A study of english and vietnamese idioms of anger

PART A: INTRODUCTION1.Reasons for choosing the topic I choose to write my graduation thesis about the entitled “A study of English and Vietnamese idioms of anger” for the following reaso

For the completion of this study, I have been fortunate to receiveinvaluable contributions from many people First of all, I should like toexpress my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Tran Ba Tien, MA for hisabsolutely indispensable assistance, excellent suggestions, expert advice anddetail comments, without which the study would not have been complete

In addition, I am very grateful to all teachers of Department of ForeignLanguages for their constant support and encouragement

My warmest thanks are due to my loving parents, my younger brotherfor their love, support and forbearance

Finally, I am all too aware that despite all the advice and assistance, Ifeel that the study is far from perfect, it is, therefore, my sole responsibilityfor any inadequacies and shortcomings that the study may be considered tohave

Vinh, May 10 th 2010

Lê Thị Lan

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Acknowledgements i

Table of contents ii

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Reasons for choosing the topic 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Scope of the study 2

4 Methods of the study 2

5 Design of the study 2

PART B: CONTENTS 4

CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 4

1.1 Definitions of idioms 4

1.1.1 In English 4

1.1.2 In Vietnamese 5

1.2 History of idioms study 5

1.3 Distinction among idioms, free- word groups and proverbs 7

1.3.1 Idioms and free- word groups 7

1.3.2 Idioms and proverbs 10

1.4 Classification of idioms 12

CHAPTER II: SEMANTIC FEATURES AND CLASSIFICATION OF ENGLISH IDIOMS OF ANGER 14

2.1 Semantic features of English idioms of anger seen from the traditional view 14

2.2 Classification of English idioms of anger 15

2.2.1 Traditional classification of English idioms of anger 15

2.2.2 Cognitive linguistic- based classification of English idioms of anger 17

2.2.2.1 Idioms as seen from the cognitive linguistic view 17

2.2.2.2 Cognitive linguistic- based classification of English idioms of anger 22

2.2.2.2.1 Metaphor 22

2.2.2.2.2 Metonymy 25

2.2.2.2.3 Conventional knowledge 29

CHAPTER III: SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHING AND TRANSLATING ENGLISH IDIOMS 34

3.1 The meaning of words 34

3.2 The meaning of idioms 35

3.3 Some suggestions for teaching English idioms to Vietnamese students 35

3.3.1 Identifying conceptual metaphor from idiom groups 37

3.3.2 Determining kinds of meaning 37

3.3.3 Using idioms in context 37

3.5 Some suggestions for translating English idioms 39

3.5.1 Idiomatic translation method 39

3.5.2.Some strategies for translating English idioms 40

PART C: CONCLUSION 45 REFERENCES

APPENDIXES

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1.Reasons for choosing the topic

I choose to write my graduation thesis about the entitled “A study of English and Vietnamese idioms of anger” for the following reasons:

Firstly, idioms as a popular phenomenon of the language play animportant part in spiritual life of the community because it reflects a vividpicture of the nation’s customs and cultural traditions, and recollection of itspart history, scraps of folk songs Every language has its own system ofidiomatic expression especially in English For instance, we can find many

idioms such as “add fuel to the fire” (đổ dầu vào lửa), “burst a blood vessel” (vỡ mạch máu), “get all hot” (nóng hết cả người)…

In addition, using idioms in communication is the most effective andinteresting way They, themselves contain not only denotations but alsoconnotations They make language more smoothy and more dynamic.Nowadays, English is an international language so the demand for translating

to understand idioms is becoming important But idioms give us some certaindifficulties in translation and communication Although idioms helps speakersand writers communicate successfully and make language more interesting,they are not easy at all to master and use appropriately For example, when we

say “If I’m late again my Dad will go bananas” (Nếu tôi tới muộn, bố tôi sẽ cáu tiết đấy), we do not mean that the father goes to bananas.

