A study on metaphor marriage is a unity in english vietnamese=nghiên cứu ẩn dụ hôn nhân là một thể thống nhất trong tiếng anh và tiếng việt

VINH UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES __________________________ TRẦN THỊ THU HIỀN A STUDY ON METAPHOR MARRIAGE IS A UNITY IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE NGHIÊN CỨU ẨN DỤ HÔN N

VINH UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

TRẦN THỊ THU HIỀN

A STUDY ON METAPHOR MARRIAGE IS A UNITY

IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE

(NGHIÊN CỨU ẨN DỤ HÔN NHÂN LÀ MỘT THỂ THỐNG NHẤT

TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT)

GRADUATION THESIS

FIELD: LINGUISTICS

NGHÊ AN – 2014

VINH UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

A STUDY ON METAPHOR MARRIAGE IS A UNITY

IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE

(NGHIÊN CỨU ẨN DỤ HÔN NHÂN LÀ MỘT THỂ THỐNG NHẤT

TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT)

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This study has been accomplished with the support and encouragement of many

people to whom I am grateful

I would particularly like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor,

Assoc prof Le Dinh Tuong who has been a wonderful help to me with his profound

knowledge and critical comments Thanks to his useful and very arresting lectures, I

was inspired to enter conceptual metaphor in cognitive linguistics, an interesting but

challenging field

A further acknowledgement goes to my classmates for their useful ideas,

materials and encouragement

The final credit must go to my family, who supported me with love and gentle

pushing

Without all that support, I could not have finished the Thesis

Nghe An, May 28, 2014

Tran Thi Thu Hien

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ABSTRACT

This study presents an investigation into metaphor MARRIAGE IS A UNITY

in English and Vietnamese A discussion and comments on the three main concepts of this metaphor have been made very clearly in English and Vietnamese In the process

of the study, marriage is cognized as a unity which includes two parts whose elements are opposite but share the same purpose Noticeably enough, the concept “Unity” bears

an abstract meaning For example: LOVE IS A UNITY, FAMILY IS A UNITY, etc There are some similarities and differences of Unity metaphor in “Marriage” in particular and between English and Vietnamese in general Accordingly, the analysis

on metaphor MARRIAGE has been made in turn so as to lead to the conclusion and implications at the end of the Study It also suggests some further studies on a larger population of data and the cultural aspects of Unity metaphor in English and Vietnamese so that teachers as well as students can gain a deeper insight into areas of conceptual metaphors

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APPROVED

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i

ABSTRACT ii

APPROVED iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF FIGURES vi

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Purposes of the study 2

1.3 Scope of the study 2

1.4 Design of the study 2

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 4

2.1 Literature review 4

2.1.1 Metaphor and culture 4

2.1.2 Dimensions of metaphor variation 4

2.1.3 Variation in metaphorical linguistic expressions 5

2.1.4 Metaphor and socio-cultural experience 5

2.2 Theoretical background 6

2.2.1 The Theoretical Framework of Cognitive Linguistics 6

2.2.2 Concept 11

2.2.3 Metaphor 13

2.2.4 Conceptual metaphor 15

CHAPTER 3: METHOD AND PROCEDURE 17

3.1 Aims and objectives of the study 17

3.2 Research methodology 17

3.3 Research questions 17

3.4 Description of population and sample 18

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3.5 Data collection 18

3.6 Data analysis 18

CHAPTER 4 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS 20

4.1 Marriage is a unity of two complementary parts 20

4.1.1 Unity in cognitive linguistics 20

4.1.2 Data analysis 22

4.2 Being in marriage is being physically close 26

4.3 Being in marriage is being mentally close 31

4.4 Concluding remarks 34

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION 37

5.1 A Summary of the study 37

5.2 A brief re-statement of the study 37

5.3 Implications for practical solutions 38

5.3.1 Some suggested activities for using metaphor MARRIAGE IS A UNITY in teaching and learning English 38

5.3.2 Some suggested exercises for using metaphor MARRIAGE IS A UNITY in teaching and learning English 42

5.4 Limitations 45

5.5 Suggestions for further research 45

REFERENCES 46

LITERATURE USED IN THE THESIS 47

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LIST OF FIGURES AND PICTURES

