Luận án tiến sĩ tính điền dạng của màu cơ bản trong tiếng anh và tiếng việt dưới góc độ ngôn ngữ học tri nhận

The findings show: night as prototype of black colour term, snow as prototype of white colour term, blood/ rose as prototypes of red colour term, corn as prototype of yellow colour term,

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NGUYỄN ĐÔNG PHƯƠNG TIÊN

PROTOTYPES OF BASIC COLOUR TERMS

IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE FROM A COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS PERSPECTIVE

(TÍNH ĐIỂN DẠNG CỦA THUẬT NGỮ CHỈ MÀU CƠ BẢN

TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT DƯỚI GÓC ĐỘ NGÔN NGỮ HỌC TRI NHẬN)

MAJOR: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

CODE: 9220201

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Linguistics

Hanoi, 2021 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY -

NGUYỄN ĐÔNG PHƯƠNG TIÊN

PROTOTYPES OF BASIC COLOUR TERMS

IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE FROM A COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS PERSPECTIVE

(TÍNH ĐIỂN DẠNG CỦA THUẬT NGỮ CHỈ MÀU CƠ BẢN

TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT DƯỚI GÓC ĐỘ NGÔN NGỮ HỌC TRI NHẬN)

MAJOR: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

The thesis entitled “Prototypes of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese from a cognitive linguistics perspective” has been submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

I, the undersigned, hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis, I have fully acknowledged and referenced the ideas and work of others, whether published or unpublished, in my thesis

The thesis does not contain work extracted from a thesis, dissertation or research paper previously presented for another degree or diploma at this or any other university

Signature

NGUYỄN ĐÔNG PHƯƠNG TIÊN

Data is collected with as + basic colour terms + as + object referent X

structure in English and Vietnamese data from literary works

Mixed research methods are adopted in the following means: percentage identification of individual object referent is based on quantitative method whereas further explanations concerning distinctive features depend on qualitative method as well as the similarities and the differences among these prototypes count on contrastive method

The findings show: night as prototype of black colour term, snow as prototype of white colour term, blood/ rose as prototypes of red colour term, corn as prototype of yellow colour term, emerald as prototype of green colour term, sapphire as prototype of blue colour term, badger as prototype of grey colour term, mực as prototype of đen colour term, ngà as prototype of trắng colour term, son as prototype of đỏ colour term, nghệ as prototype of vàng colour term, tàu lá as prototype of xanh colour term, tro/gio as prototype of xám colour term

Theoretically, this dissertation provides comprehensible explanations of cultural and cognitive characteristics of English and Vietnamese nations Practically, the study results are helpful for English and Vietnamese learners in translating or interpreting these prototypes correctly from cultural and cognitive viewpoints Profound knowledge of English and Vietnamese linguistic systems is beneficial for language learners for a more detailed description of the similarities and the differences Last but not least, native readers or speakers understand the similarities and distinguish the differences for the appropriate daily usage

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure 1.3: Theoretical framework of dissertation 54

Figure 2.2: Data analysis procedure of dissertation 79

Table 4.1: Prototypes of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data 128

Table 4.2: Objects as culture-specific referents of basic colour terms in English data and Vietnamese data 129

Table 4.3: Research outcome comparison about the most representative object referents or prototypes of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data 130

APPENDICES 170

APPENDIX 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 170

Appendix 1.1: Main development representatives in terms of prototype & categories 170

Appendix 1.2: Researches in English regarding lexicon research direction 172

Appendix 1.3: Researches in English related to semantics research direction 176

Appendix 1.4: Researches in English from culture research direction 177

Appendix 1.5: Researches in English on the subject of cognition research direction 178

Appendix 1.6: Researches in Vietnamese in regard to lexicon research direction 181

Appendix 1.7: Researches in Vietnamese in terms of semantics research direction 182

Appendix 1.8: Researches in Vietnamese connected to culture research direction 184

APPENDIX 2: OBJECT REFERENTS OF BASIC COLOUR TERMS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE DATA 188

Table 2.1: Objects referents of black colour term in English data 188

Table 2.3: Objects referents of red colour term in English data 221

Table 2.4: Objects referents of yellow colour term in English data 229

Table 2.5: Objects referents of green colour term in English 233

Table 2.6: Objects referents of blue colour term in English data 236

Table 2.7: Objects referents of grey colour term in English data 239

Table 2.8: Objects referents of đen colour term in Vietnamese data 241

Table 2.9: Objects referents of trắng colour term in Vietnamese data 256

Table 2.10: Objects referents of đỏ colour term in Vietnamese data 269

Table 2.11: Objects referents of vàng colour term in Vietnamese data 282 Table 2.12: Objects referents of xanh colour term in Vietnamese data 286 Table 2.13: Objects referents of xám colour term in Vietnamese data 292

APPENDIX 3: TABLES OF OBJECT REFERENTS AND 06-CLASS CLASSIFICATION

AND CATEGORY SUB-CLASSIFICATION OF BASIC COLOUR TERMS

IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE DATA 294Table 2.1: 27 English authors, 169 literary works and 430 tokens regarding

black/white/red/yellow/green/blue/grey colour terms 294

Table 2.2: 52 Vietnamese authors, 219 literary works and 443 tokens regarding

đen/trắng/đỏ/vàng/xanh/xám colour terms 309 Table 3.1: Object referents of black colour term in English data 328 Table 3.2: 06-Class classification and category sub-classification of black colour term in

Table 3.14: 06-Class classification and category sub-classification of grey colour term in

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ABSTRACT ii

PART 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims and Objectives 3

3 Research questions 3

4 Scope of the study 4

5 Methodology of the study 7

6 Significance of the study 8

7 Structure of the study 9

PART 2 DEVELOPMENT 10

CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW 10

1.1 REVIEW ON PREVIOUS STUDIES 10

1.1.1 In English 10

1.1.2 In Việt Nam 18

1.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 28

1.2.1 Cognition 29

1.2.2 Onomasiology (Naming) 31

1.2.3 Culture 33

1.2.4 Language-cognition-culture relation 35

1.2.5 An introduction of Category 37

1.2.6 Prototype and Prototype theory 39

1.2.6.1 An overview of Prototype terminology 40

1.2.6.2 Viewpoints on Prototype theory 41

1.2.7 An overview of basic colour terms 43

1.2.7.1 Physical features and linguistic criteria of basic colour terms 44

1.2.7.1.1 Physical features of a basic colour term 44

1.2.7.1.2 Linguistic criteria of a basic colour term 45

1.2.7.2 Basic colour terms in English 46

1.2.7.3 Basic colour terms in Vietnamese 46

1.2.8 Comparative idioms 49

1.3 Theoretical framework of dissertation 52

1.4 Summary 55

CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 56

2.1 Research approach 57

2.1.1 Mixed research approach 57

2.1.2 Comparative-contrastive approach 62

2.2 Research methods 64

2.2.1 Mixed research method 64

2.2.2 Comparative-contrastive method 69

2.3 Data collection 71

2.4 Procedures of data collection and data analysis 75

2.5 Data analysis 77

2.6 Summary 80

CHAPTER 3: CLASS CLASSIFICATION AND CATEGORY SUB-CLASSIFICATION OF BASIC COLOUR TERMSIN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE DATA 82

