liitterances. The peculiarity of the use of a proverb lies in the fact that Ithe actual
wording becomes a pattern which needs no new wording to [suggest extensions of
meaning which are contextual. In other words, la proverb presupposes a
simultaneous application of two meanings: [the face-value
or primary meaning,
and an extended meaning drawn Hrom the context, but bridled by the face-value
meaning. In other words, [the proverb itself becomes a vessel into which new
content is poured. IThe actual wording of a proverb, its primary meaning, narrows
the [field of possible
extensions of meaning, i. e. the filling up of the form. •That
is why we may regard the proverb as a pattern of thought. Soit is I'm every other
case at any other level of linguistic research. Abstract [formulas offer a wider
range of possible applications to practical pur-Iposes than concrete words, though
they have the same purpose.
Almost every good writer will make use of language idioms, by-[phrases
and proverbs. As Gorki has it, they are the natural ways in ^hich speech
develops.
Proverbs and sayings have certain purely linguistic features which [must
always be taken into account in order to distinguish them from [ordinary
sentences. Proverbs are brief statements showing in condensed [form the
accumulated life experience of the community and serving as |conventional
practical symbols for abstract ideas. They are usually I didactic
and image
bearing. Many of them through frequency of repetition have become polished and
wrought into verse-like shape, as in the [following:
"to cut one's coat according to one's cloth."
"Early to bed and early to rise,
Makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."
Brevity in proverbs manifests itself also in the omission of connec-|fives,
as in:
"First come, first served." "Out of sight, out of mind."
But the main feature distinguishing proverbs and sayings from ordinary
utterances remains their semantic aspect. Their literal meaning is suppressed by
what may be termed their transferred meaning. In other words, one meaning
(literal) is the form for another meaning (transferred) which contains the idea.
Proverbs and sayings, if
used appropriately, will never lose their freshness and
vigour. The most noticeable thing about the functioning of sayings, proverbs and
catch-phrases is that they may be handled not in their fixed form (the
traditional
model) but with modifications. These modifications, however, will never break
away from the invariants to such a degree that the correlation between the
invariant model of a word-combination and its variant ceases to be
perceived by
the reader.