Idioms with as as in comparison with the vietnamese ones = nghiên cứu thành ngữ so sánh trong tiếng anh và tiếng việt

We are attracted by the question how and why idioms differ from each other between English and Vietnamese in case of comparative idioms with as...as referring to people.. For all the rea

Part A: Introduction

1 Rationale

As we know, English is used the most widely over the world As a result,English is being taught and learned in Vietnam During the course of English, wehave chance to deal with many aspects of English language We are really fond

of English idioms since they play a very important role in reflecting the vivid,colourful picture of nation’s customs, cultural traditions and history Idioms are

used both in written and spoken language to emphasize meaning and make our

observation, judgment and explanations are more lively and interesting

(Longman, idioms dictionary); so, they have aesthetic function In other words,

they are really useful tools for communicating of great deal of meaning in just afew words For example, to indicate a person who is really beautiful, the English

men are likely to say as beautiful as the rainbow or as beautiful as the sunset To indicate a person who is very fat, Vietnamese would like to say bÐo nh con cun

cót (as fat as a partridge) We are attracted by the question how and why idioms

differ from each other between English and Vietnamese in case of comparative

idioms with as as referring to people.

Hence, there are many researchers, many linguists studying about idioms

such as Peter Howard (English vocabulary aid), Xu©n B¸, TrÇn Thanh S¬n,

NguyÔn §×nh Hïng They give lists of English idioms and their uses or theexplanations However, they have not mentioned much the similarities anddifferences between English and Vietnamese idioms Especially, for comparative

idioms with as as, they only give lists of these kinds of idioms without

explanation and comparison with Vietnamese

Furthermore, as a student of English, I find that students of English onlystop at using non - idiomatic ways of expressing ideas There are a few studentsusing idioms in their speaking and writing It means students of English miss thechance to reach the highest effect in communication in general and incommunication with foreigners in particular If they try consciously to fill theirspeech and writing with idioms, the effect will probably be improved

For all the reasons above, we decide to choose to study about Idioms with

as as referring to people in comparison with the

“as as referring to people in comparison with the Vietnamese ones I hope the

study can partly improve the knowledge of idioms in students of English In this

study, idioms are described in a variety of contexts and situations Englishidioms are various and prosperous, especially about people Thus, in this small

scale of the study, we only deal with comparative idioms with as as about the

appearance, character, mental state, and health state in comparison with theVietnamese ones

2 Aims of the study

The first aim of this study is to help the learners to improve theirknowledge of English and Vietnamese idioms as well, especially comparative

idioms with as as referring to people.

The second aim of the study is to give students and learners someidentities in culture, customs, and traditions of the two countries which are

described in comparative idioms with as as referring to people.

The third aim is that through this study, we give some suggestions forlearning and teaching idioms and some types of exercises to improve the ability

to use comparative idioms with as as referring to people.

3 Scope of the study

- Idioms

- Comparative idioms with as as referring to people in English and

Vietnamese

- The meaning of English comparative idioms with as as referring to

people and their equivalents in Vietnamese

4 Methods of the study

- Statistic method

- Contrastive and comparative method

- Analytic and synthetic method

5 Design of the study

Part A: Introduction

1 Rationale

2 Aims of the study

3 Scope of the study

4 Methods of the study

5 Design of the study

Part B: Investigation

Chapter 1: Idioms

Chapter 2: Idioms with as as referring to people in comparison with the

Vietnamese ones

Chapter 3: Some suggestions for learning and teaching idioms and some

suggested exercises for using idioms with as as referring to people

According to the definition of Vietnamese Dictionary (Linguistics Institute

- Da Nang Publishing House, 1997), thành ngữ là tập hợp những từ cố định quen

dùng mà nghĩa của nó thờng không thể giải thích đợc một cách đơn giản bằng nghĩa của các từ tạo nên nó.

