Syntactic and semantic features of english of english verb “take” in the novels “ the old man and the sea” and “ for whom the bell tools” by ernest hemingway with reference to its vietnamese equivalents

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

NGUYỄN THỊ KHÁNH
SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF ENGLISH
VERB “TAKE” IN THE NOVELS “THE OLD MAN AND
THE SEA” AND “ FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS ”BY
ERNEST HEMINGWAY WITH REFERENCE TO ITS
VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS
ĐẶC ĐIỂM CẤU TRÚC VÀ NGỮ NGHĨA CỦA ĐỘNG TỪ
“TAKE” TRONG CÁC TÁC PHẦM “ÔNG GIÀ VÀ BIỂN CẢ”
VÀ “ CHUÔNG NGUYỆN HỒN AI ” CỦA NHÀ VĂN
ERNEST HEMINGWAY VỚI SỰ TƢƠNG ĐƢƠNG TRONG
TIẾNG VIỆT

M.A THESIS
Field: English Language
Code: 8220201

Hanoi, 2018


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

NGUYỄN THỊ KHÁNH
SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF ENGLISH
VERB “TAKE” IN THE NOVELS “THE OLD MAN AND
THE SEA” AND “ FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS ”BY
ERNEST HEMINGWAY WITH REFERENCE TO ITS
VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS

ĐẶC ĐIỂM CẤU TRÚC VÀ NGỮ NGHĨA CỦA ĐỘNG TỪ
“TAKE” TRONG CÁC TÁC PHẦM “ÔNG GIÀ VÀ BIỂN CẢ”
VÀ “ CHUÔNG NGUYỆN HỒN AI ” CỦA NHÀ VĂN
ERNEST HEMINGWAY VỚI SỰ TƢƠNG ĐƢƠNG TRONG
TIẾNG VIỆT

M.A THESIS
Field: English Language
Code: 8220201
Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr LÊ VĂN THANH
Hanoi, 2018


CERIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY
I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled
Syntactic and semantic features of English verb “take” in the novels “ The Old Man
And The Sea “ and “ For Whom The Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway with
reference to its 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, 2018
Nguyen Thi Khanh

Approved by
SUPERVISOR

(Signature and full name)

Date:……………………

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For the accomplishment of this thesis, first of all , I am greatly indebted to my
supervisor, Assoc. Prof. Dr Lê Văn Thanh, who has kindly and patiently guided me
throughout the process of the study. His insights, advices, support, and
encouragement have made the process of the study not only precious but also a
meaningful one.
Besides, I would like to thank all my respectable lecturers for teaching me all the
courses that I have taken at Ha Noi Open University.
I would also like to thank all my colleagues who made great contribution to my
research . Without their assistance and participation, this study would not have been
successful.
Finally, I am deeply grateful to my beloved parents, husband and my children for
their love and support which have enabled me to overcome all the challenges during
my study.

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ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to investigate the syntactic and semantic features
of English verb “take” in the novels “ The Old Man and the Sea” and “ For Whom
the Bell Tolls” “ by Ernest Hemingway with reference to their equivalents in theirs
translation “ Ông già và biển cả” translated by Lê Huy Bắc and “ Chuông nguyện
hồn ai” translated by Nguyễn Vĩnh and Hồ Thể Tần. The study is aimed at three
points: (1) pointing out syntactic and semantic features of the verb “take” used in
the novel “ The Old Man and the Sea” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls” , (2) finding

the similarities and differences between the meanings of the verb “take” in English
and Vietnamese translational equivalents, (3) providing some recommendations for
the teaching and learning as well as translation of the verb “take” into the target
language. This study was designed as a descriptive research with the method of
contrastive and componential analysis. According to the data analysis, the result of
the study show that the verb “take” coincide in their general meaning. However, the
verb “take” in Vietnamese seems to have much more meanings than that in English.

