attributive, predicative as subject com plem ent or object co m p le m en t taking com piem en ỉatíon types of prepositional phrases, ihni< lauses, and ftvinfiniHve post-[r]
Trang 1VNU Journal of Science, Foreign Languages 24 (2008) 157-166
Grammatical and semantic features of some adjectives
denoting happiness - the feeling of pleasure
N g u y e n T h i T h a n h H u o n g ^ N g u y e n T h i V a n L a m ’ *
^ D q u irtm en t o/En^ịlish - Am erican Language and Culture, Colìe^ịc o f Foreign LangĩiaịỊC, Vietnam National U niversity, Hanoi,
^D epartm ent o f Foreign Langua<Ịe, Vitĩh U niversity
Receii*ed 29 febniary 2008
A b s tr a c t T h e to p ic o f h a p p i n e s s d r a w s a lo t o f a tte n tio n fro m d if f e r e n t ty p e s o f p e o p le , in ÍDCt,
th e r e a r c 5 0 «r*any w a y s to e x p r e s s o u r h a p p in e s s , o n e o f w h ic h is e m p lo y in g w o r d s a n d id io m s
d e n o t m g h a p p i n e s s In ỉ h i s a rtic le , t h e a u t h o r s d is c u s s iiv o a d fo c tiv c s d e n o tin g h a p p i n e s s • th e
f e e lin g o f p le a s u r e : " c h t v r i u l " , "ặữy". '’g la d " , "m e tT )'" a n d “ p le a s e d " in te r m s o f g r a m m a r a n d
s c rn in tic s , T h e ir g r.im m » itic a l f e a tu r e s m c k id o s y n ta c tic f u n c tio n s a n d m o r p h o lo g ic a l f e a tu r e s , a n d
th o so m c in tic s in c k u io s le x ic a l m o ủ n ín g , s y n o n y m s , a n ỉo n y m s , c o llo c a tio n s o n d id io m s (ỈÍ w h ic h
th e s e W{>rtis a r e Ù c o m p o n o n l T h e a u t h o r s fin iilly p ro v icio s o m e s u g g e s tio n s in th e ỉcachlri)? n n d
Ic o rn rn j; o f a s w e ll a s in th e tr a n s la tu m c o n c e r n e d w ith th e w o r d s
1 In tro d u c tio n
Ĩ injrVn*itir ih 'm s in Fn^^lish uti!Ì7od to
express h a p p in e s s are n u m e ro u s As Ihc
feeling of h^ippiness can ran g e from ihc
feeling of p le a su re to th a t of g re a t pleasure,
the English la n g u a g e is n o i p o o r in Ihc
e x p r e s s i o n s o f t h e ft?elin j» M o r e c o n c r c t c 'l y ,
ìhủ feeling; of h a p p in e ss can b e expressed by
such tidjeciives donoU ng h a p p in e ss as
" h a p p y "/ " c h c e rfu r' "g ay ", "g lad ", ''m e rry ",
"p lease d ", ''d e lig h te d " , ''e la te d " and
''jubihm l" T h ey arc sub-classified, on the
basis of th e d e g re e of ex p ressio n of p leasu re
they d en o te, in to tw o g ro u p s: (1) " h a p p y
*■ C o r r e s p o n d i n g a u t h o r To!.: 8 4 -4-(038)3555656
E -m a il: n g u y c :n th iv a n la m (< i'g m jjl.c o m
''ch ecrfu l", ''g ay "/ "g lad ", "m e rry " and ''p le a se d " (d en o tin g p leasu re) an d (2)
anH "jubilant" (d en o tin g g re a t pleasure) In th is article, the adjoctivcs d e n o tin g p leasu re, excluding ''h n p p y ", shall be ex p lo red in term s of
g r a m m a r i n c l u d i n g s S y n ta c tic f u n c t i o n s [ 1 |
sy n o n y m s, anto n y m s, collocations [3,4] and idiom s of w h ich Ihc adjeclivcs d en o tin g
p le a su re is a co m p o n en t [3-5]
2 G ram m atic a l fe a tu re s a n d sen td n tìcs of
a d je c tiv e s d e n o tin g p le a su re
T he adjectives "cheerfuT', "g ay ", "g lad '', ''m e rry " a n d ''p le a se d '' are to b e d iscu ssed in 157
Trang 2158 N.T.T HuoìiịỊ, N.T.V í.ỉvn / V N U loumal o f Sàcìice, i'orci^ti ijitji^uages 24 (2008) 157-166
th is sccHon in term of g r a m m a r an d
sem a n tics based on the in fo rm a tio n collected
from Ihc English nativ e s p e a k e rs a n d such
dicU onaries as O xford A dviviced Learner's
D ictionary o f C urrent English [6), 77it’ Am erican
Heritage D ictionary o f V ie En<ỉíisli LaỉỉịỊnage [7]
a n d O xford D ictionary o f Idiom s (8Ị
T hese adjectives d en o te an e m o tio n of
p le a su re p eo p le have, b u t in n o t th e sam e
w avs A ccording to Q u irk ct, at (1972), they
can function as h ead of adjeciiv al p h rases,
co m p le m e n t of such verbs as ''a p p e a r '', "'be",
"b eco m e'', "'feel", '"look", "see m " and
"m ak e", w ith o r w ith o u t taking
co m p lem cn tah o n They alt d e n o te the
p ro p c rt)' o f feeling p leasu re b u t n o t th e one
at a g reat d eg ree; thus, they can b e m o d ified
by su ch in tensifiers of degree as " v e ry ", "so",
"ex tre m ely ", etc To som e e x te n t th e y are
sy n o n y m o u s w ith '"happy", b u t to so m e
