VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

--------

NGUYỄN THU HIỀN

PROVERBS DENOTING FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS IN

ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE: A CONTRASTIVE
ANALYSIS AND TEACHING IMPLICATONS

CÁC TỤC NGỮ CHỈ MỐI QUAN HỆ GIA ĐÌNH: MỘT PHÂN TÍCH
ĐỐI CHIẾU VÀ NHỮNG ỨNG DỤNG TRONG DẠY HỌC

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Linguistics

Code: 60220201

HANOI, 2014
 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

--------

NGUYỄN THU HIỀN

PROVERBS DENOTING FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS IN

ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE: A CONTRASTIVE
ANALYSIS AND TEACHING IMPLICATONS

CÁC TỤC NGỮ CHỈ MỐI QUAN HỆ GIA ĐÌNH: MỘT PHÂN TÍCH
ĐỐI CHIẾU VÀ NHỮNG ỨNG DỤNG TRONG DẠY HỌC

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Linguistics

Code: 60220201

Supervisor: Dr. Nguyễn Huy Kỷ

HANOI, 2014
 DECLARATION OF AUTHOR

I certify that the minor thesis entitled Proverbs denoting family relationships in
English and Vietnamese: A contrastive analysis and teaching implications is
submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts
is the result of my own work, except where otherwise acknowledge and that this
minor thesis or any part of the same had not been submitted for a higher degree to
any other universities or institutions.

Hanoi, August 10th, 2014

Nguyễn Thu Hiền

i
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My study has been completed with the assistance and guidance of my teachers, my
friends and my relatives.

Firstly, I wish to express my deep thanks to my supervisor, Dr. Nguyễn Huy Kỷ, for
his valuable guidance, helpful suggestions and critical feedback on my study.

Secondly, I would like to give my gratitude to all my lecturers at the Faculty of

Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages & International Studies, Vietnam
National University, Hanoi for their useful lectures which helped me a lot for
accomplishment of the study. In addition, my thanks also go to my friends from
class K21HP for their ideas, materials and enthusiasm.

Last but not least, I want to give my special thanks to my family, especially to my
husband, for their support and encouragement so that I could finish my study.

ii
 ABSTRACT

Mieder [15: 11] states that the wisdom of proverbs has guided people in their social
interactions for thousand years throughout the world. They obviously contain a lot
of common sense, experience, wisdom and truth, and as such they represent ready-
made traditional strategies in oral speech acts and writings from high literature to
the mass media [15: 4]. Proverbs in general and proverbs denoting family
relationships in particular are useful for not only old people but also young ones.
They give us good pieces of advice and precious moral lessons. The study on
proverbs denoting family relationships in English and Vietnamese is an attempt to
investigate their syntactic features as well as their semantic ones. A contrastive
analysis has been made for the purpose of finding out the similarities and
differences between English proverbs denoting family relationships and Vietnamese
ones in terms of syntactic and semantic components. The result of the study may
make a great contribution to communication as well as writings. In addition, it may
also provide helpful suggestions for teachers and learners of English in using
proverbs. Through that, we can develop humanism which is really important and
indispensable in any society.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Declaration ........................................................................................................... i

Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ ii

Abstract ................................................................................................................. iii

Table of contents ................................................................................................... iv

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale ........................................................................................................... 1

2. Objectives of the study ...................................................................................... 2

3. Research questions ............................................................................................ 2

4. Methods of the study ........................................................................................ 2

5. Significance of the study ................................................................................... 3

6. Scope of the study ............................................................................................. 3

7. Organization of the study .................................................................................. 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1. An overview of precious study ...................................................................... 5

1.2. Theoretical background .................................................................................. 6

1.2.1. Definition of proverbs ...................................................................... 6

iv
 1.2.2. Definition of proverbs denoting family relationships ...................... 7

1.2.3. Definition of idioms ......................................................................... 8

1.2.4. Proverbs and idioms ......................................................................... 8

1.3. Summary ........................................................................................................ 10

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

2.1. Restatement of the research questions ........................................................... 11

2.2. Data collection instruments ............................................................................ 11

2.3. Procedures of data collection ......................................................................... 12

2.4. Procedures of data analysis ............................................................................ 12

2.5. Summary ........................................................................................................ 13

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

3.1. The syntactic features of English and Vietnamese proverbs denoting family
relationships .......................................................................................................... 14

3.1.1. Conciseness ...................................................................................... 14

3.1.2. Symmetry ........................................................................................ 15

3.1.3. Sentential structures ........................................................................ 16

3.1.4. Phrasal structures ............................................................................ 21

3.2. The similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese proverbs
denoting family relationships in terms of syntactic features................................. 22

3.2.1. Similarities ...................................................................................... 22

3.2.2. Differences ...................................................................................... 22

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3.3. Semantic features of English and Vietnamese proverbs denoting family
relationships .......................................................................................................... 23

3.3.1. Meanings of proverbs denoting family relationships ..................... 23

3.3.2. Stylistic devices of English and Vietnamese denoting family

relationships ......................................................................................................... 24

3.3.3. Semantic aspects of proverbs denoting family relationships in English

and Vietnamese ..................................................................................................... 27

3.4. Semantic similarities and differences between the English and Vietnamese
proverbs denoting family relationships ................................................................. 31

3.4.1. Similarities ....................................................................................... 31

3.4.2. Differences ....................................................................................... 32

3.5. Summary ........................................................................................................ 32

PART C: CONCLUSION

1. Recapitulation ................................................................................................... 34

2. Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 35

3. Teaching implications ....................................................................................... 36

4. Limitations of the study .................................................................................... 37

5. Suggestions for further study ........................................................................... 37

REFERENCES ................................................................................................... 39

APPENDIX 1 ....................................................................................................... I

APPENDIX 2 ....................................................................................................... III

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 PART A: INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale
When learning a new language, everybody expects to study not only its words but
also its culture and customs as well. Sapir [22:1] insists that “every cultural pattern
and every single act of social behavior involves communication in either an explicit
or implicit sense”. The tool for this communication is language [13:1]. There are
many ways to approach a new culture. One of them is studying its proverbs and
sayings. Bank [3:1] claims that “Proverbs are condensed culture”. Furthermore,
Mieder [15:11] states that “The wisdom of proverbs has guided people in their
social interactions for thousand years throughout the world.” We can say, therefore,
proverbs are a very precious heritage of every nation, every ethnic group that should
be respected and preserved.
Vietnamese proverbs are not known for sure of the origin in term of their inception
and authors. They are orally transmitted and incessantly edited throughout
generations [10:5]. The content of Vietnamese proverbs are various, often reflect
human experiences about labor and production, about family and social
relationships in which proverbs denoting family relationships account for relatively
large numbers in Vietnamese folk songs store. Proverbs about the relationship
between husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters have been in
company with us during our whole lives. From the cradle, I was familiar with some
proverbs: “Chị ngã em nâng” [24:43], “Anh em như thể tay chân” [8:26] or “Một
giọt máu đào hơn ao nước lã” [18:276]. We were taught not only to love our
brothers and sisters but also to respect spiritual family sentiment. Furthermore,
some other proverbs gave us the lessons of respecting and being grateful to our
parents such as: “Công cha như núi Thái Sơn, nghĩa mẹ như nước trong nguồn chảy
ra” [18:274]. And there are still a lot of valuable proverbs which provide us with
many precious lessons in the treasure of Vietnamese proverbs. It is clear that family
proverbs have carved deeply into everyone’s mind. Therefore, they play an

1
important role in educating people to respect ancestors, history and traditional
cultures.
From the above reasons, I was attracted to study the thesis: Proverbs denoting
family relationships in English and Vietnamese: A contrastive analysis and some
teaching implications.

2. Objectives of the study

The objectives of the study are:
- to identify and analyze syntactic and semantic features of some proverbs denoting
family relationships in English and Vietnamese.
- to compare and contrast syntactic and semantic features of some proverbs
denoting family relationships in English and Vietnamese.
- to give some suggestions in teaching English and Vietnamese proverbs denoting
family relationships.

3. Research questions
Based on the above objectives, this study is going to give answers to the following
questions:
1. What are syntactic and semantic features of English and Vietnamese proverbs
denoting family relationships?
2. What are the similarities and differences in syntactic and semantic features of
English and Vietnamese proverbs denoting family relationships?
3. What are the implications of teaching English and Vietnamese proverbs denoting
family relationships?

