Features of quantifiers in english based on literary works and their vietnamese translation version

This study is conducted in the English literary work Jane Eyre and their Vietnamese translation version to find out the similar and different quantifier‟s features in terms of syntactic

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

M.A THESIS

FEATURES OF QUANTIFIERS IN ENGLISH BASED ON LITERARY WORKS AND THEIR VIETNAMESE

TRANSLATION VERSION

(ĐẶC ĐIỂM CỦA TỪ ĐỊNH LƯỢNG TRONG TIẾNG ANH DỰA TRÊN TÁC PHẨM

VĂN HỌC VÀ BẢN DỊCH TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT)

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

M.A THESIS

FEATURES OF QUANTIFIERS IN ENGLISH BASED ON LITERARY WORKS AND THEIR VIETNAMESE

TRANSLATION VERSION

(ĐẶC ĐIỂM CỦA TỪ ĐỊNH LƯỢNG TRONG TIẾNG ANH DỰA TRÊN TÁC PHẨM

VĂN HỌC VÀ BẢN DỊCH TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT)

ĐẶNG THỊ THÙY DƯƠNG

Field: English Language Code: 8.22.02.01

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Hoang Tuyet Minh

Hanoi - 2020

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

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

entitled “Features of quantifiers in English based on literary works and their Vietnamese translation version” submitted in partial fulfilment 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

Hanoi, 2020

DANG THI THUY DUONG

Approved by SUPERVISOR

Assoc Prof Dr Hoang Tuyet Minh

Date : / / 2020

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Hoang Tuyet Minh, who has patiently and constantly supported me through the stages of the study, and whose stimulating ideas, expertise, and suggestions have inspired me greatly through my growth as an academic researcher

Secondly, I sincerely thank all the lecturers of the Hanoi Open University, especially the lecturers in the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies who have been teaching and conveying to me the enthusiastic guidance and valuable teaching and tremendous assistance and skills in the learning process

Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family, my husband and my loving girl for the sacrifice they have devoted to the fulfillment of this academic work

ABSTRACT

The title of the thesis is a study on English quantifiers and their Vietnamese

translation version This study is conducted in the English literary work Jane Eyre

and their Vietnamese translation version to find out the similar and different quantifier‟s features in terms of syntactic and semantic features To carry out the research, contrastive analysis method and descriptive method are sorted to make an end of the results About the theory, the thesis clarifies the characteristics, the comparison of quantifiers in English and Vietnamese translation version in terms of syntactic and semantic features In practice, the study contributes to the analysis, teaching English quantifier‟s structures into Vietnamese in literary works The thesis contributes to help learners master and use effectively the types of English and Vietnamese quantifiers to achieve certain communication purposes in communication The results of the contrastive analysis process will contribute to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning English and Vietnamese

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1: The syntactic features of English quantifiers 27 Table 4.2: English quantifiers combining with count nouns 28 Table 4.3: English quantifiers combining with uncount nouns 32 Table 4.4: English quantifiers combining with both count nouns and uncount nouns 34 Table 4.5: English quantifiers combining with pronouns 36 Table 4.6: The meanings of English quantifiers according to levels of descending 38 Table 4.7: The syntactic features of quantifiers in English and their Vietnamese

translation versions 41 Table 4.8: A comparison of quantifiers combining with count nouns in English and

Vietnamese translation versions 43 Table 4.9: A comparison of quantifiers combining with uncount nouns in English

and Vietnamese translation versions 46 Table 4.10: A comparison of quantifiers combining with count nouns and uncount

nouns in English and Vietnamese translation versions 51 Table 4.11: A comparison of quantifiers combining with pronouns in English and

Vietnamese translation version 53 Table 4.12: Vietnamese translation versions can combine with other elements 53 Table 4.13: Quantifiers in English and their Vietnamese translation version in terms

of semantic features 55

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv

LIST OF TABLES v

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 1

1.3 Research questions 2

1.4 Methods of the study 2

1.5 Scope of the study 3

1.6 Significance of the study 3

1.7 Structure of thesis 3

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 Previous studies 5

2.2 Theoretical background 7

2.2.1 Theory of syntax 7

2.2.2 Theory of semantics 8

2.3 Overview of English quantifiers 8

2.3.1 Definition of quantifiers 8

2.3.2 Classification of quantifiers 9

2.3.3 Syntactic features of English quantifiers 17

2.3.4 Semantic features of English quantifiers 19

2.4 Summary 20

Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY 21

3.1 Research approach 21

3.2 Methods of the study 21

3.4 Summary 26

Chapter 4 COMPARISON BETWEEN THE QUANTIFIERS IN ENGLISH NOVEL JANE EYRE AND THEIR VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION VERSION 27 4.1 The syntactic features of English quantifiers 27

4.2 The semantic features of English quantifiers 37

4.3 A comparison between the quantifiers in English and their Vietnamese translation version 40

4.3.1 In terms of syntactic features 40

4.3.2 In terms of semantic features 54

4.4 Summary 61

Chapter 5 CONCLUSIONS 62

5.1 Recapitulation 62

5.2 Concluding remarks 62

5.2.1 What are the syntactic and semantic features of quantifiers in English and their Vietnamese translation versions? 62

5.2.2 What is the comparison of quantifiers in English and their Vietnamese translation versions in terms of syntactic and semantic features? 65

5.2.3 What implication is drawn for using and teaching quantifiers in English? 67

5.3 Limitation 67

5.4 Suggestions for further study 68

REFERENCES 69

APPENDIX 71

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

A quantifier is a word that usually goes before a noun to express the quantity

of the object Most quantifiers are followed by a noun, though it is also possible to use them without the noun when it is clear what we are referring to

There are quantifiers to describe large quantities (a lot, much, many), small quantities (a little, a bit, a few) and undefined quantities (some, any) There are also quantifiers that express the idea of a sufficient amount (enough, plenty) There are

several quantifiers in English that can be a little tricky to use The main difficulty arises due to the need of selecting different quantifiers for countable and uncountable nouns, though some of them work perfectly for both

It is hypothesized that students of English are not fully aware of using quantifiers; therefore, they use them randomly Consequently, students might be interrupted by interference of their native language so; they fail to master the recognition and production of quantifiers Therefore, how to avoid such grammatical blunders?

