Ẩn dụ ý niệm “con người là cây” trong thành ngữ, tục ngữ tiếng Việt - Nguyễn Thị Bích Hạnh

20 KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰSố 2 - 3/2018 v LÝ LUẬN CHUYÊN NGÀNH ẨN DỤ Ý NIỆM “CON NGƯỜI LÀ CÂY” TRONG THÀNH NGỮ, TỤC NGỮ TIẾNG VIỆT TĨM TẮT Từ lý thuyết của ngơn ngữ học tri nhận, bài viết nghiên cứu mơ hình ẩn dụ ý niệm “con người là cây” trong thành ngữ, tục ngữ tiếng Việt. Tìm hiểu cách tri nhận của ơng cha ta về con người và các chu kỳ vịng đời người dựa trên ý niệm về chu kỳ sinh trưởng của thực vật được hiện thân trong ngơn ngữ. Căn cứ vào những tương liên trong kinh nghiệm và những miền tri thức được chiếu xạ từ miền nguồn sang miền đích, bài viết chỉ ra cơ chế sao phỏng giữa hai miền khơng gian trong tư duy ngơn ngữ của người Việt. Dựa trên quan hệ logic trong việc tổ chức lược đồ ánh xạ của ẩn dụ ý niệm, bài viết chỉ ra kiểu tư duy đặc thù trong cấu trúc ý niệm mang đặc trưng tư duy, văn hĩa của người Việt. Từ khĩa: ánh xạ, ẩn dụ ý niệm, cây, con người, thành ngữ, tục ngữ 1. METAPHOR AND CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR In traditional viewpoint, metaphor is often considered a problem of language itself, including some symbols in a figurative sense, based on words in literal interpretation. Metaphor, which is studied by many rhetoricians, is often referred to as the way to convert names based on an implicit comparison between two things with similarities or of similar natures. The mechanism of metaphor creates the most common meaning conversion in all languages. This traditional view of metaphor dates back to the Aristotelian period, which was agreed upon and affirmed by many structural linguistics around the world. Since Lakoff & Johnson (1980) published the classic book Metaphor We live by, with the view that: “metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and action. Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature” (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, p.30), the concept of metaphor has undergone a breakthrough change as cognitive linguists claim that metaphor is also an effective cognitive tool for conceptualizing abstract ideas. Metaphor is not merely a form NGUYỄN THỊ BÍCH HẠNH * *Học viện Khoa học xã hội, ✉ ntbichhanh78@gmail.com Ngày nhận bài: 11/01/2018; ngày sửa chữa: 26/02/2018; ngày duyệt đăng: 28/02/2018 21KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰSố 12 - 3/2018 LÝ LUẬN CHUYÊN NGÀNH v of language but also a form of human thinking about the world. Metaphorical thinking is based on concepts. The theory of conceptual metaphor proposed by both of them has attracted particular attention in the field of cognitive linguistics. Accordingly, metaphor is a tool through which vague experiences of human are conceptualized on the basis of more specific experiences (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, p.4). Lakoff assumes that many of our experiences are metaphorically created through a limited number of image schemas, made by metaphorical projection between the “source” and the “target” domains, with the general model of TARGET IS SOURCE. This special meaning conversion is accomplished through irradiation between two spatial domains, where the properties of the source domain are usually more firmly structured (e.g. PLANT, JOURNEY, CONTAINER) and partially mapped to the target domain - usually more abstract (e.g. PEOPLE, EMOTION, TIME)... (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, p.8). Through metaphor, people recognize that the world consists of material world, spiritual world and emotional world. Metaphor is attached to the cultural characteristics of native speaker. The article applies the theoretical frameworks of cognitive linguistics in idioms and proverbs in Vietnamese to figure out the metaphorical expression of PEOPLE ARE PLANTS and subordinate metaphors of this concept, to demonstrate the intimate relationship between language - culture - thinking expressed through conceptual expressions. 2. METHODS AND DATA USED FOR RESEARCH The research materials are taken from Kho tàng tục ngữ người Việt (Vietnamese proverb treasure), Volumes 1, 2 by Nguyen Xuan Kinh, Nguyen Thuy Loan, Phan Lan Huong and Nguyen Luan (2002), with 16.098 proverbs; Từ điển thành ngữ và tục ngữ Việt Nam (Dictionary of Vietnamese idioms and proverbs) by Nguyen Lan, (2014); and Từ điển giải thích thành ngữ tiếng Việt (Explanation of Vietnamese idioms) by Nguyen Nhu Y (chief author, 1995). The total number of idioms surveyed is 2.500. The article uses a number of research methods, such as analytical and descriptive method; concept analysis method; in combination with statistics and classification to address research objectives and prove the set hypotheses, according to the following procedure: Step 1: Identify a set of characteristic features of the source domain PLANT and the target domain PEOPLE; Step 2: Identify a set of corresponding features in cognitive framework PEOPLE ARE PLANTS; Step 3: Perform statistics and classification from collected data sources to separate the metaphorical expressions of the concept PEOPLE ARE PLANTS; Step 4: Group the metaphorical expressions of the concept PEOPLE ARE PLANTS according to the criteria of “plant life cycle” defined in the Cognitive framework; Step 5: Develop an irradiation map in the metaphor PEOPLE ARE PLANTS based on the mechanism of moving the properties from “plant life cycle” to “people life cycle” in idioms and proverbs in Vietnamese; show the path and the mechanism of replication between spatial domains of source and target, “plant” and “people” in conceptual thinking of the Vietnamese to demonstrate the intimate relationship between language - culture - thinking expressed through conceptual expressions. 