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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES


HANOI - 2010

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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

HANOI - 2010

IV TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
ABSTRACT iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iv
ABBREVIATION AND SYMBOL vi
PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale of the study 1
2. The aims of the study 1
3. Scope of the study. 2
4. Methods of the study. 2
5. Format of the study. 3
PART 2: DEVELOPVEMENT 4
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 4
1.1. An overview of CA and CA guiding principles. 4
1.2. Conversion – A word formation process. 5
1.2.1. Definition and Terminology. 5
1.2.2. Remarkable features. 6
1.2.3. Typology 7
1.3. Word Meaning. 10
1.4. Verbs 12
1.4.1. Verbs in English. 12


VI

ABBREVIATION AND SYMBOL
CA: Contrastive Analysis
EFL: English as a Foreign Language
L1 : First Language
L2 : Second Language
N-V: Noun to Verb
A: Adjective
*: unacceptable
( ): a parenthesis enclosing the two numbers inside, the first number indicates the year
of publishing, and the second indicates the page being referred to.

1

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale of the study
The topic is chosen due to the following reasons.
Among many different word formation processes to create new lexicon, conversion is a
new trend growing up in the productive field. According to Cannon, G (1985:415),
conversion will be more active in the future, and so, it will create a great part of the new
words appearing in the English language.
Nguy

 (1977:9) states that the verb is one of the most complex parts of
speech, which is widely used, and as a result, play a key role in any language system. Of
all the conversion processes represented in English, it is acknowledged, and shown by, for
example, Biese (1941), Marchand (1969), Plag (2003) that creating verbs from nouns N-V

limited time and available facilities, the thesis is to be focused on the description and
contrastive analysis of N-V conversion in English and Vietnamese with respect to
grammatical and semantic features at word level.

4. Methods of the study.
The intended method employed in this study is CA. It has been acknowledged that with
this method, the similarities and differences between languages can be worked out
effectively.
The procedures of the study are in the order as follows:
 Collection of relevant documents.
 Critical reading of theoretical background related to the study.
 Generalization and classification of relevant literature.
 Formation of ideas related to the study.
 Comprehensive description of grammatical and semantic features of N-V conversion in
English and Vietnamese.
 Detection of similarities and differences of N-V conversion between two languages.
 Giving comments on these issues in EFL teaching & learning.
Sources of examples:
 Bilingual stories, works, magazines.
 Monolingual English and Vietnamese books.
 Monolingual and Bilingual dictionaries.
 Research projects, linguistic journals, articles into English and Vietnamese conversion.

3

5. Format of the study.

The study begins with “Declaration Acknowledgement”, “Table of contents”,
“Symbols and Abbreviation”. This study is completed on the basis of three separating
parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion.

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

In order to create the basis for carrying out the CA study in the main part, it is
necessary to have a comprehensive understanding of the relevant theoretical
background. This chapter, therefore, is intended to give an overview of CA and CA
guiding principles. The concept of conversion as a word formation process will be
regarded and revealed with the provision of definitions and types. In addition, word
meaning, verbs in English and Vietnamese will be briefly reviewed.

1.1. An overview of CA and CA guiding principles.
, B.L (1941) for comparative
study which is giving emphasis on linguistic differences and it has been redefined by
Fisiak (1981:1) a subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the comparison of two or
more languages or subsystems of languages in order to determine both the differences and
similar. CA is used as an alternative for contrastive linguistics.
CA is very broad field of linguistics, since it embraces all its major levels: phonology,
semantics, syntax and pragmatic, the latter including text studies and some aspects of the
sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic perspective.
CA of two languages become useful when it is adequately describing the sound
structure and grammatical structure of two languages, with comparative statements, giving
due emphasis to the compatible items in the two systems. It is assumed that learning of L2
is facilitated whenever there are similarities between L1 and L2. Learning may be
interfered with when there are marked contrasts between L1 and L2. CA provides an
objective and scientific base for L2 teaching. If the L1 and L2 both have significantly
similar linguistic features on all the levels of their structures there will not be much
difficulty in learning the L2 in a limited time.
To help the study bring into play, Chaturvedi (1973) the following guiding principles
for contrastive study will be applied.
(i) To analyze the mother tongue and the target language independently and completely.
(ii) To compare the two languages item-wise-item at all levels of their structure.

