synonym, antonym and semantic field

2.2.2.1 Semantic Properties or Semantic Features

Accepting the fact that the meaning of an expression can be viewed as a combination of features, we can decompose the meaning of a word into what

is called semantic features or properties Such features can be used to define

Cây mai này hoa nở đẹp quá

the meanings of a word And the method involving the use of these properties

is called “componential method”.[14] In componential analysis, lexemes that have a common range of meaning constitute a semantic domain Such a domain is characterized by the distinctive semantic features (components) that differentiate individual lexemes in the domain from one another, and also by features shared by all the lexemes in the domain Such componential analysis points out, for example, that in the domain “seat” in English, the lexemes

“chair,” “sofa,” “loveseat,” and “bench” can be distinguished from one another according to how many people are accommodated and whether a back support is included At the same time all these lexemes share the common component, or feature, of meaning “something on which to sit” [39] Similarly, we can take a much used example from standard literature on semantics to clarify what is being mentioned [14]

Obviously, words cannot be defined independently of other words that are semantically related to them and delimit their sense For example, among

the members of the set look, stare, glance, gaze, glimpse…exist some sense

relation Imagine a situation where for some reason all the members of the set

disappeared except for look Then look would acquire all the differences now

expressed by other members In other words, the network of sense relations would disappear altogether According to the analogy of J Lyons (1995), the lexical structure of a language is like a web in which each strand is one such relation and each not is a different word or expression From time immemorial investigation of meanings has borne the hallmark of sense relations e.g synonyms, hyponyms, antonyms, semantic fields… [14]

a Semantic Fields

“The theory of semantic fields was put forward by a number of German and Swiss scholars in the 1920s and 1930s such as Ispen (1924) and Trier (1934) Trier’s theory is based on Saussure’s theory of language of a system

of networks held together by differences, oppositions and values.”

Basically, this is an attempt to define the structure of the lexicon The vocabulary of a language may appear chaotic, but in fact, there exists some form of organization inside it The value of a word then is determined by defining it in relation to the value of neighbouring or contrasting words Thus, the vocabulary of a language is viewed as an integrated system of lexemes interrelated in sense For example the colour terms may constitute a field They cover various areas on the colour spectrum, which is the conceptual field

of colour Because members of a semantic field divide up a conceptual field, they are incompatible For example, we cannot refer an animal as a lion and

an elephant at the same time Semantic field is, therefore, a set of interrelated senses based on a conceptual field or spectrum Words can be grouped either thematically or ideographically [14]

“Thematic groupings contains words of the same part of speech which cover the same conceptual field”

(12) Semantic field of human body: head, arm, leg, face … [25, p.147]

“Ideographic groupings may contain words of different parts of speech but thematically related”

(13) Semantic field of hand: warm, cold…, clap, grasp [25, p.159]

Basically, words are divided into fields depending on their semantic features In a way, this helps find words that are synonymous in the same field [13] Synonyms are to be mentioned in the following part

b Hyponyms, Synonyms and Antonyms

b1 Hyponyms

The relation of hyponym is often defined in terms of inclusion The hyponym is the member whose intensional meaning is specific enough to cover the meaning of the superordinate whereas the superordinate member is the one whose extensional meaning is broad enough to cover the hyponym

This relation can be exemplified by such pair as “flower” and “rose” of

which “rose” is the hyponym of “flower” and “flower” is the superordinate The sense of “rose” includes the sense of “flower”, not necessarily the other way round A rose is a flower, but not every flower is a rose “Rose, tulip, daffodil…” are co-hyponyms of “flower” [14]

b2 Synonyms

Synonyms are actually words of the same parts of speech which have similar meaning, but not identical meanings They may share a similar denotational or connotational meaning They can differ from each other in

terms of denotation and connotation Father and dad differ in terms of connotation rather than denotation; on the other hand, misfortune and accident, catastrophe will be different in denotation [14]

As mentioned above words that have the same semantic features are grouped in fields Thus, synonyms can only be found within fields or words are synonymous when they are in the same fields

(14) Thấp and lùn are synonyms in the field of body appearance [25.p.147]

However not all words in a field are synonymous No matter how many semantic features words have in common, they will not be synonymous if there exist contradictory features between them.[25]

(15) Push and pull both of them belong to the same “field of exerting a force

on X to make X move” but push is of the subfield to make X move farther while pull is of the one to make X get nearer [25] In this case, though pull and push are in the same semantic field, share some same features but they are

actually antonyms

b3 Antonyms

“It is common knowledge that the meaning of a word may be partially

defined by saying that what is not Male means not female and dead means not alive Words that are opposite in meanings are called antonyms Two

words can be antonyms though they share all but one semantic property Therefore, there is reason to say that antonyms belong to the same semantic

fields, nearly identical in distribution for instance, married and single; small and big.” [14]