1 Figure 1 Mapping in metaphor MARRIAGE IS A UNITY in English 15

2 Figure 2 Mapping in metaphor MARRIAGE IS A UNITY in Vietnamese 16

3 Picture 1 Image of a Unity 20

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 RATIONALE

First and foremost, language is universally acknowledged as the most powerful

means of communication In modern society, English is an international language which plays an important role in our life It is the bridge to connect us to the global world We can have a deeper insight into the culture, education, science, etc of foreign

countries thanks to our English proficiency

In addition, Marriage is an eternal and immortal topic of human beings, no

matter which community people belong to, which language they are speaking and which epoch they are living in It is considered to be one of the most important things

in human life

Noticeably enough, there are a lot of song lyrics and Vietnamese verses indicate very strongly the metaphor MARRIAGE IS A UNITY which puts an impression on readers For example, in ancient China, a tyrannical emperor named Qin Shihuang

burned The Book of Songs, one of the five classics of Chinese literature, to control people‟s minds However the section in it with the title Guan! Guan! Cry the Fish Hawks survives and wins a universal praise, especially the following two lines, “a

mile-mannered good girl, fine match for the gentleman” (Waley,1960) That is the appeal of song l yr ic s in old times

Recently, many cognitive linguistic studies have shown that metaphor plays an important role in the human conceptual system Metaphors are often grounded in culture and can hence serve as a good resource for the investigation of cultural beliefs

expressed in language As a person who is very interested in metaphor and its effect on

cultural beliefs I decide to choose the topic “A Study on Metaphor MARRIAGE IS A

UNITY in English and Vietnamese” as the study of my graduation thesis

Hopefully, the study, to some extent, can help Vietnamese learners of English understand conceptual metaphors more deeply so that they can use them more efficiently

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1.2 PURPOSES OF THE STUDY

This study has the purpose for analyzing metaphorical marriage expressions in

song lyrics and Vietnamese verses and folklores to demonstrate how the conceptual metaphor MARRIAGE IS A UNITY works Another important thing is, the author would like to find out how MARRIAGE IS A UNITY is reflected in song lyrics and Vietnamese verses and folklores, and to investigate different categories of the MARRIAGE IS A UNITY metaphor found in them

By comparing marriage metaphors in Vietnamese and English, this paper aims at analyzing how these metaphors reflect the differences in Vietnamese and English marriage beliefs

Moreover, studying about MARRIAGE IS A UNITY metaphor is a difficult and complex work In the trend of international integration, teaching folklores and proverbs is very important for the research and pedagogical workers To do this task well, we cannot deny the indispensable role of theory and research findings of cognitive linguistics

Last but not least, the author does this thesis with the hope of improving the quality in teaching and learning literature in general and metaphors in particular

1.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

To study about metaphor MARRIAGE IS A UNITY in English and Vietnamese, various activities can be used, and a number of things should be done However, due to the limitation of time and knowledge, it is impossible t o cover all kinds of MARRIAGE IS A UNITY metaphors I only focus on some common MARRIAGE IS A UNITY metaphors in English and Vietnamese

1.4 DESIGN OF THE STUDY

The study is divided into five chapters Chapter 1 “INTRODUCTION”

consists of the author‟s reasons for choosing the study, scope and design of the study

Chapter 2 entitled “Literature Review and Theoretical Background”

provides some background knowledge about literature review, cognitive linguistics,

concept, metaphor and conceptual metaphor Chapter 3 named “Method and

Procedure” tells us about aims and objectives, research methodology, research

questions, description of population and sample, data collection and data analysis

Chapter 4 entitled “Discussion of Findings” In this chapter, the author mentions

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about interpretation and discussion of findings of the research In Chapter 5

“Conclusion”, the author summarizes the main points in the study, gives a brief re-

statement of the findings, implications for practical solutions, limitations and suggests some topics for further studies

The study ends with the “REFERENCES”, which lists all the materials and

sources of information used in this study

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CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL

BACKGROUND

Chapter 2 briefly presents some general knowledge about literature review, cognitive linguistics, concept, metaphor and conceptual metaphor