content which characterizes the transposition of the adjective clean to the verb clean, etc.
Lyons (1977:512) defines that zero-derivation is derivation by means of the affixation of
an identity element. Allen (1978:273) also states, It is clear that the zero element under
6

consideration is a derivational suffix, hence attached to the basic word by a derivational
word formation rule. Not only is a lexical category change, typical of derivational
suffixation, involved, but inflectional endings cannot appear inside the zero element. The
.
Conversion 
-
of    -formation rather than just
functional changes. It was, in fact, the term originally applied to the process by Sweet
(189, 38-39), and currently seems to be the dominant theory, being endorsed by, for
example, Bauer (1983), Zandvoort (1972), Pennanen (1971), Katamba (1993), Quirk et al
( 1973), Lieber (2005), Valera ( 2005). Conversion is technically defined as the deliberate
transfer of a word from one part of speech to another as by Zandvoort (1972:65). Katamba,
(1993:54) states that words may be formed without modifying the form of the input word
that serves as the base. This head can be a noun or verb. This is called conversion.
Conversion is the change in form class of a form without any corresponding change of
 Bauer (1983:32),"Conversion is the derivational process whereby an item changes
its word class without the addition of an affix" (Quirk et al, 1973:441). Conversion is the
process by which lexical items change (grammatical) category without any concomitant
Lieber (2005:
the creation o (Valera 2005:20).
In short, we have three different terms and theories to negotiate, and various other
minefields of controversy associated with the process to account for in the investigation of
conversion.
1.2.2. Remarkable features.
Conversion is a convenient and productive way of enriching the English vocabulary.

earhe hello
dears everybody-
Based on phonetics or morphology, conversion can be: total, partial (Quirk et al.
(1997)) and approximate conversion (Kiparsky (1982)). In total conversion, the converted
words participate in morphological processes (derivation and inflection) e.g. bottle (N) 
bottle (V) bottler (N), bottled (V-PAST). In partial conversion, the converted form does
not show any derivation or inflection. Conversion from noun to adjective and adjective to
noun is rather a controversial one. It is also called 'partial conversion" by Cannon (1985:
413) and 'syntactic process' by Bauer (1983:230), this peculiar process occurs when "a
word of one class appears in a function which is characteristic of another word class"
8

(Quirk, 1997:1559) e.g. bestA  bestN *bestsN-PL, *bestableA. Approximate
conversions are some few cases in which there are slight non-affixal changes (Kiparsky
(1982)). These can be considered marginal cases of conversion (Bauer (1983:228-229)).
Although the shift takes place, they are called "marginal" because of the alterations
produced in the word. This marginal group can be divided regarding two different aspects:
the pronunciation e.g. 'use' /-s/ (n) - > 'to use' /-z/ and the word-stress e.g. 'conduct (n)-
>con'duct (v) (Quirk (1997:1566)).
Based on the direction of conversion, As this paper tries to give a comprehensive
vision on conversion, it will attempt to establish the direction of the process. The criterion
to establish the original and derived item has been taken from Marchand (1972: 242-252).
It focuses on several aspects:
a. the semantic dependence (the word that reports to the meaning of the other is the
derivative)
b. the range of usage (the item with the smaller range of use is the converted word)
c. the semantic range (the one with less semantic fields is the shifted item)
d. the phonetic shape (some suffixes express the word-class the item belongs to and, if it
does not fit, this is the derivative).
After this analysis, intuition is still important. Verbs tend to be abstract because they

-to-V
trans
: (He) runs (every day), (He) runs (a company)
N
abstract/mass
-to-N
concrete/count
: conversion (a type of word-formation) a conversion
(an instance of converting); tea, a tea
N-to-A: computer (program), head (bookkeeper)
Participle-to-A: (a) written exam, (an) exciting film
Adv-to-A: (the) then (president), above (suggestion)
V-to-N: (a) run, (a) drive, (a) survey
A-to-N: (a) given, (a) daily, (the) rich,
P-to-N: (the) ins and outs, (the) ups and downs
Adv-to-N: (the) whys and wherefores, (the) hereafter
Prefix-to-N: (the) pros and cons
Auxiliary-to-N: (a) must
Phrase-to-N: (the) also-rans, (a) has-been Table 1: Quirk et al.’s list of conversion patterns.

fully justifiable, since all of them comply with the criterion of directionality. From this
follows that in a full account of English conversion, the basic patterns mentioned above
should equally be dealt with. When reseaching the phenomenon of conversion, this
approach is considered the most thorough and fullest one as conversion involves in word
class and its function, therefore the study is based on this classification.

