CHAPTER II: PRINCIPLE AND AREAS OF CONTRASTIVE STUDIES

2.1. Tertium comparationis

Comparison between any two entities can not be made without a frame of reference provided by a third term. The idea is shared by Krzeszowski (1990: 15): “All comparisons involve the basic assumption that the objects to be compared share something in common, against which differences can be stated. This common platform of reference is called tertium comparationis”.

Tertium comparationis shares the concept with something in common, common platform, some kind of sameness, similarity and equivalent.

2.1.1. Tertium comparationis and similarity

English sentences (1) and (2) are not symmetrical but they share a common platform.

English sentence (3) and Vietnamese one (4) have some kinds of sameness, but they are not completely equal.

Similarities in languages are based on either on signified (idea or content) or signifier (linguistic expression).Formal bases (linguistic expression) include sound (phonology) and writing (surface structure, syntactic deep structure, and formal operations of various kinds). Semantic bases involves functional components of meaning such as ideational (reflective), interpersonal (active) and textual. The relation between idea (or content) and linguistic expression is described in Figure 2.1.

Fig. 2.1 – Relation between idea and linguistic expression

Sound

Signifier

Linguistic expression

Signified

Idea/Content

Similarities in languages arise in the perspective of signified (idea or content) and signifier (linguistic expression). In more detail, they can be:

- homonymic (similar in both sound and spelling, but different in meanings)

- purely formal (similar in sound and different in spelling)

- semantic (same semantic feature)

- functional (similar function or purpose).

In Translation Theory similarity is a kind of translatability, but in contrastive linguistics, the compared entities may be similar in some respects and different in others but they must have some equivalents.

2.1.2Tertium comparationis and equivalence

Equivalence in contrasting languages can be functional (or communicative), pragmatic equivalence and translation equivalence. Depending on the equivalence (or tertium comparationis) adopted various contrastive studies can be distinguished.

In second language learning and teaching (interlanguage contrastive studies), tertium comparationis) is the descriptors (e.g. the description of the level of performance required of a test taker for a specific level on a rating scale). More details, see Council of Europe (2001): communicative activities (p. 180), criteria (pp. 21–2), illustrative (pp. 25, 36–7), language proficiency (pp. 37–40, 181, 205 –11, 224).

2.1.3. Characteristics of tertium comparationis

It is difficult task to determine the equivalence and tertium comparationis in contrastive studies. Krzeszowski (1990: 23ff.) discusses seven types: translation equivalence, statistical equivalence, system equivalence, semantico-syntactic equivalence, rule equivalence, substantive equivalence and pragmatic equivalence. But in fact, language is used to satisfy human needs; and the fundamental components of its meaning are functional components. Therefore, functional categories are universals and they serve as a useful guide to contrastive studies.

In contrastive studies, content and its linguistic expression constrain each other in a complex hierarchical structure. The equivalence, the sameness of the compared items should be determined in their functional systems.

2.2. Principles of contrastive studies

Contrastive method is widely used to solve linguistic and linguistic problems. Contrastivists should follow the properties of language. In addition to that, in contrastive studies:

1. The language itself and each of its levels is regarded as a system;

2. Linguistic units and text constituents are studied in synchronization of their functions;

3. The opposition of dissimilarities is systemic and two-sided.

The relations between idea (and content) and linguistic expression in the first language, between the idea and its correspondent expression in the second language, the expression in the first language and its correspondent expression in the second language in contrastive study are illustrated in figure 2.2.

idea

The nature of contrastive studies is to establish the relevant relations between the their components. It plays decisive role in learning and teaching second language, and translation.

2.3. Areas of contrastive studies

The areas of contrastive studies are conditionally connected with the systematic levels and discourse (or text). For the purpose of second language learning, teaching and translation, the study focuses on two types of comparison: comparing the second learner language (L2) with their native language (L1) and comparing the target learner language (L2) and their interlanguage (LI).

Every language includes social (stands for S) and individual (stands for I) languages. Each of them comprises contact (C) and dynamic (D). Since the various languages, there are a lot of contrastive linguistic patterns.

2.3.1. Contrastive study patterns between languages

Contrastive studies can be made between following pairs of language:

1 The first language versus the second language,

2 Learner native language versus second learner language,

3 Individual language versus social language,

4 Contact individual interlanguage versus target language,

5 Dynamic individual interlanguage versus target language.

6 The mentioned patterns are not brought to an end.

Two languages is practically impossible to be contrasted in their whole. Only their subsystems can be compared at a microlinguistic level.

2.3.2. Subsystems of contrastive linguistics

Since every aspect of language at every level of organization, as well as every text and its constituents has equivalent elements in another language”, contrastive studies carry out at all the levels of language (phonology, lexicon, grammar, semantics) and discourse. As a result, contrastive linguistics includes contrastive studies can be contrastive phonological studies, contrastive lexical studies, contrastive grammar, contrastive semantics, contrastive discourse analysis (CDA), contrastive pragmatics, etc.

As an entity of subsystems of language and discourse, each object of contrastive studies has two sides: the content (or idea) and its own linguistic expression (including sounds and writing).