How Proverbs Mean: Semantic Studies in English Proverbs
... By focusing on the proverbal field, we highlight how belief is manifested in different social contexts and linguistic forms. The study aims to: (1) identify key proverbs that encapsulate the notion of belief; (2) perform a linguistic-cultural analysis to understand how these proverbs reflect broader societal norms; and (3) explore the interplay between belief and other cultural concepts within English linguoculture. The tasks include collecting proverbs related to belief, analyzing their meaning, and evaluating their cultural relevance. ...
... This review highlights key contributions to the understanding of proverbs and their relation to the concept of belief in English linguoculture, drawing on cognitive linguistics, ethnolinguistics, and cultural studies. Norrick (1985) provides a foundational study of proverbs, emphasizing their role in conveying collective cultural knowledge. He argues that proverbs serve as succinct expressions of shared beliefs and values, offering insight into how societies encode fundamental truths. ...
... He notes that proverbs often function as authoritative statements within a conversation, asserting truth claims about belief and behavior. Barley's work highlights the performative nature of proverbs, particularly in contexts where belief is challenged or affirmed through communal wisdom [1]. Dundes (1980) contributes to the understanding of proverbs by analyzing their folkloric dimensions. ...
В данной работе предметом исследования является концепт «вера», занимающий центральное место в различных культурных, языковых и социальных контекстах, особенно в области пословиц, где он отражает общие ценности, нормы и коллективную мудрость. Цель исследования: выявить ключевые пословицы, воплощающие понятие веры, провести лингвокультурный анализ, чтобы понять, как эти пословицы отражают более широкие социальные нормы и изучить взаимосвязь между верой и другими культурными концептами в английской лингвокультуре. В данном исследовании рассматривается, как вера представлена в английской лингвокультуре через пословицы, с целью анализа ее культурного и лингвистического значения. Фокусируясь на провербиальном поле, мы подчеркиваем, как вера проявляется в различных социальных контекстах и языковых формах. Задачи включают сбор пословиц, связанных с верой, анализ их значений и оценку их культурной значимости. Это исследование предоставляет ценные знания о том, как вера концептуализируется через традиционную мудрость в англоязычных обществах.
... Further, according to Norrick (1985), proverbs are worthy investigating due to four reasons: first, proverbs must be included in any comprehensive definition of language because they are an essential component of language, just like complex words and idioms. The second is that proverbs are unique in that they can be analyzed as complexes of independently occurring components as well as form-meaning units. ...
... According to the speech act idea, when a person speaks, they are truly acting (doing something). Proverbs and speech acts are related because, according to Norrick (1985), "utterances of proverbs categorize as indirect speech acts in the sense of Searle (1975) if they mean what they say on the literal level but go on to develop this meaning idiomatically in texts" (pp. 26−27). ...
The Arabic dialects have a specific linguistic repertoire, cultural singularity and social privacy. The dialect is only understood by the people who daily use it. This study aims at shedding light on the proverbs and dialectical expressions used by Bani Hasan tribe (بني حسن) in Jordan. The primary aims were to investigate the Illocutionary force of the targeted proverbs and linguistic expressions based on speech acts theoretical framework. The data were collected from various individuals who represent the whole 13 clans of this tribe. The investigated data consist of 14 proverbs and 59 expressions. Findings showed that this tribe has some unique proverbs and lexemes. The illocutionary force of the proverbs are provided and well as the meaning and the pronunciation of the frequent idiomatic colloquial expressions were discussed. Analysis revealed that most of the proverbs have the pragmatic functions of giving advice and criticism. Findings could help others to have more knowledge about the lexicon of this tribe which helps to enforce the social bonds among the tribes of the Jordanian society.
... Arora (1984) pointed out that proverbs are characterized by stylistic features such as alliteration (e.g., forgive and forget), parallelism (e.g., nothing ventured, nothing gained), rhyme (e.g., when that cat is away, the mice will play), and ellipsis (once bitten, twice shy). They are also self-contained and syntactically independent of surrounding discourse (Norrick, 1985) e.g., like father, like son, better late than never. Furthermore, proverbs are traditional, non-literary, recurring, and non-learned, as in time is money; don"t put the cart before the horse, since they represent specific folklore and recurring verbal performances (Firth, 1926;Taylor, 1950;Mieder, 1996). ...
Proverbs are a source of wisdom and morals that have been passed on from one generation to the next throughout history. Through intercultural interaction, it appears that some proverbs were either translated or have equivalents in different languages and cultures. This study used artificial intelligence, specifically machine learning techniques, to examine five equivalent proverbs in Arabic and English. Emphasis was placed on the occurrence of equivalent proverbs in different contexts through a collection of actual language use. A topic modeling algorithm was applied to a dataset for each proverb to explore the latent topics/themes that construct its meaning. The results revealed subtle differences between equivalent proverbs in Arabic and English, mainly due to religious, cultural, and social factors. Translators are thus encouraged to be aware of nuances in meanings, develop intercultural pragmatic knowledge to communicate the intended meaning and avoid misunderstandings.
... As pointed out by Steyer (2014, p. 214), one of the key questions in proverb studies and proverb lexicography is about the fixedness and variance of proverbs. The lexical and grammatical variation in proverbs has been explored in previous studies (Norrick, 1981(Norrick, , 1985Mieder, 2004). Some scholars also investigated proverb usage by non-native speakers. ...
