Syntactic and semantic features of english of english verb “take” in the novels “ the old man and the sea” and “ for whom the bell tools” by ernest hemingway with reference to its vietnamese equivalents

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY NGUYỄN THỊ KHÁNH SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF ENGLISH VERB “TAKE” IN THE NOVELS “THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA” AND “ FOR WHOM

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

NGUYỄN THỊ KHÁNH

SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF ENGLISH VERB “TAKE” IN THE NOVELS “THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA” AND “ FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS ”BY ERNEST HEMINGWAY WITH REFERENCE TO ITS

VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS

ĐẶC ĐIỂM CẤU TRÚC VÀ NGỮ NGHĨA CỦA ĐỘNG TỪ

“TAKE” TRONG CÁC TÁC PHẦM “ÔNG GIÀ VÀ BIỂN CẢ”

VÀ “ CHUÔNG NGUYỆN HỒN AI ” CỦA NHÀ VĂN ERNEST HEMINGWAY VỚI SỰ TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG TRONG

TIẾNG VIỆT

M.A THESIS Field: English Language

Code: 8220201

Hanoi, 2018

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

NGUYỄN THỊ KHÁNH

SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF ENGLISH VERB “TAKE” IN THE NOVELS “THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA” AND “ FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS ”BY ERNEST HEMINGWAY WITH REFERENCE TO ITS

VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS

ĐẶC ĐIỂM CẤU TRÚC VÀ NGỮ NGHĨA CỦA ĐỘNG TỪ

“TAKE” TRONG CÁC TÁC PHẦM “ÔNG GIÀ VÀ BIỂN CẢ”

VÀ “ CHUÔNG NGUYỆN HỒN AI ” CỦA NHÀ VĂN ERNEST HEMINGWAY VỚI SỰ TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG TRONG

CERIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled Syntactic and semantic features of English verb “take” in the novels “ The Old Man And The Sea “ and “ For Whom The Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway with reference to its Vietnamese equivalents submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Language Except where the reference is indicated, no other person‟s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

For the accomplishment of this thesis, first of all , I am greatly indebted to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Lê Văn Thanh, who has kindly and patiently guided me throughout the process of the study His insights, advices, support, and encouragement have made the process of the study not only precious but also a meaningful one

Besides, I would like to thank all my respectable lecturers for teaching me all the courses that I have taken at Ha Noi Open University

I would also like to thank all my colleagues who made great contribution to my research Without their assistance and participation, this study would not have been successful

Finally, I am deeply grateful to my beloved parents, husband and my children for their love and support which have enabled me to overcome all the challenges during

my study

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to investigate the syntactic and semantic features

of English verb “take” in the novels “ The Old Man and the Sea” and “ For Whom the Bell Tolls” “ by Ernest Hemingway with reference to their equivalents in theirs translation “ Ông già và biển cả” translated by Lê Huy Bắc and “ Chuông nguyện hồn ai” translated by Nguyễn Vĩnh and Hồ Thể Tần The study is aimed at three points: (1) pointing out syntactic and semantic features of the verb “take” used in the novel “ The Old Man and the Sea” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls” , (2) finding the similarities and differences between the meanings of the verb “take” in English and Vietnamese translational equivalents, (3) providing some recommendations for the teaching and learning as well as translation of the verb “take” into the target language This study was designed as a descriptive research with the method of contrastive and componential analysis According to the data analysis, the result of the study show that the verb “take” coincide in their general meaning However, the verb “take” in Vietnamese seems to have much more meanings than that in English

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 2.1 Summary of the Semantic Features of TAKE

Table 2.2 Summary of Idioms of TAKE

Table 2.3 Summary of Phrasal Verbs of TAKE

Table 2.4 Collocations with TAKE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Certificate of originality……… ….i