3. RESULTS 3.1. The correspondence between source domain and target domain Conceptual metaphorical model PEOPLE ARE TREES is a universal concept in every culture. In 22 KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰSố 2 - 3/2018 v LÝ LUẬN CHUYÊN NGÀNH the treasure of Vietnamese idioms and proverbs, the concept PEOPLE ARE TREES reflects the cognitive mechanism about the human world and the cognitive way of our forefathers about people based on the concept of plants, trees and vegetables. Mechanism of this concept includes source domain “trees”, mapping onto target domain “people”. The attributes and knowledge of “trees” are mapped and projected onto “people”, and a few features of “trees” are attributed to “people”. These domains of knowledge in idioms and proverbs are purely conceptual and structured according to the center - periphery model. Metaphor PEOPLE ARE TREES is a universal concept in every single culture. In Vietnamese culture, there are many words that are made up of meaning transferences based on similarities between trees and people penetrating into the vocabulary system of the entire population and forming a stable meaning in the dictionary, such as: lá (leaf) – lá gan (liver), lá (leaf) – lá phổi (lung), buồng (bunch) – buồng trứng (ovary), cuống (stem) – cuống tim (heart stem), cuống (stem) – cuống phổi (onchi), cuống (stem) – cuống rốn (umbilical cord), quả (fruit) – quả thận (kidney), quả (fruit) – quả tim (heart), vỏ (shell/bark) – vỏ não (cerebral cortex), chùm (bundle) – chùm gân (sinew), thớ (fibre) - thớ thịt (meat), bắp (muscle) – bắp đùi (thigh), ống (pipe) – ống chân (shin), cẳng (arm) – cẳng tay (forearm), vân (veine) – vân tay (fingerprint), thùy (lobe) – thùy tai (ear lobe), gai (thorn) – gai đơi cợt sống (spina bifida), gai (thorn) - nổi gai ốc (goose bumps), hạt (seed ) – viêm họng hạt (adenoids), nhân (kernel) – nhân xơ (fibroids), lép (flat) – ngực lép (flat breast), mẩy (plump) – mơng mẩy (plump body), chua (sour) – giọng chua (sour-tongued), cành (branch) – anh em cành trên cành dưới (lower branches support the upper branches), chi (offshoot) – chi trên chi dưới (upper offshoot and lower offshoot) (family), nếp (sticky) – tẻ (rice) – nhà có nếp có tẻ (the family has a boy (sticky) and a girl (rice), héo (frail) – cha già mẹ héo (father and mother are frail elderly), cây (tree) – cây phả hệ (family tree), cấy (to transplant) – cấy phơi (to transplant embryo) (Hoang Phe, Editor, 2010). In the people’s language, source concept “trees” is assigned regularly to the conceptual domain associated with “people” and the forms of the abstract system associated with “people” like social organization, social relation, economic and political system, ideology, etc. For example, ươm mầm cho tương lai (to grow the seed for future); gieo nghi ngờ (to sow the seeds of doubt); được mùa (to have a good crop) – kinh doanh được mùa (to have a good business), bợi thu ý tưởng (surplus of ideas); gặt hái thành cơng (to reap/ harvesh achive success), phân nhánh quyền lực (to branch of power); cơng ty cĩ nhiều chi nhánh (the company has many branches), sự nghiệp đơm hoa kết trái (the business is now bearing fruit); mang trong mình mợt mầm sống mới (to bring a new seed of life (pregnant); ý tưởng bị chín ép (the idead is prematurely ripened); suy nghĩ chín muồi (ripe think); gương mặt chín nẫu (overripe face (too old); tình yêu đơm trái ngọt (love is now giving blossoms and fruits); khai hoa nở nhụy (the flower is blossoming) (to give birth), etc. Thus, a naive picture of the plant’s world is cognized and reflected in a diverse way throught language by people, in which plants is considered as an important category of semantics, culture and consciousness, presenting the particularities of national cultural thought. The metaphorians (Lakoff & Johnson, 2003; Tyler & Evans, 2003; Tran Van Co, 2009; Ly Toan Thang, 2009) have indicated that cognitive metaphor is a part-mapping, with no everything from source domain mapped onto target domain. Projecting from source domain onto target domain is selective, in which the attributes that are selected in target domain must be parts of attributes defined in source domain; therefore, there is a transition of some attributes from source domain onto target domain. In common thinking of