CA-Group 1-Vietnamese and English Syntax
CA-Group 1-Vietnamese and English Syntax
1
Goals
+ Basically understand the definition of “Syntax”
+ Have a well-round overview on sentences and clauses
+ Examine different types of phrase structure rules
+ Understand transformational rules
+ Examine some potential Vietnamese-English interactions
2
English – Vietnamese Contrastive
Analysis on the Perspective of Syntax
Group 1:
Nguyễn Thị Thanh Tâm
Nhâm Thị Hồng Mai
Hoàng Lê Yến Nhi
Nguyễn Hùng Tuân
Lê Hải Anh
Bùi Thị Điệp
Nguyễn Thị Minh Ngọc
Đỗ Vũ Nhật Minh
Nguyễn Thu Nguyệt
Nguyễn Trà My 3
No. Presenter Comment
5 Lê Hải Anh
ClassQH2020-2/ Group 1 4
No. Presenter Comment
8 Đỗ Vũ Nhật Minh
10 Nguyễn Trà My
ClassQH2020-2/ Group 1 5
TYPES OF SENTENCES AND
CLAUSES IN VIETNAMESE AND
ENGLISH
a. Example
I love you Em yêu anh They got there early, and Họ đến đó sớm, và họ đã có
they got good seats. chỗ ngồi tốt.
Types of sentences based on grammatical construction
a. Example
English Vietnamese
English Vietnamese
Similarity Both English and Vietnamese have some basic structure of sentences: S V, S V O, S V O C...
- Structure - Structure
Difference + I will come back tomorrow. + Mai mẹ về.
-> Subject: I; Predicate: come back. -> Theme: Mai (adverb); Rheme: mẹ về.
-> In English, the structure of a sentence follows the -> In Vietnamese, the structure of a sentence follows
formula: Subject - Predicate. the formula: Theme - Rheme.
1. Declarative
a. Definition
- These sentences make a statement. (Bruce, 2014)
a. Example
English Vietnamese
2. Interrogative
a. Definition
- These sentences ask a question. (Bruce, 2014)
a. Example
WH - question What are you looking for? Anh đang tìm cái gì?
Yes/ No question Did they come back home? Họ về rồi phải không?
Tag question They are playing football, Họ đang chơi bóng đá phải
aren’t they? không?
Contrastive analysis of interrogative sentences in English and Vietnamese.
English Vietnamese
Similarity - Both language use interrogative words or phrase to ask for information which are AI (WHO), GÌ/ CÁI GÌ
(WHAT), CÁI NÀO (WHICH), ĐÂU/ Ở ĐÂU (WHERE), KHI NÀO/ LÚC NÀO/ BAO GIỜ/ CHỪNG
NÀO...(WHEN), SAO/ TẠI SAO/VÌ LÝ DO GÌ (WHY).
English Vietnamese
3. Imperative
a. Definition
- These sentences express a command or make a request. (Bruce, 2014)
a. Example
English Vietnamese
Please give me a glass of water! Vui lòng lấy hộ tôi cốc nước!
Find him. Hãy tìm anh ta.
Contrastive analysis of imperative sentences in English and Vietnamese.
English Vietnamese
Similarity - Both English and Vietnamese use special terms to express an order, words such as "DO", "LET", “DON'T" in
English and "HÃY", "ĐI", “ĐỪNG", “CHỚ", “KHÔNG ĐƯỢC" in Vietnamese.
- English and Vietnamese both take advantage of empty words to make imperative more gentle and polite. For
example, Vietnamese people use the phrase "VUI LÒNG" when giving an order or making an offer. Here, "VUI
LÒNG" is almost synonymous with "PLEASE" in English imperatives.
English Vietnamese
4. Exclamatory
a. Definition
- These sentences show strong or sudden feelings. (Bruce, 2014)
a. Example
English Vietnamese
Oh, This man is very bad! Ôi, người đàn ông này tệ lắm!
How lovely your cat is! Con mèo của bạn thật đáng yêu làm sao!
