TEACHING DUPLICATED WORD IN VIETNAMESE FOR FOREIGNER

TEACHING DUPLICATED WORD IN VIETNAMESE FOR FOREIGNER Trần Trọng Giảng Phạm Thị Lại Giang Vietnamese Department Journalism Foreign Language Center Vietnam News Agency Abstract Currently in Vietnam, there are more people wanting to understand our culture and our country every day through Vietnamese language, poetry, traditional songs, folk songs, and so on. In order to understand Vietnampeople need to understand Vietnam s culture, in which case they should understand the Vietnamese language. Duplicated words in Vietnamese exist in considerable numbers, and are used in various fields, from daily conversation, to poems, folk songs, idioms, sayings, literature and even in political speeches. While following specific grammar rules, they also reflect many different nuances of meaning. Obviously Vietnamese people can use them easily when we want to convey certain information or emotions, and even children can understand them from the poems and folk songs which are sung to them by their mother. But to a foreigner, understanding them is a big effort. In this paper, I would like to give some suggestions of ways to teach these words to learners who speak English as their first language, according to the following outline: 1. Introduction Duplicated words are characteristic of the Vietnamese language and also of other mono-syllabic languages from the East. They are a phenomenon found only in monosyllabic languages, yet not all such languages have them. In those languages, many duplicated words can be derived from one root word, and so they are a powerful creation. It can be said that the duplicated word is a phonetic orchestration between corresponding elements of the syllable and the symbol, and they have a symbolic effect. Therefore the 1

meanings of these kinds of words, besides their face-value meaning, also have their own special associations. Furthermore, from the vocabulary aspect, a duplicated word has three values: description, expression, and style. The descriptive value helps the reader or listener feel and picture the subtle or lively atmosphere such as the sound, picture, or colour of something these words want to describe. The onomatopoeic values of duplicated words have an ability to symbolize or describe sounds in nature, or a human being s voice, in a delicate and harmonious way. The value of these expressions is the ability to express a warning attitude, or the emotion of the speaker towards the things or the phenomena. The value of style is the ability to use duplicated words in many different styles. For each style, duplicated words have their own characteristics. Duplicated words in Vietnamese exist in considerable numbers, and are used in various fields. Each duplicated word is a musical note in a beautiful song, which contains specific pictures of all the senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Because of that, it can be said duplicated words are the tools that create an effective form of literature, art, and especially poetry. With the introduction about the conceptions and kinds of duplicate words in Vietnamese in this paper, I would like to give some suggestions of ways to teach these words to learners who speak English as their first language, and also the ways to translate duplicated words in Vietnames language- a isolating language into English language- a inflectional language. 2. Duplicated words in Vietnamese In Vietnamese, duplicated words are divided into three groups: two syllables duplicated, three syllables duplicated and four syllables duplicated. In this paper, we will only focus on analyzing two-syllable duplicated words 2.1. Fully duplicated words In this group, total reduplication involves copying the entire word base, with just a small difference in the stress tones when it is pronounced. 2

In Vietnamese, there are are about 837 units of fully duplicated words. Considering both phonetic and semantic, those duplications include the following: About the formation: The root is retained in the duplicated word in two basic forms: - First: keep two parts in full: segmental and supra-segmental in written form, such as: xanh xanh, vàng vàng Second: having variations in each of the two parts, or just in tone in the case of the root having a higher tone, (such as đo đỏ, trăng trắng, mằn mặn) or varying in tone and syllable, as in the case of the root ending in a final consonant: - p, -t, -c, -ch. The variation in tones and syllables in this case follows strict rules. In general, higher tones are changed into a flat tone (rules bằng-trắc), and nasal consonants are changed into other nasal consonant in the pair: P m Ví dụ: chiêm chiếp, cầm cập T n Ví dụ: chan chát, rần rật C ng Ví dụ: eng éc, ùng ục Ch nh Ví dụ: chênh chếch, bình bịch 2.2. Partially duplicated words Contrast fully duplicated words with partially duplicated words. Fully duplicated words are words which are doubled in form, and the root is basically unchanged, but in partially duplicated words, only some part of the root is kept. There are more than 2373 partially duplicated words, and there are two kinds of this group, which can be clearly expressed as phonetic and semantic. They can have either the initial consonant duplicated (alliteration) such as: đúng đắn, vuông vắn, xanh xao, vàng vọt; or the entire syllable duplicated as a rhyme, such as: lòng thòng, khéo léo, lưa thưa. 2.2.1. Initial consonant duplicated (alliteration) Initial consonant duplicated (alliteration) These are duplicated words which are made by copying the initial consonant of the root, and changing the syllable. The tone can be 3