Proverbs are usually regarded as structurally fixed expressions. However, in daily communication, language users often change them to suit their communicative purposes in many ways, resulting in proverb variations. Using the data from the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA corpus), this study attempts to present varieties of the English proverb “There are two sides to every coin” and explain the variations from the perspective of linguistic creativity. This study also explores the variations of this proverb in EFL learners' use via the data from Chinese EFL learners' corpus TECCL. The study shows that, first proverb use can roughly be divided into two types: canonical and non-canonical uses, each having three ways of alteration, i.e., addition of modifiers, substitution of content words, and reduction. Second, Chinese EFL learners tend to use the proverb in a mechanical way with little variation, which shows their inflexible use of proverbs. Finally, proverb variation by nature is the creative manipulation of language use to fit the context, which is a form of linguistic creativity that reflects the cognitive creativity of human beings.
This study analyzes cultural metaphors exhibited by a repository of plant-oriented proverbs in Hakka, explicitly demonstrating the intricate interplay between the universal framework of The Great Chain of Being theory and the parametric constraints of contextual factors. The salient selection of various types of plants, along with their biological traits together with factors including linguistic contexts, physical and social settings, and cultural aspects gives rise to their linguistic manifestations and conceptualization patterns. The reified virtues overlap with philosophical representations of Confucian ethics and are further consolidated into dealing with work and dealing with people. While most are universal values, some are more culturally specific, indicating a dynamic spectrum of the core virtues that may exhibit different significances in different cultures. The investigation makes empirical and theoretical contributions to metaphor and proverb studies by enhancing the explanatory power of the Great Chain of Being theory and by illustrating how various facets of contextual factors influence the conceptualization and interpretation of the cultural metaphors of plant proverbs.
Halk edebiyatının konuşmalık türlerinden biri olan atasözleri, toplumun köklü tarihini, dünya görüşünü, geleneklerini, göreneklerini ve değerlerini etkili bir şekilde yansıtan dil unsurlarıdır. Yüzyılların imbiğinden geçerek anlam kazanan bu ifadelerin, kişiler arası iletişimde oldukça önemli bir görevi vardır. Atasözleri, doğası gereği deyim, klişe, slogan, deyiş, Velerizm gibi kavramlarla girift bir ilişki içerisindedir. Atasözünün bu yapısı terim, tanım ve tasnif bağlamında ele alınırken bazı zorluklar çıkarmaktadır. Bu durum, atasözlerinin hangi bilim dalı tarafından inceleneceği hususunu da beraberinde getirmektedir. Atasözlerinin, atasözü bilimi (paremiyoloji) veya deyim bilimi tarafından incelenmesi gerektiği farklı bilim insanları tarafından öne sürülür. 1931 yılından beri süregelen ve çözüme kavuşturulamayan bu tartışmalar, bilim insanlarını asıl odak noktasından uzaklaştırarak atasözü araştırmalarına olumsuz etki etmektedir. Bu çalışmada, atasözü üzerine ortaya konulan önemli terim, tanım ve tasnifler yabancı ve Türkçe çalışmalar dâhilinde ele alınmış, tespit edilen farklı görüş ve yaklaşımlar incelenmiştir. Bu görüş ve yaklaşımlar üzerine genel bir değerlendirmenin yapıldığı çalışmada, bu türün bütüncül bir tanımı da yapılmıştır. Sonuç olarak, dilde etkin bir şekilde kullanılan ve çağlar boyunca şekillenen atasözlerinin kapsamlı bir veri ve inceleme alanına sahip olduğu, kavramsal çerçevesinin oluşturulması için disiplinler arası bir yaklaşımla yeniden ele alınmasının ve bu bilim dalının sınırlarının çizilmesinin gerekli olduğu tespit edilmiştir.
This article is devoted to learn proverbs from various angels. Proverbs are succinct, often metaphorical expressions of wisdom and morality, handed down through generations. They encapsulate cultural values, social norms, and collective experiences, making them an integral part of folk art. As a genre, proverbs serve multiple purposes: Cultural reflection, educational tool, oral tradition and communicative function. As a folk art form, proverbs are dynamic, adapting to changing contexts while retaining their core wisdom. Their universal appeal lies in their ability to condense life's complexities into relatable, timeless expressions
Proverbs are an essential part of human communication, reflecting cultural wisdom, values, and traditions. This paper explores proverbs from both linguistic and cultural perspectives, examining their structural features, metaphorical significance, and thematic categorization. The study also presents a comparative analysis of English and Uzbek proverbs, highlighting similarities and differences in their meanings and expressions.
Proverbs have historically played an imperative role in the upbringing of Vhavenḓa children. Many African communities have used proverbs since time immemorial, and Vhavenḓa is no exception. Proverbs are defined as sayings that express a generally accepted truth or belief of the folk. It is one of the expressive genres in African literature that used to and continues to be transmitted from generation to generation through word of mouth. This article sought to collect and analyse some selected Tshivenḓa proverbs for their significance in the upbringing of children in the 21st century. Asserting to the focus of this article is a Tshivenḓa proverbial expression, Funguvhu ḽo ri thilaiwi! ḽa fhira muḓi ḽo kovhela (The raven said none should advise her! and it flew past the village after sunset). This proverbial expression is applied by Vhavenḓa in their conversations with their children whenever their advice is scorned. The nature of the article dictated that a qualitative approach be employed. 16 theme-relevant Tshivenḓa proverbs were extracted from Tshikota using the content analysis method. This article’s arguments were guided by conceptual metaphor theory, which was developed by Lakoff and Johnson in 1980. Advocates of the conceptual metaphor theory argue that metaphors influence our thinking and actions. Thus, the conceptual system is metaphorical. Textual data was analysed using the textual analysis method, where data was categorised in terms of commonalities in themes relevant to children and youth. The study revealed that Tshivenḓa proverbs, though old in terms of authorship, are still relevant in the upbringing of children in the 21st century. The study recommends that society should not shun away from applying proverbs in their communicative situations with children, as they play a pivotal role in their upbringing. The study contributes to linguistic research on African oral traditions and cultural preservation by highlighting the function of Tshivenḓa proverbs in preserving cultural values and guaranteeing their applicability in modern society. Keywords: Children, Upbringing, Proverbs, Significance, Metaphor, 21st century.
