In the general trend of world linguistics, in Vietnam, inrecent years, the theory of valency has been quickly applied in a number of research projects.But with the quantitative adjective
Trang 1HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION
NGUYEN THI THANH HUONG
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SEMANTICS AND VALENCY OF THE QUANTITATIVE ADJECTIVE
GROUP OF THINGS IN VIETNAMESE
Major: Linguistics Code: 9.22.90.20
SUMMARY OF THE DOCTORAL THESIS OF LANGUAGE
HANOI - 2020
Trang 2Science instructor: 1 Assoc Prof Dr LE THI LAN ANH
2 Prof Dr NGUYEN VAN HIEP
Reviewer 1: Prof Dr Dinh Van Duc
Ha Noi National University of Social Sciences and Humanities
Reviewer 2: Prof Dr Nguyen Van Khang
Institute of Linguistics
Reviewer 3: Prof Dr Do Viet Hung
Hanoi National University of Education
The thesis will be protected before the thesis dissertation committee The school met at Hanoi National University of Education
in hours days months years
The thesis can be found at the libraries:
- The National Library, Hanoi
- The Ha Noi National University of Education
Trang 3I PROJECT OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY
Studying the valency of the group of quantitative adjectives in Vietnamese,(2016),
Đề tài NCKH Cấp Cơ sở, Trường Đại học Hồng Đức
II SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES
1 Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong (2013), Characteristics of quantitative adjectives in Kieu
novel by Nguyen Du, Journal of Language and Life Issue 8 /2013, pp 43-46.
2 Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong (2016), The valency of the group of quantitative adjectives
of things in Kieu novel – Nguyen Du, Hong Duc University Journal of Science,
Issue 31, pp 125-134
3 Nguyen Thị Thanh Huong (2017), Meaning transference and valency change of the
group of quantitative adjectives of things in Kieu novel- Nguyen Du, Hong Duc
University Journal of Science – special isue, pp.124-131
4 Nguyen Thị Thanh Huong (2017), The valency of the group of quantitative adjectives of
things in Vietnamese, Journal of Dictionary & Encyclopedia issue 4 (48), pp 54 - 60
5 Nguyen Thị Thanh Huong (2017), The valency and valency change of quantitative
adjectives in Vietnamese, Journal of Dictionary & Encyclopedia, issue 6 (50), pp 21- 27.
6 Nguyen Thị Thanh Huong (2019), Meaning transference of the group of
quantitative adjectives of things in Vietnamese, National language and linguistics
conference 2019, pp.287-296
Trang 41 The reason for choosing the topic
1.1 Adjective is a part of speech which has a large number and occupies an important
position in Vietnamese In addition to the types of adjectives describing other characteristics ofthings, the quantitative adjective group of things plays a significant role, making the abundanceand diversity of adjectives in particular and Vietnamese part of speech in general
1.2 The theory of valency is one of the most important grammatical theories Theresearch of this theory contributes to solving the essential problems for Vietnamese grammar,especially the relationship between semantics and grammar in language realization The theory
of valency shows that there is a relationship and interaction between the semantics and thevalency attribute of the word In particular, the semantics plays a role of dominating thevalency, regulating the realization of the valency of words in administrative activities And viceversa, through the semantic attribute valency model, its inherent nature is revealed
1.3 Language research from the perspective of valency is a new research direction andhas not received much attention In the general trend of world linguistics, in Vietnam, inrecent years, the theory of valency has been quickly applied in a number of research projects.But with the quantitative adjective group of things in Vietnamese in the light of the theory
of valency, there has not been any full and comprehensive scientific research This is really
a promised land to discover interesting things
For the above reasons, we choose the problem: Characteristics of the semantics and valency of the quantitative adjective group of things in Vietnamese as the research topic of
2.2 Tasks of the thesis
- Developing a theoretical framework as the basis for the implementation of thetopic: theory of valency, theory of semantics and the theory of quantitative adjective ofthings in Vietnamese
- Analyzing and describing the characteristics of the semantics and valency ofquantitative adjective group of things in Vietnamese when being used with the originalmeanings
Trang 5- Analyzing and describing the meaning development and valency change of thequantitative adjective group in Vietnamese.
