A new approach to semantic and syntactic functions of English adjectives – A contrastive analysis with their Vietnamese equivalents

ughty function as predicative adjectives, they both qualify children and complete the predications begun by the verb were. Your suspicions seem to be unfounded.(4) In example 4, the infinitive to be unfunded functions as a predicative adjective, it both qualifies suspicions and completes the predication begun by the verb seemed. _ Object complement: adjective is object complement when there is Co-reference between direct object and object complement. They are in intensive relationship with object. Let’s see the following examples: The situation made Mr. Hardy courageous and even a bit daring.(5) In sentence 5, courageous and daring functions as predicative adjectives, they both qualify Mr. Hardy and complete the predication begun by the verb made. They are objective complement. The jury found him guilty.(6) In example 6, guilty is a predicative adjective, it both qualifies him and completes the predicative begun by the verb found, so guilty is an objective complement.  Apart from being subject complement to noun phrase ( subjunctive) , adjectives are also subject complement to clauses when the subject is a finite Clause or non-finite Clause. Whether he will design is uncertain. Driving a bus isn’t easy. The adjective which functions as objective complement often show the result of the process denoted by the verb, for example: He tide the rope tight ( As a result, he rope was then tight) He pushed the window open. ( As a result, the window was then open.) (Quirk et al 115-116) Apart from the above cases, some adjectives with different meaning also are predicative adjectives: _ Adjectives describing health uses predicatively: The following adjectives are most common in predicative position relating to health: faint, ill, poorly, unwell and well: “What’s the matter with him? He’s ill/ unwell. He feels faint” However, some adjectives describing health used both predicative and attributive with different meanings: How are you? I’m very well, thank you.(7) I’m fine thanks.(8) Fine in example 8 related to health is predicative because it modifies the subject and linking by a linking verb am so it’s realized by object complement. It can be paraphrased in another sentence I’m well thanks (9).But when we use the adjective fine in the attributive position. It no longer relates to health, it means excellent. Let’s see another example : She is a fine woman. Fine is an adjective realized as noun phrase in which fine pre-modifies noun woman so fine is attributive similarly, faint can be used attributively when it is not in connection with health such as a faint chance, a faint hope. _ Predicative adjectives beginning with a- The following adjectives are used only predicatively like afloat, afraid, alight, alike, alone, ashamed, asleep, awake. The children were asleep at 7, but now they’re awake.These adjectives: asleep, awake used predicatively because they complete the predication begun with the linking verbs were, was. _ Predicative adjectives describing feelings, reactions, etc. Some adjectives which describes feeling, etc. As content, glad, pleased, sorry, upset and a few others like far and near apart from the far East or the Near East are normally used only predicatively, for example: I am very glad to meet you. Your hotel is quite near here, It isn’t far from home. ( L. G. Alexander 109-110) 2.3.3 Adjectives function as head of a noun phrase Adjective can function as head of noun phrase and can be subject, of the sentence, object, complement or complement of a preposition. As a result, they do not inflect for number or genitive case, and they must take a definitive determiner. We can not usually leave out a noun after an adjective, for example: Poor little boy! ( not poor little!) (10) In the example (10) poor little has meaningless, non-sense so reader can’t understand. There are some exceptions, there are three types of adjectives that function without noun, that are adjectives functioning as head of noun phrase) 2.3.3.1 Well- known groups Adjectives belonging to well- known group are adjectives expressing some group of people in society. The form the + adjective used to discuss certain well- known groups of people in society especially people in a particular physical or social condition such as the blind, the dead, the deaf, the handicapped, the jobless, the mentally ill, the old, the poor, the rich, the unemployed, the young, the sick,…for example: He’s collecting money for the blind.(11) In the example 11, it means that he’s collecting money for the blind people or all blind people in general. It does not refer to just one person or to a small group. It can not denote one person the blind man, the blind woman. It is often capable of adding a general word for human beings likes people. In which case, people is normally omitted and the use of the blind as head of the noun phrase or without noun. The meaning of well-known groups is usually general, sometimes a more limited group is referred to, for instance: After the accident, the injured were take to hospital.(12) (Michael Swan, 13) In the example 12, the injured doesn’t mean generally, but it refers to a limited group, that is the injured people in the accident, but such as the injured people in the war, fighting. Note that these expressions can not be used with a possessive s. The problems of the poor or poor people’s problem is not correct grammatically.Some adjectives used without the as head of a noun phrase in paired structures with and or or, for example: Opportunities for both the rich and the poor.