A study of idioms by plants in english and vietnamese from component perspective

It is conducted with the hope of finding out the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms by plants in terms of structural and semantic components.. However, as

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

M.A THESIS

A STUDY OF IDIOMS BY PLANTS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE

FROM COMPONENT PERSPECTIVE

(NGHIÊN CỨU THÀNH NGỮ THUỘC CHỦ ĐỀ THỰC VẬT TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT TỪ BÌNH DIỆN HỢP PHẦN)

TRẦN THỊ NHUNG

Field: English Language Code: 60220201

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

TRẦN THỊ NHUNG

A STUDY OF IDIOMS BY PLANTS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE

FROM COMPONENT PERSPECTIVE

(NGHIÊN CỨU THÀNH NGỮ THUỘC CHỦ ĐỀ THỰC VẬT TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT TỪ BÌNH DIỆN HỢP PHẦN)

Field: English Language

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report

entitled A study of idioms by plants in English and Vietnamese from component perspective 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

Student’s Signature

Tran Thi Nhung

Approved by SUPERVISOR

Dang Nguyen Giang, Ph D

Date:………

Many thanks go to my colleague and many others whose support and encouragement help me to have this thesis accomplished

Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family for their patience, endless love, and devotion Whatever choices I have made, they have always stood by me and believed in me I am immensely thankful for all the assistance they have given me

ABSTRACT

Idioms are used to express ideas in figurative styles They bring the vividness and richness to the speakers' speeches This is the reason why the more skillfully a person use idioms in his conversations, the more effectively he can establish his communicative relationship One more important thing is that the general present tendencies are towards idiomatic usage; therefore, knowing how to use idioms effectively in the right situations is becoming essential Therefore, this thesis aims at analyzing the structural and semantic components

of idioms in English and Vietnamese It is conducted with the hope of finding out the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms by plants in terms of structural and semantic components The findings of the study,

to some extent, help the teachers and the learners have a better understanding of English and Vietnamese languages through the idioms Data used for analysis in this study are mainly collected from books and dictionaries Componential analysis, describing, comparing and contrasting, experimental research are regarded as the main methods used in the present study

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Aims 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 Methodology 3

1.6.1 Major Methods 3

1.7 Design of the Study 5

CHAPTER 2 6

LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 Previous Research 6

2.1.1 Previous Research Works on Idioms in English 6

2.1.2 Previous Research Works on Idioms in Vietnamese 8

2.2 Theoretical Background 10

2.2.1 Definitions of Idioms 10

2.2.2 Syntactic and Semantic Features of Idioms 12

2.2.3 Classification of Idioms 16

2.2.4 Idioms and Other Language Units 23

2.3 Summary 26

CHAPTER 3 STRUCTURAL AND SEMANTIC COMPONENTS OF IDIOMS BY PLANTS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE 27

3.1 Structural Components of Idioms by Plants in English and Vietnamese 27

3.1.1 Symmetrical Idioms by Plants 27

3.1.2 Similized Idioms by Plants 29

3.1.3 Non-symmetrical Idioms by Plants 32

3.2 Semantic Components of idioms by Plants in English and Vietnamese 36

3.2.1 Motivation Degrees of Symmetrical Idioms by Plants 36

3.2.2 Motivation Degrees of Similized Idioms by Plants 37

3.3 Comparison between English and Vietnamsese Idioms by Plants 39

3.3.1 In terms of Structural Components 39

3.3.2 In terms of semantic components 40

3.4 Chapter Summary 41

CHAPTER 4 IDIOM TEACHING AND LEARNING THROUGH STRUCTURAL AND SEMANTIC COMPONENT ANALYSIS 43

4.1 Idioms and their Importance for English Language Learners 43

4.2 Reality of Idiom Teaching and Learning at Hoang Van Thu High School 45

4.3 Idiom Teaching and Learing through Componential Analysis 46

4.3.1 Participants 46

4.3.2 Data Collection 47

4.3.3 Findings and Discussions 49

4.4 Chapter Summary 51

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION 52

5.1 Recapitulation 52

5.2 Concluding remarks 52

5.3 Limitations of the Study 53

5.4 Implications for Idiom Teaching and Learning Idioms by Plants 53

5.5 Suggestions for Further Studies 56

REFERENCES 57 APPENDIX 1: A CORPUS OF 63 IDIOMS BY PLANTS IN ENGLISH I APPENDIX 2: A CORPUS OF 53 IDIOMS BY PLANTS IN VIETNAMESE VI APPENDIX 3: THE FIRST TEST X APPENDIX 4: THE SECOND TEST XI APPENDIX 5: FIRST TEST AND SECOND TEST RESULT OF THE

STUDENTS XII

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

English is now an effective medium of international communication In Vietnam, English has long been considered as a tool of international communication, and together with its rising importance, the need of learning English is becoming more and more urgent It can't be denied that all foreign learners in general and Vietnamese learners in particular desire to master English as the native speakers; however, they usually face a lot of difficulties that prevent them from gaining successful conversations One of the reasons for these problems lies in the way people perceive and use idioms

Idioms can be considered as an attractive and popular phenomenon of every language They are able to be used to indicate the speakers’ intention more interestingly and more persuasively than individual words do It is the reason why idioms, a special part of a language, seem to be the familiar elements which occur not only in daily conversations but also in literature works People are likely familiar with idioms which are used to express ideas in an attractive and figurative way Therefore, understanding the meanings of idiomatic expressions are essential and useful for English users Traditionally, the meanings of idioms are quite implicit, and they usually derive from unusual forms, stylistic devices and conventional knowledge From cognitive view, the meanings of idioms can

be analyzable or at least motivated from its component parts

Although idioms are not easy to comprehend, it is necessary for learners not to disregard idioms in studying languages because idioms are an unseperated element of a language and so common in daily use In the process of communication, we sometimes come cross some expressions that we can’t understand although we can comprehend the meaning of their every single word

It seems that the main reason why we cannot understand what these sentences are about lies in the low level of linguistic competence of idioms and the way

we analyze the components of idioms

Several linguists have given a lot of definitions about an idiom basing on

its fixed characteristics For example, "An idiom is a fixed group of words with a special different meaning from the meaning of several words" (Dictionary of

English Idioms, 1979) Sharing the same point of view, Hoàng Văn Hành (2002) considered an idiom as a fixed group of words which is firm in terms of structure, complete and figurative in terms of meaning, and is widely used in daily speaking

