Matching in English and Their Vietnamese Translational Equivalents

This thesis is available for the purpose of reference at: – Library of College of Foreign Languages, University of Danang. – The Information Resources Center, University of Danang. Danang, 2011

3 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Nowadays, English is considered as an important means of communication all over the world. However, in the process of communication, we sometimes have difficulties to choose words when expressing something because of their similar meanings in different contexts and usage. The most difficult choice is that regarding to verb groups, for example: “to talk, to speak, to tell, to say”, “to carry, to bring, to take, to get”, “to see, to watch, to look, to gaze”, “to have, to own, to belong to”, etc. Therefore, it is very important and useful to have a correct and effective usage of these verbs. As we know, English verbs are classified in different ways and according to various criteria.

This helps us not only to collect but also to use them easily. However, the fact that the similar meaning can be expressed by many different words making Vietnamese learners and users of English confused. For example, all the verbs “suit, match, fit, correspond” describe correspondences and combinations, however, only “suit” not “fit, match and correspond” can be used in the following sentences: (1) “Does the climate in Da Lat suit your health?” (2) “It suits me to start work at later time.” or (3) “Pastel colors suit me”. And only “fit” is used in (4) “That jacket really fits you at the shoulders”, and “match” in (5) “That lamp matches the curtains”. They are among the verbs of relationship reporting a state that exists between entities or a particular relationship between entities.

4 Besides, these verbs are perceived as having the highest frequency of occurrence in the terms of denoting the most various meaning of relationship or suiting process. They have a wide range of meanings. The misunderstanding of using the matching verbs causes many problems to English users and translators. In addition, the wide diversity of matching verbs sometimes makes them confused and they have difficulties when using them effectively to get target communication in speaking as well as translating. In fact, some researches have been done about many kinds of verbs but research of these matching verbs has not been done.

For these reasons, we would like to choose the study of matching verbs for my thesis topic to study more about the matching verbs with the hope of helping Vietnamese users and translators to achieve the exact usage and use them. 1.2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1.2.1. Aims of the study The thesis analyses the semantic and the syntactic features of the EMVs and their Vietnamese translation equivalents. In practice, the study not only supplies some implications to language teaching, learning as well as translating but also raises language users’ awareness of the differences between the matching verbs so that they can use them exactly and be successful in their real life communication in English. 1.2.2. Objectives of the study – describe the semantic and syntactic characteristics of the most commonly used EMVs – find out their Vietnamese translational equivalents

5 – suggest some implications for teaching and learning Vietnamese English

Translation. 1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1. What are the semantic and syntactic features of English matching verbs? 2. What are their Vietnamese translational equivalents? 3. What are the implications for teaching, learning, and translation of English matching verbs? 1.4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY Because of the limitation of time and ability, in this thesis I just study the semantic and syntactic features of four commonly used English matching verbs (“TO FIT, TO MATCH, TO SUIT, TO CORRESPOND”) and their Vietnamese translational equivalents to provide some practical suggestions for teaching, learning and translating.

1.5. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY The study is organized into five chapters as follows. Chapter 1: Introduction. Chapter 2: Literature Review and Theoretical Background. Chapter 3: Methodology and Procedures of the Study. Chapter 4: Findings and Discussions. Chapter 5: Conclusions. 1.6. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY – Vietnamese learners to have a comprehensive understanding of verbs of Matching in English. – Vietnamese learners can find out the differences of the verbs to choose suitable verbs to express different meanings in English, and they can avoid mistakes in using these verbs. Therefore, the ultimate

6 goal of this study is to investigate some syntactic and semantic features of EMVs. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUD 2.1. A REVIEW OF PREVIOUS STUDIES RELATED TO THE PROBLEM According to Vendler, Z. [43] in Linguistics in philosophy. Ithaca, N.Y: Cornell University Press placed verbs into four classes: activities, accomplishments, achievements, and states. In “Semantic Structure”, Jackendoff [24] presents some verbs of manner of motion and configuration. Moreover, according to Biber D. et al [13], verbs are classified into seven major semantic domains, although many verbs have more than one meaning.

