Semantic features of english and vietnamese idioms of happiness and sadness

VINH UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES--- --- SUMMARY OF GRADUATION THESIS SEMANTIC FEATURES OF ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE IDIOMS OF HAPPINESS AND SADNESS: A COGNITIVE LINGUISTI

VINH UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

-  -

SUMMARY OF GRADUATION THESIS

SEMANTIC FEATURES OF ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE IDIOMS OF HAPPINESS AND SADNESS: A COGNITIVE LINGUISTIC

Supervisor: Trần Bá Tiến, M.A

Student :Nguyễn Thị Lâm, 47A1

Vinh, 2010

For the accomplishment of this study, I have been fortunate to receive invaluablecontributions from many people I wish to thank

First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Tran

Ba Tien, M.A, for his absolutely indispensable assistance, excellent suggestions,expert advice and detail critical comments, without which the work would not havebeen complete

Secondly, I would like to express my gratitude to all my lectures of Department

of Foreign Languages for advising and supporting me during my study

Thirdly, I want to show my deep gratitude and faithful thanks to all my friendswho help and encourage me enthusiastically

In addition, my warmest thanks are due to my loving family for theirunconditional love, support and forbearance

Finally, I aware that despite all advice and assistance, I feel that the project is by

no means perfect; therefore, it is my sole responsibility for any inadequacies andshortcomings that thesis may be considered to have

Vinh, May 2010

Nguyen Thi Lam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Acknowledgement i

Table of contents ii

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Scope of the study 2

4 Method of the study 2

5 Design of the study 2

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 4

Chapter 1 – Theoretical background 4

1.1 Definition of idioms 4

1.2 Features of English idioms 5

1.3 Criteria to distinguish idioms from free-word groups, saying and proverbs .6 1.4 History of studying idioms in English and Vietnamese 8

1.5 Idioms of emotion 9

1.5.1 Definition 9

1.5.1.1 Concept of emotion 9

1.5.1.2 Concept of happiness 10

1.5.1.3 Concept of sadness 11

1.5.2 Cognitive linguistics 12

1.5.3 Metaphor and conceptual metaphor 13

1.5.3.1 Metaphor 13

1.5.3.2 Conceptual metaphor 14

1.5.4 Metonymy 16

1.5.5 Conceptual metaphor and conceptual metonymy with emotion 17

Chapter 2: Semantic features of the English idioms of happiness and sadness in comparison with Vietnamese counterparts 18

2.1 Happiness 18

2.1.1 Metaphors of happiness 18

2.1.1.1 Conceptual metaphors of happiness are applicable in both English and Vietnamese idioms 18

2.1.1.2 Conceptual metaphors of happiness are only applicable in English idioms 26

2.1.1.3 Conceptual metaphors of sadness are only applicable in Vietnamese idioms 29

2.1.2 Conceptual metonymies of happiness 31

2.2 Sadness 34

2.2.1 Metaphors of sadness 34

2.2.1.1 Conceptual metaphors of sadness are applicable in both English and Vietnamese idioms 34

2.2.1.2 Conceptual metaphors of sadness are only applicable in English idioms 36

2.2.1.3 Conceptual metaphors of sadness are only applicable in Vietnamese idioms 38

2.2.2 Conceptual metonymies of sadness 40

Chapter 3: Some suggestions for teaching and learning English and Vietnamese idioms of happiness and sadness 43

3.1 Recognizing conceptual metaphor from group of idioms 43

3.2 Guessing meaning based on knowledge of native idioms 44

3.3 Using idioms in context 45

PART C: CONCLUSION 46 References

Appendix

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 RATIONALE

All languages in the world have vocabulary and idioms; therefore the morevocabulary is, the more idioms are Idiom is a popular and useful way of languageexpression in both speaking and writing They are considered an attractive andcommon phenomenon of every language Palmer (1990) described that they areexpressions whose meanings can not be inferred from the meaning of its parts.Idioms seem to act too much like normal language, but they are quite different inmany ways They represent a rich vein in language behavior, so they cry out forexplanation An idiom that is the combination of figurative words often suggests acomparison to help us act abstract conceptions through concrete subject forunderstanding it By using idioms, sentences are glossy and figurative that makesconversation or speech interesting and variable in meaning transformed

As the true meaning of the idiom generally can not be determined by theknowledge of its components, idioms may make us feel confused In many case,idioms sound naturally and fit occasion by native speaker using, whereas, a non-native speaker of English may know the basic meaning but still can not use itappropriately Therefore, understanding meaning of idioms and the way using them

is very important of learning one language

Idioms can be taken from many sources of life, among which idioms ofhappiness and sadness turn out to be a big group which becomes the topic of mythesis, as I am interested in the way English and Vietnamese people use these idioms

to satisfy their need in daily communication

Idioms have been the topics that are concerned about over the years by manylinguists and researchers There have been many investigations into idioms withcertain linguistic units such as color terms, number terms, culture terms, or humanbeing terms and so on There are also non-count writings about idioms in term ofadjective phrases, noun phrases or verb phrases, etc many aspects of idioms areoffered and studied With my interest in idioms, I take “Semantic features of English

and Vietnamese idioms of happiness and sadness: A cognitive linguistic perspective”

as my topic for this thesis

In my study, I want to improve the knowledge of idioms for English students,especially with this aspect Idioms are described particularly in a variety of situation

to compare In my thesis, I will show more deeply about semantic characteristics ofEnglish and Vietnamese idioms related to happiness and sadness

