Types of proverbs on meanings motivation

It might be wise to mention here at' least some of the English proverbs which in themselves are folk definitions of a sort: "A good maxim is never out of season"; "All the good sense of the world runs into proverb"; "Proverbs are the children of experience"; "Proverbs are the wisdom of the streets"; "Nothing can beat a proverb"; "Proverbs cannot be contradicted"; "Though the old proverb be given up. it is none the less true"; "The old saying cannot be excelled"; "The wisdom of the proverb cannot be surpassed"; "Common proverb seldom lies"; "The old saying, long proved true, shall never be belied"; "Old saws speak truth"; "Every- proverb is truth"; "Old proverbs are the children of truth"; "What everyone says is true"; etc.

It appears that to the mind of proverb users, i.e. the general population, the proverb contains a good dose of common sense, experience, wisdom and above all truth. Certain principles and conditions of everyday life are expressed in proverbs, which in turn help people to understand the world and to learn from experience. In a few words proverbs explain human problems and behavior.

There are several types of proverbs:

Universal proverbs – On comparing proverbs of culturally unrelated parts of the world, one finds several ones having not only the same basic idea but the form of expression, i.e. the wording is also identical or very similar. These are mainly simple expressions of simple observations or simple ethical concepts, but not all expressions of simple observations became proverbs in every language.

Regional proverbs – In culturally related regions - on the pattern of loan-words - many loan-proverbs appear beside the indigenous ones. A considerable part of them can be traced back to the classical literature of the region's past, in Europe the Greco-Roman classics, and in the Far East to the Sanskrit and Korean classics.

Local Proverbs – In a cultural region often internal differences appear, the classics (e.g. the Bible or the Confucian Analects) are not equally regarded as a source of proverbs in every language. Geographical vicinity gives also rise to another set of common local proverbs.

Proverbs were always the most vivacious and at the same time the most stable part of the national languages, suitable competing with the sayings and aphorisms of outstanding thinkers. They express the outlook of the amount of people by their social and ideal functions. Proverbs and sayings include some certain features of historical development and the culture of people.

The semantic sphere of proverbs is very wide and cannot limit them. The proverbs describe every branch of people's life. The fact is that proverbs and sayings are similar in meaning in spite of their diversity in form and language.

3. Proverbs as the way of expressing peoples’ wisdom and spirit.

Many people have loved proverbs for the wisdom embedded in them. Others have treasured proverbs for the vividness or earthiness of their imagery. But there is another characteristic of the proverb: its verbal economy. Proverbs are rarely wordy. The usual proverb is spare and austere in expression, and some are marvels of compactness.

"Wisdom" and "shortness" doubtlessly belong to the popular notion of what makes up a proverb. Dealing with national and international proverbs, we point out their cynicism, philosophy and humor, their obvious misogyny and their contradictory comments on life's experiences around the world: Proverbs are among the most ancient of human institutions. Criticism of life, in brief and pithy form, is characteristic of proverbs, while their popular philosophy is indeed, proverbial.

"Proverbs are the wisdom of peoples" goes an Italian saying. This is perhaps an exaggeration, but there is no doubt that much of a nation's folk-philosophy gets into proverbs, along with the spice of national customs and, above all, the peculiar flavor of the nation's language and phraseology. Above all, they are the fruit of observation and inductive reasoning, two of the great faculties of the human mind. A generalization caught on, became popular, and was passed from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation. Ultimately it became an integral part of the group's folklore, and was repeated whenever the situation it described recurred. Every proverb tells a story and teaches a lesson.

Comparing semantic, functional, and contextual approaches we may conclude that proverbs have very much in common as the main criteria of phraseological units appear to be essentially the same, i.e. stability and idiomaticity or lack of motivation. It should be noted however that these criteria as elaborated in the three approaches are sufficient mainly to single out extreme cases: highly idiomatic non-variable and free (or variable) word-groups.

In conclusion we may say that proverb is a brief saying that presents a truth or some bit of useful wisdom. It is usually based on common sense or practical experience. The effect of a proverb is, to make the wisdom it tells seem to be self-evident. The same proverb often occurs among several different peoples. True proverbs are sayings that have been passed from generation to generation primarily by word of month. They may also have been put into written form.

A proverb consists of a short sentence which contains a general piece of wisdom. A proverb contains wisdom which has been handed down from one generation to the next. A proverb describes situations which happened before and which are repeated again and again.

The fact is that proverbs and sayings are similar in meaning in spite of their diversity in form and language.

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