Marcella Frank in “Modern English a practice reference guide” [32, p.47] classifies verbs by complement of verb or by form of verb. The types of verbs described have difference according to the kind of complement they may have. According to Levin [28], verbs are put into 23 different classes based on their patterns of alternation and according to George A. Miller [91]; verbs are divided into 15 files largely based on semantic criteria. All but one of these files corresponds to what linguists have called semantic domains: verbs of bodily care and functions, change cognition, communication, competitions, etc. Angela Downing and Philp Locke [11] and Graham Lock [21] supply us with some information about perception verbs.. Viberg’s [44] research results of the 20 most frequent verbs in European

7 language (English, German, Swedish , French, Spanish, Finnish, Hungarian… show that the field of perception is represented by the verb denoting visual perception, namely the verb “see”. In Vietnam, Nguyen Kim Than [6] mentions the formation of Vietnamese verbs and their classification. Moreover; there are also some studies on semantic and lexical features of verbs. For example, Nguyen Van Chien [7] studies “ăn” and “ñi” in Vietnamese. Truong Thi Hue [42] also studies verbs denoting the concept of eating. Huynh Vu Chi Tam [23] has a study on semantic features of state related verbs in English and their Vietnamese equivalent expressions.

There also have been many studies that focus on verb groups. Tran Thi Phuoc Hanh [41] analyzed the semantic and syntactic features of four English verbs: Say-Tell-Speak-Talk and their Vietnamese equivalents. Luu Thuy My Hanh [30] studied on semantic and syntactic features of motion verbs in English and Vietnamese equivalent. There have been studies of Nguyen Thi Mai [36] with an investigation into linguistic features of the English verbs “carry, bring, take” and their Vietnamese translational equivalents, Le Lan Phuong [27] with verbs denoting the concept of seeing in English and Vietnamese, Nguyen Thi Hong Duc [35] with English spatial verbs and their Vietnamese equivalents in the light of cognitive grammar. 2.2. THE THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY 2.2.1. Semantic Characteristic of Words According to Graham Lock [21], semantics refers to “the systems of meaning in a language, for example, how sentences relate to the real word of people, actions, places and so on”.

As George

8 Yule states in Pragmatics [45], semantics is the study of the relationships between linguistics forms and entities in the world, that is, how words literally connect to things. Similar to point of views above, in “Syntactic Theory” by Ivan A. Sag, Thomas Wasow, Emily M.Bender [40], semantics is defined as “the study of linguistic meaning, that is, the contribution to communication that derives directly from the conversation of the language.” 2.2.1.1. Meaning Richards and Platt offer a broader view of word meaning in their position that is, “what a language expresses about the world we live in or any possible or imaginary word” [38]. Crystal, however, tends to look at the meaning of the word from a more specific context. To him, meaning is studied by means of a detailed analysis of words and sentences in a specific context.

In addition, Crystal [16, p.247] also states: “Meaning is a basic notion used in language study in two main ways. First, determining the signification of a message is the chief end of linguistic enquiry: above all, language is concerned with the communication of meaning. Second, meaning is used as a way of analyzing the structure of language, through such notion a contractiveness and distinctiveness.” According to Cruse [15], the meaning of a word is fully explored from its contextual relations. Another and closely related, popular view of meaning suggested by Jeffries [25] is that meaning is a kind of invisible unclothed being, waiting for the clothes of language to allow it to be seen, which is why it is very necessary to take off the clothes of

9 language to understand the real meaning of words, phrases, and sentences. 2.2.1.2. Word Meaning Denotations versus Connotations These meanings are defined by Asher [12] as the denotation meaning of a word referring to” denotatively”, “referential”, “descriptive” or “logical” meaning whereas connotative meaning being one that refers to the truth-functional, descriptive part of the lexical meaning. The meanings are defined in the Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics [38] as follows: Denotation is a part of the meaning of a word or phrase that relates it to the phenomena in the real world or in a fictional or possible world.