3 Objects, scope of research and scope of linguistic data sources
Research object of the thesis is the characteristics of the semantics and valency ofquantitative adjective group of things in Vietnamese in 55 linguistic data sources in twotypes of text of two different styles: science and art
4 Research methods
The thesis applies a number of following research methods: Descriptive methodcombined with method of syntax analysis; methods of modeling, comparison, statistics andclassification
5 Contributions of the thesis
5.1 In term of theory
This is a systematic research specialized in the semantics and valency of the quantitativeadjective group of things in Vietnamese Through the research, the thesis takes a further stepclarifying the theory of valency and semantics as well as their close relationship At the same time,
it contributes more voice to demonstrate the progress of modern grammar research directions:
grammar associated with semantics.
5.2 In term of practice
The research results will be practical contributions to the research and learning ofVietnamese, namely: compiling research documents, teaching and learning Vietnamese,explaining words in textbooks as well as in everyday communication especially inacquiring knowledge of science and literature through linguistic material At the sametime, helping native speakers have a more specific view to use them better, moresophisticated and diverse (viết lại)
6 Layout of the thesis
In addition to the introduction, conclusion, references and linguistic data sources, thethesis includes 3 chapters: Chapter 1: Overview of research situation and theoretical basis;Chapter 2: Characteristics of the semantics and valency of quantitative adjective group ofthings in Vietnamese when being used with the original meanings; Chapter 3: Semanticdevelopment and valency change of quantitative adjective group of things in Vietnamese
Trang 6Chapter 1 OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH SITUATION AND THEORETICAL BASIS
1.1 Overview of research situation
1.1.1 Research situation on the meaning and valency of words
1.1.1.1 Research situation on the meaning of words
In the world, the research of the meaning of words has been particularly interested
by linguists The first one to mention is Michel Bréal - with the work: “ Essai de
Sémantique (Science des signification, 1877), then F.de Saussure (1916), C.K Ogden
and I.A Richards (1923), G Stern (1931), V.A Zveginxev (1957), S Ullmann (1962),John Lyons (1977) Besides, G Lakoff, M Johnson, M Turner, C Fillmore, V.Evans, M Green also pay attention to and research the meaning from the angle ofcognitive linguistics
In Vietnam, linguists have acquired and selected research achievements about themeaning of linguists in the world From the angle of traditional linguistics, the earliestresearcher with many works on the theory of the meaning of words is Do Huu Chau (1998),followed by Nguyen Thien Giap (2005), Le Quang Thiem (2008), Do Viet Hung (2014), etc.From the angle of cognitive linguistics, authors such as Nguyen Duc Ton, Ly Toan Thang,Tran Van Co, Nguyen Van Hiep, etc also researched the meaning of words, especially themeaning transference of words Although from different angles, basically, researchers came
up with the concept of the meaning of words, meaning components of words, thephenomenon of meaning transference of words, etc
1.1.1.2 Research situation on valency of words
In the world, the theory of valency was researched on many levels with many different
points of view First of all, L Tesnière with Elément de Syntax structurale (Arguments of
syntactic structure) (1969) gave an understanding of the valency of the verb and the way to
distinguish the circumstants and actants Then S.D Kasnelson (1973) clarified the method tounderstand the valency and distinguish the valency from the ability to engage in syntacticrelationships N.I Tjapkina (1980) and A.M Mukhin (1987) expanded the concept of valency ofverbs M.D Stepanova (1988) extended the concept of valency from the word level to otherlevels and aspects of language
In Vietnam, Vietnamese linguists quickly apply the theory of valency toVietnamese research The first one to mention is Cao Xuan Hao (2006) with the work
"Vietnamese - Fundamental of Functional Grammar" One of the pioneers who flexibly
applied the theory of valency of L Tesnière to language research in Vietnam wasNguyen Van Loc (1995) Dinh Van Duc (2015) put the issue of the research on parts ofspeech of Vietnamese in the direction of the research of functionalism and was
Trang 7primarily concerned with the theory of valency Besides, there were: Nguyen Thi Quy(1995), Nguyen Van Hiep and Lam Quang Dong (2008), Le Thi Lan Anh (2014),Nguyen Manh Tien (2016), etc.
