A study on idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” in english with reference to their vietnamese equivalents

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HANOI OPEN UNVERSITY

M.A. THESIS

A STUDY ON IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS CONTAINING
THE WORD “EYE” IN ENGLISH WITH REFERENCE
TO VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS
(NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ NHỮNG THÀNH NGỮ CÓ CHỨA TỪ MẮT
TRONG TIẾNG ANH VỚI NHỮNG THÀNH NGỮ
TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT)

DƯƠNG THỊ HƯƠNG THÚY

Hanoi, 2016


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HANOI OPEN UNVERSITY

M.A. THESIS

A STUDY ON IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS CONTAINING
THE WORD “EYE” IN ENGLISH WITH REFERENCE
TO VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS
(NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ NHỮNG THÀNH NGỮ CÓ CHỨA TỪ MẮT
TRONG TIẾNG ANH VỚI NHỮNG THÀNH NGỮ
TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT)

DƯƠNG THỊ HƯƠNG THÚY

Field: English Language
Code: 60220201
Supervisor: Dang Ngoc Huong, Ph.D

Hanoi, 2016


CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY
I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report
entitled “idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” in English with
reference to their Vietnamese equivalents” submitted in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of Master 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, 2016

Dương Thi Hương Thuy

Approved by
SUPERVISOR
(Signature and full name)

Dang Ngoc Huong, Ph.D

Date: 10/12/2016

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am grateful to those who have contributed to this thesis and proud to
acknowledge their help.
I would like first and foremost to express my sincere gratitude and
appreciation to my supervisor, Mr. Dang Ngoc Huong, for his inspiring and
invaluable guidance, advice, encouragement and everything that I learnt from
him throughout my work. Without him this thesis would not have been possible.
My sincere thanks also go to all lecturers and the staff of the Faculty of
Post Graduate Studies at Hanoi Open University for their useful lectures,
assistance and enthusiasm during my course.
Special acknowledgement is also given to my lecturers at National
College for Education for their precious knowledge, useful lectures in
linguistics, which lay the foundation for this study.
Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my husband and my family for
their understanding, patience and support during the entire period of my study.
There are many others I should mention here, people who helped me
along the way and provided me support. Listing all of them would fill a book
itself, so I merely will have to limit myself to a few words: I thank you ALL!

ii


ABSTRACT
This study focused on idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye”
in English with reference to their Vietnamese equivalents. Through their
syntactic and semantic features, we find out the similarities and differences
between idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” between two
languages under the light of contrastive analysis and cross-cultural perspective.
Data used for analysis in this study were mainly collected through dictionaries
and the internet. Through analysis of forms of idiomatic expressions containing

the word “eye” in English and Vietnamese, it is deduced that idioms are really
important in communication. Idioms are used to express ideas in figurative
styles. They bring the vividness and richness to the speakers' speeches. This is
the reason why the more skillfully a person uses idioms in his conversations, the
more effectively he can establish his communicative relationship. The findings
of the thesis illustrate some implications for teachers, learners of English and
translators from the use of linguistic features of idiomatic expressions containing
the word “eye” in English and focus on the meanings of the English idioms
containing the word ‘eye’ and a comparative analysis with Vietnamese ones
Hopefully, the study may help learners, teachers, and translators of English
avoid difficulties in realizing and translating English idioms into Vietnamese
and vice versa.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ..................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................. ii
ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................... iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................... iv
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION .......................................................................... 1
1.1. Rationale ..................................................................................................... 1
1.2. Aims of research and objectives ................................................................. 3
1.3. Scope of research ........................................................................................ 3
1.4. Significance of research .............................................................................. 4
1.5. Organizational structure of Thesis .............................................................. 4
CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................. 5
2.1. Review of previous studies ......................................................................... 5
2.1.1. Previous Studies of English Idioms in Foreign Countries ....................... 5

