idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in english and vietnamese a contrastive analysis and teaching implications = phân tích đối chiếu và gợi ý giảng dạy các thành ngữ chỉ sự thông minh và hiểu biết

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES


NGUYỄN THỊ KIM OANH

IDIOMS DENOTING “INTELLIGENCE AND UNDERSTANDING” IN
ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE: A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS AND
TEACHING IMPLICATIONS

PHÂN TÍCH ĐỐI CHIẾU VÀ GỢI Ý GIẢNG DẠY CÁC THÀNH NGỮ CHỈ SỰ
THÔNG MINH HIỂU BIẾT TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field : English Linguistics
Code : 60 22 02 01




HANOI – 2014
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES


NGUYỄN THỊ KIM OANH

IDIOMS DENOTING “INTELLIGENCE AND UNDERSTANDING” IN

ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE: A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS AND
TEACHING IMPLICATIONS

PHÂN TÍCH ĐỐI CHIẾU VÀ GỢI Ý GIẢNG DẠY CÁC THÀNH NGỮ CHỈ SỰ
THÔNG MINH HIỂU BIẾT TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field : English Linguistics
Code : 60 22 02 01
Supervisor : Nguyễn Huy Kỷ, Ph.D.



HANOI – 2014
i

DECLARATION
I, Nguyễn Thị Kim Oanh, hereby certify that the thesis entitled Idioms denoting
“Intelligence and understanding” in English and Vietnamese: A contrastive
analysis and teaching implication is my own study in the fulfillment of the
requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at VNU University of Languages and
International Studies.
Hanoi, July, 2014

Nguyễn Thị Kim Oanh

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Apart from the efforts of myself, the success of any study depends largely on
the encouragement and guidelines of many others. I take this opportunity to express
my gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the successful completion
of this MA thesis. I would like to show my greatest appreciation to Dr. Nguyễn Huy
Kỷ for his valuable instructions, critical but constructive criticisms, his share of
personal experience and expertise. I also would like to send my sincere thanks to all
the teachers in M.A course at VNU University of Languages and International
Studies for their training and their assistance that has helped me to complete this
thesis. Last but not least, my profound thanks and deep gratitude go to my family
and my friends for their valuable support and encouragement.

iii

ABSTRACT
Although great attention has been paid to idioms by researchers and linguists
in Vietnam as well as in the world, there has been no study conducted on idioms
denoting intelligence and understanding in English and Vietnamese. This is the
reason for the author‟s choice of the study. This thesis has two major purposes: (1)
to find out not only the syntactic but also semantic similarities as well as differences
in the idioms of this type in English and Vietnamese, and (2) to give some teaching
implications for teachers English.
In order to fulfill the objectives of the study, contrastive analysis method was
used. Moreover, 50 English and 50 Vietnamese idioms were collected various
sources, mainly from dictionaries. They were then carefully analyzed with the main
focus on their syntactic and semantic features.
The results of the analysis mentioned above shows that although the idioms
under investigation share some similarities, they have notable and interesting
differences in terms of their syntactic features especially with regard to their clause
and phrase patterns as well as their semantic ones. The study suggests that the
above-mentioned idioms in English are more difficult to learn than their Vietnamese
counterparts. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the teaching of these
idioms, especially to such factors as the number of idioms, student level and
frequency of practice.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration i
Acknowledgements ii
Abstract iii
Table of contents iv
PART A: INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale of the study 1
2. Objectives of the study 2
3. Research questions 2
4. Significance of the study 2
5. Scope of the study 3
6. Organization of the study 3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT 4
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4
1.1. Previous studies related to the research 4
1.2. The author's framework 5
1.3. Idioms 6
1.3.1. Definitions of idioms 6
1.3.2. Definition of idioms denoting intelligence and understanding 6
1.3.3. Distinctive features of English idioms 7
1.3.3.1. Syntactic features of English idioms 7
1.3.3.2. Semantic features of English idioms 11
1.3.3.3. Cultural features of English idioms 13
1.4. Distinction between idioms, metaphors, proverbs and fixed expressions 14
1.4.1. Idioms and Metaphors 14
1.4.2. Idioms and Proverbs 15

