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Graduation paper submitted in partial fulfillment for B.A Degree in English
Website: http://www.docs.vn Email : lienhe@docs.vn Tel : 0918.775.368 Hanoi open university Faculty of English ***** Graduation paper b a degree in English A new approach to semantic and syntactic functions of English adjectives – A A contrastive analysis with their Vietnamese equivalents Supervisor : hoµng TuyÕt minh, m.a student : nguyÔn thÞ nga date of birth : 13/ 08/ 1985 course : k11a (2004- 2008) Hanoi- 2008 Declaration Title: A new approach to semantic and syntactic functions of English adjectives – A cont A contrastive analysis with their Vietnamese equivalents Graduation paper (Graduation paper submitted in partial fulfillment for B.A Degree in English) I certify that no part of the above report has been copied or reproduced by me from any other person’s work without acknowledgements and that report is originally written by me under strict guidance of my supervisor Date submitted: May 2008 Supervisor Student Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Mrs Hoang Tuyet Minh She is the person who made clear my confuse initial ideas, step by step guiding me during my writing graduation paper I could finally complete my graduation I own her a debt of gratitude that cannot be measured Secondly, I would like to give my thanks to Dean and Leading Board of English faculty, who gave me opportunities to study and do my graduation paper I would also give my deepest gratitude to all lectures of English faculty at Hanoi Open University for their enthusiastic teaching during my four_ year NguyÔn ThÞ Nga – K 11A Graduation paper study They gave me not only knowledge but also the precious experience in life Thirdly, I should also express many thanks to my dear friends who have shared with me a lot during my studies and my research work as well Constantly, rather than final, I would like to send my great thanks to all members in my family for their support and encouragement during my study Hanoi, May 2008 Student: Nguyen Thi Nga TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements Abbreviations Chapter I: Introduction 1 1.1 Rationale 1 1.2 Aims of the study 2 1.3 Scope of the study 2 1.4 Methods of the study 3 1.5 Design of the study .3 Chapter II: An overview of English adjectives .4 2.1 What is an adjective? .4 2.2 Semantic functions of English adjectives 5 2.2.1 Stative and dynamic adjectives 5 2.2.2 Gradable and non- gradable adjectives 6 2.2.3 Inherent and non- inherent .7 2.3 Syntactic functions of English adjectives 9 2.3.1 Attributive adjectives 10 2.3.2 Predicative adjectives 12 2.3.3 Adjectives function as head of a noun phrase 14 2.3.3.1 Well- known groups 15 2.3.3.2 Adjectives referring to abstract ideas 16 2.3.4 Supplementative adjective clauses 17 NguyÔn ThÞ Nga – K 11A Graduation paper 2.2.5 Exclamatory adjective sentence 20 2.4 Summary 20 Chapter III: A new approach to SEMANTIC AND Syntactic functions of English Adjectives 22 3.1 Classification of English adjectives in terms of their usage 22 3.2 Classification in terms of their semantic functions .27 3.2.1 Gradable and non-gradable adjectives 27 3.2.2 Stative and dynamic adjectives 29 3.3 Classification in terms of syntactic functions 30 3.3.1 Attributive 30 3.3.1.1 Adjectives as premodification 31 3.3.1.2 Adjectives as postmodification 31 3.3.2 Predicative 32 3.3.3 Adjectives as head of a noun phrase 33 3.3.4 Supplementary adjective clause 34 Chapter IV: A contrastive analysis between English and their Vietnamese equivalents 36 4.1 Some features of contrastive analysis in learning a foreign language 36 4.2 An overview of Vietnamese adjectives 37 4.3 A contrastive analysis between English and Vietnamese adjectives 38 4.3.1 In terms of their syntactic functions 38 4.3.2 In terms of their order .42 Chapter V: Conclusion 45 References NguyÔn ThÞ Nga – K 11A Graduation paper Abbreviations Adj : adjective C : complement Co : object complement Cs : subject complement NP :noun phrase O : objective Prep p :preposition phrase S : subject V : verb ~ :equivalent to * : wrong sentence : without verb NguyÔn ThÞ Nga – K 11A Graduation paper Chapter I Introduction 1.1 Rationale Nowadays, English is considered as one of the most popular language for everyone all over the world There are many problems in learning English as listening, speaking, reading, writing, Grammar, lexicology, etc Grammar plays a very important role in English, it is not easy for English learners to study Moreover, learners are affected by their mother tongue during the process