Moreover, “anger” is a strong emotion, a feeling that is oriented

toward some real or supposed grievance As a result, the number of idioms ofanger is not large but they are being used in everyday comunication

Lastly, this is very new and interesting topic Idioms interest manylinguists but most of those authors only study the aspects of contrastive

analysis The contrastive analysis of idioms has only dealt with English andVietnamese This will be mentioned more carefully in the parts “Cognitivelinguistic- based classification”, “Some suggestions for teaching andtranslating English idioms” We hope that the study will help Vietnamesestudents learn and translate idioms effectively and fluently.

2.Aims of the study

The first aim of the study is to describe English and Vietnamese idioms ofanger

The second aim is to help Vietnamese students to understand Englishidioms meanings based on cognitive linguistics

The third aim is to help translating idioms Students will have some certainmaterials to learn and use them Then, we also give some suggestions to teachand translate idioms

The last aim is to satisfy our interest in translating English idioms ofanger

3.Scope of the study

a Idioms

b English idioms of anger

c Semantic features and characteristics of English idioms of anger

d Some suggestions for teaching an d translating idioms of anger

4 Methods of the study

a Statistic method

b Analysis and systematic method

5 Design of the study

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Reasons for choosing the topic

2 Aims of the study

3 Scope of the study

4 Methods of the study

5 Design of the study

PART B: CONTENTS

Chapter I: Theoretical background

Chapter II: Semantic features and classification of English idioms of angerChapter III: Some suggestions for teaching and translating English idioms ofanger

PART C: CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

APPENDIXES

PART B: CONTENT CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1.1 Definition of idioms

1.1.1 In English

In English, “idiom” is a term which has been defined differently bymany authors It can be considered as a type of collocation involving two ormore words According to “English Idioms in Use” of Michael Mc Carthy

and Felicity O’Dell, idioms are “expressions which have a meaning that is not obvious from individual words”.

For example, when we say “make somebody’s blood boil” we do not

mention that something happens with the blood, but we mean that making

somebody very angry Similarly, when we say “send the cat among the pigeons”, we do not mention that the cat is living with the pigeons but what

we mean is that someone is getting very angry

In Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, A S Hornby (2000) defines

an idiom as “a group of words whose meaning is different from the meanings

of the individual words”.

According to Longman Dictionary of English language and culture, an

idiom is “a fixed phrase that has its own special meanings and it is impossible to guess the meanings from separated words”.

Idioms in English have been defined by Jenifer Seidl and W Mc

Mordie (1988) as “a number of words which, when taken together, have a different meaning from the individual meanings of each word”.

In conclusion, these linguists have similar opinions about the definition

of English idioms We can understand that an English idiom is a number of

certain words, whose meanings are different from the individual meaning ofeach word it contains.

1.1.2 In Vietnamese

According to Hoàng Văn Hành (1994), an idiom is defined as “a stable word group with a solid formation and structure, and a complete and figurative meaning, used in everyday communication, especially in spoken language”.

For instance:

“Nóng như lửa” (as hot as fire) is used to refer to a person that is very hot- tempered.

“Vỡ mạch máu” (burst a blood vessel) is used to refer to a person that

is getting very angry.

Hoàng Phê (1997), an idiom is considered to be “a set of expression whose meaning is general inexplicable simply through the meanings of individual word it contains”.

For example: “đổ thêm dầu vào lửa” (add fuel to the fire) is used to indicate a person who is getting very angry or “mắt như nảy lửa” (give somebody the evil eye) is used to refer to indicate looking at somebody in a

very angry, unfriendly or unpleasant way

1.2 History of idioms study

The study of English idioms has been started since the beginning of 20thcentury with many famous authors in Europe and America They gave greatcontributions to the collection of English idioms such as W Mc Mordie with

“English Idioms and How to Use Them” (published in 1909), is considered asthe first linguist to study fully about English idioms This book defines over3,000 idioms commonly used in every speech and illustrates them in examplesentences It organizes the idioms by grammatical structures such as idioms

with nouns and adjectives, idioms with prepositions; by means of key wordsfor example colors, animals, parts of body; and by special situations includingworking, travelling, buying and selling… It also includes a comprehensiveindex so the book is very easy to use “English Idioms and How to UseThem” is accompanied by two books of exercise: Exercise on Idioms andExercise on Phrasal Verbs.