1.4.3. Idioms and Fixed Expressions 15
1.5. Summary 16
v

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 17
2.1 Research methods 17
2.2. Data collections instruments 17
2.3. Data analysis techniques 18
2.4. Data analysis procedure 18
2.5. Summary 19
CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 20
3.1. Syntactic features of English idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in
contrastive analysis with Vietnamese counterparts 20
3.1.1. Structural features of English idioms denoting intelligences and
understanding 20
3.1.1.1. English idioms denoting intelligences and understanding have clause
patterns 20
3.1.1.2. English idioms denoting intelligence and understanding have phrase
patterns 25
3.1.2. An English – Vietnamese contrasting of syntactic features of idioms denoting
intelligence and understanding 27
3.1.2.1. Similarities 27
3.1.2.2. Differences 30
3.2. Semantic features of English idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in
contrasting with Vietnamese counterparts 32
3.2.1. Semantic features in idioms denoting intelligence and understanding 32
3.2.2.An English – Vietnamese contrasting of semantic features of idioms denoting
intelligence and understanding 34
3.2.2.1. Similarities 34
3.2.2.2. Differences 36

3.3. Summary 38
CHAPTER 4: TEACHING IMPLICATIONS 39
4.1. Number of idioms 39
vi

4.2. Theme 39
4.3. Level 40
4.4. Comprehension 40
4.5. Practice 40
4.6. Summary 41
PART C: CONCLUSION 42
1. Recapitulation 42
2. Concluding remarks 42
3. Limitations of the study 43
4. Suggestions for further study 44
REFERENCES 45
APPENDIX I I
APPENDIX II II


1

PART A
INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study
English is a language particularly rich in idioms - those modes of expression
peculiar to a language (or dialect) which frequently defy logical and grammatical
rules. Without idioms English would lose much of its variety and humor both in
speech and writing. However, the background and etymological origins of most
idioms are at best obscure.

There are many students who have the chance to travel abroad and when
these students were in the United States, they experienced many difficulties because
they did not understand the meaning of many idioms that native speakers used in
their daily conversations. They even felt embarrassed and frustrated because they
could not understand the idioms they heard. A strong knowledge of idioms,
therefore, will help students be better speakers and facilitate communication.
The fact that a large number of idioms are frequently used in discourse
makes them an important aspect of vocabulary. Nonetheless, their characteristic
features cause many difficulties to learners of English. First of all, idioms not only
have brief and extraordinary forms, contain key words but also hold profound
meanings. They manifest much what the speakers want to say and do not want to
say in words. This means that the idioms can express speakers‟ viewpoints, feelings,
attitudes and even personalities and culture is their ways of idioms usage. Secondly,
idioms are based not only on several aspects of language such as semantics, syntax,
phonetics and phonology, pragmatics but also on their flexibilities in language
usage. Moreover, they are the combination of culture, language usage and creative
competence. They are everlasting and passed from generation to generation because
of their own distinctive features. Therefore, learning idioms helps learners
understand more about cultures, people, languages which they are studying.
Idioms have attracted a number of researchers and linguists who have
researched on idioms and the application in teaching and learning. Such as" The
2

Study of Idioms and its Application to ESL and Intercultural Communication"(Ito,
Yoko, 1993). In the thesis the author made an attempt to investigate into English
idioms from different aspects.
However, there has been no study on idioms denoting intelligence and
understanding in English and Vietnamese. This study is therefore conducted in
order to fill the gap. We hope that it will make contribution to improving learners‟
understanding and knowledge of this particular type of idioms and give some

suggestions to their teaching and learning.
2. Objectives of the study
The study is carried out for the following objectives:
First of all, the study tries to analyze and contrast idioms to detect some
similarities, basic differences between idioms denoting intelligence and
understanding in English and Vietnamese in terms of their syntactic and semantic
features.
Secondly, it presents some implications in teaching and learning English
idioms denoting intelligence and understanding.
3. Research questions
The study attempts to answer the following questions:
1. What are some similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese
idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in terms of syntactic and semantic
features?
2. What are some teaching implications for using appropriate idioms denoting
intelligence and understanding in teaching English?
4. Significance of the study
Idioms are considered an interesting and popular phenomenon of every
language. Thus, they play an important role in all languages in general, in both
English and Vietnamese in particular. They also add color to the language and make
the communication more lively and interesting. Therefore, effective communication
cannot be achieved successfully without idioms.
3

