A contrastive analysis of using some colours in english and vietnamese

However, when using colours to express themselves or the surrounding world, the learners often use simple colourful words such as: "blue", "red"… they rarely use "light blue" or "dark re

Acknowledgements

I especially would like to express my great gratitude to M.A Nguyen Xuan Binh - my supervisor - who gave me the enthusiastic help and encouragement to complete this thesis

I'd also like to thank the teachers of Foreign Languages Department for guiding me to find out neccesary materials for my thesis

Furthermore, I'm grateful to my parents as well as my classmates for their help and support during the process of carrying out this graduation thesis

To everyone, I truly thank!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I: INTRODUCTION

I Reasons for choosing the subject

II.Aims of the study

III Objects of the study

IV Methods of the study

V Design of the study

PART II: CONTENTS

2 Meaning and importance of colours

3 Cultural approaches of colours Chapter II: THE WAY OF USING SOME COLOURS IN ENGLISH AND

VIETNAMESE

I TRUE COLOURS IN LIFE:

1 Colour lexemes

2 History of researching colours

3 Grades of some colours

II COLOURS DESCRIBE CONCRETE OBJECTS

1 Colours are used to express mood, emotion

2 Colourful words combine with some parts of human body 2.1 Skin

2.1.3 Đỏ 2.1.4 Xanh 2.2 In English

2.2.1 Black

2.2.2 Red

2.2.3 White

2.2.4 Blue

3 Colourful idioms in English and Vietnamese

Chapter III: APPLICATION

1 REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE STUDY:

As we know, language is a very important means of communication One of the languages which is used widely all over the world is English because of its interests and advantages In Vietnam, English becomes more and more popular and it is being taught and spoken everywhere

It is more interesting when we compare the two languages to find out the differences and similarities between them in order to understand more about the cultures of different countries speaking different languages, in particular English and Vietnamese

I have always loved colours and the way they interact In my process of approaching and learning English, I realize that colours in English are used very lively and interesting However, when using colours to express themselves or the surrounding world, the learners often use simple colourful words such as: "blue", "red"… they rarely use "light blue" or "dark red" which is rather complicated So, I try to explain about how colours work and how they can be used

Furthermore, idioms play a very important part in English with great quantities, especially colourful idioms which make English more interesting They help us express what we mean satisfactorily We can't translate the meaning of colourful idioms into mother tongue according to literal meaning because we will make mistakes

For example, "a white elephant" doesn't mean "một con voi trắng" but

it has the meaning "a huge thing or object which doesn't cost much"

All of the above ideas are the reasons why I choose this thesis to deal with because I do not only want to enrich my knowledge but also want to give the readers some more useful readings

My hope is that some of learners that happen to stumble upon it will realize the importance of colours to learn that there is more to colours than we used to think

II AIMS OF THE STUDY:

The first aim of the study is to describe the grades of colours in English and Vietnamese

The second aim of this study is to describe colourful idioms in English and Vietnamese and find out the differences and similarities between them

The third aim is to describe how to use colours to express our mood, emotion and the comparison of colours

The fourth aim is that through this study we also try to offer some possible types of exercises to improve the learning of English idioms for the learners and to improve speaking skill for students at high school as well

III OBJECTS OF THE STUDY:

+ Idioms

+ English and Vietnamese idioms referring to colours

IV METHODS OF THE STUDY:

+ Contrastive and comparative method

+ Statistic method

+ Analytic and systematic method

V DESIGN OF THE STUDY:

Part I: Introduction

1 Reasons for choosing the subject

2 Aims of the study

3 Objects of the study

4 Methods of the study

Part II: Content

Chapter I: Describe theoretical preliminaries such as word, meaning of word

Chapter II: English and Vietnamese idioms referring to colours

Chapter III: Some applications for the teaching of English colourful idioms

Part III:

Conclusion

Reference books

It has functions of meaning and function of making up sentences It is one of the basic unit of semantics But it is truly very difficult to define

- "Words are regarded the meaningful units of a language (the smallest and independent) Words, on the other hand, may be considered purely as forms, whether written or spoken, or alternatively as composite expressions, which combine forms and meaning"

(Semantics - HN National University Press, 1998)

- "Word is sound or a group of sounds that expresses a meaning and forms an independent unit of a language"

(Oxford Advanced Learners ' Dictionary- Oxford University Press, 1995)

2 Meaning and meaning of word

The term "meaning" has been one of the problems that makes people argue Up to now, no one can define exactly what is meaning? However, there are some definitions that can be acceptable:

- Meaning is what is referred to or indicated by For example: sounds, words or signals

Sounds and patterns that convey meaning of the word are being us ed in its original meaning In here , in the field of language, we research "meaning" that belongs to the language

There are several theories of meaning such as:

- The referential: meaning of an expression (or of a word) is what it refers to or denotes or stands for

- The ideational: meaning of an expression (or of a word) is idea or concept associated with it in the mind of anyone who knows and understands the expression

The meaning - in - use theory: meaning of an expression is determined

by, if not identical with its use in language

In fact, there are a lot of problems of the meaning that need to be studied The meaning of a word is not only what it refers to but also depends

on the way we use it, on the context it appears or on the innovation of the

"accented" word in a sentence

Besides, the development of the words, the origins of the words and the relations holding between them also affect the meanings of the words

II COLOURS:

1 Definition:

What is coulor? Out of the vibrations reaching the earth a tiny octave is registered by the optic nerves our eyes respond to these particular vibrations with a reaction that we know as colours

It has been suggested that the seven colours correspond to the seven major planets and are radiating down to the earth at their specific rates of vibration A red rose absorbs all colours except "red" and reflects the red light waves to us and we say "the rose is red"

2 Meaning and importance of colours

Colours give to light their infinite variety Without colours and light, the world would be very drab and we would probably all be very depressed

Instead the gift of colours has imbued, the world with such great beauty, colours give meaning to the things we do, the objects we surround ourselves with, to the personality and all its shifting moods and to all the events that makes our lives

The infinite number of colours can not be all explained They are attributed to the infinitely subtle and unique qualities of life Each colour has

a subtle impression and is part of the creation of atmosphere, desirability and mood

In all cultures and ages, colours have attributed with meaning and qualities and sciences have explored their effect on the health and personality

as well

The meaning of colours are as universal as they are personal and like songs, they can transport you in a minute to a feeling that goes beyond reason They invite the individual into their own language of meaning and significance Each individual lends their uniqueness to the colour creating a mood that lifts life into a more magical and feeling realm

3 Cultural approaches of colours and the way to divide colours

The term "culture" is used widely nowadays However, it's very complicated to understand the exact meaning of this term Up to now, there has been more than 400 different definitions of "culture" These definitions may be very prolific, interesting… Because each nation has its own culture

Nature has many colours: seas, rivers, mountains, forests, trees, animals… Our world is full of colours as well Colours reflect our interest in beauty to reach It brings the features of a community, a tradition, a custom… Each nation has different outlooks and different ways of using colours

In common, English and Vietnamese have the similar way of symbolizing colours:

'"Red" symbolizes the vital force, energy, passion, courage and action

It is associated with leadership, power, the will and the body Spontaneity and impulsiveness are its qualities It stimulates activity, intensity and extroversion "Red" also brings out the revolutionary and leads us into affirmative thought and action

For example, "red flag" in English and "cờ đỏ" in Vienamese is the special symbol of revolution

"Blue"symbolizes the communicative force, speech, messages and ideas It relaxes and opens the mind to share thought and ideas Idealism, sincerity, mental empathy and relaxation are associated with blue It brings out affection, loyalty and inspiration It is the colour of friendship and

"White" symbolizes purity, union, truth and innocence Its qualities are cleanliness, self-sacrifice and beginnings purity essentially opens us to the deeper level of existence and renews the souls experience of the moment Holiness and divinity in its feminine aspects are associated with ''white''

For example, when getting married, brides often wear white wedding skirts because this means they are virgins

"Black" symbolizes the bad, unluckiness, evil and death "Black" brings

us unhappiness and sad emotions

For example, "black list" is used to write names of those who are criminal or do something illegally

< [red ] < <[ blue ] < [brown ]<

CHAPTER II THE WAY TO USE SOME COLOURS IN ENGLISH AND

VIETNAMESE

I TRUE COLOURS IN LIFE:

1 Colour lexemes:

The range of colours is a continuous band, lacking any clear physical

boundaries The semantic field of colour has therefore attracted particular

attention because it demonstrates very clearly the different patterns of lexical

use in a language English has eleven basic colour lexemes: white, black, red,

green, yellow, blue, brown, purple, pink, orange, and grey While in

Vietnamese, there are nine basic colour lexemes: đen, trắng, đỏ, vàng, xanh,

tím, nâu, hồng, xám

The differences between the colour terms of various languages are

striking, and might lead us to conclude that each language has worked out a

unique system in a totally arbitrary way A 1969 study by B.Berlin and P.Kay

however, argued the opposite After studying the colour system of 58

languages, they concluded that there is a universal inventory of only 11 basic

colour categories, and all languages use either these eleven or fewer

"Basic" was interpreted to mean that the terms used only a single

morpheme were in common use, applied to many objects, and were not

contained within another colour They also claimed that these basic terms

were ordered, as follows:

White green purple, orange

Black yellow pink, grey

If a language has a term to the right of the sign <, it will also have all

the terms to the left

These claims are not without controversy Obtaining reliable data from native speakers about such matters is a problem, especially as their judgements might have been coloured by their exposure to other languages Some languages, also, seem to have twelve basic terms But the research has demonstrated some impressive similarities across a wide range of languages

The world of colours is very various and interesting The philosopher and writer- Henri Raypho wrote: "We have food culture, entertainment culture, tourism culture We also have colour culture" Colours make our life more beautiful and lovely There are many colours as mentioned above, here I just focus on four basic colours: blue, red, black and white

2.History of researching colours:

It's difficult to imagine human's life without colours The natural world around man and the world that man creates is the world of colours Because

of its appearance everywhere, there is no doubt that it is a dispensable part of culture The specialists about traditional culture, arts and architecture realized that the ability of thinking about colours and the aesthetic relation towards colours of each nation are diffrent and this makes unique cultural features Colours are attached to history and national tradition In Western countries,

"black" is the colour of death, which is opposite to Eastern countries' point of view: "white" is the colour of death

About a hundred year ago, researchers in the world were interested in the differences in the way of thinking about colours of different countries Discusions about colours were paid much attention by many sciencific branches such as ethnology, psychology and linguistics There were many outstanding studies written by many famous sciencific researchers basing on lively materials and objects of different races For example, Glastone W.E, Geiger.L, Magnus G analised very clearly names of colours taken from ancient writtings of Chinese, India, Xemit

Allen F -English psychologist- paid much attention to the culture that was considered colour-blindness Berlin B Kay P invented methods to divide the evolution phases towards colours' appearance

The above researchers and their studies helped us know how the relationship between colours and culture were paid much attention by sciencific world

Vietnamese linguistics also had some well-known studies such as:

- "The way to use colourful adjectives of Tố Hữu" written by Lê Anh Hiền

- "The system of colourful words in Vietnamese" written by Đào Thản Vietnamese has two classes of colourful words: the abstract class and the concrete class So does English

Đào Thản gave out some reasonable remarks : "The consciousness of colours and analization of Colourful ranges in all languages depend on the sight and traditional point of view of each community rather than the result of analizing them" Because of that reason, some colours are considered basic ones of this language but not in other languages For example: "xanh da trời" and "xanh lá cây" are not basic colours in Vietnamese, meanwhile "blue" is considered a basic colour in English Actually, in Vietnamese, there are no words which have the same meaning with "blue" and "green", it is expres sed

by an abstract terminology: "xanh"

3.Grades of some colours:

English, as well as Vietnamese has grades of colours which helps us describe things, objects or the surrounding world flexiably

3.1 BLUE

3.1.1 In English:

- aqua: màu ngọc xanh biển - sky blue: xanh da trời

- azure blue: xanh da trời - royal blue: xanh cam

- cadet blue: xanh lục - turquoise: màu ngọc lam

- dark blue: xanh đậm - bright blue: xanh biếc

- deep blue: xanh thẫm - light blue: xanh nhạt

- navy blue: xanh nước biển - mosy green: xanh rêu

(Canadian short stories- Robert Weaver)

3.1.2 In Vietnamese:

- xanh biếc: deep sky blue - xanh om: verdant

- xanh da trời: sky blue -xanh rì: verdant

- xanh đậm: dark blue - xanh rờn: verdant

- xanh lá cây: green - xanh tốt: verdant

- xanh lè: very green - xanh tươi: verdant

- xanh lính thuỷ: navy blue - xanh xanh: bluish

- xanh lơ: blue - xanh lam: blue

- xanh lục: green - xanh mơn mởn: light green

Ex:

+ "Bây giờ nó lộ ra khá rõ ràng, trong bộ áo ngủ màu xanh nhạt"

(Đôi Mắt- Nam Cao)

+ "Cô giáo bảo vẽ một cái hoa hồng.Một em nhỏ liền vẽ lên giấy một cái hình vuông biếc màu da trời"

(Tờ Hoa- Nguyễn Tuân)

Besides, in Vietnamese, we have other grades of blue such as: xanh cốm, xanh cổ vịt, xanh lá mạ, xanh trứng sáo, xanh hoa lý,xanh lá liễu