3.1 Class classification and category sub-classification of basic colour terms in English data

83 3.1.1 Class and category classification of black colour terms in English data 83

3.1.2 Class and category classification of white colour term in English data 86

3.1.3 Class and category classification of red colour term in English data 90

3.1.4 Class and category classification of yellow colour term in English 93

3.1.5 Class and category classification of green colour terms in English data 95

3.1.7 Class and category classification of grey colour term in English data 100

3.2 Class classification and category sub-classification of basic colour terms in Vietnamese data 102

3.2.1 Class and category classification of đen colour term in Vietnamese data 102

3.2.2 Class and category classification of trắng colour term in Vietnamese data 105

3.2.3 Class and category classification of đỏ colour term in Vietnamese data 109

3.2.4 Class and category classification of vàng colour term in Vietnamese data 112

3.2.5 Class and category classification of xanh colour term in Vietnamese data 115

3.2.6 Class and category classification of xám colour term in Vietnamese data 118

3.3 Summary 120

CHAPTER 4 COMPARISON OF PROTOTYPES OF BASIC COLOUR TERMS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE DATA 124

4.1 Prototypes of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data 124

4.2 Comparison of prototypes of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data 132 4.2.1 Prototype of black colour term in English compared to prototype of đen colour term in Vietnamese 133

4.2.2 Prototype of white colour term in English compared to prototype of trắng colour term in Vietnamese 135

4.2.3 Prototype of red colour term in English compared to prototype of đỏ colour term in Vietnamese 137

4.2.4 Prototype of yellow colour term in English compared to prototype of vàng colour term in Vietnamese 140

4.2.5 Prototype of green colour term and prototype of blue colour term in English compared to prototype of xanh colour term in Vietnamese 141

4.2.6 Prototype of grey colour term in English compared to prototype of xám colour term in Vietnamese 144

4.3 Summary 146

PART 3 CONCLUSION 149

5.1 Recapitulation 149

5.2 Concluding remarks 150

5.4 Limitations and suggestions for further study 155

REFERENCES 157

English references 157

Vietnamese references 164

RESEARCHER’S ARTICLES RELATED TO THE DISSERTATION 169

APPENDICES 170

APPENDIX 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 170

APPENDIX 2: OBJECT REFERENTS OF BASIC COLOUR TERMS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE DATA 188

APPENDIX 3: TABLES OF OBJECT REFERENTS AND 06-CLASS CLASSIFICATION AND CATEGORY SUB-CLASSIFICATION OF BASIC COLOUR TERMS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE DATA 294

PART 1 INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

The view on this diverse world results in different colour pictures, which clearly reflects the distinctive values in cognition and culture of one nation itself In other words, colour terms, besides the usual daily semantically expressive viewpoint, should be explored from deeper cognitive views underneath (Vũ Phương Anh, 2011) so as to explore the connections between one colour term and the equivalent prototypes in human beings’ cognition

In the world, the issue of colour terms has been studied from various research aspects as follows:

In terms of lexical aspect, the role of culture has been emphasized in researching colour terminologies, rather than researching colour terminologies in separation Studies by Geiger (1869); Conklin (1955); Lakoff (1987); Kay & Maffi (1999) have influenced this current dissertation since cultural element used to be ignored in considering the connection between colour terminologies and their usage

In Vietnamese, Trịnh Thị Minh Hương (1999) paid more attention to lexical aspect, mainly towards one colour term or some basic colour terms in Vietnamese language

Regarding semantic viewpoint, Kövecses (1986) and Lucy (1992) lay the foundation in which colour prototypes should be performed based on the semantic features of colour category In Việt Nam, Hoàng Văn Hành (1982), Nguyễn Hoàng Phương Linh (2014) and Lê Phương Thảo (2018) compare and contrast the semantic values and meanings between colour terms in Vietnamese and English

Concerning culture factor, Chevalier and Gheerbrant (1997) as well as Wierzbicka (2006) provide knowledge about the role of culture in the diverse international system of colour symbols around the world Nguyễn Khánh Hà (1995) confirms the existence of the parallel connection between one particular linguistic

expression (a lexical word unit) and its associated typical cultural national characteristics

In respect of cognitive viewpoint, this research direction has been increasingly popular and widely applied Rivers (1897), Brown and Lenneberg (1954), Berlin and Kay (1969), Heider (1971, 1972), Rosch (1973, 1974, 1975) have been more aware of the fact that colour categories should be represented in cognition in terms of a prototype (as the most salient object referent) of the category surrounded by less-similarity object referents Trần Thị Lan (2001), Lê Văn Thanh (2014); Hoàng Tuyết Minh and Nguyễn Văn Quang (2015) identify the connection between the prototypes of one basic colour and the associated objects in daily real-life situations close to one community members’ life culture and cognition related

to the similarities and differences between Vietnamese and English culture and cognition system

These researchers, concentrating on one single colour term or some specific colour terms in one language only, does provide the most wide-ranging general picture with further detailed explanations with the subject of linguistic and cognitive system within one native community Therefore, a research on basic colour terms from a different theoretical framework (particularly, prototype theory) with a broader research scope should be conducted with the hope of discovering basic colour prototypes between English and Vietnamese languages together with further explanations based on cultural and cognitive perspectives for better understanding about the similarities and the differences between these two systems

Practically, the findings of this dissertation introduce reliable information related to the prototypes of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data accompanied by a comprehensible explanation of cultural and cognitive characteristics of English and Vietnamese communities The findings of this study provide the background for English and Vietnamese learners to be able to translate

or interpret these prototypes of basic colour terms correctly in terms of cultural and

cognitive viewpoints Native readers or speakers understand the similarities and distinguish the differences for the correct daily usage between the two linguistic systems in terms of prototypes, class classification and category sub-classification

of basic colour terms

2 Aims and Objectives

The ultimate aim of this dissertation is to compare and contrast the

prototypes of black/đen, white/trắng, red/đỏ, yellow/vàng, green/blue/xanh, grey/xám colour terms in English and Vietnamese data from the cognitive and

cultural perspectives

The specific aim for this study is to point out the similarities and the differences among the prototypes of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data from cognitive and cultural perspectives; therefore, the following objectives are put forward for the complete insight:

- To classify object referents functioning as colour-term referents of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data into 06 classes and categories

- To identify the prototypes of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data based on prototype theory

- To point out the similarities and the differences of the prototypes of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data from cognitive and cultural perspectives

- What are the similarities and the differences of the prototypes of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data from cognitive and cultural perspectives?