2 AIMS OF THE STUDY

The first aim of this study is to help learners to improve the knowledge of idioms,especially idioms of happiness and sadness

Secondly, this thesis aims to assist the learners to be aware of the differences andsimilarity between English and Vietnamese idioms of happiness and sadness

The third aim is to motivate the learners of English to obtain the semantic aspect

of these idioms in English and Vietnamese

In addition, the study identifies and describes these idioms in culture, custom andtradition of two countries

The final aim is to give some suggestions for learning and teaching idioms ofhappiness and sadness

3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

- Idioms of happiness and sadness in English and Vietnamese

- Semantics of English idioms of happiness and sadness in comparison with theVietnamese counterparts in the view of cognitive linguistics

4 METHOD OF THE STUDY

- Statistic method

- Contrastive and comparative method

- Analytic and synthetic method

5 DESIGN OF THE STUDY

Part A – introduction

1 Rationale

2 Aims of the study

3 Scope of the study

4 Method of the study

5 Design of the study

Part B – Development

Chapter 1- Theoretical background

Chapter 2- Semantic features of the English idioms of happiness and sadness incomparison with Vietnamese counterparts

Chapter 3- Some suggestions for teaching and learning English idioms of happinessand sadness

Part C- Conclusion

Reference

Appendix

PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1 – Theoretical background1.1 Definition of idioms

An idiom is a combination of words and functions as a single unit These wordsare taken from the general vocabulary of a given language To have true concepts forthis aspect of language, many linguists both in English and Vietnamese try to definethe term “idiom” in many ways

In English, idioms may be treated as a type of collocation involving two or morewords in context However, since the meaning of an idiom can not be predicted fromthe meaning of its constituents, idioms may be considered as a type of multi-wordlexeme In most general term, an idiom may be defined as “a phrase and meaning ofwhich can not predicted from the individual meaning of the morpheme it comprises”(Howard Jackson and Etiene’ze’ A’nivela, 2002:66) An idiom also is defined byJohnathan Crowth (1995) as “a phrase whose meaning is difficult or sometimesimpossible to guess by looking at the individual word it contains (from AdvanceLearner’s Dictionary)

In English, idioms also have been defined by Jennifer Seild and W.Mc.Mordie(1988) as “a number of words which, when taken together, have different meaningfrom the individual meaning of each word” Therefore, an idiom is a multi-wordconstruction that is a semantic unit whose meaning can not deducted from themeaning of constituents and has a non-productive syntactic structure

For example, when we say “kicked the bucket”, it does not imply that they

necessary hit a certain type of container for liquid with their foot, what it means is

that they “died” in English, expression “to kick the bucket”, a listener knowing only

the meaning of kick and bucket would be unable to deduce the expression actualmeaning, which is to die Although it can refer literally to the act of string aspecific bucket with a foot, native speakers rarely use it that way Thus, idioms arenot literal expressions They are fixed expressions and they can be syntactic phrases

or sentences

In Viet Nam, according to Hoang Van Hanh (1994), an idiom is defined as “a

meaning used in everyday communication, especially in spoken language” For

example, trên chín tầng mây (on cloud nine) or như ở trên mây (in seventh heaven) are used to refer a person who is very happy, or “khóc đứng khóc ngồi” (sob your

heart out) refer to a person who cries nosily for a long time because you are very sad Phan Van Que in “Ngữ nghĩa của thành ngữ, tục ngữ có thành tố chỉ động vậttrong tiếng anh” (1996) defined idiom as “a group of words combined together toexpress something whose meaning is different from its constituent”

Hoang Phe (1997), an idiom is considered to be “a set of expression whosemeaning is generally inexplicable simply through the meaning of individual word itcontains”

Although idioms are defined in different ways, they still have things in commonthat can help us understand what an idiom is These definitions are clues for us toidentify idioms in using and studying

1.2 Features of English idioms:

An idiom is a multiword expression Individual components of an idiom canoften be reflected in the same way individual words in a phrase can be inflected Thisinflection usually follows the same pattern of inflection as the idiom’s literal

counterpart For instance, idiom “have a bee in one’ bonnet” can be put in sentence

like this “he has bees in his bonnet” In this case, “a bee” from singular can bechange into plural “bees”

An idiom behaves as a single semantic unit It can be often be replaced by a

literal counterpart that is made up of a single word For example, “kick the bucket”

means “die”

An idiom resists interruption by the other word whether they are semanticallycompatible or not We can not change idiom “put one’s leg” like this “pull hard onone’ leg” or “pull on one’ left leg” It also resists reordering of it component parts.For example, “let the cat out of the bag” can not be reordered “the cat got out of thebag”

An idiom has a non-productive syntactic structure Only single particularlexemes can collocate in an idiom construction Substituting other words from the

same lexical relation set will destroy idiomatic meaning of expression For instance,

we can not say “kick the pail” instead of “kick the bucket” although bucket and pailare synonyms We can not say “eat one’s sentence” or “swallow one’s word” instead

of idiom “eat one’s words”

