VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES TRỊNH THỊ HƯƠNG GIANG A STUDY ON MARRIAGE – RELATED ENGLISH AND
VIETNAMESE PROVERBS
(FROM LINGUISTIC – CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE) (Nghiên cứu về tục ngữ liên quan đến mối quan hệ hôn nhân trong tiếng Anh
và tiếng Việt) M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics
Code: 60 22 15 Hanoi, 2013
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

ABSTRACT
iii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
iv
LIST OF TABLES
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
vi
PART I: INTRODUCTION
1
1. Rationale
1
2. Aims of the study
2
3. Scope of the study
3
4. Methodology
3
5. Design of the study
4
PART II: DEVELOPMENT
5
Chapter 1: Theoretical background and Literature review
5
I. Theoretical background
5
1.1. Proverbs
5
1.1.1. Definitions
5

18
2. Data collection procedure
18
3. Data analysis
19
Chapter 3. Data analysis and discussion
20
I. Comparison and contrast of English and Vietnamese proverbs about
marriage in terms of syntactics
20
v

II. Comparison and contrast of English and Vietnamese proverbs about
marriage in terms of semantics
29
III. Comparison and contrast of English and Vietnamese proverbs about
marriage in terms of culture
37
PART III: CONCLUSION
47
1. Recapitulation
47
2. Implications
48
2.1. For EFL teaching and learning
48
2.2. For translation
49
3. Suggestions for further studies
51

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.

2

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.

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.
4

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”.


idea of comment, experience, morality, justice, or criticism” whereas Archer Taylor (1931)
defined a proverb in more than 200 pages, and he concluded that it was impossible to give a
meaningful definition of it. Taylor noted that “…an incommunicable quality tells us this
sentence is proverbial and that one is not” (1931:3”)
Even though there are different definitions of proverbs, they have something in common.
Accordingly, proverbs are selected with meaningful sentences which play an important role in
building people’s characters as well as educating people, especially children so as to draw
useful more lessons. We come to a conclusion that proverbs are educational sentences of
wisdom.
6

1.1.2. Marriage- related proverbs
According to Oxford dictionary, “marriage” refers to the legal relationship between husband
and wife. The Oxford advanced learner’s encyclopedic dictionary says “marriage is a legal
union between a man and a woman as husband and wife; state of being married”
From time to time, the definition of marriage changes by the benevolence of public opinion
and also depends on the point of view. According to Wikipedia “marriage is a social union or
legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal
relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on
the culture or subculture in which it is found. Such a union, often formalized via a wedding
ceremony, may also be called matrimony”.
Thus by, “marriage- related proverbs” here is meant proverbs that may be used to educate
husband and wife regarding to their relationship with parents –in –law, their children and
neighbors.

1.1.3. Classification of proverbs
It is said that the work of classifying proverb is just hard as defining it. Despite the foregoing
constraint, scholars have attempted to categorize the proverbs. There exists many different
ways of proverb classification among liguists who have based on different categories as origin,
meaning and fuction .

idea of comment, experience, morality, justice or criticism.” For example: Trời không chịu đất,
đất phải chịu trời.
In general, idioms and proverbs share some same features that they are set- expressions with
stable components and used in a metaphorical way, their meanings cannot be deduced from the
individual words but must be understood as a whole. Because they are products of human’s
thought, cultures and processes of labour and daily activities, both idioms and proverbs are
orally handed down from generation to generation and naturally accepted in life.
However, proverbs possess their own characteristics: they must have the clause or sentence
(not word) to express justice or an event implying the justice. Sometimes, subject or predicate
can be hidden in proverbs such as: Voi một ngà, đàn bà một mắt. Besides, proverbs have a
8

meaning beyond or other than the sum of the meaning of the individual words e.g: A man is
master in his own house. Also, proverbs can stand independently with a complete meaning e.g:
You can’t fight city Hall. The way that proverbs show their contents and meanings is logical
and expressive and directly indicate the idea of justice and the idea of comment, experience,
morality justice or criticism basing on an action or an event as illustrated in the proverb: East
or west, home is best. Proverbs are claimed to contain 3 main literary functions namely
aesthetics, apprehension and education whereas idioms contain just one literary function of
aesthetics. (Hornby (1995))
The distinction between proverbs and idioms can be summarized in the table 1 below:

PROVERBS
IDIOMS

Similarities
stable in structure; ready for reproduction
reflecting the national characteristics
-modified form Meaning
- popular statements by unknown
author
- informing or denoting a judgment
- well-known or wise
statements by famous people
- denoting advice or obvious
9
- experiential didactic content or a
rule of conduct
truth
- observative statements
without didactic force 1.2. Some features of proverbs
As suggested in the theory about proverbs given by Mieder (1989: 64) “a proverb has been
defined as a short, repeated, witty statement or set of statements of wisdom, truth and
experience which is used to further a social end”. The most frequently mentioned features of
proverbs are:
- Proverbs are often used metaphorically and we can understand them in the metaphorical
nature meaning (lies have short legs).
- Proverbs often make use of grammatical and theoretical devices that help to make them
memorable, including alliteration, rhyme, parallel structure, repetition of key words or phrases,

It may be used to evoke strong feelings or creat a strong impression, but not to be taken
literally. (“A woman’s work is never done” and “Đang khi lửa bốc cơm sôi, lợn kêu con khóc,
chồng đòi tòm tem”)

1.2.2. Syntactic features
As suggested in the theory about proverbs given by Mieder (2004), a proverb is always
articulated as a complete and comprehensive grammatically accurate statement. This feature is
discussed more in the next chapter. Due to their simple sentence structure and metaphorical
language, in which rhetorical figures or symbolic characteristics such as alliterations, rhythm,
rhyme, parallelism etc. frequently occur, proverbs are fairly easy to memorize and easily
retrievable from memory.
- Alliteration is the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or
closely connected words (http://oxforddictionaries.com). Apart from only a few rare initial
sounds, all English and Vietnamese consonants present themselves in proverbs with great
frequency. (“Choose a wife by your ears rather than by your eyes” or “Chồng tới vợ lui, chồng
hòa vợ thuận”)
11

- A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words and is most often used
in poetry and songs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyme). Rhyme is also another important
stylistic device in English and Vietnamese proverbs. (“A good wife is a good prize” or “Đói
bụng chồng, hồng má vợ”)
- http://answers.reference.com/information/terminology/what_is_parallelism_in_literature
states parallelism is a way of writing that is balanced and rhythmical. It gives structure and
flow. It is the use of words which are of equal strength in sound, to express ideas which are of
equal importance in thought.(“Such carpenter, such chips” or “Liệu cơm gắp mắm, liệu con gả
chồng”)

1.3. Some characteristics of British and Vietnamese people and culture
1. 3.1. Culture and cultural values

concerns different places or things that tend to make connections between people and to
reinforce a sense of unity and identity; symbolic value is simply understood as the repositories
of meaning; aesthetic value is considered a highly problematic area of enquiry involving
dispute not only about what is beautiful but also about who has the power and authority to
make decisions about what is beautiful and spiritual value addresses aspects of the religious,
the numinous and the sublime (www.demos.co.uk 2004).
In conclusion, culture and cultural values, in anthropology, are the patterns of behavior, beliefs,
languages, rituals, art, religion and attitude etc that people living in social groups have created,
shared and experienced. Culture distinguishes one human group from others and also
distinguishes humans from other animals. Cultural value is generated and exists in a culture and
society as a measure for all social and cultural activities. Thus, cultural value is an important
determinant of a nation and society.

