TTLV: A survey of idioms and proverbs containing numerical elements in the Lao language, with a comparison to Vietnamese.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE MASTER'S THESIS

1. Student's full name:Phoukham MATTHINVONG

2. Gender: Female

3. Date of birth: November 26, 1986

4. Place of birth: Luang Prabang, Laos

5. Decision on student admission No. 2679/2015/QD-XHNV-SDH, dated November 10, 2015, by the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

6. Changes in the training process:

7. Thesis title:A survey of idioms and proverbs containing numerical elements in the Lao language, with a comparison to Vietnamese.

8. Major: Linguistics Code: 60.22.02.40

9. Scientific supervisor:Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Hung Viet

10. Summary of the thesis results:

Through the research topic "A Survey of Idioms and Proverbs Containing Numeral Elements in Lao, with a Comparison to Vietnamese," this thesis has summarized several issues:

10.1. In Lao, idioms and proverbs are not distinguished but are both collectively called "xu pha xit," whereas in Vietnamese, idioms, proverbs, and folk songs are quite clearly differentiated. Both Lao "xu pha xit" and Vietnamese idioms are the result of creativity in the daily work and life of the people of both countries, and therefore contain the spiritual values ​​of the lives of the people of each country.

Numerals belong to the basic vocabulary of languages. Numerals appear in both Lao and Vietnamese idioms. Each number has high symbolic value, reflecting the flexible and rich thinking of the creators in both Laos and Vietnam.

10.2. Surveying the structural characteristics of idioms containing numerical elements in Lao and Vietnamese idioms, the author has compiled the following statistics: In Lao idioms, there are 89 idioms containing numerical elements, with 13 numerical elements appearing 134 times. In Vietnamese idioms, there are 144 idioms containing numerical elements, with 20 numerical elements appearing 216 times. Of these, 11 numerical elements appear in both Lao and Vietnamese idioms, 1 element appears only in Lao idioms, and 9 elements appear only in Vietnamese idioms. The numerical elements that appear most frequently in Lao and Vietnamese idioms are: Nung (one); Xam (three); Xip (ten); Xoong (two).

Regarding the number of numerical elements in an idiom, both Lao and Vietnamese idioms have a very high proportion of idioms containing one or two elements, while those containing three or four elements are very few and negligible. In terms of structure, idioms containing numerical elements in both Lao and Vietnamese are composed of four, five, six, or more syllables. Among these, idioms with longer structures of six or more syllables are the most common.

10.3. A semantic survey of idioms containing numerical terms in Lao idioms and a comparison with Vietnamese idioms reveals the following:

In terms of the literal meaning of numbers in Lao idioms, both Lao and Vietnamese idioms retain their original meaning of indicating quantity or order. Number elements in both Lao and Vietnamese can be used with nouns referring to time, people, body parts, animals, plants, and objects or phenomena. Numbers used with nouns referring to objects or phenomena account for the highest percentage, while numbers used with nouns referring to animals or plants account for a very low, negligible percentage.

In terms of the symbolic meaning of numbers in Lao idioms, odd numbers appear more frequently and carry deeper symbolic meanings. Of the 13 number elements in Lao idioms, 6 are odd numbers, appearing 84 out of 134 times; 4 are even numbers (excluding large numbers), appearing 46 out of 134 times; and 3 are large numbers, appearing 4 out of 134 times. Each number gives the idiom different and diverse symbolic meanings.

Regarding the cultural symbolism of idioms containing numerical elements in Lao idioms, out of a total of 89 Lao idioms containing numerical elements, 9/89 idioms express awareness of nature, accounting for 10.1%; and 80/89 idioms express awareness of family and society, accounting for 89.9%.

Comparing the semantic meanings of idioms containing numbers in Lao and Vietnamese, many similarities can be seen, but there are also distinct features. These differences have created unique cultural characteristics in the idioms of each country, contributing to the richness and diversity of each nation's idiom treasury.