(13) (Michael Swan, 13) In the example 13, the rich and the poor express the rich people and the poor people in general. From the above point, it’s a very common knowledge that adjectives use as head of a noun phrase ( NP heads) normally need a definite determiner, they are absolutely able to without a determiner if they are linked. So it is the reason that opportunities for both rich and poor we can also say that in the sentence : opportunities for both the rich and the poor. 2.3.3.2 Adjectives referring to abstract ideas Some adjectives used as noun phrase heads. When they have abstract or general reference such as the supernatural, the unexpected, the unknown, the best, the ridiculous,… so its abstract sense means that thing or those things which are unknown. In which case we can insert a general noun like thing/ news. And these abstract adjectives are followed by a singular verb, for example: The most surprising (thing) is that she will study abroad. Verb which has subject ( with abstract adjectives) taken singular form is. Let’s see another example: The annoying thing was that I didn’t understand deeply the exercise. 2.3.3.3 Nationality adjectives used without nouns Some adjectives referring to nationalities use as noun phrase heads: The Vietnamese are very proud of their history.(14) In example 14, the Vietnamese expresses the Vietnamese people in general, but not the particular Vietnamese people or Vietnamese women/ men. A few nationality adjectives ending in -sh, -ch or –ese are used after the as head of noun phrase, they include: -sh : British, English, Spanish, Irish; -ch: Dutch, French; -ese : Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese. Similarly, adjectives relating to well-known groups of people in social group, nationality adjectives are referred to general meaning and take plural and singular equivalences as well. For example an Irish woman, a welsh man unlike adjectives referring social groups, adjectives of nationality can not be modified by adjectives like very with general and plural meaning. They can be modified by adjectives which are commonly non-restrictive. Consider the following sentence: The industrious Vietnamese women always strive harder to catch up with those in other countries. (15) In example 15, it can be understood that the Vietnamese women, who are industrious and dexterous always strive harder to catch up with those in other countries. The native English are very friendly. ( The English, who are native, are very friendly.) 2.3.4 Supplementative adjective clauses An adjective (alone or as head of adjective phrase ) can function as supplementative adjective clause or a verbless adjective clause . The clause is mobile, through it usually precedes or follow the subject of the superordinate clause (by then) nervous, the man opened the letter. The man, (by then) nervous, opened the letter. The man opened the letter, (by then ) nervous. (Quirk et el 1972, 119 ) When verbless adjective clause comes closely the subject, such as The man, (by then) nervous, opened the letter. It is, in some aspects, like a non-restrictive relative clause as in: The man, who was ( by then) nervous, opened the letter. Unlike the relative clause, the adjective clause is mobile and its implied is usually the subject of the sentences. Thus, while we have : The man restrained the woman, who was aggressive. We do not have: *The man restrained the woman, aggressive. However, if the clause contains addition constituents, its implied subject can be other than the subjective of the sentence: She glanced with disgust at the cat, quiet (now) in her daughter’s lap. While in the participle clause, the implied subjective can also be other than the subjective of the sentence. She glanced with disgust at the cat, stretched out on the rug. She glanced with disgust at the cat, mewing plaintively. (Quirk et al 1972, 119) Nevertheless, the implied subjective of the adjective clause can be the whole of the superordinate clause. Look at these two examples: Crowded holiday resorts are not very pleasant.(16) Holiday resorts which are crowded are not very pleasant.(17) Crowded in the sentence 16 is an adjective and which are crowded in th example 17 is a clause which has a finite verb are. The clause is doing exactly the same work as the adjective it is describing the holiday resorts or in other words it is qualifying the noun holiday resorts so we call it a relative clause because it relates to the noun. In this case, by means of the word which. In short, adjectival clause can describe person, things and events. We can realize that the adjectival clause shows that holiday resorts crowdedness is related to the content of whole sentence. Other examples of the verbless adjective clause : Strange, it was she who initiated divorce proceedings. It is semantically equivalent to that is was she who initiated divorce proceedings is strange. An adverb may sometimes replace with little difference in meaning, an adjective function as a verbless clause, for example: Nervously, the man opened the letter. Nervous, the man opened the letter. The adjective refers to the subjective without explicit reference to the action, and otherwise stated, the characterization is only temporary in its application. But if an explicit time indicator is introduced, the application of the adjective is extended in time. For example, when we insert always, the man’s nervousness becomes a permanent characteristic, and is not specifically connected with the action, for example: Always nervous, the man opened the letter. But when the implied subjective is the whole clause, a corresponding adverb can replace the adjective with little or no difference in meaning, such as with strangely for strange, for example: Strangely, it was she who initiated divorce proceedings. However, the adjective, unlike the adverb, allows a that- or how- clause as follows: Strange that it turned out that way. Strange how she still likes him. In such cases, it’s is ellipted and the adjective is not separated from the clause by a comma. The supplementive adjective clause also expresses the circumstance or condition under which what is said in the superordinat clause applies. A subordinator is often present but can be omitted, for example: Enthusiastic, they make good students. ~ When they feel enthusiastic, they make good students. When ripe, these apples are sweet. ~ When these apples are ripe, they are sweet. Whether right or wrong, he always comes off worst in an argument. ~ Whether he is right or wrong, he always comes off worst in an argument. The implied subjective of the adjective clause is normally the subjective of the superordinate, but it can also be the objective, for example: We can drink it hot. You must eat it when fresh. The adjective then usually comes finally and could be regarded as a complement. The implied subjective can be the whole of the superordinate clause, for example: If possible, the dog should be washed everyday. 