0
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
   V TH YN HNG SEMANTIC FEATURES OF WEATHER PROVERBS IN
ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE
ĐẶC ĐIỂM NGỮ NGHĨA CỦA CÁC CÂU TỤC NGỮ CHỈ THỜI
TIT TRONG TING ANH VÀ TING VIỆT MA. MINOR THESIS
(A summary)

Field: English Linguistics
Code: 60.22.15
HANOI, 2012 iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP………………………………………………

iv
vi
vii
1
1
2
2
3
3
3
4
5
5
5
7
7
8
10
10
11
12
12
12
12 v

15
28
34
35
36
37
37
38
39
41
41
41
42
43
44
44

vi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
EWP: English Weather Proverbs
VWP: Vietnamese Weather Proverbs

1

PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale for the research
Every language has proverbs. Learning and understanding them is an important aspect of
the mastery of language. English language is no exception as it contains a large number of
proverbs, which are extensively used as the wisdom of people. English language learners,
often struggling with a limited vocabulary, find these memorable proverbs easy to learn
and fun to use. Proverbs add familiarity and comfort to an often strange and stressful
situation for older English learners. Proverbs can capture a point of view in vivid words.
We learn proverbs our entire lives - from our relatives, our teachers, our friends, the

The reason for the researcher‟s choosing weather proverbs is that more than any other
kind of proverbs, they illustrate the process human beings explore the natural world and
form their world-view as well as gain experience in dealing with nature, serving their
need of economic development. If you know many proverbs, and have a little
understanding of how weather systems work, you may conclude that proverbs tell you
much about the weather. Even if the proverbs are not ideally accurate, they will remind us
about a weather system and help us learn and remember how weather system works.
More importantly, weather proverbs make us much more aware of our environment so we
can observe and appreciate the many wonderful and intricate things going on in our
natural surroundings. Proverbs can help us understand and table out various weather
situations. In addition, studying English weather proverbs (EWP) and Vietnamese
weather proverbs (VWP) plays an important role in interpreting and using this type of
proverbs.
All the points mentioned above are fundamental impetuses that stimulate the researcher to
conduct this study.
2. Research aims and research questions
2.1. Research aims
First of all, through the investigation into the semantic features of weather proverbs, the
researcher aims at discovering linguistic values underlying the literal words.

3

Secondly, the study is to compare and contrast semantic features of weather proverbs in
English and in Vietnamese.
Thirdly, the study is to equip learners with rich knowledge on Vietnamese proverbs and
English proverbs in general and on weather proverbs in particular. In addition, some
suggestions for teaching and learning English proverbs are also mentioned.
2.2. Research questions
1. What are the semantic features of EWP and EWP?
2. What are the similarities and differences between EWP and EWP in terms of their

remarkable characteristics of these phenomena will also be unearthed in order to provide
a clear concept from the beginning.
Chapter 2, Research Methodology, deals with the research design and procedures. In this
chapter, description of the sampling, instruments, the procedure of data collection and
analysis for implementing the thesis are mentioned.
Chapter 3, Major Findings and Discussions, is the main part of the research, which
includes a generalization about the semantic features of weather proverbs in both
languages - English and Vietnamese - and in what ways they are similar to or different
from each other. The latter discusses some weather proverbs that are not reliable in both
languages.
Part C, Conclusions, summarizes the main content of the research and draws out
conclusions. This part also gives implications for teaching and learning PDW. Moreover,
a statement of limitations and suggestions for further research are also indicated in this
chapter. Apart from that, references and appendices are enclosed for those who are
interested in studying the same issues. 5

PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. Some publications on weather proverbs and previous studies
Up to now, there have been many books and dictionaries on proverbs, especially on
weather proverbs, but most of them focus on explaining the meanings as well as the
equivalents in other languages.
The books entitled “Weather Proverbs: How 600 Proverbs, Sayings, and Poems
Accurately Explain Our Weather” written by George Freier was very informative and still

entitled “An overview of English and Vietnamese proverbs: a contrastive analysis” by Bui
Thi Thuy Van, PhD. (2011) investigates some resemblances, differences as well as some
gaps between the proverbs in two languages: English and Vietnamese via explanations
and examples. Đặng Ngọc Cư (2011) with “A Contrastive Analysis on Linguistic Features
of Proverbs through Parallelism (English versus Vietnamese)” investigates some
similarities and differences in English and Vietnamese proverbs which are in the form of
parallelism.
Some studies focus on proverbs denoting different semantic fields and their
characteristics, but there have not been studies on weather proverbs. For example, the
thesis “An investigation into linguistic features of money related proverbs in English and
Vietnamese” by Luu Thi Mai Thanh (2011) or the thesis “An investigation English and
Vietnamese proverbs denoting family relationships” by Tran Thi Thuy Ngan (2011)
investigate the similarities and differences of the proverbs in the both languages in terms
syntactic and semantic features.
Meanwhile, Ngo Thi Quynh Hoa (2011) does not study proverbs denoting weather but
she focuses on idioms in her thesis entitled “An investigation into English and Vietnamese
idioms containing words denoting weather” with the aim at comparing and contrasting the
syntactic and semantic features of this type of . Đỗ Thị Minh Ngọc‟s graduation paper
(2010) studies weather proverbs in English and Vietnamese, but the study limits the
investigation to weather proverbs in English and Vietnamese with the aim of finding out
the cultural similarities and differences between two countries. Obviously, this paper is
the cross-cultural study only.

