4B06 Pham Thi Hong Ly Word Formation in English and Vietnamese

7/25/2019 4B06 Pham Thi Hong Ly Word Formation in English and Vietnamese

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Word formation in English and Vietnamese

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Running head: Word formation in English and Vietnamese

Word formation in English and Vietnamese: a contrastive analysisPham Thi Hong Ly

HCMC University of Pedagogy


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Abstract:

Language is a rincial mean used !y human !eings to e"change informationand communicate #ith each other$ We use language to discuss a #ide range of toics

#hich distinguishes us #ith animals$ %n other #ords& language is a vital tool of

communication$ %n order to share ideas and feelings effectively !esides using gestures&

intonation in seech'( a large voca!ulary is also considered as a useful #ay$ The more

voca!ularies you have& the clearer and more accurate ideas you e"ress$ )nd one of

the most common #ays to enrich voca!ulary is #ord formation$ %t is a study of #ords&

dealing #ith construction or formation of #ords in a certain language$ )s a learner of

English and an English teacher in the future& % do this research to mention the

similarities and differences !et#een English and Vietnamese #ord formation$ )nd then&

some common errors that Vietnamese learners often ma*e are discussed$ % hoe that

the information in this aer #ill !e helful in getting a deeer loo* a!out #ord formation

in the t#o languages& English and Vietnamese$


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Literary review:

)ccording to +"ford ,ictionary& a #ord is a single unit of language #hich means

something and can !e so*en or #ritten$ )ccording to -guyen Thien .ia& #ord is the

smallest unit of language& indeendently in meaning and form$ )nother definition of

#ord is that /) #ord is a unit of language that carries meaning and consists of one or

more morhemes #hich are lin*ed more or less tightly together& and has a honetic

value0 1Wi*iedia2$ 3or this definition& it is simly said that #ord is formed from

morhemes& the smallest units of meaning that a #ord can !e divided into$ There are

t#o *inds of morhemes in English and Vietnamese #ords$ They are free morheme

and !ound morheme$ 3ree morheme can occur on their o#n as an indeendent #ord

such as man, lamp, green, black'in English or nh, p, i, tt in Vietnamese$$$ 4ound

morheme can not stand alone #ithout attached to other morhemes$ Ho#ever& there

are differences in Vietnamese and English !ound morhemes$ %n English& !ound

morhemes are suffi"es such as -ly, -ed, -ity' or refi"es li*e un-, im-, anti-+n the

contrary& Vietnamese !ound morhemes are searate #ords serve as either

comounding or redulicative elements& for e"amle&tc k, bng bc, ng ten if #e

slit them off they still has their o#n meaning !ut it is not related to the meaning of the

#hole comound #ord$ %n other #ords& adding !ound morhemes into an English #ord

can form a ne# #ord #hose meaning is related to the original one& !ut it is unli*e in

Vietnamese$

%n short& there are many differences in #ord formation in English and Vietnamese

though !oth of them are formed !y morhemes$


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Word formation in English

There are some #ays to !uild a ne# #ord$ They are affi"ation& comounding&

and other devices li*e conversion& cliing& !lend and redulication$

Affiati!n

)ffi"ation is a method in #hich an affi" is attached to a root$ English #ords

consist of t#o elements: r!!t#hich is considered o!ligatory and carries le"ical meaning

and affi#hich is otional and carries grammatical meaning or sulemental5 le"ical

meaning$ Let us ta*e the #ord /teacher0 as an e"amle$ %n the #ord /teacher0& /teach0 is

the root #hich means /educate !r train0 and /5er0 is the affi" that cannot stand alone$

When attached to the root& /5er0 sulements to the root #ith meaning of /a erson0$

There are many *inds of affi"$ %t can !e divided into t#o *inds in terms of

osition$ )ccording to Megginson& they are refi" and suffi"es$ Moreover& even the

#ords refi"& suffi" and affi" are all formed from "fi#!y the use of refi"es:

ad- 6 "fi#1attached2 7 /affi"0

pre- 6 "fi# 1attached2$ "prefi#

%ub- & "fi# 1attached2$ /suffi"0

Prefi" is an affi" #hich is attached to the !eginning of the root so that it can

modify or change meaning of the #ord$ The refi"es can !e divided semantically into

these follo#ing grous: 8uantity refi"es& locative refi"es& temoral refi"es& negation


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refi"es 1see Appendix2$ Ho#ever& in one such study 1%ngo Plag 9;2& it is found that

numerous refi"es do not !elong to any of the four grous a!ove$ 3or e"amle& refi"es

e"ress diverse notions& such as /#rong& evil0 1mal-& malfuncti!n, malnutriti!n2& /!adly&

#rongly0 1mi%-, mi%interpret, mi%trial2& /false& decetive0 1p%eud!-2& /together&


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or nominal comound$ Most comound nouns in English are formed !y nouns modified

!y other nouns or ad


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)nother tye of comounding #ord is ad


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-e"t tye of comounding is comound ver!$ ) c!mp!und 'erbor c!mple

predicateis a multi5#ord comound that acts as a single ver! 1Wi*iedia2$

>ometimes comound ver!s and hrasal ver!s ma*e us confused$ %n fact& there are

some differences !et#een them$ %f #e can add an o!


