A study on english idioms and proverbs concerning face with reference to the vietnamese equivalents

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES

BA THESIS
A STUDY ON ENGLISH IDIOMS AND PROVERBS
CONCERNING FACE WITH REFERENCE TO THE
VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS
(NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ THÀNH NGỮ VÀ TỤC NGỮ
TIẾNG ANH LIÊN QUAN ĐẾN KHN MẶT
CĨ THAM CHIẾU ĐẾN CÁC TỪ TƢƠNG ĐƢƠNG
TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT)

Student: VI THỊ DUNG
Student code: 621219
Major: ENGLISH
Supervisor: NGUYEN THI THU THUY, Ph.D

Hanoi – 2021


FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES

BA THESIS
A STUDY ON ENGLISH IDIOMS AND PROVERBS
CONCERNING FACE WITH REFERENCE TO THE
VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS
(NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ THÀNH NGỮ VÀ TỤC NGỮ
TIẾNG ANH LIÊN QUAN ĐẾN KHN MẶT
CĨ THAM CHIẾU ĐẾN NGHĨA TƢƠNG ĐƢƠNG
TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT)

Student: VI THỊ DUNG
Student code: 621219
Major: ENGLISH
Supervisor: NGUYEN THI THU THUY, Ph.D

Hanoi – 2021


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
During the period of this graduation thesis, I received a plenty of enthusiastic
help and support that guide and encourage me to overcome all difficulties and
finish this hard but meaningful time.
Firstly, I would like to express thanks to the School Board of the Vietnam
National University of Agriculture and all the teachers of the Faculty of
Education and Foreign Languages creating favourable conditions for me to take
my graduation thesis.
Secondly, I sincerely thank to NGUYEN THI THU THUY, PhD, my supervisor,
in every step throughout the process. Without her invaluable suggestions and
advice, this paper would have never been accomplished.
Most importantly, none of this could have happened without my family and my
friends who fully supported me while I was doing this graduation paper. Every
time I was ready to quit, they were always beside me and encouraged me and I
am forever grateful. This graduation paper stands as a statement to their
unconditional love and encouragement.

i


CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report
entitled

―A

STUDY

ON

ENGLISH

IDIOMS

AND

PROVERBS

CONCERNING FACE WITH REFERENCE TO THE VIETNAMESE
EQUIVALENTS‖ submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the
degree of Bachelor in English Language. Except where the reference is
indicated, no other person‘s work has been used without due acknowledgement
in the text of the thesis.
Hanoi, 2021

Vi Thị Dung

Approved by
SUPERVISOR

NGUYEN THI THU THUY, PhD

Date:……………………

ii


TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................... i
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY .................................................................. ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................... iii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS........................................................................... vii
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................. ix
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................ vi
PART 1: INTRODUCTION.............................................................................. 1
1.1. RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY ................................................................ 1
1.2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ............................................. 2
1.2.1. Aims of the study ....................................................................................... 2
1.2.2. Objectives of the study .............................................................................. 2
1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS ........................................................................... 2
1.4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY ............................................................................. 2
1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ............................................................. 2
1.6. DESIGN OF THE STUDY ........................................................................... 3
PART 2: DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................... 4
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................... 4
1.1. REVIEW OF THE PREVIOUS STUDIES ................................................. 4
1.2. REVIEW OF THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ....................................... 5
1.2.1. Definition of idioms ................................................................................... 5
1.2.2. Definition of proverbs ............................................................................... 6
1.2.3. Overview of structures of idioms and proverbs in English and
Vietnamese ........................................................................................................... 7
1.2.3.1. Phrases..................................................................................................... 7

1.2.3.2. Sentences ................................................................................................. 9
1.2.4. Idioms and Proverbs concerning face ................................................... 17
1.2.4.2. Idioms and proverbs concerning face ................................................ 18
iii