This kind of study has significance not only for contrasting language in use,
but also for teaching and learning of this type of idioms. It also contributes to the
translation of the idioms from English into Vietnamese and vice-versa.
5. Scope of the study
Due to the limited time, space and the author‟s ability, the present paper just
analyzes and contrasts the idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in

Vietnamese, English in terms of their syntactic and semantic features.
6. Organization of the study
The study consists of three parts with four chapters as follows:
Part A (Introduction) is spared for the presentation of the rationale, objectives,
significance, scope, and the structure of the study.
Part B (Development)
Chapter1 (Literature review) provides the necessary information about the
theoretical background related to idioms.
Chapter 2 (Methodology) provides information about the principles that govern the
research and the methods to be employed.
Chapter 3 (Data analysis and discussion) presents the findings obtained and sound
discussions on those findings.
Chapter 4 (Some implications for teaching) will be presented. This subsection
brings about the practical value to the thesis from which readers can, to different
degrees, benefit.
Part C (Conclusions) provides a recapitulation of the main issues and problems
presented in the study and suggestions for further research have been supplied.
References
Appendices




4

PART B
DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. Previous studies related to the research
Idioms as an abstract field have drawn much attention from many linguists

and scholars, and so far many studies of idioms from different angles have been
done. First of all, the research by Ifill (2002), he has an attempt to analyze and seek
the nature of idioms in studying in idiomatic structure. The researcher pointed out
the importance of idioms in the natural language and its existence in the language
system. In particular, he analyzes and clarifies the structure of idioms such as case
for the lexicon, the variability of idioms discussed shows is that all idioms have
internal structure of some kind. This distinction dictates how the idioms are allowed
to behave.
Another notable researcher is Moreno (2003), who claimed that the meaning
the speaker intends to convey by the use of an idiom is pragmatically
(re)constructed on-line by relevance-driven inferential mechanisms which take as
input a set of highly accessible encyclopedic assumptions from the concepts
encoded by the idiom string and its constituent words. The amount of processing
effort invested, and the depth of processing of the encoded concepts, is highly
constrained at every stage by the search for an optimally relevant interpretation. He
added that in understanding idioms, conceptual adjustment takes place at word and
phrase level that this model can account for why idioms often swing between literal
and figurative meanings, and for why they often exhibit different degrees of
flexibility and productivity in the flow of conversation.
Another research on this theme was conducted by Doãn Ngọc Diệp
(Unpublished M.A thesis, 2007) "A Study on Structural and Semantic Features of
English Idioms of Anger in Comparison with Vietnamese Equivalents". One more
paper is "An Investigation into The English Words and Idioms Denoting Happiness"
conducted by Nguyễn Thị Vân Lam, Nguyễn Lực, Lương Văn Đang (1978) who
5

made the first significant contribution to the field. Since then, a great number of
collections of Vietnamese idioms alone and those of Vietnamese idioms in
comparison with English idioms have been carried out by Lã Thành (1988), Bùi
Phụng (1996), Nguyễn Lân (1997), Vũ Dung, Vũ Thúy Anh, Vũ Quang Hào

(2000), Trân Quang Mân (2002)…
These researchers in general try to find out the similarities and differences in
the use of conceptual idioms for anger, happiness… and time in English and
Vietnamese. The studies have made contribution to not only the theory and the
appropriate use of conceptual idioms but the translation work as well.
The studies also point out that cultural awareness is at the heart of intercultural
communication. A lot of this has to do with language and behavior; with
pragmatics, beliefs and values. But intercultural communication should also
highlight the areas of commonality as well as divergence in terms of cultural and
linguistic behavior. All too often culturally stereotypical behavior is objectified and
described with insufficient reference to underlying factors that help explain and
elucidate. A conceptual approach to language can draw into focus areas of
divergence and commonality at another level of awareness and provides an extra
dimension to the understanding of linguistic and cultural norms.
1.2. The author’s framework
The study has been carried out according to the following framework:
Firstly, the author has pointed out the background knowledge of the idioms,
defining of the idioms in general and idioms denoting intelligence and
understanding in particular, the distinctive features of English idioms, syntactic,
semantic, cultural features of English idioms. The researcher also shows the
distinction between idioms and metaphors, proverbs, fixed expressions.
Secondly, basing on the theoretical background of Cowie, Mackin and
McCaig (1975) in syntactic and Hallyday (1985) in semantic, the author has
analyzed and contrasted idioms in order to find out the similarities and differences
of idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in English and Vietnamese.
6