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Conversion is articularly common in English !ecause the !asic form of

nouns and ver!s is identical in many cases$ )ccording to )na and .ustavo&

conversion is e"tremely roductive to increase the English le"icon !ecause it

rovides an easy #ay to create ne# #ords from e"isting ones$ There are four main

tyes of conversion: noun to ver!& ver! to noun& ad


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goat 6 sheepgee smo*e 6 fogsmog

>ometimes& it is ossi!le to com!ine the first art of the elements together$

3or instance:

modulator 6 demodulatormodem cy!ernetic 6 organism A cy!org

4eduplicati!n

%n linguistics& redulication is a reetition of a sylla!le& a morheme or a #ord&

e$g chit5 chat& murmur& hush5 hush& ing5 ong'$ Most of redulication in English

imitates the sound$ Ho#ever& it is really an interesting henomenon in #hich it is used

as informal e"ressive voca!ulary$

Word formation in Vietnamese

Words in Vietnamese are the smallest meaningful unit that functions as a mean

of naming things& can !e used and occur indeendently in seech to !uild a sentence

1ngonngu$net2$ To some e"tents& #ord formation in Vietnamese is different from the #ay

#ords !uilt in English$ Words in Vietnamese are not formed !y adding affi"es as in

English$ These are some familiar #ays to form #ords in Vietnamese: comounding&

conversion& cliing& !lends and redulication$ %t is the same to #ords in English$

(!mp!unding

4ased on relation of comonents& comound #ords in Vietnamese can !e

divided into t#o tyes: coordinated comound #ords 1t5 gh6p 7ng l8p2and rincial5


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and5accessory comound #ords 1t5 gh6p ch9nh ph:2Coordinated comound #ords

are #ords in #hich elements are e8ual of meaning$ That coordinated comound #ords

e"ress general and synthetic meaning is a feature ma*ing them different form

rincial5 and5 accessory comound #ords$ Let us ta*e the #ord /n n;i0 as an

e"amle$ /n0 and /n;i0 have their o#n meaning #hen they stand alone$ )nd they are

on the same level of meaning$ >o #e can com!ine it to create a ne# #ord /n n;i0 as a

coordinated comound #ord$ +n the contrary& rincial5 and5 accessory comound

#ords are #ords in #hich comonents deend on each other$ The accessory element

classifies and modifies the rincial one$ 3or e"amle& in the #ord /c chua0& /chua0 is

the accessory element that modifies /c0$ >o /c chua0 is a *ind of /c0 and its feature is

/chua0$

>imilar to comound #ords in English& comound #ords in Vietnamese is also

divided into three tyes in terms of #ord class: comound nouns& comound ad


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+ne more similar method of creating a ne# #ord in Vietnamese is conversion$

Conversion means to create a ne# #ord #ith the same selling !ut different meaning to

the original one$ )ccording to -guyen Thien .ia& liguistics discovered essential

henomena of conversion: enlarge or narro# the meaning of a #ord( metahor and

metonymy( changing #ord5class 1=;2$

3or e"amle:

chm 1 %unphur- a kind !f chemical2 di>m 1match2

)!ove #ords are e"amles of enlarging meaning of #ords that is a rocess of

develo meaning of a #ord from articular to general& from secific to a!stract& e$g$

ad


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#ords !ased on logic relation of things& e$g$ /Eh c; nm mingn0 means /Eh c;

nm ngin0 or /Anh ta l mJt ch!n%Kt uLt %c0 means /Anh ta l mJt c"# th$

uLt %c0 %n these e"amles& a art of !ody reresents the #hole !ody$

>imilar to conversion in English& Vietnamese ne# #ords can !e formed !y

changing their #ord class$

e$g$ "thM# 1n!un2 "rLt thM#N "thM lm# 1ad/ecti'e2

"O# 1ad/ecti'e2 "O ra# 1'erb2

"1mua2 cuc# 1n!un2 "cuc 1Lt2# 1'erb2

%n !rief& #ith method of conversion& the treasure of voca!ulary is increasing

ceaselessly and the seech #ill !ecome more vividly$

(lipping

Cliing in Vietnamese and in English are the same$ %t is a #ay of shortening a

long #ord to a short one$ 3or e"amle& #e can say /k9 lPN ki lP0 instead of /kil!gram0 or