The author decides to choose the topic Features of quantifiers in English based on literary works and their Vietnamese translation version to study

because of two reasons Firstly, there have been a lot of researchers conducting investigations into quantifiers in both English and Vietnamese but there has been no one giving out the comparison between quantifiers in English and their Vietnamese translation version in terms of syntactic and semantic features Secondly, the author would like to help Vietnamese learners to have a good knowledge of quantifiers in terms of syntactic and semantic features to use them correctly

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study

The study aims at analyzing English quantifiers in terms of syntactic and

semantic features in the English literary work Jane Eyre and their Vietnamese

translation version by exploiting the power of contrastive analysis to provide the Vietnamese learners with a good knowledge of quantifiers and how to use them

From this above aim, the study is planned to:

- To identify the syntactic and semantic features of quantifiers in English and Vietnamese translation version

- To investigate the similarities and differences between quantifiers in English and in Vietnamese in terms of syntactic and semantic features

- To suggest some implications for the use and teaching of the quantifiers in English effectively

1.3 Research questions

In order to achieve the aims and objectives of the study, the following research questions will be addressed:

(1) What are the syntactic and semantic features of quantifiers in English and

in Vietnamese translation version?

(2) What are the similarities and differences between quantifiers in English and in Vietnamese in terms of syntactic and semantic features?

(3) What implication is drawn for using and teaching quantifiers in English?

1.4 Methods of the study

The methods are used in this study include: descriptive method, contrastive analysis method, quantitative method, and qualitative method

Firstly, the descriptive method is exploited to search for the syntactic and semantic features of quantifiers in English and in Vietnamese translation version Secondly, the contrastive analysis method will be employed as the research is undertaken with the aim of analyzing English quantifiers in English literary work

Jane Eyre Particularly, English quantifiers in Jane Eyre and their Vietnamese

translation version are put into comparison in terms of syntax and semantics In this way, the use of quantifiers will be extensively analyzed while the Vietnamese translation version are correspondingly reviewed

Thirdly, quantitative research involves counting and measuring of events and performing the statistical analysis of a body of numerical data The assumption behind the positivist paradigm is that there is an objective truth existing in the world that can be measured and explained scientifically

Fourthly, qualitative research shares the theoretical assumptions of the interpretative paradigm, which is based on the notion that social reality is created and sustained through the subjective experience of people involved in communication (Morgan, 1980)

1.5 Scope of the study

Due to the scope of a Master thesis, as well as the limitations of time and the researcher‟s knowledge, the scope of the study will be limited

Firstly, quantifiers are selected and quoted in only the literary work Jane

Eyre of Charlotte Bronte and its Vietnamese translation version

Secondly, quantifiers with “of” are showed in 106 cases with 22 kinds of

quantifiers They are: all of, any of, both of, each of, either of, enough of, less of, little of, many of, more of, most of, much of, neither of, none of, one of, part of, plenty of, some of, a great deal of, a little of, a quantity of, the rest of

Last but not least, quantifiers with “of” are analyzed in terms of syntactic and semantic features In syntactic features, quantifiers with “of” go with nouns

such as: countable nouns, uncountable nouns, go with pronouns, such as: personal, relative and demonstrative pronouns

1.6 Significance of the study

In practice, the study contributes to the analysis, teaching English quantifier structures into Vietnamese in literary works The thesis contributes to help learners master and use effectively the types of English and Vietnamese quantifiers to achieve certain communication purposes in verbal communication The results of the contrastive analysis process will contribute to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning English and Vietnamese

1.7 Structure of thesis

The study consists of five chapters namely: Introduction, Literature review, Methodology, Findings and Discussion and Conclusion, of which major contents are as follows:

Chapter 1 – Introduction - outlines the rationale, the aims and objectives, the research questions, the method, the scope, the significance and the structure of the study

Chapter 2 – Literature - discusses some previous studies on quantifiers in English and in Vietnamese and the theoretical background about quantifiers

Chapter 3 – Methodology - mentions to the methodology of the study which describes in detail all research governing orientations and research methods

Chapter 4 – Comparison between the quantifiers in English novel Jane Eyre

and their Vietnamese translation versions - presents the syntactic and semantic features of quantifiers in English and in Vietnamese and finds out the comparison of quantifiers in English and Vietnamese translation versions

Chapter 5 – Conclusion - presents recapitulation of the study, concluding remarks and some suggestions for teaching inversions in English, limitation of the study, closing with the suggestions for further study

References and Appendix come at the end of the study

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter provides an overview of the theoretical background as well as relevant knowledge and summaries of previous research‟s findings and conclusion associated with the theme of the research In other words, the review is to explain several related terms and definitions as to overview of quantifiers, definitions of quantifiers, classification of quantifier, quantifiers in terms of syntax and semantics

2.1 Previous studies

Previous studies oversea

In English, there are many works studying Quantifiers, in which some of them are as below:

May Robert C (1977) is the pioneering work which attempted a detailed analysis of the scope properties of the Quantifier phrases of natural languages in

generative grammar Quantifiers are words like every, some, many, few, any, a, one, two, etc in English They occupy the Specifier position in the noun phrase These

quantifier phrases like their counterparts in other languages, lack referential features