10

(what are referred to or THE
WHAT)
Conceptual
(definitional or literal
meaning of a word)
Chair: a piece of furniture designed
for one person to sit upon
11

Referential (what the
word refers to)
Give me a chair: a desk chair, a
wing chair, or dining room chair.
Connotational
(how things are denoted or THE
HOW)

Expressive/emotive
Sorry about your accident!
You excelled so absolutely that you
pulled the tail!
Stylistic coloring
Die/pass away/kick the bucket
Intensifying
Very good/quite good
Evaluative
Boring/ interesting
Structural
(The meaning a word acquires by
virtue of its membership in a system


it is direct meaning but in he is the head of the class the head means a leader so it is
indirect meaning.
In terms of lexical meaning, words in English and Vietnamese are similar. However,
they differ in respect of grammatical meaning. English words carry two types of meanings.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese word themselves do not carry grammatical meaning.

1.4. Verbs.
1.4.1. Verbs in English.
According to Richard, J.C et al (1992:398), in English, a word is a verb when it satisfies
these following criteria: (i) occurs as part of the predicate of a sentence, (ii) carries markers
of grammatical categories such as tense, aspect, person, number, and mood. (iii) refers to
an action or state.
Almost verbs in English change in form in accordance with the grammatical features
e.g. She likes cat, they went to the beach, I enjoy reading short stories.
According to Quirk et al. (1972:820), verbs can be the head of verb phrases playing the
central function in a sentence. Some verb types can take complementation, but others
cannot. The four verb types taking complementation are intensitive e.g. be in John is very
happy, monotransitive e.g. catch in He caught a big fish yesterday, ditransitive e.g. give in
He gave Mary a doll, and complex transitive e.g. call in she called him a hero. Three other
verb types where no complementation occurs are intransitive verbs (never taking an object)
e.g. arrive in Our friends have arrived, verbs which can be transitive or intransitive with
little or no difference in meaning or in subject-verb relationship e.g. smoke in He smokes
(cigarettes) every day, and verbs which can be transitive or intransitive with considerable
difference in meaning or in subject-verb relationship e.g. grow in He grew rapidly during
that period beside He grew flowers as a hobby.
i Quang (2006:18) states that there are many ways to classify English verbs as
follows:
In accordance with the functions performed by the elements in the verb phrase. verbs
can be classified into lexical and auxiliary verbs. Lexical verbs can be regular or irregular.


. Ch y tr 

. 





 etc.
By means of grammatical features, when functioning as central component of a verb
phrase, verb can combine with other auxiliary components as follow:
- With auxiliary components before verbs to indicate scope of the action or activity e.g.
u, c, to indicate continuation e.g. n, to indicate tense, aspect e.g. 
ng, to indicate advice or prohibit e.g. , ng, ch .
- With nouns (this is the most popular combinations) e.g. 

, 

.
- With other auxiliary components of other parts of speech e.g. , .
Nguyn Kim Thn (1977) states that verbs in Vietnamese can have different functions
in a sentence. The most popular and outstanding one is predicate or a part of a predicate
e.g. 

. Verbs can also be subjects of a sentence e.g. 

  



will be based on the notions suggested by Dip Quang Ban, Nguyn Kim Thn
c Tnh.
This chapter provides an overview of CA and a discussion of CA guiding principles
suggested by Chaturvedi (1973) which is expected to be helpful for the study, and of
the concept of conversion as a word formation process. It also gives a brief
introduction to word meaning, verbs in English and Vietnamese. In short, this
chapter has been the theoretical background for the study.
15

CHAPTER 2: THE CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF N-V CONVERSION
IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE

In this chapter, The CA of N-V conversion in English and Vietnamese will be
made. Firstly, the N-V conversion in English and Vietnamese will be mainly focused
on the grammatical features (including syntactic and morphological features) and
semantic features. Then the similarities and differences will be detected. Finally, some
implications for EFL teaching and learning will also be discussed.


