VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
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FINAL ASSIGNMENT
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS
A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS ON ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE
PRONOUNS
Lecturer: Dr. Ngu!" Hu #$
Le%r"er: P&'( Ng)c Du
D%te *+ ,-rt&: ./01203245
C*ur6e: .13. -.137
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T&%- Ngue", .13:
1
;ue6t-*"3: <&%t -6 c*"tr%6t-=e 8-"gu-6t-c6 > I6 -t t&e 6%(e %6 c*(?%r%t-=e
8-"gu-6t-c6 > H*@ %re t&e A-++ere"t > <&%t -6 t&e ,-gge6t A-++re"ce ,et@ee"
Bt* c*(?%reC %"A Bt* c*"tr%6tC -" c*"tr%6t-=e %"%86-6 >
Narrowly defined, contrastive linguistics can be regarded as a branch of
comparative linguistics that is concerned with pairs of languages which are socio-
culturally linked. Two languages can be said to be socio-culturally linked when
(i they are used by a considerable number of bi- or multilingual speakers, and!or
(ii a substantial amount of linguistic output (te"t, discourse is translated from
one language into the other. #ccording to this definition, contrastive linguistics
deals with pairs of languages such as $panish and %as&ue, but not with 'atin and
(the #ustralian language (yirbal, as there is no socio-cultural link between these
languages.
)ore broadly defined, the term contrastive linguistics is also sometimes used for
comparative studies of (small groups (rather than *ust pairs of languages, and
does not re&uire a socio-cultural link between the languages investigated. +n this
view, contrastive linguistics is a special case of linguistic typology and is
distinguished from other types of typological approaches by a small sample si,e
and a high degree of granularity. #ccordingly, any pair or group of languages
(even 'atin and (yirbal can be sub*ect to a contrastive analysis.
-ontrastive linguistics invariably re&uires a socio-cultural link between the
languages investigated, but that it is not restricted to pairwise language
comparison. .ven though it is not a branch of applied linguistics, contrastive
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linguistics thus aims to arrive at results that carry the potential of being used for
practical purposes, e.g. in foreign language teaching and translation. #s it provides
the descriptive basis for such applications, its research programme can also be
summari,ed as comparison with a purpose (.. /0nig. The ob*ective of
applicability is also reflected in the fact that contrastive studies focus on the
differences, rather than the similarities, between the languages compared.
-ompare and contrast are words that are often used to talk about the similarities
and differences between two things or ob*ects. These two words are very
commonly used.
-ompare means to see the similarity and contrast means to see the difference.
#ccording to various dictionaries, compare means to represent things or ob*ects
in respect of similarity and contrast means to represent things in respect of
differences.
#part from these meanings, one struggles to find any differences between the two.
1f a person is looking at the similarities between two ob*ects or things, then he may
be comparing the two. +n the other hand, if a person is looking at the dissimilarity
between two things or ob*ects, then he may be contrasting the two.
The word compare has been derived from the 'atin word comparare, which
means to liken or to compare. The word contrast has been derived from the 'atin
words contra and stare, which means against and to stand. 1n )iddle
.nglish, contrast was used for meaning fight against or to withstand in a battle.
3
-ontrast lost its sheen during the end of 23th century but was later adopted in art
forms.
-ompare is mainly used to demonstrate relative values of the ob*ects in all
&ualities. 4hen comparing two things or ob*ects, one can see the divergent views
which could make one better than the other.
;ue6t-*" .: T* t&e ,e6t *+ *ur D"*@8eAge %"A eE?er-e"ce6, c%" *u g-=e
eE%(?8e +*r -88u6tr%t-*" +*r t&e Fue6t-*" (e"t-*"eA %,*=e t* 6&*@ &*@ *u
c%" %??8 -t0t&e( -" *ur te%c&-"g 6-tu%t-*" >
5ronouns are used to refer to someone or something in conte"t so that we
can avoid repetition in the process of communication. 6actually, most languages in
the world, including .nglish and 7ietnamese, have this type of word. 8owever,
each language has its own characteristics. The use of 7ietnamese pronouns,
especially personal pronouns, may cause lots of confusion for .nglish people who
learn 7ietnamese. Therefore, this paper aims at e"ploring personal pronouns in
.nglish and 7ietnamese in a contrastive view, especially in the ways they are
used. Then, 1 will suggest some implications for language teaching so that the
process of '9 ac&uisition can be better.