/QRng0 instead of "QRng (Jng SRn TiUt Eam#' The sea*ers may use this *ind of #ord

formation on the urose of saving$

)lend

4lend is a method in #hich #e can !rea* the structure of #ords !y adding some

more #ords in$ This method in Vietnamese is the same in English$ 3or instance:


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khV %F l! khV l! %F

ngWt nghX! cHYi ngWt cHYi nghX!

danh lZi & ham chuJng ham danh chuJng lZi

t[m hi\u t[m m khPng hi\u

]nh V ]nh m khPng V

This *ind of #ord formation is varied and for common urose of laying on #ords to

create many ne# and interesting #ords$

4eduplicati!n

Redulication in Vietnamese is similar to redulication in English$ )ccording to

ngonngu$net #e!site& the minimum length of redulication in Vietnamese is t#o #ords

and ma"imum is four #ords$ Ho#ever& the first one is the most tyical$ 3or t#o #ords&

there are three tyes of redulication$ The first one is t#o elements are comletely the

same& e$g$ /c! c!#, "khng khng#, "Bng Bng0' The second tye is redulication in

tone& e$g$ "phMi ph^i#, "th!ang th!Rng#, "hau h]u#The last one is redulication in

sylla!le& e$g$ "b8p b#, "chan ch]t#, "anh ]ch#%n short& redulication creates a large

num!er of #ords in Vietnamese$ )nd it is often used in music and oem$

%ommon errors

)s non5native sea*er and Vietnamese leaner of English& ma*ing errors #hen

transforming ideas from mother tongue into foreign language and vice versa is o!vious

and unavoida!le$ %n this art& % classify learnersN errors in three common tyes: errors


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#ith affi"ation& #ith comound #ords& #ith conversion and errors #ith cliing and

!lend$

_rr!r% .ith affiati!n

>ince many refi"es and suffi"es #hose meaning is the same& learners #ill !e

confused #hich one goes #ith #hich #ord$ 3or instance& refi"es /un50& /il50& /im50 mean

/not or the oosite of0& !ut #e must use /uninteresting0& /illogical0 or /imossi!le0'

+ne more difficulty for learners is unclear understanding a!out meaning of refi"es and

suffi"es$ 3or e"amle& the #ords /misuse0 and /disuse0 have different meaning !ut

learners may not understand clearly the meaning of /dis50 and /mis50$ Therefore& they

assimilate these t#o #ords and thin* that they have the same meaning #hile /misuse0

means using something in #rong urose and /disuse0 means no longer !eing used$ To

solve this ro!lem& the teacher must ma*e students notice in the meaning of some high5

fre8uently used refi"es and suffi"es$

_rr!r% .ith c!mp!und .!rd%

Learners of English often ma*e many mista*es #ith comound #ords$ The

difficulties of students are the order and meaning of comound #ords$ 3irst& a!out the

order& in Vietnamese& students al#ays say /!Oi Qu "e0& /lc lJSng lao ng0'so #hen

they translate them into English& they might say /ar* car0 or /force la!or0 instead of /car

ar*0 and /la!or force0$ >econdly& a!out the meaning of comound #ords& it is easy for

learners to give #rong meaning of comound #ords !ecause they misunderstand

comound #ords and hrases$ 3or e"amle& to the #ords /greenhouse0 and /!lac*


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!all0& they may say that /green house0 is /ngBi nh mu "anh0 instead of /nh *nh0 and

/!lac*5!all0 is /8u !ng mu en0 not /hiu chDngX hiu en0 in an election$ Thus&

the solution for this error is that #hen teaching& the teacher should give clear distinction

!et#een comound #ords and hrases !y mar*ing stress$ 3or e"amle:

noun compound noun phrase

Y!lac*!all a !lac* Y!all

hiu chDng 8u !ng en

Ygreenhouse a green Yhouse

nh *nh ngBi nh mu "anh

+ne more error that students li*ely ma*e is that they often forget to omit /5s0 in a noun

to create a comound ado they might say /fi'e-minutes1break20 not /fi'e-

minute 1break2#

_rr!r% .ith c!n'er%i!n

Word class in Vietnamese and in English is someho# different$ That also leads

Vietnamese students to ma*e mista*es #hile interreting their ideas into English$ %n

Vietnamese& it is safe to say /(P Ly h]t khPng hay$0 !ut it is imossi!le to say /She