2.1.2. Previous Studies of English and Vietnamese Idioms in Vietnam ........... 5
2.2. Review of theoretical background .............................................................. 7
2.2.1. Literal meanings and Idiomatic meanings ............................................... 7
2.2.2. Definition of Idioms ................................................................................. 8
2.2.3. Features of Idioms .................................................................................... 9
2.2.4. Types of idioms ...................................................................................... 11
2.2.5. Functions of idioms ................................................................................ 12
2.2.6. Specific characteristics of idiomatic meanings ...................................... 14
2.2.7. The relationship between idioms and culture ........................................ 14
2.2.8. The similarities and differences between idioms and proverbs ............. 16
2.3. Summary of the chapter ............................................................................ 18
CHAPTER III: PROPOSED RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ........................ 19
3.1. Research-governing orientations .............................................................. 19
3.2. Research questions .................................................................................... 19
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3.3. Research methods ..................................................................................... 19
3.4. Summary of the chapter ............................................................................ 20
CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ........................................... 21
4.1. Syntactic features of idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” in
English (eye-word idioms) and their equivalents in Vietnamese .................... 21
4.1.1. English eye-word idioms in the form of Noun Phrase Structure (26 E
idioms + 6 V idioms) ....................................................................................... 22
4.1.2. English eye-word idioms in the form of Verb Phrase Structure (51 E
idioms + 33 V idioms) ..................................................................................... 23
4.1.3. English eye-word idioms in the form of Adjective Phrase Structure ( 15
E idioms +15 V idioms) ................................................................................... 25
4.1.4. English eye-word idioms in the form of Prepositional Phrase Structure
(17 E Idioms+ 5 V idioms). ............................................................................. 26

4.1.5. English eye-word idioms in the form of Adverb Phrase Structure........ 26
4.2. Semantic features of idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” in
English and their equivalents in Vietnamese. .................................................. 28
4.2.1. Idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” in English ................ 28
4.2.1.1. Expressing good points ....................................................................... 28
4.2.1.1.1 Positive looks .................................................................................... 28
4.2.1.1.2. Describing people and their abilities ............................................... 29
4.2.1.1.3. Describing appearances ................................................................... 30
4.2.1.2. Expressing bad points ......................................................................... 31
4.2.1.2.1. Negative looks.................................................................................. 31
4.2.1.2.2. Describing people and their negative actions .................................. 32
4.2.1.3. Expressing neutral points .................................................................... 33
4.2.1.3.1. Neutral looks .................................................................................... 33
4.2.1.3.2. Describing people ............................................................................ 33
4. 2.1.3.3. Describing views and appearance ................................................... 34
4.2.2. Idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” in Vietnamese ......... 39
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4.2.2.1. Positive look ........................................................................................ 39
4.2.2.1. 1.Describing people and their abilities ............................................... 39
4.2.2.1.2. Describing appearances ................................................................... 40
4.2.2.2. Negative looks..................................................................................... 40
4.2.2.2.1. Describing people and their negative actions .................................. 41
4.2.2.2.2. Describing appearance ..................................................................... 42
4.2.2.3. Expressing neutral points .................................................................... 42
4.2.3. English eye-word idioms with their equivalents in Vietnamese ........... 43
4.2.4. Summary of the chapter ......................................................................... 45
4.3. Implications for teachers, learners of English and translators from the use
of linguistic features of idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” in

English.............................................................................................................. 46
4.3.1 Implications for English language teaching to Vietnamese learners ...... 48
4.3.2. Implications for students and learners of English .................................. 51
4.2.3. Implications for English – Vietnamese translation and vice versa ........ 51
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ........................................................................... 54
5.1. Recapitulation of the study ....................................................................... 54
5.2. Concluding remark of the study ................................................................ 55
5.3. Limitation of the study .............................................................................. 57
REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 58
APPENDIXES .................................................................................................... 61

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CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
In the world today, there are 5,000 to 6,000 living languages, of which
English is by far the most widely used. Approximately 350 million people speak
English as their first language. About the same number use it as a second
language. It is the English language that is used as the language of aviation,
international sport and pop music. 75% of the world's mail is in English, 60% of
the world's radio stations broadcast in English and more than half of the world's
periodicals are printed in English. It is also the English language that is used as
an official language in 44 countries, and as the language of business, commerce
and technology in many others. English is now an effective medium of
international communication.
In Vietnam, English has long been considered as a tool of international
communication, and together with its rising importance, the need of learning
English is becoming more and more urgent. It can't be denied that all foreign
learners in general and Vietnamese learners in particular desire to master