May (1977), Ramkishan, (1997) evolved ways of interpreting such NF's ire syntax (liven the EST model of grammar In 12) May (1977) argued that the name rules and constraints of grammar which apply in mapping constituents from El- structure to surface structure, also apply in mapping structure to logic form, In other words, the transformational rules apply to phrase markers at surface structure

to generate a similar phrase markers at logic form

Chomsky (1973) assumes that when a constituent undergoes movement in syntax, it leaves 'a trace' at the original site The trace has the features of the moved item except the phonetic matrix So, when the Quantifier phrase undergoes the process of raising, it leaves trace The trace function's as a variable, i.e a trace co-indexed with the raised

Jawad (2015) mentions, the uses of a quantifier should be taken into

suitable quantifiers, we have to pay attention to the following points: Types of the head noun, i.e whether it is a singular, plural, countable or uncountable, Form of the sentence, whether it is a negative, interrogative imperative or affirmative Meaning limits our choice of quantifiers, i.e whether we select a quantifier in place

of a definite or indefinite article Position of the noun phrase within a sentence (Most quantifiers are used at the beginning of a sentence functioning as determiners and others at the end of it, functioning either as pronouns or adverbs

Alexander (1988:88), Jawad (2015:4) points that "Quantifiers can be classified

in terms of their meaning Some quantifiers have a meaning of inclusiveness That

is, they refer to an entire group Both refers to two members of a group of two, few

to a subgroup of the entire group, and all to the totality of members of a group of unspecified size Every and each refer to single members of a group The difference between all, a few, and both on the one hand and each and every, is reflected in

subject verb agreement

According to Cowan (2008), "Other quantifiers are noninclusive and have a meaning related to size or quantity These quantifiers can be classified by the

relative size they indicate For example, many and much refer to large quantities, some to a moderate quantity, and little and few to small quantities…"

Previous works in Vietnam

In Vietnam, there are some works studying quantifiers, in which, some of them are below:

Cao Xuân Hạo (2006) specifically formulated that noun phrase has a centered noun which goes with the quantifiers indicating the number/ amount

unit-There are denfined quantifiers, such as: một, hai, ba, bốn, năm,… and undefined, such as: những, các, mọi, mỗi, từng, tất cả,

According to Nguyễn Kim Thản (1997), although the determiner of a noun has the same general grammatical meaning to concretize the noun, but the determiner can be divided into the following sub-categories according to their meaning and grammatical characteristics

- Determiner indicating number: Hai làng; two villages

- Determiner indicating amount: Tất cả làng; All villlages

- Determiner indicating feature: Làng to; big village

- Determiner indicating specify: Làng ấy; that village

- Determiner indicating aspect: Làng làm pháo; fire – cracker – making villages

In short, there is no work studying quantifiers with “of” in English and

Vietnamese Therefore, the author puts the urgency for this topic “Features of

quantifiers in English based on literary works and their Vietnamese translation version”

2.2 Theoretical background

2.2.1 Theory of syntax

Syntax is determining the relevant component part of sentence It also means

as describing these parts grammatically (Wekker, 1985:5) This definition of syntax implies that we start from what is regarded as the largest unit of syntactic description –the sentence- and proceed until we arrive at the smallest meaningful unit This is called a „top to bottom‟ analysis The units smaller than the sentence will be referred to as clauses, phrases, words and morphemes respectively However, instead of saying that a sentence can be broken down into smaller constituents, we might also look at the sentence the other way round –that is, „from bottom to top‟ – and say that constituents at different levels can combine to form increasingly larger units: then proceed from the morpheme to the sentence as a whole Constituents are like building blocks which pattern in certain ways to form larger units, and the largest unit being a sentence In another word a phrase or sentence is always formed from the words which are organized by a certain rule In English, the main device for showing this relationship is word order; for example:

The boy loves his dog standard subject-verb-object word order, and switching the

order of such a sentence would change the meaning or make the sentence meaningless If a word is combined in other words in English language and form of syntactic structure, there will be a wide range of structures with various groups that

syntactic structure The other structures are only the combination of them The structure in English language are grouped into four based on the structural meaning Those four types are structure of modification, structure of predication, structure of complementation and structure of coordination Theory of syntax is a source of studying syntactic features in general and the English quantifiers in particular

2.2.2 Theory of semantics

Semantics is a branch of Linguistics Semantics is generally defined as the study of meaning Semantics (Greek Semantikos, to signify, giving signs, significant, symptomatic from sema, sign) refer to the aspects of meaning that are expressed in a language, code or other from representation (Peregrine, 2003:3) Semantics has long been an object of study within the philosophy It is that said that the term semantics itself was introduced into English at the end of the 19th century

It means that Semantics in term of historical or the study about the historical changes of meaning Then it is change until the publication of Bearl‟s book in 1900 Since then Semantics has been recognized as one of the linguistics studies and knows as a scientific study of meaning in language There are some definitions of Semantics proposed by the linguistics as follows: 1 Katz (1972) says; “Semantics is the study of linguistics meaning It is concerned with what sentences and other linguist object express, not with the arrangement of their syntactic parts or with their pronunciation” 2 Palmer (1976:1) says; “semantics is the technical term used

to refer to the study of meaning” 3 Leech (1976: ix) defines; “Semantics as the study of meaning is central to the study of communication; and as communication becomes more and more a crucial factor in social organization, the need to understand it becomes more and more pressing Theory of semantic is a base that studies semantic features of English quantifiers

