A sutdy of idioms denoting speed in english and vietnamese from socio cultural perspective

NGUYỄN HẢI THU

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Nguyễn Hải Thu

ENGLISH LANGUAGE

A STUDY OF IDIOMS DENOTING SPEED IN
ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE FROM SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

MA THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

COURSE: 2016 – 2018

HANOI, 2018


VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Nguyễn Hải Thu

A STUDY OF IDIOMS DENOTING SPEED IN
ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE FROM SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

Field: English Language
Code: 8220201
Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hoàng Tuyết Minh

HANOI, 2018


DECLARATION BY AUTHOR

I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project
report entitled A study of idioms denoting speed in English and Vietnamese
from socio-cultural perspective submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Master in English Linguistics. Except where
the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due
acknowledgement in the text of the thesis.
Author’s Signature

Nguyên Hải Thu

Approved by
SUPERVISOR

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hoàng Tuyết Minh
Date:………………………….

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support
from a number of people.
First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Ms.
Hoang Tuyet Minh, my supervisor, who has patiently and constantly

supported me through the steps of the study, and whose stimulating ideas,
expertise and suggestions have inspired me greatly via my growth as an
academic researcher.
A special word of thanks goes to my best friends and my colleagues,
without whose support and encouragement it would never have been possible
for me to have this thesis accomplished.
Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family, my husband for
their sacrifice contributing to the fulfillment of this academic work.

ii


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
number
Declaration by Author

i

Acknowledgements

ii

Abstract

vii

List of Abbreviations

viii

List of tables

ix

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1

1.1. Rationale

1

1.2. Aims of the Study

2

1.3. Research Questions

3

1.4. Scope of the Study

3

1.5. Significance of the Study

4

1.6. Methodology

4

1.6.1. Research Methods

4

1.6.2. Research Procedure

4

1.6.3. Data Collection

5

1.6.4. Data Analysis

5

1.7. Structure of the Study

6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

8

2.1. Previous Studies

8

2.2. Theoretical Background

10

2.2.1. Definitions of Idioms

11

2.2.2. Syntactic Features of Idioms

14

2.2.3. Semantic Features of Idioms

17

2.2.3.1. Metaphor

14

2.2.3.2. Simile

15

iii


2.2.3.3. Hyperbole

16

2.3. Idioms Denoting Speed

21

2.3.1. Speed and Speed-related Concepts

22

2.3.2. Idioms Denoting Speed

23

2.4. Socio-culture

23

2.4.1. Definitions

23

2.4.2. Factors and Influences

24

2.4.3. In relation to language

27

2.5. Summary

30

CHAPTER 3: SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF IDIOMS

31

DENOTING SPEED IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE
3.1. Syntactic Features of Idioms Denoting Speed in English and

31

Vietnamese in term of Phrase Structures
3.1.1. Idioms Denoting Speed with Noun Structures

31

3.1.2. Idioms Denoting Speed with Verb Phrase Structures

31

3.1.3. Idioms Denoting Speed with Adjective Phrase

33

Structures
3.1.4. Idioms Denoting Speed with Prepositional Phrase

33

Structures
3.1.5. Idioms Denoting Speed with Adverb Phrase Structures
3.2. Idioms Denoting Speed with other Structures

34
34

3.2.1. Idioms Denoting Speed with Parallel Structures

34

3.2.2. Idioms Denoting Speed with Comparative Structures

36

3.3. Comparison between Idioms Denoting Speed in English and

39

Vietnamese in terms of Syntactic Features
3.4. Summary

42

iv


CHAPTER 4: SEMANTIC FEATURES OF IDIOMS

43

DENOTING SPEED IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE
4.1. Meanings of Speed and Speed-related Concepts
4.1.1. Idioms Denoting Speed Express Quickness in English