11. Practical applications:

12. Future research directions:

13. Published works related to the thesis:

INFORMATION ON MASTER'S THESIS

1. Full name: Phoukham MATTHINVONG 2. Sex: Female

3. Date of birth: November 26, 1986 4. Place of birth: Luang Prabang province, LAO PDR.

5. Admission decision number: 2679/2015/QD-XHNV-SDH November 11, 2015 by the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Dated: November 10, 2014

6. Changes in academic process:

7. Official thesis title: Survey of idioms with works indicating numbers in Lao language in comparison with Vietnamese language.

8. Major: Linguistics Code: 60.22.02.40

9. Supervisors: Assoc.Prof.Dr. Pham Hung Viet

10. Summary of the findings of the thesis:

Through researching the topic “Survey of idioms with works indicating numbers in Lao language in comparison with Vietnamese language”, the thesis synthesizes several matters:

10.1. In Lao language, they do not distinguish between idioms and proverbs which are called as “xu pha xit”, whereas in Vietnamese language, idioms, proverbs and folk songs are distinguished quite clearly. Both “xu pha xit” of Lao language and idioms of Vietnamese language are derived from creativity during processes of working and living daily of people in two countries, thus they contain the spiritual values ​​of life in each country.

Words indicating numbers belong to layer of basic words in language. In Lao language's idioms and Vietnamese language's idioms, there are words indicating numbers. Each number has high symbolization, and it shows very flexible and abundant thinking ways of Lao people and Vietnamese people.

10.2. Thanks to the survey of structural characteristics of idioms with words indicating numbers among Lao idioms and Vietnamese idioms, the author has the statistics: In Lao idioms, there are 89 idiom sentences with components indicating numbers, 13 idiom components indicating numbers and 134 occurrence times. In Vietnamese idioms, there are 144 idiom sentences with components indicating numbers, 20 idiom components indicating numbers and 216 occurrence times. In which, there are 11 components indicating numbers occurring in idioms of Lao language and Vietnamese language, 1 component occurs only in Lao idioms and 9 components occur only in Vietnamese idioms. The components indicating numbers, which occur for many times in Lao idioms and Vietnamese idioms, include: Nung (one); Xam (three); Xip (name); Saucepan (two).

About number of components indicating numbers which occur in an idiom sentence, in both idioms of Lao language and Vietnamese language, idioms containing 1 and 2 components occupy high rate, but the idioms containing 3, 4 components are few, insignificant. About their structure, the idioms with components indicating numbers in Lao language and Vietnamese language are combined from 4, 5, 6 and more than 6 syllables. In which, the sentences with 6 syllables and above occupy the highest rate.

10.3. Through the survey of semantics of idioms with words indicating numbers in Lao idioms and in comparison with Vietnamese idioms, we can see that:

About the literal sense of numbers in Lao idioms, the numbers in Lao idioms and also Vietnamese idioms have the initial or original meaning indicating quantity and order. The components indicating numbers in Lao language and Vietnamese language can be combined with nouns indicating time, human, body organs, animals, plants and things, phenomena. The components combined with nouns indicating things and phenomena occupy the highest rate, whereas the components combined with nouns indicating animals, plants only occupy very low or insignificant rate.

About the figurative sense of numbers in Lao idioms, the odd numbers occur more often and make idioms have deeper figurative senses. Among 13 components indicating number in Lao language, 6/13 components are odd numbers, the occurrence frequency is 84/134 occurrence times; there are 4/12 idioms are even numbers (except large numbers), with 46/134 occurrence times in Lao idioms, and 3/12 idioms are large numbers, with 4/134 occurrence times. Each number makes idioms have difference and abundant figurative senses.

About cultural symbols of idioms with words indicating numbers in Lao idioms, among 89 Lao idiom sentences with components indicating numbers, there ate 9/89 idiom sentences showing knowledge on nature, occupying 10.1%; there are 80/89 idiom sentences showing knowledge on family and society, occupying 89.9%.

Thanks for comparison between idioms with words indicating numbers in idioms of Lao language and Vietnamese language, we can see that there are many similarities, but also many differences at the same time. These differences have created the cultural characteristics and also specifics in idioms of each country, which help the treasure of idioms of each nation to become more abundant and diverse.

11. Practical applicability:

12. Further research directions:

13. Thesis-related publications: