The Answer Includes Background and Highlights

(NK:624)

(TNT: 353)

The focus of the message can cover the entire sentence and the speaker/writer wants to affirm the non-existence of a phenomenon at the present time. It can be said that this is a typical case of post-inversion in Vietnamese with the "Predicate + Subject" pattern. This pattern is implemented on the condition that in the structure of both the subject and the predicate there must be many additional auxiliary elements.

With the Predicate + Subject pattern, we also encounter cases like

after:

[2:37] The house is on fire! [2:38] Vegetables are falling! [2:39] Dad, son!

A common feature of this group is that the objects - subjects of the action such as the father, the bundle of vegetables, the house... are acknowledged as having existed before. The speaker - listener seems to have implicitly understood and acknowledged the existence of that object.

Structure: Adverb + Predicate + Subject

In Vietnamese, sentences with the above pattern can be found when the verb is highly descriptive. For example:

(NCH:441)

[2:41] The cell walls are filled with names of the dead, dates, times, years, and slogans…

[2:42] On the wall hang many certificates of merit.

[2:43] From below came a clear, affectionate call. [2:44] On the well's wall stood a single bucket.

(Investor: 419)

(NTNT:44)

(AD 2:53 )

(Investor: 138)

The words rustling and chit in examples [2:40] and [2:41] are descriptive and when used alone, they can be implicitly understood as being accompanied by another action verb such as blowing (accompanied by rustling ), writing/recording (accompanied by chit ). This proves that the structure under consideration in Vietnamese is only used to describe a state of existence, not an action. We have based this framework on the hypothesis of Nguyen Minh Thuyet and Nguyen Van Hiep, accepting that the following part is the subject [41,209].

Observing the examples above, we see that in cases of this type of sentence, the predicate is mostly:

(i) Verbs indicating properties, static states, and unintentional static content of events: bare (a bucket)...

(ii) Verb indicating posture: the stillness of an object is achieved through deliberate human activities: hanging (a large calendar), echoing (a clear, affectionate call)...

Therefore, we can confirm a common feature for the predicates of sentences in this group: most of the predicates are static properties, states, and static postures.

What the listener/reader expects is the information that comes after the main verb of the predicate component or the event in space. However, due to the limitation of the type of predicate, the post-inversion structure in Vietnamese is also called the existential sentence according to the understanding of some authors.

In addition, according to two authors Hoang Trong Phien and Nguyen Kim Than [36,558] about the type of simple, two-part sentences in Vietnamese with subjects indicating location or position, they believe that the sentence pattern of adverbial position + is + predicate also has value to introduce entities into an utterance. Therefore, in terms of the nature and role of the word is , we tend to consider it a system of words or function words, it does not have lexical meaning but is used to connect the predicate with the subject. Nguyen Kim Than also commented: "Is is like the equal sign (=) in mathematics". For example:

[2:45] Up there are vast forests and towering mountain peaks hovering in the clouds.

white.

(TNT: 205)

[2:46] Under the table were several baskets filled with all sorts of odds and ends.

(TNH:87)

For example:

Structure Subject + Predicate + do/ at/ by + X

[2:47] The middle machine and the machine on the left are pedaled by six people.

(NK:19)

(TNT: 452)

[2:48] All the mean nonsense we encounter on a daily basis is completely

can be shaken off by a little squirrel jumping on a mulberry branch.

(NHT:50)

In the above frame, we see that X is the informational part of the utterance and X can be a noun, a noun phrase or a clause. Here there is a shift in position towards the end to create the informational focus of the utterance. Comparing the two utterances below, we see that:

[2:47a] The middle machine and the machine on the left are pedaled by six people. [2:47b] Six people pedal the middle machine and the machine on the left.

Structure Noun + is + X

In the above frame, X is the descriptive information focus for the focus of the message located at the end of the sentence, it can be a clause or just a noun phrase. For example:

[2:49] Chekhov's short story collection is my favorite .

(TNT:286)

[2:50] a. I bought you a scarf!

b. But what I like is velvet gloves !