43
43

and Vietnamese
4.1.2. Idioms Denoting Speed Express Slowness in English

46

and Vietnamese
4.2. Figurative Meaning of Idioms Denoting Speed in English and

48

Vietnamese
4.2.1. Metaphor

48

4.2.2. Hyperbole

49

4.2.3. Simile

50

4.3. Comparison between Idioms Denoting Speed in English and

52

Vietnamese in terms of Semantic Features
4.4. Summary

55

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION

56

5.1. Recapitulation

56

5.2. Concluding Remarks

57

5.3. Implications

58

5.4. Limitations and Suggestions for Further Studies

59

REFERENCES

61

APPENDIX 1. A CORPUS OF IDIOMS DENOTING SPEED IN

I

ENGLISH
APPENDIX 2. A CORPUS OF IDIOMS DENOTING SPEED IN
VIETNAMESE

v

IX


ABSTRACT

This paper is one of very few researches in the world that studies
semantic and syntactic features of English and Vietnamese idioms denoting
speed from socio-cultural perspective. Both qualitative and quantitative
analysis were used to study 180 idioms in English and 180 idioms in
Vietnamese together with numerous numbers of examples taken out from 70
linguistics books, 30 dictionaries, 22 short stories and 15 Internet sources. The
methods show that idioms denoting speed have some similarities and
differences in terms of syntactic features and semantic features from a sociocultural perspective. This paper also gives the implications for the teaching
and learning of idioms as well as for further studies.

vi


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Adj

:

Adjective

Adv

:

Adverbial

AdvP

:

Adverb Phrase

AP

:

Adjective Phrase

Art

:

Article

C

:

Complement

e.g.

:

For example

N

:

Noun

NP

:

Noun Phrase

Num

:

Numeral

O

:

Object

Prep

:

Preposition

PP

:

Prepositional Phrase

V

:

Verb

VP

:

Verb Phrase

etc.

:

et cetera

vii


LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1:

Contrast cultural features of Vietnam and Britain

24

Table 3.1:

Statistical Summary of Syntactic Features of English and 38
Vietnamese Idioms Denoting Speed

Table 4.1:

Frequency of Semantic Fields of English and Vietnamese 51
Idioms Denoting Speed

Table 4.2:

Frequency of Figurative Meaning in English and 52
Vietnamese Idioms Denoting Speed

viii


CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
This initial chapter presents the rationale of the study, along with the
aims, objectives, and the scope of the whole assignment. Above all, it is in
this chapter that the research questions are demonstrated to work as clear
guidelines for the paper.
1.1. Rationale
English is considered the key for international understanding and world
regulation, under the phenomena called globalization. As the English
language and globalization walk side by side, towards the goal of
communication, business and politics, ways around the world has been made
simpler than ever. In other words, English has become today a basic need for
any professional in any major area.
The internationalization of manpower has made nations adopt English
as the official language of the world, and Vietnam is no different. Vietnamese
learners of English are seeking and applying various learning techniques in
order to master the language, opening the doors for both personal and
professional development. However, while there are standardized exams to
score and measure level of English proficiency such as IELTS, TOEFL,
TOEIC and so on, little is there any official study on Vietnamese learners’
actual ability to communicate in English, also known as communicative

competence.
Communicative competence in a language is the ability to interpret the
underlying meaning of a message, understand cultural references, use
strategies to keep communication from breaking down, and apply the rules of

1


grammar of the language (Savignon, 1997). As an English teacher who has
much interest in underlining various learning methods for Vietnamese
students, this is a great opportunity for me to carry out a study on this subject,
by focusing on just one amongst many obstacles Vietnamese learners of
English have yet overcome: how to understand and use English idioms in
communication.
This paper in particular would study and analyze some syntactic and
semantic features of idioms denoting speed in English and Vietnamese in the
hope that the result can help Vietnamese Learners of English improve their
understanding of idioms and apply idioms in communication. Moreover, the
investigation hopes to provide learners with background knowledge about
cultural aspects related to the idioms they are approaching as well as serve as
an initial effort and a premise for further in-depth studies benefiting
Vietnamese learners of English.
1.2. Aims of the Study
Through researching and finding out the typical syntactic and semantic
features of English speed idioms in English and Vietnamese, this study will
support English learners with better understanding of their structures and
meanings, which will serve as a bridge to understand underlining sociocultural factors. As a result, learners will be able to use idioms effectively in
daily communication.
To achieve these targets, some specific objectives have been put
forward as the following: Firstly, describing, analyzing, idioms denoting

speed in English and Vietnamese in terms of syntactic and semantic features.
Secondly, pointing out the similarities and differences of these English idioms
containing nouns, adjectives, verbs that are related to speed and their
2


Vietnamese equivalents in terms of syntactic and semantic features. Finally,
suggesting some ideas for teaching and learning idioms denoting speed.
1.3. Research Questions
In order to gain the aims of the study, the study is to answer following
research questions:
- What are the typical syntactic and semantic features of idioms denoting
speed in English and Vietnamese?
- What are the similarities and differences between idioms denoting speed
in English and Vietnamese in terms of syntactic, semantic features and
socio-cultural perspectives?
- What are the implications for teaching and learning English idioms
denoting speed in English and Vietnamese?
1.4. Scope of the Study
In the framework of the study, the thesis only focuses on idioms
denoting speed in English and Vietnamese in terms of syntactic and semantic
features. This study includes idioms which contain all nouns, adjectives,
adverbs and verbs expressing speed and which are related to speed. The data
are taken from from 70 linguistics books, 30 dictionaries, 22 short stories and
15 Internet sources.
While completing this thesis, all speed idioms are collected and being
under consideration before being used. Hopefully, the outcomes will have a
certain contribution to the communication development for Vietnamese
language learners.