Examples:

Coi trời bằng vung

Ăn bánh trả tiền

Đắt xắt ra miếng

An idiom, as Johnathan Crowther (1995) defines, is a phrase whose

meaning is difficult or sometimes impossible to guess by looking at the individual word it contains (from Advanced Learners Dictionary’ ); or, an idiom can bedefined as a number of words which when taken together, have a differentmeaning from the individual meaning of each word

Idioms, like proverbs, are common sayings However, they usually do not

make sense at first sight and do not offer any advice For example, to sting to the

quick which means, to make someone angry So that idioms are fixed expressions

that are commonly used They are not complete sentences but words – An idiom

is equal to a phrase

Idioms do not give comments, experiences, a moral lesson, advice thatmake idioms aesthetic not educated, that is the reason why an idiom does notbecome a literary work – idioms belong to the language An example of a

Vietnamese idiom mÆt hoa da phÊn it only indicates the aesthetic – beauty of a

woman, not a comment or advice or criticism, even though an idiom can beornate and flowery So idioms do not bring about the full understanding aboutlife and any lesson of the people’s relationship in the society

1.2 History of studying idioms

I.2.1 In England and Europe

In England and Europe, lots of linguists started their study in Englishidioms since the very beginning of 20th century Many Western and Americanauthors gave great contributions to the collection of English idioms such as:

- W Mc Mordie with English Idioms and How to use them (1909), which is

considered as the first to research carefully on the field of English Idioms

- V.H.Collin with A Book of English Idioms with Explanation (1958) and

American English Idioms (1986).

- Browcal M with Idioms for Everyday Use (1994).

- Teachers and researchers from Cambridge University with Cambrigde

International Dictionary of Idioms (1999).

I.2.2 In Vietnam

Although the study in English idioms was started much later than inEurope and other countries, many Vietnamese linguists show their interests inthis new and difficult subject They are:

- TrÇn TÊt Th¾ng with Idioms for Everyday Use (1995).

- L¬ng V¨n §ang, NguyÔn Lùc with Thµnh ng÷ TiÕng ViÖt (1979).

- Hoµng V¨n Hµnh, NguyÔn Nh ý and Phan Xu©n Thµnh with KÓ chuyÖn.

Thµnh ng÷, Tuc ng÷ Volume 1, 2, 3 (1998 and 1991).

- ViÖt Ch¬ng with Tõ ®iÓn Thµnh ng÷, Tôc ng÷, Ca dao ViÖt Nam (1996).

- Nguyễn Lân with Từ điển Thành ngữ, Tục ngữ Việt Nam (1997)

Respectively, many linguists in England, Europe and in Vietnam havestudied widely on idioms and have given great contribution to the collection ofthe idioms These works mostly give learners the lists of idioms in English andVietnamese with the explanations and examples However, they have notmentioned the similarities and differences between English and Vietnameseidioms

On the whole, through the time idioms have been studied widely In order

to master the base and the criteria to define an idiom, we will come to the nextunit

1.3 Criteria to distinguish idioms from proverbs

According to Advanced Learner s Dictionary’ , a proverb is a short

well-known sentence or phrase that states a general truth about life or gives advice.

For example, think today than speak tommorow means it is better to think before

speaking This is an advice and the phrase mentioned is called a proverb There

are many proverbs in both English and Vietnamese For example in English, live

on the fat of the land, cheapest is dearest, silence gives consent In Vietnamese ngồi mát ăn bát vàng, của rẻ là của ôi, im lặng là đồng ý.

It is clear that a proverb is also a phenomenon of language; so, how is itused in communication? Since a proverb is short saying which expresses popularwisdom, a truth or a moral lesson in a concise and imaginative way, it is also

figurative in term of meaning Let’s consider many hands make light work that

means many people working together bring successful result – a truth in life

It seems that idioms and proverbs, to some extent, are alike; so, are thereany criteria to distinguish an idiom from a proverb? In fact, the borderlinebetween an idiom from a proverb is not very solid However, in this study, wegive two criteria that can be used to distinguish an idiom from a proverb

The first criterion is the meaning In that, idioms are not instructive, moral

in nature as proverbs Idioms are constructions peculiar to a language For

example, in English, the proverb there is a time for all things means giờ nào việc

nấy in Vietnamese We see that these proverbs tell about the truth in life Thus, a

proverb is a principle that has been concluded from the experiences in life Inshort, a proverb is a lesson

