A contrastive analysis of proverbs and idioms relating to animals in english and vietnamese equivalents

HUNG YEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

---------------------------------------

GRADUATION PAPER
FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF PROVERBS AND
IDIOMS RELATING TO ANIMALS IN ENGLISH
AND VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS
(PHÂN TÍCH ĐỐI CHIẾU CÁC CÂU TỤC NGỮ,
THÀNH NGỮ LIÊN QUAN ĐẾN CÁC ĐỘNG VẬT
TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ CÁCH BIỂU ĐẠT TƯƠNG
ĐƯƠNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT)

Supervisor: Le Thi Thanh Nga
Student: Dao Thu Ha
Student number: 11317087

Hung Yen-2021


HUNG YEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

---------------------------------------

GRADUATION PAPER
FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF PROVERBS AND
IDIOMS RELATING TO ANIMALS IN ENGLISH
AND VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS
(PHÂN TÍCH ĐỐI CHIẾU CÁC CÂU TỤC NGỮ,
THÀNH NGỮ LIÊN QUAN ĐẾN CÁC ĐỘNG VẬT
TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ CÁCH BIỂU ĐẠT TƯƠNG
ĐƯƠNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT)

Student: Dao Thu Ha
Student number: 11317087
Supervisor: Le Thi Thanh Nga
(ký tên)

Hung Yen-2021


i

DECLARATION
I certify that the study entitled: “A contrastive analysis of proverbs and idioms
relating to animals in English and Vietnamese equivalents” is the result of my research, and
the substance of this thesis has not been submitted for a degree to any other university or
institution.
Signature

Dao Thu Ha


ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
During the whole process of doing this graduation paper, I have taken much
necessary help and assistance from my teachers, family, and friends. I am grateful for all the
efforts, ideas, knowledge, and affection they have invested in me to provide me with this
graduation paper.
First of all, I wish to show my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Ms. Le Thi Thanh
Nga, who has always been willing to assist me with erudite knowledge and valuable advice.
Without her guidance and persistent support for the whole period that we have been working
together, I could not complete this graduation study propitiously and successfully.
My sincere thanks are also sent to the teachers in the Faculty of Foreign Languages
of Hung Yen University of Technology and Education for their useful lessons and wholehearted advice.
In particular, my special thanks to my parents, who always support and encourage
me a lot in all respects.
Last but not least, I would like to thank my classmate for sharing and supporting me
during my study and research work as well.


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ABSTRACT
One of the most typical elements of the implication of culture in the language is the
use of proverbs and idioms. In communicative English, there is a huge number of idioms
and proverbs, and they are used very often in everyday conversation. The use of proverbs
and idioms causes many troubles for English learners because sometimes they are very
confusing. Therefore, English teachers have to teach the students not only knowledge about
the language but also knowledge about English culture so that the students can communicate
well.
Animals play a very important role in many cultures including English culture and
Vietnamese culture. A large portion of proverbs and idioms in English as well as in
Vietnamese contains images of animals. There are some outstanding similarities and

differences between them. By understanding this, English teachers and English learners can
deal with proverbs and idioms much more easily. However, there are so few works focusing
on this issue. For this reason, this paper aims at categorizing the similarities and differences
of proverbs and idioms relating to animals in English and Vietnamese as well as giving out
some explanation. On this basis, it also offers some educational implications for English
teachers and learners to make their teaching and learning more effective.


iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION .................................................................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .....................................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT..........................................................................................................................iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS...................................................................................................... iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATION TERMS................................................................................... vi
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 1
1.1. Rationale ......................................................................................................................... 1
1.2. Aims of the study ............................................................................................................ 2
1.3. Research questions .......................................................................................................... 2
1.4. Scope of the study ........................................................................................................... 2
1.5. Methods of the study....................................................................................................... 3
1.6. Design of the study ......................................................................................................... 3
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................... 4
2.1. An overview of idiom ..................................................................................................... 4
2.1.1. Definitions of idiom ..................................................................................................... 4
2.1.2. Some features of idiom ................................................................................................ 6
2.1.3. Types of Idiom ............................................................................................................. 8
2.2. An overview of proverb .................................................................................................. 9
2.2.1. Definitions of proverb .................................................................................................. 9

2.2.2. Some features of proverb ........................................................................................... 10
2.2.3. Classification of proverb ............................................................................................ 11
2.3. An overview of animals ................................................................................................ 12
2.3.1. Definition of animals ................................................................................................. 12
2.3.2. Some characteristics of animals ................................................................................. 12
2.4. Proverb versus idiom .................................................................................................... 12
2.5. Relationship between language and culture.................................................................. 14
2.6. Relationship between proverb, idiom and language, culture ........................................ 15
CHAPTER 3: THE STUDY ................................................................................................ 17
3.1. Comparison between English and Vietnamese proverbs and idioms through cultural
perspective with animal images ........................................................................................... 17
3.1.1. Culture's influence ..................................................................................................... 17


