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PART I
INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
In Vietnamese, the verb ‘chạy’ does not only indicate a physical activity only but also
imply other situations in real life communication. To some extent, it is not too difficult to
find such circumstances in which people use the verb ‘chạy’: ‘chạy ăn từng bữa toát mồ
hôi’, ‘chạy làng’, ‘chạy triện đồng’ etc. Especially, modern Vietnamese language, which
has developed and reflected the life in its own way, has been supplemented with many new
words, or new interpretations to the existing words such as ‘chạy điểm’, ‘chạy trường’,
‘chạy án’, ‘chạy thận, ‘chạy sô’, etc.
The verb ‘run’ in English, similarly, is rich in meaning which can be listed some
expressions like ‘run in the race’, ‘run a company’, ‘run a risk’, ‘run a temperature’, ‘run
the risk’ etc.
How do English people find equivalents for such expressions like ‘chạy tang’, ‘chạy
làng’, ‘chạy mả’, etc. in their language, and how do Vietnamese people translate such
expressions like ‘run guns’, ‘hit and run’, etc? This is the very question that seriously runs
in the author’s mind.
Language is widely accepted as the reflection of life. By comparing languages, the
similarities and differences not only between the languages but also between the speakers
of the languages as well as their cultures can be revealed.
R.J. D Pietro (1971:12), a French educational linguist, believed that CA was founded on
the foreign language teaching experiences. Each language has its own phonological,
morphological and syntactical features that could present difficulties for language learners.
To help overcome specific teaching and learning predicaments, this thesis has been made
with an attempt to create a definite pedagogical value with its presentation of effective
teaching strategies. On these points of departure, the author has conducted the study
entitled “A Contrastive Analysis between the Verb ‘Run’ in English and the Verb
‘Chạy’ in Vietnamese”.
2. Aims of the Study
The study is aimed at:
* Finding the similarities and differences between the verb ‘run’ in English and the verb
‘chạy’ in Vietnamese mainly in terms of MiCA and briefly in term of MaCA;
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* Providing recommendations for the teaching and learning as well as some tips when
translating ‘run’ and ‘chạy’ into the target language.
To fully achieve these aims, the study should answer the following questions:

What are the grammatical and semantic features of each verb and how are they
similar and different in terms of these features?

What are their synonyms and idioms?

