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ЭКСПЕРИМЕНТАЛЬНО-ТЕОРЕТИЧЕСКИЕ
ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯ
Ly Toan Thang, Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen
The Vietnamese way of viewing and thinking about the world (based on animal and plant puzzles)
Тот способ, которым этно-культурная общность воспринимает и концептуализирует предметы и ситуации внешнего мира, тесным образом связан с важнейшими теориями и концепциями психолингвистики и когнитивной лингвистики, такими как связь между языком и сознанием (восприятием, мышлением, памятью, вниманием и т. д.); понятиями «образ мира» и «картина мира»; учением о «внутренней форме» Гумбольдта и его учеников; гипотезой лингвистической относительности Сэпира-Уорфа и т. д. Проведя эксперимент по классификации и описанию 800 паззлов животных и растений, мы увидели, каким образом вьетнамцы выбирают определенные особенности предложенных животных и растений и как сравнивают их с особенностями других объектов для решения поставленной задачи по сбору паззла.
Keywords: folk literature, puzzles; Humboldt's Linguistic Doctrines, Hypothesis «Linguistic Relativity»; Psycholinguistics, Cognitive Linguistics
I. Introduction
According to Humboldt, languages have to be studied in a close relation with the thinking, culture and the spiritual life of human.
In his conception, every language does not directly reflect the world around us but to show us a specific way/mode in interpreting this world. Different languages bring different world-views, and, therefore, the language is not the different expression about the world but the different way of viewing it.
Humboldt also pointed out that it is necessary to differentiate the «outer form» and the «inner form» of languages and words, of which «the inner form» relates to the world-view of the native community and «the outer form» refers to phonetics and grammar etc.
In the theory of linguistic nomination, applying the idea of Humboldt concerning about the «inner form» of words, it is common to base on the way that native speakers choose the properties/attributes of things to name them. It is easy to see when we compare two different languages as Vietnamese and English, for example: the equivalents of «underpants» in English is «quan lot» (pants- for lining the long
pants) or/and «quan dui» (pants-shot as thigh) in Vietnamese. Here, in this case, we can see the two different «inner forms» in naming the same object:
- in English «underpants» there is a choice of the spatial orientation «under-"
- in Vietnamese «quan lot» there is a choice of the function «lot» of the underpants - «lining» the long pants
- in Vietnamese «quan dui» there is a choice of the size «dui» of the underpants - shot as «thigh» of a man.
However, we can see that in linguistics, up to now, the study of this «inner form» is often just focused on words, not on a broader constructions. Therefore, we use the data of puzzles to open a new direction for the study of linguistic nomination and the «inner form» of languages.
On the other hand, we also want to supply more evidence about the way of Vietnamese perception about the world for the study of the relation between language, thinking and culture from the view of cognitive linguistics as well as from the view of the hypothesis of «linguistic relativity».
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ЭКСПЕРИМЕНТАЛЬНО-ТЕОРЕТИЧЕСКИЕ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯ
To have a clear understanding about the above ideas, those are the two main aspects about puzzles that will be discussed:
In the puzzles, what properties/attributes are often chosen as a foundation to identify objects (animals, plants)?
In the puzzles, the object asked is often compared with what kind of things (human being s and others objects)?
II. Puzzles in Vietnamese
In the treasure of Vietnamese folk literature, puzzles account for a remarkable quantity, not less than folk-songs, proverbs or other kinds of oral literatures. Up to now, puzzles are still a favorite game of many people, even in many websites and forums currently there are many young people taking part in this game.
Puzzles have 2 parts: the questions and the answers. In the question, there are always the description of one or some properties/attributes of the object being asked, which are used as the clue to find out the answer.
The question is often poem - four meter poem or six-eight meter poem.
Vietnamese people often have puzzles about the daily life, labor or recreations which can be classified into two areas: puzzles about the culture and puzzles about the nature. In the total of 3000 puzzles on general, the puzzle about animals and plants account for the largest part (30% approximately) of which animal puzzles is 13% and the plant ones is 17%.
