MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

M.A Thesis

Field: English Language
Code: 8220201
A STUDY ON SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF
THE GIVING VERB GROUP IN ENGLISH AND THEIR
VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS
(ĐẶC ĐIỂM CÚ PHÁP VÀ NGỮ NGHĨA CỦA NHÓM ĐỘNG
TỪ GIVING TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TƢƠNG ĐƢƠNG
TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT)

QUAN THI THANH HUYEN

Hanoi, 2018

1


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

M.A Thesis

Field: English Language
Code: 8220201
A STUDY ON SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF
THE GIVING VERB GROUP IN ENGLISH AND THEIR
VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
During the whole process of conducting this study for her MA thesis, the
writer has received the support as well as encouragement from a number of people.
Thus, it will probably be an unacceptable mistake if this invaluable contribution to
the accomplishment of this thesis is not mentioned.
First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Dr.
Nguyen Thi Van Dong, with their patience in providing constant and careful
guidance, advice as well as useful corrections and suggestions.
Secondly, my special thanks also go to all the lecturers in the Faculty of
Postgraduate Studies, Hanoi Open University for their very useful and interesting
lectures which have laid the foundation for my thesis.
Last but not least, my sincere thanks are delivered to my beloved family and
friends, whose unlimited love and support enabled me to complete this paper.

4


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Statement of authorship
Acknowledgements

i
ii

Table of contents
List of abbreviations

iii
vi

Previous studies
2.2.
Theoretical background

2
2
3
3
4
5
5
6

2.2.1.
2.2.2.
2.2.3.
2.2.4.
2.3.
2.3.1.
2.3.2.
2.4.

6
7
7
11
14
14
16
19

5


SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FEATURES OF
ENGLISH GIVING VERB GROUP AND THEIR VIETNAMESE
EQUIVALENTS IN TERMS OF SYNTAX AND SEMANTICS
Syntactic features of English giving group in terms of sentence
4.1.
elements and sentence patterns
4.1.1. In terms of sentence elements

24

4.1.2.
4.2.
4.2.1.

In terms of sentence patterns
Syntactic features of the six English verbs in the giving verb group
Syntactic features of give

35
36
36

4.2.2.
4.2.3.

Syntactic features of lend
Syntactic features of pay


4.3.4.
4.3.5.
4.3.6.
4.4.

44
45
45
46

4.5.

Semantic features of present
Semantic features of donate
Semantic features of exchange
The giving verb group in English and their Vietnamese equivalents
A comparison of giving verb group in English and their Vietnamese
equivalents in terms of their syntactic feature
A comparison of giving verb group in English and their Vietnamese
equivalents in terms of semantics
Frequency of English giving verbs

4.6.
4.6.1.
4.6.2.
4.7.

Discussion
Suggestions for language teaching


Recommendations for further study

69

5.3.1.

Limitations of the research

69

5.3.2.

Suggestions for further study

70

REFERENCE
APPENDIX

7


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
A
A1

Nouns or pronouns
Things/people that is influenced


Indirect object
Direct object
Percentage

Pre

Preposition

S
Sb
Sth
V
*

Subject
Somebody
Something
Verb
Wrong sentence

8


LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 2.1.

Vietnamese verb classification in Vietnamese Grammar

14

Table 4.6.

equivalents in terms of semantic features
The summary of semantic features of the giving verb group
in English and their Vietnamese equivalents
Frequency the six giving verbs in the 8 bilingual English and
Vietnamese literary works