o th e r exten t they are not W e sh all an aly ze
ỉhose w o rd s in turn:
2 J ''C h verfu r
2 M Grammatical features ufui ficmiiiitics o f
"C/itvr/iJ"
''C h e e rfu l" sh ares the sy n ta c tic functions
o f ad jcch v es d e n o tin g the p ro p e rly of feeling
p le asu re cxcepl for th e fact th a t it c a n n o t take
com plcm enỉiìtion M orp h o lo g ically , it
consists of tw o m o rp h em es, th e ro o t cheer
a n d suffix - f i i i It d o e s n o i allo w in flectio n for
c o m p ara tiv e an d su p e rla tiv e form s
H o w ev er, it has a v ery p ro d u c tiv e ro o t cheer,
a n d has tw o derivatives: ''c h e e rfu ln e s s'' (n)
a n d “ch ccrfu lly '' (adv)
Sem antically, ''ch ccrfu l" is p o ly scm o u s,
u se d form ally, inform ally, a n d in lite ratu re
w ith its three senses: (a) "in g o o d spirits,
feeling p le a su re all th e rim e", (b) " p le a sa n tly
b r ig h t likely to c a u se h a p p y feelings"/ an d
(c) ''h e lp fu l and en th u siastic, rcilectin g
w illin g n e ss'' " C h e e rfu r' in th e first sen se is â
n e a r-sy n o n y m of " h a p p y " , for plirt of the
m e an in g of "ch eerfu l" suggc\sts a good
ch arac te ristic of so m eb o d y , n o t ju sỉ a h a p p y feeling w h e n so m eth in g g o o d h ap p en s ''C h ccrfu T ' is a sy n o n y m of th e old -fash io n ed
w o rd "c h e e ry ", col loca lin g w ith n o u n s
d e n o tin g p e o p le to describe o n e of their
ch aracteristics as in "a ch eerfu l child", an d
w ith " d isp o sitio n ", ''sm ile'', ''g rin "; “tone", etc.^ as in "í7 checrfid disposition/$ĩnile/^riĩì" an d
a m o re cheerful tone" In Ihe second sense, it is an an to n y m of ''cheerless'", w hich
m e an s " d u ll an d d e p re ssin g ", collocating
w ith su c h typical n o u n s as ''m u sic ", "n ew s'',
"ro o m ", "c o n v ersatio n " "C h o crfu i'' in the
th ird se n se collocates w ith n o u n s d e n o tin g people^ e.g "cheerful worker’"
2.1.2 VJord$ fo rm ed ừ om "Checrflit"
"C heerfulness'" a s a n o n -co u n t n o u n can function as h e a d of n o u n p h ra se s an d clause consU tuents: s u b je c t objeci a n d com plem ent;
an d o ccu r w ith the p rep o sitio n "w ith " as in
"ĩoork w ith rhrerftilnr<i<i"
"C heerfully" (adv) can colkxrate w ith such typical verbs as "live", "accept"', "grin", "sãy"
"sing", "sm ile'', "'whistle”, ''w ork", tind others
T h e ro o t "c h e e r'' (n) is also n polyscm ous
w o rd w ith tw o senses ''C h e er" w ith Ihe first sense " g o o d sp irits, a feeling of h appiness
a n d c o n fid c n c e " is a n o n-counI noun This sen se is d a te d , literary o r form al "C h eer'' in tho sc c o n d sen se '‘a sh o u t o f joy, praise an d
e n c o u ra g e m e n t'' is a c o u n t n o u n w idely used
a t p resen t "C h eer" in the first sense can form the d e riv a tiv e "cheerless" (adj), a p a rt from
"ch ccrfu l" by m e a n s of derivalion
"C h eerless" m ean in g "lack in g cheer;
d e p re ssin g " also has tw o derivatives
"ch eerlessn ess" (n) a n d "cheerlessly" (adv)
b y m e a n s of d eriv atio n 'C h e e ry ' (adj) is also
Trang 3N.T.T N J V ỉ,am / VNU lourỉtaỉ o f Sàence Foreigv bỉngìta^cs 24 (2(X)8> Ĩ57-Ỉ66 159
a d erivative of ''ch eer" (n) w ith tw o
derivatives; '"cheeriness" (n) a n d ''cheerily"
(adv), ''C h e e ry '' m eans " sh o w in g or
su g gesting g o o d spirits'" ond sy n o n y m o u s
w ith "cheerful", b u t is ou t-d alo d
The roor "cheer'', by m eans of zero
derivation, can change into "cheer'' (v) "Cheer"
(v) has tw'o senses It is bolh an intransitive and
m onotransitivc verb in the first sense of ‘'give
encouragem ent (to som ebody or a team or â cast
of performers)"- In Ihc socond sense of "make
happier or m ore ch ccrfu l less w orried", '"cheer"
is a m ono-transiti\'0 verb, It can form an
adjective "cheering" m eaning "m aking checrfuL
encouraging" as in “clh\rtnỊỊ ĨĨC 10 $''; a n d such
phrasal verbs as 'V hw r som ebody on" moaning
"cncourage somebHKÌy by chcvring", an d ''chcx?r
(somebody) u p '' m eaning "(cause som ebody to)
become choerfiir'
''Cheers" form ed from "cheer'' as cl noun is
an interjection used for expressing good wishes
w hen drinking w ith somoone, especially w hen
taking the tirst m o u th fill of a new drink In
British English; it iilso m eans "gcx>dbve" or
" t h n n k v o u '' in a n i n f o r m a l W ily.