the same or changed, but it must be in the same pitch. Example: đỏ đắn, trắng trẻo, đẹp đẽ, bập bềnh, thập thò, thẹn thùng, thậm thụt, lấp ló, ngấm nguýt This group can be divided into two kinds: - The root at the beginning: Ex: đỏ đắn, xanh xao, trắng trẻo - The root at the end: Ex: thập thò, lấp lánh, ngấm nguýt 2.2.2. Syllable duplicated Syllable duplicated: These are duplicated words which are made by copying syllables, while the initial consonants are changed. Tones can be changed but must be in the same pitch. In Vietnamese, this group has about 581 units. Example: khéo léo, thu lu, chót vót, xởi lởi, xẻn lẻn, co ro, khọm lọm, bùng nhùng, bắng nhắng, chơi vơi, bẻo lẻo, bủn rủn, chênh vênh, càu nhàu, kèm nhèm, tò mò, lò mò, lơ xơ, lom khom, lọm khọm Based on the position of the root element, this group is divided into two kinds: - The root at the beginning : Ex: khéo léo - The root at the end: Ex: lom khom For this kind of duplicated word, their special feature is that most of them are in same tones. 3. Teaching duplicated words in Vietnamese Language for foreigners 3.1. Rules for teaching duplicated words: The Teacher gives an essay or a story with appropriate grammar structures and vocabulary to the student. Take note of the meanings of the root words, and give all duplicated words from this root, with their meanings. The Teacher asks the Student to work as per the diagram below, then identifies the best meaning of each duplicated word 4

and how to use it. Make a comparision between the root word and the reduced duplication. The Teacher should inform the Student that although duplicated words are adjectives in Vietnamese, they can be verbs, adverbs, or phrases in English. Considering the meanings of these words, the Teacher needs to emphasise to the Student which words are negative, positive, transitive or intransitive in meaning Bước 1: LOOK CAREFULLY AT THE WORD AND PRONOUNCE CORRECTLY Separating root and duplicated word Reading around to identify the situation Look at and read whole sentence. Read previous sentence Continue reading to understand the word clearly Look at word identify duplicated element. Identify root element Bước 2: GUESS THE BEST MEANING OF WORD If student has no idea about the word, we can look it up in a dictionary. If student can guess meaning of this word or it is not important, we can skip it. 5

3.2. Method of teaching duplicated words Step 1: Ask the student to look carefully at the duplicated words and pronounce them. When students read and listen to these words, they can remember or guess their meaning. With totally new vocabulary, this step helps students remember them in order to use them in future. Step 2: 1.Skiming the paragraph to understand the situation. this step includes: * Read the whole sentence which contains marked word. * Read again the previous sentence * Continue reading to understand the situation clearly 2. Look at the word to identify the duplicated element and root element. Step 3: Guess the best meaning of the duplicated word This step is rather important, because from the situation, students can guess the meaning of the duplicated word and know how to use it. Furthermore, to the students who already know these word, this step helps them remember them better. 1. If students do not have any idea about these words, or these words are not much affected to understanding the paragraph, the teacher can explain these words according to the meaning table that the teacher has. 2. If a student can guess the meaning of the words or these words are not important, the student can skip them and continue reading It is not useful for the teacher to ask students look up every new word, especially with adult students. It is more reasonable for students to skip these words and keep reading, as the context helps the student understand the meaning of new words so that they absorb them into their vocabulary. 6