English as the native speakers; however, they usually face a lot of difficulties
that prevent them from gaining successful conversations. One of the reasons for
these problems lies in the way people perceive and use idioms.
Each nation's language lies in itself similar and different concepts on
many fields of life such as humane values, ways of thinking, behavior standards,
religious beliefs, customs and traditions, social conventions, etc. Words and
expressions including idioms have formed the vocabulary system of a language.
Idioms are considered as special factors of a language's vocabulary system
because they reflect cultural specific characteristics of each nation, including
material and spiritual values.
In fact, we can see a lot of idioms violating the principles of their fixed
characteristics such as:
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I could eat a horse.
His eyes are bigger than his stomach
It's not up to scratch.
I got there in the nick of time.
Idioms are considered an interesting area of English, which make English
more attractive and colorful. And nobody can deny that idioms are really
important in communication.
Firstly, idioms are important because they are very common. It is
impossible to speak, read, or listen to English without meeting idiomatic
language. This is not something you can leave until you reach an advanced
level.
Secondly, language is literal and metaphorical. In communication,
however, the metaphorical use of a word is more common today than its literal
use. For example, we know that catch a ball is an example of the literal use of
catch, nevertheless, catch is more used in a metaphorical way: you can catch the

bus; you can catch my attention; you can also catch the sun; or you can catch
what I said. If we just learn the literal meaning of the word catch, we cannot use
it in a variety of communicative situations.
Finally, idioms are important because it is fun to learn and to use. Because
there is so much to learn, anything which helps you to remember things is
important and if the language you are learning is more colorful and interesting,
there is more chance that you will remember it. You will also sound more
natural if your English contains more idioms.( Wright 1999:9).
Understanding the meaning of idioms in general and idioms which
contain words “eye” in particular is the first difficulty of learners and the second
one is the way of using idioms in each specific context. Moreover studying
idioms which contain words “eye” is a part of language learning and it can help
learners use language more naturally and effectively.
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I am interested in the way English and Vietnamese people use idioms to
satisfy their own need in daily communication. Here and there, there are several
studies on idioms with certain linguistic units. However, in range of Open
University, there is no study of idioms containing words “eye”. Thus, the topic
“A study on idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” in English
with reference to their Vietnamese equivalents”, is chosen for my thesis.
Hopefully, the result of the study will be useful for learners of English and
contribute a small part into the teaching and learning English as a foreign
language in Vietnam and for people who are interested in idioms in both English
and Vietnamese.
1.2.Aims of research and objectives
The aims of the study:
The study aims to provide an insight into syntactic and semantic features
of the word “eye” in general and the idiomatic expressions of the word in

English in particular, which is expected to help Vietnamese learners of English
to study and use the English word “eye” effectively.
The objectives of the study:
1. To point out the syntactic features of idiomatic expressions containing
the word “eye” in English and their Vietnamese equivalents.
2. To point out the semantic features of idiomatic expressions containing
the word “eye” in English and their Vietnamese equivalents.
3. Provide some suggestions for teachers, learners of English and
translators from the use of linguistic features of idiomatic expressions containing
the word “eye” in English.
1.3.Scope of research
•

In this study, idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” in both

English and Vietnamese are extensively discussed; cultural features are analyzed
when English idioms are found with Vietnamese ones.

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•

The study focuses only English idioms with the word EYE are analyzed

with reference to their equivalents in Vietnamese.
•

The English and Vietnamese idioms in this study are collected from

dictionaries and the Internet; therefore this research may not cover all idiomatic
expressions containing the word “eye”.
1.4.Significance of research
The study will be able to provide useful knowledge to enable better use of
idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye”

in English and Vietnamese.