4 Scope of the study

Regarding dissertation approaches, this dissertation is employed based on prototype, category and cognitive and cultural elements In this study, a prototype is defined as the most salient feature in connection with the list of other object referents of one basic colour term whereas a category is the grouping of object referents of one basic colour term based on the commonalities with the prototype Additionally, cognitive and cultural elements assist as explanatory role towards the prototypes of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data for similarities and differences

With regard to research subjects, a basic colour term, based on Berlin and Kay’s (1969) linguistic criteria, in the form of one single root adjective word as one independent lexical unit, expresses the mental or psychological unit of our human consciousness and of the whole world image reflected in human psychology Based on

Berlin and Kay’s (1969) presentation of 11 basic colour terms, white, black, red, yellow, blue, green, brown, purple, pink, grey, orange colour terms in English language

are the original research targeted subjects whereas those basic colour terms in

Vietnamese are trắng, đen, đỏ, vàng, xanh da trời (xanh dương), xanh lá cây, nâu, tím, hồng, xám, cam in Vietnamese language

Nevertheless, that xanh da trời (xanh dương) and xanh lá cây colour terms are

inappropriate due to the linguistic criteria of a basic colour term as one single

independent lexical word results in the final choice on xanh colour term in Vietnamese

What is more, from the initial data collection step, in terms of examples containing

these basic colour terms from literary works, the data containing brown/nâu, purple/tím, pink/hồng, orange/cam colour terms bring in the following number of

examples: 17/01, 04/02, 02/10, 01/00, respectively Within this research scope, the collected data of each basic colour term is expected to reach, at least, above 10

examples for strengthened reliability The examples containing

nâu/purple/tím/pink/orange colour terms are too low to be reliable for the final conclusion on the prototype of each colour term although those of brown/hồng colour

terms are above 10 examples However, the ultimate aim of this study is to compare and contrast the prototypes of colour terms in English and those in Vietnamese; particularly, the following pairs of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data

(brown/nâu, purple/tím, pink/hồng, orange/cam) do not meet this criterion Consequently, brown/nâu, purple/tím, pink/hồng, orange/cam colour terms are

affirmed not to be the research subjects in this study

In a nutshell, white, black, red, yellow, green, blue, grey colour terms in English and trắng, đen, đỏ, vàng, xanh, xám colour terms in Vietnamese have been asserted as

the official research colour terms targets in this dissertation It should be noted that this exact appearance sequence of basic colour terms is continuously applied and expressed

in presentation layout throughout the chapters in this dissertation

Prototypes of basic colour terms in English and those in Vietnamese are

identified through comparative idioms formatted as + basic colour term + as + object referent X structure in the scope of the study in English and Vietnamese data

Idioms with comparative structures accumulated are from literary works in English and Vietnamese data From this, further information relating to the object referents associated with each basic colour term as well as the percentage as the finalized approximate percentage of all surrounding object referents with different ranges of salience level lay the foundation for prototype identification and explanation tasks

In regard to data criteria, the data of this dissertation is collected and analyzed based on:

- Basic colour terms in English (black, white, red, yellow, green, blue grey) and basic colour terms in Vietnamese (đen, trắng, đỏ, vàng, xanh, xám) are the research

colour terms

- Comparative idioms comprise as + basic colour term + as + object referent X

structure in the scope of the study in English and Vietnamese data

- The prototype of a basic colour term in English or Vietnamese must be understood as the core/ the best exemplar/ the most salient position/ the most central element/ the most typical figure/ the most representative member/ the most central features/ the most outstanding object/ the most obvious example in a category or in all category members included in one colour category The prototype of one basic colour term is identified based on the highest appearance percentage; in other words, the object referent associated with one basic colour term obtains the highest appearance percentage is affirmed as the prototype of this basic colour term

Concerning the process of prototype comparison of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data, a colour term, based on Wierzbicka’s (1996) hypothesis

on the symbolic meaning attached to basic colour terms, is described as follows:

“People can see something like this when they see something else I can say that” (Wierzbicka, 2005: 229) In short, a particular colour term ‘means what people mean or have in mind when they use it’ (Wierzbicka, 1996: 293)

On the subject of category classification from the total object referents of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data, the following 06 categories, namely Flora, Fauna, Inanimate nature, Food and beverage, Man-made object, Body and bodily product have been the official classifying criterion in this dissertation (Griber

YA, Mylonas D, Paramei GV, 2018) From this foundation, a detailed description of the subject of sub-classification within these 06 categories is another main concentration in this dissertation

For the purpose of comparing and contrasting, this research applies Theoretical Contrastive Analysis which looks for the realization of a universal category X in both

A and B (Fisiak et al., 1978: 10) In other words, that ‘X’ is understood as the prototype

of a basic colour term introduces the colour categories present in language A (or English language) and language B (or Vietnamese language)

Figure 0.1: Theoretical CAs (Adapted from Fisiak et al 1978: 10)

Comparative criteria, in terms of prototypes of basic colour terms, should meet the following requirements: (i) Comparing the appearance frequency typical for the object referents associated with one basic colour term before identifying the prototype of this basic colour term (ii) Comparing in terms of semantic meaning of these prototypes in English and Vietnamese data (iii) Comparing in terms of cognitive and cultural features of these prototypes of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data

5 Methodology of the study

This thesis is designed as a contrastive study using the mixed method Qualitative method and quantitative method, with bilateral relationships, are inter-twined in analyzing prototypes of basic colour terms The comparison of the prototypes of basic colour terms in these two languages helps gain more insights into the similarities and the differences associated with basic colour terms in two cultures

To be explained in further details, quantitative method (especially the linguistic statistical method) provides reliable results based on SPSS tool Qualitative method (especially the descriptive method) provides explanations by

describing the distinctive features of the prototypes of black/đen, white/trắng, red/đỏ, yellow/vàng, green/blue/xanh, grey/xám colour terms to reflect lexical and

semantic distinctive features Contrastive method compares the similarities and the differences between English and Vietnamese cognition systems towards colour terms, which reveal more information related to possible differences and similarities

in distinctive cultural features based on linguistic data between English and Vietnamese nations

6 Significance of the study

This dissertation focuses on the most salient representative feature object referents for the finalized prototypes of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese Besides further research on cultural and cognitive characteristics of English and Vietnamese language systems, the findings of this research set the foundation for further research on basic colour terms in general and on the prototypes of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data in particular

Theoretically, the results of this study provide new insight into the prototypes of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data The study results support studies in cognitive linguistics in general and distinctive cultural and cognitive features in particular Additionally, this research brings a clear explanation regarding the cultural characteristics and cognition processes of English and Vietnamese nations in order to illuminate the similarities and the differences between the two linguistic systems