What are the implications of the study for EFL teaching/learning and translation?
3. Scope of the Study
This is a minor thesis. Consequently, it is unfeasible to discuss both the verbs in terms
of MiCA and MaCA in details. Therefore, within this study, the author focuses on
analyzing and contrasting them in terms of MiCA (concerning grammatical and semantic
features of the two verbs), and just briefs the similarities and differences between them
concerned with MaCA.
The verbs ‘run’ and ‘chạy’ have numerous synonyms and are used in relevant idioms.
Thus, after an overview on them is given, some most common ones shall be introduced.
4. Methods of the Study
The study has been carried out based on a combination of different methods as follow:
- Document;
- Synthesize and;
- Analyze and contrast;
The procedures of the study are:
- To synthesize meanings of ‘run’ and ‘chạy’ as well as examples to illustrate from
different sources such as from dictionaries, literary works, newspapers, magazines, films,
native speakers and websites.
- To collect synonyms of each verb as well as idioms in which they are used.
- To analyze and contrast each verb in terms of MiCA and MaCA respectively to make
clear the similarities and differences between them.
- To suggest how to apply these findings to the language teaching/learning and
translation.
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5. Design of the Study
The study consists of three parts organized as follows:
Part I entitled “INTRODUCTION” outlining the background of the study in which a
brief account of relevant information such as the rationale, aims, scope, methods and
design of the study are provided.
Part II, the “INVESTIGATION”, is subdivided into two chapters. The first Chapter is
discussed the “THEORETICAL BACKGROUND” which provides necessary and relevant
theoretical concepts for the main contents of the study, covering a series of concepts
ranging from CA, contrasts between MiCA and MaCA, verbs in English and in
Vietnamese, a brief introduction of synonyms, and idioms. Chapter 2: “A CONTRASTIVE
ANALYSIS BETWEEN THE VERB ‘RUN’ IN ENGLISH AND THE VERB ‘CHẠY’ IN
VIETNAMESE” discusses the two verbs in terms of MiCA and MaCA in succession. Each
chapter ends with some concluding remarks.
Part III, the “CONCLUSION”, which provides recapitulation, implications of the study
for EFL teaching and learning and to translation from English to Vietnamese and vice
versa, and recommendations for further research. The “REFERENCES” and “SOURCES
OF THE DATA” mark the end of the thesis.
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PART II
INVESTIGATION
CHAPTER 1
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.1. An Overview on Contrastive Analysis
1.1.1. Definition
The modern foreign language teaching tendency requires the teachers not only to teach
their learners about the language but also how to use the language. To a certain extent, CA
was established to meet that requirement.
According to Richards, J.C et al (1992), CA is “the comparison of the linguistic systems
of two languages, for example the sound system or the grammatical system,”
From Carl James’ view (1980:2) CA is “a linguistic enterprise aimed at producing
inverted (i.e. contrastive, not comparative) two values typologies (a CA is always
concerned with a pair of languages), and founded on the assumption that languages can be
compared.”
CA describes similarities and differences among two or more languages at such levels
as phonology, grammar, pragmatics, and semantics. According to Carl James (1980), CA
is both a form of pure linguistics and applied linguistics. However, CA is only a peripheral
enterprise in pure linguistics. CA is central concern of applied linguistics. So the term CA
we use within this study intends “Applied CA”.
1.1.2. CA and Foreign Language Teaching and Learning
Charles Fries (1945:9) wrote: “The most efficient materials are those that are based
upon a scientific description of letthe language to be learned, carefully compared with a
parallel description of the native language of the learner”. Robert Lado (1957) thought:
“Individuals tend to transfer the forms and meanings and the distribution of forms and
meanings of their native language and culture to the foreign language and culture- both
productively and when attempting to speak the language and to act in the culture and
receptively when attempting to grasp and understand the language and culture as
practiced by natives.” Then Lado made a conclusion that “those elements which are
similar to the learner's native language will be simple for him, and those elements that are
different will be difficult". Obviously, teachers can make use of CA to minimize the effects
of that interference.
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Contrastive Analysis is not merely relevant for second language teaching and learning
but it can also make useful contributions to machine translating and linguistics typology. It
is relevant to the designing of teaching materials for use in all age groups. Le Quang
Thiem (2004:69) confirmed that CA helps to find out the root of mistakes that language
learners may make.
1.1.3. MiCA versus MaCA
MiCA and MaCA are broad terms, which refer to two major types of linguistics.
Microlinguistics refers to phonetics, phonology, grammar and semantics, whereas
Macrolinguistics covers sociolinguistics, discourse analysis and other related disciplines.
In sociolinguistics, the micro level is often equated with variation and face-to-face
communication, whereas macro sociolinguistics involves language planning and sociology
of language.
In microlinguistics’ view, languages should be analyzed for their own sake and without
reference to their social function, to the manner in which they are acquired by children, to
the psychological mechanisms that underlie the production and reception of speech, to the
literary and the aesthetic or communicative function of language, and so on. For example,
a study of this kind often finds out what the consonant phonemes in languages X and Y
are, how they differ in inventory, realization and distribution; what the tense system of
language X and Y, etc.
The main aim of MiCA is a formal description of the language system based on the
interrelationships and independencies of its elements without any recourse to external
factors. Obviously, the translation situation which involves equivalent messages, that is
speech units or texts, in two different languages is not part of the system of either of these
languages and can not be studied and described in terms of microlinguistics.
Macolinguistics is the term that Yngve (1975) calls ‘broad’ or ‘human’ linguistics
aiming at achieving a scientific understanding of how people communicate or we may
define macrolinguistics as a field of study concerned with language in its broadest sense
and including cultural and behavioral features associated with language.
Carl James (1980) suggested that “the communicating individual must be able to
identify the situational constraints to which speech events are subjects and produce
utterances that conform to them.”
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Hymes (1974) identifies six variables which he suggests the ethnographer of speaking
must refer to in characterizing any particular event, they are setting, participants, purpose,
key, content, and channel.
Whereas, Carl James (1980:101) simplified these six variables in to “who says what to
whom, where and when, how and why”
1.2. A Brief Description of Verbs
In most languages, verbs are part of speech expressing existence, action, or occurrence.
According to Jack C. Richards et al (1992:398), a word is a verb when it satisfies these
following criteria:
-
Occurs as part of the predicate of a sentence;
-
Caries markers of grammatical categories such as tense, aspect, person, number,
and mood; and
-
Refers to an action or state.
Generally in English, the verb tense shows the time of the action or state; the aspect of a
verb defines the temporal flow (or lack thereof) in the described event or state. In English,
for example, the past-tense sentences ‘I swam’ and ‘I was swimming’ differ in aspect (the
first sentence is in what is called the perfective or completive aspect, and the second in
what is called the imperfective or durative aspect); voice is used to show relationships
between the action and the people affected by it; mood is one of a set of distinctive verb
forms that are used to signal modality. It is distinct from grammatical tense or grammatical
aspect, although these concepts are conflated to some degree in many languages, including
English. To some extent, the same word patterns are used to express more than one of
these concepts at the same time, mood shows the attitude of the speaker about the verb
currently identified moods include conditional, imperative, indicative, injunctive, optative,
potential, subjunctive, and more. Verbs can be affected by person and number to show
agreement with the subject. Some English verblike forms have properties of two parts of
speech (e.g., participles may be used as adjectives and gerunds as nouns).
On the contrary, verbs in Vietnamese do not have the concord with other parts of
speech. In other words, they are not affected by number, person, gender, mood, voice, and
tense. In Vietnamese, “A sentence refers to the basic time of the context—that is the time
which has been made clear in the context up to that point." (Thompson 1965:209), in
addition, when functioning as central component of a verb phrase, verb can combine with
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other modal auxiliary components before it to indicate scope of the action or activity such
as ‘cũng’, ‘đều’, ‘cứ’, etc. to indicate continuation like ‘còn’, ‘vẫn’, etc.; to indicate tense,
aspect such as ‘sắp’, ‘đang’, ‘sẽ’, ‘đã’, etc.; to refer to negative meaning, for example:
‘chưa’, ‘không’, ‘chẳng’, etc.; to indicate advice or prohibit such as: ‘hãy’, ‘đừng’, ‘chớ’,
and so on. However, as Cao Xuan Hao suggested, such auxiliary components, especially
‘sắp’, ‘đang’, ‘sẽ’, ‘đã’ should be used with great care because in some cases these
auxiliaries do not at all indicate the tense. For instances, a soldier reunited with his family
for five days, and the next day when he had to come back to his military unit. His wife said
to him: “Ngày mai anh đã đi rồi à?”, “đã” here does not indicate tense, it just helps to
show regret. Obviously, in Vietnamese, context holds the key factor to define tense of the
verbs.
In each language, there are different ways to classify verbs, however, in this thesis,
the classification of which verbs are divided into transitive and intransitive verbs shal be
applied, which would be convenient to compare the two verbs ‘run’ in English and ‘chạy’
in Vietnamese. According to Diệp Quang Ban and Hoàng Văn Thung, intransitive verb
does not need a direct object to function, for examples: Dung đang chạy tung tăng trong
công viên (Dung is running here and there in the park); Bé Ball ngủ say trong vòng tay mẹ
(Little Ball is fast sleeping in her mother’s arms), He is running in a park near by, etc.,
transitive verbs, in contrast, can not stand alone, they need help from other words to
complete their meaning as in: Anh ta đã bán cổ phần của mình cho tôi (He sold me his
stocks); Họ soạn thảo lại hợp đồng (They redrafted the contract); Chị ta đang bàn giao sổ
sách cho người kế nhiệm (She is handing over the records for the successor); or They ran
their own company for years.
In both languages, verbs indicating movement can combine with words of directions.
For example: run upstairs; come down; go over; or chạy lên; đi xuống, etc. However, in
Vietnamese, there exist directional verbs in their own sense such as: ‘ra’, ‘vào’/‘vô’, ‘lên’,
‘xuống’, ‘qua’, and so on as in:
- “Đường vô xứ Nghệ quanh quanh
Non xanh nước biếc như tranh họa đồ” (Vietnamese proverb)
1.3. Meanings of Meaning
Meaning refers to what a language expresses about the world we live in or any possible