Reviewing the works that mentioned the semantics and valency of words in general,adjectives in particular, we can see that this problem has received a lot of research interest.Most of the authors pointed out the general characteristics of semantics and valency of wordsand adjectives But in fact, the application of the theory of semantics and valency to research
a specific adjective group, quantitative adjective group of things in Vietnamese, is still anarea with many complex and interesting issues
1.1.2 Research situation on the meaning and valency of Vietnamese adjectives
Adjective is a basic part of speech of Vietnamese language Therefore, adjectives aremainly reviewed from a grammatical perspective in terms of grammatical meaning,conjugation ability and grammatical role However, there are also works referring to thesemantics of adjectives; The relationship between semantics and valency of some specificadjectives, such as those of Chu Bich Thu (1996), Nguyen Thi Du (2004), Le Xuan Binh,(2009), Nguyen Quynh Thu (2013), Tran Ai Chin (2014), Nguyen Thi Huyen (2018)
1.2 Topic-related theoretical basis
1.2.1 Overview of the meaning of the word
1.2.1.1 The meaning of words and the semantic development of words from a structural perspective
a Conception of the meaning of the word
The concept “the meaning of the word” is one of the important concepts of language
and paid attention by linguistic researchers
There are many different views and definitions about the meaning of the word,
however, in general, there are three important groups In this thesis, we agree with the
conception stating that the meaning of the word is as an abstract mental entity that exists in the brain of native speaker.
b Meaning components of the word
The meaning of the word should be understood to be set of components of thefollowing meanings: denotative meaning, significative meaning, pragmatical meaning andgrammatical meaning The four above-mentioned meaning components of the word are themeanings of the word in the system – They are inherently stable and constitute the nuclearmeaning of the word And in term of functionality, the word always creates other meanings,without stability is called the connotational meaning
Trang 8c Multiple-meaning phenomenon means and the phenomenon of meaning transference
of the word
Multiple-meaning phenomenon means a semantic phenomenon in which a word (aphonetic shell) contains two or more meanings and each meaning corresponds to one orsome things and phenomena in objective reality
Meaning transference means that a meaning of a word is formed based on an existingmeaning of that word The meaning transference of the word is always done through themethod of transferring meaning There are many criteria for classifying method oftransferring meaning, but according to some researchers, there are two methods oftransferring meaning: metaphor and metonymy
1.2.1.2 Some basic concepts of cognitive linguistics related to the meaning and the semantic development of words
a Concept, conceptualization, conceptual metaphor, conceptual metonymy
Concept is the result, the product of human cognitive activities about the world aroundthem as well as themselves through their interaction with the world The concept may beexpressed in words and may not be expressed in words as well Conceptualization is thecognitive activity to form concepts, including many different mental processes
Conceptual metaphor is the systematic logical mappings between two conceptualdomains: the source domain and the target domain The nature of conceptual metaphor is inthe structuration and perception of these phenomena in the interpretation of otherphenomena It has a one-way nature, motivating the source domain and the target domain tobring about additional meaning (knowledge) that is quite detailed and impressive sometimes.Conceptual metonymy is a cognitive process in which a conceptual entity (means) providesthe mental reception to another conceptual entity (target) in the same domain or the sameidealized cognitive model
b Category and categorization
Category is a scientific concept reflecting the most common and basic attributes andrelationships of phenomena In cognitive linguistics, the category is one of the cognitiveforms of human thinking that allows to generalize experience to classify things andphenomena in the objective world Categorization is a human cognitive process about theworld around them and classifying them into basic categories On this basis, people are able
to form concepts and acquire meaning of linguistic symbols
c Domain, source domain and target domain
Domain is a conceptual entity used in conceptual metaphor theory and approachesrelated to conceptual mappings Conceptual domain has a relatively complex cognitivestructure related to unified aspects of experience, is a collection of concepts that are closelyconnected
Trang 9Source domain consists of a collection of verbal entities, attributes, processes andrelationships, which are semantically linked and seem to be stored together in mind Targetdomain tends to be abstract and draws its structure from the source domain throughmetaphorical links or "conceptual metaphor".
