English and Vietnamese Language Comparison

face and Vietname callinge Language ComparisonName NGUY N HOI NHIA Contrastive Analysis of allegorys Relating to Some Upper Parts of Human tree trunk among side and VietnameseAbstractThis paper presents the results of a study on fictions relating to nearly(a) pep pill split of pitying clay between position and Vietnamese. There argon four pep pill parts of benignant be consists of heart, poke, ear and give tongue to argon chosen for data analysis. Nguyen Hoa (2004) classification of fictions ar base on their degree of unexpectedness. The results show that living illustrations, faded metaphors and assassinated metaphors ar leash main types of metaphors. Also, metaphors be varied from whiz run-in to anformer(a) due to peoples aliveness experience, world intellections or peoples cognition of the extraneous world and the language users culture.IntroductionOne of the more or less vital functions of language is to name the world or express homosexual thought s through a system of concepts. In any case, the concepts expressed through language do non exist in seclusion from separately other. Or maybe, they exist cooperatively in the language and amaze up a giant ne cardinalrk with legion(predicate) interconnections and affinityship among the divergent subparts. A good example of these interconnections includes metaphor, the comprehension of one concept regarding a nonher(prenominal).Metaphor is non solitary(prenominal) utilize in literary or poetic language but overly utilised in everyday conversational language. It croupe be assemblen that metaphor is employ to express bases sensibly and vividly as it has great communicatory power. Furthermore, it also convey more of the human feeling, emotion and attitude towards what is said rather than the non-metaphoric.One arouse idea in the language is that people got to k promptly their own tree trunk and gave names to its parts. And then the human beings began comparing the surro unding things with their own body and finding common sus Tains in the process of cognition of the world. So the names of some swiftness parts of human body be transferred to refer more other things in the real world. They atomic number 18 personified to possess the same names with the some speeding parts of human body. For instance, in side of meat the war cry foot denotes to the lowest part of the human and then on it is metaphorically employ to denote to the lowest part of many a(prenominal) things, for example, the foot of the hill.Not only in incline but also in Vietnamese also use of metaphors, in such a commission, many speech referring parts of human body argon also employ metaphorically. For instance, the intelligence operation chn in Vietnamese akin to the word of honor foot in face is used as a metaphor to denote to the lowest part of the hill Chn i.The way individual oral communication, however, are used is not always the same in twain languages. For instance, the word nerve in side of meat is metaphorically used to denote to the hole of the needle, eon the word mt in Vietnamese is not used in such a way. It is metaphorically, however, used to denote to holes of a woven basket in another case.E.g. shopping mall of the needle vs Mt r.It enkindle be inferred that the words denoting some upper parts of human body are used metaphorically in English and Vietnamese and the way for apiece one word is used is varied in both languages. The way metaphors are used is because of peoples life experience, world views and the language users culture. So metaphors are varied from one language to another.There are some questions arise How are the words denoting upper parts of human body used metaphorically in both English and Vietnamese?, How much are they similar? and How much do they differ from each other?. For this reasons, the study titled A contrastive analysis of metaphors relating to some upper parts of human body between English and Vietnamese will be answer the questions mentioned.Literature review 2.1. What is metaphor?Metaphor that comes from the Greek for transferee. According to Vo Dai Quang (2003, p.33), metaphor is word kernel transference based on proportion between deuce things as regards function, temper, size, shape, age, colour, etc. As the following exampleE.g. She is a ophidian.That is, the word snake has negative connotation because it is thought to be very dangerous and poisonous to people. Basing on this nub, it is transferred to mention to the character of a person to imply that she is a dangerous person. The law of similarity in this situation between an wight and a person is rough the character. Hence, this definition is clear and parabolic.However, there is a question to be pose why do people hand over to use such an implicit way to convey the idea?. According to Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary (1995, p.734), metaphor is defined as the imaginative use of a word or a phras e to describe somebody/something as another object in dedicate to show that they crap the same qualities and as to find the description more forceful. This definition is not as cleared as the above -mentioned definition about the association of similarity, however, it takes the use and the effect of metaphor into consideration. If we express She is a dangerous person, it is not as forceful to the hearer as we say She is a