or imaginary world. The theories of meaning and its types can be found in the literature of
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Leech (1974), Lyon (1977), (1995), Palmer (1981), and Crystal (1995). There are two
types of meanings: grammatical meaning and lexical meaning.
According to Lyons (1995:52) a lexeme may have different word-forms which will
generally differ in their grammatical meaning. For example, the forms of ‘teacher’ and
‘teachers’ differ in respect of their grammatical meaning. ‘Teacher’ is singular form (of a
noun of a particular class), and ‘teachers’ is plural form (of a noun of a particular class);
and the difference between singular forms and plural form is semantically relevant: it
affects sentence meaning. The meaning of a sentence is determined partly by the meaning
of the words of which it consists and partly by its grammatical meaning.
Baker (1992:12) stated that lexical meaning of a word may be viewed as the specific
value it has in a particular linguistic system. It is the most outstanding individual property
of words, and in contrast with grammatical meaning, it can stand on its own.
Different types of lexical meaning as recognized by Leech (1974) are:
(1) Conceptual meaning: Logical, cognitive, or denotative content.
(2) Associative meaning
- Connotative meaning: What is communicated in terms of what language refers to.
- Social meaning: What is communicated of the social circumstances of language use.
- Affective meaning: What is communicated of the feelings and attitudes of the
speaker/writer.
- Reflected meaning: What is communicated through association with another sense of
the same expression.
- Collocative meaning: What is communicated through association with words which
tend to occur in the environment of another word.
(3) Thematic meaning: What is communicated by the way in which the message is
organized in terms of order and emphasis.
Do Huu Chau (1999:111-130) uses the terms ‘ý nghĩa biểu vật’ (denotational meaning)
and ‘ý nghĩa biểu niệm’ (connotational meaning) to generalize the meanings of words in
Vietnamese. According to him, entities and phenomenon in the objective world are
reflected in the mind as the concepts and reflected in the language as the denotational
meanings which lead to the relevant connotational meanings.
Therefore, to some extent, in terms of lexical meaning, verbs in English and in
Vietnamese are similar. However, they differ in respect of grammatical meaning. English
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verbs carry two kinds of meanings; meanwhile, Vietnamese verbs themselves do not carry
grammatical meaning such as tense, aspect, etc.
1.4. Synonyms
Synonyms are different words with identical or very similar meanings. Words that are
synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called
synonymy. Synonymy is a kind of sense relation or more specifically, one of the
substitutional sense relations.
Jack C. Richards et al (1992:368) defined synonym as a word which has the same or
nearly the same meaning as another word. It should be noted that two words which are
synonymous must belong to the same part of speech.
Lyon (1995:60) divides synonyms into three kinds: absolute synonyms, near synonyms
and partial synonyms. However, some linguists such as Jack C. Richards et al (1992:368),
Palmer (1981:88) argue that no two words have exactly the same meaning (denotational
and connotational meanings). Absolute synonyms, according to Lyon (1995:61), must
satisfy three conditions:
(i)
all their meanings are identical;
(ii)
they are synonymous in all contexts;
(iii)
they are semantically equivalent (i.e. their meaning or meanings are identical) on all dimensions
of meaning, descriptive and non-descriptive.
Some lexicographers claim that in English, no synonyms have exactly the same
meaning (in all contexts or social levels of language) because etymology, orthography,
phonic qualities, ambiguous meanings, usage, etc. make them unique. Different words that
are similar in meaning usually differ for a reason: feline is more formal than cat; long and
extended are only synonyms in one usage and not in others (for example, a long arm is not
the same as an extended arm). Therefore, in this study, only partial synonyms of “run” are
dealt with.
However, absolute synonyms can be found in Vietnamese as in: ‘sân bay’ and ‘phi
trường’; ‘ti vi’ and ‘máy vô tuyến’, ‘bóng đá’ and ‘túc cầu’, etc.
1.5. Idioms
Idioms are widely defined as words collocated together that happen to become
fossilized, becoming fixed over time. This collocation words commonly used in a group
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and changes the definition of each of the words that exist. The collocated words develop a
specialized meaning as a whole and an idiom is born.
An expression is an idiom, described by Jon Wright (1999:7), when it carries the
following features:
1. It is fixed and it is recognized by native speakers. You cannot make up your own!
2. It uses language in a non-literal-metaphorical-way.
According to Jack C. Richards et al (1992:172), idiom is an expression which functions
as a single unit and whose meaning cannot be worked out from its separate parts. This
view is shared by Robins (1989), Palmer (1981), Jackson and Evenla (2000), Seidle
(1978), Jack C. Richards et al (1992:172), and Cruse (1986). For example, ‘Still waters run
deep’ - the collocation of ‘still’, ‘water’, ‘run’ and ‘deep’ is an idiom meaning ‘something
thay you say which means people who say very little often have very interesting and
complicated personalities’ (suggested Vietnamese equivalent idiom is ‘thẩm lẩm, thầm lầm
mà đấm chết voi’ which is not systematically determinable from the meaning of its
constituents.
Palmer (1981) states that an idiom is semantically like a word but it does not function
like a word. For example, if an idiom may be inflected, the inflectional affixes are carried
by the grammatical appropriate elements within the idioms whether or not they are
semantic constituents.
To put in a nutshell, discussion on idioms explains one of the reason why we conduct
this thesis which help to reduce difficulties that learners of the second language may face
when dealing with idioms with “run” and “chạy”.
1.6. Concluding Remarks
Theoretical background for the contrastive analysis between the verb “run” in English
and the verb “chạy” in Vietnamese in terms of Mic and Mac has been introduced in this
chapter. Readers are provided with an overview on CA, brieft contrasts between MiCA and
MaCA, and between verbs in English and verbs in Vietnamese. Moreover, different kinds
of meaning, synonyms and idioms are also discussed. Based on this theoretical foundation,
we will commence chapter 2 “A Contrastive Analysis between the Verb ‘Run’ in English
and the Verb ‘Chạy’ in Vietnamese”.
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CHAPTER 2
A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN THE VERB ‘RUN’
IN ENGLISH AND THE VERB ‘CHẠY’ IN VIETNAMESE
With the aims of drawing an overall picture of the two relevant verbs in the English and
Vietnamese languages, the author made effort to deeply investigate into the objective verbs
by analyzing and synthesizing basing on more than twenty English dictionaries; over ten
Vietnamese dictionaries; hundreds of writing works; valuable addition from colleagues and
revision from the respected supervisor.
In this part, we firstly study the two verbs in terms of MiCA. The verbs will be studied
separately within two of the three aspects of MiCA: the grammatical features, the semantic
features which are focused to figure out their general meanings and meanings in some
idioms respectively, the synonyms of each verbs are also discussed. Then the findings are
reached with the statements on the similarities and differences between the objects of the
study. This chapter is followed up with the analysis and contrast the “run” and “chạy” in
terms of MaCA which is much related to extralinguistic components.
2.1. A Contrastive Analysis between the Verb ‘Run’ in English and the Verb ‘Chạy’
in Vietnamese in Terms of Microlinguistics
As we already mentioned in the early parts, in terms of microlinguistics the verb ‘run’
in English will be worked with three features: grammatical features (including syntactic
and morphological features) and semantic features.
2.1.1. An Investigation into the Verb ‘Run’ in English
2.1.1.1. Grammatical Features
2.1.1.1.1. Syntactic Features
‘Run’ is an ordinary verb, sharing the typical syntactic functions of a verb, as following:
(a) Being part of the predicate of a sentence. For example:
- Barack Obama's campaign ran a 30-minute advertisement simultaneously on
multiple television networks in an attempt to reach and sway a large number of
undecided voters.
(17:1)
- It's hard to explain, but you must run as fast as you can using as little energy as
possible.
(24:2)
- If you don't run very fast in practice, you won't be able to run very fast in races.
(17:3)
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(b) Derivates of ‘run’ have different grammatical functions such as subjects,
objects, or complements, etc. as in:
- Running so fast made him exhausted.
- Not everybody is fast enough to run in the Olympics.
(2:48)
- When U.S. inflation was running at 20 percent, he forecasted that inflation would
remain in the double digits.
(8:67)
- So who is the greatest runner of all time? That would have to be Michael
Johnson.
(24:5)
(c) Carries markers of grammatical categories such as tense, aspects, person,
number and mood as in:
- As I said, all of this ran through my mind as I sat in my airplane seat high over
the Atlantic.
(7:289)
- And she was running, running for her life, her feet flying across the fields. (14:65)
(d) ‘Run’ is both a transitive and intransitive verb. This means ‘run’ can work with
or without objects.
As an intransitive verb:
- I am always running about, looking for my glasses.
- Sorry, I have to run.
As a transitive verb:
- Disney runs a training program that lasts a week in order to convey what
experience the company wants customers to have at Disneyland.
(12:33)
2.1.1.1.2. Morphological features
The verb ‘run’ consists of one morpheme as a root. According to Quirk et al (1987), like
many other English verbs, it has five typical forms: the base ‘run’, the –s form ‘runs’, the
past form ‘ran’, the past participle stays ‘run’, and the –ing participle ‘running’.
By means of derivation, the verb ‘run’ itself is also a noun and an adjective, as in ‘It is a
two minutes' run from the subway’ or ‘Put some more run butter on the vegetables’.
Besides, it has several derivates as follow:
 Runner (noun): one who runs; candidate, competitor.
 Running (noun): act of jogging or moving quickly; act of competing in a race or
election, as in ‘Running in the early morning is my hobby’
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 Runnable (adjective): may be run, as in ‘The car is still runnable.’
 Runny (adjective): characteristic of a fluid; capable of flowing and easily changing
shape, as in ‘runny jam’.
 Rerun (verb): run again; reshowing of a program or film
 Overrun (verb/noun): invade; infest; swarm; triumph; exceed; print excess
amount, etc.
 Underrun (verb): pass below, run underneath; pass below and inspect something
from beneath in a water vessel, etc.
 Runnel/runlet (noun): rivulet, small brook, stream.
Run is also used in such many compounds as ‘runaway’ (an airstrip, strip of pavement
on which airplanes take off and land); ‘hit-and-run’ (automobile accident in which a driver
who hits a pedestrian or a car drives off to avoid taking responsibility); ‘runtime’ (time of
operation of computer software); runway (a hard surface along with aircraft take off and
land); runner up (candidate, contestant; one who finishes second in a competition);
runaround (evasive act, stalling tactic ; run down criticize); run over (hit with a vehicle;
chase and capture; become exhausted; make less valuable); chicken run (an enclosed yard
for keeping poultry); etc.