<&%t %re ?er6*"%8 ?r*"*u"6>
1n general, :personal pronouns are pronouns used as substitutes for proper
or common nouns; (4ikipedia, :5ersonal pronoun;. 1n the e"ample following,
:her;, :she;, :it; and :me; are personal pronouns.
4
)ary took out her book. Then, she gave it to me.
Per6*"%8 ?r*"*u"6 -" E"g8-6&
#ccording to 8eather )ac6adyen, forms of .nglish personal pronouns
vary according to case, person, number, and gender (:4hat is a 5ronoun<;.
1n term of case, in general, there are three cases depending on the
grammatical role of the personal pronouns in a sentence= sub*ective, ob*ective and
possessive ()egginson, :Noun and 5ronoun -haracteristics;.
- 1n sub*ective case, the personal pronouns are used as the sub*ect of a verb,
such as I, you, we, he, she, it, and they ()egginson, :Noun and 5ronoun
-haracteristics;. 6or e"ample= I am a student.
- 1n ob*ective case, they are used as the ob*ect of a verb or a preposition,
such as me, you, us, him, her, it, and them ()egginson, :Noun and 5ronoun
-haracteristics;. 6or e"ample= How can you stand living with them?
- 1n possessive case, they are used as markers of possession and define who
owns a particular ob*ect or person, such as mine, yours, ours, his, hers, its, theirs
()egginson, :Noun and 5ronoun -haracteristics;. 6or e"ample= Her clothes are
always clear while his are always dirty.
1n term of person, personal pronouns in .nglish have three persons= first
person, second person and third person ()egginson, :Noun and 5ronoun
-haracteristics;.
- 6irst personal pronouns refer to the speaker or writer, such as 1
!me!mineand we!us!ours. 6or e"ample= Bob told us about his family.
5
- $econd personal pronouns refer to the addressee of the speaker or the
audience of the writer, such as you!you!yours. 6or e"ample= You must tell me the
truth.
- Third personal pronouns refer to anyone else or others, such as he!him!his,
she!her!hers, it!it!its! and they!them!theirs. 6or e"ample= She loves him.
1n term of number, .nglish personal pronouns are divided into singular and
plural ones ()egginson, :Noun and 5ronoun -haracteristics;.
- $ingular personal pronouns include 1!me!mine, you!you!yours,
she!her!hers, he!him!his and it!it!its. 6or e"ample= It is a pen. +r Are you a
doctor?
- 5lural personal pronouns include we!us!ours, you!you!yours and
they!them!theirs. 6or e"ample= hey will go with me tomorrow. +r Are you
doctors?
1n term of gender, .nglish personal pronouns have three genders=
masculine, feminine and neuter ()egginson, :Noun and 5ronoun
-haracteristics;.
- )asculine personal pronouns involve male se"ual organs, such as
he!him!his. 6or e"ample=
om is a naughty boy. He is always playing truant.
- 6eminine personal pronouns involve female se"ual organs, such as
she!her!hers. 6or e"ample= !ai is a good girl. She usually helps me.
6
- Neuter personal pronouns are used when the se"ual state of referents is
not mentioned, such asthey!them!theirs, it!it!its. 6or e"ample= hey are the boo"s
that my father bought me last year.
#bove are all .nglish personal pronouns categori,ed in term of case,
person, number and gender. To make it brief, 1 have summari,ed all in the
following table=
.nglish 5ersonal 5ronouns
$ingular 5lural
$ub*ectiv
e
+b*ective 5ossessive
$ub*ectiv
e
+b*ective 5ossessive
6irst 1 )e )ine 4e >s +urs
$econd ?ou ?ou ?ours ?ou ?ou ?ours
Third
)asculine 8e 8im 8is
They Them Theirs 6eminine $he 8er 8ers
Neuter 1t 1t 1ts
Per6*"%8 ?r*"*u"6 -" V-et"%(e6e
The system of 7ietnamese personal pronouns is absolutely more
complicated than the one of .nglish. Not only age, gender, person but also the
social conte"t, attitude of the speaker to the listener as well as the relationship
between the speaker and listener are indicated through the way 7ietnamese choose
personal pronouns in every day communication. There are two branches in the
system of 7ietnamese personal pronouns= true personal pronouns and kinship
terms (4ikipedia, :7ietnamese 5ronouns;.
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True personal pronouns are catergorised into first person, second person
and third person.