7

This is the reason why I choose to investigate weather proverbs in English and
Vietnamese, and more particularly, in terms of semantics to make a contrast and a
comparison between the two languages.
1.2. Proverbs
1.2.1. Definitions of proverbs

a word group; semantically, an idiom is a part of a sentence that cannot express a
complete idea by itself; as regards genre, an idiom is a set expression while a proverb
is a kind of folklore; and hierarchically, an idiom is treated as a word while a proverb
is considered to be a sentence.
Most of the above definitions help to make clear the remarkable features of a proverb. In
terms of form, it is short and lapidary. In terms of content, it expresses a truth, moral
instruction, advice and traditional wisdom.
1.2.2. Semantic features of proverbs
Jack Richards, John Platt and Heidi Weber (1985, p.254) say that, semantic features are
the smallest units of meaning in a word. The meanings of words may be described as a
combination of semantic features.
For example, the semantic features (+male) is part of the meaning of father, and so is the
feature (+adult) but other features are needed to give the whole concept or sense of father.
The same feature may be part of the meaning of a number of words. For example,
(+movement) is part of the meaning of a whole group of verbs and nouns, e.g. run, jump,
walk, gallop.
Sometimes, semantic features are established by contrasts and can be stated in terms of
(+) or (-), e.g.
E.g.: Child: [+human], [-adult)
Man: [+human], [+adult] (+male)
The semantic sphere of proverbs is very wide and cannot limit them. The proverbs
describe every branch of people's life. Regarding content, proverbs usually carry advice
and moral lessons which have been drawn from the real experience of life of many

9

generations. In terms of functions, not only do proverbs have aesthetic function as they
beautify the speech but they perform educational function as well. It is likely that each
proverb contains a piece of advice, an admonishment summarized from experience of life.
They criticize and satirize bad things of society. They teach people what is wrong and

brief introduction of what weather proverbs are about.
1.3.1. Definitions of weather proverbs
We have been attempting to forecast the weather since the beginning of recorded history.
Long before the invention of radar and other meteorological tools, people relied upon
"natural" clues to approaching weather. For example, before it rained, some people often
observed that ants moved to higher ground, cows lay down, pine cones opened up, frogs
croaked more frequently, and sheep' wool uncurled. Over the years, people began to
notice other natural clues to upcoming weather, and several weather "sayings" grew up
over the years.
According to Webster Dictionary, weather proverb is empirical forecasting rules, often
expressed in verse and very local in nature; generally traditional in character. The
usefulness of such rules varies very widely. (Source: European Union). For example:
 In English: Red sky in morning, Sailors take warning.
Red sky at night, Sailors' delight. (25: p.270)
 In Vietnamese: Chuồn chuồn bay thấp thì mưa.
Bay cao thì nắng, bay vừa thì râm. (33: p.480)
In other words, weather proverb is the kind of folklore representing human observations
of weather and climatic situations. These observations are gradually refined into a set of
experience on how particular climatic phenomena can indicate the weather situations that
follow.
When looking at weather proverbs, we should bear in mind that they are usually “human
experience”. Many of these have a scientific basis and it can be explained why they
"work," others have no such basis but often prove to be true. Because climates and

11

weather patterns differ throughout the world, a weather proverb based on observations in
one location may not be accurate in another location.
1.3.2. Semantic fields of weather proverbs
A semantic field or a field of meaning is a set of words (or lexemes) related in meaning.

the samples have to contain words denoting weather, 3- the samples have to imply
common weather phenomena, 4- the sources from which the samples are picked up have
to be reliable.
With such set criteria, the process of collecting samples is carried out. Two hundred EWP
and two hundred VWP from English and Vietnamese dictionaries, books and the reliable
websites on the Internet are finally assembled to serve for the corpus.
2.2. Data collection
The data collection procedure is comprised of two steps:
Step 1 is called the collection of weather proverbs in both English and Vietnamese. In this
step, the researcher refers to a number of English and Vietnamese proverbs dictionaries
and linguistic books as well as some linguistic websites which contain a list of proverbs in
order to pick out all the weather proverbs needed for the study. Step 2 is carried out with
the aim of collecting necessary background knowledge for the research. A large amount
of available linguistic books are consulted so that the researcher can obtain a full concept
of all the items she is studying. Last but not least, many of the previously conducted
researches are referred to so that the researcher can find out what has been studied, what
results have been drawn, and what is more and what is new she can contribute in her own
research.
2.3. Data analysis
The thesis design is based on the combination of both qualitative and
quantitative approaches. The quantitative approach with the statistical tables and charts
is applied in order to calculate and compare the number of proverbs that exist in each
proverb stock, and in each category of proverbs. The qualitative approach is applied to
describe
semantic features of EWP and VWP. It also consists of classification,