%ing% n!t g!!dN beautiful$0 as some students often do$ +r #e cannot translate the

sentence /Q] b;ng l %F th9ch c`a tPi$0 into /lay f!!tball i% my h!bby$0 !ecause it

ma*es no sense in grammar$


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_rr!r% .ith clipping and blend

Using cliing and !lend in English too much may cause students to forget the

selling of the original #ords so they tend to use the clied or !lended ones$

(!nclu%i!n

Word formation is a method of creating a ne# #ords so that it ma*e our treasure

of voca!ulary enrich$ %n English and in Vietnamese& there are some similar #ays of

!uilding ne# #ords: comounding& conversion& cliing& !lend and redulication$

Ho#ever& in each certain method& many differences occur on rocess of #ord formation$

%n addition& ne# #ords in English can !e formed !y adding affi"es& !ut it is imossi!le to

do this in Vietnamese$

%n general& to master a language& learners must have thorough gras of ho#

#ords are formed and ho# to use it effectively$


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&eferences

19ZZ@2$Dhe American Geritage[)!!k !f _ngli%h %age 4oston: Houghton Mifflin

)na %$ Hernnde\ 4artolom] and .ustavo Mendiluce Ca!rera$ 1^__?2$ rammatical

(!n'er%i!n in _ngli%h$ Retrieve ,ecem!er& ^_& ^__Z& from

htt:XXaccuraid$comX`ournalX9conversion$htm$

(!mp!und n!un$ Retrieved ,ecem!er& 9=& ^__Z& from

htt:XX###$learnenglish$deXgrammarXnouncomound$htm

(!mp!und 'erb$ Retrieve ,ecem!er& 9=& ^__Z& from

htt:XXen$#i*iedia$orgX#i*iXComoundver!$

Megginson& ,avid$ 1^__b2$!rd f!rmati!n Retrieved ,ecem!er& ^_& ^__Z& from

htt:XX###$#ritingcentre$uotta#a$caXhyergrammarX#ordform$html$

Muthusami$ 1^__=2$ (!mp!und Ad/ecti'e% in _ngli%h A brief !'er'ie. Retrieve

,ecem!er& ^_& ^__Z& from

htt:XX###$associatedcontent$comXarticleX99?@^^Xcomoundad


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Plag& %ngo$ !rd-f!rmati!n in _ngli%h$ United ingdom: Cam!ridge University Press&

^__

Du tr!ng tieng Tiet$ Retrieve ,ecem!er& ^_& ^__Z& from htt:XXngonngu$netXinde"$h

7^_b$

!rd$ Retrieved ,ecem!er& ^_& ^__Z& from htt:XXen$#i*iedia$orgX#i*iXWord$
http://ngonngu.net/index.php?p=207http://ngonngu.net/index.php?p=207http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wordhttp://ngonngu.net/index.php?p=207http://ngonngu.net/index.php?p=207http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word


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Appendix

refie%

9$ uantity refi"es:

Prefixes meaning Examples

uni5 one unilateral& unification

!i5 t#oX t#ice !ilateral& !ifurcation

multi5 many multiurose& multicolor

semi5 half semiannual& semi5 desert^$ Locative refi"es:

Prefi"es Meaning E"amles

intra5 inside intracellular& intrados

inter5 !et#een inter!reed& intergalactic

trans5 across transmigrate& transcontinental

ei5 onX over eiglottis& ei5central$ Temoral refi"es:

Prefi"es Meaning E"amles

re5 X fore5 !efore re5determine& forefather

ost5 after ost5modify& ostmodern;$ -egation refi"es:


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Prefi"es meaning E"amles

dis5 notX oosite of disa!le& dishonest

ir5 not irregular& irrelevance

im5 not imossi!le& imeril

un5 not unreal& uninteresting

Suffie%

9$ -ominal suffi"es:

suffi"es meaning E"amles

5ity 8ualityX stateX

roerty

solidity& formality

5ment rocessX result assessment& treatment

5shi stateX condition friendshi& mem!ershi

5ant erson contestant& assistant^$ Ver!al suffi"es:

suffi"es E"amles

5i\e randomi\e& characteri\e

5en !roaden& !lac*en

5ify identify& solidify$ )d


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>uffi"es E"amles

5a!le reada!le& acceta!le

5ish childish& selfish

5ful !eautiful& colorful

5less careless& homeless

;$ )dver!ial suffi"es:

>uffi"es E"amles

5ly carefully& daily

5#ise length#ise& cross#ise

(!n'er%i!n

9$ -oun to ver!

the file to file

the #ater to #ater

the .oogle to google

^$ Ver! to noun

to call a call

to dum a dum

to guess a guess

$ )d


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light to light

emty to emty

oen to oen

;$)d

4B06 Pham Thi Hong Ly Word Formation in English and Vietnamese

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