2.1.1.2. Semantic Features
On the ground of semantic features, the author attempts to discuss different senses of
‘run’ in general, and in idioms as well as its synonyms. Like any other lexical verbs, ‘run’
indicates an action or state, e.g.
- Now with me you won't have to run for your money, all you have to do is to hold
out your hand."
(6:27)
- To escape from his look I ran into the garden.
(6:36)
- The veins in his forehead stood out, the tears ran from his eyes,..
(6:155)
2.1.1.2.1. General Meanings
Together with the development of the Information Technology, nowadays, the
knowledge resources are available in any corners of the world. Statistics on
www.answer.com show a huge numbers of dictionary services which are mainly the
English dictionaries. Therefore, defining the meaning of a single word is very convenient.
Hereby, the most popular and reliable ones are attempted to select by the author.
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Moreover, the illustrative examples are also cited from trustworthy and famous works.
Therefore, by collecting, synthesizing and analyzing from diversified resources we
categorize the general meanings of the verb “run” into twenty-seven groups which are
described as follows:
(1). To move quickly
According to the www.wikipedia.org (open Encyclopedia), originally, the verb “run”
derive etymologically from the Germanic root *rūnō. Cognate with the Old Saxon rūna,
Old High German rūna (and German Raun), and Old Norse rūn. Probably, running rapidly
and more rapidly is always one target of the living. Early men tried to run fast for hunting
and in the current time people keep running even faster for modern needs.
To define this basic meaning of the verb “run”, the Wikidictionary generalizes ‘to go at
fast pace, to move quickly’; the Encarta Dictionary gives a similar definition that shows the
physical feature of the action ‘to move rapidly on foot so that both feet are momentarily off
the ground in each step’. For example:
- "Walk quick, but don't run," he whispered.
(6:486)
- Run, Sarah, run!
- Quickly, run and tell your father what has happened.
(9:106)
- You can swim, run, or rollerblade.
(2:66)
Also referring to this meaning, ‘run’ can be understood as to cover a specified distance
by running; to practice running as a sport; to take part or complete in a running race; to
cause a race to take place:
- Who was the first man to run a hundred metes under 10 seconds?
- The Grand National will be run in spite of the bad weather.
Besides, ‘run’ expresses the act of moving freely and without restrain or act as if
running around in an uncontrolled way, e.g.
- Dr. Hutchins running around the room, aimlessly, attempting to gather himself,
his things, and escape all at the same time.
(13:108)
- I have three of them. All day they are running around, troubling their mother.
(11:312)
(2). To be hurried
In order to shorten the time and distance or to get out of the bad situations, instinctively,
people run (away). Bellow examples well describe the uses of ‘run’ in this meaning.
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- Sampson ran as he never had before, in the grip of the coldest fear of his life. His
feet pounded heavily on the side walk stone. His heart felt heavy, ready to break. He
couldn’t catch a breath, and he was certain he would throw up if he didn’t stop running
this second.
(7:220)
- Fortunately, I had reached the bottom of the hill and I could run quicker across
the grass. Although I raced at the top of my speed, the Thing was gaining upon me. There
was no need for me to look behind, I knew that it was just at the back of me. I could
scarcely breathe. My race had almost exhausted me; my breath came in gasps.
(6:113)
The earlier is quoted from one of most famous novel by American writer James
Patterson ‘Cat and Mouse’, the latter from the immortal “Nobody’s boy” by Hector
Mailot.
Relating to this group, ‘run’ is also used to indicate the act of moving around asking for
help, i.e. turn to somebody for assistance, especially in desperation of as a dependant to a
protector, as in ‘I often ran to my brother for money when I was a student 5 years ago.’
(3). To spread
This meaning refers to things that cannot run physically, but actually, they could spread
very quickly. Vietnamese equivalent should be ‘lan ra’, ‘tràn ra’, ‘lan tràn’…
For instance, ‘There’s a strange story running around the neighborhood.’ should be
understood that the story cannot run around the neighborhood at all, but the strange feature
makes people spread it all around. Another case like ‘The flu is running through my
daughter’s kindergarten.’, ‘running’ should be understood as ‘spreading’.
(4). To cause/make move quickly
This meaning is normally used when we make something move quickly as we need:
- I was going to win, and I was going to run that last kite.
(11:50)
- For example, speed is useful only if you are running in the right direction.(12:70)
Moreover, ‘run’ can be understood as travelling regular over a set route, or causing
somebody or something to travel regularly over a set route, as in ‘run a shuttle between
stations’.
(5). To control or manage
This meaning is widely found in business language, e.g.:
- You don’t run a business solely dependent on finding new customers
(4:58)
- Running Chrysler has been a bigger job than running the country…
(10:29)
16
- When you run an honest business you stand a much better chance at success.
Vietnamese equivalents should be ‘điều hành’; ‘quản lý’; ‘chịu trách nhiệm’.
(6). To flow
This meaning normally refers to the flow of a liquid, especially in a steady stream, for
example:
- The river runs through the forest.
- Your nose is running.
Relating to this sense, ‘run’ can also be understood as to be wet or covered with a liquid;
to melt and flow; or to have a liquid flowing from an object.
- The mourners’ eyes ran with tears.
- A hot flame will make the solder run.
Moreover, ‘run’ in this group should be interpreted as to make a liquid flow or to make
a liquid flow from an object, as in ‘You’ll have to run the water for a while before it gets
hot.’
‘Run’ also denotes the state of releasing mucus or discharging a fluid such as pus or
mucus, as in ‘His lip was bloodied and more of the same was running from his nose in a
thick trickle.’
(13:65)
Interestingly, ‘run’ show the ‘flow’ of time, e.g. Mallory was getting desperate. His
time was running out too fast.
(15:40)
(7). To move forward
When describing the act of moving forward smoothly or easily, especially on wheels we
can use ‘run’:
- “Hey,” she said breathlessly, having clearly just run up the stairs. “Can I
borrow your calculator?”
(5:87)
Describing the act of quick moving in the specified direction or the cause of something
to move in the specified direction, we also use ‘run’:
- …Wladek, whom he clasped on to firmly, running his fingers over the boy's chest
as if to be sure that it was him.
(9:108)
(8). To extent, to last, to continue
There are four sub-groups relating to this meaning of the verb run. First, this denotes the
extension in space through a range of possibilities that often combine with a measure
phrase:
17
- The border runs for 3000 kilometers.
- It ran in quality from excellent to substandard.
Second, ‘run’ describes the extension, duration and continuing of time which also used
with measure phrase:
- The sale will run for ten days.
- Election campaigns in Britain run for three weeks.
Third, ‘run’ can be understood as to be valid for the specified period of time:
- The contract runs through 2009.
- The lease on my house has only a year to run.
Last, ‘run’ should be understood as to make something extent in space, as in ‘I need to
run this wire along the wall.’
(9). To be operating/working
Run, in term of the language of engineering or the language of information technology,
can be widely used to denote the operation of a machine or a computer program, for
examples:
- My motorbike stopped running because of the heavy rain.
- "You can forget about running a computer. They're not going to hire anybody
with a record...."
(14:238)
Functioning as transitive, run means to make something operate or function, as in:
- Do not run the engine again until it completely cools, usually overnight is best.
(23)
(10). To execute/perform/organize
Run is normally used to mean that a plan, procedure or program is executed, e.g.
- They have run twenty blood tests on me and they still don’t know what’s wrong.
- Do not run that software unless you have the silence key.
Similarly, something is made available to people we can also use run to describe, e.g.
- The college runs summer courses for foreign learner of Vietnamese.
(11). To be a candidate/ to stand
If someone is a candidate in an election for a political position we can use the verb ‘run’
to describe, as following:
- Reagan ran a second time in 1980.
18
- The Hollywood Reporter claimed shortly after that Schwarzenegger sought to end
speculation that he might run for governor of California.
(22)
Transitively, ‘run’ herewith means to make run in a race or an election, e.g.
- McKinney is running for president as Green candidate.
(19)
- "You sure set this town on its ass. They oughta run you for people's mayor."
(12). To print and publish
When we want to mean that something is offered in one of the media, then use ‘run’:
- Fortunately, most papers prefer to run stories that include real news, not stuff
about some prep school’s efforts to get ready for a presidential visitation.
(3:112)
- As part of an information offensive in Iraq, the U.S. military is secretly paying
Iraqi newspapers to run stories written by American troops in an effort to burnish the
image of the U.S. mission in Iraq.
(18)
Vietnamese equivalent should be ‘đăng’; ‘đăng tải’; ‘giật tít’, etc.
(13). To convey or transport
We can use the verb run when we want to express act of taking someone to a place by a
certain means of transportation, e.g.
- Can you run me to the station?
- I will run you home. Ok?
(14). To be affected/ be subjected to
This is a quite special meaning of the verb ‘run’. Normally, referring the same sense,
people use the verb ‘have’. By using ‘run’ we put the emphasis on the progress of the
effect:
- She found him covered in little red spots and running a temperature of one
hundred and three.
(6:46)
- When she tucked William up in bed that night, she found that he had been as good
as his word and was running a slight fever.
(9:78)
(15). To think about
When talking about ideas that suddenly happen to the mind or mentioning the process of
thinking we can make use of the verb ‘run’, for examples:
- Orsatti sat there, running the name through the computer in his brain.
(14:178)
- Paranoia was starting to run a little wild in my head.
(7:142)
- It was two cases, both running concurrently in my mind.
(7:260)
19
(16). To smuggle
To the author’s surprise, the verb ‘run’ can be use to describe the act of bringing or
taking something into a country illegally and secretly, e.g.
- He used to run arms across the border of Cambodia.
- Obama win triggers run on guns in many stores.
(17)
(17). To pass/ to become
The verb ‘run’ is also used to denote the act of passing into or reaching the specified
state. In other words, it can be understood as becoming in cases below:
- The river ran dry during the drought.
- I’ve run short of money.
- A spirit, too, needs fuel. It can run dry.
(1:2)
‘Run’ is also used to show the tendency, such as:
- Finally, my music style runs to classical.
- The fashion will run to yellow this season.
Vietnamese equivalent should be ‘trở nên’ or ‘trở thành’, ‘có xu hướng’, etc.
(18). To dissolve/melt
This meaning is often used to refer to the state of dye of color in a piece of clothing:
- She was afraid the color ran when she washes her new skirt.
By means of a solid substance, run can be understood as melting, e.g.
- The tears blurred her eyes and the words of his letter began to run into one
another.
(19). To pursue
The verb ‘run’ is well defined for the meaning of pursuing or chasing. We can use ‘run’