Practically, the results of this study help English and Vietnamese teachers

and learners understand the prototypes of black/đen, white/trắng, red/đỏ, yellow/vàng, green/blue/xanh, grey/xám colour terms in English and Vietnamese by

providing useful materials in the process of teaching and learning effectively Besides, English and Vietnamese native speakers can raise their awareness related

to the potential differences and similarities in the other language In other words, the knowledge of the enriching cultural and national distinctive features being presented through colour prototypes helps readers understand the similarities and distinguish the differences so as to grasp the underlying messages conveyed when reading literary works or national comparative idioms The potentially achieved results will facilitate speakers of one foreign language with deeper understanding related to the cognitive characteristics analyzed under the light of culture and thinking between the two communities, especially for the benefit of cultural shock avoidance

7 Structure of the study

Apart from Introduction and Conclusion, Development part is divided into:

Chapter 1, Literature Review, firstly, serves as an overview on the previous

studies related to colour and colour terms from multi-aspects with the purpose of pointing out the existing gaps that this study attempts to fulfill Secondly, this chapter reviews relevant literature of prototype theory: naming theory, category, cognition and culture English and Vietnamese cultural features in addition to the language-culture-cognition relation would also be presented The following section is the presentation of basic colour terms concentrating on physical features and linguistic criteria to identify the basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data Last but not least, the theoretical framework as the core spine of this dissertation is presented

Chapter 2, Methodology Chapter, delineates the choice of quantitative method,

qualitative method, comparative-contrastive analysis method comprising procedures, data collection as well as data analysis procedures to facilitate the research process

Chapter 3, Classes and categories of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data, is a detailed description of the findings from data of comparative idioms containing black/đen, white/trắng, red/đỏ, yellow/vàng, green/blue/xanh, grey/xám colour terms from literary works The 06-class classification of basic colour

terms in English and Vietnamese as well as category sub-classification is represented This chapter paves the way for deeper illustration in terms of prototype identification and prototype comparison in the following chapter

Chapter 4, Comparison of prototypes of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data, further explains the similarities and the differences between the

prototypes of basic colour terms in these two languages based on cognitive and cultural values This part contributes to the general pictures of English and Vietnamese nations

with regard to the prototypes of black/đen, white/trắng, red/đỏ, yellow/vàng, green/blue/xanh, grey/xám colour terms

PART 2 DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW

This Literature Review Chapter is a comprehensive and thorough overview with reference to basic colour terms from multi-aspect research directions This section also concentrates on principal concepts forming the mainline theoretical framework (prototype theory, category, cognition, culture) accompanied by the widespread-synthesized presentation related to basic colour terms This review regarding previous studies brings in the dissertation theoretical framework

1.1 REVIEW ON PREVIOUS STUDIES

The study of colour terms across time and cultures started in the second half

of the 19th-century which witnesses the existence of a universalist perspective on the colour debate in the mid-19th century (Biggam, 2012) Colour terms have been investigated from a variety of perspectives

1.1.1 In English

The debate around colour terms becomes popular since Berlin & Kay's famous study in 1969 Then, other researches predating or postdating this 1969s time-mainline have concentrated on multi-aspect research directions The research history on basic colour terms can be classified into the four main research directions

as follows:

In terms of lexicon research direction, the scarcity of colour terms and the

strangeness of those used in Homer’s works in analyzing Homeric language related

to colours (Gladstone, 1858) as well as another similar observation for Indian Vedic Poems in Sanskrit, Old Testament in Hebrew, Quran in Arabic and Sagas in Icelandic (Geiger, 1869) were the highlight in the initial researches on colour terms Both Gladstone and Geiger, proposing a universal evolutionary sequence in which colour vocabulary evolves in tandem with an assumed biological evolution of the colour sense, concluded that full colour vision has evolved very recently in human history Gladstone’s view exploits the distinction between mind and brain

responsible for generating perceptual states which differ in psychological salience;

on the other hand, the psychological differences between more and less salient perceived colours bias humans (Kay & Maffi, 1999) downplay the role of culture and its main proponents (Berlin & Kay, 1969; Rosch, 1972)

In a similar vein, Gladstone’s view, with enormous influence on afterwards researches, was developed into a diachronic model of colour language development This model is constructed from the evidence of synchronic colour term application The idea of detecting the refinement of colour term reference in distinct synchronic sources and proposing a diachronic developmental sequence to explain such improvement was accepted and regarded as ‘an evolutionary process which all races experience’ (Magnus, quoted in Biggam, 2012: 13)

Regarding biologic-psychological theories, the universal aspects in colour coding knowledge, lexical domain of colour, the empirical locus of linguistic relativity and language determinism, the study on Mesoamerican colour terms was researched entirely on basis of hue without any regard to intensity or saturation (Klineberg, 1935) whereas human colour perception study was based on original materials of more than 60 North-American Mesoamerican tribes (Jackendoff, 1952, 1953)

Study by Lenneberg and Robert (1953) was evaluated as a dedicated support for the linguistic relativity hypothesis despite their main original intention originally aimed as an additional research tool In the original study in an array of 320 colour chips varying in the dimensions of hue and brightness in a physical chart, Zuni speakers are reported to encounter more difficulties in colour recall for these colours than English speakers who have available terms to distinguish them The significant differences between the Zuni from the American Southwest and native English speakers in the ranges informants for colour terms provide sufficient evidence for the linguistic relativity hypothesis (Lenneberg and Robert, 1953)

Performed on a different participant subject (Hanunoo tribe in Philippines), the lexical set of colour alphabet system related to perceptual categorization is the central point (Conklin, 1955) Following the same research direction on human beings in other nations, neither the investigation on 56 categories and the responses

by students from Universities of Maryland (270 subjects) and Illinois (172 subjects) nor that between the American and Scottish studies in the field of colour terms found no substantial agreement (Battig and Montague, 1965; Brown, 1978)

Another research direction of colour lexicon arising from the structure and function of the visual system is considered as semantic universal received attention from McDaniel (1972, 1974) who asserted the role of perception in determining language in deriving semantic universals from properties of the visual system towards any colour category

One notable study among the vast literature works on colour terms was one proposed by Lakoff in 1987 This study shows the possibility to compare colour categories comprising focal colours in different languages (Lakoff, 1987)

To be conducted in a different research direction from others previously mentioned, in particular, the respondents were asked to write down as many colour terms

as possible with no time limit as well as the group composed of people of and-70 ages, this new research trend was able to check the ultimate number of colour terms that can be remembered and notified (Taft and Sivik, 1997)

between-17-In the linguistic analysis on old English colour terms (grey, blue), that

collocations, referents and contrasts draw conclusions about the extension of the word related to colour nuances illustrates the fact that detailed contextual studies of

a collection of individual tokens can be helpful towards the overall semantic characterization of a given term (Biggam, 1997)