snake. Likewise, metaphor can convey the imagination of the language users so it is clearly more powerful and effective in communication.Metaphor also be defined as follows an extension in the use of the word beyond its primary meaning to describe referents that bear similarities to the words primary referent(Language-its structure and use,1994). The term extension mentions to the meaning of the word that can be extended beyond its literal meaning. So metaphor here is dealt with as a means of creating and expanding meaning to depict other referents which are si milar to the words primary referent. locution at the above once more. The primary referent of the word snake is one type of animal(prenominal) and in this metaphor, it mentions to another referent that is a risky person. This should be possible on the basis of the affinity between the two referents.The definition elapsen by Barcelone (2000, p.3) in which metaphor is defined as Metaphor is the cognitive mechanism whereby one experiential vault of heaven is partially mapped or projected onto a different experiential domain so that the second domain is partially understood in terms of the send-off one. In this definition, metaphor is understood as a conceptual projection whereby one experiential domain is understood regarding another. The character of a person, in the above example, is understood regarding a character of a snake.Generally, metaphor mentioned above is viewed from different angles. Basically, it is the way we call one object by the name of another because we equali ty these objects and pick up some common features between them.It is necessary to distinguish metaphor, simile and metonymy because they are tight related. To begin with, metaphor and simile are forms of comparison. We compare two un akin things unneurotic in two ways. Metaphor, however, is hidden comparison and simile is the open comparison. Take the following examplesE.g. Tom is the head of the department.Tom is like the head of the department.The word head implies one part of human body that comprise the brain and can control the activity of the domiciliate of the body. In this above example, the word head means to the people victorious the controlling function as the leader in the department. It can be understood implicitly in the outset example and in the second one, it can be understood explicitly. Putting it on the scale, metaphor is an equation and simile is an approximation. Obviously, they take different values and effects to the hearer.Metaphor and metonymy are two t ypes of transference of meaning. One object is named and understood regarding another. Metaphor, however, is based on the association of similarity while metonymy is based on the association of contiguity. Look at the two following examplesE.g. She is the head of the departmentTwo heads are break in than oneIn the first example, the word head refers to the leader and it is can be understood regarding the similarity of function the head of human body and the leader of the department carry the mission to control the rest parts of the whole. In contrast, the word heads in the second example refers to people because they are related to each other- head is one part of human body. It can be done on the basis of part-whole relation in which the name of the part is used to refer to the whole.Obviously, metaphor is related to simile and metonymy but it is rather sublime from them. In addition, how metaphors function in language and they are classified will be showed as follow. 2.2. Functi ons of metaphorsMetaphors are diverse in terms of values and functions in language, however, in this study only three basic functions give by a Vietnamese language specialist, Dinh Trong Lac(1994, p.53), are mentioned. According to him, there are three basic functions of metaphors namely naming, cognitive and symbolic functions and basing on this he can group metaphors together. 2.2.1. duty assignment functionFirstly, the function of metaphors talked about is to name things. This is only the technical means to utilize the ready- made dictionary to offer names to different things basing on the similarity between them. For instance, the lowest part of the mounsiamese connectionn is cognize as the foot of the mountain as the foot on the human body is the lowest part. These metaphors are of almost no or very little rhetoric value but they can study the way in which things on the planet are seen together. They are just planned to offer names to things basing on the experience with t he existing vocabulary. 2.2.2. Cognitive functionSecondly, the function of metaphors is to cognize or conceptualize things. These metaphors do not offer new names to things however conceptualize them as far as another. These metaphors operates between two domains, one domain is conceptualized regarding another. For instance, in the domain of weather, when it is sunny, the sun is sparkling and brings charming climate that can make people cheerful and agreeable. So the word sunny has positive value and it is exchanged to dispute the peevishness of people as in the following illustration.E.g. By the time he visited the Ho qi Minh Mausoleum, John was in a sunny mood.That is, John felt exceptionally cheerful and optimistic. Hereby, the human mood is conceptualized and comprehended under the words about weather. These metaphors are likewise conventional and of little rhetoric impact. 