1

CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT
I certify my authorship of the Thesis submitted today entitled:
AN INVESTIGATION INTO CULTURAL MEANING OF LOVE
DECLARATIONS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE FOLKLORES
in terms of the Statement of Requirement for Theses and Field Study Reports in Masters’
Programmes of English Linguistics issued by the Higher Degree Committee.
Luu Thi Thanh Tu
July, 2009 2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyn
Vn , my supervisor, for his invaluable guidance, comments and corrections during the
time I carried out my thesis.

viewpoints which are presented quite differently in the two languages. Hence, what needs
to be carried out in the study entitled “An investigation into the cultural meaning of love
declarations in English and Vietnamese folklores” will be an investigation of cultural
meaning of love declarations in folklores of the two languages in order to find out the
similarities and differences between them. The thesis also attempts to explain what are
behind the differences uncovered in the investigation.
4

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part one: Introduction…………………………………………….5
1.1 Justification……………………………………………………………….5
1.2 Aim and objectives of the study………………………………………….6
1.3 Scope of the study……………………………………………………… 6
1.4 Methods of the study…………………………………………………… 7
1.5 Design of the study……………………………………………………… 7
Part two: Development…………………………………………….9
Chapter one: Theoretical background…………………………………………9
1.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………….9
1.2 The relationship between language and culture………………………… 9
1.2.1 Nature, culture, language………………………………………………10
1.2.2 Communities and their effects on language users…………………… 11
1.3 Tropes 13
1.3.1 Simile 13
1.3.2 Metaphor 14
1.4 Folklore as a genre 14
1.4.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………… 14
1.4.2 Love declarations in folklore as a genre……………………………… 15
1.5 Summary………………………………………………………………….18
Chapter two: Love declarations in English folklores…………………………19
2.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………….19
6

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 JUSTIFICATION
The communication of love is an important aspect of interpersonal relationships
across cultures. But saying “I love you” can be very delicate walk, with much gray area,
regarding what can and should be communicated about love, when, by whom and to
whom. Love is sometimes felt but not expressed, other times, love is expressed only
nonverbally; and still other times, it is communicated verbally, with or without nonverbal
manifestations.
In English and Vietnamese, the way people choose to express love is not the same as
it is affected by cultural values. Love declarations include in themselves people’s
viewpoints which are presented quite differently in the two languages. Hence, what needs
to be carried out in this study will be an investigation of cultural meaning of love
declarations in folklores of the two languages in order to find out the similarities and
differences between them. The thesis also attempts to explain what are behind the
differences uncovered in the investigation.
Our thesis is entitled “An investigation into the cultural meaning of love declarations

Within cultural meaning, our analytical task was therefore: a) describing the locution
“I love you” in love declaration with reference to its occurrence and non-occurrence, where
it occurs, with whom?, in what language(s) and dialect(s), in which verbal forms, about
which topics, as part of what interactional sequences, and with what observable
consequences; and b) interpreting the participants understandings of the love declaration
given the patterned contingencies under a) above. It is through holding the phenomena of
emotion expression as a constant that we will search the cultural variability in order to
understand the general forces and particular features of emotion expression. Our focus here
will be on the performance of communication patterns within intimate/personal
relationships.
Our interest then falls on the expression of love within intimate/personal
relationships. Our expectation is that the expression of love will be of those communicative
activities that give force and meaning to intimate/personal relationships. In intercultural
relationship it is our hypothesis that love declarations also function to locate and give voice
to cultural identity. Put simply, to say or not to say “I love you” can also be
communicating much about communal understandings of sociality, of person, and their
strategic activities.
8

Within the scope of the thesis, the author investigates 100 love declarations in
English folklore and 100 love declarations in Vietnamese folklore.
1.4 METHOD OF THE STUDY
To fulfill the aim of the study, the main methods used are descriptive and
comparative.
The study deals with love declarations in English and Vietnamese folklores,
therefore, a great number of love declarations in English and Vietnamese folklore were
collected then 50 love declarations in each language have been carefully selected, after that
we try to analyse the love declarations in terms of cultural meanings, genre and tropes and
then synthesize the result to find out the similarities and differences of people’s attitudes in
the two languages. In fulfilling the focuses of the study in comparing the two languages’

Chapter three describes corresponding perspectives of love declaration in
Vietnamese Folklore.
Part three- Conclusion- compares cultural meanings of love declaration in English
and Vietnamese folklores to establish the similarities and differences of emotion
expressions across the two languages. We also summarize the issues studied in the thesis,
the implications and suggestions for further study.