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3.1.1.1. Agricultural culture ................................................................................................. 17
3.1.1.2. Nomadic culture ...................................................................................................... 19
3.1.2. The cross-cultural differences .................................................................................... 21
3.1.2.1. Religious beliefs ..................................................................................................... 21
3.1.2.2. Custom .................................................................................................................... 24
3.2. Animal epithet in English-Vietnamese idioms and proverbs ....................................... 26
3.2.1. The same symbolism and expression of animals in English and in Vietnamese ....... 26
3.2.2. The different symbolism but same expression of animals in English and in
Vietnamese........................................................................................................................... 28
3.3. Similarities and differences of English-Vietnamese idioms and proverbs about human
characteristics through the images of animals ..................................................................... 30
3.3.1. Similarities between English-Vietnamese idioms and proverbs................................ 30
3.3.1.1. Similarities between English-Vietnamese idioms .................................................. 30
3.3.1.2. Similarities between English-Vietnamese proverbs ............................................... 31

3.3.2. Differences between English-Vietnamese idioms and proverbs ............................... 32
3.3.2.1. Differences between English-Vietnamese idioms .................................................. 32
3.3.2.2. Differences between English-Vietnamese proverbs ............................................... 33
3.4. Suggestions for teaching and learning English proverbs and idioms relating to animals
............................................................................................................................................. 33
3.4.1. Suggestions for teaching English proverbs and idioms ............................................. 33
3.4.2. Suggestions for learning English proverbs and idioms ............................................. 34
CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION ............................................................................................ 35
4.1. Summary of the study ................................................................................................... 35
4.2. Limitation of the study .................................................................................................. 35
4.3. Suggestions for further study ........................................................................................ 35
REFERENCES .................................................................................................................... 36


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LIST OF ABBREVIATION TERMS
BC: Before Christ
MA: Master of Arts
SPI: Serial Peripheral Interface


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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
Nowadays, together with the growth of global connection, the English language has
become more and more important. Especially in Vietnam, learning English seems to be one
of the main tasks of students. In this process, they encounter a large number of difficulties.
One of them is understanding idioms, and proverbs. It is important to note that every country

or nation has its idioms and proverbs, while many idioms and proverbs have synonyms in
several countries, which speaks to the same human nature in many cultures. Learning the
specific idioms related to a certain culture helps you learn more about the history, customary
beliefs, social forms, and material traits of it. Idioms and proverbs make a language more
interesting and vibrant. Mastering idioms and proverbs mean you are using and
understanding the language more as a native speaker would. As for English learners,
effectively communicating with others especially native speakers is the ultimate goal. And
we cannot reach that goal if we pay little or even no attention to the idioms, proverbs. So
grasping the use of idioms, proverbs is an essential part of English study. You will find them
in newspapers, books, magazines, on the radio, on the television, in everyday conversation,
and at work. However, most Vietnamese learners are taught English mainly with the
knowledge of the language, not culturally appropriate factors embedded in the teaching
language. They speak English without an understanding of English communication manner.
They write English with little knowledge of English cultural background. Consequently, it
causes misunderstanding or even communicative breakdown. Clearly, without cultural
appropriateness, learning English in general and learning English proverbs and idioms, in
particular, seems to be a challenging process. Each nation’s language has its own similar and
different concepts in many fields of life such as humane values, ways of thinking, behavior
standards, religious beliefs, customs and traditions, social convention, etc. Words and
expressions including idioms and proverbs have formed the vocabulary system of a
language. Idioms and proverbs are regarded as special factors of a language’s vocabulary
system because they reflect the culturally specific characteristics of each nation, including
material and spiritual values. Idioms and proverbs are used to express ideas in figurative
styles. They bring vividness and richness to the speakers’ speeches. This is the reason why
the more skillfully a person uses idioms and proverbs in his conversations, the more
effectively he can establish his communicative relationship. One more important thing is


