A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE PREPOSITION OF DIRECTION “XIANG” IN CHINESE AND CORRELATIVE PREPOSITIONS IN VIETNAMESE

Abstract

The theory of three dimensions is applied to compare the similarities and differences between the preposition of direction “xiang” in Chinese and correlative prepositions in Vietnamese. According to our research, in terms of syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic aspects, although there are a large number of similarities between the preposition of direction “xiang” in Chinese and “ve (huong/phia)” in Vietnamese, the disparities are still distinctive. The Chinese preposition “xiang” and Vietnamese “ve (huong/phia)” all have a certain correspondence, but it is not a simple “one to one” relationship. They have an “one to multi” corresponding relation. To enhance the effect of teaching and learning Chinese preposition “xiang,” teachers are supposed to give appropriate explanations to students at different levels of age and difficulty based on these disparities.