3.3. Illustrated teaching plan ĐỌC HIỂU READING COMPREHESION TRÌNH ĐỘ TRUNG CẤP INTERMEDIATE LEVEL Trời Sài Gòn mùa này thời tiết thật dễ chịu, cứ đến chiều chiều thì không khí trở nên lành lạnh, không còn lạnh lẽo như những ngày giông bão vừa qua. Lúc đó tôi rất thích tìm một quán cà phê bên lề đường ngồi để nhìn ngắm mọị người qua lại. Những cô gái trông thật xinh xắn với những khăn choàng hờ hững vắt qua vai. Những cặp vợ chồng chở những đứa con với làn da đỏ đắn trong nắng chiều, trông họ hạnh phúc làm sao. Gió lạnh hiu hiu thổi làm tan đi cái cảm giác mền mệt trong người sau một ngày dài làm việc. 3. 3. 1. Focusing - Reading comprehension of duplicated words: đỏ đắn, xinh xắn, mền mệt, lành lạnh - Analysing, reading, and understanding related duplicated words (such as: đo đỏ, xinh xinh, mệt mỏi, lạnh lẽo, lạnh lùng) helps students understand better the value of expression, description, and style of these duplicated words - Ways of using these duplicated words in context. - Language comparison: English 3.3. 2. Duration: 60 phút 3.3.3. Reqirement: In this lesson plan, the teacher focuses on the rules of making duplicated words from root words, so students will understand clearly the meaning, and know how to use them in specific situations, and be able to distinguish between duplicated words and duplicated forms. (For example, in the essay in Part 4, the word chiều chiều is a duplicated form; it is not a duplicated word.) This lesson is limited to adjectival root words, and students at this level can distinguish different duplicated words from same root word, such as the difference between đo đỏ and đỏ đắn, or lạnh lùng and lạnh lẽo, and what the difference is between them and their root words. In this way they can better understand and feel the value of expression, description and style of these duplicated words in 7

specific situations. 4. LESSON PLAN 4.1 Teaching Plan (Giáo án): 4.4.1. Reading: (20 minutes) Saigon, this season is realy easy, the weather become cool in the every afternoon, not is chilly like the recently storming days. In that time, I realy like to look for side-walk café siting and waching people go back and forth. With scarfs indifferently cross shoulders, Girls look so cute. Couples carrying health glow babies in the suny afternoon, they look so happy.the cold wind is whiffling lightly which blowing tired feeling after a hard working day away. Step 1: Read the passage (5 minutes) Read the passage in order to understand the context of the word. Bước 2: Explain and Extand the meaning of words -: (25 minutes) i) Duplicated word with lạnh is the root: The meaning of the word lạnh : Acording to Từ điển tiếng Việt - Hoàng Phê (Editor), There are four meanings of lạnh as follow: 1. Lạnh 1 : Có nhiệt độ thấp; trái với nóng - Having a low temperature Ví dụ: Nước lạnh - Cold water Trời trở lạnh lạnh cóng cả tay. The weather has become cold, making my hands numb. 2. Lạnh 2 : Có cảm giác gai người do sợ hãi - Have a feeling shock someone through fear Ví dụ: Anh làm tôi sợ lạnh cả người. You make me frozen with fear. 3. Lạnh 3: Có thái độ không hề có tình cảm gì trong quan hệ- Have an attitude that is emotionless in a relationship 8

Ví dụ: Nói chuyện mà mặt ông ta lạnh như tiền. He keeps himself aloof from the conversation. 4. Lạnh 4 : (Màu) gợi cảm giác lạnh lẽo: (colour) cause a cold feeling Ví dụ: Ông ấy thích dùng gam màu lạnh cho nhà cửa của mình He likes to use a cool colour for his door. The meaning of duplicated word lành lạnh : Fully duplicated word lành lạnh can be used in all the cases above: 1. Lành lạnh 1 : có nhiệt độ hơi thấp - low temperature: Ví dụ: Trời bắt đầu vào thu, tiết trời trở nên lành lạnh. Autum comes, the weather becomes cool. 2. Lành lạnh 2 : có cảm giác hơi sợ hãi - Have a feeling of shock someone through fear: Ví dụ: Mỗi khi đến đây, tôi có cảm giác lành lạnh sao ấy. Everytime come here, I always get cold feet. 3. Lành lạnh 3 : có thái độ không có tình cảm trong một mối quan hệ- Have an attitude that is emotionless in a relationship: Ví dụ: Gương mặt ông ta lành lạnh khi tiễn tôi ra cửa. His face looks cool when he walks me to the door. 4. Lành lạnh 4 : (màu sắc) gây cảm giác lạnh- (colour) cause a cold feeling: Ví dụ: Tôi không thích mấy màu lành lạnh như xanh lá cây, xanh dương hay tím. I do not like cool colors like green, blue or violet. The meaning of duplicated word lạnh lẽo : 1. Lạnh lẽo 1 : Lạnh do nhiệt độ thời tiết thấp - Cold by cold weather temperatures (chilly, frosty). Ví dụ: Vào đông rồi, trời lạnh lẽo quá. Winter comes, the weather is very chilly. 2. Lạnh lẽo 2 : Có cảm giác thiếu hơi ấm của con người (nơi chốn) - Feel a lack of warmth from other people (places) 9