2.2.5 Exclamatory adjective sentence An adjective as head of an adjective phrase or as its sole realization can be an exclamation: How good of you! An exclamation is a sentence spoken with emphasis and feeling. Attention here is restricted to exclamatory utterances introduced by: How + Adjective + (S +V)! How warm the water is ! The exclamation shows that the water is very warm or in other words, the water extremely warm. It expresses the speaker’s feeling about the degree of warmth. Other examples are about exclamations with ellipted S + V How wonderful! How difficult! How lucky! Adjective only can be a short exclamation as in: Excellent! Wonderful! Lovely! These is usually a greater rise or fall of the voice than in other types of sentences. When writing we use an exclamation mark. 2.4 Summary In this chapter, some basic information adjective in English are presented generally with definition of adjectives. Especially, readers can find some information in details about classification adjectives in terms of their semantic and syntactic functions of English adjectives as follows: stative and dynamic adjectives, gradable and non- gradable adjectives, inherent and non- inherent adjectives. Furthermore, four syntactic functions of English adjectives are also pointed, they are adjectives functioning as attributive, predicative, exclamatory adjective sentence and adjectives functioning as head of a noun phrase including well-known groups, adjectives referring to abstract ideas. All. In brief, much back ground knowledge of English adjectives are given in this chapter. All these are effective sources for the further study in the next chapter. Chapter III A new approach to SEMANTIC AND Syntactic functions of English Adjectives English adjectives are rather diversified in terms of syntactic and semantic functions. According to the survey, the writer would like to introduce classification of English adjectives in terms of usage and their semantic and syntactic functions in the chapter as follows : 3.1 Classification of English adjectives in terms of their usage According to Alexander (1998, 106), an adjective describes the person, thing, etc… which a noun refers to. We use adjectives to say what a person, etc … is like or seems like. As we know, there are many classifications of English adjs. However the writer based on Dixon’s View (1991, 78) to classify English adjectives more categorically. In terms of their usage classification, English adjectives are divided into ten types as follows: Dimension, physical property, speed, age, color, value, difficulty, qualification, human propensity, and similarity. Type 1: Dimension Dimension adjectives are adjectives referring to length, breadth, depth, size, etc that a person or thing has existed. Let’s see dimension adjectives as examples: big, great, thin, deep, tall, large, etc. He is short. (Alexander 1988, 106) She looked tall. (Jane Eyre 1847, 56) It was a thin oaten cake. (Jane Eyre 1847, 52) Type 2: Physical property Physical property is any property used to characterize matter, energy and their interaction. This group includes adjectives as follows: hard cool fresh strong heavy cheap clean sweet a cheap Indian restaurant (Alexander 1988, 115) However the physical property adjectives can be also divided into a CORPOREAL subtype. well ill absent sick dead He’s a sick man. (Alexander 1988, 115) She is usually absent from the class without any reasons. Type 3: Speed Speed adjectives are adjectives referring to a rate (usually rapid ) at which something happens. This group includes adjectives as follows: quick rapid sudden fast slow The process of growth wasn’t fast. ( Chicken Soup, 1999, p26) A quick glance convinced me that he could do that. Type 4: Age Age adjectives are adjectives expressing length pf time that a person or thing has existed as : new young old modern He is an old man. I have bought a new car. Most of them are very young . (Jane Eyre 1847, 223) Type 5: Color Color adjectives are adjectives referring to the appearance of objectives or light sources described in terms of a person’s perception or their hue and lightness. Here are some examples: white crimson purple black mottled yellow red Old  His hair is quite white. (Jane Eyre 1847, 223) That is a black horse. The bed was covered with a crimson cloth. (Jane Eyre 1847, 223) Type 6: Value Value adjectives are adjectives expressing the qualities that renders something desirable or valuable. Here are some examples: good odd crucial bad strange important lovely curious lucky atrocious necessary John’s having resigned was very odd. Canterbury is a lovely city. Health plays a very important role. Type 7:Difficulty Difficulty adjectives are adjectives referring to a condition or state affairs almost beyond one’s ability to deal with and requiring great effort to bear or overcome. easy tough difficult hard simple It is hard for Marry to operate our mower. Things are getting so difficult. Driving a bus isn’t easy. (Quirk 1973, 114) Type 8: Qualification Adjectives denoting qualification are capacity fitting a person for a position or purpose. In qualification adjectives, they are divided into a number of subtypes as definite, possible, usual, likely, sure, and correct. Firstly, definite adjectives, the kind of adjective expresses a factual qualification regarding an event as definite, probable, true. It is definite