Regarding the puzzle about animals and plants, the objects being asked are often familiar animals and plants relating closely to the daily life of Vietnamese farmers or it could be the body of animals or different part of plants.
Following are the list of 10 most common animals and plants that are often asked in 800 puzzles (400 for animals and 400 for plants):
Table 1. 10 most common animals asked in the puzzle
Names of Number Names of Number
the animal of puzzle the animal of puzzle
Chickens 30 Bees 13
Buffalo 19 Cows 12
Crabs 17 Spiders 11
Fish 17 Louses 11
Dogs 15 Fire flies 10
Table 2. 10 most common plants asked in the puzzle
Names of Number Names of Number
the plant of puzzle the plant of puzzle
Corns 23 Bamboos 16
Areca 22 Lotus 15
Rice 19 Gourds 12
Bananas 19 Pineapples 9
Coconuts 19 Sweet potatoes 9
In the puzzle, animals or plants are often personified. For example:
• -The puzzle about buffalo: Bon ong dap dat (4 feet) Four men digging the land Mot ong phat co (the tail) One man raising the flag Mot ong vo co (the mouth) One man gathering the grass Mot ong bo phan (the buttock) One man spreading the manure
• -The puzzle about the areca tree and the areca nut:
Me thi dung o ngoai san The mother is standing in the yard Sai con tiep khach dai dan trong nha Asking her children to receive and welcome guess in the house
III. Attributes chosen for identifying an object in Vietnamese puzzles
In a puzzle, the animal or plant is often described with some certain properties/attributes in order to suggest the answer. The attributes used are the appearance/outlook or the ones that are easy to see from those animals or plants, at the same time some attributes of plants or animals are also described, just a few puzzles describe only ONE attribute of them. For instant:
• -Describe just an attribute of the object asked - the body structure of a crab for example:
Co chan ma chang co tay It has legs but no hands Con mat thi co long may thi khong It has eyes but no eyebrow
• -Describe many different attributes of the object asked - the size and the shape of the leaf, the smell and the time for blossom of the lotus for example:
Hoa gi no giua mua he What kind of flower that opens in summer Trong dam thom mat, la xoe che o Good smell from the pond and its leaf is like an umbrella
Through 800 puzzles investigated (400 for animals and 400 for plants) we have found
some attributes often used to identify the animals or plants with different level. They are closely combined to each other and the more attributes in a puzzle, the clearer the picture for the object asked is. More details are listed in the following tables:
Table 3. The animals asked in the puzzle with the most attributes for identification (5 attributes)
Table 6: Attributes for identification in the puzzle for animals
Animals
Number of attributes
Animals Number of attributes
Ducks 5 Louses 5
Snails 5 Geese 5
Bees 5 Flies 5
Table 4: The plants asked in the puzzle with the most attributes for identification (5 attributes)
Plants Number of Plants attributes Number of
attributes
Betels 5 Corns 5
Jack-fruits 5
Following are the list of the attributes of the object asked in puzzles, arranging in the order of the mostly used to the less (we do not put them in percentage because in each puzzle the attributes for identification are used with different level therefore it is difficult to put them in a correct percentage).
