English and Vietnamese idioms pertaining to felines - A cross-linguistic Examination and
Introduction
No amount of time can remove the memory of your good cat, no amount of masking tape can ever before totally remove his fur from your sofa. ~Leo Dworken
Cats have long been affectionate and cuddly pets or animals that people keep as household pets in their properties. As for kitty lovers, a kitty isn't only a dog or cat but also a good friend because it is actually a great partner which is 3rd party, sensitive and nurturing. Even though felines are adored by a significant of people all over the world, conventional conception of pet cats, generally, varies from culture to culture. Each culture has its own strongly-held belief about felines, either positive or negative. For instance, ancient mariners viewed black felines as unlucky given that they were considered to bring inclement weather. On the other hand, Japanese sailors would hold a tri-colored kitten with them during their voyage as they presumed that the pet cat was able to "position the storm devils to airfare" ("Cat facts and what celebrities say about felines, " n. d. ).
Like many other languages, British and Vietnamese have lots of idioms relating to cats. A big proportion of idioms in British as well as in Vietnamese include the image of felines. However, as it is out of the question to explore all the cat idioms in both languages, this newspaper attempts to carry out an analysis entirely on the most widely-used expressions that are significant for the evaluation purposes.
The present review aims to analyse common idiomatic expressions related to pet cats with the purpose to analyze the similarities and variations of the image of felines in British idioms and Vietnamese idioms in terms of quantity, cultural attitudes and meanings based on the detailed evaluation, some pedagogical implications are advised in order for professors to help students learn and use the idioms properly and efficiently. With respect to those intentions, the following research questions are posed:
Which language, British or Vietnamese, has more idioms related to pet cats?
How similar and exactly how different are pet cats perceived in British idioms and Vietnamese idioms?
How can instructors help students to learn and use kitty idioms correctly and effeciently?
This paper comprises three main parts. First, the researcher reviews the theoretical qualifications of idioms in British and Vietnamese languages as a fundamental base for the contrastive research that follows. Cultural features are also emphasized in this section as this is actually the major reason for different perceptions of felines reflected in British and Vietnamese idioms. On the basis of this conceptual framework, a contrastive examination of the collected idioms from both languages will be carried out with respect to the research purposes. The sources of idioms are formerly from the Oxford Advanced Learners' Dictionary, Oxford dictionary of British Idioms plus some Vietnamese dictionaries.
Theoretical framework
Theoretical qualifications of idioms in English
Definition of idioms in English
"The colourful linguistic spectrum of expressions called 'idioms' directly reflects the sizeable problems linguists face to find an appropriate meaning and classification of the linguistic phenomena" (Langlotz, 2006, p. 2). Hence, only a brief and simple definition is selected to mention in this paper.
"An idiom is several words (or a element) with a meaning that is different from the average person words, and often difficult to understand from the average person words" (Redman & Zwier, 2010, p. 26). The meanings of English idioms are extremely special. People cannot infer this is of any idiom by training the meanings of distinct constituent elements but rather by considering the idiom as a whole. In other words, an idiom can be known only by grasping its figurative meaing. The literal so this means means nothing. That's the reason why many British learners often get puzzled or stuck when it comes to guessing this is of a certain idiom. What Holleman (2006) remarks in the reserve entitled "American English idiomatic expressions in 52 weeks" helps verify this truth. He says that "the use of idioms is a problem for English language learners because, compared to standard vocabulary acquisition, understanding these expressions is not yet determined by simply referring to a dictionary. "
Classification of idioms
Unquestionably, "idioms are incredibly sophisticated linguistic configurations" (Langlotz, 2006, p. 1). These expressions differ in many aspects such as "their structural complexness, their lexical, morphosyntactic, syntactic and semantic company as well as their discursive function" (Langlotz, 2006, p. 1). Thus, classifying British idioms into different types is a tough and heady job for linguists and phraseologists. It is hardly easy to come up with an exact classification system however in fact, ideas on categorizing idioms have been talked about in literature.