of studying that cause much confusion to them However, it is not so difficult that English learners can not study because English grammar is also systematic In grammar, Adjective is one of essential parts of speech to form a sentence Adjective is frequently used in daily life such as describing things, objects,… or exp or expressing feeling, emotion, etc As well known, English adjectives are diversified in many forms, meanings as well as usages It takes learners quite a long time to understand grammar deeply, especially adjectives It therefore seems that the semantic and syntactic function of adjectives are still too difficult for students So the writer researches the semantic and syntactic function of English adjectives with the hope that the writer’s graduation paper will contribute a small part on enriching the source of materials, and it hopes that students be able to further understand about semantic and syntactic function of English adjectives as well as partly avoid making errors when studying these matters In the writer’s point of view in order to use English effectively, studying grammar is essential requirement because English Grammar is one of the most difficult subject It is said that study of English grammar could improve the ability of other skills like listening, speaking, reading, writing, … or exp Mastering English grammar helps us to use the language correctly and effectively That is why the writer chooses studying one aspect of English grammar for the graduation paper, particularly adjectives in English The writer decided to study a new approach to semantic and syntactic functions of English adjective, apart from that making a contrastive analysis with their Vietnamese equivalents The writer hopes that this thesis will be helpful for the learners in their studying and after reading the graduation paper, many students will be interested in searching and developing this topic in order that NguyÔn ThÞ Nga – K 11A 1 Graduation paper the matter of semantic and syntactic function of English adjectives will be clearer and more well-provided than those presented in the graduation paper 1.2 Aims of the study In the frame of the graduation paper, the writer would like to focus on: - Making a general view on definition of adjectives in general and focusing on discussing matters in relation to semantic and syntactic functions of English adjectives in particular - Classifying kinds of English adjectives in terms of their usage - Making a contrastive analysis between English adjectives and their Vietnamese equivalents 1.3 Scope of the study English grammar is a large field that can not be mentioned all, therefore, the writer only mentioned to some small aspect of English grammar, that is English adjectives In the frame of the study, this graduation paper deals with the semantic and syntactic functions of English adjectives, especially the classification of adjective semantic features in terms of their usage as well as presents a contrastive analysis between English adjectives with their Vietnamese equivalents 1.4 Methods of the study This study mainly based on scientific theories about English adjectives, the writer has to collect materials and finds the most suitable ones to systematize as well as analyze them The main methods of the graduation paper are: Firstly, descriptive method is used to describe and make a general overview of English adjectives in terms of their semantic and syntactic functions Secondly, statistic method is used to gather information about English adjectives, apart from that giving the study points of view of this thesis Finally, contrastive analysis method is used to make a comparison between English adjectives and their Vietnamese equivalents 1.5 Design of the study NguyÔn ThÞ Nga – K 11A 2 Graduation paper To gain the above goals, the graduation paper is divided into five chapters and reference part Chapter I is the introduction, including the reasons for choosing the title, aims and objectives, scope, methods and design of the study Chapter II introduces an overview of English adjectives with the definitions of adjectives and their semantic and syntactic functions of English adjectives Chapter III is a study to a new approach to semantic and syntactic functions of English adjectives Chapter IV is to make a contrastive analysis between English adjectives and their Vietnamese equivalents, pointing out the similarities and differences of English adjectives Chapter V is the conclusion part, giving brief findings of all the above sections References come at the end of the graduation paper NguyÔn ThÞ Nga – K 11A 3 Graduation paper Chapter II An overview of English adjectives 2.1 What is an adjective? When talking about adjectives, many grammarians have many different definitions as follows: According to L G Alexander (1998, 106), a word is considered as an adjective when it describes the person, thing,… or exp which a noun refers to or describes the ideas contained in the whole group of words, as in : Professor Robert’s lecture on environment was fascinating Many adjectives can answer the question what… like ? like ? What’s Tom like?