VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES
.............. οOο..............
NG NGUYÊN GIANG
A STUDY ON STRUCTURAL AND SEMANTIC COMPONENTS
OF TYPICAL ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE IDIOMS
(Nghiên cu thành t cu trúc và ng ngha ca mt s thành ng
c nh (c ng) in hình trong ting Anh và ting Vit)
Major: English Linguistics
Code: 62 22 15 01
A Thesis Submitted in Total Fulfillment of the Requirements for
the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
HANOI – 2013
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES
.............. οOο..............
NG NGUYÊN GIANG
A STUDY ON STRUCTURAL AND SEMANTIC COMPONENTS
OF TYPICAL ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE IDIOMS
(Nghiên cu thành t cu trúc và ng ngha ca mt s thành ng
c nh (c ng) in hình trong ting Anh và ting Vit)
Major: English Linguistics
Code: 62 22 15 01
A Thesis Submitted in Total Fulfillment of the Requirements for
the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Supervisors: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Võ i Quang
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lê Hùng Tin
HANOI – 2013
i
DECLARATION BY AUTHOR
Except where reference has been made in the text, this thesis contains no material
previously published or written by another person.
I, ng Nguyên Giang, hereby state that this thesis is the result of my own research and
the substance of the thesis has not, wholly or in part, been submitted for any degrees to
any other universities or institutions.
ii
PUBLISHED WORKS BY THE AUTHOR RELEVANT TO THE THESIS
Giang, . N. (2009). Idiomatic Variants and Synonymous Idioms in English. VNU
Journal of Science, Foreign Languages, 25 (2), 81-85.
Giang, . N. (2011). Idiom Variants and Synonymous Idioms in English and
Vietnamese: The Similarities and Differences. VNU Journal of Science, Foreign
Languages, 27 (4), 273-280.
Giang, . N. (2011). Bàn thêm v c tính ng ngha ca thành ng ting Anh [On the
semantic properties of English idioms]. Bn tin thông tin khoa hc và công ngh -
Trng i hc Tây Bc, 1-6, 27-33.
Giang, . N. (2012). Bàn thêm v c tính ng ngha ca thành ng ting Vit [On the
semantic properties of Vietnamese idioms]. T in hc Bách khoa th, 15
(1), 38-43.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The completion of this dissertation is credited to many people’s contributions and
support. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them all most sincerely, knowing
that my thanks are never adequate.
I am greatly indebted to my supervisors Assoc. Prof. Dr. i Quang and Assoc.
Prof. Dr. Lê Hùng Tin for their encouragement, insightful comments and interest in my
study. I would like to thank the staff of Post Graduate Department for their assistance
that has made the finalization of the dissertation possible in a very short time.
My sincere thanks also extend to Prof. Dr. Hoàng Vn Vân, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyn
Vn , Dr. Nguyn c Hot, and Dr. Nguyn Vn Trào for their invaluable
suggestions, highly constructive comments on several issues related to the dissertation.
Their willingness to support me, answer my questions, and comment on my dissertation
content and organization has made me more confident to pursue the research in this
challenging area.
I give my sincere thanks to all my students, colleagues and friends who patiently
listened to my frustrations, and provided me with encouragement, understanding and
collegiality.
As custom dictates, I have saved the most important people for last. My gratitude goes
to my mother and father. Their constant love and unconditional support are simply
beyond words. A big thank goes to my wife, Thanh Hà, and my gorgeous son, Bo
Nam, for their patience, endless love, and devotion. Whatever choices I have made, they
have always stood by me and believed in me. I am immensely thankful for all the
assistance they have given me.