Acknowledgements……….….ii

Abstract……… iii

Lists of abbreviations……… ….… iv

List of tables and figures………vi

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION ……… 1

1.1 Rationale for the study ……… 1

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study ……….2

1.3 Research questions……… 2

1.4 Scope of the study ………3

1.5 Significance of the study ……….…….3

1.6 Design of the study ……….… 4

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ……… … 6

2.1 Review of the previous studies……….………6

2.2 Review of theoretical background ……… 7

2.2.1 Syntactic Theory……… ……….……7

2.2.2 Semantic Theory……… ……… ……10

2.2.2.1.Meaning……… …… 10

2.2.2.2 Word Meaning……… … 12

2.2.2.3.Semantic Features……… ……… ………13

2.2.2.4.Semantic Field……… ……… ………13

2.2.3.Verbs……… ……… … 14

2.2.3.1 Definition of English Verb……… ………14

2.2.3.2 Classification of Verbs……….15

2.3 Theoretical framework……… ………….18

2.3.1 The verb “take” in English……… ………18

2.3.2 The verb “ take” with its Vietnamese equivalents……… 24

2.4 Summary……….24

Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY ……….26

3.1 Subjects ……… ……… 26

3.2 Instrumentation ……….….26

3.3 Procedures ……… 26

3.4 Statistical Analysis ……… ………….27

3.5 Summary ……….………… ………28

Chapter 4: Syntactic and Semantic features of English verb “take” in the novels “ The Old Man and the Sea” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway with reference to its Vietnamese equivalents……… 29

4.1 Syntactic and semantic features of the verb “Take” in the novels “The Old Man and the Sea” and “ For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway and their equivalent in Vietnamese……… ………29

4.2 The similarities and differences between the verb “Take” in English and their equivalent in Vietnamese……….……….36

4.3 Some recommendations for the teaching and learning as well as translation of verb “Take” into the target language……… 41

4.4 Summary……….43

Chapter 5: CONCLUSION……… ……….44

5.1 Summary of Findings……….……….44

5.2 Concluding remarks ……… 44

5.3 Recommendations for Further Study……… ………46

REFERENCES ……….47

Chapter I INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents the background of the study, reasons for choosing the topic, statements of the problem, objectives of the study, significance of the study, and outline of the study

1.1 Rationale for the study

Nowadays, English is considered as an important means of communication all over the world The number of people who communicate and use it as the first language has been increasing day by day However, in the process of communication, we sometimes have difficulties to choose words when expressing something because of their similar meanings in different contexts and usage Wilkins (1972:111) comments : “Without grammar, very little can be conveyed; without vocabulary in English nothing can be conveyed” Besides, possessing a rich source of vocabulary in English will enable learners speak and write concisely According to Palmer (1965 :1), “ learning a language is, to a very large degree, how

to operate the verbal forms, the pattern and the structure of the verb in that language

English verbs are classified in different ways and according to various criteria This helps us not only to collect but also to use them easily However, the fact that a verb can convey different meanings , which makes Vietnamese learners and users of English confused

The verb “take” is one of the most commonly used in English It can be divided into 17 semantic meanings and there are 13 idioms and 37 phrasal verbs containing it Thus, the verb “take” is rather complicated The misunderstanding of using the verb “take” causes many problems to English users and translators In addition, the wide diversity of the verb “take” sometimes makes them confused and

they have difficulties when using them effectively to get target communication in speaking as well as translating

In fact, some researches have been done about many kinds of verbs but research of the verb “take “ has not been done For these reasons, we would like to choose the study of the verb “take” in the novel “ The Old Man and the Sea” and “ For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway for my thesis topic to study more about its syntactic and semantic features with the hope of helping Vietnamese users and translators to achieve the exact usage and use it

1.2 Aims and Objectives of the study

This thesis is aimed to analyzing of syntactic and semantic features of

English verb “take” with reference to their Vietnamese equivalents and find out the similarities and differences of them From that, the author will give the suggestions for teaching, learning and translation of verb “take”

There are three main objectives in this study The first objective is

pointing out the syntactic and semantic features of English verb “take” in the novels

“ The Old Man and the Sea” and “ For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Ernest

Hemingway The second one is helping Vietnamese learners be aware of the

similarities and differences between English verb “take” and their Vietnamese equivalents And lastly, it is proposing some implications for mastering English verb “take” in effective ways

1.4 Scope of the study

This study focuses on analyzing syntactic and semantic features of English verb “take” in the novels “ The Old Man and the Sea” and “ For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway then Vietnamese equivalents will be later discussed through analyzing English- Vietnamese examples in different contexts It is better if English verb “take” is analyzed and totalized, contributing considerably to English learning and teaching in Vietnam