Proverbs are an important component of cultural literacy and thus they are often encountered in everyday life. Corpus-based studies of proverbs typically focus on proverb frequency. Here we address challenges in using general language corpora and corpus searches as a method for estimating proverb frequency. Using two general language corpora from Sketch Engine, HrWaC2.2 and NoTenTen17, to search for a semantic counterpart of the same proverb in Croatian and Norwegian, we explore various search options and their (dis)advantages, as well as the issue of proverb modifications that hinders attempts to obtain a reliable picture of proverb frequency in a corpus. Based on the corpus evidence, we provide insights into modification types of proverbs. Finally, we propose that an optimal search tool would consider a proverb’s features beyond frequency, such as its semantic class, syntactic complexity, and abstractness as contributors to its cognitive load, allowing a better selection of these expressions in clinical testing, education, research and entertainment.
Предметом исследования в данной работе является изложение народного сказания в стихотворении фольклориста А. Чоробаева «Алп Тобок» и соответствие легенды реальной истории. Цель исследования: путем анализа изложения народного сказания в стихотворении «Алп Тобок» выяснить, насколько легенда соответствует истории. В исследовании простота, гордость и героизм Тобока-великана, жившего в реальной жизни в поэме «Алп Тобок», были развиты автором в художественном образе, подаче художественных средств, связи между фольклором и историей. Народное сказание – широко распространенный жанр. Оно во многих отношениях очень близко к легенде, но имеет явное отличие: оно гораздо больше отличается от легенды, тем, что в нем делается попытка истолковать исторических личностей, исторические события, сцены и происхождение топонимов. Поэтому оно отличается от сказок и легенд тем, что показывает вопросы повседневной жизни и события, имеющие историческую основу. В зависимости от темы кыргызские сказания принято разделять на две большие группы - исторические (предания, посвященные известному историческому лицу, жившему в истории) и топонимические (предания, объясняющие происхождение топонимов). Однако бывают случаи, когда разделить понятия сказание, сказка, миф четкими границами не удается, поэтому важно разделить такое деление по смыслу произведения достаточно условным образом. В этой статье мы решили проанализировать изложение народного сказания в поэме «Алп Тобок» фольклориста А. Чоробаева и насколько сказание соответствует истории. В поэме «Алп Тобок» мы считали своей целью раскрыть в художественном образе автора простоту, гордость и героизм жившего в действительности великана Тобока, подачу художественных средств, связь фольклора и истории.
Proverbs are literary arts that represent real-life facts and events. The study of the origins of Arabic proverbs in terms of their occasions and narratives is widely available. This is unlike their Malay counterparts, whose origins are often unknown. However, some details of proverbs can be discovered by understanding the meanings of environment-related words within them. For example, a proverb may refer to the people who coined it, the place it came from, or the time it was said. Proverbs often contain narrative elements like prose literary texts, such as novels and stories. However, they differ in that the creators of those texts are specifically known, and their environment is often imaginary. Proverbs, on the other hand, are more akin to a collective product of an entire people, with their environment always rooted in reality, especially Malay proverbs when compared to Arabic ones. Hence, this study aims to investigate the environmental origins of Arabic and Malay proverbs, as well as to analyse the environmental words within both Arab and Malay proverbs through a descriptive comparative approach. The main finding of this study indicates that even if the stories and occasions behind the Malay proverbs are lost, their words indicate that they stay true to the nature of proverbs in general, and this makes their environment clearly authentic and unimaginary. Therefore, each environment has its own words that tell its stories and confirm its authenticity.
El presente estudio tiene como objetivo analizar desde el punto de vista contrastivo el uso de paremias en tres lenguas románicas: castellano, valenciano y rumano a partir de un corpus de 36 enunciados lingüísticos propuestos por un total de 115 alumnos/as procedentes de España y Rumanía. Con el fin de comprobar la traducibilidad de las paremias desde la perspectiva traductológica y lingüístico-cognitiva se analiza la paremia elegida por cada sujeto junto con la traducción en las otras dos lenguas románicas. Además, se explica el motivo de la elección de las paremias en las redacciones de los/las alumnos/as. Los resultados indican que el alumnado español prefiere las paremias relacionadas con sus intereses personales de la vida actual, paremias que les han marcado en algún momento de la vida y aquellas que siguen usando frecuentemente. Por el contrario, los alumnos/as rumanos/as prefieren paremias representativas de la cultura rumana en general, ofreciendo una gran variedad de ejemplos que no tienen equivalentes en otras lenguas románicas. Finalmente, a través de la herramienta digital Padlet, se destaca el valor didáctico en la enseñanza-aprendizaje de las paremias en las lenguas en contacto partiendo del feedback recibido por parte de otros estudiantes y docentes nativos y extranjeros a las paremias en lenguas románicas presentadas por los participantes de este estudio.
Kuwaiti maritime proverbs are often misinterpreted by non-native speakers due to cultural references and metaphors. This study aimed to analyse these proverbs from a semantic, rather than a folkloristic, perspective. It is the first to examine and conceptualise Kuwaiti maritime proverbs using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) system of componential semantics, as outlined in the works of Wierzbicka and Goddard. Five maritime proverbs were analysed using simple words to express more complex meanings, with explanations built using the five-part semantic template for English and Malay proverbs proposed by Goddard (2009, 2014). A communicative translation strategy was used to translate the proverbs into English. Data for analysis were collected from three specialised dictionaries on Kuwaiti proverbs and six related to Kuwaiti maritime history and culture. The analysis revealed common themes, such as the importance of cooperation, resilience, and the unpredictability of the sea. For example, the Kuwaiti proverb ‘Two captains sank the ship’ underscores the dangers of having multiple leaders in a single endeavour, which can yield counterproductive outcomes due to a lack of coordination and singular vision. NSM helped clarify such cultural nuances, reducing misunderstanding by explicating meanings. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of Kuwaiti maritime proverbs and their cultural significance, offering a valuable tool for cross-cultural communication. The findings also highlight the challenges in pairing proverbs from different languages, posing issues in both dictionaries and second-language learning environments.
This article represents a preliminary study within the project Paremiological items based on religious terms. A special view on Romanian, Spanish, French and Portuguese that I coordinate at the Romance Department of the Institute of Linguistics “Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti”. This type of approach is necessary considering the general tendency in the field to base the contrastive research only on Western Romance data. Furthermore, the proverbs containing religious terms have been only superficially and inconsistently investigated. In this article, I traced back the main issues of a contrastive Romance proverb analysis. I took into account the previous research gains of the field, as well as a multitude of theoretical-conceptual distinctions, such as: proverb items vs. other types of complex structures, like phraseological units; subtypes of proverb units; proverb variants and invariants; proverb lexical variants and border proverb units; the concept of ‘ethnofield’; proverb synonymy in the narrow vs. broad sense; literal vs. conceptual proverb equivalence; interlinguistic proverb variance and proverb heteronimy, etc. All these aspects were considered into the outline of the general project framework.
In this paper, we explore the role of Nigerian Pidgin English (NPE) proverbs in language contact settings and their impact on the development of idiomatic phraseology in Nigerian English (NgE). In a set of 100 NPE proverbs, we identified lexical keywords that served as anchors for searches in the large‐scale Nairaland corpus to detect recurrent collocational patterns that in further proximity searches yielded frequent, lexico‐grammatically variable patterns that may be interpreted as innovations at the early stages of idiom formation. The findings suggest that cognitively motivated key lexical items of NPE proverbs may serve as a basis for the formation of variable but also lexico‐grammatically more condensed idiomatic expressions in NgE.
The volume presents an innovative set of researches featuring theoretical and practical discussions of the proverb in cognition and culture. To date, there seems to be a need for state-of-the-art research into this subject matter. This volume aims at responding to this need. The chapters contribute, from a Cognitive Linguistics interdisciplinary perspective, to the existing body of literature on the proverb. The book begins with a first part containing three chapters concerned with theoretical discussions of proverbs in cognition and culture. The three chapters in the second part ponder proverbs within a cognitive-cross-cultural perspective. The third part of the volume includes three chapters that deal with the proverbs of individual languages and cultures. The three chapters in the fourth part study proverbs and/or related phenomena from a cognitive and cultural perspective: snowclones, idioms, and proverbial phrases. This book will be of interest to academics interested in proverbs within a cognitive linguistic framework and to scholars in the areas of language studies, applied linguistics, language teaching and learning, and Cognitive Linguistics in general, and to those researchers who wish to refine their knowledge about the cognitive activities featuring proverb use and their interaction with sociocultural contextual variables.
This chapter offers a Cultural Linguistic analysis of the conceptualisations of BEARD and MOUSTACHE in Hungarian proverbs. While FACIAL HAIR is an underexploited field in paremiology, the chapter argues that it is an appropriate concept for capturing the cultural aspects of the figurative language of proverbs. The study analyses 31 proverbs selected from five collections, where the identification process of cultural conceptualisations involves conceptual analysis combined with drawing on other linguistic evidence and culturally relevant ethnographic data. The results show that the seven target concepts (PERSONALITY, MANLINESS, INDEPENDENCE, PATRIOTISM, AGE, DIGNITY, and WISDOM) are interconnected in the Hungarian cultural model of MAN, and MOUSTACHE has a dominance and more positive value in cultural cognition as compared to BEARD. The study shows how the theoretical framework and methodological tools of Cultural Linguistics can be used in studying the cultural elements of proverbs and how they can enhance the understanding of their linkage to cultural models.
Keywords: cultural conceptualisations, facial hair, metaphor, metonymy, proverb
The volume presents an innovative set of researches featuring theoretical and practical discussions of the proverb in cognition and culture. To date, there seems to be a need for state-of-the-art research into this subject matter. This volume aims at responding to this need. The chapters contribute, from a Cognitive Linguistics interdisciplinary perspective, to the existing body of literature on the proverb. The book begins with a first part containing three chapters concerned with theoretical discussions of proverbs in cognition and culture. The three chapters in the second part ponder proverbs within a cognitive-cross-cultural perspective. The third part of the volume includes three chapters that deal with the proverbs of individual languages and cultures. The three chapters in the fourth part study proverbs and/or related phenomena from a cognitive and cultural perspective: snowclones, idioms, and proverbial phrases. This book will be of interest to academics interested in proverbs within a cognitive linguistic framework and to scholars in the areas of language studies, applied linguistics, language teaching and learning, and Cognitive Linguistics in general, and to those researchers who wish to refine their knowledge about the cognitive activities featuring proverb use and their interaction with sociocultural contextual variables.