By m e a n s of co m p o u n d in g , ''c h e e r" (n)
can form ỉhữ c o m p o u n d "ch e cr-lea d c r" {n)
w hich d e n o te s o ilh cr a person w h o lead s the
cheering of s p c c tn to rs cis iit a s p o rls e v e n t or
th o u g h tless p raise tin nduliitor It is used
especially in th e U ni led States By m e a n s of
back-form ation, I h e verb ''c h e er-lea d " is
iorm ed, m e a n in g "lend o rg a n iz ed cheering,
as at sp o rts e v e n ts '' or "express o r p ro m o te
a u to m atic or scrvilo praise"
2,2. X fli/"
2.2 J Cramnmticnl features inui sarumtics o f ‘'Gay"
'G a y " sh ares th e syntactic fu n ctio n s of
"choerful" M orphologically, a s a o n e
-m o rp h e -m e w o rd , it has tw o inflected for-m s
gayer (co m p arativ e) an d ịỊayest (su p erlatìv e)
by v irtu e of inflection, an d som e d eriv ativ e s
by m ea n s of deriv atio n Sem aniically, ''g a y " has th re e senses: (a) ''sh o w in g or
lig h th e arte d excitem ent", (b) '"bright or attra ctiv e so lhat one feels h a p p y to see or
h e a r it", (c) "hom osexual; of, relatin g to, or
s h a rin g th e lifestyle an d concerns of the
h o m o sex u al c o m m u n ity ''
T he first tw o m eanings of "gay" have becom e d ated d u e to the presence of the third
m eaning "G ay" in the first sense is near-
sy n o n y m o u s w ith ''cheer/ul'' in the first sense, for it describes the light-hearted spontaneity rather than the characteristic It is generally used to qualify a gesture or a statem ent rather than the person, thus collocating w ith such
w o rd s as "w av e (of the hand)", "sm ile'', ''lau g h ter", e tc "Gay" in the second sense can occur w ith ''colours", "streets”, ''room " etc It
is rarely used in regular conversalion, but
m ostly used in d ated literary w orks H ow ever, '"gay" is pre-cm pled with ib contem porary use
to denote malt* hom osexuals Examples of the current u se of "gay" include ''G ay Liberation
F iu u l ', "ị^^y baib"
2,2.2 form ed from "Cay"
"G ay" (adj) in tl^e first tw o senses has
"'gaiety" as non-counI noun o r count noun, ''gaieties'' as plural noun and "gaily" (adv)
"Gaieties" denotes happy events and activities, especially at a tim e of public holiday '"Gay" (adj) in the third sense has tw'O noun derivatives
"'gay" (n) (denoting gny people) and gayness'' (n) (denoting the state of being gny)
2.3 "G/ad"
2.3.1 Crammaticni/eahỉrcs and sciriantics o f "Clad"
''G la d " has a num ber of the syntactic functions as head of an adjectival phrase
Trang 4160 N T T , N T V Lam / VNU Jourml of Science, Foreign Lcitf^Uiis^cs 24 (2()()3) 157-Ĩ66
attributive, predicative as subject com plem ent
or object co m p le m en t taking com piem en ỉatíon
types of prepositional phrases, ihni< lauses, and
ftvinfiniHve post-m odification an d allow ing
com parison structures of equality, inequality,
com paratìve and superlative These syntactic
functions are not the same for all senses In
other w ords, its syntactic functions may
depend on each of its senses M orphologically,
as a one-m orphem e adịeclive, "glad" has two
inflected forms; ịỊỈaíỉdíT (com parative) and
glứíủiest (superlative) It can form o th er related
com pounding
Sem antically, ''g lad " is a p o lysem ous
w o rd h a v in g five senses "G la d " in th e first
sense is sy n o n y m o u s w iih " h a p p y " (in the
first sense), d e n o tin g ỉhe feeling of p leasu re
ab o u t so m eth in g good th a t has h a p p en ed
(especially becausc a situation has im proved)
It is frequently used inform ally an d in
literature It can be the head of adjectival
phrases, an d function as com plcm enl; b u t in
this sense, it cannot be a pre-m odifier of noun
phrases As a com plem ent "glad"' can take
phrases w ith "about"; that - clauscs an d to -
infinitive post-mcxlificaHon, e.g.:
/ was (ỊỈad to Icarftlhcar/see tiu y 'd reached
home safely.
She ivas verỵ ỊỊÌad about her exam results
"G lad'' can be an objcct com plem ent as in:
Her exam results could make them ^Ind
The scco n d sense of “g lad " is "cau sin g or
b rin g in g h a p p in e ss" In th is sense, "g la d " can
only be a p re-m o d ifier of n o u n p h rases as in
''g lad n ew s", "g lad d a y s'', an d "a glad
occasion" T he th ird sense of "g lad ", tho u g h
archaic, is " sh o w in g h ap p in ess" "G lad " can
also only b e u se d attrib u tiv ely in th is sense,
e.g glad c r y '\ "ứ glad expression''.