10

PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND


by its speakers as a rejection of their social group and their culture. Thus we can say that
“language symbolizes cultural reality”.
We shall deal with these three aspects of language and culture by considering the
following poem by Emily Dickinson
Essential oils- are wrung-
The attar from the Rose
Be not expected by Suns- alone-
It is the gift of Screws-
The General Rose- decay-
But this- in Lady’s Drawer
Make Summer- When the lady lie
In Ceaseless Rosemary
(Adapted from C. Kramsch, 2000)
1.2.1 Nature, culture, language
One way of thinking about culture is to contrast it with nature. According to C.
Kramsch “Nature refers to what is born and grows organically; culture refers to what has
been grown and groomed”.
Emily Dickinson’s poem expresses well the relationship of nature, culture and
language. A rose in a flower bed, says the poem, a generic rose is a phenomenon of nature.
Beautiful but faceless and nameless among others of the same species. Nature alone cannot
reveal nor preserve the particular beauty of a particular rose at a chosen moment in time.
Powerless to prevent the biological “decay” and the ultimate death of roses and of ladies,
nature can only make summer when the season is right.
Culture, by contrast, is not bound by biological time. Like nature, it is a “gift”, but of
different kind. Through a sophisticated technological procedure, developed especially to
extract the essence of roses, culture forces nature to reveal its “essential” potentialities. The
word “screws” suggests that this process is not without labour. By crushing the petals, a
great deal of the rose must be lost in order to get at its essence. The technology of the
screws constrains the exuberance of nature, in the same manner as the technology of the
world. Culture makes the rose petals into a rare perfume, purchased at high cost, for the

a wedding. Those who share Vietnamese culture may understand that the man in the poem
borrows cultural symbols to express his love to his woman.
So let us come to the next concept.
1.2.2 Communities and their effects on Language Users.
According to C. Kramsch, “Social conventions, norms of social appropriateness,
are the product of communities of language users”. As in the Dickinson’s poem, poets and
13

readers, florists and lovers, horticulturists, rose press manufacturers, perfume-makers and
users, create meanings through their words and actions. Likewise, the man and the woman
in “Tát nc u ình” use their words and actions to express their meanings.
Kramsch said that “people who identify themselves as member of social group
(family, neighborhood ) acquire common ways of viewing the world through their
interactions with other members of the same group” (C. Kramsch, 2000, 6). These views
are reinforced through institutions like the family, the school, the workplace through
their lives. Common attitudes, beliefs and values are reflected in the way members of the
group use language - for example, what they choose to say and how they say it (C.
Kramsch, 2000, 6). Thus, in addition to the notion of speech community - “composed of
people who use the same linguistic code” (C. Kramsch), we can speak of discourse
communities to refer to the common ways in which members of a social group use
language to meet their social needs. Not only the grammatical, lexical, and phonological
features of their language differentiate them from others, but also the topics they choose to
talk about, the way they present information, the style with which they interact, in other
words, their discourse accent. For instance, English people often associate love with
blindness:
“Love’s a blind, and those that follow him too often lose their way”
Colley Cibler
Or:
“But love is blind, and lovers can not see
The pretty follies that themselves commit”

metaphor for these tropes manifest in love declarations.
1.3.1 Simile
The Oxford learner’s dictionary (2003: 1526) defines that simile is a figure of speech
in which two things are compared using the word “like”, or “as”, or “as if”. Simile is like
a metaphor except that it makes the comparison explicit by using “like”, or “as”, or “as
if”. In simile the comparison between the two things is made explicit by an indirect
relationship where one thing or idea is expressed as being similar to another. For example:
Love’s like the measles- all the worst when it comes late in life.
(Douglas Jerrold)
Love is like the measles; we have to go through it.
(Jerome K. Jerome)
Simile, according to Leech (1969; 156) is an overt comparison, simile can specify the
ground of comparison. Most similes are linked by “like”, “as”. Similes may vary from a
15

short, simple comparison to long, “extended similes”. In Vietnamese, the corresponding
words such as “nh”, “nh là”, “nh th” etc are used in simile. For example:
Ming ci nh th hoa ngâu,
Chic khn i u nh th hoa sen.
Or:
ôi ta nh th con ong,
Con qun con quýt, con trong con ngoài.
A simile, therefore, is explicit, the very circumstantiality of simile is limitation.
1.3.2 Metaphor
Leech (1969: 151) argued that “metaphor is so central to our notion of poetic
creation that it is often treated as a phenomenon in its own right, without reference to other
kinds of transferred meaning”. In considering a metaphor, we may consider the formula:
F = “Like L”. This implies that, the figurative meaning F is deriving from the literal
meaning L in having the sense “like L”. However, the simplest kind of metaphor is the use
of “be” in clause structure, for example:

community.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia defines folklore as a genre and it includes
ballad, tales, epic poem, song and saying (proverb and aphorism).
Now we will consider love declaration in folklore as a genre.
1.4.2 Love declaration in folklore as a genre
Love declarations, especially love declarations in folklore, are composed to express
love between men and women.
A love declaration has its diction (words and grammatical constructions used by
certain person), rhythm and versification (the principles of verse structure), figurative
language (the use of figures of speech such as metaphor, simile etc). Primarily, both
English and Vietnamese love declarations are for expressing love, we can find out the love
declarations such as:
In Vietnamese:
Qua ình ng nón trông ình,
ình bao nhiêu ngói thng mình by nhiêu.
Or:
Cm n m i b!a mt bng
Nc u"ng cm ch#ng  d thng em.
Or:
Cô kia áo trng lòa lòa,
17

Li ây p t, trng cà vi anh.