Contrastive analysis of exclamatory sentences in English and Vietnamese.
English Vietnamese
Similarity - English and Vietnamese speaker can use intonation on any type of sentence express an exclamation.
- Interjections in English and Vietnamese are used to express an exclamation and can stand alone to form a
special sentence.
a. Definition
- In English, a voice is the relationship of the grammatical subject of a verb to the action conveyed by that verb.
In an active sentence, the grammatical subject of the verb carries out an activity or purpose. In the passive
version of this sentence, the subject is receiving the action of the verb. (Bruce, 2014)
- In Vietnamese, Cao Xuan Hao (1998) also shares the same idea. He states that while the subject in active voice
is the doer, the subject in passive voice is affected by the agents.
a. Example
English Vietnamese
Active: John bought a new computer. Active: John my một chiếc máy tính mới.
Passive: A new computer was bought by John. Passive: Một chiếc máy tính mới được mua bởi John.
Active: I built my house 2 years ago. Active: Tôi đã xây nhà 2 năm trước.
Passive: My house was built 2 years ago. Passive: Nhà tôi đã được xây 2 năm trước.
Contrastive analysis of passive voice in English and Vietnamese.
English Vietnamese
Difference - The structure: Be + P.P changes its form based on - The structure: bị/ được does not change form
the subject. regardless of the subject.
- The structure does not convey positive or negative - The word bị usually conveys negative meaning
meaning. while the word được seems to convey positive
meaning.
- Passive sentences follow exactly the structure. - The word bị/ được can be omitted without changing
the meaning.
(Nhà tôi đã được xây 2 năm trước.
Nhà tôi đã xây 2 năm trước.)
Reference
1. Bùi, M. H. (2008). Ngôn ngữ học đối chiếu= Contrastive Linguistics. Giáo dục.
2. Diệp Quang, B. (2004). Ngữ pháp Việt nam.
3. Rowe, B. M., & Levine, D. P. (2018). A concise introduction to linguistics. Routledge.
4. Thu, Đ. M., Ngọc, Đ. T. M., Vân, N. M., Ngân, L. K., Lê Thanh Hương, N. P. T., & Lâm, Đ. B.
TẬP QUY TẮC CÚ PHÁP TIẾNG VIỆT.
TYPES OF PHRASES IN ENGLISH
AND VIETNAMESE
Phrase
• One word
Jack • Noun phrase
• A string of words
Went to the store • Verb phrase
• A string of words
to the store • Preposition phrase
• A string of words
The store • Noun phrase
English Phrase
Noun Phrase
2. Duration (The students have been coming for the past five days.)
5. Purpose (Christopher brought his report card home to show it to his father)
English Phrase
Preposition Phrase
● Prepositional phrases are headed by a preposition and include a
noun phrase.
● Both adjective and adverb phrases can use prepositions.
Example: The farmer from Iowa is going into the store.
The function of from Iowa is to modify the farmer; it tells you where
he is from. It is an adjective phrase, but because it is also a
prepositional phrase.
The phrase into the store is an adverb phrase (or an adverbial
prepositional phrase). It modifies the verb by telling us where the
farmer went.
Phrase
References
Diep, Quang Ban. (2005). Ngu phap tieng Viet. Ha Noi city:
Education Publishing House.
Phrase Structure Rules in English and Vietnamese
Pre-head post-head
Head noun
string string
IN OTHER WORDS, The head of the phrase is the central word defining
the type of phrase
Example:
A. Noun Phrases - NP among other functions, a noun phrase (often called a nominal phrase) can
function in a sentence as the subject, direct object, and indirect object. Bruce M. Rowe et Diane P.
Levine (2016)
English Vietnamese
English Vietnamese
include three elements: central element, pre-additive element
include a verb and can include an auxiliary verb,
direct or indirect object, and modifier. and post-additive element
Ex1: Fish swim 1. Modal verbs: Phải, dám,cần, có thể…
(Intransitive verbs can form a verb phrase Ex: Anh ta cần mua một cái bàn
by themselves.)