Table 5: Attributes for identification in the puzzle for animals
Number of puzzles Number Number
Order number Attributes of puzzles using just 1 attribute of puzzles using many attributes
The structure
1 and movement of body 129 12 117
2 Form or shape 126 5 121
3 Living condition 93 5 88
4 Habit and lifestyle 69 4 65
Function and
5 relation with human 61 2 59
6 Body size 60 0 60
7 Mode of motion 54 2 52
8 Body colors 53 0 53
9 Sound 50 2 48
10 Name 47 20 27
11 Method of food 44 0 44
hunting
12 Growing 25 3 22
13 Standard position 20 3 22
14 Origin 14 0 14
15 Reaction 13 1 12
16 Quantity 12 0 12
17 Relation with 8 0 8
other animals
18 Character 8 0 8
19 Animal instinct 7 0 7
20 Race 7 1 6
Number of puzzles Number Number
Order number Attributes of puzzles using just 1 attribute of puzzles using many attributes
1 Role and relation 145 8 138
with human
2 Appearance 139 17 121
3 Colors 104 4 100
4 Names 87 60 27
5 Structure 56 10 46
6 Location for growing 48 1 47
7 Size 44 3 41
8 Development process 42 9 33
9 Flowers, fruits 38 1 37
10 Location 25 1 24
11 Smell and taste 23 0 23
Method of
12 cultivation and caring for 12 3 9
13 Quantity 13 0 13
14 Reproduction 10 3 7
15 Collecting and harvesting 8 0 8
16 State of a leaf or fruit 5 0 5
17 Duration for 5 1 5
blooming
Condition for
18 land and living environment 4 0 4
19 Relation to the 4 0 4
animals
20 Price 1 0 1
IV. The way to associate and compare in Vietnamese puzzles
When a puzzle is given out, people often use the association to compare the object asked or one or some characteristics of this object to other object (it could be human or not). This association or comparison more or less show us the «world view» or the way of thinking about this world of Vietnamese people. For example, when the puzzle is about the buffalo, people often compare the appearance of it with the elephant:
Cai gi trong tua con voi, What is It that looks like an elephant? Nhung nga moc nguoc, ma voi lai khong? But its tusk is upside down and has no trunk When the puzzle is about the fly, people compare its size with a bean: Vua bang hat do It has the same size as a bean An co ca lang
Having meals at all eating tables around the village
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ЭКСПЕРИМЕНТАЛЬНО-ТЕОРЕТИЧЕСКИЕ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯ
Based on the attributes chosen as the foundation for identification in 800 puzzles about animals and plants investigated above, we have learnt the way Vietnamese people associate and compare the object asked in the puzzle with the object compared.
Following are the attributes often associated and compared:
A. Puzzles for animals
The association and comparison are based on the similarity of:
1. Appearance: (176/305 unit of comparison;
58%)
2. Size: (45/305 unit of comparison; 15%)
3. Structure of body: (33/305 unit of comparison; 11%)
4. Color: (23/305 unit of imagination; 7%)
5. Characteristics of sound: (10/305 unit of imagination; 3%)
6. Quantity: (9/305 unit of comparison; 3%)
7. Characteristics of race: (6/305 unit of comparison; 2%)
8. Characteristics of living condition: (2/305 unit of comparison; 0.7%)
9. Mode of moving: (1/305 unit of comparison; 0.3%)
B. Puzzles for plants
The association and comparison are based on the similarity of:
1. Outlook: (164/291 unit of comparison, 56%)
2. Color: (46/291 unit of comparison, 16%)
3. Size: (30/291 unit of comparison, 10%)
4. Structure: (25/291 unit of comparison, 8.5%)
5. Reproduction characteristics: (14/291 unit of comparison, 5%)
6. Quantity: (7/291 unit of comparison, 2.5%)
7. Other cases: (5/291 unit of comparison, 2%) characteristics of harvesting or value.
All the above results show us that the association from Vietnamese people are performed with the outlook features such as: sizes, colors, structure etc. and these attributes are all those mostly used among 22 foundations to identify animals and 20 foundations to name plants (mentioned in part II)
The special thing here is that although there are just 16 attributes to associate and compare, but there are 305 lexical units (words or phrase) referred to the objects compared in the puzzle for animals and 291 units for ones of plants. We can classified these objects into the following groups:
A. Puzzles for animals
The compared object is related with:
1. Houses, pagodas, boats: 66/305 (22%) For example: house, pagoda, brick, wooden
bell, flag, bell, boat etc.
