Grammatical and semantic features of set expressions of behavior in english and in vietnamese

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

M.A. THESIS

GRAMATICAL AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF
SET EXPRESSIONS OF BEHAVIOR IN
ENGLISH AND IN VIETNAMESE
(Đặc điểm ngữ pháp và ngữ nghĩa của các cụm cố
định về ứng xử trong tiếng Anh và tiếng Việt)
ĐINH THI THUY LINH

Field: English Language
Code: 8.22.02.01
Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hoang Tuyet Minh

Hanoi, 2020


CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY
I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled
“Grammatical and semantic features of set expressions of behavior in English and
in Vietnamese” 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, 2020

Đinh Thi Thuy Linh

Approved by
SUPERVISOR

Assoc. Pro. Dr. Hoang Tuyet Minh

Date:

/

i

/2020


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am grateful to those who have contributed to this thesis and proud to acknowledge
their help.
Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to my
supervisor, Ms. Hoang Tuyet Minh for the continuous support of my thesis, for her
patience, motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge. Her guidance helped me
in all the time of research and writing of this thesis. Without her help, 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.
Last but not least, I wish to thank my family and friends for their support and
encouragement throughout my study.
In short, I really thank everyone who helped me complete this thesis.


TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ..........................................................................i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................ iii
ABSTRACT ...............................................................................................................vi
List of abbreviations ..................................................................................................vii
List of tables and figures ......................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................... 9
1.1. Rationale ............................................................................................................. 9
1.2. Aims and objectives of the study ....................................................................... 10
1.3. Research questions ............................................................................................ 10
1.4. Methods of the study ......................................................................................... 11
1.5. Scope of the study ............................................................................................. 11
1.6. Significance of the study ................................................................................... 12
1.7. Structure of the study ........................................................................................ 12
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................. 13
2.1. Previous studies ................................................................................................. 13
2.1.1. Previous Studies of English and Vietnamese Idioms ................................. 13
2.1.2. Previous Studies of English and Vietnamese Proverbs .............................. 15
2.2. Theory of syntax ................................................................................................ 17
2.3. Theory of semantics ........................................................................................... 20
2.4. Overview of expressions .................................................................................... 21
2.4.1. Definitions of behavior ............................................................................... 21
2.4.2. Definition of proverbs and idioms .............................................................. 22
2.4.2.1. Definition of proverbs ......................................................................... 22
2.4.2.2. Definition of idioms ............................................................................ 24
2.4.3. Features of proverbs.................................................................................... 27
2.4.3.1. Syntactic features ................................................................................ 27
2.4.3.2. Semantic features ................................................................................ 29
2.4.4. Features of idioms ....................................................................................... 30
2.4.4.1. Syntactic features ................................................................................ 31
2.4.4.2. Semantic features ................................................................................ 33

2.5. Summary ........................................................................................................... 35


CHAPTER 3: A COMPARISON BETWEEN SET EXPRESSIONS OF
BEHAVIOR IN ENGLISH AND IN VIETNAMESE .............................................
3.1. Grammatical features of set expressions of behavior in English and in
Vietnamese. ............................................................................................................... 36
3.1.1. Grammatical features of set expressions of behavior in English................ 36
3.1.1.1. Noun Phrases ....................................................................................... 36
3.1.1.2. Verb Phrases ........................................................................................ 37
3.1.1.3. Adjective Phrases ............................................................................... 37
3.1.1.4. Preposition phrase .............................................................................. 37
3.1.1.5. Sentences ............................................................................................. 38
3.1.2. Grammatical features of set expressions of behavior in Vietnamese ......... 39
3.1.2.1. Noun Phrase ....................................................................................... 39
3.1.2.2. Verb Phrase ....................................................................................... 39
3.1.2.3. Adjective Phrase ................................................................................. 40
3.1.2.4. Sentences ............................................................................................. 40
3.2. Semantic features of set expressions of behavior in English and in
Vietnamese ................................................................................................................ 42
3.2.1. Semantic features of set expressions of behavior in English ..................... 43
3.2.1.1. Expressing good points ....................................................................... 43
3.2.1.2. Expressing bad points .......................................................................... 44
3.2.2. Semantic features of set expressions of behavior in Vietnamese ............... 46
3.2.2.1. Expressing good points ...................................................................... 46
3.2.2.2. Expressing bad points .......................................................................... 47
3.3. A comparison between the grammatical and semantic features of set expressions
of behavior in English and in Vietnamese ................................................................ 49
3.3.1. In terms of grammatical features ................................................................ 49
3.3.2. In terms of sematic features ........................................................................ 51

3.4. Implications for teaching and learning set expressions of behavior in English and
in Vietnamese ............................................................................................................ 53
3.5. Summary ........................................................................................................... 55
CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION .............................................................................. 56
4.1. Recapitulation of the study ................................................................................ 56
4.2. Concluding remark of the study ........................................................................ 56
4.3. Limitation of the study ...................................................................................... 57