13

comparison, analysis, synthesis and generalization, which help to discover the
similarities and differences between EWP and VWP in terms of

3.1. Semantic features of EWP and VWP
Man's concern with weather has been well-documented throughout history. Humans have
sought to understand, predict and control the weather. In this study, the researcher would
like to discover the purposes that man uses weather proverbs which are to anticipate
weather changes and to show the weather‟s influence on human life.
 In English
“Red sky in morning, Sailors take warning.
Red sky at night, Sailors' delight. (25: p.270)
 In Vietnamese
“Vồng rạp mưa rào, vồng cao gió táp” (27: p.184)
(When the rainbow is low, there will be a shower; when the rainbow is high, there will be
a strong wind)
Weather proverbs representing the weather‟s influence on human life including
production and health are introduced in the following examples:
 In English
“When rheumatic people complain of more than ordinary pains in the joints, it will
rain.” (24: p.86)
 In Vietnamese
“Tháng Ba bà già chết rét” (33: p.502)
(Cold weather in March is dangerous to old people)

15

Based on the statistics, we can demonstrate the percentage of English weather proverbs
and Vietnamese weather proverbs in the following figure:
120
EWP VWP
%
Weather's influence on
human life
Anticipating weather
changes

16

Figure 2: Means of anticipating weather changes
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
EWP
VWP
Climatic phenomena
Animals' behaviors
Vegetative reactions
Time
Other fields
Other fields
1.80%
2.70%
Time
15%
22.10%
Vegetative reactions
4.90%
6.10%
Animals' behaviors
17%

 In English
“Pale moon doth rain; Red moon doth blow; White moon doth neither rain nor
snow.” (16: p.392)
“If red the Sun begin his race, be sure the rain will fall apace.” (24: p.39)
 In Vietnamese
“Không mưa thì gió, khi mặt trời đỏ như son.” (33: p.489)
(When the sun is red, either rain or wind may be expected)
In EWP, a corona or a halo around the moon indicates rainy or cold weather. Meanwhile,
in VWP, the drought is predicted by a corona and the rain is predicted by a halo. It proves
the difference in regional climate between the two countries. Below are some examples:
 In English
“When round the moon there is a burr, the weather will be cold and rough.” (16:
p.93)
 In Vietnamese
“Trăng quầng thì hạn, trăng tán thì mưa.” (33: p.508)
(When the moon is surrounded by a corona, it will be sunny; when the moon is
surrounded by a halo, it will be rainy.)
In addition, it is believed that on special days, the appearance of the sun concerns the
weather in the future coming days.
18

 In English
“If the sun shines bright on Christmas day, the half of the winter‟s not yet away.”
(16: p.82)
“In January if the sun appears, March and April pay full clear.” (16: p.307)
+ Precipitation
Precipitation such as lightning, thunder, rainbows, snow, frost, fog, mist, and dew, so on

example:
 In English
“Three white frosts bring rain.” (16: p.224)
 In Vietnamese
“Sương muối là mặt đất, ai có thóc đem phơi.” (27: p.183)
(When white frost skims the ground, it will be sunny.)
These above examples indicate that white frost is used in both EWP and VWP.
Meanwhile, snow, which is also one of the indicators of weather, is rarely used in EWP
and it cannot be found in VWP in the collected data.
 In English
“If February gives much snow, a fine summer it doth foreshow.” (16: p.196)
By observing the kinds of rain and its appearance, our ancestors could predict whether in
the future. Here are some examples.
 In English
“A sunshiny shower won't last half an hour.” (16: p.480)
 In Vietnamese
“Cơn đằng đông vừa trông vừa chạy.

20

Cơn đằng nam vừa làm vừa chơi.” (33: p.483)
(The wind from the East often comes with a sudden heavy rain, so people need to run to
avoid rain. Meanwhile, the wind from the South often comes with no rain or little rain, so
people can amuse themselves at their work.)
+ Winds
Based on the direction and force of the winds, people can predict the change of the
weather.
According to EWP, winds from the south may carry gentle rains and winds from the north
or the east often bring bad weather. The following instances will shed the light on this
point.