- 6irst personal pronouns in singular forms include= t#i, ta, m$nh, tao% #i
is usually used in polite speech (."= This is a statement in a wedding= :#i &in
ch'n th(nh c)m *n s+ c, m-t c.a /u0 v1 trong bu2i l3 ng(y h#m nay;. a is often
used when someone talks to himself!herself (."= 4hen someone is wavering
between coming back or staying on, he may ask himself= :a n4n 5i hay n4n 6 l7i
5'y?; or it can be used to indicate the higher status of the speaker to the
addressee (."= # boss may say to his charwoman= :H8y chu9n b1 m:i th; s<n
s(ng cho ta;. !$nh is also used for solilo&uy (."= 4hen someone encourage
himself, he may say= :)@nh cAn phBi cC hDn nEaF;. ao is used in informal case
when the speaker and the addressee have a close relationship (."= # pupil want to
borrow his friends picture book, he may say= :=ho tao m>?n cu@n truyAn n(y
nha; or when the speaker is angry with the listener (."= :ao sB 5)nh cho m(y
nhC &>*ng;.
- $econd personal pronouns in singular forms include= m(y, mi, b7n%!(y
is used in close relationship or informal social conte"t (."= # sister may ask her
brother= :!(y 5ang l(m c)i g$ 5,<;. !i is usually used for familiar relationship in
the )iddle area of 7ietnamG it has the same function as m(y. B7n is used to creat
friendly atmosphere (."= #n )- could ask a contestant in a gameshow= :B7n c,
thD giE thiAu vF bGn th'n m$nh cho "h)n giG 5>?c biHt "h#ng 7<;.
8
- Third personal pronouns in singular forms include= n,, y, hIn, g8, G%J,
is often used to refer to animals, things or children (."= :=hiHc b(n n(y 5>?c l(m
tC gK /u0 n4n n, c, gi) rLt cao;. Y and hIn are both used to refer to someone
scorned or untrustworthy (."= 4hen you accuse someone as a criminal, you could
say= :HIn l( mMt t4n tMi ph7m;. N8 and G are both ofetn used to refer to someone
unliked, however, 7ienamese use g8 for male and G for female (."= # girl talks
about a man who makes her annoyed= :N8 thOt l( phiFn ph;c; while the man
could say= :P thOt l( 5)nh 5);.
The plural forms of first, second and third personal pronouns can be created
by adding the words like :chHng;, :tIi;, :bJn; such as= chHng tKi, tIi nL, bJn
mMy, bJn taoN.(."= This is a statement in a wedding= :=hQng t#i &in ch'n th(nh
c)m *n s+ c, m-t c.a /u0 v1 trong bu2i l3 ng(y h#m nay;. 8owever, we can also
use :hJ; as the plural form of a third personal pronoun without adding any words
(."= 1nstead of saying= :Ri n, l( b7n c.a t#i;, one can say= :H: l( b7n c.a t#i;
with a more formal level.
The other branch of 7ietnamese personal pronouns is kinship terms which
are the most popular ways 7ietnamese use to refer oneself and others. .ven
though the listener is not a family member or relative, kinship terms can also used
as pronouns to address and refer to friends and unfamiliar interlocutors ('uong,
2OOP. The system of these kinship terms is &uite complicated and they can
different according to specific areas, so in this paper 1 *ust mention some typical
ones.
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- 5arents and children relationship= chaScon (father-children and mTScon
(mother-children. 6or e"ample, a child talks to her mother= :@i nay, mT v( con
5i si4u th1 nhUV; The term chaScon is also used in the relationship between parish
priests and -hristian believers.
- $ibling relationship= anhSem (older brother-younger brother!sister and
ch1Sem (older sister-younger brother!sister. 6or e"ample, a little boy says to his
sister= :Ba bGo ch1 mMt l)t ch6 em 5i h:c.; # person can also use anh! ch1 to refer
people who are in the same generation and older than him!her, and use em to
prefer people who are in the same generation and younger than him!her.
- Qrandparents and grandchildren relationship= #ngSch)u (grandfather-
grandson!granddaughter, b(Sch)u (grandmother- grandson!granddaughter. 6or
e"ample, an old man talks to his niece= :RS Kng kS cho chTu nghe chuyUn TVm-
-Tm nhWF; The terms #ngSch)u and b(Sch)u can also be used when a person talks
to people who seem to be as old as his!her grandparents.
- >ncle and niece!nephew relationship= chQSch)u (fathers younger brother-
nice!nephew, b)cSch)u (parents older brother- nice!nephew, cOuSch)u (mothers
younger brother- nice!nephew, d>?ngSch)u (ants husband- nice!nephew. 6or
e"ample, a man may talk to his nephew= :=Ou c, /u( cho ch)u n(y.; The term
chQSch)u is also used when a person talks to a male who is the same age or
younger than his!her parents whereas b)cSch)u is used when a person talks to a
male who is older than his!her parents.