In terms of syntactic feature, the verb “take”

1.5 Significance of the study

The study is carried out basically through the descriptive and methods The descriptive method is employed to give in depth and detailed description syntactic and semantic features of English verb “take” in English The work starts with a review of existing study results on verbs to provide a better understanding of the topic By providing an innovative approach to learning English lexical terms, the author to expects to change how students learn English words as well as how teachers change their traditional methods of teaching vocabulary

This study‟s implications are to deal with these issues in hope that will help students overcome their troubles

With the aim of investigating the syntactic and semantic features of English verb

“take” with reference to their Vietnamese equivalents, it could be a considerable contribution to different groups

Firstly, the result of the research is expected to give a positive result for the readers so that they will have a deeper understanding of the verb “take” in the novels as well as enrich their vocabulary and apply the verb “take” in their writing and speaking activities The verb “ take” and the verb “ mang” are highly frequently used for Vietnamese learners, therefore, knowing syntactic and semantic features of this verb as well as their similarities and differences can facilitate the learner‟s process of learning vocabulary

Secondly, this research would be beneficial to the novelists who will get important about the verb “take” Therefore, this research is expected to make useful contributions which are easily comprehended by the readers of the novel

The third contribution is the formation of five implications for teaching verbs in general As a result, these implications can be applied as a framework or model for teaching all verbs This is extremely significant for EFL learners in particular

Last but not least, since there is no study conducted to investigate the verb

“take” in novels, hence; this study may be a springboard for those who want to do further research in the same area

1.6 Design of the study

This study is divided into 5 chapters

Chapter I: The Introduction presents the rationale, aims, objectives, research

questions, methods of the study, scope, significance and the design of thesis

Chapter II: The Literature Review features the review of related literature and the

theoretical backgrounds for the study, in which the theory of verbs are discussed The verb “take” will be also identified in terms of grammatical characteristics in structures related to take Also, this chapter presents and describes concrete cases of the verb “take” in English with its Vietnamese equivalents in corresponding contexts

Chapter III: The Methodology, presents the research governing orientations and

the research methods used in implementing and developing the study This chapter focuses on research questions, research setting, approaches to investigate the research problem, the principles, techniques to collect and analyze data, etc

Chapter IV: Findings and Discussion, introduces the results of the survey which

syntactic and semantic features of the English verb “take” shown in the novels “ The Old Man and the Sea” and “ For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway The similarities and differences of the verb “take” are found out The research recommendations for learning English as a foreign language can be found

as the last part of this chapter

Chapter V: Conclusion, provides concluding remarks Summarizes major findings

of the study, points out the limitations and proposes some suggestion for further research

Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

The second chapter covers review of related literature It contains review

of previous studies and review of the theoretical studies

2.1 Review of the Previous Studies

According to Levin [12], verbs are put into 23 different classes based on their patterns of alternation and according to George A Miller ; verbs are divided into 15 files largely based on semantic criteria All but one of these files corresponds to what linguists have called semantic domains: verbs of bodily care and functions, change cognition, communication, competitions, etc

According to Vendler, Z in Linguistics in philosophy Ithaca, N.Y: Cornell University Press placed verbs into four classes: activities, accomplishments, achievements, and states In “Semantic Structure”, Jackendoff presents some verbs

of manner of motion and configuration Moreover, according to Palmer F.R [17], verbs are classified into seven major semantic domains, although many verbs have more than one meaning Marcella Frank in “Modern English a practice reference guide” classifies verbs by complement of verb or by form of verb The types of verbs described have difference according to the kind of complement they may have

Lyon [14] supply us with some information about perception verbs Wiśniewski K [18] research results of the 20 most frequent verbs in European language (English, German, Swedish , French, Spanish, Finnish, Hungarian show that the field of perception is represented by the verb denoting visual perception, namely the verb “see”