A n o th er sense of "g lad " • "v e ry w illing"
m akes it sy n o n y m o u s w ith " h a p p y " again
Like '"happy" in th e sa m e m eaning, it is form al w o rd fu n c tio n in g as subjeci
co m p lem en i tak in g ỉh e co m p lem en tatio n
ty p e of iO 'infinitive p o sí-m o d iíicatio n ; but can n o t take co m p ariso n stru c tu re s, and
c a n n o t b e a prc-m D ciifier o f n o u n p h ra se s:
/ shall be o n ly tOi'f ị^ỉỉĩd to help you / lis /o n /
T he last sense "grateful; a p p reciativ e"
m akes the w o rd d istin c t from " h a p p y " In
th is sense, it can p lay th e function of subject
co m p lem en l on ly ta k in g p rep o sitio n al
p h ra se s w ith "of", a s in:
r d be g lad of so m e h e lp vviỉh these boxes
2 3 2 W ords forfued fro m ''Glad"
It can form such d e riv a tiv e s as " g la d " (v),
" g la d d e n " (v), "g la d n ess" (n) a n d " g la d ly ” (adv) by m ean s 0 Í d eriv a tio n '"Glad" (v) as
an archaic v erb is a d escrip tiv e sy n o n y m of ''g la d d e n '' (v) Both of them m ean "m ako glad o r h a p p y " "G ladden"' (v) is a m o n o tran sitiv e verb, often collocating w ith "o n e 's heart" as in:
The news gladdened his heart.
"G ladness" (n) m eans "happiness"
"CfldtJiy" n)L’iỉn:> "happily, will) gratitude" an d "w illingly" ''G ladly" can also
bo a constituent of a sem i-idiom "not/never suffer ÍOOÌS gKidly", m e a n in g " n o t to be p atien t
w ith people w hom on e considers to be foolish"
By m e a n s of co m p o u n d in g , "g lad '' can be
a c o n stitu e n t of such c o m p o u n d s as "gltid eye" (n), "g lad h a n d " (n), "g lad rags" (n) and
"'gladsom e" (adj) "G lad eye" is a British English o ld -fash io n ed sla n g w o rd m ean in g
"a look of sexual in v itatio n '' ''G lad h an d ", an
o l d - f a s h i o n e d i n f o r m a l w o r d , m e a n s "a
w arm w elco m e or g reetin g , especially one
m a d e in o rd e r to g a in p erso n al ad v an tag e" The collocations "give so m eb o d y /g et the glad
h a n d " a re inform ally u se d w ith th e m eaning
o f "tre a t so m eb o d y /b e tre a te d w arm ly and
Trang 5N T ĩ N T V iMfn / VNU lourunl o f Science, Foreign Lauguiiges 24 (2008Ỉ Ì57’ Ỉ66 161
enthusiastically, b u t oflen insincerely" By
m ean s of zero d eriv atio n , "pliici hand'" can be
a m ono-transitive verb, m caninj’ "greet
som ebody w arm ly an d enihusiastically, but
o fte n insincerely" "'Glad rag s'' is an inform al
w o rd in British English d e n o ỉin g clothes for a
special occasion or celebration, u is usually
u se d in its plural form Finally, “gladsom e",
an archaic literary w o rd , m ean s "cheerful"
To su m up "g la d " is a p o ly sem o u s w ord
w ith five sen ses lind it has d ifferen t functions
in cach sense II is also a c o n stitu en t of five
literally in te rp re te d a n d w h o se m eanings
cannot be d ed u c e d from th e ir constituents
'G la d ' can only bo literally in te rp re te d in the
archaic literary c o m p o u n d g lad som e'
2.4 "M rrry"
2.4 1 G m ĩiỉnatiúĩl fiV tnn^ ỉĩĩu is iv m tic s o/"M err"
" M e r r y " also has the sam e syntactic
functions a s ''ch ecrfu l" It is ÍỈ o n c-m o rp h em e
adjective, w hich h a s iw o in fleck'd w
ord-f n r m « ;‘ ỉttrrriềr ( r o m p n r n h v o ) « in d nurrif^^t
(su p erlativ e) and con io tm o th e r w o rd s by
m eans of d e riv atio n and com pounding-
Sem antically, it is also ÍỈ p o ly scm o u s w ord
w ilh throe senses In Ihe firsl sense "full of
lively h ap p in ess, fu n ", used in literature,
"m crrv" is n ear-sy n o n y m o u s w ith "cheerful"
iind ''h a p p y " , for it describes the o u tw a rd
m an ifestn lio n s of e n jo y m e n t especially in
e n te rta in m e n t It can b e a p rc-m o d ifier of
n o u n p h rases, collocaling w ilh n o u n s
d e n o tin g p eo p le c»nd o th er nouns, e.g 'lif e ''
in " m e n y livcỷ": o r associating w ith the
c o m m u n ic atio n of enjo y m en t - th ro u g h the
eyes, sm ile, spccch, etc., e g, '‘a merry
"m erry n fe s" o r "/I n u rrỵ hcari'\ ị{ can lilso be a
subject c o m p le m e n t as in:
We w ere very tired, w e locre very merry.
"M erry " has a n o th er sense of "m a rk e d by
or offering fun a n d enjoym ent at p artie s or special o ccasio n s'- T h o u g h "m erry " in
"M erry C h ristm as" co n v ey s th e idea of festivities, it is n ear-sy n o n y m o u s w ith
" h a p p y '' since w e can replace "h a p p y " it for it; m a k in g a w ish w ith sim ilar m eaning ''M e rry '' in th is sense collocates w ith 'd a y ', ''tim e ", "feast", etc
H ow ever, "m e rry " is inform ally used to
m ean " ra ỉh c r d ru n k " as in:
VVc got a bit m erry at the pỉìrtĩ/.
