A contrastive analysis of metaphor in english and vietnamese idioms relating to numbers = so sánh đối chiếu phép ẩn dụ trong thành ngữ anh việt liên quan đến con số

vinh university foreign Languages departmenthoµng thÞ h»ng a contrastive analysis of metaphor in english and vietnamese idioms relating to numbers SO SÁNH ĐỐI CHIẾU PHÉP ẨN DỤ TRONG THÀ

vinh university foreign Languages department

hoµng thÞ h»ng

a contrastive analysis of metaphor in english and vietnamese idioms relating to numbers

(SO SÁNH ĐỐI CHIẾU PHÉP ẨN DỤ TRONG THÀNH NGỮ

ANH - VIỆT LIÊN QUAN ĐẾN CON SỐ)

GRADUATION THESIS

Field: Linguistics

vinh university foreign Languages department

a contrastive analysis of metaphor in english and vietnamese idioms relating to numbers

(SO SÁNH ĐỐI CHIẾU PHÉP ẨN DỤ TRONG THÀNH NGỮ

ANH - VIỆT LIÊN QUAN ĐẾN CON SỐ)

GRADUATION THESIS

Field: Linguistics

Supervisor : Trần Bá Tiến, M.A Student : Hoàng Thị Hằng Class : 49A - English

Vinh - 2012

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

For the completion of this thesis, I have been very fortunate to receive the invaluable contributions from many people

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

Mr Tran Ba Tien, M.A With his profound knowledge and experience in English, he gives me a lot of enthusiastic assistance,excellent suggestions as well as detailed critical comments But for him, this work would not have been completed

In addition, I am greatly indebted to all my teachers from the Foreign Languages Department of Vinh University for their lectures and to my friends for various kinds of help and encouragements

My warmest thanks are due to my loving parents and my younger sister who are always besides and support me to overcome difficulties during the time of doing this thesis

Finally, I am all too aware that despite all the advice and assistance,

I feel that the study is far from perfect; it is, therefore, my sole responsibility for any inadequacies and shortcomings that the study may be considered

to have

Vinh, May 10, 2012

Hoang Thi Hang

ABSTRACT

It can’t be denied that using idioms makes our conversation more vivid and lively However, it is not easy to master them at all The meaning of idioms is very complicated As V.V Vinogradov imaginatively expresses, the

meaning of an idiom is “ the special chemical mixture” of meaning of all

components This means idioms always contain images, which resulted from metaphors, in themselves In other words, metaphor is the most important device to build idioms Being awareness of its importance and associating the author’s interest, she decides to analyse the use of metaphors in English number idioms and Vietnamese counterparts

In this paper, some similarities and differences between metaphors in English and Vietnamese idioms relating to numbers are pointed out With the hope of giving a practical way for the teachers and learners, the author also recommends some solutions for teaching and learning idioms

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i

ABSTRACT ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iii

ABBREVIATIONS v

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Justification of the Study 1

2 Aims of the Study 2

3 Methods of the Study 2

4 Scope of the Study 2

5 Design of the Study 2

PART II: DEVELOPMENT 4

Chapter 1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 4

1.1 An Overview of Contrastive Analysis 4

1.2 Words and Set Expressions 4

1.2.1 Words 4

1.2.2 Set expressions 5

1.3 Idioms 6

1.3.1 Definition of Idioms 6

1.3.2 Characteristics of Idioms 8

1.3.3 Classifications of Idioms 9

1.3.4 Distinction between Idioms and Free -Expressions 10

1.3.5 Distinction between Idioms and Proverbs 10

1.4 Metaphor 12

1.4.1 Definition of Metaphor 12

1.4.2 Classification of Metaphor 13

1.4.3 Metaphor and Simile 14

1.4.4 Metaphor versus Metonymy 14

Chapter 2 A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF METAPHOR IN ENGLISH

AND VIETNAMESE IDIOMS RELATING TO NUMBERS 17

2.1 The elements of Numbers in Idioms Relating to Numbers 17

2.2 Metaphor in Idioms relating to Numbers 18

2.3 A Contrastive Analysis of Metaphor in English and Vietnamese Idioms relating to Numbers 19

2.3.1 Metaphors are Applicable in both English and Vietnamese Idioms relating to Numbers 19

2.3.2 Metaphors are only Applicable in Vietnamese Idioms relating to Numbers 26

2.3.3 Metaphors are only Applicable in English Idioms relating to Numbers 33

Chapter 3 SOME SUGGUESTIONS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH IDIOMS 37

