Social Functions of English Proverbs.docx

Social Functions of English Proverbs.docx

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SocialFunctionsofEnglishProverbs

英语谚语的社交功能

SocialFunctionsofEnglishProverbs

Contents

Abstract……………………………………………………………………...1

Keywords…………………………………………………………………...1

I.Introduction………………………………………………………………2

II.LiteratureReview……………...………………………………...………3

III.ClassificationsofEnglishProverbs…………………………………..5

IV.CharacteristicsofEnglishProverbs…………...……………………….5

1.Establishedforms………………………………………………………6

2.Essentialfeatures………………………………………………………6

3.Stylisticcharacteristics…………………………………………………6

4.Analysisfromdifferentangles…………………………………………..6

V.SocialFunctionsofEnglishProverbs………..………………………….7

1.Thefunctiontomoralize…………………………………………………7

2.Thefunctiontospreadknowledgeandexperience…...……………………8

3.Thefunctiontoadvise…………………………...………………………9

4.Thefunctiontomakedescriptioninliterature…...………………………10

5.Thefunctiontopractiseinsociety………………………………………10

VI.Conclusion………………….…………………………………………12

References…………………………………...…………………………..….12

Abstract:

Proverbsarebrief,memorablesayingsthatofferethicaldirectioninspecificlanguagesituationsfromgenerationtogeneration.Theyareafeatureinalmostallcultures,historically,aswellastoday.Asagroupofwordswithaspecialmeaningdifferentfromthemeaningofitsconstituentwords,proverbcanbedefinedasacombinationoftwoormorewords,whichareusuallystructurallyfixedandsemanticallyopaque,andthefunctionasasingleunitofmeaning.Itisanestablishedform,inwhichthecomponentwords,wordorder,meaningsandgrammaticalfunctionofeachproverbshouldbelearnedasawhole.Englishproverbsareessentialpartsofthegeneralvocabulary,reflecttheenvironment,life,history,andcultureofthenativespeakers,andarecloselyassociatedwiththeirinnermostspiritsandfeeling.Englishproverbscontainingtheabundantcontenthaveingeniouslanguageforms,vividrhetoricmethods,havebeenprovedtohaveextensivesocialfunctions.Generallyspeaking,itmanifeststhefollowingsocialfunctions:

Thefunctiontomoralize;thefunctiontospreadknowledgeandexperience;thefunctiontoadvise;thefunctiontomakedescriptioninliterature;thefunctiontopractiseinsociety.

Keywords:

Englishproverbs；classification；characteristic；socialfunctions

摘　要：

谚语是世世代代在具体的语言形势里提供伦理方向的简短，值得记忆言论。

他们是在几乎所有文化里的一个普遍存在特征，无论在历史上还是今天。

英语谚语是一个由具有特别意义的单词构成的群体，这种特别意义与它们作为独立成分的意义是不同的。

谚语可以被定义为由两个或多个单词在结构上固定，在语意上晦涩的结合，并作为一个语意单元使用。

它是一个已建立的并且已经被传统用法所接受的语言形式。

因此，谚语的各成份词、词序、词义及语意功能必须当作一个整体来学习。

谚语作为一个语言中一般词汇的必要组成部分。

它反映出讲母语的人环境，生命，历史和文化，并与他们的最内部情绪和感觉相关。

谚语蕴含着丰富的内容，具有巧妙的语言形式，生动的修辞方法，所以它们具有广泛的社会功能。

总而言之，其社会功能用主要表现在思想道德、科学认识、教育警策、文学描绘和社会实践等几个方面。

关键词：

英语谚语；分类；特征；社会功能

I.Introduction

EnglishproverbsareaunitofEnglishlanguage,akindofphraseology,thedistillateofEnglishlanguage,whicharecolorfulandvivid.Theymainlycomefromoraltradition,literatureandclassics,religiousbooks,andmostofwhichfromthelowest--thelaborclass.Becausetheyarefromsocialpracticesandreallife,theyareacceptedandusedbymostpeople.Themajordifficultyweencounteraboutproverbsisthatwedon’tknowhowtochooseproperproverbsinpropersituations.SoitseemsnecessarytomakearesearchonEnglishproverbs.ThispaperwillemphasizeparticularlyonsocialfunctionsofEnglishproverbs,focusingonclassificationsofEnglishproverbs,characteristicsofEnglishproverbsandsocialfunctionsofEnglishproverbs.

AnEnglishproverbisagroupofwordswithaspecialmeaningsdifferentformthemeaningofitsconstituentparts,whichmaybedefinedasacombinationoftwoormorewordswhichareusuallystructurallyfixedandsemanticallyopaque,andfunctionasasingleunitofmeaning.Itisanestablishedform,inwhichthecomponentwords,thewordorder,themeaningsandgrammaticalfunctionsofeachproverbshouldbelearnedasawhole.Englishproverbs,anessentialpartofthegeneralvocabulary,reflectenvironment,life,history,andcultureofthenativespeakers,andarecloselyassociatedwiththeirinnermostspiritsandfeeling.TheEnglishLanguageteemswithproverbswhichareusuallydifficulttointerpret,andmaycauseoneofthechiefstumblingblockstoforeignstudentsstudyingEnglish.AccordingtosomecomputationthenumberofidiomaticexpressionsknownbyaculturedEnglishmanisover5,000（notcountingprepositionalidiomsandAmericanisms.）.

InthepaperthewriterwillsummarizethesocialfunctionsofEnglishproverbs,whicharereflectedbyfollowingproperties:

1.Languageproperty:

Englishproverbsarerelativelycompleteimmobilesentenceswithrhythms,popularlanguages,vividtropesandlaconicwords.