Therefore, what is and what is not an idiom is a master of degree (Fernando andFlavell, 1981) For instance, “make up a story”, “make up a fire”, “make up one’sface” The first expression is used in its literal meaning; the second is a partialmeaning, while the last is full idiomatic

According to Howard Jackson and Etiemne’ Ze’Anivela (1995) in book “Words, Meaning and Vocabulary”, idioms may be characterized by several features but they

may be summarized under 2 main heading: ambiguity, and syntactic peculiarities.Since most idioms are constructed from morphemes, that are also used non-idiomatically They may either a literal or an idiomatic meaning Hence, they areambiguity Idioms also have special syntactic properties that can distinguish themfrom word phrases, proverbs, collocates, etc

1.3 Criteria to distinguish idioms from free-word groups, sayings and proverbs: Idioms are often difficult to distinguish from free-word groups, sayings,

especially proverbs because all of them are stable structure We have some characters

to realize them

With free-word groups and sayings, this seems to be easier to recognize them.Free-word group is a short of words which are often used together or a sequence oftwo or more words arranged in a grammatical construction and acting as a single unit

in sentence as the underlined expressions:

- We are going to the White house

(used as a noun phrase of the sentence)

- This green house belongs to a famous player

(used as a noun and subject of the sentence)

Two criteria for distinguish free word groups from idioms: Firstly, there is thesemantic difference of two word groups of the same constituents, and secondlymeaning of free-word group is not united and figurative However, according to

Autrushina (1995), structure variability is one of essential features to distinguishidioms from free-word groups: firstly, idioms have restriction in the substitutionSecondly, idioms have restriction in adding elements And lastly, idioms haverestriction in grammatical invariability.

About sayings, they are can be either a quotation (a well-known and wisestatement) from a famous person or a traditional orally-transmitted piece of wisdom

of commentary about life in general, which often have meaning that is different fromthe single meanings the words it contains For example:

- “Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value”(Albert Einstein)

- “What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies (Aristotle)

Idioms and proverbs are likely the most difficult to distinguish because they havemany similar characteristics, they are both stable structure and figurative In fact,the borderline between them is not very clear and solid

According to Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, a proverb is defined as “a shortwell-known sentence or phrase that states a general truth about life or givesadvice” many points of view give consumptions about proverbs, but we can clarifybriefly that proverb is a short sentence, usually known by many people, statingsomething commonly experienced or giving advice or a short popular saying,usually of ancient origin, that expresses effectively some commonplace truth oruseful thought or a moral lesson We can consider following examples:

- “Better alone than in ill company” (chọn bạn mà chơi) (1)

- “He laughs best who laughs last” (cười người chớ vội cười lâu, cườingười hôm trước hôm sau người cười) (2)

All give advice (1) or warning (2) and tell about experiences in life We can see that

a proverb has been concluded from the experience in life, it is likely a lesson Thedifferences between idioms and proverbs appear caused by two main reasons:

Firstly, there is differences about function and meaning The content of an idiom

is that of concept, while the content of a proverb is that of judgment It means aproverb expresses a judgment so that it has a reporting function, and an idiomexpresses a concept so that it has a naming function For instance:

- Proverb: “fine words butter no parsnip” (có thực mới vực được đạo)

- Idiom: “like a dog with two tails” (mean s very happy)

In general meaning of a proverb, we have already distinguished above, it is helpful torealize proverbs in language

Secondly, there are differences about structure An idiom is usually a phrase, but

a proverb is a sentence Although definitions show that an idiom is a phrase, in fact itcan be a sentence or a clause like a proverb The most important thing in differenceabout structure is stability of structure

An idiom has a non-productive syntactic structure You can not change, move,shorten or omit any part of it because this will destroy idiomatic meaning ofexpression For example, with idiom “in seventh heaven” (be very happy aboutsomething), you can not change like this “in seven paradise”, maybe “heaven” and

“paradise” are similar Or you can not add any words into this idiom “be drown intears”, if it because “be drown in many tears”, it immediately loses idiomaticexpression.Whereas, proverbs can have all characteristics above We can consideridiom “there is no place like home”, you can not shorten “no place like home”without change meaning

In conclusion, with definitions, features of idioms and some extents criteria, wecan easier realize idioms from proverbs and others All are helpful to understandidiom more deeply and adequately It is a key to study many aspects of idioms

1.4 History of studying idioms in English and Vietnamese:

Idioms have been used in both spoken and written language for a long time inmany languages But the study of them only started in 20th century Many linguisticshave built efficient studies about idioms in English and Vietnamese

Western and American authors have had many works to depict English idiomssuch as:

- W.MC Mordie with “English idioms and how to use them” (1990)

- LP.Smith with “idioms” (1922)

- VH.Collin with “A book of English idioms with explanation” (1958) and

“American English idioms” (1986)

- Broke with “idioms for everyday use” (1994).