2.4.2 Words am i idioms form ed w ith " M trry "
By m ean s of d eriv atio n , " m e rry '' has
th re e d eriv ativ es: "m errin ess" (n), "m errily" (adv) an d "m e rrim e n t" (n) "M e rrim e n t'' is a
n o n -co u n t n o u n , form ally used to denote
h a p p y talk an d Inughtcr By m eans of
co m p o u n d in g , "'m erry" is a c o n stitu en t of the
co m p o u n d n o u n ''m c rry -g o -o ro u n d '' h is also a p o ly sem o u s w o rd d e n o tin g eilh cr a revolving circu lar platform fitted w ith seats, often in th e form cf an im als, rid d en for
a m u s e m e n t o r ii p ivcv of p lay g ro u n d
p latfo rm that revolves w h e n p u sh e d or
p ed aled , o r a b u sy socitil ro u n d , a w hirl as in
‘'à m e rrj’-g o -ro u n d of parties", ''M e rry '' is also a c o n stitu e n t of the
co m p o u n d n o u n “m erry -m o k in g ", a literary
u n co u n ta b le n o u n mcMning "fu n and
e n jo y m e n t especially cnling, drinking,
d an cin g an d gam es" This n o u n is form ed from the sem i-id io m '"m ake m erry", w hich
m e a n s ''to h av e fun, especially eating,
d rin k in g for e n jo y m en t'' ''M erry -m ak er" is
a n o th e r n o u n form ed from th is idiom to
d e n o te p eo p le w h o m ake m crrv A nother idiom , of w h ich "m erry '' is A c o m p o n e n t is
"th e m o re ihe m errier'' It is a literal idiom
m e an in g "'the m o re p eo p le joined in an activity, th e m o re enjoyable it w ill be"
Trang 6162 N T T N J 'V ỉ,am / VNU Journal of Science, Forvigii ÌMĨÌỊỊUÍÌ^CS 24 (20()8) Ĩ57-Ĩ66
fcciturcs an d sem antics of "morry'" as well as
w o rd s an d idiom s farm ed w ith ''m err)'"
"Merry"' is a polyscm ous w ord w ith its
derivatives, co m p o u n d s an d idiom s of w hich it
is a constituent The im portant point to note is
ứtat it m ay have similar or diffcreni syntactic
functions in its different senses W hen denoting
one of h a p p y sỉaỉcs, it can function as pre-
m odifier of noun phrases an d com plem ent
w ith o u t taking com plem entation
2.5 ''P lc a s a r
2.5.1 Grammatical fcaturofi and <>cĩuaììtics o f
'^Pleaseir
'T le a s e d " , as an ndjcctive h av in g an
identical form w ith, b u t d ifferen t features
from , the ptist pdrliciplc of th e v erb '"please";
has the sy n tactic functions as h ead of an
M orphologically, it has tw o m o rp h em es: the
ro o ỉ please (v) an d suffix - ed. n has no
inflected form s for c o m p ara tiv e a n d
"p le a se d " is also th e n o u n d eriv ed from
"p lease " (v) - "p le asu re " (n)
In te rm s of s e m a n tic s ''p lo iised " is a v e r y
s ta n d a rd term , h av in g tw o senses In the first
sense, it is dcscripH vciy sy n o n y m o u s w ith
" h a p p y " a n d in ih cir first senses,
d e n o tin g Iho feeling of p le a su re or
satisfacH on a b o u t som eU iing good th a t has
h a p p e n e d , b u t it is not as all-inclusive as
" h a p p y ' ' P l e a s e d " is freq u en tly u sed
inform ally w ilh th is sense, u is sim ilar to
"glad"', b u t d ifferen t from " h a p p y " in th a t it
functioning as subjcct com plem ent taking
w ith o u t takm g com plem entation, b u t it cannot
be a pre-m odifier of noun phrases in this sense
The com plem entation type's of "p lease d " as
a subject CO in pic mi* n I are preposition til phrases
w ith "a b o u t" an d ''vviỉh"; tiuii - clauses a n d k>- iníinitìve post-m odification as in:
/ am very pleased that you have decided to come
The second sense of "pleased" is ''w illing" ''P leased '' in this sense is also a sy n o n y m of
"h a p p y " a n d "glad" w ith the sam e d escriptive
m ean in g an d connotiition Like " h a p p y " and '"glad", "p leased " in this sense is form ally used,
p laying the function of subject com plem ent taking com plom cniation of the t\'p e of t(y
m finihve post-m o d iHcíìtion only, as in:
W e will ỈK' pleased to offer (liixf (ĩssừtance you
2.5-2- ĩiìiom s w ith ‘'Plcnseir
" P le a se d '' is a c o n stitu e n t of tw o idiom s
"P lea se d as P unch" is a cu ltu ra lly related idiom , m o a n in g "very p le ase d '' 'T u n c h '" is
J u d y 's h o o k -n o sed h u sb a n d in th e com ic
p u p p e t sh o w ''P u n ch an d Ju d y " H e alw ay s seem s to b e pleased an d excited, especially
w h e n d o in g so m eth in g cruel to othur
ch a ra cte rs T he o lh er idiom "p le a se d w ith
A Ị i t o r n l i r l i n m , m o n n < ; " ( t o n ) satisfied w ilh whcit o n e has done'" T h ese tw o
id io m s can function as co m plem ent, b u i not
as p re -m o d ifie r of a n o u n phrase
2.5.3 W ords form ed fro m "Pleaded"
W e are to deal w ith such w o rd s related to
"p leased " as "please" (v); "pleasing" (adj),
"p leasan t" (ildj), and ''pleasure'" (n) As the root
of "p lease d ", "picose" (v); a onc-m orphem o
w o rd , has hvo senses In the first sense of
"m ake (som ebody) happy, give pleasure or satisfaction (to)", il is both an intransitive verb
a n d a m ono-transilivc o n e as in:
The g irl in the shop i$ always eager to please (everyone).
