Ho Chi Minh University of Education English Department Class: 4A Course: English – Vietnamese Contrastive Linguistics Instructor: Nguyen Ngoc Vu Student: Le Thi Hong Ho Chi Minh December 2011 Abstract:..................................................................................................................... 3 I. Introduction: .................................................................................................... 3 I.1. Research Objectives ................................................................................... 3 I.2. Research methodology ............................................................................... 3 II. Content ........................................................................................................... 4 II.1. Definition of idioms: ..................................................................................... 4 II.2. Features of idioms ....................................................................................... 4 II.2.1. Semantic features .............................................................................. 4 II.2.2. Syntactic features ............................................................................... 5 II.3. The similarities and differences between idioms and proverbs .................. 6 II.3.1. Definition of proverb: .......................................................................... 6 II.3.2. The similarities ................................................................................... 6 II.3.3. The differences................................................................................... 7 II.4. Idioms of comparison .................................................................................. 8 II.4.1. Definition ............................................................................................ 8 II.4.2. Features ............................................................................................. 9 II.4.2.1. Based on component word and phrase .......................................... 9 II.4.2.1.1. Comparisons with adjectives ...................................................... 9 II.4.2.1.2. Comparison with verbs ............................................................... 9 II.4.2.1.3. Miscellaneous comparisons ...................................................... 10 II.4.2.1.4. Based on grammatical structure ............................................... 10 II.4.2.2. Structural characteristics of comparative idioms .......................... 11 II.4.3. Similarities and differences between English and Vietnam idioms of comparison ......................................................................................................... 12 II.4.3.1. Similarities ..................................................................................... 12 II.4.3.2. Differences .................................................................................... 14 II.4.3.2.1. Differences resulted from lifestyle and living condition ............. 14 II.4.3.2.2. The same components have different meanings ...................... 16 II.4.3.2.3. The same animal components have different meanings .......... 16 II.4.3.2.4. Differences in human – related components ............................ 17 III. Conclusion: ................................................................................................... 18 References: ............................................................................................................. 19 Abstract: Idioms are used regularly and naturally in everyday communication, however, the inner meaning of the concept of idioms is still unclear to a lot of people. Therefore, I think a study on the subject of idioms in Vietnamese and English is helpful for improving the knowledge of language learners, as well as the students learning English in general. The idiom is not only a particular lexical item - an important part of the language but also reflects the cultural characteristics of each ethnic group. Idioms are classified in different groups in which I choose idioms of comparison to be my subjects as they occupy a significant role and have special structure, is an appropriate subject for a study contrastive. I. Introduction: I.1. Research Objectives Rationale of research is firstly supposed to give an overview of the concept of idiom as well as the distinctive characteristics of language with lexical units such as free phrases and proverbs. About the focus of this study – comparative idioms - I would recommend the grammatical structure and semantics of comparative expressions in Vietnamese and English. Distribution survey of my paper includes the study of 100 comparative English idioms comparing in common and Vietnamese equivalent of the features in order to find similarities and differences in two respects: language and cultural aspects. I.2. Research methodology In this paper we use the following methodology: - comparative - analysis - synthesis - induction - interpretation II. Content II.1. Definition of idioms: According to Jenifer Seidl and W.Mc Mordie in “English Idiom and How to Use” “an idiom is a number of words which, taken together, mean something different from the