2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1.1 Metaphor and culture

Conceptual metaphor theory sees the connections between conceptual domains

in terms of correspondences or mappings between elements within source and target domains The source domain is the conceptual domain from which the metaphor is drawn, and the target domain is the conceptual domain to which the metaphor is applied [cf Knowles & Rosamund 2006: 33] In this essay, the target domain of all the metaphors is MARRIAGE

One of the most influential works in contemporary metaphor theory is

Metaphor we live by, written by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, first published in

1980 According to Lakoff and Johnson [2003: 3], “[…] metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and action”, and “our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature” They believe that metaphor is not only a linguistic phenomenon but instead a conceptual and experiential process which reflects our way of thinking and reasoning and structure the way we perceive the world

Metaphor is common to all languages and cultures Although the use of metaphor is universal, the choice of metaphor for interpreting the world may be cultural-specific Other cultures may interpret the same matter with different metaphors which may be poles apart Therefore, conceptual metaphors expressed in language can serve as an indicator of culture

2.1.2 Dimensions of metaphor variation

There are two dimensions of metaphor variation: the cross-cultural dimension and the within-culture dimension

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2.1.2.1 Cross-cultural dimension of metaphor variation

Kövecses believes that cross-cultural variation in metaphors is mainly caused

by the broader cultural context, which refers to “the governing principles and the key concepts in a given culture” [Kövecses 2002: 186], and the natural and physical environment in which a cultural is located

One kind of the cross-cultural variation is called “congruence” Congruent metaphors are metaphors that are filled out in congruence with the generic schema and when the generic schema is filled out, it receives unique cultural content at a specific level In other words, a generic-level conceptual metaphor is instantiated in cultural-specific ways at a specific level There are also alternative metaphors When one source domain is used for a particular target domain in one language and a different source for the same target is used in another language, it can be said that these mappings are is alternative metaphors

2.1.2.2 Within-cultural dimension of metaphor variation

Languages are not monolithic but come in varieties that reflect divergences in human experience Metaphors vary not only across different cultures but also within cultures Several dimensions including social, regional, ethnic, stylistic, subcultural, diachronic, developmental and individual dimensions cause the variation within cultures

2.1.3 Variation in metaphorical linguistic expressions

As mentioned above, metaphors can be found across different cultures and different varieties of the same language Metaphors also show variation in the metaphorical linguistic expressions which are anchored in a respective metaphor “If two languages share the same conceptual metaphor, the linguistic expression of the conceptual metaphor in the two languages may follow a variety of different patterns” [Kövecses, 2000: 165]

2.1.4 Metaphor and socio-cultural experience

Socio-cultural experience also shapes our metaphors Firstly, metaphors we produce are influenced by the specific experiences provided by the environment, the socio-cultural context and the communicative situation that are specific to certain groups of people or individuals Secondly, metaphors are shaped by the history of context and/or the history of an individual These variations in histories of context and individuals across time bring variation in metaphors Thirdly, the diverse concerns

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and interests that govern our life also affect the metaphors we employ to understand the world around us

2.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.2.1 The Theoretical Framework of Cognitive Linguistics

2.2.1.1 A prototype approach to categorization

Categorization is the process in which experiences and concepts are recognized and understood Categorization implies that concepts are divided into categories based

on commonalities and usually for some specific purpose Categorization is fundamental in decision making, in all kinds of interaction with the environment, and

in language Categorization is central issue in Cognitive Linguistics in which it is argued to be one of the primary principles of conceptual and linguistic organization

Categorization is not a matter to be taken lightly There is nothing more basic than categorization to our thought, perception, action and speech An understanding of how we classify is central to any understanding of how we think and how we function, and thus central to an understanding of what makes us human

Categorization, in other words, matters to the linguist in at least two ways, i.e

“both in its methodology and in its substance” A linguist needs categories to describe the object of investigation, and the things that linguists study also stand for categories

In the wake of the Cognitive Revolution of the 1970s, studies by cognitive scientists like Eleanor Rosch, Brent Berlin, Paul Kay, and George Lakoff, indicated that there were several problems with the classical view:

 Necessary conditions are inadequate: the idea of necessary and sufficient conditions is rarely if ever met in categories of naturally occurring things or

in humans' categorization of experience

 There are degrees of membership: humans tend to regard some members of categories as better members than others