3.1 Difficulties Faced by Learners in Learning Idioms 37

3.1.1 Difficulties in Understanding 37

3.1.2 Difficulties in Memorizing 39

3.2 Some Suggestions for Teaching and Learning English Idioms 40

3.2.1 For the Teachers 40

3.2.2 For the Learners 41

3.3 Some Suggested Samples of Exercises with Idioms containing Numbers 42

PART III: CONCLUSION 47

1 Recapitulation 47

2 Suggestions for Further Studies 48

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

ABBREVIATIONS

Ex: For example Etc: et cetera i.e.: that is

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Justification of the Study

Every language has its own words and idioms Idiom is a language phenomenon and plays an important part in spiritual life of a country because

it reflects a vivid picture of a nation’s customs and cultural traditions and is recollection of its part history as well as folklore

Using idiom in communication is the most effective and interesting way It can carry not only literal meaning but also the figurative meaning, which makes our observation, judgments and explanations be more lively and interesting

Although idioms help people to communicate more successfully and make languages more lively and smooth, it is not easy to master and use them appropriately at all because the meaning of most idioms cannot be deduced from their components In other words, learners have to consider the figurative senses For instance, instead of saying “There were very many things to do at the festival”, we can say “There were a million and one things

to do at the festival” because “million and one” means “very many”

It is said that metaphor is the one of best devices to build idioms It is the effective means of creating images Therefore, to understand the metaphorical expressions of idioms, we can’t rely on literal meaning but their figurative meaning

Moreover, during the course of language, the author has many chances

to deal with different aspects of English language And she is really interested in idioms, especially their semantics Also, she finds that idioms relating to numbers take a large portion and they are used very frequently in English and Vietnamese

Up to now, idioms have interested many authors They have carried out many researches about idioms such as idioms relating to colour, to human’s

body parts, about love, etc, however, there is not any study about idioms relating numbers

For the reasons above, the author decides to choose the topic “A

Contrastive Analysis of Metaphor in English and Vietnamese Idioms relating to Numbers” as the study of her graduation thesis with the hope that

it can make a small contribution in teaching and learning English idioms

2 Aims of the Study

The aims and objectives of the study are as follow:

- To make a clear distinction of metaphor in English and Vietnamese idioms relating to numbers

- To provide learners with the fundamental understanding about words, metaphor, idioms in general and idioms relating to numbers in particular and also help them understand the cultural characteristics of English and Vietnamese people via the idioms

- To give some suggestions for teaching and studying idioms

- To satisfy the author’s interest

3 Methods of the Study

To finish this study, the author has used some methods

- Statistic method

- Contrastive and comparative method

- Analytic and systematic method

4 Scope of the Study

In this study, we only take English and Vietnamese idioms relating to numbers into consideration The term “number” in “idioms relating to numbers” indicates cardinal numbers Also, we only analyze their semantic feaures in terms of metaphorical meaning

5 Design of the Study

Apart from Acknowledgement, Abstract, Table of Contents,

Part I is “INTRODUCTION” which consists of the author’s reasons

for choosing the study, aims, method, scope and design of the study

Part II entitled “DEVELOPMENT” includes three chapters Chapter

1, “Theoretical Background”, provides some background knowledge

about words, idioms, metaphor and the use of metaphor in English and Vietnamese idioms

Chapter 2 is titled “ A Contrastive Analysis of Metaphor in English and

Vietnamese Idioms relating to Numbers” This chapter mainly investigates the

metaphor in English and Vietnamese idioms containing numbers

Chapter 3 entitled “Some Suggestions for Teaching and Learning

English Idioms” point out some difficulties faced by learners and provides

several suggestions for teaching and learning idioms

Part III is “CONCLUSION” in which the author summarizes the main

points in the study and suggests some topics for further studies

PART II: DEVELOPMENT

Chapter 1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 An Overview of Contrastive Analysis

According to Nguyen Van Chien (1992), contrastive analysis is an important subbranch of comparative linguistics It is used to compare two or more languages regardless of whether they are related to each other and of course, to find out the differences and similarities between them Thus, it is an important part in translating, teaching and learning a foreign language

Contrastive analysis, as in Nguyen Van Chien (1992) states, has its usages which cannot be recognized if not compared as follows:

- In practice, contrastive analysis has the ability of discovering a great number of structural features of contrasted languages and the new interesting language phenomena

- Especially, contrastive analysis has a considerably practical role in the field of foreign language teaching and learning By comparing two languages, contrastive analysis can point out some solutions to pedagogical problems as follows:

+ To solve difficulties in all aspects of languages that learners often encounter when they learn a foreign language

+ To collect and select materials for language teaching

+ To establish an appropriate order of materials for learning foreign languages

+ To edit a system of suitable exercises and textbooks on foreign languages

1.2 Words and Set Expressions

1.2.1 Words

1.2.1.1 Definition of a Word

The term “word” seems to be a single concept, but, in fact, it is

phonology Thus, so far, there have been many definitions about word from different aspects Among them, the most common one is that “word” is the smallest independent and meaningful unit of a language