In fact, there have been many studies on idioms containing such topics as food, weather, animals, colors, etc However, as a teacher of English, the need of improving my English idiom teaching and learning urges me to conduct the

thesis entitled A study of idioms by plants in English and Vietnamese from component perspective to find out the similarities and differences between

English and Vietnamese in terms of idioms containing the words denoting plants

from the component perspective

1.2 Aims of the Study

The study is conducted to improve the English teaching and learning in general and idiom teaching and learning in particular The findings of the study,

to some extent, help the teachers and the learners have a better understanding of English and Vietnamese languages through the idioms by plants

In order to achieve the aim, the study is expected to reach the following objectives:

- to uncover how the components of idioms by plants are organized structurally and semantically in English and Vietnamese;

- to find out the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms by plants in terms of structural and semantic components;

- to give some implications for idiom teaching and learning from the main findings

1.3 Research Questions

The objectives of the study can be elaborated into the research questions

as follows:

- How are the components of idioms by plants organized structurally and semantically in English and Vietnamese?

- What are the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms by plants in terms of structural and semantic components?

- What is the effectiveness of the main findings applied to idiom teaching and learning at Hoang Van Thu High School?

1.4 Scope of the Study

I myself have found idioms such an interesting English aspect that is chosen as the topic of the study Idioms in both English and Vietnamese have been investigated from several different points of view However, due to the limited time and knowledge, the author only focuses on English and Vietnamese idioms by plants from component perspective The idioms in the present study

are collected from dictionaries, books available in English and Vietnamese 1.5 Significance of the Study

Theoretically, the findings of the study, to some extent, prove that the components forming idioms can be analyzed from both structural and semantic perspectives The idioms by plants are quite popular in both English and Vietnamese; therefore, the investigation is highly reliable in terms of theoretical

framework suggested

Practically, with the purpose of making a study on the components of idioms by plants in English and Vietnamese, the study will be able to provide Vietnamese learners of English with better mastering how to apply this kind of idioms in sensible ways and how to understand the meanings of idioms

thoroughly, effectively and naturally

English language as the target and the Vietnamese one as the source language (the base language)

1.6.2 Data Collection Techniques

During the process of investigating materials from various sources, the structural and semantic components of idioms by plants in English and Vietnamese are described and analyzed Then, techniques such as comparison, transformation, and contrastive analysis are applied in a quick-minded and active way to find out a general picture about the idioms by plants in both languages Due to the results achieved, the author takes a careful contrastive analysis to find out the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms by plants in terms of structural and semantic components Basing on the main findings, an experimental investigation is carried out in order to find out how effective the componential analysis apply to idiom teaching and learning

The sources for the analysis are from materials and references written by linguists in English and in Vietnamese as well as some bilingual reference books available in Vietnam This will help to make clear both the similarities and the differences between English and Vietnamese in terms of idioms by plants

1.6.3 Data Analysis Techniques

English and Vietnamese idioms by plants are investigated in two aspects: structural and semantic components Due to this, the author tries to find out the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese in terms of idioms

by plants

Description and comparison are carried in the order of different groups of subjects by using some techniques such as contrastive analysis, componential analysis, transformable analysis and statistics

Moreover, frequent talks with the supervisor, lecturers and experts on the field have proved to be a very useful method for the completion of the study Also, the study is carried out on the basis of the author's personal experience

1.7 Design of the Study

The study consists of five chapters, in addition to the appendices and the references

Chapter 1, introduction, contains the rationale, the aims and objectives, the research questions, the scope, the contributions, the methodology, and the design of the study

Chapter 2, literature review, is formed by two main parts: a review of previous research works, and a review of theoretical background

Chapter 3, structural and semantic components of idioms by plants in English and in Vietnamese, is divided into two main parts: structural components of idioms by plants in English and in Vietnamese, and semantic components of idioms by plants in English and in Vietnamese

Chapter 4, applying the findings to idiom teaching and learning, includes reality of idiom teaching and learning, idiom teaching and learning through structural and semantic component explanations, implications for idiom teaching and learning

Chapter 5, the last part, is the conclusion which includes the recapitulation of the study as well as the concluding remarks and some suggestions for further studies

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

The literature review is divided into two main parts The first part presents and discusses the previous research works on idioms in English and in Vietnamese The second one gives a review of theoretical background of idioms in English and in Vietnamese on which the whole research has been based

2.1 Previous Research

2.1.1 Previous Research Works on Idioms in English

Idioms not only bring the beauty of language but also deeply contribute

to successful daily communications Idioms make colour for language Idioms carry a large amount of nationally or culturally specific information It can be said that idioms are an interesting and popular phenomenon of every language

Up to now, there have been a number of researchers making investigations into English and Vietnamese idioms For example, in English, there have been many books and dictionaries such as “Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms” by Cowie (1994), “Idioms and Idiomaticity ” by Fernando (1996), “Idiom Structure in English” by Makkai (1972), “Words and Idioms”

by Smith (1925), “Problems in the Analysis of Idioms” by Weinreich (1969), etc In addition, there are some more collections of idioms such as “American Idioms and Some Phrases Just for Fun” by Swick (1994) In fact, idiomaticity

is not a new subject in linguistic study There has been plenty of work on it such as “Essential Idioms in English” by Dixon (1983), or “Idioms for Every day Use” by Broukai (2001)

Structurally, Makkai (1972) divides idioms into two main kinds: encoding and decoding Then, decoding idioms are subdivided into lexemic and semantic Semantic idioms consist of six categories: phrasal verbs, tournures, irreversible binomials, phrasal compounds, incorporating verbs and pseudo-idioms Cowie (1994), Mackin & McCaig (1993) mention the

categories of idioms based on their topics and grammatical patterns From transformational grammar, Fraser (1970) regards an idiom as a constituent or a series of constituents whose meaning does not come from the meanings of individual parts He also mentions six level scales of idioms: unrestricted, reconstitution, extraction, permutation, insertion, adjunction and completely frozen