 Boundaries between categories are not clear cut: natural categories tend to

be fuzzy at their boundaries and inconsistent in the status of their constituent members

With these observations in mind, cognitive scientists argue that categorization the process of grouping things based on prototypes It has also been suggested that categorization based on prototypes is the basis for human development, and that this

of experience via another – typically more concrete – domain of experience – cf e.g Lakoff and Johnson 1980, Lakoff 1990, Lakoff and Johnson 1999]

Often, category members are linked, e.g if member A is the prototype, member

B will be similar to A, and member C will be similar to B, but A and C are not necessarily similar to each other The link that lies between members in a radial category does not need to reflect any objective relatedness between the entities in reality Instead, their conceptual relatedness is a reflection of what the human

conceptualizer experiences as a result of his biological and cognitive make-up, as well

as his bodily, social, and cultural baggage Members of a linguistic category, e.g interrelated senses, are linked to each other by categorizing relationships such as instantiation and extension [Langacker: 101-103, quoted from Loan]; both include an act of comparison in which a standard is matched against a target Instantiation is a limiting case of extension that arises when the discrepancy is zero Extension constitutes recognition accomplished only with a certain amount of “strain” Extension does not occur at random, however, it implies some abstract commonality “[T]he

„outward‟ growth of a lexical network by extension from prototypes is inherently associated with its „upward‟ growth by extraction of schemas” [Langacker: 373, quoted from Loan] Perceived similarities among sub-groups of members of a conceptual category are captured by schemas at various levels of abstraction, a schema being an abstract characterization that is fully compatible with all the members of the category it defines Noticeably enough, in the schematic network model low-level schemas are stated to be conceptually more salient than higher-level ones, and it is not necessary to postulate the existence of the highest-level schema capturing what is common to all category members for each conceptual category Hence, it is the norm (rather than a deviation from the norm) that there are conceptual categories with not

even a single property shared by all category members

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Linguistic categories can also have a prototype structure Categories form part

of a hierarchical taxonomic structure organized in accordance with at least three structural principles: radial structure, inheritance, and levels of categorization:

 Radial structure

The notion of radial structure with introduced by Lakoff [1987], and implies that categories do not have symmetric structures A radial structure is a taxonomy that has a center-periphery structure, such that the center of the category provides the schema of prototypical properties The center is itself an idealization over what the members of the category have, or should have, in common

The more in common a member has with the prototypical center, the closer to the center it is located That is, those members that do not share a lot of features with the center are peripherally located Thus categories display graded centrality and degree of membership, with good members towards the center and bad members towards the boundary

 Inheritance

Members of categories, which are also called instances of categories, are said to inherit properties from the schema - the more they inherit, the better members, they are However, sometimes members of a category are categories themselves, in which case they are called subsets or subcategories Subcategories are considered extensions

of the schema, because they provide a set of properties themselves, only some of which are inherited from the schema

The last is Subordinate level: Subordinate level categories are the most specific ones They are the members of the basic level categories They have clearly identifiable gestalts and many individuating specific features

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2.2.1.2 A conceptual and imagistic approach to meaning

The preceding paragraph suggests that meaning in a cognitivist framework is no longer defined in terms of outside-world entities to which the expressions in question might refer, but rather in terms of conceptualizations they evoke in the minds of language users Conceptualization, in turn, should be understood as both the conceptual content and the specific construal imposed on that content by the conceptualizer

A conceptualist approach to meaning facilitates a systematic recognition and principled treatment of the subjective language dimension: when human beings conceptualize aspects of the world around them they often pay attention to the conceptualization process and their own relation to the entities they conceptualize In other words, human beings often do not merely conceive of outside entities, but rather

of themselves conceptualizing the entities in question This peculiarity discovers

important reflections in language: linguistic expressions that speakers employ in discourse are used not only to comment on states of affairs in the outside world, but also to convey the speakers‟ epistemic evaluation of what they are talking about, their assessment of their relation with their interlocutors, comments pertaining to the development of the current discourse itself, etc It is a very clear conceptualist view of meaning that facilitates analysis of subjectivity in language as a systematic and specific way as the phenomenon in question deserves