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that the general present tendencies are towards proverbial and idiomatic usage; therefore,
knowing how to use idioms and proverbs effectively in the right situations is becoming
essential. We all know that language is the most important means of communication in the
world. However, only when both the speakers and the listeners have a common
understanding of each other, can they communicate effectively. Language and culture go
together like the two sides of a paper; they are inseparable. In communication as well as in
language teaching, the cultural elements are getting more and more important.
Being interested in idioms and proverbs for a long time, the author choose idioms
and proverbs as a thesis topic. Due to the limited time and knowledge, the author just focus
on a very small part of the huge idiomatic and proverbial treasure, “ A contrastive analysis
of proverbs and idioms relating to animals in English and Vietnamese equivalents”.
Intending to present an overview of proverbs and idioms in general and a contrastive analysis
of proverbs and idioms relating to animals in English and Vietnamese in particular, the
author hope it will partly help learners avoid difficulties in understanding English proverbs
and idioms
1.2. Aims of the study
The aims of the study:
- To investigate the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese proverbs
and idioms denoting human characteristics through images of animals.
- To provide some suggestions for the teaching and learning of the English proverbs and
idioms relating to animals.
1.3. Research questions
- What are the similarities and differences of English and Vietnamese idioms and proverbs
about human characteristics through the images of animals?
- What are suggestions for the teaching and learning of English proverbs and idioms relating
to animals?
1.4. Scope of the study
- Proverbs and idioms are large parts in both English and Vietnamese; thus the author can
not carry out a comprehensive study on them; thus, the author just focuses on some proverbs
and idioms relating to animals.

- In this study, the differences in the view from culture, custom, and religion are extensively
discussed; English idioms and proverbs denoting human characteristics through the images


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of animals are compared with Vietnamese ones.
- All English and Vietnamese proverbs and idioms are collected from dictionaries, books;
hence, this research may not cover all proverbs and idioms relating to animals, just those of
common use.
1.5. Methods of the study
- Collecting materials from the internet, reference books, dictionaries, and books of
languages, idioms, proverbs, metaphor, magazines, newspapers, etc in both English and
Vietnamese in which whatever relating to an idioms and proverbs expression containing
‘animals’ is taken into consideration.
- Comparative analysis to point out similarities and differences between English proverbs
and idioms related to animals and Vietnamese ones.
1.6. Design of the study
The study begins with acknowledgment, abstract, declaration, table of content.
The main body of the study is divided into 4 chapters:
Chapter 1: Introduction
Including the rationale, aims of the study, methods of the study, scope of the study, research
questions, and design of the study.
Chapter 2: Literature review
Providing an overview of idioms and proverbs, characteristics and kinds of idioms and
proverbs. Study the relationship between idiom, proverb, and language, culture.
Chapter 3: The study
Comparing cultural characteristics between English- Vietnamese idioms and proverbs
relating to animals and point out similarities and differences between English- Vietnamese
idioms. Then give suggestions for teaching and learning English proverbs and idioms related

to animals.
Chapter 4: Conclusion
Giving a summary of the research, limitation of the study, and suggestions for further study
The study ends with the “ References”.


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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. An overview of idiom
2.1.1. Definitions of idiom
Vietnamese idioms
o According to Hoang Phe (1988, p. 882): “The idioms is a set of used fixed words
that the meaning of which cannot be explained simply by the meaning of the words
that make up it.”
o According to Nguyen Thien Giap (1975, p. 43): “Idioms are identifiers that denote
certain concepts based on specific images and symbols.”
o According to Nguyen Dinh Hung (2007, p. 10), in Vietnamese, idioms frequently
use fixed expressions; grammatically, they are not complete sentences, which
means they are only words or phrases. Idioms do not show any comments,
experiences, ethnical lesson, or critics, so they often have a figurative function,
not an educational function. For example, in Vietnamese, we say “mặt hoa da
phấn”. This idiom only brings us a picture of a beautiful and charming woman but
not a lesson about ethics or critics.
Most idioms are formed from incomplete meaning words; they cannot stand alone
but in a sentence. Vietnamese idioms are often used in proverbs, folk songs, or literary
works. That makes idioms meaningful only when they are in sentences. Take this as
an example, “công dã tràng”, at least, it has to be in sentence: “đúng là công dã tràng”
or “chuyện anh làm chỉ là công dã tràng”. Instead of expressing an idea literally,
people tend to use the idiom to make their speech more beautifully or funnier. For

example, to express the idea of a person who sometimes works, sometimes does not,
we use this idiom “hắn ta đi làm bữa đực bữa cái”.
Idioms use brief expressions based on stories, folk tales, or classic references,
which happened a long time ago. Now we encounter a similar situation, thus by
hearing those idioms, the listener knows exactly what the speaker means. Many
Vietnamese idioms are borrowed from Chinese idioms; however, Vietnamese cleverly
transformed those Chinese idioms into the Vietnamese way of talking. For example,
“huynh đệ thủ túc”, in Vietnamese, we have this equivalence “anh em như thể tay
chân”.
English idiom


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

According to Cambridge Dictionary: “an idiom is a group of words in a fixed order
that have a particular meaning that is different from the meanings of each word on
its own”.



According to Seidl and McMordie (1988, p. 12): “an idiom is some words that, taken
together, meaning something different from the individual words of the idiom when
they stand alone. How the words are put together is often odd, illogical or even
grammatically incorrect”.



According to Wright (2000, p. 4), words do not just come individually; they also

come in expressions- in a group. Idioms are among the most common of these
expressions. Idioms themselves have grammar. Some idiomatic expressions are
fixed and cannot be changed such as :
Two heads are better than one
(Ba anh thợ gia bằng Gia Cát Lượng)
However, in most cases, we can change the tense and the pronoun such as I am/She
is/We are all at sixes and sevens.



According to Wright (2000, p.7), the idiom is an expression with the following
features. Firstly, the idiom is fixed and is recognized by native speakers. We cannot
make up our idioms. The second feature is that the idiom uses language in a nonliteral-metaphor-way. Take these idioms as examples.
Tin is up to his eyes in work now
At the meeting, I felt a bit out of my depth
I was over the moon when I heard she’d had twins
It broke my mother’s heart to see her home burnt to the ground.
If you are up to your eyes, it means you are very busy. When a person is out of her
or his depth, he/she might be in the sea but he/she is more likely to be in a
circumstance that he/she cannot comprehend for some reasons. If you are over the
moon, you are extremely joyful about something. If something breaks your heart,
you are very gloomy about it.
In these examples, it is clear that the idiom is a whole expression. This is the

traditional view of idioms.
Idiom regularly has a stronger meaning than non-idiomatic phrases. For instance,


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“look daggers at someone” has more highlighting meaning than look angrily at someone,
although they signify a similar thing. The idiom may also imply a particular attitude of the
person using them, for example, disapproval, humor, irritation, or admiration.
The common use of idioms in daily life makes them very important. It is nearly
impossible to speak, read or listen to English without meeting idioms. Secondly, the
metaphorical meaning of a word is more common today than its literal meaning. However,
knowing its literal meaning is essential as it helps us visualize other meanings, making them
easier to understand. The last reason why idioms are so important is that they are fun to learn
and to use. If the language you want to learn is more colorful and interesting, there is more
chance that we will remember it clearly. Our English will sound more natural.
2.1.2. Some features of idiom
The idiom is characterized by a variety of features, but they can be divided into two
categories: semantic and syntactic peculiarities.
In terms of semantic peculiarities, Jackson and Amvela (2000, p. 67) indicate that
idiom has “ambiguity”, which means that idiom may have either a literal or idiomatic
meaning. For example,
If someone “beats a dead horse”, they may be in the process of striking the carcass
of an animal (literal meaning); or they may be wasting time discussing a matter that has
already been closed (idiomatic meaning). Similarly, “To sit on the fence” can mean that one
is sitting on a fence “I sat on the fence and watched the game”; whereas its idiomatic
meaning that one is not making the clear choice regarding some issue “The politician sat on
the fence and would not give his opinion about the tax issue”. However, once a reader or
hearer realizes that a given expression is an idiom, even if they are not sure of its exact
meaning, they will automatically discard the literal meaning of the expression, and seek an
idiomatic meaning. Furthermore, the context in which the idiom occurs also plays an
important role in the reduction of this potential ambiguity.
Another noticeable semantic feature of the idiom is affirmed by Cruse (1986, p.37):
“although an idiom consists of more than one word, it displays to some extent the sort of
internal cohesion that we expect of single a word.
In order words, idiom may be characterized as “a lexical complex, which is

semantically simplex”. And this semantic integrity of idiom leads to its lexical integrity. It
means that idiom has several syntactic (grammatical) constraints:


7



The first constraints are on replacements or substitutions. Fernando (c.1996, pp. 4345) shows that an idiom may be varied in terms of number and tense (inflectional
changes) or the replacement of one structure word like an article by another or by
zero. He gives some examples:
“ He smelt a rat and he kept mum” (past tense, past time)
( The Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English 1983)
“ Everybody smells a rat in a doctored obituary, even the window”
(Present tense indicating a timeless truth)
( The Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English 1983)
However, these replacements can be only applied to a small number of idioms. In

general, most idioms are indivisible units whose components can’t be varied. Some do not
permit pluralization like in “kick the buckets” (kick the bucket) or “smell the rats” (smell a
rat); some do not permit singularization such as “twiddle one’s thumb” (twiddle one’s
thumbs) or “ raining a cat and a dog” (raining cats and dogs). Besides, the replacement of
characteristic lexis in the idiom isn’t possible even synonymous words. For example, in “we
look forward to meeting you”, “look” can not be replaced by “see” or “watch”. Hence, “we
see/watch forward to meeting you” is not idiomatic. Similarly, in “wash one’s dirty linen in
public”, ‘linen’ can not be replaced by ‘socks’, neither can ‘thought’ be replaced by ‘idea’
in ‘have second thoughts.