Swim > verb phrase composed of just a verb 2. VP with Passive: bị, được, phải
Ex: cô ấy được tuyên dương
Ex2: Nhung ate the hamburger.
(ate the hamburger: VP) 3. VP with two actions described by two verbs, the 2 nd verb is
an
additive element: ăn đứng, ngã ngồi, chết đứng..
Ex: Vấp hòn đá, nó ngã ngồi
VD1: The doctor from national hospital is going into the airport .
Prepositional phrases: from Iowa and
into the store.
Contrastive analysis of English and Vietnamese structure rules
Similarities Differences
•Topicalization in English
E. g: I love Christine.
-> Christine, I love.
1. In Vietnamese, a word follows the noun it modifies (sách mới, anh tôi, vấn
đề đầu tiên, văn học Việt Nam hiện đại), unlike English which has the
reverse word order (new book, my brother, first issue, modern Vietnamese
literature).
Ngo, N. B. (2001). Vietnamese Language: Teaching and Learning Framework (linguistic part)
published by the Council of Teachers of Southeast Asian.
Takeaways
2. In the basic structure SVP (Subject + Verb + (Subject) Predicative) the English
copular verb to be is used to link
(i) a noun to a noun, e.g., My name is John.
(ii) a pronoun to a noun, e.g., He is my friend.
(iii) a noun or pronoun to an adjective, e.g., The movie is good.
In Vietnamese the sentences of type (iii) do not use the copular verb là, that is
(i) Tên tôi là John.
(ii) Anh ấy là bạn tôi.
(iii) Bộ phim ấy ______ hay
Ngo, N. B. (2001). Vietnamese Language: Teaching and Learning Framework (linguistic part)
published by the Council of Teachers of Southeast Asian.
Takeaways
3. In English, interrogative words (who, what, which, how, where, when, why) are
placed at the beginning of a question.
Ngo, N. B. (2001). Vietnamese Language: Teaching and Learning Framework (linguistic part)
published by the Council of Teachers of Southeast Asian.
Takeaways
4. In interrogative sentences, Vietnamese native speakers distinguish the
purpose and the reason by using different interrogative words, whereas the
context identifies the purpose or the reason in English, for instance: Anh đi
đến đấy làm gì? (Why do you go there? Literally: For what purpose do you go
there?) vs. Vì sao anh không muốn đi đến đấy? (Why don't you want to go
there?)
Ngo, N. B. (2001). Vietnamese Language: Teaching and Learning Framework (linguistic part)
published by the Council of Teachers of Southeast Asian.
Takeaways
5. Some words have a position different from the position of English words
with similar meanings and functions. For example: đẹp hơn vs. more
beautiful, Quyển sách này hay hơn quyển sách kia nhiều. vs. This book is
much better than that one. Tháng sau tôi đi Việt Nam. vs. I am going to
Vietnam next month.
Some words have different meanings when placed in different positions,
for instance: được nghỉ ba ngày (to be allowed to take three days off) and nghỉ
được ba ngày (to be able to take three days off).
Ngo, N. B. (2001). Vietnamese Language: Teaching and Learning Framework (linguistic part)
published by the Council of Teachers of Southeast Asian.
Takeaways
6. The adverbs of degree rất and lắm are used without the adverb nhiều "much"
when the verb conveys the meaning of feeling. The adverb much is necessary in
English: Tôi rất thích quyển sách này. or: Tôi thích quyển sách này lắm. versus I like
the book very much
Ngo, N. B. (2001). Vietnamese Language: Teaching and Learning Framework (linguistic part)
published by the Council of Teachers of Southeast Asian.
Potential Vietnamese-English Interactions
- Based on the cross-linguistic comparison of Vietnamese and English
Syntax, it is possible to predict and describe how these languages may
interact.
This table displays potential influences of Vietnamese (L1) on English (L2) at morpho-
syntax level.