1.2.1.2 The Meaning of Word

Every word combines lexical and grammatical meanings The grammatical meaning reflects the ways in which the lexical meaning operates The same grammatical meaning may be shared by different words, for

example, love, like, hate, are verbs The lexical meaning is the realization of

concept or emotion Similarly, the same lexical meaning is shared by different

grammatical forms of a words, for instance, warm-warmer- warmest

Lexical meaning is classified into denotative and connotative meaning Denotative meaning is the explicit and literal meaning It exists by virtue of what it refers to Thus, denotation includes conceptual and referential meaning It indicates or denotes things, concepts,etc For example, the word “dog” denote a common animal with four legs, often kept by human beings as pet or trained for working, hunting, guarding,etc

Connotation includes emotion, evaluation, intensity and stylistic coloring It shows us how things and concepts are indicated or denoted It conveys the speaker’s attitudes, emotions and so on For instance, when we talk about the “dog”, we sometimes mean “dirty”, “inferiority”

1.2.2 Set expressions

Set expressions are ready-made units According to Hoang Tat Truong

(1993,p.92), “ The set expression studied by phraseology may be completely

or partially fixed In other words, they are either unchangeable or changeable expressions.”

The grammatical structure and lexical components of a set expression are stable For instance, the components of “in high feather” cannot be replaced with any other words “High” cannot be replaced by “tall” nor

“feather” by “hair” However, in semi-fixed expression or for a stylistic effect, substitution is, of course, possible

Proverbs, idioms quotations, clichés are set expressions

to English Language Dictionary, “Idiom is a group of words which, when

they are used together in a particular combination, have a different meaning from the one they would have if you look at the meaning of all the individual words in the group”

The viewpoint is supported in Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

of current English The author regards an idiom as “a group of words whose

meaning is different from the meaning of the individual word”

For example: when we say “like a dogs with two tails”, we don’t refer

to a thing or a person with two tails However, what we mean is that a person feels very happy about something

Similarly, when we say “to kick the bucket”, we don’t imply the action

of hitting a type of container, but we mean “to die”

Such phrases as “like a dog with two tails” and “to kick the bucket” are

called idioms

In the Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied

Language, idiom is defined as “an expression which functions as a single unit

and those meaning cannot be worked out from the separate parts” From

“Illustrated American Idioms”, Dean Curry (1995) offered another definition

of idiom “ An idiom is the assigning of a new meaning to a group of words

which already have their own meaning”

In general, these linguists have similar opinions about the definition of English idioms We can understand that an English idiom is a phrase whose meanings cannot be predicted from the individual meaning of the components

it includes

1.3.1.2 In Vietnamese

According to Hoang Phe (1997), an idiom is considered to be “a set of

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

Phan Van Que in “Ngữ Nghĩa của Thành Ngữ và Tục Ngữ chứa thành

tố chỉ Động Vật trong Tiếng Anh”(1996) considers “an idiom is a group of

words combined together to express something whose meaning is different from its components”

For example: The phrase “cứng đầu cứng cổ” (hard head and hard

neck) doesn’t mean to describe a person who has hard head and hard neck but

is used to refer a person that is very stubborn

Hoang Van Hanh (1994) defines an idiom as “ a stable word group

with a solid formation and structure, and a complete and figurative meaning, used in everyday communication, especially in spoken language”

In English Basic Lexicology, Hoang Tat Truong (1993) states that

“Idioms are short sayings usually characterized by the fact that their meaning cannot be usually deduced from their components and they are constructions peculiar to a language.”

For instance:

“cá chậu chim lồng” (fish in a pod and birds in a cage) is used to

indicate the state of having no freedom

“Một đời được mấy anh hùng

Bỏ chi cá chậu chim lồng mà chơi”

(Truyện Kiều - Nguyễn Du) (How often have you lucked upon a man?

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

1.3.2 Characteristics of Idioms

1.3.2.1 Semantic Characteristics

The meaning of idioms is very complicated As V.V Vinogradov imaginatively expresses, the meaning of an idiom is “the special chemical mixture” of meaning of all components This means idioms always contain images, which resulted from metaphors, in themselves Let’s consider this

example “forty winks” which means “a short sleep during the day” As a

whole, it cannot be understood base on the component words of the idioms Idioms are embodied with metaphorical expressions and they must be understood metaphorically Therefore, the meaning of idioms can be classified into three kinds: the clear meaning, the meaning that can be guessed, the meaning that cannot be guessed

Another semantic feature of idioms is that idioms are also abundant in

the nuances of meanings They can convey positive(Ex: “a willing horse” means “a keen worker”,etc), neutral (Ex:“in somebody’s shoes” means “be in somebody’s position” etc), or negative (Ex: “ a fair-weathered friend” means