The findings of the study can be the potential source for the teaching and
learning English and Vietnamese in particular as foreign languages.
1.5.Organizational structure of Thesis
This study consists of three parts, excluding the appendixes and the
references.
Chapter I:

Introduction, consists of the rationale, the aims and

objectives, the scope, the methods, and the organizational structure of the study.
Chapter II: Literature review, this chapter provides the theoretical
background including definition, features, types and functions of idioms,
specific characteristics of Idiomatic meanings and the relationship between
idioms and culture, the similarities and differences between idioms and
proverbs.
Chapter III: Findings containing 1) the syntactic features of idiomatic
expressions containing the word “eye” in English and their Vietnamese
equivalents, 2) the semantic features of idiomatic expressions containing the
word “eye” in English and their Vietnamese equivalents, and 3) some
pedagogical implications in terms of their usage in language learning and
communication.
Chapter IV: Conclusions of the study, the mention of some limitations

in the research as well as suggestions on further studies on the research topic.

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CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Review of previous studies
2.1.1. Previous Studies of English Idioms in Foreign Countries
Idioms take up a large proportion of both monolingual and bilingual
dictionaries such as: Oxford Dictionary of English Idiomsby Cowie, A. P et al
[11], NTC's American Idioms Dictionary by Spears, R. A.[50], The Cassell
Dictionary of English Idioms by Fergusson, R. [21], From the Horse's Mouth:
Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms by Ayto, J. [2]. In addition, there are some
more collections of idioms such as “Idioms” by Copper, D. [12], “American
Idioms and Some Phrases Just for Fun” by Swick, E. [52].
In fact, idiomaticity is not a new subject in linguistic study. There has
been plenty of work on it such as “Essential Idioms in English” by Dixon, R. J.
[17], or “Idioms for Everyday Use” by Broukai, M. [6]…
2.1.2. Previous Studies of English and Vietnamese Idioms in Vietnam
There have been a lot of authors whose studies generally relate to idioms.
Hoang Van Hanh (1973), Nguyen Thien Giap, Le Nhu Tien (1988), Nguyen
Khac Hung (1988), Hoang Van Thang (1992), Trinh Duc Hien (1995), Phan
Van Que (1995), Dang Anh Dao (1997) showed their concerns for the ways how
to use idioms in literature and in different kinds of act. Studies on the roles of
idioms in traditional culture were carried by some authors such as Duong Quang
Ham (1956), Pham The Ngu (1969), Dinh Gia Khanh, Chu Xuan Dien (1972,
1973), Cao Huy Dinh (1974), Le Chi Que, Vo Quang Nhon (1990) etc. Nguyen
Xuan Hoa (1995), Phan Van Que (1996), Ngo Minh Thuy (2005) gave their own
studies on idioms in Vietnamese in comparison to Russian, English and
Japanese.

Here are some studies directly relating to the field of the study:
A Study on Vietnamese Idioms (Hoang Van Hanh, 2004)
Hoang Van Hanh is a well-known Vietnamese linguist who had spent a
lot of time and energy on this research. This study specialized in the objectives,
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the aims, the tasks, the problems, etc. of Vietnamese idioms. The author
analyzed idioms based on different aspects, synchronically and diachronically,
on the view of functional and structural system as well as from cultural, social
and psychological perspectives. The research also introduced a systematic
collection of Vietnamese idioms in forms of three main types.
A contrastive analysis on animal-based comparison idioms in English
and Vietnamese (Nguyen Thi Nga, 2003, VNU-CFL)
In the study, the author focused on the features of English idioms and
made a contrastive analysis on animal-based comparison idioms in English and
Vietnamese counterparts. The author found that, though the animal-based
comparison idioms in both cultures use different animal images to express ideas,
they semantically reflect the personal characteristics and status of people in the
society during the course of historic development of the two nations. According
to her, many animals are positive in English but negative or neutral in
Vietnamese and vice versa, which creates a lot of interests for learners in
accessing and analyzing them.
A contrastive analysis of English and Vietnamese idioms of
comparison (Do Quynh Anh, 2004, VNU-CFL)
The author gave out some theoretical background about idioms and made
some comparison with other concepts such as proverbs, slang and quotations. In
the development, the author made a contrastive analysis of English and
Vietnamese idioms, and then pointed out some similarities and differences
between these two languages. Due to the findings, the author stated out some

difficulties of learning English in terms of idioms and raised the awareness of
cultural related factors that should be put into consideration in the teaching
process.
A study on comparative idioms from cultural perspective (Do Thi Thu
Trang, 2006, VNU-CFL)

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In this study, the author analyzed and discussed English and Vietnamese
comparative idioms in the light of culture and she found out some similarities
and differences in the way and the reason why people from the two cultures
convey their comparative idioms.
A study on English idioms relating to people description (Dao Thi Kim
Phuong, 2010, HPU)
The author compared and contrasted the meaning and the usage of some
certain English idioms about people description with Vietnamese one to find out
the similarities and differences, so that readers can understand more about the
culture, society, as well as people of these two countries.
2.2.