4. Methods of the study

The research methods to be applied in this study include:

2
- quantitative and qualitative analysis which will be used for reading and
categorizing typical English and Vietnamese proverbs denoting family
relationships.
- comparative and contrastive analysis of proverbs in English and Vietnamese
which will be carried out in terms of syntactic and semantic features.
- synthesis analysis which will be used to synthesize the data and conclude the
similarities and differences between proverbs denoting family relationships in
English and Vietnamese.

5. Significance of the study

With the purpose of studying the syntactic and semantic features of proverbs
denoting family relationships in English and Vietnamese, the study will be able to
provide Vietnamese learners of English with better mastering of how to apply this
kind of proverbs in sensible ways, how to thoroughly understand, effectively and
naturally use them in receptive and productive skills.

6. Scope of the study

In this research, the author expects to find out, analyze and contrast syntactic and
semantic features of English and Vietnamese proverbs denoting family relationship.
The author will also make great efforts to discover the proverbs which have
contents related to the relationships of family members although they do not carry
family words. Contrastively, the proverbs which just carry family words do not
convey the contents of family relationships are not mentioned.

7. Organization of the study

The study consists of three main parts in addition to appendices and references.
Part A, introduction, introduces the rationale, the objectives, the research questions,
the methods, the significance, the scope and the organization of the study,

3
Part B is the development of the study which contains three chapters. The first
chapter focuses on an overview of literature review and theoretical background of
proverbs. Definition of idioms and the distinguishing between proverbs and idioms
are also mentioned in this chapter. The second chapter is methodology in which
data collection instruments, procedures of data collection, procedures of data
analysis are presented. The last chapter in part B is data analysis and discussion.
This chapter shows syntactic and semantic features of proverbs denoting family
relationships in English and Vietnamese. And then similarities and differences of
English and Vietnamese proverbs denoting family relationships in terms of syntax
and semantics will be concluded.
Part C is the conclusion of the study which includes the recapitulation of the
study as well as some conclusions, limitations, teaching implications and some
suggestions for further studies.

4
 PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

The literature and the theoretical background on proverbs in both English and
Vietnamese are presented in this chapter. An overview of previous study which is
related to proverbs in English and Vietnamese as well as the definitions of proverbs
is presented. Then, the definitions of idioms and the distinguishing between
proverbs and idioms are also mentioned in this chapter.

1.1. An overview of previous study

Proverbs have attracted many scholars all over the world. There are some books
whose authors mentioned some aspects of proverbs. “Proverbs and their lessons”
written by Richard [21] presents an important survey of the origin, nature,
distribution, meaning and significance of proverbs in the English speaking world.
On the other hand, “American proverbs about women” by Kerschen [8] is an
examination of how women are treated by popular sayings that perpetuate folk
wisdom. Furthermore, “The fact on file dictionary of proverbs” by Martin [14]
provides full meanings of common proverbs arranged in the alphabetic order. The
book “Proverbs: A Handbook” by Mieder [15] is an inclusive and comparative
survey of paremiology and focuses on Anglo American proverbs in English
language context.
In Vietnam, many linguists have paid much attention to proverbs. Thu [24] and Lân
[9] shared the same ideas of classifying Vietnamese proverbs as every aspect of our
lives in two books “Ca dao, tục ngữ Việt Nam” and “Tục ngữ, ca dao Viêt Nam”
respectively. In addition, Lân [10] compiled a dictionary in which proverbs were
both literally and figuratively explained in the alphabetic order. Hùng [7] collected a
number of English proverbs and their Vietnamese equivalences which were helpful
for learners of English. Sa [22] focused on rhetorical simile between English

5
proverbs and Vietnamese ones. Finally, Phan [18] made a collection of proverbs
and folksongs in terms of content and classified them into many categories.
However, there have been few works relating proverbs denoting family
relationships particularly so far, to my knowledge. That is the reason why I attempt
to investigate the syntactic and semantic features of English and Vietnamese
proverbs denoting family relationships.

1.2. Theoretical background

1.2.1. Definitions of proverbs
There are many definitions of proverbs in both English and Vietnamese. In English,
according to Oxford dictionary [12], a proverb is a “well known phrase or sentence
that states the truth or gives advices”. On the other hand, Mieder [15: 3] defines “A
proverbs is a short, generally known sentence of the folk which contains wisdom,
truth, morals, and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed and memorizable form
and which is handed down from generation to generation. Besides, Martin [14: 9]
shows that “A proverb is a saying usually short, that expresses a general truth about
life”.
Not only international scholars but also Vietnamese ones have paid more attention
to proverbs. Lân [10: 6] defines “Tục ngữ là những câu hoàn chỉnh, có ý nghĩa trọn
ven, nói lên hoặc một nhận xét về tâm lý, hoặc một lời phê bình, khen hay chê, hoặc
một câu khuyên nhủ, hoặc một kinh nghiệm về nhận thức tự nhiên hay xã hội…
Proverbs are complete sentences which carry full meanings, express spiritual
comments, criticisms, compliments or disparagements; or pieces of advice,
experiences about the nature or the society…. Phan [18: 27] states that: “Tục ngữ là
một câu tự nó diễn trọn vẹn một ý, một nhận xét, một kinh nghiệm, một luân lý, một
công lý, có khi là một sự phê phán.” A proverb is a sentence which expresses
complete meaning itself, a comment, an experience, a justice and a criticism as well.
Hùng [7: 10] claims that “Tục ngữ là câu ngắn gọn, thường có vần điệu, đúc kết tri
thức, kinh nghiệm sống và đạo đức thực tiễn của nhân dân.” A proverb is a short

6
sentence with rhythm and expresses people’s knowledge, life experiences and moral
principles.
As can be seen from the above definitions, there are different ways of defining a
proverb. In a short nut, the definition raised by Mieder is considered the most
appropriate to my study. A proverbs is a short, generally known sentence of the folk
which contains wisdom, truth, morals, and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed
and memorizable form and which is handed down from generation to generation.
[15: 3]

1.2.2. Definition of proverbs denoting family relationships

In my opinion, family relationships are emotional connections between members in
a family in general. It consists of emotional connections between parents and
children, husbands and wives, siblings and other kinships. Proverbs which convey
the emotional connections are called proverbs denoting family relationships. They
are found in both forms of Vietnamese and English. For example, “Vợ chồng như
đũa có đôi” [24: 37]; “Anh em hòa thuận là nhà có phúc” [24: 43]; “Chị em dâu như
bầu nước lã” [17:44] are known as Vietnamese proverbs denoting family
relationships, and “As is the father, so is the son” [14:13]; “The family that prays
together stays together [14:85] as English ones.

1.2.3. Definition of idioms

According to Oxford dictionary [11], an idiom is a group of words in a fixed order
that have a particular meaning that is different from the meanings of each word on
its own. Furthermore, Michael and Felicity [16] stated that idioms are “expressions
which have a meaning that is not obvious from the individual words”. Like foreign
researchers, Phan [18] also states that an idiom is a part of a sentence and it cannot
express a complete idea itself. Lân [9] claims that idioms are fixed phrases to
express a concept.

7
1.2.4. Proverbs and idioms
When studying the proverbs, the researcher got much confused to distinguish
proverbs from idioms. So in this part, the differences between them will be pointed
in the hope of helping the readers have more knowledge of proverbs. Both idioms
and proverbs are fixed and available language units which are picturesque, highly
evocative and popularly used in communication. However, idioms differ from
proverbs in several ways. First, in terms of syntax, an idiom is a fixed phrase whose
meaning cannot be deduced from the meanings of its constituents while a proverb is
a complete sentence expressing one idea of comment, experience, morality, justice
or criticism. Let’s see some examples as follows:
(1) pull one’s weight [16: 42]
(2) An apple a day keeps the doctor away. [14]
It can be seen that example (1) is an idiom because it is a fixed phrase which does
not mean “put on one’s weight”. It means using a lot of energy and effort to do
something like in the sentence “If Sarah pulled her weight, she would easily be able
to complete her project on time.” However, example (2) is a proverb because it is a
complete sentence which contains a message. It is not just about the act of eating an
apple that can keep a doctor away. The message of the sentence is that we should
try to pursue a healthy diet to stay healthy.
Furthermore, an idiom can be a part of a proverb. This exists both in English and in
Vietnamese:
(3) Chồng yêu, xỏ chân lỗ mũi. [7: 13]
(4) Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. [7: 13]
We can see that “xỏ chân lỗ mũi” and “put all one’s eggs in one basket” are idioms
which belong to proverbs (3) and (4) respectively.
On the other hand, when studying the differences between proverbs and idioms,
Hùng [7] focused on their literature functions. According to his study, proverbs
carry three main literature functions: aesthetic function, perception function and

8
educational function whereas idioms bring only aesthetic function. Let’s consider
two examples for illustration below:
(5) Blood is thicker than water. [14: 30]
(6) get on like a house on fire [16: 52]
Example (5) concludes three literature functions. The perception function helps the
readers understand the loyalty and affection between members of the same family
are much stronger than any other relationship. Regarding educational function, it
educates people to have awareness of sacred family relationships and then
encourages them to live in harmony with family members. The methods of
exaggeration and symbolization used so as to attract the readers’ attention can be
understood as the function of aesthetics. Example (6) is an idiom expressing “get on
extremely well with someone”. It does not have the functions of perception as well
as education because it does not convey a comment, a piece of advice or a criticism.
It just owns the aesthetic function which is performed by using simile.
Let’s have a look at table 1 that summarizes the distinguishing criteria between
proverbs and idioms.

