The Proverbs Are Children Of Experience (Пословицы

TatianaYevich

English101

ResearchPaper

4.17.01

RickPederson

The Proverbs Are Children Of Experience.

It would appear that nothing could be easier thanwriting down the definition of a proverb. Where did a proverb comefrom? Where can it be used? Proverbs are widely used in the societyon the regular basis. Some scholars and popular writers have claimedrepeatedly that proverbial language has passed from usage; however itremains an easily proven fact that proverbs are not “passeґ”and definitely not dead. This form of language helps to express ourthoughts more exactly and vividly. Proverbs contain wisdom, humor,and usually fit many purports.

TheOxford Dictionary of English Proverbs definesa proverb as a sentence that has been developed orally and is stillused by the people of a region. It has usually come about fromexperience, and it is a statement that teaches learning within anexperience. The World Book Encyclopediagives a different explanation of the word: Proverb is a brief sayingthat presents a truth of some bit of useful wisdom. It is usuallybased on common sense or practical experience. The effect of aproverb is to make the wisdom it tells seem to be self-evident. Thesame proverb often occurs among several different peoples, Trueproverbs are sayings that have been passed from generation togeneration, primarily by word of mouth. They may also have been putinto written form. The Book of Proverbs In theHebrew Bible, or Old Testament, is the mostnotable collection of such sayings. They include:

Hopedeferred makes the heart sick.
A goodname is rather to be chosen than great riches.
A softanswer turneth away wrath.
Pridegoeth before destriction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

In ancient Israel, children wereeducated primarily at home, and proverbs were used to teach them tobecome successful and responsible adults. Proverbs have not losttheir well-established popularity, and they continue to be everpresent, even in a modern technological society like that of theUnited States of America. This has recently been made abundantlyclear by the thousands of proverbs registered in A Dictionary ofAmerican Proverbs ( New York: Oxford University Press, 1992)edited by S.A. Kingsbury, K.B. Harder.

Early to bed, and early to rise, make a manhealthy, wealthy and wise.

This is an old proverbwell known in many countries that has not passed from its usage. Proverbs both old and new, continue to serve us well as concisestatements of apparent truths. In everyday life proverbs name socialsituations, that is, they are used to communicate our general humanconcerns in traditional language. By employing proverbs in our speechwe wish to strengthen argument, express certain generalizations,influence or manipulate other people, rationalize our ownshortcomings, question certain behavior patterns, satirize socialills, and poke fun at ridiculous situations.

Sayingwithout thinking is shooting without aiming.

There are no limits to the use ofproverbs, and each individual proverb may be used in many waysdepending on its context. There are hundreds of proverbs dealing withthe body, work, love, friendship, death, weather and more. Forexample:

Kissand be friends.
Twoheads are better than one.
Loveis blind.
Onehand washes other.
A goodbeginning makes a good ending.
It isbetter to do well then to say well.

These are the examples of proverbs that are basedon friendship and love. Some folklorists are now arguing that mostweather proverbs are not proverbs at all but rather superstitionscouched in proverbial language (Mieder, Wolfgagng 12). Nevertheless,we would still argue that such texts as:

Lightningnever strikes twice in the same place.
Makehay while the sun shines.

These are proverbs, especially since they areusually used in a figurative and not in a literal sense. Medicalproverbs are also widely used by people all over the world. Here aresome proverbs that are very popular:

An apple a day keeps a doctor away.
Adisease known is half cured.
Thedoctor is often more to be feared than the disease.
Healthis not valued till sickness comes.
Bitterpills may have blessed effects.

Proverbsprovide humor in a sarcastic way. Depending on the specific proverb aperson can identify an action and its consequence. For example:

Do notdo all you can; spend not all you have; believe not all you hear;tell not all you know.

This proverb explains that one should use commonsense as well as sensor ones speech in relationship to other people. Another example of sarcastic proverbs can be proverb:

A man can work from sun to sun, but a woman’swork is never done.

Proverbs and their value systems give us somebasic structure, and if their worldview does not fit a particularsituation, they can be quickly changed into revealing and liberatinganti-proverbs. Proverbs are also used as idioms; every language hasits own. An idiom usually consists of a group of words, which iseither meaningless or absurd if the words are understood to mean whatthey usually do.

Mostly short proverbs can be used as idioms. Forexample:

Die with one’s boots on.

This proverb (idiom) means expire while working,keep working to the end. I some languages proverbs may occur asclichйs or old proverbs. Clichйs are trite, worn outexpressions. While they are acceptable in conversation, they shouldbe avoided in writing. Here are some examples of such event:

Off the wall. Means to be not well reasoned.
Sound as a dollar. Means sensible.

A small sentence as proverb also contains grammarrules and tones of vocabulary that is why I would claim that proverbscould help a great deal to learn a foreign language like English andmake the process of learning more interesting. Proverbs contain suchgrammar rules as: degrees of comparison of adjectives, gerundconstruction, construction “there is”, “there are”,formation of noun plurals, formation of present, past and futuretenses, antonyms and synonyms, and most of irregular verbs.

Proverbs help to remember gerund construction,which does not occur in any other language but English.

Saying without thinking is shooting withoutaiming.
Seeing is believing.

Constructions “there is”, “thereare” are also do not exist in most of the languages they arenot very hard to remember but it is more interesting to learn it withthe help of the proverbs. For example:

There is no place like home.
There are more ways to the woods then one.
There is no rose without a thorn.
There is no fool like an old fool.

Although many proverbs have beenforgotten there still some that will forever be used. With a newgeneration, new technology and new lingo there will be more proverbsto come and more to be forgotten. People will continue to use old andnew proverbs, therefore they will never die. They are an importantpart of learning and life in general.

Tanya Yevich

Professor Peterson

English I

17 April2001

ResearchPaper