- Lord Quick, Douglas Bibber, Rod Bonito and other authors with “Longman idiomdictionary”

In Vietnam, many linguistics also contributed knowledge to this subject:

- Bui Phung with “Dictionary of Vietnamese-English idioms and proverb explained”(1995)

- Tran Tat Thang with “idioms for everyday use” (1995)

- Pham Van Binh with “English idioms and proverb” (1995)

- Nguyen Minh Tuyet, Đoan Minh with “English-Vietnamese common idioms”(1994)

- La Thanh with “Dictionary of current English-Vietnamese idioms” (1995)

In term of Vietnamese idioms, there are many other authors who have long studiesand distribute worthy materials such as: Luong Van Dang, Nguyen Luc with “Thànhngữ tiếng Việt”(1979) ; Vu Dung with “Từ điển thành ngữ và tục ngữ ViệtNam”(1993) ;Hoang Van Hanh, Nguyen Nhu Y va Phan Xuan Thanh with “Kểchuyện thành ngữ, tục ngữ”, volume1,2,3 (1998,1991) ;Nguyen Nha Ban with “Cuộc sống thành ngữ, tục ngữ trong kho tàng ca dao người Việt”(2003) ,etc

Emotion is a private and subjective feeling Human can express personal statesthat they can feel or experienced To clarify the concept of emotion, somepsychologists have tried to divide emotion in categories Psychologist WihelmWundt provided his point of view about emotion which includes three basicdimensions: pleasantness/unpleasantness; tension/release; excitement/relaxation

Other author, Plutchik suggested four groups that consist of pairs opposite foreight basic emotions:

Each emotion expresses a quantity in a positive or negative scale Therefore,people experience positive and negative emotions in different degrees and withdiverse intensity However, nobody has been able to give a coherent explanation ofemotion

In language, emotions are expressed variously However, no dictionary can give

us all words to describe every state of emotion Emotion is not a strangephenomenon, we are always experiencing some type of emotions or feelingsnaturally in life That is a part of survival and a reason why all of us have suchfeelings

1.5.1.2 Concept of happiness

According to the Oxford Universal Dictionary, happiness is described as

fortune or luck, it is also a feeling derived from satisfaction with one’scircumstances Webster Dictionary gives the clearer definition “happy generallysuggests a feeling of great pleasure, contentment, etc Glad implies more strongly anexultant feeling of joy; Cheerful implies a steady display of bright spirits, optimisms,etc; Joyful and joyous imply great elation and rejoicing” (Webster’s New WorldRoget’s A_Z Thesaurus, by Wiley Publishing; yourdictionary.com)

The English language bounds in the expressions of emotion, especiallyhappiness The state of happiness can be expressed by such linguistic items as

“happy”, “cheerful”, “gay”, “glad”, “merry”, “pleased”, “delighted”, “elated”,

“jubilant”, etc (adj); “bliss”, “ecstasy”, “euphoria”, “glee”, “joy”, “rapture” (noun);

“exult” and “rejoice” (verb); “walk on air”, “in seventh heaven”, “ on cloud nine”,

“on top of the world”, “over the moon” and “thrilled to bits” (idioms)

The term “happiness” refers to the emotion, state and mood of happiness Manyresearchers have tried to define it in many years The leading authority on happiness,psychologist Ed Dinener (1984) considered happiness in his review as “the highestgood and ultimate motivation for human action” Besides, to define happiness, his

“Happiness: Unlocking the mysteries psychological wealth” describes it as acombination of life satisfaction and having more positive emotions than negativeemotions” Norman Bradburn (1969) depicted it as having more positive emotionsand moods than negative emotions and moods

Happiness is thought of as good life, flourishing, well-being, joy, prosperity andpleasure Martin Seligman, author of “Authentic happiness” described happiness ashaving three parts which includes pleasure, engagement and meaning: Pleasure is the

“feel good” part of happiness; Engagement refers to living a good life of work,family, friends and hobbies; And meaning mentions to using our strengths tocontribute to a larger purpose

Many other authors also draw their thoughts about what is called happiness.Jonathan Freedman (1978) wrote that “ it is a positive, enduring state that consists ofpositive feeling and includes both peace of mind and active pleasure or joy” RultVeenhoven (1984) defined happiness as “the degree to which an individual judgesthe overall quality of his life as a whole favorably”, etc

Happiness is a feeling of human being, however, it distinguishes itself with other

emotions Most people in the world know about what happiness is and can easilydescribe how happy or not they are Happiness is no mystery and the most importantthing in life

1.5.1.3 Concept of sadness

Sadness is a part of life and a normal response to situation or events that resultdifferently than imagined

Sadness is an emotion characterized by feeling of disadvantage, loss, and helpless.When sad, people often become quiet, less energetic and withdrawn Therefore, wecan see sadness is the negation of happiness.

Similarly to happiness, sadness can be expressed by various linguistic items such

as “sad”, “gloomy”, “grief”, “misery”, “melancholy”, “doleful”, “desolate”,

“woebegone”, “blue”, “disappointed”, “displeased”, “dejected”, “feeling bad”,

“uncomfortable”, “homesick”, “lonely”, “dissatisfied”, “regret”, “shock”,

“suffering”, “upset”, “unhappy”, “dismay”(adj); “feel dull”, “go blue”, “a blackmood”, “down in the dumps” (idioms), etc

Sadness appears inside human-being may have many meanings It can be a feeling

affected by unhappy or grief, sorrowful or mournful (eg: feel sad because a close

friend has moved away); expressive of or characterized by sorrow (eg: sad look, asad song); causing sorrow (eg: a sad disappointment, a sad news or movie);deplorable, sorry (eg: a sad excuse)