Ví dụ: Căn nhà này hình như lâu rồi không có người ở thì phải, tôi thấy nó lạnh lẽo quá. This house seems like no one has lived here for a long time, it feels very bleak. 3. Lạnh lẽo 3 : Thiếu thân mật, không có chút tình cảm trong quan hệ đối xử - Lacking informality, not have even a little emotion in a relationship (heartless / coldblooded). Ví dụ: Ông ta là một người lạnh lẽo, chẳng bao giờ thấy ông ấy thân mật với ai. He is a heartless person; I ve never seen him be informal with anyone. The meaning of duplicated word lạnh lùng : 1. Lạnh lùng 1 : Lạnh do thiếu hơi ấm, làm tác động mạnh đến tâm hồn, tình cảm - cold, lacking warmth, having a strong effect on your soul and feelings (Cold/freezing) Ví dụ: Mưa gió lạnh lùng làm ai cũng ngại đi ra ngoài. The biting wind and rain makes everyone afraid to go out. 2. Lạnh lùng 2 : Tỏ ra thiếu hẳn tình cảm, thiếu thân mật vồn vã trong quan hệ tiếp xúc với người, việc -To show a lack of feelings lacks informality, in approaching people (insensibility / emotionless / heartless / glacial). Ví dụ: Sau khi nghe tin đó, chi ấy bình tĩnh đến lạnh lùng. After hearing that news, she was calm to the point of numbness. Meaning of an adjective lạnh and its duplicated words as belows: Định nghĩa Nhiệt độ Cảm giác Thái độ Màu Không ấm Tình cảm Quan hệ Definition thấp-low lạnh do bị Attitude sắc cúng- nơi Emotion Relationship temperature tác động Colour chốn Shocking Not homey lạnh X X X X X X lành lạnh X lạnh lẽo X X X lạnh lùng X X X X ii) Duplicated word with mệt is a root: 10

The meaning of mệt : According to Từ điển tiếng Việt - Hoàng Phê (Editor), There are four meanings of mệt as follow: 1. Mệt 1 : Có cảm giác khó chịu trong cơ thể vì sức lực bị tiêu hao quá mức- Having discomfort in the body because of excessive energy expended Ví dụ: Đi bộ xa nên tôi rất mệt. A long walk makes me very tired. 2. Mệt 2 : Không được khoẻ - not healthy Ví dụ: Ba tôi còn mệt. My father is still unwell. 3. Mệt 3 : Còn phải cố gắng hơn nữa; Còn mất nhiều thời gian nữa - need to try more or need to take longer time to finish something Ví dụ: Còn mệt mới hoàn thành việc ấy. You must work harder in order to complete that task. The meaning of duplicated word mền mệt : The meaning of this duplicated words that derive from the meaning 1 and 2 of word mệt. The meaning of duplicated word mệt mỏi : Mệt đến mức không còn muốn hoạt động nữa- So tired that it makes us not want to do anything else. Ví dụ: Mệt mỏi sau một ngày lao động nặng nhọc. Exhausted after a hard day s work. Định nghĩa Definition không thoải mái discomfort không khỏe unhealthy khó nhọc hard work kiệt sức exhausted mệt X X X mền mệt X X mệt mỏi X 11

