MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

M.A Thesis
A STUDY OF SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF
ENGLISH EXPRESSIONS OF EXISTENCE IN ENGLISH WITH
REFERENCE TO THEIRVIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS
(ĐẶC ĐIỂM CÚ PHÁP VÀ NGỮ NGHĨA CÁC BIỂU ĐẠT CHỈ SỰ TỒN
TẠI TRONG TIẾNG ANH LIÊN HỆ VỚI TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG TIẾNG VIỆT)

NGUYEN THI THU HA

Field of study

: English Language

Code

: 60220201

Supervisor

: DR. ĐANG NGOC HUONG

Hanoi, 2017


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

M.A Thesis

(Signature and full name)
Date:……………………

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to sincerely thank my supervisor, Mr. Dang
Ngoc Huong who instructed me directly, shared experiences, and removed those
obstacles and difficulties which arose during the process of writing my thesis
My special gratitude goes to Assoc.Prof. Dr. Hoang Tuyet Minh for support
and encouragement.
I sincerely thank all the lecturers of the Hanoi Open University, especially
the lecturers in the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies who have been teaching and
conveying to me the valuable knowledge and skills in the learning process.
I would also thank Mr.Nguyen Van Đao – Dean of the Faculty of Post
Graduate Studies of Hanoi Open University for his valuable assistance. I would like
to give my special thanks to the Rector Board of Hanoi Open Uniniversity.
I also send my deep gratitude to my friends, colleagues and students at Lao
Cai Teacher Training College who have assisted me in collecting the data and
provided valuable resources to help me complete my thesis.
Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my parent, my son for the
sacrifice they have devoted to the fulfillment of my academic work.

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ABSTRACT


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS ................................................ viii
CHAPTER1 ...............................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................1
1.1 Rationale of the study............................................................................................1
1.2 Aims and objectives ..............................................................................................2
1.2.1 Aims of the study .............................................................................................2
1.2.2 Objectives of the study: ..................................................................................2
1.3 Research questions ................................................................................................3
1.4 Methodology and procedures ................................................................................3
1.5 Scope of the study .................................................................................................4
1.6 Signification of the study ......................................................................................5
1.7 Design of the Study ...............................................................................................5
The Referrences and Appendix put an end to the study. ......................................6
CHAPTER 2 ..............................................................................................................7
LITERATURE REVIEW .........................................................................................7
2.1 Previous Studies ....................................................................................................7
2.2 Theory of syntax ...................................................................................................8
2.3 Theory of semantics ..............................................................................................9
2.4 Concepts of expression of existence ....................................................................11
2.4.1 Definitions of expression ............................................................................11
2.4.2 Existence .......................................................................................................12
2.5 An over view of expressions of existence in English. ........................................12
2.5.1 Syntax of English existential expressions .....................................................12
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2.5.2 Semantics of English existential expressions ...............................................16
2.6 An overview of expressions of existence in Vietnamese....................................18
2.7 Summary of the chapter ......................................................................................20
CHAPTER 3 ............................................................................................................21

4.3.2 Suggestions for learning expressions of existence in English ......................45
4.3.3 Suggestions for translating expressions of existence in English ..................46
4.4Summary of the chapter .......................................................................................47
CHAPTER 5 ............................................................................................................48
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................48
5.1. Recapitulation ....................................................................................................48
5.2Concluding remarks .............................................................................................48
5.3 Limitations of the study ......................................................................................49
5.4Suggestion for future study ..................................................................................50
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................51
APPENDIX 1 ..........................................................................................................54
QUESTIONS OF SURVEY TESTS ......................................................................54
APPENDIX2 ............................................................................................................55
POSSIBLE ANSWERS FOR SURVEY TEST QUESTIONS ....................................... 55

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1:Types of existentialsentences .................................................................... 29
Table 3.2 : The semantic features of expressions of existence in English and their
equivalents in Vietnamese ………………………………………………………………. 35
Table 4.1: Subjects in use ......................................................................................... 37
Table 4.2: Errors made by students at Lao Cai Teacher Training College when
using expressions of existence in English (Appendix 1, Ex.2). ................................. 39
Table 4.3:Common errors made by students when translating from English into
Vietnamese. (Appendix 1, Ex. 2). .............................................................................. 40
Table 4.4:Common errors made by students when translating from Vietnamese into
English. (Appendix 1, Ex. 3)...................................................................................... 41

S

Subject

S’

Introductory subject

V

Verb

EC

Existential Construction

e.g.