In Vietnam, Nguyen Kim Than [21] mentions the formation of Vietnamese verbs and their classification Moreover; there are also some studies on semantic and lexical features of verbs For example, Nguyen Van Chien studies “ăn” and “đi”

in Vietnamese Truong Thi Hue also studies verbs denoting the concept of eating There also have been many studies that focus on verb groups Tran Thi Phuoc Hanh

analyzed the semantic and syntactic features of four English verbs: Talk and their Vietnamese equivalents Luu Thuy My Hanh studied on semantic and syntactic features of motion verbs in English and Vietnamese equivalent There have been studies of Nguyen Thi Mai with an investigation into linguistic features

Say-Tell-Speak-of the English verbs “carry, bring, take” and their Vietnamese translational equivalents, Le Lan Phuong with verbs denoting the concept of seeing in English and Vietnamese, Nguyen Thi Hong Duc with English spatial verbs and their Vietnamese equivalents in the light of cognitive grammar

2.2 Review of theoretical background

2.2.1 Syntactic theory

Syntax is the study of how combine to the form sentences and the rules which govern the formation of sentences However, syntactic structure is understood as the arrangement of words and morphemes into larger units( phrases, clauses, and sentences)

Meaning is associated with the way in which words are combines to make phrases, clauses and sentences Compare The dog bit the postman and The postman bit the dog, which involve the same word meanings but quite different sentence meanings because of their different syntactic arrangements As Dixon (1991) claims, there is a principled interaction between the meaning of a word and its grammartical properties Once a learner knows the meaning and grammartical behaviour of most of the words in a language, then from the meaning of a new word

he can infer its likely grammatical possibilities, or from observing the grammatical use of a new word, he may be able to infer a good deal about what it means

Every verb, in its capacity as the core of a clause, is defined semantically

in terms of the semantic roles of the participants in the state or event codes by the clause Within the clause, these participants occupy the grammatical roles of, most commonly, subject, direct object, indirect object, adverb or predicate These grammatical roles are marked in English by a combination of morphology and word-order But they also have other, more subtle, grammatical-behavioral

properties, such as various constraints on their distribution in grammatical environment

 Grammatical roles

The participants in states or events, in whatever semantic role, may occupy one of four distinct grammatical roles in the clause: subject (S), direct object (O), indirect object (IO) and nominal predicate (PRE) As a brief illustration of the four major grammartical roles in simple clauses consider :

The Woman gave a book to the child

in English follow copular verbs as be and the indirect objects follow the verb (if present) However, they are morphologically marked by a preposition One that typically marks the semantic role of the participant occupying the indirect object grammatical role For example:

She went to the market [ locative: direction toward]

He walked on the beach [ locative: direction away]

Mary came with her brother [ associative]

 Syntactic relations

According to the grammatical classification of verbs, verbs fall into three broad subclasses- those that require only one role ( intransitive verbs), those which require two roles (copular) and those require two or more roles (transitive verbs) There is a considerable difference between intransitive subject and transitive subject

If a verb has only one role, at the semantic level, then it must be mapped onto intransitive subject relation , at the syntactic level Some of the roles in intransitive

subject can control the activity in which they are involved (e.g walk, speak) but other intransitive subject roles exercise no control (e.g break, die, grow)

If a verb has two or more roles, one will be mapped onto transitive sub ject and another onto transitive object (e.g Mary cut the cake)

It is clear that verbs are one of the most central syntactic category in language They have deep relations with the other categories: nouns because they select arguments which are often nominals or adverbs because adverbs modify verbs, prepositions, which, in turn assign thematic roles to NPs Verbs associated with adverbs permit the computation of aspect

The role common to all motion verbs is (thing) „moving‟ (e.g Mary ran) There may also be specification of Locus – the place with respect to which motion takes place an NP in Locus role is most often marked by the appropriate preposition Certain motion verbs may allow the preposition to be ommited, a slight semantic difference then resulting, e.g He jumped ( over ) the river, She climbed (up) the mountai It is also possible in certain circumstances to omit a preposition before a measure phrase, e.g he ran (for ) a mile

Syntax, as defined by Richard et al , is the study of how words combine to form sentences and the rules which govern the formation of sentences As George Yule states [45, p.4], syntax is the study of the relationship between linguistic forms, how they are arranged in sequence and which sequences are well-formed This type of study generally takes place without considering any word of reference,

or any user of the forms

According to Nguyen Hoa Lac syntax is a description of the way words are put together to make larger units such as phrases, clauses and sentences