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
EFL: English Foreign Language
Eg: Example
T: Transitive Verb
I: Intransitive Verb

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LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
Table 2.1. Summary of the Semantic Features of TAKE
Table 2.2. Summary of Idioms of TAKE
Table 2.3. Summary of Phrasal Verbs of TAKE

Table 2.4. Collocations with TAKE

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Certificate of originality…………………………………………………..….i
Acknowledgements……………………………………………………….….ii
Abstract……………………………………………………………………...iii
Lists of abbreviations………………………………………………..….…..iv
List of tables and figures……………………………………………………vi
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………...1
1.1 Rationale for the study …………………………………………………………. 1
1.2 Aims and objectives of the study ……………………………………………….2
1.3. Research questions……………………………………………………………...2
1.4 Scope of the study ………………………………………………………………3
1.5 Significance of the study ………………………………………………….…….3
1.6 Design of the study ……………………………………………………….…..4
Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ………………………………………..…..6
2.1 Review of the previous studies………………………………………….………6
2.2 Review of theoretical background ……………………………………………...7
2.2.1. Syntactic Theory……………………………………..………………….……7
2.2.2. Semantic Theory………………..……………………………………...……10
2.2.2.1.Meaning………………………………………………………..……..10
2.2.2.2. Word Meaning…………………………………………………...…..12
2.2.2.3.Semantic Features………………..………...………………………13
2.2.2.4.Semantic Field………………..……………...………………………13
2.2.3.Verbs…………………………………………………………...………...…..14
2.2.3.1. Definition of English Verb……………………………...……………14
2.2.3.2. Classification of Verbs…………………………………………………….15
2.3 .Theoretical framework……………………………………………..………….18
2.3.1. The verb “take” in English…………………………………..………………18
2.3.2. The verb “ take” with its Vietnamese equivalents…………………………..24
2.4 Summary……………………………………………………………………….24
Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY ………………………………………………….26

3.1 Subjects …………………………………………………...…………………..26
3.2 Instrumentation …………………………………………………………….….26

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3.3 Procedures ……………………………………………………………………..26
3.4 Statistical Analysis ………………………………………………...………….27
3.5 Summary ………………………………………….…………...………………28
Chapter 4: Syntactic and Semantic features of English verb “take” in the
novels “ The Old Man and the Sea” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Ernest
Hemingway with reference to its Vietnamese equivalents……………………..29
4.1. Syntactic and semantic features of the verb “Take” in the novels “The Old Man
and the Sea” and “ For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway and their
equivalent in Vietnamese…………………………………..………………………29
4.2. The similarities and differences between the verb “Take” in English and their
equivalent in Vietnamese………………………………………………….……….36
4.3. Some recommendations for the teaching and learning as well as translation of
verb “Take” into the target language……………………………………………....41
4.4 Summary……………………………………………………………………….43
Chapter 5: CONCLUSION………………………………………...…………….44
5.1 Summary of Findings………………………………….……………………….44
5.2 Concluding remarks …………………………………………………………...44
5.3 Recommendations for Further Study…………………..………………………46
REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………….47

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Chapter I

INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the background of the study, reasons for choosing the topic,
statements of the problem, objectives of the study, significance of the study, and
outline of the study.
1.1.

Rationale for the study
Nowadays, English is considered as an important means of communication

all over the world. The number of people who communicate and use it as the first
language has been increasing day by day. However, in the process of
communication, we sometimes have difficulties to choose words when expressing
something because of their similar meanings in different contexts and usage.
Wilkins (1972:111) comments : “Without grammar, very little can be conveyed;
without vocabulary in English nothing can be conveyed”. Besides, possessing a rich
source of vocabulary in English will enable learners speak and write concisely.
According to Palmer (1965 :1), “ learning a language is, to a very large degree, how
to operate the verbal forms, the pattern and the structure of the verb in that
language.
English verbs are classified in different ways and according to various
criteria. This helps us not only to collect but also to use them easily. However, the
fact that a verb can convey different meanings , which makes Vietnamese learners
and users of English confused.
The verb “take” is one of the most commonly used in English. It can be
divided into 17 semantic meanings and there are 13 idioms and 37 phrasal verbs
containing it. Thus, the verb “take” is rather complicated. The misunderstanding of
using the verb “take” causes many problems to English users and translators. In
addition, the wide diversity of the verb “take” sometimes makes them confused and

1

they have difficulties when using them effectively to get target communication in
speaking as well as translating.
In fact, some researches have been done about many kinds of verbs but
research of the verb “take “ has not been done. For these reasons, we would like to
choose the study of the verb “take” in the novel “ The Old Man and the Sea” and “
For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway for my thesis topic to study more
about its syntactic and semantic features with the hope of helping Vietnamese users
and translators to achieve the exact usage and use it.
1.2.