Example

Ex.

Exercise

L1

First language

L2


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CHAPTER1
INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale of the study
Existential sentences or existential constructions (EC) which are terms
coined by Jespersen (1924: p. 155), refer to sentences that assert or deny the
existence of something. According to Kuno (1971) existential expressions are those
that state the existence of certain indefinite objects in some place. English ECs
contain the unstressed, non-deictic ''existential there" (Milsark, 1974). Deictic there
contrasts with deictic here, while existential there does not (Lakoff, 1987).
Vietnamese contains existential elements that are exclusively used to express
existence. Vietnamese existential expressions also contain an `optional locative
phrase. These particular constructions are unique syntactically and semantically.
Syntactically speaking, they have been given different analyses with no more than a
handful of proponents for each analysis. They pose problems for licensing
requirements on arguments, specifically for English there and the elusive syntactic
behavior of Vietnamese equivalents.
The apparent variety of existence predicates in natural language raises the
question of what makes a predicate an existence predicate in the first place. There is
a rather clear semantic criterion for existence predicates, namely their semantic
behavior under negation. Presenting tense negative existentials stand for an actual,
presently existing object, the study of English and Vietnamese existential
expressions offers a wealth of information that can be used to examine many
syntactic issues in the adult and child grammar. In this thesis, I examined the
acquisition of English and Vietnamese existential expressions by analyzing
spontaneous production data taken from the different acquisition studies on survey
tests of Vietnamese. Learners tend to avoid expressing their ideas with existential

English and their Vietnamese equivalents. Secondly, the thesis conducts a survey to
find out if Vietnamese learners of English encounter any problems in mastering
existential structures when they are learning and using the structures. On the basis
of survey results, the thesis expects to propose a number of strategies to help them
understand and use their structures and meanings effectively.
1.2.2 Objectives of the study:
In order to achieve the above aims of study, the thesis puts forward the
following objectives:
- To examine the syntactic features of English expressions of existence and
their translational equivalents in Vietnamese.

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- To examine the semantic features of English expressions of existence and
their translational equivalents in Vietnamese.
- To propose some suggestions related to learning, teaching, and translating
existential sentences in English.
1.3 Research questions
In this study, the author will try to answer the following questions:
1.

What are the syntactic features of English expressions of existence and their
Vietnamese equivalents?

2.

What are the semantic features of English expressions of existence and their

3.

Data Analysis
- Collecting and classifying English expression of existence into groups
based on grammar.
- Examining syntactic features of English and Vietnamese existential
expressions through data collected.
- Examining semantic features of English and Vietnamese existential
expressions through data collected and finding out translational equivalents in
Vietnamese.
Research procedures
- Identifying the research topic by reviewing previous studies.
- Choosing the approach to the research.
- Collecting data related to the research
- Analyzing data based on syntactic and semantic features of English and
Vietnamese existential expressions.
- Suggesting some implications for learning, teaching and translating
Englishexistential expressions to Vietnamese teachers and learners based on the
results of survey tests with students of English at Lao Cai Teacher Training
College.
1.5 Scope of the study
As the title indicates, the thesis is aimed at studying the expressions in
English that express existence with reference to their Vietnamese equivalents. In
other words, the thesis takes as its main task to study the syntactic and semantic
features of expressions of existence in English and then on the basis of the
translation of English expressions of existence in Vietnamese, the thesis goes on to
point out some similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese in
terms of the order of different parts of structures of existence and the meanings they
convey in communication.