1.2.2 Overview of the valency of the word
1.2.2.1 Concept of valency
Based on the concept of valency of domestic and international linguists, the valency
of the word is the ability of words to incorporate into itself syntactic formants that help torealize the semantic characteristics of words
1.2.2.2 Concept of arguments, classification of arguments
a Concept of arguments
Arguments are formants that realize the semantic characteristics of the central word,which can assume a certain grammatical position in the sentence
b Classification of arguments
In this thesis, we use a pair of terms: actants and circonstants
Actants are the type of argument needed for a word to have a minimum level ofmeaning complete without the help of context This argument is strongly influenced bythe semantic - grammatical characteristics of words Circonstants are the type ofargument that may or may not be present next to the central word, but must still bepermitted by it The semantic-grammatical characteristics of this argument are stilldominated by the central word
1.2.2.3 Principles and tactics of valency determination
a Principle of valency determination
The arguments of the word, as grammatical units, are characterized by two aspects:semantics and grammar Therefore, the principle of determination of the valency of the wordmust be based on the characteristics of form (structure) and content (semantic)
b Tactics of valency determination
When determining the valency of the word, there are many tactics, however, the simplebut most effective tactic is the question-making This is a tactic based on the semanticstructure of the central word for question-making to find out the arguments In other words,
we use the word central to ask questions to find out arguments Such as, it can be meant thatthe central word will be present in all questions for searching arguments The answers to
Trang 10such questions are the word’s arguments Each question will help us identify a blank cellneeded or can be filled, which is equivalent to an argument.
1.2.2.4 Relationship between semantics and valency of the word
The meaning and valency attribute of the word are always in close relationshio Inparticular, the meaning always plays a dominant role to the valency, meaning that themeaning of the word stipulates the realization of valency of the word in the activities offunctionality In contrast, through the valency model, the inherent semantic attribute of theword is expressed This is the basis to assert that in every language, the ultimate basis ofsyntactic connection is the semantic factor The stipulative feature of semantics to valency
is shown in that each type of valency, normally associated only with the lexical grammatical meaning of the word The valency is closely dependent on the meaning of theword, therefore, the change of vocabulary-grammer meaning always leads to the change inits valency
-Sub-conclusion
The group of quantitative adjectives of things is one of the central, basic groups ofwords in any language This group has many complicated characteristics attracting theattention of many researchers In implementing this topic, we have established some basictheoretical concepts in terms of semantics, valency These theoretical aspect will be applied
to clarify the semantic characteristics and valency of this adjective group when used with theoriginal meaning and meaning development
Chapter 2 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SEMANTICS AND VALENCY OF THE
QUANTITATIVE ADJECTIVE GROUP OF THINGS IN VIETNAMESE WHEN
USED WITH THE ORIGINAL MEANINGS
2.1 An overview of quantitative adjectives of things in Vietnamese
2.1.1 Concept of quantitative adjectives of things in Vietnamese
Based on different concepts of researchers, in this thesis, we state that: The
quantitative adjectives is these are adjectives that quantify things (high, low, shallow,
deep, wide, narrow, short, long, heavy, light, etc) and express the number of things (full, shallow, sufficient, insufficient, little, much, crowded, big, small, middle, etc).
Trang 112.1.2 Identification criteria
2.1.2.1 In term semantic
Quantitative adjectives has the meaning of determine the amount of things in terms
of size, weight, distance, heat and express the number of things.
2.1.2.2 In term of combination ability
Like other groups of adjectives, the quantitative adjectives can combine with components or adverbs of degree Special, the quantitative adjectives can combine withsub-components only quantity
sub-2.1.2.3 In term of grammatical position
The quantitative adjectives directly work as a predicate, attribute (extension,additional meanings of nouns)
2.1.3 Classification of quantitative adjectives of things in Vietnamese
Most authors base on the meaning and combination ability of this adjective group toclassify The thesis shows that the groups of quantitative adjectives of things are divided
into two categories: quantitative adjective group measure of things (measure the size, the
weight, the heat, the distances of things) such as: high, low, shallow, deep, wide, narrow, short, long, heavy, light, etc) and adjective group express the number of things such as:
full, shallow, sufficient, insufficient, little, much, crowded, big, small, middle, etc
2.1.4 Llist of quantitative adjectives of things in Vietnamese
The thesis has surveyed 55 language sources with 2045 sentences in two types ofdocuments: science and art We found: Vietnamese language has 31 quantitative adjectives
of things (high, low, shallow, deep, wide, narrow, short, full, shallow, sufficient,
insufficient, little, etc) They are single word and grammar specifies the mandatory
arguments that make up its valency
2.2 The semantic characteristics of quantitative adjective group of things when used with the original meaning
Based on the important suggestions of the researchers and survey results of 55linguistic sources, we believe that: Quantitative adjectives of things in Vietnamese havethe original meaning of the quantitative characteristics of things including two groups ofmeanings: group quantitative of things (measure the size, the weight, the heat, the distanceand group express the number of things In particular, the group measure of thingsappears more
Trang 122.2.1 The semantics of quantitative adjective group measure of things
2.2.1.1 The semantics of quantitative adjective group measure the size of things
Size, in general, is the quantities (such as length, width, height, etc) determining thesize of an object Therefore, quantitative adjectives measure the size of things according
to different dimensions such as height, width, length, depth, thickness, etc The semantics
of quantitative adjective group express the height, width, length, depth, thickness of
things The typical of this group of adjectives are the following basic adjectives: high,
low, short, long, wide, shallow, deep, far, near, very high, very long, very short, very thin, quite low,…etc For example:
The plank 2 meters long, 1 meter wide, 5 centimeterts thick (Hoang Phe – Vietnamese
Dictionary)
2.2.1.2 The semantics of quantitative adjecive grouup measure the weight of things
Weight is the word used to indicate the volume of a particular object With thisunderstanding, heavy and light are the pair of quantitative adjectives that basically express
the weight of things Besides are the derivative quantitative adjectives: very light, quite light,
very heavy… The semantics of quantitative adjective group express the weight of things.