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- #nt and niece!nephew relationship= c#Sch)u (fathers younger sister-
nice!nephew, d$Sch)u (mothers younger sister- nice!nephew, b)cSch)u (parents
older sister- nice!nephew, m?Sch)u (uncles wife on the maternal side-
nice!nephew, thWmSch)u (uncles wife on the paternal side- nice!nephew. 6or
e"ample, a woman may say to her niece= :=h)u c.a d$ h#m nay giXi /u)V; The
term d$Sch)u or c#Sch)u is also used when a person talks to a female who is
younger than his!her parents while b)cSch)u is used when a person talks to a
female who is older than his!her parents.
To make the third-person forms of the kinship terms above, the word :Vy;
is added behind them such as Kng Vy, bM Vy, thXm Vy, d@ Vy, chH Vy, chY Vy, anh
VyN6or e"ample= Yan l( ch1 c.a t#i. =h1 Ly rLt th>*ng t#i.
4ithin this paper, 1 would like to discuss the contrast between .nglish and
7ietnamese personal pronouns in ways they are used.
6irstly, there are different pronouns in .nglish that indicate sub*ect vs.
predicate position (eg. :he; vs. :him; while 7ietnamese pronouns remain the
same without indicating sub*ect vs. predicate position (.rickson 2OO-9PZ.
."ample=
- He is )arys boyfriend. 1 met him at )arys birthday party last week.
- Anh Ly lM b[n trai c\a )ary. TKi ]^ g_p anh Ly trong bu`i tiUc sinh nhat
c\a )ary vMo tuAn trbcc.
$econdly, .nglish has possessive pronouns to indicate the possessor of
another noun (eg. :mine;, :yours;, :his;, :hers;. 1n contrast, possessive pronouns
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do not e"ist in 7ietnameseG in stead, the word :c\a; is used to indicate the
possession.
."ample=
)y coat is pink. Yours is blue.
do khoTt c\a tKi mMu heng. =)i c.a b7n mMu "anh.
Thirdly, because of the dominance of ellipsis, 7ietnamese pronouns have
low fre&uency as compared to .nglish pronouns (Thu, :The 6unctioning of
5ronouns in 7ietnamese and .nglish;.
."ample=
He said that he would go to 8anoi the following month.
Anh Ly nLi sf ]i 8M Ngi vMo thTng tci. (The sub*ect of reported clause is
omitted.
6inally, the choice of pronouns in 7ietnamese, especially kinship terms, is
strongly influenced by semantic and pragmatic factors while this is not the case in
.nglish (Thu, :The 6unctioning of 5ronouns in 7ietnamese and .nglish;. 6or
e"ample= 1n .nglish, we use only the pronoun :he; for referring to both brother
and fatherG however, in 7ietnamese, we have to use the pronoun :Kng Vy; for
referring to father and the pronoun :anh Vy; for referring to brother.
Through a contrastive view into 7ietnamese and .nglish personal pronouns
above, 1 would like to suggest some implications for .nglish and 7ietnamese
teaching and learning.
12
6irstly, language teachers have to pay much attention to semantic and
pragmatic factors such as age, se", social status, relationship, attitudes and feelings
of the speaker and addressee, as well as the formality of the conte"t in the process
of teaching 7ietnamese pronouns. Towards .nglish people who learn 7ietnamese,
teachers should e"plain clearly the different meanings of each 7ietnamese
personal pronoun, especially the kinship terms in specific conte"ts. 6or e"ample,
to utter the sentence :1 love you; in 7ietnamese, we should consider the
relationship, se" and even social status between the speaker and the listener. 1f the
speaker is a female and the listener is a male, the utterance should be :.m yhu
anh;. +n contrast, if the speaker is a male and the listener is a female, the
utterance should be :#nh yhu em;. 8owever, if the utterance is said by people in a
family, the personal pronouns must be change= :)i yhu con; for the mother to her
child and :-on yhu mi; for the child to his!her mother, :%M yhu chTu; for the
grandmother to her grandchild and :-hTu yhu bM; for the grandchild to his!her
grandmother. %esides, if the utterance is said by a girl to a man who has much
higher social status than her, she may say :.m yhu ngMi;.