2.2.3. typic functionLastly, the function of metaphors is to symbolize things. This function is usually thought to be the conventional function of metaphors. For example, the boot regularly symbolizes for the beauty. So it is frequently compared to the womans beauty.E.g. Beauty is a pinnacle which wrinkles will devour.In the above illustration, the flower is compared to the beauty of woman that will devour like the flower. This kind of metaphors reflect the imaginative and germinal way individuals assess and explain things, which can make their language more expressive and persuasive. They are extremely customary in poetic language. All in all, metaphors convey three major functions in language which are naming, cognitive and symbolic functions. Basing on that, metaphors relating to upper parts of human body are in the first group which are used to give names to things in the world. 2.3. Kinds of metaphorsMetaphors can be classified basing on their degree of unexpectedness. According to Nguyen Hoa (2004, p.109), there are three main kinds of metaphors namely living metaphors, fade d metaphors and dead metaphors. 2.3.1. Living metaphorsWhen a word is unexpected and quite unpredictable is called living metaphor. It is used in bizarre meaning and metaphor is easily recognise by the hearer. It is created and used by individuals.E.g. She is my sunIt can be seen that the sun lights our earth by day, which can makes peoples life brighter and more joyful. Hence, when a people who is thought to make the others life brighter and more joyful is viewed as the sun. These metaphors are called creative or poetic metaphors as it reflects the creative use of language and they are appended to the symbolic functions as mentioned above are especially utilized in literature and poetry. They are not common in everyday language usage. They are sometimes called honest-to-goodness metaphors becauseit is the common sense when people discuss metaphors and they have great rhetoric effect on the hearer. 2.3.2. wearied metaphorsMetaphor which lost its freshness because of long use and traditional use and became habitual in occasional language usage. For example, gold is one sort of very valuable material and when people mention the adjectival golden, it implies that something made of gold. Besides, it is say that golden youth, it means that the adolescent in a mans life is likewise as valuable as gold. Metaphors are so normal in everyday language that they are sometimes not felt as metaphors. These metaphors can bring about polysemy of so many words in language. Among the functions examined, they are attached to the naming and cognitive functions. 2.3.3. Dead metaphorsDead metaphor- where metaphoric sense is not felt at all because they have lost their indirect meaning and are used only figuratively. For instance, the word capital in English used to mean the head which is considered as the most diminutive part on the human body. So it was metaphorically used to refer to the most important urban center or town of a country which is usually the center of gover nment. Hence, it was metaphorically used to refer to the most important city or town of a nation which is generally the center of government. But now the word capital is not utilized literally as the head of the human body, however, it just means the capital of the country as in the sentence Paris is the capital of France. These metaphors do not make up many in language. Indeed, these metaphors are difficult or almost impossible to be recognized as metaphors.In general, there are three principle sorts of metaphors which are living, faded and dead metaphors. In concise, metaphors relating to parts of human body are called faded metaphors since they become the means of everyday language to give names to things in the world.Aim and objectives of the studyThis study is conducted with the aims of theoretical and practical. Theoretically is proposed to give a clayey and methodical review on the metaphorical uses of words meaning upper parts of human body in both English and Vietnamese a nd attempt to clarify the reasons why the words are utilized as a part of such ways. Meantime, it is gone for finding the features that English and Vietnamese impart to and substitute from each other in the utilization of metaphors relating to upper parts of human body.Practically is proposed to empower learners of English to have an understanding into metaphors relating to upper parts of human body in English and additionally in their mother tongue so they can improve their vocabulary of the language they are learning and hunt them effectively in communication or translate them well into their own mother tongue and delinquency versa.Research methodology 4.1. Approach intended for the studyHere the two languages to be specialized English and Vietnamese are compared and contrasted. In this contrastive analysis, English is dealt with as the instrumental language and Vietnamese is the stone pit language. In this manner, any instances of metaphors relating to upper parts of human b ody in English will be recorded and analyzed first and after that they will be compared and contrasted with Vietnamese to discover the similarities and differences between the two languages. 