individual words of the idiom when they stand alone.” (1979: 20)The Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics regards an idiom as “an expression which function as a single unit and whose meaning can not be worked out from its separate parts” (1992: 198). In the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English (Oxford University Press - 1995) defines idiom as “a phrase or sentence whose meaning is not clear from the meaning of its individual words and which must be learnt as a whole unit.” (1995: 67). On reflection, it could be seen that there is no conflict between therefore mentioned definitions of idiom. Regardless of obvious differences in expressing, they intersect at one point: an idiom is a fixed expression whose meaning can not be worked out by combining the literal meaning of its individual words. II.2. Features of idioms II.2.1. Semantic features It is undoubted that meaning is the most important factor when talking about semantic feature of idioms. Figurative meaning is the basic characteristic of idioms which helps to decide whether a fixed expression is an idiom or not. Here is an idiom to exemplify: “to take one’s medicine” (to accept something unpleasant, for instance, punishment, without protesting or complaining) in Vietmamese we have “thuốc đắng dã tật, sự thật mất lòng”. However, the meaning of these idioms can be guessed from the meaning of their components. The meaning of an idiom is either partly or completely different from the meaning of all components. In case of any partial difference, their figurative meaning is not different from the literal one. The partly different ones are such as kill two birbs with one stone, to cut a long story short, in seven heaven, etc. Besides, idioms can convey positive, neutral, or negative meanings. For the first group, conveying possitive meaning we have some examples such as a fair godmother (a person who helps you unexpectedly when you most need help), the fruit(s) of something (the good result of an activity or a situation), be (all) plain sailing (be simple and free from trouble). The second group, examples of idioms expressing neutral meaning we have take a/the hint (understand what somebody wants you to do, even though they tell you in an indirect way), in somebody’s shoes (be in somebody’s position), bring something home to somebody (make somebody realize how important, difficult or serious something is). And in the last group typical examples of idioms with negative meanings are monkey business (dishonest or silly behavior), a mummy’s boy (a boy or man who is thought to be too weak because he is influenced and controlled by his mother), a fair-weathered friend (somebody who is only a friend when it is pleasant for them, and stops being a friend when you are in trouble). In short, idioms can be motivated, partially – motivated and non –motivated. Also, idiomatic expressions can convey positive, neutral, or negative meanings. II.2.2. Syntactic features It is common knowledge that an idiom is a set-expression. Hence, as its name tells, the components in idioms can neither be added nor substituted. They can not be changed or varied in the way literal expressions are normally varied both in speech and writing. In terms of structure, an idiom can have a regular structure, an irregular or even a grammatically incorrect structure. For the first type, they have common forms but there is no connection between the meaning of each component and that of the whole unit, for example put a cat among the pigeons (do or say something that makes a lot of people angry or worried), I’ve been left holding the baby (others have left me to deal with problem alone). Therefore, you cannot guess the meaning of the idioms without learning them before. The second group takes into account ones which have unconventional forms but their meaning can be worked out through the meaning of individual words. Take “It’s early days yet” as a typical illustration; since the idiom is irregular and illogical in terms of grammatical structure. According to the rule of language, “It” is singular and therefore “day” must be singular, too. However, in this case, the idiom does not need to obey grammatical rule to make sense. “It’s early days yet” can still be understood that “It too soon to say/ decide”. In the last group, grammatically incorrect, both its form and meaning are irregular. The structure is grammatically inaccurate and the meaning is not precisely expressed by gathering the meaning of each member-word. Such idioms as “Be up to no good” (doing or planning something wrong or dishonest), “to go through thick and thin” (in spite of all the difficulties and problems; in good and bad times) illustrate grammatical irregularity. The structure of the idioms can be written as “Verb + preposition + adjective”. In English, normally a structure like this is acknowledged once in a blue moon since adjectives never come after prepositions individually. As an idiom, however, the case is accepted. To sum up, in terms of syntactic feature, firstly, an idiom is asset –expression. We cannot make any changes without losing the idiomatic meaning. Secondly, idioms may take many different forms or structures. Mentioning to