A study on marriage- related English and Vietnamese proverbs (From linguistic- cultural perspective) Trịnh Thị Hương Giang Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ Luận văn Thạc sĩ ngành: English Linguistics; Mã số: 60 22 15 Người hướng dẫn: M.A. Văn Thị Thanh Bình Năm bảo vệ: 2013 Abstract. English and Vietnamese have their own valuable treasures of proverbs. Proverbs constitute a storehouse of their people’s common experiences and moral teachings. As a result, they seem to be indispensable in daily speeches as well as in books and newspapers. This thesis is an attempt to investigate a comprehensive account of the outstanding linguistic features of English and Vietnamese proverbs. Especially, with the ambition to help teachers and learners have a clear understanding about the relations between proverbs and culture, the author has managed to figure out the features of proverbs about marriage in both English and Vietnamese and then, point out some cultural similarities and differences in this particular aspect. The result of the study may make contributions to the translation of proverbs in general and proverbs about marriage in particular. In addition, it may also provide helpful suggestions for teachers and learners in teaching and learning proverbs. Keywords. Ngôn ngữ; Tiếng Anh; Tục ngữ; Hôn nhân gia đình Content 1. Rationale Nowadays, in this globalization and integration era, communication and cross- cultural communication have become a pivotal want and need of people all over the world. Through language, we communicate and exchange our material and spiritual values, making the cultural knowledge of one another richer and more diversified. However each nation’s language lies in itself similar and different cultural concepts of many fields of life such as human values, ways of thinking, behavior standards, beliefs, customs and traditions, social conventions, etc. Therefore, it would be difficult for foreign language learners to communicate successfully with native speakers if they have poor understanding of the language itself and the language relation with culture. Among favourite languages such as French, Chinese etc, English has still played its decisive role in international communication and has been studied by a large number of people in the world. All foreign learners of English desire to master English as native speakers but they usually face many difficulties that prevent them from gaining successful conversations. One of the reasons for these problems lies in the way people perceive and use proverbs. For many years, English proverbs have often been neglected in learning and teaching because it is a difficult area of English, but nobody can deny that proverbs are really important in communication, “a proverb in hand is worth a thousand words”(Reynolds, 1959: 75) Firstly, proverbs as traditional wisdom are never absent from our daily speeches. They are the main part of each nation’s culture, which reflect all aspects of life. People epitomize their ways of thinking and their ideas through proverbs. We can use them to solve our daily conflicts or support our arguments. Proverbs are the mirrors that reflect human cultures. Elzaki (2002: 43) states: “If we want to understand the culture in a given society, we have to study its proverbs as any nations have its own characteristics that reflect their lives and environmental surroundings”. Hence, it can be said that proverbs can help learners know more about social and cultural characteristics of that language. Secondly, proverbs are used to express ideas in figurative ways. They bring the vividness and richness for the speaker’s speeches. Everyone who is much concerned about proverbs owns a very attractive manner of speaking. Especially, they can provide users with a whole new way of expressing concepts linguistically. Without them, it can be stated that English might lose its colour and vitality. In terms of teaching English, lessons will be more interesting and effective if the teacher knows how to apply proverbs to design different activities in an English class: quizzes, games, role- play, etc. Studying English proverbs in comparison and contrast with Vietnamese proverbs, we can find the similarities and differences between two languages and cultures, which therefore, help learners of English understand and have a better use of English and Vietnamese proverbs. This can also help learners have better communication in the cross- cultural communication. Brutus (1995: 23) stated the practical effect of learning proverbs: “Through proverbs I know your points of view, the attitudes of your ancestors. Each time I know a new Vietnamese proverb, I become Vietnamese a little. I believe when we know all proverbs of each other, we are brothers”. Having been interested in proverbs for a long time, I decided to choose marriage- related proverbs as my thesis topic. Thanks to these proverbs, I can draw very good lessons and know how to treat others and behave myself accordingly. Hopefully, the study may be an interesting and helpful material for learners, teachers of English and for people who are interested in cultural patterns in communication and cross- cultural communication. 2. Aims of the study The study aims to: - Investigate the general syntactic, semantic and cultural features of English and Vietnamese proverbs about marriage. - Explore the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese proverbs about marriage - Provide some suggestions for the teaching, learning and translation of the English proverbs about marriage. 3. Scope of the study Proverbs are plentiful in both English and Vietnamese. Therefore it is impossible for the author to carry out an all- rounded study on them. Only marriage- related proverbs are selected and a comparison and contrast between English and Vietnamese is made to distinguish one from another. In this study, both English and Vietnamese proverbs about marriage are discussed in terms of syntactics, semantics and cultures. All English and Vietnamese proverbs are collected from dictionaries and books. Hence, this research may not cover all marriage- related proverbs, just those of common use. 4. Methodology The study was intended to answer the following questions: 1. What are the general syntactic, semantic and cultural features of English and Vietnamese proverbs about marriage? 