Besides the support towards colour terminology universalism, criticism related to an autonomous neuro-physiological colour pathway is revealed in the study of physiological colour perception (Saunders and van Brakel, 1997)

As an attempt of Berlin and Kay hypothesis, “World Colour Survey”, as

superordinate rules, determines the evolution of Basic Colour Terms: black and white

to distinguish black and white; Warm and Cool to distinguish the warm primaries (red and yellow) from the cool primaries (green and blue); Red to distinguish red The

ordering of these rules reflects the data accumulated from the overwhelming majority

of languages studied in World Colour Survey (Kay and Maffi, 1999)

Regarding the connection between colour language and speakers’ needs, colour language develops based on speakers’ needs due to the differences in colour language residing in differences in physiology and intensive literary contexts In other words, basic colour terms used by native speakers in one region depend on human characteristics in colour cognition and multi-culture colour development and structure Colour has become a deeply studied domain that addresses the relationship between language and thought thanks to the exhibition of both biological and linguistic aspects Colour cognition differences result in colour term variability - more culture-specific phenomena from language to language (Surridge, Osorio and Mundy, 2003; Kay and Reiger, 2006)

On the subject of the relation between primary and secondary colour term division, the differences between basic colour terms and secondary colour terms used by native community members, based on distinguishing criteria, are identified for the close connection among the basic colour sensory agents and naming these colours (Hardin, 2005)

Berlin and Kay's theory of basic colour terminology implies an ethnocentric bias based on traditions of Western scientific and philosophical thought; however, the translation method for colour terms from 78 languages is criticized The effectiveness of Munsell colour system in colour terminology elicitation and focal hue identification as well as colour terminology de-contextualization and failure for methodology limitation identification is questioned (Saunders, 2014)

In terms of semantics research direction, semantic domains of colour

categories comprise more central points with more identified features than peripheral ones, and these focal points are defined as ‘basic colour terms’ (Kövecses, 1986) This new naming of basic colour terms, different from primary and secondary colour terms, has been the background for further researches on basic colour terms in one linguistic system in combination with other theoretical elements from a more diverse research perspective

How linguistic analysis has characterized the meanings of colour terms across languages is the central achievement in this semantic research direction (Lucy, 1992) Especially, this study focuses on the two critical dimensions in defining the meaning of a term: referential range (what a colour term can refer to) and grammatical distribution (how the term can be used)

On the subject of culture research direction, the relationship between

physiology and language, proposed by Gladstone (1858) and Magnus (quoted in Biggam, 2012), was rejected On surveying on colour-blindness cultures, differences in colour language reside in differences in contexts: colour language develops in relation to speakers’ needs, isolated from the vision system (Surridge, Osorio and Mundy, 2003)

Based on Ndembu materials and rituals, colour classification was recommended to exist in initial cultures, implying that colour element is connected

to culture element (Turner, 1967) This implication is in line with the previous studies

National colour symbols around the world, mainly in ethnology, socialism, psychology, mythology and religion, provide the description and explanations about the diverse aspects of colour symbolic meaning Culture, included as socially transmitted information, causes some differences in colour languages to express themselves in connection with particular cultural or linguistic groups (Reiger, Kay

& Cook, 2005); therefore, colour language should be put in the relationships with human mind, brain and culture (Chevalier and Gheerbrant, 1997)

From cognition perspective, colour encyclopedia of tribes in North Pole from

native speakers’ colour vocabularies as well as their ability in discriminating colours shows that colour vocabularies are different, depending on diverse colour perception Different colour vocabularies depend on variant colour perception of native speakers’ colour vocabularies and their abilities in discriminating colours (Rivers, 1897) Perception element serves as the initial phase concerning colour-forming vocabulary while culture element gradually consolidates its impact towards colour lexicon and distinctive thinking habit

Codability effect on recognition is another new research orientation A series of Munsell chips is used to test colour recall and recognition in English speakers The availability of a basic colour term in a given language affects the retention of that colour in recall testing Brown and Lenneberg (1954) attributed this effect to the property of codability; more specifically, linguistic codability is the ease with which people can name things and the effects of naming on cognition and behavior

As colour issue has been important in larger discussion of biology-culture relation, Kay and Berlin (1969) challenged the thesis of complete relativism in colour encoding The expansion of Lenneberg and Robert’s experiments was possible thanks to the use of stimulus materials developed by Lenneberg and Roberts (1956) in a Whorfian-influenced study to assess the meanings of the basic colour terms Concerning the relationship between prototypes and colour categories, universal prototypes are discovered for colour category definition and a universal sequence for colour lexicon emergence The natural salience of the colour prototypes plays a role in colour category formation Categories, with their uncertain boundaries, are connected to prototypes as psychologically salient cognitive anchors, in which, prototypes are cognitively basic and boundaries are defined in relation to prototypes (Berlin and Kay, 1969) The

language-mind-fundamental but provoking findings have genuinely initiated the new research trend with reference to basic colour terms

Based on further empirical work and the introduction of earlier work by McDaniel and Wooten (McDaniel, 1972), the same research orientation (similar to that by Berlin and Kay) re-conceptualizes the encoding sequence for this reformulation for the following conclusions First, colours are independent of any beings in the world Second, colour concepts, embodied in focal colours, are partly determined by human biology Third, colour categorization makes use of human biology However, colour categories are more than a consequence of the nature of the world plus human biology; rather, colour categories resulted from the world plus human biology plus cognitive mechanism with some characteristics of fuzzy set theory plus a culture-specific choice of basic colour categories (Kay and McDaniel, 1978)

The work with the profound impact on cognitive psychology field must have been prototype theory by Eleanor Rosch (1972) which is the mainline theoretical foundation for further surveys Human minds process colour categories through learning, remembering, denoting and evolving; in other words, the internal gradation in colour categories implies a possibility to isolate the point of the category because only the best example reveals the internal structure of categories (Heider 1971, 1972; Rosch 1973, 1974, 1975; Mervis, Catlin and Rosch, 1975) Research on colour implies how the world languages structure references to colour stimuli in their semantic systems or describes the existence of a system of colour categories or the characteristics incorporation of colourific information into categories Colour categories should be represented in cognition, in terms of a prototype (as the clearest cases, the best examples) of the category surrounded by other colours of decreasing similarity to the prototype and of decreasing degree of membership (Rosch, 1975: 193) Colour categories present in human cognition as a set of both criteria features with clear-cut boundaries and prototypes (as the clearest cases, the best examples) of the category, in which, this prototype is surrounded by

other colours with decreasing similarity to this prototype and with decreasing degree of membership (Rosch, 1975: 193; Rosch et al 1976)

In terms of the connection between cognition and language, colour sensing system from left hemisphere and transferred to the right hemisphere through linguistic development leads to the close connection between colour cognition and languages (Kay and Chad, 1978)