1.3. SUMMARY .................................................................................................. 18
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY ................................................................... 16
2.1. RESEARCH METHODS ............................................................................ 19
2.2. DATA COLLECTION................................................................................. 19
2.3. RESEARCH PROCEDURES ..................................................................... 20
2.4. ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK .................................................................. 20
2.5. SUMMARY .................................................................................................. 23
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ........................................... 24
3.1. SYNTACTIC FEATURES .......................................................................... 24
3.1.1. English and Vietnamese idioms and proverbs concerning face with
phrase structures ............................................................................................... 24
3.1.2. English and Vietnamese idioms and proverbs concerning face with
sentence structures ............................................................................................ 38
3.2. SEMANTIC FEATURES ........................................................................... 47
3.2.1. Figures of speech of idioms and proverbs concerning face ................. 47
3.2.2. Semantic Fields of English and Vietnamese idioms and proverbs
concerning face .................................................................................................. 48
3.3. SIMILARITIES ........................................................................................... 49
3.3.1. Syntactic features .................................................................................... 49
3.3.2. Semantic features .................................................................................... 50
3.4. DIFFERENCES.......................................................................................... 50
3.4.1. Syntactic features .................................................................................... 50
3.4.2. Semantic features .................................................................................... 51
3.5. SUMMARY................................................................................................. 51

PART 3: CONCLUSION ................................................................................. 53
1.

RECAPITULATION................................................................................ 53

2.

CONCLUDING REMARKS.................................................................... 54

3.

IMPLICATIONS ...................................................................................... 55

4.

LIMITATIONS ........................................................................................ 56
iv


5.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY ........................................... 56

REFERENCES .................................................................................................. 57
APPENDIX 1 ..................................................................................................... 60
APPENDIX 2 ..................................................................................................... 63
APPENDIX 3 ..................................................................................................... 73

v

ABSTRACT
This study focuses on studying the syntactic and semantic features of English
and Vietnamese idioms and proverbs concerning face (IPCF) in some
dictionaries. The study uses comparative and contrasting methods to analyse the
syntactic and semantic features of English and Vietnamese idioms and proverbs
related to the faces found in the above dictionaries. The analysis results show
similarities and differences in syntactic and semantic features of English and
Vietnamese idioms and proverbs concerning face. Besides these similarities,
there are also some differences between English and Vietnamese IPCF in terms
of the syntactic and semantic features. About syntactic features, firstly, not all
syntactic structures appear in both English and Vietnamese IPCF; secondly,
there are no Vietnamese IPCF that have the structure of adverb phrases,
prepositional phrases; next, in English, IPCF with verb phrase structure account
for the highest percentage while in Vietnamese, the most common percent are
noun phrases; and finally, in English, simple sentence structures are used the
most commonly, while simple and comparative sentence structures dominate in
Vietnamese ones. About semantic features, firstly, in English, there are some
IPCF that have more than one meaning; secondly, in English, there are no IPCF
belonging to the field of equality and work, while in Vietnamese, there are no
IPCF belonging to the field of place, desire, and ability; and finally, in English,
IPCF belong to the action field with the largest proportion, while in Vietnamese,
it is the personality field. Besides these similarities, there are also some
differences between English and Vietnamese IPCF in terms of the syntactic and
semantic features. About syntactic features, firstly, not all syntactic structures
appear in both English and Vietnamese IPCF; secondly, there are no Vietnamese
IPCF that have the structure of adverb phrases, prepositional phrases; next, in
English, IPCF with verb phrase structure account for the highest percentage
while in Vietnamese, the most common percent are noun phrases; and finally, in
English, simple sentence structures are used the most commonly, while simple

vi


and comparative sentence structures dominate in Vietnamese ones. About
semantic features, firstly, in English, there are some IPCF that have more than
one meaning; secondly, in English, there are no IPCF belonging to the field of
equality and work, while in Vietnamese, there are no IPCF belonging to the field
of place, desire, and ability; and finally, in English, IPCF belong to the action
field with the largest proportion, while in Vietnamese, it is the personality field.
Hopefully, these results will be very useful for improving the teaching and
learning of English, especially English idioms and proverbs.

vii


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

A

: Adjective

Adv

: Adverb

AdvP : Adverb Phrase
AP

: Adjective Phrase

Art

: Article

C

: Complement

N

: Noun

NP

: Noun Phrase

Num : Number
O

: Object

Prep : Preposition
S

: Subject

Sb

: somebody

Sth

: something

V

: Verb

viii


LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1.