In example [2:49] X is the part that is identified as the focal point of the message. It is also the predicate element, if rewritten it would be: The collection of stories I like very much is the collection of short stories by Chekhov. And in [2:50] the content part at the end of the sentence is the focal point of the message, filling in the missing information that the listener does not know when the listener has a presupposition. Here, the sister has a presupposition of:

I like X (X = scarf)

The younger sister gives information that contrasts with the older sister's presupposed information: I like X (X = velvet gloves)

And this contrasting information is emphasized by placing it at the end-focus position: What I like are the velvet gloves!

It can be observed that in Vietnamese, the lexical tool cannot be separated from the syntactic tool to create a means of expressing focus. For example, in [2:50], the speaker can add the word "cô mà".

2.2.4.3. Passive voice

There are many opinions surrounding this type of sentence, such as discussing whether passive sentences are acceptable in Vietnamese or not, whether bi/duoc is a real word or a function word, and whether syntactic transformation by the method of active-passive conversion can be considered a variation of position transformation. Regarding the first question, it is still a controversial issue in Vietnamese. In this thesis, we do not set out to provide a solution to those debates. Our task is only to find out the value of passive sentences in creating a focal point of information for the sentence. Regarding the second question, it can be clearly seen that the conversion from active to passive is different from inversion because: along with the change in position is the change in the syntactic role of the elements in the sentence (from complement to subject), although the relationship between the elements of the sentence remains unchanged (the agent is still the agent). Because the author Chomsky's concept considers the structure A' (a passive sentence) as the result of

The result of structure A (which is an active sentence) through a movement process, we accept that the passive structure can be considered as the result of a post-inversion. Furthermore, we find that the passive structure has something in common with the post-inversion structure: the result of a process of shifting the position of some sentence constituents is the position of the focus after the verb. The big difference in the value of creating information focus brought by the passive structure lies in whether the passive sentence contains an agent or the passive sentence does not contain an agent.

The famous English writer George Orwell once said: "Never use the passive when the active can be used" (quoted by Huynh Thi Ai Nguyen [33,136]). This means that the passive structure is a marking structure compared to the active structure, the choice between using the active structure or the passive structure depends on some semantic-pragmatic differences between these two structures. Below are some differences between this pair of structures:

(i) Passive sentences with omitted agents may be because the subject of the action is too obvious, does not need to be repeated, or is considered unimportant according to Grice's conversational principle of quantity:

a. Make your contribution as informative as possible.

b. Don't make your contribution more informative than required.

Or if the agent in the passive sentence is unknown or does not have accurate information, then people choose the passive sentence type.

(ii) The choice of active or passive structure may depend on the choice of the focal point of the utterance to serve the communicative purpose of the speaker/writer. The information selected behind tends to be new information according to the old-new information structure. Therefore, the passive structure such as "The lieutenant was grabbed by the throat by a hand" (AD 2 :133) is preferred over the active structure "A hand grabbed the lieutenant by the throat". The information selected as the focal point of the message is often located at the end of the sentence according to the principle of focal point at the end of the sentence.

(iii) The remaining cases are due to the tendency to place the physically longer or structurally more complex sentence components at the end of the sentence. Thus the utterance " His funeral was attended by everyone in the county, from the red-trousered troops to the dignified officials in white ties" tends to be chosen over the opposite position of the agent and is subject to the agent part.

( everyone in the county went to see off the procession, from the red-trousered soldiers to the solemn-dressed officials wearing white "ties" ) is part of an expression that is physically longer and structurally more complex than the rest of the sentence.

In Vietnamese, passive structure has three possibilities: Subject + bi/duoc + action

Subject + being/being + agent + action

Subject + being/being + action + by + agent

Of the 214 passive use cases in the survey data, we found 92 (nearly 43%) using the first passive frame. For example:

[2:51] The land is fenced.

[2:52] Then the envelope was opened and the exam was read.

(NTNT:361)

(Mark: 158)

Of the three frames above, the third frame resembles the passive structure in English. However, it is only used 10 times in 214 cases (accounting for nearly 4.5%). The low frequency of appearance also partly shows its poor application in Vietnamese, but it is still valuable as a means of marking the focus of information. For example:

[2:53] Chinh Khue was also admired for his very straightforward words, as well as his way of addressing.

