4.1.1. Noun Phrases of Englíh and Vietnamese S.C.P.Ss
As can be seen in Chapter 2, the main component or the central one in a NP is the head noun, which provides information compendiously. The copywriters employ the head nouns in NPs to convey propaganda messages. The structure of NPs is complex with strings of determiners and modifiers.
4.1.1.1. Noun phrases of English S.C.P.Ss
Like all other phrases, a complete English NP can be analyzed into four major components which consist of the determinative, premodification, the head, and postmodification occurring in a fixed order. Through the data, an English NP can be found to be complete or incomplete as in the following examples:
(1) More candy, less climate change [9]
(2) Renewable energy, sustainable peace [11]
(3) One Earth, One Chance [23]
(4) A spill, a slip, a hospital trip [67]
(5) Safety - a small investment for a rich future [123]
(6) Safety first. [50]
(7) Australia unlimited. [200]
In the examples from (1) to (7), NPs are noticeable to be established in various ways by combining a head noun with either determiners or modifiers according to the needs in identifying and specifying the referent of the NP. They are all illustrated in Table 4.1 below
Table 4.1. Examples of Noun Phrases in English
Premodifier Head Postmodifier
More
less climate
candy,
change (1)
Renewable sustainable
energy,
peace (2)
One one
Earth,
chance (3)
A a
a hospital
spill, slip,
trip
(4)
A small investment for a rich future (5)
Safety first (6)
Australia unlimited (7)
Through the examples shown above as well as the data collected, premodifiers can be composed of a cardinal number as “one” in (3), a quantifier as “more”, “less”
in (1), an article as “a”, “an”, and “the” in (4) and (5), a noun (the noun comes
before a head noun (‘hospital’ in hospital trip) in (4) and an adjective (‘renewable’
in renewable energy) in (2) and postmodifiers such as a prepositional phrase as in (5), and an adjective as in (6) and (7).
In Thorne’s viewpoint, NPs in English S.C.P.Ss can be classified into two categories comprising function and form and illustrated as follows:
m h m m h (function) More candy, less climate change [9]
NP NP (form) Post-det N post-det N N
h m m h p (function) Safety - a small investment for a rich future [123]
NP (form) N det Adj N PrepP
4.1.1.2. Noun phrases of Vietnamese S.C.P.Ss
The general formation of Vietnamese NPs is also composed of three main parts: premodifier, a head noun as a central part, and postmodifier [41 p268]. NPs in the Vietnamese data can be found as follows:
(8) Nhiều loài – một hành tinh - tương lai của chúng ta [39]
(9) Dân số ổn định, xã hội phồn vinh, gia đình hạnh phúc [163]
(Stable population, prosperous society, happy family) (10) Một ý thức giao thông - triệu con người hạnh phúc [104]
(A sense of traffic, millions of people are happy)
From (8) to (10), Table 4.2 illustrated for Vietnamese NPs can be inferred as follows:
Table 4.2. Examples of Noun Phrases in Vietnamese
Premodifier Head Postmodifier
Nhiều một
loài - hành tinh -
tương lai của chúng ta
(8)
Dân số
xã hội gia đình
ổn định, phồn vinh, hạnh phúc
(9)
Một triệu
ý thức con người
giao thông,
hạnh phúc (10)
From the table above, it can be deduced that Vietnamese NPs can be joined by either a head and a premodifier or a head and postmodifier, or both. Premodifier in Vietnamese S.C.P.Ss can be a cardinal number such as “một”, “triệu”, “nhiều” in (8) and (10). Others are found as “mỗi”, “mọi”, “những”, and “các” in the data.
Similarly, postmodifier in Vietnamese S.C.P.Ss can be found to be supplemental elements which modify the head noun such as “của chúng ta”, “ổn định”, “giao thông”, and “hạnh phúc” from (8) to (10).