4.4. Suggestions for further studies .......................................................................... 57
REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... 58
APPENDIXES ......................................................................................................... 63


ABSTRACT
This study focuses on grammatical and semantic features of set expressions of
behavior in English and in Vietnamese with the aim of helping Vietnamese learners
of English understand the grammatical and semantic features of set expressions in
English and in Vietnamese effectively. In order to achieve the aims given, descriptive
and comparative methods are used in combination with the qualitative and
quantitative ones. Through their grammatical and semantic features, we find out the
similarities and differences between set expressions of behavior between two
languages in terms of grammatical and semantic features. Data used for analysis in
this study were mainly collected through reference books, dictionaries, and the
internet websites. The data collected in the two languages are then aggregated and
compared in details to determine the similarities and differences between them.
Through analysis of forms of set expressions of behavior in English and in
Vietnamese, it is deduced that set expressions are really important in communication.
Set expressions 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 set expressions in his conversations, the more effectively he can establish
his communicative relationship. The findings of the thesis illustrate some
implications for teachers and learners of English from the use of linguistic features
of set expressions of behavior in English and focus on the meanings of the English
set expressions of behavior and a comparative analysis with Vietnamese ones.
Hopefully, the study may help learners and teachers of English avoid difficulties in
teaching and learning set expressions.


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
Adj

: Adjective

Adj.P

: Adjective phrase

N
NP

: Noun
: Noun Phrase

Pre.P
V

: Prepositional Phrase
: Verb

VP

: Verb phrase


LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
Table 3.1. Grammatical features of set expressions of behavior in English ....... 34
Table 3.2. Grammatical features of set expressions of behavior in Vietnamese
................................................................................................................. ……….36
Table 3.3. Semantic features of set expressions of behavior in English .............. 41
Table 3.4. Semantic features of set expressions of behavior in Vietnamese ....... 44
Table 3.5. Grammatical features of set expressions of behavior in English and in
Vietnamese ........................................................................................................... 45
Table 3.6. Semantic features of set expressions of behavior in English and in
Vietnamese ........................................................................................................... 47


CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
Language, a system of conventional spoken, manual, or written symbols by means
of which human beings, as members of a social group and participants in its culture,
express themselves. The functions of language include communication, the
expression of identity, play, imaginative expression, and emotional release.
Language is used to show not only the way of each people perceives the world
around but also the way each people reacts towards that world. In “General
linguistics”, Robins (1989) almost concurred, saying “A language [is a] symbol
system … based on pure or arbitrary convention … infinitely extendable and
modifiable according to the changing needs and conditions of the speakers”. The
American linguists, Bernard Bloch and George L. Trager formulated the following
definition: “A language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which a

social group cooperates.”
Set expressions were formed along with the development of national language
capital, closely related to proverbs, folk songs... They occupy a large number in the
treasure in English and in Vietnamese. For a long time, set expressions have been a
means of communication in people's daily life, moreover, set expressions have been
used by many writers and poets in the literature to contribute to the content of the
work. It can be said, set expressions are "The jewel of the nation" by its common usevalue is crystallized from the language, quintessence of national culture.
Set expressions 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. One more important thing is that the
general present tendencies are towards idiomatic usage; therefore, knowing how to
use set expressions effectively in the right situations is becoming essential. Moreover,
the most distinguished advantage of set expressions is that they do provide users with
a whole new way of expressing concepts linguistically. It can be said that set
expressions are the color and vitality of a language.
Several linguists have given a lot of definitions about an idiom and a proverb
basing on its fixed characteristics. For example, "An idiom is a fixed group of words
with special different meaning from the meaning of several words" (Longman
Dictionary of English Idioms (1979). Sharing the same point of view, Hoang Van
9


Hanh (1994) considered an idiom as 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. Nattinger, De Carrico cited in Tajali &Tehrani (2009) considers idioms as
"most important subcategory of the lexical phenomenon of formulaic language".
Mieder (1993) has proposed the following definition, "A proverb is a short, generally
known sentence of the folk which contains wisdom, truth, morals, and traditional
views in a metaphorical, fixed, and memorable form and which is handed down from

generation to generation".
Theoretically, there have been so far a lot of studies and investigations into idioms
concerning animals, plants, colors, causes, and results, etc. Nevertheless, due to a
certain gap in syntactic and semantic perspectives, the idioms and proverbs ò
behavior have not received enough attention from linguists in both English and
Vietnamese, especially in terms of syntactic and semantic features.
Practically, set expressions are used a lot in communication, but many people don’t
know the real meaning of set expressions, so this study is conducted in the hope to
help Vietnamese learners of English improve their understanding of set expressions
and apply set expressions in communication so that their speech is more adequate,
natural, interesting and imaginative.
Therefore, the thesis title is “Grammatical and semantic features of set expressions
of behavior in English and in Vietnamese” with the aim at helping the learners
understand grammatical and semantic features of set expressions and use these
expressions in communication in order to achieve communicate effects.
1.2. Aims and objectives
The study is aimed at helping Vietnamese learners of English have a better insight
into set expressions of behavior in English and in Vietnamese in terms of grammatical
and semantic features.
With the aim mentioned above, this study has three main objectives as follows:
1. To identify the grammatical and semantic features of set expressions of
behavior in English and in Vietnamese.
2. To find out the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese
set expressions of behavior in terms of grammatical and semantic features.
3. To help Vietnamese learners of English use these set expressions of behavior
in term of communication in order to achieve communicate effects.
1.3. Research questions
10