2.3 Overview of English quantifiers

2.3.1 Definition of quantifiers

Many linguists such as Eckersley and Eckersley (1960: 89) among many others Close (1975:140), Jawad (2015) believe that “All the cardinal numbers (one, two, three, etc.) are adjectives of quantity add that “cardinal numbers are definite

quantifiers.” Obviously, cardinals indicate the numerical exactness of any countable nouns “The number one combines with a singular countable noun.” (Alexander, 1988:91) and they are not inflected for gender and case as Arabic one According to

Alexander L.G (1996), quantifiers are words or phrases like few, little, plenty (of),

which often modify nouns and show how many things or how much of some-thing

we are talking about Some quantifiers combine with countable nouns; some with uncountable and some with both kinds

According to Collins Cobuild (2017), quantifiers are used to indicate the amount or quantity of something referred to by a noun They are different from numbers because they indicate an approximate amount rather than an exact amount They can be grouped according to their use

2.3.2 Classification of quantifiers

Quirk et al, 1973, classifies quantifiers into:

- Multal

- Paucal

- Several and enough

The general quantifiers used pronominally Their use of the above types in respect to count and non-count reference matches the position outlined in connection with their determiner function

However, with only plural count nouns, many, (a) few and several are used

Some linguists like Quirk et al, (1973) among many others, Biber et al (1999)

argue that: many indicates a large number Consider the following example:

Many Lecturers are attended the meeting

Sara bought many books

Biber et al (1999) According to Jawad (2015), much indicates a large quantity It is usually

followed by uncountable nouns

She doesn’t have much money

There is much traffic nowadays

Several is rarely (and much virtually never) preceded by a determiner, and in

the case of few and little there is a positive/negative contrast according as the indefinite article is or is not used:

He took a few biscuits (=several)

He took few biscuits (=not many)

He took a little butter (= some)

He took little butter (=not much)

Jawad (2015)

Since the first of these has a plural count noun and the third a non-count noun, neither of which co-occurs with the indefinite article, it will be clear that in these

instances a belongs to the quantifier alone Quirk et al, 1973 The quantifier (a) little

must be distinguished from the homonymous adjective as in:

A little bird was singing

Quirk et al (1973) Many and few can be used predicatively in formal style For example: His faults were many, and many has the additional potentiality of functioning as a predeterminer with singular count nouns preceded by a (n), such as: Many an ambitious student (= Many ambitious students)

The quantifier enough is used with both count and non-count nouns For examples: There are (not) enough chairs

There is (not) enough furniture

the following examples:

I have bought some chocolates

Eastwood (2005) Jawad (2015:303) points out that some is used as follows:

- With affirmative verb

For example: Some students came

- In questions where the answer yes is expected

For example: Did you write some articles? (I expect you did)

- In offers and requests

For example: Could I have some sugar, please?

Jawad (2015); Thomson and Martinet (1986:67)

(A) few and (a) little

Biber et al (1999: 276) remarks that a few and few specify a small quantity with plural countable nouns and a little and little with uncountable nouns.‟‟

There are (a) few computers (count noun)

There are (a) little traffic (non-count noun)

A few and a little are close in meaning to some; few and little suggest that the quantity is less than expected A few and a little have a positive meaning, whereas

without “a” they have negative meaning (Jawad, 2015)

A little help is worth a deal of pity (proverb)

2.3.2.2 Arbitrary /negative number or amount

Any

There some quantifiers which combine with both countable and uncountable

nouns Any is one of quantifiers that can be used like this case (Biber etal,

1999:276) For Example:

You can read any newspaper

The quantifier any can be used in negative sentences and for referring to a generic reference, Hewings (2005: 96) Consider the following examples:

The lecturer refused any comment

In the above example any refers to a negative sense

From the above sentence, any is used generically

Jawad, 2015: 305 adds "When any means if there is/are, in questions where

the answer yes isn‟t expected or in if clause: For example:

Any questions should be sent to the director

Here, the meaning of the sentence implicates (If there questions )

Do you have any better suggestion?

Hence, the answer implicates "no"

If you meet any difficulty, you can ask him (Conditional)

2.3.2.2 Phrasal Quantifiers

Plenty of/ a lot of/ lots of

There is also a large open class of phrasal quantifiers Some can co-occur

equally with non-count and plural count nouns, Quirk, 1973 For example:

The room contained plenty of students

The room contained a lot of furniture

The room contained lots of furniture

A (great) deal of/ amount of/ number of

These (especially lots) are chiefly used informally, though plenty of is stylistically neutral in the sense 'sufficient' Others are restricted to occurring with non-count nouns:

The room contained a (great) deal of money

The room contained (small) amount of money

or to plural count nouns:

The room contained a (large) number of students

Pieces of/ slice of/ spoonful of

As these examples suggest, it is usual to find the indefinite article and a quantifying adjective, the latter being obligatory in Standard English with deal The phrasal quantifiers provide a means of imposing countability on non- count nouns

as the following partitive expressions illustrate:

General Partitives: Two pieces of information

Typical Partitives: A slice of cake

Measures: A spoonful of medicine

Biber et al (1999:275) say that these quantifiers combine with both

uncountable and plural countable nouns The quantifier lots of refers to a greater amount than a lot of does

There are plenty of eggs There is plenty of milk

A great / good many and a great / good deal of

This factory uses a great / good many worker (plural count noun)

The machine uses a great / good deal of electricity (non–count noun)

2.3.2.3 Definite Quantifiers

Many linguists such as (Eckersley and Eckersley, 1960: 89) among many others Close (1975:140), Jawad (2015) believe that “All the cardinal numbers (one, two, three, etc.) are adjectives of quantity» add that “cardinal numbers are definite quantifiers.” Obviously, cardinals indicate the numerical exactness of any countable nouns.” The number one combines with a singular countable noun.” (Alexander, 1988:91) and they are not inflected for gender and case as Arabic one: For example:

I went with one boy

One

One man sows and another reaps (An English proverb)

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket» (An English proverb)

In the three sentences mentioned above, one is used as a quantifier in spite of

occupying various positions in each sentence Moreover, English cardinals often precede a head noun (Jawad, 2015)

Multipliers

Yule (2006 :93) defines a multiplier as a word or a phrase such as: once, twice, double, or three times … etc., used as a quantifier before determiners to say how often, or how many times an action occurs or how much more something is (Jawad, 2015)

They pray five times a day

Quirk et al (1985: 260 -261) add that “multipliers occur with the nouns denoting quantity “ They are usually followed by “a” or “the” plus (un) countable nouns

He needs double the amount of food

I should take the medicine twice a day

Sometimes multipliers are placed at the end of a sentence

If a man deceives me once, shames on me, if he deceives me twice, shame me

(An English proverb)

Fractions

According to Yule, (2006: 93), fractions are used with of before determiners and pronouns They have singular verbs with singular or uncountable nouns, and plural verbs with plural nouns Consider the examples from Jawad, 2015:

The operation takes three quarters of an hour

Two –thirds of the news were repeated

Half (of)his suggestions are workable

Percentages

Percentages are used before nouns, or with of before determiners and pronouns They have singular verbs with singular uncountable nouns, and plural verbs with plural ones) (Yule, 2006: 93) They can be written either by words or figures Examples from Jawad (2015):

Over sixty per cent of the victims were civil

I make use thirty per cent of his ideas

There is a 10 % decrease

2.3.2.4 Indefinite Quantifiers

Biber et al (1999: 275) classify indefinite quantifiers into four classes on the basis of quantity These classes are: inclusive, large, and moderate (or small quantity), and arbitrary / negative member of a group or amount of mass These quantifiers are followed by (in) definite noun phrases

All news all (of) the news

Some boy all (of) the students

2.3.2.5 Inclusive quantifiers

Inclusive Quantifiers are those quantifiers that includes: all, both, every, each

All

All refers to the whole of a group or mass; it goes with (un)countable nouns It

indicates three or more items (Swan, 2005: 30) As a predeterminer, it usually precedes a head noun / noun phrase (Jawad, 2015)

All students attend the syntax lecture

All information is confidential

All the world is a stage, and all men and women are merely players

All (of) the streets are busy

The quantifier all with "of construction" does not occur before certain singular noun, especially in adjunct phrases All is often used with the zero article "day,

night, week, month, year, summer, etc.” “of the” is normally absent (Quirk et al:

1973: 64; Close 1975:143)

I haven’t seen him all day

On the other hand, all can follow its head noun Leech and Svartvik 1994: 361) The waiters all wear local dress (= All the waiters wear local dress)

In this example, the first all functions as a pronoun, whereas the second is a determiner Sometimes, the meaning is contextually understood by certain structural forms Consider the example from Jawad 2015:

All aren’t thieves that dogs bark at (proverb)

Both/ few/ enough/ either/ neither

A noun after a quantifier is put when you are talking about members of a group in general…

Few snakes are dangerous

Both brothers work with their father

I never have enough money

But if you are talking about a specific group of people or things, use of the as well

Few of the snakes are dangerous

Note that, if we are talking about two people or things, we use the quantifiers

both, either and neither:

Biber et al (1999: 275) say that „„both is used with reference to two entities with plural countable nouns.” For example:

Both lecturers are teaching

Some linguists such as (Swan,2005:91; Yule, 2006: 88) among many others

(Quirk et al, 1985, Jawad 2005) argue that the quantifier both has dual meaning

“each of two”: Consider te following examples:

Use both hands to hold it Both of them live in Baghdad

Both of my friends are syntactician

Moreover, Leech and Svartvik (1994:361) add that both can occur after its head noun

They both love swimming (=Both of them love swimming)

In negative structures we normally use neither instead of both…not‟‟ (Swan, 2005:91) The following example illustrate:

Neither of you has passed (Not Both of you has not…)

Each and Every

Biber etal (1999:275) explain that "each and every" refer to the individual members of a group and only combine with countable nouns." Consequently, each and every are usually followed by a singular verb, Jawad.2005: For example:

Every /each one knows their aims

Jawad (2005: 303) states that the difference between every and each is that the former refers to members (people / thing of a group i.e together Whereas the latter refers to members of a group separately i.e one by one For example:

Every child needs love and attention

There is a syntax lecture every week

Each (of the) nurse (s) was very kind

Quirk et al (1985:963) explain that „„there are some instances of idioms in which determiners are coordinated.‟‟ e g:

The secret was kept by each and every of us

Take another example where there is almost no difference in using either each

or every:

The novel seems more interesting each / every time I read it

Eastwood (2005:228) states that “every is used to talk about things happening

at regular intervals‟‟ e.g every Monday / morning / weekend / year etc

Either and neither

Hornby (2005:491) states that the meaning of either is one or the other of two

It doesn‟t make difference which a singular verb is used before it He also adds that,

“either” is an acceptance of both of two

I have a magazine and newspaper

You can borrow either

Either Ahmed or Raad is bound to come

On the other hand, neither means not one nor the other of two things or

people A singular verb is used after it (Jawad,2005: 306) In other words, neither is

a rejection of both of two

Neither (of the team) played very well

Neither Ali nor Ahmed is at university

2.3.3 Syntactic features of English quantifiers

According to L G Alexander (1992, 88), in general, English quantifiers can

go with many kinds of nouns:

 Quantifiers combining with countable nouns answer How many? for

example:

How many eggs are there in the fridge? – There are a few

 Quantifiers combining with uncountable nouns answer How much? take for

example:

How much milk is there in the fridge? – There is a little

 Quantifiers combining with uncountable or with countable answer How many? or How much? For instance:

How many eggs are there in the fridge? – There are plenty

How much milk is there in the fridge? – There is plenty

 Quantifiers can function as determiners or (with the exception of every and

no) as pronouns; some of the can function as adverbs, for example: I don’t like coffee very much

In particular, according to L G Alexander (1992, 88), English quantifiers combine with different types of nouns, such

 Quantifier + plural countable noun: They can be both, a couple of dozens/hundreds of, (a) few, fewer, the fewest, a/the majority of, (not) many, a minority of, a number of, several, for example:

We have fewer students specializing in maths than in English

 Quantifier + uncountable noun: they can be a (small) mount of, a bit of, a drop of (liquid), a great/good deal of, (a) little, less, the least, (not) much, for

instance:

I’d like a bit of bread with this cheese

 Quantifier + plural countable noun or +(singular) uncountable noun: they can

be Some (of the), any (of the), all (the), hardly any, enough, half of the/half the, a lot

of, lots of, more, most, most of the, no, none of the, the other, part of the, plenty of, the rest of the, take for examples:

There aren’t any cars on the road at the moment

There isn’t any traffic on the road at the moment

 Quantifier + singular countable noun: they can be all (of) the, another, any (of the), each, either, every, half (of) the, most of the, neither, no, none of the, one, the only, the other, some (of the), the whole (of the), let‟s see the following example: It’s each/every man for himself in this business

Other features of quantifiers:

Most quantify words give us more information than some and any, telling us the comparative degree of the number of amount, for example:

 Distributives: whole amounts and separate items, words like all, both, each, every, either and neither are sometimes called distributives They refer to whole amounts (all/both the children, all/both the books, all the cheese); or to separate items (each child, either of the books)

 The use of „of‟ after quantifiers: some quantity phrases used as determiners always take of:

We’ve had a lot of answers (a lot of answers = determiner + noun)

But when they are used as pronouns, of is dropped:

We’ve had a lot (a lot as a pronoun)

Verb goes with quantifiers

Sometimes the reference is clearly singular or plural and a singular or plural verb is needed:

Most of us have experienced sorrow in our lives

Most of our steel is imported

But after neither (= not either) and none (= not one), when the reference is plural,

we can use a plural verb in everyday speech, or a singular verb when we wish to sound 'correct' or formal:

Neither of us is/are happy about the situation

None of my friends has/have been invited to the party

in the above examples, us and friends attract plural verbs

2.3.4 Semantic features of English quantifiers

Quantifier is any word or phrase that expresses a meaning that answers one of the questions "How many?" or "How much?" Therefore, in terms of semantics, the quantifiers are divided into:

- Quantifiers refer to the whole: They show the all of the number, the all of

something; such as the quantifier all, all of, whole, the whole of

- Quantifiers refer to the majority: They show the largest part of a group of

people or things such as: most, most of

- Quantifiers refer to the larger number/ amount: They describe the larger

quantities; such as: more, more of

- Quantifiers refer to the large number/ amount: They show the large quantities

or amount; such as: many, many of, much, much of, a great deal of, a quantity of, plenty, plenty of, some, some of…

- Quantifiers refer to the sufficient amount: They express the idea of being a

sufficient quantity; such as: enough, enough of

- Quantifiers refer to the smaller amount: They show the small quantities; such

as the quantifiers: less, less of, fewer, fewer of

- Quantifiers refer to the small amount: They show the small quantities; such

as: little of, a little of…

- Quantifiers refer to the individual/ partitive: They show a single member of a

class of things, such as: any, any of, each, each of, part, part of, either, either of, one of, some, some of, the rest of…

- Quantifiers refer to not one: such as the quantifiers: They show not one of a

group of people or things, not any; such as: neither, neither of, none, none of

2.4 Summary

In this chapter, the Literature Review includes previous studies, review of theoretical background In the previous studies, the studies of authors in oversea and

in Vietnam are given In the theory of syntax and semantics are analyzed thoroughly

in order to use for background of analyzing the syntactic and semantic features of the quantifiers in English Moreover, the definition of the quantifiers and classification of quantifiers are pointed out in details Finally, theoretical background is given briefly reviewing what has been found and discussed the related studies by describing their approaches and key findings

Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research approach

The thesis is conducted by combining the two research approaches of contrastive analysis method, descriptive method, quantitative and qualitative method which are carried out following orientations Firstly, the thesis is started

with data collection by using the literary work Jane Eyre, and its Vietnamese

translation version After finishing the collection of data, they are described, analyzed and illustrated by corpora in terms of the syntactic and semantic features The data collected then are computed and compared with Vietnamese translation version under a process of statistical analysis to find the answers to the research questions Finally, certain conclusions and implications for using English quantifiers and Vietnamese translation version in an effective way are withdrawn

3.2 Methods of the study

The four methods are used in this study include contrastive analysis method and descriptive one

Contrastive Analysis method

This study follows the instructions of applied contrastive analysis As a result,

it concentrates on how quantifiers in English are rendered in Vietnamese This implies that the study is characterized by its directionality: it is unidirectional in the sense that the contrastive analysis of English and Vietnamese is descriptively biased toward the former E.g.: much more attention is paid to English rather than to Vietnamese since it is the former which must be learnt

The criteria for comparison or the “tertium comparationis” employed in this paper are the translationally translation version sentences Many contrastivists (James, 1980) claim that it has been standard practice in grammar

CA to compare the formal features of translationally paired sentences James (1980) states that “It is a procedural convenience to work with translationally translation version sentences” But notices that “For two sentences from

different languages to be translationally translation version they must convey the same ideational and interpersonal and textual meanings.”