Features Idioms Proverbs

Structural realization fixed phrases usually complete sentences
Literature functions aesthetic function - aesthetic function
- perception function
- educational function
Expression pure concepts general truths, comments,
advices, experiences,
criticisms…
Table 1: Distinguishing criteria between proverbs and idioms

It is noteworthy that the boundaries we have proposed are fuzzy in the sense that
overlapping, to some extent, cannot be avoided. Although different units are

9
distinguished in the table, there are some exceptions that the boundary between
proverbs and idioms is sometimes vague. The unclear distinguishing between
proverbs and idioms can be found in Vietnamese more than in English. “Trong ấm
ngoài êm”, for example, may be understood to be both an idiom and a proverb. If it
is considered as a concept of inner and outer stableness, it will be an idiom. If
people think “trong ấm” will result in “ngoài êm”, it will be a proverb because it
shows the fact that the union and harmony inside will create a concrete base of good
relationships outside.

1.3 Summary
In chapter 1, the author has presented some previous studies about proverbs.
There are numerous studies of this subject but few studies refer to proverbs
denoting family relationships in English and Vietnamese. In addition, the definition
of proverbs and distinguish between proverbs and idioms have been mentioned. The
vague boundary between idioms and proverbs is also referred but the author does
not have a deeper research about it. In the next chapter, the author will deal with
methodology and procedures to carry out this study.

10
 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

The methods of study are very important to find out the findings and conclusion of
the study. Therefore, the clearer methodology is given, the deeper the study is
understood. This chapter mainly aims at restating the research questions and
describing the procedures of collecting and analyzing data in the study.

2.1. Restatement of the research questions

This study is designed to analyze and describe syntactic and semantic features of
proverbs denoting family relationships in English and Vietnamese. The author made
use of contrastive analysis in qualitative and quantitative approaches to meet the
needs of the study. Data are collected, classified and analyzed both in English and
in Vietnamese to recognize the similarities and differences between English and
Vietnamese proverbs denoting family relationships. In other words, three following
research questions must be answered:
1. What are syntactic and semantic features of English and Vietnamese proverbs
denoting family relationships?
2. What are the similarities and differences in syntactic and semantic features of
English and Vietnamese proverbs denoting family relationships?
3. What are the implications of teaching and learning English and Vietnamese
proverbs denoting family relationships?

2.2. Data collection instruments

Most of the proverbs used in the study were collected from dictionaries, books,
articles, defended theses and researches. They are extremely famous works in
Vietnamese as well as in English. In Vietnamese, the author selected the data from
three main books: “Ca dao, tục ngữ Việt Nam” by Phương Thu [24], “Tục ngữ, ca
dao, dân ca Việt Nam” by Vũ Ngọc Phan [18] or “Tuyển tập thành ngữ, tục ngữ, ca
dao Việt – Anh thông dụng” by Nguyễn Đình Hùng [7]. In English, I mainly made

11
the reference of three important books: “Proverbs: A Handbook” by Wolfgang
Mieder [15], “The facts on file dictionary of proverbs” by Martin H. Manser [14]
and “The Penguin dictionary of proverbs” by Rosalind [20]. The materials are
chosen for several specific reasons. Firstly, it can be said that they are quiet popular
and currently available. Secondly, the scope of the materials is focused on common
proverbs especially proverbs denoting family relationships. And finally, the sources
of these data are believed to be reliable, suitable and adequate because they are all
published, submitted and related to the area of the study.
Besides the source of hard papers, the author also collected some proverbs from
internet. Then, the author checked them up again in dictionaries to ensure their
accuracy and reliability. Finally, I reached to some proverbs from the old people
and foreigners who are working with me at my center.

2.3. Procedures of data collection

In this present paper, the data are mainly obtained by observation and through
content-analysis. The data used for description and analysis in terms of structural
and semantic components are observed and taken out from reliable materials. By
that way, the author collected 100 proverbs denoting family relationships both in
English and in Vietnamese. Then the author carries out analyzing contents of the
proverbs to classify them into different categories such as proverbs denoting
relationships between parents and children, husbands and wives, siblings… in order
to make the study clearer. And this could help the readers easily understand the
content of the study. Moreover, the author asked some experienced people and
foreigners to get a couple of proverbs that were useful for the research.

2.4. Procedures of data analysis

After finishing the collection of data, the author carries out some research methods
to analyze the data so as to answer the research questions set up early in the study.

12
Firstly, contrastive analysis is used to estimate the differences in syntactic features
of English and Vietnamese proverbs. Each structure has at least one example for
illustration. By contrastive analysis, the author will discover the similarities and
differences in proverbs denoting family relationships in terms of syntactic features.
Secondly, the data will be analyzed qualitatively into semantic field. The data
collected are typical and representative for sematic characteristics of family
proverbs in English and Vietnamese. With the help of contrastive method, the
similarities and differences between them will be explored.
Finally, the author will draw some conclusions about proverbs in English and
Vietnamese due to carrying the methods of analyzing and synthesizing the data.

2.5. Summary
In the second chapter, the author would like to present the methodology of
the study. Data were collected from numerous sources such as dictionaries, books,
articles, websites… The proverbs were chosen and classified into different
categories so that the readers could follow the content easily. Description,
contrastive analysis and synthesis quantitatively and qualitatively were carried out
so as to find out the answers to the research questions.

13
 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

If the previous chapters have provided some knowledge background of proverbs in

general and the research methods of the study, this chapter will mention data
analysis and discussion. Firstly, it presents the syntactic and semantic features of
proverbs denting family relationships in both English and Vietnamese. And then the
similarities and differences of two countries’ proverbs will be concluded in terms of
syntax and semantics. The content of the chapter is summarized in the last section.

3.1. The syntactic features of English and Vietnamese proverbs denoting family
relationships
3.1.1. Conciseness
As defined by many linguists, one common but very important feature of proverbs
is the concrete structure. Vietnamese proverbs denoting family relationships are
usually in simple composition, being formed from four words to longer but they are
generally in short. Let’s see some proverbs which consist of four words as follows:
Máu chảy ruột mềm. [9: 22]
Khác máu tanh lòng. [9: 22]
Chị ngã em nâng. [24: 43]
Some are longer, however, ranging from eight to ten words.
Anh thuận em hòa là nhà có phúc. [24: 43]
Thuận vợ thuận chồng tát bể Đông cũng cạn. [23: 37]
Sảy cha còn chú, sảy mẹ ấp vú dì. [9: 22]
Sometimes, a few long proverbs consist of over ten words, making up of two
sentences. They account for few numbers and are close to folksongs such as:
Khôn ngoan đối đáp người ngoài,
Gà cùng một mẹ chớ hoài đá nhau. [10: 280]
As can be seen from the above examples, the meaning of the proverbs will be
changed if we add or take away just one word in the proverbs. In conclusion, there

14
is no redundant word in a proverb itself. They altogether express a complete thought
or an idea.
Like Vietnamese proverbs denoting family relationships, English ones are also
characterized by conciseness. Proverbs are concise traditional statement of apparent
truths with currency among the folk [15: 4]. According to Dundes and Mieder [15],
proverbs must have at least two words like “Money talks.” or “Time flies.” These
are possibly one of the shortest proverbs in English. The author has not found any
proverbs denoting family relationships in English which consist of two words but
there are some in four or more. Let’s look at the following examples:
Like father like son. [11: 114]
Mother scratches child’s back, child scratches mother’s. [7: 126]
In short, proverbs are not only short but also pithy. They must be self-contained
[17: 32]. It means that none of their essential grammatical units may be replaced.
Each word in a proverb is very important and closely related together.

