Structural and semantic features of english idioms referring to head and a contrastive analysis with vietnamese idioms

Vinh University Foreign languages department======== structural and semantic features of English idioms referring to "Head" and a contrastive analysis with Vietnamese idioms đặc trng

Vinh University Foreign languages department

========

structural and semantic features of English idioms referring to "Head" and a

contrastive analysis with Vietnamese idioms (đặc trng cấu trúc, ngữ nghĩa của thành ngữ tiếng anh có chứa thành tố "head" và đối chiếu với tiếng việt)

1 reasons for choosing the topic

We choose to write this graduation thesis about the topic “structural and semantic

features of English idioms referring to “Head” and a contrastive analysis with

Vietnamese idioms” for the following reasons

1

Firstly, idioms play an important role in a language both in written and spokenforms Using idioms in communication is the most effective and interesting way becausethey contain not only the literal meanings but the figurative and expressive meanings aswell They are an integral part of a language and they make the language more beautifuland more dynamic In English, the demand for using idioms is becoming higher because

it is taught, learned, and communicated worldwide

Secondly, idioms give us many difficulties in communication Although idiomshelp speakers and writers communicate more successfully and make languages moreinteresting, they are not easy at all to master and use appropriately The listeners andreaders also find it really hard to understand idioms because their meanings cannot often

be deduced from the individual components For example, when we say “Nam đúng là

đầu gối quá tai”, we do not mean that his legs are very long and when he sits down onthe ground, his knees are higher than his ears What we imply is that Nam is very lazy.The sentence “he is big-headed” does not refer to a man who has a head that is big but aman who is very conservative

Moreover, words denoting parts of human body in general and denoting “Head” inparticular are available in the basic vocabulary stock of both English and Vietnamese

As a result, the number of idioms referring to those words is quite large and they areused very frequently

Lastly, this is a very new and interesting topic Idioms interest many linguists butmost of those authors only study the aspects of meanings and cultural features Thestructural features of English idioms have only been dealt with by foreign linguists Thiswill be mentioned more carefully in the part “history of the study of idioms” To choosethis topic, we could avoid the similar ways of writing the thesis of former writers Wehope that with the thesis, we can contribute a small part to help Vietnamese people wholearn English as well as who are interested in idioms

2

2 Aims of the study

The first aim of the study is to make a contrast of structural and semantic features

of English and Vietnamese idioms referring to “Head”

The second aim is to help English learners improve their knowledge of Englishand Vietnamese idioms referring to “Head” and also help them understand the culturalcharacteristics of English and Vietnamese people via the idioms

The third aim is to help the teaching and learning of idioms Teachers will havesome techniques to teach their students idioms Learners will have some suggestedexercises to practice and learn idioms

The last aim is to satisfy our interest in idioms

3 scope of the study

a Idioms

b English and Vietnamese idioms referring to “Head’

c Structures and meanings of English and Vietnamese idioms referring to

“Head”

4 Methods of the study

This study is based on the two following methods

a Analytical and systematic methods

b Contrastive method

5 Design of the study

Part A Introduction

1 Reasons for choosing the study

2 Aims of the study

3 Objects of the study

4 Methods of the study

5 Design of the study

Part B Contents

Chapter I Theoretical background

Chapter II Structural and semantic features of English and Vietnamese idiomsreferring to “Head”

Chapter III Some suggestions for learning and teaching English idioms

Part C Conclusion

References

3

Part B Contents

Chapter 1 theoretical background

1.1 Idioms

1.1.1 The definition of English idioms

In English, “idiom” is a term that has been defined differently by variousauthors It can be treated as a type of collocation involving two or more 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 ”

For example, when we say, “someone kicked the bucket” we do not imply thatthey hit a type of container with their foot, but we mean that they died Similarly, when

we say “do not beat a dead horse” we do not refer to a carcass of a certain kind ofanimal but what we mean is that a person should not waste time thinking of an issue thathas already been decided Or when we say “he has a thick head”, we do not imply thatman’s head is thick, what we want to mean is he is stupid, he is foolish, etc

Such phrases as “to kick the bucket”, “do not beat a dead horse” or “to have athick head” are called idioms

In Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Johan Than Crowder (1995) defines an idiom

as a phrase whose meaning is difficult or sometimes impossible to guess by looking at“

the individual words it contains ”

Jennifer Seidl and W Mc Mordie (1988) defines an idiom as a number of“

words which, when taken together, have different meanings from the individual meanings of each word ”

In general, these linguists have similar opinions about the definition of Englishidioms We can understand that an English idiom is a phrase whose meanings cannot bepredicted from the individual meanings of the components it includes

1.1.2 Definition of Vietnamese idioms

According to Hoµng Phª (1997), an idiom is considered to be a set of“

expression whose meaning is generally inexplicable simply through the meanings of individual words it contains ”

(TruyÖn KiÒu – NguyÔn Du)

(With more than ten years gone

If still alive, they must have old teeth, gray hair)

Hoµng V¨n Hµnh (1994) defines an idiom 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”

5

For instance:

- “Cứng đầu cứng cổ” (hard head and hard neck) is used to refer to a person that

is very stubborn, inflexible

- “Cá chậu chim lồng” (fish in a pot and birds in a cage) is used to indicate thestate of having no freedom

“Một đời đợc mấy anh hùng

Bỏ chi cá chậu chim lồng mà chơi”

(Truyện Kiều- Nguyễn Du)

(How often have you lucked upon a man?

When bother with caged birds and fish in a pot?)

1.1.3 History of idioms study abroad and in Vietnam

1.1.3.1 In western Europe and America

Many linguists started studying English idioms since the beginning of twentiethcentury Some authors have made great contributions to the collection of English idiomssuch as:

W Mc Marie, with “English idioms and how to use them” (published in 1909),

is considered the first author to study on the field of English idioms; L.P Smith with

“Idioms” (1922); V.H Collins with “A book of English idioms with explaination”(published in 1958); H.Collins with “American English idioms” (published in 1986);Broke M with “idioms for everyday use” (publish in 1994); A.D Cowries, R Martinand I R Cairo with “Oxford Dictionary of current idiomatic English” (published in1994); Lord Quick, professor Douglas Bibber, Rod Bonito and many other authors with

“Long man Idiom Dictionary” (published in 1998); Teachers and Researchers fromCambridge University with “Cambridge International Dictionary of Idiom” (published

In terms of Vietnamese idioms, many Vietnamese authors had long researches andgave out worthy collections such as: Lơng Văn Đang, Nguyễn Lực with “Thành ngữtiếng Việt” (published in 1979); Hoàng Văn Hành, Nguyễn Nh Y and Phan Xuân Thànhwith “Kể chuyện thành ngữ tục ngữ”, volume 1,2,3 (published in 1998, 1991); Vũ Dungwith “Từ điển thành ngữ và tục ngữ Việt Nam” (published in 1993); Nguyễn Nh Y,Nguyễn Văn Khang & Phan Xuân Thành with “Từ điển thành ngữ Việt Nam”

6

(published in 1993); ViÖt Ch¬ng with “Tõ ®iÓn thµnh ng÷, tôc ng÷, ca dao ViÖt Nam”(published in 1999); NguyÔn Nh· B¶n with “Cuéc sèng cña thµnh ng÷, tôc ng÷ trongkho tµng Ca dao ngêi ViÖt” (published in 2003).

In conclusion, idioms have been studied widely through the time in Vietnam aswell as abroad In order to distinguish idioms from free-word groups and proverbs, wewill come to the next part

1.1.4 Distinction between idioms and free word groups and proverbs

1.1.4.1 Free word groups and idioms

The distinction between free word groups and idioms is a very complex problem

A free-word group consists of different words but its meaning is easily deduced in any

context An idiom, as A.V Kevin (1984) defines, is a stable word- group“

characterized by a completely or partially transferred meaning ” It means that themeaning of an idiom is entirely new and different from the individual ones

This will be illustrated in the following examples:

1 Don’t put your food here There are so many blue bottles

2 The shopkeeper, can I have two blue bottles, please?

At the first sight, we can see the same phrase “blue bottles” in the former casewithout any difference in spelling However, in the former case, “blue bottles” is used torefer to a certain kind of flies The meaning of the phrase is completely different fromthe individual words (blue: a color, bottle: a kind of containers) In the former case,