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skill in communication. In expressing existence in English, apart from the
expression There + be other expressions could be employed, making ways of
expressing the idea diversified. This skill serves as a key to exploring the
interaction between syntax and semantics as well as understanding the nature of
commuication.
Practical significance:Through the study, the thesis hopes to help Lao Cai
Teacher training college students to firmly grasp the nature and the uses of English
and Vietnamese existential expressions. Besides, the research will also help to raise
the awareness of Vietnamese learners of English in learning, teaching and
translating existential sentences in English
1.7 Design of the Study
Chapter 1, Introduction, provides the research topic, research rationale,
research objectives and scope of the research. The overview of the research project
will be presented in detail with an outline and general information about existential
expressions

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Chapter 2, Literature review,focuses on an overview of previous studies
which are related to the study topic and of general notions concerning the English
existential sentences. Differences with regular declarative sentence structures will
be outlined, which will serve as an introduction to the study of English existential
sentences.
The following chapter 3,be dedicated to the syntactic and semantic
features of English existential sentences. This chapter will present the findings
and analyses which are derived from the data collected concerning the
structures and meanings of expressions of existence in English and their
equivalents in Vietnamese.
In Chapter 4, the author will focus on the possible errors Vietnamese learners

authors have looked at existentialtherestructures from different view points,
focusing on both syntactic and semantic aspects.
Schafer & Roeper (2000) examined the files of nine children in the
CHILDES database (MacWhinneyandSnow1990) and found that deictic use of
there/here emerges before existential (expletive) there and before anaphoric (or
locative) there. They found that anaphoric (locative) there with a referent in the
discourse appeared after existential there. In other words, the deictic use of there
emerged before existential there and the existential use of there emerged before
anaphoric there. They argue that understanding of the relationship between an
expletive there and its associate will facilitate or triggers understanding the
relationship that holds between anaphoric there and its referent.
While there is a major philosophical tradition according to which existence
statements are not semantically subject-predicate statements, more recently a
number of philosophers have defended the view that exist is in fact a first-order
extensional predicate, at least with singular terms as subjects (Salmon 1987, 1998,

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Miller 1975, 1986, McGinn 2000). I will pursue this view in its full generality by
arguing that existence predicates such as exist and occur have a particular lexical
meaning, which matches the particular nature of the entities they apply to and
explains their behavior with locative phrases. It is noted thatexist acts as a firstorder extensional predicate also in Schafer & Roeper (2000),where the bare plural
has in fact the status of a kind-referring term rather than being quantificational.
2.2 Theory of syntax
2.2.1 Definition of syntax
As far as how syntax is defined, it is common knowledge that syntax is the study of
structure of language. In other words, its main targets are said to be the study of the
set of rules, principles, and processes that govern the structure of sentences in a
givenlanguage. To this end, the goal of many syntacticians is to discover

Quirk (1985) relates the structure of the simple sentence to that of the single
independent clause with central elements as subject (S), verb (V), object (O),
complement (C) and adverbial (A). Also, according to Quirk, the constituents which
function as elements of clause structure are either phrases or subordinate clauses.
As a result, the five formal categories of phrase are defined as verb phrases (VP),
noun phrases (NP), adjective phrases (AdjP), adverb phrases (AdvP) and
prepositional phrases(PP) (p.56). Overall, the structure of the simple sentence in
English could belong to seven types as follows:
Type 1. SV(e.g.: The dog has died)
Type 2. SVO(e.g.: The dog ate the bone.)
Type 3. SVC(e.g.: The dog is dead.)
Type 4. SVA(e.g.: The dogisover there.)
Type 5. SVOO(e.g.: She bought him a dog.)
Type 6. SVOC (e.g.: He kept the dog clean.)
Type 7. SVOA (e.g.: He kept the dog carefully.)

2.3 Theory of semantics
Semantics is a branch of linguistics, which deals with meaning or the content
of communication. According to Hurford and Heasley (1983:1), semantics is the
study of meaning in language. Language is a means of communications, and people
use language to communicate with others by making conversations, giving
information, and other things to make social relationship. Human beings have been
given the capacity to talk, to communicate with each other, to make meaningful
utterances, so that they are understood by other human beings. They communicate
about the world in which they live, about themselves, about their thought and

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feeling, about what has happened, about what might happen or what they would like

representation to sentences, and analyzing lexical terms of semantic features. The

