An Analysis of Recently Created and Disappearing Vietnamese Idioms

Abstract

An Idiom is a unit in the lexical system, it is like an uninterrupted river, always flowing, moving, changing and developing. During significant socio-cultural changes in society, people add idioms and eliminated old idioms almost simultaneously. This paper analyzed some popular Vietnamese idioms. This analysis utilized a survey questionnaire that was administered to two groups: Older adults (over the age of 30) and younger people. This paper analyzed three main idiom groups, and is divided into three categories: Recently created Vietnamese - of which did not have American English equivalent - idioms, and idioms that are disappearing and idioms that have disappeared idioms from current communication. Based on survey findings from these three idiom groups, this paper illustrated “rules” of how recently created idioms and archaic Vietnamese idioms were formed. This paper also briefly discusses the socio-cultural nuances in which idioms became standard use. Furthermore this paper offers timely recommendations on how to collect new idioms and why it is important to preserve old idioms.