Aims and Objectives of the study
This thesis is aimed to analyzing of syntactic and semantic features of

English verb “take” with reference to their Vietnamese equivalents and find out the
similarities and differences of them. From that, the author will give the suggestions
for teaching, learning and translation of verb “take”.
There are three main objectives in this study. The first objective is
pointing out the syntactic and semantic features of English verb “take” in the novels
“ The Old Man and the Sea” and “ For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Ernest
Hemingway. The second one is helping Vietnamese learners be aware of the
similarities and differences between English verb “take” and their Vietnamese
equivalents. And lastly, it is proposing some implications for mastering English
verb “take” in effective ways.
1.3.

Research questions
To achieve the aims and objectives of the thesis, the following research

question is put forward:
1. What are syntactic and semantic features of the verb “take” in English
and their Vietnamese equivalents in the novels?
2. What are the similarities and differences between English verb “take”
and their Vietnamese equivalents?
3. What are the implications for teaching, learning and translating English
verb “take”?

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1.4.

Scope of the study
This study focuses on analyzing syntactic and semantic features of English

verb “take” in the novels “ The Old Man and the Sea” and “ For Whom the Bell
Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway then Vietnamese equivalents will be later discussed
through analyzing English- Vietnamese examples in different contexts. It is better if
English verb “take” is analyzed and totalized, contributing considerably to English
learning and teaching in Vietnam.
In terms of syntactic feature, the verb “take”
1.5.

Significance of the study.
The study is carried out basically through the descriptive and methods. The

descriptive method is employed to give in depth and detailed description syntactic
and semantic features of English verb “take” in English. The work starts with a
review of existing study results on verbs to provide a better understanding of the

topic. By providing an innovative approach to learning English lexical terms, the
author to expects to change how students learn English words as well as how
teachers change their traditional methods of teaching vocabulary.
This study‟s implications are to deal with these issues in hope that will help
students overcome their troubles.
With the aim of investigating the syntactic and semantic features of English verb
“take” with reference to their Vietnamese equivalents, it could be a considerable
contribution to different groups.
Firstly, the result of the research is expected to give a positive result for the
readers so that they will have a deeper understanding of the verb “take” in the
novels as well as enrich their vocabulary and apply the verb “take” in their writing
and speaking activities. The verb “ take” and the verb “ mang” are highly frequently
used for Vietnamese learners, therefore, knowing syntactic and semantic features of
this verb as well as their similarities and differences can facilitate the learner‟s
process of learning vocabulary.

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Secondly, this research would be beneficial to the novelists who will get important
about the verb “take”. Therefore, this research is expected to make useful
contributions which are easily comprehended by the readers of the novel.
The third contribution is the formation of five implications for teaching
verbs in general. As a result, these implications can be applied as a framework or
model for teaching all verbs. This is extremely significant for EFL learners in
particular.
Last but not least, since there is no study conducted to investigate the verb
“take” in novels, hence; this study may be a springboard for those who want to do
further research in the same area.
1.6.

Design of the study
This study is divided into 5 chapters

Chapter I: The Introduction presents the rationale, aims, objectives, research
questions, methods of the study, scope, significance and the design of thesis.
Chapter II: The Literature Review features the review of related literature and the
theoretical backgrounds for the study, in which the theory of verbs are discussed.
The verb “take” will be also identified in terms of grammatical characteristics in
structures related to take. Also, this chapter presents and describes concrete cases of
the verb “take” in English with its Vietnamese equivalents in corresponding
contexts.
Chapter III: The Methodology, presents the research governing orientations and
the research methods used in implementing and developing the study. This chapter
focuses on research questions, research setting, approaches to investigate the
research problem, the principles, techniques to collect and analyze data, etc.
Chapter IV: Findings and Discussion, introduces the results of the survey which
syntactic and semantic features of the English verb “take” shown in the novels
“ The Old Man and the Sea” and

“ For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Ernest

Hemingway. The similarities and differences of the verb “take” are found out. The
research recommendations for learning English as a foreign language can be found
as the last part of this chapter.
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Chapter V: Conclusion, provides concluding remarks. Summarizes major findings
of the study, points out the limitations and proposes some suggestion for further

research.