Idiom also resists re-ordering of its parts. We consider “ John kicked the bucket”. In

the literal sense, this expression has a passive variant, “ The bucket was kicked by
John”. But in its idiomatic use, i.e. when “kicked the bucket” means “died”, the
expression does not allow the use of the corresponding passive alternative. Other
changes of the order of the words like in “The short and the long of it” (The long
and the short) or in “What Peter pulled was his sister’s leg” (What Peter did
was pull his sister’s leg) are impossible.



Additions and deletions are also not normally permitted within the idiom. Thus, we
can’t say“To pull someone’s left leg” and “To kick the large bucket”, they have no
normal idiomatic interpretation because of the addition of ‘left’and‘large’,
whereas ‘straight from horse’s mouth’ and ‘turn a new leaf’ are both unacceptable
because ‘the’ and‘over’ have been omitted.


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Such constraints make idiom fixed or invariant and separate them from non-idiom.
Cruse (c.1986, p. 38) recognizes another feature of idiom which shows its status as
phrases in a way that “if idiom may be inflected, the inflectional affixes are carried by
the grammatically appropriate elements within the idiom, whether or not they are
semantic constituents; that is to say, the elements of idiom retain at least some of their
grammatical identity.”
“ John has a bee in his bonnet about many things”
(John luôn bận tâm về mọi thứ)
(*John has bees-in-his bonnets about many things)”; this expression is wrong because the
grammatical appropriate elements “ have a bee in one’s about something” is invariant, it
does not permit pluralization.
2.1.3. Types of Idiom

Fernando (1996, p. 35-36) states that idiom can be divided into three sub-classes:
pure idiom, semi-idiom, and literal idiom.
- A pure idiom is “a type of conventionalized, non-literal multiword expression”; that is to
say the meaning of a pure idiom has nothing to do with the meaning of its constituents.
Hence, “spill the beans” has nothing to do with ‘beans’. In contrast to its literal counterpart
meaning, “letting fall leguminous seeds”, a non-literal meaning is imposed on the idiom as
a whole: “commit an indiscretion”.
- A semi-idiom “has one or more literal constituents and at least one with a non-literal sub
sense, usually special to that co-occurrence relation and no other”. Examples of semi-idiom
are “catch one’s breath” (check one’s breath) or “foot the bill” (pay the bill) in which “catch”
and “foot” are non-literal constituents.
- Literal idiom (on foot, waste not, want not, on the contrary, a happy birthday, a merry
Christmas and a happy New Year, etc.) “meet the salient criterion for idiom: invariance or
restricted variation. They are, however, less semantically complex than pure and semiidiom”.
Based on structures, Arnold (1986, p. 172) classifies idioms according to parts of
speech. This is also called syntactical classification. Thus, idioms are categorized into seven
types as follows: nominal idioms such as “the last straw” (the final problem in a series of
problems); verbal idioms such as “to cut corners” (to do something in the easiest, cheapest,
or fastest way); adjectival idioms, e.g. “hale and hearty” (healthy and strong); adverbial


9

idioms like “on balance” (after considering all aspects or opinions); prepositional idioms
such as “about” (as concerns; concerning); conjunctional idioms like “on the other hand”
(in a way that is different from the first thing mentioned) and interjectional idioms such as
“God bless you!” (good luck).
In terms of functions, Koonin (1970, p.140) classifies idioms into four main
categories: nominative idioms denoting objects, actions, qualities… such as “a red-letter
day” (a very important day); nominative-communicative idioms as verbal word groups that

can be converted into a sentence such as “to make waves” (to cause a wide impact on a group
or society in general); interjectional idioms functioning as exclamational phraseological
units to express feelings and emotions, e.g. “get stuffed!” ( go away); and communicative
idioms being similar to proverbs and concrete sayings, appearing as full sentences, e.g.
“never look a gift horse in the mouth” (if someone offers you a gift, don’t question it).
2.2. An overview of proverb
2.2.1. Definitions of proverb
A proverb has been defined in many ways, but there is no standard definition that can
be used to study all aspects of it. Here are some definitions of the proverb from Vietnamese
and foreign researchers.