that the King will visit. Secondly, possible adjectives ,the kind of adjective expresses the speaker’s opinion about an event, which is often some potential happening, such as possible, impossible, etc. No, sir; that is impossible, I can not do it because it is wrong . (Jane Eyre, p281) Thirdly, usual adjectives, the kind of adjective points out the speaker’s opinion about how predictable some happening is like usual, normal, common,… It seems normal for no one to work. Cyclones are common at this time of year. Fourth , likely adjectives, the kind of adjective is also an opinion, but like the usual adjectives they tend to focus on the subject’s potentiality to think about some happening such as likely, certain,.. John is likely to win. It is certain that the monsoon will come this month. Next, sure adjectives, similarly the likely adjectives group, but they have a stronger focus on the subject’s control, like sure,… I am sure she is not right. ( Jane Eyre, 251) Finally, correct adjectives as: correct wrong right appropriate sensible I am sure there is something wrong. This kind has two distinct senses, commenting: (i) on the correctness of a fact, similar to the definite adjectives. That the whale is not a fish is right. (ii) on the correctness of the subject undertaking some activity. John was right to resign . Type 9: Human Propensity Adjectives denoting human propensity are adjective expressing ability or an attitude, emotion to something happening. This kind of adjectives also have a great of subtypes as fond, angry, happy, unsure, eager, and clever. Firstly, fond adjectives, the kind of adjective expresses hobbies and usually take preposition of: I am fond of reading books. Secondly, angry adjectives describing an emotional reaction to some definite happening such as angry (about), jealous (of), mad (about), etc. She was angry about what he had done. Thirdly, happy adjectives, the kind of adjective is an emotional response to some actual or potential happening. Let’s take the following into consideration: anxious thankful glad keen careful proud happy sorry ashamed I am happy about the decision. Fourth, unsure adjective, these expresses the speaker’s assessment about some potential event such as certain, sure, unsure, curious,… The result of the race was rather curious. I am unsure of the time of the meeting. She is curious (about) whether John will attend. (Dixon 1991, 83) Next, eager adjectives, these means wanting, enthusiasm such as eager, ready, prepared, willing. The rich are willing to donate tens of millions of dong to the poor. I’m eager for the fray. Finally, clever adjectives, the kind of adjective refers to ability or an attitude towards social relations with others. Here are some examples: clever lucky stupid kind cruel generous It is very stupid for John to come in without knocking. ( Dixon 1991, 83) Type 10: Similarity Adjectives denoting similarity are adjectives having the similar or dissimilar characteristics. This kind of adjective compares two things, states or events such as like, unlike (which are the only adjectives take a direct objective); similar (to), different (from) (which introduce the second role obligatory for an adjective from this type. They usually take a preposition, here are two examples: John is similar to his cousin. Her fashion was so different from her sister’s. 3.2. Classification in terms of their semantic functions According to the survey, and basing on ten kinds of English adjectives as mentioned above, the writer would like to find out what kinds of English adjectives belong to gradable or non- gradable adjectives. 3.2.1 Gradable and non-gradable adjectives As we know that most adjectives are gradable. The writer finds out nine kinds of adjectives belong to gradable adjectives group as follows: Type 1-Dimension, type 2 - Physical properly, type 3 - Speed, type 4 - Age, type 5 - Colour, type 6 - Value, type 7 - Difficulty, type 8 - Qualification ( restricted by “usually” subtype), type 9 - Human propensity ( only with happy and clever subtype ). When analyzing these adjectives, and basing on semantic functions of English adjectives, the writer would like to list their semantic functions of the gradable adjectives as follows: Most adjectives above are typically related to a concrete noun, generally related to human noun. The adjective types are considered as gradable adjectives because they express degrees in the quality referred to and they can be modified by intensifiers to emphasize their meanings. Let's see the following examples: Type1: The school-room was very long. ( Jane Eyre 1847, 52) This a very large town Type2: It 's very cool today. Of intensifiers, very is most frequently used. Different from other intensifiers, very can be doubled itself to make the premodifiers’ meanings even stronger: a very, very old woman *He is an extremely, extremely intelligent student. Type3: If he was too slow, the other dogs stole his food. Type 6: You are a very good girl. (Jane Eyre, 1847,p45) Moreover, the adjectives above can form comparatively and superlatively when we want to describe something by saying that it has much quality than something else or anything else. Here are some examples: Type 1: This shirt is smaller than that one. Type 3: In a lower tone, but still loud enough for me to hear. Type 4: My sister is older than me. Type 9: Children are the happiest people now. A new color adjectives also have comparison degree: Type 5: We have no redder hat than that one. Contrast to gradable adjectives, the writer also find some adjective types considered as non gradable adjectives as follows: type 8: Qualification (with definite, possible, like, sure subtypes ) and type 10- Similarity. Most adjectives can not be modified by intensifiers. It is not impossible to say: * Very sure / possible/likely (type 8) * Very different (from) (type 10) * Very similar (to) (type 10) Moreover adjectives belonging to type 8 and type 10 can not take a comparative or superlative form such as sure, possible, different. 