3


1.5. Significance of the Study
Theoretically, the study provides a detailed view on idioms denoting
speed in English and Vietnamese in terms of syntactic and semantic features.
The findings then serve as a foundation other researches on idioms in English
and Vietnamese under socio-cultural perspectives.
Practically, the results of the study provide valuable implications for
efficiently teaching and learning English as a foreign language in Vietnam in
general, and teaching and learning idioms denoting speed in particular.
1.6. Methodology
1.6.1. Research Methods
The main research methods used are description and contrastive
analysis which include four techniques namely description, data collection,
comparison and analysis. Firstly, the descriptive approach is applied to come
to the nature of syntactic and semantic features of idioms denoting speed in
English and Vietnamese. Secondly, data collecting procedures are employed
to list the idioms denoting speed in English and Vietnamese that contain the
word speed or speed-related concept. Thirdly, the comparison is used in the
contrast of the syntactic and semantic features to explain and summarize the
differences and similarities between them. Last but not least, analytical
technique is exploited to generalize the conclusions and implications in
teaching and learning idioms denoting speed in English and Vietnamese.
1.6.2. Research Procedure
The research procedure includes three major steps. Firstly, 70
linguistics books, 30 dictionaries, 22 short stories and 15 Internet sources are
4

selected and scanned to find idioms that contain the word speed or speedrelated meaning and concepts. Secondly, selected samples in each language
are categorized based on sentactic and semantic features perspectively. This
step is done seperately for samples of each language in order to find out
categorical patterns. Lastly, the study compared findings of both language to
examine the similarities, differences and their relationships with socio-culture.
1.6.3. Data Collection
The study is required to guarantee the following criteria:
- Data selected are idioms
- Selected idioms denotes speed
- The sources from which the chosen samples are picked up are major
dictionaries, idioms dictionaries, published books on idiomatic expressions
and major listing of idioms on the Web.
This research paper is restricted to English and Vietnamese idioms
denoting speed. As a result, there are 180 English idioms denoting speed and
180 Vietnamese idioms denoting speed from many different sources.
1.6.4. Data Analysis
After being collected, idioms in the two languages are selected and
grouped to be independently observed. All idioms are analyzed, classified in
order to meet the need of analysis. Data analysis is done in terms of syntax
and semantics.
Syntactically, the analysis and classification are mainly based on the
different structural categories of idioms such as: noun phrases, verbs phrases,
adjective phrases, adverb phrases, and prepositional phrases. The results of
5


this steps are summarized in statistical tables. By examining the distribution
rates of each type in English and Vietnamese, the researcher would look for
the special characteristics for each of them, generalize the results so as to have
a complete overview about the structure of idioms in English and Vietnamese.

Next, the obtained data in the two languages are synthesized and compared in
detail to sort out the similar and different features between them. Then the
research results are comprehensively analyzed in order to find out possible
explanations for these similarities and differences.
Semantically, the classification is carried out on the basis typical
features of idioms in both languages.
The syntactic and semantic features of idioms denoting speed in
English and Vietnamese were studied to provide a detailed view on how
similar or different they are compared to each other. Similarities and
differences of idioms in English and Vietnamese in general are consequences
of those between two cultures for language items that are closely in
connection with culture. Through these findings, the study helps us to identify
methods to be implied in teaching and learning English idioms in general and
English idioms denoting speed in particular.
1.7. Structure of the Study
The paper revolves around four central chapters.
Except for the first chapter, being the introduction to the thesis,
detailing the aims, the scope, and the research methods, chapters 2 and 3
provide general theoretical background for the study.
Chapter 2 looks at the literature review to discuss their contributions to
English and Vietnamese socio-culture. Roles and functions of idiomatic