the Vietnamese people, because the growth attribute of plant’s life is divided into different stages of development, 23KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰSố 12 - 3/2018 LÝ LUẬN CHUYÊN NGÀNH v there is a link to different stages of people’s life. Thence, the life cycle of plants is mapped to the people’s life cycle in certain aspects (see the cognitive framework PEOPLE ARE TREES). From metaphor PEOPLE ARE TREES, it is able to understand that source concept “trees” may have attributes, including bud, flower, petal, blossom, green, fresh, withered, to sow, to transplant, to grow, falling, waning, brown, faded, old, stunted, odorous, bright, to burst, branch, to burn, to grow roots, twig, to bear, to bloom, to close, glossy, to break, sprout, fibre, vein, sinew, to spread, to rise up, pink, yellow, red, etc. assigned to target concept “people”. So “people” also features the attributes of such new “knowledge”. When mapping the attributes of source domain (tree) onto target domain (people), target domain (people) only acceps a part of but not all the inherent attributes of the source concept. In metaphor PEOPLE ARE TREES, not all of attributes of a “tree” are assigned to “people”. Apart from these attributes, many other attributes of a “tree” are not involved in the structuration of concept “people”, including chlorophyll, photosynthesis, stem borer, root knot, tap-root, fibrous root, root hair, gear, lobed leaf, etc. These partial attributes make the source domain and targert domain to be not absolutely heterogeneous but partially. We will try to look at conceptual structure PEOPLE ARE TREES in Vietnamese proverbs and idioms to confirm the above statements. 3.2. Conceptual metaphor PEOPLE ARE TREES in Vietnamese proverbs and idioms For conceptual models, it is rarely cognized that they are metaphorical. However, researching their foundations in relation to people’s experience (physical experience, cultural experience, biological experience, spirituality, and religion etc.) will see their cognitive mechanisms (Kưvecses, 2000; Tyler & Evans, 2003). Using concept PEOPLE ARE TREES in Vietnamese proverbs and idioms is completely unconscious and under a particular visual schema, in which there is a harmony betweent the global universal characteristics (nuclears) and the “peripheral” elements that are the special linguistic and cultural factors of the Vietnamese culture belonging to mental knowledge of national culture with special nature. All creatures and things existing in the universe are in a multi-dimensional relation, always interact and transform each other. In fact, trees are very close to the human world. In the cultural mind of many nations in the world, trees play a particularly important and godly sacred role. In the world’s cultural symbol system, “tree” is one of the most abundant and popular symbol topics and is gathered around the concept of universe living in a continuous reproduction; therefore, trees become the object of worship. Because trees attache themselves to the life with a continuous evolution process, they also symbolize the periodicity and transformation, death and regeneration of the universe. Trees symbolize the fundamental unity of the life and developments. They are derived from seeds and sprouts which are nourished from undifferentiated matter – soil, associated with the periodic movement of time and crop. Plants symbolize the cyclicality of all forms of survival, including being born, to grow up, to mature, to die and be transformed into another material. Thus, trees are origin of any life. Therefore, folk has used the life of plants to refer to people’s (Chevalier & Gheerbrant, 2002). In Vietnamese cultural mind, plants play a special role. Because our folk contained the “Animism”, the worship of forest god and tree god appears in many locals (Tran Ngoc Them, 2000). According to our forefathers’ experience, a big tree has a big god, and small has small one. Our folk also handed down the sentence “The worst offense is the destruction of forests, the second worst is the destruction of rivers” (Nhất phá sơn lâm, nhì đâm hà bá) to remind people respecting nature resources, especially for plants. 24 KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰSố 2 - 3/2018 v LÝ LUẬN CHUYÊN NGÀNH Moreover, Vietnam has ancient rice civilizations, plus the influence of religion (Buddhism) deeply penetrating the lifestyle of the Vietnamese communities that creates a merciful, generous and charming culture with plants. Because of love and devotion to nature, plants are closely associated with the indigenous culture of Vietnamese people. Unknowingly, the cognition of elements and parts associated with plants has long been permeated into the consciousness of everyday language of people but we may not be able to easily cognize. In language expressions used in the daily activities or art literatures, the structurally metaphorical model PEOPLE ARE TREES with source domain and target domain is very popular. In terms of the nature