4.1.1.3. Similarities
Noun phrases are employed in English and Vietnamese S.C.P.Ss because of the essence of slogans. As discussed in the previous chapters, slogans are the calls as well as the appeals. Therefore, they should be short in form and condensed in meaning. NPs of both languages have, in general, the same formation and constituted by at least two single words. They all have a premodifier, a head noun, and a postmodifier.
The copywriters of both languages all employ parallel phrases, enumerative structures in order to express the climax effect of each action. Structurally, they use the structure: “NP + NP” as in (11) and (12). By this structure, the comparison
between two things or events can be given out in order that the addressees perceive what they should do and not do as in:
(11) One Earth, One Chance [23]
(12) Một ý thức giao thông - triệu con người hạnh phúc [104]
The sentence (11) means that if much attention should be paid to the earth or the environment, there will be an opportunity for man to do more things. In order for this to be done, the environment should, of course, be well kept. Similarly, the sentence (12) shows that only when an awareness of traffic is needed, millions of people will be happy.
In addition, the structure: “NP + NP + NP” is employed to enumerate the increasing degree of actions as in (13) and (14).
(13) A spill, a slip, a hospital trip [67]
(14) Dân số ổn định, xã hội phồn vinh, gia đình hạnh phúc [163]
From the examples above, we can summarize that although few words are used, the copywriters employ the forms of contrast, comparison as in (1) and (8), repetition as in (3), alliteration as in (2) and (4) in their slogans, which makes slogans more stimulating. It is these structures that make readers more curious and attentive to slogans, and they can gradually go into the unconscious of the readers.
Hence, NPs in English and Vietnamese S.C.P.Ss are effectively used in view to their rememberance and understandability.
4.1.1.4. Differences
In spite of being employed in English and Vietnamese S.C.P.Ss, NPs of both languages have many different points.
According to the statistics, the number of NPs in English S.C.P.Ss is 11 per 200 slogans taking the percentage of 5,5%, whereas Vietnamese S.C.P.Ss have 9 per 200, making up 4,5%.
English NPs often go with articles, but there is no article in Vietnamese.
Adjectives in English coming before nouns pertain to determiners, yet they follow the head nouns in Vietnamese as an ending component or postmodifier.
The figures above can be illustrated in Table 4.3 as follows:
Table 4.3. Difference of Noun Phrases in English and Vietnamese Noun Phrases
English S.C.P.Ss Vietnamese S.C.P.Ss Total 11/200 (5,5%) 9/200 (4,5%)
Adjectives premodifier postmodifier
Premodifiers adjective, noun, article, quantifier, cardinal number
cardinal number, quantifier Postmodifier prepositional phrase adjective
complement
In sum, due to their essence of calling and appealing, slogans under noun phrases in English and Vietnamese all express complete thoughts. They have the same form with premodifiers, head word, and modifiers in some ways.
4.1.2. Imperatives of English and Vietnamese S.C.P.Ss 4.1.2.1. Imperative sentences of English S.C.P.Ss
English imperatives have a complex structure. On looking at the slogans in data collected, imperative sentences are in general found to have either a main verb in the base form to express affirmative ideas, or an auxiliary followed by the base form of the verb to express negative ideas as in the following sentences:
(15) Reduce, reuse & recycle. [4]
(16) Save the world, save yourself [26]
(17) Breathe healthily, live happily [145]
(18) Keep your country clean! [30]
(19) Let’s keep our country clean. [1]
(20) Don't drink and drive [116]
From the examples above, we can infer that imperatives perform with the following structures:
- (V) as in (15), - (V + O) as in (16), - (V + Adv) as in (17), - (V + O + C) as in (18), - (Let’s + V + …) as in (19), - (Don’t + V + …) as in (20)
In general, imperatives are followed with or without objects as from (15) to (18). In addition, first person imperatives can be formed by proposing the verb
“let”, followed by a subject in the objective cases or more usually “Let’s” in (19).