Connotation is the additional meanings that a word or phrase has beyond its central meaning (Denotation). Connotation can be defined as a set of association that a word’s use can evoke. These meaning show people’s emotions and attitudes towards what the word or phrase refers to. Another popular view of this respect assumed by Larson [26, p.131] is that “A word, which has a positive connotation in one culture, may actually have negative connotation in another.” Verb meaning The meaning of simple nouns (proper and concrete nouns) is more concrete than verb meaning. They can be seen as pointers to objects. As Rosh [39] has demonstrated, their meanings are highly constrained by the nature of the physical word. Verbs, in contrast,

10 express relational meanings which depend on abstract concepts and are relatively unconstrained by the physical word. 2.2.1.3. Semantic Field According to Finch [18], semantic field is an area of meaning containing words with related senses. Meanings of words cluster together to form fields of meaning which in turn cluster into even larger fields until the entire language is encompassed. Semantic field (lexical field) is defined by Richards, Platt and Weber [38, p.164] as “the organization of related words and expression into a system which shows their relationship to one another.” According to Crystal [16, p.346, 247], semantic field is “the view that vocabulary of a language is a system of interrelated lexical networks, and not an inventory of independent items, also called lexical field theory”.

2.2.1.4. Semantic Features Semantic features play a very important part in differentiating the match between word and meaning. We need a very large number of features to do this work. But linguists believe that a much smaller number of features would be needed in writing grammar description. Richards et al. [13, p.328] define semantic features (semantic components as “the smallest units of meaning in a word” which may be described as “a combination of semantic features”. However, Crystal [16] points out that semantic feature are a minimal contrastive element of a word’s meaning. 2.2.2. Syntactic characteristics Syntax, as defined by Richard et al [13], is the study of how words combine to form sentences and the rules which govern the formation of sentences. As George Yule states [45, p.4], syntax is the

11 study of the relationship between linguistic forms, how they are arranged in sequence and which sequences are well-formed. This type of study generally takes place without considering any word of reference, or any user of the forms. According to Nguyen Hoa Lac [34, p.4], syntax is a description of the way words are put together to make larger units such as phrases, clauses and sentences. In brief, syntax is a term in general use and in linguistic for the study of the way in which words combine into such units as phrases, clauses and sentences. The sequences that result from these combinations are referred to in linguistics as syntactic structures.

2.2.3. Verbs 2.2.3.1. Definition of English Verb A verb is a part of speech that usually denotes actions (“go”, “learn”), occurrence (“to decompose”, “to glitter”) or a state of being (“exist”, “live”). [91] Similarly, according to Crystal D. [16], verb is a word class, which is traditionally defined as a “doing” or “action” word. A verb can be formally identified in many languages as an element displaying contrast of tense, aspect, voice, mood, person and number. In “The Functional Analysis of English” by Thomas Bloor and Meriel Bloor [14, p.18], verbs are traditionally defined as words which express an action or state ( a rather feeble definition), verbs show the greatest degree of various inform (morphology) of any of the word classes. According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary [2005], verb is “a group or a group of words that expresses an action, an event, or a state”. [p. 1636]

12 “Verb is a word which occurs as part of the predicate of a sentence: carries markers of grammatical categories such as tense, aspect, person, number, and mood; and refers to an action or state” (Cambridge dictionary.com) 2.2.3.2. Classification of Verbs a. Levin’s Classification According to Levin [28], verbs are put into 23 different classes based on their patterns of alternation. b. Biber D. et al’s classification Biber D. et al in “Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English” [13, p.360] classifies verbs by semantic domains. c. George A. Miller’s classification According to George A. Miller [90], verbs are divided into 15 files largely based on semantic criteria.

Among the classification above, the classification by Biber D. et al seems to be the most reasonable for this paper. Therefore, in this paper, it is taken for the background of the study. CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 3.1. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY The study is carried out with a combination of two methods: descriptive and qualitative approaches that help to analyze the data in a reliable way. Therefore, the descriptive method is supposed to be the main method of the study of English matching verbs. The descriptive method helps to describe EMVs in term of their structure and meanings to draw some conclusions on the syntactic and semantic features.