2.2.3 Collocations and their Classification

The term collocation is used differently by different linguists Stephen Gramley and Kurt-Michael Patzold (2004) refer this term to combinations of two lexical items, each of which makes a distinct semantic contribution, belongs to different word class and show a restricted range This definition may confuse the learners because the different word criterion together with the lexical items only criterion excludes the important noun-noun

combinations such as a light source, a pride of lion or the verb-verb ones like

be free to choose Thus, the way to divide collocations into different following

types of combination presented in Oxford Collocations Dictionary (2003) is preferred in this thesis

a adjective + noun

(16) bright / strong / harsh / intense light

(28) safe from attack

However, what is studied in this paper are collocations between the headword “skin”, “da” and their proper adjectives and equivalents thus the first above-mentioned type is applied in the investigation

In addition, collocations are grouped based on their range from “weak”

collocation see a film through “medium strength” see a doctor to “stronger” collocation see danger [19]

Most of the collocations can be called “word collocations”; that is,

these are the precise words that combine with each other small fortune cannot

be changed to little fortune There is another area of collocation that might be

called “category collocation” where a word can combine with any word from

a readily definable set in which the members are predictable like words of

nationalities, colors, measurements… three – minute / five - minute walk [19]

2.2.4 Typical Features of Advertising Language Viewed from the Psychological Perspective

It is commonly accepted that language is among many important factors including images, sounds, colours…helping make a successful advertisement

In many cases, whether an advertisement is successful or not is decided by language

The language of advertising can be viewed from different perspectives: social, cultural, economic, strategic, technological, effective Once the communication of advertising is analysed from the psychology of the consumers, advertising language has the following typical characteristics Language of advertising is obviously purposeful and practical It is not merely for giving information but exerting a deliberate influence on the consumer Advertising is to achieve a certain commercial or economic target

On account of its deliberate influence, language of advertising is usually striking, desire arousing, persuasive and sometimes competitive

Turning to the language structure, advertising discourse is short and coherent An advertisement may be just a phrase which is carefully selected

to make an impression on the consumer

Psychologically, advertising is a process of psychological interaction between the advertiser (the producer, distributor, service provider…) and the consumer in which the psychology of every advertiser is the same; that is to publicize and persuade the hearer or the reader Meanwhile, that of the consumer is of much complexity which reflects the diversity of individual psychology This explains why the same advertising stimulation receives different responses from different consumers [33]

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The study on the syntactic and semantic features of collocations of

“skin”, “da” and their adjectives or the equivalents was carried out based on the collection, selection and analysis of advertisements of skincare products in both English and Vietnamese

3.1 METHODOLOGY OF STUDY

To get a reliable and objective result, I was of the opinion to collect a wide variety of samples taken from different sources with the number of 200 skincare product advertisements in English and the same number of that in Vietnamese

3.3 DESCRIPTION OF THE SAMPLE

Samples were taken from many different sources so as to eliminate the element of subjectivity in the findings of the study that results in a good conclusion and implication

English samples were taken from some popular magazines such as

NewIdea, People, Rolling Stone, Vogue, Time and Woman’s Day Also, the

Internet proved to be a good source in providing English samples for the study

especially such websites as http//www.loreal.com, http//www.lancome.com, http//www.revlon.com, http//www.dove.com, http//www.shiseido.com, http//www.olay.com, http//www.neutrogena.com

English samples taken from English magazines and the Internet

(1) To purify oily skin, Sparkling Gel Cleanser with salicylic acid does the job Fresh Foaming Cleanser has humectants to bind moisture to normal skin and Rich Cleanser calms, hydrates and conditions drier, more sensitive skins.[55]

(2) Infuse your skin with moisture! This ultra-charged moisturizer delivers 16 skin-essential elements including Calcium, Zinc and Manganese to keep skin hydrated all day Oil-free, water-smooth texture leaves skin glowing with health.