“blue bottles” is used to directly refer to a kind of container that is blue in color

Therefore, the first criterion is the semantic differences of the two word groupsconsisting of the same components

The second type is represented by idioms in which some of the componentspreserve their usual meanings and the others have meanings that are peculiar as in “Tomake a bed” “Bed” is not idiomatic because it refers to a kind of furniture used to sleep

on However, “to make” is not used in the usual sense of “to manufacture”

According to G.B Intrusion (1985), structural invariability is one of the essentialfeatures to distinguish idioms from free- word groups It is represented as the followingrestrictions

The first restriction is in substitution The components of any idioms are very

fixed, no component can be substituted by another one without differentiating itsmeanings For example “an old head on young shoulders” is used to refer to the wisdom

of a young person, but “an old face on young shoulders” or “an old ears on youngshoulders” make no sense Similarly, “a bee in one’s bonnet” means “to have anobsession about something”, the word “bonnet” can not be substituted by “hat”, “cap”nor any other word although they are synonymous Whereas, in a free word group, somesubstitutions can be accepted without destroying the general meanings For instance,

“He bought a hand bag”, or “He bought a school bag” are both comprehensible

The second restriction is in the addition of some elements An idiom is always

stable in its number of components We cannot add or take out any element from

7

certain idioms For example, “to be weak in the head” means “rather unintelligent”, we

cannot add any element such as “to be weak in the big head”, or “to be weak in the

beautiful head” In contrast, a free word group can be added one or more elements

without changing the general meaning that the speakers convey For example, “He

bought a pig head to prepare for the engagement ceremony”, we can add “big” or

“expensive” to form another sentence without seriously damaging its meaning that the

speaker conveys: “He bought an expensive pig head to prepare for the engagement

ceremony”

The third restriction is in grammatical invariability Constituents of an idiom

are used in a fixed rule, their form cannot be changed For example, “cost an arm and a

leg” (very expensive) It is impossible to change “an arm” and “a leg” into “arms” and

“legs”, because “cost arms and legs” does not make sense Meanwhile, in free word

groups, the similar change is acceptable

In order to distinguish idioms from proverbs, we should have a look at the

definition of proverbs first

A proverb is defined as a short well- known sentence or phrase that states a“

general truth about life or gives advice” (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary) According to

another dictionary, proverb is a traditional saying which offers advice or presents a“

moral lesson in a short and pity manner” (John Simpson - Proverbs - Oxford University

press)

For example, “Two heads are better than one” means “It is better to have a

discussion before making a decision” This is an advice and the phrase mentioned is

called a proverb Many English proverbs have their Vietnamese equivalents such as:

-“A still tongue makes a wise head” (If you are wise, you do not talk so much

You only speak if necessary)

(ăn bớt đọi nói bớt lời)

-“Do not put one’s own head under the chopper” (do not put your own head into

the noose)

(Đừng chui đầu vào thòng lọng)

-“Out of sight, out of mind”

(xa mặt cách lòng)

In communication, proverbs are used to express popular wisdom, provide wise

advice, truth or moral lessons in a concise and imaginative way Their meanings are

figurative Let us consider: “So many men so many minds” which means “everyone has

their idea - a truth in life”

To some extent, proverbs and idioms are alike The border between a proverb and

an idiom is not very solid However, in this study, we will present three criteria that can

be used to distinguish an idiom from a proverb

The first criterion is the meaning Proverbs are very different from idioms in this

aspect A proverb is considered to be like a complete literary work, it sums up the

experience of a community to educate, advise or warn the later generations

8

For example: Blood is thicker than water.

This proverb is used to remind someone that a relative is always more important tothem than any other non relative person (In Vietnamese, the equivalent proverb is “Mộtgiọt máu đào hơn ao nớc lã”)

The second criterion is about structure or stability of structure A proverb is

often a sentence meanwhile an idiom is just only a group of words, a constituent part of

a sentence Moreover, an idiom is a fixed group of words, this means the individualwords cannot be changed or omitted, or added with any other element

For example:

“with a high hand” (in a haughty way)

This idiom cannot be shortened in any circumstances, we also cannot say “with atall hand” although “high” and “tall” are similar

In contrast, a proverb is often elliptical in their nature

For example:

The proverb “so many men, so many minds” can be shortened into “many men,many minds” without any change in the meaning

The third criterion is about the function of idioms and proverbs in

communication (in speech) The content of an idiom is that of concept and the content

of a proverb is that of judgment An idiom expresses a concept so that it has a namingfunction, and a proverb expresses a judgment so that it has a reporting function

1.2.1 The word “head” in English

In Modern English Dictionary, “head” is defined as follows:

1.a The part of the body containing eyes, nose, mouth and brain

For example:

He fell and hit his head

The ball hit her on the head

b a head (singular): as measure of length

For example:

The favorite won by a head

Tom is taller than John by a head

2 Headache

For example:

I have got a terrible head this morning

3 The mind, the brain

For example:

The thought nerved enter mind head

4 (Singular) a mental or natural ability of the specified nature

9

For example:

Have a good head for figures/business

Have no head for heights (i.e feel giddy and frightened in high places)

5 Heads (singular verb) the side of a coin with the head of a person on it

For example:

We tossed a coin and it came down heads

6 (Plural) head individual animals in a herd, flock

For example:

Fifty head of cattle

7 A thing like a head in form or position

For example:

The head of a nail/ a hammer/ an

Cut off the dead heads of the roses

8 The foam on the top of poured beer

9 A device on a tape recorder that couches the moving tape and converts the electricalsignals into sound

10 The part of a spot or boil that contains

For example:

The pimple came to a head before bursting

11 The top or highest part of something

For example:

The title at the head of the page

Stand at the head of the stairs

The head of the river (when a river enters it)

12 The more important or prominent end of something

For example:

Place the pillow at the head of the bed

13 a The front of a line of people

For example:

Be at the head of a queue

b A leading position in something

For example:

Be at the head of one’s profession

14 a The person in charge of a group or an organization

For example:

The head of the family

Heads of department

A meeting of the heads of government

b The person in charge of a school or a college

(headmaster or headmistress)

For example:

Report to the head immediately

15 The pressure produced by an amount of water or steam in a confined space

10

For example:

They kept up a good head of steam

16 (in place names) a headland

For example:

Beach head

17 A main division in a lecture, an essay, etc

For example:

A meeting arranged under five heads

1.2.2 the word “head” in Vietnamese

The word “head” in Vietnamese has eight meanings as follow:

1 The highest part of the human body, the front part of an animal, in which thereare the brain and other senses

2 The head of human beings, considered as symbol of thought, perception

For example:

Vấn đề đau đầu

3 The part where there is hair on the human head, hair (in general)

For example:

Gãi đầu gãi tai

Mái đầu xanh

4 The front or the highest part of something

Sản lợng tính theo đầu ngời

Tăng số phân bón trên mỗi đầu ngời

11

In summary, we have studied the theoretical background of English andVietnamese idioms such as the definition, the history of the study of idioms and thedistinction between idioms and free-word groups and proverbs We have alsoinvestigated the occurrence of the word "Head" in English and Vietnamese language

in general and in idioms in particular

12

Chapter 2 structural and semantic features of English and Vietnamese idioms

referring to head

2.1 Structural features

2.1.1 Structures of English Idioms referring to “Head”

We have collected about 74 English idioms referring to “Head” from manydifferent sources Most of them are taken from “Dictionary of current English –Vietnamese idioms” - the collection of L· Thµnh and “Oxford Idioms Dictionary forLearners of English”

We have analyzed and studied those idioms and put them into types of idioms asthe classification of Jennifer Seidl and W Mc Mordie Most of idioms referring to

“Head” belong to the fifth type: verbal idioms But the type of “phrasal verb” does nothave any idioms referring to “ Head”

1 Idioms with nouns and adjectives

These idioms are established by the combination of two or more nouns in aphrase

In our collection, there are 9 idioms of this type, accounting for 12.2 % Suchidioms are “a head”, “head and shoulders above somebody/something”, “a headstart”, “a price on somebody’s head”, etc

2 Idiomatic pairs

These idioms include pairs of adjective, pairs of nouns, pairs of adverbs, pairs

of verbs or pairs of preposition in which the two elements are combined with aconjunction (and, or, over, to, etc.)

