TYLA: The expression of instrumental grammatical meaning in Vietnamese and Russian

Author name: Doan Huu Dung

Thesis title:The expression of instrumental grammatical meaning in Vietnamese and Russian

Dissertation field: Social sciences and humanities

Major: Linguistics Code: 62 22 02 40

Name of the postgraduate training unit: University of Social Sciences and Humanities - Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

1. Purpose and research objects of the thesis

a) Research purpose

In conducting research on this topic, we aim at the following main objectives:

- Clarifying the content and grammatical nature of "instrumental grammatical meaning" in Vietnamese and Russian; the similarities and differences in this content between the two languages.

- Point out applications in the study of this problem.

- Clarify the similarities and differences in means of expression and ways of expression while realizing this meaning in language activities.

- Propose applications of the thesis's research results into the practice of teaching, learning and using Vietnamese and Russian (translation, dictionary compilation, ...).

b) Research subjects

- The research object of this thesis is the meaning of instrumental grammar and the methods of expressing this meaning in the scope of Vietnamese and Russian (expressed by the method of function words, word order, affixes or combining function words with affixes).

- The methods of radical transformation, intonation, and repetition can also express instrumental grammatical meaning, however, these means are very rare. Therefore, we do not leave these methods as large descriptive items, but will mention them when necessary.

2. Research methods used

In this thesis, we always start from the documentary reality to describe, then analyze, comment and conclude, not starting from a pre-existing model or a pre-existing opinion. That is, we go by the inductive path, from examples to draw comments and conclusions. To do this, we use some of the following linguistic methods and techniques:

- Descriptive method: analyze grammar on a theoretical level to determine grammatical meanings, grammatical methods, and grammatical categories.

- Comparative method: relate expressions in Russian to Vietnamese after description.

- The techniques of substitution, transformation, and omission in grammatical analysis are used to detect contrasts, similarities, and differences in grammatical content, grammatical form, and grammatical means....

- Quantitative research techniques will also be used where necessary.

3. Main results and conclusions

3.1. Main results

a) Theoretical significance

This is the first research work in Vietnam on the description and analysis at the thesis level of the meaning of instrumental grammar and modeling the methods of expressing this grammatical meaning in two languages, Vietnamese and Russian, contributing to clarifying the description of grammar according to the approach of traditional grammar and clarifying relevant issues from the perspective of systemic functional grammar and semantic syntax.

b) Practical significance

Based on a deeper study of such a subject, the research results of the thesis will help to understand the nature and meaning of instrumental grammar, help to use grammar correctly and operate grammar smoothly in foreign language skills, help to operate grammar correctly (specifically the meaning of instrumental grammar) in teaching and learning foreign languages ​​in a communicative direction.

The research results of the thesis will be the basis for compiling and editing textbooks and teaching materials for Vietnamese and Russian as a foreign language currently used at Vietnamese language training facilities for foreigners and Russian language training for Vietnamese people, thereby improving the quality of teaching and learning.

The research results of the thesis will help both teachers and learners of Vietnamese and Russian, as foreign languages, avoid errors in word usage, sentence structure, and transition errors... in the learning and research process.

The research results of the thesis also have great applicability in compiling Vietnamese - Russian, Russian - Vietnamese bilingual dictionaries, Vietnamese and Russian explanatory dictionaries, thereby contributing to improving the efficiency of translation work between Vietnamese and Russian.

3.2. Conclusion

Instrumental meaning is a universal concept in all types of languages. This is an issue that has been mentioned by many researchers in the world. Depending on the different types of languages, the level of research on this issue is also different. Instrumental meaning is studied a lot in Indo-European languages, which are languages ​​with clear formal signs through affixes, while for isolating languages ​​such as Vietnamese, this issue is rarely proposed for research. However, the perception of researchers on the issue of instrumental meaning is not much different, most authors often focus on describing instrumental meaning from a morphological perspective. Recently, in the light of systemic functional grammar, the issue of instrumental meaning has been studied from a semantic and syntactic-semantic perspective.