3.2 RED

3.2.1 In English:

-light red: đỏ nhạt - ruddy: đỏ au

- reddish: đo đỏ, đỏ hoe - bright red: đỏ tươi

- blood red: đỏ lòm - scarlet: đỏ chót

- glowing red: đỏ rực - blood shot: đỏ ngầu

- crimson: đỏ chói, đỏ thẫm, đỏ gay - carmine: đỏ thắm

- burgundy: đỏ tía - blazing red: đỏ rực

- magenta: đỏ tươi - vermillion: đỏ thắm

- brick red: đỏ màu gạch - purple: đỏ tía

- deep red: đỏ loè - blushing: đỏ ửng

- dark red: đỏ thẫm - rosy: đỏ hồng Ex:

+ "My companion wakened from her reveries with a sarcely audible sigh and looking towards the window where the blood red harvest moon was shining in upon us"

( The tenant of wildfell hall- Anne Bronte)

+ "She had deep red blotches around her eyes"

( Canadian short stories- Robert Weaver)

3.2.2 In Vietnamese:

- đỏ au: ruddy - đỏ ối: glowing red

- đỏ choé: bright red - đỏ rực: blzing red

- đỏ chói: crimson - đỏ thắm: carmine

- đỏ chon chót: bright red - đỏ thẫm: dark red

- đỏ chót: scarlet - đỏ tía: purple

- đỏ loè: deep red - đỏ tươi: bright red

- đỏ gay: crimson - đỏ lòm: blood red

- đỏ hoe: reddish - đỏ ngầu: blood-shot

( Nhũng đứa con trong gia đình- Nguyễn Thi) Besides, Vietnamese has other red colours such as: đỏ hoa gạo, đỏ tôm luộc, đỏ hoa đào, đỏ cánh kiến, đỏ tiết dê, đỏ huyết dụ

3.3 BLACK

3.3.1 In English:

- jet black: đen hạt huyền

- deep black: đen rưng rức

- dark black: đen sì

+ " None of the old colour had as yet come to her cheek, and its absolute paleness was heightened by the jet black of her gown"

( Far from the Madding Crowd- Thomas Hardy) 3.3.2 In Vietnamese:

- đen bóng: shiny black - đen thui: coal black

- đen đen: blackish - đen ngòm: quite black

- đen kịt: inky black - đen trùi trũi: very black

- đen nhánh: shining black - đen xịt: quite black

Ex:

+ "Ông cụ vẫn quắc thước như xưa, râu bây giồ đã dài tới ngực và vẫn đen bóng"

( Mùa Lạc- Nguyễn Khải)

+ " Anh đen thui như người Thượng"

- black board => bảng đen

- black trousers => quần đen

However, in Vietnamese, it's different:

- black board => bảng đen

- black trousers => quần thâm

- black chicken => gà gô

- black cat => mèo mun

- black eyes => mắt huyền

- black dog => chó mực

- black horse => ngựa ô

The reason why we can say the above phrases is because that we borrow some words from Chinese which makes Vietnamese vivid and more interesting

3.4 WHITE

3.4.1 In English:

- ivory white: trắng ngà - pure white: trắng trong

- creamy white: trắng ngần - bright white: trắng xoá

- gleam white: trắng bóng - snow white: trắng muốt

- fair: trắng trẻo

Ex:

+ " I wish I had light hair and a fair skin"

( Wuthering Height- Emily Bronte)

+ " Mine was rocking in a rustling green tree, with a west wind blowing, and light white clouds flitting rapidly above"

( Wuthering Height- Emily Bronte)

3.4.2 In Vietnamese:

- trắng bóng: shiny white - trắng đục: milk white

- trắng bốp: very white - trắng muốt: spotless white

- trắng ngà: ivory white - trắng ngần: creamy white

- trắng nhễ nhại: very white - trắng nõn: soft white

- trắng nuột: creamy white - trắng phau: very white Ex:

+ " Màn tuyn trắng toát.Chỉ trông cũng đã thấy thơm tho và thoải mái" ( Đôi Mắt- Nam Cao)

+ " Huân cười to, hai hàm răng rất đều trắng loá"

( Mùa Lạc- Nguyễn Khải)

Besides, there are some other white colours in Vietnamese: trắng hoa mai, trắng bụng cà, trắng hoa sói, trắng hoa chanh, trắng hoa quỳnh