There is only one idiom belonging to this type: head over heels

3 Idioms with preposition

An idiom with a preposition is a phrase which begins with a preposition

For example

Four idioms belong to this type, accounting for 5.4 %

For example:

above/over somebody’s head

from head to foot/ toe

in over your head

out of/off your head

For example:

bring something to a head

bury/hide your head in the sand

do somebody's head in

give somebody their head

have a (good) head for figures, etc

5 Idioms with comparison

Most idioms of this type are formed by the structure “as + + as” with

idiomatic meanings Some other idioms are formed by a comparative word such as

“like” and a noun

The number of English idioms of this type is huge However, in our collection ofidioms referring to “Head”, this type only consists of two idioms (2.7 %) They are

“like a bear with a sore head”, “need/want something like a hole in the head”

2.1.2 Structures of Vietnamese idioms referring

to “head”

In comparison with English idioms referring to “Head”, Vietnamese idiomsaccount for a smaller number We have collected from many sources such as “Từ điểnthành ngữ, tục ngữ Việt- Anh tờng giải” - Bùi Phụng; “Từ điển thành ngữ và tục ngữViệt nam” - Nguyễn Lân, and “Cuộc sống Thành ngữ, Tục ngữ trong kho tàng ca daongời Việt” - Nguyễn Nhã Bản We have only forty idioms of this type However,structural features of those idioms are very interesting They are classified into three

main types: symmetrical idioms, comparative idioms and common idioms.

2.1.4.1 Symmetrical idioms (Thành ngữ đối)

In our collection, symmetrical idioms are the most common, they account for70% with 28 out of 40 idioms referring to “Head” The basic feature of symmetricalidioms in terms of structure is the symmetrical characteristic between componentsconstituting idioms

For example:

In the idioms “Đầu gà má lợn”; “đầu gà” and “má lợn” are symmetrical

In the idiom “đầu đi đuôi lọt”; “đầu đi” and “đuôi lọt” are symmetrical

The following idioms are constituted in this way

đầu tắt mặt tối

đầu mày cuối mặt

đầu rồng đuôi tôm, etc

Most of symmetrical idioms consist of four elements constituting twosymmetrical parts, each part consists of two elements The symmetrical relationshipbetween the two parts is established based on the similarity of meaning and grammar

of the elements The symmetrical relationship is built on two levels: the level ofmeaning symmetry and the level of word symmetry

14

* “Meaning symmetry” is the level of symmetry on the meaning of the two parts ofthe idioms.

For example:

In the idiom “®Çu voi ®u«i chuét”, “®Çu voi” is symmetrical with “®u«i chuét”.The symmetrical relationship on the meaning here is: the plan of doing somethingseems good, careful and great but at last only a small part of the plan is finished The following examples have the relationship of the meaning symmetry likethat

®Çu ®i ®u«i lät

®Çu trém ®u«i cíp

®Çu dÇn cuèi dËu, etc

The symmetrical relationship on the level of meaning is achieved and understooddue to the symmetrical relationship between elements of the two parts of an idiom.This relation is called “word symmetry”

Firstly, in the relationship of word symmetry, the meaning of the symmetricalelements reflects features of the same category, for example, “®Çu”, “®u«i” in “®Çu ®i

®u«i lät”; “®Çu”, “m×nh” in “®Çu Ng« m×nh Së”, etc

Secondly, symmetrical elements belong to the same category of vocabulary, orthey have the same grammatical attribute That means, if A is a noun, B must be anoun also; if A is a verb, B must be a verb

For example:

In the idiom “®Çu r¬i m¸u ch¶y”, “®Çu” is symmetrical with “m¸u”, “r¬i” issymmetrical with “ch¶y”, “®Çu” and “m¸u” are nouns, “r¬i” and “ch¶y” are verbs

As we have collected, there are thirty symmetrical idioms referring to “Head”,

of which twenty seven idioms consist of four elements Every idiom has two parts, if

we call A is the first element of the first part, B is the first element of the secondelement of the second part, all symmetrical idioms are constituted as the twofollowing general patterns:

®Çu m«i chãt lìi

®Çu ®i ®u«i lät

15

Symmetrical idioms of 6 or 8 elements can also be constituted as the patternsabove As a result, the three following symmetrical idioms referring to “Head” alsobelong to this pattern (the second pattern).