The meaning of instrumental grammar is universal in language. Depending on the type of language, the meaning of instrumental grammar is expressed in different ways. Vietnamese is an isolating language, so the main way of expression is through function words and word order, while Russian is a morphologically inflected language, so the main way of expression is through suffixes and function words.

The use of function words is a common point in the way of expressing the meaning of instrumental grammar in Vietnamese and Russian. Vietnamese uses some function words with instrumental meaning such as "bang" and "con"; in addition, it also uses some other function words with implicit instrumental meaning such as "nhu" (thanks to), "nhu" (thanks to), "du" (depends on), "du" (depends on), "quan theo" (depends on), "quan theo" (depends on), "con cau ... In addition to the prepositions с and под in the instrumental case, Russian also uses a number of other prepositions in other cases to express instrumental grammatical meanings such as: на, в, с, через, о, с помощю, при помощи, средством, методом, по, благодаря.

Besides the common points as presented above, each language has a different way of expressing, which is characteristic of the type to which that language belongs. Vietnamese uses an additional method typical of the type of isolating language, which is word order (structure with the verb use / take) to express, while Russian uses an additional method of affixes - a method typical of the type of language with morphological changes, to express the meaning of instrumental grammar. In addition, in Vietnamese there exists a fairly large vocabulary field with the presuppositional meaning that tools are capable of expressing instrumental meaning.

The meaning of instrumental grammar is closely related to the role of instrumental meaning in the study of systemic functional grammar. The meaning of instrumental grammar is the expression of form, while the role of instrumental meaning is the expression of meaning and content of language. A deeper study of the role of instrumental meaning in language will be reserved for future research projects, however, in this thesis, we still mention this issue to highlight the meaning of instrumental grammar.

Instrumental meaning and instrumental role, at the level of the sentence, perform the functions of a syntactic component of the sentence. It can play the role of subject, complement, adverb, or topic in the sentence. As syntactic components of the sentence, instrumental roles have formal signs (punctuation, function words, and intonation) to express them, and all play a certain role in the structure of the expressive meaning of the sentence.

The study of the meaning of instrumental grammar in Vietnamese and Russian has a wide range of applications. It can be used to study grammatical errors, thereby helping to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning Vietnamese and Russian as foreign languages, ensuring accuracy in translation activities and the compilation of dictionaries related to Vietnamese and Russian.

The study of the meaning of instrumental grammar in Vietnamese and Russian languages ​​creates a very important argument, contributing to the improvement of the theoretical basis in the study of linguistics in general and comparative linguistics in particular.

                                                               SUMMARY OF DOCTORAL THESIS

The author's name: Doan Huu Dung

The thesis title:The demonstration of grammatical meaning of instruments in Russian and Vietnamese

Scientific branch of the thesis: Social Science and Humanities

Major: Linguistics Code: 62 22 02 40

The name of postgraduate training institution: The University of Social Sciences and Humanities – Vietnam National University.

1. Thesis purpose and objectives

a)Purpose

This thesis aims at:

- Clarifying the grammatical nature of “grammatical meaning of instruments” in Vietnamese and Russian; the similarities and differences between the two languages ​​regarding this aspect.

- Pointing out possible applications of the research

- Working out the similarities and differences in the demonstration of grammatical meaning of instruments in the two languages

- Proposing possible application of the research into the reality of teaching, learning and using Vietnamese and Russian (translation and lexicography…)

b)Objectives

The objectives of this thesis involve:

- Grammatical meaning of instruments and ways of demonstrating such meaning in Vietnamese and Russian (formal words, word order, affix…)

- The methods of changing word stem, intonation or reiteration can demonstrate grammatical meaning of instruments; however, these are rare. Therefore, the author only mentions these methods when necessary.

2.Research methods

In this doctoral thesis, instead of basing on an available model, the researcher followed an inductive approach, which started with real data, then described, analyzed, commented and drew out conclusions.

- Descriptive method: to conduct grammatical analysis on theoretical basis to determine grammatical meaning, grammatical method and grammatical category.