Syntactic analytical framework .................................................. 20

Table 2.2.

Figure of speech analytical framework....................................... 21

Table 2.3.

semantic field analytical framework ........................................... 21

Table 3.1.

Summarizes the occurrence of structures used in English and
Vietnamese IPCF ........................................................................ 23

Table 3.2.

English and Vietnamese IPCF with noun phrase structures ....... 24

Table 3.3.

English and Vietnamese IPCF with verb phrase structures........ 27

Table 3.4.

English and Vietnamese IPCF with adjective phrase structures 33

Table 3.5.

English and Vietnamese IPCF with adverb phrase structures .... 34

Table 3.6.

English and Vietnamese IPCF with prepositional phrase
structures ..................................................................................... 36

Table 3.7.

English and Vietnamese IPCF with simple sentence structures . 37

Table 3.8.

English and Vietnamese IPCF with compound sentence
structures ..................................................................................... 39

Table 3.9.

English and Vietnamese IPCF with complex sentence structures
..................................................................................................... 41

Table 3.10.

English and Vietnamese IPCF with comparative sentence
structures ..................................................................................... 43

Table 3.11.

Figure of speech of IPCF ............................................................ 46

Table 3.12.

Frequency of semantic features of English and Vietnamese IPCF
..................................................................................................... 47

ix


PART 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY
For a country, language plays an important part, contributing in the expression
of culture, customs, beliefs and customs of that country. Therefore, language is
seen as the soul of a country. Because of this, if you want to explore and learn
about a certain country, the proficiency and understanding of their language is
very necessary. In the process of learning a new language, people face many
difficulties. Among them, one of the biggest difficulties of learners is learning
about idioms and proverbs. Idioms and proverbs are elements of cultural

characteristics that express history, material and spiritual life and make language
more interesting and lively. Thus, learning and understanding the use of idioms
and proverbs is also bringing us closer to the quintessence of language.
Idioms and proverbs appear very common in books, newspapers, etc. and many
other aspects of our lives. However, it is not easy to understand the meaning of
expression as well as to use idioms and proverbs effectively, especially idioms
and proverbs about face. In addition, studying face idioms and proverbs can be
great to help language learners in using language in a more natural way. Here
and there, many researchers have chosen to study idioms and proverbs.
However, within the scope of the Vietnam National University of Agricultural,
there are almost no studies researching idioms and proverbs concerning face.
Therefore, I chose the topic "A study on English idioms and proverbs
concerning face with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents" as my BA thesis.
Thus, the study on English idioms and proverbs concerning face with reference
to the Vietnamese equivalents is carried out to help multi-lingual
communicators, Vietnamese learning English as well as foreigners learning
Vietnamese to improve their understanding of idioms and proverbs, avoid errors
especially in translation and use them more effectively.

1


1.2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1.2.1. Aims of the study
The study is aimed at finding the similarities and differences between English
and Vietnamese idioms and proverbs concerning face in terms of the syntactic
and semantic features.
1.2.2. Objectives of the study
The research objectives are:
- Describing the syntactic and semantic features of IPCF in English and

Vietnamese.
- Comparing and contrasting syntactic and semantic features of IPCF in English
with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents.
1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What are the syntactic and semantic features of IPCF in English and
Vietnamese?
2. What are the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese
IPCF in terms of the syntactic and semantic features?
1.4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY
As the title of the study states, it focuses mainly on English and Vietnamese
IPCF in several dictionaries of both languages. All English IPCF that contain
words such as "eye", "ear", "face", "cheek", "chin", "lip", "mouth", "nose" and
Vietnamese IPCF that contain words such as "mắt", "tai", "mặt", "má", "cằm",
"môi", "miệng/mồm" are considered. Data source is from idioms and proverbs
dictionary in English and Vietnamese like Oxford Dictionary of Idioms (Judith
Siefring, 2004), Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms (Cambridge
University Press, 1988), Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (John Simpson, Jennifer
Speake, 2003) and Từ điển thành ngữ tục ngữ Việt Nam (Nguyễn Lân, 2016).
1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study is expected to help English teachers and learners as well as
translators have an insight into understanding and using idioms and proverbs,
especially IPCF. Thereby, it will help them not only use IPCF fluently and
2