[67]

Vietnamese samples were taken from some magazines like Hoa Học Trò, Mỹ Phẩm, Người ĐẹpViệt Nam, Người Tiêu Dùng, Sành Điệu, Thế Giới Phụ Nữ and Thời Trang Trẻ

(3) Kem dưỡng da chống nắng Olay @ White Radiance không chỉ làm trắng da mà còn làm giảm các vết nám và se lỗ chân lông Các chất bức xạ và các thành phần làm trắng da giúp làn da sáng hơn. [71]

(4) Công thức chống nắng SPF 19 bảo vệ làn da khỏi các tia bức xạ UVA/UVB nguyên nhân chính làm da sạm đen và kém tươi sáng Sử dụng kem cho làn da thường hoặc da khô, sử dụng sữa nếu bạn có làn da hỗn hợp [72]

3.4 STEPS IN THE RESEARCH PROCESS

- Perceiving a broad problem

- Reading literature on relevant theoretical and empirical work (looking for ways of narrowing the problem)

- Discussing with the supervisor to define a researchable problem

- Defining the context of the problem to be researched

- Reviewing any comparable case studies, especially for research questions and methodology

- Framing research questions

- Designing an investigative procedure

- Selecting and retrieving appropriate data

- Proceeding with analysis and interpretation

- Comparing the findings and interpretations with other relevant studies reviewed earlier

- Drawing tentative conclusions relating to the research questions

3.5 RESEARCH SCHEDULE

The research time is sensibly divided for each activity of the study

Table 3.1 The Time Frame for Research Activities

CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 4.1 COLLOCATIONS AND THEIR SYNTACTIC FEATURES

4.1.1 Adjectives Collocate with “skin”, “da”

As it can be seen from the classification of collocations, such parts of speech as adjectives, quantifiers, verbs, nouns and prepositions can combine with “skin” Within this thesis as mentioned in the scope of the study, only collocations between the word “skin”, “da” and their adjectives and the equivalents are to be investigated

4.1.1.1 Adjectives Collocate with “skin” in English

Because of the fact that advertising is meant to convince people to buy

or use some product or some service and to get them interested, remember and never feel bored with the brand, the advertiser keeps changing supporting pictures as well as words used This leads to a good collection of adjectives used with the word “skin” and “da” found in the corpus

According to Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaun (1976), adjectives are either attributive or predicative They are attributive when they premodify nouns

(1) … It’ll add essential moisture to dry skin without leaving residue . [59]

(2) A special formulated cream that combines 2% pure, stabilised Vitamin C with

other active ingredients Apply daily to enjoy softer, younger-looking skin [58]

And they are considered to be predicative when they function as subject complements or object complements

(3) Skin looks smoother, firmer, more radiant [59]

(4) Formulated with essential vitamins and minerals, this luxuriously foaming, cleansing mousse improves the appearance of skin texture, rinses easily and

leaves skin refreshed and comfortable [55]

There are quite a large number of adjectives and compound adjectives

seen in a corpus of 200 skincare product advertisements Some of them, in the

corpus, function as both attributive and predicative Others are either

attributive or predicative

Table 4.1 Adjectives and Compound Adjectives Collocate with “skin”

(i: attributive; ii: predicative; iii: both)

bare, dehydrated, distressed, delicate, fatigued, frazzled,

mature, normal, perfect, pimple/ acne-prone, premature,

sensitive, subtle, thirsty, vibrant, youthful, plump, fine

(finer), new (newer),freshly-cleansed, pimple/

acne-prone, sun-dried, wind-dried

comfortable, cool, even, glowing, renewed, sensual,

silky, supple, young, uneven, natural, greasy, old

(older), good (better), rested, less- lined, , silky-soft,

silky-smooth, velvety-smooth, well-rested,

young-looking, healthy-looking

beautiful, dry, dull, firm, greasy, smooth, soft, healthy,

fresh, oily, clean, tight, flawless, radiant, tired, clear,

balanced, fair, bright

It is shown in table 4.1 that most adjectives and compound adjectives

describing the bad conditions or appearance of skin are used attributively in

skincare product advertisements Exceptionally, some of this sort used

predicatively with the intensive verbs “to be” or “to feel” like greasy, dry,

dull, uneven and tired on condition that they are made negative or with the

complex transitive verb “make” for example

(5) Deep cleansing action works without drying or stripping even the most delicate

skin Skin feels soft and smooth, never dry or tight. [59]

(6) … silky soft skin that never feels greasy [59]

(7) The sun causes photodamage, increasing melanin production and darkens

your skin Dust and pollution, on the other hand, make your skin dull and uneven

On the contrary, those figuring the good condition or appearance of skin are used either attributive or predicative or both The verbs used with

adjectives to show the improvement of skin are make, leave, become, keep and

these adjectives function as complements

(8) This moisture-rich cream is specially formulated to instantly hydrate dry skin and help it to maintain its optimum moisture balance… Enriched with signs of daily stress and full hydrated, your skin becomes beautifully soft and smooth all day

