Semantic classification of proverbs and sayings in english language

Many people have loved proverbs for the wisdom embedded in them. Others have treasured proverbs for the vividness or earthiness of their imagery. But students of the subject are impressed by still 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. Even when a scholar such as Mario Pei wrote a short piece on "Parallel Proverbs" (1964) Paralle! Proverbs" (1964) for the Saturday Review, he basically adhered to this general view of the proverb in his article dealing with national and international proverbs, their cynicism, philosophy and humor, their obvious misogyny and their contradictor) 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... Proverbs are generalizations of human experience, condensations of oft-repeated occurrences of the trial-and-error variety. 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.

This lengthy discussion of the nature of the proverb by Pei reads almost as an attempt of summarizing the common understanding of proverbs. Many of the 55 definitions stated above are similar to Pei's points, and it is amazing to notice how congruous these definitions are to those defining attempts printed in magazines and newspapers. There certainly is much agreement in the non-scholarly world of what a proverb is even if scholars seem to be unable to agree on a reasonable definition at all.

A proverb is by definition a popular maxim. Proverbs are among the most ancient literary forms, and among the most universal. Enough if it [the proverb] holds its measure of truth. Proverbs are anonymous wisdom-literature of the common man in ages past. Shalant, and Soyoo Hyunjoo Park "The Sun and the Moon." Matti Kuusi once defined proverbs simply as "monumenta humana," and this is exactly what they are to the general population. Our survey of 55 non-academic definitions has shown that proverbs are thought to express human wisdom and basic truths in a short sentence. Popular articles in magazines and newspapers fend to share this view of the proverb. Altogether proverbs are still seen as useful generalizations about life, even if at times their value of appropriateness in certain situations might be questioned. We can poke fun at proverbs, we can ridicule them or we can parody them, but eventually we are all governed by their insights to some degree. Proverbs and their wisdom confront us' daily, and modern people seem to have a clear idea of what proverbs are, what they express and what they can do for us. Proverb scholars would do well to pay more attention to the present use of proverbs while obviously also continuing to tackle the frustrating question of whether a universal proverb definition can be found. But in their enduring search for such an erudite definition, they can take solace in the fact that the people using proverbs do know in their minds what makes a good proverb - an incommunicable quality tells them that a short and repeated statement of wisdom, truth and experience must be a proverb.

Comparing the three approaches discussed above (semantic, functional, and contextual) we have ample ground to conclude that 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.

The main features of this new approach which is now more or less universally accepted by Soviet linguists are as follows: this approach is suggested and worked out by prof. A.V.Kunin. -See: A.B. Кунин. Английская фразеология M 1970.

10. Phraseology is regarded as a self-contained branch of linguistics and not as a part of lexicology.

11. Phraseology deals with a phraseological subsystem of language and not with isolated phraseological units.

14. Phraseology is concerned with all types of set expressions.

15. Set expressions are divided into three classes: phraseological units (e.g. red tape, mare's nest, etc.), phraseomatic units (e.g. win a victory, launch a campaign, etc.) and borderline cases belonging to the mixed class. The main distinction between the first and the second classes is semantic: phraseological units have fully or partially transferred meanings while components of phraseomatic units are used in their literal meanings.

16. Phraseological and phraseomatic units are not regarded as word-equivalents but some of them are treated as word correlates.

17. Phraseological and phraseomatic units are set expressions and their phraseological stability distinguishes them from free phrases and compound words.

Phraseological and phraseomatic units are made up of words of different degree of wordness depending on the type of set expressions they are used in. (cf. e.g. small hours and red tape). Their structural separateness, an important factor of their stability, distinguishes them from compound words.

Conclusion

The vocabulary of a language is enriched not only by words but also by phraseological units. Phraseological units are word-groups that cannot be made in the process of speech; they exist in the language as ready-made units.

They are compiled in special dictionaries. The same as words phraseological units express a single notion and are used in a sentence as one part of it. American and British lexicographers call such units «idioms». We can mention such dictionaries as: L.Smith «Words and Idioms», V.Collins «А Book of English Idioms» etc In these dictionaries we can find words, peculiar in their semantics (idiomatic), side by side with word-groups and sentences. In these dictionaries they are arranged, as a rule, into different semantic groups.

Phraseological units can be classified according to the ways they are formed, according to the degree of the motivation of their meaning, according to their structure and according to their part-of-speech meaning.