To fully achieve these above aims, the study should answer the following questions:
1. What are the grammatical and semantic features of English and Vietnamese
set expressions of behavior ?
2. What are similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese set
expressions of behavior in terms of grammatical and semantic features?
3. What implication is drawn to help Vietnamese learners of English use these
set expressions of behavior in term of communication in order to achieve
communicate effects?
1.4. Methods of the study
In order to achieve the aims given, the qualitative and quantitative approaches are
used in combination with descriptive and comparative methods.
Firstly, qualitative and qualitative approaches are used to count and classify
English and Vietnamese proverbs and idioms indicating behavior to be taken as a
basis for classification according to grammatical and semantic features.
Secondly, the descriptive method is used to describe in detail the grammatical and
semantic features through the examples of set expressions of behavior in English and
in Vietnamese collected from dictionaries, reference books, and the Internet websites.
Thirdly, contrastive method is used to compare and contrast grammatical and
semantic features of English set expressions of behavior and their Vietnamese
equivalents.
Finally, some techniques are used as data collection and data analysis. A number
of data relating to set expressions of behavior in English and in Vietnamese are
collected from dictionaries, reference books, and Internet websites. Data collected
will then be analyzed in order to find out the similarities and differences between set
expressions of behavior in English and in Vietnamese.
1.5. Scope of the study
In the framework of the study, the thesis only focuses on set expressions of
behavior in English and in Vietnamese, namely, linguistic features of set expressions
of behavior in English and in Vietnamese are grammatical and semantic features. 217
set expressions of behavior in English are found and 438 set expressions of behavior

in Vietnamese are collected from reference books, dictionaries and Internet websites.
The English and Vietnamese set expressions of behavior in this study are collected
from dictionaries, reference books, and the Internet websites; therefore, this research
may not cover all set expressions of behavior in English and in Vietnamese.
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1.6. Significance of the study
Idioms and proverbs as a special form of language which makes people have
difficulties in understanding conversations because they cannot guess the true
meaning of set expressions in normal ways. Learning English through set expressions
is one of the effective ways to improve your English because idioms and proverbs
denote a large number of cultural features of nations. Therefore, thanks to this
research, language learners can get a lot of pros in studying English.
Theoretically, this research provides a detailed view of set expressions of behavior
in both English and Vietnamese in terms of grammatical and semantic features. Then
the findings can be used as a foundation for other researches on idioms and proverbs
in English and Vietnamese under other perspectives.
Practically, the results of the study provide valuable implications for efficient
teaching and learning English in Vietnam in general, and teaching and learning set
expressions of behavior in English and in Vietnamese in particular. As a whole, it
is hoped that along with the understanding of the grammatical and syntactic features
of these set expressions in English and Vietnamese, this study can be a useful material
for learning and teaching of language through set expressions of behavior in English
and in Vietnamese.
1.7. Structure of the study
This study consists of four chapters, excluding the appendixes and the references.
Chapter 1, Introduction, presents the reason why the topic is chosen, the aims, the
objectives, the scope, the significance and the structural design of the study are given
Chapter 2, Literature Review, presents the previous studies, theoretical background,

theoretical framework relating to grammatical and semantic features of expressions
of behavior in English and in Vietnamese.
Chapter 3, Findings and Discussion, presents grammatical and semantic features of
set expressions of behavior in English and in Vietnamese, a comparison between the
grammatical and semantic features of set expressions of behavior in English and in
Vietnamese and implications for teaching and learning set expressions of behavior in
English and in Vietnamese.
Chapter 4, Conclusions, restates the aims and summarize how to conduct the
research to the objectives. Furthermore, this chapter also presents the limitations of
the research and some suggestions for further studies.
References and Appendix come at the end of the study
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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
The literature review is divided into three main parts. The first part presents and
discusses the previous research works on idioms and proverbs in English and
Vietnamese. The second one gives the theoretical background of idioms and proverbs
in English and Vietnamese on which the whole research has been based. The last one
provides not only the definition of behavior but also the definition as well as features
of idioms and proverbs.
2.1. Previous studies
2.1.1. Previous Studies of English and Vietnamese Idioms
It goes without saying that idioms and proverbs reflect the various experiences of
laborers’ lives; moreover, they also reflect the soul of each country. Idioms and
proverbs are used for the number of communicative, academic and literary purposes
as pragmatic devices, and they have raised an increasing interest of linguists and
researchers due to their linguistic function and capacity of expression. In reality,
idioms and proverbs have been becoming a subject of study by several British,
American and so on. Cruse, the author of “Lexical semantics” (1987), states that