- Comparative method: to compare Russian and Vietnamese expressions

- Such methods such as replacement, renovation and omission are also applied to find for similarities and differences in grammatical content, forms and methods.

- Quantitative method is also unitized when necessary.

3.Major results and conclusion

3.1.Major results

a)Theoretical significance

This is the first doctoral thesis in Vietnam on describing grammatical meaning of instruments and modeling ways to demonstrate grammatical meaning in Vietnamese and Russian, contributing to clarifying grammatical description in the traditional grammar and clarifying concerning issues from the angle of functional grammar and syntax-semantics.

b)Practical significance

The thesis contributed to give insight into the nature of grammatical meaning of instruments, helping users to understand and use grammar in teaching and learning communication.

The thesis results serve as a basis for compilation and edition of course books and materials in Vietnamese and Russian which have been used in Vietnamese and Russian training institutions.

The results help teachers and learners of Vietnamese and Russian as foreign languages ​​to avoid errors in word usage and sentence building in learning and research.

The results are also of great practicality in compiling Vietnamese-Russian bilingual dictionaries, contributing to improving the translation quality between the two languages.

3.2.Conclusion

Instrumental meaning is a universal concept in all types of languages. This topic has been mentioned by a number of scientists, with different levels of research depending on different languages. Grammatical meanings of instruments are much studied in the Indo-European languages, which have clear formal signs through affixes, but for isolating languages ​​​​like Vietnamese, this problem is yet to be extensively researched. However, the researchers' awareness of instrumental meaning is not much different. Most of the authors often focus on describing the instrumental meaning from a morphological perspective. In recent times, in the light of systematic functional grammar, instrumental meaning issues have been studied in terms of semantics and syntax - semantic angles.

The grammatical meaning of instruments is universal in languages. Depending on the type of language, instrumental meanings are expressed by different methods. Vietnamese belongs to the isolating typology; Therefore, its mode of demonstration is mainly based on function words and word order, while Russian is a synthetic language and its mode of demonstration is in suffixes and in function words.

The method of using function words is a similarity in the way the grammatical meanings of instruments are used in Vietnamese and Russian. Vietnamese uses a number of function expressions like equals, with, and some other function words that have instrumental meanings such as: thanks, thanks to, based on, based on, based on, based on, based on, by, on, through, through. Russian words use prepositions as function words. In addition to such prepositions like с, под, Russian also uses some other prepositions such as: на, в, с, через, о, с помощю, при помощи, средством, методом, по, благодаря.

In addition to the similarities mentioned above, each language has a different and typical way of demonstration. Vietnamese uses the more typical method of the linguistic type of isolating language (structure with predicate use / get), while Russian uses the auxiliary method - the method representing the morphological type of language to express the grammatical meaning of instrument. In addition, there is a fairly large vocabulary field in Vietnamese with pre-meaning meaning that the tool is capable of expressing the instrumental meaning.

The grammatical meaning of instruments has a close relationship with the role of instrumental meaning in systematic functional grammar studies. The grammatical meaning of instruments is the formal expression, and the instrumental meaning is the expression in terms of meaning and content of the language. Further understanding the instrumental meaning will be suggested for subsequent studies; however, in this thesis, the author still mentions this issue to further highlight the grammatical meaning of instruments.

Grammatical meaning of instrument and instrumental meanings, at the sentence level, perform the functions of a syntactic component of the sentence. It can act as the subject, the object, the adverb and the object in the sentence. As the syntactic components of sentences, instrumental meanings have formal indicators (by punctuation, by function words, by intonation) to express and they play a certain role in the structure. structure of the expression of sentences.

The study of grammatical meanings of instruments in Vietnamese and Russian languages ​​​​is quite applicable, with a wide range of applications. It can be used to study grammatical errors, thereby improving the effectiveness of teaching and learning Vietnamese and Russian as foreign languages, ensuring accuracy in translation and compilation activities of dictionaries related to Vietnamese and Russian languages.

The study of grammatical meanings of instruments in both Vietnamese and Russian languages ​​​​creates a very important argument, contributing to better the theoretical basis in the study of linguistics in general and comparative linguistics in particular.