Review of theoretical background

2.2.1. Literal meanings and Idiomatic meanings
According to Dr. Duong Ky Duc (2003), the meanings of a word are not
only the literal meaning, but also the figurative meaning. These meanings of the
word do not exist separately but together as a perfect whole. In this whole, the
literal meaning is the center and the figurative meaning is the extension, which
shows the cultural distinction of using the word between this commodity and
others. However, we focus much on idiomatic expressions containing the word

‘dog’, therefore, besides the literal meanings of the word ‘dog’, we mainly study
the figurative meanings of these idioms which are, in the study, called the
idiomatic meanings.
The literal meaning of a word is the strict dictionary meaning of a word,
the ‘dictionary definition’. For example, if you look up the word snake in a
dictionary, you will discover that one of its literal meanings is ‘any of numerous
scaly, legless, sometimes venous reptiles having a long, tapering, cylindrical
body and found in most tropical and temperate regions.’
Obviously, idiom has its idiomatic meaning. Many idioms, however, can
also have both the literal and idiomatic meanings. In the study, we do not focus
on the literal meanings of all the idiomatic expressions containing the word
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‘eye’ but ones of the word ‘eye’ which are, somehow, related to the idiomatic
meanings of the idiomatic expressions containing the word ‘eye’.
2.2.2. Definition of Idioms
Words have their own meanings. They, however, do not just come
individually; they also come in expressions or in groups. Idioms are among the
most common of these expressions. And it is impossible to master a language
without learning idioms – a very important part of the language. What is an
idiom? The question may have many answers.
Many linguists such as Robins (1989), Palmer (1981), Jackson and
Amvela (1998) and others consider idioms as a special kind of collocation. The
meaning of an idiom, however, can not be deduced from the meaning of its
constituents. An idiom is distinguished from a collocation, for a collocation is a
sequence of lexical items which habitually co-occur and each lexical constituent
of a collocation is a semantic component. Hornby (1995) argued in his Oxford
Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, an idiom is “a phrase or sentence whose
meaning is not clear from the meaning of its individual words and which must

be learnt as a whole unit”. Sharing the same point of view, Seidl and Mordie
(1988) defined “an idiom is a number of words which, taken together, mean
something different from the individual words of the idiom when they stand
alone”. For instance, the collocation of kick and the bucket forms an idiom
meaning die, which is not systematically determinable from the meanings of
kick and the bucket. This idiom or phrasal lexeme is formally identical with the
phrase kick the bucket whose meaning is systematically determinable on the
basis of the meaning of the lexemes of which it is composed – hit a certain type
of container for liquids with their foot.
Here are some more definitions of idioms:
- “An expression which functions as a single unit and whose meaning cannot
be worked out from its separate parts”.
(Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, 1992)
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- “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”
(Hoang Van Hanh, 1994: 21)
- “An idiom is a fixed group of words with a special different meaning
from the meaning of several words”
(Dictionary of English Idioms, 1979)
As can be seen from the above definitions, there are different ways of
defining an idiom. In general, most of the linguists share the same point that an
idiom is a fixed expression whose meaning cannot be worked out by looking at
the meaning of its individual words.
Idioms don't usually cross language boundaries. In some cases, when an
idiom is translated into another language, the meaning of the idiom is changed
or does not make any sense as it once did in another language. Idioms are