22

38

62
61

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ABSTRACT
Nowadays, English is regarded as the language of modernization and technological
advancement all over the world. Learning English is also problematic for foreign
learners because they are affected by their mother tongue during the process of
studying grammar, vocabulary, spelling, pronunciation, etc. This thesis aims at
dealing with investigating syntactic and semantic features of the giving verb group
and their Vietnamese equivalents. The data quoted from the eight bilingual English
and Vietnamese literary works prove that the verb give is the most frequency use,
and the verb donate is the least frequency use. In addition, the giving verbs can be
translated with a variety of meaning in Vietnamese. The findings of this study are
the valuable knowledge for translators and teachers as well as. The results of the
study show that the six English verbs belonging to the giving verb group are give,

giving and lists out the verb give including ban, phát, biếu, bố thí, bồi thường, bù,
cấp, cho, cấp phát, dành, dâng, giao, gửi, nhường, phú, thí, etc. Lâm Quang Đông
(2008) has a study on the constructions of denotative meaning in sentences having
verbs give and receive. These above works study the giving verb in English or
Vietnamese separately, and the relation between the verb give in English and
Vietnamese is not mentioned to.
From these above reasons, I have decided to choose the topic “A study on
syntactic and semantic features of the GIVING verb group in English and their
Vietnamese equivalents”. This study appeared as a result of difficulties that the
author faces in daily teaching related to the usage of the giving verb group. The
11


problem is that how to make sentences having the verb give, lend, pay, present,
donate, exchange, and in which patterns are used. In addition, translators are
confused when choosing these verbs to make sentences in English and translating it
into Vietnamese.
Therefore, this thesis aims at filling these gaps. Hopefully, examining the
giving verb group in English and its equivalents in Vietnamese is supposed to help
language teaching, and translating more effectively.
1.2. Aims and objectives of the study
The study is expected to provide Vietnamese teachers and translators with a
description of syntactic and semantic features of the giving verb group in English
and their Vietnamese equivalents.
Objectives of the study are as follows:
- To identify syntactic and semantic features of giving verb group in English
- To find out the differences and similarities between English giving verb
group and their Vietnamese equivalents in terms of syntactic and semantics features
-To give some possible suggestions for teaching and translating the giving
verb group in English and Vietnamese

present, donate, exchange. Each of these verbs is described in a separate section,
and the analysis was conducted with a view to discovering such aspects of each
verb as its syntactic, semantics performed by each of these verbs. The analysis is
believed to contribute to a deeper understanding of the six English verbs. The
componential analysis will be applied to analyze the data.
1.5. Scope of the study
In this study, the major point is to focus on the English giving verb group in
terms of syntax and semantics. English is considered as source language, meanwhile
Vietnamese is target language. So, the syntactic and semantic features of the giving
verb group in English are compared with their Vietnamese equivalents.
On this base, some suggestions for Vietnamese teachers and translators are
proposed to support their using the giving verb group more effective.
1.6. Significance of the study
Theoretically, the study will provide a comprehensive and overall knowledge
about the syntactic and semantic features of the giving verb group in English.

13


Moreover, the similarities and differences between this verb groups in English and
in Vietnamese are very helpful in contrasting two languages.
Practically, the study will help teachers and translators to be able to master
some suggestions and hints in teaching and translating this verb group effectively
because the giving verb group consists of many verbs and make people confused
when its syntactic and semantic features are under many unknowns.
1.7. Design of the study
This thesis consists of five main parts:
Chapter 1 is the introduction which gives the reasons why this topic: ―The
syntactic and semantic features of the giving verb group in English and their
Vietnamese equivalents‖ has been chosen for the study as well as its aims and

on Semantic Principles‖, he mentions the primary –A verbs including 10 verb
groups. Among this verb group, he claims there are six verbs: give, lend, pay,
present, donate, exchange in the giving verb group. The study of Dixon mentions
to the verb groups based on the semantic relations but not syntactic relations.
Newman (1996) describes a detailed semantic account of words denoting giving and
then examines how these words function in clause structures. He also gives general
remarks on give verbs, introduces forms denoting giving across a number of
languages. Moreover, he states a detailed cognitive-semantic analysis of lexical
items denoting give. The two linguists exploit the verb give on the semantic aspects
without concerning to their syntactic relations.
In Vietnamese, Lâm Quang Đông (2008) mentions to the constructions of
denotative meaning in sentences having verbs give and receive. His particular
concern is to understand what meaning the verb give and receive express in
different sentence patterns. In addition, Nguyễn Kim Thản (1977) examines the
Vietnamese verbs on the grammatical features in his study. As he also gives a list of
give and deliver verb group including ban, phát, biếu, bố thí, dồi thƣờng, bù, cấp,
cho, cấp phát, dành, dâng, đƣa, đút lót, đền, giao, gửi, nhƣờng, hối lộ, phát, phú,
nộp, tặng, thí, trả…However, his study still does not mention to the semantic
features of the giving verbs yet.
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There also have been many researches that focus on giving verb groups. Trần
Thị Ánh Diệp (2016) investigated Vietnamese translated variants of verbs of giving
and receiving in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling. In order
to facilitate the translator in the process of translation, especially at word level, her
study is carried out at the endeavor of exploring the English verbs of giving and
receiving and their corresponding variants. Đào Thị Hồng Hạnh (2017) studies the
sentences having verbs give and receive in comparison between Vietnamese and
Japanese. In her thesis, she concentrates on describing the verb on their layers of

