VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ KIM OANH

IDIOMS DENOTING “INTELLIGENCE AND UNDERSTANDING” IN
ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE: A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS AND
TEACHING IMPLICATIONS

PHÂN TÍCH ĐỐI CHIẾU VÀ GỢI Ý GIẢNG DẠY CÁC THÀNH NGỮ CHỈ SỰ
THÔNG MINH HIỂU BIẾT TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field : English Linguistics
Code : 60 22 02 01

HANOI – 2014
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ KIM OANH

IDIOMS DENOTING “INTELLIGENCE AND UNDERSTANDING” IN


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Apart from the efforts of myself, the success of any study depends largely on
the encouragement and guidelines of many others. I take this opportunity to express
my gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the successful completion
of this MA thesis. I would like to show my greatest appreciation to Dr. Nguyễn Huy
Kỷ for his valuable instructions, critical but constructive criticisms, his share of
personal experience and expertise. I also would like to send my sincere thanks to all
the teachers in M.A course at VNU University of Languages and International
Studies for their training and their assistance that has helped me to complete this
thesis. Last but not least, my profound thanks and deep gratitude go to my family
and my friends for their valuable support and encouragement.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration i
Acknowledgements ii
Abstract iii
Table of contents iv
PART A: INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale of the study 1
2. Objectives of the study 2
3. Research questions 2
4. Significance of the study 2
5. Scope of the study 3
6. Organization of the study 3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT 4
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4
1.1. Previous studies related to the research 4
1.2. The author's framework 5
1.3. Idioms 6
1.3.1. Definitions of idioms 6
1.3.2. Definition of idioms denoting intelligence and understanding 6
1.3.3. Distinctive features of English idioms 7
1.3.3.1. Syntactic features of English idioms 7
1.3.3.2. Semantic features of English idioms 11
1.3.3.3. Cultural features of English idioms 13
1.4. Distinction between idioms, metaphors, proverbs and fixed expressions 14
1.4.1. Idioms and Metaphors 14
1.4.2. Idioms and Proverbs 15

3.3. Summary 38
CHAPTER 4: TEACHING IMPLICATIONS 39
4.1. Number of idioms 39
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4.2. Theme 39
4.3. Level 40
4.4. Comprehension 40
4.5. Practice 40
4.6. Summary 41
PART C: CONCLUSION 42
1. Recapitulation 42
2. Concluding remarks 42
3. Limitations of the study 43
4. Suggestions for further study 44
REFERENCES 45
APPENDIX I I
APPENDIX II II 1

PART A
INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study
English is a language particularly rich in idioms - those modes of expression
peculiar to a language (or dialect) which frequently defy logical and grammatical
rules. Without idioms English would lose much of its variety and humor both in
speech and writing. However, the background and etymological origins of most
idioms are at best obscure.

suggestions to their teaching and learning.
2. Objectives of the study
The study is carried out for the following objectives:
First of all, the study tries to analyze and contrast idioms to detect some
similarities, basic differences between idioms denoting intelligence and
understanding in English and Vietnamese in terms of their syntactic and semantic
features.
Secondly, it presents some implications in teaching and learning English
idioms denoting intelligence and understanding.
3. Research questions
The study attempts to answer the following questions:
1. What are some similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese
idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in terms of syntactic and semantic
features?
2. What are some teaching implications for using appropriate idioms denoting
intelligence and understanding in teaching English?
4. Significance of the study
Idioms are considered an interesting and popular phenomenon of every
language. Thus, they play an important role in all languages in general, in both
English and Vietnamese in particular. They also add color to the language and make
the communication more lively and interesting. Therefore, effective communication
cannot be achieved successfully without idioms.
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This kind of study has significance not only for contrasting language in use,
but also for teaching and learning of this type of idioms. It also contributes to the
translation of the idioms from English into Vietnamese and vice-versa.
5. Scope of the study
Due to the limited time, space and the author‟s ability, the present paper just
analyzes and contrasts the idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in