probably the hardest thing for a person to learn in the process of learning a new
language. This is because most people grow up using idioms as if their true
meanings actually make sense.
2.2.3. Features of Idioms
Idioms, grammatically as well as semantically, have special features.
They must be entered into the lexicon or mental dictionary as single items with
their meanings specified, and speakers must learn the special restrictions on their
use in sentences. Many idioms may have originated as metaphorical expressions
that established themselves in the language and became frozen in their form and
meaning.
Femado, C. (1996: 3) gives three most frequently mentioned features of
idioms:
1. Compositeness: idioms are commonly accepted as a type of multiword
expression (red herring, make up, smell a rat, the coast is clear, etc.) accept
even single words as idioms.
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2. Institutionalization: idioms are conventionalized expressions,
conventionalization being the end result of initially ad hoc, and in this sense
novel, expressions.
3. Semantic opacity: the meaning of an idiom is not the sum of its
constituents. In other words, an idiom is often non-literal.
The widespread occurrence of these three features in common word
combinations has resulted in many types of multiword expressions identified by
some other term such as slang, proverbs, allusions, similes, dead metaphors,
social formulae, and collocations also being identified as idioms.
According to Wright, J (1999), an idiom has the following features:
1. It is fixed and is recognized by native speakers. You cannot make up
your own!

2. It uses language in a non-literal - metaphorical way.
Idioms are similar in structure to ordinary phrases except that they tend to
be frozen in form and do not readily enter into other combinations or allow the
word order to change. Thus.
(a) She put her foot in her mouth
has the same structure as
(b) She put her bracelet in her drawer
but
The drawer in which she put her bracelet was hers
Her bracelet was put in her drawer
are sentences related to sentence (b).
The mouth in which she put her foot was hers
Her foot was put in her mouth
do not have the idiomatic sense of sentence (a).
On the other hand, the words of some idioms can be moved without
affecting the idiomatic sense:
The FBI kept tabs on radicals.
Tabs were kept on radicals by the FBI.
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Radicals were kept tabs on by the FBI.
Idioms can break the rules on combining semantic properties. The object
of eat must usually be something with the semantic property "edible," but in
He ate his hat
Eat your heart out
this restriction is violated.
Idioms often lead to humor:
What did the doctor tell the vegetarian about his surgically implanted
heart valve from a pig?

That it was okay as long as he didn't "eat his heart out." (Fromkin, V &
Rodman, R 1998:190).
2.2.4. Types of idioms
In terms of structure, McCarthy (2002: 6), indicates types of idioms by
showing this table:
form

example

meaning

verb + object/complement

kill two birds with produce two useful results

(and/or adverbial)

one stone

prepositional phrase

in the blink of an in an extremely short
eye

compound

by just doing one action
time

a bone of contention something which people

argue and disagree over

simile /'simili/ (as + adjective as dry as a bone

very dry indeed

+ as, or like + noun)
binomial (word + and + rough and ready

crude

word)

sophistication

trinomial (word + word + cool,

calm

and

lacking

and relaxed, in control, not

and + word)

collected

whole clause or sentence

to cut a long story to tell the main points,
short

nervous
but not all
the fine details

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In terms of semantics, Fernando, C. (1996: 36) divides idioms into three
types: pure idioms, semi-idioms, and literal idioms.
A pure idiom is known as 'a type of conventionalized, non-literal multiword
expression'. Spill the beans, for example, has nothing to do with beans. In
contrast to its literal counterpart meaning 'letting fall leguminous seeds', a nonliteral 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 subsense, usually special to that co-occurrence relation and no other:
drop has the meaning 'overuse' only when it co-occurs with names. Other
examples are catch one's breath 'check', foot the bill 'pay', etc. Some of these
semi-idioms, like their kin, restricted collocations with specialized
subsenses,

permit

lexical

variation,

for

example,

blue

'obscene'

film/joke/gag/story/comedian.
Literal idioms (on foot, tall, dark and handsome, waste not, want not, on
the contrary, a (very) happy birthday, a merry Christmas and a happy New
Year, etc.) meet the salient criterion for idioms: invariance or restricted
variation. They are, however, less semantically complex then pure and semiidioms.
2.2.5. Functions of idioms
Idioms may play different roles. They are used to name objects, actions or
describe situations. They may express certain generalizations, advice, make
evaluation, emphasize…
Traditionally, from the point of view of the function of idioms, we can
refer to the following basis groups:
- idioms with a nominative function - express concepts and name
objects, states, processes, actions, qualities, etc. They have the structure of a
phrase. Examples: while elephant, pull somebody 's leg, cool as a cucumber;
body and soul
- idioms with a communicative function - describe situations and express
independent statements. They have the structure of a sentence, e.g. all that
glitters is not gold, the coast is clear
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- idioms with both nominative and communicative functions (including
idioms with a mixed, limited variable structure), e.g. break the ice - the ice is