A unique classification system of British idioms are given by Holleman (2006) in the booklet entitled "American British idiomatic expressions in 52 weeks" in order to help learners acquire and use idioms appropriately and appropriately. The machine includes 32 efficient categories as listed below:
Achievement - the act or procedure for accomplishing or doing something
Agree/ Approval - to simply accept or share an understanding of something
Authority - referring to the power to affect, obey or judge
Bad/ Negative - something unfavourable or unpleasant
Business Action - associated with commercial or work activity to create profit
Communication - the procedure of sending and obtaining information through speaking, tendencies or writing
Completeness - the amount of wholeness or having enough of something
Consequence - the effects or result of an action or circumstance
Different - not the same
Disagree - to have a different opinion or a reaction to something
Emotion - an all natural feeling such as pleasure, sadness, pleasure, love or hate
End - the final outcome of something
Entertainment - something that delights or provides amusement
Error - something that varies from the right or normal process
Failure - not being successful in something
Health - the condition of wellbeing for someone's body or mind
Importance - to be valuable or significant
Location - relating to where something is positioned or situated
Money - something relating to currency or a way of measuring wealth
Movement - affecting motion or a big change in something's position
Ownership - regarding the possession of something
Personal Description - discussing qualities, features or capabilities of a person
Plan/ Prepare - concerning the process involved with accomplishing an activity
Quantity - relating to the quantity of something
Relationship - discussing a connection between people including relationship, friendship or hostility
Satisfaction - regarding excitement and contentment in circumstances
Service - concerning assistance or being helpful
Similar - referring to the level that something is similarly or related
Superior - someone or something being better
Time - relating to a time period
Understand - referring to knowing and comprehending something
Work - relating to a job, work or occupations
(as cited in Holleman, 2006)
Features of English idioms
In general, British idioms are described as "conventional multi-word units that are semantically opaque and structurally fixed" (Langlotz, 2006, p. 2). With regard to the property of idioms in British language, Langlotz (2006) discusses the internal company of English idiomatic constructions:
a. semantic characteristics
b. structural peculiarities and irregularities and
c. constraints or constraints on their lexicogrammatical behaviour which can't be explained by the general grammatical rules of the given dialect.
(as cited in Langlotz, 2006, p. 2)
The internal organisation of English idioms implies that idioms are a very complex and distinctive entity peculiar and then the English words. That is, English idioms have their own resolved constraints in terms of semantic and structural characteristics. One cannot separated a certain idiom into individual parts and try to derive the conceptual meaning from each part. Additionally, one cannot use the standard rules of British grammar to make clear what is conveyed in the idiom.
Also concerning this issue, Chafe says that idioms have four cool features that are worth taking into consideration:
The meaning of an idiom is no amalgamation of the meanings of its parts.
Most if not absolutely all idioms show certain transformational deficiencies.
Some idioms are syntactically ill-formed.
Any well-formed idiom has a literal counterpart, but the text occurrence of the idiom is usually much higher.
(as cited in Strassler, 1982, p. 35)
Let us consider the four features one by one. First, speaking of semantic features, as stated earlier, English idioms are "semantically opaque" (Langlotz, 2006, p. 2) Which means that the meaning of an idiom should never be taken actually. "The listener must never confuse the literal translation associated with an idiom with the underlying so this means of what is very being portrayed or symbolised. " (Burke, 2005, p. 3) "If you try to figure out the meaning associated with an idiom literally, term by word, you will get befuddled ("Idioms in our life, " n. d. ). Folks have to determine the hidden so this means in the idiom by summoning knowledge of both dialect and cultural peculiarity as well as personal life experience. That is because idioms are directly related to the culture of the united states that they participate in.