13 3.2. STUDY PROCEDURES – Choosing the topic to investigate by reviewing the previous works carefully. Basing on the materials collected, I can get some valuable theoretical background as well as practical evidence. The theoretical background on the matching verbs and it related matters are based on the viewpoint of Biber D. et al. – Choosing the approach to the problem and the theoretical background. Collecting data: The relevant data are taken from 14 English novels, short stories and their Vietnamese translational versions. They are “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell, “Vanity Fair” by Thackery W.M, “The Adventure of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain, “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte, “Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens, “David Copperfield” by Charles Dickens, “Emma” by Jane Austen, “Ivanhoe” by Walter Scott, “The Fountainhead” by Aryan Rand, “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” by J.K.Jowing, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K.Jowing, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” by J.K.Jowing, “Breaking dawn” by Stephenie Meyer, “Da Vinci Code” by Dan Brown. From these novels and short stories, 300 examples are quoted, analyzed, and used as the chief source for the qualitative evidence. – Analyzing the samples and describing EMVs and their Vietnamese translational equivalents. Firstly, the syntactic features of the four EMVs and their Vietnamese translational equivalents are presented through clear and understandable examples. Then the semantic features of the four EMVs and their Vietnamese translational equivalents are presented in turn. Verbs

14 After presenting the syntactic and semantic features of EMVs and the Vietnamese translational equivalents, the discussions of the finding are carried out in order to state the differences and similarities in English and Vietnamese translational equivalents. – Suggesting some solutions for teaching, learning, and translating EMVs 3.3. VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS This chapter deals with the syntactic and the semantic features of four English matching verbs, namely CORRESPOND, FIT, MATCH, and SUIT. The examples used in the analysis have been taken from sources as already touched upon in the Chapter

3. The discussion of findings on the syntactic and semantic features of CORRESPOND, FIT, MATCH, and SUIT including the analysis of the similarities and differences in aspects of syntax and semantics of these verbs is then followed by the presentation of the frequency of occurrence of these verbs in the corpus described. To begin with, a discussion on the syntactic features of CORRESPOND, FIT, MATCH, and SUIT is presented. 4.1. SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF ENGLISH VERBS ACCORD, CORRESPOND, FIT, MATCH, AND SUIT 4.1.1. General Syntactic Features of English Matching 4.1.1.1. All of Them Can Be Used as Transitive Verbs 4.1.1.2. All of Them Can Be Used as Intransitive Verbs 4.1.2. Specific Syntactic Features of English Matching Verbs

15 4.1.2.1. Syntactic Features of FIT It is generally assumed that the verb FIT involves some sense of a particular relationship between entities. It is often followed by an object pronoun, a noun, a noun phrase…. In brief, the FIT verb can be used in the following structures: a. FIT + NP (animate objects) b. FIT + NP (inanimate objects) c. FIT + adverb (Fit is an intransitive verb) d. FIT + reflexive pronoun + adverb/prepositional phrase e. FIT + prepositional phrase 4.1.2.2. Syntactic Features of SUIT First, SUIT is both a transitive verb and an intransitive verb. We can see syntactic features of SUIT as follows: a. SUIT + NP (personal object) + (adv) b. SUIT + NP (inanimate objects) c. SUIT + noun phrase + adv (adv + SUIT + noun phrase) d. SUIT + (adv) + prepositional phrase e. SUIT+ adverb (Suit is an intransitive verb) 4.1.2.3. Syntactic Features of MATCH In the term of syntactic features, MATCH is described as connecting. In other words, the verb MATCH can be used in the following structures: a. MATCH + inanimate objects b. MATCH + NP + Preposition + NP 4.1.2.4. Syntactic Features of CORRESPOND a. CORRESPOND + preposition + NP b. CORRESPOND (Intransitive verb) FIT place

16 4.2. SEMANTIC FEATURES OF THE ENGLISH MATCHING VERBS 4.2.1. Semantic Features of FIT a. Showing the meaning: To be the right shape and size for s.th/ s.one. b. Showing the meaning: To put clothes on somebody and make them the right size and shape c. Showing the meaning: To put or join something in the right d. Showing the meaning: To match or be suitable for something / to make something do this e. Showing the meaning: To make somebody/something suitable for a particular job g. Showing the meaning: To be in agreement with something Table 4.1. Summary of the Semantic Features of FIT VERB SEMANTIC FEATURES to be the right shape and size for something/somebody to put clothes on somebody and make them the right size and shape to put or join something in the right place to match or be suitable for something / to make something do this to make somebody/something suitable for a particular job to be in agreement with something 4.2.2. Semantic Features of SUIT a. Showing the meaning: to be convenient or useful for sb