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Chapter 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
The second chapter covers review of related literature. It contains review
of previous studies and review of the theoretical studies.
2.1 Review of the Previous Studies
According to Levin [12], verbs are put into 23 different classes based on
their patterns of alternation and according to George A. Miller ; verbs are divided
into 15 files largely based on semantic criteria. All but one of these files
corresponds to what linguists have called semantic domains: verbs of bodily care
and functions, change cognition, communication, competitions, etc.
According to Vendler, Z. in Linguistics in philosophy. Ithaca, N.Y: Cornell
University Press placed verbs into four classes: activities, accomplishments,
achievements, and states. In “Semantic Structure”, Jackendoff presents some verbs
of manner of motion and configuration. Moreover, according to Palmer F.R. [17],
verbs are classified into seven major semantic domains, although many verbs have
more than one meaning. Marcella Frank in “Modern English a practice reference
guide” classifies verbs by complement of verb or by form of verb. The types of
verbs described have difference according to the kind of complement they may
have.
Lyon [14] supply us with some information about perception verbs..
Wiśniewski K. [18] research results of the 20 most frequent verbs in European
language (English, German, Swedish , French, Spanish, Finnish, Hungarian... show
that the field of perception is represented by the verb denoting visual perception,
namely the verb “see”.
In Vietnam, Nguyen Kim Than [21] mentions the formation of Vietnamese

verbs and their classification. Moreover; there are also some studies on semantic
and lexical features of verbs. For example, Nguyen Van Chien studies “ăn” and “đi”
in Vietnamese. Truong Thi Hue also studies verbs denoting the concept of eating.
There also have been many studies that focus on verb groups. Tran Thi Phuoc Hanh

6


analyzed the semantic and syntactic features of four English verbs: Say-Tell-SpeakTalk and their Vietnamese equivalents. Luu Thuy My Hanh studied on semantic and
syntactic features of motion verbs in English and Vietnamese equivalent. There
have been studies of Nguyen Thi Mai with an investigation into linguistic features
of the English verbs “carry, bring, take” and their Vietnamese translational
equivalents, Le Lan Phuong with verbs denoting the concept of seeing in English
and Vietnamese, Nguyen Thi Hong Duc with English spatial verbs and their
Vietnamese equivalents in the light of cognitive grammar.
2.2 Review of theoretical background
2.2.1. Syntactic theory
Syntax is the study of how combine to the form sentences and the rules
which govern the formation of sentences. However, syntactic structure is
understood as the arrangement of words and morphemes into larger units( phrases,
clauses, and sentences).
Meaning is associated with the way in which words are combines to make
phrases, clauses and sentences. Compare The dog bit the postman and The postman
bit the dog, which involve the same word meanings but quite different sentence
meanings because of their different syntactic arrangements. As Dixon (1991)
claims, there is a principled interaction between the meaning of a word and its
grammartical properties. Once a learner knows the meaning and grammartical
behaviour of most of the words in a language, then from the meaning of a new word
he can infer its likely grammatical possibilities, or from observing the grammatical
use of a new word, he may be able to infer a good deal about what it means.

Every verb, in its capacity as the core of a clause, is defined semantically
in terms of the semantic roles of the participants in the state or event codes by the
clause. Within the clause, these participants occupy the grammatical roles of, most
commonly, subject, direct object, indirect object, adverb or predicate. These
grammatical roles are marked in English by a combination of morphology and
word-order. But they also have other, more subtle, grammatical-behavioral

7


properties, such as various constraints on their distribution in grammatical
environment.
 Grammatical roles
The participants in states or events, in whatever semantic role, may occupy one of
four distinct grammatical roles in the clause: subject (S), direct object (O), indirect
object (IO) and nominal predicate (PRE). As a brief illustration of the four major
grammartical roles in simple clauses consider :
The Woman gave a book to the child
(S)

(O) (O)

Mary is a teacher
(S)

(PRE)

While the grammartical subject in English simple clauses precedes the verb, is
morphologically unmarked, and requires grammartical agreement with the verb, at
least to the limited extent that exists in English, the grammartical object follows the

verb and does not require grammatical agreement with the verb. Nominal predicates
in English follow copular verbs as be and the indirect objects follow the verb (if
present). However, they are morphologically marked by a preposition. One that
typically marks the semantic role of the participant occupying the indirect object
grammatical role. For example:
She went to the market

[ locative: direction toward]

He walked on the beach

[ locative: direction away]

Mary came with her brother

[ associative]

 Syntactic relations
According to the grammatical classification of verbs, verbs fall into three
broad subclasses- those that require only one role ( intransitive verbs), those which
require two roles (copular) and those require two or more roles (transitive verbs).
There is a considerable difference between intransitive subject and transitive
subject.
If a verb has only one role, at the semantic level, then it must be mapped onto
intransitive subject relation , at the syntactic level. Some of the roles in intransitive
8


subject can control the activity in which they are involved (e.g. walk, speak) but
other intransitive subject roles exercise no control (e.g. break, die, grow).