6


expressions is proposed at the end of the chapter to serve as the theoretical
departure point for the analytical procedures in the second half of the thesis.
Chapter 3 is the first analytical chapter, in which idioms denoting speed
are studied in terms of syntactic features. The sample data are broken down
into phrasal structure (noun, verb, adjective, adverb, and prepositional phrase

structure), parallel structure and comparative structure. The chapter concludes
with the syntactic comparison between idioms denoting speed in English and
Vietnamse from socio-cultural perspective.
Chapter 4 is the second analytical chapter, studying idioms denoting
speed in terms of semantic features. In this chapter, sample data of each
language are divided into idioms containing the word speed or speed-related
concepts, and idioms that have figurative meaning related to speed or speed
concept. The chapter concludes with the semantic comparison between idioms
denoting speed in English and Vietnamse from socio-cultural perspective.
Chapter 5 concludes the thesis and explores the possibilities for
upgrading existing corpus tools to better support speed-related idiomatic
expression studies in the future.
References come at the end of the study.

7


CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Previous Studies
As can be seen, English idioms considerably play an important role in
linguistic source of all nations in the world. That is one of the reasons leading
to many studies on English idioms in terms of psychological and cultural
factors. However, very few of those studies narrows down the scope of the
study to a particular type of idioms such as water-related, weather-related…
or idioms under the lights of various fields of language, including syntactic,
semantic and translation, etc. Therefore, this causes some difficulties for the
author in the process of researching materials.
As a social phenomenon, language is composed of words and multiword units or multi-word (lexical) items (Lewis, 1993), with the latter
encompassing idioms and collocations as the two main categories (Grant &

Bauer, 2004). In a widely-held view, idioms are believed to constitute a
highly problematic area for second/foreign language (L2) learners (Cooper,
1998; Irujo, 1986; Lattey, 1986; Moon, 1998; Sparado, 2013) because even
when knowing the meanings of the individual words within a phrase, its
overall meaning is often almost impossible to comprehend unless the idiom
has been learned or heard before. Some people recognize the necessity of
integrating idioms into the language curriculum along with other aspects of
learning a language. Others adhere to the idea that acquisition of idioms
occurs incidentally as part of the general process of language and world
knowledge development. This is the controversy the current thesis attempting
to address.

8


Idioms have become an interest of a great number of researchers in the
world in different languages. In English, we can mention Dixon, R.J (1971)
with Essential Idioms in English”; Seidl, J. and McMordie, W. (1988) with
“English Idioms and How to Use Them”, McCarthy, M. (2002) with “English
Idioms in Use”, Ammer, C. (1997) with “The American Heritage Dictionary
of Idioms”, etc.
The dictionary also explains the meanings of idioms in full sentences
and clarifies them by examples. In “NTC’s English Idioms Dictionary”, Spears
and Kirkpatrick (1993) focus on the meaning, usage and appropriate contexts
for each idiomatic phrase. They also provide definitions and two or more
examples to clarify each idiom. Besides, in “Oxford Idioms Dictionary for
Learners of English” of Parkinson and Francis (2006), there is a wide range of
idioms, from expressions used in business and newspapers to very up-to-date
informal English and slang expressions. The dictionary also gives specific
information on vocabulary or grammar of the idioms. Especially, it has more

notes on the origins of idioms, notes to help with difficult vocabulary, study
pages, exercises and cartoons to aid learning and add interest. “Oxford
Dictionary of Idioms” by Siefring, J. (2004) provides learners with updated
idioms including clear explanations in typical contexts.
It can be said that “Thành Ngữ Tiếng Việt” of Nguyễn Lực and Lương Văn
Đang (1978) is one of the earliest books about idioms in Vietnam. After that, it is
the appearance of “Từ Điển Thành Ngữ và Tục Ngữ Việt Nam” by Nguyễn Lân
(1994), Hoàng Văn Hành (2008) “Thành Ngữ Học Tiếng Việt”, etc.
The above findings serve as framework of this study, which is the
premise for the future research on teaching and learning idioms effectively
and efficiently to Vietnamese learners of English.