One of the hot topics in constructionist approaches to the study of language is which traits are to be considered essential to posit a construction, as can be attested in the wide range of definitions that have been put forward when stating how a construction looks like (compare in Goldberg 1995, 2006 and 2019). In this respect, construction grammarians such as Kay (2013) draw a clear-cut distinction between constructions proper and patterns of coining, the latter lacking full productivity, which consigns them to the meta-grammar as well as prevents them from being considered constructions. Against this background, I aim at highlighting that the frontier between proper constructions and patterns of coining is rather blurred, and speakers cannot know without experimentation whether each string is learnt individually and whether speakers are likely or not to build new expressions analogized to these pat-terns. Using a corpus-based methodology, I intend to examine the partly filled construction [Dime X y te diré quién eres], a semi-schematic pattern emerging from a proverb intrinsically related to the notion of “Modelle der Analyse” (Fleischer 1997), “E-creativity” (Sampson 2016) or “snowclone” (Hartmann & Ungerer 2023). With 1036 occurrences extracted manually from the esTenTen18 corpus, I scrutinize the productivity of the semi-schematic construction by means of the role of high token frequency in the postulation of analogical extensions (productivity as extensibility) and of semantic connectedness in the distribution/clustering of the types (productivity as regularity).
Proverbs in English pose a challenge for EFL learners due to their metaphorical nature. This study compared three approaches to enhance EFL students’ proverb comprehension: Conventional-based, Pictorial-based, and Conceptual Metaphor-based. Pre- and post-tests were conducted on 70 EFL students divided into three groups. The Conventional-based Approach was used with 22 students, the Pictorial-based with 25, and the Conceptual Metaphor-based with 23. A one-way ANOVA revealed significant differences among the groups. The Conceptual Metaphor-based group outperformed the Conventional-based and Pictorial-based groups. It is recommended that EFL teachers adopt the Conceptual Metaphor-based Approach to deepen proverb understanding and retention. This approach enables learners to uncover the cultural values within proverbs, fostering language proficiency and critical thinking.
The present study aims at investigating the linguistic expression of gender distinctions in English proverbs and sayings through the lens of paremiology. The investigation focuses on the classification of English proverbs and sayings according to their respective gender component. Our research hypothesis posits that proverbs and sayings, as forms of verbal folklore, have traditionally ascribed specific human traits and activities to individuals based on their gender. To test this hypothesis, over four hundred English proverbs and sayings have been analyzed. The methodology employed in the paper is based on historical research methods, which involve collecting and analyzing information in order to explain past phenomena. The analysis has also employed the data grouping method to organize proverbs and sayings into relevant categories. The data collection has utilized both primary and secondary sources of information. Primary sources include reviews and scientific articles, while in secondary sources are include encyclopedias and dictionaries of proverbs and sayings. The results show that proverbs and sayings reflect gender stereotypes and societal divisions which are often difficult to break. However, the deeper understanding of the ways in which gender roles have been constructed and perpetuated throughout history, can identify areas in which progress towards gender equality is made.
This paper analyzes the New Year messages delivered by Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War and his mandate as chief of state (1937–1974) from a paremiological perspective to determine the frequency of use of proverbs in them and establish the characteristics and purpose of these paremiological uses in relation to the principles of the “National Movement,” the socio-political framework enforced by the francoist-regime. Although Franco’s speeches do not show a strong stylistic awareness, paremias find their way into them, usually as allusions to proverbial wisdom. In relation to this, some recurring items and themes have been found, among which, those with a religious origin or motivation stand out as the most frequent. This is coherent with the ideals that his regime imposed on the Spanish population during his rule and which will be commented on in relation to the paremias used and how they reflect those ideals.
Proverbial expressions are linguistic elements that represent the images and values of a society. This study examines the portrayal of women in Jordanian proverbial expressions. It attempts to answer the following question: How are women portrayed in Jordanian folk proverbs? To this end, seventy-eight Jordanian proverbs related to women were collected through interviews and from published folklore books. Employing thematic analysis, the data were classified into eight categories, namely, women as wives, unmarried women, women as mothers, women as daughters, widowed women, divorced women, women as relatives-in-law and women in general. The analysis also shows that women are represented both negatively and positively in all categories. However, the negative image of women depicted in the proverbs exceeds the positive one. Based on the conclusions, some future research was suggested.
This paper interrogates the changing paradigm in the evolution of traditional African proverbs in the postcolonial setting in which Hausa youth create proverbs centered around the power of both social media and their technologies. In this context, the notion of colonized subjects, cowering under the glare of English linguistic imperialism, is challenged by the Hausa youth through newly fabricated social media proverbs that acknowledge English terms, but use social media platforms to convey what I call ‘Hausa technofolk’ philosophy. This provides insight into how contemporary African youth force a new narrative in the notion of coloniality.