idioms are semantically lexical complex. This is considered as a traditional view point
of idioms that are homophonous with grammatically well-formed transparent
expressions. So as to make clear the concept of idioms, he gives some more related
concepts to idioms, collocations and dead metaphor.
F.R. Palmer, the writer of “Semantics” (1990) defines idioms as consequences of
words whose meanings cannot be predicted from the meaning of the words
themselves. Semantically, idioms are single units, but not single grammatical units
like words. He also brought about some restrictions in syntactic features and noted
that the problems of idioms were involved with a much wider issue word formation,
by which what would appear to be new and more complex lexemes can be formed
from single ones.
Cristina Cacciari & Patrizia Tabossi (1993) in “idioms-processing, structure, and
interpretation” focus on 3 main points: idiom interpretation and the literal figurative
distinction, acquisition and processing of idioms, and meaning and structure. In short,
they can help the readers have a more vivid and clear understanding about idioms.
J. Wright in “Idioms Organizer” (2000) pointed out that an idiom is an expression
that takes grammar functions in sentences, some idiomatic expressions are fixed such
13


as every dog has its day but in many cases, some component can be changed. Very
often the tense and the pronoun change: he/ she/ we had a dog life. In addition, he
organized English idiom into 4 sections: areas of metaphor, individual metaphors,
topics and key words.
In the “dictionary of idioms and their origins” (1994) by Linda and Roger Flavell,
the authors had many essays that discussed idioms. Beside, idioms have also been a
subject of a great number of studies and researches by many other linguists. The
interest in idioms casts back a perception of the universality of prefabricatedmemorized combinations in spoken and in written language, and in a wide
recognition of the part they play in the first and language acquisition and speech
production.

Since the end of 1970s, Vietnamese idioms have been recognized, collected and
explained systematically such as in "Từ điển thành ngữ Việt Nam, Nguyen Y as
editor”, “Từ điển giải nghĩa thành ngữ Việt Nam, Institute of Linguistics”, “Từ điển
thành ngữ Việt Nam, Nguyen Luc and Luong Van Dang”.
Nguyen Luc, Luong Van Dang who wrote “Thành ngữ Tiếng Việt” made an
important contribution to the field of Vietnamese idioms. They collected and
arranged the Vietnamese idioms in alphabetical order with clear explanations and
examples.
“Từ vựng ngữ nghĩa tiếng Việt” by Do Huu Chau (1981) studied quite carefully
about idioms. The author compares idioms with complex words and phrases and at
the same time, he also conducted idiomatic classification. In this book, he analyzed
semantic and syntactic features of Vietnamese idioms.
There have been a lot of contrastive studies on the various aspects of English and
Vietnamese idioms are carried out by many MA scholars. Nguyen Thi Le Thu
(Danang University, 2014) did a contrastive study into semantic features of similes
in English and Vietnamese idioms through the thesis “An Investigation into Simile
in Idioms – a Contrastive analysis between English and Vietnamese”. The thesis is
“The image of "Mouse, Horse, Cat, Chicken" in English idioms and proverbs with
reference to Vietnamese equivalents” (Nguyen Huong Giang, HOU, 2014). A study
is “Money-related idioms in English with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents”
(Vu Thi Huong Giang, HOU, 2014). In 2014, Pham Thi Thuy Chinh (ULIS-VNU)
with the thesis: “A contrastive study of how temporal expressions in English and
Vietnamese idioms and proverbs about times” was perceived.
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To conclude, idioms in English are studied in several aspects such as syntax,
semantics, culture, pragmatism, etc. and are studied from different perspectives.
However, most scholars pay attention to the structures and semantics of idioms.
When studying the idiomatic structures, idioms are described in terms of one or more