3.1.2. Symmetry
The presence of symmetrical structure is one of the unique features of Vietnamese
proverbs denoting family relationships as well as of English ones. Norrick quotes in
his valuable study [17: 51] that “the most important characteristic of a traditional
saying is the symmetrical structure of its form and content”. Furthermore, Mieder
[15: 6] claims that proverbs which contain a single descriptive element are non-
oppositional. Proverbs with two or more descriptive elements may be either
oppositional or non-oppositional. Therefore, the symmetry creates a balance
between two elements of a proverb. Let’s examine the following examples in both
English and Vietnamese for illustration of the symmetrical structures.
Môi hở / răng lạnh. [19: 354]
Trẻ cậy cha / già cậy con. [24: 40]
Con dại / cái mang. [18: 269]
Like father / like son. [11: 114]
Mother scratches child’s back / child scratches mother’s. [7: 126]

15
As we can see that either English proverbs denoting family relationships or
Vietnamese ones are structured into two symmetrical phrases or clauses which are
logically connected each other. They have symmetrical structures with the words
class being similar and the syllables being almost the same. Therefore, the
symmetry of the structure in proverbs may help the readers remember and use them
better. As the two phrases contain the same numbers of the words, the readers are
able to find out if they have read the correct proverbs.

3.1.3. Sentential structures

3.1.3.1. Simple sentence patterns
Quirk and Greenbaum [19: 165] in their valuable book deal with simple sentences
which consist of only one clause. Concentrating on the elements that are normally
obligatory, we can usefully distinguish seven clause types. They are SV, SVO,
SVC, SVA, SVOA, SVOC and SVOO. In process of collecting data, the author
found out a number of proverbs which denotes family relationships both in English
and in Vietnamese belong to one of the seven clause types. Table 2 shows the
presence of English and Vietnamese proverbs denoting family relationships in
seven types of clauses. Not all clause types are found in construction of proverbs
denoting family relationships in English and Vietnamese. We can see one clause
type may be found in the form of English proverbs but may not exist in Vietnamese
ones. Therefore, the author expects to list the proverbs denoting family relationships
in English and Vietnamese in terms of clause types. The author does not want to
deal with meaning equivalence of the proverbs denoting family relationships in
English and Vietnamese columns. As the result, the numbers of proverbs in two
columns can be not equal.

16
Clause English proverbs denoting Vietnamese proverbs denoting
types family relationships family relationships
SV Blood will tell. [20: 60] - Vợ chồng đầu gối tay ấp. [24: 37]
- Anh em hạt máu sẻ đôi. [10: 13]
SVA - Men are from Mars, women are from Venus. None
[14: 186]
- The shoemarker’s son always goes barefoot.
[11: 290]
SVC - A deaf husband and a blind wife are always a - Chị em nấm nem ba đồng.
happy couple. [14: 52] [10: 102]
- Blood is blood. [7: 131] - Dâu dâu, rể rể cũng kể là con.
- Parents are patterns. [14: 220] [24: 43]
- A grey mare is the better horse. [11: 149] - Em thuận anh hòa là nhà có phúc.
- A husband is always the last to know. [11: 170] [18: 276]
- A good wife and health is a man’s best wealth.
[20: 60]
- Home is where the heart is. [11: 163]
SVO - A bad husband makes a bad wife. [14: 167] - Con em đè lên con chị. [10: 137]
- A good Jack makes a good Jill. [14: 167] - Cha hổ mang đẻ con liu diu. [10:
- A blind man’s wife needs no paint. [14: 30] 86]
- A wise son heeds his father’s instruction. [11] - Con lên ba mới ra lòng mẹ. [24: 41]
- Máu ai thấm thịt nấy. [10: 335]
- Con chị cõng con em. [10: 135]
- Chị dại đã có em khôn. [10: 102]
SVOO None None
SVOC None Thuận vợ thuận chồng tát bể Đông
cũng cạn. [24: 37]
SVOA None None
Table 2: Vietnamese and English proverbs denoting family relationships
in seven types of clauses.

17
As we can see from table 2, the grammatical elements of proverbs both the English
and the Vietnamese proverbs denoting family relationships consist of three main
elements that are subjects, verbs and direct objects. Therefore, the clause types are
mainly displayed as SV, SVA, SVO whereas SVC. SVOO, SVOC and SVOA are
not common.

3.1.3.2. Compound sentence patterns

When we join two or more simple sentences, we make a compound sentence. [1: 8].
Some conjunctions are often used in compound sentences like: and, but, so, yet, nor,
or, either…or, not only…but also and so on. Compound sentences are found both in
English and in Vietnamese proverbs denoting family relationships with a large
number. These following are some illustrations:
- Children are certain cares, but uncertain comforts. [14: 40]
- A good man without a wife is but half a man. [20: 60]
- My son is my son till he gets him a wife, but my daughter’s my daughter all the
day of her life. [14: 194]
- Mother can take care of ten children but sometimes ten children can’t take care of
one mother. [14: 192]
- Praise the child and you make love to the mother. [14: 226]
- Mother scratches child’s back, child scratches mother’s. [7: 126]
- The husband eats hamburgers, the wife eats spring rolls. [7]
As we can see from the examples which sometimes have same subjects can be
omitted one but they are definitely compound sentences.
In addition, Vietnamese proverbs denoting family relationships also appear a lot in
the treasure of Vietnamese folklore in terms of the structure of compound sentences.
Let’s take some examples for illustration:
- Thuyền theo lái, gái theo chồng. [24: 37]
- Chồng ăn chả, vợ ăn nem. [10: 111]
- Sảy cha còn chú, sảy mẹ ấp vú dì. [9: 22]

18
- Trẻ cậy cha, già cậy con. [24: 40]
- Con chẳng chê cha mẹ khó, chó chẳng chê chủ nghèo. [10: 135]
- Con thì mạ, cá thì nước. [10: 141]
- Em khôn cũng là em chị, chị dại cũng là chị em. [24: 43]

3.1.3.3. Complex sentence patterns

According to Quirk and Greenbaum [19], a complex sentence has an independent
clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. A complex sentence always has a
subordinator such as since, after, although, when… or a relative pronoun such as
that, who or which. When studying proverbs denoting family relationships, I
realized that complex sentence patterns are rare in English and none of them are in
Vietnamese. We could see some examples for illustration:
- He that has a wife and children has given hostage to fortune. [14: 119]
- Happy is he that is happy in his children. [7: 62]
- The family that prays together stays together. [14: 85]
- When the blood sheds, the heart aches. [7: 124]
- He that will thrive must first ask his wife. [11: 324]
- There’s only one pretty child in the world and every mother has it. [20: 65]
It is obvious that each example consists of two clauses: one independent clause and
one dependent clause. None of the proverbs in Vietnamese in this field has been
found so far, to my knowledge.

3.1.3.4. Comparative sentence patterns

According to Quirk and Greenbaum [19: 329], in a comparative construction, a
proposition expressed in the superordinate clause is compared with a proposition
expressed in the subordinate clause by means of a “comparative element” and
identifies the comparison as equational or differentiating. The complement is linked
with the subordinate clause by a correlative sequence: equational as…as, or

19
differentiating less…than, more…than. This type of sentence is found both in
English proverbs denoting family relationships and in Vietnamese ones.
Table 3 displays examples of proverbs which are comparative sentences. The author
only wishes to compare the quantity of English proverbs denoting family
relationships with that of Vietnamese ones. The author does not intend to emphasize
the meanings of English proverbs and their Vietnamese equivalence. For that
purpose, the number of proverbs in two languages may not be equal.