Furthermore, a truly conceptualist view of meaning permits us to build up a comprehensive, principled framework for all instances of language use in which conflicting characterizations are assigned to the “same” aspects of the universe of discourse (e.g the traditional problems associated with an analysis of the semantic behavior of expressions in the context of predicates of propositional attitudes) Cognitive linguistics has developed mental space theory which conceived situations in the universe of discourse may be conceptualized from multiple vantage points A change in vantage point may bring about a change in how the observed parts of the universe of discourse appear to the conceptualizing subject As the growing body of work in cognitive linguistics demonstrates [cf e.g Cutrer 1994, Dancygier 1998, Dancygier and Sweetser 2005, Fauconnier 1997, Sweetser 1990, Ch.5], the theoretical constructs postulated within mental space theory are of fundamental importance for a unified analysis with respect to tense, aspect, and mood, to name but a few categories

An important aspect of the conceptualistic view of meaning is the recognition of the imagistic component of semantics, that is of the fundamental role construal plays in meaning A precise characterization of its dimensions allows the analyst to offer

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detailed and rigorous characterizations of meaning contrasts among linguistic structures which are equivalent in truth-conditional terms, but nevertheless exhibit subtle yet important differences in meaning, resulting in otherwise unexplainable differences in discourse behavior A principled account of construal is a necessary prerequisite for developing a full-fledged symbolic approach to grammar: grammatical meaning is by necessity abstract and can hardly be characterized in terms of specific conceptual content It may, nevertheless, be insightfully analyzed in terms of the type

of construal it imposes on conceived scenes

2.2.1.3 A usage-based approach to language

Another theoretical assumption emphasized here is the motivation of linguistic phenomena By obmitting the “autonomy of language” principle, cognitive linguists abandoned any notice of formulating generalizations with absolute predictability Human behavior is not governed by deterministic laws, and language cannot be separated from other cognitive abilities, so absolute predictability cannot be achieved This turns out to be an advantage The cognitive linguist is liberated from the task of looking for deterministic rules, and is thus able to find cognitive motivations behind linguistic facts and to discover that these facts “make sense” within a pattern larger than language itself which indicates that intelligent creatures cognized the world around them and communicate their insights to others of their kind

Nevertheless, if there are no hypothetic regulations to explore and learn, then how do children acquire language and what are linguists searching for? In the usage-based approach propounded by cognitive linguists, knowledge of a language originates from actual usage, i.e as the result of the entrenchment and abstraction of patterns that recur in multiple usage events A usage-based view of language structure offers a promising framework for a cognitive approach to first language acquisition [cf e.g Dąbrowska 2004, Tomasello 2003] At the same time, a usage-based view provides the right perspective for the full appreciation of corpus studies in linguistic research that

no longer asks whether a certain phenomenon is possible or impossible, but instead focuses on how likely or unlikely the pattern is to occur [see Gries and Stefanowisch 2006] Finally, the adoption of the usage-based model plays an important part in the study of language change, as it lays the evidence for realizing the role that is played in linguistic historical evolution by factors such as frequency and mechanisms such as context-bound pragmatic inferencing

2.2.2 Concept

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2.2.2.1 Definition

In metaphysics, and especially ontology, a concept is a fundamental category of

existence In contemporary philosophy, there are at least three prevailing ways to understand what a concept is:

 Concepts as mental representations where concepts are entities that exist

In a platonic theory of mind, concepts are construed as abstract objects This debate concerns the ontological status of concepts - what they are really like

There is debate as to the relationship between concepts and natural language However, it is necessary at least to begin by understanding that the concept

"dog" is philosophically distinct from the things in the world grouped by this concept -

or the reference class or extension Concepts that can be equated to a single word are called "lexical concepts" The Study of concepts and conceptual structure falls into the disciplines of philosophy, psychology and cognitive science

2.2.2.2 Notable theories on the structure of concepts

a Classical theory

The classical theory of concepts, also referred to as the empiricist theory of concepts, is the oldest theory about the structure of concepts (it can be traced back to Aristotle), and was prominently held until the 1970s The classical theory of concepts says that concepts have a definitional structure Adequate definitions of the kind required by this theory usually take the form of a list of features These features must have two important qualities to provide a comprehensive definition Features entailed

by the definition of a concept must be both necessary and sufficient for membership