Semantics defined in ―The study of language‖ by George Yule is the study
of the meaning of words, phrases and sentences. In semantic analysis, there is
always an attempt to focus on what the words conventionally mean, rather than on
what a speaker might want the words to mean on a particular occasion. Also,
linguistic semantics deals with the conventional meaning conveyed by the use of
words and sentences of a language.
According to David Crystal (2008) expresses his study as follow: Semantics
is a branch of linguistics devoted to the study of meaning in language. In particular,
the approach called structural semantics applies the principles of structural
linguistics to the study of meaning through the notion of semantics relations
between lexical items (such as synonymy and antonymic). In generative grammar,
the semantic component is a major area of the organization of a grammar, which
assigns a semantic representation to a sentence and analyses lexical items of
semantics features.
In the preface of ―Linguistic semantics: An introduction‖, John Lyons
(1995) defines that ―semantics is the study of meaning in language‖. It is
systematically encoded in the vocabulary and grammar of natural languages. This
definition of linguistic semantics, as far as it goes, is relatively uncontroversial. But
it is also almost wholly uninformative unless and until one goes on to say, first,
what one means by ―meaning‖ and, second, what exactly is meant by ―encoded‖ in
this context. He also explains that those who draw a terminological distinction
between ―semantics‖ and ―pragmatics‖ and take narrower view of meaning than he
does will see his book as introduction to a broader field of linguistic semantics and
pragmatics.

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2.2.3. Overview of English verbs
2.2.3.1. Definition of the English verb


(R.M.W. Dixon, 1991: 9)
According to David Crystal (2008), verb is a term used in the grammatical
classification of words, to refer to a class traditionally defined as ‗doing‘ or ‗action‘
words. The formal definition of a verb refers to an element which can display
morphological contrasts of tense, aspect, voice, mood, person and number.
Functionally, it is the element which, single or in combination with other verbs as a
‗verb phrase‘, is used as the minimal predicate of a sentence, co-occurring with a
subject (E.g. she/wrote). If the predicate contains other elements (E.g. object,
complement, adverbial), then it is the verb which more than any other is the unit
which influences the choice and extent of these elements; (E.g. the verb put
takes both an object and a locative adverbial, as in he put the book on the
table.). In many grammatical theories, accordingly, the verb is considered the
most important element in sentence structure.
2.2.3.2. English verb classification
There are many different classifications of an English verb depending on
different categories. According to Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written
English (2002), verbs are classified as follows:
Verbs perform two major functions in clauses: main verbs and auxiliary
verbs. Main verbs are the central element in a clause and autarky verbs qualify the
meaning of the main verb. In addition, verb forms can be grouped into three major
classes according to their ability to function as main verbs or auxiliary verbs:
Lexical verbs (run, eat, think) function only as main verbs, primary verbs (be, have,
and do) can function as both auxiliary and main verbs, and modal verbs (can,
could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, must) function only as auxiliary verbs.
In ―A new approach to English grammar on semantics principles‖, Dixon
states that verbs fall into two board subclasses-those that require only one role
(intransitive verb) and those which require two or more roles (transitive verbs).
There is considerable difference between intransitive subject and transitive subject.
In term of the function within the verb phrase, Quirk et al (1985) states that