As for the negative form, one just adds ‘Don’t’ to replace assertive form by non- assertive form where necessary as in (20).
Imperatives from (15) to (20) show that in spite of their few words, their strength and meanings are of great. They express the meanings of calling, appealing, or advising the masses to act for the common purpose. Specifically, from (15) to (19), they call everyone upon protecting the earth, the world or the environment by not only reducing but also reusing or recycling wastes thrown into the environment, otherwise we will die soon. The slogans imply that if the environment can be well kept then our health will be better.
In (19), by using this type of structure, the copywriters want to emphasize that not only the addressees but also the very person who gives slogans co-operates together in order to carry out a common goal of the community. The negative form with ‘don’t’ followed by the base form is employed in S.C.P.Ss to give advice or a warning to readers not to do the bad things in society.
Sometimes the word “please” is added at the beginning or the end of imperative sentences as in (18) to express the attitudes, feelings, or the wishes of the people who give out the slogans.
4.1.2.2. Imperative sentences of Vietnamese S.C.P.Ss
Through the data collected, the majority of slogans are found to be imperative sentences. Let us take the following sentences as examples to illustrate for imperatives.
(21) Tích cực xây dựng quê hương xanh-sạch-đẹp [54]
(Actively build the country green-clean-beautiful)
(22) Nhân dân... tích cực tham gia phòng cháy, chữa cháy rừng. [38]
(People … actively participate in forest fire prevention and extinguishment) (23) Vì một Việt Nam khỏe mạnh, hãy rửa tay với xà phòng.[142]
(For a healthy Vietnam, wash your hands with soap) (24) Hãy bảo vệ nguồn nước. [36]
(25) Cảm ơn ban. Đã bỏ rác vào thùng. [61]
(26) Để tương lai tươi sáng – Hãy hành động hôm nay [14]
From the examples above, we have the structure in affirmative form as follows:
- V + O (+ C) as in (22), - Hãy + V + O as in (24), - N …+ V + O as in (22),
- Phrase + hãy + V + O as in (23), - (Phrase) + hãy + V + Adv as in (26)
In order to express a thank-you to perceivers who does something good or useful, the structure for imperatives should be as follows:
- Cảm ơn ban! đã + V + ….. as in (25)
From the examples above as well as in the data, it can be seen that the Vietnamese copywriters use the word “hãy” as a request or “cảm ơn bạn” in their slogans. The words “hãy” is employed in slogans to show a persuasive and gentle request, and “cảm ơn bạn” to express a thank-you when one does a good deed.
These all show the respect for the addressees. The copywriters know how to put
readers – performers in holding the initiative of the co-operativeness instead of the only passive performance.
In addition, one thing that we are easy to see in Vietnamese slogans is that most slogans are used with the phrases of causes or purposes as in (23) or “Phải hạn chế tốc độ để đảm bảo an toàn”. The copywriters concretize the aims so that the addressees can implement their deeds well on account of the common goal of the community.
4.1.2.3. Similarities
In order to express the same calls and the appeals, both languages use two ordinary kinds of imperative sentences in their slogans among which there are affirmative and negative forms. Although imperatives have lots of degrees, the copywriters of two languages use them in the same ways. It is up to degree of the slogans, their authors add “please” or “hãy” at the beginning of each slogan to prove that the request is mild and becomes more persuasive. They are all shown in Table 4.4 below
Table 4.4. List of Imperative structures in English and Vietnamese Imperative structures in
English S.C.P.Ss
Imperative structures in Vietnamese S.C.P.Ss
Affirmative form
+ V + (O) + V + Adv + V + O + C + Please + V + …
+ V + O (+ C) + (V + adv) + Hãy + V + O + Hãy + V + Adv Negative
form + Don’t + V + … + (Xin) đừng + V + …
4.1.2.4. Differences
About the number of imperative sentences according to the statistics, there are 66 English imperatives, whereas there are 77 Vietnamese imperatives among 200 slogans.