"P lea se " (v) in the first sense, as a m o n o tra n sitiv e v erb , has " g la d d e n " a n d " d e lig h r
Trang 7N.T.T liitoỉỉg, N TV Lam / V N U lournỉìỉ o f Science, Foreign Laìíguíì^es 24 (2(X)8) Ĩ57-Ĩ66 163
as rcar-sy n o n y m s To please so m e o n e
sup p oses a definite efforl being m a d e to give
pleasure T h e second sense of " p le a se " (v) is
" w a n t, like o r c h o o se " in w h ic h ''p le a s e " OS a
m oncvtransitivc verb is form ally u s e d in
su b o rd in a te clauses, e.g, " w h a te v e r you
please", etc "Plense" in th e se tw o senses
cann o t be u se d in progressive forms
"Please" (v) is a lexical co n s titu e n t of
three idiom s T he idiom "If y o u please"' is
f o r m al l y u s e d ÌO g i v e force a f t e r r e q u e s t s ,
sim ilar to the interjection "pIcMSc" It also has
an old-fashioned sense o f "C an y o u believe
this?'' in w hich, the idiom is a p u r e one, as in:
He's broken m y bia/clc, aud tw w , i f you
p i c a ^ e , h e ĨUC t o
Cff it nu'ndcd so that he ÙÌỈĨ wst* it a*ịíìin
' T l e a s e o n es el f" is n liierni i d i o m ,
m e a n i n g c i t h e r " d o w h a t e v e r o n e l i k e s
w i t h o u t h a v i n g to o b e y o t h e r s ' ' o r as a n
infom ial impernlive: " D o w h a te v e r y o u like,
it d o e s n 't m a tte r to "P lease God'" is a
p u r e idiom u sed form ally in its s e n se of “ I
hopo; m a y G o d let it hnppon; m a y G o d g ra n t
som ething"
A p a r t rru m ' pl(MS0ti' (ncl)), Ihe roo i
'please" has cinothor diTÌvotive as adjccUve:
"pleasing" w ith ih v idcniicnl form of prescn i
piirtidplo Unliki* "pICi'istHi" (adj), " p le asin g "
(adj) has n d eriv e d a d v erb "pICiisingly"
"Pleasing" is iorm«illy u se d in th e sen se
of "'likable, g iv in g plccisurc or e n jo y m e n t" , in
w h ic h " p le a s in g '' is n p r e -m o d if ie r o f a n o u n
phfcisc as in "a pleasing y o u n g m a n " ,
“pleosing d rcn m s" a n d ''p leasin g ey e or
face''; o r n c o m p lem ent ta k in g th e
c o m p le m e n ta ỉio n type of p rep o sitio n al
phrases w ith "lo'' as in:
l}ĩc results were plca$in<^ to ỉìotlì o f US,
T he adjective "p leasan t" is also related to
'p lea se " (v) in ierm s 0Í form It, h o w e v e r, h as
such d e riv a tiv e s by m ean s o f d e r iv a tio n as:
"p lea sa n tn e ss'' (n) " p le a sa n tly " (adv),
" u n p le a sa n t" (adj), " u n p le a sa n tn e ss " (n) an d
"u n p le a sa n tly " (adv) " P lc a sa n l" is a
po ly sem o u s w o r d with three senses T he first sen se is '"giving on e cl feeling of e n jo y m e n t or happiness, enjoyable" Il collocates vviỉh
" m e a l " , " e v e n i n g " , ' ' v i e w " , ' ' w a l k ' ' ,
''atm o sp h ere", "smel!'', " s u r p r is e '', etc In
th e sccond sen se of 'iik a b le , friendly",
"p leasan t" occurs w ith " w o m a n " , "girl",
"sm ile", "voice", " m a n n er", eỉc- A p a rt from
th e funcHon of pre-m o d i/ier of n o u n phrases,
it can b e a c o m p le m e n t w i t h o r w i t h o u t
prepositíonal p h rases w ith " to " a s in:
Please miikc an effort io be p h is a n t to yotư brother,
"P leasant” moans ''fine, fair an d com fortable'' w h e n it is u sed to describe the
w eather " U n p leasan t'' (tidj) is ih c a n to n y m
o f " p le a s a n t " in all senses
The n o u n derived from "'please'' (v), also from "p le ase d '' (adj), is " p le a su re '' T h e first
se n s e of " p le a s u r e " fo u n d a lot in Ihe s t u d y is
" th e positive staie or feeling of h a p p in e s s or saHsfiiction f r o m tin o x p o r i o n r o t ha f
o n e enjoys'" In this sense, it is a non-count noun and it can be ust‘d in prepositional phrases ^iccompnnied by ''w ith" nnd ''of" as in:
He listcfwd w ith I*leasurv to the bcautifịỉl ìĩỊi4íik\
' T l c i i s u r e " is also 4i n o n - c o u n t n o u n in iis
second sense "d o in g things for fun rath er
th a n for w ork", In Ihis sense, it h as a restricted cotlocđíion ''p le a su re c ru ise ” a n d it
c an b e u s e d in p r e p o s i t i o n a l p h r a s e s w i t h
"for'" as in:
He has ịỊone to Paris fo r pleasure.
'T le a s u re '' is also a n o n - c o u n t n o u n
d e n o tin g desire o r wish In th is case, it can
a lso be fo rm a lly o r p o lite ly u s e d in
p repositional phrases w ith " ã i” a s in:
You are free to come at your pleasure (i.e "as you wish'").