(10) This innovative formula features dermo-bonding peptides to significantly

reduce the appearance of wrinkles and results in tighter, firmer, more lifted

skin .[55]

Table 4.2 Participle Adjectives Collocate with “skin”

Participle adjectives Attributive Predicative Both

damaged, de-stressed, plumped,

tightened, cushioned,

clarified, hydrated, invigorated, refined,

moisturized, refreshed, renewed, rested,

revitalized, soothed, strengthened,

toned, energized, stressed

As what can be seen from table 4.2, most of these participle adjectives

are predicative There are only one out of twenty put into use both

attributively and predicatively and other five attributively

Among the above-listed adjectives, compound adjectives and participle

adjectives, some are gradable and can be modified by adverbs which convey

the degree of intensity of the adjective (very, absolutely ) and have the ability

to be compared It might be expected that comparative and superlative are of

extremely common use in advertising Nevertheless, not all of them are used

in compared forms there are only 27 of them are in comparative or

superlative

(11) This rich, dermatologist-recommended formula adds back moisture every

time you use it Skin is left more moisturized, so it retains resiliency and

suppleness. [67]

(12)…Specially formulated for dry skin, this moisture-rich formula helps restore

skin softness and smoothness with medium coverage to blend away imperfections

Skin looks smoother, firmer, more radiant. [59]

Table 4.3 Adjectives, Compound Adjectives and Participle Adjectives in

Comparision Collocate with “skin”

beautiful, clean, clear, even, fair, fine,

firm, fresh, healthy, new, oily, old,

plump, resilient, radiant, smooth, soft,

tight, young, young-looking, lifted,

moisturized, toned, cushioned

Among the adjectives found in comparison in collocations of “skin”

there are only two used in both comparative and superlative; dry, sensitive

(13) …Sheer comfort even for the driest skin [57]

(14) Rich Clean Cleanser calms, hydrates and conditions drier, more sensitive

skins. [60]

Especially, there are five other ones being used only in comparative

form No cases of absolute or superlative forms of these four adjectives are

discovered in the corpus Such adjectives are plumper, older, finer and better,

newer

(15) …Thanks to a unique firming and anti-wrinkle effect that fortifies skin-making

the skin plumper and smoother. [55]

(16) It brings radiant beauty with fairer and finer skin to you [56]

(17) With Pond’s Protective Tinted Moisturizer, your skin will feel better, look

better and be better protected [63]

(18) During the night, the skin renews itself so it can face daily challenges With

age, this natural night-time renewal process slows down, so skin looks tired and

older. [57]

(19) …Now Olay Regenerist uses this technology to beautifully regenerate skin’s

appearance by renewing its outer layer, revealing newer skin [58]

Table 4.4 Adjectives Only Used in Comparative Form Collocate with “skin”

Adjectives are lexical items, which mean that they prototypically have

content Adjectives as well as verbs, nouns and adverbs are parts of open

classes, because their number can be extended [10, p.97,98] as apposed to

closed classes which include functional words like prepositions, interjections,

conjunctions, articles and determiners No newly coined or borrowed words

can be added to these categories New adjectives may be formed by

derivational processes Derivation can involve prefixing, suffixing or

conversion (no change at all) [4] or zero derivation which has been coined in

recognition of the fact that this process can be seen as the kind of derivation

without an affix [10] That is to say, adjectives can be either primitives (roots,

simple words) or derivatives

Table 4.5 Primitive and Derivative Adjectives Collocate with “skin”

Adjectives

Derivatives Primitives

Prefixing Suffixing Conversion

clean, clear, cool, fair,

fresh, radiant, sensual,

supple, young, bare,

delicate, mature, normal,

perfect, subtle, tight,

vibrant, dry, dull, firm,

smooth, soft, good,

plump, old, fine, even,

bright, even

uneven, premature

balanced, comfortable, glowing, healthy, silky, fatigued, flawless, frazzled, oily, thirsty, tired, youthful,

beautiful, greasy, renewed, dehydrated, narural

young-Knowing the formation of the adjectives, somehow, helps learners a lot

in predicting or choosing the right words to combine with others at least in this situation, choosing the collocate adjectives for the word “skin” As what

is seen from the corpus if a root adjective can collocate with “skin” then the

compound adjective which related to that root can as well e.g young – looking; healthy – healthy-looking; dry – sun-dried/ wind-dried, fresh – shower-fresh…

young-(20) Neutrogena® Advanced Solutions™ Skin Transforming Complex Nightly

Renewal Cream delivers the ultimate combination of anti-aging ingredients to help

fight the multiple signs of aging Skin looks beautifully healthier and younger. [57] (21) Moisture-weave fibers deposit skin-smoothing ingredients as they cleanse and remove impurities The age-defying towelette with its anti-aging formula works

to reveal younger-looking skin and add radiance. [57]