Besides, there are some considerable works of idioms study such as V

H Collins with two books: “A Book of English Idioms with Explanation”(published in 1958) and “American English Idioms” (published in 1986).Both of them supply readers with many English idioms consisting ofexplanation and example sentences

Furthermore, other famous authors such as A P Cowie, R Martin and I

R Cairo published “Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English” in 1994.There are a large number of English idioms in this book Especially, they areexplained and illustrated through specific examples or pictures So it is veryinteresting for readers to study Along with “Oxford Dictionary of IdiomaticEnglish”, teachers and researchers from Cambridge University provide uswith “Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms” (published in 1999).They play an important role in the idioms preservation and development

Although idioms study was started later than in Europe and othercountries, many Vietnamese linguists show their interest in this difficult field.One of the most famous books is “Kể chuyện thành ngữ, tục ngữ” published

in 1991, 1998 with volume 1, 2, 3 by Hoàng Văn Hành, Nguyễn Như Ý andPhan Xuân Thành This book gives general information of idioms, theirorigins and formation It is greatly different from other books because itprovides the contexts of culture and language to help readers understand moreabout idioms origins, contextual and partial meanings For example, with the

idiom “Gương vỡ lại lành”, the authors explain its meaning firstly: healing orreconnecting a broken love then they point out its Chinese origin (Phá kinhtrùng viên) Besides, the Chinese love story between Từ Đức Ngôn and NhạcXương in Tran’s Dynasty is given to explain this idiom completely.

Apart from this book, there are many Vietnamese idioms dictionariesthat are very successful in idioms study such as Vũ Dung with “Từ điển thànhngữ và tục ngữ” (published in 1993); Nguyễn Như Ý, Nguyễn Văn Khangand Phan Xuân Thành with “Từ điển thành ngữ Việt Nam” (published in1993); Việt Chương with “Từ điển thành ngữ và tục ngữ, ca dao Việt Nam”(published in 1999); Nguyễn Lân with “Từ điển thành ngữ và tục ngữ ViệtNam” (published in 1989)…

Nguyễn Bích Hằng is very famous for the book “Từ điển thành tục ngữ Việt Nam” published in 2007 Basing on Vu Dung’s work, the authorcollects a huge number of Vietnamese idioms and some ethnic minority’sidioms from Thai, Nung, Tay, Muong… These idioms are translated intoVietnamese An important part in this book is the explanation of old-fashioned expressions, slangs, Han- Viet words, native language… Besides,the background of culture and language are much paid attention to

ngữ-Overall, idioms have been studied widely through time in Vietnam aswell as abroad In next part, we will distinguish idioms from free- wordgroups and proverbs

1.3 Distinction among idioms, free- word groups and proverbs.

1.3.1 Idioms and free- word groups.

Up to now, it is very difficult and complex to distinguish idioms fromfree- word groups The linguists realize that both idioms and free- wordgroups are stable structures, but the meaning of free- word group is not united

and figurative So, they focus on two points to distinguish idioms from word groups basing on semantic and structure.

free-A V Kevin (1984) considers an idiom “is a stable word group characterized by a completely or partially transferred meaning” It means

that the semantic change may affect either the whole word group or only one

of its components

Compare the two examples:

1 When I was a child, I dreamt a white house with a small garden.

2 White house is a famous building in America.

(English- English- Vietnamese Dictionary (2003, 2346))

At the first sight, we can see the same phrase “white house” in the first

sentence without any differences in spelling in the second sentence However,

the free- word group “white house” is used in direct sense in the first sentence The word “house” stands for a place for living and “white” stands for a color, whereas the second context has nothing to do either “white” or

“house” The meaning of this whole word- group is something entirely new

and far removed from the current meaning of components It means a buildingfor American congress meeting Therefore, the first criterion is the semanticdifferences of the two word groups consisting of the same components

The second type is represented by idiom in which one of thecomponents preserves its current meaning and the other is used in transferredmeaning as in:

“Flip your lip” (become very angry).

“His face is like thunder” (look extremely angry).