Lord John Russell (c.1850) observed poetically that a “proverb is the wit of one, and
the wisdom of many”( quoted by Wolfgang Mieder, 1993, p. 25). But giving the word
“proverb” the sort of definition theorists need has proven to be a difficult task, and
although scholars often quote.



Archer Taylor's argument that formulating a scientific “definition of a proverb is too
difficult to repay the undertaking”. An incommunicable quality tells us this sentence
is proverbial and that one is not. Hence no definition will enable us to identify
positively a sentence as proverbial”( Archer Taylor, 1931, p. 3), many students of
proverbs have attempted to itemize their essential characteristics.



Mieder has proposed the following definition, "A proverb is a short, generally known
sentence of the folk which contains wisdom, truth, morals, and traditional views in a
metaphorical, fixed, and memorizable form and which is handed down from

generation to generation" (Wolfgang Mieder, 1993, p. 5).



As defined by the website Wikipedia: “Proverbs, a genre of traditional literature,
are created by collating the experience and knowledge of the people into short,


10

concise, rhyming, easy-to-remember, easy-to-communicate sentences”.


In "Tục ngữ Việt Nam", when referring to the meaning of proverbs, Chu Xuan Dien
(1975, p. 197) wrote: "A proverb usually has two meanings: literal and figurative".
This is a concept that many people agree with.



Hoang Tien Tuu (1999, p.132). He said: “Some proverbs have only one meaning.”
Example:
Khoai ưa lạ, mạ ưa quen
Một búi cỏ, một giỏ phân
But the part of proverbs with multiple meanings is quite large, high quality, and the
most typical part of this genre. According to him: “proverbs can be divided into two
basic categories: the simple type and the polymorphic type. Proverbs of the simple
type are those that can only be understood in literal meaning."
Mưa tháng bảy gãy cành trám
Dao thử trầu héo, kéo thử lụa sô
Although the above definitions are different in some ways, they still have similarities:

a saying expressing a truth, moral instruction, or giving advice.
2.2.2. Some features of proverb
According to the website ReadWriteThink proverb have some following features
such as:


Proverbs are passed down through time with little change in form.



Proverbs are often used metaphorically and it is in understanding their metaphorical
nature that we can unravel their meaning. While “a stitch in time saves nine” ( used
to say that it is better to fix a problem when it is small than to wait and let it become
a bigger problem), “don’t count your chickens before they’ve hatched” (someone
should not depend on something hoped for until he or she knows for certain that it
will happen) and “don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater”( don't discard
something valuable along with something undesirable) are common proverbs, few
of us stitch clothes, count chickens, or throw out the bathwater.



Proverbs often make use of grammatical and rhetorical devices that help make them
memorable, including alliteration, rhyme, parallel structure, repetition of keywords
or phrases, and strong imagery.


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2.2.3. Classification of proverb

The categorization is one outlined by Norrick (Norrick. N. R 1985), who analyzed a
sample of the proverbs from the oxford dictionary of English Proverbs. He developed a more
empirically oriented and less grandiose schematization that categorizes proverbs according
to the type of figuration they use. He distinguished five types of figurative proverbs:
synecdoche, metaphoric, metonymic, hyperbolic, and paradoxical. It must be mentioned that
in Norrick's words figurative proverbs have figurative meanings that differ from their literal
meaning (quoted by website ):
Synecdoche Proverbs
The proverbs in which the literal reading and standard proverbial interpretation or SPI “
stand in a relation of macrocosm to microcosm”. These include examples such as:
The early bird catches the worm
( Emphasizes the importance of starting something early to maximize the potential outcome)
Make hay while the sun shines
(To take advantage of favorable conditions, to make the most of an opportunity when it is
available)
In these proverbs, the literal meaning is quite different from the figurative meaning.
Metaphoric Proverbs
In metaphoric proverbs, a nominal becomes metaphoric due to its interaction with another
proverb constituent, or the nominal symbolize some characteristic attribute. An example of
the first is, Favor will as surely perish as life and of the second, Fair play is a jewel.
Metonymic Proverbs
This type of proverb is based on the association between something literally named and the
thing intended. One example of a metonymic proverb is ''who has a fair wife needs more
than two eyes'' in which the eye stands metonymically for the ''sight''.
Hyperbolic Proverbs
According to Norrick ''hyperbole has traditionally been considered a rhetorical figure along
with, if not quite of the same importance of synecdoche, metaphor, and metonymy''.
Hyperbole counts as amplification. Amplification says more than necessary. For example,
the proverb ''faint heart never won fair lady'' is a hyperbolic proverb due to the existence of
never in it.