It is common knowledge that idioms have established syntactic buildings. Since British idioms are absolutely predetermined expressions, it is impossible make any arbitrary changes or transformations to the initial form of the idioms. The idiom "kick the bucket" can be taken for example. This idiom is similar in meaning to the word "die" but it is much more informal. Obviously, we can say "Sam has kicked the bucket" or "Sam may kick the bucket". (Strassler, 1982) The tense can be evolved to be appropriate to the context. However, we can not make "bucket" plural or indefinite or both, or alter "bucket" with an adjective, as in "Sam kicked the buckets, " "kicked buckets, " or "kicked the wooden bucket" because this violates the literalization guideline specific to British idioms (Strassler, 1982). "It is not there to be produced plural or indefinite, but is launched postsemantically with a literalization guideline which specifies which it must be singular and certain" (Strassler, 1982, p. 37).
The syntax of idioms is not less perplexing as much idioms comply with no regular syntactic guidelines in English. That is why idioms are said to be syntactically ill-formed. Some examples of ill-formed idioms are a toss up, all Greek to me, fair go, finger lickin' good, trip the light fantastic, kingdom come, etc. Apart from exceptional circumstances, other idioms are well-formed, though.
Any well-formed idiom has an synonym or a word or expression that has similar so this means. For example, "a fruitcase" (a mad man), "in seventh heaven" (extremely happy), "down in the dumps" (very sad), etc. Nevertheless, the idiom is more often used in real life in comparison with the equivalent solitary word or expression. Basically speaking, people would like to say "He is in the moon about his new job" rather than say "He is very happy along with his new job. "
Theoretical background of idioms in Vietnamese
Definition of idioms in Vietnamese
Vietnamese idioms are fixed expressions in the form of sole words or phrases but totally belong to the spectrum of words. Many of them are encoded, including imaginative stylization and are just part of any utterance. (Nguyen, 2010, p. 659)
Idioms can be an invaluable treasure of the Vietnamese. "In idioms, we will get the typical top features of people's thoughts, appearance, virtues, criteria of human behavior as well as the behaviour towards the nice and the evil, the noble and the humble" (Nguyen, Nguyen & Phan, 2009, p. 3). For instance, "cm cn ny m»±c" expresses the idea of justice in life. "Gi chi»u n o theo chi»u y" identifies the the type of men and women who often take good thing about others to gain themselves. "Cng r‡n c‡n g nh ", "r »c voi gi y m t»-" can be an insult shouting at individuals who socialize with their adversary and betray their own fellows. (Nguyen et al. , 2009, p. 3)
Classification of Vietnamese idioms
According to the booklet "Dictionary of Vietnamese idioms and proverbs" (Nguyen, 2010), there are 5 types of idioms that are mentioned below:
Idioms that contain well-selected words: "l ng»c c nh v ng", "con nh ni", "khc t»c t »i", "bu»"n nu ru»t", etc.
Comparison idioms: "vui nh h»i", "‡t nh tґm t i", "nhanh nh ch»p", "r» nh bЁo", etc.
Idioms with symmetrical buildings: " »c n c, ngЈ v» khґng", "n ch‡c, m·c b»n", etc.
Alliteration idioms: "dm dm d» d»", "i i li li", "i Єm i hґm", etc.
Reduplication idioms: "khєc kha khєc khch", etc.
(as cited in Nguyen, 2010)
Features of Vietnamese idioms
Vietnamese idioms have some distinctive features in conditions of firm, semantics and rhetoric.
First, let us look into the organization of Vietnamese idioms. "An idiom usually includes three or more than three elements (frequently 4 elements) which contain a symmetrical composition, alliteration or rhymes. Their constituent elements incorporate with each other in many various ways, which sometimes makes it hard to explain. " For instance, "nng nh l»a", "khc nh m a", "xu nh ma" are comparision idioms; "tai to m·t l»n", "mi»ng h№m gan s»a", "c№ng h»"i c№ng thuy»n" are idioms that utilize alliteration. Various other popular idioms are originally every day utterances which are being used so often and then for so long a time that they become idiomatic expressions, such as "ch» c»i v» r»ng", "theo voi ht bЈ ma", "n »c chy ch»- trng", "i gu»c trong b»ng", etc. (Nguyen et al. , 2009, p. 3)
In terms of semantics, "idioms are distinguished by their figurative interpretation and metaphorical so this means. That's the reason understanding idioms is not a simple task, even though we know about every individual element"( Nguyen et al. , 2009, p. 4). Specifically, the content of idioms is a subject of culture-language-people. Hence, it is difficult to interpret these expressions in detail.