But, according to G B Intrusion (1985), structural invariability is one

of the most essential features to distinguish idioms from free- word groups.This criterion is represented as the following restriction:

The first restriction is in the substitution It means that no word can

be substituted for any meaningful component of an idiom without destroyingits sense

For example: “keep your hair on” means “be too angry to keep calm”,

we cannot substitute “hand” or “finger” for “hair” although they indicate

parts of body

Similarly, “send the cat among the pigeons” means “be extremely angry”, the word “the cat” and “the pigeons” cannot be substituted by any

other kind of animals

Whereas in a free- word group, some substitutions can be acceptedwithout destroying the general meanings

For instance: “He gave his son a handbag” or “He gave his son a schoolbag” They are both comprehensible.

The second is restriction in adding elements An idiom is always

stable in its number of components so we cannot add any component into thestructure of idioms

For example: “a black look” means “an angry or disapproving expression on the face”, we cannot add any word such as “give” or “send” to form “give a black look” or “send a black look” But in free- word groups,

we can add these words before “a black look” without affecting the general

meaning

The third is restriction in grammatical invariability We cannot

change grammatical categories of word in idioms in any case

For instance: “in the doghouse” indicates “a situation in which somebody is angry with you because you have done something wrong” It is impossible to change “dog house” into “dog houses” because “dog houses”

does not make sense Meanwhile, in free- word groups, the similar change isacceptable.

1.3.2 Idioms and proverbs.

According to Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, a proverb is “a shortwell- known sentence or phrase that states a general truth about life or givesadvice”

For example: “blood is thicker than water” means “the relationship by race is very scared” This short sentence is a proverb because it is an advice.

Many English proverbs have their Vietnamese equivalents such as:

“Out of sight, out of mind” (xa mặt cách lòng).

“A clean hand want no washing” (cây ngay không sợ chết đứng).

“Silence gives concent” (im lặng là vàng).

It is clear that a proverb is also a phenomenon of language As theresult, proverbs are used to express popular wisdom, wise advice, a truth or amoral lesson in a concise and imaginative way in communication It is alsofigurative in term of meaning

Let us consider “home is where the heart is” It means “there is no place like home” To some extent, it seems that idioms and proverbs are alike.

In fact, the boderline between a proverb and an idiom is not very solid

However, we will mention three criteria used to distinguish an idiomfrom a proverb in this study

 The first criterion is the meaning.

Idioms are not instructive, moral in nature as proverbs A proverb isconsidered to be a complete literary work, it includes the experience of acommunity to educate, advise or warn the later generations

For instance: “a honey tongue, a heart of all”

This proverb is used to warn somebody that a person with a goodappearance may hide an evil heart or do an evil thing (Vietnamese equivalent

proverb is “miệng thớn thớt, dạ ớt ngâm”).

 The second criterion is structure or stability of structure.

An idiom is a fixed group or a set phrase It means that the sequence ofwords in an idiom cannot be changed, shortened, omitted or added with anyother element in any way

For example: “keep your hair on” (be too angry to keep calm)

This idiom cannot be changed in any circumstances We cannot use

“finger” or “hand” to replace “hair” although they are parts of body.

On the contrary, a proverb is often elliptical in their nature Forinstance: the proverb “there is no place like home” can be shortened into “noplace like home” without changing in meaning

 The third criterion is the function of idioms and proverbs in communication.

The content of a proverb is that of judgment but the content of an idiom

is that of concept In other words, a proverb expresses a judgment so it has areporting function, and an idiom expresses a concept so it has a namingfunction

For instance:

“A good hand” (a person having favorable cards in the card game).

“An empty hand is no lure for a hawk” (a big present leads to an open talk).