Correlatives English proverbs denoting family Vietnamese proverbs denoting family

relationships relationships
as…as None - Vợ chồng như đũa có đôi. [21: 37]
- Chồng như đó, vợ như hom.
[15: 252]
- Vợ chồng như mặt trăng,mặt trời
[10: 613]
- Anh em như chân với tay. [10: 13]
- Con có cha như nhà có nóc.
[24: 40]
- Con có mẹ như măng ấp bẹ.
[10: 136]
- Mẹ đánh một trăm không bằng cha
ngăm một tiếng. [10: 346]
more…than - Blood is thicker than water. - Một giọt máu đào hơn ao nước lã.
or less…than [13: 30] [9: 22]
- Better be an old man’s darling - Máu loãng còn hơn nước lã.
than a young man’s slave. [13: 23] [10: 336]
- Họ hàng xa còn hơn người dung.
[10: 336]
Table 3: Comparative sentences in English and Vietnamese proverbs
denoting family relationships

20
3.1.4. Phrasal structures
As we know, in chapter 1, a proverb is defined as a short and complete sentence [9:
6]. The term “sentence” relates to grammatical language units that comprise a
minimum sense of unity and completeness [18: 12] but this is not an entirely
accurate description of proverbs, as some proverbs take the form of an
ungrammatical phrasal unit, in which semantic relations must be inferred. During
the time of doing my study, I have collected a few of English proverbs denoting
family relationships as follows:
- Like father like son [11: 114]
- Spare the rod, spoil the child [11: 114]
A grammar which described the above examples as complete grammatical
sentences would necessarily also generate countless structure unacceptable to all
speakers. This leads us to find another way to explain these situations. Norrick in
his valuable study on how proverbs mean has concluded that “for well-known
proverbs, mention of one crucial recognizable phrase serves to call forth the entire
proverb, speaking of this minimal recognizable unit as the kernel of the proverbs”
[16: 57]. It is clear that these above examples are completely proverbs which just
carry “the kernel” of the proverbs.
Like English proverbs, Vietnamese proverbs have some cases which cannot
analyzed basing on grammar of subject – verb. We can identify structure of the
proverbs according to the theory of Norrick. The author has also found out some
Vietnamese proverbs denoting family relationships to give illustration as follows:
- Cha nào con nấy [24: 41]
- Môi hở răng lạnh. [10: 354]
- Khác máu tanh lòng. [9: 22]
On the other hand, the proverbs can be realized basing on the theory of theme and
rheme. Hạo [6] successfully proposes the theory of theme and rheme (đề and thuyết
in Vietnamese respectively) to identify structure of a sentence. According to his

21
study, “cha nào”, “môi hở” and “khác máu” are considered as themes while “con
nấy”, răng lạnh’ and “tanh lòng” are regarded as rheme..

3.2. The similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese proverbs
denoting family relationships in terms of syntactic features
In this section, due to what have presented above, the similarities and differences
between English and Vietnamese in terms of syntactic features are pointed out.
3.2.1. Similarities
In general, the English and Vietnamese proverbs denoting family relationships share
some certain similarities in terms of syntax.
Firstly, they carry not only the conciseness but also the symmetry. The shortest
proverbs denoting family relationships found in both languages consist of four
words with two parallel parts. The symmetrical structure helps the readers easily
remember and deeply understand what are conveyed through proverbs. One more
thing, thanks to the conciseness and the symmetry, proverbs especially those
denoting family relationships were passed from generation to generation.
Secondly, according to the above analysis, we can see that the structural patterns of
proverbs collected in two languages are sentences such as simple sentences,
compound sentences and complex sentences. On the other hand, analyzing proverbs
which conforms to the theory of theme and rheme can be applied in two languages.
Finally, the author found that comparative sentences are commonly used in
proverbs denoting family relationships with comparative makers as…as,
more...than, less…than in English and giống như, hơn, không bằng in Vietnamese
accordingly.
3.3.2. Differences
Apart from the similarities, the analysis of the data has revealed that the differences
between English proverbs denoting family relationships and Vietnamese ones are
not much. It is proved by the following different characteristics:

22
Based on the data analysis, the first difference is that the structure of complex
sentences which are not found in Vietnamese proverbs denoting family
relationships can be seen in English ones. The complex sentences collected in
English consist of one independent clause and one dependent clause joined together
by subordinators such as that and when.
Another difference lies in the distribution of comparative sentences in English and
Vietnamese proverbs denoting family relationships. Comparison is far more
prevalent in Vietnamese than that in English, with as many as (16%) in Vietnamese
against the figure of (6%) in English.

3.3. Semantic features of English and Vietnamese proverbs denoting family

relationships
3.3.1. Meanings of proverbs denoting family relationships in English and
Vietnamese
Mieder [15] states in his valuable book that some proverbs have both a literal and a
figurative meaning, either of which makes perfect sense; but more often they have
but one of the two. Vietnamese scholars also make the same point to the meanings
of proverbs. Phan [18] and Lân [9] propose a proverb normally consists of two
meanings: literal meaning and figurative meaning. Therefore, proverbs denoting
family relationships in English and Vietnamese also carry both literal meaning and
figurative meaning. It will be more explicit in the following examples:
(1) Môi hở răng lạnh. [10: 354]
(2) A deaf husband and a blind wife are always a happy couple. [14: 52]
Example (1) and (2) both own the literal meaning and the figurative meaning.
Example (1) refers to two parts of body: “môi” are lips “răng” are teeth. If lips are
open, teeth will be “cold”. It means that what lips do may affect to teeth. That is the
literal meaning of the proverb. The figurative meaning reveals that lips and teeth
represent members in a family. The relationships among members of the family are
close. The proverb advises that people in a family, in a community or even in a

23
country should live in harmony and take care of each other. In example (2), it seems
that a recipe for a successful marriage is one in which the husband is deaf to his
wife’s constant chatter or nagging and the wife is blind to her husband’s physical
shortcoming or misdeeds. However, the proverb implies that conjugal harmony
requires tolerance on both sides. Clearly, due to the implied meaning, each proverb
denoting family relationships in English or in Vietnamese refers to a lesson which is
either useful or valuable in our lives. Adward [1: 12] states that a proverb which is
figurative in its construction may be considered as a condensed parable.

3.3.2. Stylistic devices of English and Vietnamese denoting family relationships

The figurative meaning of proverbs is not always obvious and it is necessary to
have a certain level of thinking to understand. Therefore, many proverbs with
certain stylistic features help a statement to gain and maintain proverbial status [15:
7]. Through the employment of stylistic devices, it makes the proverbs more vivid
and encourages an individual to use his/her imagination. Like other types of
proverbs, proverbs denoting family relationships in English and Vietnamese also
use some the stylistic devices to such as simile, metaphor, metonymy and
hyperbole.
3.3.2.1. Simile
A simile is a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another
thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid. [12].
Some connective words such as like, as, so, than can be used in applying simile.
Let’s consider these following examples:
(1) Blood is thicker than water. [14: 30]
(2) Vợ chồng như đũa có đôi. [24: 37]
It can be seen that simile occurs both in the English proverbs denoting family
relationships and in Vietnamese ones. In two examples above, two different entities
are compared. “Blood” which is more important than “water” in example (1)
implies that family relationships are more important than other relationships.

24
Meanwhile, “vợ chồng” is compared with “đũa có đôi” in example (2). As we
know, no one can pick up food with one of a pair of chopsticks. It all takes
similarity in the life of the couple. Nobody can live alone and feel happy without a
partner. Can we imagine that how we use unbalanced pairs of chopsticks to pick up
food? Is it effective? So it is necessary to have a “balanced” relationship between
husband and wife to make a happy couple. A list of comparative proverbs denoting
family relationships in Vietnamese which seems to be longer than in English can be
listed. The occurrence of proverbs denoting family relationships in Vietnamese
takes the figure of 6% meanwhile English proverbs is 1% in the collection. So the
frequency of simile in Vietnamese proverbs is relatively higher than English ones.

3.3.2.2. Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object
or action to which it is not literal applicable [12]. The preference for metaphor
proverbs lies in the fact that they can be employed in a figurative or indirect way
[15: 8]. Let us consider metaphor in the following examples:
(1) Parents are patterns. [14: 220]
(2) Thuyền theo lái, gái theo chồng. [24: 37]
In exampe (1), two images “parents” and “patterns” are brought in the interplay of
their meanings. “Patterns” are considered as models to everyone. Thus, it plays an
important role in educating people. Moreover, “patterns” seems to be correctness
which everybody wants to follow. Similarly, “parents” evokes in our mind the
image of people with good characters such as carefulness, tolerance, taking care of
children. Metaphor can be found in the identification between the function of
parents and patterns. It emphasizes that “parents” play an important role in the
family. Metaphor is found not only in English but also in Vietnamese. Example (2)
has two metaphorical images “thuyền – a boat” and “gái – a woman”. A boat can
only move in a correct direction under operation of the boat’s owner. A woman who
gets married has to follow her husband.

25
3.3.2.3. Metonymy
Metonymy is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is called not by its own
name but rather by the name of something associated in meaning with that thing or
concept. [12]. Let us see the following examples:
(1) A deaf husband and a blind wife are always a happy couple. [14: 52]
(2) Mẹ đánh một trăm không bằng cha ngăm một tiếng. [18: 270]
In example (1), “a deaf husband and a blind wife” does not express a couple without
abilities of listening and watching, it is used with metonymy to describe that
conjugal harmony requires tolerance on both sides. Similarly, in example (2) “một
trăm” is not about the number of one hundred, “một tiếng” is not one sound or one
word of speech. It means that when the father threatens or warns a little, children
will have to be frightened. This proverb aims at expressing the important role and
high position of father in a family.