Paradoxical Proverbs


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Proverbs in which there is a contradiction or whose interpretation entails a logical
contradiction are considered paradoxical proverbs. Paradoxical proverbs have a “second
interpretation”. An example of the paradoxical proverb is “fair is not fair, but that which
please”. The first clause of this proverb asserts a clear logical contradiction. The proverb “a
man’s house is heaven and hell as well” is a paradoxical proverb as well.
2.3. An overview of animals
2.3.1. Definition of animals
The definition of animals on the website Wikipedia is as follows:
Animals (also called Metazoa) are multicellular eukaryotic organisms that form the
biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material,
breathe oxygen, can move, can reproduce sexually, and grow from a hollow sphere of cells,
the blastula, during embryonic development. Over 1.5 million living animal species have
been described of which around 1 million are insects but it has been estimated there are over
7 million animal species in total. They have complex interactions with each other and their
environments, forming intricate food webs. The scientific study of animals is known as
zoology.
Humans make use of many other animal species, such as for food (including meat,
milk, and eggs), for materials (such as leather and wool), as pets, and as working animals
including for transport. Dogs have been used in hunting, as have birds of prey, while many
terrestrial and aquatic animals were hunted for sports. Nonhuman animals have appeared in
art from the earliest times and are featured in mythology and religion.
2.3.2. Some characteristics of animals
According to the website Wikipedia, animals have some features as:
Animals have several characteristics that set them apart from other living things.
Animals are eukaryotic and multicellular. Unlike plants and algae, which produce their

nutrients animals are heterotrophic, feeding on organic material and digesting it internally.
With very few exceptions, animals respire aerobically. All animals are motile (able to
spontaneously move their bodies) during at least part of their life cycle, but some animals,
such as sponges, corals, mussels, and barnacles, later become sessile. The blastula is a stage
in embryonic development that is unique to most animals, allowing cells to be differentiated
into specialized tissues and organs.
2.4. Proverb versus idiom


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Vu Ngoc Phan (2000, p. 39) considered a proverb as “a complete saying expressing
one idea of comment, experience, morality, justice or criticism”. It is easy to find that idioms
and proverb have much in common and it comes as no surprise that they are traditionally
studied together. The first one is that both idiom and proverb are ready-made. They are
products of human 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 idiom and proverb are set-expressions with stable and components are
not substituted. 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 idiom
or 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
metaphorically use language. We cannot usually discover their meanings by looking up the
individual words in a dictionary; their meanings must be understood metaphorically.
Besides those similarities, both of them still own typical features that distinguish one
from the other. The first and most obvious difference lies in their grammatical structures.
The idiom is a phrase that is a part of a sentence; thus, it is equivalent to words only.
The proverb is a complete sentence or a phrase expressing the whole idea. Moreover,
idioms and proverbs are also different in terms of their functions. The proverb is a wellknown short saying that expresses a judgment, states a general truth about life, or gives
advice; it is 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 appreciate the bad effects of money, which can become
the primary power in society, even controlling the most inanimate objects. The educational
function is to criticize the negative side of money and urge 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, the idiom does not express judgments, give advice, or state
general truth about life, which means it does not have functions of perception and education
but only aesthetic function. For example, the idiom “to eat like a horse “ merely describes
the ability to eat strongly of someone because of great hunger in the figurative and imaginary
way and does not point out any educational lesson or knowledge of life.
In short, besides their common things, the idiom is distinguished from a proverb by


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its structures and functions.
2.5. Relationship between language and culture
Language is a creative product of humankind that helps to distinguish them from
other creatures on the earth and that serves the main purpose of communication. Language
is not occurring in isolation because human beings are not separate islands in the world of
social activities. The relationship between language and culture is deeply rooted. Language
is used to maintain and convey culture and cultural ties. Different ideas stem from differing
language use within one’s culture and the whole intertwining of these relationships starts at
one’s birth.
It is shown that the word ‘culture’ is used frequently in our daily life but ‘culture’ is
not easily defined, nor is there a consensus among scholars, philosophers, and politicians
(nor, probably, among the rest of us) as to what exactly the concept should include. The early
1990s saw no agreement among anthropologists regarding the nature of culture, despite a
century of attempts to do so.