The ideal meaning which is concerned with deep structure is the meaning that single isolated sentences convey (James, 1980) According to Kizeszowski,

“translation version constructions have identical deep structures even if on the surface they are markedly different” A conclusion to draw from all this is that translational translation versions have at least the same ideational meaning

The interpersonal meaning of a sentence determines what kind of speech act it performs for its user: to praise, condemn, refuse, agree, and so on

The textual meaning of a sentence determines what information it contributes

to the message: how it helps maintain cohesion and coherence (James, 1980)

James (1980) concludes that “for contrastive analysis we must equate first language and foreign language forms which, no matter how far they diverge superficially are semantically and pragmatically translation version” and that

“translation translation version of this rather rigorously defined sort is the best available tertium comparationis for contrastive analysis.”

The translationally translation version sentences chosen to server as tertium comparationis for the contrastive analysis in this study are the ones which meet the above-mentioned conditions The pairs of sentences are juxtaposed in order to show the striking contrast between the two languages Then the similarities and differences are formulated by means of transfer rules which specify how English quantifiers get parceled out correspondingly in Vietnamese

James (1980) points out that transfer rules are inherently directional: the rules describing the conversion of English into Vietnamese are different from those affecting the conversion in the opposite direction

The examples used in this study are taken from two kinds of sources The first

source is the English literary work Jane Eyre in which the examples involved have

been examined, described and classified The second source is the translation version literary works in Vietnamese in which the examples involved have been quoted

be measured and explained scientifically The main concerns of the quantitative paradigm are that measurement is reliable, valid, and generalizable in its clear prediction of cause and effect (Cassell & Symon, 1994)

Being deductive and particularistic, quantitative research is based upon formulating the research hypotheses and verifying them empirically on a specific set

of data (Frankfort-Nachmias & Nachmias, 1992) Scientific hypotheses are free; the researcher's own values, biases, and subjective preferences have no place

value-in the quantitative approach Researchers can view the communication process as concrete and tangible and can analyze it without contacting actual people involved

in communication (Ting-Toomey, 1984)

The strengths of the quantitative method include:

 Stating the research problem in very specific and set terms

 Clearly and precisely specifying both the independent and the dependent variables under investigation;

 Following firmly the original set of research goals, arriving at more objective conclusions, testing hypothesis, determining the issues of causality;

 Achieving high levels of reliability of gathered data due to controlled observations, laboratory experiments, mass surveys, or other form of research manipulations

 Allowing for longitudinal measures of subsequent performance of research subjects

The weaknesses of the quantitative method include:

 Failure to provide the researcher with information on the context of the situation where the studied phenomenon occurs;

 Inability to control the environment where the respondents provide the answers to the questions in the survey;

 Limited outcomes to only those outlined in the original research proposal due

to closed type questions and the structured format;

 Not encouraging the evolving and continuous investigation of a research phenomenon

Qualitative Method

Qualitative research shares the theoretical assumptions of the interpretative paradigm, which is based on the notion that social reality is created and sustained through the subjective experience of people involved in communication (Morgan, 1980) Qualitative researchers are concerned in their research with attempting to accurately describe, decode, and interpret the meanings of phenomena occurring in their normal social contexts The researchers operating within the framework of the interpretative paradigm are focused on investigating the complexity, authenticity, contextualization, shared subjectivity of the researcher and the researched, and minimization of illusion (Fryer, 1991)

Qualitative research in general is more likely to take place in a natural setting This means that topics for study focus on everyday activity as "defined, enacted, smoothed, and made problematic by persons going about their normal routines" (Van Maanen, 1983, p 255) Qualitative research is less likely to impose restrictive

a priori classification on the collection of data It is less driven by very specific hypotheses and categorical frameworks and more concerned with emergent themes and idiographic descriptions (Cassell & Symon, 1994)

Extending the fundamental beliefs of the interpretative paradigm, one can name three characteristics of qualitative inquiry First, qualitative research is the

study of symbolic discourse that consists of the study of texts and conversations Second, qualitative research is the study of the interpretive principles that people use to make sense of their symbolic activities Third, qualitative research is the study of contextual principles, such as the roles of the participants, the physical setting, and a set of situational events, that guide the interpretation of discourse (Ting-Toomey, 1984)

The strengths of the qualitative method include:

 Obtaining a more realistic feel of the world that cannot be experienced in the numerical data and statistical analysis used in quantitative research;

 Flexible ways to perform data collection, subsequent analysis, and interpretation of collected information;

 Provide a holistic view of the phenomena under investigation

 Ability to interact with the research subjects in their own language and on their own terms

 Descriptive capability based on primary and unstructured data;

The weaknesses of the qualitative method include:

 Departing from the original objectives of the research in response to the changing nature of the context

 Arriving to different conclusions based on the same information depending

on the personal characteristics of the researcher;

 Inability to investigate causality between different research phenomena;

 Difficulty in explaining the difference in the quality and quantity of information obtained from different respondents and arriving at different, non-consistent conclusions;

 Requiring a high level of experience from the researcher to obtain the targeted information from the respondent;

 Lacking consistency and reliability because the researcher can employ different probing techniques and the respondent can choose to tell some particular stories and ignore others

3.3 Data collection and data analysis

- Data collection: It is used to collect selected quantifiers from English literary

works Jane Eyre, and its Vietnamese translation version, thereby the source of data

is established as the basis of the thesis

- Data analysis: Examples of quantifiers are collected and filled in the suitable statistical table After that, contrastive analysis method is used to indicate the similarities and differences between English quantifiers and Vietnamese translation versions