Likewise, a participle adjective can surely be used with the word “skin”

if its verb is in combination with “skin” e.g soothe – soothed; revitalize – revitalized; hydrate – hydrated; refresh – refreshed; renew – renewed; cushion – cushioned; de-stress – de-stressed…

(22) The luxurious, deeply hydrating formula softens, while a blend of age erasers helps diminish the appearance of fine lines Formulated with white tea, aloe and

shear butter calms and de-stresses the skin in minutes. [60]

(23) An ultra-light cleansing cream to melt away makeup and impurities with a

unique cleansing action Tissue off or rinse to reveal soft, smooth, de-stressed

skin [60]

4.1.1.2 Adjectives and the Equivalents Collocate with “da” in Vietnamese

Quite different from English adjectives, Vietnamese ones are never

found standing in front of nouns For instance, we say “da nhạy cảm not

“nhạy cảm da” It is much more complicated and difficult to identify if a word

is an adjective We are easily confused to say whether a word is an adjective

or a verb since these two parts of speech are alike in their functions as predicates [28] Once, an adjective directly functions as a predicate it has all

the grammatical criteria of a verb like tenses, voice; đã, sẽ, từng, còn, chưa, bị….[27]

(24) Không cần phủ thêm phấn hay kem nào khác, da mặt bạn vẫn sẽ sáng,

mềm, phẳng và hoàn toàn không xỉn màu từ sáng đến tối Da của bạn khi sờ vào vẫn mềm và mịn suốt cả ngày.[56]

Generally, people classify word types based on three criteria: their meanings, their forms and their functions There have been many different

ways of identification suggested by different linguists Le Van Ly once

applied the three words rất, hơi, khí to identify adjectives He is of the opinion

that these words can only be followed by adjectives Nevertheless, his

“identifying words” proved to be inappropriate to “polar” adjectives such as

chẵn, lẻ, đực, cái.[28] According to Cao Xuan Hao (2003), adjectives can

follow and modify trở thành, thành ra and be followed by ra, trước, lên, đi,

lại which are used as adverbs indicating the changes in characteristics not in

physical directions for example, trở thành chăm chỉ, thành ra khôn ngoan or

đẹp ra, già đi

(25) Chỉ sau một tuần tôi thật sự cảm nhận làn da của mình trở nên mịn màng và

tươi sáng hơn, các nếp nhăn cũng giảm dần [ 67]

(26)… tinh chất trà xanh Nhật Bản giúp da sáng dần lên và làm mờ các vết thâm

[73]

Vietnamese adjectives can be either attributive or predicative

(27) Dầu massage trị liệu toàn thân hoặc từng phần giúp cân bằng độ ẩm mang

lại làn da mềm mịn [68]

(28) Da mặt bạn trở nên sáng láng, nhẹ nhàng tạo cảm giác thật thoải mái. [70]

The adjective in (27) is attributive while the ones in (28) are

predicative

Table 4.6 Adjectives and the Equivalents Collocate with “da”

(i: predicative; ii:attributive; iii: both)