In terms of style, we may use idioms to develop an article, a speech or a dialog which is succint and abundant with images. Idioms are an extremely useful source not only for spoken terms style but also for the style of politics commentary. (Nguyen et al. , 2009, p. 4) For instance, when talking about a boastful and pedantic person, Vietnamese has such idioms as "m»t tc n tr»i", "bn tr»i khґng vn t»±", "m »i voi khґng »c (m»t) bt n »c xo" Thus, learning and understanding how to use idioms appropriately is crucial for students and has turned into a natural need of men and women in the world.
A contrastive Examination of British and Vietnamese idioms pertaining to cats
Quantity evaluation (the amount of 'cat' idioms in both languages)
There are a large number of idioms in English. Therefore, it appears to be impossible to come up with an exact estimation. The researcher has conducted research on 6 dictionaries, including 3 dictionaries of English and 3 dictionaries of Vietnamese. The number of English idioms are exhibited in the next table:
Cambridge Idioms Dictionary (2006)
over 7000 current idioms
Oxford Idioms Dictionary for Learners of English (2006)
10, 000 frequently-used idioms
Oxford Learner's Dictionary of British Idioms (2010)
over 6, 000 idioms
The variety of idioms in British and in Vietnamese is more or less equivalent. However, a stunning fact is that British has way more idioms related to cats than Vietnamese has. The researcher is unable of making a computation of the idioms including cats in English because there are so many of them, perhaps almost 100 hundred idioms. However, as for Vietnamese idioms, I find an online article that mentions the number of Vietnamese idioms concerning pet cats in comparision with this of other icons in the Vietnamese dog designations. The following table is extracted from this article as an information for the conclusion mentioned previously:
Hnh t »ng con vt
(Pet designation)
T»-ng s» th nh ng»‡ th»ng kЄ (Estimated variety of idiom)
Chu»t (Mouse)
36
Tru (Ox)
44
Dn (Tiger)
34
MЁo (Cat)
42
R»"ng (Dragon)
35
R‡n (Snake)
41
Ng»±a (Equine)
42
DЄ (Goat)
41
Kh» (Monkey)
37
G (Rooster)
35
Ch (Dog)
38
Heo (Pig)
38
T»-ng (Total)
463
(as cited in Trn, n. d. )
From the desk, we can see that we now have only 42 Vietnamese idioms in which the image of pet cats appear. This quantity is really small instead of the number of English idioms relating to cats. Therefore, it is obvious that British idioms involving felines weigh a lot more than Vietnamese ones. However, predicated on this quantity comparability, we can not hastily infer that cats will be more highly-valued in the european contemporary society than in Viet Nam. To attain a more fair conclusion, let us go into details on the meanings of felines shown by the idioms of both languages.
Meanings of pet cats in Vietnamese and British idioms
Connotative similarities and differences
In general, idioms are colloquial metaphor that folks use with high consistency in day-to-day communication. Idioms are reported to be part of the culture, not area of the words. The idioms simply originate from what happen in life and are generalized into resolved expressions by folks of a particular culture. Each culture has its customs, norms and beliefs. That's the reason why idioms differ across ethnicities. Vietnamese and British are not among the exceptions. They will be the languages of two very different cultures, that is, one of oriental culture, and the other of western culture. Each of these language have a number of idioms related to pet cats, the connotations concealed in those idioms are not exactly the same, though they display some visible similarities.