structure, an idiom can have a regular structure, an irregular or even a grammatically incorrect structure. II.3. The similarities and differences between idioms and proverbs II.3.1. Definition of proverb: Idioms have been defined as fixed expressions whose meaning cannot be worked out by combining the literal meaning of its individual words. Proverbs, however, have been defined differently as “a short well-known sentence or phrase that gives advice or says something is generally true in life.” (Oxford Student’s dictionary of English, 2001: 511). It is also worth noticing that a proverb is not merely the language but one of the most substantial contributions to the folk culture of each country. People, through the treasure of proverbs of a nation, can perceive that nation’s lands, people and humanity tradition. II.3.2. The similarities We can see that proverbs and idioms are usually put side by side to study, because proverbs have aspects in common with idioms. They are so alike that from time to time learners feel unfeasible to differentiate between a proverb and an idiom. Both proverbs and idioms are reproduced as ready-made speeches. In daily life, people naturally accept their existence. Under no circumstances do they dispute the being of either a proverb or an idiom. They also never find the way to interchange any component by other words in a proverb or an idiom. Firstly, the components of idioms and proverbs are stable and their meaning is understood figuratively rather than literally. Here is the idiom to exemplify: “many hands make light work” (a job is done quickly and easily if plenty of people help). Undoubtedly, all the constituent elements making up the idiom can not be substituted by others. An example of proverb is “out of sight, out of mind”. The collocations of the phrases in this proverb are not permutable and changeable. The proverb will not make sense if it is modified as “out of mind, out of sight”. Another point should also be referred to when studying proverbs and idioms is that in many cases idioms form the basis of proverbs; for example “rotten apple” (one bad person who has a bad effect on others in a group) is the basis to form the proverb “the rotten apple injures its neighbors”; or the case of the idiom “put all your eggs in one basket” (risk all your money, effort and so on one thing, so that if it is not successful, you have no chance) and the proverb “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket ”. II.3.3. The differences It is undeniable that idioms and proverbs have close relations. The similarities between them, however, are not enough to mingle these two concepts together. They still own its typical features that differentiate one from the other. First and foremost, the difference lies in grammar. It is, on grammatical respect, an idiom is a set expression and a part of a sentence. Hence, it is equivalent merely to a word or a phrase. Typical examples are “rotten apple” or “to twist somebody’s arm”. In contrast, proverb is defined as a fully made sentence, demonstrating the whole idea to judge the value of social relationship, to carry the experience about the life, to provide people with moral lessons or to disapprove of a particular issue. In addition, it might be noteworthy to mention again that a proverb is formed on the basis of an idiom. As an illustration, the proverb “do not count your chickens before they are hatched” contains the idiom “count your chickens before they are hatched”. It is a complete sentence whose meaning can be understood as “it is not good to be too confident of success until it actually happens”. Secondly, in comparison with idioms, proverbs bring another different feature in terms of function. Proverbs express the whole idea of judgment, general truth about life or moral lessons. Functionally, a proverb therefore can be considered as a perfect literature work which brings three basic functions: perception, aestheticism and education. Let us have a look at the proverb “every hour of lost time is a chance of future misfortune” to clarify its three functions. The proverb can be interpreted as “a person who does not make use of time will probably encounter mishap sooner or later.” The proverb is an experience during our life and our work if time is wasted. It is also a lesson in utilizing time. The perceptive function of the proverb is to help people to know the significance of time and the price to pay for squandering time. Its educational function is to give its contribution to a better time usage. Its aesthetic function is to impart the aforementioned contents by using exaggerative and picturesque words which could easily persuade readers and draw the letter into a pleasant acceptance without any embarrassment. Idioms, on the other hand, do not draw a comment, a life experience, a moral lesson or any criticism. They frequently perform an aesthetic function but no function of perception or that of education. Lacking these two functions of perception and education, idioms could not become a perfect literature work. Therefore, idioms belong to the language only. This can be clearly seen through the idiom “a meeting of minds” which means “people thinking in the same way about something, a