4.2. Methods of the studyThis study is conducted with a combination of the comparative degree and contrastive. Firstly, the theoretical background of metaphors will be given talked about through the basic readings of related materials. Besides, once general theories are given, the data about specific cases of metaphors relating to upper parts of human body in two languages utilized for illustration will be gathered from different sources of data, for example, dictionaries, books, daily papers, magazines furthermore practical observation. Thirdly, it is to choose the typical examples and analyze them. In the meantime, comparative and contrastive techniques will be used to discover the common and the distinguished features in the utilization of metaphors relating to upper parts of human body betwe en English and Vietnamese. Finally, some conclusions will be made about what has been analyzed and compared. 4.3. Metaphors relating to some upper parts of human body in English and Vietnamese 4.3.1. Metaphors relating to nerve centre in English and mt in VietnameseWe can easily find some common features in the metaphorical use of the words denoting eyes between the two languages. Firstly, our eyes are round and small in shape, in two languages, the two words eye and mt imply to the shape of a potato. It has many circled and many small spot on it.For example In English Eye of the potatoIn Vietnamese Mt khoai ty(English-Vietnamese Dictionary, 1993, p.581)Moreover, the word mt in Vietnamese is refer to many small and rounded-shaped things on the peel of many sorts of fruit and things. In contrast, the word eye in English is not refer to these cases. Look at the table under.Table 1In EnglishIn VietnameseNone in EnglishMt tre, mt ma, mt li, mt da, mt xch, mt r, etc..However, the word eye in English denote the eye-shaped spots on the tail of the peacock and piece of metal used together with a hook in distinguish to fasten clothes. For example, Eye of the peacocks tail (Vocabulary, p.26), Hook and eye of the serve (Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, 1995, p.410)In English and Vietnamese, when we see into a persons eyes and the central position of the eyes when we see around, the words eye and mt refer to the centre of the cyclone and wind blows. For example, in English Eye of the storm, Eye of the wind while in Vietnamese Mt bo (English-Vietnamese Dictionary, 1993, p.581) some other interesting point is that the world becomes bright and clear when we open our eyes and see and when the sun rises and opens on a day, the world is also sheeny. Hence, the British calls the sun the eye of the day. Similarly, the British also calls the private eye when our eyes has function of observing others secretly to get information. However, Vietnamese has not these interestin g features as in English. 4.3.2. Metaphors relating to nose in English and mi in VietnameseFirst of all, the nose which is the precedent part pointing in shape so it used to refer to the front pointed part of an airplane. For instance, in English He brought the aircrafts nose up and made a perfect landing, whereas in Vietnamese Anh ta li mi my bay ln v thc hin vic h cnh hon ho (English-Vietnamese Dictionary, 1993, p.1140)Another interesting is that Vietnamese used the word mi in order to denote to part of some tools or objects. In contrast, the word nose in English is not used in such a way. To understand clearly about the lexemes nose and mi, the below table will be illustrate.Table 2In EnglishIn Vietnamesenose of an airplanenone in Englishnose of a carnone in Englishmi my baymi C Maunone in Vietnamesemi kimEspecially, the word mi in Vietnamese is figuratively used to refer to the forward direction of the attack of the soldiers. But English does not piece of land this interesting feature as in Vietnamese. 4.3.3. Metaphors relating to ear in English and tai in VietnameseThe ears are of reed organ of hearing, they are the small and slue parts that locate at the sides of the head. The two lexemes ear and tai in both languages are used in metaphors to denote to the parts of things which have the similar features. However, they are used to denote to do not the same in some cases. The table below will be illustrate.Table 3In EnglishIn Vietnamesenone in Englishnone in Englishnone in Englishear of a cornear of a newspaperear of the jugtai nmtai botai ci xaynone in Vietnamesenone in Vietnamesetai bnh ng ncIn the above table, there are some similar in both languages in the way that the words referring the ear are used to denote to the small and curved part on the side of a container such as jug and cup. But the word tai in some cases Vietnamese is used to denote to the two parts on both sides of the plaster in the scene tai ci xay. In contrast, the word ear in En glish is not used to share this. Similarly, the word tai in Vietnamese is used to denote to the develop of a mushroom while the word ear in English is not used to share it. However, in the same way, it is used to denote to the small part of a corn in the expression ear of a corn. Another interesting is that the word ear is used to denote to the minor and short piece of a newspaper in the expression ear of a newspaper but the equivalent do not exist in Vietnamese. Generally, there are some common and distinguished features in the metaphorical use of the words denoting the verbalise between the English and Vietnamese. 