- You can access the information any time.
- Tim had bicycled to the village with Gertrud.
- We were stoned and bottled by the spectators as we marched down the street.
- To prove his skill as an acrobat he cartwheeled gracefully into the room.
- He stapled the papers together.
- Any opponent is labelled a "communist" by the reactionary government.
- Can you tape that programme tonight for me please?
4. The denominal verbs can be transitive and intransitive verbs.
 As intransitive verbs
- Oh, well, we already have telephoned, cabled, faxed and e-mailed.
- She has grumbled all the way up the stairs.
 As transitive verbs
- Tomorrow they are going to sign a peace treaty.
- Her government will start funding many housing development projects next year.
- In that year, the army staged a coup  and seized power.
- However, Professor John Gunn, who chaired the working party said that the delay
was inevitable because of the constraints at the time.
2.1.1.2. Morphological features.
The denominal verb consists of one morpheme as a root. According to Quirk et al
(1973), like many other English verbs, it has five forms. Take the denominal verb ship for
example: the base ship, the-s form ships, the past form shipped, the past participle shipped,
and the - ing participle shipping.
By means of derivation, it can has derivates as follow: shipper (noun): one who sends
goods from one place to another not in the same city or town, esp. one who sends goods
by water, shipping (adjective): relating to ships, their ownership, transfer, or employment;
17

as, shiping concerns, shipment (noun): the act or process of shipping; as, he was engaged in
the shipment of coal for London; an active shipment of wheat from the West.
The denominal verbs have two advantages over derivational verbs; the main verb is


relationship, especially if one observes semantically related groups. The examples serve
only to illustrate and clarify this.
1. Verbs have instrumental meaning if they are formed from:
(a) Nouns denoting parts of a human body e.g. eye, finger, leg, hand, elbow, knee, toe,
shoulder, nose, head, stomach.
- The remains being sent to Hawaii on Tuesday for forensic tests were found or handed in
by Vietnamese during a month-long field search, which ended on September 20.
- The clerk handed me the key.
- She fingered the soft silk.
- He headed the ball into the goal.
- She elbowed her way forward.
- The dog nosed out a rat.
- The little boy kneed the door open.
- I cannot stomach seafood.
- The soldier shouldered his rucksack.
Verbs based on nouns denoting some parts of the human body will show regularity of
instrumental meaning, however, to face does not imply doing something by or even with
turning it in certain direction, to back means to move backwards.
Verbs from nouns denoting parts of a human body can be used in figurative meaning.
- Her father once headed 
- The major headed the procession as it entered the town.
- These important questions are facing us today.
- We understand that Vietnam is facing great challenges of global economic
competition
- She is the candidate who is backed by the Labor Party.
- Who is backing the film?
- A reporter is nosing about for news.
- I cannot stomach his opinion.
- Do not try to elbow your way in.

- He butchers the cow.
- They doctored her fruit juice with vodka and she got very drunk.
- We were witnessing the most important scientific development of the century.
20

- Schools in this area are piloting the new maths course.
- Who refereed the match?
- The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.
- I was ushered in, and stood before the Queen.
- The new government ushered in a period of prosperity.
- The stranger had the horse vetted.
(b) Verbs from animal nouns. The group of verb e.g. ape (to imitate); parrot, monkey (to
fool about or to play idly and foolishly); dog (to follow or track closely behind); wolf (to
eat greedily), bug.
- Tom parroted what the boss had said.
- He had always aped the gentleman in his clothes and manner.
- The police officer dogs his footsteps.
- I have begun to feel absolute haunted because this woman dogs me.
- The children wolf down my food.
- Charlie went on wolfing the chocolate.
- That man really bugs me.
In fact, these associations are not only complex but also sometime perplexing. It would
seem that the verb formed from the name of an animal denotes behavior typical of the
animal, it would be easy for you to guess the meaning of such a verb provided that you
know the meaning of the noun. However, to fish, to whale, to rat, to rabbit, do not mean to
behave like fish, whale, rat, or rabbit but the hunting activities of these animals, the other
meaning of to rat is to turn informal, to squeal, and to foal means to give birth to this
animal. In addition, it is not easy for one to know which of the characteristics of the animal
uced.
3. Verbs can refer to actions of removing the things denoted by the nouns e.g. peel, weed,