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in the class of things covered by a particular concept A feature is considered necessary if every member of the denoted class has that feature A feature is considered sufficient if something has all the parts required by the definition For

example, the classic example bachelor is said to be defined by unmarried and man

An entity is a bachelor (by this definition) if and only if it is both unmarried and a man To check whether something is a member of the class, you compare its qualities

to the features in the definition Another key part of this theory is that it obeys

the law of the excluded middle, which means that there are no partial members of a

class, you are either in or out

The classical theory persisted for so long unquestioned because it seemed intuitively correct and has great explanatory power It can explain how concepts would

be acquired, how we use them to categorize and how we use the structure of a concept

to determine its referent class In fact, for many years it was one of the major activities

in philosophy -concept analysis Concept analysis is the act of trying to articulate the necessary and sufficient conditions for the membership in the referent class of a concept

b Prototype theory

Prototype theory came out of problems with the classical view of conceptual structure Prototype theory says that concepts specify properties that members of a class tend to possess, rather than must possess Wittgenstein, Rosch, Mervis, Berlin, Anglin, and Posner are a few of the key proponents and creators of this theory

Wittgenstein describes the relationship between members of a class as family resemblances There are not necessarily any conditions for membership, a dog can still

be a dog with only three legs This view is particularly supported by psychological experimental evidence for prototypical effects Participants willingly and consistently rate objects in categories like 'vegetable' or 'furniture' as more or less typical of that class It seems that our categories are fuzzy psychologically, and so this structure has explanatory power We can judge an item's membership to the referent class of a concept by comparing it to the typical member - the most central member of the concept If it is similar enough in the relevant ways, it will be cognitively admitted as a member of the relevant class of entities Rosch suggests that every category is represented by a central exemplar which embodies all or the maximum possible number of features of a given category

c Theory-theory

Theory-theory is a reaction to the previous two theories and develops them further This theory postulates that categorization by concepts is something like

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scientific theorizing Concepts are not learned in isolation, but rather are learned as a part of our experiences with the world around us In this sense, concepts' structure relies on their relationships to other concepts as mandated by a particular mental theory about the state of the world How this is supposed to work is a little less clear than in the previous two theories, but is still a prominent and notable theory This is supposed

to explain some of the issues of ignorance and error that come up in prototype and classical theories as concepts that are structured around each other seem to account for errors such as whale as a fish (this misconception came from an incorrect theory about what a whale is like, combining with our theory of what a fish is) When we learn that

a whale is not a fish, we are recognizing that whales don't in fact fit the theory we had about what makes something a fish In this sense, the Theory-Theory of concepts is

responding to some of the issues of prototype theory and classic theory

2.2.3 Metaphor

2.2.3.1 Traditional view on metaphor

Metaphor has traditionally been viewed as one of the figures of speech, a rhetorical device or a stylistic device used in literature to achieve as aesthetic effect [Radden & Divren, Lakoff & Johnson] According to Lakoff & Johnson [8], metaphor has been thought to be “a matter of extraordinary rather than ordinary language” There has been proposed plentiful definitions of metaphor [Nguyen, H: 106, quoted from Loan] states that “Metaphor… is the transference of meaning (name) from one object to another based on similarity between two these objects” He interprets that speaker of a language compare one object with another, and if they pick up some common features between the two objects they will consider the second by the name of the first

Dinh, T.L in Nhan, Đ.T.T [11: 5-6] introduces a similar view that “metaphor is the transference of meaning from one object to another based on similarity between these two objects”

For Do, H,C in Nhan, Đ.T.T [11: 6], metaphor is “the symbolic name of one object, which is based on the similarity, realistic or imaginary, between the identified object called “A” and the object called “B” of which the name is transferred to “A”

To conclude, from traditional views, metaphor is tacit comparison and transference of name of one thing for another, and it is a linguistic means used by writers who aim at creating certain effects in their work

2.2.3.2 Metaphor in the light of cognitive linguistics

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Language is traditionally regarded as a means to make the surrounding world open to us However, according to Lakoff & Johnson [7], language is viewed by cognitive linguistics as a product of cognition, “a means that helps reveal human being mental world and secrets of cognitive processes”