naturally, but also avoid common mistakes in teaching and learning and
especially in the translation process.
1.6. DESIGN OF THE STUDY
For a logical structure, my graduation paper is divided into three main parts:
PART 1 - INTRODUCTION presents rationale of the study, aims and objectives of

the study, research questions, scope of the study, significance of the study and
design of the study to help readers have an overview of the study.
PART 2: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1 - LITERATURE REVIEW provides some previous studies both at
home and abroad and theoretical background that shows some aspects of the
topic of this study including definition of idioms and proverbs in general as well
as idioms and proverbs concerning the face; overview of structures of Idioms
and Proverbs; face idioms and proverbs in English and Vietnamese; and
summary.
CHAPTER 2 - METHODOLOGY gives three methods that are used in this
study including statistical method, analytical method, comparison-contrastive
method.
CHAPTER 3 - FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION reports and discusses the
findings of the study.
PART 3 - CONCLUSION summarizes the main issues that have been resolved in
the study, points out the implications of this study and the limitations that the study
has not solved, and gives some suggestions for further study.

3


PART 2: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. REVIEW OF THE PREVIOUS STUDIES
During the past decades, there has been a lot of research by linguists studying
idioms and proverbs.
In English, there are many research on English idioms and proverbs about
human body parts. One study can be mentioned as: ―Body Parts Idioms: A
Cross-Cultural Significance‖ by Lina Laith Younis at Baghdad-College of
Education for Women in 2009. This paper tried to explore a syntactic reality of

importance to Iraqi learners of English as a foreign language. However, one
limitation of this study is a half of the sample of this study fail to guess and use
the right position to give the right meaning.
Besides, we can also mention the study ―Comparative Analysis of English and
French Body Idioms‖ by Martina Němcová at Masaryk University Brno in 2013.
This thesis deals with a comparative study of the selected group of English and
French body idioms that contain the following body organs: hand, head and foot.
However, there are some limitations in this study as well. Firstly, the number of
idioms is limited, so this thesis has not reached a satisfactory depth. Second, the
research has not paid attention to the cultural aspect between the two languages.
For Vietnamese idioms and proverbs, there are also many studies on idioms and
proverbs, including a number of works. One of them is the study ―A study on
English idioms related parts of body‖ by Nguyen Thi Thu Huong at Haiphong
Private University in 2019. The aims of this study are to clarify meaning of
some English idioms expressions and help the learners use right idioms in right
situations.
Another study also related to the English idiom of human body parts is the study
―The use of English idioms related to parts of human body by the third-year
students at faculty of English, Hanoi Open University‖ by Dang Thuy Duong at
Hanoi Open University in 2015. The research article has surveyed third-year
students to find out the errors that students often encounter in using English
4


idioms indicating human body parts, from which point out solutions to help 3rd
year students overcome these errors frequently and use English idioms to refer
to human body parts more effectively.
Regarding this topic, Nguyen Thu Hanh and Nguyen Tien Long also has a study
in 2019. It is ―English idioms containing human-body parts and their
Vietnamese equivalents: a case study of two English novels and their

Vietnamese translation versions‖. This paper focuses on investigating the
semantic and syntactic features of idioms, including idioms containing humanbody parts in the two English novels ―The Godfather‖, ―To Kill A Mockingbird‖
and their Vietnamese translation versions. The paper result pointed out the
equivalent and non-equivalent references of human body parts idioms found in
the two English novels and their Vietnamese translation.
Therefore, there are very few research papers that specifically study English and
Vietnamese IPCF in both languages. That is the reason why I would like to do
an in-depth study on English IPCF with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents
to find out the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese
IPCF in terms of the syntactic and semantic features.
1.2. REVIEW OF THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.2.1. Definition of idioms
According to Makkai in Idiom structure in English (1972, p. 121), idioms are
defined as ―any polylexonic lexeme made up of more than one minimal free form
of word (as defined by morphotactic criteria), each lexeme of which can occur in
other environments as the realization of a monoloxonic lexeme‖.
Some researchers such as Michael McCarthy Felicity O‘Dell, writers of English
Idioms In use (2017) considers idioms as expressions which have meaning that
is not obvious from the individual words.
The results from A.N.C. Odu‘s study (2009, p. 9) show that ―An idiom is a form
of expression that is characteristic of a particular language; it is therefore usually
impossible to translate an idiom literally into any foreign language‖.
5