9


2.2. Theoretical Background
In this part, I would like to mention some concepts and the uses of the
theory of syntactics and semantics that help us find out the similarities and
differences off syntactic and semantic features of English speed-related
idioms and the Vietnamese equivalents.
Syntactics is the grammar, structure or order of the elements in a
language statement. It applies to computer languages as well as to natural
languages. Usually, we think of syntactics as “word arrangement”. However,
syntactics is also reached in some languages such as Latin by inflectional case
endings. In computer languages, syntactics can be extremely firm as in the
case of most assemble languages or less rigid in language that make use of
“keyword” parameters that can be stated in any order.
Syntactics is also a set of rules in a language. It dictates how word from
different parts of speech being put together in order to convey a complete
thought. In this research, syntactics is used to convey the denotation of speed

idioms in order to explain rules for grammatical organization of words
indicating speed in sentences.
In terms of semantics, John Isaeed (1997) suggested that semantics is
the study of meaning communicated through language. It can be seen that
whereas syntactics is the grammar, structure or organization of the
components in a language statement, semantics is the meaning of these
elements. Semantics has a long history of researching as well as many
controversies about its definition but the word “semantics” made it earliest
entry into the Old English Dictionary only in 1890s.
In the book “Semantics” (1990) written by Palmer, he defines that
semantically, idioms are single unit, but not a single grammatical unit like a
10


word. He also points out some restrictions in syntactic features and notes that
the problem of idioms is involved with the much wider issue of word
formation, by which what would appear to be new and more complex lexemes
can be formed from single ones. Cruse (1987) in “Lexical semantics”
mentions that an idiom may be briefly characterised as a lexcical complex
which is semantically complex. According to him, most idioms are
homophonous with grammatically well-formed transparent expressions.
Besides, he makes the conception of idioms in his book more clearly by
distinguishing idioms, collections and “dead” metaphor.
2.2.1. Definitions of Idioms
Idioms are treated as figures of speech, which are defined in the Collins
English Dictionary (2006) as “an expression such as a simile, in which words
do not have their literal meaning, but are categorized as multi-word
expressions that act in the text as units”.
Collins Cobuild Dictionary of the English Language (2005) illustrates:
“an idiom is a group of words, which, when, they are used together in a

particular combination, have different meaning from the one they would have
if you took the meaning of all individual words in the group”.
Longman Idioms Dictionary (1998) defines them as “a sequence of
words which has a different meaning as a group from the meaning it would
have if you understand each word separately”. Accordingly, idioms should
not be broken up into their elements because they are sometimes referred to as
a fixed expression (Cowie and Mackin, 1975; viii cited in Balfaqeeh, 2009).
According to McMordiew (1983), “we can say that an idiom is a
number of words which (when they are) taken together, mean something
different from the individual words of the idiom when they stand alone”.
(McMordiew, 1983, p. 4).

11


On the other hand, Moon (1998) in her book, A Corpus-Based
Approach, defines idiom as “an ambiguous term, used in conflicting ways”. In
lay or general use, idiom has two main meanings. First, idiom is a particular
means of expressing something in language, music, art, and so on, which
characterizes a person or group; secondly, an idiom is a particular lexical
collocation or phrasal lexeme, peculiar to a language (Moon, 1998, p. 3).
Most of the scholars quote that idioms in most of the cases show no
flexibility to change in form and grammar. In this case, Baker (1992) states
that, some idioms even allow “no variation in form under normal
circumstances” and that a translator can not do any of the following with an
idiom: a) Change the order of the words in it; b) Delete a word from it; c) Add
a word to it; d) Replace a word with another; and finally e) Change its
grammatical structure.
The definition of idioms in Vietnamese is given out in “Kể Chuyện
Thành Ngữ, Tục Ngữ” by Hoàng Văn Hành (2002, p. 25): “idioms are some

set expressions that are stable in their forms and structures”, complete and
figurative in their meaning, used widely in daily communication.
Mai Ngọc Chừ, Vũ Đức Nghiệu and Hoàng Trọng Phiến in Cơ Sở
Ngôn Ngữ Học Tiếng Việt (1997, p. 153-165) affirm: “idioms are groups of
words which are syntactically restricted and have a particular meaning. Their
meaning are often imaginative and figurative” (Thành ngữ là cụm từ cố định,
hoàn chỉnh về cấu trúc và ý nghĩa. Nghĩa của chúng có tính hình tượng và gợi
cảm).
Sharing the same idea with Mai Ngọc Chừ, Vũ Đức Nghiệu and Hoàng
Trọng Phiến, Hoàng Văn Hành (2002) state that “idioms are set expressions
which are stable in morph-structure, complete and figurative in meaning,
used widely in communication”. (Thành ngữ là một loại tổ hợp từ cố định,
12