Lastly, the researcher is dealing with some teaching implications to help teachers in
teaching English idioms involving intelligence and understanding.
1.3. Idioms

1.3.1. Definitions of idioms
Idioms are an abstract concept and it is therefore difficult to define them.
Each linguist who specializes in different branches tends to have a different way to
understand and describe idioms as illustrated below:
Cruse defines idiom as "an expression whose meaning cannot be inferred from the
 (1986:37). Two other authors Seidle and Mordie (1978:8)
believes that “an idiom is a number of words which, taken together, mean
.
Collins (1995) has a different way to define idioms but shares the idea. He considers
an idiom as a special kind of phrase. It is a group of words which has a different
meaning when used together from the one it would have if the meaning of each
word was taken individually […]
Vietnamese linguistic researchers have also tried to define idioms. Hoàng
Văn Hành (1994) states that an idiom is a fixed group of words which is firm in
terms of structure, complete and figurative in terms of meaning, and is widely used
in daily speaking (
                 
(1994:21).
1.3.2. Definition of idioms denoting intelligence and understanding
There are no definitions of idioms denoting intelligence and understanding
but it is not difficult to understand them. Idioms denoting intelligence and
understanding are idioms which point out the ability to learn about, learn from,
understand, and interact with one‟s environment. They also consist of a number of
specific abilities, which include the following specific abilities:
● Adaptability to a new environment or to changes in the current environment
● Capacity for knowledge and the ability to acquire it
7

● Capacity for reason and abstract thought
● Ability to comprehend relationships

● Ability to evaluate and judge
Additional specific abilities might be added to the list, but they would all be
abilities allowing a person to learn about, learn from, understand, and interact with
the environment. Environment in this definition does not mean the environment of
the earth, such as the desert, the mountains, etc., although it can mean that kind of
environment. It has a wider range of meanings that include a person‟s immediate
surroundings, including the people around him or her. Environment in this case can
also be something as small as a family, the workplace, or a classroom.
1.3.3. Distinctive features of English idioms
Every language has its own vivid and colorful idioms which were created by
people when using for a long time. Idioms have long and deep national history as
well as local color. Therefore, they have many interesting features.
1.3.3.1. Syntactic features of English idioms
According to Bell (1974:3), there are certain essential features which help in
the recognition of idioms. Some of these features are:
1.2.3.1. 1. Alteration of grammatical rules
The idiomatic expression is not always grammatical, but it is established,
accepted and used by native speakers of the language with a fixed structure and
meaning.
E.g.  (singular with a plural noun)
1.3.3.1.2. Conventional phrases
Idioms are special expressions which are almost known and agreed by all
the members of a particular community.
E.g. How are you doing? (Expression used to ask someone about his health).
Once in a blue moon (rarely, infrequently).
1.3.3.1. 3. Alteration of Word Order
English Idiomatic expressions, usually, do not respect the English word
8

order.

E.g. It may be well ahead of time (normal word order).
It may well be ahead of time (probably): idiomatic expression.
1.3.3.1. 4. Figurativeness
The basic characteristic of idiomatic expressions is that the words are used
metaphorically. Therefore, the surface structure has a little role to play in
understanding the meaning of the whole expression. For example, in "to bury the
hatchet", which means "to become friendly again after a disagreement", the
meanings of the words  and.  are different from the meaning of
the whole expression.
1.3.3.1. 5. Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs are the most common type of idioms in English. Many of them
carry idiomatic meanings that cannot be inferred from the form, unless the phrase is
already known.
E.g. After the war began, the two countries broke off diplomatic relations
(discontinue).
Most automobile companies bring out new modals each year (to show or introduce).
According to Baker (1992:63), there can be some grammatical and syntactic
restrictions of idioms, i.e. a speaker or a writer cannot normally do any of the
following with an idiom because the meaning would be changed:
+ Addition: Adding any word to an idiomatic expression may alter its meaning, or
remove its idiomatic sense. For instance, adding the adverb very to the adjective red
in red herring. (Very red herring) affects the figurativeness of its meaning
completely.
+ Deletion: Deleting the adjective sweet and the article from the expressions have
a sweet tooth and spill the beans would change totally their meanings. Hence, (have
a tooth) and (spill beans) have no idiomatic sense.
+ Substitution: Idioms accept no replacement of words even if those words are
synonyms.
9