In Vietnamese, Hoang Van Hanh‘s conclusion (2004, p. 27) is in Thành ngữ học
tiếng Việt: ―In common sense, idiom is a phrase that is fixed and stable in form
and structure, complete and lustrous in meaning, widely used in everyday
communication, especially in speech.‖ (The researcher‘s translation) (―Theo
cách hiểu thơng thƣờng thì thành ngữ là một loại tổ hợp cố định, bền vững về

hình thái – cấu trúc, hồn chỉnh, bóng bẩy về nghĩa, đƣợc sử dụng rộng rãi trong
giao tiếp hàng ngày, đặc biệt trong khẩu ngữ.‖)
Vu Ngoc Phan (2005, p. 27 and 28) states that ―An idiom is an existing part of a
sentence, it is a part of a sentence that many people are used to, but by itself
does not express a complete idea.‖ (The researcher‘s translation) (―Thành ngữ là
một phần câu sẵn có, nó là một bộ phận của câu mà nhiều ngƣời đã quen dùng,
nhƣng tự riêng nó không diễn đƣợc một ý trọn vẹn.‖)
In Từ điển tiếng Việt (2002. P. 915), idioms are defined as ―a set of commonly
used fixed words whose meanings often cannot be explained simply by the
meanings of the words that make them up.‖ (The researcher‘s translation) (―Tập
hợp từ cố định đã quen dùng mà nghĩa của nó thƣờng khơng thể giải thích đƣợc
một cách đơn giản bằng nghĩa của các từ tạo nên nó.‖)
The working definition of this study is based on the definition of idiom proposed
O‘Dell (2017) as idioms are expressions which have meaning that is not obvious
from the individual words.
1.2.2. Definition of proverbs
In Proverbs are never out of season, Mieder (1993, p. 5) claims that ―A proverb
is a short, generally known sentence of the folk which contains wisdom, truth,
morals, and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed and memorisable form and
which is handed down from generation to generation.‖
Moreover, according to Galperin I.R. (1971, p. 179), proverbs are defined as
"brief statements showing in condensed form the accumulated life experience of
the community and serving as conventional practical symbols for abstract ideas.
They are usually didactic and image bearing".
6


In Vietnamese, according to Từ điển tiếng Việt (Hoàng Phê, 2002, p. 1062),
―Proverbs are short sentences, often with rhymes, summarizing people's
knowledge, life experiences and practical ethics.‖ (The researcher‘s translation)

(―Tục ngữ là câu ngắn gọn, thƣờng có vần điệu, đúc kết tri thức, kinh nghiệm
sống và đạo đức thực tiễn của nhân dân.‖)
Vu Ngoc Phan (2005, p. 27) states that ―A proverb is a sentence which itself
expresses a complete idea, a remark, an experience, a theory, a truth, maybe a
criticism.‖ (The researcher‘s translation) (―Tục ngữ là một câu tự nó diễn đạt
trọn vẹn một ý, một nhận xét, một kinh nghiệm, một ln lý, một cơng lý, có khi
là một sự phê phán.‖)
The working definition of this study is based on the definition of proverb
proposed Mieder (1993) as ―A proverb is a short, generally known sentence of
the folk which contains wisdom, truth, morals, and traditional views in a
metaphorical, fixed and memorisable form and which is handed down from
generation to generation.‖
1.2.3. Overview of structures of idioms and proverbs in English and
Vietnamese
The above definitions show that idioms and proverbs are two separate units of
language. However, both idioms and proverbs are set expressions, of which the
meaning is never a mere sum of the meanings of its components. Therefore,
from this section, the study will use term "idioms and proverbs" to analyse their
syntactic features (phrase and sentence structures) and semantic features (figures
of speech and semantic fields).
1.2.3.1. Phrases
According to Hornby (2010), phrase is a small group of words (usually without
a finite verb) that together have a particular meaning and that typically form part
of a sentence.
This study analyses syntactic features of idioms in English and Vietnamese that
function as a noun phrase, verb phrase, adjective phrase, adverb phrase and
prepositional phrase in a sentence.
7

a.