(NMC 1:30 )

[2:54] Anh and Thuy are being condemned by the world for an illicit love affair.

(TNH 1:99 )

Only the frame containing the agent element in the sentence is considered the most common with 112 occurrences: Subject + bi/get + agent + action

(VTP:232)

[2:56] Phang was led by Nguyen Du to visit several places in his territory.

(NHT: 171)

Thus, with the three frames mentioned above, we have demonstrated that the passive structure is a means of creating information focus in Vietnamese. In which the first and second frames account for a significant proportion, while the

The third one has a low percentage, showing that their applicability in Vietnamese is not high.

2.3. Types of information focus

Up to now, when analyzing the information structure of a sentence, most Vietnamese linguists have only stopped at studying its means of expression. It is necessary to continue classifying the types of focal points because it not only gives us a deeper understanding of the focal point issue but also helps us see the richness of the information structure of Vietnamese sentences in their functional activities. In the research work on "Information structure of Vietnamese sentences" (2005), Associate Professor Nguyen Hong Con has classified the types of information focal points. On that basis, we have absorbed and learned the author's concept and classification. According to the author, "The first basis for classifying the information structure of a sentence is based on the specialized functions of the information focus. From the functional differences of the foci, different information structures can be classified into 3 types: information structures with affirmative focus (TDKĐ), information structures with interrogative focus (TĐH), information structures with contrastive focus (TĐTP)" [7,70].

2.3.1. Affirmative focus

Affirmative focus is a type of information focus that "has the function of expressing information that the speaker assumes the listener does not know at the time of speaking" [7,73]. To recognize the statement, we can consider the utterance in a certain context in which the statement contains information that satisfies the content of the question. Through the survey process, we found that corresponding to the information structure of the question, the information structure of the answer is divided into two common types. That is the answer that includes both old and new information and the answer that only contains new information.

2.3.1.1. The answer includes the basis and the focus.

According to our statistics, there are 1879 sentences with both the base and the focus out of 3389 TDKD sentences (accounting for 55%). The results show that sentences with complete information structure components are used more than incomplete sentences (sentences with only the focus). Although in terms of information, the base has no information value and can be omitted, when participating in communication, the communication roles are always aware of the relationship between themselves and the interlocutor. This relationship affects the content of the communication.

as well as the way of speaking. Therefore, in many cases, out of politeness, the respondent often repeats part of the information he already knows in his answer.

In addition, we also see that the base and focus of information do not have fixed positions but change according to the context. In general, considering the relative position of the preposition in the sentence, there are the following types of information structure distribution of the preposition:

- base - focus

- focus - base

- alternating base and focus

2.3.1.1.1. Basics - focus

The answer structure with the base part before the focus is quite common in communication. In the statistics of the thesis, there are 1248 sentences, accounting for 66.41% of the total 1879 sentences, which have both the base part and the focus part. The data reflects a characteristic in the language usage habits of Vietnamese people and is also the most common order of Vietnamese sentences. The following sentence gives a new announcement about that object. This order often coincides with the subject - predicate order in Vietnamese syntactic structure. When speaking and writing, Vietnamese people tend to use the previous sentence as a premise for the next sentence. For example:

[2:57] They thumped again . They punched again . They slapped again . They kicked again .

(NCH: 116)

In the above example, the base part coincides with the subject in the syntactic structure. The sentences quoted are all about people chasing the thief. Each sentence makes a new announcement about "they" and that is the predicate in terms of syntax.

But there are cases where the focus does not coincide with the predicate (but coincides with the complement in the syntactic structure) but still has a position after the base part. For example:

[2:58] It looks at the vermicelli soup stall. It looks at the rice cake tray. It looks at the basket of sweet potatoes.

(NCH: 112)

At [2:58], "it looked" is the base of all utterances. "Bun rieu stall", "banh duc tray", "sweet potato basket" are the focus of the utterances.

In dialogic discourse, the answer, including both the base and the focus that follows, often depends on the structure of the question. For example:

[2:59] a. What is it?

b. It's the Unluckiest Day of My Life !