On the Factors of the Formation of Proverbs

毛发仁

Abstract：A proverb is the refinement of wisdom， the condensation of experience， and the concentration of culture. Both Chinese and English have possessed a large number of proverbs. When we enjoy those words that sparkle with philosophical thinking， it is not difficult to find many Chinese and English proverbs are describing things similarly in humans common feeling and thinking. This paper will study the factors that contribute to the formation of proverbs.

Key words：proverb； formation； factors

中圖分类号：G64 文献标识码：A 文章编号：1673-9132（2017）33-0021-02

DOI：10.16657/j.cnki.issn1673-9132.2017.33.009

1. The Introduction of Proverbs

Proverbs， often in oral form， have enjoyed its abundant popularity as a means of exchange or social discourse among common people. According to Advanced Learners English-Chinese Dictionary， “proverb is a well–known phrase or sentence that gives advice or says something true.”（Hornby， 2004） Regard to the origin， a proverb is much matter decorated into few words， and they are the daughter of daily life （Wang， 2007）. In terms of their characteristics， proverbs are fixed sentences and phrases spread among the mass and reflected profound meanings by simple words （Bao， 2004）.

Proverbs are small packages of truth about a peoples values and beliefs. Values like ambition， virtue， generosity and patience are addressed in sayings from most every culture. No matter how they are defined， proverb has played an important role in family education and the inheritance of culture.

2. The Factors of the Formation of Proverbs

2.1 Natural Environment

2.1.1 Natural Phenomenon

Certain environment and diverse environment in which culture generated was， no doubt， a factor that makes the diversity of culture. People use common and imagery words to describe their life， experience， and natural environment. Those words became proverb at last and they must reflect the special characteristics of the culture. Meanwhile， the regional and eco-culture would be illustrated.

Britain is situated in the western hemisphere with the typical temperate ocean climate. The changeable weather gives birth to many proverbs about weather. Such as，

1） Rain before seven， fine before eleven.

2） An English summer， three hot days and a thunder.

Furthermore， Britain is a country on island that has long coastline. Therefore， people live there use ships or boats much more than those who are far away from the coast. In the long-term ship and fish industry， people made a great numbers of proverbs， which tell about their observation and experience in nature. For example，endprint

1） When the water is shallow， no vessel will ride.

2） Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

3） A smooth sea never makes a skillful mariner.

For another thing， China is a continental country in which Chinese people developed their prosperous agriculture. Chinese people therefore treasure their land very much. They spend most of their time on the land and concluded numerous proverbs about the land. For example， caw is often used in this culture. They have sayings like：

A newborn calf is not afraid of the tiger.

On contrary， England， whose terrain is mainly covered by high land and grazing land， is famous for animal husbandry. They have sayings goes like

1） You may take a horse to water， but you may not make him drink.

2） Better be the head of an ass than the tail of a horse.

2.1.2 Traditional Customs and Habits

Customs and habits is a social phenomenon which cover all aspects of people`s life. So the proverbs characterized by different living condition and customs were produced. Take Chinese and English proverbs for instance， they use different metaphors in their proverbs， which often imply the same meaning， however， should date back to the different customs and habits of living people depend on. For example， in western countries， the hotel owners often hang a bunch of ever-green vine in front of the hotel to attract customers. For those hotels with favorable word-of-mouth， they do not need hang any ever-green-vine at all. Therefore， westerners created the proverb like： Good wine needs no bush. It largely reflects peoples customs and habits of running business.

Another example shows that in North Scotland， the economic condition of workers in workshop is not as good. They are so poor that they often wear wooden shoes which are called clogs by term. Then clogs became a symbol of poverty. People thus created a proverb according this custom goes like： From clogs to clogs is only three generation. It means that if the children do not work as hard as their parents do the property of the family would be eaten up one day. Then the clan may wear clogs again within three generations. Besides， many proverbs are telling the unique customs， such as： Teach your grandmother to suck eggs. It indicates the custom of westerners that they suck eggs since their childhood.