The aim of the thesis is the crosslinguistic study of idioms on the basis of the
theory of conceptual metaphor and metonymy in the more general frame of cognitive linguistics. With idioms speakers approach and process cognitively more or less abstract concepts (target-domain) through specific concepts that may relate to the human body, the natural world and culture (source-domain) and accordingly produce linguistic expressions for them. The vast majority of idioms is created on the basis of universal conceptual metaphors derived from the speakers’ common experiences. It is the first time that such an extensive material from different languages and different linguistic families is collected and studied; it is also the first time that a systematic and contrastive study of it is attempted from a cognitive, semantic and onomasiological, as well as a diachronic stance. The general conclusion that emerges is that speakers choose from a specific source-domain the most salient or seemingly appropriate source-concept in order to produce a linguistic expression of their target-concept. On the surface of it the choice
may seem unexpected or even ‘irrational’ rendering thus an ‘opaque’ idiom. When
however we search for the cognitive trigger of idioms, we find that it is a perfectly
normal albeit atomic perceptual approach, based on physical and cultural experiences, that leads to the creation of new ‘idiomatic’ and particularly expressive linguistic constructions. Idioms serve to express mainly negative or distressful emotional situations with particular intensity, semantic reinforcement and vivid mental-images disclosing thus the subjective evaluation on the part of the speaker, and particularly his emotional involvement. Ancient and modern Greek idioms in their majority are different and independent linguistic realizations but, what is significant, is that they rely on common and diachronically universal conceptual approaches. A small number of ancient Greek idioms that has survived intact has been intensified either conceptually or lexically.
This study investigates how language, gender, and culture are intertwined in two purpose-built corpora of Egyptian Arabic and American English proverbs. It discusses the ideological representations of the potentially gendered term “wife” in such proverbs, as well as the cultural affinities and discrepancies around them. The study has methodically operated at three stages, drawing on theoretical insights from feminist critical discourse analysis and conceptual metaphor theory: (1) determining the frequency of Arabic and English proverbs that represent the social actor “wife” in terms of the various socio-cultural roles assigned to them; (2) demarcating and comparing the principal themes and ideologies associated with the proverbial usage of the lexical term “wife” in Egyptian and American cultures; and (3) describing the underlying source domains that conceptually underpin and discursively legitimatize such themes and ideologies. Results revealed that, firstly, not all of the social functions associated with “wife” are covered in the American-English corpus due to cultural differences regarding the concept of the extended family. Second, the Egyptian-Arabic corpus often portrays the social actor “wife” negatively. Thirdly, to control the public mind regarding gender power dynamics, both corpora shared certain source domains. The wife’s negative portrayals are also used to justify gender hegemony and keep women suppressed, marginalized, and stigmatized.
The article focuses on how the Communist Party in Bulgaria used slogans in the physical environment as party propaganda. An account of the historical context in the country after the Second World War is provided that lead to the establishment of a Communist regime and the drastic changes it brought in all spheres of life. The books of two Bulgarian philosophers written before the democratic changes in 1989 are commented on – an inside criticism of the inherent flaws of the Communist ideology and its practices that countered the innumerable official laudatory appraisals of the system. In the text, a distinction is made between Marxist-Leninist ideology and ideologies in liberal democracies. Discussed are the repetitiveness, the omnipresence and the key signifiers used in the slogans. Structurally, slogans are viewed as single-sentence texts whose communicative function is explained in terms of speech acts. Analysed are their most frequent topics and linguistic features.
Proverbs are notoriously hard to define, and various approaches to this problem are currently in use in the field of paremiology. The discussion in this paper develops a marker-based proverb definition based on linguistic criteria which is suitable for proverb research in linguistic paremiology. The basis of this definition is empirically supported by the results of an experiment with invented German proverbs containing different types of proverbial markers built on the design described in Arora (1984). The results of the experiment show the importance of proverbial markers for the successful identification of proverbs in discourse, thus allowing the establishment of a first hierarchy of proverbial markers. On a methodological level, the experimental design introduced provides insights into proverb structure and the nature of proverbiality. Furthermore, the results underline the fact that proverbial markers are not optional, but should be an essential aspect of every linguistic proverb definition.
This paper examines a number of proverbs in English and Persian to shed light on certain pragmatic issues involved in translation. By analyzing three sets of data within the pragmatic framework, we found that the translatability of proverbs should be characterized as a continuum, rather a clear-cut dichotomy. Depending on the universality or culture-specificity of background cultural information associated with proverbs, three main categories, namely translatables, semi-translatables, and untranslatables are proposed. These categories fall along different points on a postulated continuum of translatability. Our study also shows that implicatures and presuppositions, when applicable to translatability, influence it in an incontrovertible manner. On top of this, the indubitable role of metaphor in the conceptualization of proverbs, and as a result, on the translatability of them is acknowledged.
Various genres of literature within the African context have over the years
portrayed and highlighted African cultures and traditions. One effective tool
that has been used in the full realization of this has been the use of proverbs.
The present study set out to examine how proverbs are used in Kemi
Adetiba’s popular movie franchise, King of Boys, from the pragma-stylistic
perspective. The paper opines that proverbs are not used arbitrarily by
screenwriters, but are specifically used, through various figures of speech,
to offer caution, warning or advice, assert one’s authority and power, and
show one’s intent to achieve a goal. This study extends knowledge in the
study of proverbs and presents language use in movies as a rich avenue in
the promotion of knowledge in African societies.