Another common way of understanding culture is seeing it as consisting of three
elements: values, norms, artifacts. Values comprise ideas about what in life seems important.
They guide the rest of the culture. Norms consist of expectations of how people will behave
in different situations. Each culture has different methods, called sanctions, of enforcing its
norms. Sanctions vary with the importance of the norm; norms that society enforces formally
have the status of laws. Artifacts-things or material culture-derive from the culture’s values
and norms.
“No culture is good or bad, just different!”. And there is a famous quote from
Mahatma Gandhi “No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive”. Nguyen Quang (1998,
p. 3) also emphasizes “it is best not to overemphasize either culture differences or cultural
similarities”. Those who say, “We are all alike; we’re all human” deny the shape and flavor
that cultures contribute to individual development. Those who say, “We’re so different that
we must stay separate” create harmful barriers by closing their eyes to what is common to
every human being”.
Culture does not belong to any single person but all people. Nguyen Quang (1998,
p. 3) in “Intercultural Communication” describes “culture’ as “ a shared background (for
example, national, ethnic, religious) resulting from a common language and communication
style, customs, beliefs, attitudes, and values”.


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What we can derive from these points of view is that the language of a community is
a part of a manifestation of its culture as Goodenogh’s word “ the relationship of language
to culture is that of a part to whole”. Language and communication modality (verbal,
gesture, written) are examples of elements that form and shape culture. Kramsch (1998, p.3)
clarifies the correlation between language and culture by emphasizing three functions of
language related to culture. They are “expressing cultural reality, embodying cultural reality
and symbolizing cultural reality”.
In its turn, culture influences how language is used. Culture is the final arbiter of

meaning or linguistic meaning is entirely determined by the cultural context in which the
language occurs.
In conclusion, there is a close relationship between language and culture; knowledge
of the target culture remains an important part of language learning, especially at higher
levels. That is the reason why culture learning should always go hand in hand with language
learning though it may take a longer time and make language teaching and learning more
challenging than ever.
2.6. Relationship between proverb, idiom and language, culture
In Richard’s terms (Richards 1992): “language is often described of having three
main functions: descriptive, expressive, and social”. Proverbs and idioms are part of
language and they have all functions of a language. Proverb not only has a descriptive
function, that is, the function of conveying factual information, but also has expressive
function i.e. to express people’s feelings, preferences, prejudices, etc. It implies many things
such as advice astonishment, experience, and morality. The proverb also has a social
function because it reflects relations between people in society.
Language reflects thought. Language has an obvious effect on thought, as clearly
shown in the vocabulary system and structure of language. “Culture is an integral part of
the interaction between language and thought. Cultural patterns, customs and ways of life
are expressed in language; cultural specific world views are reflected in language”( Brown
1986, p.45).
Language, culture, and thought are all different, but none can exist without each other
in the long run. Proverbs and idioms not only belong to a language but also reflect much of
its culture. In other words, they are considered to be a mirror reflecting social-cultural
traditions in the most reliable ways. Based on all these factors, we can conclude that there is


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a strong connection between language, culture, and proverbs. Both proverb and idiom reflect
values, beliefs across culture.

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CHAPTER 3: THE STUDY
3.1. Comparison between English and Vietnamese proverbs and idioms through
cultural perspective with animal images
3.1.1. Culture's influence
According to the website />Culture is a product of people and nature. Thus the origin of all deep cultural
differences is due to differences in natural (climate geography) and social (economic)
conditions. No matter the period of civilization, there are two basic forms of culture: the
agricultural culture and the nomadic culture.
3.1.1.1. Agricultural culture
Habitats in the East (namely Southeast Asia, South China) are hot, wet, rainy lands,
and monsoons, creating long rivers with rich plains, intricate rivers suitable for cultivation.
After long periods of hunter-gatherer life, they moved to an agricultural lifestyle, a sedentary
lifestyle.
Buffaloes and cows are the most popular animals among Vietnamese farmers
because they provide meat, milk, and to some extent the means of transport. So these two
words appear many times in proverbs and idioms. The buffalo and cow are considered the
biggest asset of a peasant family as:
Con trâu là đầu cơ nghiệp
(the buffalo is close and important to the farmer's life)
Con trâu đi trước, cái cày đi sau
(refers to the material of the farmer)
Mất bò mới lo làm chuồng
(it was too late to regret it when it happened, it was too late to save it)
Ăn cơm thịt bị lo ngay ngáy, ăn cơm cáy thì ngáy o o
(saying that being rich is not necessarily happy)
Vietnamese people use the image of a buffalo to refer to the good qualities of a farmer

such as diligence, hard-working (làm việc như trâu), healthy (khỏe như trâu), bravery (có
ăn có chọi mới gọi là trâu), not afraid of hardship (trâu hay chẳng ngại cày trưa), ready to
support (trâu béo kéo trâu giầy).
In the past, three important things for men were "buying buffalo, getting married,
building a house". Buying a buffalo before marriage and building a house shows that a