English and Vietnamese noun phrases Running head: english and vietnamese noun phrase

Since classifiers precede nouns, where the English structure is concerned, classifier choice is dependent on the semantic features of the classified nouns. They are often compatible with respect to the three-way animacy-based distinction of the head nouns with which they can co-occur. In other words, classifiers such as cái, con, người require a certain animacy value as inanimate objects, animals, and people, respectively.

Among the most common Vietnamese classifiers are:

• 
  cái : used for most inanimate objects
  
• 
  chiếc: almost similar to cái, usually more connotative (e.g. when referring to a cute object, chiếc might be more suitable than cái)
  
• 
  con: usually for animals and children, but can be used to describe some inanimate objects (con dao = knife, con đường = street)
  
• 
  bài: used for compositions like songs, drawings, poems, essays, etc.
  
• 
  câu: sentential constructs (verses, lyrics, statements, quotes, etc.)
  
• 
  cây: used for stick-like objects (plants, guns, canes, etc.)
  
• 
  tòa: buildings of authority: courts, halls, "ivory towers".
  
• 
  quả/trái: used for globular objects (the Earth, fruits)
  
• 
  quyển/cuốn: used for book-like objects (books, journals, etc.)
  
• 
  tờ: sheets and other thin objects made of paper (newspapers, papers, calendars, etc.)
  
• 
  lá: smaller sheets of paper (letters, playing cards)
  
• 
  việc: an event or an ongoing process
  
• 
  chuyện: a general topic, matter, or business
  

Grammatical: cái bàn, con gà, người hàng xóm

Ungrammatical: con bàn, cái gà, cái hàng xóm

Ungrammatical: cái con bàn, con cái nhà

As I mentioned above, classifiers can individuate nouns, making it countable as a unit. They are called unit-classifiers ( cái, con). There are also others types of classifier denoting kinds or events called kind-classifiers as in (1a) and event-classifiers as in(1b).

(1a) loại sách, thứ chanh

(1b) cuộc họp, trận mưa

The three types of classifier are all in the classifier category and of course share the characteristics of a classifier in term of their distribution restriction and position in a noun phrase. Not only can they not co-occur with other classifiers of the same type as in (2a), they cannot occur with other types of classifiers as in (2b) either.

(2a) Loai thứ sách:

(2b)Lọai con gà:

Because Vietnamese nouns are unmarked for number, a bare noun can have several interpretations such as singular, plural, definite or indefinite. However, where there is a classifier precedes a noun, this noun phrase is apparently considered singular with either definite or indefinite reading as in

“tôi mua cuốn sách”

I buy a/the CL book

While a [một-CL-N] explicitly marks the NP as singular with indefinite reading only as in

“tôi mua một cuốn sách”.

To form a plural noun phrase, it’s obligatory to add “các, những” before CL-N as in “những con gà” “ các cuốn sách”

2. 
   Articles: Most researchers argue that there are no lexical articles in Vietnamese. In fact, Vietnamese has a class of lexical articles. According to T. C.Nguyen. (1975), “một”, “những”, “các” are articles in Vietnamese. Where classifiers are used, articles must precede the classifiers and the head noun as in “ các con gà”
   

The article một is also an optional element in Vietnamese noun phrase and precedes the head noun but where there is the presence of this article, it carries a singular and indefinite interpretation as in “tôi mua một con gà”

It’s normally used in Vietnamese noun phrases for the first mention of referents. For example,

tôi mua một con gà và một con vịt, con gà 1.5 kg và con vịt 2 kg.

As you can see in the above example, “một” introduces the reference into the discourse. If it have been mentioned previously, “một” is not be used

It cannot occur in definite context such as denoting unique reference as in

một chiếc xe đạp duy nhất

Sometimes “một” function as the numeral but the indefinite article “một” differs from the homophonous numeral in a certain respects. When it is used as an article, “một” is not emphasized as in (3a). When “một” is a numeral, it’s capitalized for emphasis function as in (3b). “một” cannot stand alone

(3a)Thành phố HCM là một thành phố lớn

(3b)Mỗi nước chỉ có MỘT đại diện được tham gia cuộc họp.