structural properties. When studying semantics, scholars study the hidden concept of
idioms. Such an approach leads to the nature of cognition and thus has valid
psychology.
2.1.2. Previous Studies of English and Vietnamese Proverbs
In the treasure of intangible cultural knowledge of the English and Vietnamese
people, language is one of the important factors, preserving specific cultural features
of the English and Vietnamese people, including the behavioral culture. In the
language units, proverbs are the messages that best reflect the notions of the people
about behavior in the family and society of the two nations.
The study of proverbs is an interesting topic not only in foreign countries but also
in Vietnam in the current period.
F. Edward Hulme (1841– 1909) published his volume on Proverb Lore: Being a
Historical Study of the Similarities, Contrasts, Topics, Meanings, and Other Facets
of Proverbs, Truisms, and Pithy Sayings, as Explained by the Peoples of Many Lands
and Times (1902). Hulme’s treatise basically replaced Trench’s popular volume, and
it was appropriate that it was reprinted in 1968 to honor the work of this folklore
scholar. But according to proverbial wisdom, “All good things come in threes,” and
thus there is also Archer Taylor’s (1890–1973) magisterial volume on The Proverb
(1931).
For Vietnamese proverbs, it can be said that there were the first typical works from
the early 20th century such as " Tục ngữ và ca dao, Nguyen Van Ngoc, 1928", " Tục
ngữ và ca dao Việt Nam, Vu Ngoc Phan in 1958”, , “Từ điển thành ngữ - tục ngữ
Việt Nam, Nguyen Lan”, “Từ điển Anh – Việt (2004), Linguistics Institute”. It can be
seen that proverbs have attracted the attention of researchers very early. Today,
people can find a lot of written articles, online newspapers, textbooks, essays,
dissertations or thesis ... that related to this issue. It can be said that the study of
proverbs in many people's thinking is obviously a category to be studied.
Here are some studies conducts to find out features and related aspects of proverbs.
“Thành ngữ tục ngữ lược giải” by Nguyen Tran Tru explains meanings the most
common idioms and proverbs.

15


Only in Vietnam, there are many articles and research that works on this topic
have a lot of contrastive approaches which have only received more attention
recently. It is possible to name some typical projects such as: “Tuyển tập thành ngữtục ngữ-ca dao Việt Anh thông dụng” by Nguyen Dinh Hung. The author gives
definitions of idioms and proverbs and explains quite in detail with specific examples.
At the same time, the author also lists and classifies Vietnamese idioms with
equivalent English ones.
From 1975 up to now, some elaborate works connected with proverbs have done
their share to the knowledge of the field and one of the wholehearted authors we must
not miss is Chu Xuan Diên who showed his profound understanding, deep opinion
and clear analysis of the distinction between the two commonly mixed forms: idioms
and proverbs in his Tục ngữ Việt Nam (1997) which I consider a valuable source for
my study. His other books include Tục ngữ Việt Nam with co-authors Luong Van
Đang, Phuong Tri (1975).
In a study on Syntactic and semantic features in proverbs about “Love” in English
and in Vietnamese (Nguyen Thi Kieu Diem, 2012, Da Nang University), the author
dealt with the features of English proverbs and made a contrastive analysis of
proverbs about “Love” in English and Vietnamese counterparts.
The two articles are “Văn hóa ứng xử từ gia đình đến xã hội” (Nguyen Hoa, Báo
ND điện tử, 2019) and “Đặc trưng văn hóa ứng xử của người Việt qua tục ngữ” (Do
Thi Kim Lien, 2017, Tạp chí VHNT 396). Through a group of proverbs indicating
behavioral culture of Vietnamese people within the family and society, the writers
draw some conclusions. Vietnamese people have a well culture of behavior which
needs to be promoted is that the lineages always attach great importance to affection
and appreciate gratitude within the family. In social relations, Vietnamese people
always put personal interests in association with community interests; always
preserve individual honor.
Thereby, we see the specificity in proverbs. At present, in the field of research and

compilation of idioms and proverbs, there are only English-Vietnamese books that
are relatively rich, and there are almost no full and highly accurate Vietnamese
English books. Meanwhile, a Vietnamese-English Idioms, Proverbs and Folk songs
is essential. It makes the user to save a lot of time and effort when trying to find an
equivalent idiom or proverb in English. This book helps English learners have a rich
vocabulary, express their ideas in a polished, image-rich way, with philosophical and
16


wise sayings when communicating in English with foreign people. At the same time,
it also helps English language teachers provide interesting examples in the process of
going to class, inspiring students to study, bringing high efficiency for teaching hours.
In addition, this document also helps foreigners who are learning Vietnamese to learn
about Vietnam's treasure of Folklore.
Therefore, this thesis is not the first research project. However, it is a work that
goes deep into studying English expressions of behavior and their Vietnamese
equivalents in terms of grammatical and semantic features. Hopefully, it will make
certain contributions in clarifying the beauty of English-Vietnamese proverbs and
idioms.
2.2. Theory of syntax
Syntax refers to the ways in which we order specific words to create logical,
meaningful sentences. While the parts of speech are all the different types of words
that we can use, syntax is the set of rules, patterns, or processes by which we can put
them together. Syntax can be seen as the governing principles defining which
combinations of linguistic symbols are deemed to be correctly structured by natural
language speakers.
The syntax is the study of how the order of elements in a sentence affects its
meaning. English Syntax was concerned with how we studied sentences. Syntactics
not only related to the structure of sentences, but also to the structure of phrases and
clauses.