In brief, syntax is a term in general use and in linguistic for the study of the way in which words combine into such units as phrases, clauses and sentences The sequences that result from these combinations are referred to in linguistics as syntactic structures

2.2.2 Semantic theory

In general, semantics can be defined as the study of meaning It is central

to the study of communication In addition, there is no doubt that communication is

a crucial factor in our life, which is why the need to understand semantics becomes more and more pressing

Many authors hold the idea that semantics is the meaning place of various cross current thinking and various disciplines of the study Philosophy, psychology and linguistics all claim a deep interest in semantics, but their interests are diverse because of their different starting points

According to John Lyons semantics is by definition the study of meaning, and linguistic semantics is the study of meaning in so far as it is systematically encoded in the vocabulary and grammar of natural languages This definition of linguistic semantics, as far as it goes, is relatively uncontroversial But it is also almost wholly uninformative unless and until one goes on to say, first, what one means by “meaning” and, second, what exactly is meant by “encoded” in this context He also adds that those who draw a terminological distinction between

“semantics” and “pragmatics” and take narrower view of meaning than he does will see his book as introduction to a broader field of linguistic semantics and pragmatics

But Jack Richards, John Platt, Heidi Weber] say “ the study of meaning is called semantics Semantics is usually concerned with the analysis of the meaning

of words, phrases, or sentences, and sometimes with the meaning of utterances in discourse or the meaning of a whole text ”

In order to make a thorough study of meaning, we have to understand other concepts such as meaning, components of word meaning, semantic features, componential analysis and so on

2.2.2.1 Meaning

Meaning plays an important part in communication Meaningless utterances have no value in communication; they can only make their language user a laughing stock, which is why understanding the meaning is very important for the language

user It is not easy to identify the meaning expressed by a word or but an utterance because it depends on many factors concerned For example, the word “spring‟ could have different meanings in the following sentences :

He was born in the spring of 1944 (spring here means the season between winter and summer)

She is full of energy, like a coiled spring (spring here means a twisted piece of metal that can be pushed, pressed or pulled but which always returned to its original shape or position afterwards

There is a mountain spring near here (spring here means a place where water comes naturally to the surface from the ground)

Where on earth did you spring from? (spring here means to appear suddenly unexpectedly from a particular place)

According to Lesley Jeffries meaning is a kind of invisible unclothed being waiting for the clothes of language to allow it to be seen, which is why it is very necessary to take off the clothes of language to understand the real meaning of words, phrases, and sentences e.g.,” the red flag at the seaside of a resort” means

“danger”

Through this example, a conclusion can be drawn that the meaning of the word is not all the time decided by itself but its relation with the others That is why John Lyons states that the noun “meaning” and the verb “mean”, from which it is derived, are used, like many other English words, in a wide range of contexts and in several distinguishable senses

The idea of meaning given by David Crystal is as follows: ”In modern linguistics, meaning is studied by making detailed analysis of the way words and sentences are used in a specific context It is an approach shared by several philosophers and psychologist.”

And David Crystal also states: “Meaning is a basic notion used in language study in two main ways First determining the signification of a message is the chief end of linguistic enquiry: above all, language is concerned with the communication

of meaning Second, meaning is used as a way of analyzing the structure of language, through such notions a contractiveness and distinctiveness.” Richards and

Platt offer a broader view of word meaning in their position that is, “ what a language expresses about the world we live in or any possible or imaginary word”

Crystal, however, tends to look at the meaning of the word from a more specific context To him, meaning is studied by means of a detailed analysis of words and sentences in a specific context In addition, Crystal also states: “

Meaning is a basic notion used in language study in two main ways First, determining the signification of a message is the chief end of linguistic enquiry: above all, language is concerned with the communication of meaning Second, meaning is used as a way of analyzing the structure of language, through such notion a contractiveness and distinctiveness.”