bóng nhờn, căng, căng mượt, đàn hồi, khô héo, mát dịu, mềm

mượt, mệt mỏi, mượt mà, nám, sạm đen, trẻ, tươi mướt, tươi tắn,

xỉn màu, nhẹ nhàng, sáng láng, mềm mại, rạng rỡ, mềm, mỏng,

sạm

+ - -

dầu, hoàn hảo, hỗn hợp, khô ráp, mịn màng như lụa, nhạy cảm,

nhờn, quyến rũ, rạng ngời, sạch mụn, thanh khiết, thông thoáng,

thuần khiết, thường, trắng hồng tự nhiên, trắng mịn như men sứ,

trắng mịn như tuyết, trong trẻo, mềm mại như lụa, mịn đẹp như

nhung, mỏng manh, láng mượt, tươi non, rạng rỡ

- + -

mịn, sạch, sáng mịn, trắng hồng, trắng, tươi sáng, láng mịn,

mềm mịn, trắng mịn, trắng sáng, trẻ trung, tươi mát, tươi trẻ

hồng hào, tự nhiên, khô, khỏe, khỏe mạnh, trắng tự nhiên, căng

mịn, đẹp, mát, mịn màng

- - +

Most of the adjectives in combination with “da” which are found in the

corpus are “gradable” and can combine with such gradable words as rất, khá,

vô cùng and are capable of being compared

Table 4.7 Adjectives, Complex Adjectives Collocate with “da” used in

Comparative form

đàn hồi, đẹp, khô, mềm mại, mềm mượt,

mịn, mịn màng, rạng rỡ, sạm, săn chắc, sáng,

sáng mịn, trắng sáng, trẻ, tươi sáng, tươi tắn,

yếu, tươi trẻ

However, there are not many of them used in comparative form in the

corpus; only eighteen of them are in comparative There is no adjective

collocating with “da” used in superlative form

Vietnamese experiences no “morphological changes” The main ways

to create new words in Vietnamese are compounding, “reduplicating” and

conversion [25] If a word is a compound, it is formed by two root words khỏe

mạnh, tươi trẻ “Reduplicating” is the way words are created by reduplicating

the whole or part of the root word trẻ trung, sáng láng Words can also be

formed by changing the root words’ part of speech kẹo được gói thành những

gói nhỏ.[31] It is clearly seen from the example that gói 1 is a verb while gói 2

is a noun So adjectives in Vietnamese can be primitives, derivatives,

compounds or “reduplicative words”

Table 4.8 Adjectives Collocate with “da” and their Formation

(i: primitive; ii: derivative; iii: compound; iv: reduplicative word)

bóng nhờn, đàn hồi , khô héo, khô ráp, khỏe mạnh, láng

mịn, láng mượt, mát dịu, mịn đẹp, nhạy cảm, quyến rũ,

rạng ngời, sạch mụn, sạm đen, săn chắc, sáng mịn,

thanh khiết, thuần khiết, trắng hồng, trắng mịn, trắng

sáng, trắng tự nhiên, tươi mát, tươi mướt, tươi non, tươi

sáng, tươi trẻ, mệt mỏi, mềm mịn, mềm mượt, sáng

láng

- - + -

hoàn hảo, hỗn hợp , hồng hào, mềm mại, mịn màng,

mượt mà, mỏng manh, nhẹ nhàng, rạng rỡ, thông

thoáng, trẻ trung, trong trẻo, tươi tắn,

- - - +

Besides, some fixed adjective phrases are also used with “da” in

advertisements of skincare products: mịn màng như lụa, trắng hồng tự nhiên,

mịn như men sứ, trắng mịn như tuyết, mềm mại như lụa, mịn đẹp như nhung

4.1.2 English Collocations of “skin” and their Functions in Sentences

As discussed above, adjectives that collocate with “skin” are either

attributive or predicative That means every collocation collected in which the

adjective is attributive or the word “ skin” and its collocate adjective occur

within a short space to each other as a word pair is a noun phrase smooth skin, flawless skin In addition, there exist collocations in which the word “skin

“and its adjectives appear separated “This is the case of flexible collocations

or the so-called predicative relations in (Smadja 93)” [50] The words involved may appear in text arbitrarily distant from each other Flexible collocations usually involve verbs and predicative adjectives In such cases, the syntactic relations between the words in the collocations need to be considered in sentences

(29) Want younger-looking skin in just 14 days? Try this exclusive patented

makeup formula with Botafirm TM - a patented blend of hexapeptides and botanicals-

to reduce lines up to 50% in just 2 weeks.* Specially formulated for dry skin, this

moisture-rich formula helps restore skin softness and smoothness with medium

coverage to blend away imperfections Skin looks smoother, firmer, more

radiant [55]

4.1.2.1 English Noun Phrases and Collocations of “adjective + skin”

The noun phrase typically functions as subject, object , complement of sentences, and as complement in prepositional phrases[15] Hence, collocations of “adjective + skin” have the same functions

(30) A soothing botanical blend calms and softens Dry skin has never felt so

comfortable after cleansing [57]

(31) This moisture-rich cream instantly hydrates dry skin and help it to maintain

its optimum moisture balance. [55]

(32)Flawless skin is beautiful skin. [54]

(33) This clinically proven therapeutic lotion is ideal for dry skin [54]

Table 4.9 Functions of English Collocations “adjective+ skin” in Sentences

Collocations Subjects Objects Complements Prepositional

complements

Corpus

4.1.2.2 English Clause Patterns and Flexible Collocations of “skin”

Apart from the collocations treated as noun phrases there are many other in which the combinations follow certain clause patterns In English, those are the ones in which the adjectives are predicative