Semantically, Quirk (1996) investigates idioms and proverbs having constituents of plants in English In this study, typical cultural properties conveyed by this type of idioms and proverbs are established This is regarded

as an initial research investigating English idioms and proverbs in terms of their semantic properties from component perspective Fernando & Flavell (1981) are the linguists who realize the limitations of the previous scholars They suppose that idiom and idiomaticity are not the same They focus on the nature of idioms such as morpho-syntacite composition, semantic properties, homonymity, syntactic properties, etc They also examine several issues which focus attention on the idiom as a single lexeme that is non-correlative in its syntax and therefore non-literal in terms of its constituents The most satisfying and sensitive criterion to establish idiomaticity is undoubtedly the semantic one Semantically, Fernando & Flavell (1981) establish the transparent-opaque axis for analyzing idioms In defining idiom, they stress three features in particular: a non-correlative syntax resulting in non-literalness, homonymity and institutionalization

From cognitive view, Nunberg et al (1994) divide idioms into two categories (i) idiomatically combining expressions whose constituent parts carry identifiable parts of their idiomatic meanings, and (ii) idiomatic phrases whose idiomatic meanings cannot be derived from their parts (see Section 1.1.3) Fernando (1996) also divides English idioms into three categories: pure idioms, semi-idioms and literal idioms Grammatically, Taylor (2002) mentions the interrelated topics of idioms and constructions The topics

are interrelated in that both idioms and constructions are possibly considered

as symbolic units, which associate a phonological (or ‘formal’) representation with a semantic reading According to his points of view, constructions are usually specified at a high level of schematicity and likely to sanction an open set of expressions Nevertheless, a construction’s usage range may not be fully predictable: constructions, in other words, display varying degrees of idiomaticity Idioms generally need to be specified at a lower level of schematicity Taylor (2002) also points out that the difference between idioms and constructions turns out to be a gradient distinction, having to do, essentially, with the schematicity at which a unit is specified Langlotz (2006) explores alternative types of adnominal modification in occasional variants of English verbal idioms Following the cognitive-linguistic framework, he states that the dimensions of idiom-transparency result from the language user’s ability to remotivate the bipartite semantic structure by conceptual metaphors and metonymies

In short, idioms in English are studied in terms of several aspects such

as grammar, semantics, rhetoric, pragmatics, etc which are investigated from different views However, the majority of scholars pay their attention to the two approaches Scholars who adopt the first approach are more structurally orientated They describe the idioms and their idiomaticity in terms of one or more structural properties The idiomatologists who adopt the second approach study idiomaticity as manifesting hidden conceptual design of the language Such an approach leads to the nature of cognition itself and accordingly has

valid psycholinguistic

2.1.2 Previous Research Works on Idioms in Vietnamese

There are a lot of books and dictionaries which have brought us with great benefits of idioms It can be seen that idioms are carefully collected and categorized into alphabetical arrangement

In Vietnam, Vietnamese researchers have so far paid a great attention to idioms There have been many authors who have carried out their studies on idioms (Nguyễn Công Đức (1995), Hoàng Văn Hành (2008), Đặng Nguyên Giang (2013)…) At University of Danang there are several research papers that have relationship with various aspects of idioms (Phạm Thị Tố Như (1998), Nguyễn Hoàng Trà My (2011), Nguyễn Thị Phương Thư (2008), and many books written by typical author such as Nguyễn Như Ý (1992), Nguyễn Lực & Lương Văn Đang (2009), etc

Some studies directly relate to the field of the study such as:

Simile in English and Vietnamese - A contrastive analysis (Lê Thị Thu

as well as suggestions for translating simile from English into Vietnamese

A study on comparative idioms from cultural perspective (Đỗ Thị Thu

Trang (2006))

In this study, the author analyzed and discussed English and Vietnamese comparative idioms in the light of culture and she found out some similarities and differences in the way and the reason why people from the two cultures convey their comparative idioms

A Study on Vietnamese Idioms (Hoàng Văn Hành (2004))

Hoàng Văn Hành is a well-known Vietnamese linguist who had spent a lot of time and energy on this research This study specialized in the objectives, the aims, the tasks, the problems, etc of Vietnamese idioms The author analyzed idioms based on different aspects, synchronically and diachronically,

on the view of functional and structural system as well as from cultural, social

and psychological perspectives The research also introduced a systematic collection of Vietnamese idioms in forms of three main types

These books and research papers provide many idioms and explanations

of meaning with illustrative examples It makes the reader have a lot more aware of the meaning of each idiom From there, they can apply flexibly and skillfully to communication

In short, in Vietnamese, although there exist several studies on idioms, most of the scholars focus on the forms and meanings of idioms from traditional view It means that studies on idioms in general and idioms by animals from cognitive view have not been paid much attention

2.2 Theoretical Background

2.2.1 Definitions of Idioms

Words have their own meanings They, however, do not just come individually; they also come in expressions or in groups Idioms are among the most common of these expressions And it is impossible to master a language without learning idioms – a very important part of the language What is an idiom? The question may have several answers

Many linguists such as Robins (1989), Palmer (1981) and others regard idioms as a special kind of collocation The meaning of an idiom, however, can not be deduced from the meaning of its constituents An idiom is distinguished from a collocation, for a collocation is a sequence of lexical items which habitually co-occur and each lexical constituent of a collocation is a semantic component Hornby (1995) argued in his Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, an idiom is “a phrase or sentence whose meaning is not clear from the meaning of its individual words and which must be learnt as a whole unit” Sharing the same point of view, Seidl and Mordie (1988) defined “an idiom is

a number of words which, taken together, mean something different from the individual words of the idiom when they stand alone” For instance, the

collocation of kick and the bucket forms an idiom meaning die, which is not

systematically determinable from the meanings of kick and the bucket This idiom or phrasal lexeme is formally identical with the phrase kick the bucket

whose meaning is systematically determinable on the basis of the meaning of

the lexemes of which it is composed – hit a certain type of container for liquids with their foot

In Vietnamese, a great variety of definitions of idioms are also given Nguyễn Văn Mệnh (1972) and Đỗ Hữu Châu (1981) suppose that idioms are available linguistic units which have stable structures, typical meanings and nominative functions

Having the same viewpoint, Nguyễn Đức Dân (1986) defines that an idiom is a fixed group of words having a complete meaning and descriptive value To make it clearer, he also adds that idioms express concepts based on separated images It is the reason why idioms usually have their own figurative

meanings For example, the phrase cành vàng lá ngọc (descendants of kings,

aristocrats) is considered as an idiom because its idiomatic meaning cannot be

infered from the meanings of its constituents (cành, vàng, lá and ngọc)

Another definition of idiom from Hoàng Văn Hành (2008: 31) is that an idiom

is a fixed group of words which is firm in terms of structure, complete and figurative in terms of meaning, and is widely used in daily speaking