If a verb has two or more roles, one will be mapped onto transitive sub ject
and another onto transitive object (e.g. Mary cut the cake)
It is clear that verbs are one of the most central syntactic category in language. They
have deep relations with the other categories: nouns because they select arguments
which are often nominals or adverbs because adverbs modify verbs, prepositions,
which, in turn assign thematic roles to NPs. Verbs associated with adverbs permit
the computation of aspect .
The role common to all motion verbs is (thing) „moving‟ (e.g. Mary ran).
There may also be specification of Locus – the place with respect to which motion
takes place an NP in Locus role is most often marked by the appropriate
preposition. Certain motion verbs may allow the preposition to be ommited, a slight
semantic difference then resulting, e.g. He jumped ( over ) the river, She climbed
(up) the mountai. It is also possible in certain circumstances to omit a preposition
before a measure phrase, e.g. he ran (for ) a mile
Syntax, as defined by Richard et al , is the study of how words combine to
form sentences and the rules which govern the formation of sentences. As George
Yule states [45, p.4], syntax is the study of the relationship between linguistic
forms, how they are arranged in sequence and which sequences are well-formed.
This type of study generally takes place without considering any word of reference,
or any user of the forms.
According to Nguyen Hoa Lac syntax is a description of the way words
are put together to make larger units such as phrases, clauses and sentences.
In brief, syntax is a term in general use and in linguistic for the study of
the way in which words combine into such units as phrases, clauses and sentences.
The sequences that result from these combinations are referred to in linguistics as
syntactic structures.

9

2.2.2. Semantic theory
In general, semantics can be defined as the study of meaning. It is central
to the study of communication. In addition, there is no doubt that communication is
a crucial factor in our life, which is why the need to understand semantics becomes
more and more pressing.
Many authors hold the idea that semantics is the meaning place of various
cross current thinking and various disciplines of the study. Philosophy, psychology
and linguistics all claim a deep interest in semantics, but their interests are diverse
because of their different starting points .
According to John Lyons semantics is by definition the study of meaning,
and linguistic semantics is the study of meaning in so far as it is systematically
encoded in the vocabulary and grammar of natural languages. This definition of
linguistic semantics, as far as it goes, is relatively uncontroversial. But it is also
almost wholly uninformative unless and until one goes on to say, first, what one
means by “meaning” and, second, what exactly is meant by “encoded” in this
context .He also adds that those who draw a terminological distinction between
“semantics” and “pragmatics” and take narrower view of meaning than he does will
see his book as introduction to a broader field of linguistic semantics and
pragmatics.
But Jack Richards, John Platt, Heidi Weber] say “ the study of meaning is
called semantics. Semantics is usually concerned with the analysis of the meaning
of words, phrases, or sentences, and sometimes with the meaning of utterances in
discourse or the meaning of a whole text .”
In order to make a thorough study of meaning, we have to understand other
concepts such as meaning, components of word meaning, semantic features,
componential analysis and so on.
2.2.2.1. Meaning
Meaning plays an important part in communication. Meaningless utterances
have no value in communication; they can only make their language user a laughing
stock, which is why understanding the meaning is very important for the language