For example:

đầu không khăn đít không khố

(A = “đầu’, B= “đít”, x = “không khăn”, y= “không khố”)

đầu bằng con ruồi đuôi bằng cái đũa

(A= “đầu”, B = “đuôI”, x= “bằng con ruồi”, y= “bằng cái đũa”

đầu bằng quả quýt đít bằng cái thúng

In short, we have studied and analyzed the structures of symmetrical idiomsreferring to “Head" in Vietnamese based on the symmetry and repetition betweenelements A and B can be:

+ Identical in sound and meaning as the idiom:

đầu bò đầu bớu,

+ Synonymous such as:

đầu sông ngọn suối

+ Anonymous such as:

đầu đi đuôi lọt

A and B can also belong to the same category of notion

As we have collected, there are only three idioms referring to “Head” belonging

to this type The number is so small compared with symmetrical and common idioms.Therefore, we will not go into as much depth as we have with symmetrical idioms

The most general pattern for comparative idioms is “A nh B” A is the object of

comparison, B is the standard of comparison and “nh” is the relation of comparison

Of three comparative idioms in our collection, two of them belong to this type:

Đầu nh cối chày máy

Đầu nhức nh búa bổ

Other comparative idioms have the relation of comparison: hơn, kém, tày,

đẳng, bằng, to hơn Only a small number of idioms of this type exist in Vietnamese.

For example:

Đầu to hơn giánh

2.1.4.3 common idioms (Thành ngữ thờng)

Common idioms account for a remarkable number in the stock of Vietnameseidioms However, they are hardly studied carefully by Vietnamese linguists On theother hand, linguists only focus on symmetrical or comparative idioms separately In

16

fact, the common idiom is a separated type as they have their own ways ofconstituting in terms of structures and meanings as well.

In our collection, there are six idioms referring to “Head” of this type They allhave the structural form of a complete sentence with subject and predicate

symmetrical idioms, comparative idioms and common idioms Of these three

types, we have carefully analyzed symmetrical idioms Comparative and commonidioms are small in quantity, therefore, we only analyzed the basic features of thoseidioms

2.2 semantic features

2.2.1 Meaning

In this part, we only mention the meaning of words, not the meaning ofsentences or any other units of language The meaning of a word reflects the realitybeing associated with a certain sound form

A word often has two main types of meanings which are denotation andconnotation

Denotation is the reality of a word used to identify all the objects covered by itself.For example, the word “head” denotes the part of the body containing eyes, nose,mouth, and brain The word “watch” indicates a tool used to measure time, whichpeople often hang on their hand

Connotation is the effective or evaluative association a word conveys.Connotation arises as words associate with certain characteristics of the items to whichthey refer Connotation is different from language to language It depends on theculture of the people using the language Connotations constitute additional properties

of lexemes, including poetic, slang, baby language, biblical, casual, colloquial, formal,humorous, legal, literary and rhetorical

Connotation is closely associated to synonymy In other words, synonyms mayhave the same denotation, that means cognitive or conceptual meaning but differ inconnotation For example, “trÎ em” and “con nÝt” both denote young children but theydiffer in connotation and are used in different contexts However, both denotation andconnotation are important to determine word meanings in a given context

2.2.2 The cultural element in word meanings

17

As a matter of fact, most meanings of words cannot be explained There seems to

be no relationship between the sound and the meanings of a word This is the reasonwhy linguists state that language is arbitrary For example, we cannot explain whyEnglish people use the word “head” to denote the highest part of the human bodywhereas Vietnamese people use the word “®Çu”

Few words have obvious origins to their meanings Most of those words areonomatopoeia and pictograph These words are formed as a result of the imitation of thesounds uttered by animals and natural objects For example, to express the sound of acat Vietnamese people use the word “meo” To express the sound caused by the windand the window, Vietnamese people say “l¸ch c¸ch” Or to indicate the sound of streamflowing, Vietnamese people use the word “rãc r¸ch”

An element that has great effects on the formation of the meanings of words is thecultural element This is studied by numerous linguists

According to NguyÔn Ngäc Hïng, the cultural element in word meanings is theinformation of the features of geographical and natural conditions in the living of nativepeople and the history, economy, art and the psychology of the people