Keywords: Proverb, Pragmatics, Stylistics, Pragma-stylistics
This article explores the possibility that Google search behavior (as summarized in Google Trends output) may provide an informative lens through which researchers can view shifts in proverb search interest, and a way to see how those shifts relate to particular sociohistorical events. In the application presented here, analyses showed that just as internet searches for terms like “Wuhan,” “coronavirus,” “pandemic,” and “flatten the curve” surged in popularity in the United States in early 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, so, too, did searches for particular phrases (e.g., “keep calm and carry on,” “this too shall pass,” and “all in this together”) that seemed to provide useful proverbial framings for the events of this time. This analysis, then, offers an overview of the pandemic from a paremiological perspective and further illustrates the potential value of quantitative methods in folklore scholarship.
At the beginning of this chapter we consider briefly the topics of contradictory proverbs and people’s doubts in the truth of proverbs; we also review the background of proverb and anti-proverb research and terminology, as well as the occurrence of anti-proverbs. The fifth section touches upon the question of the possible sources and variants of anti-proverbs. The focus of the sixth section is on those proverbs that are most popular for variation, while the seventh section discusses the most common syntactic structures (patterns) on which proverbs and anti-proverbs are built. The eighth section discusses the question of internationally spread anti-proverbs. The final sections of this chapter give a general overview of the book and indicate where the material of the book comes from.
In human languages proverbs constitute a very important aspect of language use. Thus, they have been a subject of varying attention from different specialists: linguists and language users in general. Shakespeare is described as the most adroit user of proverbs in literature; therefore, his plays have been the subject of numerous scientific investigations, whereby from a linguistic point of view the focus has primarily been aimed at vocabulary and grammar. On the one hand, attention has been paid regularly to lexical items because Shakespeare is supposed to have been a great innovator of words due to his coinage of new lexemes and his usage of several unknown expressions. Linguistic studies have also been concerned with grammatical constructions which are typical of the English at Shakespeare’s time. Many writers employ proverbs in their works but Shakespeare is different in the way he employs proverbs which are used to serve different functions and to achieve different illocutionary acts. These proverbs are embedded in the flow of conversations and they may flout one or more than one of Grice‘s maxims. The present study aims at analyzing proverbs and explaining how far Grice’s cooperative principles (maxims) are abided by in Shakespeare’s proverbs as specified in the data. Proverbs are sometimes said to mean something else in addition to what is explicitly stated. Words may mean something beyond those intended by the speaker or the writer. These extra meanings might achieve or refer to different illocutionary acts. The study explores whether or not these illocutionary acts share certain structural features. In order to achieve the aims of the research, the following hypotheses have been proposed: Grice’s cooperative principle is frequently flouted in Shakespeare’s proverbs. The maxim of Quality seems to be flouted more than the other maxims. This maxim is mainly flouted by the use of metaphor. Shakespeare’s proverbs are also characterized by the use of the speech
Emerging from the experiences of a specific society, proverbs commonly mirror certain cultural signs of the traditions, beliefs, and values of that society. This appears as one of the ways of teaching the target culture through building intercultural connections in English as a foreign language (EFL) classes. Correspondingly, this study reserves two aims: First, to investigate the perceptions of Turkish EFL teachers on teaching English proverbs for intercultural relations and the frequency of using English proverbs in EFL classes and second, to examine the ideas of English native-speaker language teachers residing in Turkey about the intercultural role of learning and using proverbs in learning Turkish. To that end, 65 English teachers participated in a likert-scale pattern of two questionnaires and 4 native English lecturers were e-mail interviewed. The data collected from the participants is analysed and described related to the qualitative and quantitative research procedure of the instruments. The study revealed that for culture teaching in EFL classes, teachers favoured teaching proverbs and they believed that teaching proverbs was effective in improving learners’ language skills, grammar and vocabulary learning in learning an L2. As a second finding, native English lecturers were also positive towards learning Turkish proverbs as cultural connectors. Hence, the study accentuates the realization that proverbs can be effectively employed in teaching culture and evoking cultural relations between native language and the target language, plus in improving L2 skills and studies.
Le proverbe reflète la réalité sociale et les croyances populaires. Il peut être envisagé dans le cadre d’une parémiologie comparée, de sorte que nous entreprenons cette étude comme une contribution au dictionnaire phraséologique français-espagnol-galicien. Nous avons eu recours à un ensemble de parémies en langue française, appartenant à différentes époques et sans nous limiter à une perspective eurocentriste, en nous basant sur une culture francophone, comme ensemble linguistique, culturel et sociologique de la francophonie. Le champ de travail a été restreint aux proverbes ayant trait d’une certaine manière à l’amour, au sens large, associé à la figure féminine, comme source d’épanouissement, de discernement, d’opulence, dans son rôle de mère irremplaçable ou comme l’égale de l’homme. Il n’y est question que de ceux qui en font l’éloge ou desquels il en ressort un aspect positif, au moins dans l’une de leurs possibles interprétations, contrairement à ceux, bien plus habituels et nombreux, qui en offrent une image négative.
In recent decades, phraseology has ceased to be a marginal philological discipline and has become an important area in both discourse analysis (“repeated” or “prefabricated” discourse) and applied linguistics (translation and language teaching). The fact that idiomaticity is one of its most characteristic features creates an added difficulty for translators and second language learners, since knowledge of lexicon and regular grammar is not sufficient for the communicative mastery of a language and for the socialization of the speakers in the speech community concerned. This is where sociolinguistics comes into play: the (passive and active) use of phraseological units (PU) or phrasemes becomes a relevant sociolinguistic factor as an index of collective identity in Peirce's terms and as an indicator, a marker, or a stereotype, according to Labov. Furthermore, the conservation of repertories of PU throughout history, and especially proverbs and other expressive formulas, is a symbol of the linguistic and cultural personality of the Catalan language community.
