A contrastive analysis of friendship-related idioms in English and Vietnamese

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

QUY NHON UNIVERSITY

NGUYEN THI KIM CHUNG

A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF FRIENDSHIP -

RELATED IDIOMS IN ENGLISH AND

VIETNAMESE

Field : English Linguistics

Code : 8220201

Supervisor: TRUONG VAN DINH, Ph.D.

BINH DINH – 2021

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN

NGUYỄN THỊ KIM CHUNG

PHÂN TÍCH ĐỐI CHIẾU THÀNH NGỮ BIỂU THỊ

TÌNH BẠN TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT

Chuyên ngành : Ngôn Ngữ Anh

Mã số : 8220201

Người hướng dẫn: TS. TRƯƠNG VĂN ĐỊNH

BINH DINH – 2021

i

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby certify that the present thesis “A contrastive analysis of

friendship related idioms in English and Vietnamese” is entirely the result of

my own work.

This paper has not been submitted for any degree or diploma in any

other tertiary institution.

Binh Dinh, 2021

Nguyễn Thị Kim Chung

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank all people who contributed in some way to the

work described in this thesis.

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my

supervisor, Dr. Truong Van Dinh, who has helped me throughout my thesis

with his valuable advice, encouragement and generous insightful comments

and suggestions. Without him, my thesis would not have been completed.

I am also grateful to all the lecturers of courses for their scholarly

knowledge and experience.

I would also like to thank my dear friends, who supported me a lot

during the time I take part in this course.

Last but not least, I would like to express my special thanks to my

family, who have given me their help and encouragement throughout my

course and the study of my thesis.

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ABSTRACT

This research focused on English and Vietnamese idioms for friendship.

Under the light of contrastive analysis, the author discover the similarities

and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms of friendship based

on their syntactic and semantic features. The data used for analysis in this

study were primarily gathered from dictionaries, books, magazines, and other

sources. It is concluded from an analysis of forms of idioms of friendship in

English and Vietnamese that idioms are extremely important in

communication. Idioms are metaphorical expressions of ideas. They add

vibrancy and richness to the speakers' speeches. This is the reason why the

more skillfully a person uses idioms in his conversations, the more

effectively he can establish his communicative relationship. The thesis

findings illustrate some implications for teachers and English learners from

the use of linguistic features of idioms related to friendship in English, with a

focus on the meanings of English idioms of friendship and a comparative

analysis with Vietnamese ones. Hopefully, the study will assist students and

teachers in avoiding difficulties in translating idioms into Vietnamese and

vice versa.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ................................................................... i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..............................................................................ii

ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................. iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS........................................................................viii

LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................... ix

LIST OF CHARTS ........................................................................................... x

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................... 1

1.1. Rationale..................................................................................................... 1

1.2. Aims and objectives................................................................................... 2

1.2.1. Aims.................................................................................................... 2

1.2.2. Objectives............................................................................................ 2

1.3. Research questions..................................................................................... 3

1.4. Scope of the study ...................................................................................... 3

1.5. Significance of the study............................................................................ 3

1.6. Organization of the study........................................................................... 4

CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL

BACKROUND ......................................................................................... 5

2.1. Literature review ........................................................................................ 5

2.2. Idioms......................................................................................................... 7

2.2.1. Definition of idiom.............................................................................. 7

2.2.2. Idioms denoting friendship ............................................................... 12

2.3. Features of English Idioms ...................................................................... 13

2.3.1. Syntactic features.............................................................................. 13

2.3.2. Semantic features.............................................................................. 18

2.4. Features of Vietnamese idioms................................................................ 19

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2.4.1. Syntactic features.............................................................................. 19

2.4.2. Semantic features.............................................................................. 22

2.5. Distinction between idioms and proverbs................................................ 23

2.5.1. Definition of proverbs....................................................................... 23

2.5.2. Distinction between idioms and proverbs......................................... 24

2.6. Culture and the Relationship between Language and Culture................. 24

2.6.1. Culture............................................................................................... 24

2.6.2. Relationship between language and culture...................................... 26

CHAPTER 3. METHODS AND PROCEDURES ......................................... 29

3.1. Research methods..................................................................................... 29

3.2. Data collection ......................................................................................... 30

3.3. Data analysis ............................................................................................ 30

3.4. Validity and Reliability............................................................................ 30

CHAPTER 4. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ............................................ 32

4.1. Syntactic and semantic features of idioms denoting friendship in

English....................................................................................................... 32

4.1.1 Syntactic features............................................................................... 32

4.1.2. Semantic features.............................................................................. 38

4.2. Syntactic and semantic features of idioms denoting friendship in

Vietnamese................................................................................................ 42

4.2.1. Syntactic features.............................................................................. 43

4.2.2. Semantic features.............................................................................. 46

4.3. Similarities and differences in syntactic and semantic features of

idioms in English and Vietnamese............................................................ 49

4.3.1. Similarities ........................................................................................ 49

4.3.2 Differences......................................................................................... 50

4.4. Similarities and differences in the use of idioms in English and

Vietnamese................................................................................................ 57