For example, "the long and short of it" means the basic facts of a situation. The
adjective long cannot be substituted by another adjective, like tall; despite they have
nearly the same meaning.
+ Modification: Any change in the grammatical structure of an idiom leads to the
destruction of the idiom meaning. For instance, the expression (stock and barrel
lock) is no more idiomatic because of the altered order of the items in the
expression lock, stock and barrel completely.
+ Comparative: Adding the comparative form -er to the adjective hot in the
expression "be in hot water" changes the conventional sense of the idiom which has
the meaning of "be in trouble".
+ Passive: The passive form "some beans were spilled" has a different meaning
from its active one.
These restrictions affect the degree of idiomaticality of lexical items, and
they may remove their main feature of figurativeness. These characteristics explain
why idioms are considered as rigid structures, almost impossible to be decoded.
However, through a cautious approach, explanations and continuous interest, idioms
may become vital elements in the acquisition of proficiency in a foreign language.
According to Strässler (1982:42), Makkai‟s book Idiom structure in English
(1972) is the most extensive work ever written on idioms. Makkai (1972:117)
identifies two major types of idioms: those of encoding and those of decoding. He
further classifies the later into lexemic and sememic idioms.
+ Idioms of Encoding (Identifiable)
Idioms of encoding are those idiosyncratic lexical combinations that have
transparent meanings. This type of idioms could be best recognized through making
a comparison between different languages by the use of proper prepositions.
Therefore, „at‟ is used instead of "with" in the English expression „drive at 70 mph‟
(not drive with as in French).


10

+ Idioms of Decoding (Non-Identifiable)
Idioms of decoding refer to those non-identifiable and misleading lexical
expressions whose interpretation could not be figured out by using only
independently learned linguistic conventions. They include expressions like "beat
around the bush" and "fly off the handle". This type of idioms could be classified
into lexemic and sememic.
+ Lexemic idioms include:
a. Phrasal verbs: e.g., to come up with, to turn off, to take part in.
b. Phrasal compounds: e.g. black ice, black board.
c. Incorporating Verbs: e.g. man-handle.
d. Pseudo-Idioms: e.g. spick and span, kit and kin
+ Sememic Idioms, on the other hand, usually, convey pragmatic meanings related
to a particular culture. They include:
a. Proverbs: e.g. Chew of something over, A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.
b. Familiar Quotations: e.g. Not a mouse stirring
McCarthy and O‟Dell (2003:6) give another classification to the English
idioms types focusing on their possible combinations:
(i)Verb + object/complement (and /or adverbial)
Kill two birds with one stone (=Produce two useful results by just doing one
action.)
(ii) Prepositional phrase
In the blink of an eye (= In an extremely short time.)
(iii) Compound
A bone of contention (= Something which people argue and disagree over.)
(iv) Simile (as + adjective + as or like + a noun).
As dry as a bone (= Very dry indeed)
(vi) Binominal (word + and + word )
Rough and ready (= Crude and lacking sophistication)
(vii) Trinomial (word + word + and+ word)

11

Cool, calm and collected (= Relaxed, in control, not nervous)
(viii) Whole clause or sentence
To cut a long story short (= To tell the main points, but not all the fine details)
Different from McCarthy and O‟Dell (2003:6), Cowie, Mackin and McCaig
(1975) point out that English idiom can be classified clause patterns as follow:
English idioms could be in the following clause patterns:
● Verb – Adverbial, such as 
● Verb – Subject Complement, such as turn sour, sound asleep
● Verb – Direct Object, such as bend the truth, bury the hatchet
● Verb – Direct Object - Adverbial, such as play it by ear, string someone along
● Verb – Direct Object – Object Complement, such as leave someone high and dry,
paint the town red
● Verb – Indirect Object – Direct Object, such as give someone the slip, feed
someone a line
● Subject – Verb, such as s knees are knocking
English idioms could be divided in the following phrase patterns:
● Noun phrase, such as -
● Adjective phrase, such as black and blue, a bit thick/ strong
● Prepositional phrase, such as on the blink, in black and white
● Adverbial phrase, such as out of the blue, as regular as clockwork
● Verb phrase, such as scare the pants off sb, get the shivers
1.3.3.2. Semantic features of English idioms
According to Fernando (1996: 35-36), idioms can be grouped into three sub-
classes: pure idioms, semi-idioms and literal idioms.
+ Pure idioms: A pure idiom a type of conventionalized, non-literal multiword
expression whose meaning cannot be understood by adding up the meanings of the
words that makes up the phrase. For example, the expression "spill the beans" is a
pure idiom, because its real meaning has nothing to do with beans.