3.3.2.4. Hyperbole
Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. It
may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is not
meant to be taken literally [12]. Quaint exaggeration of statement is often employed
to compel attention [1: 11]. Here are some examples for illustration:
(1) A mother in law and a daughter in law are a tempest and hailstorm. [7]
(2) Một giọt máu đào hơn ao nước lã. [9: 22]
According to example (1), hyperbole makes the point that the relationship between
a mother in law and a daughter in law is not usually in harmony. Furthermore,
example (2) strongly emphasizes that family relationship is much more important
than other relationship

26
3.3.3. Semantic aspects of proverbs denoting family relationships in English
and Vietnamese
As mentioned in the previous chapters, family relationships consist of the
relationships between members in the family. They may be the sentiment between
parents and children, the bloody connection among siblings or the nuptial knot and
so on. The contents of proverbs denoting family relationships in English and
Vietnamese are apparently reflected in this part.
3.2.3.1. Relationships between Husbands and Wives
This is the basic relationship in a family. It is also a vital factor to manage a happy
family. In English, some proverbs showing this kind of relationship are explored.
Let us take the cases of the following instances:
(1) A good husband makes a good wife. or A good Jack makes a good Jill. [14:167]
(2) A deaf husband and a blind wife are always a happy couple. [14:52]
(3) A blind man’s wife needs no paint. [14:30]
(40) When the husband earns well, the wife spin well. [8: 27]
Example (1) conveys the idea that a husband who treats his family with respect and
carries out his duties as he should, will find that his wife does likewise. Example (2)
introduces the model marital life. It provides that the perfect union can be
experienced between a husband who is ignorant to his wife’s complaints and a wife
who can overlook her husband’s faults. They need the tolerance from both sides.
Moreover, example (3) indicates that a husband does not value his wife by her
appearance but he loves her for her characters, her inner world. On the other hand,
example (4) suggests that the husband and the wife love each other and work
together they will be happy.
Apart from presenting the good relationship between husbands and wives, taking
advantages of each other, disagreement and unfaithfulness are also mentioned.
(5) A light purse is a heavy curse. [7:62]
(6) The husband eats hamburgers, the wife eats spring rolls. [7]
(7) A husband is always the last to know. [11: 170]

27
Like English, Vietnamese proverbs also denote the harmony, faithfulness, empathy
as well as dissonance, disagreement and separation. Let’s look some examples
below:
(1) Vợ chồng đầu gối tay ấp. [24: 37]
(2) Thuận vợ thuận chồng tát bể Đông cũng cạn. [24: 37]
(3) Vợ chồng như mặt trăng, mặt trời. [10: 613]
(4) Chồng em áo rách em thương
Chồng người áo gấm xông hương mặc người. [24: 38]
(5) Chồng ăn chả, vợ ăn nem. [10:111]
Proverbs (3) and (5) express the disagreement and dissonance between husbands
and wives. They don’t share opinions of life, the ways of educating children... And
this will lead to the separation then the divorce. In contrast, proverbs (1), (2) and (4)
present the love, the harmony and faithfulness which create a happy couple. If
husbands and wives share experiences and stand side by side, they will overcome
all encountered difficulties during their lifetime.

3.3.3.2. Relationships between parents and children

A number of English proverbs render the relationship between parents and children.
Firstly, the importance of parents to children is above suspicion. It is clearly shown
in both English and Vietnamese proverbs.
(1) A child without parents is like a ship without a rudder. [20]
(2) Parents are patterns. [14: 220]
(3) Happy is he that is happy in his children. [7: 62]
(4) Con có cha như nhà có nóc. [24: 40]
(5) Con có mẹ như măng ấp bẹ. [10: 136]
(6) Mẹ ngoảnh đi con dại; mẹ ngoảnh lại con khôn. [18: 270]
No one was born without parents. The following examples show that parents are not
only fathers and mothers who protect children from dangers but also teachers who
teach them how to well behave with each other. Moreover, some proverbs,

28
especially Vietnamese ones, praise parents’ love to children and show their
viewpoint toward their children such as:
(6) Children are certain cares, but uncertain comforts. [14: 40]
(7) Walnut and pears you plant for your heirs. [11: 344]
(8) Spare the rod, spoil the child. [11: 114]
(9) There’s only one pretty child in the world and every mother has it. [20: 65]
(10) Con lên ba, mẹ sa xương sườn. [24: 40]
(11) Con biết lấy thì bố biết bò. [18: 269]
Meanwhile proverbs (7), (8), (9), (10) and (11) convey the senses of love and care,
the sacrifice for their children, proverbs (6) signifies that raising a child is a
responsibility and a continual anxiety and there is no security that parents’ efforts
will be recompensed.
Because parents are always the closest, they have strong influences on their
children. This subject is stated in the following examples:
(12) Like father like son. [7: 45]
(13) Like mother like daughter. [11: 114]
(14) The apple never falls far from the tree. [14: 10]
(15) Mother’s darlings are but milksop heroes. [7: 62]
(16) Cha nào, con nấy. [7: 45]
These examples indicate that children may be affected good things as well as bad
things by their parents. They tend to be similar to their parents. This similarity can
take a form of physical appearance, character traits, views of life and particular
abilities.
On the other hand, the relationships between parents and children are also expressed
through children’s attitudes toward their parents. Let’s consider some cases in
English and Vietnamese below:
(17) A mother can take care of ten children but sometimes ten children can’t take
care of one mother. [14: 192]

29
(18) My son is my son till he gets him a wife, but my daughter’s my daughter all the
days of her life. [14: 194]
(19) Praise the child, you make love to the mother. [14: 226]
(20) A wise son heeds his father’s instruction. [20]
(21) It is a wise child that knows its own father. [11: 354]
(22) Con chẳng chê cha mẹ khó, chó chẳng chê chủ nghèo. [10: 135]
Either English proverbs or Vietnamese ones provide two viewpoints about
children’s attitudes to their parents. Proverbs (19), (20), (21) and (22) refer to sacred
feelings between parents and children. Those are children’s love, respect,
gratefulness and obedience to their parents whereas proverbs (17) and (18) provide
bad behavior to their fathers and mothers. Sometimes, sons change their minds after
they get married. They become worse because of his wives. Moreover, some people
treat without care and love to their parents when they are old.

3.3.3.3. Relationships of siblings

Most of people in the world have siblings. Therefore, this subject has been an
universal theme in literature for thousands of years. However, there are not many
proverbs about siblings in English. Let’s see the example for illustration:
(1) A friend loves at all the time, and a brother is born for adversity. [11]
This proverb expresses that a true friend never fails and a true brother is always
ready to help in time of need.
In the treasure of Vietnamese folklore, there are a large number of proverbs
denoting the relationships between brothers and sisters. Most of them praise the
good sentiment among siblings. Here are some examples:
(2) Chị ngã em nâng. [24: 43]
(3) Anh em thuận hòa là nhà có phúc. [24: 43]
(4) Chị dại đã có em khôn. [10: 102]
(5) Anh em hạt máu sẻ đôi. [10: 13]
(6) Anh em như tay với chân. [10: 13]

30
The above proverbs present the solidarity, union, harmony and love among siblings.
They should support to each other, sympathize and share experiences all the time.
The power of love and the strength of union enable a family to overcome all
difficulties and challenges.
In contrary to good relationships, jealousness, envy and disagreement have been
raised in the Vietnamese proverbs.
(7) Con em đè lên con chị. [10: 137]
(8) Anh ngủ em thức, em chực anh nằm. [24: 43]
(9) Chị em nấm nem ba đồng. [10: 102]

3.3.3.4. Other family relationships

Besides the relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children,
brothers and sisters, relative relationships are also mentioned in proverbs but more
often in Vietnamese than English. Let us examine these examples below:
(1) Blood is thicker than water. [14: 30]
(2) Một giọt máu đào hơn ao nước lã. [10: 22]
(3) Máu loãng còn hơn nước lã. [10: 336]
(4) Khác máu tanh lòng. [10: 22]
(5) Môi hở răng lạnh [10: 354]
In total five stated examples above, there is only one English proverb and others are
Vietnamese ones that completely convey the idea that family members or relatives
are more important than outsiders. It means bonds of loyalty and affection between
members of the same family are much stronger than any other relationships.

