Pragmatic features of some groups of function words on the assessment of quantity in English and Vietnamese

Abstract

In the Vietnamese system, function words do not carry lexical meanings but only express grammatical meanings. They are used to establish relationships between things and phenomena expressed by lexical words. They also cannot serve as the main component in the structure of phrases and sentences. However, they are really necessary in language activities, especially in Vietnamese, a language that uses function words as one of the main grammatical methods.
Based on the theoretical approach to Vietnamese function words, this article comprehensively compares English and Vietnamese synonyms on the semantic and pragmatic aspects, focusing on in-depth research on the characteristics of some synonyms in English and Vietnamese at the pragmatic level. Hence, it is confirmed that in Vietnamese, a typical non - inflectional language, the extensive use of function words is not only affirmed at the grammatical or semantic level but also at the pragmatic level.