With reference to etymology, the survey on English colour terms with the

determination that blue term originated from French, green term originated from German sharing the similar with grow verb, red term borrowed from Greece, pink

term sharing the original with Dutch language, opens a new research direction in colour terms for comparison and contrast among different lexical systems in the

world (Quinion, 1996)

In the relation between colour terms and emotional words, why colour terms and emotional words are involved in different languages in the world results from the overlapping phenomenon as well as the similarities and the differences regarding semantic impacts on colour terms and emotional words (Soriano and Valenzuela, 2006)

In short, a variety of research directions in connection to lexical, semantic, cultural or cognitive perspectives has laid the foundation and influential theories on one or some linguistic systems However, the limitation lies in the fact that not a single research performed on prototypes of basic colour terms in English data, especially accompanied by the combination of national distinctive cultural and cognitive features, has been carried out This room left in research performance in English has introduced the initial idea of performing one research on this theoretical foundation of this dissertation: the prototype theory with the concentration on prototypes of basic colour terms in English data accompanied by cultural-cognitive explanations is the potential research orientation for this dissertation

1.1.2 In Việt Nam

In terms of Vietnamese language, inheriting the afore-mentioned previous studies, these theories or hypothesis are applied into practical Vietnamese contexts for better understanding of national distinctive meanings towards each colour term

or for revealing other hidden meanings from one colour term or the broader picture

between Vietnamese cultural meaning and another national culture Vietnamese

researchers have concentrated on colour vocabularies, mainly in specific applied researches in lexical field, exploiting semantic formations, descriptive semantic layers as well as distinctive cultural thinking In other words, the number of researches on colour terms in Vietnamese language remains relatively limited, mostly found in some grammatical textbooks Additionally, in-depth researches on colour terms are the focus in some master and doctoral thesis Fundamental researches on basic colour terms in Vietnamese are in the research directions as follows:

In terms of lexicon research direction, metaphor aspect of colour terms is

adequately paid attention Based on Tố Hữu’s one hundred and sixty poems from

1937 to 1971, metaphors connected to đen/trắng/đỏ/xanh colour terms is the main focus In particular, đen colour term brings the sense of sadness and fury due to the unequal remaining and the existing power in the feudal society; trắng colour term

brings coldness, emptiness and death besides purity and kindness in human heart or

optimism and belief; xanh colour term represents victory, love, hope as well happiness, wealth, freedom and independence; đỏ colour term stands for the glory

of history, dream and future Colour adjectives do not only express the objective external colours but also evokes outside scenes’ and human beings’ internal subjective colour terms These colour metaphors are thoughtful as well as natural in accordance with modernization and realism clearly reflects his inner beauty and sensitive soul, resulting in the conclusion that the subjective language users

determine metaphors (Lê Anh Hiền, 1971)

Investigating the use of colour terms in literary works has been a dominating trend regarding lexicon research orientation in Vietnamese researches, namely as Biện Minh Điền (2000), Nguyễn Thị Thành Thắng (2001) and Hà Thị Thu Hoài (2006) From Nguyễn Khuyến’s poems, all the colour words are collected to

identify the ratio of the most dominant colours; especially xanh colour term creates

the natural beauty of Northern rural area (Biện Minh Điền, 2000) What is more, polysemy phenomenon of colour words in Nguyễn Khuyến’s poems is generalized

in order to emphasize this poet’s distinctive artistic style (Nguyễn Thị Thành Thắng, 2001) In the similar orientation, the target towards Tô Hoài’s creativeness in

creating many layers of trắng, vàng, đỏ colour terms is the specific aim of this

research (Hà Thị Thu Hoài, 2006) This demonstrated that the huge Vietnamese data in poetry branch or literal works is potentially beneficial for future surveys or researches on the subject of colour terms

Basic colour terms or colour supplementary lexicons in Vietnamese language, particularly Vietnamese derivative colour terms, are initially surveyed Besides some fundamental features on basic and derivative colour terms in

Vietnamese language, especially on xanh and đỏ colour terms, are also presented

(Trịnh Thị Thu Hiền, 2004) The findings from this research have demonstrated the potential research orientation regarding basic colour terms and derivative colour terms in Vietnamese as well as in other languages

The following work on Vietnamese colour lexicons concentrates on analyzing symbolic meanings of Vietnamese colour lexicons The descriptive meaning of Vietnamese colour terminologies in literary works is the central survey subject The way to construct descriptive meaning towards colour lexicons as well

as in English and Vietnamese colour idioms has been identified; however, comparing and contrasting colour terminologies between English and Vietnamese data has not been paid adequate attention (Trịnh Thị Minh Hương, 1999)

In short, the afore-mentioned works, with more attention particularly to one colour term or some basic colour terms in Vietnamese language, have surveyed on colour lexicon used in Vietnamese literary works for the aesthetic values and illustrate the emphasis on one particular author’s distinctive literal style Vietnamese linguistic system is diverse in linguistic expressions (basic colour terms and their sub-terms) and expressive values for the literal aesthetic achievement

In terms of semantics research direction, regarding researches performed

only on Vietnamese colour terms, each particular combination presents one distinguished semantic value due to the specific meanings of each colour terminology in combination with ‘face’ words in normal or reverse orders The

reverse orders containing ‘màu + mặt’ express human beings’ emotions and affections (xanh mặt refers to anxiety or fear states; đỏ mặt refers to embarrassment, tím mặt means anger) However, the normal orders of these colour words with face are found in idiomatic expressions with expressive values, in which face as a

supporting unit in these idioms (Bùi Thị Ngọc Anh, 2008)

Sharing the similar interest in Vietnamese colour terms, Trần Văn Sáng (2009), based on six hundred Vietnamese folk songs, conclude that Vietnamese colour terms carry mainly literal or specific meanings with less figurative meaning

implication Specifically, đỏ colour term in Vietnamese folk songs expresses the

colour of young female’s cheeks, a constant visible feature in description to demonstrate Vietnamese ancestors’ ancient viewpoint on beauty (Trần Văn Sáng, 2009)

The issue of comparison in colour term usage between Vietnamese and another linguistic system also attracts some Vietnamese researchers One similar comparison is performed based on the semantic structure among Vietnamese adjectives and those in Russian (Hoàng Văn Hành, 1982)

English reference connected to red, green, purple, pink, grey, black, white

colour terms in English idioms is the concentration Particularly, in grammatical

aspect, colour terminologies are equivalent in idioms whereas in semantic aspect, each colour lexicon consists of private connections despite the standing side-by-side position The conclusion is that colour combinations carry a common meaning when in combination or colour combination in one idiom consists some logic values (Vũ Phương Anh, 2003)