( to look at) He is dark/ short/ tall (Alexander 1998, 106) However, as the opinions of Quirk et al, “ we usually can not tell a word is an adjective by looking at it in isolation because the form of a word doesn’t necessarily indicate its syntactic function Nor can we identify a word as an adjective merely from its potentials for inflexion ” (1973,114) As for them, a word is commonly considered an adjective if it has at least one of four criteria: It can freely occur in attributive function, i e they can premodify a noun, appearing between the determiner and the head of a noun phrase as in: an oval face a beautiful girl the round table It can freely occur in predicative function, i e they can function as subjective complement or as object complement: The girl is attractive I guess the girl attractive (Quirk et al 1973, 116) They can be modified by the intensifier very For example: The new house is very large She is very happy now It can take comparative and superlative forms The comparison may be by means of inflections (-er, -est), or by the addition of the premodifiers more and most or called periphrastic Let’s see the following examples: Ho Chi Minh is the most wonderful city in Vietnam Lan is more charming than other classmates The children are happier now ( Quirk et al 1973, 115 ) NguyÔn ThÞ Nga – K 11A 4 Graduation paper To sum up, adjective is one of four elements of open class items (noun, adjective, adverb, verb), which belongs to part of speech in English grammar, and adjectives are words expressing quality, quantity, size, colour, characteristics, etc 2.2 Semantic functions of English adjectives According to researches, adjectives are classified into stative and dynamic, gradable and non- gradable as follows: 2.2.1 Stative and dynamic adjectives According to the opinion of Quirk et al, As their name suggests, stative adjective denote “a state or condition, which may generally be consider permanent” (124), such as big, red, tall, etc Stative adjectives can not normally be used in imperative constructions: * Be big/ red/ tall * He is being red/ big/ tall ( Quirk et al 1973, 124) In contrast, dynamic adjectives denote attributes which are, to some extent at least, “under the control of the one who possesses them”(Quirk et al 1973, 124) For instance, brave denotes an attribute which may not always be in evidence (as unlike red), but which may be called upon as it is required For this reason, it is appropriate to use it in an imperative Be brave Don’t be afraid (Quirk et al 1973, 124) Adjectives that can be used dynamically include: awkward, brave, calm, careless, cruel, funny, good, noisy, timid, etc.(Quirk at al 1973, 124) All dynamic adjectives can be used in imperatives such as be careful, don’t be cruel, and they can also be use predicatively in progressive tense: Your son is being disruptive in class He is being careful We are being very patient with you The majority of adjectives are stative The stative or dynamic contrast, as it related to adjectives, is largely a semantic one, though as we have seen it also has syntactic implications 2.2.2 Gradable and non- gradable adjectives According to L G Alexander (1988, 108) adjectives can be also divided into gradable and non- gradable Gradable adjectives mean “a large class of words which can be graded, or in other words, they can be modified by intensifiers and include comparison such as very young, young, younger, the youngest… like ?” NguyÔn ThÞ Nga – K 11A 5 ... adjectives with the definitions of adjectives and their semantic and syntactic functions of English adjectives Chapter III is a study to a new approach to semantic and syntactic functions of. .. adjectives in English The writer decided to study a new approach to semantic and syntactic functions of English adjective, apart from that making a contrastive analysis with their Vietnamese equivalents. .. relation to semantic and syntactic functions of English adjectives in particular - Classifying kinds of English adjectives in terms of their usage - Making a contrastive analysis between English