According to Cruse the meaning of a word is fully explored from its contextual relations

Another and closely related, popular view of meaning suggested by Jeffries is that meaning is a kind of invisible unclothed being, waiting for the clothes of

language to allow it to be seen, which is why it is very necessary to take off the clothes of language to understand the real meaning of words, phrases, and sentences

2.2.2.2 Word Meaning

Components of word-meaning

In the study of meaning, the denotational meaning and connotational meaning cannot be avoided The meanings are defined in the Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics as follows:

a Denotation is a part of the meaning of a word or phrase that relates it to phenomena in the real world or in a fictional or possible world For example, the denotation of the English word bird is a two-legged, winged, egg-laying, warm-blooded creature with beak In a meaning system, denotation meaning may be regarded as the “central” meaning of a lexical item It is often equated with referential meaning and with cognitive meaning although some linguists and philosophers make a distinction between these concepts

b Connotation is the additional meanings that a word or phrase has beyond its central meaning These meaning show people‟s emotions and attitudes towards what the word or phrase refers to For example, child could be defined as a young human being but there are many other characteristics which different people

associate with child, e.g affectionate, amusing, lovable, sweet, mischievous, noisy, irritating grubby

But some connotation may be shared by a group of people of the same cultural or social background, sex, rage; other may be restricted to use or several individuals and depend on their personal experience In a meaning system, that part

of the meaning, which is covered by connotation, is sometimes referred to as affective meaning, connotation meaning, or emotive meaning

Whereas, Charles W.Kreidler states the denotation is the relation to phenomena outside of language, including imaginary phenomena; the connotation is the cluster

of attributes that the lexeme may evoke

About the connotation meanings, Mildred L.Larson states: a word, which has

a positive connotation in one culture, may actually have negative connotation in another For example, the English word tribe In some parts of the world, ethnic group reacts very positively to being called tribe, but in other parts of the world, the same word has the negative connotation and people do not want to be called members of a tribe Referentially, the word tribe would be referring to an ethnic group, but the positive and negative overtones must also be taken into consideration

if the word is chosen to be used

It can be concluded that the negative or positive connotation of a word is not only decided by itself but by the context in which it exists

Verb meaning

The meaning of simple nouns (proper and concrete nouns) is more concrete than verb meaning They can be seen as pointers to objects As Rosh has demonstrated, their meanings are highly constrained by the nature of the physical word Verbs, in contrast, express relational meanings which depend on abstract concepts and are relatively unconstrained by the physical word Verbs, in contrast, express relational meanings which depend on abstract concepts and are relatively unconstrained by the physical word

2.2.2.3 Semantic Field

According to Finch semantic field is an area of meaning containing words with related senses Meanings of words cluster together to form fields of meaning

which in turn cluster into even larger fields until the entire language is encompassed

Semantic field (lexical field) is defined by Richards, Platt and Weber as “ the organization of related words and expression into a system which shows their relationship to one another.” According to Crystal semantic field is “ the view that vocabulary of a language is a system of interrelated lexical networks, and not an inventory of independent items, also called lexical field theory”

2.2.2.4 Semantic Features

Semantic features play a very important part in differentiating the match between word and meaning We need a very large number of features to do this work But linguists believe that a much smaller number of features would be needed

in writing grammar description

But Jack Richards, John Platt and Heidi Weber say semantic features are “the smallest units of meaning in a word The meaning of a word may be described as a combination of semantic features”

According to David Crystal semantic feature is “a minimal contrastive element of a word‟s meaning, in some approaches called a semantic component.” e.g Boy = + young + male + human

2.2.3 Verbs

2.2.3.1 Definition of English Verb

A verb is a part of speech that usually denotes actions (“go”, “learn”), occurrence (“to decompose”, “to glitter”) or a state of being (“exist”, “live”) Similarly, according to Crystal D verb is a word class, which is traditionally defined as a “doing” or “act ion” word A verb can be formally identified in many languages as an element displaying contrast of tense, aspect, voice, mood, person and number In “The Functional Analysis of English” by Thomas Bloor and Meriel Bloor , verbs are traditionally defined as words which express an action or state ( a rather feeble definition), verbs show the greatest degree of various inform (morphology) of any of the word classes

According to Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary ,verb is “a group or a group of words that expresses an action, an event, or a state” “Verb is a word which occurs as part of the predicate of a sentence: carries markers of grammatical categories such as tense, aspect, person, number, and mood; and refers to an action

or state” (Cambridge dictionary.com)