This study strives to answer one major question: Does culture translate?, employing the translation of English proverbs into Arabic by senior students majoring in English. The study involves 30 English proverbs collected from different sources, based on three criteria, namely complete Arabic equivalence, partial Arabic equivalence and zero Arabic equivalence. These 30 proverbs were distributed to 20 randomly selected senior students as participants. The participants translated the 30 proverbs in the form of a translation test in two phases. The results of the study show that teaching the cultural aspects of the proverbs has developed and improved the participants’ translations considerably, thus providing empirical evidence that culture translates .
The unprecedented incidents of woman and child abuse in South Africa indicate that there is animosity directed towards women and children. Even though women are subjected to demeaning acts of violence, they, especially mothers, still play an important role in holding the social cosmos intact and alive. This article argues that in African societies, specifically in Zulu communities, mothers are the pillars of society and the protectors of their children. The aim of this article is to argue that some proverbs and folktales serve as catalysts in elevating the status of women in society. This research aims to prove that some proverbs and folktales depict women as revered beings because they do whatever it takes to protect their children and the ones they hold dear to their hearts. The analysis of the argument is based on the Africana womanism theoretical framework as conceptualised by Hudson-Weems and which infuses African ideologies.
This article examines proverbs and proverbial expressions in contemporary newspaper contexts and in everyday use in three languages: Estonian, Finnish, and Slovenian. Print editions of the Estonian newspapers Postimees and Tartu Postimees, the Finnish newspapers Helsingin Sanomat, Salon Seudun Sanomat, and Perniönseudun Lehti, and the Slovenian newspaper Dnevnik were scanned for use of proverbial material during May 2013. From the reader’s point of view, proverbs are understood to be both etic and emic concepts. The article discusses how to recognize contemporary proverbial units in this study in newspaper texts. The quantitative part of the study outlines proverbial expressions among newspaper genres and sections, and the location of proverbial expressions within textual units. The qualitative part of the analysis concerns distinctive national differences (use of proverbial expressions in horoscopes in Estonia, com-bined with TV programs in Finland and opinion pieces or letters to the editor in Slovenia) and focuses on them in a cultural context. The qualitative study highlights the most essential concentrations of proverbs. The differences are outlined in the sections focusing on country-specific features.
Keywords: proverb, proverbial expression, colloquial language, media, newspaper
Proverbs are characteristically open to multiple interpretations. This is problematic for the translator: (how) should she convey this “openness” in translation? This article confronts the problem by zooming out to see translation as part of a larger “proverb process.” This process involves interpreting, applying, transmitting, and translating the proverb. Focusing on Prov 10–29, I trace a single saying (Prov 18.4) through these stages. I show how, at each stage, “openness” is important. But so too are the dynamics of “closure” and “transformation,” for they give the proverb applicability and power. As such, the translator who closes down and transforms meanings (while arguably lacking faithfulness to the linguistic nuances of the Hebrew) may be showing great faithfulness to the nature, genre, and function of the proverb.
This article will tackle the different degrees and types of commitment at work in proverbial interaction. After an introduction to the notions of “commitment” and “proverb”, formal commitment will be briefly discussed through formulae that contain stance markers. More attention will then be paid to the sociolinguistic approach which describes proverbs as a way for the speaker to avoid commitment and tension. This theory will be studied through notions such as polyphony or proverb duelling, and will be questioned through examples in which proverbs create tension intentionally or unintentionally, thus failing to disengage the speaker’s responsibility. Finally, commitment in proverbs will be broached through their alleged prescriptive nature. The study of the utterances in the last part will be led with the language functions theory as a framework, and will aim at showing that proverbs can perform numerous functions other than the prescriptive or “conative” one, therefore highlighting various degrees and types of commitment for the speaker.
This paper discusses the role of Oromo proverbs in conflict resolution and/or management as a peace-making verbal communication principle in the cultural context. The lesson from proverbs, which contain traditional morsels of wisdom, consists of cultural value and rhetorical effectiveness helping to enforce reality in the context in which they are used. Data for this paper is generated from primary sources. In data gathering, we used interview and focus group discussion. The analysis shows that proverbs have persuasive power to advise, guide and influence conflicting parties to settle their case peacefully. The proverbs tell their truths about conflict situations and devise a resolution and management approach through metaphorical and symbolic representations. Proverbs are also an integral part of Oromo culture, handing down and imparting norms, values, rules and the worldview of the community to guide people to live in customary ways.
The paper inquires into the idea that Mihai Eminescu (1850–1889)—the most important Romanian writer of the 19th century—featured in his journalistic writings proverbs collected from the speech of common people. Concerning the hundreds of proverbs featured in the press articles penned by Eminescu, I assume that the aforementioned writer naturalised in the mosaic-like journalistic texts certain book excerpts upon which he conferred the stylistic image of folk elements. Without denying that some of the proverbs used by the poet in his articles pertain to common language, in this study, I am mainly interested in the “stage setting” orchestrated by the writer to confer a folkloric aura upon erudite excerpts. Last but not least, the study unveils Eminescu’s willingness to experiment with various journalistic compositional formulas, tailored to his knowledge, sensibility, and imagination.
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