Proverb Theory Of Meaning

2.2. Proverb – Theory of Meaning
In general, various proverb dictionaries contain solely one precise meaning of a proverb we are searching for, which therefore imposes on us only one context in which we can use it. According to Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (1982) research, above mentioned hypothesis is not true. Kirshenblatt-Gimblett prepared a survey for the Texas students, in which they had to give their proper understanding of each of enumerated proverbs. Its results showed that, depending on a context of use, every proverb may have more than one meaning; sometimes those meanings can be even contradictory. Our choice of the suitable meaning is based on: “(1) the participants’ perception of the situation; (2) the repertoire of proverbs available

More precisely, they are a part of folk ideas, defined primarily by Alan Dundes (1971). This reputed paremiologist established a following explanation: “By “folk ideas”, I mean traditional notions that a group of people have about the nature of man, of the world, and of man’s life in the world. Folk ideas would not constitute a genre of folklore but rather would be expressed in a great variety of different genres. Proverbs would almost certainly represent the expression of one or more folk ideas, but the same folk ideas might also appear in folktales, folksongs, and in fact almost every conventional genre of folklore, not to mention nonfolkloristic materials” (1971, 95). These folk ideas may have also another names like “basic premises” or “cultural axioms”. What is more essential than variety of its names, is that every culture has its own underlying assumptions (folk ideas) which constitute worldview of a nation. According to Alan Dundes, “Worldview refers to the cognitive, existential aspects of the way the world is structured” (1971, 102). Through the examination of numerous folk ideas, researchers are able to restructure the whole worldview. Thus, the folklorists may define in the next step the pattern of folk ideas and their relations with culture. Dundes admits that it is almost impossible to discuss all possible folk ideas of his

Idea that our thought processes are predominantly metaphorical appeared in the work of George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (1988). Their main goal was to prove that the language we use mirrors human experience and observations organized by use of the metaphors; one of the well-known examples of this theory is “Argument is a war” metaphorical concept. What is more, each culture may apply different concepts while speaking, which therefore impedes understanding of a conversation for non-native speakers of certain language. In fact, human beings are not aware of ample usage of such concepts; our metaphorical way of thinking seems to be as natural as breathing. Conceptual metaphors help us understand primarily abstract