broken, close the door on - the door is closed, lead somebody by the nose somebody is led by nose
- idioms without any distinctive nominative and communicative function
- linguists usually include here modal and interjectional idioms, or idioms which
have a cohesive function, e.g. like hell; what on earth; on the other hand; as
well as; by the way.
In relation to words, within the group of idioms with a nominative function (lexemic idioms), we can refer to idioms equivalent to single words, i.e.
they may be replaced by a single word (of course = certainly, kick the bucket =
die, in the family way = pregnant). They may also correspond to non-idiomatic
phrases (collocations: a big fish = an important person, as red as a turkey cock
= very angry), or they may be correlated with approximate (free) description,
e.g. have green fingers = have natural ability in growing plants.
Nominative idioms correlate with word classes (parts of speech). They
may be divided into: noun, verbal, adjectival and adverbial idioms, etc., for
example: a dark horse (noun), make give up (verbal), as white as a sheet (adjectival), once in a blue moon, tooth and nail (adverbial). Their function is not
completely identical with that of single words, since their meaning usually
includes a higher degree of both expressiveness and evaluation.
From the pragmatic point of view and discourse, some linguists, including Fernando (l996) speak about:
- "ideational" idioms ("the state and way of the world" idioms,
expressing namely: actions, events,. situation, people, things, attitudes, emotions, etc.): red herring, bury the hatchet, as white as a sheet
- "interpersonal" idioms (expressing greetings, agreement, rejections,
etc.): so long, never mind
- "relational” idioms (ensuring cohesion, etc).: by the way, in addition to,
last but not least
Other linguists give more detailed categorization of idioms. Some idioms
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may have more than one function. Moon (1998), for example, distinguishes the
following groups of idioms:
- informational (conveying information of different kind: in the red, rub

shoulders with, one’s kith and kin)
- evaluative (giving the speaker’s attitude to the situation: works
wonders, wash one’s hands of sth, a different kettle of fish)
- situational (expressing conventions, clauses, exclamation, relating to
extralingual context: walls have ears, so long, talk of the devil, long time no see)
- modalizing (expressing modality, truth values, advice, request: mark my
words, more or less, at all, in effect)
- organizational (organizing the text, signaling discourse structure: by the
way, all in all, let alone, in the light, on the other hand, in other words)
2.2.6. Specific characteristics of idiomatic meanings
As we mentioned above, an idiom is a combination of words that has a
meaning that is different from the meanings of the individual words themselves.
It can have a literal meaning in one situation and a different idiomatic meaning
in another situation. It is a phrase which does not always follow the normal rules
of meaning and grammar. To sit on the fence can literally mean that one is
sitting on a fence. I sat on the fence and watched the game. However, the
idiomatic meaning of to sit on the fence is that one is not making a clear choice
regarding some issue, for example: The politician sat on the fence and would not
give his opinion about the tax issue.
Therefore, we can see that the idiom not only gives or transfers the
information but also implies the nuance, attitude and feelings of the speaker.
The literal meaning of the idiom is the meaning that we can see basing on the
each unit’s meaning and the idiomatic meaning, is the extension which shows
the cultural distinction of using the word between this commodity and others.
The idiomatic meaning of the idioms is the meaning beyond or other than the
sum of the meaning of the individual words.
2.2.7. The relationship between idioms and culture