“somebody who is only a friend when it is pleasant for them and stops beings

a friend when you are in trouble” etc.) meaning

1.3.2.2 Grammatical Characteristics

All idioms are very flexible in terms of grammar

First, idioms can be very different at length from each other Most of

idioms can be a group of two words such as “ quick one” (a single drink of alcohol taken before one does something else) or more than two words such

as “six feet under” (to be dead and buried).Once for a while, idioms can be a sentence’s length “two wrongs don’t make a right” (you cannot justify doing

something wrong or bad just because someone else did the same thing to you),etc

Obviously, most idioms are grammatically regular Although the whole

these component words are put in a good order For example: “to get even

with” has the structure C, “to bleed somebody white” has the structure

V-O-C,etc However, there are also ones in irregular forms, even incorrect

grammatical form such as “ I am good friends with him” or the idiom “ to be

normally varied For example, the idiom “to go all out to do something”

means “to make a very great effort to obtain something or do something” In this idiom, every element is fixed They cannot be replaced by other prepositions

Idioms, on the other hand, can be unfixed, in the sense that they allow a

rather large range of collocations in their word combinations such “to be/to

feel blue” or “to have/sing the blues” All of them share the same idea: to get

sad,depressed, to feel gloomy

1.3.3 Classifications of Idioms

Because idioms are very rich in number, they should be well classified for learners’sake In fact, there have been some ways to classify idioms given out by many linguistics based on motivation, subjects, usage,etc But in this paper, we would like to focus only on one main of them: the classification based on semantic features

According to V.V.Vingradov, idioms include three kinds:

Phraseological fusions: are completely non-motivated idioms with

fixed form They may be called “completely idiomatic” because the meaning

of whole unit is indivisible and is not a sum of the meaning of its components

Phraseological unities: These idioms are the same as the first kind in

term of that its idiomatic meaning is not the sum of the meaning of its

components The difference, however, is that they can be guessed based on their components’ meaning

Phraseological combinations: are clearly motivated idioms They

contain one components used in its direct meaning, and the others’ meanings change In phraseological combinations, words being changed are main one

1.3.4 Distinction between Idioms and Free -Expressions

1.3.4.1 Similarities

Both idioms and free-expressions are groups of more than two words combined with each other to definite syntactic rule

1.3.4.2 Differences

In terms of meaning, idioms differ from free-expressions The meaning

of a free expression is the total of the meaning of its components For

instance, “ beautiful girls” has the meaning of “beautiful” and “girls”, which

describes the appearance of the girls Whereas, the meaning of an idiom is invisible and it is not the sum of meaning of its components Many idioms can

be substituted by one word such as “one at a time” is replaced by

“individually”

Another difference between idioms and free-expressions is that idioms are ready-made unit of a language collected in the native speakers’ mind and reproduced in speech and free-expressions are created in speech due to speakers’ communication intentions

1.3.5 Distinction between Idioms and Proverbs

1.3.5.1 Similarities

According to Hornby (2005), in his Oxford Advanced Learner’s

Dictionary of current English, a proverb is defined as “a short well-known

sentence or phrase that states a general truth about life or gives advice”,

ex: “Better safe than sorry” or “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” More particularly, Vu Ngoc Phan (2000, 39) considered a proverb as “a

complete saying expresses one idea of comment, experience, morality, justice or criticism”

It is easy to find that idioms and proverbs have many in common The first one is that both idioms and proverbs are ready-made They are products of human’s thought, cultures and processes of hard working and learning They are mainly orally handed down from generation to generation and naturally accepted in daily life

Secondly, both idioms and proverbs are set-expressions with stable and insubstituted components Therefore, their meanings can not be deduced from individual words but must be understood as a whole It means that any substitutions in any components of an idiom or a proverb may result in unacceptable changes in the meaning of the whole group, which make them nonsensical in metaphorical meaning

Apart from this, most idioms and proverbs use language in a metaphorical way We can not usually discover their meanings by looking up the individual words in a dictionary; their meaning must be understood metaphorically

or phrases that express a judgment, state a general truth about life or advice; they are told to contain three main literature functions which are perceptive function, aesthetic function and educational function For example, the

proverb “Money makes the mare go” demonstrates a remark as well as a

criticism about the negative side of money Its perceptive function is to make people aware of the bad effect of money which can become the power dominating the society, even the most inanimate things The educational function is to criticize the negative side of money and urge people to be aware

of that ill effect And its aesthetic function is to exaggerate in a picturesque way to help readers understand the proverb easily In contrast, idioms do not express judgments, give advice or state general truth about life, which means they do not have functions of perception and education but only aesthetic

function For example, the idiom “to eat like a horse” merely describes the

strong ability of eating because of great hunger in figurative and imaginary way and does not point out any educational lesson or knowledge of life