According to Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaun (1976) a sentence may alternative be seen as comprising five units called elements of sentence: subject, verb, complement, object and adverbial However, whenever clause

or sentence structures are discussed, people concentrate on the verb and the object that are normally obligatory to distinguish clause types Based on what

is presented in the seven clause types of Quirk and Greenbaun, adjectives which are predicative are found in type 2 and 5 containing link verbs and complex transitive verbs Therefore, these two clause patterns are also

employed in the advertisements where the collocations of “skin + adjective”

are seen

Clause pattern 2: S + V+ C

(34) Deeply cleansed and purified, your skin is healthy and radiant. [55]

(35) Formulated with papaya and pineapple extracts, skin feels clean,

invigorated and refreshed. [55]

(36) With daily protection from Neutrogena, your skin becomes fairer smoother

and healthier [57]

Clause pattern 5: S + V + O + C

(37) … It’s made with age-defying humectants and collagen and takes care of all skin’s little problems–the appearance of pores, dryness, dullness and fine

lines It leaves skin soft and smooth so make-up glides on evenly and easily and looks fresh all day [57]

(38) …The unique firming and anti-winkle effect makes the skin plumper and smoother [54]

Table 4.10 English Clause Patterns and Flexible Collocations of “skin” in

Sentences Collocations Clause types 2

4.1.3 Vietnamese Collocations of “da” and their Functions in Sentences

In Vietnamese, it is more confusing to tell whether or not a combination

of words between a noun and an adjective should be considered as a noun phrase because of the position of the adjective

(39) )…nhưng chỉ sau bốn tuần từ khi sử dụng Olay Total Effect+, da mặt Ánh trẻ

trung hơn hẳn. [73]

(40) Bạn sẽ có một làn da mịn màng và tươi trẻ hơn. [69]

In [39] the adjective functions as a direct predicate in the sentence while the adjective in [40] is attributive in a noun phrase Hence, careful consideration should be given to the selection of whether a collocation between a noun and an adjective in Vietnamese to be studied in the unit of phrases or sentences

4.1.3.1 Vietnamese Noun Phrases and Collocations of “da+ adjective”

The noun phrase can be the subject, predicate, object in a clause or in a

sentence [31, p.48] Therefore, every collocation of “da+ adjective” which is

considered a noun phrase has the same functions

(41) Làn da tươi trẻ luôn là ước mơ của bạn. [71]

(42) Làn da đẹp là làn da thực sự khỏe mạnh. [74]

(43) Hạt mơ xay nhuyễn kết hợp với các loại dầu quả mơ, dầu cam quýt, hạnh

nhân và tảo đại dương, nước suối khoáng nóng đã tạo nên một hỗn hợp kem hoàn

hảo giúp loại bỏ lớp sừng chết, kích thích quá trình trao đổi chất của tế bào, tái tạo

4.1.3.2 Vietnamese Clause Patterns and Flexible Collocations of “da”

Generally, Vietnamese linguists do not analyse sentences by means of

sentences patterns Sentences are commonly categorized based on the

complexity or the purpose of discourse Nevertheless, to make it easier to see

the similarities and differences in the syntactic features of such collocations in

English and Vietnamese, within the study, patterns are applied based on the

functions of the words involved Virtually all collocations of “da+ adjective”

in which the adjectives are predicative follow the three patterns:

Clause pattern 1: S + V + C

(44) …Sợi collagen ở trong da dần mất đi khả năng hút ẩm và độ đàn hồi vì vậy

da không giữ được độ ẩm như trước, da trở nên khô héo, mệt mỏi. [68]

Clause pattern 3: S + ( V )+ C (adjective is a direct predicate)

(47) Bạn có thể yên tâm hơn vì gel cây lô hội, SPF10, Vitamin A, E là các chất lọc

gốc tự do luôn bảo vệ cho da khỏi bụi bẩn, chất độc, chống lão hóa và kích thích

sinh trưởng Da khỏe mạnh, sạch và sáng mịn. [72]

Table 4.12 Vietnamese Clause Patterns and Flexible Collocations of “da” in

Sentences Collocations Pattern 1

Generally speaking, the elements used in three patterns 1, 2 and 3 in

Vietnamese are similar to what is presented in patterns 2 and 5 in English

However, Vietnamese adjectives can itself function as predicates and in these

cases, the copular verbs are omitted And we can never find such function in

English adjectives This can be explained by one of the special features of

language translation that is the gain and loss in translating from one language

to another Or as what R Jacobson said “Languages are different from each

other not because of the fact that this language can express certain ideas while

others can’t since every language can possibly express any ideas They are

different just because there is some meaning which is necessarily expressed in

this language whereas it is unnecessarily a must in others.”