Bruch Spinoza, a philosopher, defined sadness as the transfer of a person from alarger perfection to smaller one People feel sad because they lost something valuableforever Sadness comes to human when they fail at a task, or break up with onefriend, etc It is a mood that happens when you do not enjoy life much around

Sadness is a commonly experienced emotion, the psychological responses ofsadness are usually tears and crying

1.5.2 Cognitive linguistics

Cognitive linguistics is a new and popular trend in modern linguistics This trendtake human as center to deal with mission of cognition: processing information andtransferring it into knowledge based on natural language which people use in dailylife The “Metaphor we live by” (1980) written by Lakoff and M.Johnson is one ofthe earliest workings to establish relationship between metaphor and cognition whichwrote about cognitive ability of human in life

In Viet Nam, cognitive linguistics is neither very new nor old topic The term

“cognitive linguistics” is studied in two works about cognitive linguistics by TranVan Co and Ly Toan Thang The associate professor Nguyen Duc Ton also wrote

“Culture and national characteristics of Vietnamese language and thought” whichcollected such knowledge considerably and significantly related to cognuitivelinguistics.

Some translated books are published to provide more information about this newtrend For example, book “Cognitive linguistics: From theory to practice” (2009) by

Ly Toan Thang gives some general knowledge and judgments about linguisticmodels, cognitive mappings, concepts, various aspects of meanings, etc

Our cognition can not separate from concept inside our mind Cognitive abilityhelps us possibly infer meaning of many more abstract concepts based on the way weunderstand the concrete ones These concepts are basic ground for conceptualmetaphor and conceptual metonymy and many conceptual models They are usednumerously in languages and make them more interesting and glossy

In short, Cognitive linguistic theories see metaphor as basic to human cognitionand language behavior (Lakoff and Johnson 1980, Lakoff 1987) It has a significantposition in both linguistics and cognitive study This is the reason why we chose touse cognitive theoretical framework for our study

1.5.3 Metaphor and conceptual metaphor

1.5.3.1 Metaphor

Metaphor is an object that has special attraction in literature and linguistics.Traditional view considered metaphor as a domain belonging to linguistics, only arhetoric with aesthetic function, a device of the poetic imagination

Therefore, most people think they can get along well without metaphor.However, in cognitive linguistics view, metaphor is not only characteristic oflanguage alone and a matter of word but matter of thought and action Metaphor ispervasive in daily life It is a natural cognitive mechanism of human PhilosopherMark Johnson and a linguist Lakoff in “Metaphor We Live By” suggest thatmetaphors not only make our thought ore vivid and interesting but that they actuallystructure our perceptions and understanding People with special or normal intellectcan see metaphors because the concepts that govern our thought are not just matters

of the intellect but also govern our everyday functioning, down to the most mundanedetails

Metaphor is very powerful and natural cognitive process, which help us tounderstand complex issue in nature and society Metaphor can be described asmediators between the human mind and culture New metaphors change bothordinary language we use and the ways in which we perceive and understand theworld Metaphors cause the audience to see things in new light

It can be simply described that metaphor is usually used to compare two unlikethings, which improve our understanding Metaphor can be used as “filter” for ourperceptions, if inaccurately used, they may distort information or cause falsegeneralization (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980) Lakoff argues that our worldviews arebased largely on different frames that provide us with structure for our thinking.Every word evokes a frame, a frame is a conceptual structure used in thinking Themore abstract the ideas, the more layers of “framing” are required to explain theconcept

The essence of metaphor is understanding one kind of thing in term of another

It has been described in terms of transfer from one cognitive domain (donor) toanother (recipient) domain There are two important points about metaphor: it is atool of cognition (eg: help us to conceptualize the world); it allows us to deal withabstraction by conceptualizing them in terms of something more concrete in ourexperience of the world

1.5.3.2 Conceptual metaphor

Conceptual metaphor is different from metaphorical language Metaphoricallinguistic expression is only surface expression of conceptual metaphor For

example, sentence “is that foundation for your theory?” is a linguistic expression for

the conceptual metaphor “theories are buildings” So, we usually say “we need to

construct a strong argument for that”, or “the framework of the theory has already

finished”, ect Indeed, metaphors help us to understand and express an abstractconcept via more a concrete (basic) concept It is an important mechanism for us tomake complex arguments

The book “Metaphor: A Practical Introduction” by Kovecses (2002) states that

in the cognitive view, metaphor is defined as understanding one conceptual domain

in terms of another conceptual domain For instance, we think about ideas in terms offood, love in terms of journey, argument in terms of wars, theories in term ofbuildings, etc Here, look at just a small sample of linguistic expression below:

He is without direction in life.

I am where I want to be in life.

I am at a crossroad in my life.

She’ll go places in life

She is gone through a lot of life.