in ‘man runs after woman’; the poor runs for a better life; or even dog runs after deer; etc.
(20). To cost
By means of costing, we often use ‘run’ to imply that we have to spend a large amount
of money buying or getting something, e.g.
- Buying a house in Hanoi this time will run you years in debt.
- The luxurious wedding runs him a million USD.
(21). To be valid
With this meaning, run can be used to show the state of being valid in a given area or
being present as a valid accomplishment, e.g.
20
-
The speed limit runs only in the town line.
-
The benefits run together with the duties.
(22). To be stated or worded (in a certain manner)
‘Run’ can be used to show the particular form, order, or expression, e.g.
-
The report runs as follows.
-
The story ran a very happy ending.
(23). Other meanings
‘Run’ can be understood as to say (in a certain manner). We discover this interesting
meaning in the novel ‘The big rusty lie’ by American writer Ryan Speck shown in the
sentence: You might get in less trouble if you learned not to run that mouth, boy.” (13:83)
Run can be used to describe the state of unraveling of such types of material as nylon;
silk, cloth or cotton, e.g.
-
Her nylons were running.
-
Her stocking ran.
Sometimes, people use ‘run’ to indicate the state of appearing recurrently as a feature or
quality, e.g.
- Musical talent runs in the family
- Stubbornness runs in the class.
2.1.1.2.2. Meanings in Some Idioms
Being a typical action verb, ‘run’ does not only function as polysemy but also the root
of many related idioms. The combination of ‘run’ with its favorite words makes a lot of
senses for the treasure of the English language.
In the table below, the author tries to list some of the most popular idioms that run with
‘run’.
No
Idioms
Meanings
Examples
- Running for money doesn’t make
you run fast. It makes you run
1
A run for one’s
- Strong competition
first. (Jipcho, Ben)
money
- Decent compensation
- I feel I've had an excellent run
for my money and now I'm happy
to retire.
21
‘An idealist believes the short run
doesn't count. A cynic believes the
2
In the long run
In the final analysis or
long run doesn't matter. A realist
outcome
believes that what is done or left
undone in the short run determines
the long run. ’( Harris, Sidney J).
- Well, if you ask me, Pastor
- To oppose an action or
behavior and yet engage
3
Hold with the hare
and run with the
hounds
in the same action or
behavior
- To remain neutral by
attempting to placate two
factions or both sides of a
controversy.
Hawkins is trying to hold with the
hare and run with the hounds by
opposing casino gambling when
his church operates a bingo game
every Thursday night.
- Julianna needs to be careful if
she keeps holding with the hare
and running with the hounds; she
might wind up making enemies of
both labor and management.
4
5
(One) can run but
(one) can't hide
There is nothing
someone can do to evade
something.
hide. (Cry on my shoulder’s lyric)
Make somebody's
To frighten or horrify
- Her voice makes his blood run
blood run cold
somebody
cold.
Expose oneself to the
6
- You can run away but you can't
Run a risk
possibility of something
unpleasant occurring.
- It is impossible to win the great
prizes of life without running risks,
and the greatest of all prizes are
those connected with the home.
(Roosevelt, Theodore)
If a feeling or a problem
7
Run deep
goes deep, it is very
- Still waters run deep (English
strong or serious and has
proverb)
existed for a long time
22
To try to do something
8
Run before you can
walk
complicated and difficult
before you have learned
the basic skills you need
to attempt it.
9
Run like the wild
To run very fast.
- I think you should stick to a
simple menu for your dinner party.
There's no point trying to run
before you can walk
She's very slight in build and she
can run like the wind.
II.1.1.2.3. Synonyms of ‘Run’
When the Creator brought human being to this world, the language was born
simultaneously. It is the demand for people’s communication that enriches the treasury of
vocabulary. English itself does not run off these common rules.
The verb ‘run’ in the English language, as we mentioned previously, functions typically
as a polysemantic word. This naturally brings about great numbers of other relevant words
or phrases that conform to the synonymic features of the verb ‘run’
Theoretically, synonyms can be classified into five main kinds: semantic synonyms,
stylistic synonyms, semantic-stylistic synonyms, phrase-logical synonyms and territorial
synonyms. Here, we would like to focus its semantic synonyms of eighteen basic meanings
of the verb ‘run’
(1). With the sense of moving fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at
any given time run is synonymous with ‘travel rapidly’, ‘speed’, ‘hurry’, ‘zip’, ‘run away’.
For example:
- Don't hurry! You will be out of breath.
- I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is
to move. (Stevenson, Robert Louis)
(2). Concerning the act of stretching out over a distance, space, time, or scope; run or
extend between two points or beyond a certain point, ‘run’ has such synonyms as ‘go’,
‘pass’, ‘ lead’, ‘extend’, ‘be’, ‘run along’. For examples:
- His knowledge does not go very far.
- My memory extends back to my fourth year of life.
- The facts extend beyond a consideration of her personal assets
23
(3). In respect to describing the act of directing or controlling projects, businesses, etc,
‘run’ is similar to ‘operate’, direct’, ‘manage’, ‘control’.
- She is controlling/running a relief operation in the Sudan.
- If you want to manage somebody, manage yourself. Do that well and you'll be
ready to stop managing. And start leading.
(4). With regard to the state of having a particular form, ‘run’ can be replaced by ‘go,
be’, as in ‘the story/argument is/goes/runs/ as follows’; ‘as the saying goes/runs...’
(5). By the meaning of moving along (of liquids), such words as ‘flow’, ‘feed’, ‘course’,
‘move’, ‘run over’ can be used instead of ‘run’:
- Water flowed into the cave.
- The Missouri feeds into the Mississippi.
(6). When using ‘run’ to mean performing as expected when applied, user can also make
use of words like ‘function’, ‘work’, ‘operate’, ‘go’:
- The washing machine will not go unless it is plugged in.
- This old radio doesn't work anymore.
(7). With the meaning as to change or be different within limits, ‘run’ is synonymous
with ‘range’, ‘be’
- Estimates for the losses in the earthquake range as high as $2 billion.
- Interest rate is from 5 to 10 percent.
(8). Concerning the act of standing or competing for an office or a position, user can
replace ‘run’ by ‘campaign’, ‘race’
- He campaigned for governor of Florida while running his company.
(10:46)
- Although I raced at the top of my speed, the thing was gaining upon me. (6:70)
(9). Relating to the sense of having a tendency or disposition to do or be something,
‘run’ has such synonyms as ‘ tend’, ‘be given’, ‘lean’,’ incline’, ‘be’
- The same corrupt dispositions which incline men to sinful ways of getting, will
incline them to the like sinful ways of spending." (Henry, M.)
(10). In order to show the act of processing or carrying out a program or a machine,
‘run’ can be replaced by such synonyms as ‘execute’, ‘enforce’, ‘implement’, ‘explore’,
‘apply’:
- A good plan violently executed right now is far better than a perfect plan executed
next week. (Patton, George S.)
24
(11). ‘Run’ is synonymous to ‘become’, ‘go’, ‘get’ in case that we define the state of
changing from one state to another:
- Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become
actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become
character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
(12). With the meaning ‘continue to exist’, ‘run’ is quite perfectly replaced by ‘prevail’,
‘persist’, ‘die hard’, ‘endure’, ‘continue’:
- It is well, I die hard, but I am not afraid to go. (Washington, George )
- I believe that man will not merely endure; he will prevail. (Faulkner, William)
(13). When being understood as to guide or pass over something, ‘run’ has such
synonyms as ‘guide’, ‘draw’, ‘pass’:
- Respect for ourselves guides our morals, respect for others guides our manners.
(Sterne, Laurence)
(14). If we use ‘run’ to describe the act of bringing or taking something into a country
illegally and secretly; just exploit ‘traffic’, ‘trade’, ‘merchandise’, ‘smuggle’, as in ‘By
law, it’s illegal to traffic in drugs.’.
(15). ‘Run’ is a synonym of such words and phrases as ‘bleed’, ‘diffuse’, ‘spread’,
‘spread out’,and ‘fan out’ when referring to the sense ‘be diffused’:
- The benefits of education and of useful knowledge, generally diffused through a
community, are essential to the preservation of a free government. (Houston, Sam)
(16). Expressions like ‘melt’, ‘melt down’, ‘dissolve’, ‘resolve’, ‘break up’ can replace
‘run’ in the case of showing the state of reducing or causing to be reduced from a solid to a
liquid state, usually by heating:
- Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness
causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate. (Schweitzer, Albert)
These synonyms of the verb ‘run’ can be used to replace for each other in certain
contexts. However, when they are near synonyms, our choices must be selected with great
care if not you may misinterpret what we actually want to indicate.
To put in a nutshell, by studying the verb ‘run’ in the English language the author has
attempted to figure out the overall grammatical features as well as semantic features of the
verb ‘run’. Perhaps, it’s unfeasible to draw a perfect picture about the meanings of a single
word. Together with the development of society, on one hand, a sense of a word might be
25
dead, on the other hand, many others might be born. Therefore, it is noteworthy that the
topics which we mentioned previously are the most popular ones and they are easily to be
found in everyday communication.
2.1.2. An Investigation into the Verb ‘Chạy’ in Vietnamese
2.1.2.1. Grammatical Features
2.1.2.1.1. Morphological features
‘Chạy’ is a monosyllabic word like any other Vietnamese word. It has only one form in
any mood, voices and tenses. It has no derivates. This means there is no change in its form
in any statement or sentence. For examples:
- Ðến một cái cổng gạch lớn có dây leo, anh Hoàng giật dây chuông. Một thằng bé
chạy ra, lễ phép chào:
(38: 58)
- Mọi việc đều sẵn sàng để nếu có động sẽ chạy luôn vào rừng.
(27:225)
In Vietnamese, the verb ‘chạy’ is able to combine with other words to create principle
and accessory compound words and jargons belonging to different parts of speech such as
nouns, verbs, or adjectives such as ‘chạy việt dã, chạy liên tỉnh’ chạy trốn, chạy vạy, chạy
đua vũ trang, chạy làng, chạy tuồn tuột, etc. The following paragraph quoted from the
novel ‘Luật đời và Cha con’ by Nguyễn Bắc Sơn shows the typical examples for the
combining ability of the verb ‘chạy’ in the Vietnamese language:
- Em nghe Đài Truyền hình giới thiệu cuốn sách của một nhà báo tên tuổi có cái
tên rất ấn tượng là Chạy. Theo cuốn sách đó, bây giờ ở ta, chả có cái gì là không
phải chạy: Chạy chức, chạy quyền, chạy bằng, chạy tuổi, chạy cô ta, chạy án, chạy
tội… Đến huân chương cũng phải chạy. Sắp đến kỳ đại hội lại càng chạy tợn. Luật
chơi nó thế mà. Thế giả dụ, với chức vụ của mình, họ chạy đến anh, anh có nhận
không?
(41:401)
2.1.2.1.2. Syntactic Features
(a) In a verb phrase, like other verbs in Vietnamese, ‘chạy’ can function as the central
component and combine with other auxiliary components as follow:
* With auxiliary components before verbs. For example:
- Không biết khi xả súng vào tôi, vào một con người nhỏ bé đang chạy cuống cuồng
trên bãi trống, chúng có nghĩ gì không?
(27:214)
- Không chạy hả. Bốp. Không chạy nè. Bốp. Thằng Điền gào lên.
(43:245)
- Ngay từ lúc ấy, tôi đã muốn chạy về và nói với cha…
(43:213)
26
* With auxiliary components after verbs. They may be nouns, adjectives,
expletives, numbers, adjuncts or conjuncts. As in:
- Những nếp nhăn chạy dài trên vầng trán rộng ưu tư.