special understanding between people”. Although this idiom is expressed figuratively and imaginatively, which performs its aesthetic function, it brings us neither an advice nor a lesson about life or society. In conclusion, idioms and proverbs are so alike that people frequently take them into parallel consideration when studying a language. The close relations between idioms and proverbs, however, can not reflect their complete similarities. They are still distinguishable for their differences in grammar and function. II.4. Idioms of comparison II.4.1. Definition At first, we should find out the definition of idioms of comparison which are also called similes. There are a lot of definitions of simile. According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, “simile is a word or phrase that compares something to something else, using the words “like” or “as”, for example “a face like a mask” or “as white as snow”; the use of such words and phrases” (Hornby, 2006, p.1369). An idiom of comparison is also defined as: “the comparison of two nouns with different meanings, using the words like or as to make the connection. Friendship is like ice cream, fear moved like lighting, and leaves feel as slippery as fish are examples of similes”. (Tucker, 2002, p.41) There is also a similar but shorter definition in The Challenge of Effective Speaking: “A simile is a direct comparison of dissimilar things using the word “like” or “as”” (Verderber, Verderber & Sellnow, 2008, p.197) II.4.2. Features So as to have an insightful look at idioms of comparison, firstly, identification should be taken into consideration. There are various ways of identifying them based on different criteria. Since access to all of them seems to be unfeasible, mere three main ways will be considered: • Identification based on component words and phrases • Identification based on grammatical structure • Structural characteristics of comparative idioms. II.4.2.1. Based on component word and phrase II.4.2.1.1. Comparisons with adjectives Idioms of this group are constructed as: As + Adjective + as + (a/the) + Noun. The point of similarity is explicitly given out. Through these idioms, characteristics of compared objectives are exposed symbolically. For instance: “as strong as a horse”, “as pretty as a picture”, “as goog as gold”, etc. In Vietnamese idioms, typical examples of comparisons with adjectives are “nhát như cáy”, “hiền như củ khoai”, “nhanh như cắt”, etc. II.4.2.1.2. Comparison with verbs Structure: Verbs + like + a/ the + noun Many verbs with simple meaning and structure take part in forming idioms of this group to emphasize or make clear actions or behaviors of the compared objectives. Though the point of similarity is hidden, the idioms are still trouble-free to comprehend thanks to their simplicity. For instance, English idioms include “to cry like a baby, to fade like a dream”, “to follow like a shadow”, “to spread like wildfire”, etc. Vietnamese idioms utilize “ăn như mèo”, “chạy như ngựa”, “ngủ như lợn”, etc. II.4.2.1.3. Miscellaneous comparisons These kinds of comparisons do not follow any regular patterns. As compared to the aforementioned ways, these types of “set of comparison” – even fewer in number – are frequently used by native English speakers for this might make their verbal communication more and more vivid. Their structures may be: (Verb) + Like/ as + a clause (Verb) + Like/ as + a verb phrase (Verb) + Like/ as + a noun phrase Here are the idioms to exemplify: “(to be) like a red rag to a bull”, ”(to have) a memory like an elephant”, “to look as if / though one has been dragged through a hedge backwards”, “như hạn gặp mưa rào”, “tiền vào nhà khó như gió vào nhà trống”, etc. II.4.2.1.4. Based on grammatical structure Comparative idioms can belong to the three following general patterns: English idioms Vietnamese idioms • as C as B C như B As warm as sunbeam nóng như đổ lửa As transparent as glass trong suốt như thủy tinh • like/ as B như B Like two peas in a pod như hai giọt nước • C like/ as B C như B To follow like a shadow theo như hình với bóng II.4.2.2. Structural characteristics of comparative idioms Firstly, in idioms of comparison, the part showing comparative relationship and the things compared (như B – as/ like B) are stable in both surface structure and deep structure. If the comparative structure is broken, the idiom of comparison will be broken, too. The image of comparison is constantly the symbolic one that is full of national identities. Through part “B” – the image of comparative idioms – the way of observing the world thinking, cultural life and the natural scene of a nation can be revealed. For instance, idioms in English exist: as rich as Croesus (Croesus was such a rich king that he had every guest takes as much gold as he could carry, upon leaving), to work like a Trojan (Trojan originally referred to the inhabitants of Troy, the ancient city besieged by the Greeks in their efforts to retrieve their queen, Helen, who had been abducted by the son of the King of Troy. According to the legend, the Trojans were a hard-working, determined, industrious people). Such in Vietnamese have: đẹp như tiên (as beautiful as a fairy in the fairy