3.2.2 Stative and dynamic adjectives According to the ability to be used in the progressive (continuous aspect) form, adjectives are classified into stative and dynamic. Some adjectives are not generally used in progressive forms. They are called stative because they refer to states, experiences and conditions rather than to action. Dynamic adjectives, on the other hand, have their own characteristics. They usually refer to actions or dynamic adjectives can be used in progressive. According to the survey, we can find out that the above types of adjective can be realized as stative and dynamic, stative adjectives are classified as type 1: Dimension, type 2: Physical property, type 3: Speed and type 5 : Color. These kinds of adjective denote a state or condition, which may generally be considered permanent such as big, round, strong, cool, etc… They can not normally be sued in imperative construction. It is not possible to say: * Be big/red/narrow. Especially, the types can not usually be used in progressive constructions: * He is being big/red/small. Unlike stative adjectives, dynamic adjectives are classified as follows: Type 7 - Difficulty, type 9 - Human propensity and type 10 - Similarity. The above kinds of adjectives can be seen as dynamic because they are used in an imperative mood. Let's start by looking at these examples: Type 9: Don't be stupid. Furthermore they are used in the progressive tense. He is being stupid again. In short, syntactic functions of English adjectives are ordered clearly as in the following table: Kinds of adjective Semantic functions of English adjectives Gradable non- gradable stative dynamic Dimension + + Physical Property + + Speed + + Age + Colour + + Value + Difficulty + + Qualification + + Propensity + + Similarity + 3.3 Classification in terms of syntactic functions In terms of structural classification, adjectives are divided into four types as mentioned in the chapter I. Basing on syntactic functions, the English adjectives would be gathered clearly in accordance with their classification. 3.3.1 Attributive An adjective may bear several possible relationships to the noun or noun phrase that it qualifies. 3.3.1.1 Adjectives as premodification The premodification is a modification that comprises all items placed between the head of a noun phrase and the determiners notably adjectives or nouns: Adjective as premodification can function as the following structure: (determiners) +adjs Basing on the structure and ten kinds of adjective classified in terms of usage, the writer realizes some kinds belong to this structure as type 1- Dimension, type 2 - Physical property, type 3 - Speed, type 4- Age, type 5 - Color, type 6 - Value. It proves this in the following examples : Type 1: a very large stadium a thin oaten cake Type 2: The cheapest house to buy is in the outskirts. Type 3: a quick glance hard and fast rules Type 4: a young man Type 5: her blue eyes Type 6: an important role a lucky girl Sometimes, we can form compound -ing premodifying adjectives with adjectives: ill-smelling, good-looking,...with adverbs: hard-working, far-seeing,...for example: She is a good-looking girl. 3.3.1.2 Adjectives as postmodification Postmodification is a modification that all the items placed after the head of a noun phrase. From above definition, the kinds of adjectives as post modification are classified into: type 1 - Dimension, type 4 - Age and type 9 - Human propensity. Indefinite pronouns endings in –body; -one; -thing; -where can be modified only postpositively. The typical types would be illustrated through the following example: Type 1: I want to try on something larger . ~ I want to try on something which is larger than this. ( University Grammar of English, 116) I have a house larger than yours. Type 4: All people old and young, supported his policy. a man 75 years old Type 9: the mother anxious for her children’s happiness 3.3.2 Predicative Firstly, predicative adjectives can function as the following structure: S + V + CS Subject complement (Cs) is to describe or indicate the characteristics of feature of the subject, it is after copular verbs (linking verb). Let’s see the following examples: Your daughter is intelligent. S V CS He is rather careless. S V CS Basing on classification of adjectives in terms of usage, the writer found out that some kinds of adjectives belonging to this structure as followings: type1- dimension, type 2- physical propensity, type 4- age, type 6- value, type 7- difficulty, type 8- qualification, type 9- human propensity and type 10- similarity. The following examples would prove this: Type 1: The school - room is very large. S V CS Type 2: He looked ill . S V CS Type 4: He was young . S V CS Type 6: The result was strange . (Dixon 1991, 80) S V CS Type 7: It is hard for Mary to operate our mover. V CS S ( Dixon 1991, 80) Type 8: A baby walking at twelve months is unusual . S V CS Type 9: I am fond of watching cricket. S V CS She is curious whether John will attend. S V CS ( Dixon 1991, 83) Type 10: John is similar to his cousin . ( Dixon 1991, 84) S V CS Secondly, predicative adjectives can also function as the following structure: S + V + O + CO According to English grammar of Hanoi Open University (2000, p48) Object complement (CO) is to describe or indicate the characteristics of the object, it is after copular, Verbs. For example: I consider him foolish. S V Od Co Basing on ten kinds of English adjectives in terms of their usage, the writer classifies some kinds of adjective belonging to the structure as type 5 - color, type 9 - human propensity. They would be illustrated as follows: Type 5: We painted the door red . S V Od CO Type 9: He made me happy . S V Od CO 3.3.3 Adjectives as head of a noun phrase Substantivised adjectives can function as heads of NPS. Adjectives can function as the following structure: the + adj Look at the following example: The poor are causing the nation’s leaders great concern. The meaning of the + adjective is usually general. The most common adjectives of this kind basing on ten kinds of English adjective are: type 4 - Age and type 6 - Value. In order to illustrate this, let’s see the following examples: There is lack of communication between the young and the old. (University grammar of English, 2000, p56) The best is yet to come. However, we often leave out a noun that has already been mentioned, or which does not need to be mentioned, when thinking about a choice between two or more different kinds of thing. Type 5 - Colour belongs to this case. Such as: “Have you got any bread?” “Do you want white or brown?” (Michael Swan, 1996, p14) White and brown are adjectives as heads of a noun phrase. They mean that white bread and brown bread. Sometimes, superlatives are often used as adjectives as heads of a noun phrase. Let’s see type 1-Dimension as follows: I’m the tallest in my family. (Michael Swan, 1996, p14) ~ I’m the tallest person in my family. Depending on a certain situation, colour adjectives (type5) can sometimes have the structure The + adj with a plural –s, for example: Wash the reds and blues separately. (Michael Swan, 1996, p14) ~ Wash the red and blue clothes separately. 3.3.4 Supplementary adjective clause Basing on classification of ten kinds of adjectives in terms of their usage, some kinds of adjectives are realized as supplementary adjective clauses as follows type 6 - value, type 8 - Qualification and type 9 – Human propensity. The following examples would prove this: Type 8 : If possible, the dog should be washed everyday. ~ If it is possible, the dog should be washed everyday. Type 6 : Strange that it turned out that way. Strange how she still likes him. Type 9: Curious, the man opened the letter. The man, (by then) curious, opened the letter. ~ The man, who was curious, opened the letter. In short, syntactic functions of English adjectives are ordered clearly as in the following table: kinds of adjective Syntactic functions of English adjectives attributive Predicative Pre-modification post-modification as Cs as Co head of a NP adjective clause dimension + + + physical property + + Speed + Age + + + + color + + Value + + + + difficulty + qualification + + Propensity + + + + Similarity + Chapter IV A contrastive analysis between English and their Vietnamese equivalents In this chapter, the writer would like to make a contrastive analysis between English adjectives and their Vietnamese equivalents in an effort of finding out similarities and differences between them to help learners of English to have a dear understanding about adjectives in English. Before doing that, the writer would like to introduce some features of contrastive analysis in learning a foreign language which has particular effect on analyzing a language and its equivalents in other languages and then the author would like to make an over view of Vietnamese adjectives. 4.1 Some features of contrastive analysis in learning a foreign language Contrastive analysis (C.A) first developed in the 1950s, and it has still existed up to now. C.A plays an important role in learning a foreign language as a main subject at most language universals. According to C. James (1980;19), C.A is a form of inter-language study and a central concern of applied linguistic. As a matter of fact, C.A has had much to offer not only to practical language but also to translation theory, the description of particular language, language typology and the study of language universals. In relation to bilingualism, C.A is concerned with how a monolingual becomes bilingual. In other words, it is concerned with the effect exerted by the first language on the foreign language being learnt. Basing on the source language, students are taught to distinguish similarities and differences between many cultures in fields such as structure, semantics and culture… which helps them get knowledge of the language and the culture of his study, they can not avoid being shocked or misunderstood when communicating with foreigners or when translating a text. 4.2 An overview of Vietnamese adjectives As known, Vietnamese adjectives play an important role in daily life and communication as well. Nevertheless, like English, there are many different definitions on what is an adjective as linguists differ in their opinions and scopes of the study. According to Nguyễn Hữu Quỳnh (Ngữ pháp Tiếng Việt, 145) a work is considered as an adjective when it describes characteristics, features, shapes, colours of something or somebody, such as mệt mỏi, cao, xanh, đỏ, buồn, vui, xấu, đẹp… While as for Nguyễn Tài Cẩn (Ngữ pháp Tiếng Việt, 2001) adjectives are words expressing characteristics about quality, property, colour, smell, taste and relationship between noun and pronoun. In some recent studies and articles, a number of people wonder whether there is adjective in Vietnamese as they find that most Vietnamese adjectives tend to combine to adverbs to form verbs. Adjectives can follow words such as đã, đang, sẽ; xanh đ đã xanh / đang xanh; già đ đang già / sẽ già. Trước đã giỏi thì sau thêm giỏi nữa. Adjectives can follow some other adverbs such as vẫn, còn, cứ; trẻ đ vẫn trẻ / còn trẻ; tươi đ cứ tươi / còn tươi. Cô ấy còn trẻ lắm. Some other adjectives can also go after adverbs such as hãy, đừng, chớ; hãy vui / chớ tham lam / đừng đau khổ. As Vietnamese has sounds and tone, a large number of adjs formed by repetition. However, it must follow some tone rules as đỏ đ đo đỏ; bồi hồi đ bồi hổi bồi hồi; sạch đ sạch sành sanh. In Vietnamese, there are stative and dynamic adjectives. The stative adjectives often describe stative qualities such as xấu, tốt, bền, đẹp, nặng, xanh, dài, hồng…dynamic ones that have tendency to show state such as buồn, yêu, mệt, vui, hạnh phúc,…However, stative adjectives can function as verbs, too. 4.3 A contrastive analysis between English and Vietnamese adjectives English and Vietnamese are two different languages and have their own features. Moreover, because of different culture and communication habit, learners of English and Vietnamese face many difficulties in using English and Vietnamese adjectives flexibly and correctly. Therefore, according to new approaches and basing on the classification of English adjectives in terms of their usage as mentioned in chapter III, 3.1, in this part, the writer will focus on a study about contractive analysis between English and Vietnamese adjectives. 