$econdly, when sudden change of personal pronouns in 7ietnamese
conte"ts appears, it is the teachers duty to e"plain clearly the reason for such
change. The following e"ample will make the suggestion more clear=
This is the conservation between a father and his daughter when the father
wants to forbid his daughters love for her boyfriend.
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%a= -on h^y bj thkng ]L ]i. NL khKng thS mang h[nh phHc ]ln cho con
]mu.
-on gTi= Nhbng con ]^ ln yhu anh Vy rei, ba DiF
%a= Nghe loi ba ]i con. %j thkng ]L ]i. %a sf t@m cho con mgt ngboi tCt
hDn.
-on gTi= -on "in lpi ba, nhbng con khKng thS.
%a= 7ay th@ mMy h^y ra khji nhM tao ]S ]i theo thkng ]L luKn ]i.
1n the conservation above, we can see the sudden change from :cha-con; to
:mMy-tao; when the father gets angry because he fails to convince her daughter to
leave her boyfriend. )oreover, the daughters boyfriend is refered differently
according to the attitude of the utterer. 8e is called :nL;, :thkng ]L; by the father
with scornful attitude, but the daughter use the pronoun :anh Vy; to call him
respectfully.
Thirdly, .nglish teachers should help their 7ietnamese students get
a&uainted with using possessive and ob*ective pronouns which do not e"ist in
7ietnamese. 6or e"ample, the sentence :)_c dq n, ]^ cC grng rVt nhisu nhbng st
vIng vs c.a n, khiln cho mJi ngboi khKng muCn giao nhiUm vI cho n,; is
translated into .nglish :#lthough he tried a lot, his awkwardness made nobody
want to commission him; with the consideration of sub*ective, ob*ective position
as well as possessive case.
'ast but not least, ellipsis is dominant in 7ietnamese while it is not the case
in .glish. Therefore, .nglish teachers should help 7ietnamese students make
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sentences correctly by avoiding ellipsis, especially at the beginning of
conservation. The e"ample below will make clear this point=
# and % meet each other in the street by chance.
1n 7ietnamese 1n .nglish
#= Ri ]mu ]L<
%= Ri chu.
#= 4here are you going<
%= Im going to the market.
1n conclusion, each language has its distinct characters, so it is not easy at
all to ac&uire a second language effectively. The differences of using personal
pronouns in .nglish and 7ietnamese, for e"ample, are problems that learners need
to make their efforts to adapt. 4ith this research paper, 1 hope that readers can
distinguish the personal pronouns in .nglish in comparison with personal
pronouns in 7ietnamese. Then, we can find out more effective solutions to help
learners grasp the using of personals pronouns between the two languages more
easily. 1t is obvious that this paper cannot avoid shortcomings, so your useful
contributions are welcomed.
15
veferences
.rickson, w. .nglish. 1n w. Qarry x -. vubino, eds. 6acts about the worlds
languages= #n encyclopedia of the worlds ma*or languages, past, and
present. New ?ork= 8. 4. 4ilson -ompany, 9PP2.
'uong, 8. 7. (iscursive practices and linguistic meanings= The 7ietnamese
system of person reference. 5hiladelphia, 5#= wohn %en*amins 5ublishing
-ompany, 2OOP.
)egginson, (avid. :Noun and 5ronoun -haracteristics.; u+ttawa. 2y #ug. 9PP3.
9z (ec. 9PPO
{http=!!www.uottawa.ca!academic!arts!writcent!hypergrammar!
nounchar.html|persons}.
)ac6adyen, 8eather. :4hat is a 5ronoun<; uZttawa. [\ Zct. ]\\^. ]_ `ec. ]\\a
bhttpcddwww.arts.uottawa.cadwritcentdhypergrammardpronouns.htmle.
:5ersonal pronoun.; 4ikipedia.9z (ec. 9PPO. 4ikimedia 6oundation, 1nc. 9z
(ec. 9PPO {http=!!en.wikipedia.org!wiki!5ersonal~pronoun}.
Thu, N.T./. :The 6unctioning of 5ronouns in 7ietnamese and .nglish.; 7u Qiao
(uc (ai 8oc. 22 wan. 9PPy. 7u (ai hoc va $au (ai hoc. 9 (ec. 9PPO
{http=!!www.hed.edu.vn!Trang-hu!'uan#nTien$i!22299OO!}.
:7ietnamese pronouns.; 4ikipedia. ZP +ct. 9PPO. 4ikimedia 6oundation,
1nc. 9 (ec. 9PPO {http=!!en.wikipedia.org!wiki!7ietnamese~pronouns}.
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