As can be seen from the above definitions, there are different ways of defining an idiom In general, most of the linguists share the same point of view that an idiom is a fixed expression whose meaning cannot be worked out

by looking at the meanings of its individual constituents What is given below

is regarded as a summary of the defining features of an idiom

Here are some more definitions of idioms:

“An expression which functions as a single unit and whose meaning cannot be worked out from its separate parts”

(Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, 1992)

“An idiom is a fixed group of words which is firm in terms of structure, complete and figurative in terms of meaning, and is widely used in daily speaking”

(Hoàng Văn Hành, 1994: 21) “An idiom is a fixed group of words with a special different meaning from the meaning of several words”

(Dictionary of English Idioms, 1979)

As can be seen from the above definitions, there are different ways of defining an idiom In general, most of the linguists share the same point that an idiom is a fixed expression whose meaning can not be worked out by looking

at the meaning of its individual words

However, what is given below is regarded as a summary of the defining features of an idiom used in the present study Such an idiom: (i) is a fixed unit whose components cannot be varied or varied under definable control; (ii) is regarded as a complex scene with a bipartite semantic structure: a literal reading and an idiomatic meaning; (iii) has the meaning which is usually different from the meanings of the combination of its components; (iv)expresses a pure concept

2.2.2 Syntactic and Semantic Features of Idioms

i) Syntactic and Semantic Features of Idioms in English

It is very easy to realize that idiom is a fixed phrase whose meaning cannot be construed from the meaning of the individual words of which it is composed (Katz & Postal, 1963; Weinreich, 1969) There are no changes in

structure, word order and lexicology We can take the idiom black and blue (of bruises) as an example It would sound uncanny if we changed it into blue and black It means that it wouldn’t make sense Moreover, when an idiom is used

in a complete sentence, it is hardly change into passive voice Let us consider

the idiom to stuff one’s face in the sentence She is stuffing her face with

chocolates (She is eating a lot of chocolates); It would be unnatural to say Her face is stuffed with chocolates

However, some other idioms are more flexible; we can make some changes if they don’t lose their idiomatic meaning This means that idioms are only fixed in some of their parts but not all The alteration of component words can help to form a different idiom of the same or different meaning Appearing

on the mass media is in this way of using They no longer keep the full form of the idiom but add some more components to make it more vivid, particularly effective when writing articles We can change the tense of the verb in the

idiom to give someone the cold shoulder (to treat someone in a cold or unfriendly way), or the verb in to have one’s finger with to get one’s finger

In addition, idioms may take many different forms or structures Some

idioms are noun phrases such as tender age, a black sheep, forty winks, etc Some are verb phrases such as to spare one’s blushes, to do someone proud, to cut one’s coat according to one’s cloth, etc The most important thing is that an

idiom can have its own regular, irregular or even incorrect grammatical

structure to be at large is an example of grammatical irregularity The idiom is formed by verb + preposition + adjective In English, no structure like this is

normally accepted because an adjective doesn’t usually come after a preposition singly However, this can be considered as an exception in language

When mentioning the semantic features of an idiom, we often talk about its meaning A linguist said “the meaning of an idiom is the special chemical mixture of all components’ meaning, which is completely new in quality” This means that it is very important to understand idioms metaphorically We can not usually discover the meanings by looking up the individual words in a dictionary when studying idioms; most of the idioms are metaphorical rather

than literal For example, in order to understand the idiom (to feel) like fish out

of water, we have to consider its meaning metaphorically as to feel uncomfortable because of unfamiliar surroundings

Another feature concerning itself with semantics is that idioms can range from positive, neutral to negative meaning Some idioms have positive

meanings such as a willing horse (a keen worker), to get it into one’s head (to deeply understand), or to warm the cockles of one’s heart (to make someone feel pleased or happy) Some have neutral meanings as to watch the world go

by (to observe the others while doing nothing oneself), etc And many other idioms are negative For instance, crocodile tears means insincere tears, to waste one’s breath means to talk or give advice without having any effects, or

to wash one’s dirty linen in public means to discuss or argue about one’s personal affairs in public, etc All those examples show that the nuances of

idiomatic meanings are very complicated They mainly depend on the nuances

of their key components

ii) Syntactic and Semantic Features of Idioms in Vietnamese

Most of Vietnamese linguists have had the same point of view about the forms of Vietnamese idioms Nguyễn Văn Tu (1976) says “Idioms are fixed expressions whose word components do not have their own individual meanings and become a solid block” He emphasizes the combination of the components forming the meaning of idioms Nguyễn Thiện Giáp (1975) does consider an idiom as a fixed expression Although Nguyễn Đức Dân (1986) does not focus on the forms of Vietnamese idioms, he deals with the fixation of idioms He writes “Idioms are language units which have fixed forms” Hoàng Văn Hành (1987) attaches special importance to the components forming idioms He affirms that an idiom is a fixed group of words whose form is unchanged

It can be said that Vietnamese idioms are fixed groups of words whose forms are unchanged: the fixed combination comes from settled words and

expressions such as bắt cá hai tay (to run after two hares), mèo mù vớ cá rán

(The devil looks after his own), cá chậu chim lồng (behind prison bars), ăn chắc mặc bền (solidity first), chuột sa chĩnh gạo (to get a windfall), etc The

fixation shows that we can not change the order of words or use the synonyms (similar words) to replace any components of an idiom in a casual way This is

a basic feature helping us to realize idioms easily However, in fact, there are

some fixed expressions which are not idioms such as bánh xe lịch sử (the wheel of history), gia đình văn hóa (good family), khoa học kỹ thuật (sciences and techniques) etc Therefore, in order to realize an idiom correctly, we can

not only look at this feature but also other ones

There have been a lot of different opinions about the semantic features

of Vietnamese idioms According to Nguyễn Văn Mệnh (1972), an idiom introduces an image, a phenomenon, a state, a personality, an attitude, etc This opinion is quite simple and general In 1986, he gave his own new point of view: Idioms have their own meanings and nominative functions, and are used

in daily speaking Nguyễn Văn Tu (1976) says “The meaning of an idiom does not come from individual components which may have their images or not Its meaning can be different from the meaning of each component or does come from each original word”

Nguyễn Thiện Giáp (1985) focused on the basic semantic features of idioms: Being rich in imagery is a basic feature of idioms Idioms express concepts basing on specific images and symbols The imagery of idioms is made from its metaphor and comparison