(48) … Your skin is healthy and radiant. [55]

(49) … Da khỏe mạnh, sạch và sáng mịn [ 72]

4.2 COLLOCATIONS AND THEIR SEMANTIC FEATURES

Basically, the meaning of a complex expression is a function of the

meaning of its syntactic parts and the way they are combined For example,

the meaning of the sentence The president of the club owns a Mercedes can be

derived from the meaning of the noun phrase The president of the club and the

verb phrase owns a Mercedes In turn, the meaning of the noun phrase and the

verb phrase is derivable from the meaning of the words forming these phrases

[14] Similarly, the meanings of collocations of “skin” and its collocate

adjectives are obviously derived from the meaning of these adjectives and the word “skin” and whether or not these collocations are different in meanings depending on the adjectives In other words, the study on the semantic features of these collocations is the study on that of the adjectives

4.2.1 Semantic Fields

4.2.1.1 English Adjectives Collocate with “skin” and their Semantic Fields

Normally, words cannot be defined independently of other words that are semantically related to them and delimit their sense Thus, the lexical structure of a language can be seen as a network of sense relations, effected by the members of the lexicon Sense relations may be of two types i.e., substitutional and combinational Substitutional relations are those existing between members of the same grammatical category, and combinational relations normally hold between items of different grammatical categories In this study the combination between the adjectives and the noun “skin” is of combinational relation while the relations between these adjectives is substitutional However, because of the large number and the complexity of the vocabulary, we hardly notice any relation between the two lexemes chosen accidentally The interrelation in sense of lexemes can be easily seen when they are put in smaller fields and these fields are called semantic fields [14]

Based on the sense relations between the adjectives, the compound adjectives and the participle adjectives that collocate with “skin”, we can group them all into one big semantic field of “skin” Then these adjectives can

be subdivided into smaller fields thematically The first subfield is of the appearance characteristics of “skin” The second subfield is of the physical conditions of “skin” These two subfields can be then divided into smaller ones

Table 4.13 Semantic Fields of the Adjectives and Compound Adjectives

Collocate with “skin”

Skin

clean, clear, fair, fresh,

glowing, radiant, sensual,

silky, young,

young-looking,oily, perfect,

tight, vibrant, youthful,

beautiful, firm, smooth,

plump, fine, flawless, ,

supple, freshly-cleansed,

less-lined

dry, dull,

old, uneven, oily, greasy, tight

balanced, comfortable, cool, healthy, renewed, well-rested, soft, healthy-looking

dehydrated, delicate, mature, premature, sensitive, pimple/acne-prone, thirsty, dry, oily, greasy, tired, fatigued, frazzled, sun-dried, wind-dried

Surprisingly, the two adjectives tight and oily can be put either in good

or bad appearance or physical conditions of ‘skin” When being used in

absolute form, they have negative meanings On the contrary, they express

positive meanings when used in comparative

(50) Rich soufflé cushions skin as it gently cleanses.Creamy and ultra soothing, it

leaves skin feeling soft and supple, never dry or tight. [54]

(51) This innovative formula features dermo-bonding peptides to significantly

reduce the appearance of winkles and results in tighter, firmer, more lifted skin.

(52)…my skin feels moisturized the next morning –very balanced; not very dry or

oily. [59]

(53) Rich cleanser calms, hydrates and conditions drier skin, leaving it soft,

smooth and oilier. [62]

The participle adjectives are found in the following semantic fields

Table 4.14 Semantic Fields of the Participle Adjectives Collocate with “skin”

Skin

clarified cushioned, invigorated, lifted,

moisturized, plumped, refined, refreshed, rested, revitalized, soothed, strengthened, tightened, hydrated, clarified, de-stressed, stressed

In addition, the meaning of a word can be seen as made up of a number

of semantic features These features can be used to define the meanings of a word And the method involves the analysis of sense (meaning) of words into component parts commonly referred to as semantic features or semantic properties is componential method Commonly, semantic analysis consists of systematically comparing and contrasting the similarities and contrasts that occur in language Semantic features may be classified into markers and distinguishers The markers are descriptive of the sense, whereas the distinguishers are to distinguish between these senses [14] Based on the markers and the distinguishers, we, again, divide those English adjectives into ten semantic subfields or lexical sets

There are a few adjectives bare, new, cool, comfortable which do not

appear in any sets for there are no others having any sense relations to them that make it necessary to compare and contrast for the similarities and differences