2.ContentpropertyofEnglishproverbs:

Englishproverbsaredistillatesofexperienceofpeople’slives,flaresofhumanwisdom,andcontainspecificallyculturaltincts.

3.Socialfunctions:

It’smajorfunctionsaretoenlightenpeople’slife,guidepeople’sactions,impartexperience,moralityeducationetc.

4.Varietyoforigins:

Generallyspeaking,Englishproverbsoriginatefrompeople’spracticallivingexperience,mainlyfromfolktongues,somefromwrittenliteraturessuchasreligiousclassicsandliteratureworks.

ThepaperwillillustratetheEnglishlearningobstaclesinusingEnglishproverbs.TheclassificationsofEnglishproverbs,characteristicsofEnglishproverbsandsocialfunctionsofEnglishproverbs,thepurposeofwhichistoimproveourstudents’cognitionaboutEnglishlanguage.

II.LiteratureReview

Englishproverbscantracebacktomiddleagesorevenearlier.WhenwestudyingEnglishproverbs,wecan’thavetomentionEnglishidioms,becausethecategoryofEnglishidiomsislargerthanthatofEnglishproverbs.

Theword"idiom"comesfromGreek"idios"whichwasfrom"idioma-",meaningone'sown,private,peculiar.Englishidiomshavetheirownpeculiarfeatures,whichenhancetheirinseparability,cohesionandconstancy.EnglishproverbsbelongtoaspecificgroupofEnglishidioms.Aproverb,（awordfromLatin）whichisoftenasayingpopularlyknownandrepeated,usuallyexpressingsimplyandconcretely,thoughoftenmetaphorically,andatruthbasedoncommonsenseorthepracticalexperienceofmankind.E.g.:

Aproverb'Astitchintimesavesnine.'describingabasicruleofconductmayalsobeknownasamaxim.Ifaproverbisdistinguishedbyparticularlygoodstyle,itmaybeknownasanaphorism.

Mostproverbsareborrowedfromdifferentlanguagesandcultures,andcomedowntothepresent,ofwhichBibleandmedievalLatinhaveplayedaconsiderableroleindistributingproverbsacrossWesternEuropeandevenfurther.

Thestudyofproverbscalledparemiology（awordfromGreekparemia=proverb）whichcanbedatedbackasfarasAristotle,meaningthecollectionofproverbs.Currently,theforemostproverbscholarintheUnitedStates,WolfgangMieder,whodefinesthetermproverbasfollows:

“Aproverbisashort,generallyknownsentenceofthefolkwhichcontainswisdom,truth,morals,andtraditionalviewsinametaphorical,fixedandmemorizableformandwhichishandeddownfromgenerationtogeneration.”（Mieder1985:

119;alsoinMieder1993:

24）

Proverbsasbrief,memorablesayingsthatofferethicaldirectioninspecificsituationsfromgenerationtogeneration,areafeatureofalmostallcultures,historically,aswellastoday.Theproverbistailor-madeforprimaryoralcultureswithnosystemofinscription,andincontemporaryliteraryculturesnewsayingscontinuetobecoined.Aparableisamoreexpansivecousintotheproverb.Itisashortnarrativefictionthatexpressesamoralorreligiouslesson.Liketheproverb,parableswhichcanbeusedtoinspirelisteners’participationarememorableandcanbeappliedinone'sdailylife.

“Proverbsarecontext-transcendingonaccountoftheirinclusionofseveralmemorablefeaturesoforalcommunication.”（Fernando,Chitra:

IdiomsandIdiomaticity[M].Oxford:

OxfordUniversityPress）.Theycanberepresentedintheformsof:

1）repetition（"All'swellthatendswell"）;2）alliterationandrhyming（"Hastemakeswaste"）,3）useofopposites（"Whatgoesupmustcomedown"）;4）anduseofthepresenttense.Theeloquentanonymousdefinitionoftheproverbas“awingedword,outlivingthefleetingmoment”comesfromthiscontext-transcendingquality

“AnEnglishproverbisagroupofwordswithaspecialmeaningdifferentformthemeaningofitsconstituentwords.”（Strang,Barbara,M.H.（1974）,AHistoryofEnglish,London：

Methuen&CompanyLtd.Proverbmaybedefinedasacombinationoftwoormorewordswhichareusuallystructurallyfixedandsemanticallyopaque,andthefunctionasasingleunitofmeaning.Itisanestablishedform,onethathasbeenacceptedbytraditionalusage.Assuch,thecomponentwords,wordorder,meaningsandgrammaticalfunctionsofeachproverbshouldbelearnedasawhole.Englishproverbsareessentialpartofthegeneralvocabulary.Proverbsreflecttheenvironment,life,history,andcultureofthenativespeakers,andarecloselyassociatedwiththeirinnermostspiritsandfeeling.

Peoplearealwaysusingproverbs,butfewofthemknowtheirfunctionsclearly.SoonlyafewhaveresearchedsocialfunctionsofEnglishproverbs.Theproverb“Youcanleadahorsetowater,butyoucan'tmakehimdrink”isexceedinglyfamiliartoAmericans,fromschoolchildrentocosmopolitansophisticates.ThesayingissowellknownthatwriterDorothyParker,whenchallengedtocreateawittysayingusingtheword“horticulture”ultimatelyquipped“Youcanleadawhoretoculture,butyoucan'tmakeherdrink.”Thiswell-knownanecdoteprovesthefactthattheoriginalproverbisdeeplyingrainedinthemindsofAmericanEnglishspeakers.

ThepaperwillillustratetheEnglishlearningo