Although there have been different ideas about the semantic features of idioms, Vietnamese linguists have all shared the same point of view as follows:

Firstly, the meaning of an idiom is a perfect whole which does not come from the meanings of individual components added

Secondly, the meaning of an idiom expresses the reflection of things or concepts

Thirdly, the meaning of an idiom is usually figurative and descriptive

Although many linguists affirm that idioms have their own figurative and imaginary meanings, we shouldn’t consider this as an absolute fact In Vietnamese, there are also some idioms which have literal sense coming from the meanings of their components They may be comparative idioms such as

nát như tương (as pasty as soy), đen như cột nhà cháy (as black as a sweep) and bám như đỉa đói (to stick like a limpet), whose imagery comes from the

images compared with activities or properties Some Sino-Vietnamese idioms

such as nhất cử lưỡng tiện (to kill two birds with one stone), bán tín bán nghi (half doubtful) and bách phát bách trúng (to hit the mark one hundred times out of one hundred) also have literal sense basing on the meanings of their

components

2.2.3 Classification of Idioms

In both English and Vietnamese there exist many different ways of

idiom classification among linguists who have based on different categories such as motivation, function, origin, meaning and kind, etc However, each language has its own characteristics and the idiom classification is also based

on different points of view

i) Classification of English Idioms

Some authors have classified English idioms into topic groups and countries They have also listed the amount of idioms belonging to each topic

or country

Idioms by topic

- Animals: the birds and the bees

- Body and bodily functions: at arm’s length

- Buildings and construction: to drive someone up the wall

- Character and appearance: as cold as ice

- Children and babies: like a kid in a candy store

- Clothes: at the drop of a hat

- Colours: black and white

- Death: at death’s door

- Drinking and pubs: to turn water in to wine

- Drugs: close but no cigar

- Food: as cool as a cucumber

- Furniture and household fittings: to cut a rug

- Gambling: to go for broke

- Law: to bring someone to book

- Men and women: man in the street

- Money: for my money

- Music: to call the tune

- Nationality and ethnicity: for England

- Nature: as cold as a stone

- Numbers: to feel like a million

- Person’s name: as rich as Croesus

- Place name: to set the Thames on fire

- Plants and flowers: to gild the lily

- Police and crime: to get away with murder

- Politics: on the stump

- Profession or work: all in a day’s work

- Religion: at the bottom of the totem pole

- Sex and sexuality: to play the field

- Sport: to drop the ball

- Technology and science: to hit the airwaves

- Time: behind the times

- Transport and travel: to hit the road

- War and conflict: war of words

- Weather: in a fog

Idioms by country

- American English: as mad as a wrongly shot hog

- Australian English: to cut down the tall poppies

- British English: by a long chalk

- Canadian English: The Mountie always gets his man

- Indian English: to do the needful

- Irish English: Even the dogs in the street know

- New Zealand English: across the ditch

- Scottish English: to turn the crack

Basing on parts of speech, Jennifer Seidl – W McMordie (1988) gave eight groups of idioms as follows:

Key words with idiomatic uses

- Adjectives and adverbs: bad, good, long etc

- Nouns: end, line, thing etc

- Miscellaneous: all, how, too etc

Idioms with nouns and adjectives

- Noun phrases: a drop in the ocean

- Adjective + noun: a close shave

Idiomatic pairs

- Pairs of adjectives: cut and dried

- Pairs of nouns: wear and tear

- Pairs of adverbs: more or less

- Pairs of verbs: hit and miss

- Identical pairs: bit by bit

Idioms with prepositions: by, for, from etc

Phrasal verbs: act up, call something off, make something up to

someone etc

Verbal idioms: blow one’s own trumpet, call a spade a spade, do a

bunk etc

Idioms with key words from special categories

- Animals: bird, bee, bull etc

- Colours: black, blue, red etc

- Numbers, size, measurement: one, inch, mile etc

- Parts of the body: arm, back, nose etc

- Time: day, minute, night etc

Idioms with comparisons

- Comparisons with as … as: as bold as brass

- Comparisons with like: to go like the wind

Basing on functions, idioms can be also classified as follows:

Idioms as noun phrases

e.g peace and quiet (peace/ calm): It is nice to have some peace and

quiet

the cat’s whiskers (wonderful): She thinks she is the cat’s whisker dog’s dinner (over dressed in a showy way): He was dressed up

like a dog’s dinner

Idioms as verb phrases

e.g to ump out of my skin (give a big jump): I jump out of my skin

when I heard the bang

to get the bottom of things (find the true the explanation or the

state of affair): We need a proper investigation to get the bottom of things

Idioms as adjective phrases

e.g as good as gold (generous, helpful, well-behaved): He is as good

as gold

hard and fast (can not be changed in any circumstances): There

are no hard and fast rules about this

Idioms as adverbial phrases

e.g as likely as not (certainly/ surely): He’ll be at home now, as likely

as not

Idioms as prepositional phrases

e.g in a black mood (a bad mood/ temper): Gerry is in a black mood

Idioms as interjections

e.g Well, I never!

Never say die!

Take your time!

Idioms as independent clauses

e.g A little bird told me ( It is not necessary for me to tell you who told me this)

ii) Classification of Vietnamese idioms

According to Luong Van Dang [9], Vietnamese idioms (in “Thành ngữ tiếng Việt”) can be classified as follows:

Idioms with three single words or more

e.g bạn nối khố (a bosom friend)

bở hơi tai (fagged out)

treo đầu dê, bán thịt chó (He cries wine and sells vinegar)

trẻ không tha, già không thương (Neither consideration for the young nor the pity for the old)…

Idioms with a single word and a compound word

e.g bé hạt tiêu (little body, great mind)

câm miệng hến (mute as a fish)

có máu mặt (to be in comfortable circumstance)…

Idioms with two compound words

e.g buôn gian bán lận (to cheat in commerce)

nhắm mắt xuôi tay (to die)

năm xung tháng hạn (an unpropitious period of time) …

Idioms as simple sentences

e.g châu chấu đá xe (David fights Goliath)

êch ngồi đáy giếng (a frog in a well)

mèo mù vớ cá rán (The devil looks after his own)…

Idioms with alliterations or compound words

e.g hì hà hì hục (be completely engrossed in)

lảm nhảm lảm nhàm (to drivel)