Firstly, based on formation mode, idioms are divided into two

sub-types: comparative idioms, for example “as black as a coal” (đen như cột nhà cháy), “as cunning as a fox” (dễ như trở bàn tay), “to fight like a demon” (vui như sáo), “to be out like a light” (tức như bò đá)… and metaphorical idioms such as “blood is thicker than water” (một giọt máu đào hơn ao nước lã), “to water over a duck’s back” (nước đổ đầu vịt), “bite the hands that feed” (ăn cháo đá bát)…

Secondly, according to semantic criterion, there are six sub- types:uninominal idioms (đơn danh) in which all elements are in a united chain

without separation, for instance “fall ill” (ngã ốm = bị ốm ), “bring one’s pigs to the wrong market” (đưa lợn tới sai chợ)…, main meaning idioms (nghĩa chủ): “ship of the desert” (tàu của sa mạc = lạc đà), “new broom” (cái chổi mới = chủ mới, xếp mới)…, dissolving idioms (nghĩa hòa kết): “sit

on thorns” (ngồi phải gai = gặp chuyện nhức nhối), “play gooseberry” (chơi quả ngỗng = đánh lạc hướng)…, dogmatic idioms (võ đoán): “once in a blue moon” (một lần vào buổi trăng xanh = đến mùng thất, bao giờ chạch đẻ ngọn đa), “have one’s tongue in one’s cheek” (có lưỡi trong má = giấu giếm, không thực thà)…, undogmatic idioms (không võ đoán): “wet to the skin” (ướt tới da = ướt như chuột lột), “between two fires” (giữa hai làn đạn = trên đe dưới búa, khốn nạn trùng trùng)…

Thirdly, based on etymology criterion, idioms originate from technical

terms (centre of gravity- trọng tâm), professional (step on it- nhấn bàn đạp (mechanics)- nhấn ga, vội vàng, đẩy nhanh), history (meet one’s Waterloo- gặp Oatelo = bị thảm hại), literature (the green- eyed monster- con quỷ mắt xanh = sự ghen tuông), famous statement (keep one’s powder dry- giữ thuốc súng luôn khô = luôn sẵn sàng chiến đấu)…

In conclusion, there are many ways to classify idioms In English,linguists pay attention to this field but it is less concerned in Vietnam.However, classification of idioms help us easily approach new studies.

CHAPTER II: SEMANTIC FEATURES AND CLASSIFICATION OF

ENGLISH IDIOMS OF ANGER 2.1 Semantic features of English idioms of anger seen from the traditional view.

In the study, we only mention three main features of English idiomsreferring to anger:

 Idioms come from many different sources.

The most important thing about idioms is their meaning If the source

of an idiom is unknown, it is sometimes easier to imagine its meaning Manyidiomatic phrases come from the everyday life of English men, from homelife

For example:

“Blow a fuse”

“Like a bear with a sore head”.

Military life is the source of “go ballistic”, “go on the warpath”, “fly off the handle”, “look draggers at somebody”…

Many idioms include parts of the body, animals like: “your blood is up”, “watch your mouth”, “vent your pleen”, “sick to your stomach”, “in the doghouse”, “stone the crows”, “send the cat among the pigeons”

There are many idioms referring to anger which consist of elements of

emotion such as: “to distraction”, “fly into a rage”, “have hysterics”,

“raving mad”, “have a quick temper”

 Idioms take many different forms and structure.

Idioms referring to anger can be very short or long For example: “gobananas” or “take the wind out of somebody’s sails” A large number ofidioms referring to anger consist of some combination of noun and adjectivesuch as “a black look”, “ill feelings”, “God in heaven” some idioms are

longer “go off the deep end”, “give somebody the evil eye”, “rud somebody

up the wrong way”

 Idioms are unchangable sequences of words.

An idiom is a fixed phrase, we cannot change, replace, omit any

element in random For example: “gnash your teeth” cannot change any alternative possibilities such as “teeth” replaced by “nose”, “eye” so this

idiom is called a fixed idiom

However, some idioms allow only limited changes in the part which are

not fixed For instance: “bad/ ill feelings”, “have a pink/ blue fit” allow a

limited choice of adjectives

2.2 Classification of English idioms of anger

2.2.1 Traditional classification of English idioms of anger

Many linguists classified English idioms in many different ways Eachperson divided English idioms based on each field

In the semantic field, Vinogradow classifies idioms based on the degree

of semantic cohesion between components of idioms This degree depends onthe meaning of an idiom, which is different from the current meaning of itsconstituent part According to him, idioms are divided into following types:

Idiomatic combinations are word groups with a partially changed meaning.