After an intensive reasearch, I find out 2 major conclusions that are presented and mentioned here:
Positive connotations
In Vietnamese idioms, pet cats are:
¶moderate: n nh» nh» nh mЁo
¶smart: mЁo con b‡t chu»t c»ng
¶patient: rnh nh mЁo rnh chu»t
In English, pet cats are:
¶superior, dominating: live under the cat's foot, fat cat, cool cat, sitting in the cat bird seat
¶fantastic: cat's meow, cat's pajamas, cat's whisker
¶smart, smart: busier when compared to a one-eyed cat viewing two mouse slots, genuine as the kitten when the meat's away of reach
¶competent: catwalk, walk just like a pet cat on eggs
¶highly-valued: high as the hair over a cat's back
As we can easily see from the above list, a few of the idioms in both languages have postive connotations of cats but the amount is not extensive or significant enough. Indeed, cats have many good characteristics, yet only handful of them are appreciated and shown in idioms. In both civilizations, cats have emerged as smart and sensible. They are not only skilful at finding mice but also capable of forming attachments with their owners. Vietnamese folks have the idiom "mЁo con b‡t chu»t c»ng" (kitten catches big rat) which identifies a fragile but intelligent person who is able to use his wisdom to defeat a more powerful challenger. However, in English, pet cats are also regarded as smart. Even an one-eyed pet cat can spend hours seeing a two mouse hole to get both. However, once having accepted that there is no way it can take the prey, the kitty will change away to ensure his life. The behavior "n nh» nh» nh mЁo" (eat as carefully as a kitty) is perceived as well-behaved in the case of a woman or girl, yet this can be a sarcastic saying in the case of a man. In oriental culture, ladies should be feminine and polite but man must show their masculinity by consuming like a horse. Observing the cat observing the mouse, the Vietnamese figure out another positive personality of the cat, that is, tolerance. There is no chance the pet cat will give through to the mouse until it finally catches or, alas, misses that mouse. On the other hand, cats are highly appreciated as superior and prominent. Even "cat's meow" or "cat's whisker" is enough to show the power of a kitty. "Sitting in the kitty bird chair" means being within an beneficial position. "High as the scalp on a cat's back" signifies something very costly and perhaps, valuable.
Generally, very few positive personalities of cats are described in idioms. While in British idioms, to some extent, cats are placed on the pedestal out of these brains and superiority, they can be socially poor in Vietnamese community without real value but gentleness, knowledge and persistence - therein still endure some negative meanings.
Negative connotations
The 12 creature designations of the Vietnamese include Rat, Ox, Tiger, Cat, Dragon, Snake, Horses, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. Pet cat comes fourth in this order. A kitten is considered an creature which is keep as an agreeable pet in most Vietnamese households. In each day communication, ordinary people use various idioms relating to the image of felines. A majority of those idioms contain implied negative meanings which try to criticize or mock at bad behavior and humble characteristics of human beings:
¶useless: ch gio mЁo m№, ch khґ mЁo lc
¶vulnerable: mЁo c o khґng x» vch vґi
¶stingy: giu nh mЁo giu c»t
¶of inferior position: ch tha i, mЁo tha li, c n nht m»i th ng t»i mЁo, h№m mt heo h n mЁo mt th»t
¶destitute: mЁo m№ mc c»ng, mЁo m g »"ng, mЁo ng ch im
¶unpleasant (shameful): ch»i ch m‡ng mЁo, mЁo quЁo ch, khґng c ch b‡t mЁo n c»t
¶stealthy: im »m nh mЁo n v»ng, giu nh mЁo giu c»t, mЁo hoang li g·p ch hoang, anh i n tr»m g·p n ng b»t khoai.
