A Comparative Study on the Semantic Representation of "吃 / Ăn" and Their Derived Words Related to "Food" in Chinese and Vietnamese

With social development and the progress of linguistic culture, the word “吃” (chī) has gradually extended its original semantic meaning to include the concept of "food." The monosyllabic words "吃" (chī) in Chinese and "Ăn" in Vietnamese originally referred to the act of eating, functioning as verbs, while their objects—“food” or “things to eat”—are nouns. Both concepts belong to the domain of dietary cognition and are closely related. This study focuses on the [-eating] meaning of "吃" (chī) and "Ăn" and their derived words in Chinese and Vietnamese. By comparing the semantic similarities and differences in their representation of "food" and analyzing specific linguistic data from two corpora, this paper explores their variations in semantic and cultural connotations and interprets the deep cultural reasons behind these differences.