The second criterion is about structure or the stability of structure Anidiom is a fixed group or a set phrase, this means the sequence of words in anidiom cannot be changed or shortened anyway If that sequence is changed, themeaning of the idiom will change as a consequence If any word is added to orleft out, that idiom may be invalid or it will easily cause confusion In contrast, aproverb is often elliptical in their nature For example, in English, the proverb

There is no place like home can be shortened into No place like home without

changing in meaning Meanwhile, an idiom such as Unity is strength cannot be shortened in any circumstances; or in Vietnamese, we have the proverb D¹y «ng

cèng vµo trµng, D¹y bµ lang bèc thuèc This is an evidence to see that a proverb

can be changed into idioms

Though there have been some studies about proverbs, no particular criteriaare given to distinguish idioms from proverbs A perfect criterion is hardlypossible since there have been many borderlines between them Up above, weonly introduce two accepted criteria as a reference Due to the limitation of thesubject, we do not widen this unit

Chapter 2

Idioms with as as referring to people in

comparison with the Vietnamese ones.

Table The meaning of English and Vietnamese idioms with as as

referring to people.

People’s appearance

10 as thin as a lath gầy nh xác ve

21 as like as peas in a pod giống nhau nh đúc

29 as glorious as the sun rực rỡ nh mặt trời

35 as timid as a mouse rụt rè nh chuột

36 as timid as a fawn sợ sệt nh con nai

37 as changeable as the weather

thay đổi nh thời tiết

38 as uncertain as the weather

40 as gentle as a fawn hiền nh con nai con

41 as devoted as a mother tận tụy nh mẹ hiền

46 as trick as a monkey nghịch nh quỷ sứ

47 as mean as a miser keo kiệt nh kẻ bủn xỉn

48 as stupid as a donkey ngu nh con lừa/bò

57 as nimble as a squirrel nhanh nh sóc

58 as quick s as lightning nhanh nh chớp

60 as warm as sunbeams ấm áp nh tia nắng mặt trời

61 as blunct as the back of a knife thẳng nh sống dao

63 as lasting as the pyramids vững nh kim tự tháp

64 as shy as a bride khép nép nh dâu mới về nhà

2.2

People’s mental state

75 as happy as a clam at a high tide vui nh sáo

78 as cool as a cucumber tỉnh nh không

80 as cheerless as death buồn nh cha chết

82

as still as death chết đứng nh bị trời trồng

86 as drunk as a begger say nh ăn mày phải bã

94

as fit as an elephant khoẻ nh voi

96 as fiddle as a child

yếu ớt nh đứa trẻ mới sinh

97 as weak as baby

98 as helpless as infant

99 as spineless as a jellyfish yếu nh sên

100 as white as chalk mặt cắt không ra máu

103 as white as moon light nhợt nhạt nh ánh trăng

104 as pale as a death nhợt nhạt nh ngời chết đuối

105 as pale as a ghost tái xanh nh ma ám

2.4

2.1 The English idioms with as as are similar

with the Vietnamese ones

Human races have been passing through many periods of development.That is why whenever, wherever we are, which race we belong to, we have thesame cognition and outlook to the nature, the people and the society.Regardless of different bloods, different colours of skin and different locations ofliving, our minds, to some extent, are similar, which are expressed in a great

number of idioms Some of English idioms with as as referring to people listed

underneath have the Vietnamese equivalents without changing in meaning

2.1.1 Idioms with as as referring to people’sappearance

It is natural that English people’s appearance is very different from that ofVietnamese people because of geographical position and climate

To some extent, English and Vietnamese have some similar idioms Forexample, when saying someone’s skin is non - white, English people have idioms

as black as ebony and as black as coal In Vietnamese we say đen nh gỗ mun or

đen nh than.

To express the truth that someone is fat, English people say: as fat as a pig

or as fat as patridge In Vietnamese, the similar meaning is béo (mập) nh lợn,

béo nh con cun cút.

Besides, there are English idioms about people’s beauty like as

smart/pretty as a picture as in the example.

This charming cottage dates back to the 15th century and is as pretty as apicture, with its thatched roof and secluded gardent

Oxford Idioms Dictionary (2003: 298)

In Vietnamese, similar idioms is đẹp nh tranh as in example:

Ôi, toàn là những đứa bằng thằng lớn nhà anh Cả con trai lẫn con gái.