and scholars, and so far many studies of idioms from different angles have been
done. First of all, the research by Ifill (2002), he has an attempt to analyze and seek
the nature of idioms in studying in idiomatic structure. The researcher pointed out
the importance of idioms in the natural language and its existence in the language
system. In particular, he analyzes and clarifies the structure of idioms such as case
for the lexicon, the variability of idioms discussed shows is that all idioms have
internal structure of some kind. This distinction dictates how the idioms are allowed
to behave.
Another notable researcher is Moreno (2003), who claimed that the meaning
the speaker intends to convey by the use of an idiom is pragmatically
(re)constructed on-line by relevance-driven inferential mechanisms which take as
input a set of highly accessible encyclopedic assumptions from the concepts
encoded by the idiom string and its constituent words. The amount of processing
effort invested, and the depth of processing of the encoded concepts, is highly
constrained at every stage by the search for an optimally relevant interpretation. He
added that in understanding idioms, conceptual adjustment takes place at word and
phrase level that this model can account for why idioms often swing between literal
and figurative meanings, and for why they often exhibit different degrees of
flexibility and productivity in the flow of conversation.
Another research on this theme was conducted by Doãn Ngọc Diệp
(Unpublished M.A thesis, 2007) "A Study on Structural and Semantic Features of
English Idioms of Anger in Comparison with Vietnamese Equivalents". One more
paper is "An Investigation into The English Words and Idioms Denoting Happiness"
conducted by Nguyễn Thị Vân Lam, Nguyễn Lực, Lương Văn Đang (1978) who
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made the first significant contribution to the field. Since then, a great number of
collections of Vietnamese idioms alone and those of Vietnamese idioms in
comparison with English idioms have been carried out by Lã Thành (1988), Bùi
Phụng (1996), Nguyễn Lân (1997), Vũ Dung, Vũ Thúy Anh, Vũ Quang Hào

1.3.1. Definitions of idioms
Idioms are an abstract concept and it is therefore difficult to define them.
Each linguist who specializes in different branches tends to have a different way to
understand and describe idioms as illustrated below:
Cruse defines idiom as "an expression whose meaning cannot be inferred from the
 (1986:37). Two other authors Seidle and Mordie (1978:8)
believes that “an idiom is a number of words which, taken together, mean
.
Collins (1995) has a different way to define idioms but shares the idea. He considers
an idiom as a special kind of phrase. It is a group of words which has a different
meaning when used together from the one it would have if the meaning of each
word was taken individually […]
Vietnamese linguistic researchers have also tried to define idioms. Hoàng
Văn Hành (1994) states that an idiom is a fixed group of words which is firm in
terms of structure, complete and figurative in terms of meaning, and is widely used
in daily speaking (
                 
(1994:21).
1.3.2. Definition of idioms denoting intelligence and understanding
There are no definitions of idioms denoting intelligence and understanding
but it is not difficult to understand them. Idioms denoting intelligence and
understanding are idioms which point out the ability to learn about, learn from,
understand, and interact with one‟s environment. They also consist of a number of
specific abilities, which include the following specific abilities:
● Adaptability to a new environment or to changes in the current environment
● Capacity for knowledge and the ability to acquire it
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● Capacity for reason and abstract thought
● Ability to comprehend relationships

E.g. It may be well ahead of time (normal word order).
It may well be ahead of time (probably): idiomatic expression.
1.3.3.1. 4. Figurativeness
The basic characteristic of idiomatic expressions is that the words are used
metaphorically. Therefore, the surface structure has a little role to play in
understanding the meaning of the whole expression. For example, in "to bury the
hatchet", which means "to become friendly again after a disagreement", the
meanings of the words  and.  are different from the meaning of
the whole expression.
1.3.3.1. 5. Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs are the most common type of idioms in English. Many of them
carry idiomatic meanings that cannot be inferred from the form, unless the phrase is
already known.
E.g. After the war began, the two countries broke off diplomatic relations
(discontinue).
Most automobile companies bring out new modals each year (to show or introduce).
According to Baker (1992:63), there can be some grammatical and syntactic
restrictions of idioms, i.e. a speaker or a writer cannot normally do any of the
following with an idiom because the meaning would be changed:
+ Addition: Adding any word to an idiomatic expression may alter its meaning, or
remove its idiomatic sense. For instance, adding the adverb very to the adjective red
in red herring. (Very red herring) affects the figurativeness of its meaning
completely.
+ Deletion: Deleting the adjective sweet and the article from the expressions have
a sweet tooth and spill the beans would change totally their meanings. Hence, (have
a tooth) and (spill beans) have no idiomatic sense.
+ Substitution: Idioms accept no replacement of words even if those words are
synonyms.
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+ Idioms of Decoding (Non-Identifiable)
Idioms of decoding refer to those non-identifiable and misleading lexical
expressions whose interpretation could not be figured out by using only
independently learned linguistic conventions. They include expressions like "beat
around the bush" and "fly off the handle". This type of idioms could be classified
into lexemic and sememic.
+ Lexemic idioms include:
a. Phrasal verbs: e.g., to come up with, to turn off, to take part in.
b. Phrasal compounds: e.g. black ice, black board.
c. Incorporating Verbs: e.g. man-handle.
d. Pseudo-Idioms: e.g. spick and span, kit and kin
+ Sememic Idioms, on the other hand, usually, convey pragmatic meanings related
to a particular culture. They include:
a. Proverbs: e.g. Chew of something over, A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.
b. Familiar Quotations: e.g. Not a mouse stirring
McCarthy and O‟Dell (2003:6) give another classification to the English
idioms types focusing on their possible combinations:
(i)Verb + object/complement (and /or adverbial)
Kill two birds with one stone (=Produce two useful results by just doing one
action.)
(ii) Prepositional phrase
In the blink of an eye (= In an extremely short time.)
(iii) Compound
A bone of contention (= Something which people argue and disagree over.)
(iv) Simile (as + adjective + as or like + a noun).
As dry as a bone (= Very dry indeed)
(vi) Binominal (word + and + word )
Rough and ready (= Crude and lacking sophistication)
(vii) Trinomial (word + word + and+ word)