of animals, human and plants, there are similarities of multicellular organization between them. Each cell carries a genetic programming for the whole body. The biological processes of sprouts, seeds, embryos in human and plants have markable similarities. In the naive perception of the world, the Vietnamese people imagine their life as a tree that is a closed process from embryo formation, sprout, growth, absorption to metabolism for development. It 25KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰSố 12 - 3/2018 LÝ LUẬN CHUYÊN NGÀNH v should be shapped and put into framework as they were young, “Tre non dễ uốn, Tre già khĩ uốn” (the young bamboo is flexibly bent and the old is more difficult). The growth stages of a tree are also the people’s, we need to know the principles of “Non chẳng uốn, già nổ đốt” (if we do not bend a bamboo while it was young, it will be more difficult to do so when it is old); “Khi măng khơng uốn thì tre trổ vồng” (Just as the twig is bent, the tree’s inclined). Traditionally, Vietnamese offsprings should follow the education way of their family, extended family, and family lineage. No matter how intelligent children are, they must obey the rules of respecting the older and not being impolite to the older (in stead of “Măng mọc quá tre” (young shoots pass over bamboos). Our forefather’s conception in maintaining their race was that the next generation of succession will come after his life “Tre già măng mọc” (as bamboos grow old, young shoots spring up). All want to have mom at the beginning time from the birth as happiness: “Con cĩ mẹ như măng ấp bẹ” (A fatherless child is like a bee without hive – A child has mother like a shoot has coverage). The philosophy of our forefathers was that how many children I have how many properties I will get. Children are presents of God, so a family which has many children is considered to be blessed: “Con đàn như tre ấm bụi” (Who has many children he has many brothers and sisters – A family with many children is like a thick bamboo bush). Although life has multiforms and multi-changes, rise and fall, but no one wants to be “Tre già khĩc măng” (the old bamboo mourns the young shoot), referring to children die before their parents, because it is a guilty of unfaithfulness to their parents and ancestors. In the plant life, seeds are the starting materials of the life. When the tree sprouts and grows, and grasps it roots into the soil and then develops, origin (stump) and roots will keep the tree standing firmly to stand with storms and pests. From that initial attributes, “origin” is a basis of referring to a place people were born from is the origin, native home, is easy to find that there are certain similarities between trees and people in their life cycle. Trees and people follow the law of nature, creation and destruction. The life cycle of a tree starts since the seed has been sown, sprouted, and raised on the ground, and then it has roots and goes through stages of growth, maturation, flowering, fruiting, fading, and dying. The life cycle of a tree is also commonly estimated at four seasons: Spring – to be born; Summer – to grow; Autumn – to harvest; Winter – to store. Therefore, Vietnamese peole have a conceptual transference from a tree to people to evoke the process of a life. The growth attributes of a tree evoke the developmental processes in people’s life cycle: sprout (be escaped from the womb); growth (children – teenage); mature (puberty, youth); aging (old age); drying, falling, fading (dying). In the Vietnamese idioms and proverbs, when mapping the attributes of a tree onto people’s, our forefathers choose the attributes from source domain to map onto target domain, by which the life cycle of a tree was mapped onto people’s; the growth stages of a tree were mapped onto people’s; parts of a tree (hạt (seed), cành (branch), lá (leaf ), hoa (flower), quả (fruit), and gai (thorn) etc.) were projected onto individual person of a family and social relation, etc. It is easy to find metaphorical expressions PEOPLE ARE TREES in the Vietnamese idioms and proverbs. During the biological cycle of a tree’s life, the seed and sprout stages are the first stages. At this time, the tree is soft. Its stem and branches are pliable. Like people, the first stage of their life is like a blank sheet of paper, is the stage of personality formation and consciousness development. If it is not early shaped, it will be difficult to put into the framework at the growth stage. Proverb said: “Uốn cây từ thủa cịn non/Dạy con từ thuở con cịn thơ ngây”, “Bé chẳng vin cả gãy cành” (Learn young, learn fair – bending the tree as it was young, teaching the children as they were naive). Because PEOPLE ARE TREES, they 26 KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰSố 2 - 3/2018 v LÝ LUẬN CHUYÊN NGÀNH and family lineage. In national language, we still see the way saying people have roots and origins, anyone who is far from home also remembers their origins to express the concept of a “place