mountain), vắng như chùa Bà Đanh, (as quiet as Ba Danh temple), hiền như Bụt (as gentle as Buddha). This puts in plain words why there exist few equivalents between idioms in general and idioms of comparison in particular of two languages. As a matter of fact, with the same content, each people use different images to express. Let’s look at the examples and compare: English Vietnamese As hot as mustard cay như ớt Like hot cake đắt như tôm tươi In reverse, the expression and vocabulary are identical but the values of content are dissimilar; for instance, as sharp as a razor (sắc như dao). While Vietnamese idioms refer to the beauty of a girl’s eyes (mắt em như dao cau), English submit intelligence of a person (The old man's senile, but his wife is as sharp as a razor.) Secondly, the “C” factor, the point of similarity, in idioms of comparison is required in deep structure but not necessarily stable in surface structure. That is shown clearly in the relation between “C” and “B” as well as the possibility to be flexibly present or absent of element “C” in the usage. Thirdly, certain elements could be absent in specific circumstance without affecting the meaning of the speech. “She is as bold as a lion” is not different from “she is like a lion”. Similarly, “cô ấy xinh như hoa” and “cô ấy như hoa” are the same. The potential ability is the premises to transfer a simile into a metaphor. II.4.3. Similarities and differences between English and Vietnam idioms of comparison II.4.3.1. Similarities Despite the differences in culture, there are still coincidences in ways of thinking and observing the world of English and Vietnamese people. This undoubtedly leads to the similarities in the way of expressing ideas and concepts through idioms. In fact, many English idioms of comparison have exact equivalents in Vietnamese in terms of both meaning and vocabulary. To make this clear, let us consider these following idioms: English idioms Vietnamese equivalents 1. As black as coal Đen như than 2. As black as crow Đen như quạ 3. As black as ink Tối đen như mực 4. As black as midnight Tối như đêm 5. As black as soot Đen như bồ hóng 6. As brief as a dream Ngắn như một giấc mộng 7. As bright as day Sáng như ban ngày 8. As brilliant as stars Sáng như sao 9. As changeable as the weather Hay thay đổi như thời tiết 10. As cold as ice Lạnh như đá 11. As cheerful as a lark Vui như sáo 12. As cunning as a fox Xảo quyệt như cáo 13. As dark as midnight Tối như nửa đêm 14. As difficult as a beginning Vạn sự khởi đầu nan 15. As dumb as a an oyster Câm như hến 16. As fair as a rose Xinh như hoa 17. As fast as light Nhanh như ánh sáng 18. As fast as a hare Nhanh như thỏ 19. As fat as a pig Béo như lợn 20. As fierce as a tiger Dữ như cọp 21. As firm as rock Vững như đá 22. As fleet as the wind Nhanh như gió 23. As fresh a rose Tươi như hoa 24. As gay as a lark Vui như sáo 25. As gruff as a bear Hỗn như gấu 26. As good (valuable) as gold Quí giá như vàng 27. As green as a leaf Xanh như tàu lá 28. As heavy as an elephant Nặng như voi 29. As hard as a stone Rắn như đá 30. As heavy as lead Nặng như chì 31. As hot as fire Nóng như lửa 32. As keen as a razor Sắc như dao 33. As light as down Nhẹ tựa lông hồng 34. As light as a feather Nhẹ như lông hồng 35. As mum as an oyster Câm như hến 36. As old as the hills Xưa như trái đất 37. As pretty as a picture Đẹp như tranh 38. As quick as lightning Nhanh như ánh sáng 39. As quick as a flash Nhanh như chớp 40. As red as blood Đỏ như máu 41. As red as a beetroot Đỏ như gấc 42. As round as a barrel Tròn như thùng phi 43. As sharp as a razor Sắc như dao 44. As silly as a calf Ngu như bò 45. As sour as vinegar Chua như giấm 46. As stink as a polecat Hôi như chồn 47. As swift as lightning Nhanh như chớp 48. As smooth as velvet Mịn như nhung 49. As slow as a snail Chậm như sên 50. As swift as an arrow Nhanh như tên bắn 51. As steady as rock Rắn như đá 52. As timid as a rabbit/ hare Nhát như thỏ đế 53. As thick as ants Đông như kiến 54. As transparent as glass Trong suốt như thủy tinh 55. As yellow as saffron Vàng như nghệ 56. As wet as a drowned mouse Ướt như chuột lột 57. As white as snow Trắng như tuyết 58. As white as a sheet Như tờ giấy trắng 59. Like father like son Cha nào con nấy 60. To fight like cat and dog Như chó với mèo 61. To stick like a leech Bám dai như đỉa 62. To stick like glue Dính như keo 63. To cry like a baby Khóc như đứa trẻ 64. To follow like a shadow Theo như hình với bóng 65. To swim like fish Bơi như cá II.4.3.2. Differences II.4.3.2.1. Differences resulted from lifestyle and living condition Differences in the image of idiomatic comparisons in English and Vietnamese are consequences of dissimilarities between two cultures. Therefore, let’s take glimpse at some outstanding cultural factors first. In a broad sense, talking about culture, it is necessary to talk about the nature, and after all, culture is a mirror of the nature, in which it is being adjusted by human beings to satisfy their demands in all aspects of life. Original cultural identities of a nation are naturally rooted from historical conditions. It is essential to refer to their geographical features as they play a significant role in the formation and growth of the culture; its