LEXICAL GAPS OF ENGLISH IN VIETNAMESE

I. Culture-specific concepts - Concepts expressed English are unknown in Vietnamese. E !: pinball, softball, pina colada, maple syrup, pecan, walnut, jack-olatern, winter squash, summer squash, Thanksgiving, radiator, etc. E ": Fictional characters in everyday language: Robin Hood, Robinson Crusoe, James lot o! ond, !eter !an, Rip "an #inkle, etc.

merican concepts are "orrowed into Vietnamese throughout lot o! words change their !orm and pronunciation

history. #ome words are "orrowed directly into Vietnamese without their !orms "eing changed. when "eing adapted "y the Vietnamese. $ %uring thirty years o! Vietnam &ar '()*+-(),+-: $k, .$ne, Two, Three/ 'game- - $%n T& T', number one 'meaning .the "est/-, cow"oy cao b(i, snack ) *' n+ch, bar- ba, massage ,m+t-*a-, hippy. $ !ter the normali0ation o! diplomatic relationship "etween the 1.# and

Vietnam in ())+, and in the 2(st century with the glo"ali0ation process: 3 &ords in media, economics, science, technology: marketing, over-the counter stocks ) c/ phi0u $TC, powerpoint, 1oom, search, reply, copy, paste, save, folder, laptop, online, email, entry, nickname, admin, hacker, webcam, chat, blog, virus ) vi r2t, 3 &ords o! places and high pro!ile !igures on media in the #outh o! Vietnam: 3oscow, 4ustralia, Hilary Clinton,
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arack $bama.

3 &ords in social li!e: bus - bu5t, gas ) ga, si1e ) sai, meeting ) mit ting, canteen ) c6ng tin, garage ) gara, cup ) c2p, scandal ) *' c6ng 7an, festival, liveshow, 3C ,3aster of Ceremony-,host-, container ) c8ng tai n9, game, hattrick, video clip, teen, jeans, shopping, fan, poster, resort, sofa ) s8 pha, shorts ) :u;n so<c. II. An En#lis$ concept %no&n in Vietn'(ese )ut t$ere is no e*ui+'lent to e press it lthough a concept expressed in merican English is known "y

Vietnamese people, it is not lexicali0ed in Vietnamese. E : 4uicy 'meat-, plant stand, "edside ta"le, cushion, polo shirt, hoodie, cardigan, !leece vest, "utternut squash III. En#lis$ ('%es (ore,fe&er -istinctions in (e'nin# t$'n Vietn'(ese E !: between and among: between is the preposition which is used to ."e surrounded "y more than two o"4ects or

express the meaning ."e in the space seperating two o"4ects or people/ while among means people/. 5n Vietnamese, there is no distinction "etween these two words. 6oth o! them are equivalent to .gi7a/ in Vietnamese. E ": ambition: 8he English word ambition means .something that you

want to do or achieve very much/. 8his word can "e translated as ho=i b>o, which has a positive connotation or tham v<ng, which has a negative indexical meaning in Vietnamese.

9ale:Female
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;lder

<ounger

rother 'English4nh 'Vietnamese?ister 'EnglishCh@ ,"ietnamese-

F F

IV. Vietn'(ese l'c%s ' superor-in'te E !: rice in English includes l2a, thAc 'unhusked rice-, gBo tC 'ordinary

rice-, gBo lDc 'unpolished rice-, c9m 'cooked: "oiled rice-, tEm '"roken rice3 rice !ields c=nh >?ng l.' 3 !rica has remained the "iggest market !or 8hai rice exports since 2@@@

xuAt khBu #/o 3 E "owl o! rice is included in most o! Capanese meals c0( ": bamboo includes all tre 'evergreen plants with hallow interdonal

regions, o!ten used !or "uilding materials, !ood, weapons, "askets, agricultural tools -, trc 'a type o! small "am"oos-, na '"am"oos with thin stems used !or paper producing and domestic tools- , mai ,"am"oos with long stems, large leaves, used !or house "uilding and as water containers-, vu '"am"oos with hard "ig stems used to "uild houses-, "DEng '"am"oos with "ig straight stems, used to store water in mountainous regions-, lung '"am"oos in the !orests with smooth stems
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and spear-shaped leaves, used to "uild houses- , hp 'small-stemmed "am"oos used to make !ish hooks- in Vietnamese. V. Vietn'(ese l'c%s ' $1pon1( E !: 5n Vietnamese, there is a superordinate 7(ng cF, "ut there are no

hyponyms which are equivalent to pasture '"Fi cG cho sHc vIt gJm-, meadow 'c=nh >?ng cG khK-, glassland 'vLng >?ng cG hoang-, etc. E ": Vietnamese has the word ."=nh/ as a superordinate !or cakes,

cupcakes, pies, cookies 'cookie can also "e called ."=nh quy/ in Vietnamese-, pastries. E 2: .Mo len/ is a superordinate in Vietnamese !or cardigans, jumpers,

and sweaters in English VI. 3ifferences in P$1sic'l,Interperson'l Perspecti+es Nhysical perspectives concern people or things that are in relation to one another. 5t expresses the relationship "etween participants in the discourse. E !4 Vietnamese has many equivalents to give in English, depending

who gives to whom: 7Ga, cho, tHng, bi0u, ban, dIng, etc. E "4 8he word yes in English can "e translated as: dB, vIng, JO, K and

Lou as anh, ch@, 8ng, b=, em, ch+uO according to the relationship "etween the speakers

VII. 3ifferences in E pressi+e Me'nin#

E 4 the English negative ad4ective skinny is translated into the neutral Vietnamese ad4ective g;y, meaning thin. M;y is not a"le to convey the same expressive meaning as skinny. 8o express the negative connotation o! the word skinny, we have to ela"orate on the neutral word g;y: g;y tr9 *G9ng. VIII. Lo'n &or-s fro( En#lis$ e press -ifferent (e'nin#s in Vietn'(ese E !: 5n Vietnamese, the English word game is o!ten used !or computer

games, "ut this word in English really includes an activity or a sport with rulesP a section o! some games, such as tennisP a childrenQs activity when they play with toys, pretend to "e some"ody else. E ": 5n Vietnamese, the English word chat is only used !or exchanging messages with other people on the 5nternet, "ut this word in English really includes talking !ace to !ace in a !riendly in!ormal way to some"ody. IX. 3ifferences in For(s 8here is no equivalent in Vietnamese !or a particular !orm in Englisht. Certain su!!ixes and pre!ixes which convey propositional and other types o! meaning in English o!ten have no direct equivalence in Vietnamese. !!ixes that have propositional meaning can "e translated "y means o! a paraphrase. E 4 %rinka"le: coR thST uKRng >DEUc Vechargea"le: coR thST naUp laUi