bền vững về hình thái cấu trúc, hoàn chỉnh, bóng bẩy về ý nghĩa, được sử
dụng rộng rãi trong giao tiếp thường ngày).
Lê Bá Hán, Trần Đình Sử, Nguyễn Khắc Phi (2007, p. 142) notify that
“idiom is a fixed phrase used as a word not to express a complete idea but a
concept. Meaning of an idiom is not the combination of its constituents.”
(Thành ngữ là cụm từ cố định, bền vững, có tính nguyên khối về ngữ nghĩa
không nhằm diển đạt trọn một ý mà nhằm thể hiện một quan niệm dưới một
hình thức sinh động, hàm súc. (…) Ý nghĩa của thành ngữ không phải là tổng
số nghĩa của các thành tố cấu thành nó.)
It is worth to note that studying the language of a certain nation seems
to be inadequate if attention is only paid to the characteristic of idioms
without reviewing them in relation to proverbs. Idioms have been defined as
fixed expressions whose meaning cannot be worked out by combining the
literal meaning of its individual words. Proverbs, however, have been defined
differently as “a short well-known sentence or phrase that gives advice or

says something is generally true in life.” (Oxford Student’s dictionary of
English, 2001)
It is also worth noticing that a proverb is not merely the language but
one of the most substantial contributions to the folk culture of each country.
People can perceive that nation’s lands, people and humanity tradition
through the treasure of proverbs of a nation.
In summary, although there are many different angles in expression the
definition of the word idiom, most linguists and researchers have the same
view that an idiom is a fixed expression whose meaning cannot be taken as a
combination of the meaning of its constituents.

13


2.2.2. Syntactic Features of Idioms
As an idiom is a set-expression, the components in idioms can neither
be added nor substituted. They cannot be changed or varied in the way literal
expressions are normally varied, whether in speech or in writing. Moreover,
when an idiom is used in a complete sentence, it is hardly possible to change
it into passive. Let us consider such an idiom: to eat humble pie which means
to say and show that one is sorry for a mistake that he/she made in the
sentence She had to eat humble pie when Harry, who she said would never
have any success, won first prize. It would be unnatural to say Humble pie
was eaten by her. It is also noticeable that one cannot make other changes
without losing the idiomatic meaning. Almost all idiomatic phrases fail in one
way or another to permit the usual grammatical operations which literal
phrases usually do. This relates to the grammatical fixity of idioms.
It is clear that, an idiom is a fixed group of words. The constituent
components of an idiom cannot generally be changed, replaced, interrupted,
modified or omitted by other words. If there are any attempts to change one of

the individual parts of idiomatic expressions, the idiomatic meaning of the
phrase will be lost with only the literal meaning retained. Moreover, idioms
have many grammatical restrictions. The restrictions in idioms’ grammar can
be illustrated through nouns and verbs. The noun’s number as a grammatical
category must be kept in original form but the tense of verb is changeable.
The idiom break the record (which means move very fast) still preserve its
idiomatic meaning in broke the record, but not break the records. However,
syntactic restriction differs from idioms to idioms.
An idiom can have a regular structure, an irregular or even a
grammatically incorrect structure. It is also syntactically anomalous. It has an

14


unusual grammatical structure, like by and large, to and fro, long time no see.
The structural variations of idioms cannot be predicted.
It is necessary to take a look at some more exceptions to this kind of
fixed behaviour in both English and Vietnamese idioms. Several fixed idioms
cannot be changed in any part (except the tense of the verb). For example, to
paint the town red, to fight shy of something, to get down to business. Others
allow a different number of variants. For example, in the English idioms,
quick as a wink/ quick as a bunny/ quick as a flash/ quick as a dog can lick a
dish; at a snail’s pace/ at a snail’s gallop, etc. In the Vietnamese idioms, lò
dò như cò ăn đêm/ lò dò như cò phải bão/ lò dò như cò bắt tép refer to one
sense. Here are some more examples about Vietnamese idioms denoting
speed which are relatively fixed. Lật mặt như trở bàn tay means the same as
Lật lọng như trở bàn tay.
Over and above, idioms may take many different forms or structures.
Some idioms are noun phrases such as crocodile tears, child’s play, a new
man, forty winks (a short sleep during the day) and the storm in the teacup. In

terms of structure, an idiom can have a regular structure, an irregular or even
a grammatically incorrect structure.
For the first type, they have common forms but there is no connection
between the meaning of each component and that of the whole unit. Typical
examples of idioms with regular structure are not difficult to find: the greeneyed monster (a feeling of anger or unhappiness because somebody, you like
or love is showing interest in somebody else), a pipe dream (a hope, believe,
plan and so on that will probably not come true), poetic justice (a punishment
or reward that is deserved). The meaning of idioms in this group cannot be
perceived without having been learnt already.

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