In this thesis, we consider word meanings as something that reflects the socialconsciousness of a community using the language as their mother tongue In anotherword, word meanings reflect the relationship between the symbolic world and actualworld

Considering word meanings as a cultural element, the meanings of each word consist oftwo parts: the general meanings for all human beings and the unique cultural meaningsfor individual communities

The unique cultural meanings consist of the following contents

1 The first is the “symbol of meanings” which means the way people use to

explain or express the meanings For example, Vietnamese people call “cét sèng” athing having the most important role in a person’s life Meanwhile, English people call itthe “backbone” (x¬ng lng) Vietnamese people call foreign travellers “l÷ kh¸ch ba l«/t©y

ba l«” whereas English people call them “backpackers” (ngêi ®eo ba l« sau lng) InEnglish people’s view, a stupid, foolish person is a bonehead, a meathead, a fat head,meaning a person whose head has no brain inside The unique way people name objectsand phenomena is a fact that easy to understand, and in the perception of native peoplethe contents of word meanings cannot be split In other words, the way of explainingword meanings or the reasons of naming objects is also one of the contents of wordmeanings that native people in general can perceive

2 The way of secondary naming also belongs to the contents of word meanings.

This way of naming is based on another way of naming available in a language with arelationship between the two ways Some linguists call this the indirect way of naming.For instance, Vietnamese people call the organ of seeing “m¾t”, on this basis they alsocall uneven parts consisting of buds on the trunks, roots of some trees such as “m¾t na”,

“m¾t khoai t©y”, etc

3 The characteristic of objects and phenomena is also a content of word

meanings let’s take the word “meal” as an example

18

For both Vietnamese and English people, the word “meal” indicates all food anddrink eaten at a certain time of a day But the contents of a meal and the ways of eatingare different from one community to another.

In the past, Vietnamese farmers have two main meals (breakfast and lunch) andone quick meal (dinner) They have breakfast before they go to work on the field andthey have lunch when it is the hottest time of day They often have maize and sweetpotatoes for dinner The main food is rice (often mixed with sweet potatoes, maize orcassava),vegetables, beans, pickled eggplant, fish sauce and soy sauce and sometimesthey have meat, fish, shrimp, and other food (according to Từ Điển văn hoá cổ truyềnViệt Nam -1995:89)

A meal of English people is very different A traditional breakfast of English peopleconsists of many things: hot dogs, eggs, tomatoes and mushrooms Nowadays, peopleoften have cereals with milk and ice Some people drink coffee - instant coffee with hotwater The lunch is often simple in some bars or pubs In cities, people often havesandwiches, salads and meat or fish On Sundays, many families have a traditional meat

at home: grilled meat with potatoes, vegetables and gravy For many English people,dinner is a main meal and the whole family often have dinner together at about 6 or8p.m

When English people invite us (Vietnamese people) for a meal, to avoid beingembarrassed, we need to understand them, to know the menu of the meal, the time andthe way of eating of an English meal

Therefore, the content of meanings of the word “meal” is not only explained inseveral lines in the dictionaries, but it needs more explanation

4 The significance, the value and the use of objects and phenomena for

individual communities are also contents of meanings of words naming these objects,phenomena

5 The way people judge objects and phenomena as good or bad, associate

them with others is the last content of word meanings.

We will take the word “pigs” as an example to see how English and Vietnamesepeople judge them:

For Vietnamese people, pigs are dirty, ugly as in the idioms:

“mặt lợn ỉ”

“mũi cong nh mũi lợn ỉ”

pigs are fat as in the idiom:

“béo nh lợn”

“phục phịch nh con lợn”

For English people, pigs are also considered to be ugly and dirty They call untidyrooms “pig sties”, they call people who eat too much “pig out” On the other hand, pigsalso make English speakers think of luck, that means something good, positive as in theidiom:

“pigs in clover” (lợn trong đống bèo)

19

In short, the reasons, the basis of naming, the way of secondary naming,characteristics of objects and phenomena, the significance, the value, the use and theway people perceive are contents of unique cultural meanings of word meanings.