( Kovecses, 2002)

These sentences build a conceptual metaphor “life is a journey”, the way wespeak about life is derived from the way we speak about journey Therefore, theconcept of life is made clear through concept of journey

What we call “conceptual metaphor” can be described simply through model:conceptual domain (A) is conceptual domain (B) The conceptual domain fromwhich we draw metaphorical expressions to understand another conceptual domain iscalled “source domain”, while the conceptual domain that is understand this way isthe “target domain” Thus, ideas, love, argument, theories, etc are target domains,while food, journey, war, building, etc are source domains People can understand thetarget domain through the use of the source domain because, the cognitive linguistssuggest that the abstract concept is facilitated by the more concrete concept

It is important to realize conceptual metaphors and metaphorical linguisticexpressions The metaphorical linguistic expression makes manifest and particularconceptual metaphor In conceptual metaphors, one domain of experience is used tounderstand another domain of expression, one conceptual domain we try tounderstand is target domain and one we use for this purpose is source domain.Metaphor as linguistic expression is possibly precisely because they are metaphors in

a person’s conceptual system All information above provides us general ideas aboutmetaphor and conceptual metaphor to view language incisively, especially in studyidioms

1.5.4 Metonymy

Beside metaphors, metonymies are also used in idioms for more successful andinteresting performance We can understand metonymy as the following: Figure ofspeech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closelyassociated (such as "crown" for "royalty") Metonymy is also the rhetorical strategy

of describing something indirectly by referring to things around it (such as describingsomeone's clothing to characterize the individual)

For clarification of the notion of metonymy: This is generally understood asbeing a transference within a single semantic field rather than across two fields, themetonym being one aspect of an entity which is used to refer to its whole Warren(1999, 133) talks about the distinction in terms of interpretation, arguing that ‘‘thebasic difference between metonymy and metaphor is that the interpretation ofmetonyms involves retrieving a relation, whereas the interpretation of metaphorsinvolves retrieving at least one attribute, shared by the conventional and intendedreferents.”

Here are two senses for metonymy: Metonymy is, broadly defined, a trope inwhich one entity is used to stand for another associated entity; Metonymy is, morespecifically, a replacive relationship that is the basis for a number of conventionalmetonymic expressions occurring in ordinary language

For example:

- The pen is mightier than the sword.

(Pen and sword represent publishing and military force, respectively).

The following examples illustrate the controller-for-controlled metonymy:

- Nixon bombed Hanoi.

(Nixon stands for the armed forces that Nixon controlled)

(Lakoff and Johnson 1980, 38)

Therefore, metonymy is also an important tool for cognition, especially for usingand studying language

1.5.5 Conceptual metaphor and conceptual metonymy with emotion

Among conceptual metaphors that Lakoff and his colleagues offer, emotional

metaphor is regarded as the most popular in every language because they are based

on physiological experience However, until now except for English, studying worksabout them are still limited In Viet Nam, there are some writings about conceptualmetaphor in the view of cognitive linguistics For example, Nguyen Duc Ton,Nguyen Hoa, Phan The Hung, etc but these writings still limit in highlighting thematter, they just only introduce the theory Author Vi Tuong Phuc has a writingwhich start to examine metaphor about “ happy, angry, sadness, fear” in Vietnameseand Chinese language, but his work is still limited in making clear about cognitivemechanism and metaphorical specialty of two languages and two cultures

Metaphors related to emotion can be understood by body experience or purelysocial and cultural experience Information, evidences and examples about usingthese metaphors can be found media, literature, also personal blog and many othersbecause according to Lakoff and Johnson (1980) metaphor is not only matters ofpoetry and special ability composer, but a matter of language and normal cognition.This is also the most important point of cognitive linguistics because its studyingobject is mainly everyday language in nature

Emotional metaphors have significance in language so the studies about themmust be valuable and useful In conceptual structure of emotional concepts,conceptual metonymies is one of ingredients, it is a part of cognitive linguistics.Getting along with conceptual metaphors, conceptual metonymies give a new light inviewing emotion They make a considerable contribution to idiom particularly and tolanguage generally

Chapter 2: Semantic features of the English idioms of happiness and sadness in comparison with Vietnamese counterparts

In semantic field, there are many ways to compare or contrast two languages.Traditionally, they are usually grouped and made comparison Many works oftentake structural view as a base to compare In this thesis, I will make compare betweenEnglish idioms of happiness and sadness and Vietnamese counterparts in the view ofcognitive linguistics Because the limited scope of graduate thesis, I take conceptualmetaphors and metonymies for making comparison Idioms will be put in appropriategroups Through the analysis process, the similarities and differences are made clear

in many aspects This study also contributes to develop a new trend to examine bothidioms and language

- I’m feeling up.

- We had to cheer him up.

- They were in high spirit.

(Trần Bá Tiến (a), 2009)

- Rowena jumped for joy when she heart that she’d won first pries.

(Book “English idiom in used”, Michael Mc.Carthy, Felicity O’Dell)

Although having used by different words, all idioms have a general concept “up”which carry meaning “happy/joy” Similarly, Vietnamese also have idioms with thiskind of metaphor These idioms are used in many communicate situations Below aresome examples:

- Khải cười phá lên như thể tôi thật sự biến thành cú sau câu nói của anh.

(24h.com.vn; 13 Tháng 3 2010)

- Ông ấy chắc sướng điên lên vì trận hòa này.

(24h.com.vn; 27 Tháng Ba 2010)

(2) Being happy is being off the ground

Kovecses (1991) suggest a metaphor related to metaphor “happy is up” is

“Being happy is being off the ground” This metaphor describes optimistic, excitedand happy mood It is applicable in English idioms For instances:

- She was on cloud nine.

- We were in the clouds.

- After my exam, I was walking/ floating on air for days.