For example:
From a distance, Long Bien Bridge is like a winding silk strip crossing the Red River,
but actually "the silk band" weighs 17 thousand tons.
(Nguyen Khac Phi – Literature grade 6)
2.2.1.3 The semantics of quantitative adjecive grouup measure the heat of things
Heat is the amount of heat energy, usually calculated in calories Typical for this
adjective group is the pair of basic quantitative adjectives: hot, cold, cool, warm,
lukewarm, cool, very hot … etc In it this pair of basic adjectives hot and cold represent
and appear more The semantics of quantitative adjective group express the heat of things.
For example:
Luong returned to the forest of western Quang Tri region this time in the middle of
the heaviest rainy month, the air was always cold to ten degrees
(Nguyen Minh Chau – Soldier footprints)
2.2.1.4 The semantics of quantitative adjecive grouup measure the distances of things
Distance is the distance between two objects Typical for this group of adjectives are the pair of basic quantitative adjectives: far, near, quite far, very far, near and far, quite
near… etc In it this pair of basic adjectives far and near represent and appear more The
Trang 13semantics of quantitative adjective group express distances the of things For example:
A horse runs very fast, if a good road, it can run for more than a hundred kilometers an
hour, its jump is as far as 4 meters
(Nguyen Huy Thiep – Collection of short stories)
2.2.2 The semantics of quantitative adjective group express the number of things
Quantity is a number indicating whether there is more or less The typical ones for this
adjective group are quantitative adjectives: full, shallow, sufficient, insufficient, little, much,
crowded, empty, sparse, big, small, middle, etc The adjective have the general meaning of
aan express the number of thing However, the things which are referred to are things thatexist in a set other than things that individually exist For example:
The train tonight is not as crowded as usual, it is empty and seems less luxury.)
(Tu luc van doan Collection, Volume 3)
Figure 2.1 The diagram about semantics of quantitative adjective group of
things in Vietnamese when used with the original meanings
2.3 The valence characteristics of quantitative adjective group of things when used with the original meanings
2.3.1 The valence model of quantitative adjective group of things when used with the original meanings
Based on the principles and tactics of determining the valence, we define the valencemodel of the quantitative adjective group of things as follows:
Quantify
the size
Quantify the weight
Quantify the heat
Quantify the distances
Quantitative adjectives
Trang 14Figure2.2 The valence model of the quantitative adjective group of things in Vietnamese
when used with the original meanings
When used with the original meanings, the valence model of quantitative adjectivegroup consists of four arguments surrounding the nuclear adjectives: (1) Argumentsindicating things having quantitative characteristics, (2) Arguments indicating quantity,(3) Arguments indicating level and nuance of characteristics (4) Arguments indicatingcomparison In particular, the arguments indicating things having quantitativecharacteristics are actants, the remaining three arguments are circonstants
2.3.2 The arguments characteristics of quantitative adjective group of things when used with the original meanings
2.3.2.1 Arguments indicating things having quantitative characteristics
a For content
This type of arguments supplements and realizes the meaning of things withquantitative characteristics expressed by quantitative adjectives These are things in amaterial form that can be perceived by humans Through a survey of 2045 sentences, ofwhich 1224 sentences containing quantitative adjectives used with the original meaning from
55 linguistic sources, the results are as follows:
Arguments indicating quantity
Arguments indicating level and nuance of characteristics
Arguments indicating things having
quantitative characteristics
Arguments indicating comparison
Quantitative adjectives