Metaphor in the light of cognitive linguistics is not only used in poems and prose but also in daily life language According to Lakoff & Johnson [8], metaphors are common in everyday language In everyday speech, there are numerous metaphors whose existence we have not known yet For instance, someone talking about marriage

of her friend may say, “I do not believe that his wife is always on his mind” This exists

in this sentence a metaphor “Marriage is a Unity” Someone talking with a partner about

their life may say, “To finish the moment, to find the journey‟s end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom” Life here is viewed as an experience and thoughts about the most valuable thing for human beings

Another noticeable viewpoint with regard to metaphor in cognitive linguistics is that it emerges both in our use of language and our conceptual system According to Lakoff & Johnson [7] defines that “metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and action” They argue that metaphor is not only a matter of language, not merely in the words we use but also a matter of human thought processes and it exists in our conceptual system More importantly, they say that what makes it possible “for the appearance of metaphors as linguistic expressions is the fact that there are metaphor in a person „s conceptual system” Lakoff & Johnson [8] states that “We talk about things metaphorically because we conceive them that way, and we act according to the way we conceive of things” This viewpoint is shared by Barcelona who states that metaphor is the cognitive mechanism whereby one experiential domain

is partly mapped of projected onto a different experiential domain, the second domain

is then partially understood in terms of the first domain (in [Nguyen, H: 12, quoted from Loan])

In short, metaphor in cognitive linguistics is considered not merely a means of cognition, reflecting the mechanism by which people understand and explain about the real world More specifically, Lakoff & Johnson [7] states metaphor is “understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another” People often evoke in their minds simple images or concepts to conceptualize complex meaning

2.2.4 Conceptual metaphor

Metaphor is a conceptual item which is broadly used in daily life Kövecses [6: 4] believes that metaphor involves using one conceptual domain to understand another conceptual domain Similarly, Lakoff and Johnson [7: 5] define it as “understanding

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and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another” Grant and Oswick [3: 227] state that „metaphor is a process that involves the “carrying over” or crossing of one element of experience into another This results in metaphors as images or words that are used to create and express meaning‟ In the definition given by Kövecses, he uses the term “conceptual domain” It means the general field where a category, the conceptualized collection of similar experiences, or a frame, the coherent knowledge surrounding a category, can be found by Divren & Radden [1: 3-11] A metaphor has two conceptual domains According to Kövecses [6: 4], one is the thing that is to be understood, which is called the target domain, and the other is the thing that is used

to understand the first one, and it is called the source domain Kövecses [6: 6] states that the source domain and the target domain interact in “a set of systematic correspondences between the source and the target” which “are often referred to as mappings” Divren and Radden [1: 12] also define mappings in a similar but more vivid way They consider mapping as a projection, namely to launch one set of conceptual entities to another Kövecses uses an example metaphor MARRIAGE IS A UNITY to explain what mapping is in his work:

1 The two physical parts The married people

2 The physical joining of the parts The union of the two people in marriage

3 The physical/ biological unity The marriage union

4 The physical fit between the parts The compatibility between the marriage

The marriage relationship

8 The function of the whole object The role or purpose of the marriage

relationship Figure 1 Mapping in metaphor MARRIAGE IS A UNITY in English

What we have here is a source domain in which there are two parts that fit each other and form a whole, in which the particular functions of the parts complement each other and the parts make up a larger unity that has a function

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This source schema of a physical unity has parts that are additional to the basic experience of baby and first caretaker Unlike the infantile experience, h ere two originally separate parts are joined, or put together; there is a preexisting fit between the parts Furthermore, the whole has a function that is larger than, or extends beyond, the functions of the individual parts What corresponds to these in the target domain of marriage is that two separate people who are compatible join each other in marriage with some life goals in mind It is this structure that appears

in the way many people (in America and possibly elsewhere) think about marriage But this way of conceptualizing marriage is simply a special case of the larger process whereby nonphysical unities in general are constituted on the analogy of more physical ones It is important to see that the UNITY METAPHOR characterizes not just marriage but many other abstract concepts in which the issue

of NONPHYSICAL UNION arises, that is, abstract concepts that have UNION as one of their dimensions, or aspects

Likewise, in Vietnamese, people consider that in the two elements of conceptual metaphors, the second one is the source domain (unity) because from the source, we can give out new information in order to convey it to the target domain (marriage):

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CHAPTER 3 METHOD AND PROCEDURE

3.1 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The thesis mainly aims at finding out some common MARRIAGE IS A UNITY metaphors which are used in English and Vietnamese, discovering the differences as well as similarities of these metaphors in English and Vietnamese and providing some suggested activities and exercises for using metaphor MARRIAGE IS A UNITY in teaching and learning English

To fully achieve these aims, the study has to answer two questions:

- What are the common metaphors of MARRIAGE IS A UNITY used in English and Vietnamese?

