MERONYMY OF WORDS EXPRESSING GRASS CARP AND MUSSEL BODY PARTS IN VIETNAMESE AND LAOS

Abstract

This article examines the meronymy of words expressing grass carp and mussel body parts in Vietnamese and Laos. The underlying theory of the article is the concept of the meaning of words in the system, meronymy. The research methods used by the article are the field linguistic, descriptive, and comparative-contrastive methods. The article surveyed 107 Vietnamese, and 91 Laos holonyms and meronyms expressing body parts of grass carp and mussels. The number of holonyms and meronyms expressing body parts of grass carp and mussels in Vietnamese is more than in Laos. Laos has 16 lexical gaps compared to Vietnamese. Hence, the linguistic picture of the word expressing body parts of grass carp and mussels in Vietnamese and Laos is sketched. As a result, the article clarifies the similarities and differences in the category thinking of Vietnamese and Lao people.