3.4 Summary

In conclusion, this chapter describes all the research-governing orientation and methods applied for implementing this research In each part of this chapter, the data analyzed clearly On the other hand, in this chapter, the research methods are also discussed The qualitative, quantitative, descriptive and contrastive method are chosen for this study The data collected by using the source of printed publications

as the English literary work Jane Eyre, the Vietnamese translation version After

that, the data is going to contrasted, analyzed in structure of syntactic and semantics

Chapter 4 COMPARISON BETWEEN THE QUANTIFIERS IN ENGLISH NOVEL

JANE EYRE AND THEIR VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION VERSION

In the following part, English quantifiers based on the point view of Collin are going to described and examined through a contrastive analysis with Vietnamese translation version Then a comparison between English quantifiers and

Vietnamese translation version is made

4.1 The syntactic features of English quantifiers

In terms of syntactic features, this part will consider the elements followed

by those quantifiers After analyzing the corpus in English, it is found that English

quantifiers of the work can be followed by nouns such as: count nouns (approximately 65,09 %); or uncount noun (approximately 16,98 %); by pronouns

such as: personal pronoun (approximately 15,09 %), relative pronoun (approximately 0,94 %), or demonstrative pronoun (approximately 1,88 %) The following table shows the details of the syntactic features of English quantifiers

with “of”

Table 4.1: The syntactic features of English quantifiers

Syntactic features of English quantifiers Frequency %

Quantifiers + nouns Count nouns 69 65,09 %

According to Collin in Cobuild English Grammar (p 59-60) “Things that can

be counted are countable nouns Many nouns have two forms, the singular form, which is used to refer to one person or thing, and the plural form, which is used to refer to more than one person or thing These nouns refer to people or things that

can be counted You can put numbers in front of them” The table below shows the details of English quantifiers combining with count nouns

Table 4.2: English quantifiers combining with count nouns

No Quantifiers in English Frequency %

As can be seen from the table above, there are 17 quantifiers with 69 cases in

the work Jane Eyre can combine with countable nouns They are: All of, Any of,

Each of; Either of Little of Many of, More of, Most of, Much of, Neither of, None

of, One of, Part of, Plenty of, Some of, A quantity of, The rest of

Besides, there 5 English quantifiers with “of” in the work do not combine with countable nouns, such as: both of, enough of, less of, a great deal of and a little of

The following part will analyze every single case (see more in appendix 23)

All of: In the work, „all of‟ is used before plural count noun families with an

article the in 1 case Let‟s consider the following example:

- all of the first county families

Any of: In the work, the plural count nouns servants, rooms with an article the

and singular count noun family are put after quantifiers with 3 cases Let‟s consider

the following examples:

- any of the servants

the lower rooms her family had ever been to visit me

Each of: In the work, „each of‟ is followed by three plural count nouns sisters,

persons, temples standing after specific determiner the and possessive her in 3

cases Let‟s consider the following examples:

- each of the sisters there was one trait of the mother

the young persons before us her temples her hair

Either of: In the work, „either of‟ has 2 cases which plural count nouns

daughters, and singular count noun one standing after specific determiner the and possessive her Let‟s consider the following examples:

- either of her daughters

the paleness or desperation one

Little of: “little of‟ is followed by one singular count noun journey standing

after determiner the in 1 case Let‟s consider the following example:

- little of the journey

Many of: Only 1 case in which plural count noun pupils stands after

determiner the appeared in this kind of quantifier Let‟s consider the following

- more of the world

those days

Most of: 2 case of plural count nouns is put after quantifiers with determiner the

Let‟s consider the following examples:

- most of the younger ones

the books

Much of: Only 1 case in which plural count noun qualities stands after

determiner the appeared in this kind of quantifier Let‟s consider the following

example:

For example: - much of the good and bright qualities

Neither of: 1 out of 4 cases which plural count noun returnings stands after specific determiner these Let‟s consider the following example:

- neither of these returnings None of: 1 case of plural count noun is put after quantifiers with specific

determiner the Let‟s consider the following example:

- none of the Reeds

One of: The number that count noun standing after quantifiers is the largest

with 31 cases The specific determiners go with this quantifier are: those, these The possessives that go with it, such as: your, its, his, my Besides, the determiner the

also go before nouns with many cases Let‟s consider the following examples:

- one of the ladies

those days these rooms

your frowns its mystic cells his strange and equivocal demonstrations

my faults

Part of: The countable noun house is put after the determiner the with 1 case

in this kind of quantifier Let‟s consider the following example:

For example: - part of the house

Plenty of: There is 1 case which count noun is right after quantifier without any articles, determiners or possessives Let‟s consider the following example: For example: - plenty of faults of my own

Some of: The cases of quantifiers standing before nouns is quite dominant

with 16 cases The specific determiners go with this quantifier are: those, these The possessives that go with it, such as: her, their, his, my Besides, the determiner the

also go before nouns with many cases Let‟s consider the following example:

For example: - some of these hoards

those drawling her most enchanting stories

my studies his tenants were arrived their doors

the elder girls

A little of: There is only 1 case which “a little of” is put before a singular

count noun with determiner the Let‟s consider the following example:

For example: - a little of the excitement

A quantity of: 1 out of 2 singular count nouns is put after quantifier without any determiners or possessives Let‟s consider the following example:

For example: - a quantity of black hose

The rest of: Only 1 case with plural count noun species after possessive my

appeared in this type of quantifier Let‟s consider the following example:

For example: - the rest of my species

b) Quantifiers can combine with uncount nouns

According to Collin in Cobuild English Grammar (p 68-69) “Things not

usually counted are uncountable nouns Some nouns refer to general things such as qualities, substances, processes, and topics rather than to individual items or events These nouns have only one form, are not used with numbers, and are not usually