iii) Duplicated word with xinh is a root: The meaning of xinh : Có đường nét, vẻ dáng trông đẹp mắt, dễ ưa -Beautiful: beautiful appearance, easy to like Ví dụ: Ngôi nhà này xinh thật đấy, đúng không? This house is beautiful, right? The meaning of duplicated word xinh xắn : xinh, nhỏ, đáng yêu - Charming, tiny, lovely Ví dụ: Nhà cô ấy tuy nhỏ nhưng trông rất xinh xắn. Her house is small but nice. The meaning of duplicated word xinh xẻo : (in speaking) có nghĩa như xinh xắn Ví dụ: Ôi, cái miệng xinh xẻo, đáng yêu quá! Oh, an adorable mouth, so lovable! The meaning of duplicated word xinh xinh : xinh với vẻ dễ coi, ưa nhìn nice looking iv) Duplicated word with đỏ : is a root The meaning of đỏ : 1. Đỏ 1 : Có màu như máu - Have the color of blood Ví dụ: Cờ đỏ sao vàng Red flag with yellow star (Vietnam s flag). 2. Đỏ 2 : Hồng hồng - a bit pink Ví dụ: Nó mới uống một ly rượu nhỏ xíu mà mặt đã đỏ rồi. He just had a small drink but his face is reddening already. 3. Đỏ 3 : May mắn - lucky Ví dụ: Nó đỏ quá, làm đâu trúng đó. He s so lucky, he has the Midas touch. (Everything he touches turns to gold.) Đỏ đắn: hồng hào, thể hiện sự khỏe mạnh - ruddy, healthy appearance 12

Ví dụ: Dạo này trông ông ấy đỏ đắn hẳn ra. These days, he has a healthy colour. Định nghĩa Definition màu sắc colour được làm cho đỏ redden/reddish may mắn lucky đỏ X X X đo đỏ X X đỏ đắn khỏ khoắn healthy glow X Step 3: Using grammar translation method to consolidate the meaning of passage above: 10 minutes 4.1.2. Choose the best answer 1. Từ lành lạnh trong bài có nghĩa: a. rất lạnh b. không lạnh lắm c. lạnh và khó chịu d. lạnh 2. Từ xinh xắn trong bài có nghĩa: a. xinh b. nhỏ và xinh c. rất xinh d. xinh đẹp 3. Từ đỏ đắn trong bài có nghĩa: a. rất đỏ b. màu của sự mạnh khỏe c.hơi đỏ d.đỏ vì không khỏe 4. Từ mền mệt trong bài có nghĩa: a. mệt b. hơi mệt c. rất mệt d.mệt và mỏi 4.2. Practising excersise: Fill suitable duplicated word into the blank: a. Từ ngày cô ấy ra đi, căn nhà trở nên. b. Dạo này, trông anh hẳn ra. c. Sau khi uống thuốc, cô ấy cảm thấy nên phải nằm nghỉ. d. Ông ta là một người, chưa bao giờ tôi thấy ông ấy cười cả. e. Bước vào căn nhà đó tôi cứ thấy trong người. f. Mơ ước của tôi bây giờ là làm sao có được một căn nhà nhỏ,. g. Người mẹ cứ ngắm mãi bàn tay nhỏ nhắn, của đứa con. 13

h. Mới uống một ly bia nhỏ mà mặt anh ta đã rồi. 5. Conclusion Duplicated words in Vietnamese exist in considerable numbers, and are used in various fields, from daily conversation, to poems, folk songs, idioms, sayings, literature and even in political speeches. While following specific grammar rules, they also reflect many different nuances of meaning, express values of expression, description, styleobviously Vietnamese people can use them easily when we want to convey certain information or emotions, and even children can understand them from the poems and folk songs which are sung to them by their mother. But to a foreigner, understanding them is a big effort.. Because of these matters, when we translate these words into English, it is difficult to find a word which is the same kind of word, with the same meaning.. That means, these words are adjectives in Vietnamese, but when we translate them into English, they can be verbs, adverbs, phrases, or may even change their semantic state. For example, when we analyse word êm and its duplicated words êm êm, êm ấm, êm đềm : in English, êm is not a state of being that we talk about; instead it is a feeling of the speaker about an object. And because duplicated words in Vietnamese always reflect a value of expression, description and style, there are many words which are beyond the meaning of the root words, and have quite different meanings. That is why we should teach students duplicated words in conjunction with their own root words, rather than teach many kinds of duplicated words all together. In general, how to tally cognition, understanding and using these words with multiform situation of language is very difficult, requiring much effort from teacher and learner. This paper just a first step to introduce a way of teaching duplicated word which it s root is an adjective to Vietnamese language student who are English native speaking. It also mentions to the translation some of duplicated word in Vietnamese into English. In other words, the topic which this paper mention need research deeper and wider. 14

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