In both English and Vietnamese, the colours of objects are not existing characteristics but they are made of by the combination of three elements: light, and object, and a part of the body such as eyes The differences between colours depend on light, ability of reflection and the way objects absorb light Therefore, the distinction between "dark and light" colours become popular In English, words that are combined with colours are: deep, dark, light and they always stand in front of names of colours For example, we have: deep blue, dark red or light blue Meanwhile, in Vietnamese, there are many words and they always stand behind: đậm, tối, sẫm, thẫm, nhạt, nhợt, bợt For example,we have: xanh thẫm, đỏ sẫm, trắng nhợt In Vietnamese, the colour of an object is considered nice or not nice depending on two factors: "tươi, thắm" and "xỉn" With the same black colour, "đen thắm" is nice, but "đen xỉn" is not nice

In Vietnamese, there are some kinds of words which have vague meanings They are attached to the situations and we can only guess its meaning through situations and know which one is nice or not For example,

trắng ởn"=> teeth With the same white colour, "trắng hếu, trắng ởn are terrible and not nice, but "trắng nuột, trắng bóc " are nice

Both two languges have specific colours: blue, red, navy blue These things exist in nature popularly so every nation use them to describe colours

The difference is shown through the abundance of objects that we use

to call colours English as well as Vietnamese people like to use names of leaves or grass they see everyday to describe colours English has: walnut (màu hoa óc chó), lerise (màu quả anh đào), cyclamen (màu hoa anh thảo), olive (màu quả ô liu) While in Vietnamese, there are many words which are national features: màu bã trầu, màu cháo lòng that other nations do not have

II COLOURS DESCRIBE CONCRETE OBJECTS

1 Colours are used to express mood, emotion

Colours have great strength We can know other people's feeling by looking at the colour on their faces So colours can express our mood, emotions clearly which make colourful words useful and interesting

In Vietnamese, red colour on the face can be used to express the following mood:

" Oắt con mặt đỏ tía tai cãi thì bố nó đã trợn mắt"

( Quà tặng tuổi thơ-178)

- exhaust :

" Buổi đầu nhìn chị mặt đỏ tía tai, mồ hôi mồ kê nhễ nhại, đánh vật với

cỗ máy đồ sộ, không ít người kê kích, châm chọc, chế giễu"

( Phương Nam-21/3/1978,)

In English, red colour on the face have the similar meanings :

- anger:

There are many ways to express anger by using red colour in English

We have the following phrases:

red with anger: giận đỏ mặt see red: nổi giận bừng bừng crimson with anger: mặt đỏ lên vì giận giữ Ex:

+ "When mother saw the mess that Peter's friends had made in the living room, she simply saw red and threw them out"

+ "Do not be alarmed", he added, "for my face was crimson with anger"

( The Tenant of Wildfell Hall-Anne Bronte)

- embarrasement: we have the following phrases:

to turn red or to grow red

as red as beetroot

to turn scarlet Ex:

+ "She went as red as beetroot when I asked her about her new boy friend"

+ "Upon perusing this, she turned scarlet and bit her lip"

( The Tenant of Wildfell Hall-Anne Bronte) + "Her face grew red with passion"

( Wuthering Height-Emily Bronte)

"White" and "blue" express strong psychological reactions and are often negative in both English and Vietnamese When one's face suddenly turns into white, may be he is hurted by someone or has just heard a bad news

Ex: "Tô Chiêm từ từ keo tấm màn lại như cũ rồi quay lại, mặt trắng ra như người bị thương lảo đảo ngồi xuống ghế không nói gì"

When someone is too panic, her face becomes blue:

Ex: "Bà chủ hàng mặt xanh mày xám"

( Nguyễn Đình Thi-Vỡ Bờ)

In English, we can find the equivalence easily When one's face is white, this means he or she is afraid of something:

Ex:

+ "Her face was as white as a sheet when she saw that sense"

+ "He looked white and beaten and ready to faint"

However, blue colour on the face in English has a different meaning compared with that in Vietnamese The phrases "To be blue" or " feel blue" means someone is bored, sad or depressed

Ex: "I'm feeling blue because I haven't had any mail except bills for a long, long time"

Black is rarely used in Vietnamese to express mood while it is used in English The phrases "Look black" or "Grow black" means anger or uncomfort

Ex:

+ "He looked very black"

+ "Haveton grew black as a thunder cloud at this childish speed" ( Wuthering Height-Emily Bronte)

In conclusion, the complexion describes the reactions of temporal psychology towards the impacts of the environment Actually, we can know someone who is sad, happy, bad-tempered or not by looking at his face which means by using colours

2 Colourful words combine with some parts of human body:

Of course, different nations have different skin colours However, even people in one nation such as Vietnamese have different skin colours