Colour idioms in English and Vietnamese data are surveyed to figure out the similarities and the differences in idiom usages for Vietnamese students to recognize errors in learning English However, the limited number of idioms

comprising red/đỏ, yellow/vàng, blue/xanh, black/đen, white/trắng colour

terminologies between the two languages in this small-scale research restricts the data scope (Nguyễn Hoàng Phương Linh, 2014) Sharing the same data target and focusing on semantics theories introduced by international linguistics researchers are the foundations for exploring some prominent semantic features of the Vietnamese and English idioms about love, marriage and family The findings will

be able to facilitate the understanding of these idioms’ meanings: (i) Idiom meanings are constructed on metaphor, metonymy and national cultural knowledge; (ii) Individual Vietnamese lexical meaning depends on synonym and antonym regulations; (iii) Most English and Vietnamese idioms can be explained directly due

to the figurative and transferred senses (Nghiêm Thị Bích Diệp, 2018)

Vietnamese phrases containing đen, trắng colour terms formed based on

native speakers’ conventions characterizing national distinctive features compared

to English phrases containing black and white colour terms usually applied in

figurative meaning or meaning transfer is another survey conducted to compare and contrast between English and Vietnamese languages Vietnamese and English native speakers use different semantic meanings, matching with their native communities: in form, in colour cognition, in potential usage with an adjective component in another language The main difference helps English learners identify the matching capacity between fixed phrases and use them approximately in

communication (Nguyễn Thị Tố Hoa, 2017) Similarly, xanh and đỏ colour terms in

Vietnamese are analyzed mainly from semantic perspective - the most traditional research orientation (Trịnh Thị Thu Hiền, 2015)

From focusing on đen, trắng colour terms in English and Vietnamese data or xanh and đỏ colour terms in Vietnamese in these two studies above, this data scope has been expanded into 05 đỏ, vàng, đen, trắng, xanh basic colour terms in

Vietnamese and Chinese languages in the following study With respect to colour researches from comparative-contrastive perspective between two linguistic

systems, đỏ, vàng, đen, trắng, xanh colour terms together with their implied

meanings are surveyed from a different viewpoint on the similarities and the differences between Vietnamese and Chinese linguistic systems Expressive features and semantic structures of colour terms in Vietnamese and Chinese linguistic systems as well as their percentage in data collected from literary works

are the central research subjects in this dissertation (Bùi Thị Thúy Phương, 2004)

Central research objectives, lexicon formation on basic colour terms and their derivations in idioms and data from literary works, demonstrate the percentage

of colour lexicons The conclusions refer to the three following aspects: Basic colour term formation (English language uses compounding and inflecting methods whereas Vietnamese language uses repeating method); Basic colour term semantics (Basic colour terms with more meanings imply a variety and power in meaning transformation away from the original meaning); Iconic meaning (Basic colour cognition in English and Vietnamese systems employs distinctive cultural national features) The limitation is that the attention has been paid merely on original meaning, inflected meaning, transformed meaning and iconic meaning without researching other inflected and specific colour terms in English and Vietnamese data (Lê Phương Thảo, 2018)

In short, these works are beneficial in assisting foreign language learners in distinguishing the similarities and the differences between linguistic units or fixed

phrases accompanied by literal, figurative or even transfer meanings and the practical usage for misunderstanding avoidance in communication

On the subject of culture research direction, regarding Vietnamese colour

terms, sub-systems in colour vocabularies in Vietnamese are classified to analyze the meanings and contexts in lexical usage so as to clarify the connections between these colour terms and typical cultural national characteristics Based on pointing the word-class features (primary and secondary colour terms) and comparing for the common relations among them, the connections between these words and typical cultural national characteristics have been identified However, besides mentioning the relations among these lexical groups (for example: basic colour terms, secondary colour terms and distinctive colour terms), some major classes consisting

of diverse colour terms (like idioms) were not mentioned What is more, the colour terms between English and Vietnamese idioms for similarities and differences and the impacts of linguistics, culture and thinking in using these colour lexicons were not compared and contrasted (Nguyễn Khánh Hà, 1995) The idea of exploiting colour terms from idioms in English and Vietnamese data can be further researched and enhanced for a complete study

With regard to the studies on other foreign languages, the survey on the connection between Flora group (including flower and plant objects) and colour terms in Vietnamese and English idioms presents some similarities and some differences related to natural world between English and Vietnamese cultural

features (Trần Thị Thu Huyền, 2001)

Centering on the idea of how colour words are applied, this comprehensive summary on linguistic and cultural knowledge connected to colour terms is valued

as one brief introduction of linguistic and cultural impacts (Lê Thị Vy, 2006)

That colour is viewed as a universal symbol in some cultural and religious rituals in the world brings in current research orientation from semiotic viewpoint towards colour terms (Nguyễn Đức Dân, 2006) This has opened up more studies

among different languages for a more comprehensive picture of the world linguistic system

In short, these studies, from the connection between linguistics and culture factors (even religious factor), introduce the general picture about the similarities and the differences between Vietnamese and English cultures These works declare the parallel connection between one particular linguistic expression (a word or a lexical unit) and distinctive cultural national features Also, idioms have proved the reliable features in primary data source for upcoming researches

As to cognition research direction, not many works on colour terms have

been conducted from cognitive perspective, especially at master and doctoral thesis These articles, carrying the tendency to compare between Vietnamese language and another target language, concentrate on one single colour term or all basic colour

terms within the limited research scope

A pioneering survey on the connection between colour perception and colour spectrum is the concentration on visual perception and different human communities possessing different viewpoints on colours (Đào Thản, 1993)

Concerning researches on English and Vietnamese comparative idioms, both English and Vietnamese peoples are concluded on idiom usage in daily life by

presenting differences related to those associated object referents of đỏ, hồng, trắng, xanh colour terms between English and Vietnamese data: snow object referent as the most typical object referent of white colour term in English data whereas tuyết, trứng gà bóc object referents as the most salient object referents associated with trắng colour term in Vietnamese data; cherry object referent as the most central object referent of red colour term in English data whereas tôm luộc, mặt trời, máu (of the lips), bồ quân (of the cheeks) object referents as the most outstanding object referents of đỏ colour term in Vietnamese data; cherry, rose object referents as the most obvious object referents of pink colour term in English data whereas bồ quân

object referent as the most noticeable object referent of hồng colour term in

Vietnamese data (Trần Thị Lan, 2001)

Regarding semantic explanations based on the positive and negative assumptions towards basic colour terms in Vietnamese and English languages