In conclusion, beside their common things, idioms are distinguished from proverbs by their structures and functions

1.4 Metaphor

1.4.1 Definition of Metaphor

Metaphor is one of rhetorical means used to make your speech or writing more vivid,alive and convincing Up to now, many linguists have paid

a great attention to the matter of metaphor

In Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of current English, metaphor

is defined as:“metaphor is the imaginative use of a word or phrase used to

describe somebody or something as another object in order to show that they have the same qualities and to make the description more powerful”

According to Nguyen Hoa (2004,105), “metaphor is the transference of

meaning from one subject to another based on similarity of these two subjects, i.e we call one subject by the name of another because we compare these objects and find some common features between them.”

The view point is supported in Oxford Students Dictionary of English,

the author regards metaphor as “ metaphor is a word or a phrase that is used

in an imaginative way to show that some body/ something has the same qualities as another thing”

For example, “Bật đèn xanh” in the sentence “cô ấy bật đèn xanh cho

tôi” is a metaphor It is figuratively used to describe another different concept

- “giving the encouragement” In addition, it is obviously that this metaphor created more power in the utterance

In general, despite apparent differences in expressing, metaphor is understood to be always the transference of name based on the association of similarity

as expressive means of language are call dead and faded metaphor

1.4.2.1 Living Metaphor

Living metaphor can be called active metaphor It is created and used

by individual According to Hoang Tat Truong (1993,p.81), living metaphor

occurs “when a word has an unusual metaphorical sense or the metaphor is

created and used by an individual”

For example: She has an acid tongue She can raise laugh at other

people’s expense

An acid fruit or drink has a sour at sharp taste, often in a way that

people find unpleasant “Acid” is metaphorically used to describe speeches or

comments are cruel,unfriendly or critical

“She is the apple of her parents’ eyes” should be interpreted that she

is her parents’ favorite child or they love her very much

1.4.2.2 Fade Metaphor

According to Hoang Tat Truong (1993,p.81), “Fade metaphor is one

that is lost its freshness due to long and traditional use”

For example, “to fall in love” can be hardly recognized any longer as

metaphor because they convey very little emotion They are used so often that their meanings have become familiar to speakers, they have lost the freshness, strong and emotional associations they used to own Presently, they are sleeping and half-dead metaphors and only aroused again in some special circumstances It is also necessary to say that the meanings of fade metaphor are registered in dictionary

1.4.2.3 Dead Metaphor

Dead metaphor are the ones whose metaphoric senses are not felt They have lost their direct meanings and are used only figuratively For example,

“to ponder” originally meant “ to weigh” but now it means “to mediate” (to

think or consider carefully) Obviously, the meanings of dead metaphors are registered in dictionary

1.4.3 Metaphor and Simile

Both metaphor and simile are forms of comparison The former is indirect and the later is direct In simile, we make the comparison explicit by using formal elements of comparison “ like” or “as”,whereas metaphor does not use either A simile states that A like B and metaphor states that A is B or

substitutes B for A For example: Simile: She is like a fox

Metaphor: She is a fox

Therefore, a metaphor may be extended into a simile, and a simile may

be condensed into a metaphor

Metaphor is a “hidden” comparison and simile is an “open” comparison

1.4.4 Metaphor versus Metonymy

Metaphor and metonymy are two concepts that make people confused

both metaphor and metonymy are the transference of meaning from one subject to another, however in metaphor, the transference is based on the similarity between two subjects, but on the contiguity in metonymy Thus, metonymy works by contiguity, not similarity, i.e instead of the name of one subject or notion we use the same of another because these objects are

associated and closely related For example: “the kettle boils” instead of “

The kettle of water boils”

1.4.5 The Use of Metaphor in Vietnamese and English Idioms

As mentioned above, metaphor makes language alive, vivid and convincing It is one of the devices that contribute to the richness of language

It is hardly possible to speak about idioms without mentioning the metaphor Here are some examples in English:

- It was clear from the expression on his face that the lecture ended

completely over his head

- My father always worked at nine-to-five job

The underlined words and phrases are used idiomatically and

metaphorically “Over one’s head” means “too difficult for somebody to understand”.Similarly, “nine-to-five job” is also idiomatic expression with the

use of metaphorical image Idiomatically and metaphorically, it means “a routine job in an office that involves standard office hours” It is easy to recognize that these expressions are fixed and figuratively used

The same phenomenon can be seen in Vietnamese idioms For

example, we usually come across such an expression as “gà trống nuôi con”