¶clumsy and jumpy: lЁo nhЁo nh mЁo vt »ng r m, lґi thґi nh mЁo s»- chu»t, mЁo vt »n r m
¶unlucky: mЁo n nh th kh, ch n nh th gi u
¶wicked: mЁo gi ha co
¶cowardly: mЁo gi li thua gan chu»t nh‡t
¶spoiled, lazy: mЁo l nh chng » m; l nh chng » h ng c m
¶snobbish: mЁo khen mЁo d i uґi
¶hasty, thoughtless: nh mЁo thy m»
A cat is an pet that is closely linked with the lives of Vietnamese normal people. Felines help catch frustrating mice in the house and are pampered by their owners. Through what's portrayed in the idioms regarding cats, we can easily see a brilliant and colourful picture of Vietnamese people in their everyday life. These idioms have long become a special trait in their cognitive culture.
In English, felines are associated with the pursuing bad characteristics:
¶bad-tempered: a handbag of cats
¶overly cautious: a cat in gloves catches no mice
¶destitute: alley cat
¶corrupt: feline around, kitten burglar, catcalls, morals associated with an alley cat and scruples of an snake, hotter than a six peckered alley cat
¶clumsy: as anxious as a kitten in a room full of rocking chairs, such as a kitty on hot bricks, Just like a cat on the hot tin roof
¶wicked: cat's paw
¶mean: catty remarks
¶snobbish: conceited as a barber's kitten, looking such as a feline that swallowed a canary, cat's pajamas
¶cowardly: scaredy-cat, fraidy cat
¶vulnerable and fragile: weakened as a kitten
¶chanceless: cat-in-hell chance
¶pugnacious: deal with like Kilkenny felines, fight like cats and dogs
One of the very most factor between Vietnamese and British people is the way they perceive the globe, especially the animal world. Vietnamese has an oriental culture that is formed and maintained over thousands of years. Friendly and historical conditions exert an exceptionally great influence on the customs and values of Vietnamese people. Alternatively, England is a european country in which people prefer a free of charge and self-employed life without so many cultural constraints. This should result in completely different attitudes towards felines in both cultures. Interestingly, as listed above, the perceptions of British and Vietnamese folks have so much in keeping. Both ethnicities see pet cats as weak, unpleasant, clumsy, pugnacious and snobbish. The cat's physical weakness is detailed in the Vietnamese idiom "mЁo c o khґng x» vch vґi" (a cat's scratches do not draw down a wall structure) which corresponds to the British idiom "weak as a kitten". What is more, felines have a clumsy nature. Vietnamse cats love to mess around with things such as straw and grow to be very nervous whenever a mouse escape using their hands. Furthermore, in British, the cat's jumpiness is revealed when it's in trouble: "such as a feline on hot bricks" or "as anxious as a cat in an area full of rocking chairs". Another bad feature that cats receive credit to is their snobbish behavior, not forgetting their pugnaciousness. If Vietnamese people use the idiom "mЁo khen mЁo d i uґi" to mock at a boastful person, British people also have the appearance "conceited as a barber's cat"or "looking such as a pet cat that swallowed a canary". This means that they show a self-satisfied behaviour out of their success or achievements.
Besides these common characteristics, there are extensive differences. Cats in Vietnamese idioms are useless, stingy, stealthy, cowardly, wicked, sluggish and thoughtless. If Vietnamese people are asked to give cats a poor name, that might be laziness. In fact, cats are extremely lazy. They rest by the hearth the whole day. Their worst behavior is eating on the sly. That is why in Vietnamese there are some idioms that reveal that bad behavior such as "m» » mi»ng mЁo" or "ch treo mЁo y". However, those personalities do not are present in English idioms concerning pet cats. Due to my investigation, English people relate pet cats with such characteristics as bad-tempered, excessively mindful, destitute, corrupt and mean. What I find most interesting here's that although cats are often treasured and pampered by their owners, they seem pitifully miserable in idioms. In Vietnamese idioms, felines are more unpleasant than in British. They are performed in contempt ("ch tha i, mЁo tha li", "c n nht m»i th ng t»i mЁo", " h№m mt heo h n mЁo mt th»t") and cared for very badly (" mЁo quЁo ch", "ch»i ch m‡ng mЁo"). Poverty-stricken men are likened to "alley cats"with "cat-in-hell chance" - no potential for success. This is actually the only idiom in English that uses the image of cats as the sign of unhappiness. In most other cases, pet cats are placed at a superior position.