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+ Semi-idioms: A semi-pure, on the other hand, has at least one literal element and
one with a non-literal meaning. For example, "foot the bill" (i.e. pay) is one
example of a semi-idiom, in which foot is the non-literal element, whereas the word
bill is used literally.
+ Literal idioms: Literal idioms, such as "on foot" or "on the contrary" are
semantically less complex than the other two, and therefore easier to understand
even if one is not familiar with these expressions. These expressions may be
considered idioms because they are either completely invariant or allow only
restricted variation. Fernando (1996:37) admits the difficulty of drawing a clear
boundary between these three idiom types.
Taking into consideration the function of the phrase, Halliday (1985, as
quoted by Fernando (1996:72) groups idioms into ideational, interpersonal and
relational idioms.
+ Ideational idioms: Ideational idioms either signify message content, experiential
phenomena including the sensory, the affective, and the evaluative, or they
characterize the nature of the message (Fernando 1996:72). These expressions may
describe:
- actions (tear down, spill the beans),
- events (turning point),
- situations (be in a pickle),
- people and things (a red herring),
- attributes (cut-and-dried),
- evaluations (a watched pot never boils)
- emotions (green with envy).
+ Interpersonal idioms: Interpersonal idioms, on the other hand, “fulfill either an
interactional function or they characterize the nature of the message". They can, for
instance, initiate or keep up an interaction between people and maintain politeness
(Fernando 1996:73). These expressions include:

something fall from sheep and disappear in the sea. It implies that someone is
neglected.
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Surrounded by the ocean, British people also have a special passion for
water. For instance, to say how extravagant someone is in English, the idiom “spend
money like water” is often used. British people also regard themselves as fish such
as in “cold fish”, “shy fish”. The former means “a person who is very strange” and
the latter means “a person who is very shy”. When someone feels "not easy", they
say “feel like a fish out of water”, etc.
+The historical Factors
As we know, any language in a long and splendid history has its magic
power and great influence on the people who speak or learn it and the development
of the social history influences the language tremendously with the change of the
dynasty, the new languages instead of the old languages continuously. In the change
of languages, more and more idioms are caused in such trace of the historical
culture.
1.4. Distinction between idioms, metaphors, proverbs and fixed expressions
1.4.1. Idioms and Metaphors
Metaphors constitute a large part of the everyday language. They have been
recognized as rhetorical devices that compare two seemingly different objects. King
(2000:216) defines metaphors as „describing something by using an analogy with
something quite different‟. For example, „the words are clear as crystal‟ is an idiom
that expresses the similarity between the words and the crystal in terms of the
degree of clarity. Some other examples of metaphors include "new ideas blossomed
in her mind”, “his temper boiled over” and “inner peace is a stairway to heaven”.
King (2000:216) considers that metaphors are beautiful due to their ability to
explain a complex vague expression making it more understandable and clear.
According to Maalej (2005), both idioms and metaphors have in common the
fact that they cannot be understood if taken literally. He identifies idioms and

This characteristic seems to be the cause of the widespread use of fixed and semi-
fixed expressions in any language. (Baker 1992: 63)
Although they have many features in common with other forms of non-literal
language, idioms have their own characteristics. Generally speaking, an idiom is a
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kind of lexical unit in which the whole meaning of the expression is not apparent
from the meanings of its components.
1.5. Summary
In the chapter 1, the author has expounded in detail (i) the previous studies
related to the research which is foundation for the author to further to develop her
own research.(ii) the background knowledge of idioms denoting intelligence and
understanding , definition of idioms in general and idioms denoting intelligence
and understanding in particular with the distinctive features of idioms from
syntactic, semantic to cultural feature as well as difference between idioms and
metaphors, proverbs, fixed expressions.
Because of the particular characteristics of the study, it seems that reading
and reviewing documents are the most important and effective way to collect
materials for the research. Since it‟s very hard to find the idioms involving the
research, the researcher try to look for and collect the idioms from the dictionaries
and websites in the Internet. As for first source, books which are concerned with
idioms are collected and studied to gather necessary knowledge. Main materials are