where they came from”. The folk used idioms to express the concept of roots, including “Lá rụng về cội” (falling leaves will return to the roots) presenting that people have origin like trees have roots. Roots are the fulcrum and source of a tree. The old tree will be cut branches but they still leave roots for developing new sprouts, new branches and new leaves. So when one wants to remove a tree, only choose to pull and spit out the root to dry under sunlight. In this case, the tree may not longer able to take nutrients from soil for survival. From that cognitive way, at any time if one wants to eradicate any one, it is necessary to eradicate all the nuclears. Our forefathers borrowed image of a tree which has been destroyed all the roots: “Đánh dây thì phải trừ gốc”; “Nhổ cỏ nhổ tận gốc” (The best way to solve a problem is to attack its cause/ root; Cut the weeds and dig up the root). In addition to stump, root is an important part in helping the tree to absorb water and synthesize nutrients from soil for growth and development. A multi-rooted tree is strong and grows well. Vietnamese people cognizes that a tree is pillar and the roots around the pillar are parts of the tree. Because people are cognized as trees, Vietnamese people think that each person lives in a family with a headman and many relatives who make an extended family. One has many of whom are called “Lắm rễ nhiều cành” (many roots, many branches). Brothers and sisters of a famlity have a relation as “Dây mơ rễ má, con bá con dì” (the more roots a tree has, the more relations it has, the more brothers and sisters you have, the more offsprings you have). Each individual is as a root in the family tree. If a tree wants to live, it cannot be striked at roots like the family relations can not be taken apart. During the growth of a trees “shoot”, “sprout”, and “bud” are first steps beginning to rise the life. Shoot and bud of a tree are starting points of the life, are the signal of creation, continuation and development of the tree’s life, like people “shoot” is the beginning stage (Pre-school is divided into shoot, leaf, and sprout classes to refer to the age of children by year). From those starting points, shoot and bud of a tree are reminiscent of the birth and growth in one’s life. Proverbs said “Cây khơ cây khơng lộc, người độc người khơng con” (the dry trees have no bud, the devil people have no child) to admonish people to be benevolent, friendly to all things, not cruel to prevent the retributions of God. Therefore, our forefathers advised people that despite of conflicts and hate to anyone in life, they should not destroy the whole lineage or destroy the new generation: “Dứt dây ai nỡ dứt chồi” (No one who wants to cut the shoot means to destroy the tree), or “Đốn cây ai nỡ dứt chồi/ Đạo chồng đạo vợ giận rồi lại thương” (Cutting the tree is not meant to destroy the shoot, she hates him then she loves him). It is able to harm a few people, but not a whole family: “Phá cây thì dễ, phá chồi chẳng dễ đâu” (it is easy to destroy a tree but its shoot). By the cognition of PEOPLE ARE TREES, our forefathers realized that during the life, the people’s turning points are marked as the growth stages of a tree (branching, sprouting). The birth (to be born) or death of people is also observed as a “tree”. Because PEOPLE ARE TREES, “branches” of a tree are mapped to parts of human body, such as arms, legs, or broadly, a person in relation to the family tree (lineage relatives). Siblings coming from the same family and lineage are like the upper and lower branches of a tree. The stronger supports the weaker. The first shelters for the second: “Cành dưới đỡ cành trên”, “Anh em như thể tay chân/Như chim liền cánh như cây liền cành” (the lower branches support the upper branches; brothers are like arms and legs of a human body, wings of a bird, branches of a tree). Brothers are born from the same mother, but their personality and fate are different: “Một cây cĩ cành 27KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰSố 12 - 3/2018 LÝ LUẬN CHUYÊN NGÀNH v bổng, cành la/Một nhà cĩ anh giàu, anh khĩ” (A tree has diferent-size branches/a family has poor and rich members). The father-son relation is also same as the organic relation between the trunk and branches. A tree losing its branches is like losing the live sources, the father lossing his child is like having no spiritual security: “Con mất cha như cây mất cành” (A child losing his father is like a tree without branches). With conceptual thinking of PEOPLE ARE TREES, Vietnamese people understand that trees are not confined within the family tree in particular, but also are people in general as social relations. In society, there are rich and poor, wealth and hard people and a tree has low, middle and high branches; people’s social behaviors must always be flexible and clever. The rigid are not attractive enough, such as “Cành thẳng thì chim khơng đậu” (Straight branches are not stopped by birds). People’s capacity is only demonstrated by