17 b. Showing the meaning: Suit sb (especially of clothes, colours, etc.) to make you look attractive c. Showing the meaning: suit sb/sth to be right or good or beneficial for sb/sth d. Showing the meaning: Suit one’self: to act according to one’s own wishes e. Showing the meaning: Suit Sth to sth/sb: to make sth appropriate for sth/sb, adapt sth to sth/sb Table 4.2. Summary of the Semantic Features of SUIT VERB SEMANTIC FEATURES Suit sb/sth: to be convenient or useful for sb : Suit sb ( especially of clothes, colours, etc. ) : to make you look attractive SUIT Suit sb/sth: to be right or good or beneficial for sb/sth Suit one’self: to act according to one’s own wishes Suit Sth to sth/sb: to make sth appropriate for sth/sb, adapt sth to sth/sb 4.2.3. Semantic Features of MATCH a. Showing the meaning: if two things match, or if one thing matches another, they have the same color, pattern, or style and therefore look attractive together. b. Showing the meaning: if two things match or if one thing matches another, they are the same or very similar. c. Showing the meaning: to find sb/sth that goes together with or is connected with another person or thing. d. Showing the meaning: to be as good, interesting, successful, etc. as sb/sth else equal.

CORRESPOND MATCH

18 e. Showing the meaning: to make sth the same or better than sth else. Table 4.3. Summary of the Semantic Features of MATCH VERB SEMANTIC FEATURES if two things match , or if one thing matches another, they have the same color, pattern, or style and therefore look attractive together . if two things match or if one thing matches another, they are the same or very similar. to find sb/sth that goes together with or is connected with another person or thing. to be as good, interesting, successful, etc. as sb/sth else equal. to make sth the same or better than sth else. 4.2.4. Semantic Features of CORRESPOND a. Showing the meaning: to be the same as or match sth b. Showing the meaning: to be equivalent or similar Table 4.4. Summary of the Semantic Features of CORRESPOND VERB SEMANTIC FEATURES to be the same or to match to be equivalent or similar

19 4.3. VIETNAMESE TRANSLATIONAL EQUIVALENTS OF THE ENGLISH MATCHING VERBS 4.3.1. Vietnamese Translational Equivalents of FIT From the study of semantic features, we see that the meaning of FIT is very plentiful. Due to its concrete context in each sentence, it could have different meanings. Therefore, its Vietnamese Translational Equivalents also are abundant. The Subjects are same things such as clothes, shirts, socks, clothing, coat…and the Objects are people to express the meaning of being proper size or shape for someone. It can be defined as a garment for the wearer. Here, its Vietnamese Translational Equivalents are m c v a, theo kích thư c, khít, v a v n. This translation is appropriate and common in daily communication.

Furthermore, Fit is also translated into Vietnamese as hòa h p in some contexts. Besides, Fit with the meaning “to match or be suitable for something / to make something do this”, “to be in agreement with something”, the Vietnamese Translational Equivalents of Fit are often found as h p, thích h p, phù h p, ng h p. Likewise, with the same meaning above, Fit is sometimes translated in other ways. “ n” means something suitable, something okay. This translation is acceptable because it does not change meaning of the Vietnamese sentence. In addition, with the meaning of putting or joining something in the right place, the Vietnamese Translational Equivalents of Fit can be shown as ăn kh p, r p nhau, ăn nh p . In brief, the examples above show that the meaning of FIT is very plentiful. There is not a clear regulation for each structure.

For 20 example, with the meaning “to be the right shape and size for something/somebody”, its Vietnamese translational equivalents are: m c v a, v a khít, bó khít, v a v n, theo kích thư c. On the other hand, with other meanings such as “to match or be suitable for something / to make something do this”, “to be in agreement with something”, FIT can be translated as: phù h p, thích h p, hòa h p, ng h p, n. In addition, the meaning “to put or join something in the right place” we have Vietnamese translational equivalents: ăn kh p, r p nhau, ăn nh p. Here, the uses of Fit are inferred from the semantic meanings; from the examples above, we can also find that the Subjects and the Objecs have specific features to decide when Fit is used to express meaning of accordance: Subjects are clothes, coat, shirts, socks, hats…and the Objects are people, or Subjects belongs to Objects, or Subjects are a part of Objects.