may be called direct, indirect objectives, or primary and secondary objectives as in
the following examples:
I must send my parents an anniversary card. (SVOO)
(Quirk, Randolph, 1985: 721)
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In contrast, mono transitive verbs take only one object and appear in the
structure ―S V O‖ as in the following example:
That lecture bored me. (SVO)
(Quirk, Randolph, 1985: 721)
Verb requires both a direct object and another object or an object
complement is complex transitive verbs. Complex transitive verbs appear in the
structure ―SVOC‖ or ―SVOA‖. In a complex- transitive construction, the object
complement identifies a quality or attributes pertaining to the direct object. Let‘s
consider the following examples:
Most students have found her reasonably helpful. (SVOC)
You can put the dish on the table. (SVOA)
(Quirk, Randolph, 1985: 721)
2.2.4. Overview of the Vietnamese verbs
Up to now, there has been a vast amount of research on the linguistic field in
Vietnamese grammar and parts of speech. Vietnamese is an isolating and analytic
language in which grammatical meanings are shown chiefly through word order and
function words (grammatical words). Also, Vietnamese words have the same forms
in different positions in sentences. As a result, several grammatical structures are
similar in form-organization but different in grammatical meanings.
E.g.: Tôi đi làm bằng xe máy. (I go to work by motorbike.)
Hôm qua tôi đi làm bằng xe máy.
(Yesterday, I went to work by motorbike.)
In contrast with verbs in English, verbs in Vietnamese do not have the

by Diệp Quang Ban and Hoàng Văn Thung will be applied in this thesis. The two
linguisticians study and classify Vietnamese verbs into two kinds: Independent
verbs (động từ độc lập) and dependent verbs (động từ không độc lập). The
independent verbs are verbs followed by a direct object (thing or person that
receives the action of the verb). The independent verbs can not stand alone to
complete the meaning of the sentences including these verbs.
For example: Lan đưa tôi cuốn sách. Tôi yêu Hà Nội. In contrast, dependent
verbs stand alone in a sentence without any help verbs. For example: Trời mưa, Cô
ấy hát, etc. However, some verbs can be both dependent verbs and independent
verbs depending the way they are used. The verb break, for instance, sometimes
22


needs an object such as in the sentence: Julia breaks my heart. This verb does not
need a direct object in the sentence: When I hear your name, my heart breaks.
In each major type, he subdivides them based on several factors. The
classification of Vietnamese verbs is summarized in the following table:

Classification

Meaning in

Meaning

of Vietnamese verbs

Vietnamese

in English


cho là, xem, lấy …

Estimation

là, làm

Parity

còn, có mất, biết …

Existence

Có

possession

hóa, thành, hóa ra ...

Change

bắt đầu, tiếp tục …

time process

gần, xa, gần gụi …

spatial process

giống, khác, hơn, kém ...




action
Dependent
verb

By notional
words
followed

sai, bảo, khiến …

(notional words are

ra, vào, lên, xuống …

usually required /

đi, chạy, bò, lăn ...

monotransitive verbs or

kéo, đẩy, xô ...

ditransitive verbs)

Table 2.1: Verb classification in Vietnamese Grammar
Source: Diệp Quang Ban and Hoàng Văn Thung (1992:100)

2.3. Theoretical framework


Intransitive

Transitive

1

Give

X

X

2

Lend

-

X

3

Pay

X

X

4

Indirect Object is followed by a Direct Object, and another, in which a Direct
Object is followed by a prepositional Object. They also classify give verbs into the
verbs of transfer. For example: I gave her a present. This is the basic ditransitive
pattern. Three-place verbs like give have a subject and two Objects, representing the
transfer of goods or information from one person to another.
E.g.: He showed the policeman his driving license.
(He showed his driving license to the policeman.)
As the examples show, the indirect Object has a prepositional counterpart,
the give type with to, and the prepositional functions as a prepositional object.
E.g.: I gave a present to her.
25