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As we all know, language is closely related to culture and can be said as a
part of culture. From a dynamic view, language and culture interact with each
other and shape each other.
Language is 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
them and carry a large amount of cultural information such as history,
geography, religion, custom, nationality psychology, thought pattern and so on,
and therefore are closely related to culture. They are the heritage of history and
product of cultural evolvement. Consequently, we can know much about culture
through studying idioms and in turn get better understanding of idioms by
learning the cultural background behind them.
Getting to the roots of idioms, we can find that they originated from historic
events, customs, agriculture, daily life, animal habitual behaviors, etc, which
involved every aspect of life. That is why idioms are hard to understand. The
essential point of studying idioms well is to realize them through the background
of the traditional culture, thought pattern, geography, religion, and custom.
One nation's custom is formed through a long history and firmly rooted in
people's mind. It is closely related to national psychology and acts as one
important source of idioms. In different countries and nations customs
drastically differ in various aspects. Due to that, a lot of idioms turn out with
varied dress.
Take food habit for example, cake has been a common food in English for
a long history, so it is understandable that they use "a piece of cake" denoting an
easy-done task. However, in China, cake cannot be seen until the last one
hundred years. So it is impossible for the same idiom to appear in Chinese. On
the other hand, dishes are common in China. Therefore a similar idiom "a piece
of cake” turned out in Chinese to express the same meaning.
Another example is related to the habitual way of working in the field.

Vietnamese people were habituated to use the bull to plough the field before
modernized agriculture was developed, while English did it with a horse.
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Consequently, English say "eat like a horse" to describe someone who eats a lot
while Vietnamese do "eat like a buffalo" in alternation.
Idiom is a part of culture. You may not understand the idioms because you don’t
understand the culture behind it. Thus, the study of the relationship between the
idiom and culture is significant and promising.
2.2.8. The similarities and differences between idioms and proverbs
According to Hornby (1995), in his Oxford Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary, a proverb is defined as “a short well-known sentence or phrase that
states a general truth about life or gives advice, e.g. Better safe than sorry or
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”. More particularly, Vu Ngoc Phan (2000:
39) considered a proverb as “a complete saying expressing one idea of
comment, experience, morality, justice or criticism”.
It is easy to find that idioms and proverbs have many in common and it
comes as no surprise that they are traditionally studied together. The first one is
that both idioms and proverbs are ready-made. They are products of human’s
thought, cultures and processes of hard working and learning. They are mainly
orally handed down from generation to generation and naturally accepted in
daily life. Secondly, both idioms and proverbs are set-expressions with stable
and in substituted components. Therefore, their meanings cannot be deduced
from individual words but must be understood as a whole. It means that any
substitutions in any components of an idiom or a proverb may result in
unacceptable changes in the meaning of the whole group, which make them
nonsensical in metaphorical meaning. Apart from this, most idioms and proverbs
use language in a metaphorical way. We can not usually discover their meanings
by looking up the individual words in a dictionary; their meaning must be

understood metaphorically.
Beside 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.
Idioms are phrases which are parts of sentences; thus, they are equivalent to
words only. Proverbs are complete sentences or phrases expressing the whole
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idea. Moreover, idioms and proverbs are also different in terms of their
functions. Proverbs are short well-known sentences or phrases that express a
judgment, state a general truth about life or advice; they are told to contain three
main literature functions which are perceptive function, aesthetic function and
educational function. For example, the proverb Money makes the mare go
demonstrates a remark as well as a criticism about the negative side of money.
Its perceptive function is to make people aware of the bad effect of money
which can become the power dominating the society, even the most inanimate
things. The educational function is to criticize the negative side of money and
urges people to be aware of that ill effect. And its aesthetic function is to
exaggerate in a picturesque way to help readers understand the proverb easily. .
In contrast, idioms do not express judgments, give advice or state general truth
about life, which means they do not have functions of perception and education
but only aesthetic function. For example, the idiom to eat like a horse merely
describe the strong ability of eating because of great hunger in figurative and
imaginary way and does not point out any educational lesson or knowledge of
life.
Despite of the very clear definitions, it is still confusing. Consequently,
basing on the opinion of Nguyễn Đình Hùng (1999), Tuyển Tập Thành Ngữ. Tục
Ngữ Ca Dao Việt – Anh thông dụng, we mention some of the following features:
• A proverb is a complete sentence with a whole meaning making

comments on social relationships, imparting experience of life, giving lessons in
morality or criticizing.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
An idiom is a fixed phrase but not a complete sentence, so it is considered
as a word and that‟s why you can put it in a sentence.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
• Both proverbs and idioms reflect people‟s knowledge about things
and natural phenomena from the world. But from these knowledge people
generalize concepts in idioms, meanwhile they interpret it into judgements in
term of proverbs.
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