Therefore, “To Fit” would be used when comparing how two objects, people or relationships relate to each other in a physical sense or in a non-physical sense when regarding to measurement. 4.3.2. Vietnamese Translational Equivalents of SUIT Like FIT, SUIT also has different Vietnamese translational equivalents for all semantic meanings. Furthermore, it is important to pay attention to Subjects and Objects combined by Suit. We can compare the combination between them: • The first combination : someone SUITS someone Here, when we would like to say, “Someone Suits someone”. It means they are a good match. They have similar characters, age, features, condition …to become a good couple. In these sentences, Vietnamese translational equivalents of Suit are h p, h p nhau,

21 x ng ñôi. Among them, “x ng ñôi” is the best translation because it can make the Vietnamese meaning clearer and effective in this case. • The second combination : Something SUITS someone Suit is more like Fit and used to express meeting certain requirements. For example, if something suits you, it means it satisfies you. It is according to your plans and ideas. Whatever they are, they are considered as things to make their Objects pleased and satisfied. Therefore, Suit is translated into Vietnamese as h p, thích h p, phù h p, có l i, v a lòng, tuỳ, ti n. These translations are acceptable because they are suitable for the meaning of Suit. • The third combination : Someone SUITS something In this combination, when someone Suits something, normally a person is suitable for a purpose or doing something.

The Vietnamese translational equivalents of Suit are h p, thích h p. In this way, Suit is also used with the simple meaning of accordance. Therefore, the Vietnamese translational equivalents are interchangeable. • The last combination : Something SUITS something The sentences above show the description of people, the category of meaning is figured such as behavior, character, appearance…In these sentences, the Subjects go well with the Objects : behaviors Suit state, manners Suit beauty, characters Suit figure and look. Here, the Vietnamese translational equivalents of Suit are thích ng, thích h p. In sum, SUIT also has Vietnamese translational equivalents as h p, thích h p, phù h p, chính h p, h p nhau for all sematic meanings. Besides, when SUIT is used with the meaning “to act 22 according to one’s own wishes” or “to make sth appropriate for sth/sb, adapt sth to sth/sb, we have Vietnamese translational equivalents as tùy, x ng ñáng, thích ng, ti n, v a lòng.

4.3.3. Vietnamese Translational Equivalents of MATCH Among four English matching verbs studied, Match is recognized easily because there is equal rank between Subjects and Objects. If something matches something, it means that it corresponds to it and its equivalent in Vietnamese as x ng h p, h p, phù h p, ph i màu. Besides, Match with the meaning “to be as good, interesting, successful, etc. as somebody or somethings else, to be equal”. The Vietnamese Translational Equivalents of Match are often found as sánh t y, tương x ng, sánh ñư c, hòa h p.

Considering translational equivalents of the verb MATCH in Vietnamese, we can see that its meanings are very plentiful. For example: with meanings “if two things match , or if one thing matches another, they have the same color, pattern, or style and therefore look attractive together”, “if two things match or if one thing matches another, they are the same or very similar”, “to find sb/sth that goes together with or is connected with another person or thing”, the verbs MATCH can be translated into Vietnamese as: h p, hòa h p, x ng h p, tương x ng, phù h p, ph i màu. Moreover, due to its specific context in each sentence, it could have different Vietnamese Translational Equivalents such as: kh p, trùng kh p, sánh t y, sánh,.