challenges: Qua cơn giĩ cả mới biết cây cứng, mềm” (Through the strong wind we know soft and hard trees). The higher reputation people do, the greater influence they are: “Cây cả ngả bĩng rợp”(the biger tree has larger shadow). Because a fair-dealing man has a good reputation: “Cây ngay thì bĩng mới ngay” (The straight tree has a straight shadow). However, in society, many people have great fame but they have less influence or protection for their beloved: “Cây cả bĩng thưa” (the tree is big but its shadow is small). However, in life, things always exist in binary duality. The higher reputation a man does, the more many conflicts he faces: the higher the tree is, the more the wind shakes; a man with low class of society often has a peaceful life: “Cây cao thì giĩ lọc lừa/Chi bằng cây thấp giĩ đưa dịu dàng” (the tall tree is strongly attacked by winds, the short is got gentle breeze). Normally, people are jealous. Talented people are often victims: “Cây tốt bị đốn trước” (A good tree can be cut down before); honest words often offend the bad guys: “Dây thẳng mất lịng cây gỗ cong” (the straight line can not pass through a curved wood). Sometimes the negative words will provoke grave repercussions: “Dứt dây động rừng” (pull a vine and shake the woods); however, intelligent person is never afraid of the detest: “Cây cao chẳng quản giĩ rung”, “Cây ngay khơng sợ chết đứng” (a good anvil does not fear the hammer/a clean hand wants no washing – a tall tree is not afraid of winds). Sometimes people want to live peacefully but the situation does not give it for us: “Cây muốn lặng mà giĩ chẳng dừng” (The tree wants to remain quiet, but the wind won’t stop). With the conceptual thinking of PEOPLE ARE TREES, forefathers have advised us to know how to preserve the good national traditions, to live benevolently, generally and mortally following virtue to accumulate virtue for the next life: “Cĩ giồng cây đức mới bền” (virtuous activities that we have done which will help us in the next life). “Virtue” – a category of virtue - in the opinion of our forefathers, was also planted to grow and develop next generation: “Cĩ nhân nhân nở, vơ nhân nhân trẩm” (Talk of the devil and he is sure to appear – a good seed will grow into a tree, a bad will not). We have to live follow the virtue so the next generations of our life will be good and for long-term happiness: “Cĩ tiền thì hậu mới hay/ Cĩ trồng cây đức mới dày nên nhân” (One good turn deserves another, a good tree will generate good seeds). Also, parts of a tree with basic functions of carring out the continuous process of exchange and transformation remind the metaphor to people. Leaves contain chlorophyll, whose function is light photosynthesis and metabolism for the tree’s life. After being developed to a certain stage, during biochemistry, the chlorophyll in leaves will turn into other substance. In the dying process, the color of leaves will gradually change from blue to yellowish or dark red, and then brown and falling, closing a life cycle. Within its cycle, the tree sprouts, grows and then develops with new leaves that will fall and change over time in a continuous 28 KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰSố 2 - 3/2018 v LÝ LUẬN CHUYÊN NGÀNH regeneration cycle. Based on the typical attributes of biological process of a “leaf”, in relation to people’s life, our forefathers also imagined that people’s life is like a leaf’s. A leaf changes its color over time (green – speckled – yellowish – fallen). In people’s experience, the metabolism process in leaves is similar to the people’s aging process, so the folk have had a way of speaking: “Lá vàng cịn ở trên cây/Lá xanh rụng xuống trời hay chăng trời” (Yellow leaves on the tree mourn the falling green leaves), or “Lá xanh rụng trước lá vàng” (green leaves fall before yellow leaves) to refer to the death of a young person; saying “Người già như lá rụng” (Old people are like the falling leaves) to see the similarity between people’s and tree’s life, which are transient and impermanent. Along with leaves, “thorns” also have metabolic function similar to leaves. Moreover, “thorns” also have the function of protecting the tree from external attacks. Based on the similarities in defense and protection, “thorns” are also transferred the features to personalities and characters of people. An one that was intelligent and smart as was a child is called “Cái gai nhọn, nhọn từ bé” (sharp thorn, sharp as was a child); Younger people that are more astute than older are considered “Gai ngọn nhọn hơn gai gốc” (the thorns on the top are sharper than the thorns on the trunk); Young people that are not as stable and consisten as the elderly are considered “Gai ở ngọn giịn hơn gai ở gốc” (the thorns on the top are more crunchy than the thorns on the trunk). In this case, our forefathers cognized that PEOPLE ARE TREES and the trunk is developed first and early grown; therefore, it is stronger and and has a better endurance than the top of a tree, in correspondence to the