Literally, this expression refers to the situation of a cock with his chicks But

in fact this expression is used with figurative meaning To make it clearer, we

can see the sentence “thật tội nghiệp cho anh ấy phải sống trong cảnh gà

trống nuôi con” Here is the situation of a man, who has to bring up his

motherless children,compared with the state of a cock with his chicks So this idiom is metaphorically based All the examples analyzed above prove one

evident that in English and Vietnamese, metaphor is commonly used in idioms or in other words, metaphor is the important device to create idioms

However, not all of idioms created base on metaphor So metaphor is not only criteria to recognize an idiom There are many idioms whose lexical

meanings are used in their direct meanings, such as “at least”, “all in one” in English and “cười ngặt nghẽo”, “đen thui” in Vietnamese These expressions

are used in their literal meanings and it is easy for leaners to understand

Chapter 2

A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF METAPHOR IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE IDIOMS RELATING TO NUMBERS

2.1 The elements of Numbers in Idioms relating to Numbers

In deed, numbers are very similar and close to human beings They have

a great influence on many aspects of human, especially, in language Thanks to the use of numbers, language tends to convey a full intellectual image

Up to now, there haven’t been any data to calculate how many English and Vietnamese idioms in general and those relating to numbers in particular But it is obviously, the English and Vietnamese idioms containing numbers are very abundant

Although numbers are unlimited and the number of idioms relating to numbers has been creasing through the time, in this study, we list the numbers that are widely used in idioms

First of all, we take cardinal numbers into consideration Cardinal

numbers are numbers normally used for counting, such as, one một, two

-hai,three - ba,etc Cardinal numbers is absolutely different from ordinal

numbers which refer to a position in the list, such as, 1 st - thứ nhất, 2 nd - thứ hai, 3 rd - thứ ba,and so on So, when the phrase “idioms relating to numbers”,

“idioms containing numbers”, “number idioms” are used, they mean the

idioms containing cardinal numbers

For example: one foot in the grave

On cloud nine Một mất một còn

Kẻ tám lạng người nửa cân

Additionally, in English, “once” means “one time”, “twice” means

“two times” and “twelve” is sometimes called “dozen” and in Vietnamese,

“hai” is sometimes called “đôi”, “năm” is called “dăm”.So when talking

about idioms relating to numbers, we mean some idioms as follow: “at once”,

“a dim a dozen”, “tại anh tại ả tại cả đôi bên”

In conclusion, those numbers appear the most frequently in the collection of Vietnamese and English idioms They reflect a great deal of conceptions, thoughts of Vietnamese and English people about world of nature, human and society

2.2 Metaphor in Idioms relating to Numbers

As mentioned in the previous part, metaphor is a stylistic device to build any kind of idioms and idioms containing numbers is not an exception Words denoting numbers have figurative meanings in idioms They don’t

keep their literal meaning but metaphorical ones For example, the word “

two” is not merely a cardinal number to count something but it is used

variously in many idioms of numbers with different meanings Here are some examples:

+ like two peas in a pod

+ in two shakes of a lamb’s tail

+ two a penny

In the idioms above, it can be seen that the word “two” is

metaphorically used Its literal meaning no longer exists in those idioms

Instead, they have transferences in the meaning, “like two peas in a pod” means “very similar in appearance”, “in two shakes of a lamb’s tail” means “very quickly” and “two a penny” means “very cheap, numerous,

not valuable”

However, when saying that words denoting numbers get new meaning

in the idioms, we don’t conclude that there is no connection between the literal and figurative meaning because the metaphor, to some extent, is created based on the similarities

2.3 A Contrastive Analysis of Metaphor in English and Vietnamese Idioms relating to Numbers

2.3.1 Metaphors are Applicable in both English and Vietnamese Idioms relating to Numbers

Human race have experienced many stages of development, thus, regardless of the different blood, geographical location, color of skin, the English and Vietnamese people, to some extent, share the same thought and cognition

2.3.1.1 Number Idioms embodying Cooperation, Unity and Help

Cooperation, unity and help are concepts used widely in literature Thus, there are also many English and Vietnamese idioms conveying these meanings In English, there is always strength in number and that working in

number will get the better result Ex: “Two heads are better than one” Also,

the implication that if someone helps you, you should do a favor in return is

embodied in the idiom “One good turn deserves another” For example:

One good turn deserves another and I was happy to help my friend after he helps me

(www.idiomconnection.com)

In Vietnamese, the strength of unity is reflected in “muôn người như

một” Under any difficult circumstances, do they always stand by themselves

and share obstacles such as “hạt gạo cắn đôi”, “con chấy cắn đôi” or “một

con ngựa đâu cả tàu bỏ cỏ” For instance:

Là anh em, ruột thịt và thân thiết, cơ quan tham mưu, giúp việc và phục

vụ Quốc Hội hai nước Việt - Lào vì sự lớn mạnh của nhau cũng luôn hạt gạo cắn đôi, cọng rau bẻ nửa…