1.3.2. The relationship between language and culture
The relationship between language and culture has been interrelated in the sense that language
is used to maintain and convey culture and cultural ties. In the book “Language and Culture”
Kramsch (1998; 3) states “language is the principle means whereby we conduct our social
lives. When it is used in contexts of communication, it is bound up with culture in multiple and
13

complex ways.” According to the author, the language people use in communication express
facts, ideas or events and reflect the people’s attitude and beliefs, their point of view, which
share the same cultural and social features. Also, through language, the experience of a social
community is variously created and presented. The members of a social community make a
great contribution to the language through the medium they choose to communicate. The way
in which people use different forms of communication: written or verbal and non-verbal
medium creates meanings for the language of the community. Consequently, thanks to all the
verbal and nonverbal aspects of the language, it is found that language embodies and represents
cultural reality. In addition, language possesses cultural values and consists of a complex
system of sign through which people use language as a symbol of the social community and

enemies, to protect and hand it down to their ancestors. The second distinguished feature when
talking about Vietnamese cultural identity is the durable relationship between individuals and
their family, between families and village, and to a broader term, the Motherland. Generally
speaking, Vietnamese people are those of duty and responsibility; and we can frequently hear
of such phrases as “sáng lua tối đèn có nhau” , “lá lành đùm lá rách”, “bán anh em xa mua láng
giềng gần”. Another feature of no less importance is the personalism in Vietnamese culture,
which is opposite with individualism in Western culture. Vietnamese people are those of
various and diversified relationship and strongly controlled by such complicated relationships.
In the Viet community, to a person’s children, he is a father, to his wife, he is a husband; to his
grandparents, he is a nephew; and to his neighbours, he is also a family’s child and a member
of a large family.
In general, Vietnamese culture is an undetachable part of Southeast Asian cultural space with
typical features of a wet- rice civilization and Vietnamese people are said to be very hard-
working, brave and faithful in their living and behaviours.
1.3.4. Characteristics of British people and culture
The United Kingdom, constitutional monarchy in northwestern Europe, is officially the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Great Britain is the largest island in the cluster
of islands, or archipelago, known as the British Isles. England is the largest and most populous
divisions of the islands of Great Britain , making up the south and east. Wales is on the west
and Scotland is to the north. Northern Ireland is located in the northeast corner of Ireland, the
15

second largest island in the Brtish Isles. Among these four cultural regions, the English culture
is considered a representative and often used to refer to the entire country’s culture.
To other Europeans, the best known quality of the British, and especially of the English, is
“reserved”. They are people who often keep certain distance to strangers, do not talk much
about themselves, do not show much emotion and seldom get excited. This fact tends to give
their communicators the impression of coldness.
Apart from “reserved”, a typical English man is expected to be modest and humorous. Any
self- praise is felt to be ill- bred and it is ideal to laugh at oneself- at one’s own faults, one’s

proverbs and made some distinction with the other concepts such as idioms, sayings,
conventional phrases and phrasal verbs. In the main part, the author carried out the contrastive
analysis of English and Vietnamese proverbs relating to family, thus the similarities and
differences are drawn. With the findings, the author stated some difficulties of learning English
proverbs in general and raised the awareness of cultural related factors that should be taken into
consideration in the teaching and learning process.
A Cross- Cultural Study on Weather Proverbs in English and Vietnamese- Do Thi Minh Ngoc
(2010, VNU- ULIS). Her study as entitled, focused on weather proverbs in English and
Vietnamese. The author presented some theoretical background on proverbs and the
relationship between language and culture. The study aimed at working out the similarities and
differences in the culture of the both countries that are reflected through their weather proverbs.
A Study on English and Vietnamese Proverbs about Educating Moral Qualities from Cultural
Perspective- Pham Thi Minh (2009, VNU- ULIS). The study aimed at investigating the general
syntactic, semantic and especially cultural features of English and Vietnamese proverbs about
educating moral qualities. Her study also focused on exploring the similarities and differences
between English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities. The author
provided some suggestions for the teaching, learning and translation of the English proverbs
about educating moral qualities in particular.
Although the different aspects of proverbs were previously carried out, this study besides
giving the theoretical background on proverbs and culture focuses on proverbs relating to
marriage, one of the very topics connected to the culture and originated from the deep root in
cultures. It is confirmed that proverbs in this study is not only the belonging of the language
17