elders and predecessors who have many years of experience. The top of a tree is later developed, softer, easily to be broken and bent, but has a greater strength, in correspondence to to young people who have dreams, ambitions, and physical strength but less experience. Thorns are part of a tree and present the intellectual, health, and willing attributes of people. The thorns on the top are wisdom, health, willpower, and personality of young people. Trunk roots are what belong to the attributes of the elders. Therefore, the “thorns” here is cognized as the representative of “people”. In the world of plants, flower is considered a development model of the life, of the natural factors and symbolizes the life cycle of plants (mature trees bear flowers and fruits and after each season transferred, they continue to bear flowers, etc.). Flower is the most colorful and beautiful part of a tree. So, in relation to people, flower is a metaphor of beauty. In language, our forefathers transferred some of the attributes of a flower or flower bud to refer to the human beauty, especially based on the homologous and rounded shape of the flower bud to indicate the lips, including: Nụ – bud – kiss, smile, half-open smile, slightly- open smile; Based on the similarity between the blooming petals and people’s smile: mơi hé mở (parted lips), miệng hoa ngâu (the smile is like a tiny flower), đĩa hoa hàm tiếu (the smile is like a flower beginning to bloom). In the treasure of proverbs and idioms, the flower has been used to present the smile: “Đàn ơng cười hoa, đàn bà cười nụ” (Men’s smile is like a blooming flower, women’s smile is like a flower bud). Flowers and people, their conditions are homogeneous at the level of influence (perfume) and fragile existence, easy to die (blooming and dying): “Người như hoa ở đâu thơm đấy” (anywhere has beautiful flowers, this is beautiful place), “Người đời khác nữa là hoa/Sớm cịn tối mất nở ra lại tàn” (people’life is just like a bunch of Cotton-rose hibiscus, blossom in the dawn and die in the nightfall). Flowers are people: “Người ta là hoa đất” (People are earth flowers). Everybody and every family have different colors: “Trăm hoa đua nở/Trăm nhà đua tiếng” (Hundreds of flowers race for blooming/ Hundreds of families race for fame); “Mỗi cây mỗi hoa/ mỗi nhà mỗi cảnh” (Different trees have different flowers, Different families have different emotions). Flower is a girl; flowers are blossoming by season and girls also have season: “Gái dậy thì 29KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰSố 12 - 3/2018 LÝ LUẬN CHUYÊN NGÀNH v như hoa quỳ mới nở” (The teenage girl is like the newly blooming Mexican Sunflower). Followers bloom and then die, the beauty is quickly faded, too: “Đàn bà như cánh hoa tươi/Nở ra chỉ được một thời mà thơi” (Women are like the fresh petals, blossom for a while only). Trees live seasonally and their growth cycle consists of flowering, fruiting, ripening and falling stages. It is a closed cycle of plants. In viewpoint of PEOPLE ARE TREES, our forefathers still indicated that love and happiness are the fullesses of people’s life, like the flowering and fruiting stages of tree’s life. So, there have been expressions: “tình yêu đơm hoa kết trái” (love is now bearing flowers and fruits); “tình yêu chín muồi” (ripen love); “trái ngọt tình yêu” (love is sweet fruit); “hạnh phúc nở hoa” (happiness is flowering) etc. When a love has the unhappy ending, it is expressed by the concept green fruit, bitter fruit or bitterness. In the naive perception of the world of plants, from the concept of fruits, Vietnamese people also transfers some attributes of fruits to people’s, namely the fruit-shaped objects, such as: quả (fruit) – quả tim (heart), quả thận (kidney). Some attributes of a fruit, including berry, stretchy, pink, red, heart- shaped, ripe, fragrant, delicious, sweet etc. are used to describe the lips, including: mơi chín mọng (Ripe lips), mơi trái tim (heart-shaped lips). In the treasure of idioms and proverbs, some attributes of a fruit are transferred to people’s, such as fruits (gourd, pumpkin, bean, mandarin, orange, peach, plum, areca); the nature of fruits (sweet and sour), fruits (used to refer to people. When talking about the tangerine affection of sisters, our forefathers used the image of “Chị em gái như trái cau non” (sisters are young areca); referring to those who compete but no one better than one, there has been a sentence “Bầu già thì mướp cũng xơ” (old gourd, mature luffa). When the one is not inferior to other, our forefathers used the image of “Bầu leo thì dây bí cũng leo” (The pumpkin imitates the gourd to climb the truss); saying that brothers harm each other with the image of “Cành đậu đun hạt đậu” (use the branches of bean tree to burn the beans); referring to people who have less child, we use the image of “Cây cĩ một cành/Cành cĩ một quả” ( the tree has a branch, the branhe has a fruit); presenting that children are effected by the education from the their family environment: “Coi