- I’m six feet off the ground.

(Trần Bá Tiến (a), 2009)

This metaphor can be found in Vietnamese idioms with many cases use the same:

- Tuyệt vời hơn cả tuyệt vời, tôi như chết lặng trên chín tầng mây.

- Họ vui như trên mây khi biết con mình đỗ vào đại học.

- Kết quả tuyệt vời, tinh thần bay bổng.

- Chiến thắng tại Merdeka Cup bỗng chốc thổi các cầu thủ U22 Vn lên

tận mây xanh.

(Trần Bá Tiến (a), 2009)

Most of the basic concepts are built by orientional metaphor based on physicaland cultural experience These idioms are not freely optional, but coherent in system.Having this coherence is because of the way people choose basic metaphor.Metaphor “happy is up” or “ being happy is being off the ground” are choose because

it is coherent with metaphor “good is up”, “health is up”, “more is up”, it meansmetaphor “up” express positiveness so they are coherent in system

Although it is obvious that English and Vietnamese idioms share this metaphor inexpressing happiness, there is a descriptive differences between English andVietnamese within limited scope of examples given that is English has some more

idioms to denote happiness which do not appear in Vietnamese idioms: floating on

the air, walk on the air It is also coherent with metaphor “happy is light”, “happiness

is feeling light” opposite with “sad is heavy/down” This contributes to the moregeneral difference between two languages

(3) Happy is light:

Beside metaphor “Being happy is being off the ground”, Kovecess (1991)discover an important metaphor which depicts happiness that is “light” Thismetaphor is expressed through some English idioms For example:

- When she heard the news, she lit up.

- Nothing to worry about Brighten up.

(Trần Bá Tiến (a), 2009)

- She had stars in her eyes when she saw the car she had won.

- Everything is well balanced, bright eyed and bushy tailed

(bbc.co.uk; 29/06/05)

Like many other conceptual metaphors, happiness concept is described

through visible and more concrete concept Power of light shows various states ofhappiness and more light, more happiness For example, “lit up” and “” brighten up”describe quick and strong happiness that we can observe in real physical world

It is interesting that not less than English idioms, Vietnamese have some idiomswith this metaphor:

- Cu cậu mặt mày tươi rói gật đầu lia lịa

Although Vietnamese idioms do not contain original word “light”, they stillexpress meaning as “light” through some derived words like “rói, lóa”, or usingfigure “moon” with purpose to refer to happiness implicitly All is based on cognitionculture of Vietnamese There is one similar point here is that both English andVietnamese idioms of happiness use “light” of the eyes ( “stars in one’s eyes” and

“đẹp lóa mắt”) to show happiness They think so because of natural cognition thateyes are common viewed as the “window to the soul”, so using them to expressemotion is an experience of human

It is apparent that both English and Vietnamese depict happiness in term of

“light” It is predictable that both of them also conceptualize unhappiness/sadness interm of “dark”

(4) Happiness is a pleasurable physical sensation

Physical sensation is a natural reaction of human to environment, especially

for personal emotion It is a physical experience and mainly applicable for everyculture In both English and Vietnamese, the conceptual metaphor “happiness is apleasurable physical sensation” is shared Feeling “tickle” makes people pleasurableand want to laugh, it is an expression of happiness To draw this concept ofhappiness, English and Vietnamese idioms using some similar and different physicalsensations For instance:

- One contributor, Richard Hill, was certainly tickled pink at the thought of good

gigs coming back to his town

of body like feeling “fresh” in idiom “nở lòng mát ruột” They contribute the

differences between two cultures

(5) Happiness is insanity

When mentioning to happiness, both English and Vietnamese idioms use theconcept “insanity” as a device to lift the happiness on the top of positive feeling Forexample:

- Business was suspended generally, shops and houses were decorated with

flags, and the people everywhere were delirious with delight.

(6) Happiness is a rapture/high

In coherence with metaphor “happy is up”, metaphor “happiness is a

rapture/high” is considered as the happiest point of personal emotion Some Englishidioms draw this concept:

- Locally they will be in raptures but outside it there may well be bewilderment.

(news.bbc.co.uk; 16 Jan 2008)

- Some people go into rapture over lifeless statues, and seem to see no beauty or

loveliness in real humanity

(oldandsold.com/articles11)

- I couldn't be happier with the cast that we've assembled.

(bbc.co.uk/drama)

- Three climbers from County Fermanagh are on top of the world after reaching

the summit of Mount Everest

(news.bbc.co.uk; 17 May 2006) Happiness can be expressed directly like “in rapture or indirectly “couldn’t behappier” Vietnamese idioms also use this metaphor for happiness, for example:

- Tôi suy nghĩ, đây đúng là một tựa game tuyệt vời trên cả tuyệt vời.

(game.gate.vn; 16 Tháng Ba 2010)

- Quả tạt của Alvarez vô tình tạo nên một bàn thắng đẹp tuyệt vời cho

Mallorca

(24h.com.vn; 13 Tháng Ba 2010)

(7) Happiness is natural force

Among many metaphors drawing concept of happiness, “natural force” is also

used in both English and Vietnamese idioms They include:

- The two things done in combination that will blow his mind.

(8) Happiness is a force dislocating the self:

An interesting metaphor refer to happiness is “a force dislocating the self”.