Equivalent idioms that exhibit similar ideas
¶ Ch gio mЁo m№, ch khґ mЁo lc and "morals of alley kitty and scruples of your snake". ¶lЁo nhЁo nh mЁo vt »ng r m, lґi thґi nh mЁo s»- chu»t, mЁo vt »n r m
and as nervous as a feline in a room filled with rocking chairs, like a kitten on hot bricks, Like a cat on a hot tin roof
¶mЁo khen mЁo d i uґi and conceited as a barber's cat
As we can see above, the positive attitudes towards felines are outnumbered by the
negative ones. Quite simply, out of the prevailed loving emotions that individual have for dogs,
only bad images and people of pet cats are appreciated and reflected in idioms.
The romance between cats and dogs
Although cats and dogs live under the same roof covering, they seldom go along well with each other. The dog would want to chase the kitten once it perceives the cat someplace nearby. The cat is smaller and weaker, so that it is the one who has to run away from your dog. In Vietnamese, people say "nh ch v»i mЁo" or "mЁo m»t x, ch m»t n i", which is employed to discuss people such as sibling and sister or couple who have so many issues that they always struggle or quarrel any time of confrontation. English people also say the same about those people. The same idiom is "fight like cats and dogs", or "to reside a feline and dog life". Various other English idioms that also portray this relation are "dog my cats"(a manifestation of astonishment), "rain dogs and cats"(rain heavily), "keep no more pet cats than will catch mice"(don't encompass yourself with people who will be reliant on you).
We all know that human beings have been keeping felines as an intimate companion for such a long time. Therefore, the closeness between the human and the pet cats is understandable. Initially, it occurs that the negative connotations of cats in idioms are inexplicable. However, if we understand this truth from the angle of culture, we will find a reasonable answer. It's quite common sense that "good popularity sleeps, bad fame creeps" this means "ting l nh »"n gn, ting d»‡ »"n xa" in Vietnamese.
Though cats and dogs are in constant conflict very often, both represent people of the same public position, that is, in the bottom of the modern culture. Cats and dogs have never ever lived in peace, but at least they talk about something in common. They are really destitute, contempted plus they have to do evil things to make ends meet. Hence, people may presume that cats are as bad as canines because they are seen to be jointly sometimes. Inside the psychology of both English and Vietnamese people, puppies are associated with great deal of bad behaviours ("nh»c nh ch", "ngu nh ch", "ch c‡n o rch", "work just like a dog", "a dog's life", etc. ). Also, the Vietnamese has a very meaningful idiom: "ng u tm ng u, mЈ tm mЈ". According to this conception, if your dog has already received a poor name, then anyone who plays with your dog will be no better. Consequently, on and on, time after time, not many good ideas could be granted to this creature. This clarifies why there are extremely few positive characteristics associated with cats in idioms.
The marriage between felines and mice
As discussed before, dogs and cats seem with an inherited hatred. also, felines are also in a death-feud with mice. The sole difference between your two relationships 's the reason that leads to the hatred. Puppies chase cats, but cats want mice. If pet dogs hate felines out of different sociable styles and misunderstanding, a cat goes bounding up to mouse out of its mother nature as a predator.
The kitten is considering anything that steps - butterflies, birds, grasshoppers, feathery gadgets waved on the finish of a stick, and especially mice. Some typically common Vietnamese idioms that depict this relationship are "nh mЁo v»n chu»t", "chu»t g·m chn mЁo", "chu»t c‡n dy bu»c mЁo", "mЁo con b‡t chu»t c»ng", "mЁo gi li thua gan chu»t nh‡t". For English, we've such idioms as "a cat in gloves catches no mice" (success will not happen to someone who is too mindful), "busier when compared to a one-eyed cat watching two mouse openings" (very occupied, almost frantic), "playing pet cat and mouse" (participating in in a teasing way), "when the cat's away, the mice will play" (without regular monitoring, people will misbehave).