3.4. Semantic similarities and differences between the English and Vietnamese
proverbs denoting family relationships
3.4.1. Similarities
Through the examples and their analysis, it cannot be denied that English and
Vietnamese proverbs have a great importance to and influence on our daily life.

31
Moreover, one of the most characteristic properties of proverbs denoting family
relationships in the two languages is that some of them have a literal meaning and a
figurative meaning. Some of proverbs have both a literal meaning and figurative
meaning, either of which makes perfect sense; but more often they have but one of
the two [15: 2]. In addition, both English proverb denoting family relationships and
Vietnamese ones are marked by the use of many similar stylistic devices such as
simile, metaphor, metonymy and hyperbole. Thanks to these powerful figures of
speech, we can create proverbs with new nuances of meaning; that is figurative
meaning. This also proves a fact that English as well as Vietnamese people like to
use figurative images to make their speech more persuasive. Finally, the contents of
proverbs denoting family relationships in English and Vietnamese turn around the
same topics such as the relationships between husbands and wives, the relationships
between parents and children, the relationships among sibling and other bloody
relationships. These relationships could be reflected positively and negatively.

3.4.2. Differences
In spite of the fact that the English and Vietnamese proverbs denoting family
relationships share a lot of similarities in terms of semantic features, there have
been some differences.
Basing on analyzing the contents of proverbs, we can see that the numbers of
English proverbs about relationships among siblings are less than those of
Vietnamese proverbs. Moreover, the English proverbs denote the relationships in
extend family also account for few numbers. Traditionally, there are normally three
or four generations that live together under the same roof in Vietnam. That is
different form in England where there is two generations live together in a family.
Therefore, the reflection of family relationships in Vietnamese proverbs is more
complex than that in English. Furthermore, the frequency of using stylistic devices
in English proverbs is less than that in Vietnamese ones especially in using simile
and hyperbole.

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3.5. Summary
This chapter has discussed the syntactic and semantic features of English and
Vietnamese proverbs denoting family relationships.
Firstly, some phrasal structures and sentential structures of proverbs denoting
family relationships in both languages are analyzed in turn to draw some typical
features of proverbs in terms of syntax in the two languages.
Secondly, this chapter also illustrates semantic aspects of proverbs denoting family
relationships in English and Vietnamese and stylistic devices are handled to help us
understand more about the meaning transfer of natural language like proverbs.
Finally, the similarities and differences of the proverbs denoting family
relationships in English and Vietnamese have been drawn to provide an overall
understanding about the proverbs of the two languages.

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 PART C: CONCLUSION

1. Recapitulation
In this study, proverbs denoting family relationships in English and Vietnamese are
analyzed in terms of syntactic and semantic features.
Both English proverbs denoting family relationships and Vietnamese ones have
shortness and conciseness. Some proverbs consist of four word like the proverbs
“máu chảy ruột mềm” [10] in Vietnamese and “like father like son” [11] in English.
Proverbs denoting family relationships in two languages are structured
symmetrically. The structural components of the proverbs conform to two
symmetrical parts which has similar parts of speech and an equal number of words
in each part.
In English as well as in Vietnamese, the structure of proverbs denoting family
relationships can be identified in sentences. The sentence heading is sub-divided
into three types: simple, compound and complex. Basing on the analysis, we can see
that English proverbs denoting family relationships have three types of sentence
whereas Vietnamese ones just own two types: simple and compound. However,
some proverbs take the form of phrases which are recognized as the kernels of the
proverbs. Proverbs denoting family relationships in English and Vietnamese are
realized in comparative patterns. Our investigation reveals that Vietnamese shows a
remarkably high rate of comparative proverbs (16%) while English displays a much
lower rate (6%).
Most of the proverbs denoting family relationships have both a literal meaning and
figurative meaning. In the process of analyzing the collected data, the author
discovered that the figurative meanings of the proverbs are presented due to the use
of stylistic devices which are simile, metaphor, metonymy and hyperbole.
The contents of both English proverbs denoting family relationships and
Vietnamese ones mainly reflect the relationships between husbands and wives, the
relationships between parents and children and the relationship among siblings. It is

34
not always true that all proverbs which contain family words such as parents,
mother, father, brother or sister …denote family relationships and sometimes some
proverbs which do not consist of family words extremely express family
relationships. Proverb “Poverty is the mother of crime” [20: 67] is one of the
example. The proverb suggests the poverty is the root or the origin of crime.
Another English proverb “The apple never falls far from the tree” [14: 10] does not
use any family words to implies that children are in many regards like their parents.
It is similar to Vietnamese proverbs. Proverb “Một giọt máu đào hơn ao nước lã.”
[9: 22] strongly expresses family relationships without any related family words
while proverb “Vợ chồng cùng tuổi, ngồi duỗi mà ăn.” [24: 34] which conveys the
experience of getting married at the same age will be happy are not concerned to
family relationships. In short, the contents of proverbs denoting relationships do
not depend on the related family words which make them up.

2. Conclusions of the study

In the study, we have established a common theory of structural components of
proverbs denoting family relationships in both English and Vietnamese. Basing on
the finding of their conciseness and succinctness, we can conclude that the words
which are used in proverbs denoting family relationships are sharp, figurative and
close to everyone. They create a great effectiveness in communication. There’s no
need to talk much but the purpose of communication still achieves successfully.
Thanks to the symmetrical structure, proverbs denoting family relationships in
English and Vietnamese are easy to learn and remember. They will go deeply into
our minds in a short time. This helps people be active in communication as well as
in writing due to the available number of proverbs
Based on the data analysis, proverbs denoting family relationships in English are
normally more complex than those in Vietnamese in terms of sentential patterns.
Proverbs denoting family relationships in English exist in three types of sentences:
simple sentences, compound sentences and complex ones meanwhile Vietnamese

35
proverbs own two types of them: simple sentences and compound sentences.
However, comparative sentences in Vietnamese are more popular than those in
English because of their different distribution.
Most of proverbs denoting family relationships in English and Vietnamese carry
figurative meanings. Therefore, in order to understand the meaning of any proverbs
we must get the knowledge of stylistic devices such as simile, metaphor, metonymy
or hyperbole and so on. This will not only create great effects on interaction
between the senders and the receivers but also make the works of art be more
valuable. So the meaning of any proverb must be analyzed in its unique context.
Proverbs denoting relationships in English and Vietnamese which consist of family
words sometimes do not express the family relationships and vice versa. Therefore,
it is not simply to correctly understand and effectively use proverbs denoting family
relationships in English and Vietnamese. We need to have a certain level of
knowledge to apply the proverbs in right situations. If we employ the proverbs
denoting family relationships appropriately we will create the power of
communication.

3. Teaching implications
Teaching and learning English as well as Vietnamese, to some people, is an easy
task, but to some others, it is really a hard-solving problem. The reason for any
difficulties facing these people can be various: maybe they lack a “natural ability”
or they do not have suitable methods of teaching and learning [Giang: 153].
However, apart from linguistic competence, the most important factor that affects
the effectiveness of teaching and learning English and Vietnamese in general and
proverbs in particular, as far as the author is concerned, is their cultural awareness
and quick-minded and active ability in applying language knowledge to
conversational contexts. Thus, teachers and students must make themselves master
their mother tongue and their country’s culture.

36
Teachers should bear in mind that people use language in general and proverbs in
particular as means of communication to express their own ideas in certain contexts.
Therefore, one of the most effective strategies is that teachers should provide
students with some certain contexts in which students have chances to practice
proverbs. Teachers can give students some suggestions of using proverbs in
speaking lessons. Students should be encouraged to infer the meanings of proverbs
by using contextual clues or background knowledge. After presenting proverbs in
context, teachers should revise the proverbs that have been studied. Next, another
significant way is that teachers also provide learners with strategies for dealing with
figurative language. Through a greater awareness of proverbs, their literal meaning
and underlying conceptual metaphors, learners will be better equipped with
figurative language and make sense of it without teachers’ guidance.
Teachers could integrate proverbs into grammar lessons through giving some
examples to identify sentence patterns.
On the other hand, our viewpoint is that more emphasis should be put on the
teaching of proverbs denoting family relationships and their Vietnamese equivalents
to the learners of English in order to raise their awareness in translation.

4. Limitations of the study

Due to the restriction of this kind of proverbs – proverbs denoting family
relationships, only 100 samples in the two languages are collected from different
sources. Moreover, because of limited time, knowledge and reference, the study can
only examine some certain characteristics of English and Vietnamese proverbs
denoting family relationships such as structural syntactic classes, kinds of meanings
and semantic types so it has not reached the expected depth as it should.