In English:
Love imposes impossible tasks,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
But none more than any heart would ask,
I must know you're a true love of mine.
Scarborough Fair

Mùng ai có rng cho ng% nh mt êm.
Or:
Tóc ngang lng v#a ch#ng em búi,
 chi dài b"i r"i d anh
In English:
Tell her to make me a cambric shirt,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Without any seam nor needlework,
And then she'll be a true love of mine.
Tell her to wash it in yonder dry well,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Which never sprung water nor rain ever fell,
And then she'll be a true love of mine.
Tell her to dry it on yonder thorn,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Which never bore blossom since Adam was born,
And then she'll be a true love of mine.
Scarborough Fair
In consideration love declarations in English and Vietnamese folklores, the
author has found out that, there are two ways of expressing love between men and women
in Vietnamese folklores: direct way and indirect way. If a direct love declaration can
prevent its audience from misunderstanding, it is likely to make its audience embarrassed.
Whereas, an indirect love declaration can prevent its audience from being embarrassed and
it also brings an insight that the proposer is a delicate, polite and intelligent person. We can
find a lot of indirect love declaration in Vietnamese folklore:
Bây gi mn mi hi ào
Vn hng ã có ai vào hay cha?
Or:
19


FOLKLORE

20

2.1 INTRODUCTION
Love declarations are frequently found in relationships of lovers, married couples
and respondents of different ages. In this chapter, we will study some linguistic features of
love declarations of lovers in English folklore. We also try to discover cultural meaning of
love declarations through cultural images used in love declarations. In our study, as
mentioned in the methodology section, one hundred love declarations are taken into the
investigation.
2.2 NATURE, CULTURE, AND LANGUAGE USED IN LOVE
DECLARATIONS
The study of cultural images used in love declarations can help to show the cultural
meanings. In studying love declaration in folklore, it is necessary to have a small
investigation into natural and cultural images used by people in composing the love
declarations. Within one hundred love declarations investigated, the common cultural and
natural images can be found as follow:
When expressing love English people tend to associate love with the strongest power
of nature. For example:
Love moves the Sun and the other stars
(Dante)
Or:
Love conquers all
(Virgile)
Or:
It’s love that makes the world go round. Without it human race will go to doomsday.
()
Or:
Love joined the two in sweet conjunction, death was powerless to sever such a bond.

Familiar acts are beautiful through love
(P.B. Shelley)
Or:
Oh, love will make a dog howl in rhyme.
(Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher)
Or:
The sweetest joy, the wildest woe is love.
(P.J. Bailey)
Or:
Oh, when I was in love with you,
22

Then I was clean and brave.
(A.E. Houseman)
Or:
If love were what the rose is,
And I were like the leaf,
Our lives would grow together
In sad or singing weather.
(Swinburne)
Or:
There are no ugly loves, nor handsome prisons
(Pierre Gringore)
Beside that, when talking about love, English people often associate love with
absence. Within one hundred love declarations investigated, we can find many love
declarations with the image of absence. They use the image of absence to talk about the
fully-hearted passions, to test love of those who have to apart.
For example:
In every parting there is an image of death.
(George Eliot)

own.
(Robert Heinlein)
When expressing happiness, life, absence of lovers in love declarations, English
people often use a lot of cultural images in showing the attitudes of man and woman about
love. The common attitude of woman is quite different from that of man. Within a hundred
love declarations, we can find the common attitudes such as:
“Woman can’t love man as much as man loves woman, for the love of a woman is in
her eyes, and in the nipple of her breast, and in the toe of her foot, but the love of man is
planted in the heart where it can’t escape”
(Anonymous)
Or:
Man’s love is of man’s life a thing apart,
Tis woman’s whole existence.
(Byron)
Or:
For man at most differ as Heaven and Earth,
But women, worst and best, as Heaven and Hell.
(Tennyson)
24

Or:
Women are wiser than men because they know less and understand more.
(James Stephens)
Or:
Women represent the triumph of matter over mind, just as men represent the triumph
of mind over morals.
(Oscar Wilde)
Or:
A woman is a foreign land,
Of which, though there he settle young,

I dare not beg a smile;
Lest having that, or this,
I might grow proud the while.
(Robert Herrick)
Or:
The moth’s kiss first!
Kiss me as if you made believe
You were not sure, this eve,
How my face, your flower, had pursed
Its petals up.
The bee’s kiss now!
Kiss me as if you entered gay
My heart at some noonday
(Robert Browning)
Generally, through the cultural images, English people try to express their attitude
toward love. In our study, we have found out that there is a close relationship between love
expression and cultural images.
Beside that, when expressing love, English people tend to speak explicitly, that is the
reason why they use a lot of the word “love” in their expressions.
For example:
Escape me?
Never
Beloved!
While I am I, and you are you,
So long as the world contains us both
Me the loving and you the loth,