John Lyons (1981) states, “Syntax deals with the distribution of words (i.e wordforms)”.
“Baker (1989) says, “By the Syntax of a language, we mean the body of rules that
speakers of the language follow when they combine words into sentences.”
Linda (1993) states, “Syntax describes the way words fit together to form
sentences”. She adds one way to study syntax is to look at sentences which are already
known to be considered syntactically ‘well-formed’ sentences to the speakers of that
language.
Andrew Carnie (2001) states, “Syntax is the cover term for studies of this level of
language.”
Jim Miller (2002) states, “Syntax has to do with how words are put together to
build phrases, with how phrases are put together to build sentences.”

17


In terms of the syntactic category, a syntactic category is a type of syntactic unit
that theories of syntax assume. Word classes, largely corresponding to traditional
parts of speech (e.g. noun, verb, preposition, etc.), are syntactic categories, in phrase
structure grammars, the phrasal categories (e.g. noun phrase, verb phrase,
prepositional phrase, etc.) are also syntactic categories.
a. Phrases
In terms of characteristics of phrases, according to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary (2005), “A phrase is a group of words which have a particular meaning
when used together”. It is a syntactic structure that consists of more than one word
but lacks the subject-predicate organization of a clause. According to Angela
Downing and Philip Lock in English Grammar (2007), and Victoria Flomklin,
Robert Rodman, Peter Collins and David Blair in An Introduction to Language
(2012), words are classified grammatically according to the traditional terminology,
which includes noun, verb, adjective, preposition, pronoun, article, and conjunction.
Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs make up the largest part of the vocabulary.

In the book The Oxford English Grammar (1996), Greenbaum, S. defines:
Noun phrases, “a noun phrase has as its head a noun, a pronoun, a nominal
adjective or numeral” (p.208). For examples, a wonderful spinach cheese, a citizen
of her own class, etc.
Verb phrases, “a verb phrase has as its head a main (or lexical) verb. The main
verb may be preceded by up to four auxiliaries (or auxiliary verb)” (p.246). For
examples, was sank, has been sunk, etc.
Adjective phrase, “an adjective phrase has as its head an adjective, which may be
preceded by premodifiers, and followed by postmodifier” (p.288). For examples, fond
of steak, very happy, etc.
Adverb phrase, “an adverb phrase has as its adverb, which may be by premodifiers
and (less commonly) followed by postmodifier.” (p.295), for example, much more
easily than I could count.
Prepositional phrase, "a preposition consists of a preposition and the complement
of the preposition. The preposition may be pre- modified by an intensifying adverb.
The prepositional complement is chiefly a noun phrase, an –ing participle clause or
wh-clause". (p.300). For instance, on the chair, etc.
In the book, An Introduction to the Grammar of English: Syntactic arguments and
socio-historical background (2002), Elly van Gelderen states:
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Noun phrases, “a noun phrase is built around a noun which is called the head of
the noun phrase. In addition to the head, a noun phrase can contain determiners and
adjectives as well as other elements” (p.31). For example, the beautiful girl, a bottle
of water, etc.
Verb phrases, “a verb phrase is built around a verb, which can indicate an action,
a state, or a sensation. Verbs can be in the present or past tense” (p.35). For example,
listened to music, washed the clothes, etc.
Adjective phrase, “an adjective phrase is built around adjectives, which indicate

properties of nouns.” (p.35). For instance, so handsome, tired of working, etc.
Adverb phrase, “an adverb phrase is built around adverbs which indicate qualities
of verbs, adverbs, and adjectives” (p.35). For instance, very quickly, quite
comfortable, etc.
Prepositional phrase, “a prepositional is built around a preposition. Prepositions
indicate relations in space and time. A prepositional phrase includes a preposition and
a noun phrase.” (p.36). for example, on the board, the boy with blue trousers, etc. In
fact, the thesis uses the names of each type of phrases mainly based on the viewpoint
of Sydney Greenbaum in The Oxford English Grammar.
b. Clause
Jacob (2003:49) considered a clause as “a construction with one phrase constituent,
a phrase bearing the predicate relation.” Doan Minh (2001:101) stated that “a clause
is a part of a sentence that usually has the Subject and the Predicate of its own.” This
thesis is based on the definition of Quirk et al (1985: 42). According to him, clauses
consist of more than one phrase.
A clause is a group of words containing a subject and a predicate and forming part of
a compound or complex sentence (www.wordnik.com/words/clause). In accordance
with Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clause), a clause is the smallest grammatical
unit that can express a complete proposition. A typical clause in English contains
minimally a subject and a predicate. In other languages, the subject is often omitted
if it is retrievable from context.
A typical clause in English contains minimally a subject and a predicate. In
other languages, the subject is often omitted if it is retrievable from context. A
simple sentence usually consists of a single finite clause with a finite verb that
is independent. More complex sentences may contain multiple clauses. Main
clause (= matrix clauses, independent clauses) are those that could stand as a
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sentence by themselves. Subordinate clauses (= embedded clauses, dependent