but also it is a part of culture, the thing that links to the everyday life of people and enrich the
spiritual and cultural life of English and Vietnamese. To make it more specific and easy to
comprehend, the marriage- related proverbs in British English and Vietnamese will be
thoroughly mentioned and analyzed.
Step 1 is collection of marriage- related proverbs in both English and Vietnamese. In this step,
the researcher refers to a number of English and Vietnamese proverbs dictionaries, books as
well as some linguistic websites which contain a list of proverbs in order to pick out all the
marriage- related 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 academic articles are consulted so that the researcher can obtain a
full concept of all the item she is studying. Added to this, the researcher studies several
available cultural books to detect the cultural values and beliefs of the two countries. 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 she can
contribute in her own research.
2.3. Data analysis
Marriage – related proverbs in English and Vietnamese are analyzed in terms of syntactic and
semantic features, then a comparison of these proverbs in terms of syntactics, semantics and
cultural aspects is also given. After all the necessary data has been fully collected, next comes
the data analysis process which applies comparative and contrastive analytical stratergies.
In order to successfully achieve all the aims of data analysis process, the three folloing stages
are implemented.
19

Stage 1: Classification – The researcher reads all the data and then divides them into smaller
units.
In this stage, an effort is made to classify the marriage- related proverbs into three categories.
The first is the faithfulness between husband and wife; the second is the solidarity between
husband and wife; the third is the roles of husband and wife.
Stage 2: Comparison
This is the main analytic stage. First, the researcher counts up the total number of marriage-
related proverbs in English and Vietnamese, demonstred it to make a pure comparison on the
quantity. Next, the researcher sifts through the materials to identify the similarities and
differences between English proverbs and Vietnamese proverbs in terms of images that are

Based on the quantity of marriage proverbs that the researcher is able to collect, it is seen that
in this study there are more marriage proverbs in Vietnamese than in English. To illustrate the
findings, a detailed discussion with examples is presented.
1.2. Syntactic features of English and Vietnamese proverbs about marriage
1.2.1. Phrase structures
1.2.1.1. Proverbs with Noun Phrase Structures
a. In English
[1] (Art) + Adj + N// + Adj + N A harmonious marriage.
[2] Num + N// Num + N One father is enough to govern one hundred sons,
but not a hundred sons one father.
[3] N + N // N + N Niggard father, spendthrift son.
[4]Noun’s + Noun Mother’s darlings.
[5] NP + prep + NP A man without a wife is but half a man.
[6] NP + and + NP Children to bed and the goose the fire.
[7] NP + [S + V + C] The mother-in-law remembers not that she was a
daughter- in-law
a. In Vietnamese

21

[1] Noun + Noun// Noun + Noun Công cha, nghĩa mẹ, ơn thầy
[2]Nooun + Adj/ AP // Noun + Adj / AP Vợ hiền hòa, nhà hướng nam.
[3] N + (nào) + N + (nấy) Mẹ đỏ con đào, cha nào con nấy.
[4] N/ NP + NP// N/ NP + NP Anh em gạo, đạo nghĩa tình.
[5] Num + NP/ N + NP Một con so bằng mười con rạ.
[6] N + V/ N + V Con hát mẹ khen hay.
Based on the examples above, we can summarize the noun phrase structures of English and
Vietnamese proverbs relating to marriage in the table as follow:
Table 3: Noun phrase structures


[8] V + N/ NP// V + N/NP Spare the rod and spoil the child.
[9] V + Noun/ NP Choose a wife by your ear rather by your eye.
[10] Verb + prep.Phrase Train up a child in the way he should go.
[11] VP + prep + VP To have a good sentiment to a girl’s inferiors of her
relatives when falling in love with her.

b. In Vietnamese
[7] V + N/ Np // V + N/ NP Mẹ đánh một trăm không bằng cha ngăm một tiếng.
[8] V/ VP + VP // V / VP + V Sinh con ai nỡ sinh lòng, sinh con ai chẳng vun
trồng cho con.