Đứa nào cũng đẹp nh tranh.

When saying about someone who is very fierce, English people say: as

fierce as a lion, as fierce as wolves

Meanwhile, Vietnamese also use the similar idioms such as: dữ nh cọp,

Besides, English has some similar idioms about somebody who is very

timid like: as timid as a rabbit and Vietnamese also have idioms: nhát nh thỏ

Even when it s so hot, she looks as fresh as a daisy How does she do it?’

Oxford Idioms dictionary (2003:134)

In Vietnamese, we have similar idiom like that: tơi nh hoa

When saying someone is calm, especially when the opposite might be

expected English people say he/she is: as cool as a cucumber

Like in the example:

Everyone was rushing round trying to get thing ready, and he just sat there, as cool as a cucumber.

Oxford Idioms Dictionary (2003: 66)

We have similar Vietnamese to express that mental state of people like:

And there are many other English idioms with their equivalents inVietnamese shown in the table above

2.2 The English idioms with as as are

different from the Vietnamese ones.

As I analysed above, people from different areas, different countries onearth somewhat have the same thinking and awareness of nature and society

However, each country has its own geographical situation, financial position andsocial environment; the same thinking and awareness can be expressed bylanguage differently Meanwhile, idioms belong to language, so the ways ofexpressing ideas and thoughts through idioms are also different.

What is more, though people all over the world have the same conceptsabout people’s appearance, character, mental state, health state , they areeffected by living condition, socio - economic situation, their country customsand traditions Thus, they express those concepts differently As a result, English

comparative idioms with as as that are different from Vietnamese idioms when

both Vietnamese and English express a same concept

2.2.1 The idioms with as as referring to people’sappearance

People’s appearance is much effected by geographical position, climate Therefore, English people’s appearances are very different from Vietnamese’s

As a result, apart from the same idioms with as as expressing people’s appearance, Vietnamese and English have different idioms with as as to express

it

For instance, when talking about someone‘s beauty or ugliness, apart from

the similar idioms with as as presenting the same thought, the same viewpoint,

Vietnamese and English have different idioms If English often describe a girl or

a woman to be as fair as rose as follows:

I guess you ll be in love with her at the first sight because she is as fair as’

rose.

Vietnamese normally depict a female to be đẹp nh tiên (as fair/ beautful

as fairy) like this:

Hoàng hậu Việt Nam hiếm hoi sinh đợc nguời con gái đẹp nh tiên.

Some babies are as ugly as sin at that age.

Oxford Idioms Dictionary (2003: 354)

With the same implication, Vietnamese say he/ she is xấu nh ma (as ugly

as a ghost) It can be seen from two pairs of idiom with as as above that there

is a difference between the sense of Vietnamese and English people As you

know, tiên (fairy) and ma (ghost) are imaginary beings They do not exist on earth They only exist in people’s mind Ma is regarded as a thing that often

frightens, threatens people; so, it appears very ugly As a matter of fact,

Vietnamese people often compare somebody’s ugliness with ma (ghost)

Again, tiên is a beautiful imaginary female with magical powers For

Easten people, especially Vietnamese people, in the past, whenever they were

repressed, oppressed, or they could not protect themselves, they thought of fairy

as a mythical power which could help them in hard time Long time ago, fairy

became the most beautiful and kind - hearted character in their mind Thus, they

often compare somebody very beautiful with fairy.

Generally, what Vietnamese compare with is not specific Both tiên and

ma are idle fancy and imaginary Meanwhile, what English associate with is very

specific They are rose and sin They compare the beauty with rose because rose

is the most beautiful flowers, is the Queen of all flowers Rose is also thenational flower of England - one of the best symbols of this country They

compare ugliness with sin because to their minds sin is regarded as the ugliest

We can find Vietnamese equivalent idioms like:

đen nh cột nhà cháy (as black as burned column of a house)

đen nh củ súng (as black as the root of waterlily)

đen nh đồng hun (as black as copper)

đen nh củ tam thất

Example:

Ngời chỉ huy đen nh củ tam thất, lầm lì, ít nói

Nguyễn Nh ý, Hoàng Văn Hành (1995: 300)

Or:

Ông đội trởng chắc nịch và đen nh cột nhà cháy

skin is black, they associate with chimney and sweep Because in the past, there

was always a stove in English houses, of course, there was a chimney throughwhich smoke is carried away from fire and through the roof or wall of thehouses However, there have never been chimneys in the Vietnamese houses

Vietnamese were more used to cột nhà cháy (burned column of a house) and củ

súng (root of a waterlily) rather than chimney and sweep.