Structurally, both languages have fundamentally different structures. The Vietnamese imperative structures are diversified as discussed in Chapter 2, whereas in English the copywriters use only two basic structures: the affirmative form including a head verb with or without objects and the negative form employing an auxiliary ‘don’t’ followed by a main verb with or without objects, too. Sometimes they add an exclamation mark at the end of the imperatives (!) to prove that it is a mild request, but this is not obligatory for all imperatives.
Like English imperatives, imperative sentences in Vietnamese have the omission of the second person subject. However, the subject of the imperative verb is, in some cases, retained because it is a plural noun indicating the generality or specification as in the following examples:
(30) Toàn dân tham gia giữ gìn trật từ an toàn giao thông. [106]
(People should participate in maintaining traffic order and safety) (31) Nhân dân... tích cực tham gia phòng cháy, chữa cháy rừng [38]
(32) Người nhiễm HIV hãy đến các cơ sở y tế để được tư vấn, chăm sóc và điều trị! [131]
(HIV-infected people, go to health facilities for counseling, care and treatment!) These imperatives are usually admonitory in tone and frequently express an emphasis on the general or specific groups of people. It is easy to confuse the subject, in these imperatives, with a vocative noun phrase.
Vietnamese imperatives often contain a phrase of purpose or cause at the beginning or the end of each slogan as from (30) to (32). It shows that Vietnamese copywriters specify the problem more than English copywriters do.
(33) Thanh niên hành động vì môi trường. [150]
(The youth act for the environment)
(34) Vì tương lai đất nước hãy bảo vệ nguồn nước và môi trường. [49]
(Because of the country future, protect the water sources and environment) (35) Phải hạn chế tốc độ để đảm bảo an toàn. [106]
(The speed must be limited to ensure safety)
English imperatives often have the phenomenon of alliteration, rhyme, word repetition, enumeration, and parallelism in their slogans, which makes slogans easy to be remembered and parodied such as in the following examples.
(36) Save your lungs, save your life. [161]
(37) Reduce, reuse & recycle. [4]
(38) Think globally act locally [191]
Meanwhile, Vietnamese imperatives only use simple forms of imperatives as from (33) to (35) and other sentences in the data. The differences of imperative structures between English and Vietnamese S.C.P.Ss are shown in Table 4.5 as follows
Table 4.5. Difference of Imperatives in English and Vietnamese Imperatives in English
S.C.P.Ss
Imperatives in Vietnamese S.C.P.Ss
Total 66/200 (33%) 77/200 (38.5%)
Imperative
form without subjects with(out) subjects
Stylistics
alliteration, rhyme, enumeration, word repetition,
and parallelism
no
Phrase ahead no Vì … (Phrase) + hãy Để … + V + Adv
In sum, imperatives, which generally have no overt grammatical subject, are employed a lot in slogans because of their simple short structure. It is acknowledged that readers have no much time to see and watch slogans, so imperative forms are
much utilized. Although they are used in slogans of both languages, they also have some similarities and differences as discussed above in some ways.
4.1.3. Declaratives: Simple Sentences of English and Vietnamese S.C.P.Ss 4.1.3.1. Simple sentences of English S.C.P.Ss
As shown in Chapter 2, this type of sentence just containing one clause and expressing one complete thought has a very simple structure consisting of a subject and a predicate. The predicates which are found in English S.C.P.Ss bring in them with either an auxiliary verb or a lexical verb to express various intentions. In other words, the simple sentences in English S.C.P.Ss are composed of different patterns.
a. Simple sentences with auxiliaries
The auxiliary among the slogans collected can be found as modal auxiliaries, progressive auxiliaries, and passive ones.
- Modal auxiliary consists of a modal auxiliary and the base of the VP head.