12

+ Semi-idioms: A semi-pure, on the other hand, has at least one literal element and
one with a non-literal meaning. For example, "foot the bill" (i.e. pay) is one
example of a semi-idiom, in which foot is the non-literal element, whereas the word
bill is used literally.
+ Literal idioms: Literal idioms, such as "on foot" or "on the contrary" are
semantically less complex than the other two, and therefore easier to understand
even if one is not familiar with these expressions. These expressions may be
considered idioms because they are either completely invariant or allow only
restricted variation. Fernando (1996:37) admits the difficulty of drawing a clear
boundary between these three idiom types.
Taking into consideration the function of the phrase, Halliday (1985, as
quoted by Fernando (1996:72) groups idioms into ideational, interpersonal and
relational idioms.
+ Ideational idioms: Ideational idioms either signify message content, experiential
phenomena including the sensory, the affective, and the evaluative, or they
characterize the nature of the message (Fernando 1996:72). These expressions may
describe:
- actions (tear down, spill the beans),
- events (turning point),
- situations (be in a pickle),
- people and things (a red herring),
- attributes (cut-and-dried),
- evaluations (a watched pot never boils)
- emotions (green with envy).
+ Interpersonal idioms: Interpersonal idioms, on the other hand, “fulfill either an
interactional function or they characterize the nature of the message". They can, for
instance, initiate or keep up an interaction between people and maintain politeness
(Fernando 1996:73). These expressions include:

- greetings and farewells (good morning),
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- directives 
- agreements (say no more),
- "feelers" which elicit opinions (what do you think?) and
- rejections (come off it).
+ Relational idioms: Halliday (1985:74) distinguishes relational (or textual) idioms,
which ensure that the discourse is cohesive and coherent. Examples of relational
idioms are “on the contrary”, “in addition to” and “on the other hand.”
1.3.3.3. Cultural features of English idioms
It is common knowledge that language is closely related to culture, and can
be regarded as a part of culture. From this view, language and culture interact with
each other and shape each other. Language is considered as the carrier of culture
which in turn is the content of language. We can dig out cultural features from
language and explain language phenomena with culture. Idioms as a special form of
language exist in both of these fields and are affected by the factors such as history,
geography, religion, custom, etc. They are the heritage of history and product of
cultural evolvement. Consequently, we can learn a lot about culture through
studying idioms and in turn get better understanding of idioms by learning the
cultural background behind them.
+ The Geographical Factor
Geographical environment plays an important role in shaping one country‟s
culture and human beings have no choices and opacities to change the geography.
As a result, idioms based on geographical features appear different from one
country to another. For example, Britain is an island country with long and has
good, deep harbors. The great ports of London, Liverpool and Glasgow are all
connected to the sea by rivers. All these conditions make the ocean shipping of
Britain so flourishing. As a result, there are a lot of English idioms related to
navigation. For example, the phrase “go by the board” means that somebody or

something fall from sheep and disappear in the sea. It implies that someone is
neglected.
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Surrounded by the ocean, British people also have a special passion for
water. For instance, to say how extravagant someone is in English, the idiom “spend
money like water” is often used. British people also regard themselves as fish such
as in “cold fish”, “shy fish”. The former means “a person who is very strange” and
the latter means “a person who is very shy”. When someone feels "not easy", they
say “feel like a fish out of water”, etc.
+The historical Factors
As we know, any language in a long and splendid history has its magic
power and great influence on the people who speak or learn it and the development
of the social history influences the language tremendously with the change of the
dynasty, the new languages instead of the old languages continuously. In the change
of languages, more and more idioms are caused in such trace of the historical
culture.
1.4. Distinction between idioms, metaphors, proverbs and fixed expressions
1.4.1. Idioms and Metaphors
Metaphors constitute a large part of the everyday language. They have been
recognized as rhetorical devices that compare two seemingly different objects. King
(2000:216) defines metaphors as „describing something by using an analogy with
something quite different‟. For example, „the words are clear as crystal‟ is an idiom
that expresses the similarity between the words and the crystal in terms of the
degree of clarity. Some other examples of metaphors include "new ideas blossomed
in her mind”, “his temper boiled over” and “inner peace is a stairway to heaven”.
King (2000:216) considers that metaphors are beautiful due to their ability to
explain a complex vague expression making it more understandable and clear.
According to Maalej (2005), both idioms and metaphors have in common the
fact that they cannot be understood if taken literally. He identifies idioms and