Other proverbs like： Make hay when sun shines and Look for a needle in a haystack are all reflecting their significant customs and habits.endprint

2.2 Psychological Association

2.2.1 Association of Plants

Different psychological association of plants， which is a typical difference of people in different culture produce many proverbs， too.

“桃李”has special cultural meaning in Chinese except for its literal meaning of peach and plum trees. It draws parallels with noble characters and students. “桃李不言，下自成蹊”can be freely translated into “a man true worth attracts admiration”， in which， the image of “桃李”is deleted. “桃李滿天下” means that well-known teachers have students all over the country or the world， which makes foreign readers produce the same effect as Chinese readers do.“桃李”is deleted， since peach and plum trees have not any other cultural implication in English except for their literal meanings. “Who has never tasted bitter knows not what is sweet” is translated into“不尝黄连苦，怎知蜜蜂甜”，which adds the images of“黄连”and“蜜蜂”in Chinese， and it not only faithfully passes on information of the source language， but also more in keeping with acceptable psychology of the target readers.

2.2.2 Association of Animals

Human beings and animals have been good friends from ancient times. Human beings are superior to animals yet oriented from animals. In different cultures， people are illustrating their relationship with animals in different ways. Quote it from Genesis that

In the beginning， when God created the universe， the earth was formless and desolate. The ranging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness， God commanded “Let there be light-That was the first day.”

Then God commanded “Let there be dome to divide the water and to keep it in two separate places” -and it was done. The dome was made sky. Everything passed and morning comes-That was the second day.

Then God commanded “Let the water below the sky come to the same place， so that the land will appear”-and it was done. He named the water sea and the land “earth”...Then he commanded the plants were to make.-That was the third day.

God made the two larger lights， the sun to rule over the day and the moon to rule over the night； he also made the stars-That was the fourth day.

God created all kinds of creatures that live in the water and all kinds of birds –That was the fifth day.

Then God commanded， “Let the earth produce all kinds of animal life： domestic and wild， large and small”-and it was done. Then God said， “And now we will make human beings.” So God created human beings， making them to be like himself.-That was the sixth day.endprint

We can see from it that animals existed on the earth earlier than human beings do. Then human beings began to make friends and rivals with animals. They learn a lot from animals. Human beings have a large number of proverbs making use of the metaphor meaning of animals. They have proverbs about animals like：

1） Every dog has its day.

2） Love me love my dog.

3） A good dog deserves a good bone.

2.3 Historical Tradition

British races have a long history， which provide the formation of proverbs with affluent material. Actually， most of the proverb is the reflection of their history. Get to their historical background will make us understand them more clearly.

Many proverbs originated in ancient wars. For example：

I fear the Greek， even when bringing gifts.

It is telling the story of Trojan War， about that famous Trojan Horse. It is said in the Greek mythology that the Greeks built a large wooden horse in which a raiding party hid. When the Greeks pretended to leave， the Trojans brought the horse into the walled city and the Greeks swarmed out， opening the gates to their comrades and sacking Troy， killing the men and enslaving the women.

There are still a lot of other proverbs generated from history， such as

1） Many talks of Robin Hood who never shot with his bow.

2） Attack is the best defense.

3. Conclusion

Proverbs are culture-loaded linguistic symbols. They are deep-rooted in the culture of a nation and produce unique cultural characteristics. Proverbs of different cultures may differ in unique natural environment， traditional customs and habits， psychological association， and historical tradition， etc. Based on this， from the perspective of culture， the paper makes a comparatively detailed study of the factors contribute to the formation of the proverb. The cultural atmosphere was the right background in which proverbs generated.

References：

[1] Hornby， A.S. Advanced Learners English-Chinese Dictionary[M]. Beijing： Oxford University Press， 2004.

[2] 王治奎.大學汉英翻译教程[M]. 济南：山东大学出版社，2007.endprint