A.V. Koonin classified phraseological units according to the way they are formed. He pointed out primary and secondary ways of forming phraseological units.

By the classification of Academician V.Vinogradov phraseological units are divided into three groups: phraseological combinations, phraseological unities and phraseological fusions.

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.

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. These considerations are illustrated in several European and Far-Eastern languages, as English and Korean.

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. In the proverbs and sayings picturesqueness of national thinking was more vivid expressed as well as their features of national character.

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. In the proverb-; and sayings picturesqueness of national thinking was more vivid expressed as well as their features of national character. The proverbs and sayings are the paper of folklore which is short but deep in the meaning. They express the outlook of the amount of people by their social and ideal functions. Proverbs and sayings include themselves the 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 the 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.

While investigating on the given qualification theme we have analysed proverbs on the semantic point of view. We have come across on the> following noticeable themes, such as Friendship, Motherland, Time, Knowledge, Beauty, Health, Work, and a lot other different subjects. We have classified some example on the given topics:

Friendship

1. A friendship in need is a friend indeed.

2. A friend's frown is better than a foe's smile.

3. Among friends all things are common.

4. Even reckoning makes long friends.

5. Who keeps company with the wolf, will learn to howl.

Motherland

1. East or West home is best.

2. Ever' bird likes its own nest.

3. There is no place like home.

4. Never cast dirt into that fountain if which you have sometimes drunk.

5. Don't cut the bough you are standing on.

Time

1. Time and tide wait for no man.

2. Time cures all things.

3. Time tiles.

4. Time is money.

5. Time is wonders

Knowledge

1. To know everything is to know nothing.

2. Soon learnt soon forgotten.

3. Live and learn.

4. It's never too late to learn.

5. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Beauty

1. All that glitters is not gold.

2. Appearances are deceptive

3. Handsome is as handsome does.

4. There is no rose without the thorn.

Health

5. An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

6. A sound mind in a sound body.

7. Early to bed and early to rise makes a man health's, wealth's and wise.

8. Good health is above wealth.

9. Health is not valued till sickness comes

Work

1. A bad workman always blames his tools.

2. A good beginning is half the worn.

3. A good beginning makes a good ending.

4. An attempt is not torture.

5. All is well that ends well.

The list of the used literature

1. Aмосова Н. Н. Основы английской фразеологии Л. 1963.

2. Aмосова Н. Н. Основы английской фразеологии Л. 1963.

3. Алехина А.И. Фразеологическая единица и слово. - Минск, 1991.

4. Англо-русский фразеологический словарь. М., 1955).

5. Арнольд И.В. Лексикология современного английского языка.М. 1959

6. Виноградов В.В. Об основных типах фразеологических единиц в русском языке // Виноградов В.В. Лексикология и лексикография: Избр. Тр. - М.: Наука, 1986.

7. Кунин A.B. Английская фразеология. M., 1970.

8. Кунин А.В. Англо-русский фразеологический словарь. 3-е изд., стереотип. - М.: Русский язык, 2001.

9. Кунин А.В. Фразеология современного английского языка. - М.: Международные отношения, 1996.

10. Кунин А.В.Англо-русский фразеологический словарь, М., 1956.

11. Литвинов П.П. Англо-русский фразеологический словарь с тематической классификацией. - М.: Яхонт, 2000.

12. Смирницкий А. «Лексикология английского языка» М.,1996 стр.23

13. Смирницкий А.И. Лексикология английского языка. М., 1956.

14. Смит Л.П. Фразеология английского языка. - М., 1998.

15. Arnold I.V. The English Word . M. 1986.

16. Bartlett Jere Whiting, "The Nature of the Proverb." 1932

17. Collins V. «А Book of English Idioms» 1981

18. English idioms in: Logan Smith. Words and Idioms. London, 1928.

19. Ginzburg R.S. et al. A Course in Modern English Lexicology. M., 1979.

20. Hornby A. The Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Lnd. 1974.

21. Jaii Fredrik Kindstrand “The Greek Concept of proverbs” 1992

22. Kunin A.V. English Idioms.3d ed. M., 1967.

23. Potter S. Modern Linguistics. Lnd., 1957.

24. Smith L. «Words and Idioms». 1976

25. Yoo Yushin. "The Legend of Tan-gun." Golden Pond Press, 1987.

26. http:// www.cogweb.com

27. http:// www.proverbs. com

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