ăn bớt ăn xén (to take a stealthy rake off)…

Idioms with symmetrical comparisons

e.g nát như tương (as pastry as soy)

đen như mực (inky-black))

nặng như chì (as heavy as the lead)

nguây nguẩy như mẹ quẩy tôm (to turn away in anger)…

Idioms with summary comparisons

e.g như cá gặp nước (feel like duck in water)

như đỉa phải vôi (like a scalded cat)

như nước đổ đầu vịt (like water off a duck’s back)…

However, the common structures of Vietnamese idioms are the structures which have two balanced members Idioms are also formed by

joining rhymes (usually interior rhymes) such as bóc ngắn cắn dài (to live beyond one’s means), bé xé ra to (to make mountains out of molehills) etc

These structures do not only make idioms easy to say and remember, but they also keep the fixation and unshakeable characteristics of idioms

According to Nguyễn Công Đức (1995), Vietnamese idioms can be divided into two main groups:

Idioms with symmetrical structures

Symmetrical structures consist of two members which have the same forms and harmonious balanced contents (opposite or supplement of each other) These structures form a large number of idioms in general and idioms showing speaking activities in particular They are concretized by the following expressions:

- AxAy (A: verb; x, y: combinative words)

e.g buôn gian bán lận (to cheat in commerce)

ăn không nói có (to be dishonest)

ăn thật làm giả (to work perfunctorily) …

- BxBy (B: noun; x, y: combinative words)

e.g điều ong tiếng ve (unfavourable reputation)

mồm năm miệng mười (loud-mouthed)

mồm loa mép dải ( loud-spoken)…

- CxCy (C: adjective; x, y: combinative words)

e.g dại mồm dại miệng (foolish tongues)

vụng ăn vụng nói (not good at speaking)

vụng chèo khéo chống (A bad workman blames his tools)…

- DxDy (D: numeral; x, y: combinative words)

e.g nửa nạc nửa mỡ (neither flesh nor fish)

nửa đùa nửa thật (half seriously)

nửa úp nửa mở (equivocal)…

Idioms with symmetrical structures can be compound sentences; for

example, có mồm thì cắp, có nắp thì đậy (to keep silent for good)

Idioms with comparative structures

These are the common structures of Vietnamese idioms A như (like/as) B is considered as the comprehensive form of comparative idioms The words such as như, bằng, tày are usually between A and B, and they are

concretized by the following expressions:

- A như B (A: verb or adjective; B: noun)

e.g nói như vẹt (to parrot))

ngang như cua (utterly nonsensical)

chua như dấm (sour like vinegar))…

- Ax như B (Ax: verb-adjective phrase; B: noun)

e.g nói dối như cuội (to be a colossal liar)

nói ngọt như đường (to use honeyed words)

nói dẻo như kẹo (to be smooth-tongued)…

- A như Bx (A: usually verb; Bx: phrase expressing activity)

e.g dỗ như dỗ vong (to soothe)

chửi như vặn thịt (to abuse someone regularly)

chửi như hát hay (to heap abuses on)…

- Ax như Bx (Ax: phrase consisting of a verb and an adjective; Bx: phrase expressing activity)

e.g nói dai như chó nhai dẻ rách (to talk constantly)

chuyện nở như ngô rang (to chat loudly)

chuyện giòn như bắp rang (to chat loudly)…

2.2.4 Idioms and Other Language Units

Words and groups of words including idioms make a vocabulary system

of a language (A Dictionary of Vietnamese, Viện ngôn ngữ học 2004) It means that the vocabulary system of a language is very complex It consists of

a lot of different linguistic units Therefore, distinguishing idioms from other linguistic units is necessary Several linguists ( Nguyễn Văn Mệnh 1972; Nguyễn Lực & Lương Văn Ðang 1978; Nguyễn Công Đức 1995; Hoàng Văn Hành 2008; Nguyễn Văn Trào 2009; etc) have made attempts to distinguish idioms from some of other linguistic units such as collocations, proverbs, clichés and catchphrases, etc However, they in fact usually overlap to some extent In the present inquiry, idioms and some of other linguistic units are distinguished according to their structural realization, relationship among components, meaning, nominative function, syntactic function, and denotation

Most of the linguists share the same point of view that an idiom is a fixed expression whose meaning is usually different from the meanings of the combination of its individual words

According to Greenbaum (1974) and others, collocations can be understood as sequences of lexical items which habitually co-occur in a language so that the occurrence of one item can often predict the presence of

the other (cited in Nguyễn Văn Trào 2009) It means that the components of the collocations can form syntactic units

Collocations are also regarded as “fixed groups of words having been used for a long time and their meanings come from the meanings of their components” (Viện ngôn ngữ học, 2004: 810) and Collocations , or recurrent word combinations (Benson, 1989), are loosely fixed, regularly repeated, and come readily to mind Collocations can be understood as sequences of lexical items which habitually co-occur in a language so that the occurrence of one item can often predict the presence of the other (Greenbaum, 1974).Collocations lie between free combinations (which are the freest in respect to combining with other lexical items) and idioms (Howarth, 1998) For example,

rán sành ra mỡ (be very mean) in Vietnamese and as bald as a coot (completely bald) in English are idioms, but lên lớp (give a lesson) in Vietnamese and go to bed in English are considered as collocations

It is clear that the forms of idioms and collocations are not different: They are all fixed groups of words However, the meanings of idioms do not usually come from the meanings of their component parts; collocations tend to have their own literal meanings coming from the meanings of their constituents

According to “ Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary” (1995), a

proverb is defined as ‘a short well-known sentence or phrase that states a

general truth about life or gives advice, e.g better safe than sorry or don’t put all your eggs in one basket’ More particularly, Phan (2000: 39) regards a

proverb as ‘a complete saying expressing one idea of comment, experience, morality, justice or criticism’