5. Suggestions for further research

This study has focused only on proverbs denoting family relationships in English
and Vietnamese in terms of syntactic and semantic features to find out the

37
similarities and differences for proverbs in the two languages. Therefore, there will
still be some topics related to this problem left for further researches. The next
research might be an investigation into the cultural features of English and
Vietnamese proverbs denoting family. It may also be an investigation into
pragmatics of English and Vietnamese proverbs denoting family.

38
 REFERENCES
[1] Adward, H. (2013). Proverb lore. London: Elliot stock, 62 Paternoster Row,
E.C
[2] Alexander, L.G. (1990). Longman English Grammar Practice. Longman Group
UK Limited.
[3] Bank, S. B. (2010). Native proverbs as condensed culture & keys to mentality:
An approach toward understanding one’s Korean counterpart. Global Business
Language: vol. 3, article 7.
[4] Charles, A. (2013). Proverbs as Circumstantial speech acts. Research on
Humanities & Social Sciences: vol 3, no.7
[5] Giang, Đặng Nguyên. (2014). A study on structural and semantic components of
idioms in English and Vietnamese. Unplished Doctoral Dissertation.
[6] Hạo, Cao Xuân. (1991). Tiếng Việt – Sơ thảo ngữ pháp chức năng, NXB Khoa
Học Xã Hội.
[7] Hùng, Nguyễn Đình. (2007). Tuyển tập Thành ngữ, Tục ngữ ,Ca dao Việt – Anh
thông dụng. NXB Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh.
[8] Kerschen, L. (2012). American proverbs about women. The USA:
BookLock.com.Inc
[9] Lân, Mã Giang. (2012). Tục ngữ, Ca dao Việt Nam. NXB Văn Học.
[10] Lân, Nguyễn. (2014). Từ điển Thành ngữ và Tục ngữ Việt Nam. NXB Văn
Học.
[11] Oxford concise dictionary of proverbs. (2003). Oxford University Press.
[12] Oxford dictionary of English. (2008). Oxford University Press.
[13] Mahahi, T. & Jafari, S. (2012). Language and Culture. International Journal of
Humanities & Social Science: Vol. 3, No. 17.
[14] Martin, H. M. (2002). The Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbs. The USA: An
Imprint of Infobase Publishing.
[15] Mieder, W. (2004). Proverbs - A Handbook: The United States of America:
Greenwood Press.

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[16] Michael, M. & Felicity, O. (2010). English idioms in use. Cambridge
University Press.
[17] Norrick, R. N. (1985). How proverbs mean: Semantic studies in English
proverbs. Mouton Arthur Collignon GmbH, Berlin.
[18] Phan, Vũ Ngọc. (2010). Tục ngữ, Ca dao, Dân ca Việt Nam. NXB Thời Đại.
[19] Quirk, R. & Greenbaum, S. (1990). A University Grammar of English. NXB
Giao Thông Vận Tải.
[20] Rosaline, F. (1983). The Penguin dictionary of English Proverbs.
[21] Richard, T. C. (1861). Proverbs and their lessons. London: G Routledge.
[22] Sa, Võ Hồng. (2010). So sánh tu từ trong tục ngữ Việt và tục ngữ Anh. The
unpublished thesis.
[23] Sapir, E. (1951). Encyclopedia of Social Sciences: Communication. New York:
The Macmillan.
[24] Thu, Phương. (2010). Ca dao, Tục ngữ Việt Nam. NXB Thời Đại.

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 APPENDIX 1

Proverbs denoting family relationships in English

1. A bad husband makes a bad wife.

2. A good Jack makes a good Jill.
3. A blind man’s wife needs no paint.
4. A deep husband and a blind wife are always a happy couple.
5. Men make house, women make home.
6. Men are from Mars, women are from Venus.
7. The husband eats hamburgers, the wife eats spring rolls.
8. All chili is hot, all women are jealous.
9. When the husband earns well, the wife spins well.
10. Better be an old man’s darling than a young man’s slave
11. The grey mare is the better horse
12. He that will thrive must first ask his wife.
13. A husband is always the last to know.
14. A man without a wife is but half a man.
15. A good wife and health is a man’s best wealth.
16. A good husband makes a good wife.
17. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree
18. There’s only one pretty child in the world and every mother has it.
19. As is the father, so is the son
20. Birth is much but breeding more
21. Children are certain cares, but uncertain comforts.
22. He that has a wife and children has given hostage to fortune.
23. A mother can take care of 10 children but sometimes 10 children can’t take
care of one mother.
24. My son is my son till he gets him a wife, but my daughter’s my daughter all
the days of her life.

I
25. Parents are patterns.
26. Praise the child, and you make love to the mother.
27. Like father like son
28. Like mother like daughter.
29. Spare the rod, spoil the child
30. The shoemarker’s son always goes barefoot.
31. Walnut and pears you plant for your heirs.
32. It is a wise child that knows its own father.
33. He has no children know not what is love.
34. Mother’s darlings are but milksop heroes.
35. A wise son heeds his father’s instruction.
36. A child without parents is like a ship without a rudder.
37. Happy is he that is happy in his children.
38. Many a good father has but a good son.
39. Mother scratches child’s back, child scratches mother’s.
40. A friend loves at all the time, and a brother is born for adversity.
41. Blood is thicker than water.
42. Blood will tell.
43. A family that prays together stays together.
44. When the blood sheds, the heart aches.
45. Do no business with a kinsman.
46. There is no place like home.
47. Home is where the heart is.
48. Mother in law and daughter in law are a tempest and hailstorm.
49. Poverty is the mother of crime.
50. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

II
 APPENDIX 2

Proverbs denoting family relationships in Vietnamese

1. Đạo vợ, nghĩa chồng.

2. Chồng như đó, vợ như hom.
3. Chồng tới vợ lui, chồng hòa vợ thuận.
4. Thuận vợ thuận chồng tát bể đông cũng cạn.
5. Vợ chồng đầu gối tay ấp.
6. Vợ chồng như đũa có đôi.
7. Gái có công, chồng chẳng phụ.
8. Chồng em áo rách em thương,
Chồng người áo gấm xông hương mặc người.
9. Vợ chồng như mặt trăng, mặt trời.
10. Chông ăn chả, vợ ăn nem.
11. Cha nào con nấy.
12. Con dại cái mang.
13. Con biết lẫy thì bố biết bò.
14. Con có mẹ như măng ấp bẹ.
15. Con lên ba mới ra lòng mẹ.
Con biết lẫy thì bố biết bò.
16. Con ai người ấy xót.
17. Trẻ cậy cha, già cậy con.
18. Cha hổ mang đẻ con liu diu.
19. Con lên ba mẹ sa xương sườn.
20. Con hư tại mẹ, cháu hư tại bà.
21. Cha mẹ giàu con có, cha mẹ khó con không.
22. Con chẳng chê cha mẹ khó, chó không chê nhà chủ nghèo.
23. Mẹ đánh một trăm không bằng cha ngăm một tiếng.
24. Mẹ ngoảnh đi, con dại; mẹ ngoảnh lại, con khôn

III
25. Mẹ dạy thì con khéo, bó dạy thì con khôn.
26. Cha hổ mang đẻ con liu điu.
27. Con có cha như nhà có nóc.
28. Con thì mạ, cá thì nước.
29. Một mẹ nuôi được mười con, mười con không nuôi được một mẹ.
30. Con chị cõng con em.
31. Em thuận, anh hòa là nhà có phúc.
32. Chị em nấm nem ba đồng.
33. Chị dại đã có em khôn.
34. Con em đè lên con chị.
35. Chị ngã em nâng.
36. Em khôn cũng là em chị, chị dại cũng là chị em.
37. Anh ngủ em thức, em chực anh nằm.
38. An hem hạt máu sẻ đôi.
39. Khôn ngoan đối đáp người ngoài,
Gà cùng một mẹ chớ hoài đá nhau.
40. Một giọt máu đào hơn ao nước lã.
41. Chị em dâu như bầu nước lã.
42. Lọt sàng xuống nia.
43. Máu ai thấm thịt nấy.
44. Máu loãng còn hơn nước lã.
45. Họ hàng xa còn hơn người dưng.
46. Sảy cha còn chú, sảy mẹ ấp vú dì.
47. Khác máu tanh lòng.
48. Môi hở răng lạnh.
49. Máu chảy ruột mềm.
50. Anh em như chân với tay.

IV