Both English and Vietnamese idioms involve this concept For example:

- You and your kids can split your sides laughing at a comedy club aimed

for young audiences

(bbc.co.uk; 14/01/2008)

- Remember Professor Lee who used to laugh fit to kill in her classroom?

(forum.ctu.edu.vn/viewtopic)

- Đôi vợ chồng nào đó và hai đứa con đang cười như nắc nẻ đi vào phòng.

(24h.com.vn; 16 Tháng 4 2010)

- Cả phòng được trận cười vỡ bụng.

(24h.com.vn; 16 Tháng 4 2010)

We can see that when happy, the body seems not be intact, it is dislocated Two

English idioms are correspondent with two Vietnamese idioms in similar way

(9) Happiness is a physical force

As we know about “a physical force”, this makes change some parts of body

and can be easily observed or felt English idioms have an example as following:

- A huge crowd at Crystal Palace convulsed with laughter at the sight of the Haka.

- Trẻ con thường có những suy nghĩ thật ngây thơ, và sự ngây thơ đó gây cho

chúng ta nhiều cái bất ngờ thú vị, đôi khi cười đau cả bụng.

(24h.com.vn; 29/04/2008)

However, one different point is that Vietnamese have one more idioms belong

to this concept and physical force here mainly affects to intestine or stomach That isthe result of theory of The five elements which is popular with vietnamese andAsian people

(10) Happiness is crowd

The way of English and Vietnamese think about happiness is one more similaragain Happiness is expressed through metaphor “crowd” Both cultures suggest thatwhere have more people that have more happiness These idioms are shown asbelow:

- I run seriously but it raises money for good causes, so the more the merrier.

(news.bbc.co.uk; 5 Dec 2004)

- Bác nào đi thì cứ ới em một câu, đi càng đông càng vui.

(facebook.com/topic.php)

(11) Happiness is desired object

Happiness is also depicted in term of “desired object” that nearly like animagination or a dream People think that some objects are really specious andvaluable, especially money because everyone need money so when they can have it,this like a dream become true and make they happy Consequently, this metaphor isbuilt and applicable in both English and Vietnamese For example:

- He told me the money made him feel like a million dollars.

- Anh em cán bộ biên tập và phóng viên trị sự báo hí hửng như Ngô được vàng.

(vnthuquan.net; Ly Thân, Chương 16 - VN Thu quan) With this conceptual metaphor, Vietnamese idioms seem have a greater amountthan English ones

(12) A happy person is a social ruler

Both English and Vietnamese idioms share this metaphor They include:

- I'm sure we should all be as happy as king.

(activityvillage.co.uk; November 2006)

- Ngồi trên lưng voi được nghiêng qua nghiêng lại êm ái, sướng như vua.

(phuot.com; 22 Tháng 4 2010) These describe happiness like a person who have the most power in societyand do anything he or she want

(13) Happiness is a good sound

Some good sounds or musics are also used as the source domain to depict conceptabout happiness They are brought into both English and Vietnamese idioms Forexample:

- That's music to your ears presumably, because you have real doubts about

foundation hospitals don't you?

(news.bbc.co.uk; 4 April, 2004)

- Chắc đọc xong ai ai đều cười, không to vang thì cũng khúc kha khúc khích.

(dotchuoinon.com; 07/03/2010)

- Trong giảng đường hẳn đám sinh viên đang tiếp tục cười rúc ra rúc rích.

(chuyentrang.tuoitre.vn; 11/05/2009)

(14) Happiness is spring

As we know spring is the most beautiful season with the breeding of universal

in year and is also the time for festival, especially Tet hollidayin many countries sopeople usually implicitly compare it with happiness English and Vietnamese idiomshave a similarity here For example:

- Barbara is full of the joys of spring at the moment! Has she got a new boyfriend?

(1) Happiness/joy is a fluid in a container

One of metaphor for happiness in English idioms is “happiness is a fluid in a

container” This metaphor usually goes with some verbs appointing fluid such as

“full, fill, burst” For example:

- Jack's family described him as a "lovely lad who was full of joy".

describe this metaphor but in Vietnamese idiom resource, this metaphorical conceptdoes not seem to be applicable.

(2) Happiness is being in heaven

English idioms are also described by metaphorical concept “happiness is being

in heaven” For example:

- They were in seventh heaven when they learned they'd won a cruise.

(hoctienganh.info)

- This is a deceptively golden era and we might be lulled into a fool's paradise.

(news.bbc.co.uk; 20 Aug 2003) The concept is derived from the culture of English and Western English peoplesuggest that heaven is a place where human is not sad, isolated and only happyforever This idiom is not found in Vietnamese idioms

(3) A happy person is an animal that lives well

One major metaphor conceptualizing happiness is “A happy person is an

animal that lives well” This metaphor appears in English idioms and depictshappiness It is coherent with metaphor “happiness is health” because these idiomsdescribe that animal always lives well in any circumstances For example:

- He is fooling himself and that keeps him happy as pig in shit.

(firedoglake.com; 31 Mar 2010)

- I walked out of that shop like the cat that got the cream.

(bbc.co.uk; May 2003)

- When Paul won the first prize, he was like a dog with two tails.

- Since she moved to a smaller apartment, my mother is as happy as a flea in