4.3.4. Metaphors relating to mouth in English and ming in VietnameseIn both in English and Vietnamese, there are numerous common features in the metaphorical use of the words denoting the mouth. It can be seen that when we open the mouth, it can plump as the passage for the nourishment or drink to go in. So, the word mouth and ming, in both languages, are used to refe r to the open part of something especially containers through which we can guide things in. For example, in English A decorative pattern round the mouth of the bag. (Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, 1995, p.760)That is, the bag is one kind of containers and we place something in it through the open and front part of it called the mouth. Similarly, the word ming ti in Vietnamese is equivalent to this case in English. However, the equivalents of the two words mouth and ming do not exist in both English and Vietnamese. For instance, the word mouth in English is used to denote to the open part of a cave or river, whereas the word ming in Vietnamese is used to denote to the open part of an injury. And here are some examplesTable 4In EnglishIn Vietnamesenone in Englishmouth of the rivernone in Englishmouth of the architectmouth of the boxming nnone in Vietnameseming vt thngnone in Vietnameseming hpIn short, there are some similarities and differences in the use of the words denoting the mouth between the two languages.Results and discussionAll in all, the discoveries about the similarities and differences in the metaphors relating to upper parts of human body has clearly demonstrated the common and distinguished features in the way in which English and Vietnamese think and view the world surrounding them. In both countries, people all comprehend parts of their body well in shape, position, function, etcand relate these features to features of things in the world to name them by utilizing the names of upper parts of the body. In the specific cases, however, they utilize a certain word about a part of human body to refer things are not always the same as they think and view the world differently. In addition, people in each nation have their own way and habitat of utilizing the language creatively so this prompts to the distinctions in the metaphors in the both languages. For these reason, the existence of similarities and differences in the metaphors relating to upper parts of human body in two languages are reasonable and understandable. Moreover, metaphors relating to upper parts of human body can uphold to create new meanings that better the vocabulary in two languages. Another interesting is that metaphor is one kind of personification (Nguyn Vn Chin, 1992) because everything in the world is not seen in but in the alliance with human beings. It means that things in the world are always found in the associative eye of people.I hoped that the findings about the basic metaphors relating to upper parts of human body in this study will help students not only to acquire these interesting and popular use of the words but also to motivate them in their further language study.SummaryThis study has provided a systematic and clear view on metaphors relating to upper parts of human body in English and Vietnamese. First and foremost, words denoting upper parts of human body are popularly used in metaphor in both languages. Secondly, the metaphor s, in most cases, relating to them depend on the similar associations of their semantic features. The referents, however, they are used to refer in specific cases are not always similar. Last but not least, the more frequently the words are used in metaphors, the more similar features metaphors relating to them in English and Vietnamese share.If I have an opportunity in the future, my future research could be conducted to study the metaphorical use of the words denoting lower, median(a) and internal parts of human body and the different metaphorical use of the words referring human body parts when they function in other parts of speech such as verbs, adjectives, etc. I hope that this scope will become more various and meaningful and the reader will have a broader view about this interesting subject between the two languages.ImplicationsThe results of this study can help to suggest the following implicationsIn teaching English, understanding metaphors relating to some upper parts of human body can help student discover the connection between the metaphorical meaning and the literal meaning of the word to find the new meaning for themselves.As discussed above, there are many similarities and differences in the metaphorical use of words denoting some upper parts of human body between English and Vietnamese, whence the translators need to be aware of this in the process translation. That is, translators ought to keep away the word-for-word translation while translating these lexemes as they are differently utilized in each language, by people in each nation.ReferencesEnglishBarcelona, Antonio(2000).Metaphor and metonymy at the crossroads.Berlin and New York Mouton de Gruyter.Crowther J. (1995).Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary.Oxford University PressE. Finegan. Language Its Structure and Use, 2nd ed. Harcourt Brace, 1994.Quang, Vo Dai(2003).Semantics.Vietnam matter University, College of Foreign Languages.Hoa, Nguyen(2004).Understanding English Semantics.Viet nam National University, College of Foreign Language.