For instance: “a black look” has idiomatic meaning “an angry expression on somebody’s face” We can deduce this idiomatic meaning from

the meaning of each word, as there is the relationship between idiomaticmeaning and current meaning We can find many similar idioms such as:

“Your blood is up” (feel angry)

“Make somebody’s blood boil” (make somebody very angry)

“Burst a blood vessel” (get very angry)

“His face is like thunder” (look very angry)

“The flat is in the fire” (something has been said/ done that is certain to cause anger)

 Idiomatic unities are word groups with a completely changed meaning.

For example: “Go bananas” means “become very angry” This meaning is different from direct meaning of each word (“go” indicates the movement of a thing or a person, “banana” is a kind of fruit).

Or “Go ballistic” (become very angry), “hit the ceiling” (suddenly become very angry), “in a lather” (in a angry state), “for the love of God” (to express anger and the fact that you are impatient), “go mental” (become very angry)

 Idiomatic fusions are word groups with completely changed meaning but in contrast to the unities, they are demonstrated.

Idioms take many different forms and structures An idiom can have aregular structure, an irregular or even a grammatical in correct structure Theclarity of meaning is not dependent on the grammatical correctness Based onstructure and form, W Mc Mordie (1909) divided idioms into three main types:

 Irregular form, clear meaning

In this type, idioms have irregular form and structure but they gave the

meaning clearly For instance: “how dare you…”, “cut up rough/ nasty”…

Let us consider “lose your cool” It is an example which is irregular or

illogical in its grammatical structure (possessive pronoun+ adjective)

 Regular form but unclear meaning

In this kind, we can see that idioms have regular form or structure but

their meaning that is not clear such as “do a slow burn”, “go spare”, “sick to your stomach”, “see red”, “go through the roof”…

Taking the idiom “see red” as an example, this idiom has a regular

form but its meaning is not obvious The idiomatic meaning is completelydifferent from the current meaning We cannot know this if we do notconsider it as an idiom

 Irregular form, unclear meaning

In this type, idioms have both form and meaning that are irregular

For example: “go postal” This idiom has the form (dynamic verb +

adjective) It is very strange, we cannot deduce the idiomatic meaning fromindividual components

Here are similar examples “as if spoken”, “if looks could kill”, “hell’s teeth”…

In short, it can be seen clearly that a large number of idioms belongs tothe second group where the form is regular but the meaning is unclear

2.2.2 Cognitive linguistic- based classification of English idioms of anger 2.2.2.1 Idioms as seen from the cognitive linguistic view

Cognitive linguistics has emerged in the last twenty- five years as apowerful approach to the study of language, conceptual systems, humancognition and general meaning construction

It addresses within language the structuring of basic conceptualcategories such as space and time, scenes and events, entities and processes,motion and location, force and causation It all pays attention to thestructuring of ideational and affective categories attributed to cognitive agentssuch as attention and perpective, volition and intention In order to do that, itdevelops a rich conception of grammar that reflects fundamental cognitiveabilities: the ability to form structured conceptualizations with many levels or

to form in mind a situation at varying levels of abstraction, to establish

correspondences between facets of different structures and to analyse thesame situation in alternate ways.

Cognitive linguistics recognises that the study of language is the study

of language use and that when we take part in any language activity, we drawunconsciously on vast cognitive and cultural resources, create models andframes, set up multiple connections, coordinate large chains of informationand join in creative mappings, transfers and elaborations Language does not

“represent” a meaning, it promotes the construction of meaning in particularcultural models and cognitive resources

Aspects of language and expression that had be given to the rhetoricalperiphery of language such as metaphor and metonymy are carried out andrecovered again in cognitive linguistics They are understood to be powerfulconceptual mappings in the centre of human thought This is very importantnot only for the understanding of poetry, but also science, mathematics,religion, philosophy and everyday speaking and thinking Importantly,thought and language are embodied Conceptual structure originates frromemotional experience and neutral structure that give rise to it

According to the most common definition, idioms are linguisticexpressions whose overall meaning cannot be predicted from the meanings ofthe constituent parts And there is no complete predictability since mostidioms are based on conceptual metaphors and metonymies According toLakoff and Kovecses (1987), the meaning of idioms arises from sets ofconceptual mappings that get between a source and a target domain Theauthors distinguish among three aspects of idiomatic meaning Firstly, thegeneral meaning of idioms seems to be determined by the particular “sourcedomains” that is suitable for a particular target domain Secondly, morespecific aspects of idiomatic meaning are provided by the “ontological

mapping” that applies to a given idiomatic expression Thirdly, connotativeaspects of idiomatic meaning can be explained by “epistemiccorrespondences”.

In conclusion, cognitive linguistics states that language is bothembodied and situated in a specific environment, especially it attached to theexperiences and environments of its users

The cognitive linguistics perpective has got many great achievements

in understanding cognitive mechanism and human language Therefore, it has

a relationship with three main mechanisms for idioms such as metaphor,metonymy and conventional knowledge

Firstly, a metaphor is the expression of an understanding of oneconcept in terms of another concept, where there is some similarities andcorrelations between the two For example, in order to express the

metaphorical understanding of “Anger is Fire”, we can say:

“Your insincere apology just added fuel to the fire”.

“After the argument, Dave was smoldering for days”.

“That kindled my ire”.

“Boy, am I burned up!”.

Metaphor is much paid attention to in literature and linguistics Fromtraditional view, metaphor belongs to language It is a rhetorical figure andhas an aesthetic function Therefore, we completely transfer the meaning incommon ways without using metaphor In contrast, metaphor shapes not justour communication, but also shapes the way we think and act in cognitivelinguistics viewpoint Metaphor is seen in language in our everyday lives

In cognitive linguistics, conceptual metaphor or cognitive metaphor,refers to the understanding of one idea A conceptual domain can be anycoherent organization of human experience In George Lakoff and Mark

Johnson’s work, “Metaphor We Live By” (1980), we see how everydaylanguage is filled with metaphors that we may not always notice For

instance, one of the commonly used conceptual metaphors is “Argument as War” This metaphor shapes our language in the way we regard argument as

war or as a battle to be won So it is not uncommon to hear someone say “He won that argument” or “I attacked every weak point in his argument”

because the argument is thought and shaped to be war or a battle that must bewon based on conceptual metaphor Besides, argument can be seen in manyother ways other than a battle but we use this concept to form the way wethink of argument

Finally, conceptual metaphors are used very often to understandtheories and models A conceptual metaphor uses one idea and links it toanother to better understand something

Secondly, a metonymy is a figure of speech in which one word orphrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated such as

“crown” for “royalty” Metonymy is also rhetorical strategy of describing

something indirectly by referring to things around it such as describing

someone’s clothing to characterize the individual For example: the bottle for alcoholic drink, the press for jouralism, skirt for women, Mozart for Mozart’s music, the Oval Office for the US presidency Another well known metonymic saying is “the pen is mightier than the sword”, it means writing is

more powerful than warfare

Metonymy is claimed to be not just a matter of names of thing but aconceptual phenomenon As already pointed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980),metonymy, like metaphor, is a part of our everyday of thinking, is grounded

in experience It is also a subject to general and systematic principles andstructures our thoughts and action Lakoff and Johnson gave an example

“She’s just a pretty face” to illustrate the general conceptual nature of

metonymy We get basic information about a person from his face The

conceptual metonymy “the face for the person” is therefore part of our

everyday way of thinking about people

The use of metonymic expressions in language is primarily a reflection

of general conceptual metonymies and is motivated by general cognitiveprinciples We claim that all metonymies are finally conceptual in nature

Thirdly, conventional knowledge is another mechanism that has a greatinfluence on classification of idioms Conventional knowledge meansknowledge in many fields such as science, history, culture, religion, beliefs…They are very important for people because they help us get backgroundinformation of all things around us This knowledge provides us with theunderstanding of our society, natural phenomenon and language itself.Language is an invaluable thing that maintains and develops cultural values.Therefore we should have knowledge of our own language For instance, in

Vietnam, “meat” indicates meat of animals or a solid part inner skin of fruits

or trees (“quả xoài dày thịt”, “loại gỗ thịt mịn”), in England, the meanings of

“meat” are widely understood, it is commonly used to indicate food (meat and drink = đồ ăn thức uống) Besides, English people regard “meat” as an important thing for them (The second chapter contains the meat of this book

= Chương hai thể hiện nội dung chủ yếu của cuốn sách này).