metaphors as culture-specific aspects of a particular language, i.e., the non-
existence of a direct one to one correspondence between a target language and a
source language is the result of culture-specific metaphors. He adds that culture-
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specific metaphors are best represented in phraseology. Native language idioms and
set phrases can blend together ethno-specific concepts pertaining to the world view
of it speakers, to their national character, as well as their traditional social relations,
thus becoming an embodiment of national dispositions and spiritual values. They
are presented metaphorically indirectly and figuratively, which is why culture-
specific metaphors produce idioms that have no corresponding counterparts in
another language. (Maalej 2005:215).
1.4.2. Idioms and Proverbs
Just like idioms, proverbs „are special, fixed, unchanged phrases which have
special, fixed, unchanged meanings‟ (Ghazala 1995:142). They differ from idioms
in that they display shared cultural wisdom. Therefore, proverbs are easily
understandable and, sometimes, the first part of the proverb might be enough to
express the whole meaning. For instance, „do not count your chickens‟ is used
instead of „do not count your chickens before they have hatched‟.
1.4.3. Idioms and Fixed Expressions
There are fixed expressions like "having said that", "as a matter of fact", "not
at all" etc which allow a little or no variation in form, just as idioms do. Fixed
expressions, however, are distinguished from idioms since they have almost
transparent meanings. Thus, the meaning of "as a matter of fact", for example, can
easily be inferred from the meaning of its constituents. In contrast to idioms is like
"pull a fast one" or "fill the bill" where the meaning of the whole expression is
different from the meaning of its parts. In spite of its clarity, the meaning of a fixed
expression, as that of an idiom, is not just the sum of meanings of its components.
Fixed expressions may bring up in the mind of the reader all the aspects of
experience associated with the different contexts in which the expression is used.

This characteristic seems to be the cause of the widespread use of fixed and semi-
fixed expressions in any language. (Baker 1992: 63)
Although they have many features in common with other forms of non-literal
language, idioms have their own characteristics. Generally speaking, an idiom is a
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kind of lexical unit in which the whole meaning of the expression is not apparent
from the meanings of its components.
1.5. Summary
In the chapter 1, the author has expounded in detail (i) the previous studies
related to the research which is foundation for the author to further to develop her
own research.(ii) the background knowledge of idioms denoting intelligence and
understanding , definition of idioms in general and idioms denoting intelligence
and understanding in particular with the distinctive features of idioms from
syntactic, semantic to cultural feature as well as difference between idioms and
metaphors, proverbs, fixed expressions.

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CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY
In any research, method plays an important role, is an effective tool to gain
the aim of the study. In this chapter, the author uses “contrastive analysis” as a
method to contrast, to compare for finding out the similarities and difference
between English and Vietnamese idioms denoting intelligence and understanding
with the teaching implications.
2.1. Methods employed for the research
The major method which is used for this research is contrastive analysis.
According to Gast (2011), contrastive analysis narrowly defined investigates the
differences between pairs (or small sets) of languages against the background of
similarities and with the purpose of providing input to applied disciplines such as
foreign language teaching and translation studies. With its largely descriptive focus,
contrastive linguistics provides an interface between theory and application. It
makes use of theoretical findings and models of language description but is driven
by the objective of applicability. Contrastive studies mostly deal with the
comparison of languages that are „socio-culturally linked‟, i.e. languages whose
speech communities overlap in some way, typically through (natural or instructed)
bilingualism. First of all, official documents include journals and textbooks
involving the background knowledge of the idioms or the dictionaries of idioms are
collected. And then the researcher analyses and contrasts the idioms denoting
intelligence and understanding in English and Vietnamese basing on the data which
are collected.
2.2. Data collections instruments

Because of the particular characteristics of the study, it seems that reading
and reviewing documents are the most important and effective way to collect
materials for the research. Since it‟s very hard to find the idioms involving the
research, the researcher try to look for and collect the idioms from the dictionaries
and websites in the Internet. As for first source, books which are concerned with
idioms are collected and studied to gather necessary knowledge. Main materials are