Noun phrases

According to Greenbaum (1996), a noun phrase has as its head a noun, a
pronoun, a nominal adjective, or a numeral. The head of a noun phrase may be
introduced by one or more determiners, and it may be modified by one or more
premodifies and by one or more postmodifiers.
Ex 1: "We've had a fantastic response!" he said, grinning from ear to ear.
Meaning: to look extremely happy.
Ex 2: Cô ta trở nên nghèo khổ vì chỉ ăn chơi mà khơng chịu làm gì cả.
Đúng là miệng ăn núi lở.
Meaning: to describe a person who only eats but does not work.
b.

Verb phrases

According to Greenbaum (1996), a verb phrase has as its head a main (or
lexical) verb. The main verb may be preceded by up to four auxiliaries (or
auxiliary verbs).
Ex 3: I took the offer at face value. I didn't think they might be trying to
trick me.
Meaning: to accept something as it appears to be rather than studying it
more closely.
Ex 4: Tôi quý anh Hai là bậc can trƣờng, nên mới dám chọn mặt gửi vàng.
Meaning: to choose a trusted person to give the important, the precious.
c.

Adjective phrases

Greenbaum (1996) also defines an adjective phrase as a phrase that has as its
head an adjective, which may be preceded by premodifies and followed by post
modifiers.
Ex 5: Why are you always bad-mouthing the medical profession?
Meaning: to say unpleasant things about someone or sth.
Ex 6: Sau khi nghe Mai nói rõ đầu đi câu chuyện, Thắng ngồi câm
miệng hến, khơng dám nói câu nào.
Meaning: silently, without saying a word.
d.

Adverb phrases
8


An adverb phrase is defined by Greenbaum (1996) as a phrase that has as its
head an adverb, which may be preceded by premodifiers and (less commonly)
followed by postmodifiers.
Ex 7: My phone was stolen from right under my nose.
Meaning: (of an action) committed openly and boldly, but without
someone noticing or noticing in time to prevent it.
e.

Prepositional phrase

In The Oxford English Grammar, Greenbaum (1996) defines the prepositional
phrase as a phrase that consists of two constituents as a preposition and the
complement of the preposition. Prepositional complements are chiefly noun
phrases, -ing participle clauses, and wh-clauses.
Ex 8: Software that would do lots of boring calculations in the blink of
an eye.

Meaning: very quickly.
1.2.3.2. Sentences
According to Greenbaum (1996), the canonical sentence consists of one or more
grammatically complete clauses. That is to say, each clause contains the
constituents that must be present according to the general rules for constructing
clauses (subject, verb, and complements of the verb, except that the understood
subject you are generally omitted in imperative sentences).
a.

Simple sentences

According to Quirk and Greenbaum (1985), a simple sentence is a sentence that
consists of the only one clause. The clause patterns of simple sentences are
correspondent to the seven clause types.
Ex 9: When she saw the amount written on the cheque, her eyes nearly
popped out of her head.
Meaning: a way of describing the way you look when you are extremely
surprised to see something or someone.
In Vietnamese, Từ điển bách khoa Việt Nam (1995, p. 383) defines a simple
sentence as a sentence with a core consisting of two components subject and
9


predicate or consisting of one word or phrase as the core with the function of
announcement and expression. (The researcher‘s translation) (câu có nịng cốt
gồm hai thành phần chủ ngữ và vị ngữ hoặc gồm một từ, một cụm từ làm nịng
cốt có chức năng thơng báo, biểu cảm.)
Ex 10: Thờn bơn méo miệng chê chai lệch mồm.
Meaning: to refer to people who do not see their weaknesses but also
criticize others.

b.