clauses) are those that would be awkward or nonsensical if used alone. In fact, the
thesis uses the names of each type of clauses and sentences mainly based on the
viewpoint of Sydney Greenbaum in The Oxford English Grammar
c. Sentence
In English, a sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a full-stop, or
a question mark, or an exclamation mark.
The sentence is generally defined as a word or a group of words that expresses a
thorough idea by giving a statement/order, or asking a question, or exclaiming.
Example:
He is a good boy (statement), is he a good boy? (question), what a nice weather!
(Exclaiming).
Ideally, a sentence requires at least one subject and one verb. Sometimes the
subject of a sentence can be hidden, but the verb must be visible and present in the
sentence. Verb is called the heart of a sentence.
Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University
Press affirms that “a sentence is a group of words, usually containing a verb
that expresses a thought in the form of a statement, question, instruction, or
exclamation and starts with a capital letter when written.”
All the definitions given above are different in some respects, but in general, the
syntax is the grammar, structure or order of the elements in the language statement.
They are important criteria that are used in this thesis when analyse the syntactic
features of set expressions in English and in Vietnamese. In fact, the thesis uses the
names of each type of sentences mainly based on the viewpoint of Sydney
Greenbaum in The Oxford English Grammar.
2.3. Theory of semantics
The linguistic field is interested in the study of meaning in language. Linguistic
semantics has been defined as the study of linguistic ways of organizing and
expressing meaning.
Whereas syntax is the grammar, structure, or order of the elements in a language
statement, semantics is the meaning of these elements. According to Palmer (1976),

"semantic is generally considered as the study of meaning in a language".
Palmer (1981) says, “Semantics is a technical term used to refer to the study of
meaning, and since meaning is part of language, semantics is part of linguistics.
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Unfortunately, “meaning” covers a variety of aspects of language, there is no general
agreement about the nature of meaning, what aspects of it may properly be included
in semantics, or the way in which it should be described.”
There are some term semantics in various definition by some experts, they are:
Palmer (1976) says, “Semantics is technical term used to refer to the study of
meaning”. Semantics looks at these relationships in language and looks at how these
meanings are created, which is an important part of understanding how language
works as a whole. It is concerned with what sentences and other linguistics objects
express, not with the arrangement of their syntactic parts or with their pronunciation.
Lyons (1977) defines “Semantics is generally defined as the study of meaning.”
Akmajian (1979) says, “Semantics is generally considered to be the study of
meaning (and related notions) in language, semantics is generally considered to be
the study of reference (and related notions) in languages".
Saeed (2003) states, “Semantics is the study of meaning communicated through
language.”
Semantics has developed and became worthy study. There are two factors that
make semantics become important and worthy study. First, meaning is strictly
connected with communication. A certain meaning can be delivered through
communication plays an important role in human life. Second, the process of human
attempts to comprehend the nature of meaning involves the mental ability by the use
of reasoning and perception. As stated by Leech (1974), “Semantics is central to the
study of communication; and as communication becomes more and more crucial
factor in social organization, the need to understand it becomes more and more
pressing. Semantics is also at the centre of the study of the human mind-thought

process, cognition and conceptualization.”
All of these meanings given above are different in some respects but mainly
semantics is a division of linguistics dealing with the meaning of words, it is a study
concerned with the meaning of the linguistic string. It means the analysis must be
concentrated on what sentences or other linguistic objects convey not to the
arrangement of their syntactic part of their grammatical form.
2.4. Overview of set expressions
2.4.1. Definitions of behavior
Behavior is an expression of communication, a person's reaction to the impact of
others on a certain situation through the person's attitudes, behavior, gestures, and
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speech aiming to achieve good results in human relationships. In terms of personality,
the nature of behavior is the individual's personality characteristics expressed through
the individual's attitude, behavior, gestures and speech with those around him or her.
Cultural behavior is the manifestation of human external activities, expressed in a
person's lifestyle, lifestyle, thinking and behavior towards oneself, with those around,
in public society, at work and in daily operating environment. However, the cultural
behavior of each individual is different. It is formed through the process of learning,
training and growth of each individual in society. Cultural behavior is considered to
be the cultural, ethical and aesthetic values of each individual expressed through
attitudes, behaviors, gestures, words of each individual.
Elizabeth A. Minton, Lynn R. Khale (2014). Belief Systems, Religion, and
Behavioral Economics. New York: Business Expert Press LLC states, “Behavior is
the actions and mannerisms made by individuals, organisms, systems or artificial
entities in conjunction with themselves or their environment, which includes the other
systems or organisms around as well as the (inanimate) physical environment. It is
the computed response of the system or organism to various stimuli or inputs, whether
internal or external , conscious or subconscious, overt or covert, and voluntary or