own form of the economy, political institution, customs and so on. Culture, first and foremost, is a respond to a community with challenges of geo – climatic condition, then a respond to that of socio – historical condition. The first thing easy to be realized is that Vietnamese idioms of comparison mainly bear production agriculture while English equivalents consist of components more or less tending towards farming agriculture and industrial society. Vietnamese culture is mainly based on wet rice production. That is, in daily life, people deal with production tools and animals that either directly or indirectly serve their farming. As a result, they often take the familiar things which regularly exist in their daily lives and their way of thinking as the images of comparison. This, firstly, can be found easily in the comparison of strength. There are some idioms related to buffaloes such as: Khỏe như trâu (as strong as buffalo), đen như trâu (as black as buffalo). Buffalos attach to a humid – warm ecological system during the whole lives. Therefore, people on mentioning strength or hard work often refer to that of buffaloes. It is said that the image of a buffalo is constantly connected to wet – rice civilization. That image can be found not only in idioms but also in many proverbs and fork songs in Vietnamese. For instance: Trâu ơi ta bảo trâu này Trâu ra đồng ruộng trâu cày với ta Cấy cày vốn nghiệp nông gia Ta đây trâu đấy ai mà quản công Bao giờ cây lúa con bông Thì con ngọn cỏ ngoài đồng trâu ăn The fork song is a beautiful picture on agricultural production activities of Vietnamese in which the farmer and his beloved buffalo work together. Also, the sentiment and closeness between the people and the animal are vividly demonstrated. Cultivators in the past considered the buffalo as the primary factor of agricultural production: Con trâu là đầu cơ nghiệp. Since the buffalo can take over every hard, issential farming work for agricultural production. In other words, the buffalo used to be a vital factor for agricultural life in the old days. Buffaloes have really gone into spiritual world of Vietnamese people for thousands of years ago. For Vietnamese people, buffaloes are strong and industrious animal. The above things can explain why Vietnamese people frequently liken the strength of a person to that of a buffalo. On the contrary, in nomadic culture, British people compare human strength to horses rather than buffaloes. Horses can be used to pull ploughs and cards, to transport and to entertain. They are energetic enough to be suitable for the life of moving from place to place of nomadic people. They can carry a weight that is many times greater than their own weight. If a person is compared to a horse, he must have a very good health so English has an idiom as strong as a horse. The images used in idioms of comparison like animal components above, obviously, do not mean the horse is not strong in Vietnamese culture and the buffalo in not strong in English culture. From the cross – cultural view, this different usage rooted from the difference in the way each people think, the condition they live... II.4.3.2.2. The same components have different meanings In comparative structures, the meaning of components varies among cultures. Components include objectives, happenings, phenomena and so on. Sometimes, we see some idioms in both languages have the same vocabulary but different values of content. To make it clear, let us consider some examples. English Vietnamese As bright as day rõ như ban ngày English people use this idiom with the sense of “light, not dark” as an example for a room or the weather. Vietnamese people, however, mean an unsuspicious happening. English Vietnamese As hard as nails chắc như đinh đóng cột Vietnamese people use this idiom when they mean such a consistent and unchangeable things while the English apply it to illustrate nature of a strict person. What is more, the idiom “as good as gold” is used by English people to evaluate a well – behaved child or an orderly person. On the contrary, in Vietnam, people say “tốt như vàng” when they refer to a good quality of a certain object. In conclusion, the examples above have partly shown another difference between English and Vietnamese idioms: despite the same components in both languages, they’re still different in terms of meaning and use. II.4.3.2.3. The same animal components have different meanings Thirdly, animal components, which are popularly used in comparative idioms, represent specific cultural features of each nation. Thus, their meanings vary across cultures. Some animal components are used with positive meaning in English idioms but with negative meaning in Vietnamese ones or vice versa. Specifically, in Vietnam, dogs are considered as unintelligent, dirty animals, which can be illustrated by such idioms: ngu như chó, bẩn như chó. Yet, in some English speaking countries, dogs are beloved and considered as lovely pets even their friend. Dogs are well fed, given good sleeping place and even protected by laws. In Britain, it seven illegal if people run down a dog and keep on driving. Owing to great affection towards dogs, English idioms using these animal components have