Compound sentences

According to Quirk (1985), a compound sentence consists of two or more
coordinated main clauses. The clauses of a compound sentence have equivalent
function and are linked together by such coordinators as ―for‖, ―and‖, ―nor‖, ―but‖,
―or‖, ―yet‖. The two main clauses in the following figure are equal constituents of
the sentence, and are linked by the coordinator ―but‖.
Ex 11: Fields have eyes, and woods have ears.
Meaning: even though you are outside in an apparently empty landscape,
someone may be eavesdropping on you.
In Vietnamese, Từ điển bách khoa Việt Nam (1995, p. 383) defines a compound
sentence as a sentence with two or more clauses, each with the same structure as
a single sentence, linked together by conjunctions or other syntactic means, or
without conjunctions. (The researcher‘s translation) (câu có hai hoặc nhiều vế,
mỗi vế có kiểu cấu tạo giống câu đơn, liên kết với nhau bằng liên từ hoặc các
phƣơng tiện cú pháp khác, hoặc khơng có liên từ.)
Ex 12: Ai ăn trầu thì nấy đỏ mơi.
Meaning: not to be jealous or envious of others because they are better
than you.
c.

Complex sentences

According to Quirk (1985), a complex sentence is like a simple sentence which
consists of only one main clause, but unlike a simple sentence it has one or more
subordinate clauses functioning as an element of the sentence.
10

Ex 13: He's such an experience performer, he could do a show like this
with his eyes shut.
Meaning: if you say someone could do something with their eyes closed
or with their eyes shut, you mean they can do it very easily.
In Vietnamese, Diep Quang Ban (2004, p. 338) defines a complex sentence
including a part inside a sentence, or is enclosed within a sentence. (The
researcher‘s translation) (một bộ phận nằm bên trong một câu, hay bị bao bên
trong một câu.)
Ex 14: Những ngƣời cƣa sừng xẻ tai, chẳng long tai thì gãy cuống.
Meaning: if the form is not good then surely the inside is not good either.
d.

Comparative Sentences

Quirk and Greenbaum (1985) mentioned comparative sentences as sentences in
which proposition expressed in the super ordinate clauses is compared with a
proposition expressed in the subordinate clauses by means of a comp(amative)
element.
Ex 15: The eye of a master does more work than both his hands.
Ex 16: Tai nghe không bằng mắt thấy.
Meaning: hearing rumors or listening to people speak is not as
trustworthy as you see it with your own eyes.
1.2.3.3. Figures of speech
According to Hoang Tat Truong (1993), words are used literally and
figuratively. Figures of speech are deviations from literal or common forms of
statement. They are picturesque, vivid language appealing to imagination,
making for clearness and easy comprehension.
The basic principles on which the most popular figures of speech are based on
similarity and association. These figures of speech are: metaphor, metonymy

and so on.
a.

Metaphor

11


According to Nguyen Tat Truong (1993), metaphor is the transference of names
based on the association of similarity. In other words, metaphor is a hidden
comparison.
Ex 17: she led with the chin and got her own way most of the time.
Meaning: to behave or speak incautiously.
In Từ điển tiếng Việt (Hoàng Phê, 2002, p. 19), metaphor is defined as ―the use
of words based on implicit association and comparison.‖ (The researcher‘s
translation) (phép dùng từ ngữ dựa trên sự liên tƣởng và so sánh ngầm.)
Ex 18: Anh ta bỏ ngoài tai tất cả lời khun của gia đình và bạn bè để đi
theo cơ ngƣời yêu.
Meaning: people who do not listen, do not pay attention to public opinion
or the advice of others.
b.