(collected from idiom source), the outcomes are as follows In Vietnamese data, vôi, bông object referents represent trắng colour term; than, mực tàu object referents refer to đen colour term; son, máu object referents make reference to đỏ colour term; hoa mướp, nghệ object referents allude to vàng colour term; lá cây, nước biển object referents make an ullusion to xanh colour term; nước củ nâu object referent implies nâu colour term; quả cà dái dê object referent denote tím colour term On the other hand, in English data, fresh snow, common salt, milk object referents refer

to white colour term; coal, soot object referents represent black colour term; fresh blood object allue to represents red colour term; ripe lemon, egg yolks, gold object referents imply yellow colour term; clear sky, sea, sunny day object referents make

an allusion to blue colour term; growing grass, leaves of plants, trees object referents denote green colour term; toasted bread, coffee mixed with milk object referents make reference to brown colour term; clouds on a rainy day object referent indicates grey colour term; fully-ripened fruit object referent identifies orange colour term (Trịnh Thị Thu Hiền, 2002)

Based on the percentage of object referents from colour như X object referent idioms in Vietnamese data collected from the Internet, it is concluded that blood prototype has been existing in Vietnamese cognition as well as those object

referents close to daily Vietnamese cultural life, particularly, the habit of raising animals for nourishment (Lê Văn Thanh, 2014) Following this research orientation and expanding to a broader data scope, that the comparative English idioms are to

be compared and contrasted to those in Vietnamese language is the central research focus, presenting the following conclusions: comparative idioms bring in multi-colourful pictures related to natural views, of human beings, social life, as well as spiritual world together with distinctive national thinking of this nation Referring to

structure element, comparative idioms with object referents as nouns occupy the highest proportion in English and Vietnamese In connection with semantic element, comparative idioms convey the relations between human beings and society, fauna, flora and natural world On the subject of comparison and contrast objective, the fact that English comparative idioms are for judgment, evaluation and prediction purposes while Vietnamese idioms are for physical nature world description does reflect the core difference between the two thinking ways (Hoàng Tuyết Minh, 2014: 117) Based on the findings from this research, the following main points play the central guideline spine and are further exploited: Comparative idioms carry the object referents representative lively world-view pictures related to natural views, of human beings, social life as well as spiritual world of one nation;

in which, there exists an emphasis on the relations between human beings and society, fauna, flora and natural world

Similarly, the issue of Vietnamese and English people sharing similarities

and differences in cognition towards black colour term is also the central research target Black category scopes in English and Vietnamese data include popular

objects in each nation with more acceptable examples in one category Vietnamese

and English cognition systems towards black colour share ink - coal - ebony - crow

- soot – tar representative object referents The object referents are familiar objects

in Vietnamese and English daily life The results show the following differences in

cognition towards black colour: Although black category scopes in Vietnamese and

English share some similar components, the percentage of these components in two

linguistic systems is not equivalent; black category in any language consists of many different components: buffalo complexion (da trâu) and black bean (đỗ đen)

only found in Vietnamese language while those typical object referents in English

language are crude oil and a Congo negro (Hoàng Tuyết Minh and Nguyễn Văn

Quang, 2015) In a nutshell, the fact that these two studies, based on distinctive cognitive features between English and Vietnamese peoples, has pioneered the initial idea of developing one dissertation on the subject of prototypes of basic

colour terms together with further category classification of object referents associated with basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data besides being accompanied by the explanatory support of cultural and cognitive characteristics

What is more, idiom usage between English and Vietnamese communities is

revealed through some similarities in cognition towards some basic colour terms:

coal object referent of black colour term equal to than object referent of đen colour term, snow object referent of white colour term the same as tuyết object referent of trắng colour term (Nguyễn Văn Quang 2017) Comparative idioms initiate from

comparative rhetoric method, as one method to compare one subject to another subject, in terms of the images of the subjects and phenomenon in the natural physical world Moreover, comparative idioms are formed based on the cognitive connection; consequently, this cognitive connection reflected in comparative idioms

is close to one nation but brings a strangely different perception to another nation because one national community is concerned about subjective external appearance

or phenomenon whereas another country pays most attention to the function or the feature of the same subject or phenomenon

Afore-mentioned researchers generally agree that colour perception decides personal viewpoints on colour terms This foundation is enhanced by identifying the connection between the prototype of one basic colour term and the associated object referents in daily real-life situations close to one community members’ cultural and cognitive features for more awareness towards one particular colour term related to the similarities and the differences between Vietnamese and English data Researches on colour terms in English and Vietnamese linguistic systems concentrate on structural and semantic factors from different aspects as well as the appearance percentage based on literary work data Some researchers are more interested in Vietnamese basic colour term system whereas others pay more attention to two colour terms The limitation is that the comparison and contrast of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data in literary work systems from cognitive viewpoint based on the connection with distinctive cultural foundation has not received the adequate attention for a systemic and complete thesis

Nevertheless, all researches above are beneficial for further research on basic colour terms from comparative and contrastive linguistic viewpoints

To sum up, the research direction revolving the relation among colour terms from literary works, cognitive and cultural viewpoint is the central aim of this dissertation with the hope of explaining the similarities and the differences among prototypes and categories

of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data Colour terms, in those researches above, are analyzed with reference to structure and semantic viewpoints within different ranges and their usage in literary works Some researches aim at Vietnamese colour term system while others survey on two most fundamental colour terms The limitation is that the impact of cultural and linguistic factors on colour term usage has not been paid adequate attention In this dissertation, a broader number of basic colour terms in English and Vietnamese data is the primary research targets besides the mutual integral combination of cognitive and cultural explanations, which hopefully brings in more prospective and beneficial research results

1.2.1 Cognition

Human knowledge is comprised of continuous stages: strengthening, connecting, comparison, abstraction and reflection Reality reflected in linguistics is human beings’ cognitive heritage as the outcome between bodily experiences and the objective world In other words, possible objects’ features and neurological system structure human experiences (Evans and Green, 2006: 46) From the viewpoint that human mind is a function of the way in which our species-specific bodies interact with the environment we are living in, the human mind must bear the imprint of embodied experience Human knowledge is comprised of continuous stages of strengthening, connecting, comparing, abstracting and reflecting The key feature here for understanding the embodied nature of human cognition is to ‘look for possible mind–body and language-body connections’ (Gibbs, 2006: 9) that are formed during the interaction between the body and the physical and cultural world How the body is related to the mind in the environment during our interaction and how this relationship affects human cognition encompass social factors due to the fact that ‘the properties of certain categories are a consequence of the nature of human biological capacities and of the experience of functioning in a physical and social environment’ (Lakoff, 1987: 12)

The three typical views on cognition is presented in details as follows:

From psychological view: Cognition, without attention to cultural differences

in cognitive development, is defined as the organization of an agent’s sensorimotor experiences and interactions with the environment (Piaget, 1936) On the other hand, it is proposed that individual cognitive development, with a strong emphasis

on the role of culture, requires a sociocultural embedding through certain transformation processes; in which, the cognitive abilities of an ‘en-culturated’ person as the product of developmental processes, in which primitive and immature humans are transformed into cultural ones through social interactions (Vygotsky, quoted in Lindblom & Ziemke, 2007: 139-141)