10


user. It is not easy to identify the meaning expressed by a word or but an utterance
because it depends on many factors concerned. For example, the word “spring‟
could have different meanings in the following sentences :
He was born in the spring of 1944 (spring here means the season between
winter and summer)
She is full of energy, like a coiled spring (spring here means a twisted piece of
metal that can be pushed, pressed or pulled but which always returned to its original
shape or position afterwards .
There is a mountain spring near here (spring here means a place where water
comes naturally to the surface from the ground)
Where on earth did you spring from? (spring here means to appear suddenly
unexpectedly from a particular place)
According to Lesley Jeffries meaning is a kind of invisible unclothed being
waiting for the clothes of language to allow it to be seen, which is why it is very
necessary to take off the clothes of language to understand the real meaning of
words, phrases, and sentences e.g.,” the red flag at the seaside of a resort” means
“danger”.
Through this example, a conclusion can be drawn that the meaning of the
word is not all the time decided by itself but its relation with the others. That is why
John Lyons states that the noun “meaning” and the verb “mean”, from which it is
derived, are used, like many other English words, in a wide range of contexts and in
several distinguishable senses .
The idea of meaning given by David Crystal is as follows: ”In modern
linguistics, meaning is studied by making detailed analysis of the way words and
sentences are used in a specific context. It is an approach shared by several
philosophers and psychologist.”

And David Crystal also states: “Meaning is a basic notion used in language
study in two main ways. First determining the signification of a message is the chief
end of linguistic enquiry: above all, language is concerned with the communication
of meaning. Second, meaning is used as a way of analyzing the structure of
language, through such notions a contractiveness and distinctiveness.” Richards and
Platt offer a broader view of word meaning in their position that is, “ what a
language expresses about the world we live in or any possible or imaginary word”

11


Crystal, however, tends to look at the meaning of the word from a more
specific context. To him, meaning is studied by means of a detailed analysis of
words and sentences in a specific context. In addition, Crystal also states: “
Meaning is a basic notion used in language study in two main ways. First,
determining the signification of a message is the chief end of linguistic enquiry:
above all, language is concerned with the communication of meaning. Second,
meaning is used as a way of analyzing the structure of language, through such
notion a contractiveness and distinctiveness.”
According to Cruse the meaning of a word is fully explored from its
contextual relations.
Another and closely related, popular view of meaning suggested by Jeffries is
that meaning is a kind of invisible unclothed being, waiting for the clothes of
language to allow it to be seen, which is why it is very necessary to take off
the clothes of language to understand the real meaning of words, phrases, and
sentences.
2.2.2.2. Word Meaning
Components of word-meaning
In the study of meaning, the denotational meaning and connotational meaning
cannot be avoided. The meanings are defined in the Longman Dictionary of Applied

Linguistics as follows:
a.
Denotation is a part of the meaning of a word or phrase that relates it to
phenomena in the real world or in a fictional or possible world .For example, the
denotation of the English word bird is a two-legged, winged, egg-laying, warmblooded creature with beak. In a meaning system, denotation meaning may be
regarded as the “central” meaning of a lexical item. It is often equated with
referential meaning and with cognitive meaning although some linguists and
philosophers make a distinction between these concepts .
b.
Connotation is the additional meanings that a word or phrase has beyond its
central meaning. These meaning show people‟s emotions and attitudes towards
what the word or phrase refers to. For example, child could be defined as a young
human being but there are many other characteristics which different people

12


associate with child, e.g. affectionate, amusing, lovable, sweet, mischievous, noisy,
irritating grubby .
But some connotation may be shared by a group of people of the same
cultural or social background, sex, rage; other may be restricted to use or several
individuals and depend on their personal experience. In a meaning system, that part
of the meaning, which is covered by connotation, is sometimes referred to as
affective meaning, connotation meaning, or emotive meaning .
Whereas, Charles. W.Kreidler states the denotation is the relation to phenomena
outside of language, including imaginary phenomena; the connotation is the cluster
of attributes that the lexeme may evoke .
About the connotation meanings, Mildred L.Larson states: a word, which has
a positive connotation in one culture, may actually have negative connotation in
another. For example, the English word tribe. In some parts of the world, ethnic

group reacts very positively to being called tribe, but in other parts of the world, the
same word has the negative connotation and people do not want to be called
members of a tribe. Referentially, the word tribe would be referring to an ethnic
group, but the positive and negative overtones must also be taken into consideration
if the word is chosen to be used .
It can be concluded that the negative or positive connotation of a word is not
only decided by itself but by the context in which it exists
Verb meaning
The meaning of simple nouns (proper and concrete nouns) is more concrete
than verb meaning. They can be seen as pointers to objects. As Rosh has
demonstrated, their meanings are highly constrained by the nature of the physical
word. Verbs, in contrast, express relational meanings which depend on abstract
concepts and are relatively unconstrained by the physical word. Verbs, in contrast,
express relational meanings which depend on abstract concepts and are relatively
unconstrained by the physical word.
2.2.2.3. Semantic Field
According to Finch semantic field is an area of meaning containing words
with related senses. Meanings of words cluster together to form fields of meaning

13


which in turn cluster into even larger fields until the entire language is
encompassed.
Semantic field (lexical field) is defined by Richards, Platt and Weber as “ the
organization of related words and expression into a system which shows their
relationship to one another.” According to Crystal semantic field is “ the view that
vocabulary of a language is a system of interrelated lexical networks, and not an
inventory of independent items, also called lexical field theory” .
2.2.2.4. Semantic Features

Semantic features play a very important part in differentiating the match
between word and meaning. We need a very large number of features to do this
work. But linguists believe that a much smaller number of features would be needed
in writing grammar description.
But Jack Richards, John Platt and Heidi Weber say semantic features are “the
smallest units of meaning in a word. The meaning of a word may be described as a
combination of semantic features”
According to David Crystal semantic feature is “a minimal contrastive
element of a word‟s meaning, in some approaches called a semantic component.”
e.g. Boy = + young + male + human.
2.2.3. Verbs
2.2.3.1. Definition of English Verb
A verb is a part of speech that usually denotes actions (“go”, “learn”),
occurrence (“to decompose”, “to glitter”) or a state of being (“exist”, “live”).
Similarly, according to Crystal D. verb is a word class, which is traditionally
defined as a “doing” or “act ion” word. A verb can be formally identified in many
languages as an element displaying contrast of tense, aspect, voice, mood, person
and number. In “The Functional Analysis of English” by Thomas Bloor and Meriel
Bloor , verbs are traditionally defined as words which express an action or state ( a
rather feeble definition), verbs show the greatest degree of various inform
(morphology) of any of the word classes.

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According to Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary ,verb is “a group or a
group of words that expresses an action, an event, or a state”. “Verb is a word
which occurs as part of the predicate of a sentence: carries markers of grammatical
categories such as tense, aspect, person, number, and mood; and refers to an action
or state” (Cambridge dictionary.com)

2.2.3.2. Classification of Verbs
2.2.3.2. 1.Classified by their meanings
Distinctions between verbs need to be drawn in relation to whether they
themselves admit the aspectual contrast of „progressive‟ and „non-progressive‟.
When

verbs ( either habitually or in certain uses ) will not admit the

progressive, they are called Stative; when they admit it, they are called
Dynamic. It is normal for verbs to be dynamic and even the minority that are
almost always stative can usually be given a dynamic use on occasion. For
instance:
The girl is now a student at a large university.
not

* The girl is now being a student at a large university.

2.2.3.2.2 .Classified by their functions
From V.D. Quang‟s view in „Lectures on English Grammar‟ (2006:16), Verbs
are classified according to the functions performed by the elements in the verb
phrase:
Regular : V / V-ed
Lexical
Irregular: (7 subclasses)
Verb
Semi-auxiliary: need, dare, used to

Auxiliary
Primary: do, have, be
Modal: will, would, can, could ,

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may, might, ought to, must

2.2.3.2.3.

Classified by the number of constituents.
One-word verbs
Phrasal verbs : verb + particle

Verbs

Multi-word verbs

Prepositional

verbs

:

verb

+

preposition
Phrasal-prepositional verbs : verb +
particle + preposition

We learn English every day. ( one-word verb )
She turned on the radio. ( phrasal verb )
She looked at the radio. ( prepositional verb )
They put up with the noise. ( phrasal-prepositional verb )

2.2.3.2.4.

Classified by their complementation.

According to According to R. Quirk et al (1985), verbs are classified into
two types: intensive verbs and extensive verbs.
a.

Intensive verbs

Intensive verbs are also called copular verbs, and they are usually followedby a
noun, or a noun phrase, and adjective or prepositional phrase.
Intensive verbs are used to describe the subject. It means that the focus is on one
thing – the subject only. Intensive verbs appear in the structure “S V C” or “S V A”.
Words or phrases, which are followed by an intensive verb work as the subject
compliment and they apply to the subject, not the verb. Let‟s consider

the

following examples:
Your dinner seems ready (SVC)
My office is in the next building. (SVA)
(Quirk, Randolph, 1985: 721)
Intensive verb does not take any object. It presents the relationship
between the subject and the subject complementation. The verb in sentences with

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