4.3.4. Vietnamese Translational Equivalents of CORRESPOND

23 Correspond also has Vietnamese translational equivalents as h p, thích h p, tương ng. In addition, with the meaning of being the same or matching, the Vietnamese Translational Equivalents of Correspond can be shown as h p, thích h p. In comparison with the verbs FIT, SUIT or MATCH, the meaning of CORRESPOND is narrow and its translational equivelents are not rich. The summary of English matching verbs and their Vietnamese Translational Equivalents is seen in the table below: Table 4.5. English Matching Verbs and Their Vietnamese Translational Equivalents ENGLISH MATCHING VERBS FIT VIETNAMESE TRANSLATIONAL EQUIVALENTS m c v a, theo kích thư c, khít, v a v n, hòa h p, h p, thích h p, phù h p, ng h p, n, ăn kh p, r p nhau, ăn nh p h p, h p nhau, x ng ñôi, thích h p, phù h p, có SUIT l i, v a lòng, tuỳ, ti n, x ng ñáng, thích chính h p MATCH CORRESPOND x ng h p, h p, phù h p, ph i màu, kh p, trùng kh p, sánh t y, tương x ng, sánh ñư c, hòa h p tương ng, h p, thích h p ng,

24 In some cases, when saying a certain color is suitable for someone or a combination of colors of something, there is a difference. “Suit” is used when we would like to say that a color suits someone or someone looks good/attractive if dressed in a certain color. From the findings, we see that Fit, Suit, Match, Correspond involve some sense of combination between entities. Those words all mean to be the same or similar or to be closely linked between Subject and Object. Due to their semantic meanings, they could have different translations to express semantic meanings appropriately and fully in specific contexts. CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

5.1. CONCLUSIONS From the investigation, the English Matching verbs can be generalized as having a wide range of meanings. They combine with other word-classes to form lexico-grammatical structures in which various manifestations of meaning could be expressed. Syntactically, most of the English Matching verbs can be transitive, taking direct objects, indirect objects, or intransitives verbs, without any object. Besides, it is necessary to notice that they can combine with some types of adverbials to create diverse syntactic structures. The adverbials can be an Adverb (Adverb phrase), Noun (Noun phrase) or Prepositional Phrase. Semantically, from analyzing the examples taken from literary works, we can conclude that the differences in meaning between English Matching verbs are not great. In addition, the choice of these

4.4. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS Studying the semantic features of English matching verbs, we can see that they have similar meaning in matching something, someone together, but in particular contexts they are used differently.

25 English Matching Verbs is based not only on the semantic meanings but also on the special relation between Subjects and Objects to decide which English Matching Verb is appropriate. In sum, the study has provided learners of English with detailed description of English Matching verbs in syntactic, semantic features and Vietnamese translational equivalents. 5.2. IMPLICATIONS FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING This can be carried out by constant practice in class with the guide of the teacher and with students’ self-study at home. This study may imply the need of encouraging students to exploit the diverse meanings of these verbs to use them flexibly and properly. Therefore, learners should be provided with more opportunities to practice English matching verbs in context, which help them get acquainted with many matching verbs or distinguish different matching verb structures.

To help learners avoid this problem, it is teachers’ duty to point out the similarities and differences between the two languages in respect of the related issue. In other words, contrastive analysis teaching is indispensable in such situations. In translation, with the understanding of language structures, it is easier to translate languages. Therefore, translation exercises from Vietnamese into English and vice versa should be given to learners to help them use English matching verbs and their Vietnamese equivalents properly. Although the study has shown that there are a large number of English matching verbs, it only investigates some commonly used

26 ones. Thus, teachers should help learners be aware of the meanings of these verbs and use them effectively in communication. Last but not least, the thesis is carried out to provide learners with the language device, which is the verb to express the meaning of suitability. As a result, learners know how to use different matching verbs to express the proper meanings they want to convey in a certain context.

5.3. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY As mentioned in the scope of the study, the thesis undoubtedly has some limitations though we have tried our best to complete it. Due to limitation of time and data collected, there are unavoidable weaknesses in the study, for example, the thesis investigates some English Matching verbs, not all, therefore, there are still other verbs which needs studying or the verbs of Matching were not comprehensively studied so that the results would be more convincing. 5.4. SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER STUDY The study has focused on the syntactic and semantic features of verbs of Matching in English and in Vietnamese; therefore, the following aspects can be dealt with in further studies: – Firstly, pragmatic features of EMVs. – Secondly, adjectives with the matching meaning such as suitable, convenient, right, appropriate, fit…