Trang 8164 N T T Ĩiuoĩìt^, N.T.V ỉ.am / V7VU Ịourm l o/Sâcnce, Foreign LatìỊịuages 24 (2(H)8) Ĩ57'Ĩ66
"Plciisurc*" as a count n o u n denotes a
th in g thal causes happiness, enjoym ent or
satisfaction
T h e re arc five idiom s of w h ich ''pleasure"
{n) is a lexical com ponent 'T a k e p leasu re in"
is form ally u sed in its sense of "enjoy; get
e n j o y m e n t o r s a t i s f a c t i o n f r o m " It i s u s e d f o r
Ihe en jo y m en t gained by d o in g som eth in g
w h ic h gives the d o e r unfair p o w e r ÌO others
"P leasure" here can collocatc w ith "no",
"liule", "g re at", etc "Have the pleasure o r is
used Í0 m ak e polite requests, invitatìons as in:
M a y / have the piensurc o f the dance?
"W ilh p leasure", m ean in g "'willingly; of
co u rsc" is form ally used to reply requests or
invitaHon T w o o lh cr idioms: ''m y pleasure'"
a n d "ii is a p l e a s u r e " is f o r m a l l y u s e d to
reply tD ex pressions of than k s w ilh the same
d escrip tiv e m e a n in g as "you are welcome'',
''n o t at all" o r ''it's no trouble''
'TleasLiro" is also a verb by m ean s of zero
d eriv a tio n a p p lied to "p leasure'' (n)
'T le a s u re " (v), though rarely used, can be
m o n o -transitive in ils sense of "give pleasure
o r en jo y m e n t to" as in:
O u r host pleasured us w ith his company, an d
in tr a n s itiv e in iis tw o o i h e r s e n s e s "ta k e
p le a s u r e " a n d " g o in s e a rc h OÍ p le a s u r e o r
en jo y m en t" as in:
The hiker Ị)(tt4:ficd, pleasuring in the sounds o f
the forest.
"P leasu re" (n) has tw o dcrivaHves
" p le a s u r a b le " (adj) iind " p le a s u r a b ly '' (a d v )
by v irtu e of d eriv atio n 'T lc a s u ra b le " (adj) is
a formal w o rd w ilh the sense of "giving
typical such w o r d s as "scnsaiion" as in "a
p le asu rab le sen salio n " o r "com panionship"
as in ''p le a su ra b le co m p anio nship "
By m e a n s of c o m p o u n d in g , "pleasure"
(n) is a co n stitu e n t of six co m p o un d s
" P leasu re boach'' (n) is u s e d in British
English to d en o te places of o u td o o r
e n te rta in m e n t at the seaside, w ith lar^e
m a c h in e s to rid e on n n d o t h e r am u sem e n ts- 'Tlea,sure seeker" (n) d en o tes p e o p le w h o do
so m eth in g for p le a su re w ith o u l con sid e rin g
o th er people 'T le a su re -se e k in g '' (adj) h as the sense of " d e v o te d to a w ish or desire'" 'T le a s u re boat" (n), th o u g h d ated , d e n o te s boats u sed for sh o rỉ tourisi trips "Pleasure
c r a f r (n), w ith th e sam e fo rm for both
s in g u lar a n d plural, is a descrip tiv e sy n o n y m
of " p leasu re b o a t" (n) Finally, "p leasu re-
g r o u n d " (n) d e n o te s areas u sed for public
e n terta in m e n t o r rccroation
In this section, no! only has "pleased" been discussed, b u t o lh e r w o r d s a n d idiomb related to ''p lease d ", especially “p leasu re" as
a n o u n d e n o tin g h a p p y states h av e been
d ealt w ith as well It follows that '"pleased" is
a p o ly sem o u s w o rd ; w o r d s related to
"'pleased" in term s of form, ho w ev er, m ay or
m a y not be p o ly sem o u s nnd related to ''p le ase d ” in tcrm.s of motining
3 C o n c lu sio n
We h a v e co n d u c te d the investigalion Uitu the gram m atical fCiituros a n d scm aniic
s tru ctu re s of the five English adjcctivcs
d e n o t i n g p l e a s u r e : " c h c e r i u t " , " g a y ' ' , " g l a d " ,
"merry"' a n d "'pleased", These adjcctives,
th o u g h s h arin g so m e syniactic functions,
h av e their o w n syntactic a n d m orphological features In rcspcct of scmanlics, "glíícl'' íind
" p lease d " h ave o n e of th eir senses of
d e n o tin g the feeling of p leasu re w hen
so m ething g o o d h a s h a p p e n e d '"Cheerful" has o ne of three senses s u g g estin g o n e of the
h a p p y states - the good characferistic of som ebody, not just ihe h a p p y feeling w h en
so m eth in g g o o d h ap p e n s ''G a y '' has one sense d escrib in g o ne of the h a p p y states - Ihe light-hearted spontaneity, b u t is d a le d today
Trang 9N T T ỊỊuori‘ị, N.T.V' Lam / VNU Ịourml of Science, Foreign Uingna^es 24 (2008) 157-166 165
O n e sense of ''m e rrv " d escribes the o u tw a rd
m anifestations of e n j o y m e n t especially in
entertain m e nt
O n teaching a n d learn in g these five
w o rd s, like Icaching the w o r d “h ap py ",
a llh o u g h the in tro d u c ỉio n of Ihcir
g r r ỉ m m a t i r ì l f e a t u r e s m a y b e s i m p l e r t h a n