2.2.3.2 Classification of Verbs

2.2.3.2 1.Classified by their meanings

Distinctions between verbs need to be drawn in relation to whether they themselves admit the aspectual contrast of „progressive‟ and „non-progressive‟ When verbs ( either habitually or in certain uses ) will not admit the

progressive, they are called Stative; when they admit it, they are called Dynamic It is normal for verbs to be dynamic and even the minority that are

almost always stative can usually be given a dynamic use on occasion For instance:

The girl is now a student at a large university

not * The girl is now being a student at a large university

2.2.3.2.2 Classified by their functions

From V.D Quang‟s view in „Lectures on English Grammar‟ (2006:16), Verbs are classified according to the functions performed by the elements in the verb phrase:

Regular : V / V-ed

Lexical

Irregular: (7 subclasses) Verb

Semi-auxiliary: need, dare, used to

Auxiliary

Primary: do, have, be Modal: will, would, can, could ,

may, might, ought to, must

2.2.3.2.3 Classified by the number of constituents

One-word verbs

Phrasal verbs : verb + particle Verbs Multi-word verbs Prepositional verbs : verb +

preposition Phrasal-prepositional verbs : verb + particle + preposition

We learn English every day ( one-word verb )

She turned on the radio ( phrasal verb )

She looked at the radio ( prepositional verb )

They put up with the noise ( phrasal-prepositional verb )

2.2.3.2.4 Classified by their complementation

According to According to R Quirk et al (1985), verbs are classified into two types: intensive verbs and extensive verbs

Your dinner seems ready (SVC)

My office is in the next building (SVA)

(Quirk, Randolph, 1985: 721)

Intensive verb does not take any object It presents the relationship between the subject and the subject complementation The verb in sentences with

subject complement is a “copular” (or linking verb), which of itself has little meaning but functions as a link between the complement subject

There are two subgroups:

Current intensive: be, appear, look, feel, remain, keep

Her rug is too small for her living room.(SVC)

(E Warriner, J & Graham, L.S 1980:108)

Resulting intensive: become, come, get, go, grow, turn

She grew tired of his complaints (SVC)

(E Warriner, J & Graham, L.S 1980:108)

b Extensive verbs

Extensive verbs are most other verbs, they do not have subject compliment Extensive verbs are used to say what the subject is doing It coversa wider area; it takes the information away from the subject Words or phrases,which are followed

by an extensive verb work as the verb‟s object They apply to the verb, not the subject as in:

He stayed very quiet

I must send my parents an anniversary card (SVOO)

Verb requires both a direct object and another object or an object complement is complex transitive verbs Complex transitive verbs appear in the structure “S V O C” or “S V O A” In a complex- transitive construction, the object complement identifies a quality or attributes pertaining to the direct object Let‟s consider the following examples:

Most students have found her reasonably helpful (SVOC) You can put the dish on the table (SVOA)

(Quirk, Randolph, 1985: 721)

The verb is perhaps the most important part of the sentence A verbstates what is happening in the sentence Finite verbs locate the condition or action of the verb in a specific time frame: past, present or future and have a specific tense and a subject with which they grammatically agree A complete sentence must contain a finite verb Verbs create the relationship

between the subject and the object of the verb In a command, there is still this relationship with the subject and object understood “Go!” (Subject –you– understood, verb “go!” object away– understood.)

The form of the verb must agree with the number of its subject, which will be a noun or noun group, for example 'They were not home' (as opposed to 'They was not home') Confusion can arise when deciding

2.3 Review of theoretical framework

2.3.1 The verb “take” in English

2.3.1.1 In terms of syntactic features

The verb “TAKE” is both intransitive verb and transitive verb

_ The verb “take” is used as Intransitive Verb : S + V

Eg: The skin graft failed to take

_ The verb “ take” is used as transitive verb

+ Complex transitive:

Eg: My mothers often takes me to the park every week

2.3.1.2 In terms of semantic features

The verb “take” is one of the most commonly used in English It can be divided into 17 semantic meanings and there are 13 idioms and 37 phrasal verbs containing it

 Semantic meanings of the verb “take"