(http://daibieunhandan.vn, 26/07/2009)

Or: Bố mẹ đã dạy con bài học đầu tiên là phải biết quý trọng tình

người vì "Con ơi! Thương người như thế thương thân Một con ngựa đau cả tàu bỏ cỏ Sống trên đời cần có một tấm lòng"

(http://diendankienthuc.net)

Also, the cooperation requires mutual responsibilities, which is

reflected in “It takes two to make a quarrel” And the Vietnamese equivalent

is “Tại anh, tại ả, tại cả đôi bên” Let’s consider the following examples:

Jill: Why are you always so quarrelsome?

Jane: Hey, it's not just my fault It takes two to make a quarrel

(http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com)

Cứ đợi đấy còn nhiều chuyện hay, ai cũng bảo mình đúng, nhưng cuối cùng cũng là tại anh, tại ả, tại cả đôi bên, chỉ sướng ông nào ở giữa

(http://hn.24h.com.vn, 09/01/2012)

2.3.1.2 Number Idioms embodying Knowledge and Experiences

It is true that knowledge and experience are very important in our human’s life Indeed, both English and Vietnamese share this metaphor

When implying that somebody know much about something, the

English often say “know a thing or two” For example:

After ten years as a teacher, I know a thing or two about how children learn

(Oxford Idioms Dictionary (2006,206))

In fact, because of the lack of experience and knowledge, some regrettable things happen However, it is a matter of fact that we commit mistakes and know how to prevent It is applicable in English and

Vietnamese, i.e, “once bitten, twice shy” and “phải một cái rái đến già”

respectively as in the following examples:

“ Will she marry again, do you think ?

I doubt it- once bitten, twice shy.”

(Oxford Idioms Dictionary (2006,270))

“Giật, giật mạnh nữa vào cho trụi hết mọi cái tóc của lão đi để đừng bao giờ đến đây nữa Đồ Quạ Già! Định đến gạ mình đây Này, phải

(http://vannghenamdinh.com,31/07/2011)

In addition, to some extent, we should justify a situation deeply and

carefully The idiom “two wrongs don’t make a right” embodies the

metaphorical meaning that you cannot justify something wrong or bad because somebody did the same thing to you For instance:

Two wrong don’t make a right and if someone does something bad you should not try and hurt them as well

(www.idiomconnection.com)

In Vietnamese, the advice that it is not worth spending much to gain a

small success is reflected in idiom “ăn một bát cháo chạy ba cánh đồng”, like

the following example:

Chỉ có tụi trẻ xóm trại, cũng chẳng gan lì gì, nhưng khong chăn ở đấy thì phải đánh trâu vô tít vào trong căn cứ Chao, ăn một bát cháo chạy

ba cánh đồng, cha mẹ chúng bảo thế

(Nguyễn Lực, Lương Văn Đang (1993,41))

2.3.1.3 Number Idioms embodying Precaution

Taking precaution is an important thing people should do to avoid problems Consequently, this metaphor is built and applicable in both English and Vietnamese

The idea that it is better to be satisfied what you have rather than to lose

it trying to get something is shared in both English and Vietnamese idioms

English has idiom “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” as in example:

"- Dan has asked me to go to a party with him What if my boyfriend finds out?

- Don't go A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”

(http://www.anhvangiaotiep.vn)

Respectively,Vietnamese has similar idiom “một mặt hơn mười gói”

like the example below:

Tuy nhiên, người con phải cố gắng sắp xếp thời giờ để viếng thăm cha

mẹ, bởi vì cha mẹ già chỉ muốn được nhìn thấy mặt con cháu, chỉ muốn được nghe tiếng nói thân thương của con cháu chứ không phải cần đến miếng ăn miếng uống - một mặt hơn mười gói là như vậy đó

(http://nghiathuc.wordpress.com) Moreover, every one should take precaution in every thing in case

something bad happens as in idiom “sai một li đi một dặm” or “ăn một miếng

“a stitch in time saves nine”

Taking precaution should be aware in all aspects of life It is necessary

to have careful preparation before taking any actions, like “think twice about

something/doing something” For instance:

You should think twice about employing someone you’ve never met

(Oxford Idioms Dictionary (2006,407))

2.3.1.4 Number Idioms embodying the Agreement and Disagreement

In both English and Vietnamese, the metaphor “agreement and disagreement” are shared

The absolute agreement with somebody is expressed through English

idiom “at one (with somebody)” Let’s consider the following example:

Both political parties are at one on the question of foreign import

(Oxford Idioms Dictionary (2006,271))