To conclude, both English and Vietnamese have idioms with negative connotations of felines. This outnumbers the postive idioms. Although both languages portray pet cats with many similar and various personalities, there is a staggering undeniable fact that the social status of felines in Vietnam and England is not the same. If in English, cats stand at a position of durability, in Vietnamese, pet cats represent people of an extremely low status who are granted no power or real value.
Pedagogical Implications
Pedagogical Implications for instructing English idioms
In such a small-scale review, the reseacher aims to suggest some useful pedagogical implications predicated on the contrastive analysis. More specifically, the researcher is going to discuss how to instruct English idioms concerning pet cats to Vietnamese students with the most effeciency.
First thing first, British teachers should be aware of the similar and different connotations in the idioms related to felines. Then, they'll know which idioms to instruct and how to teach those expressions to students. Since there are practically one hundred English idioms that entail the image of felines, the educators should get students' attention to the most readily useful ones only. The "most readily useful" idioms are the ones that students have the ability to understand, remember and have various opportunities to use again in real life. For instance, the educator should instruct such idioms as "rain like dogs and cats" or "fight like cats and dogs" because these idioms have their equivalents in Vietnamese, thus, possible for students to assume and imagine the meanings. Later on, the students will continue using the idioms in a variety of contexts correctly.
Second, the idioms are only a single aspect of the vocabulary knowledge. The students shouldn't be required to learn too much about idiomatic expressions. They only desire a sufficient amount of this knowledge in order to widen their vocabulary and enhance their effective skills. Never if the educators require the students to be expert as of this area. Therefore, it is highly recommended for the educator to instruct idioms as a skill. In other words, the instructor should spend only a small portion which is approximately ten to quarter-hour presenting a couple of useful idioms to the students.
What matters next is how to teach those idioms in the most effective way. As mentioned earlier in the paper, British idioms are fixed expressions whose buildings sometimes do not conform to the normal grammatical rules. It is not an easy task for learners to make use of idioms correctly in communication. Therefore, there's a need to review some semantic features of English and Vietnamese idiomatic verb phrases with the hope of aiding learners utilize this part of idioms better and confidently. Hence, the educator should not spend a lot of time and effert on the detailed explanation of the constructions. Instead, the teacher should concentrate more on interpreting this is of the idioms to ensure that the students have the messages hidden in the idioms. The instructor can also encourages the students to work through the figurative interpretation from its literal interpretation. By this way, the students' thoughts and creative imagination can be boosted. Moreover, it is crucial that the professor should give more information about the foundation of each idiom and compare or contrast British idioms with the first terms equivalents, when possible. The comparison and contrast technique really helps to make the lessons more interesting and motivating as it gives the students an opportunity to associate the new knowledge with what they may have known from other own culture. Also, some examples should be given to supply the students with meaningful contexts.
Another implication is designed for teaching translation. If the students have received profound knowledge of the English idioms, they can be kept away from word-by-word translation. For example, once students has known the idiom "rain dogs and cats" clearly, he'll know that this should be translated as "m a nh trєt n »c" instead of "m a nh ch v»i mЁo" - a totally literal translation.
In conclusion, instructing and learning a language are instructing and learning a culture. By instructing idioms, English educators can help their pupil open the entranceway to the initial culture of the second language they can be learning. Idioms are a lot more intersting than academic vocabulary in textbooks. Teaching idioms can motivate students in learning the vocabulary. Students can bear in mind the set ups and vocabularies carried in the idioms easily. The end result is that the tutor ought to know how to choose and educate useful idioms in the right way so the students have the ability to use idioms properly both in classrooms and in real-life communication.