- What are the similarities and differences of these metaphors in English and Vietnamese?

3.2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

When I start to do my Thesis, the first thing I need to think about is the research methodology because it is the philosophy or the general principle which will guide my Thesis Also, it is the overall approach to studying my topic and includes issues I have

to think about such as the constraints, dilemmas, etc within my Thesis

That is the reason why I choose Qualitative and Quantitative as my research methods during the process of studying the title MARRIAGE IS A UNITY in English and Vietnamese

3.3 RESEARCH QUESTION

So as to accomplish my Thesis efficiently, the important thing is that I know what the research question is and how to solve it “MARRIAGE IS A UNITY in English and Vietnamese” is a very big research question in my Thesis It asks for my intelligence to narrow down the topic in some main areas that makes the readers easily reach the abstract meaning of this metaphor

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3.4 DESCRIPTION OF POPULATION AND SAMPLE

Adopting the cognitive linguists‟ view of metaphor as the mapping between

source domain and target domain, the Thesis examines the “Unity” as source and the

“Marriage” as target The “Unity” consists of two similar parts which share the same

purpose but their elements are quite opposite in some sides

There are some similarities and differences of “Unity” in English and Vietnamese The “Unity” in both English and Vietnamese is formed by two parts However, the English and Vietnamese have different ideas of “source” because of

their dissimilar experience of language community and cross-culture

3.5 DATA COLLECTION

Data collection is the process of gathering and measuring information on

variables of interest, in an established systematic fashion that enables one to answer stated research questions, test hypotheses, and evaluate outcomes

Regardless of the field of study or preference for defining data (quantitative, qualitative), accurate data collection is essential to maintaining the integrity of research Both the selection of appropriate data collection instruments (existing, modified, or newly developed) and clearly delineated instructions for their correct use reduce the likelihood of errors occurring

Data for this thesis will be English song lyrics and Vietnamese verses collected

in the first two weeks of February

The Thesis collects data about metaphor MARRIAGE IS A UNITY in English and Vietnamese In English, the main source is song lyrics which denote the meaning

of “unity” in marriage in the way they think and imagine Most of the data is affected

by Christianity Conversely, in Vietnamese, the author exploits data based on Vietnamese verses and folklore These are natural pictures which are familiar with us

in daily life Thus, readers can reach the content easily

3.6 DATA ANALYSIS

Data analysis is one of the most difficult steps in research method Also, it plays

an important role during the process of doing the Thesis Analysis of data is a process

of inspecting, cleaning, transforming, and modeling data with the goal of discovering useful information, suggesting conclusions, and supporting decision making

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For this thesis, in English, first and foremost, all the lyrics containing the MARRIAGE IS A UNITY metaphor are selected as examples from 10 material lyrics Then the structure of the analysis of MARRIAGE IS A UNITY is constructed Inspired by the categorization of MARRIAGE IS A UNITY in Kövecses (1986), three sub-metaphors are constructed For each of the sub-metaphors, there is a brief introduction at the beginning Then according to the examples of this category, there are several sub-sections with different focused meanings If there are some negative uses of the category, they are located at the end of each sub-section

In Vietnamese, to complete the purpose and tasks which have been set, the author has used the following research methods:

- Collecting and giving Statistics

- Categorizing and describing data collected under semantic features

- From data, synthesizing and generalizing the results into concepts

Remarkably enough, the author groups all the data in English and Vietnamese

in terms of each category In order to help readers understand much more clearly the content and purposes of the study, the author has a big discussion about the concepts in English and in Vietnamese respectively

Last but not least, the author would give a concluding remark for readers to have a general overview on the thesis and suggest some implications for using metaphor MARRIAGE IS A UNITY in teaching and learning English as well as some further researches