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theory of semantic fields views vocabulary as organized into areas, within which
words (lexical items) interrelate and define each other.
It is common knowledge that language serves as a means of communication
through spoken and written forms of languages. However, meaningsexist in
humans’ minds. Consequently, thereshould be a sub-field studies how speakers
convey meaningful messages orreceive and understand these meanings. The subfield is semantics which is thestudy of meanings not only in language but also in
communication. In other words, linguists are to find an answerfor the question of
how language is organized structurally to be meaningful in communication. Since
humans can see structures but cannot see meanings, it is the most abstract level of
linguistic analysis.
Additionally, there is one idea regarded as the most important
subject in contemporary semantics, pointing out that meaningful units could
combine with each other to form larger meaningful units and thatunderstanding the
meaning of the whole sentences is an appropriate method to work out
thesecombinations. Researchers, therefore, are to look for general rules to
indicatethe relationships between forms or arrangements of words in sentences
andmeanings. It is not an easy job as these relationships are often very complex.
All in all, the concepts of syntax and semantics on which structure, semantic
and pragmatic meanings are based are a basis for the thesis to study syntactic and
semantic features of existential expressions in English.
2.4 Concepts of expression of existence
2.4.1 Definitions of expression
The word expression is commonly used in linguistics and communication. The
definition of the word could be seen in many dictionaries. For example, in Oxford
Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (1995): expression is a word or a phrase (p.407).

state or fact of being real or actual, or having being, occurring (p.402). Cambridge
Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2003) states that existence implies the meaning of
something which is present, to be or to be real or live (p.424). In Dictionary of
Contemporary English (2010) existence is defined to mean happening or being
present in a particular situation, being real or alive (p.590).
As has been seen from the above definitions of expression and existence, in
this thesis expressions of existenceor existential expressionsare referred to as
existential sentences, existential structures and existential constructions.
2.5 An over view of expressions of existence in English.
2.5.1 Syntax of English existential expressions
There is no denying that so far linguists and grammarians have put so much
study in investigating a certain number of sentences that can be used to express
existence, in particular, there-sentences.

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Structurally, the basic form of English existential sentences is as follows:
the pronoun there (referring to existence) and a form of the verb to be used as a
main verb (i.e. verb of full meaning), or copula (i.e. linking verb). In English, based
on the lettering there are two words there,one is an adverb which indicates location
(locative there) and have a flexible position in English sentences and the other is
existential there which is always found at the beginning of the sentence. We can
compare:
-There were thirty boys in the class (TD: Có ba mươi nam sinh trong lớp –
Cobuild, p.416)
-There goes the last bus (TD: Đó, chuyến xe cuối cùng đi rồi – TĐA-V,
p.1776)
In the dictionary Từ điển Anh-Việt (1993), thereis classified as an
adverb(p.1777) and can found in the usual position of subject, at the beginning of a

about the proportional rate of verbs employed in English existential sentences.
Based on the results of her study, she shows that a form of the verb be made an
appearance in 95 % of there-constructions. However, a few other verbs can follow
the existential there, while some of those can retain a similar meaning to be.
Greenbaum & Quirk (1990), Breivik (1983) and Martínez Insua (1998)
suggest that the verbs employed in there-constructions are highly restricted. In
Breivik (1983), Huddleston (1984: 469) and Greenbaum & Quirk (1990) it is stated
that English existential constructions require that the verbs be selected from
intransitive verbs and must be of general presentative meaning. Verbs with
presentative meaning are primarily verbs of motion, inception and of stance. For
illustration, verbs arrive, enter, pass, come etc. can be included among verbs of
motion; verbs such as emerge, spring up, rise etc. can be mentioned among verbs
of inception; and lastly, verbs such as live, remain, stand, lie etc. belong among
verbs of stance.
In addition, the existential-there constructions, therecan combine with some
of the adjectives, such aslikely, certain...to express different modal meanings.
Examples are:
- There are unlikely to be any problems with the timetable (TD: Không thể có
bất cứ trục trặc gì với thời khóa biểu được – Cobuild, p.417).
-There seems to have been some carelessness recently (TD: Dường như đã có
một số bất cẩn trong thời gian gần đây – Cobuild, p.417).
Alexander (1988, p.195) provided similar show of verbs and stated that the
use of such verbs tend to occur mainly in literary prose or in formal writing. For
example:
-

There seems little doubt that he was insane.
There appears to be a vast amount of confusion on this point.

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Ex. Something must be Wrong ~ There must be something wrong.
- Type SVA
Ex. Was anyone in the vicinity? ~ Was there anyone in the vicinity?
- Type SV
Ex. Plenty of people are getting promotion. ~ There are plenty of people
getting promotion.?
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