positive meaning, for instance, to be a lucky dog, to dress like a dog dinner. Mice, also, mentioned in Vietnamese idioms, bear negative meaning: Hôi như chuột chù (as smelly as shrew - mouse). This can be explained that farmers do not like mice because they always damage their crops. On the contrary, in English idioms, the image of mice implies a positive meaning: As leak as a mouse. Also, each people take the image of a squirrel into their idioms with different meanings. While English people have such an idiom: As shy as a squirrel, Vietnamese people say: Nhanh như sóc (as quick as a squirrel). Besides, when talking about a stupid person, English people often mention to an ass or a donkey: as stupid as an ass, as stupid as a donkey. Vietnamese people, however, say: ngu như bò, ngu như lợn. This distinction can be easily explained that in such a tropical agricultural nation as Vietnam, people are familiar with animals such as cow, bull, pig, chicken and so on. However, British people, who live in nomadic culture, are familiar with horse, donkey... It is the difference in habits and daily activities of people of two nations that makes the image of animalism comparative idioms bear different meanings between two cultures. II.4.3.2.4. Differences in human – related components Last but not least, differences in the image of comparison are also reflected in the likeness of human appearance or characters to that of well – known persons in reality, history and literature of each nation. On talking about a person who is jealous, Vietnamese people usually think of female jealousy whether that person is a man or a woman: Ghen như Hoạn Thư (Hoan Thu, a character in Truyen Kieu by Nguyen Du, is terribly and extremely jealous, which was mute but cruel.) English people, however, frequently think of Othello (a Shakespeare’s male character) to describe jealousy: As jealousy as Othello. Again, on talking about the state of being happy of a person, English people say: As happy as a king. It is due to the fact that a king usually lives well in a best decorated palace, on best food, etc. The state of being happy mentioned here is quite concrete since a king is a real person. Meanwhile, Vietnamese people consider “tiên” as a happy one as an idiom says: “sướng như tiên”. Tiên is unreal; she or he merely exists in the imagination of the poor peasants who always wish to have a better life. The comparative image is not concrete for it does not exist; no one knows exactly how it is. The use of comparative images in idioms to some extent reflects the way of thinking and observing the world of English and Vietnamese people. In this way, English people tend to be more concrete than Vietnamese people. In Vietnamese, there are some idioms related to characters in The Buddhist prayer – book or pagodas such as: Béo như ông Di Lặc, bày như La Hán, hiền như Bụt. Di Lac is a fat man with a protruding stomach, who represents for prosperity and wealth. Bụt is a kind of helpful character who is believed to defend the poor and the weak and bring happiness for them. La Han is the name of a statue in pagodas, which is worshipped by Vietnamese people. Buddhism is the major religion in Vietnam, thus, Vietnamese culture is much affected by this religion heritage. That is the reason why there are idioms with images as above. Briefly, comparative idioms using human – related components are really effective in expressing and describing. III. Conclusion: In the study, I’ve give some information about idioms in general as well as idioms of comparision in particular. For the focus of the study – I concerntrate on idioms of comparision in English and Vietnamese which have not only the same features of idiom, but distintive features speacially in structural aspect and culture aspect also, besides their similarities and they have equivalents in both language. Because England and Vietnamese are two countries with different culture, it leads differences in imagines of comparision. They are lifestyles and living condition, different components that may be similar but different in meaning. Despite my considerable efforts, certain limitations could be detected in this study due to time constraint and other unexpected factors. That is the number of idioms conveyed the similarities between English idioms and Vietnamese equivalents in the study remained relatively low in comparison with the enormous number of English and Vietnamese idioms. However, I hope that the serious work had well served the research questions as a contribution to the rich collection of other previous studies on the same area. References: Nguyen.Đ.H. Tuyển tập thành ngữ, tục ngữ, ca dao Việt – Anh thông dụng. Hanoi: Van Hoc. Michael McCarthy & Felicity O’Del, (Eds.). (2003). English Idioms in use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dang.H.P (2002, May). A study on metophor and simile in English idioms and Vietnamese equivalents: Structural characteristics of comparative idioms. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/32025804/45/Structuralcharacteristics-of-comparative-idioms. Anthony.K (1996). A Comparative Idiom. Retrieved from http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~kroch/omev2-html/node15.html