2. Human and other activities of human: 65/305 (21%)
For example: the carpenter, celibate women, fist, hand, raising flag, fanning etc.
3. Daily tools: 53/305 (17%)
For example: knives, brooms, combs, saws, needle, the thread etc.
4. Human costumes: 46/305 (15%)
For example: coats, amours, brocaded robes, brassiere, white towel etc.
5. Animals and their parts: 33/305 (11%) For example: cows, buffalo, ducks, chickens,
elephants, snacks, horses' eyes, goats' jaw etc.
6. Plants: 27/305 (9%)
For example: loopah, gourd, bananas, peanuts, rice, betel leaf etc.\
7. Natural things and phenomena: 9/305
(3%)
For example: old forest, mountains, rain, sand, stone etc.
8. Weapons: 6/305 (2%)
For example: swords, lances, tanks etc.
B. Puzzles for plants:
The compared object is related with:
1. Human and human activities: 160/291
(55%)
For example: old men, celibate women, eyes, legs, adopted children, getting married etc.
2. Human costumes: 43/291 (15%)
For example: hats, silk shirt, long pants, silver belts etc.
3. Animals: 34/291 (12%)
For example: buffalo, birds, fish, flies, peafowls etc.
4. Daily tools: 19/291 (6.5%)
For example: fans, hanging lamp, hammock, fishing rod etc.
5. Plants: 14/291 (5%)
For example: flowers, small bamboo, tomatoes, roses, mandarins etc.
6. Houses, pagodas: 11/291 (3.5%)
For example: bells, flags, statue etc.
7. Others: 10/291 (3%)
For example: stones, soil, coins, coal etc.
All the data above shows that Vietnamese people often associate to those about humans. One different thing is that in the puzzle for animals those concerning houses, pagodas, boats account for the largest part (22%), those of plants just take 3.5%.
V. Conclusion
From all the initial study about puzzles of Vietnamese people and the way Vietnamese perceive the world, we can sum up some following ideas:
1. Animals and plants in the puzzle of Vietnamese people are those closely relating to daily life of the farmer in Vietnam long time ago.
2. Animals or plants are observed very carefully and described with different attributes mainly to the appearance that is salient, easy to see. With those that can not be observed by eyes are rarely used (biological instinct, the intelligence, some parts of plants like the root of a tree)
3. The object asked in a puzzle is often personified therefore its characteristics are usually associated and compared with those of human. One interesting thing is that different from puzzles of animals, the puzzle for plants
is often personified with women or young women (not men or young men)
4. The way to perceive the animal and describe them in puzzles about animals of Vietnamese people is always objective, no emotion expressions (even with the animals like flies, mosquitoes, louse, leech etc. are described just as the way they are, sometimes in a very humorous way)
Reference
1. Ho Anh Thai, 2004. Vietnamese Puzzles (in Vietnamese), Hai Phong Publisher
2. Humboldt W. von, 1984. Izbrannye trudy po jazykoznaniju, Moskva
3. Humboldt W. von, 1985. Jazyki i filosofii kul'tury, Moskva
4. Jazykovaja nominatsija: Obshie voprosy, 1977. Moskva
5. Ly Toan Thang, 2005. Cognitive Linguistics: From theoretical prerequisites to Vietnamese evidence (in Vietnamese). Social Sciences Publisher, Hanoi
6. Manchester M. L, 1985. The Philosophical Foundations of Humboldt's Linguistic Doctrines. Amsterdam, Benjamins.
7. Ninh Viet Giao, 2008. Vietnamese Puzzles (in Vietnamese), Literature Publisher Hanoi
8. Nguyen Van Trung, 2007. Vietnamese Puzzles (in Vietnamese), Tong Hop Ho Chi Minh City Publisher
9. Trieu Nguyen, 2007. Puzzles of Vietnamese People about the Nature (in Vietnamese), Thuan Hoa Publisher, Hue