Idioms and proverbs are traditionally investigated together because they share several similarities Firstly, both idioms and proverbs are ready-made They are products of human’s thoughts, cultures, and working and learning processes From generation to generation, they are mainly orally handed down

and accepted in a natural way Secondly, both idioms and proverbs are expressions whose meanings are not usually derived from individual component parts Additionally, most idioms and proverbs are metaphorically used, i.e the idiomatic meanings cannot usually be uncovered by looking up the individual words in a dictionary ( Nguyễn Lực & Lương Văn Ðang (1978); Nguyễn Công Đức (1995); Hoàng Văn Hành (2008))

set-Apart from the similarities above, idioms and proverbs have their own typical features The biggest difference lies in their grammatical structures Idioms are usually phrases which are parts of sentences; therefore, they usually function as words Proverbs are usually complete sentences or phrases expressing the whole idea Furthermore, idioms and proverbs also differ from each other in terms of their functions Proverbs are usually short well-known sentences or phrases that express a judgment, state a general truth about life or advice It is believed that they have perceptive, aesthetic and educational functions On the contrary, idioms do not express judgments, give advice or state general truth about life It means that they do not have functions of perception and education but only aesthetic function ( Hoàng Văn Hành (2008))

In Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (1995), slang is defined as

‘informal words and phrases commonly used in speech, especially between people from the same social groups or who work together, not considered suitable for formal contexts and often not in use for long’ Spears (2007: xx) points out the differences between idiomatic and slang as follows:

Although there are some entries that are very casual or informal English, slang and idioms should not be confused Some slang is also idiomatic, and some idioms are also slang, but generally, they refer to different aspects of language

Idiomatic refers to the way a phrase is linked to a unique meaning rather

than to the literal meanings of its component words

Slang refers to expressions that are informal, often humorous synonyms

for widely known standard words as well as specialized words with limited use

in the general population

Indeed, although idioms and slang are almost fixed and their meanings are usually different from the meanings of the combination of the component parts, they have some certain differences Slang is used among some groups of people whereas idioms are quite popular Slang is regarded as a means of identifying and reinforcing certain sub- groups in society It means that this group may not understand the conversations of other groups’ In the same cultural area, idioms are usually not varied whereas slang makes different from region to region Additionally, while idioms are quite stable, slang is fashionable and soon out of date

2.3 Summary

The chapter has presented theoretical background that is employed for conducting the whole graduation thesis along with the review of literature with certain previous works on idioms both in English and in Vietnamese Idioms in both English and Vietnamese are described in terms of structural and semantic components It seems that Vietnamese idioms from cognitive view have not been adequately investigated Most scholars in Vietnam pay attention to the forms and meanings of idioms from traditional view These studies are initial investigations on the specific aspects of idioms In addition, this chapter also focused on distinguishing idioms with other language units so that we can easily identify idioms As far as I am concerned, there have been no studies investigating the structural and semantic components of idioms by plants in both English and Vietnamese in a fully systematical way

CHAPTER 3 STRUCTURAL AND SEMANTIC COMPONENTS OF IDIOMS

BY PLANTS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE

This chapter presents structural and semantic components of idioms by Plants in both English and Vietnamese The structural components are presented

in Section 3.1 Section 3.2 discusses the semantic components Section 3.3 summarizes the main points of the chapter

3.1 Structural Components of Idioms by Plants in English and Vietnamese

Structural Components of Idioms by Plants in English and Vietnamese

involves symmetrical idioms, similized idioms and non-symmetrical idioms

3.1.1 Symmetrical Idioms by Plants

i) Realization

A symmetrical idiom always contains two parts having opposite meanings and together forming the idiomatic meaning, is stated by Nguyễn Công Đức (1995) Symmetrical idioms are also called ‘idiomatic pairs’ which are established due to the pairs of adjectives, nouns, adverbs, verbs, etc (Seidl & Mc Mordie 1988) In the present study, a symmetrical idiom by plants is generally regarded as one which has two opposite component parts (A and B), for

example, muck or nettles ( all or nothing) And these two parts are usually

ii) Structural Patterns

Symmetrical idioms in our English data can be noun phrases (e.g root and branch (completely), muck or nettles ( all or nothing), etc

Symmetrical idioms in our Vietnamese data can be noun phrases (e.g

cành vàng lá ngọc (descendants of kings, aristocrats), cây cao bóng cả (older

people have position and prestige), etc), verb phrases (e.g xỏ lá ba que ( bad people), adjective phrases (trẻ đeo hoa, gìa đeo tật (young people are happy,

old people are easy to get sick) It is also realized in the current thesis that 3.17% of our English data are symmetrical idioms whereas symmetrical idioms

in Vietnamese are 56.6%

iii) Structural Components

In English, symmetrical idioms containing plants usually have three components, one of which is a connector Some may contain more than three components, but one of their constituents must be a connector The connectors are used to combine two symmetrical parts of the idioms This is specified in the following forms:

A or B

Let’s have a look at the idiom muck or nettles (all or nothing) Muck as A

is opposite to nettles as B, and they are both nouns

A and B

Root and branch is an idiom containing plants, it means completely The

connector ‘ and” are used to combine two symmetrical part

A,B

A and B are connected by a comma: just as the twig is bent, the tree’s inclined (things, especially education, that affect and influence us in our

childhood shape the kind of adult we turn out to be) (There are various versions

of this, like 'As the twig is bent, the tree's inclined' and 'As the twig is bent, so the tree inclines', 'As the twig is bent so is the tree inclined' ) A (as well as B) can be a clause or sentence

In general, the first part (A) of the symmetrical idiom in English can be a

noun The two parts of these idioms usually belong to the same types of

linguistic units; hence, the second one (B) usually corresponds with the first one

(A) A and B are completely symmetrical whether they contain one or more component parts The connector of these idioms can be or, and or comma

In Vietnamese, most symmetrical idioms have four components which are divided into two opposite parts (each contains two constituents) The symmetry

of these idioms is established due to semantic and syntactic properties of the components belonging to the two parts (Nguyễn Công Ðức (1995), Hoàng Văn Hành (2008)) In other words, the first part is opposite to the second one in

terms of both syllables and meanings For example, the idiom được mùa lúa, úa muà cau has two symmetrical parts Được mùa lúa is opposite to uá mùa cau

(get this, lose that)

According to Hoàng Văn Hành (2008: 58), most of symmetrical idioms in Vietnamese have four components divided into two opposite parts (A, B) A is generally opposite to B And A contains smaller parts which are individually opposite to those in B M is regarded as the beginner of the first part (A) for N being the beginner of the second one (B); X is the constituent after M and Y is

the one after N Symmetrical idioms with the form AB in Vietnamese are shown

asfollows

MXNY

Indeed, the symmetry depends on the opposite relations between the

components of the two parts The idiom được mùa lúa úa mùa cau (get this, lose that) is an example This idiom has two symmetrical parts (A, B) in which được (M) and mùa lúa (X) in A are opposite to úa (N) and mùa cau (Y) in B