Meanwhile, Vietnamese people often say “ký cả hai tay” to convey the

Vâng con xin ký cả hai tay để bố có dâu có rể cho nó đàng hoàng

(Nguyễn Lực, Lương Văn Đang (1993,180))

As for the disagreement, the English people say “one man’s meat is

another man’s position” For example:

I wouldn't want to do her job, but she seems to love it Oh well, one man's meat is another man's poison

(http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com)

And the Vietnamese have the idiom “trăm người trăm ý” to indicate

the similar thing For instance:

Chia cổ tức: Trăm người, trăm ý

(http://www.baomoi.com)

2.3.1.5 Number Idioms embodying Stupidity

The stupidity is reflected in many English and Vietnamese number idioms

The expression that someone is very ignorant is mentioned as in “thick

as two short planks” For example:

He's a very skilled footballer but he's as thick as two short planks

(http://dictionary.cambridge.org)

The Vietnamese idiom “chữ nhất bẻ làm đôi” conveys the same

meaning For instance:

Sau khi nhập học, nhà trường mới phát hiện ra anh sinh viên ấy chưa

hề biết chữ nhất bẻ làm đôi

(http://dantri.com.vn,08/04/2008)

Besides, in English, they also use some idioms such as, “one sandwich

short of a picnic” or “two bricks shy of a load” to indicate that someone is

not very smart or clever Let’s consider the following examples:

The janitor is one sandwich short of a picnic and he makes many mistakes

(www.idiomconnection.com)

The man is two bricks shy of a load and he is very hard to deal with

(www.idiomconnection.com)

2.3.1.6 Number Idioms embodying Similarity

There are many English and Vietnamese idioms involving similarity There are many types of similarity

In English, the figurative meaning of “the same short” is expressed

through the idiom “two of a kind” For example:

The boys are two of a kind and they love to spend time together

(www.idiomconnection.com)

Vietnamese have some idioms with this metaphor such as,“cùng một

giuộc”, “một đồng một cốt”, “một cốt một đồng” or “cá mè một lứa” as in

the following examples:

Jose Mourinho: "Barcelona cùng một giuộc như chúng tôi thôi"

(www.bongda24h.vn, 3/10/2012)

Tuy cách gian dối có khác nhau nhưng hai vợ chồng nhà ấy thì cùng một

đồng một cốt mà thôi

(Nguyễn Lực, Lương Văn Đang (1993,214))

Rồi cũng đến cá mè một lứa thằng nào cũng như thằng nào, mang cái ông nọ ông kia vào người chỉ là cái vạ

(Nguyễn Lực, Lương Văn Đang (1993,68)) Furthermore, the similarity in appearance is reflected in English idiom

“ like two peas in a pod” as in the example below:

You can tell they're brothers at a glance - they're like two peas in a pod

(http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com)

And Vietnamese equivalent is “giống nhau như hai giọt nước”,like the

example: Hai chị em xinh đẹp Pearl và Ruby Day - với gương mặt giống nhau

như hai giọt nước và có nhiều sở thích chung - đã đánh bại 29 cặp đôi khác

để trở thành cặp song sinh giống nhau nhất tại Anh

2.3.1.7 Number Idioms embodying Frequency

Relating to the frequency, both Vietnamese and English use many ways

to express this implication

In English, the meaning of “rarely” is conveyed in the idiom “ once in

a blue moon” and “sometimes” in “once in a while” or “once or twice” Let’s

consider the following examples:

Sue’s daughter only visits her once in a blue moon

(Oxford Idioms Dictionary (2006,271))

We go to the theatre once in a while, but there’s not much worth seeing

(Oxford Idioms Dictionary (2006,271))

In Vietnamese, we have similarities in such,“năm thỉnh mười thoảng”,

“năm thì mười họa”, or “năm chừng mười họa” For instance:

Năm thỉnh mười thoảng anh em mới ra chợ mua rau, nấu bát canh rau ngót rừng,rau cải hoặc mua hai cân thịt lợn

(http://www.vnmilitaryhistory.net, 30/8/2010)

Năm thì mười họa mới lại có một người vào nhờ đánh hộ một bức điện

về xuôi

(Nguyễn Lực, Lương Văn Đang (1993,225))

Năm chừng mười họa, Ðiền cũng còn nghĩ rằng: nên theo phép vệ sinh Bởi Ðiền là người có học hẳn hoi

(Nguyễn Lực, Lương Văn Đang (1993,225))

2.3.1.8 Number Idioms embodying Duration

Vietnamese and English number idioms have a similarity lying in duration

The English idioms “in two shakes (of a lamb's tail)”, “in a couple of

shakes” or “one of these days” express the metaphorical meaning “in a short

time” For example:

I’ve just got to make a phone call I will be with you in two shakes

(Oxford Idioms Dictionary (2006,426))