For example,
(39) Only you can prevent forest fires. [2]
(40) You might as well eat from the trashcan. [33]
(41) Pets must be in suitable container. [43]
From the three examples above, the pattern with modal auxiliary verbs can be inferred as follows:
S + auxiliary + V + Od.
- Progressive auxiliary is composed of the auxiliary, the verb ‘be’ and the ‘- ing’ participle of the VP head as in (42).
(42) Slow down! Your family will be waiting for you. [130]
The pattern with progressive auxiliary verbs can be deduced as follows:
S + auxiliary + BE + V-ing + Od
- Passive auxiliary includes the auxiliary, the verb ‘be’ and a past participle of the VP head like the following sentence.
(43) For your safety hardhat must be used. [135]
(44) Safety helmets must be worn in this area. [100]
With the examples of (43) and (44), the pattern with passive auxiliary verbs can be drawn as follows:
S + auxiliary + BE + V3/ed
Through the examples above, it can be found that auxiliaries are used in an effective and diversified way. Depending on the aim and objective of each slogan, the copywriters employ various auxiliaries to express their intentions. For example, the word ‘can’ in (39) is employed to indicate that lookers-on themselves have an extraordinary ability to do something to prevent forest fires as well as they could.
The word ‘will’ in (42) is used for talking about or predicting the future. The authors of this slogan not only claim that everything will be all right as expected but also try to persuade drivers not to be in a hurry for a good accident prevention.
‘Might’ in (40) indicates the possibility or doubt for a fresh environment in the future. Here the authors are not sure of that what has been eaten everyday is good or not. Correspondingly, the slogan is a reminder that everyone should be careful in choosing daily fresh food for a better life. And ‘Must’ in (41), (43) and (44) indicates that it is not only a must or an obligation, but it is used as a piece of advice as well. The slogan (41) shows that animals in general and pets in particular should be kept in suitable container otherwise everything will be in trouble on the spot. In (43) and (44), if the copywriters use the passive voice, it is because they want to give the emphasis or significance of wearing the hardhat and helmets.
Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.
b. Simple sentences with lexical verbs
- The lexical verb, the VP head, is mainly composed of intensive verb, complex transitive verb, mono-transitive verb, and intransitive one.
- Intensive verbs are commonly known as linking verbs, or copular verbs.
However, the intensive verbs found in the data are mainly the verb ‘be’. They have
the following structure: S + Be + Cs. The subject complement found in the study can be a noun, a NP, or an adjective. For instance,
(45) The safe way is the right way. [131]
(46) You're a fool if you think smoking is cool. [159]
(47) Life is energy. Energy is life. [187]
- Complex transitive verbs are verbs followed by two components of sentence patterns. The first component after the verb is a direct object, and the other can be a noun or a NP (S.V.Od.Co), an adjective, or a PP (S.V.Od.A). However, in practical slogans, there are no other cases but (S.V.Od.Adj). The verbs of this pattern found in the data are included in “make”, “keep”, and “leave”. Let’s take the following slogans as examples:
(48) Keep your country clean! [30]
(49) Too much smoke will leave you broke. [157]
(50) This is your restroom. Please keep it clean. [32]
- Mono-transitive verbs are single words which are directly followed by a noun or an embedded clause called the direct object to make the predicate complete. The majority of the slogans found in the study pertain to the structure pattern S.V.Od.
Because this is a very simple sentence pattern, the copy-writers use it very often in their slogans. Some examples are illustrated as follows:
(51) Be careful. Carelessness can hurt you and others. [97]
(52) Arsenic kills if you swallow it. Tobacco kills if you smoke it. [144]
(53) Cancer cures smoking. [146]
(54) You're a fool if you think smoking is cool. [159]
- Intransitive verbs are the ones that do not take an object and that make their meanings themselves. Some examples of this type can be described as follows:
(55) Save today survive tomorrow. [190]
(56) Go green or I’ll scream. [17]
(57) Save earth or die! [25]
(58) Safety is the light .... Let it shine. [81]