Table 2.1 Summary of the Semantic Features of TAKE

TAKE 1, carry/lead

- to carry or move something from one place to another ( Mang theo Mang cho ai)

- to go with somebody from one place to another, especially to

guide or lead them (đƣa ai đi đâu)

-to make somebody/something go from one level, situation, etc to

another (làm cho ai / cái gì lên một tầm mới)

2, reach and hold

- to put your hands or arms around somebody/something and hold them/it; to reach for somebody/something and hold them/it (cầm, nhận lấy)

3, remove -to remove something/somebody from a place or a person ( chuyển

ai, cái gì, lấy cái gì đó ra) -to remove something without permission or by mistake

- to get something from a particular source

4, capture -to capture a place or person; to get control of something (nắm giữ, chiếm đƣợc)

5, choose/buy

-to choose, buy or rent something

-to buy a newspaper or magazine regularly

6, eat/drink

-to eat, drink, etc something

7, mathematics -to reduce one number by the value of another

8, write down -to find out and record something; to write something down

9, photograph -to photograph somebody/something

10, measurement -to test or measure something

11, seat -to sit down in or use a chair, etc

12, give example used to introduce somebody/something as an example

13, accept/receive -accept or receive something

14, consider -to understand or consider something in a particular way

15, have feeling/opinion -to have a particular feeling, opinion or attitude

16, action -to use a particular course of action in order to deal with or achieve something

- take something used with nouns to say that somebody is doing

something, performing an action, etc

to take a step/walk/stroll - to take a bath/shower/wash to take a look/glance to take a bite/drink/sip to take a deep breath to take

a break/rest

17, form/position -to have a particular form, position or state

18, time

- to need or require a particular amount of time

19, need -to need or require something in order to happen or be done

- to use something in order to work

20, size of shoes/clothes

- to wear a particular size in shoes or clothes

21, hold/contain

- to have enough space for something/somebody; to be able to hold

or contain a particular quantity

1 somebody can take it or leave it

2 have (got) what it takes

3 I, you, etc can‟t take somebody anywhere

4 take something as it comes, take somebody as they come

5 take it (that…)

6 take it/a lot out of somebody

7 take it from me (that…)

8 take it on/upon yourself to do something

9 take some/a lot of doing

10 take that!

 Phrasal verb

Table 2.3 Summary of Phrasal Verbs of TAKE

1 take somebody aback

2 take after somebody

your mother or father

3 take against somebody/something

4 take somebody/something apart

5 take something away

1

6 take away from something

7 take somebody back

12 take somebody out

13 take something out of something

14 take it/something out on somebody

15 take somebody out of himself/herself

16 take over (from something)

17 take somebody through something

18 take to something

19 take something up

20 take up with somebody

21 take somebody up on something

22 be taken up with something/somebody

23 be taken with somebody/something

 Collocations

Table 2.4 Collocations with TAKE

This is usually said when saying goodbye to someone, it means to

be careful with something, someone or yourself

an exam, this means to create it, not to receive it

To sleep during day

to feel sorry for someone

Take action for a particular purpose

2.3.2 The verb “ take” with its Vietnamese equivalents

* In terms of syntactic features

In Vietnamese, verbs are one of the two fundamental parts of speech like nouns Contrary to verbs in English, verbs in Vietnamese do not have the concord with other parts of speech In other words, they are not affected by number, person, gender, mood, voice and tense And in Vietnamese, verbs can combine with other auxiliary components to indicate tense, aspect like : sắp, sẽ, đã, đang, vẫn, còn,.etc.:

 In terms of semantic features

In Vietnamese, the verb “take” is usually used with the meaning “ mang” ,“ đƣa đón”, “cầm”,

2.4 Summary

Each language has its own characteristics One language is different from the others English and Vietnamese are not the exceptions This chapter has attempted to clarify the verb “take” in English and Vietnamese in terms of definitions, classification, and their types The above information is very general for both English and Vietnamese How deeply to give the syntactic and semantic features, the similarities and differences of the verb “take” in the novels “ The Old Man and The Sea” and “ For Whom The Bell Tolls” with reference to their equivalents as well as find out the mistakes and difficulties of learning and teaching the verb “ take”, the next chapter will present the methodology of this thesis