4.3.1 In terms of their syntactic functions In general, both English adjectives and Vietnamese adjectives can function as attribute and predicative. Let’s see the following examples: Chỉ mới năm năm trước đây, Hội An còn là 1 nơi bé nhỏ, trầm mặc, rêu phong và có phần ảm đạm, nay đã chuyển mình thành một phố thị nhộn nhịp, đầy sức sống. (ngôn ngữ và đời sống, 2006, p 88)(18) In the example 18, the noun Hội An functions a subject and adjectives such as bé nhỏ, trầm mặc, rêu phong, ảm đạm function as predicative, nhộn nhịp, đầy sức sống attribute to the noun một phố thị. Let’s see another example: Cuộc sống và con người thành phố hôm nay có thể ví như 1 bức tranh sinh động, hài hoà với những tà áo đẹp, muôn màu sắc.(19) In the example 19, the adjectives sinh động, đẹp, muôn màu sắc are all attributive. Another similar point, in English, adjectives can stand after copular verbs, such as, be, seem, feel, sound, taste, etc. They would be illustrated as follows: He seemed to be tired after a long journey. That sounds good. I am hungry. In Vietnamese, adjectives can occur after such verbs, such as nghe, trông, có vẻ, cảm thấy,…Here are some example: Mọi việc có vẻ tốt đẹp. Cô ấy cảm thấy rất thất vọng. According to the new approaches both in English and Vietnamese, syntactically, predicative adjectives can function as the following structure: S + V + CS Let’s see the following example: They always feel happy when living each other. S V CS ~ Họ luôn cảm thấy hạnh phúc khi ở bên nhau. S V CS However, according to new approaches, in English there are ten kinds of adjective, they are type 1- dimension, type 2- physical property, type 3- speed, type 4- age, type5- color, type 6- value, type 7- difficult, type8- qualification, type 9- human propensity and type 10- similarity, unlike English adjectives, there are some kinds of Vietnamese adjective classified into: dimension, speech, age, color. Let’s see the follow examples: Anh ấy có một căn hộ nhỏ ở ngoại ô. ~ He has a small house in the outskirts. một con đường rộng 23 m ~ a road 23 meters wide As mentioned above, both English and Vietnamese adjective can function as attributive. However, there is a little difference between them. First, it is undeniable that English attributive adjectives are put widely after nouns. The following examples would prove this: Cháu là một cậu bé rất thông minh. ~ You are a very intelligent boy. Anh ấy có một cán bộ nhỏ ở ngoại ô. ~ He has a small house in the outskirts However, in modern English, adjectives can follow the nouns in a number of titles or a umber of fixed phrases: Adjectives after noun in titles as follows: Viên trưởng lý Attorney General Viên toàn quyền Government General Bộ trưởng bộ bưu điện Postmaster General Chủ tịch nhậm chức President Elect Công chứng viên Notary Public Adjectives after nouns in fixed phrases body politic sum total godless gracious time immemorial hope eternal penny dreadful In general, functions of adjectives are changed from premodifiers in English to postmodifiers in Vietnamese. a beautiful beach ~ một bãi biển đẹp an interesting book ~ một cuốn sách hay a famous star ~ một ngôi sao nổi tiếng a noble behavior ~ một cử chỉ cao thượng Sometimes, adjectives function as postmodifiers in Vietnamese but as predicative, not premodifiers or postmodifiers in English. We can see the following examples to know clearer about English adjectives and their equivalents. Vietnamese English chợ ặ đông nhà ặ gần lá ặ đỏ the market is crowded the house is near the leave is red The verb be is always obligatory in English but it normally can be optional in Vietnamese. Both English and Vietnamese adjectives can function as head of noun phrase but there is a little differences between them. In English, the kinds of adjective can function as head of a noun phrase such as type 4- age, type 6- value. Like all noun phrases, they also can be subject, object, complement and complement of a preposition. Adjectives as head of a noun phrases do not reflect number or generic case and they take the definite determiner the. Those kinds of adjectives can take personal nouns the young people denoting plural and generic references, classes, categories or types of people. They can be itself modified the very old. There’s a widening disparity between the young and the old. There’s a widening disparity between the young generations and the old ones. The very old face many difficulties when they live alone. In Vietnamese, though the above adjectives can behave like head of noun phrase, they have to be premodified by the determiner người. Người già thường hay mắc bệnh quên. Khoảng cách giữa người giàu và người nghèo đã được rút ngắn. Nevertheless, in English these adjectives are restricted to generic reference and take plural harmony. Thus, the poor can not denote one person. However, in Vietnamese, when we want to express plural nouns, we must add the premodifier những. những người già ~ the old những người nghèo ~ the poor những người tàn tật ~ the handicraft In English, some adjectives denoting abstract reference can function as non-phrase heads the supernatural, the unexpected, the unheard of…. Those adjectives take singular verbs. We can also add “thing” in those abstract adjectives. The unexpected thing has come at last. The latest (thing/news) is that the president elect is a woman. He’s keen on exploring the mystical. It is not obligatory, in English, to insert thing in abstract adjectives. But in Vietnamese, it is necessary to add điều, cái, vấn đề, tin, etc before these adjectives. Điều không mong đợi cuối cùng đã đến. Tin mới nhất là thủ tướng nhậm chức là một phụ nữ. Anh ta luôn thích khám phá những điều bí hiểm. 4.3.2 In terms of their order Adjectives always function as attributive in both English and Vietnamese as for type 1- dimension, but their orders are not the same. In English, dimension adjectives such as deep, ling, wide, etc can function as adjective or adverbs after the question word how How deep is that pool ?