(34:156)
- Các sản phẩm liên quan đến Becks đều bán chạy như tôm tươi…
(46:1)
(b) The verb ‘run’ has many grammatical functions listed as follow:
* As direct, independent predicative. For example:
- Những đòn giáng trả cộng với tiếng anh kêu, đã làm cho hai bóng đen hốt hoảng
vùng chạy ra ngoài.
(34:78)
* As subjects, e.g.
- Chạy chức, chạy quyền đã trở thành một vấn nạn của toàn xã hội.
(47)
- Ngoài ra, chạy đà còn có thể giúp cho cầu thủ tạo ra một tốc độ nhất định để từ
đó gia tăng sức mạnh của cú sút.
(39:64)
* As complements. e.g. Hồi tham gia cuộc thi chạy vũ trang 10.000 mét. (41:45)
(c)‘Chạy’ is both a transitive and intransitive verb. This means that it can be followed
or not by an object. For example:
- Mươi phút sau như có linh tính, mọi người cùng bứt lên chạy, mặc cho cành lá
quật vào người rào rào…
(27:49)
- Cuộc thi hoa hậu vừa rồi, nó bỏ tiền ra chạy Ban tổ chức cho con Phương được
hoa hậu đấy chứ.
(44:61)
(d) ‘Chạy’ can be used in indicative, interrogative, imperative and exclamative
sentences. For example:
- "Chúng tôi rất muốn biết người bỏ tiền chạy chọt để được thăng chức là ai?", ông
Tuấn tỏ thái độ cầu thị.
(47)
- Khốn nạn... Ông giáo ơi! Nó có biết gì đâu! Nó thấy tôi gọi thì chạy ngay về, vẫy
đuôi mừng.
(48:56)
- Chạy ngay đi! Mày muốn chết à.
2.1.2.2. Semantic Features
Perhaps, when the first “Quốc ngữ” dictionary was published in the seventeenth
century by Vicar Alexan Derot, he could not imagine such a great development of the
vocabulary in the modern Vietnamese language. Among the development of Vietnamese
vocabylary, the verb ‘chạy’ is used by Vietnamese people in everyday communication in
many contexts and usages.
27
2.1.2.2.1. General Meanings
In terms of general meanings, the verb ‘chạy’ has associated to the development of
Vietnamese history. During the wartime in twentieth century, ‘chạy’ tied to the act of
‘chạy bom’; ‘chạy đạn’; ‘chạy giặc’ (generally mean running away from war danger); etc,
later on closed to the state of ‘chạy ăn’; ‘chạy gạo’; ‘chạy chợ’, etc. (generally mean
earning for one’s living), and nowadays, ‘chạy’ indicates the act of ‘chạy tội’; ‘chạy quan’;
‘chạy chức’, etc (generally reflect the act of bribing).
By analyzing and synthesizing from the mentioned sources, we have brought out the
following general senses of the verb ‘chạy’ in Vietnamese language.
(1). To run
Basically, ‘chạy’ denotes the act of running. Both Nguyễn Lân (2000) and Nguyễn Như
Ý et all (1999) similarly define ‘chạy’ as the act of moving quickly by both feet. For
examples:
- Rồi Đào đi. Rồi Đào chạy…
(42:153)
- Chạy sút cầu môn khi bóng đang lăn về phía trước.
(39:78)
- Thằng thì chạy gần hộc máu mồm ra để tranh một cái giải chẳng thấm tháp vào
đâu với số tiền bỏ ra để làm diều, để mua dây…
(40:112)
Relating to this meaning, ‘chạy’ can be used to show the act of moving fast from this
place to others.
- Chả là khi mọi người nháo nhác chen vai, huých cả vào bụng nhau để chạy xuống
bếp, thì lão Quềnh thủng thẳng ra về.
- Trời ơi, sao mình chạy đi đâu nó cũng rượt theo vậy cà.
(42:49)
(43:7)
Besides, ‘chạy’ can be understood as moving from usual location to different ones, as
in ‘Nhà tôi vừa chạy ra chợ.’ or ‘Nó đã chạy đến trường rồi ư!’.
(2). To run away (from possible danger)
The verb ‘chạy’ is often used to describe the act of running away, especially from
danger. For examples:
- Khó khăn này dù sao cũng không hơn những ngày đi dân công chiến dịch, chạy
giặc luồn càn hồi kháng chiến.
(34:90)
- Anh thấy mình thật lạ lùng, và tự hỏi sao mình lại trở về cái nơi mà mọi người
phải chạy? Để chuốc lấy cái gì nếu không phải là một cuộc sống gian khổ và cái
chết tất nhiên?
(28:12)
28
- Thế rồi đùng một cái, đánh nhau. Chúng tôi chạy được người chứ của thì chạy
làm sao kịp?
(40:45)
(3). To be hurried
Perhaps, this action can be interpreted in any language like ‘run (English); courir
(French); begat (Russian) etc, as well as ‘chạy’ in Vietnamese:
- Chúng tôi chúi đầu chạy thục mạng về hướng khu rừng trước mặt. Tôi vấp chân
vào một hòn đá suýt ngã giập xuống, may gượng lại được lảo đảo chạy tiếp, mặc
cho ngón chân tóe máu đau nhói.
(27:56)
- Họ vội vã, hấp tấp, hốt hoảng. Họ cuống cuồng bước lên thềm, chạy vào ga lấy
vé, mặt tái nhợt, hơi thở dốc ra.
(28:11)
(4). To travel (of transportation)
Referring to transportation, ‘chạy’ can be used to show the action of means of
transportation in traffic system. Some typical cases below:
- Một cái đầu tàu đang phì phì chạy một mình dồn những toa còn đẫm sương đêm
cho chuyến tàu Nam.
(28:3)
- Còn một thân một mình, tôi bỏ đồn điền vô Sài Gòn, kiếm chiếc xích-lô chạy kiếm
ăn qua ngày..
(34:58)
- Nhưng ngoài đường tiếng xe chạy rầm rầm, tiếng giày đinh cồm cộp, tiếng súng
lên đạn rôm rộp.
(29:413)
(5). To earn (for a living)
In order to show that somebody needs to work very hard to earn a living, we should use
the verb ‘chạy’
- Lo kiện cáo, lo thằng nhỏ bịnh, lo chạy chợ, người ốm tong ốm teo, bà con ai nhìn
cũng thương.
(34:86)
- Anh ta mới chạy được một trăm bạc cho vợ con về quê.
(28:102)
(6). To ask or look for help
‘Chạy’ in this case should be understood as when somebody is in difficult, he runs
around looking for help or support. For example:
- Chị chạy tới sở, chạy tới những bạn bè, người quen, “hỏi thăm” có thấy anh ở
đâu không, hy vọng làm như vậy sẽ báo được tin anh bị bắt cho những “người cần
biết” mà chị không rõ họ là ai.
(28:112)
- Các ông đang cho người chạy khắp nơi tìm sự ủng hộ.
(28:201)
29
- Vâng, tuy về hưu nhưng quyền lực chị ấy to lắm. Các doanh nghiệp gặp khó khăn
gì, toàn chạy cửa ấy thôi.
(44: 29)
(7). To try to get something (with a bribe)
To reflect the status of bribing in order to achieve something ( a job, a social position,
or property, etc.), we can exploit the use of the verb ‘chạy’. For example:
- Rồi thiên hạ cũng biết lão Thanh bỏ tiền ra chạy cho mày chức hoa hậu...(44:285)
- Các vị cán bộ ở nhà xây, nhà lắp ghép giờ mới thấy thất cách, liền chạy đất để
làm nhà… Thế là những cuộc chạy xin cấp đất bắt đầu.
(41:246)
- Thuế một năm có một lần nếu chỉ trông vào đấy thì bán cha đi cũng không đủ để
bù vào chỗ ba, bốn nghìn bạc chạy chọt để tranh triện đồng..
(40:45)
(8). To try to escape (with a bribe)
In contrast with the eighth meaning, in this group ‘chạy’ is used to reflect the social
problems, that is taking the advantage of material or relation to escape from a judgment or
to get out of bad situation, etc. For example:
- Nhưng tên phó trưởng Ty công an đòi tôi phải bán rẻ cho hắn ngôi nhà ở Huế thì
mới chịu chạy cho tôi ra.
(34:120)
- Nếu để lộ ra, cha Thanh chạy lên cấp trên ngay. Các ông ấy lại gọi điện thoại
xuống can thiệp là hỏng hết.
(44:175)
(9). To operate/function
We can also use the verb ‘chạy’ to describe the operation of a machine, a device, a
computer program, etc. For examples:
- … tận dụng khí biogas để chạy máy phát điện.
- Đầu tiên, bạn chạy chương trình Microsoft Word.
(10). To extend
When describing the position of direction of something that extends from this place to
another, we can make use of the verb ‘chạy’. For example:
- Những nếp nhăn chạy dài trên vầng trán rộng ưu tư.
(34:56)
- Con đường xép chạy giữa cánh đồng nối liền hai làng này mới có từ khi hợp nhất
hợp tác xã toàn xã,..
(42:134)
- …trên nóc tường còn chạy quanh một hàng cọc sắt cao gần một mét, giăng đầy
dây điện.
(11). To give up
(29:10)
30
When somebody stops doing something, or dare not deal with a problem, we can use
the verb ‘chạy’ to describe. For example:
- Bị tố cáo, gã trưởng phòng đã bỏ của chạy lấy người.
(40:18)
- Nó lấm lét lảng dần cũng không dám chạy một cách thẳng thắn để đi trốn nữa.
(12). To be in advantageous (in business)
We use the verb ‘chạy’ to denote the advantageous status in business and management:
- Sự thật là, dưới quyền điều hành của Weissman, Marlboro trở thành thuốc lá bán
chạy nhất trên thế giới ba năm trước khi nó trở thành nhãn hiệu số 1 trên thị
trường Mỹ.
(37:112)
- Công việc không chạy đều vì không có nhóm lãnh đạo.
(13). To follow/to incline
The verb ‘chạy’ can be used to show the tendency. For example:
- Tướng Chiểu trước kia là người của cha Lê, sau khi lực lượng tự vệ Phát Diệm bị
đàn áp, chạy sang quy thuận Diệm – Nhu.
(34:155)
- Cứ chạy theo mấy thầy trọc đầu, có ngày mất nước.
(34:201)
- Nhưng cũng không ít trường hợp mải chạy theo nhạc của thơ mà đánh rơi mất
bản thân thơ.
(32:46)
- Tôi chỉ còn biết chạy theo dòng người, làm theo mọi người, không phải hô hào,
chỉ huy, chỉ đạo gì hết.
(31:89)
(14). To pursue
By this meaning, ‘chạy’ often combines with the word ‘theo’ to indicate that somebody
chases after something blindly. For example:
- Cứ mãi chạy theo một bóng hồng, hắn đã quên cả vợ con hắn ở nhà.
- Tôi sẽ không bỏ phí thời giờ của tôi để chạy theo mấy anh láng giềng mỗi khi họ
trở lại sau khi đã ra đi.
(35:574)
- Việc Cao Đức Lâm phạm tội là một bài học cảnh tỉnh cho các gia đình giàu có, vì
mải mê chạy theo đồng tiền mà họ quên mất rằng việc giáo dục con cái đó là bổn
phận của chính họ.
(44:618)
(15) Other Meanings
In addition to the basic meanings of the verb ‘chạy’ mentioned above, we discover some
minor ones in the following contexts:
31
- Bãi tha ma của làng ở đấy! Ông Phúc vừa chôn cụ Cố ở đấy! Đó là ông ngoại
của Tùng. Một tia lạnh bỗng chạy dọc người Tùng.
(42:151)
- Nhưng toàn thân anh bỗng nháy một cái như có tia điện chạy lướt từ chân lên
đầu.
(42:244)
‘Chạy’ in the above situation does not denote the physical feature of the action, but it
denotes the feeling or it emphasizes the feeling.
- Bao nhiêu năm chạy trốn kỷ niệm cứ tưởng không thể quên, hóa ra mình đã quên
hết mọi người, cái mình nhớ chỉ còn lại là cảm giác tủi thân và sự tổn thương.
Also carry part of the meaning ‘run away’, but in the above case ‘chạy’ should be
understood as ‘forget’.
- Dạo đó, đơn vị thiếu một liên lạc chạy công văn giấy tờ.
(29:36)
- Ban chỉ huy chỉ giao cho bốn em những công việc vặt như chạy liên lạc về các
trung đội, đưa công văn thư từ lên Chỉ huy sở...
(29:153)
- Trước anh chỉ đóng những vai chạy cờ.
(28:137)
- Vợ chồng Ích chỉ lăng xăng chạy ngoài.
(42:108)
In the two examples above, ‘chạy’ does not indicate the action but it function like the
so-called ‘verbal noun’. ‘Chạy công văn giấy tờ’; ‘chạy liên lạc’ ‘chạy cờ’ or ‘lăng xăng
chạy ngoài’ refer to the characteristics of the duty of the pesons who run .
To put in a nutshell, listing out all the meanings of the verb ‘chạy’ in Vietnamese
language is rather difficult. Basing on the available sources, we have made effort to draw
out at least seventeen meanings in use of the verb ‘chạy’. However, languages develop
inceaselly as time goes by. Some of meanings might no longer exist and some new
meanings come to life which dictionaries have not updated. The word ‘chạy’ is not an
exception.
2.1.2.2.2. Meanings in Some Idioms
To a certain extent, for being a typical polysemantic word ‘chạy’ is brought about a
great number of idioms that contain the verb ‘chạy’ in Vietnamese language. Hereinafter,
some of the most popular ones are looked at in the following grid.
No
1
Idioms
Chạy như ma đuổi
Meanings
Run very
Examples
- Vừa hỏi, Thó vừa bước giật lùi. Được mấy bước, Thó quay
fast, run in a cổ vùng chạy. Đúng là chạy như ma đuổi. (10:85)
32
panic
manner
2
3
Chạy lên trời
Chạy vạy mửa mật
Be hard to
Dạ chú cứ yên tâm. Phen này thì con Lư có mà chạy lên
escape
trời!
Run around
Đi Tây “đường thẳng” cũng phải chạy vạy mửa mật,
asking for
chui cửa trước, luồn cửa sau, huống hồ “chen ngang”.
help or
(38:23)
(33)
support
4
Chạy chợ
Do
Tuy bệnh tật những ngày con nhỏ, ăn uống kham khổ và
business;
làm lụng vất vả nhưng cũng do tần tảo, kiếm củi,
engage in
chạy chợ mà người chị nở nang. (18:107)
small trade
(buying and
selling in
thet market)
Flee in
Mày không chạy rống Bái công như mấy thằng tự vệ phố
này là được rồi. (28:78)
c
o
n
f
u
s
5
i
Chạy rống Bái công
o
n
(adapted
f
r
o
m
33
C
h
i
n
e
s
e
classic
r
e
f
e
r
e
n
c
e
)
6
Chạy long tóc gáy
Be hard
Y tá Sỹ chạy long tóc gáy mới được một ít bông băng.
working,
(28:121)
running
around to
get
something
7
8
9
Chạy như cờ lông
Run fast and
công
hard
Chạy theo một bóng