Vietnamese Transfer to English
Vietnamese speakers may have difficulty with English noun and verb
inflections since their L1 does not use morphological markers such as the past
tense verb marker –ed, plural –s, and third person singular –s (McDonald, 2000).
For instance, Vietnamese speakers may use the present tense verb to indicate
tenses of past or future.
Vietnamese Transfer to English
For instance, nouns come before adjectives in Vietnamese, while adjectives come
before nouns in English. Word order of content questions in English may also be
influenced by Vietnamese. Vietnamese speakers may have difficulty with inverting
subject-verb word order or even including auxiliary verbs when asking questions in
English (McDonald, 2000). The auxiliary verb may be omitted altogether, and the
question word may be placed in sentence-final position to fill the answer slot such as
“You go where?” for “Where are you going?” or “You drink what?” for “What would
you like to drink?”
English Transfer to Vietnamese
It is well known that a person’s L1 may influence their L2 performance in adult L2
learners (e.g., McDonald, 2000; Sato, 1988). Recent studies have also shown that L2
skills may influence L1 performance (Hernandez, Bates, & Avila, 1994; Su, 2001).
American students may place adjectives before nouns such as đẹp bướm [pretty
butterfly] for bướm đẹp [butterfly pretty] “pretty butterfly.” To indicate possession, they
may place the possessor in front of the possession such as mẹ xe [mother car] for xe mẹ
[car mother] “mother’s car.”
English Transfer to Vietnamese
English (L1) influences on Vietnamese (L2) may involve word order.
Nguyễn Trà My
Suggested Drills
“The student who comes in contact with a foreign language will
find some features of it quite easy and others extremely
difficult. Those elements that are similar to his native language
will be simple for him and those elements that are different will
be difficult. It is the purpose of this contrastive grammatical
analysis to point out differences and similarities between
English and Vietnamese grammatical structures.”
Nguyen Dang Lien (1971), A Contrastive Grammatical Analysis Of English And Vietnamese, 3, xii.
Suggested Drills
1. Word order
English: new car Vietnamese: xe mới
Vietnamese does not have a logical subject equivalent to English Subject (there).
Furthermore, this type of sentences in English comes with the predicate “be”.
is
Suggested drills: These are substitution
are
drills in which the students will have to
substitute alternatively singular and There was an apple/apples
have been
Suggested Drills
3. Adjective Predicate
English: They are smart
Vietnamese: Họ thông minh
In Vietnamese, the Adjective Phrase fills the Predicate slot, and consequently is not
linked to the subject tagmeme by anything equivalent to the English Auxiliary (be)
Phrase.
are
In Vietnamese, the notion of Time is optionally expressed in the sense that an action or state in the
past or in the future can be expressed perfectly by a present Predicative Phrase (đã, đang, sẽ) that
does not contain a Tense Modal.
ate/đã ăn yesterday/hôm qua
Substitution drills can be prepared
She/ is eating/đang ăn at the moment/bây giờ
to teach the students to use the
right Close-knit Verb Phrases with Cô ấy
English: When did he go there? – Who went there? – What did he buy?
Vietnamese: Nó đi đến hồi nào? – Ai đi đến đó? – Nó mua cái gì?
The students should be taught to use the Falling Intonation Pattern instead of the
Vietnamese Rising Intonation Pattern when they produce Information Interrogation
Sentences and vice versa. On the recognition level, the students should be taught to
differentiate the Sentence Type from a Declarative Sentence Type by the Clause Types
they contain rather than by their Intonation Patterns.
Suggested drill: Students are taught to listen and produce the Falling Intonation Pattern
in English or Rising Intonation in Vietnamese.
Suggested Drills
7. Passive clause
Since there are no Passive Transitive Clause Types in Vietnamese, the students will have
to learn to trans form the Active Single Transitive Clause Type 2 into this Passive Clause
Type
Suggested drills: These are transformational and substitutional drills in which the
students will have to transform Active Single Transitive Clauses into Passive Single
Transitive Clauses, and also to substitute the fillers of the Passive Single Transitive
Predicate and the Agent slots.
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