Similized idioms are fixed groups of words coming from comparisons and

having the figurative meanings (Hoàng Văn Hành (2008: 101)) For example, ăn như bò ngốn cỏ (eat too much), đỏ như hoa vông (compared: red and beautiful ), như gấm thêm hoa (although it is full, but having more is better), etc

Structurally, it is realized that a similized idiom is similar to an ordinary comparison; however, they differ from each other in some ways An ordinary comparison refers to two things belonging to the same category to show the degree of their similarity or difference On the contrary, a similized idiom involves one thing which is put in the same line with another of a different category to emphasize or exaggerate certain properties It is called idiomatic

comparison which is used to make the language more vivid

In the present study, similized idioms are regarded as fixed groups of

words which are formed by their specific comparative means such as as…as, like, as, etc in English (Seidl & McMordie (1988)) and như, bằng, tày, chẳng,

etc in Vietnamese (Hoàng Văn Hành (2008)) Our investigation reveals that 3.17% of our English data are similized idioms, and Vietnamese similized idioms in our data are 24.5%

ii) Structural Patterns

In our English data, similized idioms can be adjective phrases (e.g ugly

as a stick (very ugly indeed ), or clauses (e.g just as the twig is bent, the tree’s inclined (things, especially education, that affect and influence us in our childhood shape the kind of adult we turn out to be))

Similized idioms in our Vietnamese data can be adjective phrases (e.g

đen như củ súng (compare any thing with black), đỏ như hoa vông (compare any thing with red), xanh như lá (young people have an ungrateful attitude ), xanh như tàu lá (very pale and weak ), etc ), verb phrases (e.g ăn như bò ngốn cỏ (eat too much), hứng như hứng hoa (do carefully), prepositional phrases (e.g như gấm thêm hoa (although it is full, but having more is better), như chuối chín cây (very old ), or sentences (e.g mặt tươi như hoa ( facial expressions: happy and beautiful), mẹ già như chuối chín cây (compare with the old people),

etc)

iii) Structural Components

In English, a similized idiom is singled out by its specific structure of

comparison The idiom easy as falling off a log (very easy and simple) is an

example Easy as A is regarded as the topic of comparison and a falling off a log

as B being the verb phrase compared The structural components of similized idioms are categorized as follows:

A as B

As is a connector used to combine A and B A is usually an adjective (e.g easy as falling off a log (very easy or simple) Thus, a similized idiom with the form A as B is usually an adjective phrases

[…] asB

A as the topic of comparison is also omitted B can be a clause (e.g as a twig is bent (things, especially education, that affect and influence us in our childhood shape the kind of adult we turn out to be when as works as a

combine A and B The structural components of similized idioms are categorized as follows:

A như B

A usually denotes the nature of B and is usually an adjective: đen như củ súng (compare any thing with black), đỏ như hoa vông ( compare any thing with red), etc However, in some cases, A can be a verb (e.g ăn như bò ngốn cỏ (eat too much), or even a noun phrase (e.g mẹ già như chuối chín cây (compare with

old people) B is regarded as the subject compared It can be a noun/noun phrase

(e.g đỏ như hoa vông (compare any thing with red colour), etc), a clause (e.g tươi như hoa nở ( very happy), or a verb phrase ( e.g hứng như hứng hoa (do

very carefully))

như B

A is omitted from the form The idiom is introduced by như And B can

be a clause (e.g như gấm thêu hoa (although it is full, but having more is better), như ếch vồ hoa dâm bụt Như is a preposition; therefore, A similized idiom with the form như B is a prepositional phrase

as…as, like, as, etc in English and như, bằng, tày, chẳng, etc in Vietnamese Our

investigation reveals that there are 93.65% of non-symmetrical idioms in our English data whereas Vietnamese non-symmetrical idioms are 18.9%

ii) Structural Patterns

In our English data, non-symmetrical idioms can be noun phrases (e.g

demon weed (tobacco is the demon weed), primrose path (an easy and pleasurable lifestyle, but one that ends in unpleasantness and problems), old chestnut (something that has been repeated so many times that it has lost its impact), etc, prepositional phrases (e.g in the tall cotton ( expresses good times

or times of plenty and wealth as tall cotton means a good crop), up a gum tree (in trouble or a big mess), etc ), adverbial phrases (e.g never a rose without the prick ( good things always have something bad as well; like the thorns on the stem of a rose ), verb phrases (e.g can’t see the forest for its trees ( too focused

on specific details to see the picture as a whole), draw the shortest straw (lose or are chosen to do something unpleasant ), etc, or sentences (e.g a rolling stone gathers no moss (an ambitious person is more successful than a person not trying to achieve anything ), the grass is always green ( what other people have

or do looks preferable to our life, etc)

Non-symmetrical idioms in our Vietnamese data can be noun phrases

( lông mày lá liễu (the beauty of woman)), adjective phrases (e.g lâu ngày lá dâu thành lụa (the patience ), đói bụng ăn rau má, etc), verb phrases (e.g dạy khỉ leo cây (not necessary ), ăn cháo lá đa (circumstance of the poor ), etc), or sentences (e.g một con ngựa đau cả tàu bỏ cỏ (deeply sympathize with the

other’s difficulty),lá lành đùm lá rách(love and help in difficulties)

iii) Structural Components

Non-symmetrical idioms are quite common in English Let’s have a look

at the idiom draw the shortest straw (lose or are chosen to do something

unpleasant) This idiom does not have two symmetrical parts as wellas comparative means The structure of the idiom is a solid combination of three

components (draw, the and shortest straw) Therefore, it is regarded as a

non-symmetrical idiom The forms of these idioms are classified under three general

headings: phrase, clause and sentence The phrase heading is sub-divided

asfollows:

Non-symmetrical Idioms as NounPhrases

The noun phrases themselves contain the head nouns; therefore,

non-symmetrical idioms as noun phrases are specified in A HN (B) form A can be a determiner and/or modifier (e.g the short straw (lose a selection process, which

means that you have to do something unpleasant) B is omitted from the form Additionally, a negative particle is sometimes used before the noun phrase (e.g

no bed of roses (if something isn't a bed of roses, it is difficult)

Non-symmetrical Idioms as PrepositionalPhrases

Non-symmetrical idioms as prepositional phrases usually start with

prepositions; thus, they are summarized in prep B form The preposition can be