Metonymy

In Basic English Lexicology (Nguyễn Tất Trƣờng, 1993), metonymy is defined
as a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is called not by its own name
but rather by the name of something associated in meaning with that thing or
concept.
Ex 19: we count noses at Church conventions.
Meaning: to count people, typically in order to determine the numbers in

a vote.
In Từ điển tiếng Việt (Hoàng Phê, 2002, p. 450), metonymy is defined as ―a
method of using the name of one thing to refer to another, such as taking the
name of the whole to indicate a part, taking the name of the contained to indicate
what is contained.‖ (The researcher‘s translation) (biện pháp dùng tên gọi của sự
vật này để chỉ sự vật khác, nhƣ lấy tên gọi cái toàn thể để chỉ cái bộ phận, lấy
tên gọi cái chứa đựng để chỉ cái đƣợc chứa đựng.)
Ex 20: Cháu bà thế mà cũng hỏng. Chƣa chi đã chiều vợ thế. Sau nó cũng
lại xỏ chân lỗ mũi.
Meaning: to take advantage of emotions to make people follow their will.
c.

Simile
12


A simile is defined by Quinn (1999) as a comparison between two dissimilar
things, usually connected by the words like or as.
Ex 21: She saw the child looking at her with eyes like saucers.
Meaning: to have your eyes opened wide in amazement.
Ex 22: Miệng bà đồng nhƣ lồng chim khƣớu.
Meaning: can't believe superstitions.
d.

Hyperbole

In A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms, Quinn defines hyperbole as an
exaggerated or extravagant expression not meant to be taken literally.
Ex 23: ―We've had a fantastic response!‖ he said, grinning from ear to ear.
Meaning: to look extremely happy.

In Từ điển tiếng Việt (Hoàng Phê, 2002, p. 233), hyperbole is defined as ―the
over-emphasis of a certain aspect of an object or phenomenon in order to attract
attention.‖ (The researcher‘s translation) (―nhấn mạnh quá mức một mặt nào đó
của sự vật, hiện tƣợng để làm cho ngƣời ta chú ý.‖)
Ex 24: Miệng hoả lò ăn hết cơ nghiệp.
Meaning: intentionally disparaging people who eat vulgarly.
e.

Personification

According to Quinn (1999), personification is a figure of speech in which
human qualities are attributed to an inanimate or abstract entity.
Ex 25: Miệng tồ lô làm khổ chân tay.
Meaning: someone who speaks recklessly, leading to disaster for himself.
f.

Antithesis

According to Chisholm (1911), antithesis is a figure of speech involving the
bringing out of a contrast in the ideas by an obvious contrast in the words,
clauses, or sentences, within a parallel grammatical structure.
Ex 26: There is always one who kisses, and one who turns the cheek.
Meaning: one always loves more; in every pair, one is reaching to offer
and one is deciding whether or not to accept.
Ex 27: Tay làm hàm nhai, tay quai miệng trễ.
13


Meaning: you should be independent, self-supporting, do not rely on
anyone.

1.2.3.4. Semantic fields
Semantic fields can be also called lexical field or domain, which refers to the
combination of a bunch of words with interrelated meanings and dominated
under a same concept. (Zhou Weijie, 2001)
A semantic field is ―the organization of related words and expressions into a
system which shows their relationship to one another.‖ (Richards, Platt, &
Weber, 1987, p. 53)
In this study, English and Vietnamese IPCF belong to semantic fields such as
personality, appearance, richness, poverty, love affairs, marriage, sexuality,
action, status, property, human‘s relationship, life experience, life style, advice,
equality, work, place, desire, and ability.


Personality
Ex 28: ―He was taught to keep a stiff upper lip, whatever happens.‖
Meaning: if a person keeps a stiff upper lip, they contain their emotion

and do not let other people see their feelings.
Ex 29: ―Sau khi nghe Mai nói rõ đầu đi câu chuyện, Thắng ngồi câm
miệng hến, khơng dám nói câu nào.‖
Meaning: silently, without saying a word.


Appearance
Ex 30: ―You're a sight for sore eyes!‖
Meaning: person or thing that is very attractive.
Ex 31: ―Mắt phƣợng mày ngài‖
Meaning: beautiful women.



Richness and poverty
Ex 32: ―He has never worked hard for anything because he was born

with a silver spoon in his mouth. His parents brought everything to him
instead.‖
Meaning: to be the son or daughter of a very rich family.
14