Luận Văn A constrative analysis of similes in English and Vietnamese

Khóa luận tốt nghiệp năm 2012
Đề tài: A constrative analysis of similes in English and Vietnamese


TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale of the study 1
2. Aims of the study. . 2
3. Scope of the study. 2
4. Method of the study. 3
5. Design of the study. 3
PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT . 4
CHAPTER I. Theoretical background . 4
1. Definition . 4
2. Basic elements of similes 5
3. Classification of similes 7
3.1. Based on the similar features 7
3.1.1. Implicit simile . 7
3.1.2. Explicit simile . 8
3.2. Based on component word and phrase . 10
3.2.1. Comparisons with adjectives 10
3.2.2. Comparison with verbs . 11
3.2.3. Miscellaneous comparison 12
4. Linguistic features of similes in English And Vietnamese . 13
4.1. The acoustic feature of speech 13
4.2. Numerous components in Vietnamese similes . 13
4.3. The implicit feature of comparative words . 14
4.4. The national feature 14
4.5. The involvement of other figures of speech . 15
4.6. The cliché characteristics of similes . 16
CHAPTER II. The contrastive analysis of similes in English and
Vietnamese . 17
1. Implicit simile “like” 17
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1.1. Comparative expression of “like” – “như” in Vietnamese 18
1.2. Other expression of “like” in Vietnamese 20
2. Explicit simile “as as” . 25
2.1. Simile relating to colours . 25
2.1.1. Black 25
2.1.2. Red 27
2.1.3. White . 28
2.1.4. Pale 30
2.2. Explicit similes relating to human’s characters. 31
2.2.1. Positive characters. . 32
2.2.2. Negative characters. . 37
2.3. Physical characteristics 43
CHAPTER III. IMPLICATION . 49
1. Problem faced by learners in studying similes . 49
1.1. Problem in understanding. . 49
1.2. Problem in memorizing. . 51
2. Suggested solutions. . 52
2.1. In understanding. 53
2.2. In memorizing. . 53
2.3. In using effectively . 54
PART THREE: CONCLUSION . 57
1. The issues addressed in the study. 57
2. Suggestion for further study. 58
REFERENCES 59
APPENDIX 62
Exercises 62
Key to exercises 65


PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study
Language plays an important role in human life. Everyone tries to
acquire, learn and use language as means of communication and
simultaneously as social symbol of humanity. By using language, someone
could make statement, convey facts and knowledge explain or report
something as well as keep social relations among the language users. They are
to indicate that by means of language, people can express their ideas, felling,
information, etc through communication.
As one of the languages in the world, English is considered and applied
an international language. Since then, it is very popular and has been spoken
and learnt by almost people in the world. In a developing country like
Vietnam, English plays a vital role in various aspects. Especially, English can
be used for developing relationships in the global forum, for reading English
books (especially for English majors and researchers for approaching
human’s knowledge in English – the global language).
However, to gain remarkable achievements in studying this
international language like the other languages in the world, learners must
spread their approaching over various skills such as listening, writing and
especially reading. Why reading is mentioned special? The reason lies in the
weakness of the researcher of this study.
As an English major, during years of studying English in university, I
am always in trouble with reading skills. Beside the lack of reading skills,
particular set expressions are also of great concern. Surprisingly, how can the
same components make the different meanings in an expression? I am
confused with the variation of these sayings.
In addition, a perfect understanding of how set expressions are used in
daily life language is not only important for English students to improve their
vocabulary, but also to understand new and original idioms when we hear and
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use them in daily life. These are the reasons why I decided to do a research on
the topic of simile. In fact, simile is a subtype of set expressions. Besides,
simile attracts me with its appearance in rule of using comparative words of
“like” and “as as”. Also, when I started to make a minor comparison
between Vietnamese and English simile, this linguistic issue totally captivates
my attention and drives me the wish to study more to understand as well as
make us of it. Therefore, I hope that this major issue in my graduation report
will help me enhance my knowledge of it and then help others to grasp the
deep meanings shown in each simile. Nevertheless, due to the limitation of
time and scope as well as the size of the study, I only focus on the Vietnamese
and English similes relating to colors, human’s characters as well as physical
characteristics.
2. Aims of the study:
The study aims at:
 Widening knowledge of the learners and someone interested in
similes.
 Enriching the English similes for learners.
 Helping the learners use simile correctly in relevant ways.
 Giving out solutions for difficulties in studying similes and tips for
effective use.
3. Scope of the study:
It is rather difficult for me to study all the similes of all topic s due to
the limitation of my knowledge as well as the time so I only focus on similes
in term of typical colors,human’s negative and positive characters as well as
physical characteristics. In addition, I will try to have a contrastive analysis on
Vietnamese and English similes in some cases.
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4. Method of the study:
This study is carried out basing on:
 Material collection from various reference books, dictionaries as
well as golden websites to establish the theoretical background.
 Quantitative method including consulting ideas from people joining
in the research.
 Comparative research to find out the similarities and differences
used in similes between English and Vietnamese.
5. Design of the study:
This study consists of three parts and the second is the most important
one.
Part One is the introduction which states the reason of the study, the
aims of the study, and the scope of the study, the method of the study and the
design of the study as well.
Part Two is the Development which is the main content consisting of
three chapters. The first chapter is the theoretical background. It focuses on
some general definitions. The second chapter stresses on two kinds of similes
basing on comparing them in English and Vietnamese. The third chapter will
give out some problem learners are facing in studying similes and suggested
solutions as well as some exercises for practicing.
Part Three is the Conclusion of the whole study which summarizes the
main topic given in the part two.


PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: Theoretical background of simile in English.
1. Definition
Of all figures of speech, simile is said to be the simplest and the most
common used. Simile is utilized popularly in numerous languages and
linguistic fields. It is believed that simile is taken the best advantages in
making writings or work more interesting and entertaining.
There are ample ways to give simile a definition.
First of all, in Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (1997, p.593), C.
Jonathan defines: “Simile is a comparison of one thing with another”. It is
considered the briefest and simplest definition.
However, far from now, Kirssner and Mandell (1987, p.82) gave a more
specific definition: “A simile is a comparison between two essentially unlike
items on the basis of a shared quality; similes are produced by like or as” .
Another idea of same thought in The American Heritage College
Dictionary (1997, p.1270) supports the above definition as the authors
confirm simile as: “A figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things
are explicit compared, usually by the means of like or as”.
Besides, it is quoted from Wikipedia.org that: “Simile is a figure of speech
that directly compares two different things, usually by employing the words
“like” or “as”.
It could be concluded from above mentioned definitions that simile
involves some forms of comparison using “like” or “as” and the comparison
here is explicit.
In Vietnamese, according to Lac and Hoa (2001, p.189), simile is
defined as: “So sánh (còn gọi là tỉ dụ) là phương thức diễn đạt tu từ khi đem
sự vật này đối chiếu với sự vật khác miễn là giữa hai sự vật có một nét tương
đồng nào đó, để gợi ra hình ảnh cụ thể, những cảm xúc thẩm mĩ trong nhận
thức của người đọc, người nghe”.