hồng
Cả hai phải chạy như cờ lông công suốt ngày trên khắp mặt
trận, liên lạc, truyền tin, trinh sát, đưa công văn giấy tờ...
(29:294)
Chase a
… kể cả có thời kỳ chính ông đã toan phá giới, trút bộ áo
beautiful
nhà tu để chạy theo một bóng hồng. (34:436)
girl
Refuse to
- Ông chạy làng đấy à? Được thôi. Nhưng tên vợ ông thì tôi
34
Chạy làng
pay, breach
cứ để đấy… (44:656)
the
commitment
10
Chạy trời không
khỏi nắng
Be unable to Nó đã trốn đi rồi, nhưng vẫn sợ rằng chạy trời không khỏi
avoid a bad
nắng.
situation
2.1.2.2.3. Synonyms of ‘Chạy’
The word ‘chạy’ in Vietnamese with various senses as we have analyzed above,
naturally, has countless synonyms. With each sense alone, it is really hard to list its
synonyms. Hence, we do not have ambition of discussing all; we just try to make an
overview on them.
Basically, when ‘chạy’ denotes the act of running we can replace it by such expressions
as ‘phóng’, ‘phi nhanh’, ‘co giò’,‘ lao nhanh’,etc . It is noteworthy that we are unable to
find an exactly the same meaning with ‘chạy’. Therefore, the placement should be careful.
Such as:
It is fine to say ‘Anh ta đang lao nhanh về đích’ but it is unreasonable to describe ‘Anh
ấy thường co giò trong công viên vào mỗi buổi sáng’.
When we use ‘chạy’ to show the act of moving, we can exploit expressions like ‘di
chuyển’, ‘chuyển đi’, ‘đi khỏi’, ‘dời đi’, ‘đi’, etc instead of ‘chạy’. For example:
- Sao mình đi đâu nó cũng bám theo vậy?
- Anh ấy đang di chuyển rất linh hoạt trên sân.
Concerning the sense ‘running away from possible danger’, the verb ‘chạy’ is
equivalent with ‘đi vội’, ‘lánh đi’, ‘lẩn đi’, ‘di tản’, ‘trốn’, ‘lánh nạn’, ‘cao chạy xa bay’,
etc. For example:
- Rồi Lạc đi vội vã tránh cái ánh mắt soi mói của lão.
(42:380)
- Để giữ cái bộ mặt “nhân nghĩa”, nó đã lánh đi từ sớm tinh mơ. (38:349)
When referring to the state of hurrying, expressions like ‘vội vã’, ‘nhanh chóng’, ‘hối
hả’, ‘gấp rút’, etc can be used to replace ‘chạy’. For instance:
- Hiếu vội vã đi lên gặp cụ.
(38:33)
- ... già trẻ, gái trai sấp ngửa nhanh chóng kéo nhau ra miếu để học tập
(38:402)
- Tùng đứng một mình một lúc để ngẫm nghĩ, rồi quay đầu hối hả về xóm Mới.
35
(42:218)
Referring to the operation of machinery or means of transportation, ‘chạy’ might be
replaced by ‘lao’, ‘phi’, ‘phóng’, ‘bon’, ‘lưu hành’, ‘vận hành’, ‘hoạt động’, ‘điều khiển’,
‘băng qua’, ‘rầm rập’, etc. For example:
- Người điều khiển phương tiện trên đường phải tuyệt đối tuân thủ luật lệ giao
thông.
- Tên lái cứ phóng xe, không thèm ngoảnh mặt lại.
(28:63)
With the meaning of ‘working hard to earn for a living’, ‘chạy’ is synonymous with
‘kiếm sống’, ‘mưu sinh’, ‘làm ăn’, ‘kiếm ăn’, etc. For example:
- Cậu cả dùng cái sức cơ bắp của mình đi làm thuê làm mướn kiếm ăn.
(42:13)
- Quý vốn là người chỉ biết bới đất lật cỏ làm ăn, còn nguyên vẹn là một nông dân
thuần phác, dễ phục tùng.
(42:23)
By the meaning of expecting for help, ‘chạy’ might be replaced by such expressions as
‘chạy chọt’, ‘nhờ vả’, ‘trông cậy’, ‘cậy nhờ, etc. For example:
- Chắc hẳn vợ Tuyến đã nhanh chóng đánh hơi được mối quan hệ giữa cha Hoàng
với chính quyền mới nên định nhờ vả cho chồng.
(34:58)
Reflecting the status of making use of materialistic matters for bribing in order to
achieve something, ‘chạy’ is almost absolute synonymous with ‘đút lót’, ‘hối lộ’, ‘luồn
cúi’, ‘chạy vạy’, ‘lợi dụng’, ‘mua’, ‘mua chuộc’, etc. For example:
- Nghiêm…Làm gì có thứ đàn ông nào nghiêm được với vợ. bác còn là người tử tế,
ít lợi dụng cái ô của chồng để làm ăn, …
(44:245)
- Ông ấy bảo cháu muốn đi thì ông ấy giúp, không phải mất đến một điếu thuốc đút
lót.
(42:457)
When ‘chạy’ denotes the advantageous status in business and management, it can be a
synonym of the expressions like ‘đắt (hàng)’, ‘thuận lợi’, ‘suôn sẻ’, ‘xuôi chèo mát mái’,
‘thuận buồm xuôi gió’, etc as in the contexts below:
- Công việc kinh doanh của nhà hàng đang thuận buồm xuôi gió.
- Được, rồi cô xem, lại chả đắt như tôm tươi.
By indicating that somebody chases after something/someone ‘chạy’ is well substituted
with ‘theo đuổi’, ‘săn đuổi’, ‘bám lấy’, ‘ám’, etc. For example:
- Còn Ðiền lúc ấy có thể rảnh rang theo đuổi cái mộng của Ðiền...
- Tôi đang săn đuổi một thứ gì đó rất mơ hồ.
(40:147)
36
To conclude, we would like to emphasize that discussing synonyms of ‘chạy’ itself is
worth a separate study and that it is impossible to do this within this work. It is hoped that
this humble overview can satisfy you to some extent.
2.1.3. Findings
Visually, people may believe that ‘run’ in English is the same as ‘chạy’ in Vietnamese.
The point is not wrong but it is not absolute. Actually, deep study on these two verbs has
pointed out that they are similar but not exactly identical.
On the scope of this part, we made an attempt to draw out similarities and differences
between ‘run’ and ‘chạy’ in which more emphasis on microlinguistic features than
macrolinguistic ones are given.
2.1.3.1. In Terms of Grammatical Features
2.1.3.1.1. Similarities
Firstly, in terms of grammatical features, both ‘run’ and ‘chạy’ have the following
features in common:
Both occur as a part of or a predicator of a sentence. For example:
- When the ladies removed after dinner, Elizabeth ran up to her sister, and seeing
her well guarded from cold, attended her into the drawing-room.
(8:67)
- Sau bữa ăn tối, Elizabeth chạy lên phòng chị mình, chuẩn bị áo ấm cho cô, đưa cô
ra phòng khách.
(35:70)
They can function as subjects, objects, or complements, etc. in a sentence.
-
"This program will be built on the idea that running is fun, racing is fun,
improving is fun, and winning is fun..’’
(23:206)
-
Chạy thế thì tai nạn là phải.
-
Everyone kept running, the goal quietly understood.
(21:207)
-
Cái Hoa cứ chạy. Vấp ngã, vực dậy lại chạy, chạy như bị đuổi bắt.
(42:181)
-
Rudy and Francois, of course, attempted to run away,…
(13:197)
-
Thuấn nhìn theo, nắm tay Huệ, nắm rất chặt, nửa như để an ủi, nửa lại giống
như rịt lấy, như sợ Huệ bỏ chạy đi mất.
(43:696)
Moreover, both are transitive and intransitive verbs. Therefore, they can occur with or
without subjects, consequently, they may be used in active or passive voices.
-
Never mind that we spent entire winters flying kites, running kites.
-
Đói mẹ, khát cha. Khi chưa biết chạy diều
(11:45)
37
-
In the end, I ran.
(11:45)
-
Còn con khỉ, con gấu, hoảng loạn dựt đứt xích chạy biến.
(29:92)
-
In other words, the U.S. Census Bureau is run by radical leftists
(16:5)
-
Vẻ vàng gì! Gã ấy được bố vợ chạy cho chân trưởng phòng thôi.
On the ground of morphological features, both ‘run’ and ‘chạy’ are monosyllabic words.
However, they are very flexible in compounding. Firstly, they are able to be followed with
nouns to form compound words, such as ‘run a fever’; ‘run a temperature’; ‘run a risk’;
‘run an errand’, etc in English and ‘chạy chợ’; ‘chạy cô-ta’; ‘chạy trường’; ‘chạy điểm’;
‘chạy tang’; ‘chạy dự án’; ‘chạy sô’, etc in Vietnammese among which many compounds
have become idioms. Secondly, they can combine with the so-call prepositions in English
and ‘giới ngữ’ in Vietnamese (Diep Quang Ban: 2005) to form a great number of phrase
verbs such as ‘run into; run for; run away, run out of; run up; run down; run over; run
through; etc’ and ‘chạy vào; chạy ra; chạy lên; chạy xuống; chạy qua; chạy dọc theo; etc’.
2.1.3.1.2. Differences
On the contrary, some differences between ‘run’ and ‘chạy’ in terms of grammatical
features can be described as following:
First, ‘run’ carries markers of grammatical categories such as tense, aspects, person,
number, etc. but ‘chạy’ does not. For example:
-
He runs very fast. (Anh ấy chạy nhanh)
-
He ran to the school yesterday. (Hôm qua anh ấy chạy tới trường)
-
He is running like a wind. (Anh ấy chạy nhanh như gió.).
-
..do cure the younger girls of running after the officers.
(..anh hãy chấn chỉnh các cô em gái luôn chạy theo cách sĩ quan.)
(8:85)
(35:112)
However, nothing changes to ‘chạy’ in any tense, aspect, with any number or person, while
‘run’ has to change in accordance with different tenses, aspects, numbers and person. To
indicate tenses in Vietnamese, people use such particles as ‘đã’, ‘đang’, ‘sẽ’, ‘mới’, ‘sắp
sửa, ‘rồi’, etc and auxiliaries like ‘bị’, ‘được’ to indicate aspects.
Second, on the ground of morphological features, the differences are found as follows:
It is the basic differentiation between the two languages that makes ‘run’ and ‘chay’
differ in term of morphological feature. Vietnamese is widely considered the monosyllabic
system while English is polysyllabic one. Therefore, ‘chạy’ is non-finite in any cases, but
38
‘run’ has five forms: the base, the s-form, the past form, the past participle and the –ing
participle.
Similarly, ‘chạy’ has no derivates whereas by means of derivation, ‘run’ has such
derivates as runable, runner, runny, running, runs, etc. Besides, it is noteworthy that
‘chạy’ is more flexible than ‘run’ when ‘chạy’ combines with adverbs. For instance, ‘run’
is often followed with ‘fast’; ‘quickly’; rapidly and so forth while ‘chạy’ is quite
diversified such as ‘chạy tán loạn’; ‘chạy rầm rập’; ‘chạy hối hả’; ‘chạy rầm rộ’; ‘chạy
lăng quăng’; ‘chạy té tát’; ‘chạy lon ton’; ‘chạy lạch đạch’; ‘chạy chồm chồm’; etc.
Moveover, ‘chạy’ is also more flexible when combining with nouns. The compound nouns
of the verb ‘chạy’ can be devided into two groups. The first group should be ‘chạy + X’
like ‘chạy giặc, chạy lụt, chạy bão, chạy mưa, chạy tội, chạy án, etc’ which means that
people ‘run’ to avoid the things followed after ‘run’, e.g. ‘chạy giặc’ means ‘to get out of
war zone’; ‘chạy án’ refers to ‘avoid a judgment’. The second group is also ‘chạy + X’ like
‘chạy gạo’, ‘chạy tiền’, ‘chạy cô-ta’; ‘chạy thầy chạy thuốc, etc, however, it conveys the
opposite meaning, that is people run for the things that go after the verb ‘chạy’.
2.1.3.2. In Terms of Semantic Features
2.1.3.2.1. Similarities
In general, both ‘run’ and ‘chạy’ are the typical verbs. Accordingly, they all have
common semantic features of a verb, that is, both refer to an action, a state, an activity or a
progress.
More particularly, both ‘run’ and ‘chạy’ share at least thirteen similar general meanings,
which are reflected in the following grid.
No
1
Means in common
To move quickly on
Examples in English
I can run very fast.
Examples in Vietnamese
Tôi có thể chạy rất nhanh
feet
2
3
4
To move with haste;
He ran as he never had Anh ấy chưa bao giờ chạy
act quickly
before…
nhanh như thế…
To depart quickly; flee He has run away from the Nó đã chạy trốn khỏi thành
phố.
or escape
city
To have recourse for
He should not run to his Anh ấy không nên chạy đến
aid, support, comfort,
parents with every little ba mẹ chỉ vì những chuyện
39
5
nhỏ nhặt.
etc
problem.
To make a quick trip
I just run up to Ball’s house Tớ chạy sang nhà Ball một
or informal visit for a
for a while.
lúc nhé.
We run about on the street.
Chúng tôi chạy thong thả
short stay at a place
6
to go around, rove, or
trên đường.
ramble
7
To take part in a race
I am not strong enough to Tôi chưa đủ sức để chạy thi
run a marathon.
9
To operate or function
ma-ra-tông.
How does your new watch Chiếc đồng hồ mới của cậu
chạy tốt không?
run
10
11
To extent in a given
This road runs along the Con đường này chạy dọc
direction
park.
To pass quickly
A cold ray runs along my Một tia lạnh chạy dọc người
theo công viên.
body.
12
To tend
tôi.
She keeps running after Cô ấy mải miết chạy theo
các mốt tân thời.
modern fashion.
13
To campaigh (for
Jack Eckerd ran for senator Jack Eckerd chạy đua chức
election)
and joining the president thượng nghị sĩ và tham gia
Ford administration in
vào chính quyền tổng thống
Washington.
Ford ở Washington.
Idiomatically, ‘run’ and ‘chạy’ may have some meanings to coincide which means that
the idioms contain both ‘run’ and ‘chạy’ using the same expression to actually indicating
hides behind their appearances. Therefore, these idioms are not difficult for the users of
both languages to recognize and interpret. Below, we list some equivalences of the idioms
derived from ‘run’ and ‘chạy’:
- Run like the wind