trái biết cây” (just look at the fruits we may know how the tree like is). This means that seeing the children we may know their parents. Describing a downfall situation: “Cây độc sinh quả độc” (like father, like son – a poisonous tree develops poisonous fruits); describing a situation that many people bully a person: “Đa nhân hiếp quả” (many people eat one fruit); saying that each child in the same family has different personalities, our forefathers used the image of “Cây một cội: trái chua, trái ngọt/Nước một nguồn; dịng đục, dịng trong” (A tree has sweet and sour fruits, a river has dirty and clear water); those who makes someone else unfair, we say that “Quýt làm cam chịu” (an offender, another penance – the Orange will badly rise if it is planted in the sam gardern with Tangerine); talking about the law of cause and effect in life, our forefathers also borrowed the fruits to teach people: “Trồng cây chua ăn quả chua, trồng cây ngọt ăn quả ngọt” (as grow sour tree for sour fruits, grow sweet for sweet); when someone else falling in the situation of losing someone but have another one to replace, we say “Đào ngã, mận thay” (as one goes, other comes – as Peach dies, Plum replaces); referring to he who is the moon flower “Sớm đào tối mận” (In the morning eat Peach, at night eat Plum). 4. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION Conceptual metaphor PEOPLE ARE TREES has been a universal metaphor in many languages, however with Vietnamese thinking – a kind of image-oriented thinking, plus a profound influence of wet rice civilization, Vietnamese people tend to unconsciously see human life to be refracted through the world of plants. Transferring the attributes of plants to people’s takes place naturally in language thinking, becomes an ordinary knowledge, and is fixed and increasingly widespread in metaphorical expressions, especially in Vietnamese idioms and proverbs or poems. 30 KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰSố 2 - 3/2018 v LÝ LUẬN CHUYÊN NGÀNH Thus, like a tree that is a diverse category of plants and consists of typical characteristics of growth processes, life styles, and life cycles, when mapping the attributes of plants to people’s through idioms and proverbs, our forefathers showed a comprehensive view of projection from trees domain to people category: biological, social, spiritual to psychological, emotional, etc. From the above analytical bases of the structural metaphor PEOPLE ARE TREES in idioms and proverbs, this article developed the values this structural metaphor provides, expressed by the meaning of language expressions (is the expression of conceptual metaphors with the linguistic tools in each of the most typical target categories, including PEOPLE) to find out the cultural depth of conceptual expressions in conceptualizing the viewpoint of the world. From the cognitive viewpoint of the world reproduced in the picture of people’s language in general, in idioms and proverbs in general, the tree is cognized as an important category of semantics, culture and consciousness and clearly reflects the national cultural characteristics in the acquisition of language. In the process of conceptualization, our forefathers transferred the attributes of a tree to people to express the worldview and human view bringing the culture of a community with the ancient rice civilizations. Through the study of specific language blocks, it is able to find innumerable deep associations in our forefathers’ world of thought, experience and awareness of life shown through the colorful emotions of imagination. This creates unexpected and interesting relations between the tree’s and people’s world in the treasure of Vietnamese proverbs and idioms./. References: 1. Trần Văn Cơ (2009), Khảo luận ẩn dụ tri nhận, NXB Lao đợng xã hợi, Hà Nợi. 2. 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Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 31KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰSố 12 - 3/2018 LÝ LUẬN CHUYÊN NGÀNH v CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR “PEOPLE ARE TREES” IN VIETNAMESE IDIOMS AND PROVERBS NGUYEN THI BICH HANH Abstract: From the theory of cognitive linguistics, this paper arms to research the conceptual metaphor PEOPLE ARE TREES in Vietnamese idioms and proverbs; learn how the cognitive way of our forefathers about people and their life cycles based on the concept of plant’s growth cycle embodied in language. Based on interactions in experience and knowledge domains mapped from source domain onto target domain, this article shows the calque between two domains in language thinking of the Vietnamese people. Based on logical relation in organizing the mapping scheme of conceptual metaphor, this article shows the specific thinking style of conceptual structure characterized thinking and culture of the Vietnamese people. Keywords: mapping, conceptual metaphor, tree, people, idioms, proverbs Received: 11/01/2018; Revised: 26/02/2018; Accepted for publication: 28/02/2018