Besides, when concerning a person who has no expected covering like

clothes, Vietnamese say he/she is trần nh nhộng (as bare as a pupa).

Example:

Xung quanh anh, bốn ngời chiến sĩ cũng đều trần nh nhộng

Nguyễn Nh ý, Hoàng Văn Hành (1995: 660)

Meanwhile, English have many different ways, many idioms with

as as that differ from Vietnamese idioms to express this opinion such as:

as bare as a stone

as bare as the palm of your hand

as naked as picked bone

as naked as my mother bore me

In fact, with the same concept about the bareness, Vietnamese think of

pupa, and English think of stone, the palm of one s hand’ , a picked bone What

creates these differences? As we know, Vietnamese is an agricultural country.Especially, in the past, in some regions, except for planting paddy, growingsilkworms was the main work As a result, the Vietnamese people got used to

pupa Therefore, they compare somebody bare with a pupa This comparison has

been commonly used in daily life Up to now, this idiom has become verypopular It partly presents the national peculiarity of Vietnam It is likely that theobservations and comparisons in the English idioms are more scientific and moreaccurate than in the Vietnamese ones What is more exact than comparing

nakedness with a baby just being born? And it can be clearly seen the things they

associate with that their points of view, thoughts expressed by idioms differentfrom Vietnamese’s

Moreover, both Vietnamese and English have plentiful ways/idioms with

as as to talk about people’s shape Vietnamese and English have their own

idioms with as as about fatness

Vietnamese use the idiom béo nh trâu trơng while English use as fat as a

whale/porpoise (béo nh cá voi) The reason why there is a such difference is

because the Vietnamese people were likely to be closely connected withbuffaloes and ploughs all their lives Moreover, buffalo is a big and fat animalwith round shape Specially when it is bloated, it become bigger Therefore, whentalking about fatness, Vietnamese associated of ideas a floated buffalo rather

than a whale There were a few Vietnamese people knowing about whale It used

to be a new concept

The last group of idioms with as as we would like to mention to in this

part are the idioms about the similarities between two persons To talk about thiscase, English have the idioms:

as alike as two peas

as like as peas in a pod

Example:

I have never met his brother before but I recognized him immediately because they are as like as peas in a pod.

Oxford Idiom Dictionary (2003:280)

Meanwhile, we can find a series of the Vietnamese equivalent idioms suchas:

Giống nhau nh hai giọt nớc Giống nhau nh lột

Giống nhau nh đúc Giống nh tạc

Example:

Thử nhìn kĩ lại xem chúng ta có phải giống nhau nh lột không? Miệng mồm chúng ta đều rộng huếch, rộng hoác nh nhau cả.

Nguyễn Nh ý, Hoàng Văn Hành (1995: 352)

Một bà mẹ đầu đội thúng lu, chất đầy quần áo, hai tay dắt hai đúa trẻ gái sinh đôi giống nhau nh hai giọt nớc.

We would like to mention some idioms referring to people’s character thatare commonly used by both the English and Vietnamese people When sayingabout someone who often change his/her mind, lifestyle, viewpoint the Englishpeople say that he/she is:

as changeable as the moon

as changeable as the weather

as uncertain as the weather

Example:

Don t trust her, she is as changeable as the weather.’

Meantime, the Vietnamese use the idiom thay đổi nh chong chóng (as

changeable as pinwheel) as in this example:

Chơng trình gì thay đổi nh chong chóng Ba đầu sáu tay vô đây cũng làm không kịp.

Nguyễn Nh ý, Hoàng Văn Hành (1995: 608)

Why is there such difference? Everybody studies English knows that theweather in England is very changeable The English people can never be sure of adry day; there can be cool (or even cold) days in July and some quite warm days

in January Perhaps it is the reason that English people always seem to be talking