THE UNIVERSITY OF ĐA NANG
UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDIES
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LY NGOC TOAN
A COGNITIVE STUDY OF LEXICAL EXPRESSIONS
DENOTING MOTION IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE
DOCTORAL THESIS IN ENGLISH LINGUISTICS
DA NANG- 2019
THE UNIVERSITY OF ĐA NANG
UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDIES
= = = = = = = =
LY NGOC TOAN
A COGNITIVE STUDY OF LEXICAL EXPRESSIONS
DENOTING MOTION IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE
(A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree of Doctor of Philosophy)
Major: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS
Code: 62.22.02.01
DOCTORAL THESIS IN ENGLISH LINGUISTICS
Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Luu Quy Khuong
DA NANG- 2019
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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used
without due acknowledgment in the text of the dissertation.
This dissertation has not been submitted for the award of any degree of
diploma in any other tertiary institution.
Da Nang, December 26, 2019
Author
Ly Ngoc Toan
Da Nang, 2019
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr.
Lưu Quý Khương, whose support in various aspects has led me to finish this dissertation
finally. His enlightening comments and discussions used to extend our meetings to
several hours. My research orientations have been much influenced by his formal and
empirical methodology.
I also gratefully acknowledge the other members of my dissertation committee at
the University of Foreign Language Studies (UFL) - the University of Da Nang (UDN),
particularly Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phan Văn Hòa for his generous advice and support from the
first drafts to the finalization of the dissertation, Dr. Trần Quang Hải for providing me
with stimulating insights on cognitive linguistics. My sincere thanks would go to Dr. Ngũ
Thiện Hùng, Dean of the English Faculty, for his constant encouragement.
I would like to express my great gratitude to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Trần Hữu Phúc,
Rector of UFL-UDN, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyễn Văn Long, Vice - Rector of UFL-UDN,
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyễn Thị Quỳnh Hoa, Vice Dean of the English Faculty, for their
critical comments, which encourage me to better and fulfill my research.
I am indebted to my colleagues, Dr. Lê Hương Hoa, Dean of English Department,
Nguyễn Thị Vân Anh, M.A, Nguyễn Văn Ân, M.A, at the English Department of Police
University, whose help and support was of great importance to the completion of this
dissertation.
Finally, I owe the completion of this dissertation to my parents for their love and
encouragement, my wife and my lovely daughter for their understanding and sacrifice
throughout my study.
To all mentioned, and to many more, my heart extends the warmest thanks!
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ABSTRACT
Regarding a cognitive study on lexical expressions of motion (LEsM) in English and
Vietnamese, the study, first, examines the semantic properties of LEsM which are
associated with the semantic components (SCs) mapped onto linguistic surface forms
(Su.F) to denote motion events (MEs), called lexicalization patterns (LPs). Second, the
study investigates the syntactic properties of LEsM that is concerned with the logical
incorporation of surface forms to constitute motion events based on the conceptual basis
of grammar, the construction grammar more precisely which includes argument
structures and event structures. In doing so, the dissertation aims to establish several
frameworks to analyze the semantics and syntax of LEsM and to elicit the similarities and
differences in LEsM between English and Vietnamese in terms of semantic and syntactic
properties.
Concerning data analysis, the study draws on some main methods to collect as
well as analyze the data, namely deductive and inductive, quantitative and qualitative, and
descriptive methods. Moreover, the comparison may help the researcher recognize the
major similarities and differences in LEsM between English and Vietnamese. Besides the
methods mentioned above, some other methods could be harnessed when necessary.
The study reveals that both LPs and construction grammar of LEsM in English
and Vietnamese were found and emerged with the remarkable similarities and
differences. The result shows that the argument structures of LEsM in English and
Vietnamese are relatively similar in terms of their distribution as well as frequency. In
contrast, there are considerable differences in LEsM between English and Vietnamese in
terms of semantic properties. This can be expounded to be due to a variety of conceptual
and cultural aspects. Therefore, the overall objective of the study is to investigate the
semantics and syntax of LEsM in English and Vietnamese.
From the results above, the dissertation suggests fundamental implications for
language teaching and learning, linguistic research and translation. One of the results
found in the dissertation will have practical implication for each domain.