(adj) How deep did you live ?(adv) In responses to such question, the adjective (or adverb) follows the noun, like the structure: The head noun + numbers + units + adj: It is five meters deep. I went five meters deep. Whereas, in Vietnamese, dimension adjectives are placed between the head noun, like the structure: the head noun + adj + numbers + units a road 23 meters wide ~ một con đường rộng 23 m a river 1500 meters long ~ một con sông dài 1500 m a mountain 1000 meters high ~ một ngọn núi cao 1000 m a lake 10 meters deep ~ một cái hồ sâu 10 m In English as well as Vietnamese, the head noun can take series of adjectives to modify it. The order of Vietnamese adjectives is freer than English adjs. In Vietnamese, adjective which appears near the head noun often plays the most important role. However, in English, they must obey a compulsory order despite of their importance. The most common order of English adjectives is quantity + opinion + quality + noun. Look at these examples to understand deeply about the order of their orders : English Vietnamese a nice big new red Japanese car a nice big new red Japanese car * a new big red nice Japanese car. một chiếc xe Nhật mầu đỏ mới to đẹp. một chiếc xe Nhật mới to mầu đỏ đẹp một chiếc xe Nhật đẹp mầu đỏ to mới However, hard – and – fast rules cannot be given, since much depends on the emphasis a speaker want to make: beautiful old brown French handmade cup-board ~ Một cái tủ chén làm bằng tay của Pháp màu nâu cũ rất đẹp a brown old beautiful French handmade cup-board ~ Một cái tủ chén làm bằng tay của Pháp rất đẹp đã cũ màu nâu 4.4 Summary In this chapter, the writer has just presented a contrast analysis of English and Vietnamese adjectives according to new approaches. The different and similar features between English and Vietnamese adjective in terms of their syntactic functions as well as their orders are pointed out. Firstly, in terms of their functions, both English and Vietnamese, generally, can function as predicative and attributive, they also can stand copular verbs, the adjective of type 4 and type 6 both in English and Vietnamese can function as head of a noun phrase, secondly, in terms their usage, unlike English adjectives, Vietnamese ones are not classified into ten kinds, there are some kinds such as dimension, age, color,value,…finally, in terms of their orders, the English adjective of type 1- dimension can function as in the structure: the head noun + numbers + units + adj and as for Vietnamese ones, they can function as in the structure : the head noun + adj + numbers + units. However in the survey shortcoming is unavoidable from. Hopefully, this chapter will help learns understand deeply both English and Vietnamese adjectives. The learners understand deeply adjectives both in English and in Vietnamese, they will succeed in study as well as translate languages. Chapter V Conclusion Through four chapters, the basic information of English adjectives in general have been introduced. Although many grammar textbooks refer to English adjectives, learners will find semantic and syntactic functions of English adjectives clear in the graduation paper. All of them can provide learner a comprehensive look towards English adjs. In order to help learners deeply understand English adjectives, in chapter II the writer has presented an overview of the English adjectives with their definitions right at the beginning as well as semantic and syntactic functions of adjs. The writer discusses their classification according to their usage then considers them if which kinds of adjective belong to semantic functions and syntactic ones. Firstly, the kinds of adjective belonging to semantic functions, as for gradable adjectives as type1, type 2, type 3, type 4, type 5, type 6, type 7, type 8, and type 9. Contrast to gradable adjectives, non-gradable ones are found as type8, type 10. Stative adjectives as type 1, type2, typr3 and type 5, and as for dynamic ones like type7, 9 and type 10. And then, the kinds of adjective belonging to syntactic functions are also classified clearly in the chapter III, 3.3. With the contrastive analysis of English adjectives with their equivalents, basing on new approaches the writer has pointed out similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese adjectives in terms of their functions,usages as well as orders. Both English and Vietnamese, generally, can function as predicative and attributive, in terms their usages, unlike English adjectives, Vietnamese ones are not classified into ten kinds, there are some kinds such as dimension, age, color,value,... Finally, the writer hopes that the paper will be useful and helpful for learners of English in general and for Vietnamese students in particular. In spite of the great effort, imperfections and shortcomings are inevitable The writer hopes to receive faithful comments, suggestions as well as supplementations from the readers. Hopefully, the matter would be done in other research. References 1. Alexander, L.G.1988. Longman English Grammar. Hongkong: Long man. 2. Bronte, C. 1996. Jane Eyre. London: Everyman’s Library. 3. Close, R. A. 1975. A Reference Grammar for student of English. London: Longman Group Limited. 4. Dixon, R.M.W. 1992. A new Approach to English Grammar, on Semantics Principles. New York: Oxford University Press. 5. Eastwood, J.1994. Oxford Guide to English Grammar. London: Oxford University Press. 6. Huddleston, R and Pullum, G.K. 2002. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge University Press. 7. Jacobs, R.A. 1995. 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