2. Are there any similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese proverbs about marriage in terms of syntactics, semantics and culture? The major methods applied in the study are comparative and contrastive analysis. This study is conducted by carefully collecting and referring to materials from various sources to have full-blown information of proverbs about marriage in terms of syntactics, semantics and culture. The good choice of proverbs in Vietnamese and in British English will be carefully analysed and examined to see the similarities and differences between the two cultures and languages. The author’s own experience in communication and cultural awareness will be referred to as way of viewing the field. 5. Design of the study The study consists of three parts. The first part “INTRODUCTION” outlines the background of the study. In this part, a brief account of relevant information is provided about the rationale, aims, scopes, methodology, and design of the study. The main part of the study is part II: Development. This part includes three chapters. Chapter one, as implied in the title: “Theoretical Background and Literature Review”, covers a series of proverb- related concepts ranging from definitions of proverbs, features of proverbs, types of proverbs, proverbs in comparison with idioms and sayings. It also mentions some previous studies on proverbs. Chapter two and three make up the more specifically focused part of the study. Chapter two is concerned with “Methodology” whereas chapter three deals with a “Data analysis and Discussion”. The final part is the “CONCLUSION”, which provides the recapitulation, implications for the EFL teaching and learning and for translation and suggestions for further studies. The study ends with the “REFERENCES”. References In English 1. Baker, M. (1992). In other words: A course book on translation. Routledge. 2. Duff, A. (1989). Translation. Oxford University Press. 3. Fergusson, R (1983) Dictionary of proverbs. Penguin Books. 4. Gorjian, B&Molonia. S. (1999). The consice dictionary of proverbs. Moatabar. 5. Kramsch, C. (2003). Language and Culture. Oxford University Press. 6. Mieder, W. (1985). The prentice Hall Encyclopedia of World proverbs. Prentice Hall. 7. Mollanazar, H. (2001). Principles and methodology of translation. SAMT. 8. O’Driscoll, J (2000). Oxford University Press. 9. Palmer, F.R. (1990). Semantics. Cambridge University Press. 10. Phạm Thị Minh (2009). A study on English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities from cultural perspective. MA Thesis. Vietnam National University. 11. Simpson, J. (1999). The concise Oxford Dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 12. Trần Thế Khoa (2009). A study on mariage- related English and Vietnamese proverbs from cultural perspective. MA Thesis. Vietnam National University. 13. Vũ Thế Ngọc (2006). A Dictionary of Vietnamese- English, English- Vietnamese proverbs. International Books, Inc. 14. Đỗ Thị Minh Ngọc (2010). A Cross- Cultural Study on Weather Proverbs in English and Vietnamese. MA Thesis. Vietnam National University. 15. Phạm Thị Minh (2009). A Study on English and Vietnamese Proverbs about Educating Moral Qualities from Cultural Perspective. MA Thesis. Vietnam National University. In Vietnamese 1. Chu Xuân Diên. (1975). Tục ngữ Việt Nam. NXB Khoa học xã hội. 2. Chu Văn Liên. (2009). Tục ngữ Anh- Việt chọn lọc. NXB phương Đông. 3. Hoàng Văn Hành. (1990). Kể chuyện thành ngữ tục ngữ. NXB Khoa học xã hội. 4. Hoàng Đình Tứ. (1990). 100 Tục ngữ tiếng Anh thông dụng. NXB Tp Hồ Chí Minh. 5. Nguyễn Văn Mười. (1996). Ngôn ngữ với việc phản ánh các yếu tố văn hóa và nhân sinh quan (thông qua tục ngữ Việt- Anh). Luận án Tiến sĩ. ĐHKH- XHNV ĐHQG Hà Nội. 6. Nguyễn Văn Ngọc. (1991). Tục ngữ phong dao Việt Nam . NXB Tp Hồ Chí Minh 7. Nguyễn Xuân Kính. (1995). Tục ngữ Việt Nam . NXB Văn Hóa. 8. Phạm Văn Bình. (1999). Tục ngữ nước Anh & Thành ngữ tiếng Anh giàu hình ảnh. NXB Hải phòng. 9. Nguyễn Lân. (2002). Từ điển thành ngữ- tục ngữ Việt Nam. NXB Văn Học. 10. Nguyễn Đình Hùng. (1999). Thành ngữ, tục ngữ, ca dao Việt- Anh thông dụng. NXB Giáo dục. 11. Phạm Việt Long. (2009). Tục ngữ, ca dao về quan hệ gia đình. NXB. ĐHQG Hà Nội 12. Viện nghiên cứu văn hóa. (2009). Tinh hoa văn học dân gian người Việt. Tục ngữ quyển 2. NXB. Khoa học xã hội. 13. Vũ Ngọc Phan. (2002). Tục ngữ ca dao dân ca Việt Nam. NXB Văn học. 14. Vũ Mạnh Tường. (1998). Thành ngữ và tục ngữ tiếng Anh (The phrase & proverb in English). Song ngữ. NXB Hà Nội. On the Internet 1. http://www.news.bbc.com.uk 2. http://www.learn-english-today.com/proverb.html 3. http://www.tldm.org/bible/Old%20Testament/proverbs.htm 4. http://english-learners.com/tag/most-common-english-proverbs-sayings 5. http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/proverbs.html 6. http://nativeenglish.eu/articles/171/1/A-few-family-sayings-and-old-folklore/Page1.html 7. http://oxforddictionaries.com 8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphor . are selected and a comparison and contrast between English and Vietnamese is made to distinguish one from another. In this study, both English and Vietnamese proverbs about marriage are discussed. the study may make contributions to the translation of proverbs in general and proverbs about marriage in particular. In addition, it may also provide helpful suggestions for teachers and learners. outstanding linguistic features of English and Vietnamese proverbs. Especially, with the ambition to help teachers and learners have a clear understanding about the relations between proverbs and