2.2.3 The meanings of idioms

There are many different ideas about the meaning of idioms However, on thebasis of studying, analyzing many linguists’ ideas, we come to a conclusion that themeaning of idioms has three common points as follows:

- The meaning of idioms is a perfect whole, not the sum of meanings of theseparate components

- The meaning of idioms expresses and reflects objects and concepts

- The meaning of idioms is expressive, figurative

2.2.4 The meanings of English and Vietnamese idioms referring to “Head”

2.2.4.1 the similarities between English and Vietnamese in semantic features of idioms referring to “Head”.

In spite of different blood types, different colors of skin and different locations

of living, people’s minds, to some extent, are similar, and are expressed in thefollowing idioms However, not many English idioms referring to “Head” have theirVietnamese equivalents, only thirteen idioms out of the collection of seventy fouridioms

Following is the description of meanings of English idioms referring to “Head” andtheir Vietnamese equivalents

1 From head to foot/toe (Từ đầu đến chân)

When talking about all of one’s body, the appearance only, the English peopleuse the idioms “from head to toe/foot” and Vietnamese people use the similar idiom

“to đầu đến chân”

For example:

He was dressed from head to toe in white

(Oxford Idioms Dictionary (2003:160))

2 Scratch one’s head (gãi đầu gãi tai tai)

To express the difficulties a person has when he thinks hard to find an answer forsomething, Englishmen say “to scratch one’s head (over something)” and Vietnamesepeople also use a similar idiom “gãi đầu gãi tai”

For example:

We are all scratching our heads for an answer to the problem

(Oxford Idioms Dictionary (2003:336))

3 Put one’s head in a noose (đa đầu vào tròng)

In the past, it was popular that criminals who were to be killed as a punishment puttheir head on a block of wood before it was cut out Witnessing this scene, the idiomaticphrase “to put one’s head in a noose” in England is used to indicate a risky action that

20

can harm you or lead you to your death In Vietnamese language, people use the idiom

“®a ®Çu vµo trßng”

4 Be banging one’s head against the brick wall (hóc ®Çu vµo têng)

In order to express the truth that someone is trying his best to achieve somethingwithout success, the English people use the idiom “be banging one’s head against thatbrick wall” The literal meaning of this idiom is “cannot get forward” In Vietnamese,the similar meaning is “hóc ®Çu vµo têng”

For example:

I realized they weren’t even listening to my protests I was just banging myhead against a brick wall

(Oxford Idioms Dictionary (2003:336))

5 Be banging over one’s head (l¬ l÷ng trªn ®Çu)

To indicate a feeling that someone is worried about or afraid of something becausethey know it will soon happen, the English idiom is “be banging over one’s head”, andthe Vietnamese idiom is “l¬ l÷ng trªn ®Çu”

6 To put one’s head on the block (chui ®Çu vµo thßng läng)

To say that someone is in risk of failure, defeat, someone is putting himself in asituation where he might be blamed or criticized English people use the idiom “to putone’s head on the block”, Vietnamese people also have an equivalent idiom “chui ®Çuvµo thßng läng”

For example;

I am prepared to put my head to the block and promise that the new building will

be ready by the end of the year

(Oxford Idioms Dictionary (2003:336))

7 A roof over one’s head (mét m¸i tranh che ®Çu)

To talk about a place to live, a house, English people use the idiom “a roof overone’s head” Vietnamese people also use a similar idiom: “mét m¸i tranh che ®Çu”.For example:

Everyone needs a roof over their head but thousands remain homeless

(Oxford Idioms Dictionary (2003:336))

8 Head in the cloud (l¬ l÷ng trªn m©y)

English people use the idiom “head in the clouds” to talk about a person who is notrealistic because he is always thinking of his own hope, ideas, dreams, etc Vietnamesepeople also use an equivalent idiom “®Çu l¬ l÷ng trªn m©y”

For example:

He wants us to start a business together but it would never work He has got hishead in the clouds half the time

(Oxford Idioms Dictionary (2003:161))

9 To put one’s head in the lion’s mouth (®a ®Çu vµo chç chÕt)

In order to say that someone deliberately put themselves in a dangerous or riskysituation, English people say “to put one’s head in the lion’s mouth” and Vietnamesepeople also use a similar idiom “®©m ®Çu vµo chç chÕt”

For example:

21