that of their sem antic structures, they m u st
not b e sep arated from cach other Different
techniques of p resen tin g th eir m ea n in g (as in
U r 19] ) sh o u ld b e a p plied The stu dy has
p ro v e d that thcro aro no absolute; but
descriptive, s y n o n y m s; thus, the teaching of
these w o rd s by m ean s of sy n o n y m s cannot
be c o n d u c tc d alone By m e a n s of the c o n te x t
connotntion can be co nveyed W ith regard to
the p o ly sen io u s w o rd s, o th er m eanings
s h o u ld be in tro d u ce d to the English learners
after they h av e m aste re d the central m eaning
of d e n o tin g h a p p y stales T he c o m p o u n d s
an d id io m s of w h ich th e w o rd s are a
con stitu en t sh o u ld b e p r o v id e d then; for, in
each c o m p o u n d or idiom , the w o rd s m ay noỉ
carry th eir literal m oaning
W ith regard to tra n sla tin g an English
v l i s n » u I vvl ú^- h lliL'M.' f i v e v \A )id s,
into a n o th e r lan g uag o o r v i a ' versa, the
tr.inslalors sh o u ld carcfully aniilyze the
conte'.t of the d isco u rse a n d I he linguistic
features OÍ the d isc o u rse w ith n view to
co m m u n icalcd W h en d e a lin g w ith these
English w o rd s, the Iranslaỉors sh o uld base on
the context, w h c lh e r inform al or formal or
literarV; to m a k e a h a p p y choicc of the words
The h tip p y choice a n d th e correct use of the
w o rd s by the translators, as a m atter of fa c t
gram m atical features a n d se m a n tic stru c tu res
of the w ords These English w o rd s, ap art from their description of happiness^ h av e their connotations They also h av e their
b ro ad collocational ran g es o r restricted collocations If the tra n sla to rs h a v e a com p re h en siv e an d system atic k n o w le d g e of these English w o rd s, Ihey will ceriainly h av e
no difficulty in translating them Hopefully^ the stu d y of the five English w o r d s can help Ihe teachers, learners a n d tra nslato rs of English w ith m o re or less k n o w le d g e about these w ords
R eferences
[1] R Q u ir k , S G r e e n b a u m , G l-cech , j S v a rtv ik ,
A Gramniíĩr o f Coĩĩtemporary English, L o n g m a n ,
L o n d o n , 1972-[2] G Y ulo, V ie Stỉidy o f ÍMn<ịtifíỊịe, C a m b r id g e
U n iv e rs ity P re s s C a m b r i d g e a n d N e w Y o rk , 1985.
[3] J L y o n s, C a n i b r i d g c U n iv e r s ity
P re s s , C a m b r id g e , 1977.
|4 ) J L y o n s, A n Introduction.
C a m b r id g e U n iv e rs ity P re s s , C a m b r id p o ,
1995-|5] c F e rn a n d o Idioma nnd liiioniiJlicitv 0%inr<\
U n iv e rs ity P ro ss, O x fo rd a n d N e w Y o rk , 1996.
|6) Oxford Advntĩced Leanu'r's Dictionary o f Current
I n ^lish, K ỈÌ cy cl o p e d i c [id 1 1 lu n , O x f I )fd
U n iv e rs ity P rc s s O x fo rd , 2000.
[7) The American Hcriin^c Dictionarỵ of Tlie English Lnn^uaịỉe, H o u g h to n M ifflin , B iỉsto n , 2000 [8) A P C o w ie , R M iick ln , I.R M c C a ig , Oxford Dictionory of tnỊ^ìish ĩảioms, O x f o r d U n iv e r s ity
P re s s , O x fo rd , 1993.
[9) P U r , A C oun^e i n L ũ tiịỊu a g c T e a c h in g :
P r a c tic e a n d T h e o r y , C a m b r i d g e
U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , C a m b r i d g e N e w Y o r k
a n d M e l b o u r n e , 1996.
Trang 10166 N.T.T ỊỊiuyn^ N.T.V Larn / VNU lo u rm i o/Saeỉĩce, Foreign 24 (2(X)8) 157-166
Đặc điếm ngữ pháp và ngữ nghĩa của các tính từ' chi hạnh phúc
N g u y ề n T h ị T h a n h H ư ơ n g V N g u y ề n T h ị V â n L a m
-^ K h o a N < ị ô h n g ữ v ì ì V ã n h ó a A n h - M ỉ ) , Trường Dại học NsỊoại tĩỊỊir, D ại học Qtiôc ị;ia H à Nội, ỉ là Nội, Việt N am ' Khoa N ^oợi n\Ịữ, TrườìĩỊị D ại học Viỉĩh, N g h ệ A n , V\ệt N am
Đ ế ỉâí hạn h p h ủ c luòn Ihu h ú t sự ch ú ý cú a m ọi ng ư ò i T h ự c t ế cỏ rất nhiếu cách đ ẽ d ic n ta cảm giác h ạ n h phúC; mộí íro n g n h ữ n g cách đ ỏ là s ừ d ụ n g l ù và th anh n g ữ chi sự h ạ n h phúc
T ro n g bài b ảo này, 5 tính lừ chi h ạ n h phúc: " c h e e r fu r ', '"gay"/ "g lad '', " m e rry " v à "'pleased" đ ư ợ c
p h â n tích vế mặí n g u p h á p vả n g ử nghĩa, v ể n g ữ p h á p , c h ú n g tôi đ ể cập đ ẽ h các ch ú c n ả n g cú
p h á p cùa nó trong cảu và các đ ặc điểm v ể h in h thái, v ẽ n g ử nghĩa, c h ú n g tòi b àn đ e n câU trúc
n g ữ n g hĩa cùa từ, từ đ ổ n g nghĩa, trái nghĩa, kết h ọ p ỉừ v à các thành n g ữ ch ứ a các từ này Q u a đây, c h ú n g tòi đ ư a ra một sô*gợi ý tro n g việc d ạ y t ừ chi h ạ n h phúc