And idiom is regarded as a natural phenomenon of language.Conventional knowledge plays a key role in understanding and explainingidioms So from the cognitive linguistics view, we can carry out classification

of idioms based on conventional knowledge including animal behaviour,origin, traditions and customs… For example, according to Vietnameses’

viewpoint, “pig” is dirty, ugly, big, stupid…as “phục phịch như con lợn”,

“mũi cong như mũi lợn ỉn”, “ngu như lợn”… but “pig” refers to many interesting chracteristics in Englishes’s view such as hasty (“a pig in a poke”- con lợn trong bọc), misery (“squel like a stuck pig”- rống như lợn bị chọc tiết), surprised (“stare like a stuck pig”- nhìn chằm chằm như lợn bị chọc tiết)…

In short, conventional knowledge is very important and interesting for

us to do the research It helps us to overcome many difficulties in idiomsstudy

2.2.2.2 Cognitive linguistic- based classification of English idioms of anger

According to Kovecses (2002), idioms are mainly based on thefollowing principles: Metaphor, metonymy and conventional knowledge

2.2.2.2.1 Metaphor- Anger is Heat

“Anger is heat” is considered the most important metaphor conceptualizing anger based on embodied experiences “Anger is Heat” is divided into two sub- types including “Anger is Heat” and “Anger is a Hot Fluid in a Container”.

Let us consider the former through the following examples:

1 She was doing a slow burn (Bà ta đang cháy từ từ)

2 His writings fanned the flames of racism (Những tác phẩm của ông ta cực lực lên án chủ nghĩa phân biệt chủng tộc)

3 The flat is in the fire now Jim has just told his wife that he has taken a

job on another town without mentioning it to her first (Ngôi nhà đang

nóng bừng lên khi Jim bất ngờ tuyên bố với vợ rằng a đã xin việc ở một

thị trấn khác mà không hỏi qua ý kiến vợ mình)

4 He was breathing fire (Ông ấy đang phun ra lửa/ đang cơn thịnh nộ)

5 Your insincere apology just added fuel to the fire (Lời xin lỗi thiếu chân

thành của anh chỉ đổ thêm dầu vào lửa)

6 Boy, am I burned up! (Này, thằng kia, tao đang cháy lên đây/ đang cáu

tiết!)

It was found that the idioms mentioned above use the image of fire toexpress anger in different levels from the lower levels to higher levels It can

be seen clearly that these sentences show levels of anger like their literal

meaning In semantic field, “breathing fire” is hotter than “slow burn” In fact, “fire” is an invaluable thing in human’s life because there were considerable changes in social and cultural development in the past “Fire” brought about warmth, wealthy and power That is a reason why “fire” is identified as “anger” According to Lakoff and Johnson (1980) and Lakoff (1989), the visual image “fire” is always used to represent “anger”- an

abstract concept so that learners and listeners easily and correctly experiencethemselves

This is the most common cognitive mechanism for every adult in the

society Similarly, Vietnamese conceptualizes anger by the image of “fire”.

7 Wenger đổ dầu vào lửa đại chiến Arsenal- Liverpool.

8 Chồng giận thì vợ bớt lời, cơm sôi bớt lửa chẳng đời nào khê.

9 Đặt một Calisto nóng như lửa lên bàn cân với A Riedle mềm mại như

nước.

10 Từng đợt mắng chửi cứ xoáy vào tai , làm cho ông ta hai mắt như nảy lửa.

In Eastern countries, the life is greatly influenced by the theories of

Ying Yang and the Five Elements “Yang” is regarded as “Heat” so most of Vietnamese idioms of anger consist of “fire” such as “Lửa cháy lại tưới dầu thêm”, “mặt đỏ như lửa”, “nóng như lửa”…