- Learn to creep before you run
Chạy nhanh như gió

Chưa học bò đã lo học chạy
- The last drop makes the cup run over  Giọt nước tràn ly
- Run out of time

Hết giờ/thời gian
- Run away with

Chạy trốn (cùng ai)
- Run for one’s life

Chạy thục mạng/chạy bán sống bán chết
40
- Run around in circles

Chạy loăng quăng
- Run out of steam

Chạy hết hơi
- Run the show

Chạy sô
- Run errands

Chạy việc lặt vặt
- Run like hell

- Run in place

Chạy tại chỗ
- Eat and run

Vừa ăn vừa chạy
- Run kite

Chạy diều
Chạy như ma đuổi
2.1.3.2.2. Differences
In terms of denotational meanings, we are able to state that the verb ‘run’ is richer than
the verb ‘chạy’ in Vietnamese language. However, ‘chạy’ is more original with some
special usage. For example, in English, people say ‘She ran into her old friend at the party’
and if we translate this sentence word by word into Vietnamese, we may mislead like ‘Cô
ấy chạy tới một cô bạn cũ tại bữa tiệc’. To some extent, the translators misunderstood the
actual meaning of the verb ‘run’ here. It should be ‘Cô ấy tình cờ gặp lại người bạn cũ tại
bữa tiệc’. The example shows how mother toungue interference affects nonnative speakers
and how CA really helps in this case.
When trying to clarify some senses that ‘run’ has but ‘chạy’ does not, we discover at
least fifteen meanings which are described in the following grid:
No
‘Run’s Meanings
Examples in English
Possible Vietnamese equivalents
Sông chảy ra biển
1
To flow(of liquid)
The river runs into the sea
2
To spread rapidly
The news of his promotion Tin anh ấy được thăng chức lan ra
ran all over the town.
toàn thì trấn.
Mặt trời làm cho đá tan chảy.
3
To melt
The sun makes the ice run.
4
To elapse; pass; go
Time is running out, and we Không còn nhiều thời gian, chùng
by (of time)
must hurry.
ta phải nhanh lên.
To get or become
The well run dry
Cái giếng đã cạn khô.
He’s running into debt.
Anh ấy đang rơi vào cảnh nợ nần.
5
6
7
To be stated or
My presentation runs as Phần trình bày của tôi như sau:
worded
follow:
To proceed, continue The story runs for eight
Câu chuyện kéo dài trong tám
41
pages.
trang giấy.
Chiếc đồng hồ này giá 50 USD.
8
To cost
This watch runs US$50.
9
To have legal force
The contract runs to the end Hợp đồng có hiệu lực đến hết năm
or effect (of legal)
of 2009.
To be published
The New York Times is Tờ Thời báo New York đang đăng
10
running
12
To convey (of
2009
a
series
of một loạt bài vể cuốn tự truyện của
Clinton’s autobiography.
Clinton.
I’ll run you home in my car.
Tớ sẽ đưa cậu về nhà bằng xe của
tớ.
transportation)
13
To smuggle
He is sentenced to 10 years Gã ấy bị kết án 10 năm tù vì tội
imprisonment for running buôn lậu vũ khí qua biên giới.
guns across the border.
14
To manage or
Singleton continued to run Singleton tiếp tục điều hành tốt
conduct
the company well into his công ty của mình khi bước sang
seventies.
15
tuổi bảy mươi.
To support
They decided to run her for Họ quyết định ủng hộ cô ta vào
somebody (in an
the major.
chức thị trưởng.
election)
On the contrary, we also discover at least four meanings that ‘run’ can be used while
‘chạy’ cannot. These meanings are looked at the following grid.
No
1
‘Chạy’s Meanings
Examples in Vietnamese
Possible English equivalents
To bribe someone in
Hắn đút lót cấp trên để chạy He
to doing something
chức giám đốc nhân sự.
bribed
the
higher
authorities to get position of
human resources manager.
2
To socilit (to escape
Chính vì tiền mà bà đã làm It’s was her greed for money
from a legal
hỏng thằng con trai. Bây giờ that she spoiled her son. Now,
judgment)
bà lại định dùng tiền để bà she still intents to absolve him
chạy tội cho nó...
3
by money,…
To be advantageous
Waterford Glass trở thành Waterford Glass became the
(in business,
hãng bán đồ pha lê chạy best-seller of crystal in U.S
42
4
especially in sale)
nhất ở Mỹ…
market…
To give up
Biết Lài có bầu, hắn tìm Knowing that Lài is pregnant,
cách chạy làng.
he tried to quit the game.
In terms of the idioms derived from ‘run’ and ‘chạy’, it is noted that the misinterpretion
will be happened easily if we are simply based on the nature of the mother tongue
language. Hereinafter, we compare some idioms included ‘run’ and ‘chạy’ to show
interesting ways of using idioms with the studied verbs.
Idioms with ‘run’
N0
1
Still water runs deep. (English proverb)
2
Try to run before one can walk
3
4
Suggested Vietnamese Equivalents
Tẩm ngẩm tầm ngầm mà đấm chết voi
Cầm đèn chạy trước ô tô/Chưa học bắt mèo
đã lo ẻ bếp
The course of true love never did run
Tình yêu chân thành chẳng bao giờ êm
smooth
thấm
When the tree is fallen, anyone runs to it
with his axe.
Dậu đổ bìm leo
5
One can runs away but one can’t hide
Chạy trời không khỏi nắng
6
Run the risk
Liều mạng
7
Run hot and cold
Đỏng đà đỏng đảnh/thất thường
8
9
Hold with the hare and run with the
hounds
Cut and run
Giả nhân giả nghĩa/Bắt cá hai tay
Đánh bài chuồn
10 One’s blood runs cold
Sợ xanh mặt
11 Run like the clockwork
Chính xác từng giây
12 Run into a stone wall
Đâm đầu vào đá
13 Run riot
Phát điên, phát rồ
Idioms with ‘chạy’
N0
Suggested English Equivalents
1
Chạy buồm xem gió
To forecast before making decision
2
Chạy chữa
Try hard to treat medically
3
Chạy bữa
To ern for one's daily bread
43
4
Chạy đua vũ trang
Arms race
5
Chạy thầy
To go in search of a doctor
6
Chạy tang
To move up the date (of a wedding because
someone in the family is going to die)
7
Chạy chợ
To engage in small trade/to huckster
8
Chạy loạn
To evacuate
9
Chạy như chó phải pháo
10 Chạy chọt
To run in a panic manner (like dog scares of
firecracker’s noise )
To solicit
For better illustration, we try to analyze some typical situations which ‘run’ and ‘chạy’
are used to denote the different idiomatic senses. In the saying ‘You've got to decide to
chose between them. You can't run with the hare and hunt with the hounds’, if users do not
master the implication of the idiom ‘run with hare and hunt with the hounds’ they might
translate something like ‘Bạn phải quyết định chọn một trong hai người. Bạn không thể
chạy cùng thỏ rồi lại đi săn cùng chó sói’. In fact, the understanding does not go too far the
point, but it would be better to translate like ‘Bạn phải quyết định chọn một trong hai
người. Bạn không thể bắt cá hai tay như thế được’. In another example, if somebody
translate ‘Kiếm được ít tiền, hắn tính chuyện chạy làng’ into ‘Having earn some money, he
intended to run to the village’ , we can suppose that the user might not be the native
speaker because he misleads ‘chạy làng’ means ‘run to the village’ but not ‘refuse to pay
or give up the game’. Thus, the translation should be corrected into ‘Having earn some
money, he intended to quit the game’.
Therefore, to some extent, the foregoing comparison may help the users of both
languages reduce the unnecessary irrelevances in interpreting when exchange the verb
‘RUN’ in English and ‘CHẠY’ in Vietnamese.
2.1.4. Concluding Remarks
Above, we have endeavoured to bring about the contrastive analysis of the verbs ‘run’
and ‘chạy’ in terms MiCA. By comparing ‘run’ with ‘chạy’ and vice versa respectively in
respects of grammatical features which categorised into syntactic features; morphological
features; and semantic features in which we dealt with general meanings and meanings in
some idioms as well as synonyms of each word, we are able to state some similarities and
44
differences between the target verbs. Accordingly, ‘run’ and ‘chạy’ share quite a lot similar
syntactic features, some similar morphological features. Furthermore, ‘run’ and ‘chạy’
coincide in their general meanings and meanings in some idioms. Interestingly, ‘run’ is
richer in meanings, consequently richer in synonyms than ‘chạy’, whereas, ‘chạy’ is better
used in compounds and idioms. In the coming chapter, we will discuss ‘run’ and ‘chạy’ on
the ground of MaCA.
45
2.2. A Contrastive Analysis between the Verb ‘run’ in English and the Verb ‘chạy’ in
Vietnamese in terms of Macrolinguistic Contrastive Analysis
In order to achieve an overall understanding of the verbs ‘run’ and ‘chạy’, within this
assignment, the author endeavoured to view ‘run’ and ‘chạy’ in terms of MaCA following
the approach proposed by Carl James (1980:100&101). Due to the restriction of the minor
thesis, we will not study with each verb separately. We will briefly work out how they are
similarly and differently affected by means of participant, setting, purpose, key, content,
and channel in succession. Because macrolinguistic is a field of study concerned with
language in its broadest sense and including cultural and behavioral features associated
with language or in other words, with extralinguistc factors. Therefore, we narrowed the
subjects and aimed at English and Vietnamese native speakers. By synthesizing different
sources of documents, observing, interviewing about the subjects we drew out some
findings hereinafter.
2.2.1. Findings
2. 2.1.1. In terms of Participants
Participants are those who create the ingredients of communication which are: source,
encoding, message, channel, receiver, decoding, receiver response and feedback. Among
the ingredients, encoding and decoding are of special significance. Therefore, the more
diversified types of speakers and listener the more different ways of decoding and
encoding the source of communication. We found situations in which the verbs ‘run’ and
‘chạy’ are utters to convey the implication of social positions; kinship relations, age,
gender, economic conditions, education, etc of the participants. For examples:
- A father to his son: Con chạy lên phố mua giúp bố chiếc ra-đi-ô nhé.
(A son to his father: Tiện lên phố bố mua giúp con chiếc ra-di-ô nhé.)
- A man to his colleague (of equal status): Tớ lượn/chạy/ lên phố có tí việc đây
- A woman to her stubborn son: Sao mày chứ chạy rông ngoài đường thế hả con.
- A young man to his friend: Thôi thì mày lượn/phắn/biến đi cho yên chuyện.
- A policeman to a thief: Anh không tẩu thoát (chạy trốn) được đâu.
Likely, in English the verb ‘run’ is sometimes replaced with other expressions by
communicators, for examples:
- A manager to his staff: Run this project as soon as possible!
46
- Staff to his manager: We will implement the project as the soonest.
- A policeman to a thief: Don’t think about fleeing. No way!
- A man to his girlfriend: I’ll take/carry/run you home in my car.
Therefore, the speakers and addressors must bear in mind to whom they are talking to
select the appropriate words for more effective communication.
2.2.1.2. In terms of Setting
Setting has certain influences on what is uttered by Vietnamese and English people.
Carl James (1980) said “questions put to a lecturer in the bar after the plenary session will
be formulated differently from those put in the conference hall”.
Sometimes, ‘run’ is replaced with ‘sprint, flow, flee, travel, or escape, etc’, and ‘chạy’
is replaced with ‘phi, bon bon, rầm rập, hối hả, etc’. The replacement possibly decided by
the contexts. Following, we analyze some cases to show how ‘run’ and ‘chạy’ is flexible in
certain contexts.
To describe the stream of military truck runs to the front line in the wartime, we may
write ‘Từng đoàn xe đang rầm rập trên đường ra mật trận’. To describe the quick
movement of the trains, we may say ‘Từng đoàn tàu đang hối hả vể ga’. To emphasize that
someone drives exeeding the limit speed, we can use ‘phóng nhanh vượt ẩu’ instead of
‘chạy quá tốc độ cho phép’. However, in a legal document, the expression ‘phóng nhanh
vượt ẩu’ must be clarified by ‘chạy quá tốc độ cho phép’.
Similarly, in English, the use of ‘run’ is flexible to conform to the setting. For example,
to describe a sportsman racing at fast speed we can say ‘He is spriting to the finish’; or in
written language ‘operate’ or ‘function’ are often used to replace ‘run’ when denoting the
operation of a machine.
2.2.1.3. In terms of Key
It is undeniable that the tone, manner or spirit in which a speech act is carried out has
strong influences on what really messages by speakers. It affects meaning and function of
utterances. For example, with the same utterance ‘Chạy đi’ or ‘Run (away)’ can imply
different messeges with different tones.
- Chạy đi!/Run! (with fast and high tone) means a warning.
- Chạy đi!/Run! (with slow and high tone and grind of teeth) means a threatening.
- Chạy đi!/Run away! (with stresses on ‘đi’ and ‘away’) means a challenging.
47
- Chạy đi/Run! (with very high tone emphasized with the repetation of the verbs) means
an encouragement
2.2.1.4. In terms of Content
To a certain extent, the contents of all types of communication effects on how, what
and when to decode and encode the messeges. For instance, in Vietnamese joking we can
say ‘Anh ấy chạy như bị tào tháo đuổi’ or ‘Tôi đang bị chạy hậu’ (can be understood that
somebody has problem with his belly and he has to run to toilet all the time.). In another
case, when demonstrating the functions of a new machine, normally, Vietnamese people
use ‘vận hành’; ‘hoạt động’ instead of ‘chạy’ as in: Máy này hoạt động trên nguyên tắc cải
tiến cơ chế tự động’ or ‘Khi vận hành thiết bị, cần lưu ý bảo đảm an toàn lao động’.
Interestingly, when talking about social matters informally, Vietnamese people usually use
‘chạy chọt’ rather than ‘hối lộ’ or ‘đút lót’ to mention that someone uses money or takes
the advantage of power to get jobs or to have better positions.
For the English language, contents also have strong influence on whether people
choose ‘run’ or other equivalents. For examples, talking about an election, informally, we
can use ‘run for the major’, but formally, we use ‘campaign for the senator’. Refferring to
the topic of business, English people prefer ‘run’ than ‘manage’ when denoting that
somebody sets up and controls his own organization.
2.2.3. Concluding Remarks
‘Run’ and ‘chạy’, actually, are not strongly influenced by the macrolinguistic elements.
Both of the verbs denote physical actions more than indicate the states which closely
connect to the social-cultural elements.
Nevertheless, serious effort has been made to analyze ‘run’ and ‘chạy’ in their broadest
sense and include some aspects of cultural and behavioral features associated with
language. Accordingly, at least the participants, setting, key and content have certain
influences on the uses of the verbs ‘run’ and ‘chạy’ in English and Vietnamese languages.
48
PART III
CONCLUSIONS
1. Recapitulation
The process of contrastive analysis between the verbs ‘run’ in English and ‘chạy’ in
Vietnamese their idioms has clarified almost the questions posed before doing the research.
To keep the right track for the study, we have made effort to find out the similarities and
differences between the studied objects in terms of MiCA and MaCA basing on the
theoretical background.
As far as MiCA was concerned, these two verbs are analyzed and contrasted in respects
of grammatical features, semantic features, their synonyms as well as idioms with them
which were the focus of the study. The findings can be summarized as follow:
 ‘Run’ and ‘chạy’ share quite a lot of similar syntactic features such as they have
different functions in a sentence such as predicate, subject, complement, or object.
 They also share some similar morphological features.
 ‘Run’ carries markers of grammatical categories such as tense, aspects, person,
number and mood while ‘chạy’ does not.
 In terms of semantic features, the verb ‘run’ is found at least twenty-three groups of
general meanings, ten popular run’s idioms are deeply discussed, hundreds of run’s
synonyms are introduced with careful quotations from different sources of data.
Similarly, at least fifteen general meanings the verb ‘chạy’ are listed, further
discussion about ten typical chạy’s idioms, many chạy’s synonyms are also
mentioned. Basing on the results of studying the two verbs separately, we run to the
following findings:
+ ‘Run’ and ‘chạy’ share at least thirteen similar general meanings
+ ‘Run’ has at least fifteen items of meanings differing from ‘chạy’
+ ‘Chạy’ is found at least four items of meanings differing from ‘run’
+ At least fifteen pairs of idioms derived from‘run’ and ‘chạy’ have the same
expressions.
+ ‘Chạy’ is more flexible than ‘run’ in compounding abitily; therefore, ‘chạy’ is
richer than ‘run’ in terms of idioms.
49
In terms of MaCA, basing on Hymes (1974) and Carl James (1980) suggestions, we
figure out that such social-cultural elements as participant setting, key and content
differently affects the uses of ‘run’ and ‘chạy’ and their equivalents.
To put in a nutshell, this study is conducted with the hope of providing an overall
understanding about the verb ‘run’ in English and the verb ‘chạy’ in Vietnamese in
respects of both MiCA and MaCA. We do wish to highlight the awareness of EFL teachers
and learners about the similarities and differences between them to avoid their mother
tongue interference when dealing with these two verbs as well as their idioms.
2. Implication of the Study
2.1. For EFL Teaching and Learning
The final aim of language teaching is to develop learners’ communicative competence
as well as linguistic competence. Knowing a language is not only knowing the grammatical
rules, but also knowing when and where it is appropriate to use, how to use, and to what
people.
Teaching vocabulary also means providing learners with an increasing number of words
and their equivalents in the target language which help them choose what to use with ease
and interpret accurately in different contexts. Therefore, not only is it important to provide
grammatical meaning and lexical meaning of a word, but also to provide their sense
relations such as its synonyms or antonyms, etc. Being aware of its importance, we have
endeavoured to provide a contrastive analysis between the verb ‘run’ in English and the
verb ‘chạy’ in Vietnamese.
Ur (1996:63) suggested different ways of presenting meaning of new items such as
concise definition, detailed description, illustration, demonstration, contextualization,
examples, synonyms, antonyms, hyponyms, translation and associated ideas or
collocations. When teaching ‘run’, ‘chạy’ and their idioms, we should combine some
methods rather than use only one. To avoid monotonous traditional way of introducing
idioms, EFL teachers can use games with idioms which now available at many websites on
the Internet. There are very few absolute synonyms, thus, the teaching ‘run’, ‘chạy’ and
idioms with them should not be isolated from their contexts.
During learning and teaching processes, both EFL teachers and learners should be
aware of the similarities and differences, particularly the differences between them which
50
will restrict the mother tounge interference at the maximum. This helps to avoid culture
shocks or “stupid” mistakes in communication. That is what a contrastive analysis aims at.
2.2. For Translation from English to Vietnamese and Vice Versa
Translation is the interpreting of the meaning of a text and the subsequent production of
an equivalent text that communicates the same message from the source text to the target
language.
Translation must take into account the constraints that include context, the rules of
grammar of the two languages, their writing conventions, and their idioms. Therefore,
there exists a common misconception when newcomers of translation interpret word-forword correspondence between any two languages. This translation is like a straightforward
mechanical process; such a word-for-word translation, however, cannot take into account
context, grammar, conventions, and idioms.
Therefore, to find the best equivalents for ‘run’ or ‘chạy’, translators should master all
semantic features of all lexical items and take the contexts as well as other macrolinguistic
factors in to account. It is hoped that the study can help the translators when working with
the verbs ‘run’ and ‘chạy’ in their general meanings, their idioms, their synonyms and
other microlinguistic factors that effect the uses of the two verbs.
The findings of the study on the ground of general meanings may help the translators to
find the appropriate expressions when dealing with the specific situations where the verbs
‘run’ and ‘chạy’ are used.
The findings of the contrastive analysis on the idioms in which ‘run’ and ‘chạy’ are
used may help the users over come possible difficulties when translating the contexts in
which the idioms are used. For example, it is possible for the users to translate such idioms
as ‘run like the wind’ in to ‘chạy nhanh như gió’, or ‘learn to creep before you run’ in to
‘chưa học bò đã lo học chạy’, etc. However, there are many expressions of both languages
which are difficult for the translators.
The study on the synonyms of the verbs ‘run’ and ‘chạy’ may help the translator decide
the best word choice when working with the two verbs.
Finally, some aspects of cultural and behavioral features associated with the uses of the
verbs ‘run’ and ‘chạy’ are studied to help the users avoid unnecessary misinterpretation
when working with the two verbs.
51
3. Recommendations for Further Research
The authors conducted this research with a focus on MaCA rather than MaCA due to
the limitations and requirement of the M.A. research. To a certain extent, some matters
have not been thoroughly investigated. We, therefore, have recommendations for further
research which are surely promising, interesting and welcome:

An investigation into ‘run’ and its synonyms and antonyms

An investigation into ‘run’ and its idioms;

An investigation into ‘chạy’ and its synonyms and antonyms

An investigation into ‘chạy’ and its idioms;
52
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54
32 Phạm Văn Tình. (2006). Chạy + X = Chạy đi; Chạy + X = Chạy đến.
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In Bilingual
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Websites and Electric Dictionaries
1
Encarta® World English Dictionary, North American Edition
(www.encarta.msn.com)
2
http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/run
3
Lacviet Mtd 2002- EVA.
4
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language
(www.bartleby.com)
5
The Wordsmyth English Dictionary-Thesaurus (www.wordsmyth.com)
5
Wikitionary (www.wikitionary.com/run)
7
www. onlook.com/?w=run&ls=b
8
www.answers.com/topic/run
9
www.idioms.thefreedictionary.com/run
10 www.thesaurus.reference.com/browse/run