involuntary.”
According to Cambridge University Press (2008), behavior is the way in which
one acts or conducts oneself, especially towards others or the way that someone
behaves in a particular situation. Le Thi Bung (2001) stated that behavior is the
reaction of people to the impact of others on themselves in a particular situation and
demonstrates that people are not active in communication but active in selective,
calculated responses, expressed through attitudes, behaviors, gestures, and speech
patterns depending on experienced knowledge of each person to achieve the highest
communicative results. In fact, the thesis uses the definition of behavior mainly based
on both the reaction and the way of reacting.
2.4.2. Definition of proverbs and idioms
2.4.2.1. Definition of proverbs
Proverbs are folklore genre in order to summarize people's experiences and
knowledge in the form of short, concise, rhythmic, easy-to-remember, easy-toconvey and often rhyming sentences. Proverbial contents often reflect the experiences
of productive labor, record historical and social phenomena, or express the folk
philosophy of the nation. The amount of proverbs created and handed down by the
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people for a long time is very rich. Proverbs provide the daily speech of the people,
and give literary language a concise, highly generalizable form of expression.
Between form and content, proverbs are closely connected, a proverb usually has
two meanings: a literal and a figurative meaning. Proverbs have the nature of
summarizing, generalizing specific comments into mottos and truths. The image of
proverbs is linguistic image built from the measures of comparison, humanization,
metaphor, etc.
These are some following definitions of proverbs:
Lord John Russell (1850) observed poetically that a "proverb is the wit of one, and
the wisdom of many." But giving the word "proverb" the sort of definition theorists
need has proven to be a difficult task, and although scholars often quote Archer

Taylor's argument that formulating a scientific "definition of a proverb is too difficult
to repay the undertaking... An incommunicable quality tells us this sentence is
proverbial and that one is not. Hence no definition will enable us to identify positively
a sentence as proverbial," many students of proverbs have attempted to itemize its
essential characteristics.
More constructively, Mieder (1993) has proposed the following definition, "A
proverb is a short, generally known sentence of the folk which contains wisdom, truth,
morals, and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed, and memorable form and
which is handed down from generation to generation".
Norrick (1985) created a table of distinctive features to distinguish proverbs from
idioms, cliches, etc. Prahlad (1996) distinguishes proverbs from some other, closely
related types of sayings, "True proverbs must further be distinguished from other
types of proverbial speech, e.g. proverbial phrases, Wellerisms, maxims, quotations,
and proverbial comparisons."
According to the Oxford English Dictionary (2001) a proverb is “a short pithy
saying in common and recognized use; a concise sentence, often metaphorical or
alternative in form, which is held to express some truth ascertained by experience or
observation and familiar to all.”
In Vietnamese, Vu Ngoc Phan in “Tục ngữ ca dao dân ca” indicates that a proverb
is a sentence that fully expresses itself an idea, an observation, an experience, a
morality, a justice, sometimes a criticism.

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Nguyen Van To in “Tục ngữ ta đối với tục ngữ Tàu và tục ngữ Tây” states that
proverbs are a familiar saying in secularism, with many profound and profound
meanings.
Duong Quang Ham in “Việt Nam văn học sử yếu” proposes that a proverb by itself
must have meaning, or counsel or indicate something.

Therefore, a proverb can be considered a complete literary work because it carries
within itself all three basic functions of literature: cognitive function, aesthetic
function and educational function. For example, the Vietnamese proverb "Uống
nước, nhớ nguồn" expresses a comment on the gratitude for those who have brought
about the results they are enjoying. The cognitive function of this proverb helps
people understand the basis of social relations and to have meaningful lives. Its
educational function is to contribute to the affection between people and people in a
good way in relationships in life. Its aesthetic function is to transmit content so people
have used metaphorical rhetoric and images that make readers more persuasive and
receptive. Corresponding to the proverb, in English there is a sentence "Never cast
dirt into that fountain of which you sometimes drunk. “Proverbs are defined in
different ways; however, they still have things in common that can help us understand
what a proverb is. These definitions are clues for us to identify proverbs in using and
studying. With the aims of syntactic and semantic analysis of proverbs in both English
and Vietnamese, I intend to adopt the definition of idioms given out by Mieder (1993)
who has proposed the following definition, "A proverb is a short, generally known
sentence of the folk which contains wisdom, truth, morals, and traditional views in a
metaphorical, fixed, and memorable form and which is handed down from generation
to generation". Behavioral proverbs are proverbs that meet the definition of proverbs
and express the meaning of behavior.
2.4.2.2. Definition of idioms
Idioms are one of an expression whose meaning does not seem to follow logically
from combination words of meaning. It is also called a group of words which has a
meaning that is not to be found in the analysis of its part in idiom, the word or the
combination of words cannot be meant literally meaning but it must be meant in a
group of words and it is meant contextually. Idioms express a particular sentiment,
but they do not literally mean what the individual words themselves mean. As a
language form, idioms have its own characteristic and patterns and used in high

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